Jiang Mengxue rarely saw her cousins from her aunt's family after they grew up. The last time they saw each other was when they were in junior high school.
Jiang Damei married far away and it was inconvenient for her to come back every time. Every time she came back to take a look, she would go back in a hurry.
When we arrived at Aunt Jiang's house, the house, which looked like no one had lived in it for a long time, had been renovated.
The yard is no longer full of weeds like before, and now it is surrounded by a fence made of branches.
"We all came to help when my aunt and her family moved in. We also tilled the land several times, so we can plant crops next year."
When the aunt and sister-in-law arrived, there was a group of people gathered in the yard, and no one knew what they were busy with.
Jiang Damei came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of hot water. After a few people made way for Jiang Mengxue, they saw several preys on the ground.
"Aunt, are my cousins going up the mountain again?"
Everyone was so focused on the prey on the ground that they didn't even notice anyone coming.
"Hey, Fen, Xiaoxue is back too? Come in, come in."
"Sister-in-law, second sister."
"Mom, why are you here too? We just happened to meet my second and third uncles coming down from the mountain, bringing two fish to my aunt's house."
"Aunt, I happened to be home today and came to see you and my uncle. My uncle is not at home?"
"He's at Second Uncle's house, Sicheng, go to your house and ask your uncle to come back."
Looking at this, Jiang Mengxue didn't know who these young men in the yard were.
When Jiang Mengxue looked at the young men, their faces turned red all the way to their necks, and they pulled Li Yuhe's clothes one by one to hide behind him.
"Why are you little brats hiding? Are you embarrassed to see your cousin? Erhe, Sanhe, Sihe, Dacheng, Ercheng, Sancheng, Sicheng, come here and call your cousin."
The first few Hes are the sons of Jiang Damei, and the Chengs are the sons of Jiang Mengxue's uncle's second brother. They are all named after their older brother.
"Second cousin."
"Second cousin."
The people in Uncle Li's family who didn't know Jiang Mengxue also followed the others in shouting "He".
But it wasn't wrong to call her that. Except for Li Yuhe who was a few months older than Jiang Mengxue, the others were younger than her.
"Hello, cousins. I haven't seen you in so many years. I almost didn't recognize you. Oh, and where are Huanhuan and Qiqi? I can't see them at all."
"They have gone to her second uncle's house with your uncle and will be back soon. Your cousin and his cousins hunted several preys today, so they will stay at your aunt's house for dinner today."
He turned to look at his sons and said, "Hurry up and finish it. I'll cook dinner later. Xiaoxue, come inside and sit down."
Seeing the things Jiang Mengxue was carrying, she complained, "Why do you need to bring anything when you come to my house? You can take it all back later."
Jiang Damei put the basket that Jiang Mengxue handed over to her by the door, intending to let her take it back later.
"Aunt, last time a matchmaker came to our house and said he wanted to arrange a marriage for Da He. How is it going?" Li Fen had heard about it from her mother-in-law before, but she hadn't heard about it again since then.
Jiang Damei got angry when she talked about this: "How can that be possible? She said she wanted Dahe to be her son-in-law. How can I agree to that? Our family is not that rich yet. At most, we can wait a few years and it will be fine for the boy to wait a few more years."
"I remember my cousin is only a few months older than me, so there's really no need to rush."
Jiang Damei wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
"Well, Xiaoxue, do you think your cousin can join the army at this age?"
Jiang Mengxue was a little surprised. Her cousin was only in his early twenties. If he wanted to go, of course he could. The conscription age was between 18 and 22 years old, and Li Yuhe's age was completely within the requirement.
She just didn't expect her aunt to have this idea.
"Aunt, is it you and uncle who have this idea, or does my cousin want to go? Being a soldier, especially for new recruits, might not be back for several years, and if there's a mission, it's really dangerous. You have to think these things through carefully."
Jiang Damei smiled bitterly. She knew that there were many people in the surrounding area who went to the army and never came back.
But given my family's current situation, if I don't find a way out, this may be how my life will be.
No matter how poor their family conditions were back then, the couple sold everything they had to support their children's education. The younger ones did not have average grades and could not continue their studies, but the eldest son was not like that.
He had excellent grades in junior high school and could have gotten into a good high school or technical secondary school. However, considering his younger brothers and sisters, his family really couldn't afford to support them. He didn't discuss it with his family and refused to go after graduating from junior high school.
"We've talked to him about this, and he wants to go. If it weren't for the burden on his family, he would have left our village long ago. We don't want him to spend his whole life digging in the dirt for a living. If he can really make a name for himself, it will be his good fortune."
Jiang Mengxue thought for a moment and said, "I didn't come down to recruit soldiers today. I don't know if there will be any spring recruitment after the New Year. I'll ask then. If not, I can still make it in time for the autumn recruitment next year. My cousin is also of the right age."
"Okay, then please ask Xiaoxue."
It is not difficult to join the army now. As long as you are of the right age and have the right physical condition, you basically have a chance.
Many young men in rural areas who cannot get enough food will join the army, with their only thought being to have enough food to eat.
At this time, uncle Li Hongjiang came back with Huanhuan and her sister.
"Uncle, Huanhuan Qiqi."
"Xiaoxue is back. The hospital hasn't closed for the holiday yet, right?"
"No, but I'm not in the hospital right now, so I have more free time. I'm not going to be home for the New Year this year, so I came back early to visit."
"Huanhuan Qiqi doesn't recognize your cousin? Didn't Huanhuan like to play with your cousin when she was little? As soon as she got home, she would say that your cousin Xiaoxue was the prettiest in the family, hahaha."
Huanhuan buried her head in her chest shyly and glanced at Jiang Mengxue sheepishly.
"Oh, Mom, you were still young at that time. Cousin, don't listen to what my mom said."
Huanhuan is the second child in the family. She is nineteen years old this year. She has two pigtails and looks very cute.
Qiqi is several years younger, only twelve this year. The little girl was not nervous at all when she saw Jiang Mengxue. She called her "cousin" and then followed Jiang Mengxue around, asking her all kinds of questions.
"Cousin, is it fun in the city? Do doctors have to give people injections every day? Do people in the city no longer have to farm? Are there mountains in the city? Can you watch movies every day? They used to be shown in the commune, and there were so many people. I didn't even see where the movie was."
Children are always particularly curious about things they don’t understand, and the topics are so varied that Jiang Mengxue doesn’t know how to answer some of them.
Seeing that everyone had returned, Jiang Damei started preparing to cook: "Okay, stop bothering your cousin and help me boil the pot."
Jiang Mengxue stood up and said, "Aunt, we're not eating here. We've already made it at home. We just came to take a look and ask the children to go home for dinner."
Jiang Damei disapproved. "That won't do. How can we not eat when we come to our aunt's house? You all can eat here. They just happened to have hunted roe deer. I'll cook roe deer meat for you."
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