"Zizlazla--" Jiang Yilu turned on the TV. There was a snowflake in the air. The characters on TV were all distorted horizontally and the picture was blurry.
"It looks like the antenna isn't adjusted properly. Let me go up and fix it while you watch from down below." Jiang Dahai was experienced and knew the problem was with the antenna just by looking at the picture.
The ladder leading to the roof was not moved away. Jiang Dahai asked someone to hold on to him from below and climbed up in a few steps. While fiddling with the antenna, he asked the people below about the TV.
"Is that all right?"
“Not yet!”
"And now?"
"Change it again."
"Alright, alright, the picture is out!"
Everyone inside and outside the house was shouting at the top of their lungs, and after a while, the TV became normal again. The picture quality wasn't very good, but it was enough to make the villagers cheer.
"It's out. Hey, what's playing now?"
"Hey, this TV is like a movie. You can't watch movies on a regular basis, but you can watch this TV every day."
"I want to see it. I want to see it."
The child, relying on his small size and nimble movements, squeezed to the front. The villagers gathered in front of the TV, watching the screen with wide eyes in curiosity. Every word or gesture of the people on the TV would trigger a heated discussion among the villagers.
There are very few TV channels now, and some channels only broadcast content at one o'clock. More often than not, it is a still picture with a big time printed in the middle. Even with such pictures, the villagers can't get enough of them.
Those who came to the Jiang family with their bowls of rice didn't even eat their meals. They just focused on watching the TV in front of them.
"They sang really well, much better than the troupe that came to perform in our village."
"Nonsense! They've been on TV, how can they sing badly? They're among the best in the country."
Jiang Yi asked them to tune a channel that was playing Peking Opera. It was not known whether the villagers could understand it or not, but everyone was watching it with great interest and humming a few lines from time to time.
"You bastard, you came here to watch the fun and didn't even go home for dinner." Some women from the village came to the Jiang family to look for someone, and when they saw the TV in the lobby, they couldn't move away. They didn't even remember to ask their husbands and children to go home for dinner. They squeezed into the crowd and started watching the TV with relish.
There was limited space in the house, and as more and more people came, Jiang Dahai began to feel overwhelmed.
"Isn't it time for dinner? The house is full of people. Where are we going to eat?" Jiang Dahai asked while pulling Old Lady Miao aside. Old Lady Miao also seemed a little dazed.
“Or, should I go and tell them to go back first?” Old Mrs. Miao looked at her grandson standing beside her and felt that it was more important to let her grandson eat first.
"Yes." Jiang Dahai nodded. It wouldn't be a big deal for all these people to squeeze in at home.
"Ahem, let me speak." Old Mrs. Miao coughed a few times and was about to speak when she was interrupted by the joyous villagers.
"Aunt Miao, you are so lucky. Uncle Jiang gives you a subsidy every month, and your son and daughter-in-law are capable. Now your grandson is even more successful. Not only has he been admitted to a university in the capital, but he has even earned a TV for you. It would be great if our xxx could have as strong fingers as Xiaobao."
"That's right. I was saying that Aunt Miao's appearance showed that she was lucky. You didn't believe it before, but now let me tell you. Which old lady in our village is so lucky as to have such a big TV? I think in the future, you should just sit at home and wait for your children and grandchildren to bless you."
The old lady was thinking about how to get rid of the people, but before she could say anything, she was pulled into the crowd. People kept praising her and her little grandson, and she was so dizzy that she forgot her purpose. She watched TV with the villagers and showed off her precious grandson to them.
Jiang Yilu and Jiang Dahai looked at the old lady who was defeated without a fight. They thought that even someone as powerful as the old lady couldn't do anything to them, so they were even more helpless. They looked at each other, moved the remaining luggage into the house, and could only wait until they wanted to leave before eating.
You won’t starve to death if you eat later.
The two fathers and sons, who had no fighting power against the powerful aunt in the village, chose to starve to keep safe. Old Mrs. Miao was surrounded by people, feeling so happy that she even forgot that her precious grandson hadn't had lunch yet.
Fortunately, although the villagers were surprised, they were not so inappropriate. After all, it was time for dinner and there was still work to do in the fields. After thirty or forty minutes, they reluctantly left the Jiang family. Some of the children who cried and refused to leave were grabbed by their parents, spanked, and left in misery.
