After dinner, the sun was shining warmly. Xiao Jiu looked at Zhou Yue, who was diligently weaving a rattan basket in the sunlight, and suddenly felt that his facial features were particularly cold and hard, especially when he pursed his lips. His dark eyes were even more unfathomable. He looked like he was weaving a basket, but in reality, his thoughts had long since wandered off somewhere else.
Zhou Yue wasn't a particularly handsome guy. When he first arrived, he was short and small. Although he'd grown a bit taller in the last two years, he was still a bit shorter than his older brothers. This was mainly because he was still developing. He and Zhou Xing had gone through such a period of homelessness, and it was a miracle that their good physiques hadn't been worn down.
Life was getting better and better, but the passing of Grandpa and Grandma Zhou dealt him another heavy blow.
Despite being quite young, he insisted on acting mature beyond his years. He rarely showed any extra expression and seemed to have no particular interest in food or shelter. The passing of his grandparents left him feeling powerless and lost in life.
She felt sorry for the boy, and even more sorry for girls like Tang Cuihua who were struggling against fate in this era.
Whether it's Zhou Yue or the five Cuihua sisters, who isn't striving to live, who isn't fighting for their future?
In comparison, she's not just lucky, she's incredibly fortunate, blessed beyond measure.
Grandma always says she is the family's lucky star and her precious darling, but she feels that Grandma and the others are the irreplaceable benefactors in her life.
Without her grandmother's meticulous care, how could she have such a good personality and enjoy life to the fullest?
"Brother Yue, didn't Brother Xing write to you?"
Zhou Xingye has been in the army for almost two years. He joined the army in the spring of 1954, and in two months at most, it will be two years.
Zhou Xing hasn't returned for two years, but his grandmother said that he's young in the Northeast and won't be sent to the battlefield, but it won't be an easy job either.
Mentioning her brother, Zhou Yue's previously lifeless eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked up at her.
“My older brother lives in Harbin, where it’s very cold and tough. He only gets a six-yuan allowance a month, which he saves up and sends home.”
This is what writing a letter means.
He sent all six dollars back; this guy is really ruthless.
Although it doesn't cost much money in the army, this young man, who should be eating a lot, doesn't glutton but thinks of his elders and brothers. What an amazing brother he is!
Zhou Xing, born in 1939, is now seventeen years old. He has been training in the army for two years and is probably even more capable than he was two years ago.
Fortunately, the war had already ended when Zhou Xing joined the army, and although there were still some frictions afterward, they did not cause too many casualties.
"Brother Yue, you're taking the high school entrance exam this summer, right? Do you have a dream school in mind?"
Zhou Yue nodded. "Didn't Tao Ran tell you? We've both been admitted to the No. 1 High School in the city through the recommendation program."
"Huh? He got accepted without taking the entrance exam? My second brother didn't even tell me."
Tao Ran, who was also born in 1942, will also be entering high school this summer, and they will take the college entrance examination in two years.
Unfortunately, going to university happened to be during a difficult period.
"That's wonderful! You're one step closer to your dream of going to military academy!"
"I hope so, but the entrance exam for military academy is much stricter,"
Now that you mention it, it's the same situation as the Tao family. Zhou Xing joined the army because of his good physical condition, and he only went to be a common soldier. Even if he performed well later, his promotion would be limited by his family background. If Zhou Yue also takes this path, it is indeed as he said, the review will be even stricter.
Those who can get into military academies can't be treated as ordinary soldiers; they'll all become commanders in the future.
Having a university degree can make promotion faster and more stable, but the prerequisite is that you can pass the organization's political review.
When she had nothing to do, Xiao Jiu couldn't weave a wicker basket, so she would braid the rattan. Braided rattan could be used to make straw hats, which could then be sold at the market.
The crime of speculation and profiteering only began after the difficult period was over, and it is not strictly regulated now. However, to avoid gossip, my grandfather would exchange his straw hat for other things, an exchange of equal value, without asking for money, just exchanging goods.
Grandpa's straw hats were woven so sturdily and beautifully that he earned money entirely from his hard work. Each hat only cost five cents and could last for many years.
She and her grandmother would usually braid their hair, and then her grandfather would use those braids to weave straw hats.
With this, one could also exchange it for some salt and matches at the market.
Grandpa not only brews wine and weaves straw hats and wicker baskets, but he can also make fans out of animal feathers.
Use animal bones to make small, flat spoons for wrapping dumplings.
This all-around amazing grandfather has recently been spending a lot of time studying carpentry with Zhou Yue, it seems he has found his next area to learn.
Although Zhou Yue has only been in the industry for a short time, he is very smart. Carpentry sometimes involves a kind of physics. He understands the principles of furniture making, can draw blueprints, can read blueprints, and then slowly studies and polishes them. That's the skill.
Zhou Yue hurriedly buried the elderly couple on the evening of New Year's Eve. That same night, he returned the money he had spent on coffins to the villagers, fearing that he might cause trouble for them due to taboos.
The grandparents were buried together. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Yue spent the whole afternoon sitting at their graves with food and wine.
He used to feel like he had nothing to say, but after they left, he felt like he had so much to say. The regret and remorse in his heart made him drink himself into a stupor at their grave. In the end, his older brothers accompanied him and took him home.
Yesterday's outburst and today's expressionless face show that the repression in his heart has yet to find an outlet. If he continues to bottle it up like this, he is likely to explode. Fortunately, he has found an opportunity to take revenge.
When they heard the screams coming from the front yard, no one moved, and Zhou Yue's lips tightened in a cold expression.
"Now I know why you haven't changed the locks. Were you just waiting for this day?"
Zhou Yue snorted coldly, "This is nothing, not enough."
"Aren't we going to take a look?" Zhou Yue retorted. "What are we going to see? To see how he acts like a thief? Or to see how he runs away with his tail between his legs?"
Zhou Yue sat there as steady as a mountain, and sure enough, the front yard returned to quiet in no time.
"Luckily he's not stupid and didn't attract the neighbors, otherwise all our hard work would have been for nothing."
Around noon, Zhou Yue went home through the back door and nodded to Xiao Jiu when he returned.
"Everything is going according to plan. Alright, are you hungry? If you are, I'll cook you dumplings, or would you like steamed dumplings?"
Xiao Jiu shook her head. "I drank a big bowl of goat milk and ate two eggs this morning. I'm not hungry at all. Brother Yue, if you're hungry, you can eat first. I'll eat when I'm hungry."
Seeing that she wasn't eating, and not wanting to waste food by lighting the fire again, Zhou Yue simply stayed with her.
Xiao Jiu took out peanuts, melon seeds, and walnuts from the warehouse to give him as snacks, but he actually refused to eat them.
"These walnuts have such thin shells, they'll crack open with a single pry. Brother Yue, why don't you try some!"
Zhou Yue sighed, "You should keep this precious stuff for yourself. I'm grown up now, I just need to eat."
Despite his quiet demeanor, Zhou Yue is actually quite discerning when it comes to food and doesn't want to take advantage of others.
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