132. Cheng Xuemin, you portrayed your mother-in-law like this?

Outside, the second sister-in-law was wailing loudly. Unaware of what had happened, Cheng Xuemin and Feng Jiayou hurried out of their room to ask what was going on.

Mother Feng was also wiping away her tears, which made Jiayou turn even paler with fright.

"The situation in the southern border is getting tense! Your second brother's corps has been deployed to the frontier!"

As the saying goes, provisions must go before troops move into battle!

Although Feng Jiacheng, the second brother, was not in a frontline unit, the process of returning to the city had been halted, and he could be drafted into frontline service at any time.

The news from the south terrified the second sister-in-law, Sun Juan, as if she had lost her husband, leaving her to howl in despair.

Mother Feng, heartbroken for her second son, felt the same way. She had been eagerly awaiting a family letter that previously said it was almost their turn to return to the city!

But now, because of the tense situation in the south, everyone was stranded and waiting for orders.

Regardless of whether he would be sent to the front lines or not, returning home for the Chinese New Year as originally planned was now completely out of the question!

Though deeply saddened and worried, Feng Jiayou quickly rushed over to comfort her second sister-in-law.

"Juan'er, let's eat first. Stop crying! You'll scare the children!"

Seeing her grandchildren returning from playing outside, Mother Feng quickly wiped the tears from her face and persuaded Sun Juan.

The situation in the south!

After dinner, Cheng Xuemin returned to his room. He certainly had memories of this military conflict, but didn't his memory say it wouldn't break out until after the New Year?

He had thought that Feng Jiayou's second brother could make it back for the New Year and thus avoid it.

Little did he know!

What memory recorded were news reports; by the time the situation became truly tense, things had definitely been brewing for a long time.

Consequently, the second brother was effectively stranded down there.

He just wondered if he would be directly thrown onto the front lines. If he were sent to the front...

Cheng Xuemin could only say: leave it to fate and bring glory to the family! It was just that the second sister-in-law and the young children would have a hard time hereafter.

However, that was the worst-case scenario. Feng Jiacheng was not an active-duty frontline soldier, so he shouldn't be the first in line to charge unless he answered the call and volunteered.

Before returning to Northern Shaanxi, Cheng Xuemin intended to finish the manuscript he had promised to the magazine "Today".

His chosen theme was youth campus life, leaning as close as possible to "The Female College Dormitory", but after much searching, he couldn't find a suitable, impactful piece.

After all, having just emerged from the chaotic decade, people's minds weren't quite that open yet.

Otherwise, Cheng Xuemin would have genuinely loved to walk Guo Jingming's path and leave the writers of twenty years later with nowhere to go.

Pity it was a bit too early!

After weighing his options, Cheng Xuemin finally selected a manuscript that could resonate with the college students of this era—"My Corps Years".

This was a full-length novel spanning over three hundred thousand words.

Therefore, in order to push "Today" to its peak and surpass his mother-in-law's "October", Cheng Xuemin was going all in.

Why choose a long novel instead of the short story he had initially promised?

When it came down to it, Cheng Xuemin truly wanted to build and run the magazine "Today" into a thriving enterprise.

"My Corps Years" was a full-length novel that permeated the educated youth rustication years of college students like Feng Jiayou, as well as the college entrance examinations and the return to the city.

Moreover, it featured not just college students, but also those youths returning to the urban centers.

If Cheng Xuemin serialized "My Corps Years" in "Today" issue by issue, it would not only capture the attention of college students across major universities but also catch the eyes of returning youths like Bai Ling from Beijing Literature and the neighboring "kingdom of daughters" princess Zhu Lin.

Just think, who made up the largest population in Beijing right now?

Returning youth!

With three to five million returning youths within the city walls, once "My Corps Years" was published and printed, it would undoubtedly create a shocking impact and resonate with millions of readers.

Just imagine!

Before many serialized issues had passed, the influence and sales of "Today" would undoubtedly soar step by step.

And this time, unlike "Beijing Literature" or "People's Literature", the sales figures would actually be tied to Cheng Xuemin!

The higher the sales of "Today", the greater the accumulated influence would be. In the future, when the enterprise became self-sustaining and privatized, the greater Cheng Xuemin's profits would be.

Therefore, he couldn't just look at the meager royalties right in front of him; he had to build a macro-perspective for the decades to come!

Moving forward, "Today" would also serve as Cheng Xuemin's ideological stronghold.

Over the next few days, Cheng Xuemin focused his efforts on "Today", writing the first fifty thousand words of "My Corps Years". At the same time, he went to his own courtyard house to start planning how to build a bathroom and shower room first.

"Xuemin, you're going to knock down the wall of this room and turn it into a toilet?"

"Won't that stink to high heaven?"