"Really? Finally everyone left. It's just a TV. What's so rare about it? Let our little treasure go hungry." After everyone left, Old Mrs. Miao finally came to her senses from everyone's flattery. She muttered a few words angrily, and hurried back to the room. She took out a piece of uncut cloth and carefully covered the outside of the TV, fearing that the precious thing would get dusty.
"Xiaobao, grandma is going to cook for you. You must be hungry. Time is tight now, so grandma will make you a bowl of noodles first. I will make you a delicious meal in the evening."
Old Mrs. Miao was coaxed away in just a few moves. She felt a little embarrassed in front of her son and grandson. After covering the TV, she rushed to the kitchen in a hurry, not forgetting to pull her eldest daughter-in-law who had just returned from buying meat.
"Dad, where is grandpa? Why can't I see him?"
Jiang Yilu tidied up his room and asked curiously, thinking that he had not seen his grandfather since he came back.
Old man Jiang doesn't like to go out of the village because of his legs. At most, he chats with some old men of the same age in the village, or tells the younger generations stories about his time fighting the Japanese. Logically, with so much noise at home, he should have heard the news and come back.
"At your uncle Dashuan's house." Jiang Dahai's face turned a little ugly when he said this.
"Uncle Dashuan?" Jiang Yiliu noticed that Jiang Dahai's face looked a little strange, and asked in confusion, "Did something happen at Uncle Dashuan's home?" He thought about it and it seemed that he hadn't seen the Mo family come to their house to watch TV just now.
"Hey, it's not Xiang Hong's business."
Jiang Dahai sighed. This child seemed quite smart before, but why did he become so confused when it came to love matters?
The pregnancy before marriage had caused the villagers to gossip for a whole year. Sometimes when Mo Dashuan went to the county town for meetings, he would be ridiculed openly or secretly by the captains of those villages he was not on good terms with. He had lived without any fear for all these years, but now his face was thrown to the ground by that girl and trampled on by others. That was not all, something like that happened to Xiang Hong.
"What happened to Sister Xiang Hong?" The first thing that came to Jiang Yilu's mind was Rong Jing's face. He always felt that he was involved in this matter.
"She divorced her educated youth husband. That Rong wanted to go back to the city, so he tricked her into getting a divorce and asked her to steal your uncle Dashuan's seal to approve a note for him to go back to the city. He said he would pick her up after they settled down in the city. Now your sister Xiang Hong is carrying the child back home. Your uncle Dashuan asked her where Rong Jing was, but the child refused to speak and just kept saying that Rong Jing would come to pick her up. Your uncle Dashuan and his wife have become so worried that their hair has turned white. They know that your grandfather has connections up there, so they want your grandfather to find a way to find him."
"Divorced!" Jiang Yilu couldn't believe what he heard. How could Sister Xiang Hong be so stupid? Not only did she get a divorce, but she also stole Uncle Dashuan's seal and let him return to the city. How much did she trust Rong Jing, or how clever Rong Jing's methods were, to scare Sister Xiang Hong, a very smart person, into this state.
"Hey, actually this matter has something to do with your uncle Dashuan." Jiang Dahai said helplessly, "Didn't the Yunnan educated youth return home movement happen before? Now the educated youths from all over the country are active, and now the policy is relaxed, and the higher authorities have also issued a policy to allow educated youths to return home."
Jiang Dahai explained to his son that Jiang Yilu also knew about the educated youth returning to the city. After all, the matter was so big that it would be hard for him not to know about it. There were also many educated youth in their Qingshan Village. Now there were not many people in the courtyard where the educated youth lived. Some of them left after being admitted to university, and some people passed the approval and returned to their hometowns. Only a few people who were not related to them stayed in Qingshan Village.
It is not so easy to return to the city now. You must pass an examination. Those who are married or have children in the local area are easily rejected in the examination. And although the team leaders in the village are not high-ranking officials, they hold the power of life and death over these educated youth who want to return home. As long as the team leader does not issue you a certificate, or says a bad word about you during the examination by the superiors, the dream of the educated youth to return home will be completely ruined.
"Your uncle Dashuan has never done anything wrong in his life. The only thing he did was to your sister Xiang Hong. When the policy came out, your uncle Dashuan contacted the captain of Hongqi Village and asked him to suppress Rong Jing's application to return to the city. Your uncle Dashuan also saw through the treacherous mind of that boy surnamed Rong. He calculated that if he returned to the city, your sister Xiang Hong's life would be over. So he felt guilty and wanted him to stay with us for the rest of his life. Even if he was a primary school teacher, with his help, the couple's life would not be much worse."
