AYLS – Chapter 89

Once Li Ermei got angry, she immediately started thinking of ways to mess with Old Chen.

That night, when she went back to her room to sleep, she actually talked to Instructor Chen, telling him to come back for dinner tomorrow.

Instructor Chen was overjoyed. “Ermei, you’ve finally come to your senses?”

“Come to my senses? I’ve always thought this way.”

“But you didn’t let me eat at home before. You don’t know how embarrassing it is for me to eat in the canteen. Everyone asks me every time.”

Li Ermei thought to herself: serves you right. If you hadn’t been so unhelpful at home, who would treat you like this?

Then she thought about Lin Qiao and Su Weizhen’s husbands—it was really incomparable.

“But wanting to come back for dinner isn’t a problem. From now on, you’ll have to contribute to living expenses—you can’t just eat by yourself.”

“Of course, I will. How could I eat your share? I’ll definitely contribute.”

Li Ermei said, “The standard can’t be the same as before. Hiring someone to cook isn’t just a few coins, right?”

Instructor Chen replied, “Ermei, don’t say that. We’re married. What hiring or not hiring?”

“What marriage! Their wives even manage the money for their husbands. As for our home, I only work, and I barely have any money. It’s not even as good as being a nanny for wealthy families before.”

“Li Ermei, don’t talk nonsense!” Instructor Chen sat up in anger.

They didn’t speak in the darkness.

If it were before, Li Ermei would have pinched his arm, hard. But now she was too lazy to bother.

She just wanted money, to get what was rightfully hers.

Why should her husband’s money be spent on others while she lived in hardship?

If she had to truly rely on herself, why even get married?

Old Chen was lucky to have a wife.

Li Ermei, too agitated to sleep, got up and took the family ledger to calculate household expenses for Instructor Chen, tallying how much they spent on food and daily necessities each day.

“This is calculated based on normal living standards, not like before. Before, my health was poor—I couldn’t even get pregnant. My cycle was always late. We have to use this standard. The doctor said so.”

Instructor Chen looked at the ledger silently. Household expenses had just doubled.

He’d end up sending less money home. But seeing Ermei’s face looking healthier recently made him feel uneasy.

Before, Ermei really didn’t look well. After he started eating in the canteen, she got better. This proved he, as a husband, wasn’t good enough to take care of his wife.

Instructor Chen thought their life was oddly complicated. Life was this way before—his mother had given birth to several children without any trouble. Why couldn’t his generation live like that?

“Anyway, if you don’t agree, you can continue eating in the canteen. I have no reason to earn money to support myself and cook for you. You wouldn’t even be able to let me eat a proper meal.”

“…I didn’t say that,” Instructor Chen said, feeling both humiliated and guilty.

Li Ermei asked, “So what do you think? Do you want to keep eating in the canteen?”

Of course Instructor Chen didn’t want that. He still wanted a proper life.

Eating in the canteen every day was no way to live.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Li Ermei to eat only what she earned herself while he ate his own share. Though he hated the extra expense, he knew this opportunity was rare.

Otherwise, Ermei would force him to eat in the canteen again in the future.

Fine, he’d just tell his family that food was hard to buy here and they had to spend a little more.

Instructor Chen said, “Alright, let’s do it this way. But no more, Ermei.”

Li Ermei glared at him. “We’ll see about the future. What if food prices go up?”

“…”

Instructor Chen felt that all these trivial matters—the rice, oil, and salt—were exhausting.

But at least the family situation was temporarily resolved. Finally, he could focus on work with peace of mind.

With the matter settled, Li Ermei was happy too. The next day, she told Lin Qiao about it at work.

Lin Qiao was puzzled. “If you’re unhappy, you can just change.”

“Change what? Change men?”

Lin Qiao nodded.

Li Ermei widened her eyes, feeling her worldview was completely overturned. “How could I change? Marriage is a lifetime commitment. If I switched men, wouldn’t I be drowned in scorn?”

Lin Qiao thought about it—indeed, thoughts here and in the future were different.

Li Ermei said, “Besides, if I switched, it would actually be a good deal for Old Chen. He has no kids, a position, a salary—he could easily find a young virgin. I’m different. As a second wife, I’d only be a stepmother to someone else’s kids. No way I’m doing that.”

Lin Qiao felt a little sad listening to this.

In her previous life, there was no such concept. Her friends could marry once, twice, even multiple times—no one said a word. After getting their inheritance, they still lived exquisite and glamorous lives. Boyfriends could be changed month to month.

It all came down to confidence.

“Ermei, let’s focus on running the chicken farm well. Do it properly. Try to earn a steady salary, and keep increasing it. If Instructor Chen treats you badly again, we’ll stop feeding him. Make him understand who’s boss.”

Li Ermei said, “Exactly. If it weren’t for the army canteen, I could make sure Old Chen couldn’t eat a single meal.”

The two of them, so motivated, suddenly became workaholics, full of energy and drive.

On the other side, in the office, Instructor Chen felt a bit guilty as he wrote a letter home, saying that food was hard to come by here, so the money sent home would be reduced by ten yuan for now.

