AYLS – Chapter 88

Early in the morning, when Gu Huayuan went to train with the soldiers, he was frowning, looking deeply troubled.

Li Wentian, the instructor in the barracks, asked with concern, “Facing some difficulty? Speak up, and we’ll solve it together.”

Gu Huayuan sighed and shook his head. “This… you can’t solve. No one can.”

Li Wentian gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Underestimating people, huh? Acting distant? If you really put your heart into it, you think it can’t be solved? What kind of relationship do we have—don’t act distant.”

Gu Huayuan was silent for a moment, then said, “My wife is too clingy… can you solve that?”

“…”

Li Wentian froze for a moment, pressed his lips together, swallowed, then looked away in defeat, refusing to respond.

After a while, he couldn’t hold back: “Is there anyone as unreasonable as you? Picking on a lonely bachelor like me.”

Gu Huayuan looked quite innocent. “Aren’t you the one who kept asking?”

“…”

Li Wentian nodded, gritting his teeth. “Alright, fine. I was wrong. From now on, I won’t care about your nonsense anymore—I won’t act like a human.”

With that, he stormed back to the office, determined to find a partner for himself this year.

Finally having vented, Gu Huayuan felt relieved. He thought he should treat Comrade Lin Qiao even better in the future—otherwise, she’d feel too insecure. She couldn’t bear to be apart from him for even a moment.

He smiled, took off his coat, and joined the training.

By the time morning training ended, Gu Huayuan was ready to go back and cook for Lin Qiao when Zhang Tuo came looking for him.

“Shitou, you’re still not over it, huh?” Zhang Tuo looked a bit bitter.

Gu Huayuan wiped the sweat off his face, buttoned up his coat, and said, “I’m not angry.”

Zhang Tuo rolled his eyes. “Don’t lie—there’s been no news from you for days.”

Gu Huayuan glanced at him. “I know you’ve been busy. Your wife wasn’t feeling well—you had to take care of her, right?”

Zhang Tuo: “….”

He rubbed his forehead. “It’s okay. She’s slowly adjusting to life here and can eat a little every day now.”

Gu Huayuan nodded. “Congratulations. Focus on work too. You just arrived here, and everyone’s watching you.”

“I know. Right now, I just want to find a job for Li Yan. She can’t stay locked in the room forever. Honestly, it’s not just for her. If things at home are stable, I can put more energy into work too.”

The latter part of his words sounded defensive in Gu Huayuan’s ears.

Gu Huayuan didn’t bother arguing. He used to give advice, but now that his own wife had suffered grievances, he was too lazy to intervene. Though it didn’t harm their brotherly bond, venting frustration was inevitable.

“Arrange it however you want. The women in the courtyard have all started working too.”

Zhang Tuo felt awkward. “You know Li Yan’s situation. She can’t do fieldwork, so I wanted to ask if there’s another suitable job. I just got here and don’t know anyone yet.”

Gu Huayuan said, “I’m quite familiar with the provincial breeding farm. If your wife wants, I can arrange for her to learn the techniques there.”

Zhang Tuo: “….”

“Why, do you look down on raising chickens? My wife’s doing quite well at it, isn’t she?”

Zhang Tuo couldn’t say anything. He knew she probably couldn’t handle the work, but he couldn’t admit it. Otherwise, his brotherly bond with Shitou would be at risk.

“I’ll go ask for her opinion.”

“Go ahead. It’s a tough arrangement. Even when my wife went to learn, it took a lot of effort.”

Zhang Tuo nodded timidly. “Okay, got it. Shitou, sorry for troubling you.”

Seeing him like that, Gu Huayuan softened a little. “Zhang Tuo, you have to be firm when needed. Otherwise, life won’t go well. It’s good for both you and her.”

Even he had been ruthless with Comrade Lin Qiao back then. Thinking back, it still made him ache. But with a wife, it’s like raising a child—you have to think long-term. Life is long, and she has to grow up.

Just like his mother used to tell him: treat women well, but make sure they can survive on their own. Don’t let them become dependent vines. You can’t guarantee you’ll always be there. If she doesn’t grow up, you won’t even be able to rest peacefully when you’re gone.

