Chapter 49: Searching for Relatives in Hong Kong
The aunts were shocked. No one in the surrounding area had eaten such a big melon for a long time!
You still dare to marry a concubine in this new society!
"What! There's such a thing? The Cui family wants to be the local landlord and marry two wives?"
"Are the Cui family not afraid of being paraded?"
Jin Fenglian saw that her daughter's performance was almost over, so she took a deep breath and started on stage.
"Sisters, you don't know, my daughter has a soft temper. Even her clothes were snatched away by her sister-in-law in the Cui family. It's because their team leader is kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see Xiuhong being tortured by them, so he issued a divorce certificate to Xiuhong and also gave her these rations for us to take back. Otherwise, Xiuhong would have been forced to death by the Cui family."
The aunt who was listening to the excitement slapped her thigh, she finally heard the follow-up.
"Oh, thank goodness their captain is sensible."
"Xiuhong has a hard time now. She's going to have a lot of trouble after getting divorced."
Seeing that the time was almost right, the mother and daughter continued to walk home crying, letting the villagers see what kind of people the Cui family was. Within half an hour, the news that the Cui family not only tortured their daughter-in-law, but also wanted to take a concubine spread throughout Xiahe Village.
The mother and daughter returned home crying and shouting, and after closing the door, they instantly felt like they had won a victory.
"Grandpa and grandma, sister! We are back. Today is such a great day. My divorce certificate has been issued." Ye Xiulan threw down the food and ran into the house, showing the divorce certificate in her hand.
After reading it, Old Man Ye said to Ye Xiuhong kindly, "Okay, okay, Xiuhong, let's live a good life at home from now on and don't think about anything else."
Ye Xiuhong just sat there with her head down, seemingly unresponsive to anything happening outside.
"Sister, don't worry. I will earn money to support you in the future. Don't be afraid." Ye Xiushan had been in a turmoil all day. When he had time to look at his sister, he found that his sister was not in a good state and seemed unable to hear people talking.
"Xiuhong, it's not a big deal. Let your sister-in-law follow you when you go out in the future. Xiushan and Xiuhong, you two should follow your sister closely. If anyone is ignorant, we will beat him up first." Jin Fenglian looked at her eldest daughter with heartache. Seeing her daughter who was worried, the joy she had felt along the way turned into worry again.
Seeing everyone's depressed faces, Old Man Ye simply made the decision and said, "Okay, just wait until Xiuhong gets used to it. Today, when Xiuhong comes home, we will have a reunion dinner at Lao San's house to celebrate."
"Okay, I'll make it right away. Let's have a good meal today." Jin Xiu Lian felt that her father-in-law was right. She had to celebrate when Xiuhong returned home. She could use the joy to ward off bad luck and have a prosperous life in the future.
The Ye family was sitting at the table eating a reunion dinner. While they were eating, Old Mrs. Ye started crying. The whole family hurried forward to check on her, worried that she was stuck.
Even Ye Xiuhong, who was daydreaming, looked up at her grandmother worriedly.
Old Mrs. Ye looked at the white flour dumplings in the bowl, thinking of the days when they ate tree bark, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay, it's okay. I just missed my second son. If he were still alive, the child would be quite old. It makes me sad to think about it. How could we have let him go out to find food alone? My son, we should have starved to death together back then, and we couldn't have left him behind."
Old man Ye frowned and remained silent. There were wars everywhere and the whole family had to flee. He had a leg injury and couldn't walk, so the eldest son carried him on his back. The third and fourth children were just four years old, and the old woman was afraid that the children would get lost, so she carried them on her back. The whole family relied on the second child's cleverness. He ran out every day to find food for the family, but one day he went out and never came back. The eldest son went out to look for him, and someone said that they saw the second child being kidnapped. There was no news of him in the past forty years. The second child was only 16 at that time, a child about the same age as Xiulan.
Old man Ye turned his back and wiped his tears silently.
