The autumn wind came overnight, and it is the harvest season for all things.
Chen Nongmo put on a straw hat, a long-sleeved shirt, a water bottle, and rode his 28-inch bicycle to the village.
It is now mid-September 1977, and the land is still collectively owned, and the busy farming season is still distributed among village cadres according to their work.
The rush to harvest is the hardest time for farmers. At this time of year, no matter how Chen Nongmo provides his family with food, they will still become darker and thinner.
Chen Nongmo was still not allowed to go out to the fields. He only had to do housework and prepare three meals a day.
But on very hot days, I was worried that my family members wouldn’t be able to bear it, so I always had to ride my bike to bring them cool water or cut fruits and other things.
It was the same that day. She rode her bicycle, twisting and turning through the golden wheat fields, greeting the villagers warmly and looking for Qiuhua's mother and Zong's father in the crowd. Then she heard a familiar loud voice:
"Sixth Brother, we are here."
Chen Nongmo looked in the direction of the voice, and the person jumping and waving in the vast expanse of golden color was none other than his fourth brother.
Yes, during the busy farming season, fourth brother came back to help.
As for my fifth brother, he joined the government in July three years ago with the first place in the internal recommendation exam.
Because his performance was too outstanding, he was unable to return during the busy farming season this year, saying that he had gone to a meeting in the province with his leader.
"Didn't I tell you to come over? There's water to drink here." The 22-year-old Chen Jun has completely lost his youthful features and has become more handsome and upright.
Of course, these are all to fool outsiders. After all, even if he is just a driver of the provincial party committee/secretary, there are many people who want to use his way to get close to the leader.
A cold face is necessary during work.
In front of his family, his playful personality is not much different from when he was 18 years old.
Chen Nongmo looked at his fourth brother who was running towards him, and got off his bicycle: "It's okay, it'll only take a few minutes to ride."
"This is not a matter of time. I'm afraid you'll fall. With your cycling skills and short legs, you can't even reach the ground. If something really happens, you won't even have a chance to hold on. What...what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Chen Jun took the bicycle from his sister and leaned it against his body, then tried to take off the three water bottles on her body. After hanging all the bottles on himself, he found that his sister was staring at him with a strange expression.
Chen Nongmo looked sideways at his increasingly handsome fourth brother with a wooden expression. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "He's such a good young man, but he has a big mouth."
After saying this, she held down the sun hat on her head and strode towards Qiuhua's mother and Zong's father.
Chen Jun immediately ran after her, but he had three full water bottles hanging from his body and had to push his bicycle, so he couldn't move freely on the field path. He could only yell at his sister who ran away angrily: "Little girl, don't think I won't beat you up just because you're getting married soon."
Chen Zong, who was walking on the ridge of the field with his wife, immediately darkened his face when he heard this. He stared at his son and said coldly, "What unlucky words are you saying?"
"Why is it unlucky?" Before the two children could react, Cao Qiuhua said, "Xiao Shao is already 30 years old. Do you really want him to wait until he is 40?"
Thinking of how much Xiao Shao has done for her daughter over the years, the mother-in-law expressed her satisfaction.
Chen Zong "There's no rush to get married, let's drink some juice to cool down." The parents were arguing about their own affairs, and the little girl caught in the middle stepped out skillfully to ease the atmosphere.
Yeah. Quite skilled now.
"What juice?" Cao Qiuhua's attention was indeed diverted.
He wiped the sweat from his face with a towel and took the kettle.
"Watermelon juice." Chen Nongmo handed another kettle to Mr. Zong.
Although it was a bit difficult without a juicer, hanging the watermelon juice in the well to cool for two hours before drinking it really relieved the heat and was worth the effort.
"Have you discussed the marriage with Xiao Shao?" Since the topic was brought up, Cao Qiuhua casually asked his daughter what she thought while the four of them sat on the straw, resting and drinking juice.
When they got engaged, Yu Yu personally promised to get married in three years. Now it is almost October of 1977, and the two children don't even have a specific plan for marriage, let alone marriage.
Of course, it is not necessary to get married this year, but I feel that whether I want to get married or not, I have to tell my family so that the elders can prepare.
"Don't worry, we will definitely get married before the end of the year." The main reason was that two months ago, Brother Shao Zheng was transferred back to J City. When he arrived at the new unit, he had to explore and adapt to everything again, so it was too hasty to get married now.
In addition, she planned to apply to J City Foreign Language School to study at a university, so that they could study and get married together.
It’s not that she doesn’t take it seriously, but she’s mainly afraid of riding in a car after all these years.
Thinking of the experience of going to the 738th Army and riding in a car with the tank division troops in City N over the past three years, she felt her scalp tingling. Three years is both short and long, and each family member has their own experiences.
My father Chen Demao was promoted to commander in September last year.
Of course, there are essential differences between commanders.
To put it bluntly, if the military rank system had not been abolished, Commander Shao of the major military region would be a general, and Commander Chen Demao would be a major general.
Although my eldest brother is still the head of the regiment, I heard from someone that Captain Chen of the 738th Unit will be transferred at the beginning of next year, and the organization has already decided on my eldest brother Chen Wuwen as his successor.
In other words, if nothing unexpected happens, my brother will be promoted to brigade level when he is 36 years old.
He is not the only one of such excellence in the whole country. After all, in modern history, there were people who became brigade commanders at the age of 29.
But it is also a rare existence.
As for my second and third brothers, they have successively received recommendations for military academies and attended college in the past two years.
