Chapter 58: This is fatherly love...right?
Someone said, "I can't afford cotton, but homespun cloth should be just as good."
"Boiling water costs a lot of firewood, but the sun is free."
"It's just a few pieces of firewood. What's more important, firewood or life?"
Someone raised their hand: "Boss! We know how to wash our menstrual pads, but we don't know when they'll come."
"That's right, sometimes it comes at the beginning of the month, sometimes at the end."
"This thing is so annoying."
Jiang Xueyi was amused: "No need to call me boss, my last name is Jiang, just call me Secretary Jiang."
She pulled out a calendar and circled the dates in red. "Actually, menstruation follows a regular pattern. We call this the menstrual cycle. From the first day of your period this month to the next, it's generally twenty-eight days. A delay of three to seven days is considered normal."
"We all know that wheat growers sow on the Spring Equinox and harvest on the Grain in Ear, and the difference is only a few days." Considering that most of the people sitting in the audience are women who do farm work, Jiang Xueyi tried to use farming as an example so that they would remember it better.
A new bride timidly raised her hand: "My period has only been forty days in the past two months. Is there something wrong?"
"Don't worry," Jiang Xueyi said. "Mark it on the calendar and check next month. It's like observing the weather. An occasional gust of wind is nothing, but if it rains for the rest of the month, you need to consult someone knowledgeable. There are female doctors specializing in gynecology at the health center and the county hospital."
She answered everyone's questions one by one, and at the end, she wrote a few rhymes on the blackboard, like counting rhymes.
"Come on, everyone, repeat after me," Jiang Xueyi said. "Mark your period on the calendar; twenty-eight days is ideal. Use a soft cloth menstrual pad with a thick cotton pad. Wash it frequently with hot water if it gets dirty, and dry it thoroughly in the sun. If it hurts, don't try to bear it; warm yourself with brown sugar ginger tea."
When it was read for the third time, even the shyest lesbians started humming along quietly.
This jingle is catchy and will become melodious after practicing it several times.
Xu Shanshan cleverly copied down the rhymes on paper, about twenty sheets in total. If she couldn't remember one, she would take one to look at. Even if she couldn't read, there were always a few literate female members in a commune, or at worst, there were female educated youth who could be read, so she could just ask them.
The popular science lecture on menstruation knowledge was held perfectly and won wonderful applause from the audience.
Everyone went to get mung bean soup, which was made with well water. It was the most refreshing and thirst-quenching soup in the hot summer.
Everyone drank mung bean soup and talked about the lecture.
"If the Women's Federation hadn't held this damn lecture, I wouldn't have known there were so many details to this thing." He added, "Tomorrow I'll throw away the stove ash and learn how to sew cotton interlayers from Secretary Jiang."
"That's right. Did you hear what Secretary Jiang said? If you don't pay attention to the hygiene there, you will get sick. I don't want to get sick."
"If there's a lecture next time, I'll come again."
This lecture not only sparked discussion among the women, but the few men who attended also lamented, "Women's affairs are not something you can be careless about. I'm going to go back and tell my wife." "Yeah, I didn't expect there are so many tricks. Do you know how to recite the jingle?" "Of course I don't. I memorized it after reading it twice. If you can't remember it, just get a piece of paper."
Jiang Xueyi listened to them discussing the lecture with a smile. She glanced at her fingers stained with chalk dust and felt a heavy and satisfied feeling in her heart.
"Here, mung bean soup to clear away heat and relieve summer heat." A bowl of mung bean soup was handed to her, and He Chengze winked mischievously, "Secretary Jiang, you've worked hard."
Jiang Xueyi glared at him, took the mung bean soup and drank it all in one gulp.
The mung bean soup that was drunk by about a hundred people must not have had much ingredients in it. There was only a few mung beans due to the high water content. However, it was cooked until each bean bloomed, and rock sugar was added, so it tasted sweet and immediately relieved the pain in her slightly hoarse throat from talking too much.
Jiang Xueyi: "Have you had your mung bean soup?"
"Of course I drank it." He Chengze said with a smile, "It's a benefit of coming to the lecture."
He thought of Jiang Xueyi standing on the podium. She was so confident and generous, and her eyes were so shining. He had never seen her like that before, and he could hardly take his eyes off her.
