Chapter 47
After hearing what his mother said, Meng Daguo felt much better, but he still sighed for several days.
But Zhen Zhen really felt that Daguo was not to blame. She had been to the back mountain and saw that the graves of Daguo's father and the old man were indeed carved from the same mold. Even the rows of crooked trees beside the graves looked the same.
There was a lot of rain this year. After June, weeds grew all over the mountain, making it difficult to walk. The graves were covered tightly, making them even harder to recognize.
Not to mention the big country, even she would still be confused after having been there several times.
If we think about it this way, the custom of erecting a monument is actually also a way to take care of the living.
Meng Daguo was in a bad mood. After returning to his room, he lay on the bed and sighed.
Jiao Huilan pushed Erya next to him and said as she made the bed, "Mother has said she doesn't blame you, so don't take it to heart."
"I feel sorry for my father. My father's three sons have not received anything after so many years of death. How miserable he must be in the netherworld! Do you think he is living like my family before, living in a shabby thatched house, wearing tattered cloth shoes, and not having enough to eat?"
Jiao Huilan knew that he was filial, so she quickly said, "No, it won't happen. Just like what our mother said, our father is a martyr, so he must have a lot of relationships with people. Maybe he is a soldier in the underworld and eating royal food. The underworld gives him money, so he has more money than he can spend."
Meng Daguo felt better and went to give Erya a bath.
In the next room, Tao Aihong was also complaining:
"Do you think your brother is confused? He even admitted his mistakes at his own father's grave, yet he asked me to kowtow to an old man for two years."
Meng Eryong also felt that his brother was wrong in this matter. How foolish must he be to mistakenly go to the grave of his own father!
"Forget it, my mother hasn't said anything yet, so don't get involved."
"Your mother didn't say anything because she favors their eldest wife! I was excited when your mother started buying sewing machines, thinking that the family finally had a big item! As a result, you also saw that Jiao Huilan used the sewing machine all day long. She almost became a semi-expert. This is not the Meng family's sewing machine, it is obviously Jiao Huilan's sewing machine!"
Tao Aihong pouted and became angrier as she spoke.
"If she can use the sewing machine, so can you. No one stops you from using it. You are just lazy." Meng Eryong hit the nail on the head.
Tao Aihong was so angry that she couldn't speak. She bit Meng Eryong hard. Meng Eryong screamed in pain and he simply pushed her down on the bed.
The two men wrestled with each other.
The two of them were just playing around, but they frightened the fat and lively Third Child so much that he screamed in fear.
Zhen Zhen heard the crying and knocked on the door, picked up the third child, stared at the two people with messy hair on the bed, and gave up.
"It's broad daylight, and you don't even notice the impact!"
Tao Aihong looked at Meng Eryong innocently, causing Meng Eryong to push her away with a red face.
"Look at you, Meng Wang! My mother must think we are doing something bad in bed!"
His disgusted look really annoyed Tao Aihong.
What bad things could they do? With Meng Eryong's level of swinging, if he could really do it, she would have been pregnant a long time ago.
After the autumn harvest horn was blown, the atmosphere became tense. Meng Daguo came home every day with his clothes covered in mud and extremely dirty. Meng Eryong was not much better, his back was sunburned and the skin was peeling.
Tao Aihong and Jiao Huilan also joined the harvesting team and brought Daya to help. Other children in the village who were as old as Daya were already able to do farm work. They were the ones who usually cooked, cut grass for pigs, burned pig food, and did the laundry at home.
Of course, Zhen Zhen was reluctant to use a girl like this, but she was a country girl after all, so it wouldn't be a bad thing for her to see the autumn harvest.
Everyone in the family, big and small, has joined the battle, and as a mother, she cannot let her children down.
I cooked a pot of lamb chops today. Zhen Zhen bought them at the black market yesterday.
Authentic lamb chops have little mutton smell and are great whether cooked in soup or braised. Adding radish, carrots and cabbage as side dishes makes them taste so delicious!
Before and after the autumn harvest, fish, shrimps and crabs are all very plump. Meng Daguo caught a few fish yesterday, and Meng Eryong also caught some lobsters.
Zhen Zhen cooked the fish and shrimp in one pot and added cornmeal and sweet potato flour stickers. Needless to say, the aroma was amazing.
When Meng Daguo and his companions returned home and smelled the fragrance coming from the kitchen, they all smiled knowingly.
Although farming was hard, my mother was considerate. She cooked meat for them every day to help them build up their bodies. She also dried ginseng, sliced it and asked them to soak it in water to drink.
I have to say that our Chinese people's idea of dietary supplements is really correct.
