End of August 1971.
Arashiyama Village at the foot of Arashiyama
At the entrance of the village, a chubby little girl, about six years old, was squatting there.
She was wearing a somewhat worn army green shirt and trousers. The shirt was a little big and her sleeves were rolled up, revealing her tender arms.
People passing by couldn't help but take a second look.
She is the first girl in the village with such fair skin. She squats here every day without getting tanned, which makes other girls envious.
At this time, a woman in the village who was notoriously mean and stingy came back from the fields with a basket on her arm. When she passed Tianjiao, she squatted down, teased her, pinched her tender face, left a medium-sized sweet potato, and left with a smile.
A few middle-aged women who were traveling together were surprised when they saw this, but when they looked at the girl carefully, they understood and walked over to greet her with a smile, "Jiaojiao, are you waiting for your dad again?"
The little girl called Jiaojiao raised her head, revealing a delicate face. Her short hair made her look like a doll in a New Year picture. She smiled sweetly and was very cute. "Yes, Daddy will be back soon."
"Oh, it's true that girls are all cute." The middle-aged woman was moved and teased her a few more times before she followed her friend to pick vegetables in the private plot with a basket in her hand. She didn't bring anything with her and wanted to give the child nothing, so she could only say, "I'll get you something to eat later, don't leave."
The girl holding the sweet potato in her hand smiled and shook her head, "Thank you, auntie, but it's not necessary."
The sweet voice made everyone smile even wider.
After walking two steps, the early autumn sun, which was still a little hot, shone over. The woman was puzzled and asked, "Why is there sunshine here?"
Just now when they were teasing the little girl, they felt it was cool, but after walking a few steps they felt hot, and when they looked up they found that there was no shade anymore.
"Who knows?" Another woman patted the dust on her gray-blue cuffs, touched her friend next to her, and whispered, "Hey, do you think this girl named Tianjiao is Zhang Rui's illegitimate daughter?"
The other two shook their heads and said, "No way. Didn't we hear that it was the eldest brother of the Zhang family who brought him back?"
"No, I heard from the educated youth that Zhang Rui adopted him and he said he didn't want to get married."
"Where did you hear this?"
"Have you forgotten that the second son of the Zhang family married a girl who graduated from junior high school? She has been following the educated youth. Of course, it was she who passed it on. I don't know how Zhang Zhi was so blind. How many girls around him wanted to marry him, but he ended up marrying a wife who didn't work and only knew how to be lazy. He only valued her knowledge."
"No, aren't we talking about that girl Tianjiao? I think she really looks a bit like the third child of the Zhang family."
The woman rolled her eyes and complained, "Forget it, the third son of the Zhang family can give birth to such a beautiful girl. The mother of the child must be a fairy."
The other woman couldn't help laughing out loud.
"He's a pretty good-looking guy."
"That girl can't be born like Tianjiao. They are completely different in worlds."
Everyone agreed with this. “Yes, I think it’s a waste of this girl to stay in Old Zhang’s house.”
The "gifted one" they were talking about was the little girl just now, a delicate and chubby girl, prettier than a doll in a New Year picture. A few days ago, she was suddenly brought down from Lanshan by Zhang Rui, the third son of the Zhang family, and was raised at home.
Such an approach was undoubtedly stupid in their eyes. Nowadays, every family is short of food and clothing. On normal days, the cloth coupons are not enough to mend the clothes for the family. If a girl is born, the food rations of the family will be reduced, which is not worth it.
But every time they looked at that pretty girl, they understood that they couldn't bear to throw away such a lovely girl.
A few middle-aged women have nothing to do on weekdays, so they just chat about these gossips and forget about it.
But Tianjiao, who was the central topic of their conversation, had sharp ears. Even though he was a little far away, he could still vaguely hear something. He found out that they were saying bad things about the new dad. Tianjiao pouted unhappily and said, "The new dad is very handsome."
