Chapter 36
For a long time, this name was a taboo for the whole family.
But before that, Chen Fengjun, the eldest daughter of the Chen family, was the pride of the whole family.
The three daughters in this family are all good-looking. Lanjun is pretty, Zhujun is adorable, and Fengjun is very beautiful. Her eyelashes are long and thick, casting shadows on her big eyes, and there is always a smile on her oval face.
Chen Lanjun remembers that when she was little, her elder sister took her to the village to watch a movie in the threshing ground. She didn't have to go there in advance, and she didn't have to bring a small stool. She just walked slowly with her hands loose, and she was sure to meet many kind people. The little brother offered to take the front row seat, and the grandmother smiled and grabbed a handful of fried rice or pumpkin seeds and forced them into her elder sister's hands. Even a big yellow dog who came to join in the fun would turn around in the crowd and finally lie down at her elder sister's feet, with its tail gently brushing her trouser legs.
But everyone has worries. One year, my sister accompanied my father to the commune grain station to pay the public grain. Unfortunately, they met the son of a cadre. The man was ten years older than my sister and twice as tall as her, but he actually wanted to propose marriage.
When my sister heard this, her expression changed, and her already fair oval face became even paler.
Seeing their eldest daughter's expression, Zheng Mei and Chen Zhisheng immediately refused. However, this refusal brought a lot of trouble to the family. When they went to pay the public grain, the staff glanced at Chen Zhisheng and said, "Can't you see I'm busy now? Go over there and wait."
Chen Zhisheng waited from morning until the sun turned orange-red, and then the staff came out lazily and said, "It's time to get off work. Come back tomorrow."
Is it fun to carry two loads of such heavy food on a country road? Chen Zhisheng had no choice but to find a place to rest for the night and come back early the next day.
"It's you again. Wait a minute. Something needs to be dealt with upstairs."
After a long wait, it was finally Chen Zhisheng's turn.
The staff member flipped through it casually and said, "Your rice is of poor quality. Most of it doesn't count."
"How could that be?" Chen Zhisheng said anxiously, "I don't have many empty husks, so they definitely meet the standards."
The man retorted: "Do you have the final say on the standards?"
This kind of thing happened not only once, but the brigade even dug up old issues for no apparent reason and brought up the matter of Chen Zhisheng being the son of a landlord. They reprimanded him twice and asked Chen Zhisheng and Zheng Mei to do extra silt clearing work and reform their thinking.
My sister was about to cry: "It really doesn't work, I..."
Zheng Mei stopped her from speaking, her eyes were firm: "No."
It was raining heavily outside and the sky was gloomy. Even during the day, it was as dark as night. Zheng Mei and Chen Zhisheng put on straw raincoats, hats, and went out with hoes and winnowing baskets.
Little Chen Lanjun watched her parents walk into the knitted rain curtain. She turned around and saw her sister crying beside the bed. Her tears fell and wet her jade-white hands.
Later, my sister disappeared.
I heard that she was visiting relatives and accidentally fell into the water on the way. No one was there. In those days, a river could always drown several people, so when people heard the news, they just sighed and said, "The beauty has a short life."
Chen Lanjun originally thought that her sister was gone. She blamed the cadre's son for this and vowed to study hard and seek revenge on him when she had the ability. But when she was in high school, the man had always been in poor health and fell ill. He died without being saved. This made Chen Lanjun very unhappy for a few days. She hated him for dying too late and should have died before her sister left. She also hated him for dying too early and she was not able to take revenge herself!
After being reborn, she understood a lot, such as where her sister really went.
Chen Lanjun looked at Zheng Mei and Chen Zhisheng, who were both in shock, and said, "Actually, the elder sister didn't die back then. She fled to Hong Kong, right?"
There was silence for a while.
Zheng Mei took a breath and said, "Who told you? Your Aunt Shen?"
Chen Lanjun smiled and did not continue the topic.
Zheng Mei also realized that they were confessing themselves.
Zheng Mei sighed and admitted: "Forget it, since you know, then tell me, yes, my eldest sister is indeed not dead."
"It's open now. Why don't you write a letter and ask her to come back and have a look."
"no."
"What's wrong with that? A while ago, a big boss from Hong Kong came back to worship his ancestors and donated money. It seems that it's not so taboo now."
