The Yu family is quite popular in the village, and people come one after another with gifts to congratulate them.
Some will even go into the kitchen to see if there is anything they can do to help.
Hearing that Yu Xiangan was cooking at such a young age, a series of compliments came out immediately, "Oh my god, it smells so good. Before I came in, I thought you had invited some chef to help. It turned out to be your granddaughter. Her skills are incredible."
"If nothing else, this aroma is so overbearing that it makes me want to secretly eat a piece."
"How old is this girl this year? Is she promised to someone?"
The people who asked the question actually didn't think about marrying their sons off. The statuses don't match. They know themselves well. City people with formal jobs won't marry village boys, unless there are major shortcomings, that's another matter.
Xu Xiaojuan was standing by to recognize people. Later, Yu Xiangan had given up. Xu Xiaojuan probably had given up too. The smile on her face was a little stiff, and she mechanically greeted Yang Huili.
Finally, the meal was served. Braised pork, steamed fish, meatballs, stuffed tofu, stir-fried shredded pork with wild delicacies, steamed Yun meat, pumpkin stewed with minced pork, and finally a tofu and fish soup. Eight dishes were served one by one, with full portions. Most of these dishes were made by Yu Xiangan.
Seeing these dishes, the Xu family members looked better.
Their daughter's life will be good after she comes to this family.
As soon as the food was served and the mouths were filled with food, all unnecessary greetings disappeared.
Including the bride and groom.
No one had time to talk. It was like an invisible competition, with everyone reaching out their chopsticks as quickly as possible.
Yu Xiangan noticed Yu Manchang's two uncles who were sitting a seat away. They were not tall, but very strong. Even though their muscles were covered by clothes, the outlines could be vaguely seen.
Yang Huili has many brothers on her side of the family. When Zhang Chahua first took a fancy to her, it was because she had many brothers on her side of the family. Then, when she looked at the person herself, there was no doubt that she wanted this daughter-in-law.
Her parents' home is in a remote mountain area, and the mountain road is difficult to walk on. To get here from their village, one can only rely on foot, and it takes most of the day.
Their place is remote and poor, and correspondingly, many people there rely on the mountains for their livelihood. The mountains there are full of rocks, so their life is equivalent to being half farmer and half hunter.
They brought meat and wild delicacies. Yu Xiangan wanted them very much when she was cooking. This body is still developing. Before Xixi Farm, she would wake up every day and eat a sweet potato to fill her stomach. After the farm was established and it was confirmed that the things in Xixi Farm were harmless to humans, she had more midnight snacks. Later, she went to the city and exchanged some apples for supplies, but it was still not really rich.
Now that there is an opportunity, I naturally want to expand it.
Their family will stay here for one night today and go back in the early morning. After dinner, they will find their aunt and ask her to help them connect. The original owner really has no intersection with these two people. In the original owner's memory, this is the third time she has seen them, so what kind of friendship could there be?
Soon, the prepared dishes were cleared away. Fortunately, there was still enough rice, otherwise Zhang Chahua would have worried whether everyone was not full.
Just for this meal, we must make sure to keep the place going.
At this time, everyone started talking at once, with the focus being the newlyweds.
But later, when Yu Qingshan took out the newspaper, Yu Xiangan became the center of attention.
“…”
Okay, please stop praising me. I’m really not that talented. I feel guilty when you guys act like this.
Fortunately, it was getting late, and the bride's family and Yu Changcun were about to go back. The topic finally came to an end, which made her feel relieved.
She pulled Yang Huili aside and told her about this, using the excuse that her colleague had heard from her before and wanted to exchange some food, either with money or tickets.
Upon hearing this, Yang Huili immediately made the decision, "What did you like? Tell your aunt and I'll give it to your colleague."
"No, this is not something that will just fall from the sky. You have to give it to me or I won't be the middleman."
Yang Huili was a little worried: "This kind of thing won't get out, right? If it's a hindrance to you, then forget it."
"Don't worry, it's just normal interpersonal communication. No one would say anything if they knew about it."
"That's good."
Yang Huili was willing to do so. It was not easy to collect various tickets here, and it was even more difficult at her mother's side, especially cloth tickets.
