Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Fu Mingze: I have a friend
Students were on holiday on the weekend, and the gate of the commune primary school was locked. When Shen Moer arrived, there was no one at the gate. Probably because she arrived too early, Shen Moer was not in a hurry and waited under the shade of a tree not far from the gate.
Not long after, the primary school gate opened, and two people who looked like teachers hurried out, talking as they walked.
The more senior ones said, "The higher-ups are just making a fuss. Not to mention our Liuqiao Commune Primary School, even in the whole county, there are not many children who can draw. Can't the children from Dongfanghong Primary School just participate?"
Another slightly shorter man said, "I heard that the senior leaders made a lot of important instructions during their inspection tour in the south. The province requires all walks of life to carry out vigorous learning and publicity activities. But you also know that many people in the propaganda department have been sent down to receive re-education in recent years. Isn't this a move to schools?"
"That's really true." The taller one probably wanted to complain, but he swallowed it back alertly and said, "Let's go to the kiln factory first. Didn't they say that there's a new artist in their publicity department who's really good at drawing? Let's go get in touch with him first, and then let the principal communicate with the kiln factory and try to borrow someone to give the kids a surprise lesson."
As he spoke, he sighed again: "Just don't make a fool of yourself when you cram for the exam."
The shorter one was obviously more informed: "I heard that Yangliu Brigade has secured an extra quota for a private teacher this semester, and the teacher is an art class. Political propaganda and education cannot be relaxed for a moment. Without the corresponding talents, it is just empty talk. The commune also tasted the taste of being stretched to the limit, so it approved the application of Yangliu Brigade."
The taller ones shook their heads and said, "This is a new class this semester, and the kids have only learned the basics. Besides, this competition is only for schools at the commune level, so the schools at the brigades below don't have to participate."
The two of them walked away as they talked, and Shen Moer looked at their backs thoughtfully.
“Excuse me, is this Comrade Shen Moer?” The man’s uncertain voice sounded.
Shen Moer looked back and raised her eyebrows when she saw the person coming. She had seen this person in the Sparrow Market not long ago. He was the son of the unreasonable middle-aged woman. Shen Moer realized later that the person she was dating today seemed to be called Zhang Junliang. It seemed that this was the "Junliang" in front of her.
Shen Moer nodded: "I am Shen Moer, hello Comrade Zhang Junliang."
Zhang Junliang was also slightly stunned. He had noticed this girl in Sparrow City before. Although her clothes were a little worn out, she was really beautiful. However, Zhang Junliang never thought that she was actually his blind date.
He nodded quickly: “Hello, Comrade Shen Moer.”
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Junliang said, "I was really embarrassed in Maque City before. My mother is used to being frugal and has a bit of a stubborn personality. Of course, it's also my fault. She also wanted to help me save money."
Shen Moer did not have any bad impression of Zhang Junliang because of this incident. After all, he was not as unreasonable as his mother, and he was quite humble in his dealings with others, so she just said it was nothing.
Zhang Junliang looked around and suggested, "How about we take a walk around here?"
Shen Moer looked at him and nodded.
This man has a decent appearance and a gentle personality. Based on his own conditions, Shen Moer thinks he is acceptable. However, his mother is a bit difficult and unreasonable, and the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is probably not very good.
Shen Moer asked straight to the point: "The matchmaker said that you have three brothers, the first two have already started a family, and you are the youngest, so are you willing to live with your father-in-law after you get married?"
Xu Weiguo said that the Zhang family had three sons and housing was tight. Although Zhang Junliang was a regular worker, he was still young and didn't know when he would get a house. So after getting married, he was willing to live with his father-in-law. He didn't want to marry into the family, but live with the father and daughter.
Xu Weiguo advised Shen Shaoyuan that it was too difficult to recruit a son-in-law, and it was even more difficult to recruit a good young man. Living with him without marrying into his wife's family was actually the same as marrying into his wife's family. Moreover, people also said that since Shen Moer was an only child, it would be their responsibility to take care of her father-in-law in his old age, which was actually the same as marrying into his wife's family.
Shen Shaoyuan was persuaded.
Zhang Junliang glanced at Shen Moer and nodded: "My family is short of housing. I'm afraid there won't be enough space for me to live at home even if I want to after I get married."
