family
As the two were talking, two women came in from the courtyard, each holding a child about two or three years old, followed by a boy of four or five years old, covered in dust.
Judging from their appearance, the two women are probably about the same age. One has long hair and the other has short hair. Neither of them is too fat nor too thin. After all, it was unlikely that they would gain too much weight in the seventies.
Before the two women could say anything, Xu's mother stood up from the stool and took the child from the long-haired woman's arms. "Tiedan's mother, it's your turn to cook today. Go and cook. Your father and the others should be back soon."
Then he said to the short-haired woman, "Cake's mother, please read the cake. The wheat harvest is over and it's been a day since we started. Go wash the clothes."
Xu's mother made all the arrangements for her two daughters-in-law. The two daughters-in-law said "OK" but looked at Xu Nian holding the bowl of sugar water.
Xu Nian could feel her body's desire for sugar, but it was too sweet for her, so she fed the three children the brown sugar water without waiting for them to say anything. The child named Tietou squinted his eyes happily and said to her, "Auntie, the brown sugar water is delicious."
Xu Nian felt a little complicated. Due to her background, she had a strong ability to adapt, but she knew life was hard in this era without thinking too much. She just hoped she could go back.
Seeing this, Xu's mother didn't say anything, but urged her two daughters-in-law to get the job done quickly.
After the two daughters-in-law had left and Tietou, who was drinking sugar water, was driven back into the house, Xu's mother curled her lips and said, "You see, your two sisters-in-law will definitely tell your brother that I am partial to you and secretly give you the best food."
Xu Nian quickly came back to his senses. He was already familiar with Xu Ma, and he had to maintain this relationship first. So he said in a sympathetic tone, "Mom is right. Do you have to depend on their moods to decide who to give your things to?"
This really touched Xu Ma's heart. "That's right. I'm tired of your sister-in-law. Before your sister-in-law gave birth to Tiedan, she was fine. But after giving birth, she has been trying to stand on her own two years ago. She doesn't even think about the family. It's not their turn to make the decisions."
"Then let my brother talk to them, how could they not listen?"
"Your brother is okay. I just want family harmony. Otherwise, I would have said it long ago."
Xu Nian smiled and said, "Mom is really kind-hearted and generous. They are blessed to have you."
It is said that a daughter is her mother's little cotton-padded jacket. Xu's mother said with satisfaction: "Our Nian Nian is the best. She understands her mother," and rubbed her daughter's hair.
Xu Nian sighed again, saying that no matter what era it was, “flattery never wears out.”
Over here, two people were holding two children and kissing them, while over there, the two sisters-in-law were whispering, "Mom is so partial. Do you smell the fragrance on little sister's hair? Shampoo is so expensive, and it's only for the New Year or something, so she gave it to little sister. Little sister's hair is not short, right? How much should it take? I have short hair, and mom didn't want me to use it. To be honest, it was my aunt who sent this home for our family to use, and now it's all for little sister."
"Sister-in-law, I don't dare to say that to you. Don't you think about how much our parents love me?" Although the second sister-in-law had some ideas in her mind, she didn't dare to say them out loud. The eldest sister-in-law was not careful with her mouth and was good at trying to please her mother. If she sold her out later, who would she cry to?
It was boring for Tietou Niang to talk alone, and she was afraid that the second son's wife would imitate her, so she stopped talking and went about her own business.
When the meal was almost ready, Xu Qinghua brought his three sons home. None of the four were short, probably over 1.75 meters tall. Xu Nian felt very close to them and guessed that the feelings of his original body might not have dissipated yet.
After that, there was another busy period. It was only when they sat down in the main hall to eat that Xu Nian almost recognized everyone in the family.
In this world, Xu Nian's father is Xu Qinghua, and his mother is Lü Mei, both in their forties. They have five children. The eldest, Xu Le, is twenty-two and already married. Her family was struggling, and she married a man of equal status, who usually stays close to her parents.
The second son, Xu Fengjian, is twenty-one years old. He is married to the eldest sister-in-law and has two children, a boy and a girl, Tietou and Bing'er. The third son, Xu Fengkang, is nineteen years old. He is married to the second sister-in-law and has a child, Tiedan. The fourth son, Xu Fengcheng, is seventeen years old. He has graduated from junior high school for a year. He often asks his uncle to help him get certificates to find a job in the county. Now he is the most educated person in the family.
