"What?" Everyone was a little confused.
"Remove the glass window? How do you remove that thing?"
"Won't a piece of the glass break when you remove the window?"
The eldest sister slapped her thighs hard to calm herself down, and laughed until her eyes were filled with tears.
"Hahaha - this is so funny! Your man is really smart. He directly dismantled the wooden frame and took out a complete piece of glass! The glass was not broken at all!"
"Ha ha ha ha--"
The crowd burst into laughter. If nothing unexpected happens, this funny story will be talked about by the neighbors for at least two to three weeks!
After laughing, the protagonist walked into the courtyard carrying a dusty glass window.
"What's wrong?" Seeing the neighbors' eyes all turned to him, Xu Haizhou was a little confused, but he guessed what everyone was laughing at after a quick thought.
"We were talking about you removing someone else's glass." Qiao Lu held back her laughter and helped him lift a piece of the glass window off his shoulder.
"Haizhou, tell me quickly, why did you remove the glass from Old Ma's house? Hahaha—" the eldest sister urged.
Xu Haizhou stood there and took a breath, Qiao An came running over with a fistful of hands, trying to wipe the sweat off his face.
Xu Haizhou bent down and let the young man gently wipe his forehead. After wiping, he kissed his son's tender face and then raised the corners of his lips with a smile.
"He smashed my glass, so I broke his window. Isn't that too much?"
The sinister Xu Haizhou is simply too funny. It has been four or five years since this man moved into the compound. The neighbors only knew that this guy lived a secluded life, was honest and kind-hearted. But now they discovered that this man would avenge his grudges!
Hahaha, interesting, very interesting!
The aunts and sisters laughed non-stop, and a few old men in the yard also came over to join in the fun. After listening to the conversation, they praised Xu Haizhou for his courage.
"Aren't you afraid of angering the old Ma family and causing trouble for you in the future?" After all, he is a local native. It would be so ugly to remove someone else's windows. The elders in the courtyard wanted to keep things quiet. If they wanted to smash something, they would just smash it and pay some money. Why would they remove someone else's windows?
Xu Haizhou's thin lips curled up slightly. Although he smiled, his smile was cold and heartless: "Go ahead and look for it. I will return it to him intact."
"Hahaha--"
I guess today's big courtyard won't be boring!
…
The windows in the large courtyard were basically installed at the same time, and their sizes were similar. Xu Haizhou removed the original windows in the bedroom, and then installed the glass from Old Ma's house on the wall together with the window frames. It must have been a smooth process, as he performed it quite skillfully.
Qiao Lu wondered if all men were good at installing this kind of thing?
The new windows were reinstalled in twenty minutes. Xu Haizhou then went to the well to fetch a basin of water and wiped the windows. They were wiped clean and spotless. Even if Ma Xiaoshuan was present, he could not tell that these were his old windows, which were dusty and covered with mud.
After wiping, Xu Haizhou admired it with satisfaction for a moment, then turned his head and saw his wife glaring at him a little resentfully, with her lips pouted high, looking even more like a child than Qiao An.
"What's wrong?" Xu Haizhou laughed and put the tools into the storage box.
Qiao Lu took a step forward, her steps sounding aggrieved: "You knew it was Ma Xiaoshuan who broke it, why did you tell me you didn't know?"
Xu Haizhou was stunned for a moment, then he smiled and pulled the girl into his arms, patting the back of her head as if he was coaxing a child.
"I'm really not sure, but I knew it when I saw the wound on Ma Xiaoshuan's face."
Qiao Lu snorted unhappily and twisted in his arms: "When did you find out?"
"This morning when I was buying tools." He smiled and stroked her hair.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Qiao Lu swore that this was her first time to "make trouble unreasonably".
Seeing Qiao Lu like this, Xu Haizhou seemed a little surprised, but suddenly he smiled and apologized to her: "It's my fault."
Good man, this man is very sensible.
Qiao Lu finally understood why people always say that girls like to act unreasonably after falling in love.
Being spoiled by your lover, you feel fearless and it's hard not to be hypocritical!
Her previous boyfriend never spoiled her like this! Bad review!
Xu Haizhou lowered his eyes and looked at her one more time, thinking that his young wife was quite cute when she was being pretentious.
Especially the little face is puffed up like a squirrel storing food. The mother and son look exactly like each other, so cute.
…
He was delayed in the morning and there was no good spot to set up a stall. But Li Hongjun was so nice and set up two stalls for him to occupy!