He showed Jiang Xueyi his notebook and said, "Not only did I listen, I also took careful notes. The cycle is twenty-eight days, right? Okay, I'll remember it for you in the future." He added, "By the way, I just saw Sister Xue. She was quite surprised to see me. Her mouth was so open that she could swallow an egg."
I guess Xue Jun didn't expect that He Chengze would actually come to attend such a lecture. When he saw him, he was so surprised as if he saw a ghost and ran away.
He Chengze was kind enough to let the little bun say hello to her. Just because others were impolite didn't mean he could be impolite. He just didn't know if Xue Jun heard him. But she ran so fast that she probably couldn't hear him.
Jiang Xueyi: "I saw her too. She was sitting in the first row. It would be hard not to see her."
Director Xie came over and said with a smile, "Xiao Jiang, congratulations, the lecture was a great success."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Thank you, Director Xie."
Director Xie was amused: "You said thank you three times in a row." He nodded towards He Chengze and said politely, "Deputy Brigade Commander He, you are here for the lecture too."
He Chengze smiled: "Support your lover's work."
Seeing that the time was almost up, the two said goodbye to everyone.
After the two left, Xu Shanshan sighed, "Xiao Jiang never told us that her lover is the deputy brigade commander!"
She knew that Jiang Xueyi was a military family member, but she thought she was just an ordinary cadre. She didn't expect her husband to hold such a high position.
Moreover, Jiang Xueyi is usually very low-key in the Women's Federation. She is the kind of person who "does more and talks less" and does not have the pride of being the "family member of the deputy brigade commander" at all.
Xiao Jin from the Propaganda Department, her husband is just a battalion commander in the army, but she is so arrogant. She usually speaks to everyone in a condescending manner and even wants to walk sideways. I guess in the entire Women's Federation, she only looks up to Director Xie.
Xu Shanshan shook her head, still in disbelief.
My God, she had just received the deputy brigade commander.
But no matter how I looked at him, I felt that He Chengze didn't look like him, because he was too young. I couldn't match this handsome and handsome man in front of me with the 'Deputy Brigade Commander' at all.
"No wonder..." Xiao Zheng said softly, "No wonder Secretary Jiang was so imposing when he gave his speech. If it were me, with a lover who was the deputy brigade commander, I would have to speak in a dignified manner."
"You, girl, your thinking is wrong." Director Xie frowned. "Xiao Jiang is able to do a good job in science popularization because she has done a lot of preparation."
This has nothing to do with her husband being the deputy brigade commander.
Director Xie: "Take that jingle she made up, for example. It looks simple, but it actually rhymes and is incredibly catchy. Could she have come up with it on the spur of the moment? How could she have said it so fluently without any preparation?"
Xiao Zheng also realized that he had misunderstood, his face turned red, and he lowered his head slightly.
Here, He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi went home and made three dishes and a soup.
Cold cucumber salad, stir-fried bean sprouts and leeks with dried tofu, stir-fried shrimp with lettuce, and a pot of loofah and egg soup.
These are all meals suitable for summer to clear away heat and relieve summer heat. When the weather is hot, I don’t like to eat those greasy meat dishes.
He Chengze put a piece of lettuce into Jiang Xueyi's bowl with his chopsticks and said with a smile, "This meal can be considered a celebration meal to celebrate the successful holding of your lecture."
Jiang Xueyi raised the bowl of loofah and egg soup and said with a smile, "Soup instead of wine, thank you~"
In fact, she was still a little nervous: "Do you think my lecture was really a success?"
He Chengze: "Well, look at how enthusiastically everyone is discussing this." He added, "Even if they went there for the mung bean soup at first, they all became focused on learning."
He laughed and said, "To be honest, I couldn't take my eyes off you when you were standing on the podium." He added, "Guess what I was thinking at that time?"
Jiang Xueyi picked up a piece of salad cucumber and put it in her mouth, biting it with a crunch. "What are you thinking about?"
He Chengze said: "I was thinking, it's a good thing I didn't object to you going out to work. You were born to work in the Women's Federation and hold this job."
Jiang Xueyi, standing on the podium, was so confident and so shining that he could hardly take his eyes off her.
