Chapter 111
Dafu’s wife was filled with righteous anger. Her family only had two daughters. It was not a heartache that she had no son in her life, but it was almost the end.
When she saw the hateful old woman Zhong, she remembered the anger she had suffered from her mother-in-law when she was young.
Dafu’s wife’s hometown was in the countryside. In the first few years after she married Dafu’s uncle, Dafu’s uncle worked in the city, and she took care of a few acres of land in her hometown in the countryside. The couple only saw each other a few times a year. Dafu’s wife was not pregnant, and her old mother-in-law kept complaining at home, saying that she married an unhappy old hen and wasted the family’s food. Sometimes the words were so unpleasant that she wanted to jump into the river and die.
Fortunately, her brothers from her natal family were helpful and knew that her sister was suffering in her husband's family. One year, when Uncle Dafu returned home for the New Year, several brothers from her natal family supported her sister. Uncle Dafu also felt sorry for his wife, so Aunt Dafu escaped from the sea of suffering and followed her husband to Yunshui County.
"Alas, you have suffered a lot."
"Who says it's not true? No matter what year it is, we women always suffer more."
The two old ladies strongly criticized the evil feudal and decadent old society for a whole night, until they were dry-mouthed, they stopped and went back to their own homes.
The county public security bureau intervened, and the old woman of the Zhong family reluctantly paid for her granddaughter to get glucose.
Yinhua Xiaoya had a very hard life. When there was a famine, she was very hungry. She was severely anemic and malnourished. Glucose injections for a few days were of no use. If she didn't take good care of herself, she would get worse.
The doctor at the county health center prescribed medicine for her. The iron supplements, cod liver oil, and calcium tablets alone cost several yuan a month, not to mention that Xiaoya had to rest well and couldn't do heavy work.
Spending several yuan a month to treat Xiaoya was like cutting out her own flesh and blood for Old Lady Zhong.
Old lady Zhong took advantage of her age and had another fight with her daughter-in-law. The mother and son beat her and knocked her unconscious.
At this time, old lady Zhong was lying at the door of the Public Security Bureau office and yelling.
The son of the Zhong family was handcuffed with a bitter face and explained tremblingly, "Comrade police, it's a misunderstanding. That woman doesn't like being beaten. I just punched her twice..."
The words of the son of the Zhong family made the female police comrades present very angry, and they slammed the record documents in their hands.
"Zhong Erzhu! You have already broken the law, do you know that? You and your son have committed the crime of intentional injury! According to the law, you will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years. If the circumstances are serious and cause serious injuries to others, you will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years!"
Another female police officer was also cold as ice.
"Ms. Zhong Liu! Zhong Erzhu! Tell the truth about your crimes, and don't try to escape the punishment of the law by throwing tantrums!"
The female police officers shouted at them, and Zhong Erzhu was frightened to the point of wetting his pants.
The interrogation room was full of the smell of urine.
Several female comrades were so disgusted that they hid out.
Xu Xiangqian said "Unfortunately", and helped Zhong Erzhu change his wet pants first.
Old Mrs. Zhong wanted to roll around in the interrogation room. She was quite strong, and she knocked a female comrade's glasses off with her elbow.
Gu Shian glanced at Old Mrs. Zhong expressionlessly.
"If you confess, you will be treated leniently, but if you resist, you will be treated severely. Mrs. Zhong is old and weak, and cannot stand up
. Comrades, please help." The public security comrades nearby were about to take action, but Mrs. Zhong knew that this was a serious matter. She was frightened by Gu Shian's cold eyes and got up from the ground in a flash. "I'm standing up. Hurry up and take the pepper spray."
The public security comrades holding the pepper spray were very sorry.
Gu Shian did not waste words and directly questioned Mrs. Zhong.
Nowadays, even in the county, there are many cases of old women torturing their daughters-in-law, but no matter how many there are, Mrs. Zhong is so unkind that she almost killed her daughter-in-law and Xiaoya.
Most of the female comrades in the Public Security Bureau come from well-off families, their parents are educated and well-connected, and they marry into families of equal status and harmony. They have only heard of such incidents, but today they finally saw it for themselves. They really don't have a good impression of this cunning and vicious old woman.
The daughter-in-law of the Zhong family has been in the hospital for half a month. She was beaten so hard that her left leg was broken and she suffered multiple injuries. Her family rushed to see the daughter-in-law. They were so angry that they shed tears and gritted their teeth to see the sentence of the mother and son of the Zhong family.