"Thank you."
Li Hongjun chuckled and took advantage of the free time to help him sort out the goods.
"What happened this morning? You don't have the habit of being late." After saying that, she frowned and rolled her eyes at Xu Haizhou, "Oh, I see. You don't want to leave Wenrou Township, do you?"
Xu Haizhou kicked him lightly: "It's you, you ghost."
Even so, I agreed with what he said in my heart. Before leaving, I hugged my wife and kissed her for a long time. My mouth was numb... cough cough——
"Okay, I know you're shy, so I won't say anything."
Li Hongjun touched his nose and chuckled: "By the way, I asked someone to find the radio you asked me to buy last time, but the TV tickets are not available. They are very hard to get, and they are snapped up as soon as they are released. Do you have the time to queue up in the middle of the night?"
Xu Haizhou looked at him and said, "Let's not talk about whether we have time or not. Let's talk about it after we get the tickets. I'll treat you to dinner later."
"Well, if it doesn't work, you should go find the monkey." Li Hongjun then remembered something: "By the way, Haizhou, at seven o'clock in the morning, the female student came again, saying that she forgot to bring her hair tie and wanted to buy one at your stall, but you were not there, so I asked her to come back at noon."
Xu Haizhou paused in straightening the cloth: "Again?"
That girl comes every week, and every time she comes, either her hair tie is lost or her hairpin is broken... The frequency is so high that it is inevitable that people will think she has other purposes.
"Yeah." Li Hongjun winked at him and said, "You're already married, but you still have lots of romantic relationships. Can't you give me some of the extra ones?"
"You can take it." Xu Haizhou turned his back to him and sorted the goods, saying, "Find some time to help me tell her about my marriage."
Li Hongjun raised his eyebrows: "Why don't you say it yourself?"
Xu Haizhou glanced at him and asked, "Will you help me?"
When I looked over, why did my heart tremble?
Li Hongjun: “…Help!”
It just so happened that the female classmate was sad and he was able to comfort her, and then take advantage of her weakness and strike first!
But strangely, Li Hongjun didn't see the female student all day.
…
It was a little cloudy in the morning, and the wind was chilly. Qiao Lu did not go out, but stayed at home, holding her son by the brazier.
When I was making lunch at noon, I saw the five remaining steamed buns. After thinking about it, I decided to brush them with oil and make them into toasted steamed bun slices. They will be crispy and fragrant, and can satisfy hunger or be used as a snack.
He cut the meat into slices of even thickness and roasted a whole plate of it. He divided half of it into another plate and sent it to the Chen family next door.
"I'm really sorry about the name yesterday. I didn't mean it. Today I made some toasted steamed bread slices. They're very crispy. Let you try them."
Qiao Lu handed the steamed bread slices to Auntie Chen. She could smell the crispy fragrance that went deep into her bones before she got close to it.
Aunt Chen was overwhelmed by the flattery and quickly refused: "No, no! What are you doing?"
Qiao Lu explained with a smile: "Si Mei seems to still be angry. Please apologize for me."
Aunt Chen smacked her lips and frowned, "You're so polite. I scolded her this morning. How can you be so fussy about such a small matter? Don't take it to heart. Si Mei is just a child with a bad temper."
Chen Simei came home from school at noon. Before she could even sit down, she heard the noise and rushed out to interrupt her mother: "I've told you that I'm already 15 years old and I'm not a child anymore! And I took it seriously! Anyway, I feel really uncomfortable now!"
She can no longer look at her own name! Qiaolu is such a sinner!
"Take your things away." After saying that, she felt unsatisfied: "By the way, let me tell you, I have changed my name now. I am no longer Chen Shimei, but Chen Jiamei now. Please remember it!"
After saying this, he shook his head and walked away arrogantly.
Jiamei... fake beauty... if someone wants to play a trick on her, this child will be more serious...
"Hahahaha——" Chen Simei, oh no, it should be Chen Jiamei now. Jiamei's two brothers heard it clearly in the room and immediately burst into fierce laughter.
"Hahahaha, Jiamei, the name is good, but my family's household registration book doesn't agree with it! Hahaha——"
"The little girl needs to save face, you two should be more restrained." This is Jiamei's sister-in-law, Lin Caihe.
"Stop laughing. If you continue laughing your younger sister will get angry with you." This is Jiamei's second sister-in-law Song Qingping.
"Go away! Stop annoying me!" She racked her brains for a whole night to come up with this good name. What a joke! !
