Chapter 120
It's that time of year again when it's the hottest.
As students gradually went on holiday, they ran around the residential compound every day, diving into the river and running up the mountain. The compound became very lively during the day, and the sounds of children running and screaming could often be heard.
Xu Huaisheng no longer needs to go to school and can spend more time at home every day.
After the holiday started, she took over all the housework, doing laundry, cooking, sweeping, watering vegetables, and so on, so that her two older sisters could concentrate on their work.
For Xu Huaisheng, these tasks were far easier than farm work, making her feel that life here was like a dream, and she cherished it very much.
In the afternoon, if it was too hot, Xu Huaisheng would take Gu Tuantuan to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy popsicles.
She has pocket money, and quite a bit of it.
This allowance came not only from Gu Xi, but also from Xu Yuansheng. Neither of her older sisters wanted to make her feel wronged, as they felt she was already fifteen years old and a grown woman, so they gave her a fixed amount of allowance every month.
Xu Huaisheng doesn't usually spend money recklessly. He saves the pocket money his sisters give him, and now he has accumulated quite a lot of savings, making him arguably the person with the most savings among his peers in the family compound.
Gu Tuantuan loves coming to Guxi to play. After the holidays started, she came every day. Sometimes when her parents weren't home, she would stay here and sleep with Xu Yuansheng and her sister.
Gu Xi had a double bed delivered. For the two sisters who were used to sleeping in small beds since they were little, the double bed was too big. Even if there were more children, they could still sleep in it. It was just that it was quite hot at night and they needed to turn on the electric fan.
When summer arrived, Shen Mingzheng asked the logistics department to buy two electric fans from the city.
These days, few people are willing to buy appliances like electric fans. They get through the summer with just a fan. Electric fans are not only expensive, but they also require electricity. For people who are used to hard work and frugality, they feel it's unnecessary.
So when people learned that Commander Shen's family had actually bought an electric fan, many came to see what was going on.
When Gao Wenbin, who lived next door, learned that Shen Mingzheng had bought an electric fan, he slapped his forehead and turned around to ask someone to buy him one as well.
He said to Qiao Hui, "Don't let our little girl get too hot, let's buy one."
When Gao Wenbin recalled that Qiao Hui was pregnant last year and often couldn't sleep at night because of the heat, and would get up in the middle of the night to get angry, he felt a little guilty. He hadn't even thought of buying an electric fan at the time.
There's no need to save money on some things. Since there's electricity here and we can use electric fans, of course we'll use them. It's much better this way, as we don't have to work hard to fan ourselves.
Qiao Hui was holding her daughter while the fan was blowing on her when she noticed her daughter making "ah ah ah" sounds at the fan and kicking her soft legs happily, which made her chubby.
She tapped the child's nose and laughed, "Look at your daughter, she knows how to enjoy life."
When they were young, they never had such good things; they had to endure every summer.
Gao Wenbin stroked the soft baby hair on his daughter's head and laughed, "It proves that our daughter is very smart and knows that this is a good thing."
As he spoke, he picked up the child and bumped his forehead against hers, making the child giggle.
Qiao Hui was speechless. Even if she wanted to praise her daughter, she didn't have to do it so insincerely.
How can you tell if a child who is not even a year old is smart or not?
But seeing how much he loves his daughter, she felt relieved; having only one child is fine too.
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Upon learning that Chief of Staff Gao's family had also bought a fan, the neighbors on both sides rushed over to see it and, incidentally, to use it.
Qiao Hui didn't mind and generously entertained them.
Since last year, after she taught classes to military families who wanted to learn how to write, she found that they were easy to get along with and did not look at her strangely. This made her gradually more willing to go out, although she still rarely went out in the family compound. It was much better than before when she stayed at home and ignored everyone.
Grandma Yu also came and circled around the fan, finding it quite cool. However, after learning the price of the fan, she clicked her tongue and thought that buying this thing was really too wasteful.
Fans are so expensive and consume electricity, I can't bear to use them.
When she got home for dinner, she told her family, "That fan is indeed very convenient. You don't have to crank it yourself; it blows air directly at you, and it won't stop as long as the power is on. But it's expensive. Ginseng isn't even that expensive. How can anyone afford it? Only Commander Shen and Chief of Staff Gao, who don't have many children, dare to buy this wasteful thing."
