AYLS -Chapter 174

If Gu Huayuan could be ruthless toward Xiao Qiao back then, could he not be strict with these two kids now?

For someone who had been doing underground work since the age of eight, shoveling pig manure was truly a minor task.

Being able to shovel pig manure in peacetime was a dream for many children of that generation.

So during breakfast, he unusually praised the siblings for their efforts and encouraged them to keep going.

He urged them to adapt to this hard life as soon as possible and to ensure that they could survive in any environment.

Lin Qiao said, “Just like weeds, no matter how wildfires burn, they grow again in the spring breeze.”

The siblings: “……”

After breakfast, they didn’t have to go to the farm; they stayed home to review their lessons. Later, they would go to the farm to do voluntary work—doing small chores and learning work experience.

Lin Qiao insisted it wasn’t necessary. Even Zhang Lanlan and the others only did an hour of temporary work after finishing their own shifts.

She felt strongly against using child labor.

But at that time, there was no concept of child labor. In the countryside, children around ten years old could already work in the fields to earn credits.

In factories, if teenagers could even get a work shift, that was considered fortunate.

Yet these two kids were surprisingly eager, insisting that they wanted to go—to learn from their sister-in-law.

Seeing their enthusiasm, Lin Qiao didn’t refuse. She felt comforted and touched. “I’ll definitely teach you well. You don’t need to learn everything in detail—just the basics. You’re not at working age yet, so no need for high standards.”

Gu Huayuan didn’t say much at the time. But when he went out with Lin Qiao, he shared his opinion on the way: high standards and strict requirements were necessary to cultivate talent.

Lin Qiao scratched her head. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.” She really had no experience in education. She had grown up spoiled, so…

She looked at Gu Huayuan and smiled. “You really care about them. You’re raising them so thoughtfully.”

Gu Huayuan said, “In my situation, I’ll probably never be able to be filial to my father in the future. I have to raise a good son for him.”

Lin Qiao frowned. “What do you mean? Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Alright, I won’t.” Gu Huayuan smiled.

Still, Lin Qiao couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling in her heart. During rest after work, she kept thinking about it. Even drinking water felt bitter.

She wondered, if she were to leave in the future, what would happen to Gu Huayuan? Had his fate really changed completely?

Who knew what the future would hold?

She was truly uneasy.

Better to leave later. Take the tasks slowly; for now, no rushing. Recently, the task progress bar seemed to be moving too fast.

She glanced at the progress bar and was horrified—it had advanced a lot again!

“Fat Cat, what’s going on? Why did it advance again? I didn’t do anything.”

“Who knows? I didn’t make the rules.” Fat Cat shrugged.

“…This is cheating! Before, when I wanted to leave, they refused no matter what. Now it’s the opposite…”

Fat Cat shrugged again, looking completely innocent.

It really was innocent—this was all planned by the dog developer.

In fact, it was surprised too, that the player’s progress bar had advanced this far.

It felt some pressure. But it didn’t have enough energy to return to the original world.

So it “kindly” reminded Lin Qiao, “You should still think about going back.”

“So it’s really working against me.” Lin Qiao immediately switched her mindset. “I want to go back! I want to go back!”

Unexpectedly, the progress bar even moved slightly forward.

Lin Qiao: “……”

Fat Cat just lay there.

It had no choice. Nothing it could do.

No wonder the dog developer said back then—human hearts cannot be hidden.

“Player, lately I’ve been feeling very energetic. Could you let me do more work, give me more energy?” Fat Cat could only struggle to negotiate, hoping to complete tasks before Lin Qiao left.

Lin Qiao: “…You want to leave, don’t you.”

“If you leave and I don’t, I’ll be in trouble.”

“Then why did you trick me before, saying that after I completed the task, you could grant me a dream? Now you can’t even handle yourself and you’re bragging!”

Fat Cat was embarrassed. “Not really bragging. Under normal circumstances, with enough energy, I could still make it happen. Think about it—once I’m full of energy, I can help you compete for your inheritance.”

Lin Qiao had zero interest in the inheritance now; her only focus was the progress bar.

So she sulked and didn’t plan to communicate with Fat Cat.

Su Weizhen arrived late. Her body was inconvenient now, so her work wasn’t as strict as before.

Anyway, Lin Qiao was watching, and the organization was taking care of her as a soon-to-be mother.

Seeing Su Weizhen’s big belly, Lin Qiao temporarily forgot her unhappiness. “When are you due?”

“Soon, by the end of the month.” Su Weizhen patted her belly.

“Is it very hard? If it’s too much, just take leave. A few days won’t matter.”

Su Weizhen shook her head with a smile. “Not hard. I’m happy. Thinking that I’ll see the baby soon makes me really look forward to it.”

All mothers naturally radiate maternal warmth while carrying a child. She looked gentle all over.

“Thinking of a child who is partly like me, partly like Xu Yuanzheng—I really wonder what the baby will look like.”

Lin Qiao, hearing this, looked at her belly and couldn’t help but imagine what a child with Gu Huayuan and herself would look like, shivering involuntarily.

No, she couldn’t think about it.

The frontier region had early snow, and it got cold early.

