At the military's group wedding, my best friend and I swapped husbands.

Chapter 94 The two sisters are moving forward side by side!

After finishing his sentence, Bai Si'an continued eating with his head down.

Lin Weiwei looked at his calm profile and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

The laboratory matters were military secrets, and if she asked any more questions, it would only put Bai Si'an in a difficult position.

She picked up a piece of shredded potato with her chopsticks, chewed it a couple of times, and still couldn't resist, lowering her voice: "Well... you all need to be careful in there too. Replace any old machinery or equipment promptly; safety comes first."

Bai Si'an paused with his chopsticks and looked up at her.

Under the kerosene lamp, her face showed a hint of unintentional worry, not as if she were asking about something, but rather as if she were giving a casual instruction.

He nodded: "I know. There are safety procedures."

"That's good." Lin Weiwei breathed a sigh of relief, no longer mentioning that, and changed the subject, "Wanwan, is the food at the performing arts troupe good?"

The topic shifted, and the atmosphere at the dinner table relaxed again.

After finishing their meal, Bai Si'an and Bai Rongbei cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them.

Lin Weiwei pulled Su Wanwan into her room and closed the door behind her.

"What's wrong? Why are you being so secretive?" Su Wanwan teased her.

"I've got something good to show you!" Lin Weiwei took out a cloth bag from the old wooden box by the bedside, carefully opened it, and inside were several neatly folded items made of fine cotton cloth.

Su Wanwan took one, touched it, and found it to be soft, thick in the middle, with narrow protective wings on both sides, and two wide elastic bands sewn on the back.

"This is……?"

"Sanitary napkins!" Lin Weiwei lowered her voice, her eyes sparkling. "Bai Si'an made them for me! They're made with sterilized cotton and fine cotton cloth. Feel them, they're much more comfortable and cleaner than strips of cloth. The elastic band stays in place on my underwear, so it doesn't feel uncomfortable."

Su Wanwan examined the work in surprise; the stitches were fine and even, and the shapes were neat. "He's so skillful? He can even make this?"

"Absolutely!" Lin Weiwei said with a hint of pride, "I only told him a rough idea, and he figured it out himself. He even said the cotton wasn't thick enough and the material of the straps could be improved."

"Wanwan, don't you think it would be a great thing if we could make more so that women in the residential compound and even the village could use them?"

Su Wanwan nodded seriously: "Of course it's a good thing. Using wood ash and old cloth is unhygienic and can easily lead to illness. This looks clean and comfortable. However... the materials might be hard to come by. Cotton and cotton cloth both require coupons, so the cost won't be low."

"Let's take it one step at a time." Lin Weiwei carefully wrapped the sanitary napkin. "Let's try it on a small scale first and see everyone's feedback. If everyone thinks it's good, maybe we can give it a heads-up. Even if we can't make it widespread, at least all the women in our family compound can use it."

"Hmm." Su Wanwan also felt hopeful. "Weiwei, it's good that you're thinking about this."

"Sigh, I'm just trying to make myself comfortable." Lin Weiwei waved her hand, then leaned closer and lowered her voice even further. "Oh, right, there's something else. I'm thinking I can't wait any longer about painting. Tomorrow I'll go to the surrounding villages and see what I can paint."

If you just draw on the walls of a military camp, most of the people you'll see are soldiers. Besides, drawing in the camp area will probably get you criticized; you can't just draw anywhere in the military.

"Don't the leaders often go to the countryside for inspections? The propaganda department also goes to the villages from time to time to do propaganda. If I paint the murals on the village walls, maybe I can attract their attention more."

Su Wanwan thought for a moment: "That makes sense. There are people coming and going in the village, including fellow villagers, so the influence is wider. What do you plan to paint?"

"I've made up my mind." Lin Weiwei counted on her fingers. "I can't just draw pictures of the military region; I also need to draw things that the locals would like to see. For example, scenes of harvest, children playing, or landscape paintings."

Of course, we also need to include the main themes, such as soldiers and civilians working and studying together. Make the drawings vivid and interesting so that people enjoy them and are happy; then the goal is achieved.

"As long as you know what's going on," Su Wanwan said, taking her hand. "Do you need my help?"

"No need. You focus on your training at the performing arts troupe. This is a long-term battle, so let's each do our own thing and encourage each other." Lin Weiwei grinned. "Once I've made a name for myself, and you've established yourself in the troupe, we sisters will advance side by side!"

Lin Weiwei got up early the next morning.

She had her period, and the pain was only severe for the first two days. Today, her stomach doesn't hurt much anymore.

Before Bai Si'an left for work, she tugged at his sleeve: "Um... could you get me some paint? You know, the kind of paint for painting slogans, red, yellow, blue, and preferably some white and black too."

Bai Si'an pushed up his glasses: "How many do you want?"

"Give me a few small buckets first, it'll be easier for me to carry." Lin Weiwei gestured with her fingers. "I'll use them to paint in the village. I'm so bored at home all by myself. I see the walls in the village are bare, so I can paint something on them."

Bai Si'an nodded and replied, "I'll bring it back at noon."

Sure enough, at noon, Bai Si'an returned carrying a military green satchel containing several oils in old canning jars, with a fairly complete range of colors, and also several old brushes of different widths.

"Is that enough?" he asked.

"That's enough!" Lin Weiwei happily took it; it felt heavy. "Great! I'll start working this afternoon!"

After lunch, Lin Weiwei slung a cloth bag containing paint bottles and brushes over her shoulder and went out with Bai Si'an. Bai Si'an went to work, and Lin Weiwei went to paint.

Not far from the military camp is a village called Shazao Village, with dozens of households, mostly living in adobe houses.

Lin Weiwei walked along the dirt road. It was afternoon, and the village was quiet. Only a few elderly people sat in front of their houses basking in the sun, and children played by the dirt mounds.

She walked around and spotted a relatively flat earthen wall at the entrance of the village, next to an old elm tree, in a conspicuous location.

She took a small stool out of her pocket, put it down, and observed the wall for a while.

The earthen wall is rough, and in some places it's even crumbling, so painting directly on it might not look good.

She thought for a moment, picked up a relatively flat stone from the side, moistened it with water, and used it to polish away as much of the large bumps and loose dirt on the wall as possible.

After finishing her preparations, she opened the paint can.

Red is the most eye-catching color, so I used it first.

Without making a draft, she picked up a brush, dipped it in paint, and with a flick of her wrist, began to paint on the wall.

First, there's a simple outline: a round sun, below which are undulating sand dune lines.

Next, switch to yellow and place a few clumps of tenacious sea buckthorn among the sand dunes.

Then, with a few strokes of blue, the vastness of the distant sky is depicted.

The movements were slow, but very steady.

She painted the most common scenery in the Gobi Desert, but used a bright and slightly cartoonish style. The sun is smiling, the lines of the sand dunes are soft, and the sea buckthorn grass looks vibrant.

As I was drawing, I heard soft footsteps and a childish voice behind me.

"Sister, what are you drawing?"

Lin Weiwei turned around and saw several children from the village, the older ones were seven or eight years old, and the younger ones were four or five years old. Their little faces were dirty, but their eyes were wide open, staring curiously at the paintings on the wall.

"Draw our sun and sand dunes," Lin said with a slight smile, continuing her work. "Does it look good?"