Chapter 58 Shock
August 16th of the lunar calendar.
Poxin Village, Xinghua Brigade, Longtan Commune.
After breakfast, Zhang Zhenfa sat at the door of his house and smoked a few cigarettes. Then he put on a straw hat and walked towards Naye Village, Bangjie Brigade, Songshan Commune.
This time, Zhang Zhenfa was going to personally inquire about the situation of his future relative-in-law Deng Shirong's family.
Ever since he heard from his wife at the end of last month that matchmaker Deng Shirong had come to his house in person to act as a matchmaker for his son, Zhang Zhenfa has been wishing he could grow wings and fly to Naye Village to verify whether what his wife said was true.
That night, the family sat together and discussed who they should ask to make the inquiry.
After much discussion, they felt uneasy no matter who they asked, so Zhang Zhenfa volunteered to go to Naye Village to inquire in person.
The whole family unanimously agreed with his proposal. After all, it was most reliable for him, the head of the family, to inquire.
After deciding on the candidate, the next thing to discuss is when would be the best time to go and inquire. Although the whole family wants to confirm this matter as soon as possible, they can't just go over and inquire about the situation at the other person's home right after he or she returns. Even if the other party takes the initiative to invite them to inquire, it would seem too hasty.
As a woman, it is better to be reserved.
So, after some discussion, the date was set after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It takes about three and a half hours to walk from Poxin Village to Naye Village. When Zhang Zhenfa arrived at Shuangwang Market, it was almost noon. After walking such a long way, he was hungry and thirsty, so he cooked a bowl of noodles for eight cents at a noodle stall and ate it all together with the soup.
After resting for a few minutes, Zhang Zhenfa continued his journey towards Naye Village.
Zhang Zhenfa was not unfamiliar with Naye Village of Bangjie Brigade, because he had been to this place several times when he was young.
Zhang Zhenfa remembers the first time very clearly. It was in October 1958.
At that time, in order to build the Laohutou Reservoir, the county party committee and the county people's committee mobilized and organized 23,600 migrant workers from nine districts including Longtan, Songshan, Nabu, Fengshan, Yingqiao, Wendi, Ningtan, Shahe and Langping, established a militia division to build the Hutou Reservoir project, and began to build the only large reservoir in Bobai.
And Zhang Zhenfa is one of those 23,600 migrant workers.
Although the Laohutou Reservoir belongs to the Naxin Brigade of Shabei Commune, the Laohutou Reservoir was originally located at the junction of the Naxin Brigade and the Bangjie Brigade. Therefore, when Zhang Zhenfa and his team came to build the Laohutou Reservoir, they had to pass through the Bangjie Brigade to reach their destination.
The construction of Laohutou Reservoir started in October 1958 and was not completed until April 1960, which took a year and a half.
Among so many migrant workers, there are naturally people from the Bangjie Brigade, so Zhang Zhenfa is not unfamiliar with the Bangjie Brigade.
In less than half an hour, Zhang Zhenfa arrived at Naye Village.
There was no need to ask. When entering Naye Village, passing a rice field and coming to a small river, he saw the "majestic building" in the shape of the number 7. Although the building had not been fully completed, the uniform blue brick walls had already brought a great spiritual shock to Zhang Zhenfa!
In this era, let alone in the countryside, even in the prosperous Longtan Town, there are no blue brick buildings of such a large scale.
At this moment, Zhang Zhenfa silently made a decision in his heart. As long as his future son-in-law was not a fool with missing limbs, he would agree to the marriage.
Of course, he thought so in his mind, but Zhang Zhenfa had walked for three or four hours to get here, and he couldn't just take a look at this stunning house and go back. He had to find someone to inquire about the situation so that he could go back and "report" to his wife and children.
Just then, a middle-aged man of about his age walked toward the bamboo forest by the river with a hatchet in his hand. Zhang Zhenfa hurriedly went up to him and asked, "Dear relative, who built those houses in front? They look so impressive!"
The middle-aged man with the hatchet stopped walking when he heard this and said with pride, "That's the house my uncle built."
Zhang Zhenfa asked, "What does your uncle Jiu do for a living? How could he be able to build such a beautiful house?"
Everyone wants to show off, but you don't have to be awesome yourself. If your relatives or friends are awesome, or people you know are awesome, or even your hometown is awesome, you can show off in front of others.
This is the situation of the middle-aged man with the hatchet knife. He couldn't help but boast: "My uncle Jiu is a great man in our village. He is the most skilled big vat master recognized by our Bangjie Brigade. Over the years, the economic conditions of his family have been good in the village.
Two or three months ago, Uncle Jiu teamed up with someone to contract out the brigade's tile kiln. I don't know how much money he can make a month now, but I heard that the master vat maker in the tile factory earns more than two hundred yuan a month. As one of the owners of the factory, Uncle Jiu should make a lot of money!
His eldest son is now quite successful, and has taken over his job as a maker of large jars in a jar and tile factory. The father and son earn at least several hundred a month, if not a thousand. They can be said to be the most powerful family in our village!"
Before this, Zhang Zhenfa knew that his future in-law was one of the owners of a tile factory, and he also knew that his future son-in-law was a master tile maker in the factory, and that the family's income should be very good, but he never expected that the income would be so high.
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The master craftsman of the big vat earns more than two hundred yuan a month?
This income really shocked Zhang Zhenfa! You know, nowadays, even a county official only earns 159 yuan a month, not to mention cadres with lower positions.
If we take into account the future relative-in-law, the owner of the tile factory, then their family income is really as the man in front of us said, at least several hundred, if not a thousand. No wonder they can build such a beautiful blue brick and tile house, and no wonder he didn't even frown when he gave his daughter a thousand as a living wage, and also gave her another three hundred and eighty as a dowry.
At this moment, Zhang Zhenfa was shocked, but couldn't help feeling ecstatic.
Because if nothing unexpected happens, this is his future in-law. Being able to marry such a powerful in-law, their Zhang family is really proud!
Next, Zhang Zhenfa suppressed his joy and asked some questions indirectly. It turned out that what the other party said was basically not much different from what the future in-law said. If there was any difference, it was probably that the future in-law was a little modest when mentioning his family's financial conditions.
After standing by the creek and chatting with the middle-aged man with the axe for a few minutes and getting the information he wanted, Zhang Zhenfa found an excuse to leave.
On the way home, Zhang Zhenfa's steps were even lighter than when he came, and he was in a very good mood.
After all, it won't be long before he has a good son-in-law whose monthly income exceeds that of a county official. Who wouldn't be happy about that?
(End of this chapter)