Originally, his family planned to rent another room from someone else after he got married. Some families with young children were willing to squeeze out one or half a room in exchange for some money.
As a result, a few days ago, his aunt came to tell me that there was such a girl. She was the only child in the family, and the father and daughter depended on each other. The key point was that her father was in the Propaganda Department of the kiln factory and was a temporary worker now, but the section chief revealed that she would probably be able to become a regular employee after working for a year.
The girl worked as a private teacher in the brigade primary school and earned twelve yuan a month.
Although my house is in the countryside, Yangliu Brigade is close to the commune, so it is convenient to ride a bicycle to and from get off work.
Moreover, if her father could be converted to a regular employee in the Propaganda Department, he would be a cadre. There are many residential buildings for family members in the kiln factory, so maybe he would be able to get a house soon.
If you think about it this way, you don’t actually need to live in the countryside for long.
Even if they can't get a house, if they have children in the future, the children will have to go to the commune primary school. At that time, whether they rent a house or something else, the father-in-law has money in his pocket and will not ignore the young couple.
His aunt and his mother grumbled for a long time, but finally made the final decision, both thinking that this marriage was a good one. As long as the girl didn't insist on him marrying into the family, he wouldn't have to bear the name of marrying into the family, and he could still enjoy the benefits of being a father-in-law, which was actually better than marrying a girl from an ordinary family in the commune.
Zhang Junliang was still a little hesitant at first, but now that he had met the person, the last bit of hesitation was gone.
The two of them strolled casually on the street of the commune. Zhang Junliang wanted to wait until noon to invite Shen Moer to have lunch at the state-owned restaurant, but when he learned that Shen Moer would be going back on the brigade's donkey cart soon, he said he would go to the state-owned restaurant to buy two buns for Shen Moer to take back.
The buns at the state-owned restaurant required food stamps, but they were cheaper than at Qiaojie's. Zhang Junliang bought six, while Shen Moer only took three.
The food coupons were given by Zhang Junliang, but it was Shen Moer who rushed to pay for it, and she did not take advantage of him.
As soon as the two came out of the state-owned restaurant, they ran into Zheng Jiamin, who was carrying a lot of bags.
Zheng Jiamin waved the small package in his hand happily: “Comrade Shen Moer!”
"Zheng Zhiqing." Shen Moer stopped and glanced at the package in Zheng Jiamin's hand: "Zheng Zhiqing bought a lot of things?"
Zheng Jiamin said with a smile: "Well, I didn't buy them. They were all sent by my family. It's almost Mid-Autumn Festival, so my family must have sent some food over."
Shen Moer knew that Zheng Jiamin's family was well-off, so she was not surprised that his family would send things over. But she somehow thought of Fu Mingze, as she seemed to have never heard of his family sending him anything.
Zheng Jiamin looked at Zhang Junliang strangely. He was not the kind of person who kept things to himself. When he had questions, he asked directly, "Comrade Shen Moer, who is this?"
Shen Moer then introduced the two parties: "This is Zheng Jiamin, the educated youth who joined the team in our brigade, and this is Comrade Zhang Junliang from the textile factory."
Zheng Jiamin looked at Zhang Junliang curiously and greeted him in a familiar manner: "Hello, Comrade Zhang."
Zhang Junliang nodded modestly: "Hello."
Seeing Zheng Jiamin carrying so many bags that he could barely hold them, Shen Moer said goodbye to Zhang Junliang and offered to help Zheng Jiamin carry them back. Zheng Jiamin didn't hesitate to give her the smallest one and immediately put it in Shen Moer's hands.
Zhang Junliang frowned slightly, caught up with Shen Moer, and asked, “Comrade Shen, if you are free next Sunday, let’s go to the county to watch a movie together?”
Shen Moer was actually quite interested in watching movies. The original owner had two experiences of watching movies in her memory, but they were both open-air movies shown by the film team. When Zhang Junliang mentioned going to the county to watch a movie, he should be referring to going to the county cinema to watch a movie.
At present, Shen Moer has a good impression of Zhang Junliang himself. His unreasonable mother will not have much impact if they do not live together, so she is willing to have more contact with Zhang Junliang.
However, thinking of the conversation she heard at the gate of the commune primary school, Shen Moer thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say what will happen next Sunday. I'll ask my dad to tell Chief Xu in advance. Is that okay?"
