AYLS – Chapter 75

After the Xu family matter had settled, Lin Qiao felt that life in the compound was still quite relaxed and cheerful every day.

She was especially delighted after Gu Huayuan brought back the large wardrobe.

The wardrobe had double doors and was considered quite high-end at the time. When it was moved back, everyone in the compound came over to see it, extremely envious.

Since they were stationed here with the army, it was uncertain how many years they would stay. Large furniture wasn’t easy to move, so families generally kept only the essentials.

Only Su Weizhen had many items at home, but few people actually visited, so it wasn’t widely noticed.

Now, however, everyone knew about Lin Qiao’s wardrobe. In the afternoons after work, people came over to see it and admire the large mirror.

Sister Wang touched it several times and said to Lin Qiao, “This really doesn’t look cheap. Little Gu is really treating you well.”

Lin Qiao smiled brightly. “It’s fine—we’re going to use it anyway.”

“No man in the whole compound has thought of being so considerate. None of them would be willing to spend like Little Gu does.”

Lin Qiao agreed wholeheartedly. “He is indeed generous.”

Sister Wang leaned closer. “Still, you should save some for raising children. Any news on that yet?”

Lin Qiao quickly shook her head. “No, no, we just got married. No rush.”

“That’s true. Take it slow, don’t stress yourselves,” Sister Wang said kindly, careful not to make Lin Qiao and her husband feel pressured.

After finishing their visit, Sister Wang and the others left, but Li Ermei and Su Weizhen stayed behind to chat.

Li Ermei and Su Weizhen were also fascinated by the wardrobe. Su Weizhen had wanted one herself, but it wasn’t something money alone could buy in those days of scarce goods.

Moreover, Xu Yuanzheng wouldn’t have been willing to spend on something like this.

Li Ermei clicked her tongue in frustration, directing all her annoyance at Instructor Chen. “As for my useless husband, don’t even get me started.”

Lin Qiao laughed. “Ermei, you’re even scolding Instructor Chen now?”

“If I don’t scold him, who else can I blame? I’ve come to realize that if my life isn’t going well, it’s his fault!”

Recently, Li Ermei had finally seen things clearly. Before, she blamed others for her missteps, but now she understood it was all due to Old Chen.

Marrying him left no real hope.

Lin Qiao encouraged her, “Ermei, we won’t rely on him in the future. You and I will learn to raise chickens properly. One day, we’ll raise chickens together and build our own business.”

Li Ermei said, “I’m learning, aren’t I?”

“I mean more professional knowledge—the materials Gu Huayuan asked you to study before. You should take a look at all of them.”

“But I don’t know many characters.”

“That’s fine. Whenever you don’t understand something, just ask us.”

Su Weizhen also awkwardly added, “Anyway, we live close by. You can come ask me.”

Li Ermei pursed her lips. “That’s okay, but will it really help? We have so few chickens here.”

Lin Qiao patted her. “You can’t think like that. We need to be prepared for the future. I’m keeping a work journal every day and slowly learning from experience. Ermei, once you gain skills, what would you still need Instructor Chen for? In the future, he’ll be relying on you to support him.”

Hearing this, Li Ermei felt her heart swell. No one had ever told her before that she didn’t have to rely on a man. Back in her hometown, every woman had to depend on a man to get by. It was said that women could hold up half the sky, but the life of a widow was never as good as a woman who had a man.

She nodded, then looked at Su Weizhen. “Although I’ll be troubling you, that roast duck with wine can’t be skipped!”

She hadn’t eaten it yet.

Su Weizhen rolled her eyes. “No way!” Lin Qiao eagerly asked, “Then when will we eat it?”

Su Weizhen said, “This weekend is a holiday. It takes a long time to make, and besides, didn’t we just eat out a few days ago? Good things should be savored slowly. If we finish it all at once, what will we do later?”

Lin Qiao and Li Ermei both thought that made sense and silently counted how many days were left until the weekend.

From Su Weizhen and Xiao Qiao, Li Ermei truly saw hope. Even without a man’s help, they could live well.

After everyone left that evening, Lin Qiao and Gu Huayuan put the clothes into the cleaned wardrobe.

Once that was done, Gu Huayuan cut out a “double happiness” character for them—it still felt like newlyweds.

After taking a bath and changing clothes, Lin Qiao sat on the bed applying snow cream. When Gu Huayuan came over, she pressed him down on the bed and applied some cream on him as well.

Gu Huayuan was disgusted. “Aren’t you supposed to use clam oil?”

“This one works better. Try it.” Lin Qiao rubbed and massaged his face.

Gu Huayuan thought for a moment and decided to just go along with it.

After applying it, seeing his grumpy face, Lin Qiao said, “I’m giving you the expensive stuff, and you’re still unhappy?”

Gu Huayuan laughed and hugged her around. “How could that be? I just want you to use it. It’s too much to waste on my face—it’s worth it for you. I don’t care what I use.”

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but smile, then leaned over to plant a kiss on his face.

The fat cat, ever the spoilsport, interjected, “Why so sentimental? You’ll be apart anyway.”

“Dirty cat, go away!” Lin Qiao blocked it immediately.

…

Meanwhile, Li Ermei was seriously studying the materials.

