Chapter 27
Ye Qingzhi was not wrong. Li Jinfeng was so curious that after putting her things away at home, she brought her children to her house to sit.
“Sister Qingzhi, what happened with your ex-husband? Tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Li Jinfeng said, quickly handing Ye Qingzhi things as she prepared to knit a sweater.
Those who promised never to tell anyone would definitely tell others.
It didn’t matter. What Ye Qingzhi wanted was for Li Jinfeng to tell others, preferably to let everyone know how much of a scumbag her ex-husband was.
“My ex-husband left home to work on the Third Front when my second son was just a month old. At first, there were letters, and he sent money a few times. But after four months, I couldn’t contact him anymore. It wasn’t until three years later that he suddenly sent a letter and thirty yuan, saying that something had happened and he couldn’t contact me. Later, he wrote a few more letters intermittently, but he never sent money again. He said he was saving money to buy a house to bring me and our sons over for a reunion,” Ye Qingzhi sighed softly.
“What happened after that? How did he get sick and die?” Li Jinfeng asked anxiously.
“More than four months ago, I suddenly received a last letter, saying that he had already passed away from illness. I fainted right then. At that moment, I really felt like the sky was falling. My father-in-law favored my stepmother-in-law and stepson. He thought my ex-husband had left me an inheritance and forced me to hand over the last letter. The next day, he went with me to the commune to call my ex-husband’s work unit.” At this point, Ye Qingzhi’s eyes reddened, and tears welled up.
“The comrade at the commune was very nice. He helped me find my ex-husband’s friend’s phone number. I… I only then found out that he had someone else outside for a long time. He hadn’t come home or sent money all these years. It turned out he had been using it to support another woman.” Thinking of the three months of farm work, Ye Qingzhi’s tears couldn’t stop flowing.
Three whole months! She hadn’t done that much work in her entire thirty years of her past life.
“Damn him! Your ex-husband is not a human being! He’s an animal! No, he’s worse than an animal!” Li Jinfeng cursed loudly.
Ye Qingzhi wiped her tears. “With no man at home and the children still young, my father-in-law and stepmother-in-law were still eyeing my house. You know the situation in the countryside, Sister Jinfeng. If I didn’t remarry, I really would have had no way to live. It was just good luck. An auntie from the same village was friends with Qiming’s aunt. It just so happened that Qiming was home visiting relatives. They said we should meet, and then it happened.”
Li Jinfeng held Ye Qingzhi’s hand, her face full of heartache. “It’s all in the past. From now on, you’ll have a life of happiness.”
Ye Qingzhi nodded, her voice choked with emotion. “Qiming is very good to me.”
“I can tell that Regiment Commander He is very good to you.” Li Jinfeng glanced at Yangyang and leaned over to whisper in Ye Qingzhi’s ear, “Are Anmin and Anjie your children from your previous marriage? Is Jingyan adopted? So Regiment Commander He only has Yangyang as his son?”
“Yes, Yangyang is Qiming and his ex-wife’s child.” Since it had come to this, there was no need to hide it anymore.
Li Jinfeng held Ye Qingzhi’s hand. “Sister, listen to me. Hurry up and have a child of your own. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl. Only with a child in common can a husband and wife be of one mind.”
Ah, this…
To be honest, Ye Qingzhi had no thoughts of having a child at the moment, and she even had plans not to.
Both He Qiming and she already had their own biological children. With He Jingyan, the four children were all sensible, obedient, and hardworking. There was no need to have another one.
Of course, she couldn’t say this to Li Jinfeng. The mainstream thinking now was that more children meant more blessings. Ye Qingzhi’s idea was considered heretical and would definitely not be accepted.
“We just got married. There’s no hurry,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.
But the last two nights had been very late, and they hadn’t used any contraception. Could she be pregnant?
No, she had to discuss it with He Qiming. They didn’t want a child now, so they had to take precautions.
“You’re still young. It’s fine to wait a couple of years. But me, I’m already twenty-eight this year. I had a difficult birth with my fourth and it hurt my body. I don’t know if I can still have children,” Li Jinfeng said with a worried look.
This time, it was Ye Qingzhi’s turn to comfort Li Jinfeng. “You’re only twenty-eight, the best time of a woman’s life. How can you not be able to have children? Sister Jinfeng, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Too much pressure is not good for getting pregnant.”
In fact, Li Jinfeng was not afraid of not being able to get pregnant, but of having another daughter.
Don’t think she didn’t know. Many people in the village were laughing at her behind her back, saying that she had done something wicked in her past life and was now destined to have a belly full of daughters.
The two of them chatted for a while. Seeing that the children were about to come home from school, Li Jinfeng got up to leave.
