Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 384: Nothing to Worry About

As soon as she reached the doorway, before she could get inside, a fully armed postman came her way, backpack slung over his shoulder and a postal bag across his chest.

In the moment their eyes met, Yi Chichi clearly saw the surprise and delight in the postman’s eyes.

"Mr. Yi, you’re just in time. There’s a telegram for you!"

Before he even finished speaking, he opened his bag and pulled out a telegram for her, "I was just about to deliver it to you."

Yi Chichi took it, politely thanked him, and asked, "Are you still making deliveries?"

"There are a few urgent parcels for the commune; they need to be delivered quickly."

The postman replied briefly and plunged into the wind and snow, heading towards the commune government.

Yi Chichi stood in the doorway to open the telegram; it was a reply from Ji Jian.

Telegrams charged by the character, so to save money, Ji Jian’s messages were concise and clear—

Old Wen is back!

A total of five words, without punctuation.

But its content touched Yi Chichi’s heart deeply. Smiling broadly, she put away the telegram and turned back to Grandpa Liu, "Grandpa, could you call Wen Shi for me, and would you mind waiting just a bit longer for me?"

"Sure, young lady, go ahead and call. I’ll wait for you!"

So Yi Chichi rushed inside to call Wen Shi.

Making a call these days was particularly cumbersome, requiring one to register and wait in line, but today the post office was rather empty, so she skipped the queue.

Next was reporting the contact’s location.

Then the operator would transfer the call step by step; whether it would connect was uncertain, and sometimes after a long wait, contact could not be established.

However, as long as you knew the military unit number, the call could typically connect barring any busy lines during transfer.

If a line was busy, that would be troublesome, and the call might not connect.

Luckily, Yi Chichi had some good fortune, as the transfer went smoothly, and after several layers of connections, she successfully reached the camp’s signal operator.

Upon learning she sought Wen Shi and after verifying her identity, the signal operator said, "Sister-in-law, would you prefer to stay on hold or should I call you back? I need to fetch Vice Commander Wen."

"I’ll wait."

Yi Chichi wouldn’t hang up; this wasn’t an era with good signal strength, and disconnecting might mean losing contact altogether.

She preferred to pay to speak with Wen Shi than waste money on another telegram.

The signal operator acknowledged and went to fetch him.

Yi Chichi heard clear footsteps and another signal operator answering the phone.

The wait wasn’t long, about four to five minutes, followed by Wen Shi’s breathless voice, "Darling, darling, I’m here."

"I can hear you; let me talk and you respond."

"Okay."

"Just got back?"

"Came back this morning, just out of the leader’s office."

Yi Chichi instantly understood; it was the routine debriefing after returning from a mission.

Concerned, she asked, "Were you injured at all?"

Instinctively, Wen Shi wanted to say no, but Yi Chichi interjected, "Don’t lie to me."

Perfect, she left him no space to lie.

Sighing, he resignedly admitted, "Same old, same old."

Yi Chichi paused, realizing his ’same old’ referred to his persistent injury, and she suddenly worried, "Didn’t bring any medicine?"

The remedies had already been submitted, and given the military’s efficiency, once validated, they would prepare for those at sea, even if mass production wasn’t feasible.

"I did."

Knowing what she was asking, Wen Shi explained, "Our outing was so long this time, with a severe lack of fresh water resources, that no amount of medicine would suffice."

Meaning, it wasn’t the medicine’s fault but rather the harsh conditions.

Yi Chichi’s heart ached profoundly, and she asked him, "Should I come over?"

"No."

With the extreme cold now, trains were slow, requiring transfers. Why put her through such trouble?

"I only have a seven-day leave this time. By the time you come, I might be leading drills, not in the regiment."

At his words, Yi Chichi abandoned any thoughts of visiting.

She could only remind him to see a doctor and take care of himself.

Then Wen Shi inquired about family matters, whether anyone was bothering them, how the old folks were doing, to which Yi Chichi reported nothing but good news.

After all, there was no bad news to share.

She wanted to remind him of the January matter countless times but didn’t know how to bring it up, so she only warned him to take good care of himself,

"I know, darling. You and mother take good care at home too, don’t treat yourselves poorly, and don’t skimp on anything you want to eat or use..."

"Vice Commander Wen, it’s been ten minutes."

Someone beside him reminded, and Wen Shi checked his pockets only to find he hadn’t brought money. He asked Yi Chichi, "Darling, should we hang up? I’ll write you a letter, how about that?"

"Sure!"

Some things are indeed hard to discuss over the phone; better to write with an acrostic poem.

With Wen Shi’s intelligence...

He could probably understand.

Evidently, Wen Shi’s intelligence was reliable.

The letter written in late November took until mid-November to reach Wen Shi, spending half a month in transit.

Initially, he didn’t notice anything peculiar about the letter until Yi Chichi casually asked about a certain island, prompting him to read every word carefully, sensing something amiss.

Then he fell into silence.

It was truly surprising, the way his wife used the scant information from newspapers and broadcasts to extract more details, truly impressive.

Honestly, he never imagined she’d alert him to that.

Even though he didn’t need it, he appreciated it deeply.

Smiling, he picked up pen and paper to reply to Yi Chichi, filling six sheets front and back before putting the pen down.

He stuffed money and tickets into the envelope, along with two photos.

The photos were taken while accompanying Old He and his wife to a department store, at the photo studio.

One was a solo shot of him, another a group photo with He Yunsong and his wife.

When Yi Chichi received the letter, opened the envelope, and took out the papers, the sight of the photos made her excitedly shout, "Mom, come quickly, Wen Shi sent photos back."

"Where, where?"

Her voice arrived before she did.

As her words ceased, Wen’s mother, with flour-dusted hands and sleeves rolled up, eagerly appeared before Yi Chichi.

"Your son looks so handsome!"

Yi Chichi handed Wen Shi’s solo photo to her, and Wen’s mother examined it closely with slightly reddened eyes, her lips involuntarily curling upwards, "Indeed, his face masks all his flaws."

As a child, Wen Shi was mischievous, like a little terror causing trouble, fighting, swimming, fishing, climbing mountains to catch rabbits, climbing trees for bird nests, digging the ground for field mice... there was nothing he wouldn’t dare to do.

"Mom, aren’t you proud to have such a good-looking son?"

Yi Chichi wrapped her arms around her neck, teasing good-naturedly.

Wen’s mother gave her a side eye, "Of course I’m proud; my son’s so outstanding. Do you dare say you don’t like him?"

"I like him."

His face was handsome, his physique good, his straightforward personality from earlier years often left people speechless. And his desire to find a comrade who could carry him in a princess hold couldn’t overshadow his excellent post-marriage transformation.

"As long as you like him, quickly see what else he’s written."