Chapter 85 085 Commutation of sentence and return home & Little Moon & Olfactory nerve paralysis...
"Have all the other five of his fellow disciples been visited?"
"We only interviewed four people. He had a senior sister who had passed away, but it couldn't be her because she had a very good relationship with Xiangyang and took good care of him. When Xiangyang was an apprentice, he was bullied by other senior brothers. It was she who came to our house and told us."
No wonder, Xiao Li's wife said Xiangyang refused to talk about what happened to him in the factory. At that time, Jin Yue was even wondering how they knew it.
The investigation ended at this point and Jin Yue sighed. It seemed that he could only focus on Li Xiangyang himself.
"Don't worry, our whole family knows that you have tried your best." Li Xiangdong is a really big and strong, real rough man, and it is difficult for him to speak gently. He is different from Xiao Lisao and Li Xiangyang.
"By the way, regarding your second brother's case, see if he has made any meritorious contributions. According to convention, this will be of some use."
Xu Wenli's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran back into the house, bringing back a photo frame that was well sealed in plastic and free of dust, with a certificate inside.
"Does Li Gongan think this is okay?"
When Li Xiangdong took a look, he found that it was actually sent to him by their superior unit. It didn't say what he had done specifically, but there was also a letter of thanks. Judging from the prize, he must have made a significant contribution.
Jin Yue just remembered the incident of reporting the spy last year. She didn't tell him, but Li Xiangdong was an internal professional and knew what was going on at a glance. Combined with the time of the award and the biggest work progress during that period, he laughed, "Good boy, it turned out to be him who did it."
As soon as he left, Xu Duan came and talked about the same matter. He took the certificate and the letter of thanks away, and came back to deliver the message two days later.
"It's basically decided. Considering that he has a good attitude towards admitting his guilt, the amount involved is not large, and he did not seek to make huge profits, and he has made meritorious contributions in the past, his punishment is to confiscate all profits. He will not be fined, but he needs to spend some time in a study class. He can only go home after he has reformed himself."
When everyone heard that they would not go to jail, and that confiscation of all profits or even a double fine was not a big deal, the whole family was willing to accept it.
As long as you are a good person, just study, even if it means studying for a few more months!
Shu Linong asked quietly, "Will there be no criminal record?"
"No." Originally he would, but he couldn't bear to see his life ruined because of such a small mistake.
In the cold winter, selling some winter substitutes to people who can't afford quilts is not a big sin, and it's not making huge profits. There are many people who are greedier and bolder than him. He is an unemployed vagrant who earns only 500 yuan with his own hands through hard work for several months. He should not be treated so cruelly.
Now, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, okay, Xiao Xu, tell him to study hard and behave well in the ideological study class, strive to make meritorious service, and go home as soon as possible."
Everyone laughed, and the old couple started taking out the money. They wanted to return every penny of the hard-earned money that was given to them by Wenming.
Xu Duan stopped them, "No, he asked you to keep that little money, and he can use his own money to return the profit, and the same goes for Jin Yue. He said that he wanted to do this, and it has nothing to do with you, so you don't have to blame yourself."
Everyone felt complicated for a moment. Shu Wenming used to be a gloomy coward. Even people like Wang Laoer looked down on him. But when something really happened, he took all the responsibility on his own and even paid for the refund himself.
"Good boy." Shu Linong cursed with red eyes.
Xu Wenli hurried back to the house to find her passbook. There was not much cash at home, so she had to go to the bank to withdraw the 500 yuan profit.
Fearing that it would be unsafe for her to withdraw cash alone, Xu Duan and Shu Jinyue accompanied her.
When I got it back, Zhao Wanqiu was already busy cooking. It turned out to be small dumplings made from glutinous rice flour. Each one was white and plump, as big as the tip of my little finger, round and white and glutinous. After cooking for a while until they floated in the air, they became fluffy and soft little white balls. I quickly took them out, poured them with the brown sugar water that had been cooked long ago, and put an egg underneath. They tasted fragrant, sweet and bouncy.
Xu Duan found that only he and Jin Yue Wenli had eggs, so he quietly gave the one in his bowl to Jin Yue, "I came here after dinner."
Jin Yue was smiling and thought to himself that you are being treated like a son-in-law.
"By the way, what about the cotton reselling you mentioned? How do you deal with it?"
"All the profits and the remaining cotton that could not be processed were confiscated, and no fine was imposed, only a five-year prison sentence."
