Chapter 16 Giving Gifts
The broadcast in the brigade sounded, and it was time to get off work in the evening.
Men and women walked in groups of three or five on the loess road in the countryside. Yue Ning and Afa pushed their bicycles, each with a snakeskin bag hanging behind it. Yue Baohua followed them to the production team where Yue Ning's family lived.
When passing by other production teams, Yue Ning and Afa greeted people and stopped to give everyone some candy. An acquaintance asked, "Where did they say you were going?"
"Harbor City."
"Where is Hong Kong City? I heard it's not our territory?" The brother took the candy, peeled off the red wrapper and put it in his mouth.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Of course this is our territory. It's a little further south of Yuecheng. During the Qing Dynasty, this place was occupied by the British. The British said they wanted to rent it for 99 years, so it is under the control of the British now. Since it is borrowed, we must return it in the future." Yue Ning explained to him.
"Oh! Then can you see the foreign devils? Go and see if the foreign devils are that tall?" The brother stood on tiptoe and gestured, "Also, is their nose that long?"
This place is too remote. People's knowledge of the outside world comes from listening to the radio or listening to cadres reading newspapers at member meetings. What foreigners look like is all up to imagination. Yue Ning wanted to tell him that he was being conservative. But where did his common sense come from? Yue Ning said, "When I go to the port city, I will take pictures and send them to you, so that you can see what foreigners look like."
"It's a deal!"
"Okay, I'm going back first!"
Yue Ning continued to walk towards the production team, which was already buzzing with excitement. Li Qiaomei said that Yue Ning's grandfather had someone buy the most fashionable Dacron fabric in the city, and every household in their production team had a share. At this moment, everyone's necks were stretched longer than ducks' necks, and some even ran to Lu Chunmei's door impatiently. Who made Lu Chunmei's house the first house at the intersection of their production team?
Lu Chunmei usually cooks dinner after work, but today she sits at the door doing needlework before the sun sets. At this moment, a group of men and women are sitting on the stone washing table in their home, talking about the port city thousands of miles away from them in their imagination.
Yang Youcai said proudly: "Today when I was herding sheep, the young man from Gangcheng asked me for directions. I asked him, and he told me that every household in Gangcheng has a TV. Do you know how much the average wage of ordinary people in Gangcheng is?"
"How many?"
"Five thousand." Yang Youcai said this.
"1,500 per year, if I save for two years I can build a house..."
"What do you mean a year? They only make fifteen hundred a month!" someone couldn't help but shout.
Tian Zaohua came over holding the shoe sole and asked, "What's fifteen hundred?"
"It is said that the port city where Yue Ning is going costs 1,500 yuan per month for ordinary people. Every household has a TV."
Young people went to the commune and saw televisions. To them, televisions were only available in government offices. How could they possibly be available in ordinary households?
"No wonder? Yue Ning's grandfather bought 40 yuan of Dacron material without even blinking an eye. He can't be considered a strong laborer at his age, right? Work points have to be discounted here, so his salary must be less than 1,500 yuan, right?" someone asked.
Six-fingered Agen helped to kill the sheep in the morning, and in the afternoon he and Yang Fugen dug out Yue Zhirong's urn. Of course he would not go for dinner at night, as he was a bachelor and just wanted to eat a few bites. After dinner, seeing that there were many people here, he came to join in the fun.
He said, "Yuening's grandfather has 1,500? Others have 15,000."
"Fifteen thousand, my goodness! All the people in our production team combined don't have that much, right?"
Six-fingered Agen took out cigarettes from his pocket and passed them out to the people present. Just as he was about to light a cigarette, the others couldn't wait any longer and asked, "How can an old man have 15,000?"
Six-fingered Agen took a puff of his cigarette and said, "I also heard a few words from the side. Yue Ning's grandfather owns a restaurant in Hong Kong City. He doesn't work in that restaurant, but he is the owner of that restaurant."
"Isn't that the landlord?"
