Chapter 159 Educated Youth in the 1970s (Twenty-Three): I Want to Build! I Want…
"Xiao Ce, these five catties of lean meat are frozen. Put the meat in a cloth bag. It's your first time visiting Fang Ning's house, so don't be impolite."
Jian Fangning looked at the two large bags of things that Song's mother had prepared, and quickly waved her hand, saying apologetically, "Mom, there's too much stuff. Leave some for the family! Our family is small and can't eat all of this."
Song's mother shook her head, disapprovingly saying, "You child, just take it! It's cold now, we can store it anywhere at home. What's the big deal if there are only a few people? We can keep it for our own family to eat slowly!" As she spoke, she untied the bag and stuffed two packets of white sugar and two bags of peanuts into the empty gaps.
Seeing that Song's mother had taken out two more packets of pastries and was about to pack more, Jian Fangning quickly stopped her: "Mom, there are already three packets of pastries in there, that's enough, enough. Besides, the bag is already too full!"
Song's mother didn't believe it, so she tried pressing down hard on the bag, and sure enough, there wasn't a single gap left.
"Okay, fine!"
Mother Song regretfully placed the pastries on the table, looked at Song Ce beside her with a smile in her eyes: "Second Little One, come and lend a hand, carry this bag to the side."
Song Ce nodded, bent down to try to lift the bag, but he was immediately overwhelmed by its weight.
"Mom, what's in this bag? It's so heavy."
"There wasn't much. Just ten catties of wheat flour, ten catties of rice, five catties of lean meat, five catties of vermicelli, four pig trotters, two packets of white sugar, three packets of pastries, five catties of peanuts, and two cans of food. That's about it."
Song Ce: "..."
Jian Fangning: "..."
"And what about the other bag? What's bulging inside?" Song Ce couldn't help but ask.
“Isn’t your third aunt from a blanket factory? They have those flawed blankets at reasonable prices. I was thinking of getting one for Fangning’s family. They’re also suitable for their own use; they’re very warm!”
Upon hearing this, Song Ce laughed, "Mom, did you empty our house this time?"
"You child!" Mother Song pretended to hit him. "This is your first time visiting. Shouldn't we show our sincerity?"
Jian Fangning watched from the side, feeling both touched and a little guilty. She looked up at Song's mother and shook her head, saying, "Mom, you really don't need to bring so much stuff. My parents..."
Before she could finish speaking, Song's mother patted Jian Fangning's hand with a smile: "Good child, we're family now, why are you being so polite with your mother?"
"Um!"
Although Kyoto City and Yamagata Prefecture are adjacent on the map, they are actually quite far apart. It would probably take four or five hours by train to get there.
The Jian family lived in a village in the city called Deyang New Village on the outskirts of Shanxian County. It used to be a chemical plant staff quarters. After Shanxian County reformed, many factories introduced a large number of temporary workers for re-employment, which led to a surge in the number of temporary workers in Shanxian County. Around each factory, staff quarters formed a shantytown similar to the urban-rural fringe areas of later times.
It's called a city, but most of the people here live in self-built bungalows, and there is no central heating or running water, only some public water taps available; yet, if you call it a rural area, these places are all under the management of the street office, and the original residents are all urban residents.
Therefore, even though the living conditions are very poor, many people choose to stay here for the sake of this "urban identity," and no one will move away with their whole family, even though their actual standard of living is far lower than that of city dwellers.
After a bumpy journey, the couple finally arrived at Deyang New Village.
Jian Fangning led Song Ce northwards, and the two respectable strangers quickly attracted the attention of the villagers.
"Comrades, where are you from? Which house are you going to?" A middle-aged man in a military green cotton-padded jacket came up to us, rubbing his hands together as he asked.
"Second Uncle, don't you recognize me? I'm Ningning!" Jian Fangning said with a smile.
"Ningning? Ningning...you're Ningning, the second daughter of the Jian family!" After a long while, the middle-aged man asked her in surprise.
"It's me, it's me!" Jian Fangning smiled and replied crisply.
"Good heavens, it's Ningning! I almost didn't recognize you when you were walking just now! You've grown taller and fairer! Is the food so good during the rural development project? You even look a bit chubby!"
Jian Fangning smiled sheepishly, "No, not really..."
"Of course there is! There is!" Saying this, the second uncle looked at Song Ce beside him and asked with a smile, "I wonder who this young man is..."
“Second Uncle, this is my boyfriend, Song Ce. You can just call him Xiao Song,” Jian Fangning replied generously.
"Little Song..." Uncle Er smiled and squinted his eyes, "He's a good young man! He just looks a bit thin."
"Second Uncle." Song Ce quickly stepped forward and greeted him.
"Alright, alright, all good!" Uncle Er chuckled. "Ningning, Xiao Song, you two should go back now! I won't keep you any longer."
"Alright, Second Uncle, I'm heading home now. We'll definitely come over in a couple of days to wish you and Second Aunt a Happy New Year!"
"Okay! Okay!"
Today is the third day of the Lunar New Year, and there aren't many temporary workers in Deyang New Village. Most of them have returned to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year with their families. They will usually start returning gradually after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
The couple walked for more than ten minutes, bypassing three small intersections, before finally arriving at the Jian family's door.
The Jian family owned two single-story houses, which looked small from the outside and were the smallest in the row of houses. Since the Jian family's house was next to the passageway, Jian's father simply built a small shed on a vacant lot on the edge of the yard, which provided a place for cooking and storing things.