Instructor Chen sat on the bed for a long while; she was still holding the materials, absorbed in reading.

“What are you looking at? Staying up this late—doesn’t it waste electricity?”

Li Ermei glared at him. “I’m studying. Don’t disturb me.”

Well, this was unusual.

Instructor Chen got off the bed and came over. Seeing Li Ermei actually studying properly, even marking the unknown words with a pen, he was surprised.

“Why the sudden interest in this?” he asked casually.

Li Ermei was blunt. “Because we don’t have enough to eat, I need to learn some skills to rely on myself.”

Instructor Chen rubbed his head. “What’s wrong? Who’s stopping you from eating enough?”

“I don’t want to argue with you. Go away and leave me alone.”

“……”

Instructor Chen quietly returned to bed, turned over, and tried not to look at her. But after a while, he still couldn’t sleep.

Looking back at Ermei studying, he couldn’t understand it. Life was fine, why go making things difficult?

Life wasn’t perfect, but compared to some families who could barely put food on the table, he felt content.

Having come from hard times himself, he assumed Li Ermei probably thought similarly.

He also guessed it might have something to do with the Xu and Gu families.

The next day, during military training, Instructor Chen went to find Gu Huayuan to chat.

“I heard you bought a wardrobe yesterday?” Instructor Chen smiled.

“Yeah, bought it a while ago, just got it set up yesterday.”

Instructor Chen sighed, hands behind his back. “Gu, I’m not saying this to criticize, but life still needs some frugality. Back in our day, we had it so hard. I shared one pair of pants with my brothers. When I was studying, we had just one corn bun a day…”

He sighed, looking at Gu Huayuan. “Even though life is better now, we can’t forget the hardships, right?” Gu Huayuan just looked at him like he was crazy. “Just say what you mean.”

Instructor Chen, stubborn as ever, said, “We must maintain a spirit of thrift and simplicity.”

“Wait, are you saying buying a wardrobe means we’re not being thrifty?” Gu Huayuan laughed. “If everyone thinks like that, the furniture factories should close. And the clothing factories, textile factories, food factories—close them all. Go back to the countryside and farm like before.”

Instructor Chen was left speechless. He cleared his throat. “It’s not really about the wardrobe. What I mean is, maybe let your wife stop teaching my wife too much about living well. Don’t you think our life now is decent enough? Why always be dissatisfied?” He glanced around, quietly complaining to Gu Huayuan, “She ignores me now, doesn’t sleep with me at night, doesn’t wait for me in the morning for meals.”

Gu Huayuan couldn’t help but punch him lightly. “You can’t even take care of your own wife and you blame mine? Get lost!”

With that, he turned and walked away, not wanting to deal with Instructor Chen.

Instructor Chen rubbed the sore spot, pouted, and went to find Xu Yuanzheng.

Xu Yuanzheng was also training in the morning; their engineering company required physical strength as well.

Instructor Chen repeated the earlier words to Xu Yuanzheng.

Xu Yuanzheng’s look of disdain became even clearer. “My wife earns her own money. If I can’t let her spend it, are you trying to make my life miserable?”

“…”

“I’m not even joking. My wife is so skinny; she really needs to eat better. She said this weekend she wants me to cook for her again, and I’ll have to eat in the cafeteria by myself. You can’t even compare to my wife, and you still dare to say that? Stay out of my way.”

Instructor Chen: “…”

For several consecutive days, Instructor Chen’s treatment at home plummeted.

Li Ermei wasn’t doing it on purpose, but she truly was busier than before.

Before, she only went to the farm to show off, so she’d procrastinate whenever she could.

Now she was learning for herself, so naturally, she was much more diligent.

She got up early to work with Lin Qiao, returned to eat, then went back to work for dinner. On the way back at noon, she’d stop by the farm to check on Xiao Qiao and ask about things she didn’t understand. Lunchtime was even tighter, so she just grabbed a quick bite. In the afternoon, she’d finish work with Xiao Qiao and then study after dinner.

She hadn’t studied much before and knew very little, so her learning ability wasn’t as good as Xiao Qiao’s. It was exhausting for her. She had even less energy.

But Li Ermei felt that this life was quite good—better than before. Learning a bit more every day gave her a sense of security.

She constantly felt more confident. With the knowledge she was gaining, when she returned to her hometown, she could even compete for a job at the commune’s farm. At least she’d have lighter work and more work credits. At the end of the year, she could even get some meat.

She shared her thoughts with Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao said happily, “If you want to learn more, after you finish learning about chickens, we can go to the provincial city to learn pig farming. I know a Teacher Sun at the farm; her partner is a pig farmer.”

Li Ermei felt embarrassed. “I’m just saying… I haven’t even learned chickens properly yet.”

“Then hurry up and learn! Having dreams is a good thing. Let me tell you, I also feel it’s really meaningful to do something yourself. It feels like you’re holding your fate in your own hands.”

If she had had this awareness before, if she had worked hard to learn skills, maybe she wouldn’t have been so heartbroken and desperate when facing her father’s betrayal.

Now she had even started to be thankful for this game. Even if she returned later, and Fat Cat didn’t help her, she wouldn’t feel so helpless as before.

“Hold your fate in your own hands,” Li Ermei said with longing. “That would be wonderful.”