"Yes! There is no landlord game in Gangcheng. He is a capitalist and very rich. Today Yue Ning showed them his skills and made a bowl of soup..." Six-fingered Agen described the bowl of soup and asked them, "Tell me, who among the poor people would eat such a laborious soup?"
"So, Yue Ning is going to be someone's mistress?" a woman asked. After asking, she seemed to remember something and turned to ask Lu Chunmei who was sewing buttons on clothes, "Chunmei, you usually take care of Yue Ning so much. Now that she becomes a mistress, she must repay you, right?"
Lu Chunmei sewed quickly without looking up: "When the father and daughter came to the northwest, my mother-in-law helped Xiaoyue take care of the children, and Xiaoyue also often helped our family with housework. It's just neighbors helping each other. Her father is gone, and she is strong. She usually fetches water for our family and picks wild vegetables and often brings them to our house."
"That being said, I feel that Yue Ning is a little bit indifferent to relatives. Qiaomei said that she even prepared the same things for Zaohua's family. What's going on?"
When Tian Zaohua heard this, she slammed her shoe sole on the stool and said, "You make it sound like Chunmei loves Yue Ning so much. If she really loved her, why didn't she take her home when her father died? A bowl of noodles and an egg are nothing to her."
Tian Zaohua bent down to look at the clothes Lu Chunmei was sewing. It was a piece of local fine cotton checkered cloth. Seeing Xiuxiu coming over after feeding the pigs, Tian Zaohua deliberately asked loudly: "Is this for Xiuxiu to wear on the blind date?"
Xiuxiu is only sixteen years old, and there are so many people here! Hearing this, her face turned red with embarrassment, and she stamped her feet and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? My mother said that Sister Yue Ning is going back to the city, and we can't let her go back with patches all over her body? I made this for Sister Yue Ning."
"Xiu Xiu, is dinner ready?"
"My dad is having a fever!" Xiuxiu rolled her eyes at Tian Zaohua and went into the house.
Lu Chunmei bit the thread and continued to sew the next button. Tian Zaohua pinched the dress and said, "Yue Ning is going to be a young lady. She will have so many Dacron clothes to wear in the future. Will she wear such rustic clothes as yours?"
Lu Chunmei had quarreled with Tian Zaohua yesterday, and today she was being sarcastic again. Lu Chunmei got angry, pulled her clothes over, and glared at her: "Do you need to worry about me?"
"Why are you so angry? I'm just asking casually."
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, someone said, "Here he comes, here he comes, Yue Ning is here."
Everyone stood up at once and looked towards the intersection, and saw Yue Ning pushing the cart up the road.
There were so many people that Yue Ning was shocked: "Hey, why are you all at Aunt Chunmei's door?"
Even if they were really waiting for the Dacron she sent them, they were too embarrassed to admit it.
Agen, who only has six fingers and is single, speaks without restraint: "I heard that your grandfather bought Dacron fabric for everyone, and they are all waiting here!"
Six-fingered Agen's words made everyone feel awkward. Yue Ning stopped his bike and said, "This is the best way. It saves me from going from house to house."
"Yuanbao." She took out a bag of candy and beckoned Lu Chunmei's youngest son Yuanbao, "Yuanbao, share the candy."
Yuanbao took the candy, and Yue Ning peeled off the candy wrapper and put one in his mouth. Yuanbao first thought of the child who played with him, and was pulled by Lu Chunmei: "Give it to Third Grandma first."
Yuanbao went to share the candy, and Yue Ning asked Lu Chunmei: "Where's Xiuxiu?"
When Xiuxiu was mentioned, she ran out of the house: "Sister Yue Ning."
Yue Ning took out the piece of fabric that she had chosen for her and gestured to her: "This piece of fabric is beautiful. Ask your mother to make you a dress."
Xiuxiu took the cloth and was attracted by the bright print. She turned to ask Lu Chunmei, "Mom, does it look good?"
"nice."