"Which ones do you want? There are many kinds of mountain products in the mountains."
"I want some of both. I want more dried mushrooms."
"Auntie, we still have some here. They brought a lot here, and there are still some left. You can take them back first."
Yu Xiangan took out some money and said, "I didn't bring any tickets today, so I'll use these to exchange."
"How can I ask you for money for this?"
"This is what they exchanged for. How can we not accept money? It's not easy for my uncle and his friends to collect these. If I give them to them for free, they won't accept them."
"Then give me more. You can give me some so that we can talk more easily in the future."
After a lot of pushing and pulling, Yang Huili finally accepted it and then started to prepare for a rest.
In the old house, they had a room that was always empty so they could sleep there whenever they came back.
Although there was only one bed, it was big enough for Zhao Qiaoniang, Ye Qijiajia, Yu Xiangan and the two children to sleep on.
Yu Qingshan and Yu Xianghai made do by putting stools together.
The family has to go to bed early because they have to get up early in the middle of the night and go back to work.
Yang Huili was not so quick. She turned on the light and began to listen to Yu Manyu reciting the favors she had done today, which would have to be repaid in the future.
The gifts from the villagers were mostly worthless things like dried vegetables, but there were also some generous ones. The most generous one was naturally the uncle Yu Qingshan.
Yu Qingshan gave a kettle so that they could drink hot water in the winter. He had bought one for his parents before, but now that kettle couldn't keep heat as well as it used to, so he bought another one as a gift. Anyway, it would not only be used by the newlyweds, but the whole family could enjoy it. Generally speaking, gifts are given in pairs, but a kettle is of high value, costing more than ten yuan in the supply and marketing cooperative, and a ticket is required. No one would say anything if you gave only one, but it didn't look good or sound good, so he also gave a piece of gray cloth, enough to make a piece of clothing. This is what a real uncle should do. Yang Huili was amazed when she saw it.
Yu Xianghai gave a pair of red towels. These towels are not cheap, a pair costs more than two yuan and can be used for a long time.
Moreover, Ye Qijia had already given a red veil as a gift before.
This was also a defective product that Ye Qijia bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. She asked for two pairs at the time, one for herself and the other for her own use. Now it looks very decent to give it as a gift, and it actually doesn't cost that much.
Yu Xiangan is not married yet, so logically she doesn't need to give a gift, but if she wants to give one, it would be a token of her thoughtfulness.
Yu Xiangan gave a bag of candy.
As expected, he was a noble relative. The bride found out about it the next day and was amazed in her heart, wondering how much money this second uncle's family had spent in total?
She only received thirty yuan as a betrothal gift.
But in fact, the money spent was not that much, and the kettle was a defective product, so all you needed was money, no ticket required.
Ye Qijiajia told her colleagues that her family needed to give gifts, so her colleagues gave her the opportunity.
I have to say it is very convenient to have someone working in a supply and marketing cooperative. I don’t know how much money and tickets I can save.
Zhang Chahua prepared a lot of bags for them to take back, but since they had to walk at night, Yu Qingshan only took a little. Every time they came back, Zhang Chahua would prepare a lot of things for them to take back, so there was nothing they could do this time and they could only think of preparing more next time.
In the city, you don’t have to buy everything like in the countryside.
If you take some money back from here, you can save a little money. A little bit adds up to a lot, and over time you can save a lot of money.
On the way, Zhao Qiaoniang breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was very busy yesterday, today she had to get up in the dew and walk through the mountain road in the moonlight to return to the commune, and then go back to the city. However, her mother-in-law did not scold her, so she passed this hurdle.
Yu Xiangan looked at the somewhat scary forest under the moonlight: "..."
No wonder Yu Qingshan and Yu Xianghai brought self-defense gear with them when they set out. This really looks a bit scary.
It wouldn't be surprising if some wild animal suddenly jumped out of it.
She was happy because there was a package for her, saying that it was wanted by her colleague. In fact, all the money would go into her pocket, and her diet would be richer in the future.
But this kind of experience... really tests one's ability to endure.
Yu Qingshan naturally noticed Yu Xiangan's nervousness and smiled: "Don't worry, I'm familiar with this road. I won't go wrong even if I close my eyes. Nothing will happen. It's not far to the commune."