The fourth and fifth brothers are still studying at the Bian family, but Chen Nongmo knows that next month, the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination will be overwhelming.
That was the chance for the three siblings.
"It would be great if they can get married this year. I just don't know when the third son will get married. He and Yunchun have been together for three or four years. I hope they don't fail." In the past few years, the three sons who were serving in the army have only returned home once each.
The third brother, Chen Huai, brought Yunchun back the year before last. They had been engaged in J City before, and they had another wedding after returning to Shanshun Village.
I originally thought that the two children would get married soon, but plans could not keep up with changes. After Chen Huai entered the military academy, the marriage was put on hold.
Cao Qiuhua really likes Yunchun, but she is really worried that if time goes on, she won't want to wait for that fool Lao San.
Chen Nongmo recalled the phone call he had with his third sister-in-law half a month ago, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, their relationship is very good. Last time, my third sister-in-law mentioned it to me, saying that they would get married after my third brother graduated."
"When did you say that? Why didn't you tell me?" Cao Qiuhua asked happily. The third child will graduate next year, which means there are only eight or nine months left. "I just mentioned it casually when we were chatting, and I forgot to tell you."
"Hey! It's okay, as long as the two kids don't have a fight. I have to prepare well. Time flies by so fast."
Chen Nongmo chatted with her family for a while. After they finished drinking all the watermelon juice in the pot, she stood up, brushed off the grass debris on her butt, and prepared to leave.
"Qiuhua, you should go back with your daughter too." Chen Zong was walking towards the wheat field with a sickle in his hand and a straw hat on. When he saw his wife was about to follow him, he immediately frowned and tried to stop her.
Chen Jun also advised: "Yes, Mom, there is not much left. You go back and rest. We will clean up your share. No one will say anything."
Cao Qiuhua looked at the less than five mu of land left, hesitated for a few seconds, and then agreed: "Okay, I'll go back first. There's just enough time to stew some delicious dishes for dinner."
As she spoke, she handed the sickle in her hand to her husband. After work, these farm tools had to be handed over to the scorer.
Chen Jun ordered: "I want to eat pickled cabbage and big bone sticks, made spicy."
Cao Qiuhua took the bicycle from his daughter and said, "Okay, just keep an eye on your dad. He's old, so don't work too hard."
Chen Jun smiled with his white teeth: "Oh, I know."
Who is Chen Zong? He is old.
= Chen Nongmo is not good at riding a bicycle.
The 28-bar bicycle is large and heavy, and there are not many opportunities to ride it.
So, she is better at jumping off a bike than riding one.
Just as they reached the main road, Qiuhua's mother said, "Get on." She had already landed lightly in the back seat.
In September, the greenery all over the mountains has not yet faded.
Standing beside the dirt paths and piled up among the lush mountain forests.
This is Chen Nongmo's favorite rural oil painting.
If she could see a few wild flowers among the greenery, she would surely stop and rejoice.
But when Qiuhua's mother mentioned the matter of marriage, her mood was still affected to some extent.
She was definitely going to get married, after all, she was truly satisfied with Brother Shao Zheng.
She had to go to college as it was related to her work in the second half of her life.
But no matter which one, it means that she will be separated from Qiuhua's mother and Zong's father for a long time.
In the past three years, Qiuhua's mother has had a lot more white hair on her head, and even Father Zong, who has always been strong, has silver hair on his temples.
All these tell Chen Nongmo that his parents are getting old.
If you calculate carefully, in a few years, Qiuhua's mother will be 60 years old. She has indeed reached the age of aging. This is the law of nature that everyone must follow.
But aging also means the beginning of poor health.
As a daughter, she naturally hopes that both of them can live long and healthy lives to be a hundred years old.
But prevention awareness is equally important.
As commanders, Chen Demao and his wife receive physical examinations by professionals every year.
But Qiuhua's mother and Zong's father are different from her parents. The medical level in the countryside is too poor, and she and her brothers are thousands of miles away. What if they don't take minor illnesses and pains seriously ? Whenever she thought of this, she felt suffocated.
No, I still have to talk to my brothers about it. It would be best if I could persuade them to move to J City and settle down. "Huh? Is that Old Five in front?" When Cao Qiuhua was about to reach home, he saw a tall and thin figure from afar.
Chen Nongmo came back to his senses, hugged Qiuhua's mother's waist, and poked his head out from the back seat . It really was the fifth brother.
"Why are you back? Aren't you going to a meeting in the province?" The bicycle arrived in front of him. After his daughter landed, Cao Qiuhua also got off the bicycle and looked at his little son whom he hadn't seen for three months with a loving face: "You've lost weight. Is the food not good?"
In fact, Chen Yi, who had not lost weight at all and had gained several pounds, took the bicycle from his mother and pushed it, saying with a smile, "The meeting is over and the food is pretty good. I mainly missed my mother's cooking."
Cao Qiuhua was so happy to be coaxed by her son: "How many days can you stay this time? Mom will cook your favorite food every day."
"Five days. I'll go back with my fourth brother after the busy farming season is over. By the way," Chen Yi looked at his sister who was following him, "I have something to tell you."
Chen Nongmo looked up, and when she saw the excitement in Fifth Brother's eyes, her heart moved. Could it be that her guess was right? Chen Yi, who had become less and less happy in recent years, rarely showed excitement in his tone: ".There is internal information. If there are no accidents, the college entrance examination can be resumed this winter."
(End of this chapter)
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