Jiang Xueyi raised her chin: "Of course, my life motto is to do it to the best of my ability."
He Chengze smacked his lips and said, "Then my life motto is to support, support, and support again. I will be the man behind you."
Jiang Xueyi was delighted: "Section Chief You said that my lecture was very good this time. After the lecture, many people asked her when the next lecture would be. Section Chief You also said that she would raise the award she applied for me."
He Chengze squinted his eyes: "Do you want to treat me to a meal?" He sighed, "I am also enjoying the blessing of having a wife."
Jiang Xueyi: "You wait until next time. I promised Section Chief You and Xu Shanshan that I would treat them to a meal after I get the bonus."
"That's fine." He Chengze said with a smile, "It probably won't be long before the next time. The manuscript you and Sister Liu submitted to the Provincial Propaganda Committee will almost have a result."
Jiang Xueyi was amused: "Do you have so much confidence in me?"
"Well, what else?" He Chengze said with a smile, "You are my wife."
Seeing that the adults kept talking and ignoring him, the little boy waved his chubby hands anxiously.
"Ma~"
Jiang Xueyi was stunned for a moment and asked He Chengze: "Did you hear it just now?"
The two looked at the little bun in unison. He Chengze said, "Little bun, what did you just shout? Say it again."
The little bun continued to stretch out his hand, staring at the shrimp in Jiang Xueyi's hand without blinking: "Mom!"
This time the pronunciation was clear and the two of them could really hear it.
Jiang Xueyi felt as if a warm current flowed through her heart, filling her up. She smiled and said, "I taught him so many times to call me dad first."
He Chengze: "It shows that our little one is smart. He knows that today is mom's celebration dinner, so he called you to make you happy."
He took the shrimp from Jiang Xueyi's hand and fed it to the little bun, coaxing: "Come on, little bun, call daddy~ Be good, repeat after me, daddy~"
The little bun squinted his eyes with joy when he ate the shrimp.
"Beep...Dad!"
"Hey!" He Chengze hurriedly picked up the little bun and kissed his chubby face twice, "You are really my good baby. You can even call me daddy."
The little boy was keenly aware of the adults' emotions and knew that He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi were happy because of what he said.
He continued to call "Dad, Mom" non-stop. Although his pronunciation was still a little unclear, it was enough to make people happy.
He Chengze was very happy: "Our little boy started talking early, which shows that he is smart."
Jiang Xueyi raised her eyebrows. The little boy is ten months old now. I heard that some children can speak when they are more than six months old. Isn’t that smart?
He Chengze disagreed: "Old people say it's not good for children to speak too early. There's a saying that goes, 'A noble person speaks late.'"
What the hell is going on?
Jiang Xueyi finally understood that no matter when the little bun started talking, He Chengze would always find a reason to praise him.
If a child speaks early, people say he has a well-developed brain and is smart.
If you speak late, it means that a noble person speaks slowly.
Well, as long as Deputy Brigade Commander He is happy.
The result of making He Chengze happy was that he held the little bun on his shoulders and rode a horse, which made the little bun giggle non-stop.
I hear the laughter coming from the neighboring house from time to time, and then look at the cold walls of my own house.
Captain Kong seemed to have no appetite.
He broke the silence and asked Xue Jun, who had a cold expression on his face, "Didn't you go to listen to that... knowledge popularization lecture given by Sister Jiang today? How was it?"
Thinking back to the lecture, when everyone was praising Jiang Xueyi endlessly, Xue Jun said coldly, "What can we do? A bunch of women gathered together to listen to Jiang Xueyi's ramblings, from mung bean soup to menstrual belts. She's really good at talking, and she's not afraid of taking too big a step and hitting her crotch."
"Just talking nonsense?" Captain Kong said, "Two of the wives of the soldiers in our compound also went to listen. I heard them say that Sister Jiang's lecture was very good. If they hadn't attended the lecture, they wouldn't have known there were so many things to pay attention to."
Xue Jun snorted, "It's just a trivial matter like menstruation. Is it worth holding a lecture? I think the Women's Federation has reached its limit."
"Don't keep talking about your period. It's embarrassing." Captain Kong blushed.