Hearing the care in Gu Huayuan’s words, Zhang Tuo felt even more conflicted and nodded tightly. “Yes, I understand. I’ll try my best.”

Gu Huayuan asked, “Is money and supplies enough?”

“All good, all good,” Zhang Tuo shook his head. “Shitou, having you as a brother is great. About before… I wronged Comrade Lin Qiao.”

Gu Huayuan patted him. “It’s fine. Just focus on living your life well.”

By the time he returned for the meal, Lin Qiao had already prepared it.

She asked, dissatisfied, why he came back late today. Everyone else had returned early, even Captain Wang had come back to eat.

“I was talking with Zhang Tuo for a bit.”

Gu Huayuan quickly went to get the salty porridge and dumplings.

Lin Qiao asked, “What did you talk about?”

“Just about arranging a job for his wife.”

“Oh.” Lin Qiao nodded disinterestedly. It was rather unlucky timing. If before, she might have recommended Li Yan for Su Weizhen’s position—but now it wasn’t possible. That spot would be used to swap for work in this unit.

Although she hadn’t told Zhenzhen, Lin Qiao felt confident Su Weizhen would agree.

“Sounds like she wants to raise chickens.”

“Cough, cough…” Lin Qiao suddenly coughed.

“Who? Li Yan wants to raise chickens? Don’t lie to me.”

Gu Huayuan didn’t say whether he was lying, just smiled. “Why, you don’t want her to come?”

“Not exactly. Just seems impossible. But if she insists, I definitely won’t stop her. She can come, as long as she manages herself. But I’m clear—I won’t take care of her. She does what she needs to do.”

Gu Huayuan said, “Of course. If she’s willing, she has to work. How could I let my wife take care of her?”

Lin Qiao felt that was just about right. She was only afraid that Gu Huayuan, considering brotherly ties, would make her take care of someone else. She wouldn’t do that—she liked being taken care of, not taking care of others.

However, Lin Qiao didn’t believe at all that Li Yan had come to raise chickens. She thought Gu Huayuan was just joking, so after hearing it, she set it aside.

Instead, she waited until evening to specifically go find Su Weizhen and talk to her about Gu Huayuan’s suggestion: exchanging jobs for work.

This would make it easier to return to work in the army, and it wouldn’t make other military wives feel unfairly treated. The only downside was losing the money from selling the position.

But right now, Su Weizhen cared the least about money.

Although she couldn’t do business on the black market, she had already earned plenty before—enough to last a long time.

Her ideals had also changed, so she wasn’t as eager to make money anymore.

So, without hesitation, she made a decision to swap jobs.

She smiled and said, “No wonder your Gu is such a smart man.”

Lin Qiao felt proud but said modestly, “That’s just a little bit of cleverness. He also likes to bully people, nothing impressive.”

Su Weizhen laughed, “Anyway, he thought it through well. I think this plan is good. Since it’s a job exchange, I don’t even need to wait. I’ll go to Sister Zhang’s house later and hint at it, so I can transfer back earlier.”

Lin Qiao said, “The new chicken farm hasn’t been built yet. Why are you in such a hurry?”

Su Weizhen replied, “Perfect timing. When I come back, I can help you build the new chicken farm too, contribute a bit. We can’t just go pick up a ready-made one.”

Lin Qiao thought, as expected of a heroine, her thinking was truly different. “Zhenzhen, you’re amazing.”

That evening, the two of them went together to find Sister Zhang.

Sister Zhang was also studying ideological documents under the lamp after dinner. When she saw the two return, she even made a point to send Zhang Tuanzhang and her son out.

Lin Qiao and Su Weizhen didn’t waste time and went straight to the point.

Sister Zhang looked at Su Weizhen in surprise. “You’ve really thought this through? Let me be clear: even though the chicken farm currently pays wages to Lin Qiao and Ermei, when it expands later, our costs will certainly go down. Whether we can continue paying salaries is uncertain. It depends on performance.”

“Since Lin Qiao is here, I’ll also explain the farm’s future plan. The logistics department thinks that once the chicken farm expands, costs increase, but so does risk. If the farm ends up running at a loss, both your and Ermei’s salaries will need to be adjusted, and later you might only get paid in food.”