On the day when Yunshui County welcomed the first winter snow, the case of the mother and son of the Zhong family for assault was sentenced. The old woman Zhong was sentenced to one and a half years, and Zhong Erzhu was sentenced to three years. The mother and son hugged their heads and cried in court. The old woman Zhong kicked her feet because she didn't want to go to jail, so she was forcibly arrested by the public security comrades.
The mother and son of the Zhong family were imprisoned, and Zhong Erzhu's job at the steel mill was given to the daughter-in-law of the Zhong family. The daughter-in-law of the Zhong family took over the job and made money every month. The street also gave her subsidies and relief food. The next month, she divorced Zhong Erzhu in prison, took her three children and brought her parents to the county to support herself.
Lin Yao went to see Xiaoya several times. Xiaoya was well fed and well cared for. The little girl, whose hair was originally sparse and yellow, had a rosy face, which made people happy.
Snow fell in the last month, and another New Year came.
The atmosphere of the New Year in the county is particularly strong when the Spring Festival comes. Every household puts up Spring Festival couplets and hangs lanterns. After all, the countryside is different from the city. This year, Yunshui County’s town cinema has introduced several good movies, and the cinema is crowded every day.
Uncle Zhang went to the city to deliver two baskets of radishes and cabbages, and also went to see a movie with the old customer’s family.
The small space of the cinema made Uncle Zhang feel suffocated. He barely watched a movie and fled while smoking a pipe.
Comrade Cuilan asked him why he ran away?
Uncle Zhang had a convincing excuse.
"It's better to watch a movie in the city than to watch a big opera in the countryside. The place is big, and the whole village can sit together without being crowded. It's so spacious."
Uncle Zhang's words are true. There are cinemas and theaters in the county. If you want to watch a movie, just buy a ticket and go.
What is there in the countryside? There is just a mud stage. During festivals and New Year's Day, the village has dragon and lion dances, operas, and Qinqiang performances on the mud stage. The village is no exception to showing movies. At night, two sturdy banyan trees, a wide and bright white screen, a projector with a white woven light bulb on top, and a group of people watching together enthusiastically, which is the most lively event in the countryside at that time.
Every time the crackling sound of the electric current from the loudspeakers in the village died down, the village suddenly became bustling with activity. The wives were smiling as they washed rice and cooked, and the older girls took out their treasured embroidered blouses from their closets and dressed up in front of the mirror. Although most marriages in the countryside were arranged by matchmakers, now that society has progressed, young girls also want to love freely and find partners.
Just like this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, the county cinema showed the new movie "Heroic Sons and Daughters". It was shown in the county and in the countryside as well. The young actor Liu Shilong, who played the role of "Fire at Me" Wang Cheng in the movie, with thick eyebrows and big eyes and a heroic appearance, became the ideal type of a partner in the hearts of many young girls in the city and the countryside. When someone came to their house for a blind date, their family would ask if they could afford thirty-six legs?
What is "36 legs"? It is the marriage standard that just emerged in the 1960s. The furniture in the new house includes a double bed, an eight-person table, four chairs, a large wardrobe, a desk and a cupboard. This is the common standard for marrying a daughter-in-law in the city and the countryside. Of course, the standard is the standard. Except for the two-working families in the city who eat the government food, most families can't afford it.
Especially in the countryside, it is not easy for a family to feed themselves, so how can they have extra money to buy a set of furniture?
So the standard of marriage in the countryside was lowered, from thirty-six legs to twenty-four legs. A wedding only required a double bed, an eight-immortal table with two chairs, a five-drawer cabinet, a washbasin, a spittoon, and an iron thermos. Now the girls asked directly, "Can you join the counterattack like Wang Cheng and become a hero?"
This stumped the young men. They were just ordinary young men and could not join the army to fight. The young men were speechless for a long time, and the girls naturally had dark faces... Because of this, many funny things happened.
Uncle Zhang drove the donkey cart back to the countryside. Zhang Cuilan, who was sewing shoe soles in the yard, was using a needle to stab the soles of the shoes while telling her daughter-in-law about the past in the village.
This winter was unusually cold and dry. The children in the county caught a cold and cough due to the cold wind. Gu Shidong and Gu Doudou were also affected.
In addition to taking medicine and injections, Lin Yao also stewed rock sugar and snow pear for the children to drink. They
were allowed to drink a cup a night and were not allowed to finish it.
After drinking it for a week, the uncle and nephew's coughing symptoms improved a lot.
