Chapter 5 Grandpa
There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are offered such good conditions, there is a high probability that there is a trap waiting ahead.
Yue Ning connected the two words "Hong Kong City" and "Restaurant" that the mother and son had just discussed. There were two people in her family in Hong Kong, one was her grandfather whom she had never met, and the other was her mother.
First of all, her mother is ruled out. She is a salesperson in a grain and oil food store. She has no cooking skills and is unlikely to have any connection with the restaurant.
My grandfather went to Hong Kong to make a living. My father told me that in the mid-1950s, my grandfather had rented a small shop and opened a restaurant in Hong Kong. He wanted to wait for his father to finish his apprenticeship and then take him over, but things are unpredictable.
These two words should refer to her grandfather, right?
Yes! Now that reform and opening up have taken place, maybe Grandpa wrote a letter to Dad, and the letter fell into the hands of the Luo family mother and son. They knew that Grandpa had a restaurant in Gangcheng.
In the early days of reform and opening up, the gap between the mainland and Hong Kong was huge. Who wouldn't want to go to Hong Kong if they had connections? If Luo Guoqiang married her, if Grandpa came to find her, it would be a done deal. In addition, this grandson-in-law was the grandson of his senior brother, so Grandpa would naturally bring them to Hong Kong. Luo Guoqiang was a good cook. If he could work in Grandpa's restaurant, he wouldn't have to suffer in Hong Kong and could gain a foothold? This was a really good calculation.
However, Grandpa Luo's help to them was real, so they should not let the relationship become strained. Yue Ning smiled and said, "Aunt, it is not appropriate to let Brother Guoqiang marry me just to let me go back to the city. Think about it, from the time I went to the countryside to now, the situation has changed again and again, but my origin has never changed. Brother Guoqiang comes from a working-class family, and he has a good family background. If you are with me, even if you don't consider Brother Guoqiang's future, you have to consider Brother Guoqiang's children, right? When my mother ran away, how much suffering did my father and I suffer? I appreciate your kindness, but let's forget about it. If I can go back to the city, I will go back, and if I can't, I won't force it."
Luo Guoqiang frowned and said, "Mom, if Ningning doesn't want to, forget it. Let's go back and think of a way. There is always a way to get Ningning back to the city."
"Ningning is still young, what does she know? How difficult is it to go back to the city now? Your uncle Zhirong has been learning a craft with your grandfather since he was twelve years old. He is just like your grandfather's biological son, and your father also treats him as his own brother. He left you an orphan, if we don't take care of you, who will? Can I let her continue to live in a house like this?" After scolding her son, Zhang Lifen said to Yue Ning, "I tell you, we don't even know if your mother died in the sea, and your father is gone too. Your uncle and I are your only elders. We will make the decision on this matter. Once you and Guoqiang get married, he will have to share the joys and sorrows with you."
Zhang Lifen opened her bag, took out a piece of paper and handed it to Yue Ning, saying, "The marriage introduction letter is ready."
Yue Ning saw that her and Luo Guoqiang's basic information had already been filled in on the paper.
Zhang Lifen then told her: "After we get the marriage certificate, we will go back immediately and go to the police station to transfer your household registration back. I have asked everything, and you will be able to go back in two months at most."
Seeing him so impatient and anxious, it seems that my guess is correct.
Yue Ning walked to the box, uncovered the towel, and said to her father's photo: "Aunt, it is a great favor to let Brother Guoqiang marry me. Not to mention me, even my father would not agree. It is better to reciprocate between people. The Tian Zaohua you saw just now, her idiot son can't find a wife. At that time, my father had just passed away and owed a lot of debts. I was an orphan and wrote to you. You were also in a difficult time, so I had no relatives and no one to help me. She took the opportunity to offer to help me pay off the money I owed to the team. For me at the time, the conditions she proposed were not bad. It's just that I didn't want to, and she shouldn't have pestered me and held a grudge. And your method is completely for my own good. I don't see what benefits you can get. I don't want to owe such a big favor."
Zhang Lifen came over and held Yue Ning's hand: "You marry Guoqiang, and you are a member of our Luo family. What's the point of talking about gratitude and ingratitude when we are a family?"
Yue Ning looked at his father's photo and asked, "Dad, what do you think?"
It was getting dark outside, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window onto the photo of Yue Zhirong. In the photo, Yue Zhirong's eyes seemed to be staring at her, and Zhang Lifen shuddered and loosened her hand.
Luo Guoqiang came over, looked at Yue Zhirong's photo and said, "Mom, in front of Uncle Zhirong, you should tell Ningning clearly that she just wants to get a certificate from me, and when she is transferred back to Yuecheng, she and I can get divorced at any time."
