I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

The jeep kicked up a layer of yellow mud and disappeared at the end of the residential area.

Qiaoqiao turned around and saw a huge courtyard with many houses, yet she felt so lonely.

With such a big house, Zhou Wenhui lives alone. Does he feel lonely?

What does he usually do? Read books? Daydream?

Qiaoqiao stopped turning the floor and went to the study timidly.

The door wasn't closed. Zhou Wenhui sat quietly at his desk, a book open, though it was unclear whether he was engrossed in reading it.

"Do you... need to use the restroom?" Qiaoqiao asked from the doorway.

"They're gone?"

"Yes, Mom and Dad have left. How about I push you to the yard to sit for a while?"

"No."

"Oh, what do you want to eat tonight? We still have pork belly and cabbage at home."

"casual!"

Zhou Wenhui remained cold and aloof. Qiaoqiao tentatively asked, "How about we make noodles? It's delicious with pork belly and cabbage."

"Um."

Having run out of things to say, Qiaoqiao mustered her courage and went into the study. Seeing that the teacup was empty, she stammered, "I'll add some water for you."

Zhou Wenhui did not respond, and Qiaoqiao hurriedly left with her teacup.

There are two people in the house, a married couple who have only met three days ago, and they are so unfamiliar with each other that they don't know what to say to each other.

Qiaoqiao poured a full cup of tea and delivered it to Zhou Wenhui, then started fiddling with the coal stove to prepare dinner.

The coal fire was burning slowly. Qiaoqiao sat to one side waiting. Suddenly, she looked up and felt as if she had been transported to another world. It was such an unfamiliar place.

I wonder how my brother is doing. Is he adapting to life in the factory? Does he feel lonely?

My parents should be getting off work soon, and Grandma should be preparing dinner too.

The water boiled, gurgling, and Qiaoqiao quickly got up to cook noodles.

Each person has a bowl of noodles. Zhou Wenhui's bowl contains fragrant fried pork belly and a poached egg, while Qiaoqiao's bowl only contains cabbage.

Her in-laws were very generous, repeatedly telling Qiaoqiao to eat her fill and not to be stingy, and that they kept 100 yuan in cash and enough meal tickets at home.

Zhou Wenhui is not working and is on sick leave at home. He receives a monthly salary of 68 yuan, which is delivered by the logistics department on the 10th of each month.

Having been poor for so long, Qiaoqiao couldn't bear to eat and drink extravagantly. In Dashui Village, she rarely ate a bowl of noodles more than twice a year.

Qiaoqiao ate her fill and felt quite good. She even felt a little guilty because her grandparents and parents only ate vegetable porridge with pickled vegetables at night.

After cleaning up the dishes, it got dark. The military area has electric lights, which are turned off at 10 p.m.

There was no electricity in Dashui Village; they used kerosene lamps when it got dark.

The grandmother and mother sewed shoe soles, mended clothes, and embroidered pillowcases under the kerosene lamp.

Years of needlework damaged both the grandmother and mother's eyes, causing them to inexplicably shed tears.

However, Qiaoqiao really enjoyed learning to sew shoe soles with her grandmother and mother on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Qiao'er, you're still young, you don't need to do it. Don't end up like Grandma and ruin your eyes." Grandma always told Qiaoqiao not to do needlework.

"What a coincidence! Go boil some water, add a handful of Qingming tea, it's good for your eyes."

"Qiaoqiao, come here quickly. Zhao Jintao gave me some small fish. Clean them for me, put some salt on them and marinate them. They'll be a good dish tomorrow."

Dashui Village is really poor. Except for festivals, you can hardly see any meat. A bowl of small fish is the most delicious food in the world.

Dashui Village is truly blessed. Grandpa and Grandma call out to each other, parents laugh, older brother dotes on them, and they live carefree lives.

Qiaoqiao sat on the wedding bed, surrounded by wonderful things she could never have imagined, yet she felt so lonely.

Looking at the clock, it's nine o'clock, and Qiaoqiao really wants to sleep.

She dared not sleep. Her mother-in-law said that Zhou Wenhui had to go to bed at ten o'clock, and she had to help him go to the toilet, carry him to bed, and put the urinal by the bedside before she could sleep.

Qiaoqiao was afraid of her legal husband. He was silent and cold, and when asked anything, he would only give brief "um," "okay," or "fine."

Qiaoqiao wished he would talk more, even if it was just a few curses, so she wouldn't feel so depressed.

She held on until 9:40, and Qiaoqiao quickly got up and went to the study.

"I'm coming in."

There was no light in the study. Qiaoqiao knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

Upon entering the room, Zhou Wenhui was already in bed.

"Do you... need to go to the toilet?" Qiaoqiao felt an unspeakable humiliation; it turned out he could go to bed by himself.

"Just put the urinal on the stool."