With such a huge amount of money involved, he might have been sentenced to death in the past. But this time he was not fined and was only sentenced to five years in prison. It seems that the policy is really going to be relaxed.
"Aunt Hu Guizhi personally inquired about this matter and discussed it for a long time before making the decision."
"Then doesn't she know about my second brother's affairs?"
"He probably doesn't know. Too many people were arrested this time. Your second brother is just a small fry in the middle." This time, there were actually not so many people involved in the incident at the beginning. The crackdown office and the police station were just doing their routine work. They arrested a few people who were really excessive as usual. Who knew that someone would become jealous of the group of people reselling cotton and report them.
Seeing that they were really arrested, it proved that reporting was useful, so those who originally had conflicts of interest or personal grudges all made every effort to report. As a result, this time even the police were too busy to handle it, and the police directly arrested people. The police bureau was full of profiteers like Shu Wenming.
Shu Wenming simply sold down quilts that conflicted with those selling cotton. They couldn't find anyone to report the incident, so they thought he was the one who did it and injured him by mistake.
"What about the others?"
Xu Duan sighed, "Most families can't afford it. They've spent all their profits, so they can only close it for now."
Yes, those who go to the black market these days are either really daring or extremely poor and desperate, especially those educated youth who have returned from the countryside with their families. Any penny they earn will be immediately exchanged for food rations to feed their children. Confiscated? Why confiscate it? Not to mention imposing fines, where can they get the money to pay the fines?
Hu Guizhi was thinking of everyone's difficulties, so she did not allow fines to be imposed, and tried her best to send everyone home.
"I also gave her a heads up, asking the police to understand everyone's situation and verify if there are sick elderly people, disabled family members or hungry children at home. It is better to remember the matter first, go back home first, and then punish them after the family is sorted out."
Jin Yue gave a thumbs up, she had never thought of this, mainly because her family did not have such a situation. That was why later generations said that some leaders were out of touch with the masses. Now she, an ordinary doctor, had begun to "out of touch".
"There are quite a few cases like this, and Aunt Hu feels very heavy."
The common people took risks because they were hungry or even couldn't survive, so she took on all the pressure and tried her best to send everyone back home. Those who really could not afford the money were simply sent to work in quarries, sand pits, and farms in the suburbs, and the wages they earned were used to offset the payment.
It is definitely not possible not to punish. If you make a mistake, you have to pay the price. But if the punishment is too severe, it will force people into a dead end.
Xu Duan was feeling a little depressed. "It would be nice if there were more jobs."
Shu Jinyue suddenly remembered that in the automobile factory run by Xu Siqi in his previous life, the proportion of disabled people and workers from poor families was very high. It was said that these workers were recruited when he first started the factory in the late 1980s, and stayed there until retirement, and received the same pension as normal employees.
There is a saying circulating on the Internet that as long as you enter the Xu family's factory, even if you are old, weak, sick or disabled, you can stay there until you retire.
"You can do it. What you are thinking about now may create tens of thousands of jobs for society and billions of wealth for the country in the future."
She said it very confidently and seriously. Xu Duan looked into her eyes and asked, "Really?"
"Really, believe me." I have lived twice.
However, the boss's confusion only lasted for a while. "In the next period of time, I guess the inspection will be stricter. Don't go to the ghost market."
The Shu family members quickly waved their hands and said no, no, they would never dare to go again.
They traveled thousands of miles to western Jiangxi Province, sleeping in the open air along the way to buy the down quilts. In order to sell them, the three men were shivering with cold, hiding from place to place, and their bicycles were almost sparking. In the end, the hard-earned money was confiscated... To be frustrating, if they had known that it would be a waste of work and they would have to live in fear, whoever wants to suffer should bear it.
***
Because he couldn't go home to sleep at night due to the ideological study class, Xu Wenli missed Wenming and went to see him twice during the class. Zhao Wanqiu prepared some delicious food and drinks, but when she thought about what Xu Duan said about how many people were arrested with him this time, it would not be appropriate for them to send them fish and meat when they were not full, so she finally gave up.
On New Year's Eve, every household starts preparing the dinner after breakfast. This year is a special Spring Festival for the Shu family.
Because Zhang Zhen's mother was seriously ill, she took Xu Ping and Xu Siqi back to her parents' home to spend the last Spring Festival with the old lady. There was no nanny anymore, not even a cook, so Xu Duan was called by Jin Yue to come to her home to celebrate, and of course, Yao Qingqing, who lived next door to him, was also there.
