AYLS – Chapter 110

Li Yan had been in a bad mood over this matter, and her expression looked heavy and gloomy.

Su Weizhen and the others noticed it too, and they understood her feelings. If it had been their own men, it wouldn’t just be a matter of being upset—they might have gone straight to confront them once they got home.

Lin Qiao said, “It’s nothing. Comrade Zhang Tuo himself doesn’t even know about this. Just remind him to pay attention. If clothes tear, he can mend them himself—my Gu Huayuan does it all the time.”

When Su Weizhen heard that, she said, “Really, my old Xu still talks about it in front of me, saying Comrade Xiao Qiao’s handiwork is excellent, mending Comrade Gu Huayuan’s clothes so carefully.”

“…” Lin Qiao was dumbfounded. How did she not know about this? When did Gu Huayuan even come back?

She awkwardly said, “We’re talking about Comrade Li Yan right now, let’s not bring this up.”

Li Yan said, “Zhang Tuo can’t sew. Before, it was always my mother-in-law who mended his clothes.”

Su Weizhen asked, “You can’t either?”

“Mm, if clothes tore before, I just wouldn’t wear them.”

“…” Su Weizhen was at a loss for words. Apparently, every era has its wealth gap. You can’t assume everyone is poor just because times are hard.

Lin Qiao said, “It’s okay if he can’t. Let Comrade Zhang Tuo learn. I can’t do it either, but sometimes I try to learn. After all, it’s a useful life skill.”

Li Yan nodded, but it didn’t comfort her much because only she knew that this situation couldn’t be changed. Zhang Tuo hadn’t spoken to her for several months. Although he provided for her, he didn’t talk to her and they hardly met. He would come back in a rush to grab something and leave.

Besides, she had been the one to betray first, so she had no standing to scold him.

Lin Qiao was also concerned about this. She mentioned it to Gu Huayuan when she went home at noon and asked him to remind Zhang Tuo.

Gu Huayuan raised his eyebrows and said, “Don’t worry. Zhang Tuo won’t like that person. His way of thinking is different from others. He likes someone who’s not only good-looking but also cultured.”

Lin Qiao said, “Still, it’s better to give him a reminder. Even if he isn’t interested, what if someone else is interested in him? Comrade Li Yan would feel so uncomfortable.”

Gu Huayuan smiled, “Feeling uncomfortable isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

“…” Lin Qiao glared at him. “How can you be so bad! If there’s a rift in a marriage, how can life go on? You’re not hoping to make me uncomfortable too, are you?”

Hearing this, Gu Huayuan felt frustrated. “Why drag me into other people’s business? What kind of person do you think I am? I just feel that they’re having a conflict. Maybe this is also a chance for them to reconcile.”

“And what if you make things worse, and the conflict escalates?”

Lin Qiao thought this was a terrible idea.

“It won’t happen. I know them,” Gu Huayuan said confidently. The situation between Zhang Tuo and Li Yan was different from others.

It was time for both of them to try seeing things from the other’s perspective, to understand the grievances and feelings in the other person’s heart.

In matters of love, one side alone cannot bear all the effort.

Still, his little Qiao was the best.

Of course, Gu Huayuan didn’t want to mess with his brother, so he tactfully added, suggesting that Zhang Tuo be more diligent himself and not let other female comrades do the laundry. It wouldn’t do for someone’s hands to get frozen in this cold weather.

Zhang Tuo, feeling a bit confused, perked up when he heard “laundry,” thinking of the clothes Instructor Chen had brought him that morning. “I didn’t ask anyone to wash them. I just had them mended, and then Old Chen said they got dirty, so he washed them on the side. I didn’t ask for it, and from now on, I’ll do the mending myself.”

“You should’ve learned that long ago. Your wife isn’t meant to do this kind of work; you should learn it yourself,” Gu Huayuan shook his head with a sigh.

Zhang Tuo: “…”

…

The laundry matter passed, and no one mentioned it again. After all, it was a minor issue, and it wasn’t even clear whether the other person truly intended anything.

Li Ermei’s mood began to sour again.

With the weather getting colder, Instructor Chen’s Parents had to leave. In such freezing weather, it wouldn’t do to spend the New Year here. If they didn’t go back, how could the family celebrate properly?

Father Chen grumbled, thinking he had already explained things clearly to his third son, and he believed the son understood.

So why was there no sign of acknowledgment? No mention of money, no plan for the future—they were acting as if nothing had happened.

Mother Chen asked, “Did you really explain everything to the third son that day?”

Father Chen nodded, “Yes, I was very clear. His brothers are all in difficulties; I told him how he should handle things.”

He insisted that he had clarified everything and that his son understood what to do.

“Has Li Ermei been managing him?” Mother Chen asked, frowning.

“Certainly. No wonder he hasn’t spoken up. He’s probably afraid Li Ermei would make a scene at home. This is a military district; if there’s a fuss, the leaders would find out, which could affect the third son’s future.”

Listening to this analysis, Mother Chen felt a gnawing irritation. In the end, it was all because Li Ermei was following the army. If she had stayed in their hometown, he wouldn’t have been so cautious.

Without her certificate, she couldn’t go anywhere.

