◎Second update◎
Liang Baozhen hasn't finished her confinement yet, but something has happened at her parents' home, so Zhou Yun didn't stop her after talking to her. He just told her to be careful when she goes out, and not to bump into anything or catch a cold.
"I know, grandma. I just fed Shanshan and she fell asleep. I won't be gone for long. I'll be back soon."
The three members of the Liang family set out for the soft drink factory where Song Jianguo worked. It was almost lunch time. Liang Baoying had gone to the commune yesterday to borrow a phone to contact Song Jianguo. The two agreed to meet at the gate of a supply and marketing cooperative a few hundred meters away from the gate of the soft drink factory.
Song Jianguo, who had returned to the city more than a year ago, appeared in a blue work suit with a white towel draped over his shoulders. When he saw Liang Baojun and Liang Baozhen there, he was obviously stunned.
Liang Baozhen hadn't seen her brother-in-law for a long time. Looking at the man who appeared now, he was indeed much more energetic than when he was in the village, and was full of the confidence and composure of a worker in a state-owned factory.
It's no wonder he's like this. Being a worker in a state-owned factory is the most respectable job these days. Who wouldn't be confident?
Walking on the street in this work suit, Song Jianguo really feels like he can hold his head up high.
"Baozhen and Baojun are here too. Come on, I'll treat you to dinner at the state-owned hotel." Song Jianguo was very generous and walked side by side with Liang Baoying.
"Do you get carsick?"
The bus had a strong smell, and Liang Baoying had never liked that smell, and Song Jianguo knew it.
Liang Baoying shook her head and glanced at Song Jianguo, feeling unsure.
Sitting in the state-owned hotel, Song Jianguo took out the grain coupons and a handful of money from his pocket and asked his brother-in-law and sister-in-law to order the dishes, after all, he was the one treating them.
Four bowls of Yangchun noodles were placed on the table, each bowl costing three taels of grain coupons and 12 cents. There were also eight steamed buns, each costing two cents and a □□ coupon.
The family members who once lived together each picked up chopsticks and picked up noodles to eat.
Liang Baojun ate the fastest. He finished his noodles in a few bites and was the first to speak. He asked directly, "Brother-in-law, when are you going to pick up my sister and Mengmeng?"
Song Jianguo was drinking soup from a porcelain bowl. He was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Then he put the bowl down and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "Baojun, I am also worried about this matter. I really want to bring your sister and Mengmeng to the city."
"So what are you waiting for?"
"Brother-in-law, we said we would take her back within a year," Liang Baozhen reminded him.
"Yes, but my house is small and there are so many people living there, so it's a bit difficult. I originally wanted to apply for the factory dormitory as soon as possible so that my family and I can move out, but after applying for half a year, it's still not my turn."
After Song Jianguo became a regular employee of the soft drink factory, he submitted an application for a house in the factory's family compound. However, there were too many people in the factory and too few houses, so he waited but never got the chance.
Liang Baojun and Liang Baozhen looked at each other, not knowing whether this was an excuse or a real dilemma. "What if we keep failing to get applications? Will we just not accept them?"
Liang Baoying was also worried. As time went on, it seemed that everything became uncertain. A few days ago, her mother Song Chunhua asked her to urge Jianguo again.
She glanced at Song Jianguo. This man was indeed becoming more and more different. Liang Baoying had met a woman from the neighboring village in the commune a while ago who had jumped into a well because her educated youth husband had secretly returned to the city. She was in a trance and seemed not to hear anyone calling her.
"Of course not." Song Jianguo was unwilling to do so.
"If you really can't take her in, you can just get a divorce. Then you can give Meng Meng living expenses until she turns 18. Then you and I won't owe each other anything." Liang Baozhen remembered that there was another thing called child support, so she mentioned it to Song Jianguo and tried to stimulate him to see how he would react. "Don't delay it. Whether my sister lives on her own or remarries with Meng Meng, don't ask about it."
If this person shows the slightest sign of being interested in the proposal, we will know whether he really wants to accept it or is just making excuses to delay.
When Song Jianguo heard that Baoying was going to remarry with Mengmeng, his face immediately changed, "Baozhen, what are you talking about? Baoying is my wife, Mengmeng is my daughter, how can she remarry?"
Liang Baoying was also shocked when she suddenly heard her sister talk about this. She had never thought about these things at all.
She glanced at Chao Baozhen and saw her winking at her. The two sisters had a tacit understanding, and Liang Baoying told her about the previous proposal of marriage.
Especially the man's lustful eyes made her uncomfortable.
"Is there such a thing?" Song Jianguo got angry when he heard that a second-rate man came to propose to his wife, and his dark face turned red with anger.
"Of course not. Don't you think about how I will live in the countryside after my divorce? There are so many gossips outside, and many people are watching me. There are even a few widowers who come to my house to propose marriage and want to make a move on me."
Song Jianguo knew that divorced women had a hard time, but before he heard these words, he never thought about it. He always thought that the Liang family could protect Baoying, but he didn't expect that there would be such a short-sighted Baba to get involved.
"Baoying, don't worry. I'll talk to my mom when I get home today. No matter what, you are my wife and Mengmeng is my daughter-in-law. We still have to stay together as a family."
"Okay." Liang Baoying felt relieved after hearing this.
Song Jianguo had to go to work in the afternoon. When he got home from get off work in the evening, he saw his eldest brother, third brother and their families all living happily together at the dinner table. He suddenly felt uncomfortable.