With Shu Wenyan's family of five, the old house of the Shu family couldn't accommodate them all. "No, let's put the meal in the room of the Sun family."
Jin Yue bought three rooms, rented one to Qian Chunhua, one to the family of Du Aiguo, a returned urban youth, and kept the room owned by Old Lady Sun, which had a big kang in it, which now came in handy.
Zhao Wanqiu and Liu Huifang were cooking in the kitchen, Shu Linong and his future son-in-law were chatting in the old house, and Mengmeng Yaya, with two little pigtails, was running around in the yard with Grandpa Liu.
"Jin Yue, do you know that Dr. Mo is at work these days? I have a colleague who wants to see him for treatment." Yao Qingqing asked.
As it happens, Jin Yue was just invited to see a patient in their department yesterday. "He is at work from the first to the fourth day of the Chinese New Year. He said that someone in their department had a funeral at home and he had to go back to attend the funeral. He can't leave, so you can just ask your colleague to go."
Yao Qingqing threw the rag on the edge of the kang, lay on her back, and sighed, "I'll take her there. I also have a small problem that I want to consult Doctor Mo."
Shu Jinyue was still melancholy when he heard this, "Why, are you feeling unwell?"
Xu Wenli also came over, and several other young girls volunteered to clean the room where they would have dinner that night.
"It's not that I'm feeling unwell, it's that I'm upset."
She stared at the newly painted white wall and asked, "Do you think there are still honest men in this world?"
Jin Yue’s eyes moved, something was happening! She hasn't had a boyfriend for two years since she broke up with the Phoenix man Song Yingwu. In fact, there are many gay men pursuing her, but she is a little averse to love in her heart. Once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years.
"Who knows if the next one will be another Song Yingwu? It would be better if I didn't live in Jinyu Hutong, didn't have a house, and didn't have a job. If a gay man likes me, he must be sincere."
Jin Yue laughed, "If that's the case, you won't have time to date." The most important thing is to make a living.
"Who is pursuing you this time?"
Yao Qingqing blushed and was reluctant to speak.
"You won't tell me, right? I tickled you, three, two..."
"I'll tell you, you know that person too."
Jin Yue's outstretched claws stopped. They both knew very few unmarried young men. Combining the topic they just talked about, a name popped up in Jin Yue's mind. She opened her mouth in surprise -
"You, you, you, you are so good, Yao Qingqing, you actually got together with the provincial hospital's henchman behind my back. Tell me the truth, when did it start?"
Yao Qingqing's face turned even redder. "It's not really a relationship. He just told me that he wanted to be with me... He said he liked my personality, and I... I didn't agree. Song Yingwu looks like a bird but he's not honest. He's a playboy and a handsome guy, isn't he a complete playboy?"
Xu Wenli nodded quickly, "I also think Dr. Mo is very handsome." He is so handsome that one would forget that he is actually several years older than Xu Duan.
Yao Qingqing sighed again, "It's not just beautiful, it's too beautiful, okay?"
Among all the gay men they have met, he and Brother Xu can be ranked first. In fact, compared with the serious Brother Xu, the humorous Dr. Mo is more likable!
How many girls would like a gay man like this?
Shu Jinyue disagreed, "Who says that handsome men are necessarily unfaithful? Whether a man is honest or not is not determined by his appearance."
"But handsome people face more temptations. Who knows when they will lose control and make a mistake?"
"Wrong, wrong, wrong. If the same temptation is placed in front of a handsome guy and an ugly guy, who do you think will be unable to resist? Obviously the one who doesn't get attention from the opposite sex and has low self-esteem. The handsome guy has been used to being noticed since he was a child and is immune to it. He doesn't need to prove his charm by conquering the opposite sex."
Hey, you know what, what Jin Yue said makes quite a bit of sense. Xu Wenli nodded vigorously, and Yao Qingqing also began to waver.
"Besides, if men are destined to be dishonest in the end, then why not just find a handsome guy? At least we can enjoy his beauty in the process, right?"
As soon as these words came out, Yao Qingqing's face flushed, but she felt as if she had just been enlightened. "Yes!"
"If I had known that Song Yingwu was that kind of person, I would have wasted my time. If I had had that much time, I might have met Dr. Mo and started dating him earlier. The sooner I dated him, the sooner I would have enjoyed myself."
After spending a long time with Jin Yue, she would occasionally say some nasty words, and Xu Wenli was stunned. Is this still the simple and harmless girl before? !
Jin Yue hurriedly "interrogated" them about what was going on.
