When Zhao Jintao returned home, he saw his barefoot and ragged wife cooking wild vegetable porridge, while his two twin sons were playing in the mud at the door.
"A Tao, you're back! The porridge is almost ready. I'll serve it to you."
Zhao Jintao nodded, went into the house, carefully took off his military uniform and folded it. This was his only good set of clothes and also all his spiritual sustenance.
When he came out of the room, he saw that his wife had already served the porridge and there was a sweet potato on the table.
Zhao Jintao looked at his own bowl which was full of dry goods, and then looked at his wife's bowl which was mostly full of soup, and felt indescribable discomfort in his heart.
My wife was so young and pretty before we got married, and everyone in the neighborhood would praise her for being such a good girl.
Since marrying her, I have to work in the fields, take care of the children, and do housework. I don’t have enough to eat every day. I am so thin that I am just bones, and my complexion is getting paler and paler.
This made Zhao Jintao, a soldier, feel extremely guilty, but he had no way to change his poor life.
Even though he worked on the farm from dawn to dusk every day, and could do the work of two others, there were only so many work points in the village, and it was impossible to give him too many work points or too much food.
Doing business was not allowed, and even entering the city required a letter of introduction.
It is even more impossible for him to be a bandit. Not to mention that he is a soldier and it is impossible for him to break the law. Even if he wants to rob people, everyone in the surrounding area is poor and there is not even a landlord. Who can he rob?
Thinking of this, Zhao Jintao remembered the solution given by the armed forces staff in the morning.
He was a little hesitant at first, but when he thought about how poor his family was and how his wife and children were almost unable to survive, he became more determined.
He would go to Hong Kong and get a high salary, even if it meant fighting with others.
With a salary of 7,200 yuan a year, even if he was beaten to death after only working for a year, this money would be enough for his wife and children to live in the mainland.
"Afen, come in and sit down. I want to discuss something with you."
"What's going on? You usually work hard, so you didn't go to the commune and get criticized, did you?"
"Bullshit! How could a man as tall as seven feet tall like me be criticized? I went to the commune this morning, and the county said they're organizing a group of people to go to Xiangjiang to work as security guards... as workers. The wages are very high, and I want to go."
Sun Afen was stunned when she heard this, and didn't know what to say:
"A Tao, are you going to abandon the three of us?"
Many people from Guangdong and Guangxi fled to Hong Kong, and there were such people in almost every village. Sun Afen thought her husband was going to follow others and flee to Hong Kong, so she became anxious:
"No, even if you want to go to Hong Kong, my son and I will go with you. I can endure hardships and I won't be a burden to you."
Zhao Jintao stood up and hugged his excited wife, patiently stroking her back: "Don't get excited, don't get excited."
"Wuwuwu, A Tao, don't leave us. How will we survive if you leave? Wuwu~~~"
"Silly boy, how could I bear to abandon you and the child? I'm not fleeing to Hong Kong. I'm going there to work openly, and my boss is from mainland China. Do you know how much I can earn a month? 600 yuan."
Women's attention is easily distracted. When Sun Afen heard the salary of 600 yuan, she stopped crying:
"Is this true? How can the salary be so high? I have a relative who works as a clerk in the commune and only makes 18 yuan a month."
"It's true. This morning, the county armed forces department came to solicit our opinions and asked us to volunteer. They also said that if we settle down in Hong Kong, we can bring our families to live there in the future."
"That……"
"Afen, I want to go. Don't worry, my accommodation and food are provided when I go to Hong Kong. My boss also said that I can send my monthly salary back to my family, and the government won't take a penny. For you and the children, I want to give it a try."
"But what if you go to Hong Kong and don't come back?"
"Believe me, Afen, even if I don't go back to Shuangxi, I will definitely take you and the child out. We have to survive, so we have to go out and try our luck. I don't want my son to be a farmer for generations, starving and hungry."
The couple discussed it all night...
Such scenes are happening in many small families in Dongguang and Xiguang provinces.
Some people decide to go out and fight to carve out a path for their family's future.
Some people think it is unreliable. Conservative people think that being a bodyguard for capitalists is like being a slave, and the key is that it is easy to become cannon fodder.
In the end, out of the 13 veterans from Shuangxi Commune, 10 chose to go to Hong Kong, and 3 chose to stay in their hometown with their families.
The first batch of 500 veterans were quickly recruited and reported to Huadu from all over the province.
…
…
Huadu Railway Station.
Lin Sanqi stood on the platform, watching the train from Wuhan slowly approach the station, and then he saw his parents, brothers, and his wife Pan Ye getting off the train.
"Dad, Mom~~"
Lin Sanqi went to meet him, and the whole family was very happy, especially Pan Ye. After seeing her husband after a month, she was reluctant to let go of his hand.
"How's it going? Everyone, are you having a good time traveling around the country?"
Lin Sanqi looked at his family members with a bit of surprise. His parents and eldest brother's family were all traveling light, but why were his second brother's family all carrying so many bags?
Lin Kucan looked at the surrounding environment and sighed:
"Near home, beyond the mountains, no news, winter and spring have passed. Close to home, I am even more timid, and dare not ask the people who come. After 12 years, we are back again."
Jin Caifeng's eyes were also filled with tears:
"What a shame, we have to leave again just after coming back. Let's go home!"
Lin Sanqi said speechlessly:
"Mom, why go back home? Didn't I tell you that our house has been occupied by our three uncles? Only your master bedroom has been left untouched. All the other rooms are occupied. Now we have a home but can't go back."
Jin Caifeng hadn't been anxious when she heard about it in Peking, but now that it was right before her eyes, she was anxious:
"That's my home. How can I let some relatives occupy it when the owner comes back and has no place to live? Let's go home and I want to see what's right!"