He is the second child in the Song family and was originally the best student in the family. His eldest brother Song Jianmin dropped out of school early and went to work in a towel factory. When the policy of going to the countryside to work was introduced, the eldest brother had a job and the third brother was only thirteen years old. Naturally, this matter fell on Song Jianguo, who was in high school and of the right age.
In addition, as the second child at home, he was most likely to be unloved by his parents, so his parents enrolled him to go to the countryside without discussing it with him. When he left, he had only completed half a semester of his second year of high school.
Now the eldest brother is a third-level worker in a towel factory, and the third brother is a second-level worker in a tractor factory. Both of them are married. The eldest brother's wife is a female worker in the towel factory, and the third brother's wife does not have a job but her family conditions are good. Both families have two children.
"Baoer, have a bowl of chicken and egg custard."
The four children had to eat egg custard every two or three days. Song Jianguo saw that his nephews and nieces were all grown up and plump. Not to mention every meal, they could eat eggs every few days and wear new clothes. They were much more beautiful than what he had dreamed of, as they were all made of torn new cloth.
After dinner, Song Jianguo went to talk to his mother Qin Yuxiu alone.
Who knew that Qin Yuxiu was the first to speak. She has been busy looking for a date recently, and it is not good for her second son to be single all the time.
"Jianguo, listen to your mother's advice and find someone again as soon as possible. Last time I asked your aunt Xiujuan to help you find a partner, but you were not willing. This time I found someone with good conditions. There is a girl with a formal job and I heard that she looks good..."
"Mom, I want to bring Baoying and Mengmeng back home. I don't know what kind of person I should look for."
"Jianguo, I'm going to be honest with you. The country wives are not worthy of you. You finally got divorced and returned to the city, so why are you still thinking about bringing them back? You still give them money every month, right? Mom doesn't even support you. Our family has done our best. It's only ten yuan a month. Can they earn this amount by working in the fields for a month in the countryside?" Qin Yuxiu felt ashamed when she thought about her son marrying a country wife. She would be laughed at in the tube-shaped building.
Looking around, which family didn't marry a city girl? On the first and third floors, there were two families whose sons had gone to the countryside and were now divorced and back in the city. After the divorce, they just cleaned up the mess. I haven't heard of anyone bringing back their country wives and children.
If it was a son, I would have taken him back, but it turned out to be a granddaughter.
"Mom, I promised Baoying that I would bring them both in." Song Jianguo looked embarrassed. He knew his parents' attitude. They looked down on Baoying, but he... couldn't do such a cruel thing.
"Look at how we live here. Even if you bring your wife and children back, we won't have enough food to eat." Qin Yuxiu saw her son was being stubborn and said, "If you really want to bring them back, find a place to live by yourself."
Song Jianguo sighed, thinking about how to solve the house problem. He put his hand on his forehead and thought of someone. A worker he wanted to make friends with was the cousin of the deputy director of the soft drink factory. Ever since he accidentally heard about the relationship between that man and the deputy director, Song Jianguo would chat with him from time to time and help him out. After a while, they became familiar with each other.
Thinking about the issue of housing allocation, Song Jianguo prepared to collect some cigarette and alcohol coupons and then go to the house to try his luck.
After the three members of the Liang family separated from Song Jianguo, Liang Baozhen sent her eldest sister and second brother onto the bus. The two of them were in a hurry to go home. Before leaving, she prepared two kilograms of cakes and three feet of cloth for the family to take back, and waved goodbye to the two of them.
Liang Baozhen had already wasted quite some time on her outing, so she hurried back to the compound. When she arrived at the door of her house and didn't hear the child crying, she breathed a sigh of relief.
More than three hours had passed since she left, and her only worry was that the child would suddenly wake up and cry and howl.
"Shanshan is still asleep." Zhou Yun was knitting for the child in the living room under the bright light outside. The child would be seven or eight months old by winter, so she had to knit the sweater in advance. This time she bought expensive wool yarn, which was similar to the sweaters sold in department stores. It felt very comfortable to the touch, soft and not prickly. Children have delicate skin, so everything needs to be taken care of.
In the past, our family didn’t have the means, so we had to wear all kinds of coarse cloth clothes. Now that conditions are better, of course we have to be more careful.
"Okay, I'll go in and take a look."
"How's your eldest sister's matter going?" Zhou Yun knew something about the situation.
"My brother-in-law said he would find a way. This time he has to bring the person to the city."
"That's fine." Zhou Yun looked down on Song Jianguo for faking a divorce and returning to the city, but she also knew that the educated youth had to endure hardships, and it would be considered conscientious if he could bring his wife and children back. "Then you two sisters can visit each other more often in the future, and it will be much more convenient for you to see each other."
"That's right. It only takes half an hour to get here by bus. It's much faster than going back to the village."
Liang Baozhen walked back to the bedroom and saw her daughter still lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling with her eyes closed.
"Hey, Shanshan, why is she awake?" Liang Baozhen walked over quickly, sat beside her, and touched her little face. "She didn't cry today, how strange."
Shanshan had just woken up and looked around. When she saw her mother coming back, she seemed to have recognized her. She opened her mouth to reveal a big smile, and her bald gums could be seen. She made a grunting sound, and her little hands and feet moved, as if they wanted to reach up.
"Are you hungry? Do you want some milk?" Liang Baozhen picked up the girl and sat her down. Seeing that she had opened her mouth and was making some incomprehensible grunting sounds, she knew that she was anxious. "Why are you so anxious?"
Shanshan used her actions to show her mother that she was really hungry, and she sucked milk very hard!
The author has something to say:
Shanshan is also trying hard to drink milk today
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com