Although he is not exquisitely beautiful, for someone who was born and raised in the countryside, Zhang Rui's face is still quite handsome. Especially since he doesn't do farm work all day, he is a little fairer than most people and much better looking than the people in the village.
This is also the reason why she called him dad the first time she saw him when she woke up in the forest.
But just as she finished mumbling, she heard some muffled thunder in the sky, as if it was going to rain.
Upon seeing this, Tianjiao looked up at the sky. It was clear and bright, but as the sun was about to set, a sunset glow formed on the horizon, which was extremely gorgeous.
It doesn't look like it's going to rain.
But the muffled thunder continued, as if reminding someone of something, or expressing dissatisfaction.
Tianjiao covered his mouth and laughed secretly, "Tiandao Dad, don't do this, be careful not to be discovered."
After she finished speaking, the muffled thunder disappeared.
The people who had just straightened up to look at the sky lowered their heads to work again, still smiling, "I thought it was going to rain, never mind, let's hurry up and finish it today, otherwise it will really rain and the cotton will get wet."
"Yeah, that's all we can do anyway."
When the captain Zhai Xingwang heard this, a smile spread across his stern face, and he praised, "Comrade Zhai Aiguo is very conscious, but don't worry, it must be somewhere else. I have specially checked the weather in the past two days. Everyone should rest as usual."
"Well, now is a good time. We can even predict the weather."
"Yes, thinking back to the past"
Everyone was chatting idly, and over here, as the sun set, a young man came running back, his forehead full of sweat, and his gray-blue coat was soaked with sweat.
But when the young man saw the small group squatting at the entrance of the village, he walked faster, and the big package on his back seemed to have no weight.
"Dad" a clear and loud voice rang out.
Zhang Rui paused.
Then the girl squatting at the entrance of the village ran over with sparkling eyes.
Zhang Rui also ran over. Facing the cool breeze, the father and daughter met. He caught the delicate little girl, pinched her under the armpits, picked her up and spun her around, then put her down again. His face was flushed and he gasped, "My dear, Daddy is tired today and can't hold her anymore."
Tianjiao smiled and held his hand, took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his sweat, and nodded obediently, "It's okay, I don't want to hold you."
She hadn't originally thought about hugging him. This body of flesh was quite substantial, and she knew this well.
But she felt insecure in this world, and only felt at ease when she was with Zhang Rui. Especially in that house, there was a commotion before she came out. The reason was that Second Aunt secretly took eggs from the chicken coop and ate them, and was discovered by Old Mrs. Zhang who came back early from work.
Zhang Rui is 22 years old this year. He used to be a playful young man, but in the past two days, he has matured visibly. When the little girl wiped his sweat, he smiled happily and saw the sweet potato in her other hand. He asked knowingly, "Who gave you this?"
"Aunt Li gave it to me." Tianjiao has a good memory and has recognized most of the people in the village in the past few days.
Zhang Rui clicked his tongue. Even though he knew that this girl was likable, he was still surprised.
You should know that Aunt Li is well-known for being stingy in the village. Don't even think about taking even a single piece of food from her house. But Tianjiao is different. He can get something just by squatting at the doorstep.
The people who came over to exchange Ding Ding candies yesterday took the initiative to knock off a small piece for her, and didn't ask for money.
Zhang Rui took the sweet potato and held the soft little hand as he walked home. "Have you eaten the eggs I left for you today?"
His family did not approve of him raising such a girl. Even though they were reluctant to treat her harshly, they still would not give her eggs or other good things. But Zhang Rui had always been the old lady's most beloved son. As long as he was at home, he could have an egg every morning. But since Tianjiao was born, he kept the eggs. Before going out this morning, he put the eggs in Tianjiao's quilt so that she could touch them as soon as she woke up.
Tianjiao nodded immediately and rubbed his arm, "Eat it!"
