“No.” Qin An’s tone left no room for negotiation. “The army has its rules. You just got here—don’t make exceptions. This isn’t the Cheng family.”
Don’t make exceptions.
Cheng Xi understood.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand her discomfort; he just thought she was being troublesome, unreasonable.
Since arriving here, she couldn’t eat well, couldn’t sleep well, couldn’t take a proper bath, and now she couldn’t even use the toilet without hassle. A whole day’s worth of grievances and discomfort welled up in her throat.
She raised her head, glaring fiercely at Qin An. “Fine. I won’t ask you. I’ll build it myself!”
With that, she turned and stormed off, her skirt swishing angrily behind her.
Qin An watched her furious retreating figure, his heart tightening. Instinctively, he called out, “Hey!”
But she didn’t listen, didn’t stop.
Qin An wanted to chase after her, his long legs taking a step forward, but just then, a soldier hurried over, stopping in front of him and saluting. “Regiment Commander Qin, the division commander wants you in his office immediately.”
Frowning, Qin An glanced once more in the direction Cheng Xi had gone. Her figure was already nearing the corner of the wall.
He paused. Military duties came first, after all. Suppressing the inexplicable tightness in his chest, he turned and headed toward the division commander’s office.
Halfway there, he stopped in his tracks.
With her delicate, pampered appearance, could she really build a toilet?
What if she made a mess of the courtyard, and he had to clean it up?
He pursed his lips slightly.
Maybe… after meeting with the division commander, he could ask about it.
As soon as Qin An left, the row of soldiers standing at attention immediately erupted into chatter, winking and nudging at the soldier standing at the very edge—the one closest to where Cheng Xi and Qin An had just been.
“Xiao Zhang, did you hear what the regiment commander and his wife were talking about?”
Xiao Zhang nodded, lowering his voice. “I heard! The wife said she’s not used to the public toilet and wanted the regiment commander to build one in their yard. The regiment commander refused, and the wife got angry and left.”
“She got angry just like that?” one soldier exclaimed, wide-eyed.
“Tsk tsk, she looks all delicate, but she’s got quite the temper.”
“She’s a capitalist’s daughter, after all. How could she endure this kind of hardship?”
“But the regiment commander is something too. His wife just arrived, and he refused her outright.”
“What do you know? That’s just the regiment commander’s personality. Rules are rules. He’s strict even with himself—who could he possibly make an exception for?”
“It’s not just about the rules. The regiment commander’s mother still doesn’t accept this daughter-in-law. No wonder he’s not warm toward her.”
“The regiment commander never cared much about this marriage anyway.”
“Shh! Keep it down. If the regiment commander hears, he’ll make you run ten kilometers.”
Cheng Xi returned to the small courtyard, seething with anger. She pushed the door open with a loud “bang.”
Building a toilet—how hard could it be?
She walked into the room and rummaged through her travel bag, pulling out a notebook and a pencil.
In her previous life, during university, she had occasionally flipped through architecture books in the library when she had free time.
Though she’d only skimmed them casually, some things stayed with her once seen.
But the materials here were simple; she couldn’t make it too complicated.
Closing her eyes, she recalled for a few seconds before starting to sketch in the notebook.
About ten minutes later, a rough draft was complete.
Holding the blueprint, she walked out into the courtyard, looked around, and settled on a spot in the corner.
Then, she picked up a shovel and began digging.
As she dug, she muttered angrily, "Once I build the toilet… I'll go out and find a job… earn money. Once I get on my feet… I'll get a divorce and leave this place. Then I won't have to put up with anyone's attitude. Hmph!"
But the hole wasn't as easy to dig as she had imagined.
After just a few shovelfuls, her hands were already rubbed red and stinging painfully.
She stood there panting, her brows furrowed so tightly they could crush a fly.
This ground was way too hard!
Just as she was worrying, a voice came from the courtyard gate.
"Cheng Xi, what are you doing?"
Cheng Xi looked up.
She saw Li Jing standing at the courtyard gate, looking at her with surprise.
"Li Jing?" Cheng Xi wiped the sweat from her brow, her frown easing slightly. "I'm building a toilet."
Li Jing had also heard quite a bit of gossip about Cheng Xi earlier, knowing she wasn't used to the public toilet and had vomited beside it.
She never expected Cheng Xi to build her own toilet.
But with her delicate skin and tender flesh, could she handle it?
Looking at Cheng Xi's tightly furrowed brows, the sweat on her forehead, and those red, chafed hands, Li Jing felt a pang of sympathy.
Besides, she thought Cheng Xi was really nice—yesterday, she had given her so many White Rabbit candies.
She walked in. "Cheng Xi, how can you do this kind of work? Let me help you!"
With that, she walked up to Cheng Xi, took the shovel from her hands, and without another word, bent down and started digging the hole.
Her movements were skilled and efficient; each shovelful lifted a large chunk of soil.
"Li Jing, I can't let you do this. I should do it myself!"
"Don't be so polite," Li Jing continued digging. "With your delicate skin, you're not cut out for this kind of work. Just stand by and hand me things or tell me what to do. Anyway, I don't have anything to do these two days."
Warmth filled Cheng Xi's heart, but she couldn't let someone work for free.
She turned and went into the room, opened her travel bag, rummaged through it, took out a package, and came back out.
She stuffed the items into Li Jing's hands.
Li Jing looked down.
Two bars of soap and an even larger pack of White Rabbit candies than yesterday.