His eldest brother-in-law, who had tagged along, exclaimed in shock upon hearing that Cheng Xuemin intended to connect the small utility room to his master bedroom and convert it into a bathroom!

"Big Brother, it won't stink!"

"I plan to not just make it a toilet; I'd like to put a bathtub in there if possible!"

"By the way, Big Brother, have you ever been inside the rooms at the Qianmen Hotel?"

Cheng Xuemin nodded. Finding it hard to explain his renovation ideas to his brother-in-law in words, he simply stated that he wanted to remodel the bathroom layout based on the suites in that hotel!

"I've been there! I accompanied the factory leaders there before to meet VIP foreign guest delegation groups and things like that. I've been there!"

Eldest brother-in-law Feng Jiazhao nodded, speaking without quite understanding the point.

"Then you must have seen their bathroom and shower facilities. I want to remodel and decorate this room into a bathroom and shower room following the hotel's layout!"

"We don't need to knock down this entire wall; just open a doorway and install a door here," Cheng Xuemin pointed to the wall leading to the master bedroom.

Since the brother-in-law had been there, that was fine. Even if he hadn't seen it, he could always go back and take a look for reference.

Following that, Cheng Xuemin continued laying out his ideas: "I plan to install a flush toilet here, and putting a bathtub right over here should fit just about right!"

"Oh, and Big Brother, the sewage from the flush toilet cannot share the same pipe as the bathtub and shower."

"I'm planning to dig a large septic tank outside and pipe the sewage from the flush toilet directly into it. As for the water from the bathtub and shower, we can just open a drainage port right here and pipe it directly into the small stream outside."

"Right, if we can tile the walls, that would be best of all. If we don't have ceramic tiles, here is what I was thinking!"

"We can go to the gravel plant and buy a lot of those smooth, rounded river pebbles to pave the surface!"

After finishing his description of how the floor should be done, Cheng Xuemin pointed upward, explaining that a hole could be drilled here to connect a pipe, and a large water barrel could be set up outside...

Cheng Xuemin rattled off his various requirements, leaving his eldest brother-in-law Feng Jiazhao completely dumbfounded. Staring blankly at his brother-in-law, he foolishly asked, "Xuemin, did Jiayou see all this at the Overseas Chinese Apartments and ask you to do it?"

Feng Jiazhao knew that his eldest sister Feng Jiayou had previously gone to see the Overseas Chinese Apartments and had been deeply fixated and frustrated by them!

However, those apartments cost eight thousand foreign exchange certificates; how could a family like theirs ever afford them?

So, after buying this large courtyard house, Jiayou was making her husband remodel and decorate it according to the layout of the Overseas Chinese Apartments?!

"No, no! These are entirely my own ideas; I haven't even told Jiayou yet!"

Cheng Xuemin waved his hands repeatedly and continued, "By the way, Big Brother, during the time I'm away in Northern Shaanxi, Jiayou probably won't come over to check on this place either."

"So I'd appreciate it if you could avoid mentioning this to Jiayou for now. Once we finish the renovations, we'll surprise her and let her see the results!"

This was precisely the effect Cheng Xuemin wanted. He wanted his wife Jiayou to realize that, in fact, once their large courtyard's toilet and bathroom were remodeled, it would be far more comfortable than living in those so-called Overseas Chinese Apartments.

The reluctance to live in a shared courtyard ultimately stemmed from the inconvenience of taking baths in winter, getting up at night to use the chamber pot, and the misery of using public toilets in summer.

Now that he was setting up a private suite bathroom and shower for his wife, wouldn't that be sheer bliss?

"Whether to tell her or not is a secondary matter! But if you really want to decorate it this way, Xuemin, I'll have to head over to the pigeon market and hire a few mason craftsmen to do the job. If I tried doing it myself, I'd undoubtedly make a mess of it!"

Feng Jiazhao shook his head repeatedly. He was no mason; he could handle odd jobs and tidy up utility spaces, but expecting him to manage such a major engineering project was hopeless!

"Yes, yes, Big Brother, that goes without saying!" Cheng Xuemin nodded repeatedly and said to his brother-in-law, "You know Beijing well and have wide connections, so we'll have to trouble you to put in the effort to hire the master masons!"

"Also, while I'm away, I'll have to trouble you to come over and keep an eye on the construction work as well!"

Cheng Xuemin nodded; that was an absolute given!

He was only asking his brother-in-law to come help supervise, not actually expecting him to do the manual labor himself. Even if his brother-in-law wanted to try, Cheng Xuemin wouldn't dare let him—after all, he wasn't a professional.

"Hiring the masons is easy enough, but Xuemin, the things you're asking for—whether it's a flush toilet, a bathtub, or ceramic tiles—those won't be easy to get!"

Digging a simple pit and laying down two wooden boards might suffice to rig up a household latrine!

