Chapter 247 Why Stay Until Now
Chuyi was carrying a small basket that Lu Dongcai had specially made for storing seeds. It was just the right size for her to play with.
It was impossible to go to the wheat field with Dandan. This little kid was impossible to keep an eye on. He was not as obedient as Chuyi at all. She would stay on the edge of the field obediently when told to, and then he would go into the field and start plucking the wheat seedlings with his claws.
Wen Wan had no choice but to move to another place and take him and Chuyi to a small ditch, letting them play among the rocks by the river. She stayed by the side and pulled as much pig grass as she could.
As soon as I reached the river, I met Xu Wenfang who was washing clothes.
Wen Wan greeted, "Teacher Xu."
Xu Wenfang turned around and smiled at her: "Can you still pick pig grass with two of you?"
Wen Wan was teaching Chuyi and Dandan how to greet people. When she heard this, she smiled and said, "You can't do anything, but you can't stay at home all the time. When the weather is good, go out for a walk, bring some things with you, and chat a little."
Xu Wenfang glanced at the two children. Both Chuyi and Dandan were neatly dressed. Chuyi had the features of the Lu family, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. His hair was tied in two small buns with a hairband. His clothes were made from old clothes of adults. Although they were worn out, they fit him well.
In contrast, Dandan was much better dressed. His clothes were almost all made by Chang Wenwan along the way. Of course, they weren't all brand new; some were altered from old clothes. But he still looked very fashionable. Even in the city, without certain conditions, one couldn't change clothes like him every day.
Zhang Hongying was very dissatisfied with this matter. She felt that Wen Wan really didn't know how to live. Children change every day and grow up fast. As long as they don't get cold, it's fine. It's a waste of money to be so particular about it. She told Wen Wan several times, but she just ignored it. Later, she thought about it and thought that this was just the first one. As long as the clothes are not worn out, she can just put them there and wear them when she has another child. She didn't feel so bad about it anymore.
"Time flies. I've grown up so fast in the blink of an eye."
With her hands full of water, she stopped and turned to look at the two children scratching around on the rocks not far away. Wen Wan found a slightly cleaner rock not far away and sat down. "Yes, time flies by. The days and years go by so fast. I came here in the winter of 1971 and have been here for more than five years."
"I'm not much later than you. It's true. When I first arrived, every day was so hard that I doubted I could hold on. I didn't expect to stay here for so long."
Wen Wan smiled and said, "After staying here for a long time, do you think this place is actually quite good?"
Xu Wenfang nodded: "It's okay, we are luckier than most people, it's easy for us."
Wen Wan and Xu Wenfang were in the same production team. One taught in a junior high school in the commune, and the other taught in an elementary school in the brigade. They didn't meet each other very often. Occasionally, she would meet him when she went to the educated youth site to find Xu Qingming. They would nod and smile at each other as a greeting.
It's rare that we meet like today and can sit down and chat for a few minutes.
We didn't talk much together before, but when we met occasionally and sat down together, we could still chat. After all, we were both teachers, and we had many common topics, such as students in the school, and some things in the team. Especially this year, many people went back, but they stayed here, so it was inevitable that they felt a sense of sympathy for each other.
Xu Wenfang asked her, "How old are you this year?"
The two people didn't have a very deep friendship and almost no contact. They were just acquaintances. Suddenly asking about age was a bit abrupt.
Xu Wenfang felt a little embarrassed when she asked out loud.
Wen Wan didn't care: "I'm twenty-three this year."
"Twenty-three, I'm twenty-four this year." She is a little older than Wen Wan, but Wen Wan has a home here and her children are running around, but she is still alone.
"Tell me, should I just accept my fate and find someone more like me to marry? If I keep wasting time, I'll really get old." A woman's best years are so short, they pass by in a flash. The marriage age requirement is 18, and she's already as old as she can be.
"I used to think that as long as I behaved well, I'd be able to go back sooner or later. Later, when no one else could go back, I felt quite at ease. But now everyone who could have gone back has gone back, and I'm probably going to stay here forever. Living alone is actually quite sad." Although her family lives in the city, their conditions are very ordinary. Her parents were both workers, and she has four siblings. Two years ago, her sister-in-law came in to take her mother's job, and the family is still squeezed into a tube-shaped building and struggling to make ends meet. She used to send money back home a few years ago and even took leave to go back once in the middle, but that home is no longer the home she remembered from her childhood. She hasn't been back in two years and hasn't sent a penny home.
So, others were able to get their families back by using their family connections, but she had no hope.
Her voice was light, but Wen Wan could hear the deep sadness in it.
