On Sunday morning, Zhou Jianhai's cousin arrived.
This news was told to Lin Wei by Wang Fangli, who loved gossip. When she was washing dishes after breakfast, she saw Zhou Jianhai leading a strange-looking girl into her house, and she started whispering to her neighbors.
However, due to her background, Deng Xiangyun didn't interact much with her neighbors, and no one could make sense of the conversation.
Thinking that Lin Wei and Wang Fangli had a good relationship and might know the inside story, Wang Fangli came over after finishing her work to find out the inside story.
At that time, Lin Wei was fiddling with a flowerpot that she had moved down from the second floor. It was called a flowerpot, but in fact it was just a rusty enamel pot. Because there was a piece missing from the edge, the previous resident had filled it with soil and used it as a flowerpot.
After the previous tenants moved out, the flowers in the pots were left unattended and had long since dried up and died. Although Lin Wei had always wanted to make use of the flower pots, there was no flower market in Ya County. She didn't know where to buy the flowers, so the matter was put on hold.
Until yesterday when I talked about this with Zhao Li, she said: "You said earlier that you wanted to grow flowers. I know a military wife who has a lot of flowers at home. If you want to grow some, I can ask her if she is willing to give you two."
Lin Wei said immediately, "Okay, then please ask her if she is willing to sell it."
Zhao Li was efficient. She agreed to help Lin Wei ask in the morning and brought good news in the evening. The other party was willing to give Lin Wei two mandarin duck jasmine plants for free.
What Lin Wei needs to do now is to free up the enamel basin and fill it with soil suitable for the growth of mandarin duck jasmine. Once the preparation work is completed, you can go to the other party's home to transplant the plants.
When Lin Wei heard Wang Fangli say that Zhou Jianhai brought back a young girl, she knew it must be Zhou's cousin.
Seeing that Lin Wei didn't say anything, Wang Fangli asked, "Do you know who this girl is?"
Lin Wei knew that Wang Fangli loved to gossip. If she didn't say that the person was Zhou Jianhai's relative, she didn't know what she would say when she got out. But because she didn't know the situation, Lin Wei didn't say it too sure, and only vaguely said: "It seems to be the younger sister of Instructor Zhou's hometown. How old is that girl?"
"I'm not sure, but she has two thick braids and looks quite young." Wang Fangli said as she thought, "That's not right. Isn't Instructor Zhou an only child? Where did the sister come from?"
Lin Wei asked back: "Aren't cousins and cousins all sisters?"
Wang Fangli thought so too, but said, "Why would a cousin like her suddenly come here? And I think she came alone. Can her family rest assured?"
Although Lin Wei also felt that Zhou Jianhai's cousin's family was generous enough, she still said in front of Wang Fangli: "Why should we worry about this? Zhou Jianhai is her brother. Who can bully her when she comes here?"
Wang Fangli thought, even if he was her biological brother, without parents to protect him, wouldn’t he still have to depend on his sister-in-law for his life? What's more, they are not even blood relatives.
But she knew that Lin Wei and Deng Xiangyun were good friends, so she didn't say this out loud. She just said, "That's true, but she's a half-grown girl, so you should talk to her, right? Is she moving here this time to find a partner on the island?"
"I haven't heard Xiangyun mention it." Lin Wei said in a light tone.
The more Wang Fangli thought about it, the more she felt that this was the case. She said, "That must be the case. This is a really good idea. Anyway, there are not many other things on our island, but there are many unmarried young people."
There are more male soldiers than female soldiers in the Sanlin base, but no matter whether they are male or female soldiers, they stay in the army all year round and have little time to take care of marriage. There are a lot of unmarried young people, so Wang Fangli is not wrong.
But Lin Wei felt that it would be best to marry someone who knew her well. Even if he didn't have to be from the same brigade or commune, he should at least be from the same county or city, which would be closer to her parents' home. In this way, if you encounter problems after marriage, your wife’s family will be able to support you.
Although there are many unmarried young people in the base, they come from all over the world. It is not easy to find people from the same province, let alone the same city.
Only family members of military personnel at the deputy battalion rank and above can accompany the troops, and most officers who meet that rank are already married. But if she finds someone who is not at that rank, she will have to go to his hometown alone after marriage, and it is hard to say how her life will be in the future.
But it’s not necessary to say that you shouldn’t look for a partner on the island. When it comes to marriage, it still depends on the person. If you choose the right person, it’s possible that your life will get better and better after you get through the first few years.