It turned out that after Jin Yue introduced them to each other by chance a few years ago, the two actually had no contact. Qingqing had a boyfriend at the time. Until last year when Song Yingwu was fired, Qingqing happened to have a colleague who fell off a bicycle and was injured. Her leader asked her to accompany her colleague to see a doctor. She met Dr. Mo in the hospital, and the two chatted for a while, then reconnected.
Later they met several more times, and they gradually became familiar with each other and had meals together several times. The first time was when Mo Shuyi went to the Geological University to give a report, and he jokingly asked her to treat him to a meal in the cafeteria, and they kept going.
Later, he always went to the school, either to give reports or to visit relatives, and ate in their cafeteria again and again. Every time she treated him, he would give gifts or treat her to a movie in return.
Of course, after that failed relationship, something in Yao Qingqing's brain wasn't quite working properly. It wasn't until her colleagues noticed that Dr. Mo was pursuing her that she suddenly realized. No wonder he often asked her to treat him to dinner. She felt a little uncomfortable.
She was really scared by the Phoenix Men. In the past two years, she has been very repulsive to any man who wanted her to spend money. If it weren't for Jin Yue's introduction and Dr. Mo's reliable character, she would have run away long ago.
Shu Jinyue was almost crying: "Just think about it, he is so busy. If he didn't do it on purpose, how could he have so much time to meet you by chance?"
Yao Qingqing smiled with dimples, "This is also why I hesitated. Doctors are very busy, especially a celebrity doctor like him. He will definitely not have much time to spend with me in the future. I will have to take care of everything at home and outside by myself."
But she quickly convinced herself: "Anyway, he is contributing to the construction of socialism. I am happy to contribute and support him!"
Shu Jinyue and Xu Wenli looked at each other and thought, maybe it won’t be long before they can attend the wedding banquet?
As he was talking, Aunt Li from the backyard came to the door in a weird tone, "Hey, Wenli is still here, why don't you go and deliver prison food to your Wenming?"
On New Year's Eve, every family is reunited, except her, who is alone. She will be most unhappy when whichever family has the most fun, and she always wants to say something sarcastic.
"Wenming, you don't need me to bring him food. He's eating well in the study class. Won't your little brother Li come back to spend the New Year with you? You haven't seen your grandson for half a year, right? Will the child call you grandma the next time you see him?"
Aunt Li spat out a mouthful of blood. How could Xu Wenli, that damn girl, have such a poisonous tongue? It must have been infected by Shu Laoer!
"Humph, you are so proud of yourself. The unemployed people are all sent to labor camps and can't even come back for the New Year. You can just cry alone."
"Who said I can't come back?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the door. Xu Wenli's eyes turned red and she rushed over and hugged his neck.
With newly shaved hair and beard, his skin is a little whiter than before and he is a little thinner, but he is in good spirits.
"You're back, you're finally back. If you hadn't come back I would have been bullied to death by the bad old woman, woo woo..."
Shu Jinyue: “…” Hey, hey, hey, we are still here!
Aunt Li was angry and embarrassed. She didn't expect the young man to be so "shameless". She had been a widow for so many years and had no conditions to enjoy her retirement. She had some thoughts in her mind and couldn't stand this the most. She left cursing.
When the people in the old house in front heard Shu Wenming's voice, they all rushed over, pulled Shu Wenming up and down, asked him if he was living well in there, if he was cold or hungry, and asked what he wanted to eat and made it for him first. No one blamed him.
The good thing about the Shu family is that the head of the family won't blame them too much for the mistakes that have been made or the things that have happened. They only care about how the children are doing now.
Shu Wenming nodded. "I'm hungry. Auntie, please heat up a bowl of food for me. I'll eat whatever is available."
I haven't seen Shu Wenming for nearly a month. He seems to have matured a little and speaks more calmly.
Shu Wenyan patted his shoulder and said, "It's good that you're back. Everything will be fine in the future."
Shu Wenming didn't say anything, but looked at Xu Duan and said, "Thank you, I will call you by your name from now on." It felt strange to call him Comrade Xu.
The two men's eyes met in the air, and then looked away as if nothing had happened, as if they had reached some kind of agreement, and a secret that only the two of them knew began to take effect.
Shu Jinyue was busy going out to buy firecrackers and didn't notice this. He had originally only bought three strings for the New Year, and now he wanted to set off one more string specifically for his second brother's safe return. Qian Chunhua also specially sent a handful of mugwort leaves that her mother had picked from the mountains.