Lin Kucan patted his wife's hand and comforted her:
"Everything has its own cause. The three of them occupied one of our properties. Do you think they took advantage? In fact, they missed a great opportunity. A great opportunity for the whole family to immigrate to Hong Kong and escape from their predicament.
So there's no need to be angry. Let them stay if they want. We may not be able to come back in the future anyway. Even if we return to the mainland, I was able to buy you a small Western-style house back then, and I can buy you a new big one in the future."
Lin Sanqi thought, his father, who was so low-key in Peking, seemed to be so ambitious again after returning to his hometown?
Jin Caifeng was still a little unconvinced:
"We can't let them off so easily. Even if they want to live here, they can move to the annex where the clinic used to be. I won't say anything. The main building is our home, and they're occupying it. That's too much."
Lin Gancao's personality is not to fight or compete. Even though it is obviously his eldest son's ancestral property, he just smiled.
Lin Duzhong is the second son. When the family was divided, it was clearly stated that the small western-style building would not be given to him, so he no longer had the desire to fight for it. Now he only wanted to make a fortune in Hong Kong.
Only Lin Sanqi couldn't swallow this, so he hugged his mother's shoulders and said in support:
"Mom, don't worry. I'll contact the local street office and have all our pre-liberation house deeds and land titles replaced with property certificates. I'll confirm the ownership first, so we don't have to worry about them causing trouble in the future."
In fact, Lin Sanqi thought too simply, just like the courtyard houses in Peking.
Although the property rights were returned to the owner, the tenants living in the courtyard house could not be driven away. Even if they wanted to sell the house, they would not be able to do so, which would completely infuriate the owner to death.
Lin Kucan changed the subject at this time and said:
"Qizai, you go home first and lead the way. Where are we going now?"
Lin Sanqi smiled and said, "I've already booked a room at the Third Guesthouse. You've all been busy for a month. Let's go rest first, and then go to grandpa and grandma's house. I'll treat you then, and we'll go to Beiyuan for a good meal."
Lin Kucan waved his hand and said, "Let's go. No matter where we go, once we reach Huadu, we'll be home."
Lin Gancao and Lin Duzhong also shouted excitedly at this time: "We are home, we are finally back!"
It was the first time for the eldest sister-in-law Fu Muxiang, the second sister-in-law Pei Xuehua, and the two children to visit Huadu. They were full of curiosity about every tree and blade of grass on the street.
On the contrary, the third daughter-in-law Pan Ye had already come to Huadu with Lin Sanqi to visit her grandparents.
The next day, morning.
In front of a three-story white oriental-style building next to the Boji Church in Huadu City, Renji Road.
Lin Kucan finally returned home with his family.
After arriving in Huadu, Lin Kucan, who was usually taciturn in the capital, became noticeably more talkative and lively.
"Jiageng, Zhenzhen, this is our real hometown. Your parents were born here. Hehe, what do you think? Grandpa's little Western-style house was magnificent back then, wasn't it?"
Pei Xuehua's eyes began to light up when she saw the small Western-style building. She came from an ordinary family and her parents' family was well-off, but they definitely could not afford to live in a villa.
"Dad, this is our house. Wow, it's four stories high and 10 rooms wide. It's such a big place. How many people can live there?"
Lin Duzhong said proudly in front of his wife:
"What's the connection? This isn't the main building. This is where our clinic used to be. It used to be open to the street, but now I don't know who sealed it off.
Our little Western-style house is still there. It was truly magnificent, a three-story building with marble on the first floor and wooden floors on the second and third floors. When we were little, the three of us would play hide-and-seek in it and we would never be able to find it.
Pei Xuehua looked at her husband with stars in her eyes at this time. She never thought that her husband's family was so prominent in the south.
Even Fu Muxiang, who usually doesn't fight for anything, was a little unhappy at this time. If it was a small house, she would have given it up, but now when she saw such a big villa and thought about it being occupied by relatives, she couldn't bear it.
"Hey, Gancao, Dad said at the beginning that this little Western-style house should belong to our eldest son's family. It is Jiageng's property. We can't let it go so easily. We must take the house back."
Lin Gancao's personality was too gentlemanly, or to put it bluntly, pedantic and cowardly. He stuttered a little when he heard his wife's complaints:
"But this place is full of my uncles and cousins. They've been living here for over ten years. It's definitely impossible to ask them to move..."
After hearing this, Fu Muxiang stomped her feet in anger and didn't want to pay any attention to her husband anymore.
Lin Sanqi rolled his eyes when he heard this, thinking that with his elder brother's temper, if he were an emperor in ancient times, he would probably be like Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang of the Ming Dynasty, who was fooled by the civil service group and never left the Forbidden City in his entire life.
Jin Caifeng was also a little angry when she heard what her eldest son said. Women are always more protective of their children.
"Of course not. It's mine, it's mine. When your father bought this little house, he didn't spend a single cent of the family's money. He earned it all himself, and even included my dowry. How could he give it to someone else so easily?"
Pan Ye didn't comment after hearing this. Anyway, the two tons of gold and a bag of diamonds under her own crabapple tree gave her enough confidence so that she didn't have to fight with her husband's family for the property.
Lin Sanqi had already set up his tripod, positioned a camera, and set the timer:
"Come on, come on, our whole family is finally back, let's be happy, let's take a photo at the door as a souvenir, and smile, come on, Tian Qi~~~"
With a click, the Lin family took another family photo after 12 years.
Unfortunately, what Lin Kucan and Jin Caifeng didn't know was that their youngest son was no longer their biological son... (End of this chapter)
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