However, things took a turn for the better the next day. Two boys, one tall and one short, with bruises on their faces, appeared at the noodle shop. Everyone thought they were helping the elderly couple move their things, but the grandmother was filled with emotion and said...
“These are my two grandsons. They helped us get the money back and also beat my good-for-nothing adopted son. We've gone back to the village and severed our parent-child relationship with him; we have no connection from now on. It's just a pity for my daughter who married far away. If my grandsons hadn't come back, we wouldn't have known she'd been gone for two years. These two children have had a hard life. Their mother had only been dead for a few days when their biological father brought in a stepmother who abused them every day. The two children couldn't take it anymore, and following their mother's instructions before she died, they begged their way to us…”
Grandma asked in surprise, "You said your only son had passed away. We thought you only had that one son."
“I have a son and a daughter. My daughter insisted on going with that man back then, and no amount of persuasion could change her mind. She hasn’t contacted us all these years. Who knew that this fool would die without us even knowing? We heard that she ran off to a forest farm in Northeast China. The two children walked all that way from there, a whole year and a half. I don’t know how much hardship they endured.”
Grandma Zhou started crying as she spoke.
Jiu'er tilted her head curiously and glanced at the two boys who were helping Grandpa Zhou clean.
The older one is around ten years old, probably the same age as the second brother, Tao Ran. The younger one is probably seven or eight years old.
The two were so thin that their eyes were sunken and their skin was sallow. They were severely malnourished, and it was impossible to know how much suffering they had endured to get to this point.
She was very curious about how these thin and weak people had managed to drive away her godfather.
"I received the letter my daughter left for us before she died. She really thought of everything. She even said that if the children came looking for us, she would change their surname to Zhou and let them take care of us in our old age. According to her, if the children didn't come looking for us, she would never contact us again? How could she be so heartless? We haven't heard from them all these years. I thought she had long forgotten us. I never imagined that leaving home would be our last farewell. Waaah..."
Grandma Zhou cried so hard she could barely breathe, and Grandma felt terrible too.
"Sister, please don't cry. This shows that there's always a way out. Look, as soon as your grandson came, that ungrateful wretch was chased away, wasn't he? The two kids are so thin and weak, yet they still managed to get the money back for you. They're definitely capable! A daughter's child is, in principle, closer to your family than a daughter-in-law's child! How old are these two kids?"
"The older one is thirteen, and the younger one is ten."
Xiao Jiu was very surprised to hear this, because they were all much smaller than their actual age. It seemed that they had really suffered a lot over the years, and only severe malnutrition could make them look so thin.
From the conversation between the two elderly people, she learned that Grandpa Zhou and Grandma Zhou lived in Xihe Village. In fact, their family situation was somewhat similar to theirs. In their early years, their ancestors had also had a small amount of property. If their son had not sacrificed his life, they would probably have been classified as rich peasants. Now, they are middle peasants, just like them.
Grandpa Zhou's ancestors were chefs, and their skills were excellent. If it weren't for the current bad situation, the noodle shop's business would probably be even better. The main problem is that they earn money from the poor; they might only earn enough for a bowl of noodles to make a living, which is very difficult.
Grandpa and Grandma felt sorry for them and wanted to reduce the rent, but Grandpa Zhou politely declined.
"No need, brother. You have a lot of family members, and everyone has their own difficulties. We run a noodle shop. As long as that ungrateful wretch doesn't cause trouble, we can manage to provide for our basic needs. Thank you for your kindness!"
A few days later, Grandma Zhou received their family's new household registration booklet.
The eldest grandson changed his name to Zhou Xing, the second grandson changed his name to Zhou Yue, and the adopted son's family was kicked out by the old couple.
To get this done, the elderly couple borrowed one million yuan from their grandparents, along with two jin of good wine.
Grandma even went to ask, "Is it easy to handle? My wife's relatives are coming to stay with us, and we're thinking of adding them to our household registration as well!"
Grandma Zhou's meaning was clear: as long as the money was there, nothing was impossible. Of course, she also mentioned exceptions.
"You have urban household registration, which might cause some trouble. We have rural household registration, so there aren't so many restrictions. But to be honest, it would be better for you urban residents to try to change your registration to rural. My two grandsons have traveled all the way from the Northeast to the Central Plains and have seen a lot. Now the country is encouraging middle school students to return to their hometowns to participate in some kind of agricultural collectivization movement. Although it's just a pilot program, who knows if a large number of urban residents will come down to the countryside in the future, especially those of us with different backgrounds?"
Without going into too much detail, Grandma found out as well. Actually, her son and daughter-in-law had reminded her about this a long time ago, and they had been considering where to move their household registration!
"It's easy to transfer your household registration, but I'm afraid we won't be able to get this land, right?"
Grandma Zhou thought about it and realized that it was true. Since 1947, the reform had just been completed, and if their household registrations were moved there, there was absolutely no way they would get land.
“You live in the county town, right? We can still manage the land for now. Just transfer your household registration first. We still have a house belonging to someone who has no descendants in our village. We can talk to the village about it, and after some repairs, you can move in. As for the land, we'll talk about that later. And your house…”
Grandma Zhou shook her head, feeling that it was impossible to save it. How could her grandmother not know that?
That evening, Grandpa and Grandma waited for Dad until very late. As soon as he came back, he was called into the room and talked for an hour or two before coming out.
They seemed to take this matter very seriously, because Mother and Sister came back over the weekend, and Sister even asked Father about it.
"Uncle, can a woman register her own household?"
Tao Changyi was surprised that Tang Cuihua would have this idea, but he shook his head regretfully.
"Let alone women establishing their own households, it's very difficult for married women to return to this village, especially since your parents are still alive. Even if you three sisters want to transfer your household registration here, you'll have to find a way to forge your original household registration. If you want to use your original identities, you'll need your parents' consent."
Tang Cuihua sighed, "I thought of this possibility, so I wondered if I could live separately. We really don't want to go back to that family. I also want to bring my other sisters back. If I can live separately, I can be a support for all my sisters."
If Tang Cuihua's household registration is transferred to the Tao family, then her other sisters' household registrations might not be able to return, which is not a good solution, so she will not take that step unless absolutely necessary.
Tang Cuihua even recounted her past life's dream in order to warn the Tao family.
At first, no one believed it, but Tang Cuihua used her own experience to recount the truth of the events, forcing them to believe it all.
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