Chapter 15 Who is the gift for?
Yue Baohua's stay here was limited, so after dinner, he arranged to open Yue Zhirong's grave and take out the urn.
Yang Fugen and Liuzhi Agen took shovels, and Yue Ning carried the incense, candles and paper money prepared for her by Li Qiaomei, and they went up the mountain together.
In the past few years, the customs have been changed and the cemetery has been leveled. It is not to the point that even a grave is not allowed to be built, but there is no way to erect a tombstone. Fortunately, Yue Zhirong was cremated, and next to a large number of burial graves, the size difference is large, so it is effortless to find.
According to local customs, the dead should be buried in the ground. The authorities have been promoting cremation for many years, but it has never been implemented. Before he left, Yue Zhirong left a will, asking for cremation. First, he wanted to set an example, no matter if it worked or not, at least he did it; second, it was for the convenience of moving his body back to his hometown in the future.
Yue Ning lit incense and candles, burned paper money, knelt down, and opened the umbrella. Yang Fugen and Liuzhi Agen dug up Yue Zhirong's grave together, shoveling away the soil, and finally revealed a corner of the urn. Yue Baohua suddenly knelt on the ground, and Yang Fugen was caught off guard and almost hit Yue Baohua with the shovel.
Yue Baohua was digging the soil with his hands, muttering, "Zhirong! Dad is here to pick you up. Dad will take you and Ningning home." Yue Ning wanted to pull him, but Yue Baohua refused to listen. Yue Ning could only hold an umbrella to block the sunlight.
Yue Baohua finally dug out his son's urn, and Yang Fugen handed him a towel. Yue Baohua wiped the dirt embedded in the cracks of the urn bit by bit, just like wiping a child's face. He carefully examined his son's urn, with a smile on his face with tears still on his face: "Zhirong, we are home."
Perhaps because he knelt for too long, Yue Baohua staggered when he stood up, and Yue Ning held him up. Yue Ning looked at the urn and said, "Dad, let's go home with grandpa."
Yue Ning held an umbrella, and Yue Baohua carried the urn, and went back together. Back home, Yue Baohua put the urn and the photo together, and looked at his son. He saw Ning Ning's cooking skills today. Under such difficult conditions, his son could teach Ning Ning to be like this. If his son were still alive... He is just a chef, but his son can become a master.
Yue Baohua hugged his son's photo frame: "Zhirong!"
Yue Ning waited for Yue Baohua to finish crying, then went to wring out a towel and handed it to Grandpa: "Grandpa, wipe your face."
Yue Baohua was wiping his face when Li Qiaomei appeared at the door: "Mr. Yue, the department store has delivered all the things. Would you like to go over and take a look?"
Yue Baohua put down the towel: "Thank you, I'll be right there."
"The things are at school, and the bedding has also been delivered to school."
Yue Ning looked at his grandfather in confusion. Yue Baohua coughed and cried until his eyes and nose were full and his throat was dry. He said, "Didn't you say that everyone took good care of you? I asked Mr. Lin to buy some gifts for everyone to share as a token of my appreciation."
Yue Ning had never thought of asking her grandfather to repay this favor for her. A favor like that of Aunt Chunmei's family cannot be repaid with a bag of candy or a few pieces of egg cake. She originally thought of going to Hong Kong first, and then thinking of a way after she made some money. At that time, she could support Aunt Chunmei's children to study, or let them go to the south to work. It would be even better if Grandpa bought them gifts, at least she could repay them a little.
The grandparents and grandchildren went to the primary school together, and they happened to meet the mother and son of the Luo family who were preparing to take a delivery truck to the county town. Zhang Lifen saw Yue Baohua, ran over, and said softly: "Uncle Hua, we mother and son really have no bad intentions in coming here..."
"Get in the car! Don't keep the driver waiting." Yue Baohua did not give her a clear answer.
Luo Guoqiang walked up to Yue Ning and said, "Yue Ning, I want to try the fish soup you made with the ingredients from our Fuyunlou. When you come to Yuecheng, make it for me and let me try it, okay?"
Yue Ning half-jokingly said: "If you want to compete with me, just say so."
Luo Guoqiang was anxious: "No, I just want to know what you can achieve if you use the best materials. How can I compare with you?"
Yue Ning looked at Luo Guoqiang's round face. This guy looked round-headed and had no temper. I didn't expect him to have such a passion for research. Very good! When I went to Hong Kong, I also needed someone of my own. Luo Guoqiang was very good.
"Okay, let's do it together and see where the differences between us are. There must be a teacher among three people! I, an unconventional person, also want to learn from you, an orthodox one."
Luo Guoqiang was satisfied now: "What do you mean? I have nothing to say about your craftsmanship. Anyway, it's settled."