Zhang Rui was satisfied, and his steps became much lighter. "Hurry up, let's go back. Dad bought you new clothes. They are so beautiful."
Tianjiao quickened his pace following his strength and whispered, "It doesn't have to be pretty."
She had taken a peek and found that the new father didn't have much money.
But Zhang Rui shook his head and said, "How can that be possible? My daughter must wear the best."
Tianjiao bit his lip in some confusion, "But what if you run out of money?"
"No, Dad is very rich. This is a secret. I will only tell you. Dad has hidden a lot of money."
Tianjiao "Ah"
As she stepped into the yard, Tianjiao saw the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chasing each other. Her face frowned. This was the reason why she had run back before.
Mrs. Zhang, Li Mizhen, was in her fifties, but still agile. She was holding a broom and glaring at the woman in front of her with a fierce look on her face. "Ding Yushu, I tell you, if you dare to steal eggs again, I will kill you."
The woman called Ding Yushu had two beautiful pigtails hanging down to her chest, and she was wearing her own shirt and trousers. She looked much prettier than the others who were wearing gray clothes, but she looked very embarrassed at the moment, with messy hair. She panted and said angrily, "It's just an egg, why are you so stingy? Why can't I take it? I give you all the money Zhang Zhi brings back every month, and you can't even bear to give me an egg. You are really biased to the bone."
"It's what she deserves," the old lady roared and continued to wave the broom. To be honest, Li Mizhen did not treat Ding Yushu harshly when it came to food, but this woman was not only lazy, but also notoriously greedy, and she wanted to eat up everything in the house.
The couple ate an egg a day, and all of it went into Ding Yushu's mouth. Not to mention that she was still not satisfied. She always secretly took things when she was not at home. Today, she even went straight into the chicken coop and took away an egg that had just been laid by the hen.
Li Mizhen came back and touched the eggs and found something wrong, so she went to question them immediately.
It was also because she came back in time. The egg had not been eaten yet. Ding Yushu was holding it in her hand. When she saw her coming, she immediately swallowed it raw.
This made Li Mizhen so angry that she immediately picked up a broom and started fighting.
Ding Yushu was not one to just sit there and wait, so she just kept running. However, she wanted to save face, so she was unwilling to go out no matter how big the matter was, so the two of them made a mess in the yard.
The scene was too violent, and it made Zhang Rui's scalp tingle. His second brother was not around, and he couldn't stop his mother by himself. If he didn't stop her, who knows how long it would take. He hesitated, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.
Tianjiao also shrank back behind Zhang Rui with some fear. The yard was in chaos and it was a bit scary.
As soon as she moved, she saw Ding Yushu, who was being chased, looking over and glaring at them, especially Tianjiao. She always felt that this girl was weird, with a pair of eyes that seemed to see through everything, which made her dislike her from the bottom of her heart. And the third child, who was favored by her mother-in-law, was even more annoying. She immediately retorted loudly, "By the way, I saw this girl eating eggs this morning. You would rather give the eggs to this wild child who came from nowhere than to me. What should and should not be, you are just biased."
"Humph." Tianjiao was innocently hurt, curled his lips unhappily, and retorted, "What does it have to do with me? The eggs were saved by my father."
Zhang Rui's face also fell, hesitating whether to try to stop the fight, he withdrew his hand, and clapped with a playful smile, "Mom, continue!"
The old lady was originally out of breath and couldn't keep up with her. When she heard this, her eyes sharpened and she was about to catch up, but she saw the person in front of her trip over his front feet and fall to the ground with a "thump".
As soon as the old lady saw the opportunity, she immediately hit her on the butt with a broom, and said with one hand on her waist, "Ding Yushu, I'm telling you, I'm the boss in this house, you don't dare to do anything, you can't even eat eggs."
Ding Yushu didn't expect that she would fall, and she fell on the ground. Her fair face turned red with shame and anger, and she shouted angrily, "Divorce or separate the family. This life is unbearable."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
