Chapter 007 Chapter 7 Zhang Xiaohuigou and Wanli Linghan

The winter in the north is very cold. Lin Yue has been here for almost a month and has hardly gone out. He only sneaked out a few times at night.

There is no farm work in winter, so everyone is idle at home. Last time, several aunts and grandmas came to see Lin Yue and his children. They had a good impression of Lin Yue and often came to visit with needlework.

Although he said he was visiting, he actually came to take care of Lin Yue and the two children.

As long as it was not troublesome, they would help with things that women in labor could not do. When the child needed to be fed, they would ask the daughters-in-law present to help warm the goat milk. When they saw that there was no water in the water tank, they would wait for the aunts to return home and give a command, and in the evening, half-grown boys would come to help fill the water tank.

The original owner was not sociable and people had little contact with her. Some people actually believed what Sun Hongmei said and thought that Lin Yue was confused.

But now that they have been together for a long time, they have discovered that Lin Yue's personality is completely different from what her mother-in-law said. Although the change is a bit big, no one thinks otherwise. They just think that Lin Yue has just given birth to a child and has been through a near-death experience, so she has become more insightful.

Lin Yue heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that no one questioned his change.

Lin Yue was very grateful for the help she received. She also wanted to repay everyone. She thought it was difficult to explain the dishes in the space, so she often fried some peanuts and soybeans and put them on the kang so that the aunts could have them as snacks when they came. She also secretly dripped spiritual spring water into the water, afraid that someone would drink it and find out, so she diluted it again and again before she dared to serve everyone.

When Aunt Zhang saw Lin Yue bring out another plate of peanuts, she decided that she didn't know how to live, and she started to nag again: "Xiao Yue'er, the New Year is coming soon, you should save the peanuts and use them during the New Year, don't take them out and let us waste them. The soybeans you fried are very good, we can eat them to satisfy our appetite."

Peanuts are not grown very often in the brigade and are considered a rare commodity. Most people are reluctant to eat them and would save them to exchange for coarse grains or to entertain guests during the New Year.

"That's right, Lin Yue, you are too generous. We come to visit every day, why should you be polite? There is no need to entertain us."

Sister Jin scratched her scalp with the sewing needle in her hand. Although she said that, she still swiftly reached out and put most of the peanuts into her pocket.

Lin Yue smiled and said, "I planted a lot of peanuts in the vegetable garden. My home is close to the vegetable garden, and I often go there to water it, so I harvested a lot. I can't eat much by myself, so I'll give it to the aunties to satisfy their gluttony."

The private plot applied for by the original owner was near her home. Few people came here before, and no one had ever seen her vegetable garden. Now Lin Yue can say whatever he wants.

"Oh, you're not good at sewing this little dress. Children's skin is delicate, and the stitches should be placed outside to avoid pain." Sister Jin took advantage of the situation and became very attentive, reaching out to take the needle and thread in Lin Yue's hand to teach her how to sew.

Despite the vicissitudes of life on Sister Jin's face, she is actually only in her early thirties, not much older than Lin Yue in her previous life. She had no help from her parents-in-law and two young sons, so her life was very difficult.

Although she likes to take advantage of others, she is diligent, capable, and warm-hearted. Lin Yue knew that she was taking his things, and felt bad about it, so he let her take the clothes and went to her side to listen to her explanation.

Sister Jin taught Lin Yue how to sew while sighing, "The child is about to leave the confinement period, and there is not even a piece of clothing to wear. Your mother-in-law didn't help, and let you, who is still in confinement, sew. How cruel."

He laughed sarcastically again, "But you can't expect anything from a person like her. The grandchildren are almost out of confinement, and she, as a grandmother, has not come to see them once since she made a scene last time, let alone send anything here. I really don't know what she and Zhang Zhiwei are thinking. They don't treat Greyhound as their son at all."

Greyhound is Zhang Yuandong's nickname. Lin Yue always feels embarrassed no matter how many times he hears it.

When it comes to Zhang Yuandong's past, probably everyone in the village can gossip about it.

Zhang Xiaohuigou had a very difficult childhood. Zhang Zhiwei and Sun Hongmei didn't like this eldest son. The villagers' impression of him was that he had long, messy hair that almost covered half of his face, his clothes were always old and torn, and even when he was in his teens, he was still short and thin, and looked malnourished.

Although Zhang Xiaohuigou had no parents to take care of him, he had to do a lot of housework. He had to help with housework when he was not even as tall as an adult. Later, he was responsible for tasks like collecting firewood, fetching water, and washing clothes.

The child without mother's love was bullied more than others since he was young. The children younger than him in the village would bully him. However, he was not bullied anymore after he was eight years old. Because he was fierce in fighting, he soon became the boss among the children and no one dared to mess with him anymore.

Many people in the village felt sorry for him and took good care of him. Thanks to his uncle's care, he was able to grow up safely.

Zhang Xiaohuigou was grateful and would often go to other people's homes to help. Sun Hongmei scolded him for this.

If you do work for others, you will be beaten. If you accept a bite of food or a piece of clothing from others, you will also be beaten.

In 1955, some people came to the village to recruit soldiers.

