◎First update◎
Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen returned home wearing cotton jackets. Song Chunhua was already waiting at the gate, looking at them eagerly.
"Come in and warm yourself by the fire!"
There were nine people sitting in the Liang family's main hall. The pork rib soup was hot and one sip of it warmed up the body. There were two meat dishes and three vegetable dishes on the table. It was a very rich meal.
Liang Baoling sat next to her third sister. She hadn't seen her sister for a long time and missed her sister very much.
Everyone else in the room was talking, especially her two brothers-in-law and second brother who were drinking with their father, and no one paid attention to her.
"Sister, are you really a broadcaster?"
“Yes, I am studying radio in the factory now.”
"Wow, that's amazing!" Liang Baoling's school also had a broadcaster, and she wanted to be one, but the teacher said her Mandarin was not standard enough.
"Look at you, you're so proud." Song Chunhua was happy to know that her daughter had made progress, but she also reminded her, "Be careful when you're out there. Do your job well, get along well with others, and discuss everything."
She was worried that her daughter was from the countryside and would be looked down upon.
"I know, I know, Mom, don't worry."
"Don't be like your second brother, who runs out all day and no one knows what he does."
Liang Baoying also agreed, "Baozhen, ask Baojun when you have time. Every time we ask him, he says he has found a job in town. He has brought back many good things these days and even gave me a scarf. I am worried that he has been deceived."
Second brother? Liang Baozhen remembered that he was also generous last time, and silently kept this in mind.
"Sister, how is your brother-in-law these days?" Liang Baozhen approached her elder sister stealthily and asked, worried that others might hear her.
"It's nothing, but he has been wanting to confirm with you in person whether it is really possible to resume the college entrance examination."
After dinner, while washing the dishes, Song Jianguo found an opportunity to talk to Liang Baozhen.
"Baozhen, tell me the truth, can you really recover in the college entrance examination next year?"
A few days ago, another educated youth from the neighboring brigade returned to the city, which made the other educated youths itchy.
Watching Song Jianguo's struggle, Liang Baozhen thought of Aunt Zhang's son Zhou Qingdang, who had also returned to the city. It was indeed not easy for the educated youth.
She looked at Song Jianguo with a firm gaze, "Really, brother-in-law, if you prepare well, the college entrance examination may really resume next year."
To make her argument more convincing, she deliberately left it vague. "I heard about this from a neighbor who has relatives in the Education Bureau. He let it slip and asked me not to tell anyone. You just listen to it."
"Okay! As long as there is such a possibility, it's fine. I'm just afraid there is no hope!"
Song Jianguo has worked hard for many years, and now his eyes are full of hope again.
——
Zhou Qingdang bought a job with 900 yuan scraped together by his family and became one of the few educated youth to return to the city.
However, the 900 yuan not only emptied the family's coffers, but also left the Zhou family with a foreign debt of 200 yuan. Zhou Qingdang felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavy.
He works hard in the towel factory. He is naturally more skilled after five years in the countryside. The workshop manager has said that he should be able to become a regular employee in another two months. By then, he will save more money every month and try to pay off his debts within two years.
After finishing his night shift, he took the bus to go home.
The towel factory is quite far from Yueya Hutong, and you have to take bus No. 5 to go there and back, which costs two cents each time.
He thought it would be nice to have a bicycle, but he had no bicycle ticket or money.
Bus No. 5 passes by three state-owned factories: the city towel factory, the city match factory and the city tractor factory. It has always been very crowded. After Zhou Qingdang returned to the city, it took him a while to adapt before he could squeeze onto the bus smoothly.
As long as you can step on the pedal, don't worry about the back, there will be people pushing you inside.
"Sister Hua." Amid the crowd, Zhou Qingdang greeted her neighbor who was a ticket seller, but Liu Nianhua was too busy to pay any attention. She just nodded hurriedly and was squeezed around to collect money.
It took more than twenty minutes to get home. Zhou Qingdang was bored in the car, watching his only acquaintance, Liu Nianhua, moving among the passengers, asking them where they were going, collecting money, and killing their loved ones.
Liu Nianhua had just started her new job and was not very experienced, but she was serious about her work and did everything well, one by one. Although her movements were a little slow, she did not make any mistakes.
