Chapter 71 The Boulder No wonder my brother was able to marry a city girl. ...
Qin Xiangxiang took her sister-in-law back to the family compound by car. Li Jinling didn't dare to say much along the way, afraid of angering her sister-in-law and causing her brother's wife in the city to run away.
Before she came, her mother told her that her sister-in-law was a girl from a big city, and her family was well-off since she was young. She felt wronged that her sister-in-law had gone to the island with her brother to join the army. Now that she was pregnant, she must treat her sister-in-law well.
Now that Li Jinling has seen her sister-in-law, who is as beautiful as an angel, she thinks that she is not just a little better, but more than ten times better. It is too unfair for such a beautiful sister-in-law to marry her brother.
His sister-in-law can remarry in Shanghai after her divorce, but it would be very difficult for her brother to find such a beautiful and well-off city wife.
What's more, her older brother is ugly, making it even harder for him to find a wife.
Although Li Jinling was a widow, she was only a few months younger than Qin Xiangxiang. She liked handsome young men and chose a weak and frail young man from a farmer's family in the same village. He was good at studying but was sickly and weak, like a male version of Lin Daiyu, which made people feel sorry for him. However, after he married into the family, he became unwell and soon died.
On the ship heading south, Li Jinling noticed many handsome young men, all with rosy complexions and soft, gentle voices, making her blush and her heart race.
But when I followed my sister-in-law to the military compound, I saw that the soldiers were all tall and upright, with dark and muscular builds. Wearing white sailor uniforms, they looked even darker and stronger, which made me secretly sigh.
Her brother is probably the same way.
Upon arriving at the residential compound, Li Jinling focused her attention on the buildings. They were rows of three-story buildings with public toilets, lawns, flowerbeds, and free-range chickens. Noisy children were chasing and playing on the playground, and several children were jumping up and down on the ping-pong table in front of a row of tiled houses. Two boys were lying on the ground playing with playing cards.
"Our home is in this building, the west wing, on the second floor, in a corner unit. There are two rooms in the house. Jinling, you will share a room with Xiaopang for now. We'll put a curtain between you two."
"If you need to change your clothes, you can go to the bathroom alone and lock the door to change."
Qin Xiangxiang led her upstairs. The door to Zhou Lu's house on the second floor was tightly closed. No one was home during the day; Zhou Lu had gone to work, her son was at kindergarten, and her daughter was at daycare. They wouldn't be back until the afternoon.
The door to the middle household, Mrs. Huang's house, was open. A young man was leaning against the door, smoking a cigarette, wearing baggy pants and a white shirt that was half tucked into his pants and half pulled out, looking quite frivolous.
The young man had thick, curly hair, like a bird's nest.
"Sister-in-law Huang, have people come to your house too?"
"Xiao Qin, this is my mom, and this is my brother."
By this time of year, Sister Huang's belly was quite large, and she was expected to give birth next month. And this younger brother of hers was the scumbag brother who caused her and her unborn child to die.
"Yes, my family has also come. This is my husband's younger sister, Li Jinling."
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Sister Huang, Qin Xiangxiang took Li Jinling and Xiao Pang home. As soon as Xiao Pang entered the house, he ran to the refrigerator, opened the freezer, and wanted to eat ice cream. Qin Xiangxiang asked Li Jinling to have one too, but Li Jinling refused repeatedly. Qin Xiangxiang said, "It's okay, you can have it, otherwise Xiao Pang will get even fatter."
Li Jinling: "..."
Li Jianzhi kept saying he wanted to help Xiaopang lose weight, but the results were less than ideal. Qin Xiangxiang had a poor appetite because she was pregnant. She was already a picky eater, and now she was even more demanding. Li Jianzhi tried all sorts of ways to make delicious food to coax her to eat more, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing. But no matter what, Qin Xiangxiang couldn't eat much. The rest was all taken by "Xiaopang's garbage can." This child wasn't picky and would eat anything.
After arriving on the island, Little Fatty could be said to have gotten fatter, or rather... stronger.
It's all thanks to his father.
Xiao Pang's room had already been renovated by Li Jianzhi, who added a military-style iron bunk bed, laid wooden planks on it, and placed a bamboo curtain in the middle as a partition. Fortunately, the room was large, so this partition was still acceptable.
A hard wooden box was placed under the bed for Li Jinling to store her luggage. Qin Xiangxiang also bought her some women's essentials, such as face cream, clam oil, a mirror, and a comb, as well as a special washbasin and towels.
Li Jinling exclaimed in shock, "This is a washbasin specially made for me?"
She was shocked because the cheapest enamel basin costs at least three yuan, and a better one costs five or ten yuan. It's not cheap. Many families share one washbasin, or even just one basin, which is used to wash faces in the morning, wash vegetables at noon, and soak feet at night.
Her older brother and sister-in-law even prepared a basin for her, which was very generous of them.
Qin Xiangxiang nodded, "This is specially for you. There are different basins in the kitchen and the bathroom. I'll teach you to recognize them later. The blue basin with a floral bottom in the kitchen is for washing vegetables, and the two red koi fish basins are for spitting out mud from seafood, as well as for killing chickens and ducks."
Qin Xiangxiang and Li Jianzhi's washbasins and foot basins were placed on the balcony of the master bedroom, so Li Jinling didn't need to make a special distinction.
Li Jinling gasped, "Sister-in-law, how many pots are there in the house?"
"A dozen or so. By the way, the basin next to the washbasin by the door is for cleaning and wiping tables and chairs. Don't use it for anything else. The basin is printed with the words 'diligent and hardworking.'"
Li Jinling: "...Sister-in-law, you are such a discerning person."
