Upon hearing the news, Grandma Xu and Grandpa Xu immediately bought incense, candles, and firecrackers to share the good news with their ancestors.
Within half a day, everyone in Xujia Village knew that Xu Laosan, the third son of the Xu family who was always being chased and beaten, had been admitted to the best university in Beijing.
"I knew this Xu Laosan wasn't an ordinary person. This kid has been smart since he was a child. Not only is he clever, but he's also very bold. There's nothing he can't do."
"Of course, can an ordinary person be a leader of children?"
"The Xu family's ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke; all of their children are so successful."
"Of course! Mingyang is already a division commander. How many division commanders are that young?"
"Xiao Xi has become a high-ranking official now, hasn't she?"
"Of course! This kid is loyal and righteous. Not only did he get promoted quickly, but he also helped Guoqing get promoted along with him. Old Chen said that if it weren't for Xiaoxi urging him on, Guoqing wouldn't have reached his current position so quickly. A loyal and righteous kid like him is definitely not bad."
"And our little Dr. Xu, I wonder what high-ranking official she's become."
"They're definitely more powerful than Mingyang and the others."
"I guess so too. We knew this child wasn't ordinary from birth. In the past, we couldn't talk about feudal superstitions, so no one dared to say it. But now we don't mind anymore. You know, when our Dr. Xu was born, a rainbow was hanging on the roof beam of their house, and birds from all directions flew to their roof. It was a scene of hundreds of birds paying homage to the phoenix! Do you think our Dr. Xu could be an ordinary person?"
"The Xu family is blessed, and all the people in Xujia Village are blessed!"
Firecrackers went off for a long time at Old Xu's grave, leaving the ground covered in a bright red stain.
Many villagers followed to Old Xu's ancestral graves to see the spectacle. It was quite a rare sight to see Old Xu's ancestral graves so crowded. I wonder if Old Xu's ancestors underground are happy about this.
Xu Yaoyang was herding cattle on another hilltop when he saw a lively scene at his family's ancestral graves in the distance. He stood on the high ground and looked around, wondering what good thing had happened to the eldest branch of the family.
The eldest son's family is really getting better and better. Even Xu Mingyang, who was recognized and taken back, doesn't know what kind of luck he had.
After returning to the village, Xu Yaoyang lived alone. When Xiang Wanqin remarried, the two elders of the second wife made a fuss for a while, and even went to Xiang Wanqin's parents' home to cause trouble.
Xiang Wanqin's family is not so easy to bully. If it weren't for the sake of the eldest branch of the Xu family, these two old people probably wouldn't have been able to come back.
Although the second branch of the Xu family has severed ties with the first branch, the first branch still enjoys a considerable amount of benefits.
No matter how much the conflict between the first wife and the second wife goes, people will still give the second wife face.
Although the relationship is severed, the blood ties cannot be severed. If the second wife is really treated badly, wouldn't the first wife have something to say about it?
Family members can fight tooth and nail, but outsiders cannot bully them; this is also a kind of cultural heritage.
In the early stages of reform and opening up, Chinese agriculture faced serious production problems, and farmers' enthusiasm for production was suppressed.
In order to liberate rural productive forces and improve agricultural production efficiency, the Chinese government began to explore land system reforms, and then implemented the household contract responsibility system.
In 1978, a village in Anhui Province took the lead in piloting the household contract responsibility system, which was then gradually promoted throughout the country.
The household contract responsibility system greatly stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for production and improved agricultural production efficiency. It was an important milestone in China's land system reform and had a profound impact on China's agricultural modernization process.
Xujia Village implemented the household contract responsibility system in the 1980s, and under the leadership of Yang Chunqin, they started growing greenhouse vegetables. Combined with the original collective industries of Xujia Village, life in Xujia Village got better and better.
Since the implementation of the household contract responsibility system, Yang Chunqin's position as brigade leader has become meaningless. Then the brigade was disbanded, and the village returned to being a village with a secretary and a village head.
Yang Chunqin was elected as the village head of Xujia Village, while Xu Qiang remained as the secretary.
Yang Chunqin is not so much the village head, but strictly speaking, she is the leader of the collective economy of Xujia Village.
Xujia Village has a variety of industries, so the villagers receive a lot of dividends every year.
After the new policy was implemented, the second branch of the Xu family also started growing greenhouse vegetables. However, there was little labor in the family, the two elders were getting old, and Xu Yaoyang was not good at manual labor, so they did not grow much.
Although the yield is not much, the harvest is relatively stable.
As the eldest son's family prospered, the two elders of the second son's family completely fell silent.
Old Man Xu from the second wife often reminisces about the past. He truly feels that he was wrong, not only towards the first wife, but also towards his own children.
They are all descendants of the Xu family, so why are the children of the eldest son's family all outstanding, while their own children are getting worse and worse?
Especially after Xu Dongmei's accidental death, the second wife's old man really aged a lot. Now, when he stands next to the first wife's old man, people would believe that they are from two different generations.
Xu Dongmei was swept away by the sea when she went to the beach to collect seafood in the winter of 1979.
In those days, the ocean was still very rich in resources, as there was no pollution. Mudskippers and red-clawed crabs were everywhere on the mudflats. Further down, clams, razor clams, and sand clams were considered minor seafood. Even ribbonfish could be caught without going to the deep sea.
However, the dangers at sea can change in an instant.
Due to underdeveloped transportation, seafood products have not been well developed.
After the reform and opening up in 1979, some resourceful people started a seafood business, and in addition to dried seafood, they also pursued fresh seafood.
Fresh seafood cannot be transported to northern cities, but it can be transported to nearby cities, such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing.
With the rise of restaurants, the demand for ingredients has increased even more.
Suddenly, many merchants who buy seafood appeared on the beach.
Xu Dongmei's husband's family lived by the sea, and their income over the course of six months was quite substantial. In October of 1979, Xu Dongmei's family built a two-story cement brick house. Not only Xu Dongmei's family, but most families in their village also built two-story cement brick houses.
A house represents wealth and status.
After building their house, Xu Dongmei's family had used up most of their savings. So the couple worked even harder to earn money, afraid that others would take it all away, since seafood wasn't only available in their area.
In the winter of 1979, due to the cold weather, most families stayed home to rest unless there were special circumstances.
However, Xu Dongmei was blinded by money, and she insisted on dragging her husband out to go beachcombing.
Perhaps because there were fewer people going to the beach that day, there seemed to be a lot of things in the sea. Xu Dongmei even caught several small green dragons in the trench, which made her a little carried away.
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