"Hey, I originally thought that as long as the marriage didn't end, no one would find fault with what he did. Who knew what Rong said to you and Sister Hong, making her go through the divorce procedures and steal your uncle Dashuan's seal to get the certificate to return to the city. Now he's gone, and the girl is still stubbornly thinking that Rong wouldn't lie to her, and she's dreaming of being a city dweller."
Jiang Dahai looked at Mo Xianghong, then thought about his own daughter and son, and suddenly felt extremely satisfied.
Jiang Yiliu could understand what Mo Dashuan did, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. For the sake of their children, parents are selfish. It can only be said that Xiang Hong was too stupid. If she didn't do that, she might be able to keep her beloved man by her side, but now that she lets go, Rong Jing will never come back. Jiang Yiliu can already see the future of a woman who got pregnant before marriage, had a child, and was divorced. In short, she won't be very happy.
It is the 1980s and people's ideas are not so open. In Sister Hong's situation, she will not be able to find a good partner even if she remarries. Moreover, she did not continue her studies after graduating from elementary school, so how she will support herself and her children in the future is also a problem.
"Didn't the educated youth register their home addresses when they went to the countryside?" Jiang Yilu asked curiously.
"Remember, isn't that kid from Haicheng? Your uncle Dashuan and his wife even went to Haicheng specifically to try to find Rong Jing, but they didn't know that he didn't even go home." Jiang Dahai shook his head. "Nowadays, people's travel is not as strict as before. If a grown man wants to hide, no one can find him. Besides, we don't know whether what Rong Jing's parents said is true or not, and we don't know if he is hiding somewhere in Haicheng. Anyway, his parents have said that they don't recognize their son's wife in the countryside, but if possible, they are willing to take their grandson over."
If that wasn't the case, Mo Dashuan wouldn't have lowered himself to ask Old Man Jiang to use his connections to find someone.
"What are you two talking about? I've cooked noodles, come and eat. Dahai, go call your dad, it's time for him to come back for dinner."
Old Lady Miao and Gu Dongmei brought out a few bowls of noodles: "Xiaobao, grandma added two poached eggs to your noodles, and also a few more pieces of braised beef. It's your favorite. Come and try it while it's hot."
Now that conditions are better, Old Lady Miao will never mistreat her precious grandson. In the past, when conditions were bad, she would only fry one poached egg, but now that she has more money, she will at least fry two. This is the most straightforward way for the old lady to express her love.
"Mom, I met Mrs. Mo when I was buying meat just now. She said Dad had lunch at their house at noon." Gu Dongmei said.
"Okay, then you guys eat more." Mrs. Miao thought it was better if her old man didn't come back, so she put all the meat she had reserved for him into Jiang Yilu's bowl, filling it up with meat and leaving no trace of the surface. Jiang Dahai was also lucky enough to get a few more pieces.
As for the noodle bowls of Old Lady Miao and Gu Dongmei, there was basically no trace of meat.
"Grandma, I can't eat that much." Jiang Yilu smiled bitterly. Is this meat or noodles? He picked up some meat from the bowl of noodles and put it into the old lady's bowl, and then picked up a few more pieces and put them into Gu Dongmei's bowl.
"Our Xiaobao is so filial. It's not in vain that I, as your grandmother, love you." The look in Old Mrs. Miao's eyes when she looked at her grandson was so tender. Jiang Dahai had never seen his mother so gentle in his life.
"When will your second sister and the others come back?" Old Mrs. Miao asked Jiang Yilu while eating the meat that her grandson picked for her with a moved look on her face.
"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I will definitely be back before the Chinese New Year." The hot pot restaurant will be closed during the Chinese New Year, and the waiters have to go home to celebrate the New Year. Besides, these days, there is no such thing as eating out in a restaurant during the Chinese New Year. The whole family gets together and cooks and eats together.
"Okay, once your second sister and her friends come back, I'll take advantage of the New Year to find partners for them." The old lady nodded and said casually, "The girls are so short-sighted. If they all find a partner like Xiang Hong, I'll cry my heart out. I have to be in charge of their marriages."
Old Lady Miao didn't feel bad that her granddaughter was abandoned, but she felt bad for the money. She had to earn back the money she had spent on the girls over the years. For example, the Meng family had invested so much money in Xiang Hong, and now it was all gone, leaving behind such a bad reputation. The old lady couldn't tolerate such a thing.
Jiang Yilu was eating noodles when he heard the old lady suddenly say this and raised his head nervously.
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