Zhao Wanqiu put the moxa leaves in a basin and burned them, and set off firecrackers with a crackling sound. She let Shu Wenming step over the brazier, chanting, "All the bad luck is gone, all gone, and the coming year will be safe, smooth and healthy."
People from other compounds heard the sound of firecrackers and some were surprised, "Oh my god, they've prepared the New Year's Eve dinner so early?"
Everyone likes to be "earliest" so they set off firecrackers as soon as the New Year's Eve dinner is ready. Whoever hears the firecrackers first gets to eat earlier.
"It sounds like it's from Courtyard No. 16."
"I saw Shu Wenyan setting off the firecrackers."
"The Shu family? Isn't their family always the last to arrive?"
"It's been okay in the past two years, but in the past ten years or so, we were always at the bottom of the list."
"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west. The Shu family has been different in recent years. I don't know how they got by. Their days have changed."
Aunt Niu didn't like what she heard. She still hated Zhao Wanqiu and her daughter for not introducing a cadre candidate to her daughter. She pouted and said, "Come on, what are you talking about? They all made their dirty money from speculation. Shu Laoer is still in jail. He's over 30 years old, and I don't know if he can even have a full meal. He must be skinny, right?"
After saying this, she was ready to accept the agreement from all sides, but everyone looked at her like a fool, turned their heads and looked at her -
Shu Wenming, who was currently in jail, walked over leisurely, swaying with his signature steps, looking energetic and clean! With that pair of iconic single eyelids, emitting that iconic gleam, which contained the familiar look of disdain and indifference, who are you?
Like Aunt Li, she always ends up in a bad situation every time she has a head-on confrontation. Aunt Niu's heart skips a beat and she immediately says that she has meat stewing at home and leaves.
The others were not embarrassed. After all, they didn't say anything bad about civilization. A few young people came over and greeted him, handing him a cigarette. "Are you back?"
"Um."
Everyone noticed that Shu Laoer seemed different this time, but they couldn't put their finger on it. He spoke in a nice voice and no one dared to offend him. Several young people chatted on the bluestone road until their families came out to set off firecrackers, and then they went home.
This year, the Shu family's New Year's Eve dinner was incredibly rich. There were six meat dishes alone: braised pork elbow, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, stewed old hen, fish cooked with sauerkraut, cold pork skin jelly, and a whole roast duck brought by Xu Duan, which was steamed in a pot and was steaming hot.
Not to mention a few vegetarian dishes and cold cuts and hot soups, three kang tables put together wouldn’t be able to accommodate them all!
Xu Duan brought two bottles of Moutai liquor, and Shu Wenyan brought two bottles of Xifeng liquor, but Teacher Shu did not favor one over the other. He opened everything they brought and gave everyone a glass.
I have been drinking it for several years now and have learned to drink a little bit. I drink half a cup for a special occasion and the whole family is happy.
Everyone started chatting about interesting things in the compound and at the unit. As they chatted, the men began to talk about politics and construction, reform and opening up, international politics and situation, the Soviet Union and the United States, Georgia... Well, Xu Duan basically spoke very little. He just listened to Teacher Shu and his two sons criticizing capitalism and sympathizing with the third world.
Jin Yue was laughing unkindly beside him.
In the past, who would have dared to talk about these things? But things are different now. Since the meeting last December, not only have college students been holding debates one after another and newspapers are reporting on them one after another, but even old men are bringing up politics when they play two rounds of debate.
It’s great, the breath of spring is getting stronger and stronger.
After eating, the women were too lazy to listen to them talking about these things. They held their children and talked about other things with their wool. Jin Yue went out for some fresh air.
Du Aiguo and Fan Qiuyue's family next door were still eating with their doors open and their children playing under the eaves. Jin Yue took a casual look and found that there was only a plate of dumplings and a dish of pickles on the table. There was no other meat or dish, and no candy, peanuts, melon seeds or anything like that.
The more he thought about it, the money Fan Qiuyue had to borrow from her mother yesterday to buy the meat.
No wonder Xu Duan felt so emotional and hoped that there would be more jobs to absorb them. He had seldom come into contact with these educated youth who had returned to the city before, so he didn't know how they were living. However, there were still many people who were worse off than Du Aiguo and Fan Qiuyue.
Du Aiguo at least brought Fan Qiuyue back. No matter how poor and miserable the family was, they were together. But those who were abandoned in the countryside by their educated youth husbands (wives), those children who were not wanted by their parents, were even more miserable... In my previous life, at least I was alone, and I was the only one who suffered.