With a bang, the door to the inner room was immediately locked.
"Hey! Child, did you get your mother's consent to change your name?" Aunt Chen also glared at her, and smiled awkwardly at Chen Jiamei's leaving back, "This child has a quick temper, but she is not a bad person, don't worry about it."
Qiao Lu looked away and shook her head, "Why would I bother with her? I just feel embarrassed."
It's really hard to deal with teenage girls. Well, it's also her fault for being too quick-witted.
"Don't pay attention to me, my girl. Your steamed bun smells delicious. I'm in for a treat today."
Qiao Lu smiled, said goodbye and left.
…
After living in the compound for three days, Qiao Lu has completely adapted to life here. There are no extremes and no annoying neighbors.
The sunset was coming, it was already evening, and large colorful clouds gathered in the sky, pressing down from the densely packed factory roofs in the distance.
Qiao Lu took her son to the street grocery store to buy soy sauce. They met many old acquaintances from the big compound on the streets and alleys, and people kept greeting the mother and son enthusiastically.
If there is any special feature of the 1980s, it is this: neighbors would greet each other when they met, no matter how unfamiliar they were. It is different from 30 or 40 years later, when people may not know each other even after living in the same apartment for 10 or 8 years.
The boy held Qiao Lu's hand and didn't dare to walk fast. When someone greeted him, he would shrink inwards against her thighs, very timid and cowardly.
I also met Ma Xiaoshuan on the road. I saw her from a distance and avoided her. In the afternoon, I seemed to hear the neighbors laughing and saying that Ma Xiaoshuan had more wounds on his face than before, and he was probably beaten by his father.
Everyone applauded and said, "It's what he deserves! He deserves it for doing such a wicked thing!"
After getting soy sauce, she returned home and saw a slender woman standing at the door. Qiao Lu felt vaguely familiar with her. She squinted and saw that it was her second sister Qiao Yan!
"sister!"
"Auntie!"
The young man changed his timid expression, ran as fast as he could, and rushed into Qiao Yan's arms.
"Hey, my good nephew, let your aunt kiss me. I miss you so much after not seeing you for a few days." Catching the little guy, Qiao Yan sucked hard on Qiao An's neck as if she was taking drugs, and she was a bit as excited as a vampire seeing delicious blood.
After a round of random kissing, Qiao An's face felt a little painful, and he twisted his butt to struggle out of his second aunt's arms.
The little guy is like a loach, he slips away if he is not caught.
Qiao Lu took her son and walked towards the room: "Sister, I haven't seen you for a few days. Are you off work?"
Qiao Yan gave her a nonsense look and followed her: "I can't come to see you before I get off work."
Qiao Lu noticed the light brown paper box in her second sister's hand and raised her eyebrows: "You're bringing peach cakes? That's so polite."
Qiao Yan glared at her unhappily and handed the peach cake to Qiao An: "Go, give it to my baby An An."
At that time, Qiao Lu lived in Qiao Yan's house, calling Qiao An "baby" every day. Even Qiao Yan, such a serious lesbian, was led astray.
Qiao Lu chuckled, Qiao An excitedly took it, thanked her, and hurriedly pulled Qiao Yan to the bedroom: "Second Aunt! Come on, come on, I want to show you my Bubble and Xiaobai!"
"Bubble Xiaobai? What is that?" Qiao Yan was pulled away by her nephew in confusion.
Qiao Lu followed slowly behind him: "I bought him two small goldfish. He plays with them in the house whenever he has time and introduces them to everyone he meets."
Except for strangers, of course.
"This kid got so excited just by two fish..." Qiao Yan shook her head helplessly.
It was hard to refuse the kindness, and she was dragged by her precious nephew to see two little goldfish. They were indeed very cute, but Qiao Yan was already 28 years old, so how could she be interested in such little things? She perfunctorily praised them as beautiful, and after coming out, she asked Qiao Lu: "Where is Xu Haizhou? Has he not come back yet?"
"Well, I'm going to set up the stall. I think I'll be back around six o'clock." Four to six-thirty is the busiest time in the second half of the day, so he has to go home for dinner after this period.
It’s the same in the morning. I can’t get home until 1:30 in the afternoon.
"Sister, what are you doing here?" She picked up the kettle, poured a cup of hot water for Qiao Yan, and added two large pieces of brown sugar.
Qiao Yan took it and her palms were immediately warmed: "Have you agreed on when to hold the wedding banquet?"
