Chapter 124: Women's lives are too hard these days
Guo Xiangqian's arrival surprised Zhou Yong so much that Li Baotian was overwhelmed.
Since visitors are guests, Guo Xiangqian was warmly received by the Li family.
"Village Chief, Brother Zhou, if that's the case, then I won't be polite."
Guo Xiangqian arrived at the right time, as the Li family was preparing to have dinner.
Seeing this, Zhang Guifang tried to cook two more dishes, but was stopped by Guo Xiangqian.
"Aunt, this rice is very good. You don't need to cook anymore."
For dinner, Zhang Guifang cooked corn stubble, steamed egg stew, and made potato sauce.
Li Baotian frowned slightly: "How can that be possible? Mother, hurry up and make two side dishes..."
When there are no guests at home, they can eat anything. But since there are guests, they have to cook two dishes.
Zhang Guifang responded with a smile on her face, then turned around to cook. Li Caiyun looked at her and followed her out.
The mother and daughter worked efficiently and soon a plate of shredded potatoes and a plate of fried cabbage were served on the table.
What Li Baotian and Zhou Yong didn't expect was that Guo Xiangqian was an extremely good alcoholic.
After drinking a pound of liquor, he was fine.
Li Baotian's tongue became swollen from drinking: "You guys drink, I can't drink anymore."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Baotian's face turned red and his neck became thick, and he sat down at the table on the kang and moved his body back. Zhou Yong burped, glanced at Guo Xiangqian who looked normal, and silently gave him a thumbs up in his heart.
"Brother Guo, you are such a big shot. I admire you from the bottom of my heart..."
Zhou Yong was not flattering Guo Xiangqian, he was just telling the truth.
Guo Xiangqian smiled rather embarrassedly: "Brother Zhou, are you still okay?"
Is it okay?
Men hate asking such questions.
Zhou Yong's mouth twitched, and he thought secretly: You can't do that!
"I won't go home until I'm drunk."
Guo Xiangqian liked to hear this. Zhou Yong picked up the wine bowl, which made Li Caiyun's heart tighten.
The two drank another two taels of white wine, and Guo Xiangqian started talking.
Before Guo Xiangqian came to Huaixi Village, he imagined everything to be very beautiful. Only after he came here did he realize that his ideas were too naive.
Zhou Yong comforted the dejected Guo Xiangqian, and through their chat, the two gained a new understanding of each other.
The meal lasted until five o'clock, when Guo Xiangqian returned to the educated youth residence alone. Zhang Guifang was a little worried: "He drank so much, can he go back alone?"
Zhou Yong looked at Guo Xiangqian's back and thought for a while: "Then I'll send him back."
Zhang Guifang looked at Zhou Yong, who had also been drinking a lot, and took off her apron: "You stay at home, I'll take him there."
Zhou Yong burped and looked at his mother-in-law. Zhang Guifang left the house. Li Caiyun cleared the dishes on the table. As for Li Baotian, he had already gone to play chess with Zhou Gong.
Zhang Guifang didn't come back until almost six o'clock, and Zhou Yong was already asleep when she got home.
"Mom, why did you take so long to come back?"
"I went to your uncle's house and sat for a while."
The mother and daughter chatted for a few words, washed their feet and went back to their rooms.
After breakfast the next day, Zhou Yong and Li Baotian went to the brigade early. Zhang Guifang went to the neighbor's house to help make bean buns, and Li Caiyun had nothing to do at home, so she sewed shoe soles.
At around eight o'clock, Liu Juan came to Li's house with shoes.
"Sister-in-law, I knew you didn't go to the brigade."
Li Caiyun got down from the ground with a smile on her face, and Liu Juan took off her headscarf and came to the stove to warm herself by the fire.
"You're still talking about me, but you didn't go to the team either?"
Cleaning is done every three days in winter, and the blasting personnel are not in the village, so Liu Juan does not have to go to work at the brigade every day.