Qin Xiangxiang was speechless: "These basins were all bought by your brother. It's okay if you can't remember them now. Your brother will give you a detailed lesson when he comes back."
Li Jinling: "?"
Qin Xiangxiang said in a very relaxed manner, "I couldn't remember it at first either."
Li Jinling: "???!!!"
Qin Xiangxiang was quite spoiled at home before, and the washbasin and foot basin had to be separate, but that was about it. As for having a separate basin for washing vegetables and meat in the kitchen, she couldn't have come up with that idea.
Li Jianzhi bought some basins, and his workplace also distributed some. He even made up his own rules and had his own routines, saying that the green ones were for washing vegetables, and the red ones with fish patterns were for soaking seafood, saying that they would have a fishy smell...
Since he's so particular, let him be.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "The various rags in the house also have their own rules, all of which were devised by your brother. He said he was a model of housekeeping in military school back then."
"Oh." Li Jinling nodded deeply, praising, "No wonder my brother was able to marry a city woman."
Qin Xiangxiang: "???"
“My mother also likes to keep everything separate at home, but we don’t have the means to do so,” Li Jinling quietly revealed to her sister-in-law in the city. She added that the Li family are particular people.
Many families don't pay much attention to such things. The family that Li Jinling married into was like that. The whole family shared one basin. Fortunately, she married the youngest son, who was weak and pampered, so they paid more attention to these things.
Therefore, Li Jinling prefers those fair-skinned, slender, and meticulous people.
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
It turns out it was a family ailment, but that's fine too. It doesn't have those unbearable problems. In her dream, she was worried that her sister-in-law would come over and chew up the food to feed the child, but that didn't actually happen.
She was satisfied and willing to live with her husband's younger sister because her husband's family was quite clean.
The husband in real life is better, more particular, and more likable than the husband in my dream.
"This radio is for you to use. You can use it in your room or living room. Just be careful not to listen to anything you shouldn't."
We're quite close to the island on the other side, so we can receive their radio broadcasts. It wouldn't be good if people misunderstood what we heard.
Li Jinling nodded.
"Sister-in-law, what is this?"
"This is a refrigerator. The top is for refrigeration and the bottom is for freezing. Remember to turn it off after you open it, otherwise it will consume a lot of electricity."
...
Qin Xiangxiang talked to her for a while, then felt tired. She ate something and went back to her room to lie down and sleep. Compared to her dream, not only had Li Jianzhi changed, but she had changed too. Perhaps because she was eating and sleeping well every day, and had no hardship or resentment, her temper had improved a lot. All she thought about all day was eating well, sleeping well, and watching the excitement.
Qin Xiang wanted to go to sleep. Outside the room, only Li Jinling and her nephew Li Qingfeng were there. Li Jinling stared at her nephew, Xiaopang. She had once heard the name "Qingfeng" and thought it was a name that sounded like a refined and handsome scholar, or like a dashing poet like Li Bai.
The real Li Qingfeng should be called "Giant Rock" rather than "Qingfeng".
“A doting mother spoils her son,” Li Jinling sighed. “Little Fatty, your sister-in-law spoils you too much.”
Fatty: "?"
“The old folks in our village back home will definitely love your chubby appearance.”
When Li Jianzhi returned home in the evening, he was carrying a lot of things. After all, it was his sister's first time visiting his home, so he asked someone to buy a chicken. When he entered the house, he saw a tall, thin woman with short hair. She had an oval face, a long face shape, and very regular features, but she was not very delicate. She had a bit of a masculine look, and there was a bit of a heroic air between her eyebrows. She looked very capable.
"Big, big big brother!" Li Jinling almost bit her tongue. The man who entered the room was tall and burly, with no expression on his face. He looked serious and indifferent, which made people feel uneasy and scared.
Her sister-in-law must be blind to have chosen her older brother.
The eldest brother, Li Jianzhi, had a very handsome face, but his expression was too cold, and he couldn't see a trace of a gentle smile. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he looked like a bear, or at most a handsome bear.
"Little sister, is this Li Jinling?" Li Jianzhi nodded. "Before I came back, I had someone print out some math and Chinese problems. You can do them at home whenever you have free time. If you don't know how to do them, ask your sister-in-law to teach you. If your sister-in-law doesn't know how to do them, I'll take care of them when I get back."
Li Jinling: "Huh?!"
Qin Xiangxiang opened the bedroom door: "???"
"Big brother, I...I don't want to do the questions." Li Jinling thought she came here to be introduced to a potential partner, but she didn't want to be introduced to anyone and wanted to choose one herself.
But her older brother and sister-in-law haven't introduced her to any potential partners yet; they've introduced her to homework first.
Her older brother loved reading from a young age and was considered one of the better students in the village. He even got into a military academy. Her mother always used this to nag her to study hard, but she just couldn't manage it.
She admires people who are good at reading, but she admires those talented poets, not math problems.
"You don't want to do the questions?" Li Jianzhi narrowed his eyes slightly.
Li Jinling felt a fierce and menacing aura rushing towards her, and her legs went weak.
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I’ll do whatever my older brother says.”
What a fierce bear!
Her elder brother's imposing aura was like that of a bear. With such a fierce elder brother in front of her and her delicate sister-in-law standing behind him, Li Jinling couldn't help but recall the stories she had heard as a child. Her sister-in-law was like a rich young lady who had been kidnapped by bandits. She was originally a young lady from the capital, but she was abducted to a remote island by a black bear spirit, who then abused her and made her pregnant and gave birth to her child.
—It's really strange that my brother, who's so fierce, managed to find a wife.
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