He added that if the allowance increased in the future, the difference would be made up, so the family shouldn’t worry. He told them to eat and drink well and not to let the nephews and nieces go without. He also reassured them not to worry about him—he was doing fine, with enough food and drink in the unit. Ermie treated him well and took good care of him. Everything was going smoothly.

…

Meanwhile, as Lin Qiao’s chicks were about to hatch, Sister Zhang brought good news to Su Weizhen. Someone was willing to swap jobs with her.

It was the wife of a company instructor from the Third Battalion. She was local, her family lived in the county, and after marrying, she had always worked at the school here, handling logistics and bookkeeping.

According to Sister Zhang, since Su Weizhen would eventually need to go to the chicken farm, she needed a position that could be transferred easily.

This logistics bookkeeping position would conveniently allow her to handle the accounts for the chicken farm as well and participate in chicken farming.

Su Weizhen could handle office work at the unit, and this job was a perfect fit.

The other person was happy to switch and wanted to work in the county.

“Now it just depends on whether your side is really settled.”

“It’s settled!” Su Weizhen said happily. “No problem here. I’ll apply to the unit tomorrow. My side will be fine too. I’m not a technician, so there’s no obstacle.”

She felt a bit embarrassed. She had previously thought she could just continue doing this job forever. In this era, workers were also a highly respected group with good benefits. She had never thought about whether she could become someone important to the unit.

She couldn’t be so muddled in the future.

Sister Zhang also smiled. “Then I’ll wait for your news. Switching here is convenient too.”

Su Weizhen nodded with a smile.

After Sister Zhang left, Ermie ran over from next door. “How did it go?”

“It’s done, almost finalized,” Su Weizhen said with a cheerful smile. “I need to tell Lin Qiao.”

“You have to, she’s been thinking about it.”

The two of them went together to Lin Qiao’s house.

Lin Qiao was happy to hear the news. The three of them gathered in the yard to discuss how to carry out the work in the future.

They chatted excitedly for a long while, only realizing it was late and time to go back and rest.

When Lin Qiao went inside, she was still humming a tune. Gu Huayuan had never heard the song and thought she was just humming randomly, but he could sense Lin Qiao’s joy. “You’re that happy?”

“Of course! You don’t understand how I feel.” Zhenzhen had joined her with her “golden touch” ability. With hard work plus this ability, what could stop her from achieving great things?

Lin Qiao lay proudly on the bed, one foot resting on her bent knee, her calf twitching.

Gu Huayuan sat beside her, grabbed her foot, and straightened her leg. “Don’t do that.”

“Mind your own business.” Lin Qiao pouted and turned over, her mood too good to argue. Then she asked, “Hey, didn’t you say Li Yan wanted to raise chickens? Why hasn’t she started? Was she lying to me?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe she changed her mind?” Gu Huayuan didn’t press Zhang Tuo about it. Everything that needed to be said had been said.

Lin Qiao said, “That shows it’s still not suitable. In our line of work, you have to be determined and genuinely devoted to the cause—like me.”

Gu Huayuan: “…Isn’t that true for any job?”

Lin Qiao kicked him with her foot and pulled the covers over herself. “Don’t bother me today. I need to plan the work at the chicken farm carefully. This is important.”

Gu Huayuan: “…“

The job switch was quickly finalized.

Su Weizhen handled everything efficiently, as her position was quite good.

The person who came over wasn’t as qualified as her and could only work on the front lines as a record-keeper. She gained an office position, so the coal yard leaders were very happy. They didn’t even try to retain her, instead encouraging Su Weizhen that anywhere she worked, she was contributing to the country’s development and should not slack off.

Su Weizhen smiled politely, but inwardly, she felt annoyed. She thought her time at this unit had been wasted.

In contrast, the compound was abuzz with news of her job switch.

Since it was a transfer, official notices had to be issued.

When people saw that Su Weizhen would also be involved in chicken farming part-time, they realized she had returned from the county unit.

Those who heard the news all thought the same thing: what was Su Weizhen thinking?

Lin Qiao raised chickens to get food for the kids.

Ermie raised chickens for the benefits.

What was Su Weizhen after?

Such a good unit, and she just gave it up. People felt a pang of sympathy.

The key point: the chicken farm had gained another person…

But she swapped her work herself, so no one could say anything.

Because the compound was so lively with discussions, even Zhang Tuo and his wife, who didn’t usually socialize much, heard about it.

Zhang Tuo had eaten with Su Weizhen before, so he knew her. He listened carefully when he heard the news.

After hearing it, he felt a bit overwhelmed. Was raising chickens really that worthwhile?

Lin Qiao was raising chickens. Ermie was raising chickens. Even Su Weizhen, who had a stable unit job, returned to raise chickens.

Zhang Tuo began reflecting: had his previous thinking been influenced by Li Yan? He had slowly ranked jobs in his mind.

That was really wrong.

Even if Li Yan looked down on raising chickens, he shouldn’t have thought she couldn’t do it. Any job in the world can be done.

If others could do it, it meant the job was possible; he had just overthought it. He shouldn’t have had such narrow thinking before.

Right now, Li Yan was living at home every day like a lifeless wooden doll, and Zhang Tuo was worried that if this went on too long, she might lose her will entirely.

She still needed to work—needed to learn some new skills.