"If you really plan to settle down here for the rest of your life, then take a good look and see if there's anyone suitable. You're educated, have a job, and aren't bad looking. If you want, you'll definitely find the right one. After all, you can't live with your parents forever. Everyone grows up and has their own family, sooner or later. Since you'll have to leave home and get married sooner or later, why does it matter where you live?"
Xu Wenfang's eyes were a little red, and she looked at her and said, "You, is this what you thought when you planned to be with Lu Dongping? Have you decided not to go back?"
Wen Wan plucked a blade of grass and rubbed it between her hands, looking at the willows that had just begun to turn green in the distance. She said, "If I go back, the most I can do is visit my elders, but my home is here. My man and my children are here. Where can I go back? If I go back to the capital, I can't just be an old maid by my father's side forever. I still have to work and get married. Did I abandon my husband and children and run back just to walk the same path again? Different places, seemingly the same path, the second time walking it may not be smoother than the first time. This place is a little poor and backward, but there are good people here too. There are only so many good people you can meet in your lifetime."
Xu Wenfang smiled bitterly: "I wish I could be like you, seeing everything so clearly."
Wen Wan smiled softly, "It's not that I'm completely shrewd. To be frank, I'm just quite selfish and will never compromise myself. No matter where I go or what circumstances I'm in, I'll make whatever choice makes me feel comfortable. I've never thought about living a life of luxury, I just want to be comfortable. Lu Dongping treats me very well, and his family is pretty good. If he hadn't treated me well, I would have left long ago. Why would I have stayed until now?"
While speaking, his eyes did not move away from Dandan. The little guy and Chuyi were there, moving stones with their butts sticking out. After playing for a while, they probably lost interest and staggered towards the water, secretly preparing to make trouble again.
Wen Wan couldn't sit there and chat with others anymore. She went over and took the person aside. Then she called Xu Wenfang: "I'll take them downstairs for a walk. You're busy! If you have time, you can come to my house and talk or something."
Xu Wenfang smiled and nodded. After she led the child and carried the basket away, she reached out to wipe the corners of her moist eyes.
She didn't know where her life would go, she couldn't find the direction. She envied Wen Wan from the bottom of her heart, but she also knew that she was not Wen Wan, and she didn't have the same conditions as her, nor could she be as open-minded as her, and naturally she wouldn't have the same life as her.
At least I have a job now, I have a salary, and my life is pretty good. I'll just let things take their own course. If I find someone suitable, I'll get married. It doesn't matter where we live or where we get married, right?
There is a lot of grass in the spring, and even if Wen Wan tried to do two things at once, she still filled the basket after running around.
Things are different now than when she first opened the business. Although she doesn't work often, she has become much stronger. It might be because she developed this strength from holding children.
I carried the pig feed and the children back, took a breath, and then got water for the two little ones to wash their hands. I took them to the roadside to pee, and then put them to bed.
Dandan always takes a nap at noon no matter whether it is winter or summer. She couldn't sleep on Chuyi, and she opened her eyes as soon as Wen Wan left the house. She turned over and climbed onto the bed to look at Dandan who was sleeping on the bed. She felt very bored, so she crawled out from under the quilt, grabbed the headboard, and slid down from the bed. She didn't even wear shoes and ran out barefoot.
It was just past three o'clock, and it was still early. Wen Wan planned to go to her private plot while the two children were asleep and pick all the garlic sprouts.
This job is the most labor-intensive and you won’t have time to do it during normal times. If it grows any longer, it will become old and inedible.
Just as I found the basket and locked the door with a small stool, Chuyi ran out of the house barefoot: "Auntie, I don't want to sleep."
Wen Wan looked at her bare feet on the ground and sighed deeply. She put down the basket she had picked up and called out to her, "Where are your shoes? Why did you run out without shoes?"
Chuyi ran back quickly, his socks covered with mud from the ground.
Wen Wan found a bench to sit on, brushed off the dust on her feet, and then put on her cloth shoes.
"Auntie is going to the fields to pick vegetables, do you want to go?"
Chuyi nodded hurriedly: "Go, I have to go."
Wen Wan smiled and touched her head. After thinking for a while, she decided to lock the door on this side as well. She carried the basket in one hand and took Chuyi out of the yard with the other hand. As soon as she got outside, she glanced down inadvertently and vaguely saw a few people walking towards her house.
She didn't care and took Chuyi by the hand to the private plot across the road. Just as she squatted down in the field and hadn't peeled two garlic sprouts, she heard someone walking towards them. Before they came close, they asked, "Excuse me, female comrade, is this Comrade Lu Dongping's home?"
Looking for Lu Dongping?
Wen Wan turned around and was about to say yes, but was stunned when she saw the person coming.
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