Chapter 8
After marriage
Although she said she would not take care of it, Nie's mother still cooked a big pot of臊子面, crossed the river to bring two bowls to Chen's relatives, and her own relatives also came to eat a bowl each.
The hot臊子面 was being cooked, and among the long line of ladies from the second house, some were said to be vomiting after eating it.
On the first day, Chen Lina was a new bride and according to custom had to sit on the kang for the whole day.
She was sitting there when a kid ran in, fumbled around on the kang, touched a peanut, and turned around to run away.
"Tell me what your name is."
"No."
"If you don't want to tell me, give the peanuts back to me. There are so many peanuts and candies on the kang. I will only give them to you if you tell me your name." As she said that, Chen Lina peeled a piece of fruit candy and circled in front of the child.
"Erdan, my name is Erdan." Little Erdan's shoes were new, but his face was covered with snot. He grabbed the candy and threw it into his mouth.
"Call me mom." Chen Lina had no intention of letting him go.
"Mom!" His mouth was very sweet, but Chen Lina just let go and was about to give him two more candies, he turned around and ran away, "Mrs. Yao, you are Mrs. Yao."
At this time, Chen Qiaoqiao, the second daughter-in-law of Lao Nie's family, came in with food and said, "He calls you Aunt Yao."
"Mrs. Yao doesn't feel sorry when she beats the kids. She either hits them or twists them. In addition to the stick, she also uses a rope." Erdan was singing outside, shaking his head.
Yao Po is the name given to stepmother by the locals in Qisi Township. Why? Because it is said that during the reign of Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang, Shun's stepmother was surnamed Yao and was called Yao Po. And Shun's stepmother was an especially bad stepmother.
You see, folk rumors have been passed down through the ages, and stepmothers have been bad since ancient times until now.
Chen Lina doesn't care about this. "Children are taught by people. I don't know who taught them this. If they ask me to take care of them, I will never teach them to say these things."
Chen Qiaoqiao smiled awkwardly, put down the bowl and went out.
Needless to say, it must be her who taught me.
When night comes, it's time to go to bed.
The Nie family had many children but little land. Originally, Nie's father and mother and the three children of Nie Bozhao's family shared one kang, the second oldest couple and their two younger children shared one kang, and the remaining four daughters shared one kang.
During the nights that Nie Bozhao was back, he and his two children slept in one bed, while the second son's daughters and grandma shared another bed.
However, if we send the two children to sleep on grandma’s kang tonight, there will be seven or eight children on one kang, and there will not be enough room for them to even stand.
"Mom, can't we put up another kang?" Nie Bozhao asked.
There is room in the house, so just put down another kang. Why should the whole family be crowded on one kang?
But Nie's mother was unhappy. "There are four kangs, but only three mats. It's so cold, and it's hard to sleep on the kang made of mud bricks. You're leaving tomorrow, so you can just make do with it for one night. Otherwise, you can just let the three children squeeze in with you."
She has always been frugal, and once the three children are gone, eighty yuan a month will be reduced to twenty yuan. How can she possibly have the heart to make mats for them again?
As a last resort, the three children and the newlyweds Chen Lina and Nie Bozhao had to sleep on the same kang.
Chen Lina thought that the marriage was finally over, and the two of them would be able to talk to each other more.
But there were three children lying on the big kang, and Nie Bozhao was busy washing their faces, feet and brushing their teeth. When she was so sleepy that she squinted her eyes, she didn't even have time to say a word to him.
"Dad, the head of our toothbrush fell off." Nie Weimin put the toothbrush in his mouth and asked, "Can we not brush our teeth?"
Three children share one toothbrush. There aren't many bristles on it, and now the ends are falling off. How can we brush our teeth?
Nie Bozhao looked at his eldest son and said, "Then go get some clean water and rinse your mouth. After that, get on the kang and go to sleep."
"I brought three sets of dowry, one for each child, for the three of them to use." Chen Lina, who still had to make the kang, raised her head and said.
Nie Bozhao was shocked at first, "Isn't that your dowry?"
