Chapter 7 Chapter 7 A difficult sutra

Ye Cuihua's family was well off, and they lived in a tube-shaped building that seemed very nice to people in that era.

This is a building with running water, flush toilets, and even electricity. Although most people are reluctant to use electricity, this house has electricity!

Ye Yu also thought that flush toilets were good, but the problem was the size of the house. The two rooms combined were less than 100 square meters. Nowadays, people valued having many children and a lot of blessings. A family of more than ten people living there had a much smaller space than the average size of a large courtyard.

They climbed up to the third floor and saw that one-third of the corridor space was occupied, leaving only aisles wide enough for one person, and some aisles had to be walked on tiptoe.

Quite crowded.

At this time, Ye Cuihua was the only one left at home, having quit her job, and she had a thirteen-year-old granddaughter and a two-year-old grandson.

According to common sense, a thirteen-year-old girl should still be in middle school. In this era, children generally go to school at an older age, and some even go to elementary school.

No matter what, you shouldn't be at home.

It just so happens that Ye Cuihua's granddaughter is still at home at this time. Not only is she at home, but she has also dropped out of school. This is due to the current chaotic situation, but more importantly, it is because her family favors boys over girls. Otherwise, her brothers and cousins would not go out to school.

As the sister-in-law of the younger brother, Wang Lai Di was not in a position to talk about her aunt's family. When she gave birth to three daughters in a row, she had conflicts with Ye Cuihua. At the worst time, they had no contact for half a year. Later, when Ye Baoguo was born, the relationship between the two families eased. As for sending her third daughter to school, Ye Cuihua would still say a few words, "It's not worth it to spill the water."

But Ye Cuihua is not a bad person. She has been helping Ye Hongjun's family over the years. There was a three-year famine in the 1960s. Although it was less severe than in other places, people still starved to death in Yanjing. It was hard for Ye Hongjun to raise five children. Thanks to Ye Cuihua for helping their family, this was considered a life-saving favor.

Ye Cuihua has always been good to Ye Baoguo and his brothers, and she is not particularly bad to Ye Xing and the others. To put it funny, at least she treats her better than her own granddaughter.

This is how the world is. Most of the time, without looking at the environment or the roles, it is difficult to intuitively say who are purely good people and who are purely bad people.

Wang Lai Di walked in and placed the two gifts she had prepared on the eight-immortal table in the main hall. The most valuable item was the last two kilograms of tea. She smiled and said, "Sister, your Hu Niu is getting more and more sensible and can help take care of her brother."

Ye Yu followed Ye Lan and called her "Auntie".

"Are you tired after such a long walk? Are you thirsty? Come and have a drink of water." Ye Cuihua invited Wang Lai Di and the other two to sit down, and took out pumpkin seeds from the locked cabinet to treat the guests. Then she replied to Wang Lai Di, "At 13 years old, when we were young, you could get married. You are not young anymore, and you should be sensible."

Wang Lai Di felt that this statement was problematic, but she couldn't put her finger on it for a moment. She only heard Ye Yu crack pumpkin seeds and say, "So that's the feudal society that should be overthrown."

Wang Lai Di was afraid her daughter would upset her aunt, so she glared at her secretly and changed the subject with a smile: "Is Tiezhu taller? He's a lot rounder than last time. He's really blessed."

When it comes to her grandson, Ye Cuihua's attention is immediately diverted and she can't stop talking for three days and three nights.

Ye Yu looked at Hu Niu who was working hard to take care of her cousin and her eyes fell on the pumpkin seeds. Since this was her niece, she "generously" gave her one.

"...You are such a miser!" Ye Lan, unable to bear watching, muttered softly and grabbed a handful of pumpkin seeds and gave them to Hu Niu.

Hu Niu stole a glance at her grandmother and realized her attention was not there, so she quickly put the money in her pocket and whispered:

"Thank you, second cousin, third cousin."

"Hu Niu is so good." Ye Lan also helped to tease Tie Zhu, who was holding Hu Niu. Tie Zhu had a chubby face and was really cute. It was a pity that because he was so spoiled, his doting side had already revealed his domineering side at such a young age.