As for the original owner Xu Nian, he was only thirteen years old. He started elementary school at the age of nine and was about to graduate from elementary school.
It cannot be said that she started school late, but it is that children nowadays generally start school late. If they start school early, the children will not be smart, which is a waste of money for farmers. Moreover, learning is not valued in rural areas. After all, this is still a special period.
The situation in schools has only improved in the past two years. Both the county and the city require academic qualifications for recruitment, and parents are sending more children to school for the sake of their children's future.
Xu Nian made up an excuse for this, saying that he was about to graduate and needed to see his family's household registration book for the junior high school entrance exam. Maybe he got it from Xu's father because he needed it for school. After all, most families don't give household registration books to children, and it's difficult to replace it if it's lost.
Looking at the few thin pieces of paper and some words extracted from the original owner's third brother, Xu Nian was able to understand half of the information about this family. For this, Xu Nian was even ridiculed by his third brother, "Xu Nian, it's not that I look down on you, but you should graduate from elementary school first!"
Xu Nian felt bad hearing this; this was her sore spot. Her grades in modern times were also very average. It wasn't that she didn't want to learn, it was that she simply couldn't. Her college entrance exam score was purely because she was an arts student, and she only got a third-tier university. It was embarrassing anyway.
She has never been able to get rid of the nickname "Stupid Beauty" because as she grew up, she became more and more beautiful, but her grades became worse and worse.
But thinking that he had just graduated from high school, he thought that the elementary school exam would not be a problem. After thinking it through, Xu Nian also said to the original owner's third brother, "Huh, you should find a job first and then talk to me."
Seeing this, the elder and second brothers encouraged the younger sister, "We still believe in the younger sister. Reinforce your knowledge at home in the next two days."
Father Xu also smiled and said, "You did well in the exam. Dad will take you to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy the hair ornament you liked last time."
Even the little iron head clapped his hands and said "buy a head flower, buy a head flower"
Seeing this, others teased the child, "Tietou, you've been behaving well lately. Let grandpa buy you some candy." Tietou gave Father Xu an awkward look, nestled in his mother's arms, and whispered, "Buy some candy."
The shy and childish voice made everyone laugh. Finally, Mr. Xu smiled and said, "Buy them all, buy them all."
Xu Nian felt that this big family looked quite warm, but he had too high expectations for himself. He comforted himself by saying that if he really couldn't go back, starting a new life here seemed pretty good too.
At night, Xu Nian tossed and turned on the hard bed for a long time, but couldn't fall asleep. He felt that he could start over not long ago, but when he was alone and quiet, he started to have random thoughts again.
At this time, Xu's mother, who was also lying in bed, fanned Xu's father with a palm-leaf fan and said, "What if the girl really doesn't do well in the exam? I think you've put pressure on her today. Didn't you see that Nian Nian's face is wrinkled?"
Father Xu turned over and said, "I think you are just worrying about nothing. If you don't put some pressure on her, what's the point of not going to school? You want her to learn from the older girls and get married when she's old enough. Aren't you just waiting for Nian Nian to learn from her younger sister-in-law and get a good job, marry into the city and enjoy a good life?"
After he finished speaking, seeing that Xu's mother didn't say anything and didn't fan herself, he took the fan from her hand and started fanning herself.
After a long pause, Father Xu finally said, "If it really doesn't work, I'll ask Mom to find a solution. Go to sleep."
Only then did Xu's mother push her husband and slowly fall asleep.
It's still quite cool at night in mid-June. The wives of Xu Fengjian and Xu Fengkang are also chatting with their husbands about what happened today. The eldest one is smart enough to smooth things over, so everything is going peacefully.
The second son didn't understand what his wife meant and just smiled foolishly, which made Xu Ersao feel helpless.
But they are all trivial matters, and it is not easy to make a fuss about them. After all, as long as it is not a big deal, the Xu family is still quite good.
We built an extension to our house early on. My parents-in-law are not troublemakers and don't interfere in matters inside the house.
The child's great-aunt is a very capable person, and her uncle is the accountant of the brigade. The brigade is also a relatively wealthy village in this area. This is much better than other young wives.