Liu Juan took over the conversation with a smile, and Li Caiyun poured her a teacup of boiling water.
After adding a few pieces of wood to the stove, the two of them got on the kang while talking.
"Juanzi, who are you making these shoes for?"
From the size of the soles, Li Caiyun could tell that Liu Juan didn't make the shoes for herself or for Ma San.
The smile on Liu Juan's face gradually disappeared: "I made these shoes for my mother."
Li Caiyun looked directly at Liu Juan. Since she knew everything about the Liu family and they were close, she spoke without reservation: "Since you don't want to make shoes for your mother, don't force yourself."
Liu Juan sighed: "Since I married Ma San, I haven't been back to my parents' home. The New Year is coming soon, and I want to go back and take a look..."
Her mother always asked people to send letters to Liu Juan, hoping that she could come back to visit her parents, but every time she declined, saying that she was too busy with work.
But that was her mother's home after all. Even if she hated her parents, there were times when she missed her family.
After hearing what Liu Juan said, Li Caiyun felt sorry for her: "It would be good to go back and see them, so you don't have to worry about them."
Liu Juan sighed: "Sister-in-law, I'm going to tell you the truth. I hate them from the bottom of my heart, but sometimes I miss them..."
Li Caiyun understood Liu Juan's feelings. She said, "I know how you feel."
Whenever Liu Juan mentioned her family, six out of ten sentences were filled with hatred. As her good friend, how could Li Caiyun not understand her feelings?
"Let's not talk about unhappy things, let's talk about happy things."
Liu Juan smiled and said, "What's so happy?"
Li Caiyun's daily life is very simple. Apart from her home, she goes to the production team and occasionally goes out for a walk with Zhang Guifang. Since she became friends with Liu Juan, she has one more place to go.
Liu Juan's question stumped Li Caiyun, and they looked at each other and smiled.
Liu Juan doesn't go out much usually. Apart from work, she stays at home with Ma San and occasionally visits her neighbors.
The two were staring at each other, unable to find a topic to talk about, when Liu Dazhuang's wife Miao Jinfeng arrived.
Although Liu Dazhuang is a taciturn person, his wife is a chatterbox.
Miao Jinfeng is very familiar with Li Caiyun. Although she is not very familiar with Liu Juan, she is not strangers to her.
After all, Ma San and Liu Dazhuang have a good relationship, but the two families are quite far apart, so Miao Jinfeng rarely visits Ma San's house.
"Sister-in-law, please sit on the kang."
Miao Jinfeng took off her shoes and got on the kang with a smile. Li Caiyun wanted to pour her some water but was stopped.
"I'm not an outsider, so stop making trouble."
Li Caiyun smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, if you are thirsty, just pour yourself some water."
Miao Jinfeng responded, brought the sewing basket to herself, and took out a shoe sole and needle and thread.
Li Caiyun said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you should warm yourself up while sewing the soles of shoes."
"I'm not cold."
Miao Jinfeng sewed the soles of the shoes so quickly that Liu Juan was stunned.
"Sister-in-law, how come you can sew the soles of shoes so fast?"
Miao Jinfeng looked at Liu Juan who asked this question, smiled bitterly and said: "There are many people in my family, so I have practiced it over time. When I first got married, I cried secretly several times because I was slow at sewing..."
The whole family has to make shoes to wear all year round. Not only are there endless housework to do at home, but she also has to work in the fields and take care of the children. In Miao Jinfeng's words, she is a miserable person.
Liu Juan thought Miao Jinfeng's words were very humorous and couldn't help but smile: "Sister-in-law, you are so funny."
Miao Jinfeng curled her lips: "I, your sister-in-law, am just trying to have fun in misery."
She was speaking from her heart, because women in this era have a very hard life.
Liu Juan smiled. Miao Jinfeng paused while sewing her shoe soles. A gossipy look appeared on her face. "Caiyun, I heard that Zhou Gang divorced his wife? Is this true or false?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com