RYEY -Chapter 264 Her Heart Stirred

Li Huan nodded. He had heard about it too—plastic sheeting was hard to come by and expensive. The village had already run out of money; if they wanted to buy it, they’d have to front the cost themselves.

But he was only a village head, not a savior. What’s more, he had already advanced quite a bit of money and ration coupons for the village. If this kept up, the villagers would start wondering where all his money was coming from.

“You can write to or call your elder brother,” Cheng Qiao suggested. “Military garrisons usually have access to things like this. We’ll pay for it. As for the money, each household can chip in a little.”

Li Huan’s eyes lit up. He packed up his things and went to take a bath, planning to go to the post office first thing in the morning to call his brother and ask him to find some plastic sheeting.

After his bath, Li Huan looked radiant. While he was washing, Cheng Qiao slipped into the space to take a bath as well. When she came out, Li Huan was waiting for her, his eyes shimmering.

That night, Li Huan really gave it his all, whispering again and again into Cheng Qiao’s ear that they should have a daughter—a girl just like her.

In the end, Cheng Qiao was utterly exhausted. She pushed Li Huan aside and flipped him over. “Have what baby? Little Li Ming is only a year and a half old. At least wait until he’s two!”

Li Huan lay down with a grin. They had indeed gone at it too many times today. If you really wanted a child, this wasn’t the way to do it—after all, this sort of thing was about quality, not quantity.

Early the next morning, Li Bing received a call from home. When he learned it was about winter wheat, he grew excited. If they could manage winter wheat back home, it would mean two harvests a year.

After hearing the situation, Qin Daqiang immediately made arrangements. In another week, Qin Guoqing was due to set off again, and this time he wouldn’t be leaving with an empty truck—it would be loaded full of plastic sheeting.

At the same time, Qin Guoqing brought along a bright red wool scarf he had carefully chosen, driving happily toward Xiangyang Village.

He had met Li Le two months earlier. She resembled Li Huan quite a bit—Li Huan had rather delicate features for a man, which made him especially good-looking—but Li Le had fully inherited Mother Li’s looks, her small face exceptionally pretty.

He had taken a liking to her at first sight. If Li Le weren’t still so young, he would have proposed an engagement already. This year she had been admitted to high school, so he brought a wool scarf as a congratulatory gift.

When Li Le returned from school that evening and saw Qin Guoqing sitting in the main room, her face instantly turned red. The two of them had already begun corresponding by letter, so they had a basic understanding of each other.

“Lele, I bought this especially for you. Congratulations on getting into high school.”

Li Le was delighted. The scarf was a beautiful color and the material even better. Still, she glanced at Cheng Qiao—if not for her second sister-in-law, she wouldn’t even have finished elementary school. So after accepting the scarf, she immediately placed it into Cheng Qiao’s hands.

Cheng Qiao felt awkward. Seeing Qin Guoqing’s slightly unhappy expression, she knew he had misunderstood, thinking Li Le didn’t like his gift.

“Lele, this is a gift Guoqing gave you. You can’t pass it on to someone else. If you want to thank me, you can do so later, after you start working—it won’t be too late then.”

Only then did Li Le notice Qin Guoqing. Feeling guilty, she didn’t dare lift her head. How could she be so careless with Guoqing’s feelings? But it was already done—what should she do now?

“Guoqing,” Cheng Qiao said, “Lele gave me what she thought was something good because she’s grateful to me. She’s still young and doesn’t know how to handle things like this. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Hearing this, Qin Guoqing understood. Lele often mentioned Cheng Qiao in her letters, saying that without her, who knew what would have become of the family.

Lele was a grateful girl—such a girl surely had good character. Realizing this, Qin Guoqing looked at Li Le with shining eyes, his tone growing sincere.

“I’m sorry, Lele. I overthought it. I really like your character. My father often says one must repay kindness—and you’re exactly that kind of person. I should learn from you.”

Cheng Qiao couldn’t help but laugh softly. Mother Li shook her head with a wry smile. Her silly daughter—thank goodness she had met Cheng Qiao; otherwise, who knew what would have happened.

“Dinner’s ready. Lele, go help Guoqing get the bowls and chopsticks.”

Li Le hurried out. She didn’t want to stay there for even a second longer—it was far too embarrassing.

Guoqing’s eyes darted, and he followed her out. Xu Hui, curious, quietly trailed behind them and saw Guoqing take something out of his pocket and hand it to Li Le.

At first, Li Le refused, but after Qin Guoqing said something to her, she shyly nodded and slipped the item into her pocket.

Xu Hui returned to the main room and whispered a few words into Cheng Qiao’s ear. Cheng Qiao wore an “as expected” expression, and Li Huan smiled too—he’d been through the same thing himself. This prospective brother-in-law was doing fairly well.

When Qin Guoqing returned to the main room and saw the spread on the table—chicken, duck, fish, and all kinds of mountain delicacies—his heart warmed. He knew the Li family was well-off, but they were usually very frugal.

Today’s lavish meal was clearly because he was here. Receiving such warm hospitality from the Li family, he resolved to treat Lele well in the future.

Looking at her handiwork, Mother Li felt it might be a bit over the top, but she truly liked this son-in-law—honest, steady, a soldier, and very good to Lele. Where else could she find such a match?

Xu Hui had already run out to fetch Grandpa Ye Jun. After all, Grandpa Ye Jun was his mother’s master—proper respect was a must.

When Ye Jun appeared at the table, Qin Guoqing suddenly felt constrained. After all, Ye Jun was Ye Chengying’s cousin—and Ye Chengying was their top leader.

Ye Jun naturally understood what Qin Guoqing was nervous about. After Cheng Qiao handed him a bowl of chicken soup and he took a sip, he said, “He is he, and I am me. I’m just Cheng Qiao’s master.”

Only then did Qin Guoqing relax. After dinner, he went to sleep in Ye Jun’s room.

He slept so deeply—an entire day and two nights—that Mother Li was nearly frightened into calling Uncle Ye over, but Li Huan stopped her.

Li Huan was already used to Qin Guoqing’s recovery sleep. He told Mother Li that Qin Guoqing must have been rushing nonstop on the way here—both physically and mentally at his limit.

Once he had eaten his fill, taken a hot bath, and truly relaxed, good sleep naturally followed. They absolutely shouldn’t wake him.

At last, a well-rested Qin Guoqing was ready to leave. Reluctantly holding Li Le’s hand, he told her to balance work and rest and not overexert herself. Then he drove off with a truck full of supplies.

Li Le watched Qin Guoqing’s figure fade into the distance. For the first time, she felt her young heart stir. Standing beside her, Mother Li watched and tears welled up—before she knew it, Lele had reached the age when she would soon be married.