Chapter 986: The Story of the Two Elders of the Gao Family (Part 2)
Tang Jingyue held her chin up and asked seriously, "Is that young man in military uniform my Uncle Gao?"
Mrs. Gao smiled and nodded, "Yes."
"So what's next?"
Tang Jingyue became even more curious.
"It turned out that the young man in military uniform was the son of my father's co-worker. He had been fighting outside before, and after the Japanese were driven away, he returned home. Because of the war, he had lost his youth, and his parents were very anxious. That day, his father brought him to my house, wanting my father to introduce a wife to his son in a nearby village. When my father saw that the woman was so handsome and was a soldier, his eyes lit up. He ran into the woodshed and pulled me, who was disheveled, to the kitchen to wash. My mother re-braided my hair and put on a red cotton jacket. Then, she pulled me in front of his friend and the soldier."
Tang Jingyue found it incredible.
Old Mrs. Gao performed the scene at that time with great emotion.
My father said to his co-worker, "Lao Gao, what do you think of my daughter?"
His co-worker was stunned when he saw me, and asked with wide eyes, "Lao Yao, when did you get such a pretty girl?
Why didn’t you see it when you came to my house before? "
My father said excitedly, "She is Erya."
Old Madam Gao was afraid that Tang Jingyue would not understand who Erya was, so she inserted a side note, "My name at that time was Erya, Silly Erya."
"When Xiao Zheng's grandfather heard this, he was shocked.
He had come to my house several times before. Every time he came to see me, I was wearing dirty clothes and my face was smeared with black. When I saw a stranger, I ran into the woodshed. He always thought I was a fool and sighed with regret every time he saw me. "
Old Lady Gao said, "After my father explained to them why I acted ugly and stupid, the young man in military uniform became very angry and said to me in a gentle tone that the devils had surrendered and we didn't need to be afraid anymore."
Tang Jing also felt emotional and was deeply touched.
I didn't expect that during the war years, Mrs. Gao had experienced such a thrilling thing.
In order to avoid the Japanese invaders and traitors, the young girl lived in a dishevelled state.
She asked again, "Have you decided to get married after this meeting?"
Old Madam Gao smiled and said, "Yes, it has been decided. It was not easy to decide because Xiao Zheng's grandfather was always worried and asked my father if there was anything wrong with this girl's brain.
My father said no at the time, but the other party was skeptical. In order to get me to marry the young man in military uniform, my father tried very hard. In front of Xiaozheng's grandfather, he tested me in various ways, including adding and subtracting, and many common sense questions. I remember that he asked me some very strange questions and asked me what I thought of the rich landlords.
I was quite smart and tried my best to answer his questions. After the efforts of my father and I, the Gao family finally believed that I was not a fool. "
Mrs. Gao recalled these past events with a wrinkled face and a strong sense of nostalgia. "The two elders decided on this marriage right then and there."
"So you didn't meet again, and you didn't pick up your parents?"
Tang Jingyue really listened to the story this time.
Old Lady Gao nodded and said, "When Grandpa Xiaozheng came the second time, he brought a basket of sweet potatoes as a betrothal gift, and he found an auspicious day to hold the wedding."
"After I got married, he gave me a name, Cuiping, saying that Erya was too rustic. He also told me a lot about the policies at that time, Jingyue. You know, at that time, it really felt like I had opened the door to a new world. He said that in the future, the surname Lao would be the master of the family, and there would be no more landlords and no oppression. I was so excited when I heard that. I started to learn to write and went to night school to make progress with him."
When Mrs. Gao said this, her expression darkened again and she began to sigh, "Alas, the good times didn't last long. Just two or three months after we got married, he wanted to go to war again."
"It was another four years. When he left, I was pregnant with your sister. The child was born in the countryside for more than three years and never saw what her father looked like. During those three years, Xiaozheng's grandparents also passed away one after another. I was the only one who saw them off to their deaths. After the war, he came back to the village to find us. When Xiaolan saw him, she was so scared that she burst into tears. The child cried, and his father cried too. The father and daughter cried in our dilapidated yard, and the neighbors all came to watch."
When Mrs. Gao said this, tears began to fall unconsciously.
She thought of the hard times in the past and wiped away her tears sadly.
Tang Jingyue was also very moved when she heard this. The peaceful and happy life now was exchanged by the older generation of soldiers with their lives. The hardships they had endured in the past are simply unimaginable to the young people today.
She handed Mrs. Gao a handkerchief, and the old lady wiped her tears and continued, "It took Xiaolan's father four or five days to make Xiaolan less afraid of him. During those four or five days, he slept on the floor at night, and the child would cry as soon as he got on the kang."
The old man recalled the past with mixed feelings.
"Later, he took me and the child to Bincheng and we lived in the military compound. That's when I found out that he was already a battalion commander. I was just a rural woman. I had never met him and didn't know anything. In this military compound, I felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. I saw that the wives of the military commanders were all Westernized and stylish. I felt very inferior and was afraid of bringing shame to Lao Gao, so I told him that we should get a divorce. You can move me and the child to the village, and I'll marry you another wife. With your current conditions, it won't be difficult to find a good wife.
I remember there was a political commissar in their compound at that time. After he became an official, he divorced his wife from the village and found a beautiful nurse in the city.
"Then what does my uncle Gao say?"
Tang Jingyue looked at her curiously and asked.
Mrs. Gao said this with a look of happiness on her face. She smiled and said, "He scolded me and said that if I divorced him because of my low self-esteem, he would resign and go back to my hometown with me and the children to farm. That way, I would no longer feel low self-esteem."
"I was terrified when I heard that, fearing that it would affect his future. From then on, I never dared to mention divorce again.
Later, after I got used to living in the compound, I found that everyone was very approachable. Your grandmother was a rich lady, a bit spoiled, but she was very nice to me and didn't look down on me. After all, your grandfather and Xiao Zheng's father were good brothers. "
When Tang Jingyue heard the old lady mention her grandparents, she asked with a smile, "Does my grandpa particularly love my grandma?"
Old Lady Gao nodded, "That's right. Your grandfather was famous for doting on his wife. When your grandmother was injured, he went through all difficulties to find a nanny for her."
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