After a long time, Wang Lai Di and Ye Cui Hua finally talked about the sisters Ye Lan and Ye Yu.

Ye Cuihua wholeheartedly supports Ye Lan's marriage: "I also know some families with good conditions. I will ask them for more betrothal gifts so that Baoguoweiguo can marry two working-class wives."

Wang Lai Di waved her hands quickly, chuckled, and said, "...She's still young, so there's no need to rush. The main thing is that Erya is married well and has a good life. Her father and I won't die raising her."

Ye Cuihua still felt that she had to talk about a wealthy family: "Poor couples have many sorrows. If she marries well, like Daya, she will definitely live a comfortable life and can also help you."

Wang Lai Di responded with a smile.

Of course, Ye Cuihua strongly disagreed with Ye Yu's application to go to the countryside. Although there were not many educated youth going to the countryside in the past, it was rare to hear of any of them coming back. It was like throwing meat buns at a dog - they went but never came back.

She came to an outrageous conclusion: "Your daughter has been raised in vain. She has wasted all the money she spent on education for so many years."

Ye. It is said that Bai Yang. Yu, considering that Wang Lai Di and Ye Lan almost blinked their eyes and injured themselves, did not bother with Ye Cuihua, but just quietly cracked all the melon seeds on the table.

Next visit is to my uncle’s house.

Uncle Ye Changcheng lived farther away from Ye Hongjun and Ye Cuihua. Although there were buses and trams in those days, few people took short-distance buses.

First, they complained about the high fares. Second, there were so many people wearing red armbands on the streets. Maybe they thought anyone who could afford to ride was a bourgeois, so they dragged them off the bus and questioned them. Don't think it's outrageous; it's not uncommon.

The above two reasons made Wang Lai Di and the other two choose to walk. It took them more than an hour to walk from Ye Cuihua's house to Ye Changcheng's house, and they walked quite fast.

Ye Changcheng lived in the same slum as Ye Hongjun. His house had one more room than Ye Hongjun's, and this yard was much more magnificent than the yards in their alley. It was said that it was a house where officials lived in the past. It belonged to landlords before the founding of the People's Republic of China and was allocated to the people after the landlords were overthrown.

It is hard to say to whom the future belongs.

Ye Changcheng has many children. His eldest son, second son and third son are all married. His youngest daughter Baoya is about the same age as Ye Lan and also faces the dilemma of going to the countryside as educated youth. Not only Ye Baoya, but also his eldest granddaughter Ye Chunsheng and second grandson Ye Dalin are already eighteen years old and also face the choice of going to the countryside.

No one in my family was particularly conscious, and they all clamored that they didn't want to leave Beijing or go to the countryside.

There is a lot of noise every day.

Because of this, when Wang Lai Di and her two friends arrived, half of them were at home, either because they had asked for leave, left work early, or took a day off. When they met Wang Lai Di and her friends, Ye Changcheng and his wife even took Wang Lai Di and her friends aside to discuss etiquette.

Wang Lai Di: “…”

Ye Changcheng is a senior worker. His wife is unemployed and his three sons are all married. Among their three daughters-in-law, the eldest and second daughters-in-law have formal jobs, while the third daughter-in-law is a temporary worker.

It doesn't matter that the third daughter-in-law's child is still young, the second daughter-in-law's job will definitely go to the second grandson Ye Dalin. Then they disagreed on who should give up the eldest daughter-in-law's job.

Ye Changcheng and his wife naturally wanted to keep their youngest daughter, Baoya. They loved their only and youngest daughter very much, and their eldest daughter-in-law's job was given to them by the old couple.

But the eldest son and his wife feel that they have made the greatest contribution to the family as dual-income earners over the years. Although the eldest daughter-in-law's job took over her mother-in-law's, the job now belongs to the eldest wife. They also want to keep their eldest daughter in Yanjing. In fact, they may not love their daughter. From their words and actions, it is obvious that they do not want to give up their job and do not want to suffer any loss.

As for the above, even a fair judge would find it difficult to judge family affairs, so what kind of judgment can Wang Lai Di make?