Yue Ning went to get three pieces of cloth and two bags of candy and put them in Lu Chunmei's hands: "Aunt, this blue piece is for you to make a shirt. These two pieces are for our uncle and A Biao."
The others saw that something was wrong! Didn't Li Qiaomei say that families of three to five should only be given a piece of cloth and a bag of candy? Chunmei's family had two adults and three children, so why did they give so much? Yue Ning still made a distinction between relatives, so it was reasonable to give Lu Chunmei more.
Lu Chunmei looked at the pieces of brightly colored and smooth fabrics, and felt embarrassed to take them out when she thought about the cloth shirt she had spent half the night making for Yue Ning.
She glanced at the clothes on the stool and wondered if she could use the Dacron given by Yue Ning to make another one for her tonight?
"Aunt!" Yue Ning called back Lu Chunmei who was distracted, pointed at the bicycle and said, "Aunt, my grandfather bought a bicycle for Uncle Zhongyi."
Lu Chunmei screamed, "What? Buy a bicycle for your uncle? No, no, this is not possible."
Not to mention Lu Chunmei's scream, the others were also so surprised that they almost dropped their jaws. Bicycles! There were only two in the entire brigade, and they were used by the brigade cadres when they went out to do things. They couldn't even fill their stomachs all year round, so who would have the spare money to buy a bicycle? Just now they were still thinking that Lu Chunmei took such good care of Yue Ning, but in the end she didn't get much benefit, and in the blink of an eye, she gave them a bicycle.
"Her aunt." Yue Baohua stepped forward, "Ningning told me last night that you love her like your own daughter. It's really hard to buy things here, so I just want a bicycle as a token of my gratitude. Please accept it."
Lu Chunmei didn't respond, but turned around and shouted, "Xiu Xiu, call your father out."
Xiuxiu ran into the house and pulled her father out. Lu Chunmei was trying to make clothes for Yue Ning, and Yang Zhongyi was making pancakes inside. The maid pulled him out, and he shouted, "The pancakes are going to burn."
"I'll go and brand it." Xiuxiu ran in.
"Zhongyi, come and see your bicycle." An elder brother from the same tribe shouted.
Yang Zhongyi was confused and looked at his wife. Lu Chunmei pointed at the brand new bicycle and said, "Grandpa Yue Ning bought me this bicycle. It's such a big gift, and I, a woman, can't make the decision."
"No, no! This is not a matter of money. I need a ticket. I can't take it." Yang Zhongyi shook his head like a rattle.
With the man's words, Lu Chunmei pulled Yue Ning and said, "Did you hear that? Your uncle also said we can't take it. We can take the fabrics and candies, but we can't take the car."
"Why can't you take it? If you don't take it, who will get the car?" Yue Ning asked Lu Chunmei.
"When we are your uncle and aunt, you shouldn't buy such expensive things. If you give me a bicycle, won't you be buying out all the affection between us over the years?" Lu Chunmei didn't know what was wrong with her. When she thought that Yue Ning was leaving, she couldn't help but shed tears.
Seeing his woman crying, Yang Zhongyi glared at her and said, "Why are you crying? Yue Ning is a lonely girl, and we couldn't help her much. Now her grandfather is here. She will have elders to take care of her in the future. It's better to go to Gangcheng than to live in this poor mountain village, right?"
Six-fingered Agen, who was squatting on the cement slab chatting, jumped down and walked up to the couple: "Brother Zhongyi, don't scold your sister-in-law. Sister-in-law, don't let your imagination run wild. No affection for us? Is Yue Ning such a person? This bicycle is worth a whole year's work points from our perspective! But for Yue Ning's grandfather, it's like plucking a hair from an ox, not worth mentioning. Just accept what they gave you. After Yue Ning is gone, he will definitely write to us. This child is nostalgic."
"Yes, I will write to you." Yue Ning held Aunt Chunmei's arm, "Aunt, I will not forget you."