Zhang Junliang didn't expect that she didn't agree right away, and he felt a little uncomfortable, but he still nodded: "Okay, I'll wait for your news."
After Zhang Junliang left, Zheng Jiamin immediately asked curiously, "Comrade Shen Moer, are you and Comrade Zhang dating?"
Shen Moer did not hide it and said that she was introduced by the leader of her father's factory and she met him for the first time today.
Zheng Jiamin nodded, then shook his head, feeling a little uncomfortable: "In theory, Comrade Zhang has good conditions, but I always feel that he is not worthy of you, Comrade Shen Moer."
Zheng Jiamin actually knew that his idea was a bit weird.
The gap between urban and rural areas is huge these days, and those who eat commercial grain are generally unwilling to marry rural people. Comrade Zhang is a skilled worker in a textile factory. Zheng Jiamin has many workers in his family, so he naturally knows that skilled workers earn much more than ordinary workers. Comrade Zhang is also good-looking and has a good personality... Logically speaking, judging from the conditions alone, Shen Moer should be marrying up.
But Zheng Jiamin has known Shen Moer for so long, and he always feels that Shen Moer is different from ordinary lesbians. No matter how good Zhang Junliang is, he still feels that he is not worthy of Shen Moer.
However, although he was a very outgoing person, he was not the type to speak without restraint. He just let out this sentence and didn't say anything else afterwards.
Shen Moer didn't care. She had a decent impression of Zhang Junliang, which was just like an ordinary person's decent impression. She didn't have to discuss marriage with this person, so the question of whether they were a good match or not didn't matter to her.
When they returned to the donkey cart with the packages, everyone else was already there, so after the two of them packed up their things and got on the donkey cart, Uncle Liu started driving the cart away.
*
At noon when the sun was at its hottest, Zheng Jiamin returned to the educated youth site carrying large and small bags.
Fu Mingze was reading under the eaves. When he saw Zheng Jiamin coming into the yard, he put down his book and stood up to take the money. Zheng Jiamin leaned over to take a look and asked quietly, "Are they all in the house?"
Fu Mingze nodded, and Zheng Jiamin said, "Then let's go to the kitchen."
Everyone else had already eaten lunch, and there was no one in the kitchen. When Zheng Jiamin was holding a kitchen knife to open the package, Fu Mingze took out a bowl of warm vegetable porridge from the pot. This was the rice left for Zheng Jiamin. The vegetables were a little yellow from being steamed, and didn't look very appetizing.
Zheng Jiamin had already unpacked the package. In addition to mooncakes, malted milk, candies, biscuits and other food, there was also a very thick sweater and a pair of cotton shoes.
Zheng Jiamin was already hungry, so he opened the paper bag containing the mooncakes, took one for himself, gave another to Fu Mingze, and then stood there and ate them with vegetable porridge.
After eating half full, Zheng Jiamin finally spoke: "This mooncake is from Yue Lai Fang, a time-honored brand in Shanghai. Their mooncakes are always delicious."
Fu Mingze nodded and praised: "It's really good."
Zheng Jiamin: “…”
It was the first time he saw someone eating Yue Lai Fang's mooncakes with such a calm expression. To be honest, Zheng Jiamin sometimes suspected that Fu Mingze was some kind of poor young man who used to be rich and well-fed, so he looked so calm no matter what he saw or ate.
"Oh, I should have saved two mooncakes for Comrade Shen Moer to try." Zheng Jiamin suddenly remembered.
When the house was being built before, he had eaten a lot of meals at the Shen family. Although he did some work, Zheng Jiamin was very self-aware. He knew that his little labor was not enough to deserve a feast. He was just taking advantage of others.
Fu Mingze raised his eyes: “Comrade Shen also went to the commune?”
Zheng Jiamin nodded: "Yes, we went together on the donkey cart of the team."
At this point, he suddenly looked around, and said stealthily in a low voice: "Don't tell anyone, I ran into Comrade Shen Moer on a blind date in the commune. The guy is a technician in a textile factory. She's not bad looking, but I don't think she's worthy of Comrade Shen Moer. Comrade Shen Moer is so good looking and dashing. Comrade Zhang is also good, but just ordinary..."