"Three children share one toothbrush, and the bacteria in their mouths will infect each other. Not only will it not protect their teeth, but if they get sick, they will spread it to each other very quickly. I only have one mouth and my own toothbrush, so I don't need it. Give it to them."
A set of toothbrushes for each person was considered a luxury in this village. The three children were delighted and immediately rushed to the washbasin in the corner.
"One set per person, don't rush to grab them. Sandan, you have to brush it too, and you have to brush it for at least three minutes." Nie Bozhao said, and looked back at Chen Lina with an apologetic look. She had delicate skin and beautiful facial features.
It's a pity that a slap in the mouth occasionally can make people stupid.
However, if he was not stupid, Nie Bozhao really would not dare to let her go to Wumai to raise a child for him. A good young man should not waste his time raising a child in the desert.
There were three children in the middle, some were grinding their teeth, some were talking in their sleep. The third child was soft and skinny, but his little butt was warm and he kept rubbing his little butt in Chen Lina's arms.
"Comrade Lao Nie, do you believe in ghosts and gods?" Chen Lina finally waited until the three children fell asleep, suppressed the excitement in her heart, and asked.
"I am a nihilist. I don't believe in ghosts or gods. I only believe in Marxism-Leninism." Well, she got a hard reply. Chen Lina thought to herself, does this man understand romance?
"Then do you believe in afterlife?" Chen Lina asked again.
In the darkness, Nie Bozhao frowned and said, "That is feudal superstition, the Four Olds. You can only talk about it on the kang. Once you get off the kang, you are not allowed to talk about it everywhere."
Well, this man, he talked as if she was an ignorant child.
"Lao Nie...Lao Nie..." After calling for a long time with no one answering, Chen Lina finally came to her senses. On their wedding night, this man actually fell asleep so early.
The next day we split up and went our separate ways.
Chen Lina was responsible for packing the clothes and luggage of the three children, while Nie Bozhao was responsible for going to the township to buy bus tickets to the provincial capital, and then taking the train from the provincial capital to Uyima. The train tickets were bought for him by the staff in the provincial capital.
Nie's mother and second daughter-in-law Chen Qiaoqiao came together to help Chen Lina pack up.
It can be seen that some of the clothes of the three children are of good quality, but some of them are torn at the elbows or rotten at the knees. Those that can obviously be repaired and still be worn are all rolled up and thrown into the box.
Chen Qiaoqiao gave birth to six daughters and kept saying, "Sister-in-law, this dress is so torn, please give it to my daughter. I think it can be worn after mending it."
"Boys need more clothes than girls. There are four people in your family who work full time, so you should have a lot of cloth coupons. Just buy them for yourselves." Chen Lina said as she rolled up the tattered clothes.
She has not forgotten that it is the 1970s now, and the hard times will start now and will continue for many years. It is really hard to dress three naughty boys.
"Mom, Mom." A snotty-nosed kid called from behind.
Chen Lina turned around and saw the youngest child, Sandan. She felt him and found that he was only wearing a single coat. She thought to herself, no wonder he was frozen like this. In the countryside, you need to wear tattered clothes to keep warm. As long as you are not cold, you will not have snot. Otherwise, the children's noses will always be covered with snot.
"Third brother, why are you calling me mom? Are you hungry?" Chen Lina showed great enthusiasm for the first person who surrendered to her.
"I want to eat peanuts and candies." At the wedding yesterday, peanuts and fruit candies were spread on the kang, but Chen Lina put them all away.
She peeled one and gave it to the child, then put a piece of clothes on him. The child ran around and played at her feet, and soon the runny nose stopped.
"Mom, Mom." After a while, the little guy started calling again.
Chen Lina then gave the child another peanut. The child carefully peeled off the peanut shell, licked the peanut, sighed with great satisfaction, and left.
After emptying the suitcase, there was only a large woven bag of clothes in it.
Chen Lina always felt that the three children needed more clothes than these. After thinking about it, she thought that they were lacking sweaters and cotton-padded jackets. How could the children survive the winter without sweaters and cotton-padded jackets?
In the evening, when Nie Bozhao came back after buying the train ticket, he saw his newly married wife packing clothes.
