Chapter 71

Big surprise

"If you're talking about subsidizing old professors, I have to tell you that all the people you secretly sent money to are now in my farm. If you say you sent it to that male classmate, or the female classmate who lost her spouse, then don't even think about taking the train to Beijing tomorrow morning."

"Xiao Chen, you are too jealous. I have three sons. If I really had money, why don't I save it to raise my sons instead of giving it to a female classmate?"

"That's what your family got. You wouldn't give the money to your biological parents, would you?"

After watching for a long time, Nie Gong's poker face twitched. Chen Lina saw the clue and pinched it again, and finally told the truth.

"Old Four, my fourth sister got married. She was so young and I don't know why she was so anxious. She followed a young man from Zhaojiazhuang. She almost died when she gave birth. I gave two hundred yuan to Old Two Nie."

"That's right." Chen Lina asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"My second brother came here by train, and since you happened to be at the farm, I didn't let you in and gave you two hundred dollars to send you off."

"What does he mean?"

"After a tour of the farm, I found that your father and mother were living a good life. Then I saw that your sister and Wang Hongbing were doing well too. So you wanted to move to the farm, but I turned them down."

"You gave them money and pushed them away. Do you think they will never come back after they leave?" Old Nie, who had no practical experience, actually thought too simply about his biological parents, Nie Laoer, and Chen Qiaoqiao's family.

"I don't know if it's true that your sister got married and had a difficult birth, but I do know one thing: when Nie Lao Er comes and sees that my father and mother are doing well in the frontier, and with the large sum of money you gave him, he will definitely move here without a second thought. Just wait and see if you don't believe me."

"So what do you say we should do?"

"have no idea."

"Then tonight..."

"Cancel." With a click, the lights went out.

Lao Nie was very angry. "Comrade Xiao Chen, it's only once a month. I don't believe you want to have the cold war with me."

"Why? A cold war is inevitable. I don't love you, but it's my duty as a couple. I don't have to stop if I don't want to."

"No matter how badly Sun Zhuan'an and I had a fight, she would never go into the cold war over such a thing." It's torturous enough to do it once every two weeks. Going into the cold war again would just be adding insult to injury.

Well, the couple quarreled. This was the first time that Lao Nie mentioned his ex-wife. Chen Lina immediately got angry and said, "Cancel next month's contract as well, until you realize your mistake."

"Comrade Xiao Chen, do you know what changes took place in the world during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union?"

"What changes?" Nie Bozhao dragged the Cold War into the international situation.

"The United States landed on the moon, and the Soviet Union even launched a satellite to land on Venus. Since you want to start a Cold War, that's great. I, Nie Bozhao, will also do something earth-shaking in my laboratory during the Cold War and contribute to international communism."

"Okay, that's what I wanted. Let's go to sleep." He said lightly and turned over and fell asleep.

Nie Gong thought about it seriously and suddenly felt that it was a big mistake that he had been breaking the rules and not strictly adhering to the rule of once a month. Well, from now on, he decided to concentrate on his career.

Early in the morning, Liu Xiaohong was already cooking.

"Dadan, Dadan, my mom gave birth to a little brother." Chen Tiantian shouted outside.

Nie Weimin and Erdan jumped out and came back a little later to report that a little mouse was born in Chen Zili's family.

"What do you mean by little mouse? It's obvious that I gave birth to a younger brother, okay?" Chen Lina said with a smile.

"It's really a little mouse, so red and wrinkled, and it squeaks when it cries." Erdan raised his hands to describe it, crying.

Nie Weimin said, "The doctor said the baby is not yet full-term. She fell last night and was born prematurely."

Liu Xiaohong was really skillful. She got up in the morning and Chen Lina didn't have to do anything. She just chopped the vegetables into fluff, beat an egg, and mixed the flour. Soon, the soft and fluffy pancakes were out of the pan.

She cooked soup and only beat five eggs. Chen Lina counted the number of people and added one more. She poked her finger on her forehead and said, "Xiaohong, do you understand? You are a lady. You know what a lady is. Westerners believe that ladies come first. That is to say, in this family, we two have priority over them. Why do you only serve them eggs and not yourself?"

"Auntie, I only have biscuits. I never eat eggs in the morning."

"I don't care whether you eat eggs in other places or not. In my house, either we eat together and everyone has a share, or no one eats. Little girl, since you call me aunt, I have to tell you something intimate. Do you understand what self-respect and self-love mean?"

Liu Xiaohong bit her lip, smiled and shook her head, without saying a word.

Chen Lina then added, "Others may think that I am scolding you. But I am not scolding you or saying that you are bad. Your family background has created the inferiority complex in your character, but if a girl has an inferiority complex, she will have no vision, and without vision, she will have no confidence. An unconfident girl will never be beautiful. You must be confident and generous, just like Tiantian. This is the character of a truly good girl."

Look at Chen Tiantian, she has a chubby face, a flat nose, and a yellow face. She is far inferior to Liu Xiaohong, who has been a beauty since childhood.