Ye Changcheng's wife said that Ye Baoya was born prematurely and was weak, and going to the countryside would be like going to die... But to be honest, Ye Baoya had a round face and a lot of flesh on her body, so she might be delicate but not weak.

Ye Changcheng's eldest daughter-in-law said that her daughter, Ye Chunsheng, had a much harder childhood than Ye Baoya. She was even smaller than Ye Baoya, just over 1.5 meters tall, and skinny. How could she possibly work in the fields? She wasn't very good-looking, so it would be hard for her to find a good husband, and she needed a job.

Wang Lai Di advocates a smooth-talking approach so as not to offend either side.

Ye Baoya and Ye Chunsheng, the aunt and nephew at the center of the storm, are of similar age, both 18 years old, but have never gotten along. Due to their different seniority, Ye Baoya has the upper hand, and coupled with the preference of Ye Changcheng's parents, Ye Baoya often wins. This time, Ye Chunsheng was very persistent with the help of his parents.

Now Ye Chunsheng looked at Ye Baoya with eyes that looked more like an enemy than a relative; Ye Baoya was not much better, because her life was going smoothly, she was used to bullying others by using her seniority, and she was always glaring and talking nonsense.

Alas, every family has its own problems.

Wang Lai Di felt even more fortunate that the sisters Ye Lan and Ye Yu had different ambitions and did not quarrel with each other. She was not so entangled and sad about Ye Yu signing up to go to the countryside.

After finally explaining their purpose, Ye Changcheng and his wife envied the Ye family for being able to resolve the problem so easily.

Wang Lai Di could only smile foolishly.

I'd like to ask Ye Changcheng and his wife to keep an eye on the good family. The situation is almost over. If there are any, aren't there still Ye Baoya and Ye Chunsheng? And the question of who will go to the countryside between Ye Baoya and Ye Chunsheng is still a topic of discussion. I'd also like to find a companion or two for Ye Yu, but that's out of the question.

Ye Yu:

...It's really not necessary.

Ye Changcheng also said that he would invite Wang Lai Di and the others to have dinner with him, but even Wang Lai Di didn't want to stay. She just said that there was no one at home to cook and she needed someone to cook, so she used this as an excuse to leave.

After coming out of Ye Changcheng's compound, Wang Lai Di and Ye Lan both breathed a sigh of relief. As for Ye Yu, while others were quarreling, she could still leisurely eat all the dried sweet potatoes that her uncle and others had brought out to entertain the guests.

Wang Lai Di was also convinced by this. She was not willing to say it in the house, so she complained outside: "Are we missing you for food or drink? You are so excited to eat dried sweet potatoes. Didn't you see the look in your aunt's eyes?"

Ye Yu: "Hey."

This concludes today's visit.

That's not right. Considering the information she got from the Youth League Office, Ye Lanruo should get married as soon as possible. When she returned, Wang Lai Di took Ye Lan and Ye Yu to visit her aunt's house again, and emphasized and urged her on this matter in a tactful way once again.

That’s all.

When they returned to the compound, the two brothers Ye Baoguo and Ye Weiguo had already returned from school. Ye Baoguo went back to his room and no one knew what he was doing. Ye Weiguo found a medium-sized stone from somewhere and practiced weightlifting in the yard.

Seeing them come back, Ye Weiguo became even more excited. He kept staring at Ye Yu, and his whole body was filled with the words "I will be better than you sooner or later."

Ye Yu hehe.

Ye Weiguo not only exercised, but also helped to light the fire at home for the first time today. Sweet potato rice was cooking in the pot. When Wang Lai Di heard about it, she hurried to the backyard to see. Ye Weiguo's cooking skills were not very good. There was obviously more sweet potato crust stuck to the bottom of the pot, but it was still edible.

Wang Lai Di felt sorry for him wasting sweet potatoes and firewood, and scolded him not to enter the kitchen.

However, Ye Yu, considering his good performance in the kitchen today, gave him some pointers on the correct and scientific exercise methods.

Being a soldier is indeed a good career path nowadays.

Smoke rose from the kitchen in the backyard, and young men in the front yard were sweating profusely. Ye Yu dragged a long bench and sat under the big elm tree in front of the door, cracking pumpkin seeds.

The years are quiet and good.