A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

Wang Yingxue made pumpkin and millet porridge for her mother that morning, along with steamed buns with pickled cabbage and pork. The porridge was thick, and the aroma of millet mixed with the sweetness of pumpkin filled the house all morning.

After the mother and daughter finished breakfast, Wang Yingxue carried her mother back to bed from the bathroom, helped her lie down, and tucked her in with a blanket.

"Mom, is there anything else you need?" Wang Yingxue stood by the bed, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Just put the water bottle by the bedside," Han Yulan said, leaning against her pillow and pointing to the military water bottle on the table.

"Okay, I'll put it here." Wang Yingxue checked to make sure there was enough water and placed the kettle on the bedside table.

"I'm going to the office, I'll be back in about an hour. We can take care of anything else when I get back."

"Don't worry, go ahead." Han Yulan waved to her with a smile.

Wang Yingxue picked up the file bag on the table, walked to the door, and then looked back. Han Yulan had her eyes closed, her breathing even, as if she was about to fall asleep.

The door clicked shut.

Han Yulan opened her eyes. The room fell silent. She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, listening for a while. Wang Yingxue's footsteps came from outside the door, each step lighter and lighter until they disappeared at the top of the stairs.

Once she was sure the door wouldn't open again, she started moving.

First, she gritted her teeth, placed her hand on the edge of the bed, and braced herself. She then used her other hand to support herself, trying to sit up.

Her arms were trembling, like two ropes stretched to their limit, ready to snap at any moment. She held her breath, her face flushed red, and her upper body had barely lifted two inches off the pillow when she fell heavily back down.

The bed board made a loud "thud".

After catching her breath, she tried again. This time she held on a little longer, but before she could rise more than three inches, her arms gave way and she fell back down. When she fell, her shoulder hit the bed, and she groaned in pain.

After repeating this four or five times, Han Yulan's chest heaved violently, and beads of sweat seeped from her forehead and trickled down her temples.

Instead of trying to sit up, she raised her legs.

My right leg slowly curled up against the bed, and as soon as my knee arched up a little, my whole leg started to tremble and stiffen as if it wasn't my own.

She bit her lip, lifting it little by little, again and again...

My pants were soaked with sweat, sticking to my legs and feeling sticky. Even when I raised them to their highest point, they only lifted my knees about a fist's width above my knees.

From the height of that punch, she was already so exhausted that her vision blurred.

More than ten minutes passed. Han Yulan leaned against the pillow, panting heavily. Her hair was soaked and stuck to her face, and her clothes were stained with a dark patch of sweat. She looked like she had been pulled out of the water.

Han Yulan loosened the railing, lay down on the bed, panting, and stared at the ceiling.

After a while, she reached out again and gripped the railing...

Wang Yingxue came out of the family building with the revised report in her cloth bag. She walked quickly, taking long and hurried steps.

The June sunlight fell on the courtyard; it wasn't intense, but it was bright.

The poplar leaves have all grown in, the palm-sized leaves stacked together, rustling loudly in the wind. Light leaks through the gaps in the leaves, breaking into pieces on the ground, like someone spilling a basket of gold leaf.

In the flower bed in front of the building, a few roses have bloomed, red and pink ones crowding together. Next to them are a few clumps of henna, not yet in full bloom, their tiny blossoms hidden under the leaves.

An old woman was sitting on the edge of the flower bed, picking green beans in her hand. I saw her look up.

"Xiaoxue, are you going out?"

"Okay, I'm going to the commune, Grandma Zhang," Wang Yingxue replied, without stopping.

"How's your mom today? Has she had breakfast? Do you want me to bring her some?" Grandma Zhang called out to Wang Yingxue.

"That's fine, I've had breakfast. Thank you, Grandma Zhang."

The old lady nodded and lowered her head to continue picking green beans.

Wang Yingxue walked past the flower bed and turned onto the main road. A bicycle came from the opposite direction, its bell ringing twice. The rider was Old Li from the mailroom, with a stack of newspapers tucked under the back seat.

"Xiaoxue, please take this to Wenxi for me." Old Li stopped the car and pulled a brown paper envelope from the back seat.

"Okay." Wang Yingxue took it and tucked it under the report.

Old Li got on his bike and left. The bell rang twice more, and he disappeared around the corner. Wang Yingxue continued walking. As she passed the service center, several family members were chatting at the entrance, each carrying a shopping basket. Someone waved to her when they saw her.

"Xiaoxue, come here, come here~"

"What's wrong, Aunt Liu?"

The woman pulled two large pork bones from her basket. The bones had a good amount of meat still attached, and they were tied tightly with several strands of straw rope. Without saying a word, she shoved the bones into Wang Yingxue's hand and turned to leave.

