Standing in front of a house with blue bricks and tiles, Xia Liang couldn't help but exclaim: "No wonder he's the village chief!" This house wouldn't be anything special in later generations, but in the 1960s, it was quite remarkable. Didn't you see that 99% of the houses in the village were mud and thatched?
Xia Liang stepped forward and knocked on the door. The village chief's wife, Wang Guihua, called from inside, "Coming! Who is it?" Xia Liang quickly replied, "Second Grandmother, it's me, Xia Liang." Wang Guihua opened the door and smiled, "Xia Liang! What brings you here?" It wasn't surprising that Wang Guihua asked this; the original owner of this body didn't like visiting others and wouldn't come to this place unless there was a reason, let alone Xia Liang, who had only been there for a few days. Xia Liang said, "Second Grandmother, I've come to see Second Grandfather. Is he home?" Wang Guihua quickly stepped aside to let Xia Liang in, saying, "Yes, yes, come in quickly." Wang Guihua led Xia Liang into the main room, where they saw Xia Youshun smoking a pipe, puffing out white smoke. Xia Liang quickly said, "Second Grandpa, I've come to ask you for a letter of introduction." Xia Youshun looked at his granddaughter and was also curious about why Xia Liang had come to his house. Hearing Xia Liang say this, he asked, "What do you need a letter of introduction for?" "My grandma asked me to deliver some eggs to my aunt. She said my aunt hasn't been back for a while and asked me to visit her." Xia Liang replied with a smile.
After receiving the letter of introduction and expressing her gratitude, Xia Liang rushed home. After dinner and cleaning up the dishes, she went back to her room, packed a faded set of clothes, and carefully stored all her savings. After washing up, she went to sleep. The next morning, just as dawn broke, Xia Liang grabbed her bag and basket and headed out.
They waited at the village entrance for the oxcart from town. The driver was Old Liu, an old widower from the village. Old Liu was over fifty, with dark skin. His wife had starved to death during the famine a few years ago, and his son had drowned in the river when he was a teenager, fishing with other children from the village. He only had one daughter, Liu Xiaoyan, who had married into a neighboring village. The village head, seeing his plight, had arranged for him to drive the cart, recording eight centimeters of his daily work. Seeing Xia Liang, he asked, "Where are you going?" Xia Liang quickly greeted him, "Grandpa Liu, my grandma wants me to go to town to see my aunt." Old Liu said, "Oh! Good." "Alright, then you sit and wait a bit. We'll set off once everyone's here." She then added, "When are you coming back? Do you want me to wait for you?" Xia Liang, carrying her basket, gratefully replied as she sat down on the cart, "Thank you, Uncle Liu. I probably won't be back until tomorrow or the day after. I'll find you where you parked when I return." Xia Liang thought to herself how hospitable people were these days. Old Lady Liu said, "Okay," and then the two remained silent. After a while, several older women arrived, and they boarded the oxcart, which swayed and rocked its way towards town.
It took Xia Liang about forty minutes to walk to the town and reach the bus station leading to the county seat. There were only two buses a day, going in the morning and returning in the evening. If you missed one, you would have to walk back. After another hour's journey, Xia Liang finally arrived in the county seat and, after asking around, found her aunt's house.
Inside the garment factory's residential compound in the county town, there were densely packed tenement buildings. Xia Liang saw an old woman resting under a large tree and quickly asked, "Grandma, could you tell me where Xia Xi's house is?" The old woman looked Xia Liang up and down and asked, "Who are you to her? What do you want?" Xia Liang replied, "I'm her niece. My grandma told me to come and see her." The old woman said, "Her niece? Her house is the third row straight ahead, then the second house on the left." She pointed to the house in the direction the old woman pointed. Xia Liang thanked her and went in the direction the old woman pointed. As soon as she arrived, she saw Xia Xi tending a fire in the yard. Xia Liang quickly called out, "Auntie, I've come to see you!" Xia's auntie heard the call, turned around, and saw her niece. Xing said, "Ah Liang, what brings you here?" "My grandma asked me to come see you and bring you some eggs," Xia Liang said, handing the basket to her aunt. Xia Liang couldn't hide her smile, "We have plenty at home, keep them for yourselves." She took the basket from Xia Liang and led her into the house. Seeing that no one was home, Xia Liang asked, "Are you home alone? Are your uncle and cousin not here?" Xia Liang's aunt replied, "Your uncle and grandfather went to work, your grandmother went to your cousin's uncle's house for some business, they'll be back soon, and your cousin and the others went to school." After pouring Xia Liang a glass of water, Xia Liang's aunt said, "Please sit down, I'll go cook. Your cousin and the others will be back soon." Xia Liang smiled and agreed.
Sitting in the living room, Xia Liang couldn't help but look around at Xia Xiaogu's house. It was on the first floor, about forty square meters inside, divided into three bedrooms. She guessed one for her in-laws, one for herself and her husband Zhang Zhiguo, and one for her two cousins Zhang Xiangwu and Zhang Xiangwen. Outside was a small courtyard of about three or four square meters, with a stove built of red bricks and a pile of dried firewood next to it. It was quite remarkable that they had managed to partition such a small house. Thinking about how so many people lived in such a small space, Xia Liang felt suffocated by the oppressive atmosphere. After about half an hour, Xia Xiaogu's mother-in-law returned. Seeing Xia Liang sitting on a stool in the living room, she asked who this was. Xia Xiaogu replied, "Mom, this is my niece from my mother's side. My mom asked her to bring me some eggs." Upon hearing that it was her daughter-in-law's relative, Ma Lianhua looked at her with disdain and said, "A country bumpkin coming to freeload, huh?" Xia Xiaogu didn't dare to confront her mother-in-law directly, so she remained silent. Seeing that she was sensible, Ma Lianhua didn't say anything more.
For most people, Xia Xiaogu's marriage from the village to the city was something to be proud of, but only she knew how tormenting her mother-in-law was when she first married into the family. When her husband was young, he met Xia Xiaogu while visiting relatives with friends and fell in love at first sight. He insisted on marrying her, but the Zhang family elders refused. Zhang Zhiguo threatened suicide, and a mother, especially since Xia Xiaogu's husband was an only son, eventually agreed to the marriage. Although they were now in-laws, the Zhang family elders never visited Xia Xiaogu's parents' home in the countryside. The matchmaking was always done through a matchmaker. If Xia Xiaogu hadn't given birth to two sons, she probably would have been tormented to death. Xia Liang came out to greet her, and Ma Lianhua gave a cold snort in response. Xia Liang, not wanting to be ignored, went to the stove to help her aunt add firewood to the fire.
After lunch, the younger cousins went back to school for their afternoon classes. Ma Lianhua went with the neighbor to do needlework under the big tree. Xia Liang helped her aunt clear the dishes. After hesitating for a moment, she asked her aunt, "Auntie, do you have any connections to get a job?" Her aunt looked at her in surprise and said, "Who are you going to help find a job? Jobs are hard to find these days. There's a limited pool of people." Xia Liang replied:
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