"What did you say?" Zhang Lifen narrowed her eyes and looked at her son.
Luo Guoqiang straightened his back and said, "Ningning definitely wants to go back to Yuecheng. Now is a new era, arranged marriages are no longer popular. She doesn't want to marry me just to meet me once, right? Since we want to help her, then it's simple, just get married and then divorce."
It seems that the mother and son do not agree.
"Woof woof..." The black dog guarding the sheepfold outside the house barked fiercely.
There were footsteps outside, and Yue Ning heard the voice of their village secretary Fugen: "It's right here, Yue Ning lives here."
Hearing his name, Yue Ning walked over to open the door. Secretary Fugen and a few others were standing there.
Yue Ning remembered that the day before yesterday, someone from the county came to talk to her. Was this going to happen? She was a shepherdess, usually herding sheep honestly. Didn't they all take off their hats? What else could it be?
Wait, who is this person? This person doesn't look like someone sent by the higher-ups to investigate.
Yue Ning saw a tall young man standing behind Secretary Fugen.
Most people in this era were malnourished and short. Secretary Fugen, who was just over 1.7 meters tall, was considered tall among men, but this man was more than half a head taller than him, giving people a feeling of being a crane standing out among chickens. Not only his height, but also his dress and temperament were not something that people from this place could have. He looked a bit like a Hong Kong and Taiwan star from the 1970s and 1980s. What was going on?
She was still guessing when a gray-haired man came out and said in a trembling voice, "Ningning?"
Yue Ning turned around to look at her father's photo, then looked at the person in front of her, and her heart began to beat. She tried to calm herself down, because this person was not her father, but her father's father, her grandfather.
"Ningning." Yue Baohua called again. He looked at his granddaughter. The child was taller than him. Her facial features were like his wife's and his father's. However, her hair was dry and yellow. Although she was an 18-year-old girl, her cheeks were not very fleshy. She was wearing a homespun shirt with a slanted collar, which was only worn by people in Hong Kong 20 or 30 years ago. The shoulders and corners of the shirt were patched. The pants were too short, exposing her ankles. The cloth shoes on her feet had a hole in the toe, exposing her toes.
The child stood there in a daze. Seeing this, Yue Baohua burst into tears and choked up and said, "Ningning, I am your grandfather..."
It was Grandpa, and she could tell at a glance that he was her grandfather. But not only had she never seen him, even when her father talked about him, it was difficult for him to describe what kind of person he was because they had not seen each other for so long.
Yue Ning reminded herself not to get too close to the man in front of her just because he looked like her father. She said calmly, "Grandpa?"
Hearing his granddaughter calling him, Yue Baohua didn't even think about her tone. Tears fell down, but there was a smile on the corner of his mouth: "Ningning..."
A man who looked a lot like her father was crying in front of her. Yue Ning couldn't harden her heart no matter what, and said, "I'm fine, aren't I?"
"Yes! Uncle Hua, Ningning is fine." Zhang Lifen walked out of the house and said.
Yue Baohua raised his head when he heard the voice, and his blurry vision focused, and he saw that it was his nephew's wife and eldest son. Why were they here?
Last time he went back to Yuecheng, he met his nephew and his family and paid tribute to his senior brother. After getting to know him, he found that his nephew was okay, but his wife was sweet-talking but didn't take any real action.
At that time, he had just learned that his son had died and his granddaughter was in the northwest, and he was extremely worried. However, she repeatedly hinted to him to bring her son to Hong Kong City. How could he have the mind to think about these things at that time?
Could it be that I didn't agree to it, so the two of them came to Ningning, wanting Ningning to speak for Guoqiang and let me take Guoqiang to Hong Kong City? This thought is too eager, and the way of eating is too ugly.
Yue Baohua wiped away her tears and looked at her granddaughter. What was good about it? This child had obviously suffered a lot.
"Don't stand outside, go inside!" said a comrade wearing glasses.
"Grandpa, come in!"
Yue Ning shouted, and Yue Baohua came to his senses and followed his granddaughter into the house.
"Be careful not to hit your head." Secretary Fugen reminded the tall young man.
"Thanks!"
Yue Ning noticed this young man again. Did he come from Hong Kong with his grandfather? His grandfather had been in Hong Kong for so many years, so he must have started a family and had children. This should be his father's half-brother? To have such a temperament, he must have been carefully nurtured.
As soon as Yue Baohua entered the room, he saw the photo of his son on the wooden box. He walked over unsteadily and picked up the photo with trembling hands: "Zhirong..."
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