Yue Baohua didn't expect that he would not be able to give away either of the two bicycles he wanted. He quickly apologized: "Her uncle and aunt, I was inconsiderate. We, the grandparents and grandchildren, will never forget your kindness to Ningning. When she is settled, we will come again."
"Uncle Zhongyi, please keep the bicycle. It will be more convenient for the whole family to have one bicycle." Yue Ning advised again.
Agen patted Yang Zhongyi on the shoulder and said, "Keep it! If you don't, you'll be making things difficult for Yue Ning."
"Well... Etiquette requires give and take, and I..." Yang Zhongyi was really embarrassed.
"It's okay. It's not about how much the gift is worth, what matters is the thought behind it. As long as the thought is equally important, it's a give-and-take." Agen said.
Yang Zhongyi nodded and said to Yue Baohua: "Her grandfather, then we will shamelessly accept it."
Yue Baohua smiled happily: "Okay."
Yue Ning finally sent a car out. She pulled Six Fingers Agen to a car at the back and said, "Uncle Agen, this car is for you."
"Give it to me?" Six-fingered Agen couldn't believe his ears.
Yue Ning smiled: "Didn't you just say that? It's not about how much the gift is worth, it's about the thought behind it..."
Before Yue Ning could finish his words, Six-Fingered Agen ran away, waving his hands as he ran: "No, no, I don't want it. It's so expensive, I don't want it!"
This person!
Six-fingered Agen ran fast and Yue Ning chased him closely, and finally stopped him.
"You have to take this car whether you want it or not. If you don't want it, I'll tell people that you and Ge..."
As soon as the word "Ge" came out, Six-Fingered Agen got anxious and angry: "Silly girl, don't talk nonsense."
Yue Ning rolled his eyes and said, "I gave you this car just to make it easier for you to go to the commune. I hope you can marry my aunt to me soon."
"I..." Agen lowered his head. How could he say this?
"What do you mean by "I"? You are so enthusiastic in helping others and you are so eloquent in explaining things, but why are you so embarrassed when it comes to yourself? Why are you being so polite to me?" Yue Ning laughed, "I also left a piece of cloth and half a pound of sugar for you. That piece of cloth is similar to the one Xiuxiu has. It will definitely look good on Sister Ge. Do you want to say something?"
Agen's dark face turned red like liver, and he smiled innocently, "Yes."
"Then go back, get the car, get the fabric?"
"Why!"
As the two walked back, Yue Ning couldn't help laughing. How could there be such a smart and yet so stupid person in this world?
"Stop laughing." Six-fingered Agen became angry and embarrassed.
How could Yue Ning take this expression of weakness seriously? He continued to laugh.
When they got back to Lu Chunmei's house, Yue Ning handed him the cart, turned around and got a bag of candy and a piece of floral cloth, and put them in his hands: "Uncle, please give this cloth and this bag of candy to Sister Ge at the animal husbandry station. Without Sister Ge, if all the sheep in the flock died during the sheep plague, I would definitely be scolded for not only killing my father, but also the sheep. If you have time, please help me give Sister Ge some firewood. She is a gentle person with little strength."
Yue Ning also created an opportunity for him to approach others openly. Six-fingered Agen held onto the bicycle and said, "I know."
Yue Ning gave away both bicycles. She took a piece of cloth and a bag of candy and gave them to the Third Grandma, a five-guarantee household: "Third Grandma, take this."
Third Grandma pushed the cloth out and said, "Aning, Third Grandma is old and doesn't want to wear such fine cloth."
"It's for you, just take it." Yue Ning stuffed it into her hand.
Sitting next to Third Grandma was Tian Zaohua. Yue Ning turned around to get something: two pieces of cloth and two bags of candy. Whose family were they going to give these to?
Tian Zaohua kept her eyes on Yue Ning. Yue Ning did not come to her, but went to the other side. She gave the cloth and candy to a family of thirteen people.