"At least it's not convenient in the short term," Zheng Mei frowned and said, "You just finished the college entrance examination, and your grades should be good. After that, you have to go to university and undergo political review. Her identity is not very good after all. If it brings trouble, not only you, but also us, even I will feel bad!"
Chen Zhisheng also nodded in agreement: "The big boss is the big boss, and your sister hasn't reached that level. Who knows what will happen if she comes back rashly?" He has suffered losses due to his status and really doesn't want his daughters to go through the same thing again.
Chen Lanjun thought for a moment and said, "Even if it's inconvenient for my sister to come back now, I can go to Bao'an County and meet her secretly. It won't cause any trouble."
Zheng Mei didn't say anything.
Chen Lanjun then leaned over, put her hand on her shoulder, and said softly, "I miss you so much, just meet once, I promise nothing will happen!"
She knew that Zheng Mei had a similar temperament to hers, and that she would only respond to soft words and not to hard ones, so she deliberately lowered her attitude and stuck to Zheng Mei like a piece of taffy. When Zheng Mei turned to the left with a stern face, she would move to the left with a playful smile, and when Zheng Mei moved to the right, she would move to the right.
"Little ancestor, I really have no way to deal with you!" Zheng Mei gritted her teeth and said, "I'll give it a try. Although it may not work, I'll try to contact you. Is that okay?"
"Mom is the best." Chen Lanjun cheered and looked at Chen Zhisheng, "Dad is the best too."
Zheng Mei snorted and warned her, "Don't tell my younger sister for now. She can't keep secrets. Once she knows something, she'll tell it to others without anyone asking."
"Okay, I know."
Since the matter of going to Baoan County was clear to Zheng Mei and Chen Zhisheng, it was much easier. Zheng Mei gave Chen Lanjun a letter of introduction to facilitate her to buy a train ticket. Now she is both the village head and the director of the village-run enterprise, so getting a letter of introduction is as convenient as having a meal.
Chen Lanjun took it and saw that the reason for the letter of introduction was "visiting relatives and friends", so she said, "Please give me another one."
"You belong to the centipede family. Do you need two letters of introduction?"
"It's useful. Just open it in the name of the factory and I'll see if I can help you get some orders."
"It's so troublesome." Although she complained a few words, Zheng Mei still followed Chen Lanjun's wishes and wrote another letter of introduction.
After resting at home for two days, Chen Lanjun picked up her luggage and went out.
There is a railway going from Suicheng to Baoan County. Considering that the long train journey is uncomfortable and that one must have a cadre level to buy a sleeper berth, one can only sit in a hard seat. So Chen Lanjun bought a ticket to Suicheng first and went to Chen Mudan's house as if she was familiar with the route.
On the way there, she found that there were already quite a few stalls at the busy intersection. The weather was hot, so she walked to a stall selling herbal tea and asked, "How much is the herbal tea?"
"Three cents a bowl," a woman replied.
"Okay, give me a bowl."
This ordinary herbal tea is great at quenching thirst. Chen Lanjun drank half a bowl in one breath and asked with a smile, "Sister, are you an educated youth?"
"Yes." Since there were not many customers at that time, the female educated youth had nothing to do, so she chatted with her, "How did you figure that out?"
"I think I saw something in the newspaper before, saying that some educated youth set up stalls or something. How is this business?"
"It's just so-so." The female educated youth said, "In fact, I can't make much money, and I have to give three-tenths of the profit to the street."
"Ah, now we have to give so much to the streets?"
"yes."
After drinking the herbal tea, Chen Lanjun went to Shen Mudan's house.
Shen Mudan was very happy to see her: “I thought you would come over during your vacation, so I specially dried the new sheets, and you just happened to come.”
Chen Lanjun smiled and said, "Thank you, auntie, but I may not be able to stay for a few days. I plan to go to Bao'an County, um, now it should be called Pengcheng City, to visit a friend. I want to ask my cousin to go shopping with us, but I don't know if he is free."
"He should be free. Ask him for details."
When Zhao Hong came back, he agreed immediately after hearing Chen Lanjun's purpose.
After staying in Suicheng for a day, Chen Lanjun and Zhao Hong boarded the train to Pengcheng City.
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