During the busy farming season, even the few strong men in the village would be physically weak, but the Meng family members were in good spirits and had endless energy when working. Who in the village wouldn't be impressed by them?
Now no one says that Zhen Guizhi is a lazy woman anymore. After all, everyone can see how good the Meng family's life is.
Having a good reputation also has its troubles.
Look, Zhen Zhen has received at least ten hints this year alone.
Everyone wanted to introduce a man to her, and they were either widowers or divorcees. No matter how good the introducer boasted, Zhen Zhen remained unmoved.
When she first came here, she felt that she was at a disadvantage. She was 25 years old but turned out to be 37 years old. Who wouldn't cry after hearing that?
But in the past two years, she has started to live a more interesting life.
There are sons but no men. They are old and don't work. They are older and have higher status. They earn a lot and retire early.
Why did she work so hard in the past? Wasn't it just to save some money and retire early?
Now that everything has been accomplished in one step, I have started to retire early, eating and drinking all day, leading a pastoral life, and playing with my children when I am happy. Where can I find such a heavenly life?
You still want her to get married and serve a man and a whole family? You wish!
When the two sons learned about this, they thought too much and felt that their mother did not marry because of them. Needless to say, they felt very guilty.
After the autumn harvest, the public grain was delivered and everyone in the village breathed a sigh of relief. Now the winter wheat has been planted, and there will be no farm work to do before the spring of next year, so it is time to prepare for the winter.
After Good Mother-in-law melon seeds became a hit, Zhen Zhen wanted to make some new products, but supplies were scarce in those days, so she set her sights on the free wild chestnuts on the mountain.
The chestnut forest in Batou Village has a history of hundreds of years.
There are a lot of these things planted, and villagers would pick some in the fall and take them home to fry and eat, but no one takes chestnuts seriously.
The mountain path was filled with chestnuts, and Zhen Zhen thought it was a waste, so she told a few efficient children in the village that she wanted to pay to buy some chestnuts, and would take as many as they could.
These chestnuts were originally picked for free and could be exchanged for a few cents when sent to Zhen Zhen. Some children were willing to work hard and went up the mountain to pick chestnuts before dawn for fear that the chestnuts would have been picked up by others. They could earn fifty cents or one yuan a day, which was a very good income.
Daliang's mother brought her children to give her chestnuts, and asked:
"Daguo's mother, why are you picking chestnuts?"
Some people suspected that she wanted to sell it and do some capitalist thing, but if she really wanted to do it, she couldn't do it so openly, right?
Daliang's mother couldn't hold it in any longer and asked.
Zhen Zhen smiled, having already thought of a reason.
"Daliang's mother, this is what happened. My father Daguo had many comrades in the army. When Eryong got married, they sent a gift money. I thought of bringing them some local specialties. But you know our Batou Village. We don't have any specialties at all! I thought there are many wild chestnuts on the mountain. Although the people in the city can eat chestnuts, they are not as tasty as our chestnuts. So I thought of frying some chestnuts and sending them over. It can be regarded as a little thought from our family."
Daliang's mother suddenly understood what was going on. There were so many comrades in the army. If each family had five kilograms, it would take several hundred kilograms to share!
No wonder Daguo’s mother has been collecting chestnuts all the time.
"I thought so. So that's what happened! Daguo is gone, thanks to you for still remembering to support his old comrades."
Zhen Zhen smiled, looking helpless.
The news that she was going to bring chestnuts to Daguodie's comrade-in-arms spread, and no one in the village doubted it anymore. Zhen Zhen collected a room full of chestnuts and packed them all in sacks. She even put out mousetraps for fear of rats.
Jiao Huilan's belly was getting bigger, so Zhen Zhen researched the recipe himself. The most commonly used method was to add salt first and then sugar.
She tried it and found the fried chestnuts tasted pretty good and could be sold for money.
But now that the Good Mother-in-law brand has become somewhat famous, she still wants to develop a better formula.
She spent the next few days trying out the chestnut recipe.
Zhang Cuihua casually suggested that she try rock sugar.
Zhen Zhen washed the chestnuts, cut them into pieces, put them into the hot water in the pot, added rock sugar and honey with a copper spoon, and turned the heat down to low to reduce the juice. When the soup was almost cooked, she took the chestnuts out.
The chestnuts made in this way are sweet, soft and easy to peel, just like a dessert.
Tao Aihong took a bite and took the plate back to the house.
Jiao Huilan also ate a lot, not to mention the three cubs, who sat obediently beside Jiao Huilan on small stools, waiting for her to feed them.
