Chapter 197: Eating Melon in the Contemporary Literature (Part 9)
The compound where the Qiao family lived was originally a two-entry courtyard.
The front and back yards are not big:
There are three main rooms and two side rooms on the east and west sides.
Because it is close to the Five Star Machinery Factory, many employees were arranged by the street and the factory to come in.
Depending on length of service, rank, etc., some employees were allocated one room, and some were allocated two.
There are two courtyards and a total of about ten households.
Although old man Qiao's level is not very good and his skills are average, he has a lot of experience.
He used to be an apprentice in a foreign machinery factory. After liberation, he became a veteran of the Five-Star Factory.
When the houses were distributed, he got the two main rooms in the front yard.
Widow Liu’s husband is also an old man in the machinery factory, but he is a few years younger than old man Qiao.
Her house is in the east wing of the backyard.
There are also two rooms, one is used as the main room and the other is the inner room.
Widow Liu's husband died of illness a few years ago, leaving behind three daughters.
Originally, Widow Liu gave birth to four daughters in one go, one of whom died when she was a few years old.
The eldest daughter and the third daughter got married one after another, and only the youngest daughter found a son-in-law at home.
Bai Si Ni's son-in-law is Gu Changhe, a relative from the same village as Gu Xiaoni.
According to the seniority in the village, Gu Xiaoni should call Gu Changhe "brother".
As for Widow Liu, she is the aunt who is very closely related to him.
With Gu Changhe's matchmaking and the relationship between them, it was not too much for Widow Liu to act like an elder in front of Gu Qingcheng.
"Xiao Ni, I'm telling you, don't be stupid!"
"The job at the machinery factory was left to Jianguo by your family. How can you just give it to someone else just because you want to?"
"If it doesn't work, go to the factory or the Women's Federation! There will always be someone there to help you!"
Widow Liu's words were indeed from the perspective of "Gu Xiaoni".
Otherwise, as neighbors of the Qiao family, they would just watch the fun and try to smooth things over.
Gu Qingcheng knew that Widow Liu did this for her own good.
She looked at Widow Liu with eyes full of gratitude, "Aunt, thank you!"
Then she added, "But let's forget about it."
"Others may not know Jianguo's father's temper, but as an old neighbor, don't you know it?"
"They're always throwing things around, yelling and yelling at people... My child and I just want to live a quiet life!"
"Now there is another Qiao Tongsuo. Jianguo's father can actually say such ridiculous things that I have never thought of!"
When she said the last sentence, Gu Qingcheng's face was full of surprise and ridicule, but more of it was disheartened: "Forget it! I really can't stay in the Qiao family anymore."
"If you are not careful, mud will fall into your crotch, which will be shit if not shit!"
Widow Liu opened her mouth and swallowed all the words of persuasion in her heart.
"Mom, you're back! What's going on in the front yard? I can hear it from so far away!"
Widow Liu took Gu Qingcheng and her daughter to her own house, but before they could open the door, it was pushed open from the inside.
A young man in his twenties came out of the house carrying a basin of water.
Looking up and seeing Widow Liu, the young man asked casually.
As soon as he asked, the young man saw Gu Qingcheng, "Huh? Xiaoni is here too! Come in quickly!"
As he spoke, he moved aside.
"Brother Changhe!"
Gu Qingcheng greeted the young man.
Gu Changhe's eyes swept over the small bundle hanging on Gu Qingcheng's arm, and he suddenly realized, "Xiao Ni, wasn't there a commotion at your house just now?"
"Hey, let's go inside first!"
Widow Liu was a little impatient and waved her hand, "Go and pour some water, Xiao Ni and I will go into the house and talk!"
Widow Liu's attitude towards Gu Changhe was not good, but she was not deliberately looking for trouble.
If the identities are changed: Widow Liu is not the mother-in-law, but the mother-in-law, and she treats the daughter-in-law instead of the son-in-law, which seems normal and reasonable.
After all, a son-in-law, like a daughter-in-law, "marries" into someone else's family.
However, there are essential differences between a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law.
The former is a macho man, with self-esteem and pride coming from his gender and the world.
Both of them suffer from bullying in their partner's family, but the son-in-law is the one who has to compromise and is miserable and pitiful, while the daughter-in-law takes it for granted!
There was a hint of sadness in Gu Changhe's eyes, and veins bulged on the back of his hand holding the aluminum basin.
However, he still "endured" it, forced a smile, and found the stairs to go down by himself, "Hey! You guys come in!"
After saying that, Gu Changhe took the basin and went to the water room in the yard.
She washes the dishes and pots very carefully.
"Hey! Xiao Gu is here to wash the dishes again. Haha, your son-in-law is really capable."
The person who spoke was Li Hongmei, the eldest daughter-in-law of Zhu Jinshui, the old man who was in charge of the backyard. She was in her thirties, had a rather thin tongue, and looked like a shrewd and eloquent person.
At first glance, what she said to Gu Changhe sounded normal.
But she mentioned "washing dishes" and "son-in-law", which made it easy for "interested people" to think too much.
In this era, how can grown men in the North do housework?
Gu Changhe did it, and he was a son-in-law.
so--
"Hmm!" Gu Changhe responded randomly, lowering his head, his entire face hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to see his expression clearly.
Only when washing dishes, the banging and clanging sounds seemed a bit harsh in the yard in the evening.
After Gu Qingcheng entered the house, she also noticed the movement outside.