When we got to a stop, we shouted at the top of our lungs, "We've arrived at Xinhua Road. Those who are getting off, hold on tight. Those who are not getting off, give way."
She practiced this voice for a long time.
After all, she was there on her first day at work, so her shouting was completely drowned out and no one heard it at all.
In the end, it was Zhou Qingdang who spoke up for her.
"Sister Hua, it's time to go." When the bus arrived at Yueya Hutong, most of the people were gone. Zhou Qingdang walked to the door and said, "Xiaolong and Xiaohu are at my house. Don't worry, my mom loves them."
"Okay, thank you, Comrade Zhou Qingdang. Please tell Xiaolong and Xiaohu that I will be back half an hour late from get off work today."
"good."
Since Liu Nianhua had to go to work, there was no one to take care of the two children at home. Zhang Rong felt sorry for the three of them, and since the two homes were close and she had nothing to do, she let Liu Nianhua leave the children at her home.
The two children eat lunch at Zhang Rong's home every day.
This helped Liu Nianhua a lot. She took out half of her own food and oil, and prepared to give Aunt Zhang five yuan a month.
After a few visits, the relationship between the two families became better.
When Zhou Qingdang returned home, Zhang Rong and Zhou Jun were having dinner with Xiaolong and Xiaohu. Seeing her son coming back, Zhang Rong brought out the dish that had been prepared separately on the stove.
Zhang Rong saw that her son had been working hard to make money to pay off his debts, but he was already 26 years old. If he hadn't been delayed for five years because of going to the countryside, the child would probably be several years old now.
Zhang Rong has been asking a matchmaker to find a wife for her son. "Qingdang, I've told your Aunt Mei to help you find a suitable match. Now I've found a girl. You can go meet her on Sunday."
Zhou Qingdang was stunned when he heard this, "Mom, given our situation, let's not rush into marriage. Return the money first."
Xiaolong and Xiaohu listened to the neighbor uncle's story with their four ears standing straight up and their eyes rolling around. Even the little kids like to join in the fun when it comes to big things like blind dates and marriages.
"Eat your meal." Zhou Qingdang glanced at the two children with a look of genuine curiosity.
"You kid, you're almost 27! Aren't you in a hurry? If you wait any longer, no girl will be willing to marry you."
"Mom, why are you in such a hurry? Eat first."
——
It was a rest day today, Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie were not in a hurry to come back. After dinner, the family talked for a while. It was a rare occasion for the son-in-law to come back, so Liang Zhigao and Xu Shengjie walked in the fields and talked about this year's harvest.
Song Chunhua prepared a big bag of things for her daughter and son-in-law to take back to her husband's house. Most of them were dried vegetables that had been drying at home, just in time for winter meals, including dried eggplants, dried beans, tomato sauce in infusion bottles, and a bunch of mountain products.
"Mom, why are you taking so much?" Liang Baozhen's eyes widened slightly. This package was indeed too big and too eye-catching.
"What do you know?" Song Chunhua saw that the two of them brought back a lot of things today, and she secretly thought that it was not good. The Xu family was kind and did not care about it, but in the eyes of others, they might discredit their daughter, saying that taking things from her husband's family back to her parents' home would give her a bad reputation.
"When you go back later, remember to walk around the yard with your things in your hands so that people can see you."
Liang Baozhen handed the package to Xu Shengjie and wanted to negotiate with her mother, "It's so big, everyone will definitely see it."
"You don't understand at your age. Do you know how your aunt and I quarreled before? She brought up something from 20 years ago, saying that I took things from the Liang family back to our Song family. Bah! When your grandma was still alive, she asked me to bring back some wild fruits picked from the mountains. They were sweet, and she went around making a fuss about it and ruined my reputation."
"Some people can slander you with just a few words." Song Chunhua put away the things, looked at the sky, and urged the two to go back to the city, "Hurry up, it's getting dark early now, don't waste time."
"Got it, Mom. I'm leaving now. I'll come back to see you later."
"Okay, drive slowly on the road, Xiao Xu, and keep an eye on Baozhen."
"Got it, Mom."