Zhen Zhen couldn't help laughing when he saw them eating with mouths full of syrup. After all, people these days are short of sugar and love sweets very much. Maybe sugar-fried chestnuts will be more popular.
Jiao Huilan's due date is November, and Zhen Zhen is thinking about making preparations for cat winter earlier this year.
Meng Daguo and Meng Eryong are still in charge of the charcoal and firewood at home.
Zhen Zhen and her two daughters-in-law prepared the rest.
There is no shortage of quilts this year. Each room has at least two ten-kilogram quilts. There is also no shortage of winter clothes for the children. Last year, Zhen Zhen asked Feng Tailor to make a few pieces, and they can all continue to wear them this year. In order to practice, Jiao Huilan also made a cotton jacket for each child.
In the summer, Zhen Zhen learned new needlework from Gou Zi's mother and knitted a sweater and a pair of woolen trousers for each of the three children.
Children nowadays wear more clothes, three layers inside and three layers outside, with autumn clothes and sweaters inside sweaters, and large and small cotton jackets outside. The cotton pants all have chest protectors. Every child becomes swollen in winter.
But there is no way. It is very cold in winter these years. The snow is half a person's height. What if the children get sick if they don't wear more clothes?
Medical conditions are poor these days, and every household cannot afford to see a doctor, so they can only use the crude method of putting on more clothes to keep warm.
However, vegetables still had to be prepared for the house, so Zhen Zhen stocked up two trucks of cabbage and other fruits and vegetables that could be bought in the market.
Pumpkin, sweet potato, radish, spinach, and carrot. Transportation was not well developed back then, so these were the only things we had in winter, and they were almost the same every year.
Apples, oranges, and pears are also not left out. Children lack vitamins in winter and can only rely on fruits to supplement their nutrition.
The family has nearly 5,000 yuan in savings this year. Seeing that the children love to drink Lego, she stocked up five bottles in one go and took out a lot of soy milk powder and canned food from the space. The snacks and fruits in her space have been eaten up by the three kids, and only these things are left.
She also stockpiled five packs of baby milk powder for San Ya.
Speaking of which, Jiao Huilan's baby is a girl this time, and she is afraid that she and Meng Daguo cannot accept it.
Jiao Huilan and Tao Aihong also pickled pickled vegetables, Yanji spicy cabbage, dried radishes, stuffed sausages, and dried sweet potatoes.
By this time, Meng Daguo and Meng Eryong had almost bought all their firewood and charcoal. This year, Zhen Zhen specifically asked them to use good charcoal. Last year, the charcoal produced a lot of smoke, so she kept reminding Meng Daguo to change to more expensive charcoal.
Meng Daguo specially changed a batch of houses for his mother this year, fearing that his mother would not live comfortably.
Cheng Su and Meng Zhaodi came to Zhen Zhen to study every day, and Yin Xue found out about this at some point.
Zhen Zhen was stopped by her when he went out for a walk the next day.
"Auntie Zhen, can I go to your house for classes like Cheng Su?"
Yin Xue was weak and bit her lips with her teeth, looking at Zhen Zhen nervously.
Unfortunately, she didn't understand romance and rejected it immediately.
"cannot."
"Auntie Zhen!" Yin Xue was anxious, "I know you don't like me, but I really like studying. Please be kind and help me!"
Gouzi had been eavesdropping not far away, and seeing Yin Xue's sincere and pleading look, he hurried over.
"Auntie Zhen, Yin Xue is a good comrade. She loves studying so much. Why can't you help her?"
Zhen Zhen laughed. This guy is still not awake? She has no good impression of men who love brains.
"I just don't want to help! What's wrong? What's it to you? You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you dare to run in front of me and scream like a ghost. You're just a habit!"
Zhen Zhen said this and was about to take the fire stick.
Gouzi didn't expect her to be so unreasonable, and his face turned red. "You, you, you... why are you so unreasonable? Yin Zhiqing is so weak and kind, how can you have the heart to reject her!"
"How can you be so cruel? I, Aunt Zhen, am hard-hearted! If you make me angry, I will beat anyone! If you don't believe me, try it!" As she said that, she hit Gouzi with a fire poker.
Gouzi was beaten by her until he jumped up and down, but he didn't dare to fight back. His face turned red with anger, and he went home to complain to his mother.
Who would have thought that when Gouzi's mother heard about this, she took out the suona that had been sealed in the house for a long time, saying that she wanted to play a song to thank Zhen Guizhi for disciplining her son.
A rainstorm at the end of October collapsed the dilapidated houses of the educated youth dormitories. Batou Village was already poor, and these dilapidated houses were squeezed out of the village. There was no money to build new houses for them.
