Chapter 211 Erhu

The next day, Wanli got up early, holding a erhu, and quietly left the house.

As soon as he walked onto the street, he bumped into Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong who were walking back leisurely. He was a little speechless about this couple. There was nothing interesting in the village, and he didn't understand why they went out for a walk so early. His mother's cotton shoes were all wet, and his father was wearing leather shoes, but they were also dirty.

Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong were not going for a walk. They went with Uncle Zhang and his three brothers and sisters-in-law to pick wild vegetables. However, the shoes Lin Yue was wearing were not good, so he was chased back by his brothers and sisters-in-law.

Zhang Yuandong saw Wanli acting suspiciously, so he stopped him and asked, "Where are you going so early?"

Wanli hugged the erhu tightly in his hand and sighed, "Dad, please don't worry about me. My mother's shoes are wet, why don't you take her to change a pair!"

Zhang Yuandong remembered something important and was afraid that Lin Yue might get frozen feet, so he hurriedly led them back to the house. Halfway through the journey, he remembered to say, "We'll have breakfast soon, don't run around, do you hear me?"

But there was no one behind him, Wanli had already disappeared.

Lin Yue smiled and said, "Don't worry about him. He must have gone to look for that Master Chen."

"Grandpa Chen?"

"Yes, it was Grandpa Chen who taught him to play the erhu."

It seemed that Wanli had indeed gone out with his erhu just now. Zhang Yuandong recalled the magical sound he played at home. His eyes went dark and his voice trembled a little: "Didn't you say that he couldn't learn it and gave up after a long time? He has been learning it for almost a year, right?"

Lin Yue nodded, "It's been almost a year, and he's learned it well, and can play several pieces now." But he has no musical sense, and the erhu is an instrument that relies solely on the ears to distinguish the pitch. Every time Wanli plays the erhu, he is full of emotion and looks very powerful, but in fact he is so out of tune that even the author can't recognize him.

The most frightening thing is that he also likes to compose his own music, which is the legendary person who has a strong addiction to singing.

Zhang Yuandong knew his son's strength, so he didn't believe what Lin Yue said at all, and his eyes were full of doubts towards his own mother.

Lin Yue rolled her eyes at him in annoyance and said, "You're still complaining. Who did your son inherit his tone-deafness from?" Although she herself wasn't a very good singer, at least she could sing in tune.

Zhang Yuandong said without temper: "Just follow my lead. Who is my wife? She is the best at everything she does. How can her singing be bad?"

Aunt Zhang was cooking in the kitchen. When she heard what they were doing, she came out with a spatula, lifted the curtain, and said with a smile, "What are you talking about at the door? Come in quickly. It's so cold outside!"

The two entered the house, and Zhang Yuandong explained the situation to Aunt Zhang and asked her to help find a pair of shoes for Lin Yue to change into.

Aunt Zhang went into the house and looked around, then brought over a pair of men's black homespun shoes. She said shyly, "Workers in the countryside have smelly feet and dirty shoes. These are new shoes I made for your uncle. They haven't been worn yet, so they're clean. Wear them!"

The weather in the Northeast is too cold, and a pair of ula is a must for going out in winter, and not everyone has one. Aunt Zhang’s family doesn’t have extra ula, so she wears woolen shoes when she is not out. The new pair of shoes in her hand was prepared by Uncle Zhang to wear when the weather warms up in the city, and he is reluctant to part with them.

Lin Yue was only wearing the shoes for a short while, so he didn't feel comfortable wearing new shoes that someone else hadn't been willing to wear, so he made excuses and refused to wear them.

Seeing that the two were still in a stalemate, Zhang Yuandong pressed Lin Yue onto the stool beside the stove and took a small stool for her to stand on. He then said, "Auntie, don't bother. These shoes are not that wet. Put them by the fire and they will dry in a while. Let her light a fire for you. It will also help to keep the cold away!"

He had not thought it through. When they came last year, the children of Aunt Zhang were still naked in the middle of winter. When the three brothers were going on a long journey, they also took turns wearing a pair of decent pants.

He originally wanted to ask Aunt Zhang to just pick up a pair of her own shoes for Lin Yue to wear, but he forgot the conditions in the countryside. Aunt Zhang was embarrassed to give her dirty shoes to Lin Yue. He was also a little worried that Lin Yue would dislike the shoes that had been worn by others. He secretly glanced at Lin Yue a few times, but was glared back by his wife, and he felt relieved instantly.

Aunt Zhang was still holding the pair of cloth shoes in her hand. She took them back with some embarrassment. Zhang Yuandong pushed her into the house and joked, "Put them away quickly. My uncle has been waiting for a new pair of shoes for a long time. You are so generous. Be careful or my uncle will quarrel with you!"

