Chapter 58 Going to the Movies
After the 27th, it is the 28th, which is considered the Little New Year in some places in the north.
Aunt Wu cleaned up the house a few days ago and got up before dawn today to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. When Jiang Panyu and the others got up, Aunt Wu had already cleaned up all the traces.
However, Aunt Wu was probably not the only one who did this. Everyone must have been worshipping the gods secretly, otherwise there wouldn't be the lingering smell of incense and candles in the air.
It's just that everyone knows it tacitly and no one says it out loud.
Aunt Wu had not yet secretly told Jiang Panyu and Tan Yanlu to give some food to the Kitchen God when they eat, because as long as the stove fire is burning brightly, the coming year will be prosperous.
The so-called letting the Kitchen God eat something means putting a little food into the stove. The flames will burn the food, making it look more prosperous.
Jiang Panyu and Tan Yanlu both appreciated the kindness of Aunt Jiang and Aunt Wu, and actually asked the Kitchen God to eat some of the food during the meal. It didn't matter whether it was useful or not, the intention was just there.
Then the two of them discussed boiling water for a bath. The weather in the northern province is cold, and people living here cannot take a bath every day. The main reason is that there are no conditions at home at this time. Most people go to the bathhouse in the town to take a bath.
But it is already the 28th day of the lunar year, and the bathhouses in the town are crowded, and the water in them is probably not very clean.
Jiang Panyu and Tan Yanlu decided to boil some water for their own bath, but they didn't have a large bathtub.
The two men even made a special trip to see Yang Lao Ba, who bought a large bathtub and pulled it back on a cart.
On the way, they met Li Yunying. After the two sides greeted each other, Li Yunying told them: "I was just going to look for you, it's a coincidence that I met you here."
"Sister Yunying, what's the matter? Why do I have to ask you to make such a trip?" Jiang Panyu spoke to Li Yunying with a smile.
Li Yunying said, "It's Chinese New Year now, and the movie theater in town is still open! Everyone at the educated youth site has agreed to go to the town to watch a movie on New Year's Day, so I wanted to ask if you want to go with us.
I heard that if there are a lot of people, the tickets will be cheaper, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
This was originally agreed upon by Jiang Panyu, Tan Yanlu and Lian Xiuran. No one knew what Lian Xiuran would say when he returned. Since it was Li Yunying who asked, they naturally agreed.
After getting their approval, Li Yunying finally had the leisure to chat with them: "You bought this bath tub from Yang Lao Ba, right? He has good craftsmanship, and many people buy from him."
Tan Yanlu nodded and said, "Yes, I never thought of taking a bath at home before, and I never thought of buying one. Now there are too many people in town, and I can't go to the bathhouse, so I have to take a bath at home."
Li Yunying was very envious: "You are more free to live on your own. There is no place big enough to put a bathtub in the educated youth camp.
I have been working in the countryside for several years. Apart from going to the town to have a bath, I can only fetch a bucket of water to make do with it on weekdays.”
The three chatted for a few more words and then separated. With a large bathtub, Jiang Panyu and Tan Yanlu naturally took a comfortable bath, and the task of the 28th day of the lunar year was completed.
For the next twenty-nine and thirty-two days, they did not go to town but just ate and drank at home, chatted with the aunts from the Gossip Sisters Group, and listened to gossip about Gao Shaolin's family.
I heard that Gao's wife beat up the two children, saying that the two children stole Gao's wife's things and cursed them disrespectfully.
They were directly hung up by Gao's wife, who beat the two children's faces with her shoe soles until they were swollen. They went hungry for two meals and were only let down after she realized her mistake.
Outsiders all say that Gao's daughter-in-law is too cruel to her children, but Jiang Panyu knows that the two children of the Gao family have been raised in the wrong direction. If Gao's daughter-in-law is willing to discipline them, and uses this drastic measure ruthlessly, maybe they can be turned around, which would be really good for the two children.
However, Jiang Panyu felt that the two children might not appreciate it, and Gao's new daughter-in-law might not agree either, after all, the children's biological mother was still alive.
Mrs. Gao didn't want to stay in the Gao family and suffer from famine, so she went back to her parents' home under the pretext of cutting grass for pigs and hid there. When Gao Shaolin got married, she also quickly found someone to marry, but this time she married far away.
The Gao family couldn't do anything to Gao Dasao, so they could only let the matter go without saying it was unfair.
It is said that Mrs. Gao is still thinking about her two children. She comes back from time to time to secretly see her two children. They have their biological mother around!
If the new daughter-in-law of the Gao family has that much free time, why not find an opportunity to have two more children and discipline her own children!
On the first day of the Lunar New Year in 1976, Jiang Panyu and Tan Yanlu greeted Aunt Wu and went to the educated youth point to gather after breakfast. They were going to the town to watch a movie today, and it would be better to go early rather than late because they didn't know if they would have to queue.
When they arrived, everyone at the educated youth point had just gotten ready. Once everyone was there, the group headed towards the town.
When they arrived at the cinema, the entrance was bustling with people!
A ticket seller pulled a little boy of eight or nine years old and said that he had bought melon seeds but did not pay for them, so he wanted to take the seeds back. However, the child kept saying that he had already paid and refused to take out the melon seeds that had already been put into his pocket.
The two sides argued endlessly and noisily. Many people gathered at the door to watch the noise, blocking the ticket office.
Jiang Panyu and the others could only watch from the outside. In the end, the ticket seller, relying on his youth and strength, took the whole bag of melon seeds from the little boy's pocket.
At the end, he said with disdain: "There are so many things for kids nowadays to learn, but they are actually learning such shady methods from others. A bag of melon seeds only costs a few cents, and they have the nerve to evade the ticket."
The little boy was stubborn, his face was red with anger, and he kept shouting: "I didn't, I really paid back the money, it was obviously you who took the money, and you still slandered me."
The ticket seller looked impatient and pushed the little boy away: "Go, go, go and play somewhere else. If you don't have money, don't eat. I don't even know whether I charged you or not. Really, it's unlucky on New Year's Day."
The little boy was pushed away, and the crowd of onlookers slowly dispersed. Jiang Panyu and the others walked forward to buy movie tickets, paying five cents each to get a ticket for The White-Haired Girl.
After showing the ticket to the ticket inspector at the ticket gate, I walked through the thick curtain and entered the cinema.
There were dozens of chairs neatly arranged inside. Because they arrived early, the educated youth all chose the seats in the front row.
Jiang Panyu and Tan Yanlu sat together, each of them holding a cup of melon seeds and slowly cracking them.
A child sat down on Jiang Panyu's left hand side. He stared at the melon seeds in Jiang Panyu's hand without blinking. Jiang Panyu found it interesting and gave him a small handful.
The child took the melon seeds and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing them and then swallowing them without even spitting out the melon seed shells.
Seeing him eating melon seeds like this, Jiang Panyu ignored him and focused on watching the movie. However, movies of that era were all in black and white, the picture quality was blurry, and the actors' voices sounded a little distorted.
As Jiang Panyu watched, her eyelids couldn't help but droop. She was sleepy. There were still some melon seeds left in her hand, so she put them on the seat, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
The child sitting next to her had been staring at the melon seeds in her hand. When he saw Jiang Panyu put the melon seeds down, he wanted to take them but was afraid that Jiang Panyu would catch him. He rolled his eyes and suddenly slipped off the chair.
Two small black hands found a thin hemp rope from somewhere and gently tied Jiang Panyu's feet together.
The weather was cold and Jiang Panyu was wearing many clothes. He was sleeping with his eyes closed and did not notice that someone was playing a prank on him.
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