They had to walk to the commune and then take a ride back to the county town.
The other party needs to send the car out so early, so they can only cooperate and not delay their business.
The moonlight was very bright today, and I didn't trip over any stones along the way. I waited at the commune factory for half an hour and successfully got on a bus.
In the back of the car, Ye Qijia held the sleeping Yu Mingjie in his arms and thought about his own wedding.
When she first got married, the Yu family gave her a bicycle. She didn't bring the bicycle with her, but she did bring a sewing machine as a dowry, which was of similar value.
She didn't bring a bicycle back because her father could use it, but they were all nearby and couldn't use it.
In addition to this, the Yu family also provided a house and let her be the housekeeper.
No wonder her mother always said that she married into a good family.
Occasionally, relatives from the Yu family needed her help, and she didn't mind. For example, this time the money for buying the kettle was paid by her father-in-law, and the couple paid for the towel.
How many years does it take to hold a wedding?
Ye Qijiajia will still settle this account.
Yu Xianghai also felt a little sad. In the blink of an eye, his cousin also got married. Looking back now, it seemed like it was just yesterday when he got married.
He thinks his wife is a very good person. There are people who say some nonsense to him, but he never takes it to heart.
Although it's because my wife's younger brother is too young and it will take a few more years, her mother-in-law's health is not so bad that she can't work at all. And if it really comes to that, if she doesn't want to give it to her daughter, she can sell it and it might make a lot of money. Although this job is to supplement her mother's family, compared to the ages of her two brothers-in-law, it won't take too long, and this job can be given to their children in the future.
Moreover, she had agreed to subsidize her parents' home before the marriage, and he thought it was fine at the time, and he still doesn't think it is a problem now. The couple understand each other, and naturally live a happy life.
They gossip because they are jealous of their good life and hope that their cousin and his wife can also live a good life together.
On the other side, Yang Huili, who also got up early, cleaned up the house inside and outside. As soon as she sat down, she remembered what Xiao An said and went to find her two brothers, who were also preparing to go back.
After hearing what Yang Huili said, her two brothers naturally agreed. Moreover, they also received the money that Yu Xiangan gave to Yang Huili. After doing the math, they found that this price was much better than selling it to the purchasing station, so they agreed immediately.
"How much does she want?"
If the quantity needed is large and they don't have enough, they can quickly get the quantity together by telling others. They grow little grain there, and mountain products account for a large proportion of their diet.
Many of them are willing to exchange these for money and then buy real food to fill their stomachs.
Yu Xiangan then had a stable and reliable source of mountain products.
After Yu Manchang got married, Yu Qingshan started thinking about his second son. He was older than Manchang and was already 22 years old this year. How was his lifelong event going?
Coincidentally, two days later, Yu Qingshan received a letter from Yu Xiangyan. After reading it, he sighed with mixed feelings.
The second son has been in love with the girl since junior high school. He was smart at an early age, had a stubborn personality and would not change his mind easily. Originally, he was unwilling to continue his studies as he was not able to concentrate on his studies just like the eldest son. However, in order to spend more time with the girl he loved, he forced himself to go to high school. Later, because of changes in the girl's family, her father was sent down to the countryside, her mother remarried and had to go to the countryside as an educated youth. He begged her, and he used his connections to arrange for him and his female classmate to go to the same countryside so that they could be taken care of nearby.
He has been working in the countryside for two years now. As the saying goes, a virtuous woman is afraid of a clinging man. His son has done this and finally moved the girl, which is a natural thing. However, this makes him, as a father, feel complicated.
In the past, their family was out of reach, but now in this situation, there is nothing to say nicely, but if something happens, she might implicate him.
But he won't look back, now they are all going to start a family.
This is the path he chose. What else can he do as a father? He is not a child anymore. No matter what, he has to prepare things for them. This is a major event in life and it only happens once in a lifetime.
The place where Yu Xiangyan went to work in the countryside was not too far from here. Although it was in the neighboring province, it only took a five-hour train ride from their county train station, and then two more trains to get there.
This is half a day farther than the place where Lao Si went to the countryside.