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly felt warmth on her shoulders. A military coat with body temperature was put on her. "Are you cold?"
Jin Yue nodded. He felt cold after just getting off the warm kang.
"Want to go back to your room?"
Jin Yue nodded, and the two of them returned to her nest together. The temperature here is not as high as Grandma Sun's room, but the kang is also extremely warm. Jin Yue took off his coat, kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the kang, and saw that he was still standing. "Come up, it's so cold."
After all, her kang is the cleanest place to sleep. No matter how cold the weather is, she washes the bedding once every half a month. Every time she goes to bed without changing into pajamas, she will put an old sheet on the bed.
She sat cross-legged on the old bed sheet and pulled a towel over her knees.
As soon as Xu Duan came up, the big kang, which was usually as spacious as a football field, seemed to have become smaller. Jin Yue gave him half of the quilt, so the two of them had their legs touching under the quilt.
"Now, can you tell me about your time in the country?"
Shu Jinyue looked at him. The man had been forced to drink a lot of wine by his future father-in-law and his two uncles. When he was over there, his eyes seemed to be blurry, but when he came here, his complexion and breathing were normal. Jin Yue grabbed his wrist and felt it, well, he was not drunk at all.
He is pretending.
How can I make my father-in-law and uncles happy if I don’t pretend!
Xu Duan took her hand in his and squeezed it. "Study hard and see a doctor. I will help you solve the problem in Shijiagou."
"Um?"
Xu Duan repeated it again.
"How do you know... Was it Wang Hongping who told you?" In fact, she should have thought of it earlier. As long as he could stop Wang Hongping from returning home from the Wang family, he would definitely be able to contact Wang Hongping. If he wanted to know what she had experienced in those three years, he had plenty of ways to do it.
Yes, if he wanted to know.
But who is Jin Yue? He is a complete twisted person. "I don't believe you have figured out everything about me in those three years."
The man gave her a look that said "if you don't believe me, ask me". It turned out that he had drunk a lot and was really drunk, but he was used to restraining himself normally. He was afraid of making mistakes, so after getting drunk he would tell himself to talk less.
"Do you know which house I live in?"
Xu Duan smiled helplessly, "When you first arrived in Shijiagou, you had no place to live. The villagers warmly invited you to live in the most welcoming house. Who knew that it happened to be Captain Shi's house... Later, you realized that Captain Shi's son was interested in you, so you immediately moved to the barn and hid there alone for half a year. Until you cured Wang Hongping's strange disease, she invited you to move in and live with her."
The young and naive Shu Jinyue thought that others who were warm and kind to her were good people, but she had no idea about the dirty deeds of that family. The Shi captain’s elder couple were good-for-nothings, and their son was even worse. He…Xu Duan felt sick when he thought about the things he had investigated.
He was attracted to Shu Jinyue, who was sixteen years old and looked like a middle school student. It was not because Jinyue was so beautiful, but because she looked like an androgynous, fair-skinned boy.
No wonder Jin Yue has always been reluctant to mention it. For her, a sixteen-year-old who knew nothing, it was an unimaginable evil.
But for the 23-year-old Shu Jinyue, these evil things could no longer hurt her. She blinked her eyes and said, "Isn't this what Wang Hongping told you? You haven't seen it."
Xu Duan smiled, he knew more.
"I also know that there were two kangs in that educated youth's room, and you slept on the one by the window."
There were marks on the window sills that she had made when she was too hungry to sleep at night: a five-pointed star and two small moons.
Under the kang was a small hole that she had secretly dug out to store her money and tickets. When she came back, she took them all away. Well, not much.
Jin Yue also thought of this. The five-pointed star and the small moon were things that happened many, many years ago. "Yes, I still remember. There are still photos of me in that small hole. One for elementary school graduation, one for middle school, and one for my family."
Knowing that she was determined to go to the countryside, Teacher Shu hurriedly gathered the whole family together and asked a photographer to take the photo. There were also words on the back. She regarded it as her most precious treasure and kept it for three years... Unfortunately, she was unable to go back, and these things were either taken out and thrown away, or bitten into pieces by rats.
Suddenly, Xu Duan moved and took out a handkerchief from his arms, "A New Year's gift for you."
Shu Jinyue found it more funny. She was feeling sad at the time. What gift should she get? Did they really treat her as a child? Would she stop crying immediately after receiving the gift?