Yue Ning pointed at the driver who was sticking his head out of the window and glared at him: "Don't keep the driver waiting for too long, he still needs to get on his way!"
Luo Guoqiang got in the car and Yue Ning waved goodbye.
After seeing off the mother and son of the Luo family, the grandparents and grandchildren walked in. There were already several snakeskin bags piled on the table where they had just eaten. When they saw Yue Baohua coming in, Director Lin from the county came over with him. The snakeskin bags had already been opened, and Director Lin took out a piece of printed fabric tied with paper ropes, and said with great curiosity: "Mr. Yue, this is the most in-demand Dacron fabric right now."
"You also have Dacron fabric?" Even Director Chen found it curious and came over to take a look.
Yue Ning picked up a piece of cloth, which had a smooth synthetic feel and bright prints. Dacron was fashionable and high-end, and this trend had finally reached their remote county in the northwest.
In this era and this season, men and women all want a Dacron shirt. Whether they like it or not, in this era, Dacron fabric is indeed a face-saving gift. She saw a piece of light blue printed fabric, and then took a piece of light yellow printed fabric, saying, "This blue one will make a shirt for Aunt Chunmei, and this yellow one will make a dress for Xiuxiu, who has wanted a dress for a long time."
She picked up two pieces of white striped cloth with different patterns and said, "These two pieces, one shirt for Uncle Zhongyi and A Biao and his son. Oh no! In this case, Yuanbao won't get any..."
"No, no! Yue Ning! When your grandfather asked me this morning, I did the math. There are a total of 31 families in your team, including the five-guarantee households. For families with less than three people, I will give them half a share, only cloth but no candy; families with three to five people will get one share; families with seven people will get an extra bag of candy; and large families with more than ten people will get two pieces of cloth and two bags of candy. Your aunt Chunmei's family has five people. If we divide it according to the regulations, I'm afraid it won't be enough even if we put in the leftovers. It's better to divide it first, and then send the extra to your aunt Chunmei's family after the division." Li Qiaomei interrupted her quickly.
Yue Ning chuckled: "Aunt Qiaomei, are you distributing food in the team? Distributing it equally? This is my grandfather thanking everyone for taking care of me over the years. I give the things to Aunt Zaohua, what should I thank her for? Thank her for scolding me once in the morning when the sun rises and once in the evening when the sun sets? With these things, I might as well give them to Aunt Chunmei so that Xiuxiu can make two more clothes."
Li Qiaomei laughed when she heard this: "Your grandfather had already thought about it for you. He originally wanted a TV, but the county couldn't get any right away, so he approved two bicycles for Secretary Fugen and Chunmei."
Li Qiaomei pointed to the corner of the wall, and Yue Ning saw two brand new 28-inch bicycles. Ouch! Didn't you say you didn't have tickets? How can you get the bicycles?
Grandpa didn't know when he came to the bicycle and was talking to Secretary Fugen and Directors Chen and Lin. Yue Ning trotted over. Secretary Fugen saw her coming and said, "Yuening, tell your grandfather that I have no right to control who you give the bicycle to, but you can't give it to me. I am a party member, and I am leading your father to study. It is the advanced leading the backward, and it is the party members who take the lead. If I take your bicycle, it will be regarded as a bribe."
"Didn't I ask Mr. Chen and Mr. Lin to testify? I am grateful to you for taking care of Ningning and her daughter. A bicycle like this is no way to express my gratitude. Please accept it!" Yue Baohua persuaded Yang Fugen to accept the bicycle.
Yue Ning held Yue Baohua and said, "Grandpa, instead of giving Uncle Fugen a bicycle, you might as well write a thank-you letter to him, thanking him for his help over the years. I'll give the bicycle to Uncle Agen. Uncle Agen is the veterinarian in the team. Our team covers a large area, and he has to go to the commune to get epidemic prevention drugs, and the distance is not short. Give him a bicycle to make it more convenient for him."
Yesterday she kept saying that Yang Fugen and Lu Chunmei were good friends, because she was afraid that if the higher-ups saw Lu Chunmei making trouble and Yang Fugen didn't entertain her well, they would be criticized. Uncle Agen has helped her a lot in the past few years. If Uncle Agen hadn't taken her to slaughter sheep and pigs and given her some pig offal, she might not have grown so tall!
Secretary Fugen asked Uncle Agen to be a veterinarian, hoping that he would have a good job and get married soon. Unfortunately, five or six years have passed in the blink of an eye. Seeing that Uncle Agen is already in his thirties and getting older, but there is still no sign of marriage, Secretary Fugen gave up the idea and just said that everyone has their own destiny.
As the saying goes, after adversity comes good times, and hope always sprouts quietly after despair. There was a very good veterinarian named Ge Yueqin at the commune animal husbandry station. It was she who gave training courses to Uncle Agen and a group of rural veterinarians.