Ye Dajun has the deepest memory of his second brother Ye Errong. They grew up together, experienced fleeing together, and suffered from hunger and cold together. His second brother was smart since he was young and could always find food.
During the most difficult times, if we found half a sweet potato vine, we would give him half. If it weren't for his second brother, he would not have survived. After his second brother was captured, they didn't even know who captured him. There were wars everywhere at the time, and he was probably captured by the puppet army, and most likely he would not have survived.
Thinking of his second brother, Ye Dajun, a man over fifty years old, also started crying and hugged Old Lady Ye.
Ye Sanxing felt bad watching this. He was four years old when he was separated from his second brother. He could not remember what his second brother looked like, but he remembered the brother who could always find all kinds of snacks. His second brother would call him Xiao San'er and his sister Xiao Si'er.
"Well, maybe the second brother is living well somewhere. He is so smart and much better than us stupid people." Old man Ye comforted his wife.
Old Lady Ye thought of her second son with longing, and she smiled as she thought, "That's right, Xiao Er is the smartest among them, and he will definitely live better than us."
Although she said this, Old Mrs. Ye knew in her heart that the world had been peaceful for so long. When the second son was lost, he was 16. If he were still alive, it would be impossible for him to remain unfound for so many years.
The meal was silent and depressing, which made the depressed Ye Xiuhong seem normal again.
Luohu Port Office of Guangdong Province
"Today, a comrade from Hong Kong wants to find his relatives. He called the production brigade to verify this address."
The director handed the document to the new clerk. When the clerk heard that the person was from Hong Kong, he curled his lips and said sarcastically, "They can't be capitalists, they are a bunch of black-hearted people. Why should we care about their business?"
The clerks resist anything related to capitalists from the bottom of their hearts. What good people can there be in capitalist Hong Kong?
"What nonsense! The comrades in Hong Kong are also our compatriots. We should help each other. Aren't there ordinary people in Hong Kong? Can't they find their relatives? Look at where you are. You have to deal with this kind of thing every day. If you don't want to do this, transfer out as soon as possible!"
The director felt really tired when he saw the new clerk. He also didn't want to be assigned to this department because there were too many rumors.
They say that they are a department colluding with capitalists and should be banned, and that they are reactionaries serving the capitalists. But why don’t these people think about the fact that Hong Kong is Chinese territory, how can they just ignore it!
The clerk realized he was in the wrong, gave a dry laugh, and obediently went to make the call.
"Director, I've checked with the Shandong Province. They don't know the address either, but it's not difficult to find. After the war, this place was redistributed due to land reform. We need to investigate where the people here moved to later. It will take another day."
The director nodded, indicating that their work had made progress, and returned to the office to call Hong Kong.
Qing County Government Office, Shandong Province
"Director Guo, do you think this Shitougou is the address before your commune was renovated?"
Director Guo was the commune director of the Hetougou Brigade. He took the address, looked at it, and said uncertainly, "This Shitougou was built more than 40 years ago, right?"
Once the investigators from the provincial office saw that he knew, it would be easy to handle.
"Yes, someone in Hong Kong is looking for relatives. This is the address they gave me forty years ago."
Director Guo was startled when he heard it was Xiangjiang. He quickly pulled the investigator closer, checked to see if anyone was around, and whispered, "Will this be a problem? The content in Xiangjiang isn't good."
Although the rumors have died down in the past two years, we still cannot openly connect with the capitalist society!
The investigator thought, you are afraid, and so am I, but what can I do if my superiors ask me to look for it?
He advised Director Guo seriously, "What's the problem with this? I'm asking you, is Hong Kong part of China? Of course it is! Since we are all compatriots, why can't people come here to look for their relatives? Hong Kong isn't just full of capitalists, it's mostly just ordinary people. Serving the people is our duty."
Director Guo was confused and thought what was said made sense. Besides, it was useless for him to say it. The province had ordered him to look for the person, so how could he not do that?
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