Chapter 31 031 Mom Wants to Find a Partner
My older cousin got first place in the entrance exam and was admitted to the town's middle school. Coincidentally, his math teacher was Hu Lixin. To make things safer on the road, after all the classes were over each day, my mother, Song Wanxia, would pick up Song Shijia and wait for Hu Lixin to finish work before the three of them would ride their bikes home together.
In this way, they would inevitably chat more along the way, and gradually become familiar with each other.
Before Song Xiaoli knew it, she had been playing around with her cousin for a while when she realized that her mother was acting strangely. Not only was she becoming more and more interested in dressing up, but she would also blush when she occasionally heard family members mention Hu Lixin.
She felt a little depressed. She felt that she hadn't changed much, yet her mother didn't seem to need her as much as she had in her past life.
To be fair, Hu Lixin is indeed a very good person. Whether from Song Xiaoli's perspective in her previous life or from the perspective of the Song family elders, there is nothing to criticize.
So, as the semester was drawing to a close, Mom shyly told the family that she planned to try dating Hu Lixin. The family was only stunned for a moment, and no one objected.
“Wanxia, you’re not a child anymore. You can make your own decisions. We all like Xiao Hu. Our two families know each other well. It’s really good that you two have come together.”
"but……"
Grandma hesitated as she spoke.
Hu Lixin's family is simple; he only has his mother and no other troublesome relatives. He owns a house and a car, and has a stable job—his circumstances are quite good. But precisely because of his good fortune, the Song family is a little worried: will they mind that Song Wanxia is a divorcee and has an adopted child?
Song Wanxia knew what her mother was thinking, so she quickly spoke up for the Hu family, "Mom, Aunt Hu and Hu Lixin himself both like Xiaoli very much. Aunt Hu has mentioned countless times that when I go to work, I can take Xiaoli with me to her house to keep her company."
Song Wanxia had only hesitated to agree because she was worried that her daughter wouldn't be able to stay alone in another commune.
"As for other things... almost everyone in town knows about my situation. If my aunt and uncle cared, they wouldn't have made us go to and from get off work together every day."
At that time, men and women were separated. Although Song Wanxia and Hu Lixin did not work in the same unit, they rode their bicycles to town together every day and left together. As more people saw this, rumors naturally arose.
To outsiders, they might seem like they're already a couple.
If the Hu family cared about these things, Hu Lixin's mother would definitely subtly forbid them from acting together again.
Song Wanxia is often teased by her colleagues, who say that she has found a particularly suitable man this time, and they all send their blessings.
"Alright, since you two young people have already made up your minds, what can we, as elders, do besides support you?" Grandpa was probably a little uncomfortable thinking about his daughter remarrying, but he would probably be even more uncomfortable if his daughter really couldn't find a partner, so he didn't say anything more.
"You and Xiao Hu can discuss it and see when we're both free. Let's go to a restaurant in town for a meal and talk about the engagement."
"Oh, they've already discussed getting engaged?" Song Wanxia was stunned.
Song Xiaoli glanced at her grandfather, then at her mother, and sighed softly, a hint of sadness in her voice.
“You can take Xiaoli to town more often in the future. If you have classes, send her to Xiaohu’s place. If Xiaohu has classes, you take care of her. Let her develop a relationship with Xiaohu. Also, you need to let the people around you know that the child exists. She is still young and doesn’t understand some things. Don’t let her think that she will be abandoned.”
Hearing her grandfather say that, Song Xiaoli breathed a sigh of relief.
She was very reluctant to leave her mother.
Song Wanxia hadn't thought of such details at all. Of course, she wouldn't abandon her daughter, but she always felt that her daughter was still young and didn't know any better, so she didn't tell her about finding a "stepfather" for her first. Instead, she directly mentioned it to her parents.
Seeing the little one's well-behaved appearance with her hands tucked in, Song Wanxia affectionately patted her head and asked, "Does Xiaoli like Uncle Hu? If Mommy forms a family with Uncle Hu in the future, you'll have to call him Daddy."
Song Xiaoli tilted her head, as if thinking for a moment, before answering, "If Mom likes it, then I like it too."
Such considerate words made Song Wanxia smile from ear to ear, and she hugged and kissed her repeatedly.
The unmarried second uncle looked on longingly, extremely envious, and couldn't help but say, "Sigh, I would be satisfied if I had a daughter like Xiaoli."
Grandpa rolled his eyes at him, "Find a partner first! All you do is work all day. You can't be bothered to meet any of the girls people introduce you to. I want to see when you'll ever settle down and have kids!"