The villagers had all experienced war, and no one wanted to put their children in danger. Sun Hongmei was the first to respond, and she was determined to send Zhang Xiaohuigou to the army.

That year, Zhang Xiaohuigou was only 16 years old and was very thin and small. The team leader Zhang Zhiqiang felt sorry for him and wanted to persuade him again, but Sun Hongmei went around the village and quietly signed him up.

The person in charge of the recruitment thought that the name was really bad and wanted to give the child a new name. Sun Hongmei said: "I am not educated, but I think this name is good. They say that bad names are easy to keep, and I think it is absolutely true. Look at how strong my greyhound is."

Many years later, her words are still circulating in the village.

Zhang Zhiqiang still couldn't stand it, so he asked his eldest son, who was studying in high school in the city at the time, to find a teacher at their school to give Zhang Xiaohuigou its current name.

When Lin Yue heard this, he didn't know what to feel. In this era, there are many evil mothers-in-law who torture their daughters-in-law, but it is rare to torture their own sons like this.

Although they didn't like children, they were extremely kind to their first three children.

Seeing that Lin Yue looked a little strange, Sister Jin smiled awkwardly and said, "I am just used to hearing your parents-in-law call me that, so I just said it out loud. My niece-in-law, please don't take it to heart."

She added, "But your husband is also a great man. Look at the expanded house of your mother-in-law's family, and the good life they have now. It's all thanks to Xiao Huizi! Look, how many people in our village went to the army, didn't they all come back in less than two years? He was the only one who could stay in the army, and his allowance is getting more and more every year. Although your mother-in-law is a conscienceless person, fortunately the family has been separated, and your future life will definitely get better and better!"

Lin Yue smiled. She didn't think that dividing the family would get rid of her two father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Aunt Zhang listened to Sister Jin saying so many bad things about Sun Hongmei, but she didn't agree with a word and changed the subject: "Have you thought of names for the two babies? They are almost out of confinement, so at least they should be given nicknames first."

Lin Yue smiled and said, "You keep urging me, how can I delay? I've decided. My brother will be named Zhang Lingshan and my sister will be named Zhang Linghan."

Sister Jin asked, "This generation should be the first generation, right? Why aren't the boys divided into generations?"

Lin Yue smiled and said nothing. The two words "Zhang Xian" sounded very nice, but if one more word was added, she felt that it was not so nice anymore.

All the Zhang families in Xiaotian Village are from the same clan. Most of the boys are named according to their generation, but there are also some who do not name their children according to their generation but just give them random names, but they are not very common.

Aunt Zhang repeated the name twice: "It's not a big deal if they are not named according to their generation, but their father was given a different name, and the two children's names are so similar, I'm afraid someone in the village will have objections. Let's change it, so that people won't gossip."

Lin Yue thought about it and seemed to really want to name the eldest one separately, so he suggested another name: "How about calling the eldest Zhang Wanli? Actually, I still want to wait for the child's father to choose the name, for fear that he will not be satisfied with the name I choose."

Sister Jin said with a smile: "The Long March was 25,000 miles long. Zhang Wanli is quite good. He recalls the bitter past and thinks of the sweet past."

Little Wanli and Lingling are growing up very fast. Their facial features have fully developed and their faces are chubby, no longer wrinkled as when they were just born. The two little guys no longer sleep all day. Now they are awake and don't cry. They just look around with their big, round eyes and kick around with their little hands and feet.

Lin Yue put the two kids in a lying position and asked them to practice raising their heads for a while.

A few people were talking and teasing the two children, and the feeling of injustice for Zhang Yuandong soon disappeared.

Aunt Zhang did not go back with Sister Jin. After the others left, she talked to Lin Yue about Sun Hongmei.

"Don't blame your mother-in-law for being cruel. She also has her own difficulties. She treated Xiao Huizi badly, and we all saw it, but the elders in the village never said a word to her because of this, because she herself has a miserable life."

When Lin Yue heard this, she realized that this was gossip. She pricked up her ears and looked at Aunt Zhang with sparkling eyes.

Seeing her like this, Aunt Zhang was so angry that she slapped her on the back and said, "What do you want me to say to you? She is your mother-in-law. How can I tell a kid like you bad things about your mother-in-law? You really dare to think so!"

Lin Yue was patted, and calmly did his job. He asked unwillingly, "Aren't you going to tell me how difficult my mother-in-law's life is? I don't want to hear anything else!"

Aunt Zhang said, "Yes, and I've already said it." After thinking for a while, she gave another instruction, "I'm not telling you this to persuade you to treat your mother-in-law well. It's not your fault whether she is pitiful or not, and it's not an excuse for her to bully her daughter-in-law. I'm not one of those old-fashioned people who think that a daughter-in-law can't complain about her mother-in-law. You have to find the right way and not let others think you are unfilial. Like what you did last time, it was thanks to Liu Jinfeng's nonsense that you got away with it. Otherwise, if you dare to lay a hand on your mother-in-law, you will be drowned in other people's spit!"

Wang Xiuxiang had said these words a few days ago, and Lin Yue knew that Aunt Zhang was really doing this for her own good. She nodded and agreed with a humble attitude.