Okay, okay, I'll change it for you. I have too many stories in my head."
"Do you know what a gang is?"
Jiang Mengxue shook her head and said she had never heard of it.
"Would you like to walk together on a leash? Or would you like to help others pull the leash?"
After hearing Jiang Mengxue's understanding, the old lady couldn't stop laughing.
"Oh, there are quite a few of them now. A couple is called a bangtao. When the man loses his ability to work, they bring in another man from outside to live with him. The requirement is that the woman gives birth to a child for the man. It's like three people living together.
This situation is also seen in many places now. When a man is lying in bed and cannot move, with elderly parents and young children to take care of, what can he do? Some families are too poor to marry a wife, so they come to live together. There are also women who give birth to children for him to carry on the family line, and he helps the woman to support the family, so no one suffers.
Jiang Mengxue had never thought that such a thing could happen. Isn't this just one woman with two husbands? Is there no one causing trouble?
Jiang Mengxue remembered that the conduct issues in that era seemed to be quite strict. Even if a couple walked on the street, they were not allowed to get too close, let alone hold hands or hug.
If anyone behaves like a hooligan, serious cases will be shot immediately. No matter whether it is a man or a woman who has a sexual relationship with someone outside after marriage, if they are caught, they will be stripped naked and paraded through the streets.
"Grandma Tian, if this is the case, outsiders can't be unaware of it, right? Aren't you afraid of being reported?"
"What are you reporting? Are you interfering with the lives of a couple? The husband has no objection, so what can others say? Besides, the man must have agreed to this. What if he disagrees? Will the elderly above stop supporting him, or will the children below stop supporting him? Can my wife support the whole family by herself? It's not a bad thing to have a man willing to come in and lend a hand."
Jiang Mengxue thought about it and realized that it was indeed true. Just like in many places in the past, when families were poor, several brothers would marry one wife, and some would take turns going out to work, leaving one at home to take care of the wife and children.
They don’t care whose child it is. They are their own anyway and they raise them as their own.
The women seemed to be quite willing to do so. They had several husbands at once, some of whom stayed at home to help with housework and take care of the children, while the others went out to work and earn money.
Jiang Mengxue was a little stunned. Isn't this the life that many women dream of? It turns out that such a long time ago, there were already women living such a life.
These things were nothing to the old lady. People of her generation had experienced and seen much more.
"What's the big deal? There was a woman in our village who gave birth to three daughters and one son. The son died when he was twelve years old. Her husband had a son with another woman and brought him home. She raised him as her own son.
The little boy lived in the east end of the village. When he was hungry and wanted to drink milk, he would run to his mother in the west end of the village. His mother was a widow and had a son. After her son died, she was bullied and wanted to find a supporter because of the bullying.
You know what, the woman on the east side really protects her. If someone on the west side bullies her, the woman on the east side is very fierce and can kill the person directly. With the protection of the east side, no one dares to bully this widow.
Jiang Mengxue could only say that what Old Lady Tian said was refreshing her three views again and again.
"Is Grandma Tian still around? Why were relationships in the village so chaotic before?" She didn't understand but was greatly shocked. This was much more open than later generations.
"Yes, the old man next door to my house was born out of wedlock to someone else. His younger brother is the legitimate child. As for how outsiders know this, it's because he looks exactly like his father, the old man with the slant eyes.
The old lady was a woman with bound feet, who would have thought she would do such a thing? Her husband is honest, and even if he knew, he wouldn't dare say anything. After all, the two brothers, who were born of the same mother, get along well. "
Jiang Mengxue swallowed her saliva. She wanted to know if there were any couples nowadays whose relationship was pure and who had no extramarital affairs?
The old lady didn't care: "How many men can be honest after marriage? Even if he has no money, he can still bring a few pounds of food to the village and get into the widow's bed.
Well, in the past, most people’s marriages were arranged by their parents. If the marriage was good, they could get along well. If it was not, they would just live together and there would be no feelings between them.
After a while, it seems normal to flirt with other people when you meet them outside. Generally, couples like this know each other well. As long as their hearts are still at home, they don’t care what happens outside.
In fact, Jiang Mengxue really wanted to ask Mrs. Tian if she had ever experienced it? Judging from her expression, she seemed quite nostalgic.
But she was afraid that the old lady's cane would swing at her, so she held it back.
Jiang Mengxue was listening to gossip with great interest when there was a knock on the door.
"Is Second Aunt home?"
"Second Grandma? Is anyone home?"
Jiang Mengxue guessed that it must be one of her uncle's sisters-in-law.
"Come in, the door is unlocked."
When the old lady came in just now, the door was closed tightly and could not be opened without pushing hard.
Jiang Mengxue put down the sweater in her hand and stood up, wanting to see who was coming.
Gu Liuliu was the first to push the door open outside.
"Aunt, you are also at Second Grandpa's house."
An Xin came in with Gu Huaicai, pushing a cart with something hanging on the handlebars.
"Sister-in-law, Sixth Sister, Liu Liu, are you all not working today?"
There were dried sweet potatoes drying everywhere in the yard. Jiang Mengxue moved the curtain at the door to another place to make room for An Xin to park the car.
"No, we all agreed to take today off and go to Second Grandma's house to play. Aunt, isn't Second Grandma at home?"
Jiang Mengxue simply cleared the middle of the yard while responding to Gu Liuliu's words.
"The Women's Federation has been very busy these days. Your Second Grandma will be back for lunch at noon. Let's go sit over there and bask in the sun. I'll go get a stool from the house."
As soon as Gu Huaicai came in, his eyes fell on the dried sweet potatoes in the yard. He pinched one and tasted it.
"Sister-in-law, the dried sweet potatoes in your yard are really good. Last time, my mother-in-law brought a jar home, and I ate it all in less than two days. She has been learning to make it at home these days. She said you and Second Aunt taught her. She made several bags before, but they were too dry to chew and she had to save them for porridge. I brought you a bag."
"I steamed these dried sweet potatoes again this morning and they're ready to eat. If Sixth Sister wants to eat some, she can have them now. The dried sweet potatoes used to cook the porridge have also dried a little while cooling, but not much."
A few people sat under the eaves. The sun had just risen and was shining in, making it very warm.
"Sister-in-law, I brought some spiced dried radish that I made myself. Uncle and Auntie used to love it the most. I also brought a whole jar. Do you want to try it?"
Jiang Mengxue took the jar from An Xin and opened it. The spicy aroma hit her face and filled it up all of a sudden. Jiang Mengxue pinched one with her hand and tasted it. It was very fragrant.
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