"We haven't been doing well in recent years. This year we only got a little over 400 kilograms, which is not as good as our brigade's harvest. And most of them are fresh sweet potatoes and potatoes. We should be able to get some vermicelli this year, but it's really getting worse every year."
Jiang Damei was also worried. This year's harvest wasn't as good as in previous years. With over 400 kilograms of coarse grains, she could barely fill herself up. She didn't dare trade in fine grains, fearing they would get worse. After all, sweet potatoes weighed heavily, and while they could help with hunger, she couldn't eat too much. She could only dry them into dried sweet potatoes, which would last a while longer.
Jiang Ermei's situation is much better. They live near mountains and rivers, and the situation in their team is similar to that in Taoyuan Brigade. They have a big river, and every year they can catch a few nets of fish before it freezes. Each family can get dozens of kilograms of fresh fish to entertain relatives and have an extra dish for the New Year.
"I was thinking about asking my sister-in-law to help my Huanhuan find a husband here. The situation here is better, so she won't marry nearby."
Jiang Damei was probably a little in love at the time. She was attracted by Li Hongjiang's appearance, tall and thin figure, and his potential as a pretty boy. Even though she knew that his family were refugees and had no roots in the local area, she still insisted on agreeing.
Jiang's grandparents had no choice but to let her go. Although Li Hongjiang had been good to her over the years and had been hardworking and motivated, there was nothing they could do about it in reality.
Li Hongjiang has only one younger brother. It is not good enough to have only two brothers in the family in the village. What's more, there is no big family to support them in the village. Even if they are bullied, they have nowhere to complain.
Jiang Damei's parents' home is far away, and they are too late to help if anything happens. They can only accept the loss.
In the next generation, Jiang Damei and Li Hongjiang gave birth to four sons and two daughters, and Li Hongjiang's younger brother Li Hongde gave birth to four sons and one daughter. The two families hoped that when they had more children, they would be able to help each other.
Later, the family situation improved after the group of children grew up. Now, none of the children in the family are married, and the eldest is 22 years old. However, his family has too shallow roots in the Fengshou Brigade, so the children's marriages are not going smoothly.
Jiang Damei originally wanted to bring her daughter with her, but thinking that she was still young and there was no rush, and that she had to stay at home to cook, she didn't let her come.
When times were tough a few years ago, Jiang Damei wanted to bring her family back to Taoyuan Brigade, but she was really afraid of causing trouble for her brothers, so she never dared to bring it up.
Every time I go back from my mother's house, I wipe my nose while hurrying on the way. Not to mention how I have been filial to my parents over the years, every time I come back, they worry about me. I finally waited for the children to grow up a little and had the opportunity to come back more often, but my parents passed away one after another. Some things cannot be said to wait for the opportunity or the conditions. Time cannot withstand waiting.
Jiang Youfu knew a little about his sister's family. They all belonged to the same commune, and every time they went to the commune for a meeting, they would meet several team leaders, and everyone knew each other.
Although the production team where Jiang Damei's family lived was called the Fengshou Brigade, their grain production was always at the bottom among the dozen or so production teams, while the Taoyuan Brigade was always the best one.
Jiang's mother also knew the situation of her eldest sister-in-law's family, but she didn't expect that she would want to marry her daughter back home. But after thinking about it, it made sense. Not to mention that the conditions here are much better, just the fact that she has her uncle Jiang Youfu, the team leader, means that Li Huanhuan's life here will not be bad.
"Big sister, are you willing to let Huanhuan marry so far away? Look at you, you take care of the family all year round and can only come back once in a while. If Huanhuan comes here, I guess I won't be able to go back to see you often in the future."
Jiang Damei didn't want to either, but relying on a few uncles' families was better than marrying into a place where she had no real relatives.
"There's nothing I can do about it. Besides, I feel more at ease being closer to you. If I had more options, I would still like to come back." I never dared to say this before, for fear of embarrassing my brother and sister-in-law. Now that the children are so grown up, I don't think about it anymore. Anyway, it's impossible for me to really move back with my family.
Jiang's mother didn't think much about it. It would be a good thing if they could really move in, and relatives could help each other.
"It would be great if you could move here, so we can bring our grandchildren to visit every day when we're old."
Jiang Lao Er couldn't tell whether it was a joke or not, he really thought that his elder sister had such a plan: "If you want to come over, you can, elder brother. I remember that after Uncle Jiang San left, his house has been unoccupied. If elder sister wants to come over, it's just perfect.
Jiang Youfu was stunned when he heard his second brother speak. His sister just said it casually, and they just listened casually. He was good, he had already thought of a solution, but this idea was indeed a good one.
Although there are many surnames in Taoyuan Brigade, after so many years of intermarriage, if you count carefully, they are all related.
Jiang Youfu nodded seriously and said, "Your second brother is right. Uncle Jiang's family has been deserted for a long time. After his death, the house was owned by the production team. It has four main rooms and four side rooms. The front and back yards are also quite large.
At that time, many people wanted it, and no one agreed to give it to anyone. The team had no choice but to raise the price a little, and it has been vacant for several months.
If you want it, I can discuss it with the others. Even though you moved here from another village, you are still married off from here. If you pay the price offered by the team, no one will say anything."
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