Liang Baojun sent his sister and brother-in-law to the village entrance. Liang Baoling followed behind and asked her sister to bring a small wooden box to Xiaoya.
Liang Zhigao has good craftsmanship and made her a wooden pencil case that looks pretty good.
"Sister, you have to make it clear, this is a gift from me to her."
Liang Baojun snorted and tugged at his sister's braid, "Did you hit her?"
"If dad hits me, it's the same as me hitting me!" Liang Baoling said righteously, with her hands on her hips.
"Okay, okay, okay. I didn't expect that you are so thick-skinned at such a young age. I don't know who you inherited this from..." Liang Baojun pinched his sister's face twice, but Liang Baoling slapped him away.
"Whatever you say!" Liang Baoling made a face at her second brother.
"Brother, tell me, what are you doing now?" Liang Baozhen finally found the opportunity to ask.
But Liang Baojun was prepared and used the winery incident as a shield. "Hao Ming, you know that he is a real man and I paid him according to the market price."
"There are so many diamond thorns on our mountain?"
"Do you know how big this mountain is? You've never been there before. Stop worrying about it and go back."
Liang Baojun sent his sister away and looked at his brother-in-law. The two chatted for a few words and then parted ways after watching the shuttle bus arrive.
......
After several hours of bumpy ride, Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie finally returned to the big compound at dark.
The things Song Chunhua prepared were heavy, and Xu Shengjie was carrying packages all the way. Liang Baozhen just walked into the yard when she heard Luo Hongmei's voice.
"Zhou Yun is getting old and confused. I think that country girl is here to take out the family fortune. Today she and Xiao Xu went back to her parents' home. I saw it with my own eyes. They brought a lot of stuff. Tsk tsk, tell me, is it true that people carry things to their parents' home like this? Aren't they afraid that one day they will empty out Old Xu's house?"
Luo Hongmei was chatting in the yard after dinner, while several people around her were knitting.
The weather was getting colder, and Qian Jingjing was knitting a sweater for her daughter. She had been busy since the beginning of autumn, and was now in the final stages. Hearing this, she looked up and said, "Auntie Luo, you are exaggerating. It's empty, isn't it Auntie Zhou who has a good heart?"
"Xiao Qian, you don't understand. It's a blessing for a country girl to marry into the city. She should take whatever she can get. Maybe one day she will even bring her family to beg for money."
Liang Baozhen never expected that her mother's wish would come true so soon.
Luo Hongmei is an old lady in the orphanage and she is very gossipy. Xu Shengjie knows this a bit, but she seldom provokes him. Unexpectedly, she likes to slander others behind their backs.
Looking at the big package in his hand, Xu Shengjie continued walking forward with it.
"Aunt Luo, Aunt Li, Sister Qian, they are all here."
"Hey, Xiao Xu, Xiao Liang, are you back?"
"You must be tired from going back to your mother's house. Go back to your room and rest." Luo Hongmei looked at the two people who suddenly appeared with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
Xu Shengjie pushed the package forward, and the bag made a rustling sound, attracting everyone's attention.
Qian Jingjing asked curiously, "Xiao Xu, what are you carrying? It's so big! Is it something distributed by the factory?"
Xu Shengjie glanced at Luo Hongmei and said, "Oh, this is what my mother-in-law gave me. It's a big bag full of food and daily necessities. She brought back a lot of dried vegetables. She knew my grandma was not in good health, so she also prepared some dried medicinal herbs."
"Your mother-in-law is very kind-hearted. She gave me so much."
Qian Jingjing looked at Luo Hongmei and saw that her face was turning blue and white, and the corners of her mouth curled up.
Looking at Xu Shengjie's expression, Luo Hongmei knew that this man had heard what she said. He muttered a few words and prepared to continue catching the thief.
"I don't know which thief is this, but he dared to steal our vegetables. I will skin him alive if I catch him!"
Liang Baozhen watched Xu Shengjie come back carrying something, and she felt that this man had suddenly become like a proud peacock, showing off everywhere.
The author has something to say:
Thanks to the cuties who irrigated the nutrient solution: Zhai A Zhai 2 bottles; 15443850 5 bottles; Ya Ya 50 bottles;
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