Seeing that Song Ce's expression didn't change, Jian Fangning secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She straightened her collar and then went up to knock on the door.
Soon, the wooden door opened, and a woman in her thirties peeked out. She looked a little impatient, and her tone was somewhat sharp: "Who is it? What are you doing... Hey? Ningning? You're back?"
"Big sister, I'm back," Jian Fangning said with a smile.
"Oh, it's good to be back, it's good to be back!" Jian Fang'an said, looking at Song Ce beside her, "This must be Xiao Song, right?"
"Hello, elder sister."
"Oh, come on in and warm up, it's cold outside." Jian Fang'an quickly made way for her, smiling as she said, "I just boiled some water, come on in. Your brother-in-law and Mei'er are here too!"
The couple entered the house one after the other. As soon as Jian's mother saw her daughter, her eyes immediately welled up with tears. She rushed forward and grabbed Jian Fangning's hand, saying, "Second daughter, I've been waiting for you to come back."
“Mother…” Jian Fangning’s eyes were also red, and she called out in a choked voice.
Just as Jian's father was about to ask a few questions, he saw Song Ce coming in with Er Yatou, looked him up and down, and smiled.
"This must be Xiao Song, right? Come in quickly."
Brother-in-law Ma Guangbai also stood up briskly, smiled at Song Ce, and said, "You're here? Sit down and rest for a while."
"Dad, Mom, brother-in-law."
Song Ce's natural address of "Mom and Dad" immediately silenced the room. It was Jian's mother who responded with a smile and poured a glass of water for each of them.
Jian Fangning quickly took the bag from Song Ce and took out the items inside one by one.
She first took out three packets of pastries, from a long-established Beijing brand that was said to have been open for over a century. Jian Fang'an and Ma Guangbai, the couple standing nearby, stared wide-eyed at the pastries their younger sister had brought out.
Such elegant pastries! Where have they ever eaten them before? They've never even seen them!
That wasn't all. Jian Fangning then took out peanuts, canned goods, and white sugar, which immediately eased the expressions on Jian's parents' faces.
"My dear in-laws, you're too kind..."
"And then..." Jian Fangning muttered, then took out pig's trotters, vermicelli, and lean meat. When her brother-in-law, Ma Guangbai, saw such a bag of meat, he couldn't help but swallow hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
Upon seeing the lean meat and pig's trotters, Jian's mother's eyes widened immediately. Even for the new son-in-law's first visit, this gift was far too generous.
"Little Song, your family is small, why did you bring so much stuff? This is all... all..."
Song Ce thought that his mother was asking if these were all brought for them, so he nodded hurriedly and replied, "Mom, these were all packed up by my mother for our family to eat slowly."
Mr. Jian's expression changed several times, and he couldn't help but ask in a deep voice, "Little Song, where did all these things come from?"
Song Ce was taken aback and said, "These are all welfare receipts that my parents gave me during holidays, as well as those given by my work unit. I just took them all out during the New Year."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Jian smiled and said, "That's too much. We can't possibly eat it all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jian Fangning carried the ten pounds of flour and ten pounds of rice onto the table. "Mom, since everyone is here, let's make dumplings for dinner tonight."
Upon seeing the rice and flour, Jian's father, mother, Jian Fang'an, and Ma Guangbai all stood up abruptly and exclaimed in unison, "Is it refined grain?"
Seeing the family's excited expressions, Song Ce nodded subconsciously, "Yes..."
"I haven't seen such white rice and flour in so many years." Mrs. Jian's hand touched the grain sack, then she suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Mr. Jian, "My dear husband, this..."
Father Jian shook his head and looked at Song Ce, saying, "Little Song, you've taken too much stuff. Take some back with you when you go back! Don't let your family be reluctant to eat it and bring all the grain here to us."
“Dad, Fangning and I carried this all the way back from Beijing so that the family could have something to eat. These are all grain coupons issued by our work unit. We have kept this much at home, so please eat with peace of mind. In the future, we can ask someone to bring more grain back for holidays.”
Jian Fangning laughed and said, "Yes, Dad, what's wrong with accepting gifts from your own daughter and son-in-law?"
Song Ce couldn't help but smile. He wondered who it was that kept saying they took too much at home, but now that they were home, their tone had changed. It was really endearing.
Seeing that Mr. Jian nodded, Mrs. Jian couldn't help but quickly pack up the pile of good things. At this moment, Mei, who was writing on the edge of the kang in the west room, heard the noise and peeked over.
As soon as she saw Jian Fangning, she jumped up happily and said, "Auntie, Auntie, you're back!"
Jian Fangning was amused by Mei Yatou's silly grin. She took out a bag of fruit candies from her bag and stuffed it into Mei Yatou's arms, saying with a smile, "This is something your aunt and uncle bought especially for you."
Mei glanced at Song Ce, lowered her head, and timidly said, "Hello, Uncle-in-law."
Song Ce walked over and patted Mei on the head, smiling as he said, "Mei, hello to you too."
Mei clutched the bag of fruit candies tightly, secretly glanced at Jian Fang'an, and only after seeing her nod did she carefully tear open the packaging, peel off the candy wrapper, and pop a fruit candy into her mouth.
The moment the sweetness melted on her tongue, Mei's eyes immediately curved into little crescents. She licked her lips and whispered, "So delicious! So sweet!"
The adults gathered around couldn't help but laugh at her innocent and naive appearance.
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Author's Note: Chapters 21 and 22 have been revised. Please check them again, my little darlings~ I've added about a thousand lines [covering face and peeking]
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