Ma Chunling whispered, "Mom, I think ginseng is quite expensive."
Ginseng should be much more expensive than a fan.
Grandma Yu glared at her, "At least ginseng can nourish the body, but can a fan? We don't need to buy such wasteful things!"
However, when Yu Dabao and Yu Erbao heard this, they insisted on buying a fan.
They didn't care whether the fan was expensive or the electricity bill was high. When they heard that someone in the family compound had bought a fan, they knew that fans were good things, so they started to make trouble for Grandma Yu.
It's so hot in the summer, it would be so nice to have a fan.
Grandma Yu dotes on her two precious grandsons the most. Unable to bear their antics any longer, she quickly gave in and had no choice but to reluctantly pay the logistics department to go to the city to help purchase one and bring it back.
However, since the fan requires electricity, after buying it, she tries to avoid turning it on as much as possible. Except when her two grandsons are at home, Grandma Yu doesn't allow anyone to turn on the fan, and she herself hasn't even used it.
After this got out, he was laughed at by many people.
Fans are meant to be used; isn't it a waste to just leave them sitting there collecting dust?
It's not just the Yu family; quite a few households have bought fans this year.
When Ye Fenghua returned to the family compound on the weekend and came to chat with Gu Xi, she said in surprise, "I've never seen anyone buy fans before, but so many people are buying them this year. I wonder if they've all made money."
"This isn't about making money," Qiao Hui laughed. "It's because they didn't know fans existed before. This year, because Commander Shen's family bought one, everyone realized that such a useful thing existed, so of course they wanted to buy one too."
She only found out about it while chatting with other people.
The military bases are far from the city, so the families rarely go to the city and naturally don't know what's in the city's department stores.
Because of the lack of information, even if I had the money, I never thought of buying it.
Shen Mingzheng felt sorry for Gu Xi and was worried that she wouldn't be able to sleep well at night because of the heat in the summer. So he bought a fan when the weather was hot, which made people realize that there was such a good thing as a fan.
Ye Fenghua suddenly realized, and while enjoying the breeze from Gu Xi's fan, she couldn't help but exclaim, "This is a really good thing. Sitting here and enjoying the breeze, I can cool off very quickly without even having to fan myself."
If her family had more money, she would have liked to buy one.
Since starting work and having money, Ye Fenghua is no longer as frugal as before. When she sees something nice, she will buy some for the family to make the children happy.
However, they are still reluctant to spend money on fans at the moment.
When Ye Fenghua returned this time, she brought Gu Xi and Qiao Hui a lot of paper, all kinds of paper, which could be used for writing articles or drawing.
Since she started working at the paper mill, she has been bringing paper to the residents of the family compound from time to time, so they don't have to go out to buy it. She has taken care of all the paper that the children need for studying.
Gu Xi accepted the paper and asked curiously, "Hasn't your sister-in-law been back to the village lately?"
She was quite interested in the affairs of Ye Fenghua's family. The second story she wrote was inspired by Ye Fenghua and her family. After it was published, she heard that it was quite popular. Many women who read the story were filled with great enthusiasm for learning and wanted to learn from Comrade Ye in the story, to be independent and strong women, to actively learn knowledge, and to serve their country.
The publisher told her all of this, and also sent her some letters from readers.
Gu Xi was naturally pleased with this. She hadn't expected that Ye Fenghua's family story was so interesting; she'd heard that they often caused trouble.
Sometimes when Ye Fenghua came back and complained to her about her family, she listened with great interest and found it particularly inspiring.
It's true that human nature is to enjoy gossip; it's really satisfying.
“Oh, it’s hot. I sweat after walking for a while, so I didn’t go back. Besides, I’m busy with work and only have weekends off. How could I have time to go back?” Ye Fenghua said, pouting. “But my family did send me a message, asking me to go back for a visit.”
"What's wrong?"
Gu Xi and Qiao Hui immediately looked over, their faces full of gossip.
Xu Yuansheng, who was playing with Qiao Hui's child nearby, was speechless when he saw this scene. He realized that even the most indifferent and unassuming people have a great enthusiasm for gossip.
Ye Fenghua had no intention of covering up for her family members. Anyway, Gu Xi and Qiao Hui were not strangers, so she didn't have to worry about them gossiping about whatever she said to them.