Soap cost a whole yuan per bar, and it wasn't even available in ordinary stores.
Her eyes lit up instantly. "Cheng Xi, these are too precious! Really, you don't have to. You already gave me a big handful of White Rabbit candies yesterday, and I haven't even touched them yet—I've saved a lot."
Cheng Xi smiled. "Yesterday's was yesterday's. If you don't accept these, I'll do the work myself."
With that, she reached to snatch the shovel from Li Jing's hands.
Li Jing quickly sidestepped to block her. "No, no, no!"
Cheng Xi seized the opportunity to stuff the items into her pocket. "Then you should accept them!"
Li Jing looked down at the things stuffed into her pocket, then up at Cheng Xi, feeling a bit embarrassed as she said, "Alright then, I'll take them! If you ever need help with anything in the future, just call me!"
After saying that, she worked even more energetically; each shovelful now dug up half a scoop more soil.
Cheng Xi didn't idle either.
She ran into the house, brought out the blueprint, and squatted nearby. "The hole needs to be this deep, two side by side, with a partition wall in the middle."
Li Jing looked at the blueprint and stopped working. "Cheng Xi, did… did you draw this?"
"Yes."
"It's really well drawn," Li Jing marveled. Although she couldn't quite understand the lines and annotations, she thought it looked impressive.
The two of them worked in perfect harmony—one directing, the other laboring.
By evening, they had finally put together a simple toilet.
A few old wooden boards formed the walls, with tar paper covering the top.
Next to it was a small bathing area separated by a cloth curtain.
Cheng Xi looked at this simple toilet, finally feeling a bit lighter in mood.
Just then, Zhao Yinghua led several village women to loiter at the entrance, their eyes peeking into the courtyard.
She had been on edge all day.
Cheng Xi’s words, “In three months, I’m afraid…” had stuck in her heart like a thorn, making her restless no matter what she did.
But she couldn’t bring herself to ask, so she just bottled up her frustration.
Now, seeing the newly built shed, she finally found an outlet for her pent-up anger.
“Hmph, it’s just a few shabby sheds. What’s so great about them?” Zhao Yinghua planted her hands on her hips, her tone dripping with envy. “I thought a capitalist’s daughter could come up with something fancy, but this is it?”
A woman beside her curiously peered into the courtyard. “It looks quite well-made, though. Should we go in and take a look?”
Another woman chimed in, “Yeah, let’s go in and see.”
Zhao Yinghua pursed her lips, wanting to say, “What’s there to see?” But the women had already called out toward the yard, “Sister, can we come in and take a look?”
Before Cheng Xi could respond, Li Jing answered with a smile, “Of course, come on in and have a look.”
The toilet Cheng Xi designed was simply brilliant. In her over twenty years of life, Li Jing had never seen anything like it.
Everyone should come and see it.
Hearing this, the women immediately grew excited and began filing into the courtyard.
Zhao Yinghua hesitated for a moment where she stood, gritted her teeth, and followed them in.
The toilet looked ordinary enough. She’d just say a few sour remarks later to regain some face.
The first woman lifted the cloth curtain of the toilet, peeked inside, and froze.
“This… this is so clean!”
The others crowded around to look.
A layer of lime was spread at the bottom of the pit, and a bamboo ventilation pipe stood in the corner, extending all the way to the roof.
Beside it was a clay jar filled with plant ash.
There was almost no unpleasant odor in the air.
The second woman crouched down for a closer look and discovered something even more astonishing. “Hey? Why are there two pits?”
Cheng Xi walked over and explained unhurriedly, “This is called the dual-pit alternating system. When one pit is in use, the other is covered for fermentation. When this pit is full, you switch to the other one. By then, the waste in the previous pit has already turned into fertilizer, which can be used for growing vegetables, without any smell at all.”
The women listened, stunned.
“It can work like that?”
“This design… it’s so well thought out!”
“How does her mind work? How did she come up with this?”
One woman took Cheng Xi’s hand, her eyes full of admiration. “Sister, what did you do before? This is amazing!”
Cheng Xi smiled. “I just read books and learned in my spare time.”
Zhao Yinghua stood at the back, her face dark.
She had intended to make a few sarcastic remarks, but now she couldn’t utter a single word.
Because… this toilet was indeed a hundred times better than the public ones.
After holding back for a long time, she finally managed to squeeze out, “It’s just a few extra pits dug. What’s so great about that?”
But no one paid her any attention.
The women had already gathered around the adjacent bathing area.
“Oh, this bathing area even has a drainage ditch? The water flows directly outside?”
“Of course, otherwise the room would be flooded after bathing.”
“This design is just too good, isn’t it? Even in the city, not many people could think of this, right?”
Zhao Yinghua stood outside the crowd, her chest tight with frustration.
She had come to watch a joke, but now she had ended up boosting Cheng Xi’s reputation instead.
So annoying.
But she couldn't leave.
If she left, how could she ever hold her head up in front of these sisters-in-law again?
She had no choice but to stand her ground, enduring the praise that pierced her ears like needles.
Evening.
Qin An finished a day of training and stood outside the division commander's office. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
A steady, authoritative voice came from inside: "Come in!"
Qin An pushed the door open and saluted: "Division Commander!"
Division Commander Han Tieshan looked up at Qin An: "Xiao Qin, what is it?"
Qin An pursed his lips, carefully considering his words before speaking: "Division Commander, is it allowed to build a private toilet in our family quarters?"