“Don’t go back. Just have dinner at my place,” Ye Qingzhi said, pulling Li Jinfeng back.
Of course, Li Jinfeng couldn’t agree. Despite Ye Qingzhi’s attempts to keep her, she insisted on taking her children home.
Looking at her back, Ye Qingzhi wiped away her tears, a slight smile on her lips. It probably wouldn’t be long before the military compound knew what kind of person her ex-husband was, and that she was a pitiful but good woman.
“Mama, don’t cry.” Yangyang took out a small handkerchief to wipe Ye Qingzhi’s tears.
“Mm, Mama won’t cry. Our Yangyang is so thoughtful.” Ye Qingzhi kissed Yangyang’s forehead hard and felt his small hand. It was warm, so he probably wasn’t cold.
She cooked dinner that night, stir-frying some dried cabbage. He Qiming brought back two dishes from the canteen and also some steamed buns. Compared to the life in the village back home, this was simply heaven.
“I didn’t expect dried cabbage to be so delicious,” He Qiming said. It was his first time eating dried cabbage.
“There’s still a lot of dried cabbage. If you like it, I’ll stir-fry some more tomorrow,” Ye Qingzhi said, quickly cleaning up.
She washed her hands, poured a basin of hot water, added some white vinegar, and soaked her hands in it.
“Is this useful?” He Qiming knew that Ye Qingzhi wanted to get rid of the calluses on her hands.
Ye Qingzhi washed her hands with clean water, massaged them with clam oil, and then held them out to He Qiming. “Do you think it’s useful?”
Her ten fingers were like bamboo shoots, her wrists like white lotus roots. Ye Qingzhi’s skin was fair and tender. If not for the faint calluses on her palms and fingertips, you couldn’t tell that these were hands that often did farm work.
“They are much softer. If you keep it up for a while, they might be gone,” He Qiming said with a smile, gently kneading Ye Qingzhi’s hands.
“Don’t you think I’m being wasteful?” Ye Qingzhi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“As long as you like it, what’s wasteful about it? Besides, I’m the one who benefits,” he said. He didn’t object to his wife dressing up, as long as it wasn’t too heavy.
Ye Qingzhi’s lips curved into a slight smile, and she shot him a look. “You.”
He Qiming looked at her coquettish expression, his heart on fire. The children had already gone back to their rooms to rest. He boldly kissed Ye Qingzhi’s red lips, picked her up by the waist, and strode back to the room.
“Ah!” Ye Qingzhi hugged He Qiming’s neck, her mind filled with: Is this a princess carry?
She was afraid that He Qiming would throw her on the heated brick bed. This was a heated brick bed, not a spring bed from a later generation. The bottom was hard. If he threw her like that, it would definitely hurt.
Fortunately, He Qiming was reliable. He gently placed her on the bed, then pressed himself on top of her.
The two of them fooled around until the middle of the night. If Ye Qingzhi hadn’t repeatedly waved the white flag, they might have gone on until dawn.
“You should also take it easy. You have to work during the day,” Ye Qingzhi said, holding her waist. Thinking of what Li Jinfeng had said about having children during the day, her face turned pale.
Could she really be pregnant?
She had recalled the entire process of the original host’s pregnancy and childbirth, which had scared her to death.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Seeing Ye Qingzhi’s pale face, He Qiming sat up with a whoosh and looked at her with concern.
“No, we haven’t used any contraception these few times. I’m afraid I’ll get pregnant,” Ye Qingzhi said. Worried that He Qiming would misunderstand, she quickly explained, “It’s not that I don’t want to have a child for you. It’s just that we just got married, and the few children are in a period of adjustment. To suddenly have a child of our own at this time, I don’t think it’s very appropriate.”
He Qiming thought about it. Their current situation was indeed not suitable for having a child.
“We don’t lack children. There’s really no need to rush to have one. What do you think?” Ye Qingzhi threw the question to He Qiming.
“Mm, I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow to ask about contraception,” He Qiming nodded.
He Qiming was not stupid. On the contrary, he was very observant. He could see that Ye Qingzhi was very afraid of having children.
Just as Ye Qingzhi had said, they did not lack children. If Ye Qingzhi did not want to have one, she did not have to.
The next morning, Ye Qingzhi, as expected, woke up late. If not for the children’s cheers, she could have slept a little longer.
“Anmin, what are you shouting about?” Ye Qingzhi asked loudly.
“Mama, snow! Very thick snow! We want to go out and build a snowman,” Ye Anjie said, running in and leaning over Ye Qingzhi’s bed.
Hearing this, Ye Qingzhi could no longer lie in bed. As a true southerner, although she had seen snow, the snow back home would melt as soon as it hit the ground and could never accumulate.
