Brother Lin Wu was holding a grape in his hand. He handed it to Lin Yiyi and said, "Sister, eat some grapes. Grandma said this is called grapes." Brother Lin Wu followed Lin Yiyi in calling Grandma Xiao "Grandma". Other brothers of the Lin family, such as Lin Dajun, all called her Grandma Xiao.

Lin Yiyi said: "Xiaowu, eat it."

Lin Wudi refused and insisted on giving it to Lin Yiyi: "Sister, eat it, it's delicious."

Lin Yiyi said: "Then sister, go wash your hands and eat later."

Lin Wudi: "Okay." He followed Lin Yiyi.

Grandpa Xiao: "Yiyi, come and see how this grape vine looks here?" The back door of the hall was open, and Grandpa Xiao had built a grape rack at the back door. The fence at the back door was only one meter wide from the wall, and even if the whole piece of land was left out, the area would be too small, so it was quite suitable to use it to build a grape rack.

Lin Yiyi washed her hands and looked over: "Wow, after it grows up, it will become a grape rack."

Grandpa Xiao: "Now is not a good season to grow grapes, but you have dug up the whole grape vine, so maybe it will work. If it survives, you can eat grapes by this time next year."

Lin Wudi: "Oh, eating grapes."

Little Jixiang: "Oh, eating grapes."

Lin Yiyi touched Xiao Jixiang's head.

Grandma Xiao had already plucked the duck feathers and placed the whole duck in a wooden barrel: "Yiyi, I'll go get the pickled vegetables. You can put them in the pot with the duck later. After stewing it for an entire afternoon, it will definitely taste good by the evening. Stew it over low heat until it's cooked through."

Lin Yiyi: “Okay.”

Grandma Xiao went to get the pickled vegetables, and Lin Yiyi started peeling bamboo shoots.

Because Grandma Xiao stayed at Lin Yiyi's place all morning, Lin Yiyi invited her and Grandpa Xiao to have lunch at noon. Qin Xiangju came straight here after work. There was no one at home to cook for her, so she had to come here.

There were pickled vegetables from Grandma Xiao, and I made pickled vegetable and egg dumplings for lunch. Lin Yiyi and Xiao Yu had a lot of food together, and they couldn't finish it in a month.

After lunch, Qin Xiangju went to the fields, while Grandma Xiao and Grandpa Xiao went back to take a nap. Xiao Jixiang stayed here and refused to leave. He wanted to play with Lin Wudi.

Lin Yiyi didn't go to work these two days, so she didn't send Lin Wudi to the brigade nursery. She planned to send Lin Wudi to the brigade nursery after she went to work.

In the evening, Xiao Yu drove Xiao Daqiang back. Seeing Grandpa Xiao, Grandma Xiao, and Qin Xiangju were all there, he almost suspected that he had gone to the wrong place.

Xiao Yu: "Why are you all here?"

Grandma Xiao: "You

My wife went to the mountain this morning and picked up a wild duck. It was very fat and strong. We all had dinner here in the evening."

Lin Yiyi: "My grandma cooked the duck soup. I wasn't even a helper." I just peeled the bamboo shoots.

Xiao Daqiang had agreed not to ask his son to give him a ride, but Xiao Yu ended up giving him a ride anyway. The speed of a bicycle is much faster than walking.

Lin Yiyi did not call the first and second wives. Either they did not call them or they both called them. But if she called four adults, there would not be enough duck meat to share. So, she only left their children to eat. Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu came here to play again after school.

After dinner, Grandma Xiao and Qin Xiangju wanted to help clean up, but Lin Yiyi refused. After the Xiao family elders left, Lin Yiyi and Xiao Yu washed the dishes together. Xiao Yu said, "Zhang Ming asked me to do you a favor."

Lin Yiyi: "Zhang Ming?" After thinking for a while, "Could it be an introduction?" Zhang Ming has been going on blind dates for two years, but nothing has come of it. If there is a result, they should be invited to the wedding banquet, so Lin Yiyi knew that Zhang Ming was not married yet.

Jin-Woo: "...Yeah."

Lin Yiyi: "He has a good job and is from a county town, but he still can't find a partner." According to modern people, he is too picky. Just like when she couldn't find a partner and kept going on blind dates, her mother said she was too picky. She didn't think so at the time, but now when she meets someone, she seems to think that the other person is too picky.

Xiao-Woo: "I don't know."

Lin Yiyi: "Why did he ask me to introduce him?"

Xiao Yu: "You are the representative of the families of our Public Security Bureau."

Lin Yiyi: "... Zhang Ming doesn't have any... bad habits, right?"

Xiao-Woo: "No."

Lin Yiyi: "So he has high requirements?"

Xiao-Woo: "I don't know."

Lin Yiyi: "You don't even know his requirements, how can I introduce him?"

Jin-Woo: "He believes you."

Lin Yiyi: "...That won't work. If there are no requirements, what if she is not satisfied after the introduction? Isn't that just looking for trouble? Oh, by the way...didn't the cousin from my aunt's family get married last year? What do you think of her?"

Xiao Yu: "I don't know, you can ask mom, I have never been with her in private."

Lin Yiyi: "I'll ask mom later. You can go ask Zhang Ming when you go to work tomorrow to see what he wants."

Xiao-Woo: "Okay."