However, Lin Wei did not continue what Wang Fangli said, because finding a partner was just Wang Fangli's guess, and guesses are often the source of rumors.
As more and more people spread the rumor, it gradually became "fact" in people's eyes.
For a young girl like Cousin Zhou, it is definitely not a good thing to have the reputation of traveling thousands of miles to find a partner for no reason.
Lin Wei said with a serious expression: "You can just say this in front of me, but don't spread it outside. Maybe she is just here to visit relatives. If your words get out and cause some misunderstanding, it will not be good for anyone to be labeled as someone who came all the way to find a date."
Although she knew that what Lin Wei said made sense, Wang Fangli was a little embarrassed and muttered, "I just said it casually. It's not that serious, right?"
Wang Fangli's attitude is typical of someone who doesn't feel itchy if lice don't grow on her body, and she doesn't know how to put herself in other people's shoes.
If Wang Fangli was talking about someone else, or if she didn't say these words in front of her, she really wouldn't bother to care about these things. Anyway, Wang Fangli would have to bear the consequences of her words.
But now, Lin Wei still advised: "You just said it casually, but if more people say it, the situation will be different. Isn't it the truth that a lot of gossip can melt gold and a lot of criticism can destroy a person?"
Wang Fangli graduated from elementary school. Among all the military wives in the family quarters, her educational background is not the worst, but it is not good either.
In addition, she had never picked up a book since graduating from elementary school, and had forgotten many words. She only learned them after she joined the army in order to be more competitive in her job arrangements.
Although the idiom Lin Wei said was not uncommon, it was not very common, so Wang Fangli did not quite understand it. But she was a person who cared about her reputation. She didn't understand and was too embarrassed to ask, so she said vaguely, "I know, I know. Can't I just not go out and tell others?" After that, she found an excuse and ran away.
When leaving Lin Wei's house, Wang Fangli was still thinking, how tiring it is to talk to intellectuals. They keep giving her so many truths, it's unbearable!
…
After lunch, Deng Xiangyun brought Xiao Shitou over.
Lin Wei thought something had happened at first. After watching the three children go out to play, she poured Deng Xiangyun a cup of cold tea and asked, "Why are you here?"
"I took some time to make two more hats for Ruirui and Mingming." Deng Xiangyun said, taking out two black hats from her handbag and handing them to Lin Wei, "Take a look at them, what do you think?"
Lin Wei said as soon as she heard it: "I didn't even pay for the hat you gave me before, and now you're making hats for two children, this... I can't accept it!"
Deng Xiangyun said, "It's not much money. The three hats don't use much fabric. The total is not as much as the tuition you should pay. Not to mention you helped us take care of Xiao Shitou for free. If you really calculate it, I am the one who got the better deal."
"I didn't take care of Xiao Shitou that much. If I had to say, it should be that the three of them took care of each other." Lin Wei waved her hand and said, "Don't even mention the tuition fees. It took me almost a month to teach them the vowels and consonants. If I still charge tuition fees for this progress, then being a teacher would be too easy."
"So now, you feel that you haven't done much, and I feel that I haven't spent much money. In this case, let's both take a step back and stop being polite to each other." Deng Xiangyun concluded, opened the folded hat and said, "Take a look at this hat. If there's anything wrong with it, I'll take it back and modify it."
After Deng Xiangyun said this, Lin Wei had no choice but to take a step back and lower her head to look at the hat in her hand.
Seeing this, Lin Wei laughed: "How did you come up with that?"
The two new hats made by Deng Xiangyun are similar in style to the ones she made for Lin Wei, but because they are for children, she chose a brighter color, goose yellow.
And on the basis of the hat, she embroidered a pair of big black eyes and an orange-yellow flat beak. It's not very realistic, but you can tell that they are two little yellow ducks.
Very childlike.
Lin Wei liked it as soon as she saw it. She picked it up, touched its black eyes, and pinched its mouth: "So cute."
Seeing that Lin Wei liked it, Deng Xiangyun stood up and said, "Then I'll call Mingming and Ruirui in to try it." She walked outside and called the three children into the house.
Although the game between the three children had not officially started due to the short time, the sun was shining brightly at this point, the children's faces and bodies were covered in sweat, and their hands were also covered in sand.
Therefore, after the children entered the house, Lin Wei asked them to wash their faces first. After they were clean, she asked the two children to try on the hats.
The hat made by Deng Xiangyun is still very attractive to children. Ruirui liked it at first sight and clamored to wear it.