Xue Jun choked. She had also heard people say things directly during lectures, and had been infected. She accidentally blurted out the words. She pursed her lips and said, "Just pretend you didn't hear it."
Xue Jun scolded again, "Those people who went to the lecture were so bored they sat through an entire afternoon just for a bowl of broken mung bean soup. It's a shame they could sit still." He added, "Jiang Xueyi is also a good-looking woman. She's a Women's Federation official, but she stood on the podium and said things like 'Wash your menstrual pad frequently' and 'Drink more hot water during your period.' She spoke like she knew everything. Does she think she's a doctor at the health center? Furthermore, she even taught people how to calculate the menstrual cycle. Only those members were uneducated and listened to her nonsense. Everyone knows that women bleed every month. It's just a matter of a few days early or late. They need to use a calendar to calculate it."
Captain Kong was stunned. Didn’t she say that she didn’t listen to the lecture carefully? How come she remembered every word Jiang Xueyi said so clearly?
Not wanting to hear her curse words, he simply changed the subject: "By the way, what is that... thing you're talking about?"
"What belt? A menstrual belt?" Xue Jun said bluntly, "I'm talking about my period, so what?"
As someone who has attended high school, her thoughts cannot be more feudal than Jiang Xueyi, a girl from the countryside.
"It's nothing, just tell me." Captain Kong swallowed his shame and asked, "What is this menstrual belt? Is it good for women? If it is, you can use it too."
Xue Jun actually had a menstrual belt, but she had always been too shy to talk about menstruation, so after washing the belt, she would hang it on the balcony to dry when Captain Kong went to the military camp. So Captain Kong really didn't know that every woman used this thing.
Xue Jun paused. "It's something women put under their buttocks during their menstrual period to prevent bleeding from getting on their pants. Do you understand?"
Captain Kong said "Oh" twice, understood, and asked again: "What's there to say about this thing?"
Xue Jun: "She said that the menstrual belt should be sewn with fine cotton cloth and padded with cotton, and not with stove ash. I think she's just being picky. The stove ash can be sucked clean, but the cotton cloth has to be washed every day. She doesn't mind the trouble."
Captain Kong said, "I think we should listen to her. Think about it, cotton that's been sun-dried is cleaner than stove ash." He added, "Don't you know, when we were marching and fighting in the early years, the troops were short of medical care and medicine. What did we do when we got injured? We just took some stove ash and rubbed it on the wound. As a result, many wounds became infected, and some were so serious that they even had to have their limbs amputated."
Xue Jun was stunned after hearing this: "Is it that serious?"
"Well, what else can we do?" Captain Kong said with a serious expression, "That area of yours bleeds every month. It's no different from a wound. Using stove ash is definitely not as clean as using cotton."
He advised: "It's not like we can't afford muslin and cotton. You can use that stuff to make a sanitary pad."
Xue Jun thought that if Jiang Xueyi knew that she listened to the lecture so obediently and made a menstrual belt, she would laugh to death.
She said irritably, "Let's talk about it later." Then she added, "It's not like stove ash can't be used."
Captain Kong wanted to persuade him again, but Xue Jun didn't want to listen, so he waved his hand and left.
Captain Kong hurriedly asked her where she was going.
Xue Jun said without even turning his head, "Go study! I also want to be admitted to the Women's Federation. Then I'll give a lecture and have Jiang Xueyi sit down and listen to my speech!"
Captain Kong: ...
No, why did you get into a fight with someone?
-
The little bun turned one year old. He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi planned to hold a one-year-old ceremony for him and invited Captain Zhao and others to watch the ceremony.
The little boy was wearing a dark red short-sleeved top and shorts, and a pair of tiger-head shoes. He looked cheerful and cute, and received a lot of praise from people.
Liu Lu's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and she will be giving birth in about a month.
She took the little bun from Jiang Xueyi's arms and said with a smile, "Let me hold the little bun and share in your happiness. I hope I can give birth to a baby as smart and cute as the little bun in the future."
The little boy seemed to know that she had a baby in her belly, and he stayed in Liu Lu's arms obediently without moving around, which made Liu Lu praise him for being well-behaved.