If there had been no other way, he would have wanted to send them to the Red Star Production Brigade in his hometown, where they would be taken care of by their grandparents and wouldn't have to worry at all.
It’s a pity that he knows too few people and can’t do it.
Now we can only send some things over there. It takes at least two days of leave to get there. If the train is delayed, it will take three days. But under the current circumstances, delays are very common.
They can't take leave this month.
Yu Qingshan began to calculate his family's assets.
He had just given some money as a gift to Yu Manchang, and there was still eighty yuan left at home. He planned to advance some of his wages and make up a total of one hundred yuan for him.
Originally, the family's assets were more than this. He had a high rank and could earn more than 40 yuan a month, with additional bonuses and allowances. However, due to his father's illness, all the family's assets were spent. These 80 yuan were just saved up.
Fortunately, I still had some things saved from before.
When the eldest son got married, his family gave him a house, a bicycle, and a dowry of 30 yuan. When the second son got married, he got neither a house nor a bicycle, so naturally he had to give some compensation in terms of money.
There is no reason why the eldest and second sons should have such a big difference in marriage.
Knowing that Yu Xiangyan was going to get married, Yu Xianghai and Yu Xiangan also decided to do their part. Yu Xianghai's career was not broad, but Ye Qijia worked in the supply and marketing cooperative and could get a lot of good things, so they prepared enough cloth to make two new sets of clothes.
This is a big deal.
More than twenty dollars were spent like this.
Yu Xiangan prepared food, homemade soybean paste and homemade canned fruit. He washed the cans and sterilized them before putting the canned fruit in. The homemade canned fruit tasted good, but the shelf life was not that long, but it was enough.
We also prepared some thoughtful little gadgets, such as red hairpins and hair ties for girls, vanishing cream, etc., and also gave us a pair of red pillowcases with big flowers.
Add in the ones from the Qin family and my grandpa and uncle from my hometown, and the package looks particularly spectacular.
Yu Xiangyan calculated the time, and when it was almost time, he would go to the post office to ask. One day later than he calculated, he received his package, which was full of stuff.
The postage is not a small amount of money.
Seeing him coming back carrying large and small bags, other people in the team came up to congratulate him.
Everyone knows that the two of them are going to start a family, so they specially selected a piece of land outside the educated youth site and applied to build a house. Now the house has been built and is waiting for the owner to move in.
They still felt good about Yu Xiangyan, the educated youth. He was down-to-earth, good-looking, and had the ability to cook. Since he came, he showed his cooking skills. Whenever there was a big event in their neighborhood, any family would ask him to be the chef.
Although few people would give money, they would give things. There would definitely be food. Some would give rice and noodles, and some would give eggs. So you would never go empty-handed.
In addition, he was a generous and capable person, and he could help with writing and reading letters, so many people liked to look for him. Few people in the village were hostile to this outsider.
He had said before that he had written a letter home to inform his parents, so now everyone who saw the package would have guessed it almost exactly.
"Come, let me help you!"
"Uncle, no, I can do it."
"What is this? Have you seen it?"
“It hasn’t been demolished yet, so I don’t know.”
His good friend Qu Lingshan who was working at the educated youth camp heard the news and ran over to help. Together they took the package to the new house. When they arrived at the new house, someone wanted to follow in to see, but was stopped by Qu Lingshan.
After finally closing the door, Qu Lingshan was exhausted.
They may not have bad intentions, but they just like to watch the fun.
I don't know what it means to keep a distance.
Sometimes I feel very tired.
Yu Xiangyan unwrapped the large package and went to get the letters first, a thick stack.
The letter is quite thick. The top part is written by his father, and the back part is written by his older brother and uncle.
They all told him to treat the girl well, live a down-to-earth life, and to write back in time if he encountered any difficulties.
He first took out a pair of insoles.
Half of the money is in the envelope, and the other half is hidden in this insole.
His father gave him one hundred yuan, his grandfather gave him five yuan, and his grandfather gave him ten yuan.
This is a huge sum of money.
With this money, he can tidy up the house better.
Now the house consists of only one room, including a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and the bathroom is simply enclosed.
He was just short of money before and there was nothing he could do, but now with the money, he can clean up the house better.