She put on her clothes, hat, and scarf. After thinking for a moment, she also put on her gloves. After being fully armed, Ye Qingzhi went out with the few children.
Looking at the vast white expanse, the inexperienced Ye Qingzhi and the few children all exclaimed in amazement.
“Mama, it’s so beautiful!” Ye Anmin happily jumped into a snowdrift.
Ye Anjie cheered and ran for a while, then with a plop, he jumped directly into a snowdrift, leaving only a human-shaped depression.
Seeing this, Ye Anmin jumped in next to him and was also buried in the snow.
Yangyang kept exclaiming “wow” and jumping up and down, shouting, “Mama, me too, me too!”
Their own yard was very clean, with nothing sharp underneath. The children’s clothes were very thick, and the snow was so thick that they wouldn’t get hurt if they fell.
Ye Qingzhi patted his little bottom. “Go ahead. Jump next to your brother. Don’t jump on him.”
“Yay!” Yangyang jumped up excitedly. Unfortunately, he was too small and couldn’t jump high enough. He could only fall forward a little.
“Hahaha, Yangyang is a little fool,” Ye Anjie said, having already stood up. He grabbed a small snowball and threw it at Yangyang.
“Yangyang is not a fool. Yangyang is the best,” Yangyang said, turning his head to look at Ye Qingzhi, wanting his mother’s affirmation.
Ye Qingzhi smiled and nodded. “That’s right. Our Yangyang is the best.”
Of the four children, three were already buried in the snow. Only He Jingyan stood there coolly. The few of them all looked at him.
He Jingyan took a step back. “I’m not jumping. It’s childish.”
“Brother, big brother said we’re childish,” Ye Anjie said, giving Ye Anmin a look.
After all, they were real brothers who had lived together for many years. With just one look, Ye Anmin knew what Ye Anjie was up to.
The two of them had grabbed a snowball at some point and threw it at He Jingyan at the same time.
He Jingyan’s reaction was quite fast. He dodged one. Seeing his two younger brothers throw another one, he started to fight back.
“Mama, fight…” Yangyang was already in Ye Qingzhi’s arms, pointing blankly at his three older brothers having a snowball fight.
“The brothers are just playing. Does Yangyang want to play?” Seeing him nod, Ye Qingzhi put him on the ground and said loudly, “Yangyang is coming! Don’t hit Yangyang.”
Ye Qingzhi watched them play and grabbed a handful of snow. She hadn’t expected the snow in the Northwest to be different from the snow in the south.
The snow in the south had a lot of water. If she grabbed a handful like this, her hand would be full of water after it melted. But here it was different. It was light and fluffy, and the flakes were large, like cotton. The most important thing was that there wasn’t much water after it melted.
“Mama, I want to build a snowman,” Ye Anjie said, panting as he ran over.
“Alright, then let’s see who can build a better one,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.
Yangyang was still small, so the two of them were a team. The other three brothers each built one.
“Oh, you’re building a snowman?” Zhang Dama knocked on the door and looked at them with a chuckle. “Come to my house for dinner tonight. You and the children too.”
“Alright,” Ye Qingzhi nodded with a smile.
Although she had agreed, they certainly couldn’t really go. It would still be He Qiming who went alone.
Not long after Zhang Dama left, He Qiming came back with breakfast. Seeing the snowmen they had built, he acted as a judge with a broad smile.
After a detailed review, He Qiming finally judged that Ye Qingzhi and Yangyang were the first place. The other three were not convinced. It was obvious that their mother and Yangyang’s was the worst. Papa was just being biased.
He Qiming shot them a look, and the three children all nodded, praising Ye Qingzhi and Yangyang’s snowman as the best and most beautiful.
“Come on, breakfast is getting cold. Let’s eat first,” Ye Qingzhi said, pretending not to see the exchange of glances between the father and sons. She picked up Yangyang and went into the house first.
The stove was lit in the house. The few of them gathered around it to eat breakfast. Ye Qingzhi looked at the snow still falling outside and asked with concern, “It’s so cold. There are only two braziers in the classroom. Can the children stand it?”
“It depends. If the weather is too cold, the teacher will assign homework for the children to do at home and review,” He Qiming said, peeling an egg and handing it to Ye Qingzhi. “On a day like today, the school might be closed.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the base’s broadcast announced that the school was closed today and that the children should review their lessons at home.
The three who had to go to school didn’t mind, but Yangyang was ecstatic. His brothers could stay at home and play with him.
“That’s fine. It just so happens that you have time to learn pinyin,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile. “You’ll study for an hour in a bit, then come with me to the backyard to pick apples. Then you’ll study for a while more. I’ll be testing you at noon.”
