This morning, after Yang Wanlin finished his breakfast, he went back to his room to sleep. As soon as he lay down, Li Xiaomei came in.
"Why are you lying down again? Didn't you say you were going up the mountain today? Your eldest brother and the other three went up the mountain to chop firewood!" Li Xiaomei lifted the quilt from Yang Wanlin and said dissatisfiedly.
"Mom, you want me to go hunting now. Do you think I can go up the mountain in broad daylight?" Yang Wanlin said as he covered himself with the quilt again.
"Then why don't you go chop wood with them first! You lazy guy." Li Xiaomei scolded.
"Today is only the seventh day of the New Year. I didn't really have any free time until New Year's Eve at the end of last year. I'm lazy. I earned more than 2,000 work points for my family last year by myself. The things I brought back for you from hunting in the mountains can be exchanged for at least ten yuan. In this family, who earns more than me? What's wrong with me taking a few days off during the New Year?" Yang Wanlin said deliberately angrily.
Seeing Yang Wanlin angry, Li Xiaomei quickly softened and explained, "Wanlin, it's not that mother forbids you to rest. Didn't I ask you to go hunting more often before the village starts working? Your eldest brother and the others don't have your skills, so they can only rely on you.
Besides, if you bring back more prey, I'll go trade it. With more money at home, your eldest brother's wedding can be arranged sooner! After your eldest brother gets married, won't it be you?"
Zhang Wanlin said disdainfully, "Last year, our family earned over 10,000 work points. In the village, one work point is 90 cents, so our family earned almost 100 yuan. Add to that the 10 or so yuan you earned from trading your prey, and isn't that enough for him to marry? What kind of fairy is he going to marry?"
As for what Li Xiaomei said about finding him a wife, Yang Wanlin would not believe it. Even if she did, she would only find a girl who could work and be a workhorse for the Li family. He did not want that.
"How can you calculate it like that? If you don't manage the household, you don't know that cooking oil and salt are free. Besides, didn't we buy nearly thirty yuan worth of food last year? Otherwise, how could we have enough to feed the family? Add to that the usual miscellaneous expenses, and there's only about sixty or seventy yuan left."
"Your eldest brother gave the matchmaker three yuan for those two blind dates. If your eldest brother succeeds in the next blind date, and the engagement and marriage are free, I'll have to make you a new bed and quilt! And then there's the bride price, the wedding banquet, and so on. It's definitely not enough when you add it all up," Li Xiaomei counted.
"Many people in the village can marry a good wife with just 50 yuan, but my eldest brother has high requirements. He is not satisfied with this or that. He just wants someone to help him find a wife, but he is so picky." Yang Wanlin rolled his eyes and said sarcastically.
On both occasions, Yang Wansen looked down on the women, saying they were ugly, that they were either masculine or too skinny, without even considering his own appearance. Only Li Xiaomei spoiled him.
When Li Xiaomei heard Yang Wanlin talking about her eldest son, she felt unhappy and her face was not good. She said directly and angrily: "Your eldest brother is handsome and hardworking. Of course he needs a good girl. What do you know? I tell you, no matter what happens today, you have to go up the mountain. If you delay your eldest brother's marriage, I will not let you go."
Yang Wanlin smiled sarcastically. Yang Wansen didn't even have a partner now, but he had delayed his marriage. It was true that some people were born biased.
Yang Wanlin pulled the quilt over his head and said in a cold voice, "If you want me to go up the mountain, don't disturb my sleep now. If I don't get enough rest, I won't go this afternoon!"
When Li Xiaomei heard Yang Wanlin say that he was going up the mountain to hunt, she didn't say anything else. At least before leaving, she glared at Yang Wanlin who was sleeping under the quilt with an unhappy look.
Yang Wanlin wasn't afraid of Li Xiaomei. The weather was good this year, and the village would probably be calling for work after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. He wouldn't have time to earn extra money in the mountains. He'd saved a hundred bucks from hunting in the mountains over the past few years, and if he hadn't often cooked his own meals in the mountains and occasionally dined at state-owned restaurants, he could have saved even more.
The Yang family only ate two meals a day unless they were working, and Yang Wanlin would not return home until midnight. At two o'clock in the afternoon, he would get up from his bed and go to Li Xiaomei's room to ask for food. He would not go up the mountain unless he was full.
Finally, Li Xiaomei steamed some corn cakes for him. Yang Wanlin ate three of them and wrapped the remaining two in newspaper in his arms, waiting to eat them when he got hungry on the mountain. After putting the tools he needed to bring in his backpack, he went to the kitchen to get a few sweet potatoes, and then he went out from behind the house, hiding from others and carrying the backpack up the mountain.
At around five o'clock in the afternoon, Yang Wanlin caught three rabbits and two pheasants. He planned to go to the thatched hut to pack up the prey, eat something, and then go to the commune when it was getting dark.
When I walked to the back of the thatched hut, I heard noises coming from inside. It was those second-rate guys in the village who came here to play cards. This was rare. These lazy guys usually didn't do anything, but they came here today just to play cards. It seemed that the village cadres had finally made up their minds to discipline them this year.
Yang Wanlin shook his head and decided to find another place. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he heard someone inside ask, "Yang Cai, didn't you go to Liujia Village for a blind date today? Aren't you planning on becoming a live-in son-in-law? Are you going to make a fortune?"
When Yang Wanlin heard the words "Liujia Village", he stopped and quietly found a secluded place to hide, wanting to listen to what they were saying.
Yang Cai snorted and said disdainfully, "Don't mention it. It's really unlucky. My family is not well off and can't afford to support me. That woman is no good either. She only has a nice face, but she's skinny and looks like she has no flesh on her body. She has a bad temper too, she's a shrew!"
Another person in the room asked, "Yang Cai, is this true or false? You're not trying to secretly climb up the social ladder and enjoy the good life without telling us brothers, are you?"
Yang Cai kicked the man and said disdainfully: "If you don't believe me, go and try it yourself. The woman's name is Shengnan. What's the name of Shengnan? In the end, she still needs to find a son-in-law. It depends on us men."
Yang Cai thought that Liu Xiu's family had a backer in Liujia Village, and they were not easy to mess with. He would feel relieved if he could just go and get beaten up.
"Brother Cai, I would like to be a son-in-law and live off a woman, but with my looks, won't people look down on me? Brother Cai, you are not as handsome as me, and you are the one who chooses the girls." The man who just questioned Yang Cai said shamelessly. This man was not tall, looked a bit abstract, and had little strength.
Yang Cai was pleased by his words and said with a smile: "Why would a man want to be a son-in-law? My cousin is a matchmaker. I will ask her to help you find a suitable girl!"
"Really, Brother Cai, I'd like to trouble you with my lifelong affairs. As long as she's a woman, it's fine. I don't care whether she's a live-in son-in-law or something else!" The man smiled obscenely.
The other two also said, "Brother, you have to remember our marriage too!"
Yang Cai said smugly, "Okay, okay, let's play cards first. No one is allowed to run away early today. We have to play to our heart's content!"
…
When Yang Wanlin heard the name "Shengnan", his eyes darkened. Later, he heard several people in the room talking dirty. Yang Wanlin didn't want to listen anymore. He glanced at the thatched cottage with an unclear look and left.
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