At this moment, Yue Ning was delivering something to someone, and she did it according to what Li Qiaomei said, basically impartially. But it was Tian Zaohua's turn again, and she changed her hair.
Seeing that they had no share, the villagers who had been wearing homespun cloth couldn't help but take it out to look at it. They said that the material was glutinous and smooth, and the color of the material was very bright.
How could Tian Zaohua have the heart to sew shoe soles? Seeing that Yue Ning had already divided the pieces among all the families except her.
Ah Fa helped Yue Ning to clean up. Yue Ning said to Yue Baohua, "Grandpa, there are still eight households left to be divided. We can just go for a walk."
What does this mean? Their family has no share? Tian Zaohua blurted out: "Yue Ning."
Yue Ning had long noticed that Tian Zaohua's face was getting longer and longer. She was surprised that Tian Zaohua was able to hold her temper today. Now? She couldn't help it anymore.
"Aunt Zaohua, what's the matter?" Yue Ning looked at her with a smile.
Everyone looked over here, and someone whispered, "When we were in the fields, I said Yue Ning wouldn't give them anything, and Zaohua still..."
Yue Ning's smile hurt Tian Zaohua, and these words drilled into her ears again. It was embarrassing enough that others had it but their family didn't. And they still asked for it. It would be embarrassing if they got it, and it would be even more embarrassing if they didn't.
Tian Zaohua forced a smile, walked over and picked up the checkered shirt on the stool: "Yuening, your aunt Chunmei was afraid that you would go back wearing patched clothes, so she made you a shirt. This cloth should be the dowry at the bottom of her box when she got married. It was very fashionable at that time and everyone had one. Your aunt Chunmei was reluctant to wear it, so she took it out and made clothes for you. Her intention is good, but now your grandfather is here to pick you up, and you will have too much Dacron to wear in the future. I am afraid you will not like this shirt anymore, right?"
Lu Chunmei wanted to snatch it away, but Yue Ning was pleasantly surprised and took the clothes from Tian Zaohua first, then asked, "Aunt, did you make this for me?"
It was already in Yue Ning's hands. Lu Chunmei nodded, then shook her head: "I'll make you another one tonight. This fabric is not good."
Dacron is indeed popular, but Yue Ning doesn't want to follow this fashion. She held the clothes and gestured: "This one is very good, I want this one. Don't use those two pieces of cloth to make me one. Just like Aunt Zaohua said, when I go to Gangcheng in the future, I will have endless Dacron to wear. That thing is not rare, this is rare. I will leave Xiaoyanggou wearing the clothes made by Aunt."
Lu Chunmei smiled and wanted to cry again. She pulled at her clothes and said, "I still have a buttonhole that I haven't fastened yet. I'll fasten it and give it to you."
"I'll go divide the remaining cloth and sugar, and then come back to get the clothes." Yue Ning let go of the clothes.
Lu Chunmei sat down and picked up her needle and thread. She looked up at Tian Zaohua and rolled her eyes: "Oh, some people! Their eyes are so red that they are about to bleed."
"Who's jealous? Do you think I've never seen such a small thing?" Tian Zaohua walked forward vigorously holding the sole of her shoe.
Lu Chunmei felt relaxed all over: "Anyway, I have never seen anything good. Should I do it for A Biao first? Or for Xiuxiu?"
Yue Ning patted Ah Fa's head and said, "Go to the elementary school and wait for dinner. We will come over as soon as we are ready."
Ah Fa ran away quickly. Yue Ning and Yue Baohua carried the bag and walked inside. Yue Ning talked about his childhood: "My Aunt Chunmei had the most skillful hands. When I was a child, Grandpa Luo sent me cloth coupons and my father bought cloth, so I asked Aunt Chunmei to make it for me. When I grew up, she taught me how to sew shoe soles and make clothes..."
In the summer evening, Yue Baohua listened to his granddaughter talking about her life in Xiaoyanggou. The anxiety and worry of the past few days gradually turned into expectations for the future...
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