Fu Mingze frowned slightly and interrupted him: “Didn’t you say that Uncle Shen Qi wanted to find a live-in son-in-law for her, a skilled worker in the textile factory, and he is willing to come to her house?”
Zheng Jiamin scratched his head: "I don't know about that. It's hard for me to ask."
Fu Mingze laughed: "Are there times when you are too embarrassed to ask?"
He was clearly smiling, but Zheng Jiamin inexplicably felt that he seemed unhappy. However, before Zheng Jiamin could say anything else, Fu Mingze just said "clean it up yourself" and turned around and left the kitchen.
Zheng Jiamin muttered "weird", drank a few gulps of the remaining vegetable porridge, scooped water to wash the dishes, then packed up the things he had unpacked, wrapped them in a cloth bag and brown paper, and carried the things into the house.
Fu Mingze left the kitchen and sat under the eaves to continue reading. However, he didn't finish reading a single line after reading for a long time. He thought about it and simply got up and walked out.
At noon, there were not many people on the village road. Occasionally, when he met an old lady carrying a basket returning from her private plot, or a child running home in a hurry, they would stop to say hello.
Since when did the villagers start to greet him? It seemed to have started when they helped the Shen family build a house.
Fu Mingze couldn't help but think of the time when he went to the countryside, when his elders repeatedly told him to control his bad temper, be low-key, and never show off. After arriving at Yangliu Brigade, he has always done so, almost no contact with the members, and tried to keep a distance from the educated youth.
I never thought that the situation would change completely just because I helped build a house.
Fu Mingze walked and thought, and unknowingly arrived at the village entrance. Facing the Shen family's brand new courtyard gate, he hesitated for a moment, reached out and knocked on the door twice.
Shen Moer's crisp voice soon rang out from inside: "Who is it?"
Fu Mingze responded: "It's me."
When the voice came out, he found it was low and hoarse. He was afraid that the people inside couldn't hear it, so he cleared his throat quickly and then let out a loud voice to respond.
The courtyard door opened, and Shen Moer saw Fu Mingze and smiled: "Fu Zhiqing, it's you, come in quickly."
Fu Mingze walked into the yard. Shen Moer opened the gate as wide as possible and kicked a stone next to it against the door to prevent it from being blown shut by the wind again.
The door was left open on purpose to prevent anyone from seeing and gossiping.
This was clearly a very normal action, and it was the same in the past, but today Fu Mingze inexplicably felt a little uncomfortable.
"Has Fu Zhiqing eaten yet?"
Chen Moer asked casually, went into the kitchen, took out a bowl, and filled it with half a bowl of mung bean soup. She had cooked this mung bean soup on a low fire before she left home in the morning, and she didn't cook any other food after she came back. She just heated up a few buns bought from the state-owned restaurant and ate them with the mung bean soup, which was considered a meal.
The autumn heat is more unbearable than the midsummer heat. Chen Moer felt that the kitchen was too hot, so she moved the small table to the outside under the eaves. There was a cross-ventilation, which was much more comfortable than the kitchen.
Fu Mingze: "I've eaten."
Shen Moer put the small stool in front of him: "Then have a bowl of mung bean soup, it won't take up too much space in your stomach."
Fu Mingze sat down. He had just eaten a mooncake and had walked a long way out of the village. He was indeed a little thirsty, so he didn't hesitate and picked up the bowl to drink slowly.
Shen Moer had only eaten half of the bun, so she picked it up and continued eating.
Fu Mingze glanced at the buns in her hand and couldn't help asking, "Didn't you buy these buns from Qiaojie?"
Even though they are all buns, everyone’s method of making them is different, and the sizes of the buns are also slightly different.
Shen Moer hummed: "I bought it at the state-owned restaurant in the commune. It's a little cheaper than Qiaojie's, but it requires food coupons."
Fu Mingze knew that the only food coupons her family had were used when building the house, and now was not the time to pay salaries and issue food coupons. Considering what Zheng Jiamin said, it was self-evident who paid for the food coupons.
Mung bean soup doesn’t seem sweet anymore.
Shen Moer finished eating quickly. Before she started, Fu Mingze had already reached out and took away the dishes and chopsticks: "I'll wash them."