"I've discussed it with Haizhou. Next weekend is a good day. I'll go to the post office tomorrow and call the village chief to inform my parents."
"Okay, your brother-in-law and I don't need to take leave."
Qiao Lu smiled. Qiao Yan looked at her expression, hesitated for a long time, and finally got to the point: "Has your husband given a betrothal gift to our parents?"
"Yes." Qiao Lu nodded.
"How many?"
Qiao Lu blinked: "Fifty, the same as you."
After saying this, Qiao Yan seemed to be relieved, and her tone was much lighter than before: "That's fine, anyway, for a married girl from the countryside like us, fifty is not too young."
In fact, according to Yuan Jianghe's conditions and status, he really couldn't afford a betrothal gift of 50 yuan. As for why he only gave 50 yuan in the end, it was of course Qiao Yan's instruction.
Actually, she thought fifty was too much. After all, even though the betrothal gift was given to her parents, it would definitely be taken away by her sister-in-law in the end.
Why did she let that woman get away with it? She hated her to death!
She still remembered clearly how Niu Qiaoli almost prevented her from going to high school. If it weren't for Director Yuan Jianghe's identity, she would not have given him the fifty yuan.
The two chatted for a while, and when Joan came out after feeding the fish, he was affectionate with her for a while, then he stood up and said goodbye.
Qiao Lu politely asked her to stay for dinner, but Qiao Yan refused, saying that she had to go back to cook for Yuan Jianghe.
Before leaving, I went to take a look at Qiao Lu's bedroom. Originally, I wanted to see how she was doing as a new daughter-in-law, and whether the quilts were thrown around in a mess like at home. But it turned out that they were neatly folded.
Have you really become more diligent?
Qiao Yan was puzzled. She didn't know that the quilt was actually made by Xu Haizhou. She didn't have the habit of folding quilts, and neither did Qiao Lu.
She nodded with satisfaction, turned around to walk out, and at first glance she noticed the bottles and jars on the dressing table.
I felt it looked vaguely familiar, so I picked up a bottle and looked at it: "A riot of colour? Qiao Lu, you're really willing to spend so much."
"As a woman, you should always be nice to your face." That's not a good thing. Twenty years later, it will be common for a bottle of facial cream to cost thousands of dollars.
"Isn't this stuff more expensive than vanishing cream?" She opened the colorful lid and sniffed the bottle. It smelled very good, with a rich aroma that was not smoky at all. It had just the right scent and was very pleasant to the touch.
I don’t know if it’s a psychological effect, but Qiao Yan thinks this stuff smells better than vanishing cream.
"Sanmao." Qiao Lu tilted her head to look at her sister and said with a smile.
Qiao Yan's pupils dilated and she clicked her tongue: "You are so willing to do this."
Qiao Lu covered her mouth and smiled, winking playfully: "Isn't this spending Xu Haizhou's money?"
"Tsk, your man probably doesn't know how much this can costs." Qiao Yan glanced at her. "Now that you are still in the honeymoon period, he can still tolerate you, but after a while, he will dislike you for squandering the family business. Besides, you still have to be frugal in life. What if the business is not good, will you two be left with nothing?"
"Oh, look at what you said, as if you hope that things between me and Haizhou will be bad. I don't care whether he will dislike me in the future or not. Anyway, if he doesn't dislike me now, I will spend his money." If he really dislikes her in the future, then she should spend more of his money now!
He has given up on her and might even go out and look for another woman. Will he keep the money for his mistress?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Qiao Lu almost got angry at what she imagined.
"Don't worry, sister. I know my limits. It's just a bottle of face cream. There's no need to save it. If you don't take good care of your skin when you're young, you'll age faster."
She still thinks that Wan Zi Qian Hong is just so-so. When Li'an has a big shopping mall in the future, she will go and buy big foreign brands. However, it is estimated that those brands will not appear in Li'an City until after the 1990s.
"Forget it. I'm too lazy to advise you. You never listen to me anyway." Qiao Yan pouted and walked away.
As soon as she stepped out of the courtyard, she was still reminding her: "Just stay at home and take care of your son and your husband. Forget about setting up a street stall. Just let your husband make money."
"I know, you should go home soon." Qiao Lu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was even more nagging than her own mother.
In addition, Qiao Lu felt that Qiao Yan had a concept that was inconsistent with hers. Qiao Yan herself was a working person and a college student. Logically, she should know the pros and cons of being a full-time housewife. To put it bluntly, she still felt that her sister had no ability and could only rely on men.
