Axolotl Translations

After finishing breakfast that day, the street office staff went door to door, notifying each family that they needed to send someone to attend a meeting at the street office.

Great-aunt and Aunt Fen, along with the little ones, Yangyang and Nuannuan, went together with Grandma Zhang. At home, only Wei Jiajia, Xiangdong, Xiangxi, Aunt Fen, and Aunt Fen’s daughter from her later years, Li Xiangqing, who was just five months old, were left.

Li Xiangqing was the name Aunt Fen had chosen for her daughter. Like Xiangdong and the others, her first name was similar, except she took Uncle Zhuzi’s last name. Aunt Fen hoped that, despite not being related by blood, the children would grow up to love one another as if they were true siblings.

As the youngest in the family, Li Xiangqing was deeply loved by her older brothers and sisters. The children often quarreled over who would hold her after school, their faces flushed with excitement. Especially Nuannuan, who, to spend more time with her little sister, even neglected her twin brother, Yangyang, her usual constant companion.

When Aunt Fen left for the meeting today, Li Xiangqing was still asleep, so she didn’t take her along. Instead, she left her in the care of Xiangdong and Xiangxi.

The two boys carried little Xiangqing into the living room and placed her in the small cradle that used to belong to Yangyang and Nuannuan. While diligently working on their summer homework, the two kept an eye on the baby.

Seeing that everything was in order, Wei Jiajia returned to her room to continue writing an article, a habit she had developed since starting college.

She would send the articles to newspapers, where they’d get published. Not only did it help her improve her writing skills, but she also made some money from it. The pay for articles these days was no small amount.

Since all the letters were addressed to the family home, her family noticed the regular arrivals of letters from the newspaper with her article payments, and they were fully supportive of her. Xiangdong and the other three were especially impressed when they found out that their sister, still in college, already had her articles published in newspapers and could earn money even before she had a job.

Xiangdong and Xiangxi studied harder than before, hoping to follow in their sister’s footsteps and get into their dream university.

Whenever they saw her sitting at her desk in her room, they would instinctively lower their voices, careful not to disturb her.

Even the youngest, Yangyang and Nuannuan, knew not to interrupt their sister when she was busy earning money.

In the past, when Wei Jiajia came home on weekends, the two of them would argue over who would sleep with her. Now, knowing she often stayed up late writing, they would wash up without needing to be told and quietly go upstairs to sleep with their brothers.

Xiangdong and Xiangxi took good care of the little ones, often waking up at night to cover them with blankets when they kicked them off. During the months they had all been sleeping together, neither Yangyang nor Nuannuan had caught a cold.

When Wei Jiajia was deeply engrossed in her writing, the outside world seemed to fade away. Only when she paused to take a break did she hear Xiangxi talking outside her door.

She put down her pen, opened the door, and stepped outside, just in time to see Xiangxi closing the door and walking back inside.

“Did someone come by? I heard you talking to someone,” Wei Jiajia asked, looking at Xiangxi.

“It was the postman. He said there’s a telegram for you from Nanshi,” Xiangxi answered, quickly handing her the telegram he had been holding.

Seeing the smile spreading across her older sister’s face, Xiangxi couldn’t help but tease her mischievously, “It’s definitely Brother Haoyu missing you. You two are really inseparable. A few letters a month isn’t enough, now you even need to send a telegram!”

Wei Jiajia reached out to take the telegram. Hearing her younger brother’s teasing, she playfully raised her fist and swung it through the air a few times, silently threatening the cheeky boy

Xiangxi understood his sister’s implied warning, immediately shutting his mouth and quickly shaking his head in submission.

She looked at the mischievous kid, shook her head with a smile, and then turned to walk back to her room with the telegram in hand.

Sitting down at her desk, she opened the telegram, which contained only two words: “Evening call.”

Wei Jiajia “…”

She looked at the three words, slightly speechless. Luckily, she was smart enough to figure it out.

In her last letter, she had told him that her school was on break. Once he received the letter, he must have realized she was home and instructed her to call him around six in the evening at his school.

He had also mentioned before that if she ever needed to reach him, she could call him at that time and he would be available as long as he wasn’t out of the school. However, since they wrote to each other so frequently, such calls were rarely necessary.

As she looked at the telegram, Wei Jiajia couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened—something that couldn’t be conveyed in a letter, prompting him to send a telegram instead.

Looking up at the sky, Wei Jiajia realized it was almost noon. Thinking that dwelling on these matters was pointless and that she’d find out what was going on later when she made the call, she put the telegram down and headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

When she came out, she saw little Xiangqing had already woken up. Her big black eyes were scanning the room, and tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, making her look pitiful but not yet crying.

Xiangxi was standing next to the cradle, teasing her with a rattle, softly coaxing, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Xiangdong was pouring water from the thermos into a glass baby bottle, clearly getting ready to mix formula for the baby.

The bottle was one that Wei Jiajia had gotten from the space supermarket. It was a very simple, ordinary bottle, and it didn’t seem out of place at all in the current setting. When she gave it to Auntie Fen, she had said it was a gift from a classmate who had helped buy some foreign products.

The family knew that Wei Jiajia had classmates who could obtain unusual items, so when they saw the bottle, no one was particularly surprised. After all, it was available at the Friendship Store; it just required foreign exchange vouchers. So, they didn’t ask any further questions.

After she played with the baby for a while, Xiangdong brought over the prepared formula. She tested the temperature and found it perfect. Seeing how well the two boys were taking care of the baby, and how much Xiangqing liked them, drinking the milk happily in Xiangxi’s arms without a fuss, she felt reassured and headed to the kitchen to finish making lunch.