Shen Moer glanced at his hand, and Fu Mingze followed her gaze and couldn't help but curl his lips: "It's healed."
Shen Moer then stopped being polite with him and said, "Then I'll trouble Fu Zhiqing."
When Fu Mingze finished washing the dishes and came out of the kitchen, he saw Shen Moer taking out a rattan box from the house: "I saw this at the market today. It's woven very solidly, and the key is that this box can be locked. Didn't Fu Zhiqing lose something before? I think this kind of lockable box should be quite suitable."
Shen Moer smiled and said, "Fu Zhiqing put a lot of effort into building my house, especially the bathroom, which is very convenient to use. I have been wanting to prepare a gift for a long time, but I have never seen a suitable one. I happened to see it today, so I bought one as a thank you gift."
Fu Mingze didn't expect that she would prepare a thank-you gift for him, especially since this thank-you gift was indeed what he urgently needed at the moment.
When he first went to the countryside, in order to fit his status as a pauper, his family didn't let him bring any suitcases or luggage bags. Instead, they gave him a cloth bag made from old clothes.
There were more than ten people living in one room at the educated youth site. It was almost the same to put things in cloth bags as to leave them outside. He didn't know how much effort he put in to hide the money and notes.
It is even more impossible to buy boxes here. One reason is that the things are hard to buy, and the other is that it is really not suitable for his status.
But if it was given by someone else, it would be reasonable for him to use it.
At another time, if Shen Moer gave him this thank-you gift, he would definitely be happy, but today…
Looking at the clear and bright eyes of the person in front of him, Fu Mingze was happy but also a little annoyed. He frowned slightly and said, "I didn't help much. Comrade Shen really doesn't need to go to great lengths to prepare a thank-you gift for me."
After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but say, "Comrade Shen, if you feel that it will be inconvenient for us to communicate in the future, just say it clearly."
There is no need to prepare such a thank-you gift to distance yourself from the matter.
Shen Moer was a little surprised: "Why would Fu Zhiqing think so?"
Fu Mingze looked at her with clear eyes and said, "I heard that Comrade Shen is dating someone, and I guess he might feel the need to keep a proper distance from other people. I didn't help much with the house building, and your family has been taking care of the meals for a long time, so Comrade Shen doesn't need to worry about it."
Shen Moer opened her mouth and finally said only one sentence: “I really didn’t mean that.”
Fu Mingze lowered his eyes and said after a while, "Maybe I was thinking wrongly."
After a few seconds of silence, he continued, "I came here today to confirm with you whether I will start high school courses tomorrow?"
Shen Moer responded, and then heard Fu Mingze say again: "Okay, I'll come again tomorrow." After that, he turned around and left.
After leaving Shen's house, Fu Mingze went all the way back to the educated youth point. In the dormitory, Zheng Jiamin had already packed his things and stuffed all the food and daily necessities into the suitcase he brought from home. When Fu Mingze came in, he was sticking his butt out and stuffing the suitcase under the bed.
Fu Mingze glanced at it indifferently, then walked straight to his bed and lay down on it without taking off his shoes.
Zheng Jiamin looked at him strangely. Fu Mingze was a very clean person, but today he went to bed without taking off his shoes. Although his feet were hanging outside, they would not dirty the bedding, but this was indeed not in line with Fu Mingze's personality.
Zheng Jiamin walked over and asked quietly, "What happened?"
Fu Mingze glanced at him. Although he felt that Zheng Jiamin was not capable of coming up with any ideas, he was a little confused at the moment and really wanted to find someone to talk to, so he got up from the bed and said, "Come out and talk."
A few minutes later, the two stood in the vegetable garden behind the educated youth site. Fu Mingze thought for a moment and said, "I have a friend whose family is quite well-off, but his background is not very good. He recently met a girl from a poor peasant family, but he is afraid that his family affairs will implicate the girl, so he is a little hesitant."
After a pause, he continued, "The girl recently found a man with acceptable conditions."
Zheng Jiamin felt that there was something wrong with this story, but he couldn't figure out what it was, so he scratched his head and said, "Since this is the case, and the girl has found a good partner, just let your friend give up."
Fu Mingze's face suddenly turned dark: "..."
Sure enough, with Zheng Jiamin's brain, he can only come up with some bad ideas.
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