He Jingyan and Ye Anmin had very good memories, so their learning progress was very fast. Ye Qingzhi was not at all worried that they would fall behind now.
“Picking apples is fine, but don’t pick the ones at the top. Wait for me to come back and pick them,” He Qiming said, quickly finishing his breakfast and leaving in a hurry.
They didn’t have to train today. Their main task was to clear the snow, so they were quite busy.
The three children were very self-disciplined. Ye Qingzhi had said one hour, and they really studied for one hour.
Relatively speaking, Ye Anjie’s concentration was a bit weaker, but with his two older brothers watching, he could also persevere.
“Let’s go, let’s go pick apples.” Ye Qingzhi gave them a ten-minute break, and after the break, she took them to the backyard to pick apples.
They first picked all the ones they could reach. The rest were out of reach and could only be picked when He Qiming returned.
“Wife, I’m back.” He Qiming pushed open the door and saw Ye Qingzhi wearing an apron, her sleeves rolled up, walking towards him with a dish. The smile she gave him made He Qiming’s heart skip a beat.
“You’re back.” Ye Qingzhi put down the dish, took a feather duster and patted the snow off him, and helped him hang up his hat and scarf. “Go and warm yourself by the fire. You must be frozen.”
There was frost on his eyelashes and eyebrows. It was clear how cold it was outside.
“It’s fine. We’re used to it.” Even so, He Qiming was still very touched by Ye Qingzhi’s concern. He rubbed his hands, and after making sure they were not so cold, he took her hand and led her to the table to eat.
“Tonight, Chief of Staff Zhang from the 1st Battalion is having a housewarming. Zhang Dama has already told me. You can go to her house for dinner then,” Ye Qingzhi said. By the time she sat down, the few children had already served the rice. Ye Anjie had even prepared the chopsticks and handed them over.
“Zhang Xuewen? Alright.” He Qiming also knew about Zhang Xuewen’s situation and sighed softly. “He probably doesn’t want to have this housewarming at all.”
He used to be a very cheerful person, but ever since that incident, Zhang Xuewen had hardly smiled.
After eating, He Qiming picked all the apples at the top of the tree. There were about one and a half baskets. He took out five to take to the Zhang family at night, and put the rest in the cellar to eat slowly.
“I’ve already spoken to the mess squad about the goat’s milk. They said it’s cold now, so there’s less milk. But the pasture they cooperate with has milk powder, and also nougat. I had them get some. You and the children can drink it first. And the jujubes you mentioned last time, I also got some. You can eat these yourself. I heard they’re good for replenishing blood,” He Qiming said, putting away the apples. He then put on his hat and scarf and went out to get busy.
He Qiming’s efficiency was really strong. He had already taken care of what he had said he would do yesterday. No wonder he could become a deputy regiment commander at such a young age.
Ye Qingzhi sighed with emotion and took Yangyang for a nap. As for the three older ones, she didn’t care. Anyway, they had to memorize all the vowels in the afternoon.
“Qingzhi, Qingzhi…” Li Jinfeng came in, braving the wind and snow.
Ye Qingzhi had just woken up and was playing with Yangyang on the bed. Hearing the noise, she quickly responded, put on her clothes and pants, and went out.
“Qingzhi, I have good news,” Li Jinfeng said happily. “The nearby cotton factory is hiring, and they’re giving priority to military wives. I’m going to sign up. Are you going?”
“Cotton factory? What do they do?” Ye Qingzhi asked curiously.
“Pick cotton, remove cotton seeds, and so on. I’m not sure about the specifics,” Li Jinfeng said, waving her hand with great enthusiasm. “What’s the big deal? I used to work every day back home. I’m so bored here. This is a great opportunity. If you miss it, it’s gone. You should sign up with me. We’ll have a companion.”
Ye Qingzhi shook her head. The three months of farm work had been more than enough. She really didn’t want to do farm work again.
You could call her lazy or unambitious. She just wanted to lie down now.
“I’m not going. I still have four children to take care of at home. To earn those few yuan and have the children go hungry and fall behind in their studies is not worth it,” Ye Qingzhi said, trying to persuade Li Jinfeng in turn. “Sister Jinfeng, I remember the main purpose of you joining the army was to have another child. If you go to work every day, how can you have a child?”
“What does work have to do with having a child? Didn’t I used to work and have children at the same time? It’s fine. I’m in good health. Are you really not going? It’s twenty yuan a month. When it’s busy, you can earn thirty yuan a month,” Li Jinfeng persuaded.
“Then I’ll discuss it with Qiming. When is the registration?” Ye Qingzhi said, preparing to be polite.
“It’s at the beginning of next month. Alright, then you should have a good talk with Regiment Commander He. I’ll go find Guifang,” Li Jinfeng said, then left in a hurry.