Moreover, having someone to confide in makes you feel a little lighter, instead of always suppressing your own suffering.
“Didn’t my older brother’s son get a girlfriend? His girlfriend is the brigade leader’s niece. Her family is quite well-off. Her father is an accountant, her brother is the village’s tractor driver, and she herself is a scorekeeper… so her standards are high.” At this point, Ye Fenghua’s face showed an expression of not knowing what to say.
Qiao Hui asked with some confusion, "I remember, didn't your family say they wanted to find a city girl for your nephew?"
In order to find a girl from the city, he even wanted Ye Fenghua to give up her job at the paper mill to her older brother's son. Unexpectedly, he found a partner in the village so quickly.
Ye Fenghua said, "They want to find city girls, but city girls wouldn't be interested. No city girl would be so foolish as to marry someone from the countryside, would she?"
These days, everyone is desperately trying to move to the city to get an urban household registration. Nobody's going to be stupid enough to go back to the countryside and eat dirt.
The girl isn't stupid. She's perfectly happy being a city dweller with a government-subsidized food supply. Why would she be so foolish as to marry into the countryside and suffer? It's not like she absolutely has to get married.
"I heard that the two families have recently started discussing the marriage, but the woman's side has put forward a condition, otherwise they will not marry her..." Ye Fenghua paused and continued, "They said that after the wedding, my sister-in-law must give her job at the textile factory to her daughter-in-law."
"ah?"
Everyone present stared in astonishment.
If they remembered correctly, the condition Ye Fenghua's sister-in-law had when she married into the Ye family was that Ye Fenghua would give up her job at the textile factory.
Ye Fenghua finally couldn't hold back her laughter and burst into tears, saying, "Yes, just like before. If my sister-in-law hadn't given up her job, her son's fiancé wouldn't have married into the family..."
It's just that back then it was her, the younger sister, who had to be sacrificed; now it's her, the older sister-in-law, who has to be sacrificed.
Gu Xi thought this was really... funny and humorous, like the wheel of fortune turning. Who would have thought that twenty years later, the boomerang would hit her instead.
She pressed further, "And then? What did your sister-in-law think? Was she willing or not?"
Qiao Hui also looked curious, "She probably wouldn't agree, right? Your sister-in-law is only in her forties, not even old enough to retire yet. How could she easily give up her job?"
And it was the daughter-in-law who was given the opportunity; who would be willing to accept that?
If it were my own child, I might not be willing, but I wouldn't be too upset because of the circumstances. But my daughter-in-law isn't my own child, so how could I possibly be willing?
Ye Fenghua nodded, "Indeed, my sister-in-law would never give up her job. At her age, she can work for many more years and continue to receive her salary."
After giving up her job, she would not receive any salary and would have to return to the countryside, becoming just an ordinary village woman. How could she possibly want that?
Because Ye Fenghua's sister-in-law has a job at a textile factory in town and receives a salary, she has been like a local tyrant in the Ye family for years. Everyone has to fawn over her and respect her, and even her parents-in-law don't dare to say anything in front of her.
She also knew that the reason she could live so comfortably in the Ye family was because of this job.
Even if she is a daughter-in-law, you can't take her job away.
"What did your family say?" Gu Xi asked again.
Ye Fenghua laughed, "Of course they're forcing my sister-in-law to give up her job to my nephew's girlfriend, just like they forced me back then. And if my sister-in-law doesn't give it up, things will be very difficult to handle."
"How so?"
This time, even Xu Yuansheng perked up his ears.
Ye Fenghua coughed lightly and lowered her voice: "Because my nephew's girlfriend is already pregnant. If they don't get married soon, her belly will get bigger and they won't be able to hide it anymore..."
Everyone stared in shock.
These days, any relationship that doesn't lead to marriage is considered immoral, and immorality is punishable by death. If someone gets a woman pregnant before marriage, and her parents sue him for immorality, they'll definitely win.
Especially since that woman has an uncle who is the brigade leader, she's not someone to be bullied.
Ye Fenghua's expression was somewhat complicated as she recounted the matter: "The woman's family demanded that after the wedding and the birth of the child, she would go to work at the textile factory, so that my sister-in-law could retire and stay home to take care of our grandchildren. If she refused, they threatened to sue my nephew for indecent assault..."
That was absolutely a killer move.
You have to choose between a job and your son; you can only choose one.
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