As soon as she saw him come in, she immediately smiled and said, "How is it, have you bought the ticket?"
"I've finished buying. What? Are you packing clothes?" As he said that, Nie Bozhao naturally sat down next to her to watch Chen Lina fold clothes.
The children were playing outside, and they were the only two in the cramped room.
Chen Lina then reached out her hand and said coquettishly, "Give it here, I'll keep it for us."
The moment her hand touched him, Nie Bozhao seemed to be frozen. He did not dodge or evade, because Chen Lina came over and rested her chin on his neck. The soft and fluffy body fragrance of a young girl, which exuded the fresh scent of vanishing cream, immediately spread around him.
This kind of natural intimacy certainly would not happen between two strangers.
Nie Bozhao stood up slowly and turned to go out.
After all, for him, it was okay to marry a silly girl who was unwanted by anyone, but he couldn't form a de facto marriage with this silly girl when her IQ was not up to par.
Especially, this girl with a damaged brain is very beautiful, with a pair of big watery eyes and white skin like a city girl. He thought about it and said seriously, "Comrade Xiao Chen, I think even if we want to have a de facto marriage, we have to wait until your head is healed. If you are still willing by then, we can be open and honest. What do you think?"
"What if I don't want to do it anymore?" Only a fool would marry such an unromantic man.
"If you don't want to, I'll let you go anytime." Oh, he pushed his hard dick back into her.
Well, now she's a fool.
Chen Lina pretended to be stupid and had a headache, but forced a laugh and thought to herself, "Old Nie, Old Nie, you really have a fearless spirit of sacrifice."
Just wait and see, after I subdue your three children, will you dare to say this again?
She showed him the clothes she had arranged for her three children. "You sent these three children here from Wuima. They should have been here last winter. Why didn't you bring sweaters and cotton-padded clothes for them?"
Nie Bozhao opened the woven bag, took a look, then turned and walked out.
After a while, Nie's mother started to complain, "When you get to the city, you won't be able to buy so many clothes. You can keep those few sweaters and cotton-padded clothes for the girls in the second son's family. Why do you need to take them away?"
"Mom, take out the clothes for the three kids and I'll distribute them," said Nie Bozhao.
Chen Lina was looking through the window, and Sandaner also came over and looked at his father through the window.
After hesitating for a long time, Nie's mother finally dug out a large woven bag from the second room. Needless to say, it was filled with sweaters and cotton-padded clothes for the three children.
Huang Guilan kept picking, "Oh, this one is too small. I'll leave it for the second son's daughter. Oh, this one is too small too."
After much tinkering, the old lady had taken away half of the clothes, and when Nie Bozhao came in, only half a bag of clothes was left.
Chen Lina raised her eyebrows. "These are the only winter coats you have for three children?"
"If we go back to Umayyad, there should be more." Nie Bozhao's tone was quite weak.
"There should be more. Is that so or not?" Chen Lina raised her eyebrows and looked at the man. The man was about 1.80 meters tall, with a resolute face, and was as handsome as a movie star. Of course, he was also the kind of person who you could tell at first glance had no experience in struggling in life.
"Did you see the snot on Sandan'er's face?" Chen Lina asked back, her mouth twitching.
Well, now she is still a stinky old woman with a damaged brain. Her head is not in the right place, and she will have to pretend until the day she gets her marriage certificate revoked.
"They have been like this since they were young," said Nie Bozhao.
"Then let me tell you, starting today, they will not be like this anymore." With that, Chen Lina walked out.
"Mom." She just shouted blankly.
Mother Nie was about to go back to her room with a bunch of cotton-padded clothes and sweaters in her arms. When she saw her new daughter-in-law coming out, she smiled and said, "Hey."
"Mom, I can make clothes. Give these clothes to you and I'll take them apart and modify them for my kids to wear. Look at this one, Dadan can't wear it, but Erdan can still wear it, right?"
Without further ado, Chen Lina snatched the two sweaters first, then grabbed another cotton coat, "Although this one is too small for Erdan, but if you pinch the waist on both sides, it will fit Sandan perfectly."