The north wind was howling outside. Gu Shian strode into the house wrapped in a military coat, revealing a sharp and handsome face. Lin Yao had just roasted a plate of sizzling sweet potatoes and steaming chestnuts in the stove. Her little face was flushed from eating it. When she saw Gu Shian come in, she said to him.
"Are you back?"
"Yeah."
"There's fish soup in the pot, have a bowl of it."
Lin Yao herself would not do it, after all, she was the one who made the fish soup, so it was Deputy Director Gu who should scoop the soup.
Gu Shian smiled and lifted the lid of the pot with his big hands. The milky white fish soup was filled with tumbling fish slices, and the fish soup was dotted with green coriander. On a cold day, there was nothing more comfortable than drinking a bowl of hot, fresh and delicious fish soup.
Gu Shian quickly served two bowls of fish soup, one for him and one for Lin Yao.
Lin Yao enjoyed her big bowl of fish soup without hesitation.
"Where's Doudou?"
"In the east room."
Gu Shi'an was relieved. Lin Yao left a small half bowl of fish balls without seasoning for Daju. Daju meowed while eating and didn't even come to nag Gu Shi'an when he came home.
After Daju finished eating, he meowed and came to rub Lin Yao's feet. Lin Yao happily picked up Daju and touched his fat belly. Daju wanted to be kissed and held high by the hostess like when he was a child.
Lin Yao had a deep look on his face and handed this glorious task to Deputy Director Gu.
Gu Shi'an easily held Daju and lifted him up a few times, then stroked Daju's chin, and Daju snored in comfort.
In the past six months, because of Deputy Director Gu's good service, Daju was able to condescend to let him touch his ears.
The house that the Gu family was allocated was almost completely renovated and ventilated, and they could move in in the spring.
This meant that this year was the last New Year that the family would spend in the big compound.
The whole family was reluctant to leave, except for Lin Yao and Gu Doudou, the mother and son, who were heartless.
Gu Shian went to the east room and brought back his fat son who was sleeping soundly, intending to let the little guy sleep.
Lin Yao was eating roasted sugar chestnuts in the room. The chestnuts just out of the pot opened as soon as they were broken, and the aroma of chestnuts penetrated into the nose, and the mouth was sweet and chewy.
Lin Yao ate one by one, and directly woke Gu Doudou up.
Well, Lin Yao saw her fat son looking at the chestnuts on the plate eagerly, so she held the little fat boy in her arms, and the mother and son ate them one by one with great relish.
At ten o'clock in the evening, Gu Doudou was held by his father to wash his feet, brush his teeth, and fell asleep on the small bed.
The virtuous Deputy Director Gu made the bed, brought water for washing feet, and handed over a month's salary allowance.
Lin Yao soaked her feet comfortably. Gu Shian came back with the footbath water. He watched his wife roll around on the soft bed, put away her salary allowance like a greedy little squirrel, and raised the corners of his mouth. He washed his feet and brushed his teeth by himself. As soon as he got on the bed, Lin Yao automatically nestled in his arms, saying sweet words like popping beans, "Oh, my Deputy Director Gu is so gentle and considerate, he should be rewarded."
"How to reward?" Gu Shian smiled.
"How about a kiss?"
Lin Yao smiled.
"Isn't one a little too little?"
"Then two?"
For the sake of the allowance, Lin Yao automatically gave him two kisses.
Deputy Director Gu said he could kiss her a few more times.
Lin Yao closed her eyes, pretending that she didn't hear anything, hugged the quilt and pretended to sleep.
Gu Shian smiled and turned off the light.
The room was dark.
Suddenly, a cute shout was heard.
"Asshole, what are you doing?"
"Debt collection."
"......."
*
"On the 23rd, the sugar pot is sticky, on the 24th, come to sweep the house, on the 25th, push the coal rat, on the 26th, stew pork, on the 27th, slaughter the rooster, on the 28th, the white flour is fermented, and on the 29th, steamed buns."
On the 29th of the month of Ramadan, the smell of oil and meat began to waft from every household at the entrance of the alley. This was for the children at home, so they didn't run around like crazy, but held their fingers in their mouths and drooled, waiting to eat delicious food.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Yao got off work. It was the New Year, and the factory had been working overtime. Not only did the comrades in the office look forward to the New Year holiday, but the workers in the workshop were also working slowly. There was really nothing to do, so it was better to take a holiday early. Every year, the government would return some grain, which was issued in the form of grain purchase certificates to the people who lacked labor and had difficulties in life for the New Year. This year, the return grain was not small, not only in the city, but also in the countryside.