He opened the square handkerchief he had wrapped, and inside lay three yellowed, damp black-and-white photos. The first one was of a little girl with pigtails. Her big eyes were clearly black and white, her mouth corners were tightly taut, and her eyes were full of tension and helplessness.
This was the first time the little girl had her photo taken since she was born. She was extremely nervous. The artist asked her to smile, but she couldn't smile at all. The people in the queue behind her were urging her to hurry up and not waste everyone's time.
So, with a "click", this is how she looked when she appeared on camera for the first time in her life.
The second time she took a photo was when she was in the third year of junior high school. At that time, all middle schools were four-year programs. In order to keep a memory of her good friends, she took photos again.
This time, she specifically imitated her sister, braiding her hair into two pigtails and tying them with red wool. Unfortunately, her hair was too little and dry, with a parting so wide that it could be used for rowing. Under the ridicule of her classmates, she burst into tears and secretly wiped her sister's face with lotion.
Then, with a "click", she left behind the image of a puffy walnut eye and a little cat.
…
Shu Jinyue's eyes were moist. She didn't need to look at it, she knew that the last photo must be her family photo. Her parents looked sad, and only she was smiling like a little fool. She was wearing a hat embroidered with a red five-star, with her chest puffed out and a sailor shirt. She felt that she was about to achieve great things and change her life!
Although she knew there was no need to look at it, she still turned to the back of the last page, where Shu Linong's strong and powerful penmanship read: To my son, the road ahead is long and hard, but now we are starting over again.
In the lower right corner are his and Zhao Wanqiu's names.
They couldn't stop her from going to the countryside, so they could only use this poem to encourage her, hoping that she would be like the great man, be brave, strong, and have great ambitions, and practice her great ideals.
Of course, she doesn't need to be great. She just needs to have no regrets when she looks back on it in the future. Look, this young person, at the age of sixteen, went to the most difficult place in the motherland, planted mountains of potatoes, raised fat cattle and sheep, and cured tens of thousands of poor people in the border areas.
"When did you get it?" She vaguely remembered that she seemed to have mentioned it to him unintentionally three years ago, but she never took it to heart after that. Unexpectedly, he actually helped her get it back.
Xu Duan used his rough fingers to wipe her tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears came. Finally, he simply pressed her head into his arms. He could no longer look into her eyes, for he was afraid that he could not control himself.
"I didn't have time to help you with the plastic surgery a few days ago."
Not only did he want to plasticize it, he also wanted to make a few more copies for her as a souvenir if conditions improved in the future and he could make copies.
After all, that was when she was twelve, fifteen, and sixteen.
That was how she looked before they met.
"No, it's so ugly. Every photo is taken at the worst angle. I want to retake it."
Xu Duan smiled and hugged the head into his arms again, "It looks good."
"It doesn't look good at all. I want to reshoot it tomorrow. I want to wash my hair properly, make it fluffy, put on makeup, and wear new clothes." I was really stupid and foolish at that time. I took so many detours and was laughed at for so many years.
Xu Duan lowered his head and looked into her eyes. The little stars there were gone, replaced by a little moon.
He had seen the little moon she carved on the window frame, a little moon as bright as that one, which could illuminate her three years of loneliness, hunger and cold.
He touched the two little moons, which she had carved out with her fingernails, bit by bit, day by day.
He often regretted that he should have found her earlier, and sometimes he felt that so many hardships did not defeat her, but made her stronger, braver, and more outstanding. What kind of girl is she?
So, the words came out of my mouth: "I wonder if I have the honor to appear in the same photo with you?"
Shu Jinyue was stunned. Nowadays, no man and woman would take a photo together unless they were blood relatives. Unless...
"Are you proposing to me?"
The man smiled gently, "Yes."
At this moment, Jin Yue couldn't think of anything. She just knew that she loved him and he loved her. There was nothing happier than being in love with each other!
"Okay, I'll go with you...mmmm..." She tasted the sweet and fragrant wine again.
"Your wine is sweeter than mine." He whispered in a hoarse voice. Everyone at the table was drinking the same wine, but hers seemed different from his.
Shu Jinyue chuckled, "What a coincidence, I think so too."
As she said that, she pushed him down and rode on his waist, "I want to try it too."
The two had been in love for several years and had done many things like kissing secretly, but this was the first time she took the initiative. Xu Duan was surrounded by an abnormal excitement and joy, feeling dizzy and confused.
By the time he reacted, both of them were already in disarray, and his hand was resting on a soft and delicate hillock, like a fluffy white steamed bun, or a sweet and juicy peach.
