It’s a Stepmother, Not a Sister [70s] - Chapter 20

The voice of the radio announcer continued to echo through the room, but at this moment, the atmosphere became notably quiet.

Jiang Shuangling: “…”

The question she had just asked stemmed from a modern person’s concern for safety. After all, if power banks could explode, then this handmade radio might also pose a risk, right?

Even though she knew there was a high probability that nothing would happen, someone with her personality still hoped for a reassuring answer from those around her.

A clear assurance that everything was fine.

Qi Heng glanced at her, his tone calm and unruffled. “It won’t.”

After Jiang Shuangling heard him say these two words, the corners of her mouth turned slightly downward, clearly indicating her displeasure.

“If you don’t want to use it, just leave it here.” Qi Heng reached out to turn off the radio, then stood up and returned to the square table, burying his head to eat steamed buns in silence.

After the loud voice of the radio announcer faded away, the sudden silence that descended upon the room made it feel empty. The two children sensed that something was amiss, exchanging glances with each other.

Jiang Shuangling pursed her lips and turned her head to look at Qi Heng. He sat there with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, his posture straight and his long legs stretched forward to accommodate the lower height.

Ignoring the air of maturity and seriousness about him, from a distance, he looked more like a college student, with some angles even revealing a subtle youthful vibe.

Oh right, he wasn’t that old to begin with.

He had registered as twenty-five years old, but in reality, he was only twenty-three. And while her current body was only eighteen years old, she had lived until… twenty-nine years old before transmigrating.

In that case, was her mental age older than his?

—He’s like a younger brother.

With that thought, Jiang Shuangling smiled, her voice carrying a hint of excitement as she softened it, “Who said I’m not going to use it? Why wouldn’t I use it properly?”

She gestured to Jiang Che and Qi Yue to come over, then switched the radio back on, tuning it to a channel playing music.

“Qi Heng, the design of this switch you made is quite interesting!”

“This music sounds much better than what I heard at Teacher Yao’s place, and there’s less noise too.”

“Qi Heng, come take a look at this, what’s wrong here?”

He walked over and adjusted it. At first glance, everything seemed back to normal. The two children gathered around the radio, listening earnestly to the sound coming from it.

Jiang Shuangling smiled as she looked at the trio in front of her, thinking to herself that all three of them liked listening to sweet talk, but who made her into a sweet talk factory, bearing such a heavy responsibility.

Little brothers.

Later that night, the four of them listened to the radio for two hours, finally adding some variety to their monotonous evening routine.

People in this era went to bed early. After Jiang Shuangling took a shower, her hair cascading down behind her head, emitting a refreshing fragrance. She ushered her brothers into their rooms, humming the music they had just heard on the radio.

Her voice was pleasant to listen to. Jiang Shuangling actually had a talent for music and a bit of vocal training, perhaps inherited from her grandmother.

When she was young, she learned to play the pipa and sing from her grandmother, but as she spent more time on painting, her pipa skills were put aside.

During her time at the art academy, Jiang Shuangling had been approached by talent scouts to become a celebrity, but she had turned them down.

Qi Yue watched helplessly as she led Jiang Che away, then looked up at Qi Heng.

Qi Heng: “… Go to sleep.”

Lying in bed, perhaps because of the period music and traditional opera they had just listened to on the radio, which brought back memories of her time with her grandmother, she hummed a song and patiently told Jiang Che bedtime stories.

Her voice echoed in the quiet room.

Qi Yue stood at the door, quietly listening, faintly hearing the woman’s voice. When he turned around, he saw Qi Heng leaning against the wall with his arms folded, staring at him.

Qi Yue: “…”

He followed Qi Heng back into the room.

Qi Heng stood by the bed, while Qi Yue, with his little legs, sat on the bed swinging them. Qi Heng lifted his head slightly, about to unbutton his collar one by one, when Qi Yue stretched out his little arms and bounced over to Qi Heng’s side like a little rabbit.

Taking a cue from Jiang Che during the day, Qi Yue hugged Qi Heng’s thigh, pressing his cheek against Qi Heng’s pants leg, and made a request, “Daddy, tell me a story.”

Qi Heng: “… No.”

“Sing a song for me, Daddy.”

“No.” This time the answer was much more firm and decisive. Qi Heng squatted down, picked up Qi Yue, and settled him on the bed.

Qi Heng took off his shoes and said calmly, “Go to sleep.”

Qi Yue: “…”

Qi Yue’s ears were still warm from listening to the radio two hours earlier. It felt like there was music lingering in his ears, making it hard to calm down, especially after hearing…

“Daddy—”

Qi Heng covered him with a blanket. “If you can’t sleep, then fold the blanket.”

Qi Yue pouted and pushed the blanket away stubbornly. “I’m not folding the blanket.”

“Then go to sleep.”

After a tone of unquestionable authority, Qi Heng firmly covered him with the blanket, tucked him in properly, then turned off the lights and lay down to sleep in one fluid motion.

“Go to sleep.”

In the darkness, Qi Yue sniffled.

Men from the Qi family were resolute and not allowed to cry.

Jiang Shuangling woke up early and looked in the mirror, only to find that her eyes were still red and swollen, as if she had been crying. There was a faint blush around them, not unattractive, giving her a somewhat pitiable appearance.

Looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes widened, her mouth pouted, presenting the image of a naturally aggrieved damsel in distress.

Jiang Shuangling almost burst into laughter.

She lazily tied her hair into a messy braid, amused herself by adjusting her eyebrows with a pencil, accentuating the look of tearful grievance around her eyes.

“It’s been a whole night and the swelling hasn’t gone down yet. Should I try using some egg to massage them?”

She got up to make breakfast, as usual, calling the two children to eat. Qi Heng was already gone.

When Jiang Shuangling called Qi Yue, he grumpily kicked the blanket that Qi Heng had neatly arranged and then hopped out of bed.

Jiang Shuangling: “…?”

Were father and son having a disagreement?

“Come out for breakfast. We have noodles and some bunny-shaped buns left from yesterday.”

The buns from yesterday were gone, but there were plenty of leftover bunny-shaped ones.

After breakfast, Jiang Shuangling found the seeds that Teacher Yao had given her yesterday and decided to plant them today. Then, she planned to buy some baby chicks and bunnies.

As she stepped outside, she glanced toward the spot where she had planted her vegetables yesterday, only to find—her little seedlings had all grown miraculously!

Jiang Shuangling was dumbfounded. The seedlings, which had grown wildly and chaotically yesterday, were now neatly arranged in rows from tall to short, as if meticulously organized.

The seedlings stood in perfect order, rigid and uniform, as if planted with strict measurements and copied and pasted with a mouse click.

Jiang Shuangling: “…?”

What was going on?

Was this a supernatural phenomenon?

Jiang Shuangling stood there dumbfounded for a while before slowly piecing together the sequence of events.

“Is he not comfortable with my messy vegetable garden?”

This was clearly her own free-spirited garden.

“Could this be OCD?” Jiang Shuangling’s face stiffened for a moment. After checking all the seedlings and finding them growing well without any signs of wilting, she noticed that they were arranged strictly in order by type.

Like soldiers in formation.

Her head buzzed with confusion as she stiffly began planting seeds. This time, Jiang Shuangling paid attention to the spacing, afraid that if they grew crooked later on, they might be pulled out by someone.

Jiang Shuangling: “…”

“Is it like this in other households too?” Jiang Shuangling put down the seeds and couldn’t help but tiptoe to glance at the yard of the neighboring He family.

Before she could get a clear view of their yard, she saw a tall woman walking out of it.

The woman was dressed in a fitted long coat and trousers, accentuating her well-proportioned figure. Her hair reached her chest, and she walked with elegance, exuding the air of a dancer.

She also saw Jiang Shuangling.

The two women looked at each other across the fence.

Jiang Shuangling: “…”

There seemed to be a hint of embarrassment at being caught looking into someone else’s yard.

Wang Xueshu walked over and greeted her, “You’re from the Qi family, right?”

Jiang Shuangling nodded with a smile, responding to her.

Wang Xueshu looked her up and down, eventually stopping at Jiang Shuangling’s slightly reddened and swollen eyes. She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at the sight of this pitiful young bride with tears in her eyes, seemingly deserving of pity.

When she smiled, there was a hint of stubbornness in her vulnerability, making her even more pitiable.

Could it be that Lao He was right?

Was Qi Heng really not a tender-hearted person, even towards such a young and pretty girl?

Wang Xueshu sighed in her heart, her gaze now filled with sympathy. “What were you just looking at?”

Jiang Shuangling straightforwardly said, “I noticed that the flowers in your yard look beautiful, Sister-in-law. I couldn’t help but take a few more glances. I was wondering if I could ask you for some flower seeds so I could plant a few in my yard too.”

In the He family’s yard, several flowers were blooming in vibrant colors, standing alone in the corner, emitting a fragrant aroma, quite different from other yards.

Wang Xueshu showed a hint of surprise. “You want to plant flowers too?”

“Yes, flowers are so beautiful when they bloom.”

“You’re different from others.” Most military wives were not as interested in gardening as she was. They usually planted edible vegetables and secretly mocked Wang Xueshu for planting useless things.

Since her family didn’t cook, planting vegetables was pointless.

Thinking back to what Lao He had said yesterday, and considering that this girl was also not good at cooking, unlike their easy-going Lao He, Wang Xueshu added, “You’ve had it tough.”

Jiang Shuangling: “?”

What did she mean by “tough”?

Did this sister-in-law see the seedlings she had planted?

So Jiang Shuangling nodded and said, “Yes, it’s been quite tough.”

In this era, everyone had it tough.

Anyway, she just had to go along with what the other said.

She was indeed having a hard time. Her dream of having a freely planned vegetable garden had been shattered.

“Come over here, I’ll give you some flower seeds, and you can take a few flower branches back with you…”

The other person exchanged flower seeds with her, and Jiang Shuangling gave her some bunny-shaped buns in return. Wang Xueshu was extremely surprised to see the buns and gave Jiang Shuangling a strange look before hurrying off to the cultural troupe.

Jiang Shuangling planted the flower branches and walked past the neatly arranged seedlings, her eyes then turned to the clothes hanging on the bamboo poles.

Jiang Shuangling rested her chin on her hand, pondering:

For a man who’s so particular, should she help him add some fragrance to his life?