After dinner, the family moved a few chairs under the big tree in the yard to enjoy the cool air.
Old man Jiang was smoking a pipe, puffing away, and a pungent smell of smoke filled the air. Life had just gotten better, and no one would spend their spare money to buy tobacco. Old man Jiang smoked the tobacco leaves that he grew at home. He liked to smoke hard cigarettes, and enjoyed the pungent smell. He would feel bored if he didn't take a few puffs every day.
"Stop smoking, be careful not to choke your grandson." Miao Sanfeng rolled her eyes at him and quickly went to close the window of her son's room. Old Man Jiang glanced at her angrily and poured out the tobacco in the pot.
Nowadays, there is not much activity in the countryside at night. Once night falls, every household lights a kerosene lamp. Those with slightly worse conditions are reluctant to spend the oil and can work by moonlight.
Miao Sanfeng lit a kerosene lamp and mended clothes under the dim light. Dani and Erni were washing the family's clothes in the yard. Jiang Dahai glanced at his thin eldest daughter, then at his mother, and after hesitating for a moment, he finally mustered up the courage to speak.
"Mom, I want to send Dani to school."
"What!" Old Lady Miao put down the clothes in her hands and shouted in surprise: "What kind of books are you studying, little girl? Where does your family have so much spare money? I think you are just bored and have nothing better to do."
There is no school in Qingshan Village. The nearest primary school is in the largest Hongqi Production Cooperative next door. Children from several nearby villages go to school there. The conditions in the primary school are average, with only two teachers. The tuition and various miscellaneous fees for one year add up to two yuan. Now one work point is only worth three cents. One year's tuition is equivalent to half a month's income for an ordinary laborer.
Life is much better now than it was two or three years ago, but every household has no surplus food. Except for those with a lot of labor force, which family would be willing to send a little girl to school? A daughter will belong to someone else sooner or later. With the money, it is better to let the boy eat better.
This is a common idea among the villagers. In Miao Sanfeng's view, the eldest granddaughter can not only earn work points by staying at home, but also take care of the younger ones. Miao Sanfeng has already thought about it. After her daughter-in-law finishes her confinement and goes to the field, she will let Dani stay at home to take care of her grandson. She is relieved that she has raised her younger sisters.
Jiang Dani's eyes, which had been shining brightly, suddenly dimmed when she heard her father's words. There were only two girls in their village who went to school, one was the team leader's daughter, Mo Xianghong, and the other was the daughter of the women's director, Huang Yingying. The conditions of these two families might not be as good as the Jiang family, but who cares about their daughters?
Jiang Erni was very dissatisfied when she heard her grandmother's words. She whispered in her eldest sister's ear: "The two from my second uncle's family are already in school. Their tuition is paid by grandpa and grandma, but they don't study hard. They just skip school and rob bird nests every day."
When Jiang Dani heard her sister's complaints, she could only lower her head and smile bitterly. How could it be the same? He is her grandson.
"Mom, we don't need this money at home." Jiang Dahai saw his daughter's disappointed look and mustered up the courage to argue with Miao Sanfeng. Every time the production team settled the work points, part of it was usually converted into food and part into cash. With the monthly allowance from old man Jiang, the Jiang family actually had quite a bit of money. Money was useless these days. Without receipts, everything was nonsense. Some things could not be bought even if one had money.
It was actually very easy for the Jiang family to take out those two dollars.
"Mom, do you really want Dani to keep earning those work points? Look at my younger sister, she only went to junior high school and now works in a factory, eating government rations every month. Her life is not much better than in the countryside. Besides, if Dani learns more, she can also teach her younger brother. Children grow up in the blink of an eye. With someone to teach them, they will learn faster than others in the future."
When it comes to her grandson, Miao Sanfeng became a little hesitant, but she still felt reluctant to give up the work points she had earned. Besides, once Da Ni went to school, who would do all the chores at home? Er Ni was not capable enough, and the remaining two girls were too young.
Old Man Jiang pondered for a moment and made the decision: "Let's do as the eldest said. Wait until Sanni is older before sending Erni to school. All daughters in the family should go to school."
Jiang Erni didn't expect that she would be able to go to school. Although she had to wait a few more years, it was still a pleasant surprise.
"That's how much money it will cost." Supporting Dani alone was enough to make Old Lady Miao feel distressed. Now there were four more girls coming. Why should the little girls study so many books? She thought the old man had really lost his mind.
"What do you know?" Old man Jiang picked up the pipe and was about to take a few puffs when he remembered that he had poured out the tobacco.
Although Miao Sanfeng is usually aggressive, Jiang Cheng is the one who really makes the decisions at home. Once he has spoken, even if Old Lady Miao has some objections, she dare not refute him. She can only glare at her two granddaughters and glare at her eldest son who came up with such a bad idea.
Old man Jiang thought more far-reachingly. He didn't want his grandson to be like him, staying in the countryside all his life. These four granddaughters, no matter who has a promising future, will be a help to his grandson in the future. Sisters in the family are connected by bones, so if he treats them well now, they will remember to repay their family in the future.
Although the purpose was not pure, it was indeed the biggest turning point in the lives of the four sisters.
In the previous life, only Sini and Lai Di among the five sisters went to school. In this life, before Jiang Lai Di even took any action, a completely different turn of events had already occurred.
"Grandma, don't worry. I will get up early to cut grass for the pigs in the future. You can leave the housework to me after school. Don't worry, I will never be lazy." Jiang Dani nervously assured the grim-looking old lady Miao.