Apart from being dissatisfied with the fact that the parents-in-law doted on the sister-in-law, when I thought about how they were equally good to their grandchildren, I couldn't find any fault. After all, as long as life was good, no one would go astray.
Chickens in rural areas are the treasures of the family. Each household is limited to the number of chickens they can raise, so the poultry at home are raised to be more energetic than humans.
Xu Nian was woken up by the noisy crowing of roosters. She tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep last night. Now she felt depressed when she opened her eyes, but seeing that it was already bright outside the window, it was difficult to fall asleep again.
After lying in bed for a while and looking at the wooden beam above his head to get used to it, he mustered up the energy to brush his teeth and wash his face. He saw that only Father Xu was weaving a small straw basket in the yard. There was no one else. He guessed that they all went to play in the village.
Last night at dinner, Xu Nian didn't eat much before listening to their conversation. They had just finished harvesting the wheat and were given three days off. Yesterday, the men of the Xu family went to work. They went to the county together to help pay the grain, which was also considered as public income. Now farmers hope to earn a few more cents a year and have a good New Year.
Last night, when talking about this, both Brother Xu Da and Brother Xu San were laughing. Other families can't get such a good thing. This is the treatment only the families of village cadres can enjoy.
But Father Xu couldn't sit still, so he took advantage of his free time today to weave some baskets and then go to the county to exchange them for other things when the ninth day of the ninth lunar month comes.
Xu Nian looked at the toothbrush that was already broken into pieces, and couldn't help but grit her teeth, feeling the pain. She endured it and went to the kitchen to get some salt and sprinkled it on the toothbrush. With an expression on her face, she put it in her mouth and brushed it a few times. She couldn't find a toothbrush holder, so she could only use her hands to get water to rinse her mouth.
At the beginning of the day, I couldn't help but sigh several times, thinking that I should pass the exam first, regardless of other things. She didn't care about the hairpin, so it would be more realistic to buy a toothbrush first.
Seeing Xu Nian finished washing up, Dad Xu pointed to the kitchen and said, "I left some rice soup and steamed buns for you to eat with pickles."
Xu Nian responded in a soft voice. She was indeed feeling hungry. She had no appetite for food yesterday and only ate a little bit. But this morning her stomach started to rumble.
After going to the kitchen and looking at the bowl of relatively thick rice soup in the pot, Xu Nian nodded with satisfaction. He picked up three pieces of pickles and added them to the coarse grain steamed buns. After thinking for a while, he took it out.
She sat next to Xu's father, eating steamed buns and slurping porridge while watching her father braiding the basket.
Father Xu looked at her immature appearance and smiled: "Girl, eat your meal and read your book carefully. Daddy won't lie to you."
Xu Nian could only sigh and say, "I know, Dad. I'll go to school after I finish eating."
“…”
Xu Nian walked into the room and opened the textbook. She found it quite interesting and not very difficult, but the room was too stuffy. She remembered that elementary school now has a five-year system. She rummaged around and collected the textbooks for grades one to five and put them in her right desk pocket.
Curious, Xu Nian opened another desk pocket and took a look. He found the little girl's hair ornament, sandbags, long ropes, some beautiful drawing papers and other miscellaneous items inside. He then closed the drawer without interest.
Out of boredom, he picked up a Chinese textbook that had been passed down through countless generations, moved a stool and sat in the shade outside to read. He first read the story, which was very interesting and had positive political ideas. Then he memorized the required parts in the textbook, one by one. Since it was not difficult, Xu Nian felt quite accomplished.
Seeing this, Xu's father felt relieved and worked even harder. It was almost time to cook dinner at noon, and everyone in the family had returned from their mountain talk, but Xu Nian still felt unsatisfied.
At noon, Xu's mother found out that her daughter had been studying for the whole morning, and she praised her happily again and again, which made her two daughters-in-law who were taking care of the children beside her couldn't help but curl their lips.
However, when they heard the mother-in-law say that she would put scrambled eggs in the noodle soup for lunch, they felt happy and enjoyed their lunch. The two sisters-in-law also felt that it was good that their parents-in-law were kind to their sister-in-law, and it was also good that their family could benefit from it.
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