It had truly been a mistake.

Mother Chen felt increasingly dissatisfied with this daughter-in-law. She couldn’t help imagining how much better things would have been if she had married Sun Qiao instead.

Her son would earn money outside, and the daughter-in-law would serve her at home—what a good life that would be.

She decided to talk to her son again. At noon, she let Sun Qiao cook at home while she went out to intercept her son on the street, so she wouldn’t have to deal with difficult conversations at the dinner table.

Sun Qiao breathed a sigh of relief once Mother Chen left, pocketing the few boiled eggs she had cooked to deliver them later.

Mother Chen waited on the street for a long time, greeting passersby with a smile, looking like a kindly old lady.

When she saw Li Ermei returning, her face immediately darkened.

Li Ermei, holding her belly, walked home. Seeing Mother Chen standing there, she widened her eyes, thinking: is Old Chen really that important? Does someone come to pick him up from work every day?

She ignored her mother-in-law and lifted her chin as she entered the courtyard.

Little Qiao followed happily, humming a tune. When she saw Mother Chen, she even greeted her.

Mother Chen knew she was the leader at the chicken farm and that her husband was friends with her son, all from military families. She smiled, “Little Qiao, you’re back. Work hard, huh?”

Lin Qiao waved her hand, “Not hard, not hard. Serving the people.”

“Ermei didn’t cause you trouble, did she? We spoil her at home, but she isn’t careful outside.”

Lin Qiao bristled, “Ermei is very good and diligent. You shouldn’t speak ill of her.”

Mother Chen was taken aback. Young people today really speak their minds. She smiled awkwardly, “I’m not saying anything bad. I’m just worried.”

“You’ve made it clear. If I don’t understand, I must be an idiot. Honestly, I hate it when people talk behind others’ backs. It’s too much!”

Lin Qiao, fuming, walked off without giving an inch.

Mother Chen’s face turned pale with anger, muttering that anyone who could get along with Li Ermei must be a kindred spirit.

When she finally saw her son, her expression lightened slightly, though she couldn’t help complaining that she felt looked down upon, wondering if Ermei had said bad things about her.

Instructor Chen said, “That’s impossible. Nothing like that happened.”

“But just now, when I spoke to Little Qiao, she snapped at me after only a few words. She must look down on me.”

“…No, Lin Qiao has been praised by superiors, and everyone in the compound speaks highly of her. Even Ermei gets along with her. There’s no such thing. Mom, you must have misunderstood.”

Hearing him defend someone else, Mother Chen felt even more annoyed. Thinking of the reason she came here, she could only hold her anger in. “Third son, your father and I have been here so long, causing you as little trouble as possible. We just want to go back.”

At this, Instructor Chen immediately said he would buy tickets right away, without any attempt to stop them.

To be honest, staying in the dorms every day was inconvenient.

At their age, they weren’t the type to need to be constantly with their parents. Given the situation at home, long-term living here wasn’t suitable.

Instructor Chen’s honest attitude immediately hurt his mother. She asked, “You’re really not going to try to persuade us to stay at all?”

“No, no, weren’t you planning to leave? It’s freezing out; it’s really better for you to go back early. Keeping you here won’t do you any good either.”

“Then… then you don’t have any… feelings about it?”

Instructor Chen immediately asked, “Feelings about what?”

Mother Chen slapped her thigh in frustration. “The things your father told you earlier—didn’t you take them to heart? Didn’t you say you understood everything?”

“Oh, those things… I understood them,” Instructor Chen sighed. “All these years, I’ve been relying on my family, thinking that if anything happened, I could always turn to them. Looking back now, I realize I shouldn’t have thought that way. I’ve grown up, I have my own family, and I’m about to become a father myself. I really shouldn’t think like that. From now on, everything about my wife and the children—I’ll handle it myself. I can’t cause trouble for my brother and his wife.”

“…Is that all?”

Instructor Chen nodded. Seeing his mother still dissatisfied, he asked, “Is there something else?”

“You heartless little man! How can you be so heartless?” Mother Chen’s eyes turned red with anger. It felt like he was ready to push the family away entirely. Truly a little rascal.

“Mom, what are you even mad about now? How am I heartless again?”

Mother Chen pointed at him, furious. “Who supported you back then? When you were in school and couldn’t work in the fields, whose food did you eat? And now that you’ve made something of yourself, you don’t care about the family at all. How can you be so heartless?”

“…”

Instructor Chen was stunned.

Mother Chen, still tearful, continued to lay out the family’s hardships. “Your brothers have tough lives. Our family never has extra money year after year. So many children to raise and educate—do you know how much that costs? And you don’t even say a word about helping.”

“…I’ve been helping all along, haven’t I?” Instructor Chen felt a pang of guilt, but also a quiet ache. All these years he had remembered the family’s support, and now he was being scolded for being heartless.

“I’m telling you, right now! Now that you’re married, you only care about your little family, not the bigger one! The money you send home keeps decreasing. Are you going to stop sending money to the family altogether in the future?”

Mother Chen, completely exasperated by her son’s thoughtlessness, no longer held back her feelings and directly voiced her dissatisfaction.