AYLS – Chapter 83

Suíyuǎn County’s town wasn’t big, and the things sold there weren’t many. But for Li Ermei, it was already quite good.

The money she had on hand could still stretch a long way in the county.

She bought some brown sugar to nourish her body, a few red dates to chew on, and some fine grains to cook porridge for herself.

She also cut two catties of meat to take home, planning to cure it, then cook herself a piece each day.

As for clothes, she couldn’t bear to buy any. The old ones would do. After all, someone who had gone hungry before knew that food was more important than clothing. Money had to be saved for food later.

She had originally thought of buying something for Old Chen too, but after gritting her teeth, she didn’t.

Buy it for what? When he didn’t even care about her, why should she go out of her way to care about him?

So when she went home, carrying big and small bags, there wasn’t a single thing bought for Instructor Chen.

Instead, she even bought some rock sugar for Lin Qiao, bringing it back from the chicken farm for Lin Qiao to eat.

Lin Qiao popped a piece into her mouth. She hadn’t been fond of sweets before, but after going a long time without snacks, her tastes had changed. Besides, the rock sugar in this era was actually quite good—very pure, almost like the handmade rock sugar prepared by her family’s chef back home.

Li Ermei counted on her fingers and told Lin Qiao what she had bought.

She said she bought brown sugar to replenish her body. She wanted to buy red beans but couldn’t get any, though she did manage to get glutinous rice. That stuff wasn’t easy to come by—she just happened to be lucky.

These were all things the clinic doctor said she should eat to nourish her blood. Only by eating more could she have children.

With a piece of rock sugar in her mouth, Lin Qiao said, “You’re still so angry, yet you still want to have his child?”

“How can a woman not have children? And it’s not for him—it’s for myself. Later on, when I raise the child well, the child will treat me well, not that old geezer.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

She actually found that quite reasonable.

At noon, Instructor Chen came home and saw his wife had bought a bunch of things.

He frowned as he flipped through them, thinking none of it was really useful. There was plenty of grain at home, and brown sugar was only for entertaining guests—but they didn’t even have guests, so what was the point of keeping it?

And what use were red dates?

As he was going through the items, Li Ermei came in with a bucket of water. Seeing him looking through her stuff, she immediately went over and put everything away.

“What are you looking at? I bought it.”

Instructor Chen said, “No, Ermei, why did you buy all this? Even though you’re making money now, we can’t spend like this. We need to live frugally.”

“I earned it. None of your business. Oh, and I didn’t make your meal today. Go take your bowl to the canteen.”

Li Ermei poured the water into the vat, then lifted the lid of the pot. Inside were coarse grains steamed with red dates, and a few pieces of meat.

But the portion was small, clearly enough for only one person.

Instructor Chen: “What are you doing? How can a married couple eat separately like this?”

While scooping rice, Li Ermei said, “You’d better get used to it. From now on, this is how it’ll be. We’ll eat separately—I’ll cook for myself at home, and you go eat at the canteen. Each person eats their own.”

Instructor Chen: “… Li Ermei, what’s wrong with you? Why have you suddenly become like this?”

“I’ve had enough of you!” Li Ermei turned around, hands on her hips, glaring at him. “You’re asking why I suddenly became like this? Just look at me now. Then look at Lin Qiao and Su Weizhen—their health, their complexion. Do I look like I’ve been treated right? We’ve been married for two years, and my health has deteriorated so badly I can’t even conceive, yet you don’t care about me at all. Whatever we have at home, you just send it back to your family, never sparing a thought for me. How can I keep living like this? If you don’t cherish your wife, then don’t eat your wife’s cooking! Go eat at the canteen!”

With that, she grabbed her bowl and walked out, planning to go to Lin Qiao’s house, leaving Instructor Chen standing there, dumbfounded.

At Lin Qiao’s house, they were eating when they saw Li Ermei arrive, so they quickly invited her to join them.

Lin Qiao was having white rice, stir-fried greens with eggs, and salted pork stir-fried with cabbage. She had prepared and washed all the ingredients in advance, and when Gu Huayuan came back, he just cooked them. The two cooperated well, saving time at noon, and naturally the meal was plentiful.

The more Li Ermei looked, the more suffocated she felt.

But since Gu Huayuan was there, she felt somewhat restrained and didn’t eat freely.

Lin Qiao ran to grab a pair of chopsticks and served her some dishes. “Don’t be shy, it’s rare for you to come eat with me.”

Li Ermei was deeply touched. See, this was what sisterhood was.

Lin Qiao then asked her, “Is Instructor Chen eating alone at home?”

“No, I didn’t cook for him. I told him to go to the canteen. I don’t care about him anymore.” She told Lin Qiao about her decision, showing her firm determination to resist to the end.

Lin Qiao was thrilled. “Serves him right, that’s exactly what you should do! What kind of man makes his wife live such a miserable life?” She glanced at Gu Huayuan. “Gu Huayuan, don’t you dare turn bad.”

Gu Huayuan gave a grunt. “If I turned bad, I wouldn’t even get food at the canteen.” After all, all his money and ration tickets had been handed over. He’d be left drinking cold air.

Lin Qiao said, “If you turn bad, then I’ll have nothing to eat.” After all, she couldn’t cook.

The two looked at each other, a wordless understanding passing between them.

With a piece of egg in her mouth, Li Ermei suddenly found it hard to swallow. God, why did she suddenly feel so stuffed?

As for Li Ermei’s decision, at first Instructor Chen thought it was only temporary, that she’d calm down once her anger passed.

Yesterday, he figured Ermei was still mad about him sending money back home. Since he’d just done it, of course she was upset. After some time, her anger would fade.

After all, what family didn’t send money back home? That was just how life worked.