"Grandma, I will help my eldest sister with her work while she goes to school." Erni didn't want to miss this opportunity, so she hurried to speak up for her eldest sister.
"Hmph." Old Mrs. Miao glanced at them and said nothing more.
Da Ni and Er Ni looked at each other excitedly and worked harder to wash the clothes.
"Be gentle, don't rub the clothes." Old Mrs. Miao shouted anxiously. The two sisters stuck out their tongues and finally calmed down a little.
The old rural house had poor sound insulation. Jiang Lai Di stayed in the house and heard the conversation outside clearly. In his previous life, his foolish and filial father had never fought for them and his sisters, and he was always submissive. He closed his eyes tightly. He didn't expect that having a son would make the man change so much. Should he be glad that he became a man in this life?
Outside the house, Old Man Jiang thought of another headache.
"What do you think we should name the child?" Old man Jiang thought about it for several days, but he always felt that no name was suitable for his grandson. The names of his first four daughters were simple, namely Da Ni and Er Ni. He had already thought about it before. If he had another girl, he would name her Lai Di, which means to have a younger brother. Unexpectedly, before this name was used, his grandson was born.
"Dad, haven't we sent down a few informed people from the city to our village? They are said to be well-educated. Why don't we ask them to help us come up with one?" Jiang Dahai asked tentatively.
In the past, all the educated youth went to the largest Hongqi Production Cooperative, but recently more and more educated youth were sent down, and the houses in the Hongqi Cooperative were not enough, so a few of them were sent to nearby villages. Qingshan Village was assigned four this time, exactly two boys and two girls, who were said to be high school students, so their cultural level must be higher than that of the country people.
"You are right. I will go to the educated youth's house tomorrow to take a look." Jiang Cheng felt that what his son said made sense. It just so happened that he wanted to find out something from those people.
As it got darker, there were more mosquitoes. Old man Jiang slapped his bitten legs and walked slowly into the house.
The rest of the people had nothing to do, so they all went back to their rooms.
The Jiang family's old house is very small, with only five rooms, a lobby, a kitchen, and a utility room. There is a large cellar underneath, where sweet potatoes and other food distributed by the production team are stored. The remaining two are bedrooms, one for old man Jiang and his wife, and one for Jiang Dahai and his wife and their children.
The kang in the room is very long and can easily accommodate ten people sleeping on it. Because the girls are grown up, Jiang Dahai pulled a curtain in the middle of the kang and closed it when sleeping at night. Although it cannot block the sound, it at least serves as a barrier.
"Come back, what did my parents say?" Gu Dongmei lowered her voice and asked Jiang Dahai.
"Dad agreed. I will go and sign up Daya for school when school starts in the fall." Jiang Dahai said this as he looked at his son lying on the kang with his eyes closed, and poked his son's face with his hands in an unruly manner.
Jiang Lai Di impatiently slapped away the thug who had been harassing him, but his thoughts were attracted by the conversation between the two.
"Don't tease him. A child's face is so tender. What if he gets hurt?" Gu Dongmei glared at him, slapped his hand away, and was relieved when she heard him say that her daughter could go to school.
"I don't ask them to be able to work as workers in the county town like Zhenzi. It will be enough for them to study more and not be bullied in the future." Gu Dongmei said to Sanni and Sini who had been coaxed to sleep long ago.
Jiang Lai Di sneered in her heart. If she really loved them, why did she watch her eldest sister marry a widower and her second sister marry a cripple in her previous life? If it weren't for their cowardice and indulgence, her eldest sister wouldn't have died.
This matter was a knot in his heart, which had been rotting in his heart for a long time and hurt whenever it was touched.
Although his reason told him that everything had changed now, the decades of suffering could not be compensated by the little warmth he had now.
He couldn't help but feel fortunate that he was still a baby who couldn't speak. He didn't want to call grandpa and grandma, or dad and mom, at least not now.
After Dani and Erni finished cleaning the stove and went back to the house, they looked at Jiang Dahai with eyes full of gratitude. Jiang Dahai felt ashamed and a little sad when he was looked at by the two children. He took out a multi-grain steamed bun from his arms. Because he had kept it in his pocket, it was still a little warm.
Today Jiang Dahai was assigned to clear the ditches in the county town. It was a dirty and tiring job, and the work points he got were the same as usual. No one wanted to go. Jiang Dahai only went when he heard that lunch would be provided.
He saved this steamed bun secretly. If his mother knew about it, it probably wouldn't even make it to the mouths of his daughters.
The steamed buns in the county canteen are bigger than usual, as big as half a palm. In addition to grains such as corn, they are also mixed with some white flour. They don’t taste so choking, but instead have a sweet taste.
Jiang Dahai was only given one steamed bun, but he was reluctant to eat it. He had a bowl of corn porridge and drank tap water outside the canteen in the county town to fill his stomach. In this way, the steamed bun was saved.
This was not the first time that Jiang Dahai had done such a thing. After all, the food that Old Lady Miao distributed to her daughters was usually not enough to fill their stomachs. Apart from doing this, he did not dare to bring it up with his mother directly.
In the end, the steamed bun was not eaten. Sanni and Sini went to sleep, and Dani hid the bun, planning to secretly share it with them when they went up the mountain the next day.
With such a big steamed bun, the sisters slept extraordinarily soundly that night. However, Jiang Laidie felt very sad. This was the life of them in the 1960s: they worked harder than cows but ate less. But now, with his small arms and legs, how could he change this situation?
Just when he was worrying about the future, in an instant, he appeared in another space.
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