After this incident, everyone in the village knew that Qian Mao had been dismissed by the mayor because of his low educational level. This caused a stir among the parents in the village. They were upset that Qian Mao's promising child had been dismissed because of insufficient education. Furthermore, they were upset because of what Qian Mao had said: that you couldn't work in a factory without a proper education. They believed that their children had to study hard and do well in school if they wanted to be factory workers, because if they didn't study well, they wouldn't get a diploma, and without a diploma, how could they become factory workers?
It's just tough on these kids. Many of their parents were corrupted by Qian Duoduo when they were in school, and they're using the same methods he used to exploit them to exploit their own children. As a result, the kids are all crying and whimpering!
The old couple in the Jin family were happy to see their grandson so successful, even a college student. Although their two grandsons weren't as successful as their three grandsons, at least they were still by their side, which was good enough.
It's impossible for Jin Kuohao not to envy his sister, but his two sons are just like him—not academically inclined. Not to mention Qian Feng and the other college students, even Qian Rao, who's currently farming at home, can't compare. Back when they were in school, they all copied Qian Yu and Qian Mao's homework.
Since Qian Duoduo went to university to study agronomy, the rice he planted from the rice he brought back from school has yielded almost twice the yield per mu compared to the rice he used to grow. This gave them a lot of grain left over after paying their grain rations. After setting aside their own rations for the year, they sold the remaining grain to the granary and received money they had never seen before. When he brought the money home, Yuanfang was also astonished and opened his mouth wide when he saw the more than one hundred yuan!
As winter approached, Qian Rao helped them build a greenhouse behind their house. Now they could grow vegetables even in winter. In addition, Qian Rao took these vegetables and sold them in the county, which made them even more money. In fact, this year was a very prosperous year for them. This made the couple decide to take their sons and follow in their sister and brother-in-law's footsteps, so that they could at least earn enough to eat, wear new clothes, and have savings.
The second daughter-in-law's family originally disagreed with the marriage of the two children, but Jin Zun brought a dowry of three hundred yuan, which was unexpected by the bride's family. In fact, it was somewhat unfair to the eldest daughter-in-law, Fu Ning, but since she and her husband would be living with their eldest son in the future, they would have to favor their eldest son in many ways.
My whole family is currently staying at my sister's house. You can tell from this New Year's Eve dinner that my sister's family is living a much better life! Half of the more than twenty dishes on the table are meat, and there's also a lot of seafood sent back from outside. In addition, the clothes for my parents are made of very good fabric, and the things for my grandson are all very nice.
Grandma Jin and Grandpa Jin were in Qian Feng's house. Grandpa Jin looked at the house and said with a smile, "Jinxiu's life is getting better and better, that's wonderful!"
Grandma Jin smiled and touched the new clothes placed beside her, saying, "That's right. Jinxiu's life was so difficult a few years ago, but now the children are all grown up and everything is better. Look at the clothes that Qian Feng's wife bought for me. At my age, I've never worn such nice clothes before."
As the old woman continued her nagging, Old Man Jin said, "Old woman, you've suffered all these years!"
Grandma Jin withdrew her hand from touching her clothes and looked at the old man sitting next to her, saying, "My suffering is also a problem of this world. When I was young, Japanese people were killing people all over our country. I am very fortunate to have survived. After I married you, you couldn't bear to see me suffer. After giving birth to Jinxiu and Kuohao, you didn't have any more children. Compared to you, my life is already very good."
Isn't it better now? I can wear new clothes, eat my fill, and dote on my great-grandchildren. I never dared to dream of such things before. Now, Jinxiu's children are all doing well, and I feel incredibly happy!"
Old Man Jin said with a smile, "The two of us need to take good care of our bodies so that we can see more and better places."
Grandma Jin nodded and said, "Yes, you know, if we're not careful, we might live to be over seventy. There are very few people in our village who can live to our age."
Old Man Jin snorted and said, "Old Liu was a short-lived bastard. You've been with me for a while now that you're older. Old Liu was gone by fifty-five. Heh heh, he didn't outlive me!"
Grandma Jin rolled her eyes at him and slapped him: "What time was this? It's been fifty years! You're still thinking about this!"
Old Man Jin snorted: "Hmph, that old Liu guy, back then he even spoke ill of me to Father and wanted to marry you. That's something I can't tolerate. Even after we got married, he still sent you potatoes."
Grandma Jin used a little more force this time: "I don't want it."
Grandma Jin chuckled as she received a slap from the old woman, and said, "Grandma knows you didn't want it. If you had, I would have challenged Old Liu to a duel."
Grandma Jin smiled as she looked at Grandpa Jin, feeling very comforted!
Time flies, and before we knew it, 1983 had arrived.
With the development of the times and the progress of technology, some families in cities now own black and white televisions, and they can watch the newly released Spring Festival Gala on the screen and feel the joyful atmosphere of the New Year.
For families without televisions, like the Qian family, although they didn't have a TV, they did have a radio bought by Qian Mao. On this special night, the whole family sat around in the warm main room, quietly listening to the Spring Festival Gala program broadcast on the radio. Every note and every word seemed to have magic, bringing people into that joyful and peaceful festive atmosphere.
At this moment, everyone deeply felt that the nation's direction was changing. The past closed-off and conservative mentality was gradually being replaced by openness and innovation, and people were beginning to pursue a better life, full of hope for the future. This transformation was not only reflected in the material realm but also in the spiritual and cultural sphere.
Grandma Jin nodded repeatedly as the host spoke, and tapped her feet to the rhythm of the music playing on the radio. When the song ended, she said, "This Peking Opera is still the best."
Jin Zun smiled and said, "Grandma, I think this song is nice, but I don't know if we'll ever hear these songs again."
Jin Shen smiled and said, "There are also singers from Hong Kong here, and their songs are really beautiful."
Qian Rao said, "It would be great if we could get our hands on these songs."
Upon hearing this, Qian Mao glanced at his younger brother. Indeed, it would be great if they could get their hands on these songs. Moreover, there are already individual businesses operating in Shanghai, although this area is still in the countryside and it's not as prominent yet.
However, given this opportunity, shouldn't they seize it? He wanted to discuss this with Qian Duoduo, because he found that Qian Duoduo had a very keen sense of things.
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