Of course there is no problem from Qiao Yan's perspective, but Qiao Lu has a new soul now, so it's a different matter.
…
As soon as Qiao Yan left, Qiao Lu's man came back with a bunch of good things.
What I brought back this time was not some "ordinary" snack, but the famous Merlin canned luncheon meat!
He threw the cans into a net bag and hung it on the handlebar of his bicycle. He attracted a lot of attention on his way home. Nowadays, even a cabbage can attract stares. Just when he entered the yard, the second daughter-in-law of the Chen family's eyes sparkled.
"Hey man, where did you get it?"
This is a good thing. The early 1990s was its most glorious period. Someone exchanged 500 truckloads of tin cans for 4 airplanes from a certain country, which became a legendary story at the time.
When Qiao Lu first heard the elders talk about this story, she found it incomprehensible. It was not until she actually experienced such a period of lack of food and clothing that she felt it was not exaggerated.
Think about delicious luncheon meat, so yummy... so yummy.
"I asked a friend to bring it to me. This is my first time buying something." Now when Xu Haizhou hears someone say there is something good, his first reaction is to buy it home for his wife and son to try.
"Your friend? Li Hongjun?"
"No, there are others." Xu Haizhou has a wide network of contacts. His best friend is Li Hongjun, and there are others. "I'll introduce them to you when I have the chance."
"Okay." Qiao Lu looked at the can of luncheon meat with great interest. She was very pleased with it. It was really delicious. "The dishes are ready. Let's save this for tomorrow. I'll make noodles tomorrow morning. It should be delicious when eaten with noodles."
Xu Haizhou had no objection: "Okay."
Qiao An stared at the can of luncheon meat, his mouth watering.
I kept looking at it, hoping that my mother would quickly open this mysterious little can, but... voila - she put it in the cupboard...
The sound of little Qiaoan swallowing her saliva was heard by Xu Haizhou who was far away. Looking at his wife, she was also swallowing her saliva.
Holding back his laughter, he said, "Why don't you open it and try it first?"
After saying that, he took out another can and stamped his feet excitedly.
"Do you know what this is called?" Xu Haizhou tempted, shaking the can of meat in his hand.
Qiao An didn't say anything and didn't move. He just stared at you with his big grape-like eyes, acted innocent, and shook his head obediently.
"So do you know what this is?"
It was an oval iron can with an orange and red sticker and a colorful picture of luncheon meat printed on the can. Qiaoan was no fool and knew what it was at a glance!
"Is it Rourou?" she asked, raising her fair and tender little face.
Xu Haizhou gave him an admiring look: "Yes, this is meat, called luncheon meat."
"Lunch?" Little Qiao An tilted his head and leaned on the corner of the table: "Ah, I know, it's the meat for lunch!"
Xu Haizhou narrowed his eyes and said, "You can say that, but you can also eat it at night."
He deftly used a kitchen knife to cut a small hole in the can, and pried it open a little bit. With a "click" sound, the fresh aroma of the luncheon meat attracted all the wild cats in the yard.
Canned meat these days is made of real ingredients, without starch. It is a big can filled with pure meat with a layer of shiny jelly on the edge of the meat, which increases appetite. The taste is also exquisite, and the most delicious flavor can be produced with the least amount of seasoning.
Each person tasted a small piece. The meat was fragrant and soft and chewy. Every bite was full of the taste of real meat. The soup in the can was also extremely delicious. It was delicious when used as a sauce to dip in steamed buns.
Even Qiao Lu, who was used to eating delicacies from land and sea, was fascinated by the salty taste.
The "appetizer" made the lunch more satisfying. While relishing the wonderful taste, Qiaoan finished a bowl of rice without realizing it. Normally, he could only eat half a bowl.
He patted his belly contentedly and burped.
Qiao Lu smiled.
The boy blushed and threw himself into her arms: "Mom, don't laugh at me."
Qiao Lu patted him on the back: "I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at you little stinky fart. Are you a little stinky fart?"
Qiao An obediently shook his head and said crisply: "I'm not a little stinker."
"So, Mommy didn't laugh at you."
"Oh well."
Phew—my son is so cute when he’s silly.
The author has something to say:
I want to ask everyone, what do you think of the name "Beautiful Mother Remarries with Baby [80s]", I want to change it⊙▽⊙
ps: There will be two more chapters at 0:00 later. If you can’t wait, you can read it tomorrow~