Originally, a beautiful and educated woman like Ge Yueqin had nothing to do with Liuzhi Agen, a peasant butcher.
The problem was that Ge Yueqin had been married for many years but had not given birth to a child. After three years of marriage without getting pregnant, her mother-in-law arranged for her to have a daughter. After another three years, her belly was still not moving. Her mother-in-law went to the animal husbandry station and sat at the door, crying and cursing, calling her a hen that didn't lay eggs and saying that Ge Yueqin was going to make their family childless.
He happened to run into Six Fingers Agen who was going to get veterinary medicine. He saw Ge Yueqin, who had patiently taught him the technique, was scolded so much that her face turned pale and sweat broke out on her head, and she couldn't speak. He was furious and picked up the woman like a pig, and the woman was scared.
Not long after, Ge Yueqin got divorced, and her ex-husband got married again within two months, marrying a nurse from the commune health center. Ge Yueqin's parents disliked her divorce and refused to let her go back, so she had to live in the animal husbandry station. How much trouble would a pretty woman who divorced because she couldn't have children cause? Ge Yueqin was targeted by a second-rate guy.
Agen was a bachelor. After helping Ge Yueqin scare off the woman, there were already gossips about him. He didn't dare to show up himself and could only ask Yue Ning for help. Knowing that the scoundrel would go to Ge Yueqin in the evening, Yue Ning waited for this time and went to Ge Yueqin, and took the opportunity to beat the scoundrel until he cried for his parents.
Yue Ning announced to the public that it was Ge Yueqin who helped cure her sheep of sheep plague. She was grateful to Ge Yueqin, and after that it was natural for her to deliver firewood and sewage to Ge Yueqin.
Ge Yueqin knew that Agen asked Yue Ning to help take care of her, so she often made some cakes for Yue Ning, who would bring them to Agen. They were at this stage now, and she was leaving, and there was no one to match them up. If I gave the bike to Agen, I didn't know how long it would take him to muster up the courage to confess, but he had to go to the commune every few days, so having a bike would be much more convenient.
"Xiao Yue's approach is the best." Director Lin quickly agreed.
Last night, everyone just ate potato cakes and rested in the primary school. They slept on bedding brought from the home of the brigade secretary and several cadres.
There was nothing wrong with him, just the distinguished guests from Gangcheng, especially Mr. Qiao. Director Chen from Beijing said that their family was one of the richest people in Gangcheng and a patriotic Hong Kong businessman. Director Chen asked him to report to the county leaders overnight, and the leaders arranged to send food over early this morning. Even if he made amends, the leaders were still worried about neglecting the distinguished guests. It would be great if the old gentleman wrote a thank-you letter like this.
Yang Fugen said embarrassedly: "Why write this?"
"Where is the seriousness you showed when you helped my dad write his ideological report? You won't allow us, the grandparents and grandchildren, to praise you?" Yue Ning patted the bicycle seat. "A thank-you letter in exchange for a bicycle, what a good deal! I'll give it to Uncle Agen later."
"Naughty!" Yue Baohua said to her.
Li Qiaomei walked up to Yue Ning and said, "Isn't it? Chunmei's family already has a bicycle. Isn't it more economical than a few more pieces of cloth and two bags of candy?"
"Giving her more candy and cloth won't prevent her from giving Aunt Chunmei a bicycle, right? I would rather throw the things away than give them to Tian Zaohua. Is that not possible?" Yue Ning asked Li Qiaomei.
"Sure! Sure! I didn't say no, I just told you that your aunt Chunmei has other plans." Li Qiaomei quickly defended herself. This was the money paid by the grandfather, Yue Ning could give it to whoever he wanted, she had no say in that.
However, just now when she went to inform the grandparents of the Yue family, she met several members working in the fields on the way. Yue Ning's family affairs were the latest and most exciting event in their brigade. She had been helping to receive guests, so naturally everyone stopped her to ask about them. She talked a lot and also told the people in Yue Ning's production team that Yue Ning's grandfather had bought a lot of gifts and was going to thank them from house to house for taking care of Yue Ning. A woman heard this and asked, "Could it be that she also gave gifts to Tian Zaohua?"
"All, all! He is very generous. I just bought the money according to the account number reported." Li Qiaomei talked about how much Yue Baohua asked the county comrades to help buy.
Fabrics and candies, in this mountain village, most people would not buy them even during the Chinese New Year, so they all looked forward to hearing about it. Tian Zaohua scolded Yue Ning all day long, so naturally someone said, "Even if Yue Ning didn't care and was willing to give them, Zaohua wouldn't have the face to take them, right?"
Tian Zaohua rolled her eyes and said, "No, it's a waste."
Thinking of this, Li Qiaomei sighed silently, wondering what would happen when Tian Zaohua found out that every household had one except theirs?
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