After they packed up their things, Lin Yiyi went to the Xiao family's old house: "Mom."

Qin Xiangju and others were sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air. Seeing Lin Yiyi, Qin Xiangju stood up and asked, "Hey, what's the matter?"

Lin Yiyi waved at her.

Seeing her daughter-in-law's mysterious look, Qin Xiangju immediately became interested in gossip and hurried over to ask, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Lin Yiyi pulled her outside. She didn't ask inside because she was worried that someone would hear her and spread unnecessary rumors. Lin Yiyi: "Mom, has my aunt's cousin Yuanyuan asked for marriage?" Last year, when we came here to attend the wedding banquet for their new house, they hadn't asked for marriage yet. I don't know about this year.

Speaking of her niece Qin Yuanyuan, Qin Xiangju also sighed, "Not yet. Every time you talk about Yuanyuan, your aunt bursts into tears. After all, although it was the man's fault that the engagement was broken off, her reputation was still affected. Some people even said that she might have had some problems and that was why the man broke off the engagement. Your aunt quarreled with many people because of this, but what could she have achieved by quarreling? Her reputation is still ruined. What's the matter? You asked about this today. Did you introduce it?

Lin Yiyi said, "Yes, I am telling you about it. It's a colleague of Brother Yu's, 23 years old, a pretty young man. He asked me to introduce her to him, but he didn't specify any conditions for her. So I asked Brother Yu to ask him again when he goes to work tomorrow."

Qin Xiangju frowned when she heard this: "Does he like Yuanyuan?" It's not that her niece is bad, after all, he is a police officer, and her niece is a country girl, no matter how you look at it, they are not a good match. If it was Xiao Ling who was being kissed today, she would definitely be a good match for Zhang Ming, because her brother Xiao Yu is the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, and Zhang Ming is still marrying up. But cousins ​​are different. A sister can borrow the power of her brother, but what can a cousin borrow? So Qin Xiangju was worried that he would not like her.

Lin Yiyi said: "Let Brother Yu ask first, but you have to tell me about my cousin's strengths."

Qin Xiangju: "Your cousin is honest and hardworking. You have seen her before. She is also a good hand at home."

Lin Yiyi: "Have you ever been to school?"

Qin Xiangju was very sorry: "No."

Lin Yiyi asked, "Have you ever attended a blindness class?"

Qin Xiangju: "I don't know about that. Our brigade doesn't have a blindness-elimination class. I don't know about the brigade in the Qin family either. Before I got married... the country hadn't been liberated yet, so there was no blindness-elimination class either."

On March 29, 1956, the state issued the "Decision on Eradicating Illiteracy". Now it is 1963. Logically, there have been literacy classes for several years, but... some places are backward and people have no awareness of literacy, so it is normal that there are no literacy classes. After thinking about it, Lin Yiyi knew what she should do.

Lin Yiyi: "Zhang Ming is a police officer, so he must have been educated. So I think it would be better if my cousin had attended a literacy class. But it's too late to say that now. I'll first understand Zhang Ming's opinion. If Zhang Ming has no objection, we can meet at my house another day. If the two of us are successful, my cousin can continue to attend the literacy class. At that time, in Zhang Ming's eyes, my cousin will be an ambitious girl, and gay men like ambitious girls."

Qin Xiangju: "Yes, yes, what you said makes sense. Ambitious girls are good. If that policeman really likes Yuanyuan, it would be Yuanyuan's blessing." Although Lin Yiyi felt that this was an evaluation of women, it was a realistic situation and only those with good conditions were eligible for selection.

Lin Yiyi: "Mom, my cousin is 20 years old this year, and the policeman is 23 years old this year. I heard that a 3-year age difference between a man and a woman is a small conflict, and a 6-year age difference is a big conflict. Is that true?"

Qin Xiangju heard this and said, "It's true. If it was before the founding of the People's Republic of China, everyone would definitely mind this. But now, aren't we trying to get rid of feudal superstitions? What's wrong? People believe in this?"

Lin Yiyi: "I don't know about that and I don't believe it." Her parents are three years apart in age. People say that a girl three years older than her husband is a golden brick, and a boy three years older than his husband is a young boy. But it is true that her father and mother quarrel every day. Her mother is more likely to nag, while her father has a good personality. No matter what her mother says, he pretends not to hear it and turns around to tell her not to pay attention to her mother.

Qin Xiangju: "Then you have to tell them. Your aunt's family definitely doesn't care. They are eager to marry your cousin off right away."

Lin Yiyi: "Okay, I understand."

After Lin Yiyi talked to Qin Xiangju, she went home.

When they went to bed at night, Lin Yiyi talked about this with Xiao Yu: "Brother Yu, when you go to work tomorrow, you have two things to tell Zhang Ming."

Xiao Yu: “?”

Lin Yiyi: "The first thing is to ask him what he wants from a lesbian. Don't just answer casually. Make him explain clearly. If he explains clearly, and you think your cousin is suitable, tell him about her situation and also say that she is three years younger than him."

Xiao Yu: "What's wrong with being three years younger?" What's the big deal?

Lin Yiyi: "According to superstition, if a girl is three years younger than a boy, she will be more aggressive."

Xiao Yu: "..."

The next day, when Xiao Yu went to work, he specifically looked for Zhang Ming. He passed by Zhang Ming's desk and knocked: "Come in."