Lin Wei pulled open the hat and put it on their heads. The circumference of their heads was a little big, but not so low that it covered their eyebrows and eyes. The edge of the hat was also fixed with thin iron wire, so the angle could be adjusted so as not to affect their walking.
Mingming loves to play tricks. After putting on the hat, he put his hands close to his body with his palms spread outwards. He imitated the walk of a duck and said, "Quack, quack, quack, I am a duck."
Ruirui couldn't do such a thing, but after putting on the hat, he kept touching the flat mouth on the hat with his hands and asked Lin Wei: "Mom, is this hat really for me?"
"Well, these two hats were made by Aunt Deng and given to you personally." Lin Wei nodded and asked, "What should you say at this time?"
"Thank you, Aunt Deng." At times like this, the two children's voices are always in unison.
Deng Xiangyun smiled and said, "You're welcome. If you feel uncomfortable wearing the hat, you can tell me and I will adjust it for you."
Mingming shook his head and said, "It's very comfortable, no need to change it!"
Ruirui turned to ask Little Stone: "You didn't wear a hat?"
Little Stone didn't say anything, but looked at his mother with his lips bitten.
Deng Xiangyun reached out and touched his head and said, "Little Stone's hat is not ready yet. When it is, he can wear it with you."
Rui Rui opened his mouth wide, was stunned for a moment and asked, "When will his hat be ready?"
Deng Xiangyun thought for a moment and said, "About three or four days."
Ruirui let out a long sigh, took off her hat and said, "Then I won't wear it either. When your hat is done, we can wear it together."
Mingming took off his hat after hearing that: "Then I won't wear it either, let's wear it together, then we'll be three little ducks, quack quack!"
Seeing Mingming imitating the funny way of walking like a duck, Xiao Shitou couldn't help laughing out loud and nodded heavily, saying, "Okay, let's wear it together."
After the three of them had agreed on this matter, they handed the hats to the two adults and went out again, hand in hand.
Holding the hat in her hand and looking at the backs of the three children, Deng Xiangyun said with emotion: "Rui Rui is a very careful child, and Mingming is also very sensible."
Lin Wei said: "Little Stone is also very sensible. Old shígG Dujia"
In fact, many children have a sense of possessiveness. When there is a situation where you have something and I don’t have something among brothers and sisters, there will inevitably be a quarrel, not to mention that Deng Xiangyun is Xiao Shitou’s biological mother.
It can be seen that Xiao Shitou felt a little aggrieved when Mingming Ruirui was trying on the hat. But he did not cry or lose his temper, and he quickly forgot the unpleasant incident after Deng Xiangyun said she would make a hat for him.
Deng Xiangyun was slightly stunned when she heard this, then she thought about what happened just now, admitted her mistake and said, "I was not thoughtful this time."
She always wanted to repay Lin Wei for taking care of the children, so she sent the two hats over immediately after making them, but she didn't consider how her son would feel when he found out that Ruirui had all three hats but he didn't.
"It's okay to be inconsiderate once. You'll be more careful next time." Lin Wei consoled her, picking up the hat and looking at it. "What do you think will happen when the three of them walk out wearing the hats?"
Before Deng Xiangyun could speak, Lin Wei said, "The other children in the family quarters would be so jealous if they saw this."
Deng Xiangyun pursed her lips and smiled: "How can it be so exaggerated?"
"Of course not. I wore the hat you gave me before, and it attracted a lot of attention. Sister Liu and the others even asked me where I bought it so they could get one for me to wear. Later, I told them that you made it yourself, and they wanted to pay for it."
As for why it didn't work out, although Lin Wei didn't say it, Deng Xiangyun could guess it.
Because she wanted to get it, her heart softened and she said, "I'm working now, so I may not have so much time to take on jobs making hats, but if they like it, I can tell them how to make it."
"Is this... not appropriate? After all, you came up with the idea yourself."
The hats made by Deng Xiangyun may not be considered a big deal decades later, or similar styles can be found all over the world, but in this era, in China, this hat is definitely special.
If time leaps forward a few years, Lin Wei believes that Deng Xiangyun can make a fortune just from this hat.
But even if time did not leap forward, if she could conceal her practices and wait until the reform and opening up, she might be able to make money from this hat.
On the contrary, if she teaches others how to do it now, other military wives in the family quarters will definitely learn from her, and more and more people will wear this hat. The personnel in the family quarters are actually mobile, and these military wives may be transferred with their husbands at any time. Perhaps in a few years, this hat will no longer be special.
Lin Wei did not mention the reform and opening up, but only said that if the country stopped regulating business one day, Deng Xiangyun might make money with this hat, and that if she told others about her practices now, it might cause consequences, and she hoped that she could reconsider it.