Just as she was finishing, Auntie and the others returned from their meeting. Yangyang and Nuannuan were leading the way, and as soon as they walked through the door, they could smell the delicious food emanating from the kitchen. They knew instantly that their sister was cooking and eagerly skipped into the kitchen.

Wei Jiajia saw the eager expressions on their faces and immediately understood that they were all hungry. She refrained from asking about the specifics of the meeting, simply instructing everyone to wash their hands and prepare to eat. They could discuss any matters after the meal.

After they finished eating, Great-aunt and the others began discussing the contents of the meeting.

Just as Su Pan had mentioned to Wei Jiajia and the others at school, their area would also begin establishing public canteens. The government was encouraging people to eat at these canteens so they wouldn’t have to cook at home anymore. This would eliminate the need for families to buy food based on the number of people in the household. All they had to do was register the number of people, which was seen as a way to liberate women and allow everyone to contribute more effectively to society.

However, because the population in their area was too large and there was no venue with enough space to cook for so many people at once, the street committee had decided to organize the community to build the canteen themselves. Once completed, they would hire a few cooks. This meeting was intended to confirm the personnel for the project.

Aunt Fen, being young and possessing excellent cooking skills, had been chosen to work at the canteen. She would receive a salary of twelve yuan per month, along with various food coupons.

Aunt Fen was delighted to share the news. Although the salary wasn’t particularly high, it was still better than staying at home. She planned to have Great-aunt take care of the children while she went to work. It was always better to have more people earning wages.

When Wei Jiajia heard this, she thought to herself that what was meant to happen had finally come to pass. With the canteen being set up, the next step would probably be the large-scale steel production, and she would have to hide some of the iron items at home. She couldn’t let the canteen dismantle them and leave her with no cooking pots at home.

She didn’t have many pure iron pots in her space, most were aluminum and stainless steel, so she couldn’t use them at the moment.

Around five in the evening, Wei Jiajia decided it was time to call Qiao Haoyu, so she left the house and headed to the post office.

By six o’clock, the public phone at the post office still had a staff member on duty. Since there weren’t many people using the phone, she didn’t have to wait long before she could dial the number Qiao Haoyu had written down for her.

“Beep… beep… beep…” After several rings, a male voice answered the phone.

“Hello? Who are you looking for?”

“Hello, may I speak to Qiao Haoyu from the Command Department at your school? Please ask him to pick up the phone. Thank you.”

Upon hearing a cool and somewhat distant female voice asking for Qiao Haoyu, the staff member immediately sat up straighter.

Qiao Haoyu was a well-known figure at the school. He excelled in every aspect, consistently ranking at the top of his class. Almost everyone at the school knew of him. The staff had never seen him show any interest in women, so this was the first time they’d received a call from a woman looking for him.

“May I ask who’s calling? What’s the reason for your call?” the staff member inquired.

Hearing the question, Wei Jiajia quickly replied, “I’m Qiao Haoyu’s fiancée. Please let him know. I’ll call back in about ten minutes.”

Upon hearing this, the staff member on the other end was stunned, his eyes widening in shock. He excitedly nudged a colleague beside him and continued to respond to Wei Jiajia.

After hanging up the phone, his colleague tugged at his sleeve and asked, “Whose call was that? Why are you acting so strangely after just answering a phone call?”

The staff member, still buzzing with excitement, regained his composure and replied, “It was Qiao Haoyu’s fiancée—Qiao Haoyu from the Command Department.” After saying this, he excitedly grabbed his colleague’s sleeve and shook it several times.

Upon hearing this, the other man’s curiosity was piqued. As freshmen, they all looked up to Qiao Haoyu.”

Even during his first year at the school, Qiao Haoyu had already been awarded several third-class merits. He not only excelled academically but also in daily training, surpassing most of his peers. The male students, especially those in the military, admired strength, and Qiao Haoyu had become an idol to his cohort.

Wei Jiajia ended the call and checked her watch, mentally calculating the time. When the moment arrived, she picked up the phone again and dialed.

“Hello, Jiajia?”

Wei Jiajia’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Qiao Haoyu’s voice on the other end of the line. His deep voice resonated in her ear, causing her heart to flutter momentarily. Although they had maintained regular correspondence, hearing his voice again after a year still sent a thrill through her.

She quickly regained her composure and replied, “It’s me. Have you eaten?”

“I’ve eaten. I figured you’d call today, so I had an early dinner and have been waiting.” Qiao Haoyu’s mood was surprisingly cheerful.

He was leaning against the wall, speaking softly into the phone, a gentle smile gracing his lips. The two staff members still on duty in the office were stunned, unable to believe that the usually stoic Qiao Haoyu had such a tender side to him.

“You’re still saying that? What’s going on? You didn’t mention anything in your letter from last week,” Wei Jiajia asked curiously.

Since receiving the telegram, various possibilities had raced through her mind. She truly couldn’t think of anything urgent enough to warrant a phone call.

Hearing Wei Jiajia’s question, Qiao Haoyu chuckled softly, then quickly cleared his throat. “I just miss you, and I wanted to hear your voice.”

As soon as she heard Qiao Haoyu’s sweet words over the phone, her face flushed instantly. She nervously glanced around, feeling a sense of relief when she saw no one in sight.

Feeling both embarrassed and flustered, she whispered, “What nonsense! Be careful, someone might hear you.”

Her voice, usually cool and collected, now held a sweetness that seemed to surface only when she spoke to Qiao Haoyu.

“You’ve eaten a lot of candy today, haven’t you? Your words are so sweet. It doesn’t sound like you at all. I heard from Zeng Guoqiang that you’re not like this at school.”

Qiao Haoyu smiled but didn’t respond. When he was with her, sweet words came naturally.

He refrained from saying anything that might embarrass Wei Jiajia further, as others were still nearby. Some things, he preferred to say directly to her in person.

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