He came to his senses instantly, reluctantly took his hand away, and tidied her clothes, "Let's chat." Don't let anything go wrong.
Shu Jinyue’s eyes were dazed, and she wasn’t much better. Her hand was still... there... um... hehe.
She quickly put the pair of hot, thieving hands outside the towel blanket to prevent them from getting angry again, humph!
"We're not married yet, so we don't want to spread a bad reputation," he explained.
Jin Yue snorted coldly, she didn't care.
"Besides, I'm not ready. I can't let you get pregnant. You haven't graduated yet."
What safe period? As long as you don’t wear it, it will be considered as preparing for pregnancy. Jin Yue was suddenly startled and came to her senses. In the first few years, college students could get married and get pregnant, but she herself was not ready to have a child.
Because Li Yulan, a married woman, often complained to her about how tiring and difficult pregnancy was, and she had also read many posts on certain books about people regretting having children, she currently had no desire to have children at all.
Wait until you are more mature and can take care of a little life before you fight an unprepared fight.
Alas, what good person would carry an umbrella with him all the time for no reason, right?
The two of them were silent for a moment. The temperature in the room finally returned to normal. Xu Duan picked up the cup of water she had drunk from and took a sip to moisten his throat. "I don't have a stable job or financial income, nor do I have an independent house. I will have to bear with you for two years, at most."
Currently, only the house in Jinyu Hutong has been returned to the Xu family. The rest were sold or paid back when Mr. Xu was still alive. Now, more than 20 years have passed, and the ownership has changed several times.
Xu Duan also had his own ideas. His biological father did not like him, nor did he want the house he left behind. He even did not want to follow the path that his eldest brother had planned for him.
Jin Yue was happy, "I have a house, you can come and live with me, so I don't have to move out." She didn't even remember that she also had two houses in Jinyu Hutong.
Xu Duan nodded, "Then we will eat at home and pay for the food for our parents."
"Go away, who are your parents? You haven't even received the certificate yet."
Xu Duan smiled and did not argue. In fact, just now at the dinner table, the drunk Teacher Shu had already told Aunt Zhao to "give our son-in-law more food." Everyone looked very calm, so he knew that he had passed the test of being the head of the family.
***
The next day, after everyone sobered up, Jin Yue told her parents that she wanted to get married with Xu Duan. The old couple didn't say anything, but just looked into her eyes.
"Have you thought about it?"
"Why don't you think about it again? You are still young, there is no need to rush."
Jin Yue smiled and nodded.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Teacher Shu couldn't tell what was wrong with him, but he just looked uncomfortable. When the meal was ready and he was asked to come and eat, he couldn't eat.
On the contrary, Zhao Wanqiu didn't have any special expression, and continued to talk about the gossip in the courtyard as usual, "You guys were drunk last night, I didn't know, I heard Aunt Li's family quarreling again."
Xu Wenli came over quickly, "I, I, I! I heard it too, but it wasn't a quarrel. It seemed like Xiao Li and his wife came back with their children to spend the New Year with her. Halfway through the meal, Li the Butcher's family came and said that his brother fainted and was sent to the hospital."
Shu Jinyue's heart skipped a beat. Did Li Xiangyang faint?
"But it's not serious. I heard Xiao Li's wife say that he didn't eat and then he became hungry and had low blood sugar."
Oh, so that’s how it is. What’s wrong with this kid?
"Has Jin Yue not figured out the cause of his illness yet?" Zhao Wanqiu asked a little worriedly, "Has Western medicine given any advice recently?"
"No, just olfactory paralysis."
Zhao Wanqiu sighed, "Olfactory nerve paralysis, this disease is not common. The last time I saw it was in the year after liberation. There was a soldier who came back from the battlefield. He saw his comrades being burned to death by the Japanese. Since then, his nose has been damaged. Everything he smells smells like barbecue."
Although they were talking about barbecue, Zhao Wanqiu's eyes were red.
"He said that every time he drank water, ate rice, ate apples, or ate any kind of meat, it all smelled like barbecue. At that time, a young nurse who had just started working in our department even laughed at him and said that he was too greedy and wanted to eat meat..." Thinking about it now, it was so cruel.
Jin Yue also felt uncomfortable. This was an olfactory hallucination caused by war trauma, which was also a type of olfactory nerve paralysis. Li Xiangyang did not have olfactory hallucinations. He simply had no sense of smell.
Wait, could it be that he has the same condition, or is he also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder?
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