Lin Qiao busily worked with the staff to secure the farm’s protective measures.

Gu Huayuan’s younger siblings, seeing the farm was busy, also came to help.

The two had really changed a lot. As someone experienced, Lin Qiao could tell they were still not fully accustomed but were making an effort to overcome it.

At night, she secretly spoke to Gu Huayuan about how well the two kids were doing.

She mentioned how much progress they’d made.

Gu Huayuan was busy grading their homework. These days, he assigned the work during the day, marked the key points, and then checked it in the evening.

Lin Qiao could tutor them a bit too, but the results of her tutoring naturally couldn’t compare to the strict guidance of Gu Huayuan.

After ticking a few items on their homework, he said, “I’ve said it before: as long as they’re properly taught, their chances of becoming talented are much higher. And their grades have improved as well.”

“That’s wonderful.” Lin Qiao lay on the bed, smiling, watching Gu Huayuan seriously marking their homework. Suddenly, she wondered to herself—if Gu Huayuan became a father, would he be like this too…

“Gu Huayuan…”

“Hm?” He looked up at her.

Lin Qiao hesitated, then brought up something else instead. “Should we have Fat Cat deliver more materials? Maybe one book a day is too little. Fat Cat said it wants to do more work.” Of course, she wasn’t saying this for Fat Cat’s sake; she was thinking that if she really had to leave soon, she might as well provide more materials before she went.

Gu Huayuan raised an eyebrow. “It’s being that thoughtful?”

Lin Qiao rarely spoke up for Fat Cat. “Maybe it’s trying to make amends for the past.”

Gu Huayuan was silent for a moment, then looked at Lin Qiao deeply. Lin Qiao felt as if he had seen right through her.

“All right.” He said this, then picked up his pen again and started highlighting the key points in the books.

The next day, when Gu Huarui and Gu Huayin flipped through their textbooks to review, they found the pages all perforated.

Gu Huayin said, “Brother’s strength is just too much.”

“What do you know? This is manly strength,” Gu Huarui replied. Although he often complained about his brother, deep down he admired him immensely.

Fat Cat’s workload increased as well—from one book a day to over ten books daily.

This, of course, was coordinated with Uncle Lin, who arranged for more books to be prepared, claiming that the delivery function had become more efficient.

Uncle Lin was naturally pleased.

Although he was just a knowledge transporter, he had joined this newly formed project team. He knew that with the knowledge they provided, the team had solved several difficult problems and achieved tangible results.

Recently, the leaders had been paying more attention to scientific research and cultural education.

This focus even eased the previously tense atmosphere, and half of the weight lifted from Uncle Lin’s heart.

He believed that the more helpful these books were, the greater the impact they would have.

So Fat Cat’s tasks increased day by day.

To keep up her energy, Lin Qiao had a story to listen to every day. She needed to stock up on energy before Gu Huayuan went on his missions.

A few days after New Year’s, Gu Huayuan received his orders: he had to go on a mission, to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the holiday to carry out small schemes or sneak across the border.

Every year at this time, they were the busiest.

Lin Qiao worried and kept reminding him to be careful.

Gu Huayuan was even more concerned than she was. “Stay home, take care of things, and save some delicious food for me to eat when I return.”

Gu Huarui thought his brother was shameless. He wasn’t a child anymore, yet he still expected to come back and eat.

Lin Qiao didn’t laugh at him; she felt it was only natural and agreed.

Seeing Lin Qiao nod, Gu Huayuan took a deep breath, but couldn’t help asking, “Xiao Qiao, if I don’t go next year, can we celebrate the New Year together?”

Lin Qiao didn’t respond.

Of course, she wanted to say yes—she would have agreed—but she couldn’t. She had recently realized that if she committed to something she couldn’t be sure about, the “progress bar” of events wouldn’t move forward.

If she said yes now, Gu Huayuan’s proposal would push the progress bar way ahead.

No, no, no… she couldn’t.

Without Lin Qiao’s answer, Gu Huayuan pressed his lips together. “Forget it. We’ll talk about next year when it comes. No rush.”

He then turned to Gu Huarui. “And you, take good care of your sister-in-law. Don’t slack off. Make sure the pigpen work is done properly.”

“Got it, Brother!”

Gu Huarui replied earnestly.

A few days later, Gu Huayuan would have to start preparing for the Spring Festival.

This year, with two extra people, it would be livelier than previous years.

After finishing her work happily, Lin Qiao cleaned the house with the two kids, preparing for the festival.

She also asked the logistics department to help, bringing back a few supplies while shopping.

The New Year had to be festive, not just for the two kids, but also for Gu Huayuan.

While everyone was happily preparing for the celebration, Su Weizhen suddenly had an episode.

It was still at night.

Fortunately, they were in the military district compound, and people were nearby. Even at midnight, a single shout would mobilize everyone.

Gu Huarui, feeling manly, wanted to help carry the stretcher. Of course, he wasn’t needed—the soldiers there were stronger.

After being dismissed, he felt a bit discouraged and said he needed to train his body.

No one paid attention; everyone rushed to the hospital.

Lin Qiao, carrying a pile of supplies, trudged through the deep snow toward the hospital.