"Hey? Aunt Liu, what are you doing?" Wang Yingxue stood there, holding the bone, stunned.

"Make some bone broth for your mom! Don't give it back to me!" Aunt Liu waved her hand without turning her head and quickly turned into the service center with another woman.

Wang Yingxue stood there, holding the two heavy bone clubs, watching their backs as gratitude welled up in her heart.

The June wind blows, carrying the scent of earth and grass, and the aroma of scallions being stir-fried in a wok wafting from someone's yard.

Several groups of soldiers were running on the parade ground in the distance, shouting "One, two, one!" The sound could be heard from afar.

Wang Yingxue walked across the playground and turned onto the road leading to the garment factory.

A row of morning glories was planted along the base of a wall in front of the clothing store, their purple trumpet-shaped tips pointing towards the sky.

She entered the clothing store through a small door; the store was already in operation.

Zhang Yunxia stood beside the cutting table, holding a piece of new fabric in her hand, examining it over and over.

Xiao Liu, standing nearby, waited with scissors in hand. Zhang Yunxia frowned, spread the fabric piece flat on the table, and traced the seam with her finger: "The neckline needs to be tapered a bit more; if it's too open, the upper body will sag."

Xiao Liu nodded and made a mark on the paper pattern with a pen.

Zhang Yunxia picked up another piece of cloth, examined it against the light, and shook her head: "This one won't do either, let's get another one."

Ye Wenxi stood at the mannequin display area, hands on her hips, looking at the several mannequins in front of her. The mannequins were wearing the latest spring/summer styles, brightly colored and new, but the racks were already almost full.

She turned around and called out, "Sister Shen."

Shen Qiumei poked her head out from the warehouse: "Hey!"

"Post another task in the mutual aid community later. Our display area needs to be expanded. There are more summer clothes than winter clothes, and more styles. I estimate we'll need at least twenty more models." Ye Wenxi counted on her fingers, walked to the shelf, and gestured with her hands.

"Let's make two more shelves. This area can be used to hang shirts and dresses, that wall can be used to hang spring and autumn clothes, and this middle section can be used for styling displays."

Shen Qiumei took notes in her notebook, her pen moving swiftly.

Ye Wenxi thought for a moment and then added, "By the way, Sister Shen, a film crew will be coming over this afternoon to see the clothing store's display. Let's try to hang up all the new styles. Get ready, take stock of the inventory, and bring out all the existing styles you can. For those that can't be hung up, just find a horizontal clothes rack and arrange them neatly against the wall."

"Okay, I'll go get it right away." Shen Qiumei closed the notebook and turned to walk towards the warehouse.

Wang Yingxue stood at the door for a while, waiting for Ye Wenxi to finish explaining these things before going over.

"Xiaoxue, you're here?" Ye Wenxi turned to look at her. "Why are you here so early today?"

"Knowing you needed it urgently, I sent it over as soon as possible." Wang Yingxue took out the revised report from her bag and handed it over. "I've finished revising it. Take a look and see if there's anything that needs adjusting."

"Okay, let me take a look first." Ye Wenxi took the report and led Wang Yingxue to sit down at the small conference table. She opened the report and looked at it page by page, pointing to the numbers and tables with her finger, examining it very carefully.

Wang Yingxue sat opposite, her fingers gripping the bag strap, waiting.

"Very good." Ye Wenxi closed the report and nodded. "Not bad. Find a file folder; I'll take this to the publicity department to make a few copies later. I can submit it today."

She looked at Wang Yingxue and said in a serious tone, "This is our first management report submitted to the factory, and you deserve a lot of credit for it, Xiaoxue."

Wang Yingxue lowered her head, her ears turning red, her fingers fidgeting with the bag strap:

"It's nothing... It's just that you trust me, it's what I should do."

"Next, we're preparing for something big." Ye Wenxi leaned close to Wang Yingxue's ear and whispered.

"What?" Wang Yingxue leaned closer.

"The skills training class and the dormitory for social recruits." Ye Wenxi's lips curved into a smile, her eyes shining. "We can't make a fuss about this during the preparation stage. I don't want the military region to know that I've been scheming for a while now, hehe."

Ye Wenxi covered her mouth, secretly laughing.

Wang Yingxue looked at her and smiled. Her smile was because: it was such an important matter again. Wenxi always trusted her so much.

"Then... is there anything I can do?" Wang Yingxue leaned forward.

Ye Wenxi raised an eyebrow and tapped the phone on the table with her finger: "Make a call! Make lots and lots of calls—"