But this wasn't just a regular toilet; it was a flush toilet and a bathtub, all those capitalist gadgets! This gave Feng Jiazhao quite a headache, to say the least!

"Don't you worry about that, Big Brother! I'll take care of all of those things and buy them in advance before I head back!"

The items his brother-in-law mentioned basically couldn't be bought at the pigeon markets or department stores.

To purchase them, one had to go to the Friendship Store or the Overseas Chinese Store.

As it happened, the Overseas Chinese Store was located not far from the Overseas Chinese Apartments, as they were originally part of the same development.

Cheng Xuemin had checked them out previously and inquired about the prices.

The one hundred yuan in foreign exchange certificates that his father-in-law had secretly given him would be more than enough.

Once his brother-in-law secured the masons and had the sand and gravel transported in, they could make the purchases and start construction immediately!

"If you can handle that part, then there shouldn't be any major problems!"

Hearing that his brother-in-law could take care of the hardest part himself, Feng Jiazhao knew he could bring in the mason craftsmen at any time.

"Wait, Xuemin, where did you even get foreign exchange certificates?"

Soon enough, Feng Jiazhao realized another detail: those items could only be bought with foreign exchange certificates at the Overseas Chinese Store or Friendship Store.

Since his brother-in-law said he could handle it, he must be able to get his hands on those certificates!

Where did he get them?

"I previously... had this idea in mind, and just as it happened, Old Zhang from the People's Literature Publishing House had a hundred yuan in foreign exchange certificates he wanted to exchange, so I swapped for them!"

He couldn't sell out his father-in-law, especially not to his brother-in-law—who knew if this filial son would turn around and sell out his own old man?

"Zhang Guangnian?!"

Feng Jiazhao nodded upon hearing this, feeling little suspicion.

"By the way, Big Brother, do you want to install one in the front courtyard as well?"

"If you want to do it, I can buy the materials for yours at the same time."

Cheng Xuemin figured that since they were renovating, they might as well do both the front and back courtyards together to save the trouble of doing it all over again later.

Besides, it would also give his mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law no grounds for complaint.

"The front courtyard..." Feng Jiazhao was certainly tempted, but thinking about the fact that these materials required foreign exchange certificates to purchase, he hesitated out of reluctance and embarrassment.

Besides, there was no suitable space in the front courtyard!

Take a utility room and convert it like Cheng Xuemin did?

Forget it!

They weren't that extravagant—unless they built a small shed out in the courtyard corner, but that would double the workload!

"No, no! The front courtyard is too far from here; the sewage would be hard to drain out! If it gets clogged, the whole courtyard would stink to high heaven!"

Although tempted, Feng Jiazhao thought of a practical reality and shook his head in refusal.

"Ah... it is indeed a bit far!"

Cheng Xuemin glanced outside and nodded in agreement; the front courtyard was indeed a bit too far from the exit point.

Given their current conditions, they didn't have pressurized tap water, meaning the sewage wouldn't flush all the way out and would inevitably end up clogging the entire bathroom.

The back courtyard was much more straightforward, being just over two meters away from the outside alley.

Digging a septic tank outside, sealing it properly, and hiring someone to empty it once every year or two didn't require overly complex technical standards.

"In that case, Big Brother, we'll keep the back door of that room and won't seal it up!"

Since the front courtyard lacked the conditions for renovation at present, they had to settle for the second-best option: keeping the original door that led out into the courtyard. Originally, he had planned to seal it completely and only have an entrance opening from their master bedroom suite.

Keeping it now meant sacrificing a bit of privacy later; whenever the couple wanted to take a bath together, they would simply have to remember to lock the courtyard-facing door beforehand!

Anyway, those were the basic ideas. As for how his brother-in-law would execute the renovation, that would be up to him.

With that settled, Feng Jiazhao even told Cheng Xuemin that once the masons were hired, he would take them over to the Qianmen Hotel to take a look and use it as a reference.

That gave Cheng Xuemin even greater peace of mind!

On this Friday, the symposium hosted by Elder Wu regarding "The Appointment of Factory Director Qiao" proceeded as scheduled. Aside from Cheng Xuemin, the original author, who had to attend, his father-in-law and mother-in-law were also on the guest list, attending as representatives of their respective work units.

Early in the morning!

The Zhongshan suit that Feng Jiayou had newly bought for Cheng Xuemin was finally ready to be put to use.

"Not bad, looking sharp!"

Looking at her well-dressed husband, Feng Jiayou's eyes rippled with emotion and immense pride.

However, this time she didn't ask Cheng Xuemin if he was nervous about meeting senior leaders; seeing them often enough, she had grown used to it.

"Xuemin, didn't you say your novella was already finished?"

"Old Liu over there is breathing down my neck for it. Do hand it over to me as soon as possible!"