This was the longest sentence Zhou Wenhui had said to Qiaoqiao in the past three days.

Qiaoqiao placed the urinal on the chair in the dark, and then placed the chair next to the bed.

"Well... I'm going to sleep now."

There was no sound. Qiaoqiao turned around, gently closed the door, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, I can go to sleep.

The next day, Qiaoqiao jumped up as soon as the bugle call to wake her up sounded.

I opened the sealed door of the coal stove, put two eggs in the kettle to boil, brushed my teeth and washed my face, took the thermos and lunchbox, and went to the canteen to buy breakfast.

Zhou Wenhui ate a bowl of porridge and three fried dough sticks, and bought a steamed bun for himself.

There were many people buying breakfast. Besides soldiers in uniform, there were also women in coarse cloth clothes. They were probably family members like Qiaoqiao.

Qiaoqiao didn't dare to delay, so she bought breakfast and hurried home.

Zhou Wenhui was already awake and lying quietly in bed.

Qiaoqiao first took the urinal out, then put the chamber pot under the commode chair.

"I...I'll hug you..." Qiaoqiao said softly, her face turning red.

Zhou Wenhui did not respond at all.

He pulled back the covers, revealing himself wearing a vest and loose shorts.

Holding her head with one hand and her bottom with the other, she strained. Thankfully, Qiaoqiao, who does farm work, could lift Zhou Wenhui.

Qiaoqiao carefully placed Zhou Wenhui on the commode chair. She tried to help him take off his pants, but Zhou Wenhui coldly said, "I can do it myself. Give me the toilet paper."

Qiaoqiao blushed again, handed the toilet paper to Zhou Wenhui, and whispered, "I'll wait at the door."

He hurriedly left, closing the study door behind him.

I let out a long sigh and forced myself to relax.

A short while later, Zhou Wenhui said from inside the room, "It's done."

As Qiaoqiao pushed open the door and entered the room, a foul odor hit her, making her feel nauseous for no reason and almost vomit.

Hold on, hold on. Qiaoqiao put the wheelchair down and went to pick up Zhou Wenhui from the commode chair.

Perhaps due to improper force or excessive tension, before Zhou Wenhui's buttocks had even left the commode chair, Qiaoqiao stepped towards the wheelchair, tripped, and the two fell to the ground.

The commode chair and commode bucket were overturned, and the excrement and urine in the bucket were all over the floor, spreading on Zhou Wenhui's clothes and pants.

The study reeked of a foul odor, but Qiaoqiao couldn't care less. She quickly got up from the floor, repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Zhou Wenhui opened his eyes, and there was still a piece of feces on his eyes.

"You stupid woman, you clumsy woman, what are you doing?"

At that moment, Zhou Wenhui roared like a lion.

"I...I'll carry you to the toilet to wash you."

Qiaoqiao tried to hug Zhou Wenhui, but perhaps she was terrified; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't lift him. Zhou Wenhui lay in the excrement, screaming, "Get out! Get out of here..."

"I...I'll carry you on my back, you can lie on my back."

Qiaoqiao was also covered in feces and urine. She squatted down, grabbed Zhou Wenhui's hand, and pulled hard, hard, she couldn't fall again.

Zhou Wenhui was pulled onto Qiaoqiao's back, walked through the corridor, through the living room, and into the bathroom.

She gently placed it on the ground and said hurriedly, "I'll go get some water. I'm sorry, I'll be right back."

When she got to the kitchen, Qiaoqiao took a bucket, filled it with cold water, and poured it over herself.

The excrement and urine on my body were washed away, but my whole body was soaked.

Fortunately, it's springtime, so it's not too cold.

Qiaoqiao filled another half bucket with cold water, added hot water, and went into the toilet.

Zhou Wenhui's entire body, from his hair to his broken leg, was covered in excrement and urine.

"What the hell can you do, you idiot? Call Liu Songming over."

Zhou Wenhui screamed in despair.

Liu Songming went to the army, what are you shouting for? Qiaoqiao poured a bucket of water at Zhou Wenhui.

There's also feces and urine, so pour out another bucket.

Finally, after washing away the feces and urine, Qiaoqiao took off Zhou Wenhui's shirt and wrapped him in a bed sheet: "Take off your underwear yourself."

Zhou Wenhui resisted, but had no choice. He took off his underwear and let Qiaoqiao wrap him up like a dumpling and throw him on the wedding bed.

"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful in the future. You lie down for a while, I'll go tidy up the study."

Zhou Wenhui did not respond, staring at the ceiling, tears silently falling.

Soaked to the bone, Qiaoqiao carried a bucket of water, knelt on the study floor, and painstakingly cleaned away the excrement and urine.

Once, twice, three times, suddenly, Qiaoqiao dropped the rag and lay on the ground crying.