Aunt Zhang scolded, "It's just a pair of shoes, just for Xiaolin to wear, why is it so exaggerated?"

Lin Yue smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. Your craftsmanship is excellent. Who knows, I might not want to put it back after I put it on. Then my uncle will cry!"

"It's not that exaggerated. If you like it, I'll make a pair for you and Huizi!" Aunt Zhang was very happy. She didn't hesitate anymore and put the shoes back.

The children got up one after another, and Aunt Zhang sent Little Stone to call the adults back for dinner. Lingling came out of the house, rubbing her eyes and asked, "Mom, where is Wanli?"

The two children grew up together and were almost always together. The first thing Lingling did when she got up was to find that Wan Li was gone. Lin Yue replied, "He went out with his erhu."

After listening to this, Lingling said "Oh" and nothing else, and went off to find something to wash up.

Zhang Yuandong didn't expect her to just ask one question and then stop. He asked curiously, "Why don't you ask where your brother is going?"

Ling Ling had a mouthful of water in her mouth. After spitting it out, she replied, "Dad, you are so stupid. He must have gone to see Grandpa Chen with his erhu. What's there to ask?"

Aunt Zhang brought the meal into the house and laughed, "Haha, yes, Old Man Chen loves him. He probably has his breakfast there. He used to do this all the time. Let's not wait for him. Let's eat first!"

At that time, every household in the countryside was not wealthy, and with Wanli's appetite, it would be embarrassing to let him eat at other people's homes.

Lin Yue wanted to find the person, but was stopped by Aunt Zhang. She comforted him, "Old man Chen is the most face-conscious person. If you ask Wanli to come back at this time, he will definitely think that our family looks down on him! Don't worry about it. After dinner, ask your eldest brother to bring something over and say it's a thank-you gift for his teacher. He will definitely be happy!"

Lin Yue hurriedly said: "Then don't bother big brother, Yuandong and I will go over there, and we can go and thank them." She was actually quite curious about this Grandpa Chen. From what Wanli and Aunt Zhang said, the couple should be quite old, but they were still trying to have a son. Their obsession was really deep.

But she was wrong about this. In fact, the couple were both under 50 years old. It was just that the girls above them were older and they looked old, which made others ignore their actual age.

When Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong went there, Wan Li's erhu course had not yet ended.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I heard a powerful voice, praising me in all kinds of ways: "Well, you played this piece of music at a very high level, not like a little kid playing it at all. I was very moved when I heard it. It seems that you have been practicing very hard recently, keep it up!"

Wanli was so happy that he opened his voice and started to sing. Before he finished singing a sentence, old man Chen interrupted him: "Well, this song is sung very powerfully, and the howl is very powerful like a lone wolf..."

Wanli didn't understand and thought he was being complimented. He said excitedly, "Grandpa, take me with you next time you go to perform. I want to see the world, too!"

Old Man Chen said sadly: "I got such a good seedling, and I wanted to take it out to show off, but it's a pity that now I can't..."

Zhang Yuandong was speechless after hearing this. He didn't know how this old man Chen could say such a thing without changing his expression despite his son's usual evil voice.

Until he left Old Man Chen's house, Zhang Yuandong looked like he was troubled.

Lin Yue poked him: "What's wrong with you? What are you thinking about?"

Zhang Yuandong: "I wonder if there is any way to get Wanli to change his hobby."

Lin Yue: ...

Wan Li said angrily, "Dad, you are jealous! Grandpa Chen praised me for my good playing skills. He said that when he was my age, he couldn't play as well as me!"

Zhang Yuandong spared no effort to hit his son: "Let's just say, is it possible that when your Grandpa Chen was this old, he hadn't started learning to play the erhu?"

Wanli stamped his feet. Seeing his angry look, Lin Yue smiled and comforted him, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. Your father is tone-deaf and can't hear how well you play. We won't listen to him!"

She glared at Zhang Yuandong. He usually pretended to be serious in front of others, but as long as he was at home with a few children, his true nature would always be exposed. Wanli's temper was mild enough, but he could make the children so angry. Lin Yue really didn't know what to say.

Zhang Yuandong was the first to feel wronged, muttering softly: "I am doing this for your own good. I don't spend much time at home, and it's you who are suffering from the pain in your ears!"

Wanli heard it, but he didn't get angry this time. He leaned over to look at Zhang Yuandong and said sympathetically, "Dad, are you jealous because no one has ever praised you? But it's true. You and Uncle Ma and the others didn't sing on tune, and everyone thought they were as good as the art troupe. No wonder you're not convinced by me."