After the 23rd day of the 11th lunar month, the wives at the entrance of the alley began to grind tofu, buy pork, and prepare New Year's goods.
The four members of the Gu family eat the government's food. If you tell others about it, they will be envious. This is more glorious than the family of two-time workers!
The family has four latte rice bowls, and the family has all the firecrackers, candies and snacks, cloth, rice, flour, oil, eggs, meat, fish and other things for the New Year.
Lin Yao doesn't have to worry about anything. He leisurely steams steamed buns and flower rolls for the New Year with Comrade Cuilan at home.
In recent years, every household in Yunshui County has steamed a pot of plump white flower rolls during the New Year, which means joy and peace.
Lin Yao knows how to steam flower rolls. Early in the morning, he kneaded the dough and started steaming flower rolls.
Of course, the two kids, Gu Shidong and Gu Doudou, came to make up the number.
In previous years, the main force of steaming flower rolls was Zhang Cuilan and Lin Yao. This year, there was an additional deputy director, Gu Mancang, who was clumsy and could be ignored.
Although Gu Shian had never steamed flower rolls before, he was meticulous and learned it immediately.
Lin Yao only demonstrated it once, and he mastered the key points.
Knead the dough, roll it into a dough sheet, fold it in one direction to form a flower shape, and put the washed red dates into the flower to decorate it.
The festive and beautiful flower rolls are ready. Zhang Cuilan's hometown calls them flower buns.
Compared with the small and exquisite flower rolls steamed by his wife, the flower buns made by Deputy Head Gu are all very big. When they are placed in the steamer, only two can fit on one layer. In winter, the family still uses earthen stoves to cook. The steamed buns made in the earthen stove are fragrant and soft. When steaming rice, they can be cooked in the hot pot. The crunchy rice is super fragrant.
The flower buns are put into the pot, and the strange-shaped small flower rolls made by the uncle and nephew Gu Doudou are also among them.
The family lights a fire together and watches the steamer, hoping that the flower buns in the pot can be taken out of the pot as soon as possible.
After more than half an hour, the flower buns in the pot are steaming hot and white steam is taken out of the pot.
Zhang Cuilan washed her hands, dipped her fingers in water, and quickly picked up the steamed buns in the steamer and put them into a round bamboo basket, which was covered with a steamer cloth and exuded a warm wheat aroma.
Gu Shidong and his nephew Gu Doudou crowded around the edge, looking for their own steamed buns with wide eyes.
Gu Doudou had short calves and jumped up and down.
"Mom, grandma, this little bunny is mine."
Gu Shian lifted the little fat boy up with his big hands and put him on his shoulders. Gu Doudou's chubby face was full of joy. Lin Yao picked up the little bunny steamed bun with chopsticks and gave it to his fat son, "You steam it yourself and eat it yourself."
Good.
Gu Doudou washed his chubby hands, held the little bunny steamed bun and ate it happily.
On the night of the 29th day of the 11th lunar month, Gu Chunmei came to the big courtyard with a big belly and a big smile on her face. Xu Xiangqian ran around to serve his wife, bringing her water and food.
Gu Chunmei said that she had asked an old Chinese doctor in the county to take her pulse, and the old doctor said that her baby was most likely a daughter of a noble family.
The whole family was very happy to hear this, and the family was just missing a little daughter of a noble family.
At two o'clock in the afternoon on New Year's Eve, the old Gu family began to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.
In the kitchen, the dustpan was filled with wrapped meatballs, and a large pot was placed on the earthen stove. The aroma of oil filled the air. Zhang Cuilan stood by and skillfully used chopsticks to pick up the meatballs wrapped in glutinous rice flour and put
them into the pot. With a sizzling sound, the golden, crispy, fragrant and delicious meatballs were freshly cooked. The two children in the family could not sit still because the smell of the fried meatballs was so tempting. They all ran to the yard and waited at the door of the kitchen for the food to start.
Lin Yao put meatballs on a small plate for the kids to taste. The meatballs were very fragrant right out of the pot, but they were also very hot. Gu Shidong screamed because they were so hot and stuffed them into his mouth. Gu Doudou followed behind with a small spoon and panted. Lin Yao was about to laugh and say that the two kids were useless. They came to Gu's house to deliver New Year's goods and eat and drink for free, but
Big Head Brother also came out with a plate of meatballs,
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