But her parents are loving, and of course, Tiantian herself is cheerful, lovely, and a little heartless.

So she has a good personality, warm like a younger sister hanging outside the door. She is born to be the kind of person who can make people interact with her without any worries and makes people like her.

"Okay, Auntie, I got it." Liu Xiaohong said, and quickly brought the soup to the dining table. She knocked on the door and said, "Uncle, come out for dinner."

Chen Lina opened the kitchen cabinet and saw that there were still eight eggs. These were the last few eggs in the house before buying New Year’s goods.

Nie Bozhao was going to Beijing to attend a commendation meeting. He needed to bake some dry food and boil eggs on the way, and of course he had to eat all the way to Beijing.

Chen Lina thought about it, took out three, and pulled Chen Tiantian over. "Come on, Tiantian, let's go see your mother together, okay?"

"Auntie Xiao Chen, I want to eat pancakes here. The pancakes made by Xiao Hong are really delicious."

Of course, the vegetables are chopped into small pieces, fried with a little oil, and made into pancakes, then rolled with radish and cabbage shreds pickled in rock sugar. Nie Weimin can finish two by himself. Chen Tiantian said she could eat four. Chen Lina didn't believe it at first, but after seeing her eat four with her own eyes, she believed it.

"Okay, roll one up and take it with you. Let's go. Auntie can also go and see your mother's little brother."

Erdan was already a crusher, and with Tiantian added to the mix, Chen Lina was completely exhausted. This month she also had to pay Nie Bozhao to attend a meeting in Beijing, and she had already planned to eat corn cakes every day for the rest of the month.

Sister Wang was lying on the kang, looking at the wrinkled baby in the cradle, and was also worried, "I wonder if he can be raised to life?"

"Your mother is taking care of him, so you just need to feed him well. Don't expose him to the wind or catch a cold. How can he not be able to survive?"

"You don't understand. Sometimes your own mother is not as good as your mother-in-law. Your mother-in-law will at least be polite to you and won't dare to do anything easily. But when your mother shows partiality to one of you, it's really annoying."

Chen Lina heard from Sister Wang that her brother had two sons who could not be raised in the countryside, so they had to be brought here. Of course, this was also for the purpose of sending them to the school at the base. Now, basically all primary schools in the countryside have been suspended, and only the base has a primary school.

"Okay, think positively. Mom is better than mother-in-law. She really loves you."

Sister Wang thought about it and said with a sigh, "If I were like you, I would never have children. That would be much easier. What can I do if I have one child after another?"

In fact, in this day and age, most children are born this way.

Chen Lina thought about it and felt that she should promote family planning. Otherwise, from the farm to the base, these young women would almost be tied to their children for the rest of their lives.

After a while of bicycle ringing, Erdan called out from next door, "Mom, mom, it's time to get the milk."

But the person who came was not the milkman, but Wang Hongbing. As the 28-inch bicycle leaned against the wall, he asked Erdan, "Where is your mother?"

Chen Lina came out from next door. "How is my sister? Is she feeling better today? Didn't she vomit badly yesterday?"

"I can't say why she's uncomfortable. Anyway, there's no work to do on the farm in winter, so she just lies down." As he said that, he took out two warm gloves from his arms and put one on each of Liu Xiaohong's hands. He also took off his knee pads and put them on her. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, you two stay here. We, father and daughter, should go back to the farm."

Erdan and Sandan were anxious when they heard this, "Uncle, can you let Sister Xiaohong stay at my house?"

"Why? She is my daughter, why should she stay in your house?" Wang Hongbing said jokingly.

He really loved his daughter, and he took off his own woolen hat and put it on Liu Xiaohong's head.

Erdan said, "The pancakes she makes are better than those my mom makes."

"Comrade Erdan, this is my daughter. I can't even bear to make pancakes for her at home. Why should I make pancakes for you? Let me ask you." Wang Hongbing started to argue with Erdan.

"Erdan, there's no noodles at home today, so you won't have lunch." Also angry was his stepmother Chen Lina.

"Mom, I suddenly remembered that your cooking is still the best." Erdan felt that he might have said something wrong.

"No, I've sent you to your aunt, you should go to your aunt's house too." Chen Lina pushed him, and Wang Hongbing reached out and was about to put Erdan into the iron frame in front of the bicycle. "Okay, Erdan, sit in the front?"

With a cry, Erdan, who never thought before speaking, pouted and started crying.

"Okay, don't cry, your tears will freeze." Liu Xiaohong said, took out her handkerchief, and wiped Erdan's tears.

She is not even as tall as Erdan, but she is the most mature among all the children. Chen Lina thought to herself, it would be great if this baby came out of my belly, then I could keep her.

However, Liu Xiaohong is really going home this time, and she is very happy.

"Mom, you seem unhappy that Liu Xiaohong is gone." Nie Weimin still knows Chen Lina best.

"Not really. You can tutor her at home, but when she returns to the farm, there will be no one to tutor her and her English will lag far behind yours." Learning English is not encouraged now, but in the future when reform and opening up come into being, knowing English will be a great thing.