Deng Xiangyun laughed after hearing this: "You are talking about the capitalist society. Our country is socialist, how can we open up business? And even if that day really comes, I may not be able to see it."
"What if you could see it?" Lin Wei asked.
"Even if I can see it, I probably won't regret my current choice. You should have heard others say that I come from a capitalist family..."
Deng Xiangyun only started to talk and then stopped. The smile on her face gradually disappeared. She lowered her head and said softly, "Even if that day really comes, I don't want to make any money. It's good for my family to be safe and sound like now."
Lin Wei fell silent. She knew very well why Deng Xiangyun had such thoughts.
In fact, she used to think so too. It would be best if she had a job, a husband, children, and a stable family life.
But the dream she had while following the army disrupted her peaceful and stable life, and at the same time, she also learned a lot about the future.
Three years later, the college entrance examination was resumed.
Four years later, reform and opening up began.
Their generation will usher in an era full of opportunities.
They will have many choices in their lives.
But Deng Xiangyun didn’t know all this, so what she wanted now was stability. After dreaming about the original plot, Lin Wei had already lost the chance to live a stable life, and she also developed "ambitions".
If she could survive, she wanted to go to college, get a better job, and earn more money.
Because of her change in thinking, she saw business opportunities in Deng Xiangyun's hat, so she was worried that Deng Xiangyun would suffer in the future because of her current choice.
But Lin Wei couldn't directly tell Deng Xiangyun about the changes in the next few years. She could only remind her implicitly: "What if you change your mind in a few years?"
"Even if I change my mind, I won't regret it."
Moreover, these hats were actually made by Deng Xiangyun based on the patterns she had drawn before. And she drew those patterns for no other reason than that she simply liked them.
She started learning painting at the age of five. When she was in junior high school, her family's financial situation was not good. For safety reasons, her parents stopped her from painting and chose a more stable path for her.
Facts proved that her parents were right. If she continued to study, go to high school and take the college entrance examination, she would definitely be labeled as a "stinking ninth" after the great movement began. Instead of being like it is now, although I have been implicated, at least I can still live.
In order to have a stable life now, Deng Xiangyun has not picked up a paintbrush for many years, but she still likes painting in her heart. In order to relieve this love, she began to paint patterns.
Whether making clothes or shoes, you have to draw a rough outline, so nowadays every household will save a few patterns. Therefore, even if her character is not good and her paintings are too fancy, it will not be a problem if they are found out.
"Since I can come up with these styles now, I can always come up with other styles in the future. It would be sad if I lived to the point where I regretted my current choices."
Lin Wei smiled: "You are right. I will ask Sister Liu and the others later. If they want to learn, I will let them come to you."
Deng Xiangyun nodded: "Okay."
After discussing this matter, Lin Wei put away the little yellow duck hats for the two children and asked casually, "I heard from Wang Fangli that Instructor Zhou's cousin is here?"
"Hear from Wang Fangli?" Deng Xiangyun asked mischievously.
Lin Wei confessed honestly: "When she was washing dishes, she saw your husband Zhou picking up his cousin home, so she came to me to inquire about the situation." She also told me Wang Fangli's guess.
Lin Wei said this just to remind Deng Xiangyun. Although Wang Fangli said at the time that she knew about it but would not tell anyone, her tone sounded perfunctory and it was obvious that she did not take it to heart.
It would be best if Wang Fangli thought about it carefully after returning home and finally chose to remain silent. But if she told others, Deng Xiangyun would know it in advance and be able to respond, after all, they are relatives.
Unexpectedly, Deng Xiangyun said nothing after hearing this, and her expression was very unusual.
Lin Wei had a hunch that something was wrong. She went over what she had just said in her mind, and then she asked hesitantly, "Cousin Zhou, the instructor's cousin, didn't come here to find a partner, did she?"
Deng Xiangyun remained silent. She picked up the enamel cup on the coffee table in front of her, brought it to her mouth, then stopped. After putting it back on the coffee table, she said, "I have this idea, but it's not all for this matter."
Wang Fangli actually guessed it right!
Lin Wei was shocked and couldn't help saying, "Although there are many young men of marriageable age on the island, they all come from all over the world. Are her parents really confident in letting their daughter marry there?"
"Don't mention her parents, that's..."
Deng Xiangyun was a gentleman, and no matter how much she despised those two people, one of them was Zhou Jianhai's aunt, so she finally sighed and said, "Eighth sister was forced into no choice."
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