On their way cycling to Central Beijing in the company of his parents-in-law, the mother-in-law—riding her bicycle—started badgering her son-in-law for the manuscript again!

"Yes, yes, Mom, it's indeed finished! Jiayou is helping me proofread it, so it should be ready very soon!"

The manuscript was currently in Feng Jiayou's hands, not really in Cheng Xuemin's, so he couldn't guarantee the exact timeline.

"What on earth did you write about?"

He had kept it hidden and refused to let anyone read it, especially since that little debt-collector of a daughter had let slip some time ago that reading it might make her want to beat the married couple to death.

This only piqued Mother Feng's curiosity even more: what on earth had her son-in-law written?

"It's just... somewhat similar to the Loess Plateau, those people and those events from your generation, I suppose!"

Cheng Xuemin could only say this much; anything more would have to wait until his mother-in-law read it slowly and savored it herself later!

If she insisted on projecting herself into the female protagonist, there was nothing Cheng Xuemin, the son-in-law, could do about it.

"Things from our generation?!" Father Feng chimed in with curiosity as well, asking, "Is it about your mom and dad?"

"Not quite!"

Cheng Xuemin shook his head. This time, what he wrote was about you two—his mother-in-law and father-in-law! Of course, their occupations had certain alterations, but that wouldn't stop them from projecting themselves into the story.

As for his own mom and dad?

Cheng Xuemin already had a preliminary idea. Once he finished clearing out all those overdue manuscripts, he would deliver a full-length novel to "Yanhe Literature"!

This time, it would truly pay tribute to his parents' generation—nothing less than "Ordinary World", where he'd beat you all with the hammer of Northern Shaanxi!

"Then you must let me and your mom read it later. Jiayou can stop proofreading it!"

"If there are a few typos, won't your mother help you circle them out?"

Hearing this, Father Feng grew even more enthusiastic! Since it wasn't about his own parents, then it must be about them!

That finally explained why their own daughter had been stalling and refusing to hand the manuscript over to her mother for so long!

"It's about me and your dad?"

Mother Feng also reacted, her face instantly flushing with bashful shyness as she asked with uncertainty.

A son-in-law writing about his mother-in-law—what kind of portrayal would he give her?

In an instant, Cheng Xuemin successfully managed to make his mother-in-law's heart itch with unbearable curiosity.

If not for the symposium organized by Elder Wu today, she really would have wanted to slam on the brakes, turn around on the spot, rush back home, and force that debt-collector of a daughter to hand over the manuscript so she could read it first.

"Well, not exactly... anyway, it's just set in that era. Mom and Dad, please don't read too much of yourselves into it; I'm afraid if my writing isn't good, you might..."

Cheng Xuemin didn't dare continue. To reiterate: read it yourselves and savor it at your own leisure.

"It sounds like you... aren't entirely confident in your writing, Xuemin!"

Father Feng originally intended to make a joking remark that his son-in-law felt guilty, but he quickly changed his phrasing.

Just from his son-in-law's reaction, coupled with his daughter's persistent stalling, Father Feng had already guessed most of it!

It was likely that this son-in-law had written quite a bit about his mother-in-law in the manuscript.

As for what kind of portrait he had painted of her?

He could only say that his son-in-law was truly daring. Knowing full well that the manuscript was destined for his mother-in-law's magazine "October", couldn't he have steered clear of certain topics?

Writing about one's mother-in-law?!

No matter how you wrote it, it was a thankless task. Even if Father Feng were to write about his own wife, he certainly wouldn't dare pick up the pen for that.

Therefore, he could only conclude that his son-in-law truly possessed admirable courage!

"What's there to be confident or unconfident about? Since you've written it, Xuemin, just bring it out openly. What is Mom going to do to you?!"

Mother Feng also caught onto her son-in-law's reaction, knowing that the manuscript definitely contained plenty of bad things about her!

Perhaps he had portrayed her as an unreasonable, overbearing, and harsh mother-in-law?

If that really was the case, Mother Feng genuinely wanted to read it closely and appreciate it.

"Yes, yes, Mom, you're entirely right!"

Cheng Xuemin nodded repeatedly and dared not continue the conversation. Neither Father Feng nor Mother Feng pushed further, both harboring deep thoughts as they hurried toward Central Beijing.

After cycling for a little over an hour, the three of them finally arrived at Central Beijing!

Liu Xinwu from "October", Li Qingquan from "Beijing Literature", Zhang Guangnian from "People's Literature", Li Shuguang from the "People's Publishing House", and various other chief editors and heads of newspapers and magazines had mostly all arrived ahead of time, waiting outside in the courtyard.

Seeing Cheng Xuemin and his parents-in-law enter, they swarmed over to greet them like a hive of bees, leaving Cheng Xuemin overwhelmed with responses.