What Chen Lina is thinking about now is that when these three children grow up, for example, when Nie Weimin is going to college, he was born in 1964 and was 20 years old when the reform and opening up came in 1984, then they must be sent abroad to study.

Money is not a difficult problem. She can save it now, and she can find a way to earn it after the reform and opening up. As long as he speaks fluent English, there is no need to worry about not being able to train him into a talent.

Of course, Liu Xiaohong also wanted to be sent out, but she couldn't let her English fall behind.

"Then call her back. My dad is leaving today anyway, and she can sleep with you. I really welcome her to live in our house. I really mean it." Nie Weimin said nonchalantly.

It was the first time for Chen Lina to pull this guy's ears. It was winter and his ears were very fragile. They made a loud bang when she pulled them. If she pulled too hard, they would probably be broken off.

As the year draws to a close, the mining area has been slow to distribute benefits. Not only is Chief Engineer Wang confused, but his family members are also getting restless.

Look, Lu Fangfang and Goudan's mother, holding their shoes, waited for Chen Lina's car to stop and then went to her house to inquire about the situation.

"What's going on, Director Chen? Have you heard that they have stopped paying all benefits before the Chinese New Year this year? They also said that our oil fields may also have to stop production and require people to go to the countryside to work."

Driving on ice in winter, even though Chen Lina is brave, careful and skilled, she still sweats a lot every time she goes to the mining area.

"It's probably going to be a little difficult this year, but wait until next year. It will be better next year. I don't think we will have to go to work again."

In fact, looking back on my life, it should be said that starting from 1973, the leaders of the United States and Britain frequently visited the Republic, and diplomatic relations were established between the Republic and major powers, and the situation became very complicated.

Now is the time when those revolutionaries are counterattacking the most fiercely. It would be fine if I had Nie Bozhao's high salary these days, but without him, it would be really hard.

So, when Nie Gong came back from Beijing, the whole family stared at each other in amazement, because Nie Gong also had nothing.

"Did the mining area really not give us anything?" Lao Nie's eyes bulged like bells. He went in and out of the small warehouse three times before he dared to confirm that there was really nothing at home.

Last year there were longans, big oranges, fruit candies and big fat chickens, but this year there are only a few lambs, piles of cabbages and big potatoes, and other than that, there is only one bucket of cooking oil.

"It's true that I didn't get anything. Secretary Ah's family was barely able to make ends meet, yet he still gave me two pounds of peanuts, saying they were for me to make glutinous rice balls," said Chen Lina.

Erdan also said, "Dad, stop looking. If there really is something good, how can I not smell it?"

This guy who likes to steal food, out of two kilograms of peanuts, only one and a half kilograms were left when Chen Lina found them. She also caught mice for a long time. One day, she found a peanut shell in Erdan's trouser pocket and realized that the mouse was Erdan.

Nie Bozhao touched his pocket, spread his hands and said, "It's bad. After arriving in Beijing, we did get a lot of gifts during the meeting, but my roommate Deng Gong cried for a long time about how hard it was to make ends meet at home, and the children were so hungry that they gnashed their teeth at night. I gave him all the pork elbow and eight-treasure rice pudding."

Erdan and Sandan both widened their eyes at the same time, "Dad!"

He received the pork elbow that he had been eating for a long time, but he actually gave it to someone else.

"Nie Bozhao, you didn't even bring back the pork elbow you had, and you actually dared to give it away?" Chen Lina was also furious. In this major beef and mutton producing area, she would immediately drool at the thought of pork elbows and pork belly, even if it was an inch thick of fat.

"Okay, come into the house quickly. There is no pork belly, but I have something good that I need to show you." Nie Bozhao said, leaving the person in suspense.

After entering the bedroom, Chen Lina sat down in front of the sewing machine and said, "Nian Gong, don't forget that we are in a cold war now. Don't play tricks on me. If you mention your grandson's transfer to a boy in front of me, this matter will not be easily let go."

"But you have to talk about the fork in the apricot tree, Chen Lina. The so-called women's rights are equality between men and women, not that you will always be superior to me. Moreover, I sincerely apologize to you, and the gift I give you is guaranteed to be romantic enough for you. Is that okay?"

Originally, Nie Gong wanted to take advantage of the cold war to concentrate on his work, but he regretted it as soon as he went out.

Work and life should be done well, both hands should be strong, this is what his teacher Deng, who is currently working in a tractor repair factory in Jiangxi, said in a letter to comfort him. It is not a skill to get a good job, the skill is to make a good life.

Teacher Deng and his wife had never had conflicts like he did.

After counseling himself, Nie Gong’s trip to Beijing was, of course, with the great mission of giving his lover a romantic surprise.

"Then why don't you take it out and show me what surprise it is? Let me see." Before he finished speaking, the worker opened the zipper of the canvas bag and took out something.

Chen Lina's eyes were suddenly filled with stars. Well, what's that called? It was the feeling of first love. She forgot about the cold war, the unhappiness he had brought to her, and the aroma of the oil from the big elbow.

At this moment, her eyes were filled with tears.