Lin Qiao felt a pang of sympathy for Li Ermei. “What if the farm does well?”

“Then of course, you’ll continue to get paid as usual.”

“That’s fine then. If it doesn’t go well, it’s our responsibility. We won’t complain if we don’t get punished. But Ermei and I will definitely try to raise the chickens well.”

Sister Zhang smiled, “You’ve got the right mindset. I didn’t want to discuss this earlier to avoid putting extra pressure on you.”

She then looked at Su Weizhen. “This is the situation. If you want to swap to teaching at the elementary school, that’s also fine. There are local teachers willing to work in the county, and you’d have a relatively easy job. But if you come to the chicken farm, the difference is huge. You must already know about the farm through Lin Qiao and Ermei, right?”

Sister Zhang was practical—she clearly laid out all the downsides and let Su Weizhen decide for herself.

Su Weizhen didn’t even hesitate. “I can accept all of this. I have the same mindset as Lin Qiao: if the farm does poorly and the pay is bad, we won’t blame anyone but ourselves for not working hard enough. I’m confident I can raise the chickens well.”

Lin Qiao added, “Sister-in-law, Zhenzhen also has experience raising chickens. Before I learned, she even guided me.”

Sister Zhang had nothing more to say. She was quite pleased with Su Weizhen’s attitude. A capable military spouse willing to do such hard work for the army shows a spirit of dedication.

“Since Comrade Su Weizhen is so determined, I definitely support this. I’ll help you arrange it. Once you’re committed, exchanging jobs won’t be difficult.”

Hearing this promise, Su Weizhen and Lin Qiao looked at each other happily and both nodded.

Su Weizhen smiled, “Thank you, Sister Zhang.”

Lin Qiao said, “Sister-in-law is the best.”

Sister Zhang laughed, “Don’t flatter me. Let’s see the results first. I’ve already said it—raising chickens is an important task. Once you’ve decided, you must deliver results.”

“Of course, of course.” Lin Qiao was confident. She had already tried, and this flock could be passed down generation after generation. Now with Zhenzhen joining, plus a golden hand boost, she was fully confident.

After leaving Sister Zhang’s place, Lin Qiao and Su Weizhen went to find Li Ermei and asked her to bring the study materials she had finished for Su Weizhen to review.

Li Ermei sighed. “Now raising chickens has become the hot commodity. Good workers don’t want to do it; they insist on raising chickens. No one would believe me if I said it.”

“We believe, that’s enough. Oh, Ermei, Sister Zhang also mentioned something today…”

Lin Qiao explained what Sister Zhang had said earlier.

Salaries would only be paid if the chickens were raised well; if not, only food would be given.

Li Ermei’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Su Weizhen said, “Really, I heard it too.”

Li Ermei was frustrated. “What am I going to do if there’s no salary? How will I have money later?” Seeing how unconcerned the two were, she felt even more frustrated. “You two aren’t worried?”

Both shook their heads. Lin Qiao said, “It’s fine. At least we’ll get food. We won’t starve. Gu Huayuan’s salary is for daily expenses, enough to cover it.”

Su Weizhen nodded. “Even though I have to send ten yuan home every month, if things are tight, my husband can also not send it.”

“…Spending a man’s money like that—don’t you think it’s not assertive enough?” Li Ermei thought using her own money showed more strength.

She had assumed Su Weizhen and Lin Qiao thought like her.

But both shook their heads.

Lin Qiao said, “Gu Huayuan’s and mine—whose is whose? Mine is his, his is mine.”

Su Weizhen said, “Exactly. Isn’t living together about supporting each other? When one person runs into trouble, the other steps in. Otherwise, why get married? You might as well live alone. And if you have a kid later, are you going to raise it all by yourself? When the child grows up, won’t they need a father too?”

This answer successfully stirred Li Ermei’s endless resentment toward Instructor Chen.

Yeah, isn’t living together supposed to be about helping each other out when times are tough? Old Chen was clearly unreliable.

Before, things had already gone off track. Poor Old Chen…

Just kicking Old Chen out to eat in the cafeteria wouldn’t be enough—they had to keep the household accounts in order!