Instructor Chen thought it would blow over—until he had been eating at the canteen for several days straight. People even started asking him about it, and only then did he feel embarrassed and realize this wasn’t going to resolve itself so easily.

Because he hadn’t put in the effort earlier, now that time had passed, Li Ermei felt her life had genuinely improved. She especially enjoyed not having to cook for others, earning her own money, supporting herself, and eating well.

So when Instructor Chen mentioned wanting to come back home for meals, Li Ermei didn’t even bother responding.

What’s more, after Su Weizhen learned how eager she was to have children, she even taught her how to calculate her ovulation days.

So Li Ermei only got close to Instructor Chen on days when she was likely to conceive. The rest of the time, she completely ignored him.

Even a fool could tell this wasn’t a normal way for a married couple to live.

So he went to complain to Xu Yuanzheng and Gu Huayuan, even treating them to a meal at the canteen.

“Tell me, is this still what you’d call a married couple? This is way too abnormal. Old Xu… you’ve got to help me. Your wife and my Ermei are on really good terms right now…”

Xu Yuanzheng kept eating in big mouthfuls, ignoring him.

Instructor Chen then turned to Gu Huayuan, who asked Xu Yuanzheng, “Old Xu, I had someone bring back some Snow Cream from the provincial capital for my wife. Want me to share a bit with you?”

“Of course, of course I do. My wife’s been going on about it for ages. She says now that the weather’s getting hot and dry, her face feels uncomfortable without it. She was even planning to switch to clam oil.”

Gu Huayuan said, “If you have the means, it’s better to use snow cream. Smells better too. Honestly, clam oil is a bit greasy.”

Xu Yuanzheng asked, “How do you know?”

“…I heard from my wife. She only uses snow cream now. And it has to be the kind bought from the capital—I even have to ask people to bring it over for her.”

“Ah, then next time, get some for me too. It’s nice having so many connections like you. My wife wants things too, but I never know who to ask.”

Xu Yuanzheng truly admired Gu Huayuan’s connections. Deep down, he was envious, but it wasn’t something envy could change. First, there was family background. Second, Gu Huayuan’s personality naturally drew friends from everywhere.

Instructor Chen just stood there dumbfounded, watching the two suddenly start chatting about snow cream and clam oil…

As for these thoughts, Li Ermei knew nothing about them. She was busy. Since the farm had stored up enough eggs, the logistics department announced they would start distributing eggs to everyone. Both she and Lin Qiao had to help.

The rule was: one per household, and every child who had helped catch bugs got one too.

This was only fair, since the children had all helped, and Lin Qiao had been keeping careful count each time.

It was Lin Qiao and Li Ermei who went door to door delivering the eggs.

Everyone who received one was overjoyed.

Parents, knowing their children had been longing for it, boiled the eggs in the shell that very day so the kids could eat them.

So after dinner, the children all came running to Lin Qiao, holding their eggshells, eager to share their happiness.

“Big Sister Qiao, this egg is so delicious, way better than bird eggs.”

“Does this mean we’ll get to eat them often from now on?”

“Catching bugs is easier than catching fish. Sister Qiao, let’s go fishing again next time.”

“…”

Watching the children nibble carefully at the eggs, reluctant to finish them, their faces beaming with joy, Lin Qiao felt completely satisfied.

She hadn’t expected her spur-of-the-moment idea to actually succeed.

But she had fulfilled her promise.

“Raising chickens really is a great undertaking.”

The weather was gradually heating up. By late April and early May, the rise in temperature was already obvious.

For Lin Qiao, this was a good thing—it was the perfect climate for the chicks’ growth.

The eighteen chicks she had kept were thriving right under her nose. Unlike others who usually lost some to illness or mishaps, every chick that hatched normally turned out healthy and strong.

Lin Qiao hadn’t used the special feed from Su Weizhen’s space—she fed them regular feed from outside. From her observations, while they didn’t grow as fast as the first batch, they were still developing sturdily.

Overall, they were superior to ordinary breeds.

And with zero losses after hatching, Lin Qiao’s reputation as a chicken-raising expert was firmly established. More and more people came to her lessons.

They listened attentively, eager to learn the trade. Even if they didn’t work at the farm in the future, they could take the skill back home with them.

It was also worth mentioning that the military compound had already distributed eggs twice. After tasting the benefits, everyone supported the development of the chicken farm. Whenever they went foraging for wild greens and found bugs or plants suitable for chickens, they brought them back to the farm.

Even Sister Zhang suggested, if they could handle it, they should hurry and hatch another batch of chicks to expand the farm. That way, there would be even more eggs to go around, and the surplus could be traded for other supplies for military families.

If the scale grew large enough, they could even supply the military canteen.

As for feed, there was no need to worry. With the reclaimed land producing well, and chicks not eating much, raising them was manageable. In fact, as the soldiers said, if each person saved just a mouthful of coarse grain, they could raise a chicken to lay eggs—providing them with an egg a day. It was a very worthwhile exchange.

When they heard talk of expansion, both Li Ermei and Lin Qiao were overjoyed.

“Ermei, our farm’s scale is really growing. We’ll need to hire people in the future. You’ve got to learn properly now. Later, you can be the master and take on apprentices yourself.”

Li Ermei, her complexion looking better by the day and her appearance more presentable after spending so much time with Lin Qiao and the others, smiled proudly. “I don’t even like teaching. If someone doesn’t listen to me, I just won’t teach them.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

Always had to ruin the uplifting mood.

Forget it—just a sharp tongue, soft heart.

Lin Qiao also discussed the matter with Su Weizhen. She decided that for the third batch, they would use chicks from Su Weizhen’s space again, in hopes of expanding this superior chicken line and passing on the strong genes generation after generation.

Su Weizhen immediately patted her chest and promised, “No problem. Whatever you need, I’ll get it arranged for you.”