A son-in-law with a strong sense of self-esteem, and a gossipy neighbor who likes to make fun of others... Tsk tsk, the widow Liu's family may not be able to have peace in the future.
The troublemaker locked in the small dark room:... Humph, you have been kicked out of the house by your in-laws, and you still have the mind to eat other people’s melons?
"Xiao Ni, do you really want to go back to your parents' home?"
Widow Liu felt a little pity. She had just lived a good life in the city for a few years, but now she had to go back in disgrace with her daughter, pregnant.
My parents may feel bad, but will my sisters-in-law be happy?
"Um!"
Of course she had to go back. Gu Qingcheng had already received a note from Director Feng, requiring her to return to her parents' home to handle the procedures for transferring her household registration.
Due to the requirements of the times, when the original owner, Gu Xiaoni, got married, her household registration remained in her mother's production team.
Now that Gu Qingcheng has obtained a job quota at the machinery factory, he is going to move his household registration there.
These days, if you want to eat commercial grain, there are two ways: first, you can become a formal employee of a factory through recruitment;
Second, you can buy a house in the city and register your household registration to the house.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
The former is a collective household registration, and the latter is an individual household registration.
Just like some of the employees in the machinery factory, some of them came from rural areas.
The factory was recruiting workers, and when they came into the city, they could apply for single dormitories.
Once you have accumulated enough years of service and grades, you can apply for housing, or apply for your family members to be transferred from rural to non-rural! As a "specially recruited" employee of the machinery factory, it is not easy for Gu Qingcheng to have a formal establishment.
Want to split the room?
Haha, just hang in there.
However, with a collective household registration in the factory, you can eat commercial grain.
So Gu Qingcheng still has to go back to her hometown to handle the formalities.
"Oh, kid, why can't you make sense!"
"...But what you said makes sense. Jianguo is a good kid, but his parents—"
Having said that, Widow Liu couldn't help but shook her head.
Gu Qingcheng didn't say anything.
Outsiders can talk about the parents-in-law, but Gu Qingcheng, as a cheap daughter-in-law, cannot.
Even if this pair of in-laws have become a thing of the past.
She lowered her head and said nothing, but subconsciously glanced at the surrounding environment out of the corner of her eye.
Widow Liu’s husband’s surname is Bai, and the current head of the household is Widow Liu’s youngest daughter, Bai Si Ni.
The Bai family’s house is neither big nor small.
The furnishings in the main room are similar to those in the Qiao family's.
They are all central halls, long tables, and octagonal tables.
There was a wooden bed against the west wall.
The bedding was folded into a square, with a pillow on top, and the pillow was covered with a pillowcase embroidered with red plum blossoms.
The beds were made.
When guests come during the day and there are not enough stools, they will sit on the beds.
At night, you can pull out the bedding and sleep.
Gu Qingcheng took a quick glance and roughly guessed that this bed should belong to Widow Liu.
Bai Sini and Gu Changhe were in the inner room.
"Okay, now that you've made up your mind, I won't persuade you any further!"
"It's getting late, Qiao'er is sleepy, you two should stay here with me for the night!"
Widow Liu said as she stood up and took out another pillow from the cabinet. "I have washed the pillowcase, it is not dirty!"
The pillow belongs to my partner. Nowadays, we don’t prepare new bedding just for guests.
Old things can still be used after being washed and cleaned!
"Aunt, look at what you said! You are so kind to keep Qiao'er and me here. I am so grateful. How could I despise you?"
Gu Qingcheng said sincerely.
When Widow Liu saw that she was not pretending, she felt even more sorry for this girl!
What a sensible child! Alas, the old couple in the Qiao family can act as they please.
Widow Liu was making the bed when Bai Sini came in from outside with the child.
Perhaps when he passed by the front yard, he had already heard the neighbors talking about the latest news about the Qiao family.
After entering the room, seeing Gu Qingcheng and Qiao Qiao, Bai Sini did not ask much, but just greeted her politely.
Gu Qingcheng took a look at Bai Sini, who was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with slightly dark skin and normal facial features.
Well, if we use the system's scoring model, Bai Sini's appearance should be around 65 points.
Not ugly, not pretty, just an ordinary person.
As the daughter of a married man, Bai Sini took over her father's job and worked in the guesthouse under the machinery factory.
After working for seven or eight years, I have been rated as a second-level worker and earn 37 yuan a month.
The guesthouse also offers some benefits, and she can support a family of four by herself.
However, Gu Changhe is a grown man after all, and it is impossible for him to be a househusband at home.
One of the conditions for marrying into the family was that the Bai family help Gu Changhe find a job.
Bai Si Ni took out most of her family savings and got Gu Changhe a temporary job in the cafeteria.
The salary is lower and there are no benefits like regular employees.
But at least it's a serious job.
If you do well, you can become a regular employee.
For rural people of this era, this is already a step towards heaven!
Therefore, although he was a son-in-law who lived with the family, people of all ages in Gujia Village were very envious of him.
When Gu Changhe returns to the village, he will receive all kinds of envious and jealous looks.
Especially since he successfully arranged a marriage for Gu Xiaoni and married her off to a man in the city, Gu Changhe became even more respected in his hometown.
PS: This part about settling down is what I heard from some elders. I haven’t done any research, so I don’t know if it’s true. You guys can just watch it for fun. (*^▽^*)
(End of this chapter)
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