Zhang Yuandong was so angry at his good son that he was furious. Seeing Lin Yue laughing happily, he became even more angry. He took Lin Yue's hand and walked away quickly. He didn't want to walk with this son at all.

Lin Yue held back his laughter, secretly gave Wan Lishu a thumbs up, and was dragged away by Zhang Yuandong.

Uncle Zhang's house was very lively, and many people were chatting in the house. Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong stopped in the yard, wondering if it was convenient for them to go in now. Before the two of them could hesitate for long, they ran into a man coming out of the house. When the man saw the two of them, he shouted, "Hey, you're back, nephew, come in quickly!"

The windows of Uncle Zhang's house were papered, and to keep warm, half of the outside was sealed with mud, and the inside was blocked with oilcloth, so the light inside was very dim. Even so, they were reluctant to light the kerosene lamp during the day, and only lit the lights in the house yesterday when they arrived.

There was no light in the house today. When Lin Yue entered the room, he could only vaguely recognize Uncle Zhang, Aunt Zhang, and the captain he had met yesterday.

Aunt Zhang introduced them, "This is the captain of our production team, and these two. You should call them Uncle Zhao and Aunt Zhao. They are here to discuss marriage for our sons!"

After following the introduction and calling out to everyone, Lin Yue discovered that there were actually two people in the dim shadows. One was a tall and thin man. His face could not be seen clearly. All he could see was that he was sitting very straight, looking very taciturn and serious.

The other one was the crazy woman from yesterday. She was dealt with neatly this time. Because the light in the room was dim, one could not see her lifeless eyes and silly look. Instead, she looked pretty and quiet, no different from a normal person.

Zhang Yuandong scanned the room and noticed these two people first. He guessed that the man should be Zhao Feng, and his eyes paused on him for a moment. Zhao Feng's body became even stiffer when he was stared at.

Zhang Yuandong nodded at him and asked, "What's the matter?"

The captain said happily, "These two went on a blind date today and fell in love with each other. We are going to the county public security bureau today to file a case for this girl. I heard from Lao Zhang that you are going back this afternoon, so I thought about letting them go to the city with you."

He actually had selfish motives. This girl was stupid and had no household registration, so her whereabouts could not be found. He didn't know whether the public security bureau in the county would take the trouble to investigate and whether they could find her family.

In general, although this matter can be done, it will not be that easy. This relative of Lao Zhang's is said to be a military officer, who certainly knows more than the country folks, and can easily talk to the higher-ups. He just wants someone to help him go to the Public Security Bureau to talk.

Lin Yue didn't want to comment on the phrase "they fell in love with each other". She secretly pulled Aunt Zhang aside and asked, "Aunt, this is the Zhao Feng you mentioned yesterday, right? What do you think of this family?"

Aunt Zhang was stunned and couldn't help laughing: "I know what you are worried about. His family is all honest and not the kind of people who would insult others. Don't look at Zhao Feng as a dumb man. He works well and is not afraid of not being able to make ends meet. Besides, his family cares about their reputation. I will pay more attention to them in the future. They are afraid of spreading a bad reputation and will definitely not dare to do anything to this fool!"

Lin Yue had no choice. From the current perspective, this was actually the best place for the girl. It was better than wandering outside and being abused by others. Even if she was sent to a farm, without anyone to protect her, there was no guarantee that she would live well.

On the other side, Zhang Yuandong was also asking: "Can she get a marriage certificate in this situation?"

The captain said "Hi" and said nonchalantly: "Why do we need to get a marriage certificate? Just go to the Public Security Bureau to get a certificate. I will take it to the commune tomorrow to register her as a resident."

If there is no problem with this person's identity, it will be easy for him to settle down as long as the brigade is willing to accept him.

Aunt Zhao continued, "We can't just not prepare anything. We still have to prepare two tables for the banquet, so that everyone can have a good time."

The captain disagreed, "Why waste that money? Your family is not well off..."

"That won't work. I tried it last night. Although this girl looks a little silly, she can actually understand everything you say. She's no different from us. And she's obedient. She's willing to work if you ask her to. She's a good girl!"

The captain frowned, obviously unhappy, but didn't say anything else. However, Lin Yue felt relieved by the tone of her voice.

The matter was settled, and the group of people did not stay any longer, and stood up to leave. The captain was still reluctant to leave, and he tried to ask Zhang Yuandong's rank, but was fooled by Zhang Yuandong.

He was obviously not very happy. When he walked away, he put his hands behind his back, looked very long-faced, and muttered in a low voice: "I'm just a soldier. You can't say this or that. Who are you looking down on?"