The second uncle reluctantly shut his mouth, not daring to say that he had only recently taken over the police work and was simply too busy.
However, the family never expected that, in the end, the second oldest brother would still manage to get married before his youngest sister's second marriage. Moreover, his marriage was all thanks to the couple, Song Wanxia and Hu Lixin.
Here's what happened: the two families discussed it and decided to have dinner together at the state-run restaurant in town on a sunny Sunday before the students' winter break. The Song family is large, and since this was about their children's marriage, both sides were particularly generous, ordering at least two portions of every dish available at the restaurant, and for their main course, they bought large meat buns and egg noodles.
This is considered a very large customer in the town. Although state-run restaurants don't need to fawn over customers, it still makes a good impression on such a generous and easy-to-entertain group.
Coincidentally, the store manager's sister was also in the store. This girl was prettier than the other waitresses in the store. In addition, she worked in an office job in a government agency. She had a good temperament and knew how to talk. So the store manager asked his sister to replace the original waitress and serve the dishes to this table.
After serving the dishes, the girl realized that Xiao Li's second uncle, Song Dianwu, was her senior from elementary school. When she was a child, there were very few students in the town's elementary school, and the school was small and dilapidated. Upper and lower grade students had classes in the same classroom, with fifth graders on the right and first graders on the left.
This girl was rather introverted but pretty. When she first entered elementary school, she was bullied by some boys. Song Dianwu, who could never stand such things, stood up for her and protected her until she graduated from elementary school.
Later, Song Dianwu went to middle school first. This clingy little girl would often secretly bring food from home and go to the middle school to find Song Dianwu.
Unfortunately, Song Dianwu went to high school in another city, and later he was recommended to attend the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, and then joined the army...
They hadn't seen each other for many years.
If this girl hadn't kept Song Dianwu in her heart for so many years, she might not have recognized him after only meeting him once.
Even Song Dianwu himself doesn't quite remember that clingy little girl from back then.
That really infuriated the girl.
But having finally met, the girl, who had been thinking about Song Dianwu all along, didn't want to leave a bad impression on the Song family. So, with her exceptional composure, she maintained a gentle smile and helped Song Dianwu recall his childhood.
Both families beamed with smiles after hearing this.
Holding her daughter, Song Wanxia winked at her second brother and teased, "I never thought you were a protector of girls back in the day!"
This made Song Dianwu, who was dark-skinned, blush with embarrassment.
The girl seemed a little embarrassed and kept glancing at Song Dianwu.
After the dishes were served, the girl, who was being urged by her family to go on a blind date, begged the restaurant manager to help her find out if Song Dianwu was married.
After all, Song Dianwu is four or five years older than her. She herself is already considered late in getting married, so it's really hard to say what will happen to Song Dianwu.
Seeing the girl's expression, the shop manager realized she was clearly interested in him, so he could only smile and go out to inquire.
Fortunately, Song Dianwu is indeed unmarried; he hasn't even had a partner all these years.
Not to mention the three generations of the Song family, even Hu Lixin and his mother were speechless for a long time when they heard the store manager's straightforward matchmaking method.
It was Song Xiaoli who sneakily spoke up to defuse the situation.
"Was that pretty auntie going to date my second uncle like my mom and Uncle Hu did?"
Children speak without thinking, and everyone burst into laughter, dispelling the awkward atmosphere from before.
However, the two elders of the Song family took the store manager's suggestion to heart and insisted on keeping Song Dianwu from leaving early, making him catch up with the store manager's sister alone.
And so, as they reminisced, their relationship progressed, and they even got married before the busy farming season the following year.
By the time Song Wanxia married Hu Lixin, this new second sister-in-law was already pregnant.
"Forget it, they're all living so happily, why should I worry about them anymore?" Song Xiaoli rolled around on her little bed wearing the long-sleeved shirt and pants her new dad had bought for her. "I'll just focus on the integration of the small worlds. It'll be good to get more meat for my grandparents' house and my grandma's house."
Moreover, next year, in 1982, the government will loosen its control over private small businesses, so families can sell any unused food to people in town who have extra money, and then they can save up more money.
My little cousin isn't the type to sit still and doesn't really like studying, but we can't let him end up like his past self, a petty hoodlum. Song Xiaoli thought that maybe her little cousin was suited for business. She wanted Grandpa to save more money so that her little cousin would have more confidence in whatever he wanted to do in the future.
As for herself... Song Xiaoli stroked her chin. To be honest, she didn't really want to do research herself in this lifetime. Maybe she should invest in someone else to do it?
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