Seeing that it was almost time, He Chengze took out a piece of red cloth, spread it on the ground, and then placed pens, abacus, books, wooden toy guns... and other props for the "Zhuazhou" ceremony in a circle.
Jiang Xueyi picked up the little bun again and placed him in the middle.
Then he said, "Little Baozi, grab whatever you like."
He Chengze also smiled and said, "Yes, just catch whichever one you like."
Captain Zhao encouraged the little boy: "See that wooden toy gun? Grab it and become a soldier like us."
Liu Lu glared at him and said, "Being a soldier is so hard." Then she clapped her hands and said, "Little Baozi, grab a book. Let's go down the cultural path, go to university, and become professors."
The little bun turned a deaf ear.
He sat down on the ground, looking at everyone with his big round black eyes.
He reached out to Jiang Xueyi again: "Mom~ Hug~"
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Good boy, let's do the "Zhuazhou" first, and then I'll hold you after that."
The little bun pouted, pushed himself up with his hands, and stood up unsteadily.
The two chubby little legs were so adorable that they almost melted the hearts of everyone present.
He looked around, his eyes lit up, he found a target and walked towards it unsteadily.
He reached for something, and Captain Zhao exclaimed, "It's an orange." He clapped his hands and said, "Little Baozi really knows how to choose. Good, this has a good meaning. It means good luck and great blessings. He was born to enjoy happiness."
Jiang Xueyi was embarrassed after hearing this. Little Baozi, the foodie, was obviously hungry, so he chose oranges.
Sure enough, the little boy grabbed the orange and stuffed it into his mouth. The orange was so big that his short little hands could hardly hold it, but he still stuffed it into his mouth with all his strength and tried to chew the orange with his two little baby teeth. Unfortunately, he only bit the sour orange peel.
The little bun's face was wrinkled with bitterness.
He threw the orange aside, and it rolled to He Chengze's feet.
He Chengze quickly put it away properly, as this was what the little kid had caught during the birthday celebration.
I thought the ceremony was over, but I didn't expect the little kid to stagger over and grab the second thing.
This time, what was caught was a pen.
Liu Lu laughed and said, "Oh, what was I saying? The little bun will definitely be a cultured person in the future."
The little bun bit the pen cap, but found that he couldn't bite it, so he threw it aside.
He Chengze continued to put it away happily.
It wasn’t over yet, the little boy grabbed a third thing, a wooden toy gun.
Captain Zhao praised repeatedly: "Good! Great job grabbing a gun! Just like his father, he will carry a real gun in the future, defending his country and being more impressive than anyone else."
He Chengze smiled so hard that the corners of his mouth stretched to the back of his ears: "This is a man of both civil and military talents. First he grasps the pen, then he grasps the gun. My son will definitely be a man of great potential in the future!"
Captain Zhao stared at He Chengze, his eyes red with envy.
The adults were talking when the little boy suddenly sat down on the ground and used his hands and feet to gather everything around him into his arms.
Liu Lu saw a sharp object and was worried that it would prick him, so she quickly reached out and took it away from the little bun's arms.
The little bun hugged her even tighter, obviously not wanting anyone to move.
Captain Zhao was so shocked that he couldn't speak: "This..."
Liu Lu smiled and said, "Good boy, you got all the good stuff."
Jiang Xueyi put the toys for the "Zhuazhou" ceremony aside and picked up the little bun.
Jiang Xueyi tapped his little nose: "You greedy little ghost, you want everything."
The little bun smiled and brought the orange in his hand towards Jiang Xueyi's mouth, wanting her to eat it.
Jiang Xueyi felt warm in her heart. What a thoughtful and sweet boy.
In her opinion, the ceremony of grabbing the week-old baby has more symbolic meaning than practical significance. No matter what is grabbed, it is empty.
Just like the name she gave to the little boy, 'He An', all the success and achievements were fake. She didn't ask him to be successful, but only to be happy, healthy and safe for the rest of his life.
He Chengze was very happy to see the little bun grab so many things at once.
He always felt that the little boy was too well-behaved, even too well-behaved to be like a boy, but more like a little girl.
Unexpectedly, he has such a domineering side to his character.
Anyway, no matter what, he felt good when he looked at the little bun.
He Chengze was moved by himself and thought, this is fatherly love... right?
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