Although building a mud brick house does not cost much, the cost of wood, labor and food is still an expense.
Now let's just build two and a half rooms, one for Wen Yizheng, one for their future children, and the other half can be used as a kitchen and bathroom.
Qu Lingshan looked at the pile and said, "Your family is really good to you. They gave you so many things even though you have been in the countryside for so long."
Yu Xiangyan smiled proudly, "That's right."
Qu Lingshan rolled his eyes and said, "My family is not poor either, why are you so proud?"
His family is much better off than his. If he wrote a letter back saying that he was going to get married... I guess not only would his parents not send anything, they might even come all the way to break his legs.
Thinking of this, he touched his nose.
Ahem, how is this the same? He doesn’t have a lover.
Yu Xiangyan put the letter and the insole away and began to look at other things. His uncle gave him a bag of grain and some grain coupons, his grandmother gave him two new pairs of shoes, his uncle two kilograms of sugar, his eldest brother and sister-in-law gave him cloth, his sister made him food, and there were also some small gadgets suitable for girls. No wonder they say girls are more attentive. He hadn't noticed it before. She would definitely like this hairpin.
With these things, the wedding would be able to go on. Under the current circumstances, he also wanted to do his best to give her the best things he had.
When I look back on it in the future, I won’t have too many regrets.
Of course, he also kept all of these in mind.
He doesn't have much ability now, but it won't always be like this.
…
This news soon reached the mouth of another protagonist, and the female educated youth next to her looked at her with some envy.
Many educated youth couldn't survive in the countryside and married local people. But if it were her, she would say that it would be more to her liking to marry an educated youth.
Marrying a local man means you don’t have to work so hard, but not having to work in the fields is not an option. How much suffering did they suffer when they went to the countryside?
In addition to working in the fields, the first problem you encounter is language. You have to be blind and deaf for a while and learn the local dialect before you can communicate with others. That is limited to simple communication. If you marry a local, you still can't understand a lot of what the other person says when they are in a hurry. In addition, country people cannot compare with city people in many aspects. Not only can they not compare in knowledge and academic qualifications, but many of them do not pay attention to hygiene. Many people don't even brush their teeth, they just rinse their mouths.
If you don't pay attention to hygiene and your clothes, you will be incomparable.
Like Wen Ruzhen, who chose to marry an educated youth from the same hometown, they knew each other well, and if they could go back in the future, they would not be separated. Moreover, her partner was different from other educated youth. He was strong and had good skills. He was popular in the village, and his family seemed to be well-off. She would receive a package from him every once in a while, and he was generous and would cook for her from time to time.
If these educated youth did not feel that they were not as good as Wen Ruzhen, how could they give up such a good partner so easily?
But even if they didn't give up, they might not succeed. They had heard some rumors before. It was said that the other party had followed Wen Ruzhen to the countryside, so they had no chance.
Wen Ruzhen didn't say a word throughout the whole process, and when asked whether she was happy or not, she just smiled.
Are you happy?
Of course I am happy.
If there were so many bags and small packages, it meant that Yu Xiangyan's family had no objection to them being together. Yu Xiangyan's family was aware of her family's situation. After all, they lived in the same county, and her father and grandparents were all well-known figures. But so what if they were well-known?
Once reported, the family fell apart in an instant. Her grandparents didn't hold on for long and died of illness. Her father was sent down to the countryside, her mother divorced and remarried, and she and her brother had to choose to move to the countryside to avoid disaster. She also has a younger sister who is taken care of by her mother. She is only a few years old and doesn't know what's going on. No one knows how they are doing now.
We haven’t been in touch for two years. Did mom give birth to another child?
It’s not that she doesn’t feel sad when she thinks about it, but she has already used all her strength to take care of herself and her brother in this place where she has no relatives.
She was also worried that his family would dislike her, but he insisted that they would not. Now it seems that he really did not lie to her.
Yu Xiangyan's family did not object to them being together, and they were finally relieved.
Thinking about how the people who had originally surrounded her scattered all of a sudden after the accident, and only Yu Xiangyan was still by her side, her heart was filled with sweetness like honey.
Things will get better and better in the days to come.
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