The weather turned cold and it happened to rain heavily. The educated youth were huddled under the cowshed, suffering from hunger and cold. It was as miserable as it could be.
Zhen Zhen came to their rescue and cooked a big pot of red dates, brown sugar and ginger tea and sent it over. The educated youths' eyes lit up and they lined up with their enamel teacups waiting to drink the ginger tea.
After drinking the ginger tea, their stomachs felt much better and they were even more grateful to Aunt Zhen. They all followed Aunt Zhen like chicks following a hen.
It's another day when the charm of motherhood cannot be placed!
Zhen Zhen shook his head and fed them some food.
Cut the small round cake into pieces, fry some eggs, shredded potatoes, dried fish, and shredded meat inside, and roll it up to make a meat-and-vegetarian cake!
But the young men were so moved that they started calling her Auntie Zhen all the time. She looked so dear to them!
Li Decheng mobilized every family in the village to take in an educated youth, who ate with the family and paid work points or food expenses on time.
After all, the canteen for educated youth was washed away by the heavy rain, and there was no place to eat.
The villagers had to agree to this matter even if they didn't want to, so Zhen Zhen took poor little Cheng Su home.
Gouzi wanted to ask Yin Xue to go back, but was beaten by his mother.
A very gentle and tall male educated youth came to Zhang Cuihua's house. Zhen Zhen had some impression of him. This year, when Meng Hua came back for summer vacation, this male educated youth came to see Meng Hua. No one knew what they talked about, but he seemed to be a very reliable guy.
Zhang Cuihua gossiped: "I heard that the catfish spirit was taken away by Meng Yi's family!"
"Catfish spirit?" Zhen Zhen was confused.
Zhang Cuihua glared at her. "Who else? That clingy and annoying Yin Xue! What else can she do besides clinging to men? She's always clingy and has a big mouth. What else can she be but a catfish spirit?"
Cheng Su was so happy to be taken home by Zhen Zhen!
Zhen Zhen specially cleaned up her own outer room for her, covered it with fragrant floral sheets, put on a brand new large quilt, and added a blanket. When Cheng Su washed her feet and got into bed, she smelled the pleasant scent of soap on the sheets. How happy she was!
She rolled over on the bed several times, wishing she could hug Aunt Zhen's thighs and call her mom.
The next morning, when Zhen Zhen got up, Cheng Su was feeding the pigs. She often worked with Meng Zhaodi and was very familiar with the job.
Seeing Zhen Zhen, she raised the corners of her lips and ran up to her, "Auntie Zhen! Did you sleep well last night? Was the quilt warm? Would the thermos not get hot at night?"
Meng Daguo was depressed. Why was Cheng Su so considerate? She made him look like a fake son.
Zhen Zhen found it funny and patted her head. "I'm already an adult, but I still don't know how to take care of myself. Why do you worry about me so much?"
Cheng Su pursed her lips and rubbed against Zhen Zhen.
That coquettish look made Tao Aihong depressed!
"Flatterer!" Tao Aihong snorted.
With Cheng Su's help, Zhen Zhen quickly roasted a basket of sugar-roasted chestnuts, and like melon seeds, wrapped them in paper bags and sold them for fifty cents a bag.
I also fried a basket of melon seeds, but no matter how much or how little, they wouldn't be enough to sell.
She put the things in the space and took them out when she arrived in the county town.
There were many regular customers waiting in the cinema, and the melon seeds were selling very quickly, but the chestnuts were not selling well.
Zhen Zhen thought that the price was too high.
Fifty cents is a huge amount of money, and many people have never tasted it, so they don’t have much confidence in the new product, so they still think it’s safer to buy melon seeds.
Zhen Zhen took out a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts for tasting and gave one to each person.
I have to say that tasting is a really good sales method. Most people will buy a pack after eating. The new product that was originally unsalable was quickly sold out.
She had just finished selling the sugar-roasted chestnuts when she saw Meng Eryong coming to see her.
"Second Yong?"
Meng Eryong panted and said, "Mom, my sister-in-law has given birth. Don't go home. Come with me to the hospital!"
Zhen Zhen didn't expect Jiao Huilan to give birth so soon. It's not even the due date yet. But since her last baby was a premature birth, it's not surprising.
Zhen Zhen rode to the hospital quickly. When he opened the door of the ward, he saw Jiao's mother standing beside Jiao Huilan's bed, scolding her with an unhappy look on her face:
"How could I give birth to such a useless daughter like you? You have no status in your husband's family and can't help your brothers at all. I thought you could give birth to a boy so that your mother-in-law could lend some money to build a house. Who knew you gave birth to another money-loser! If I were you, I would rather die!"
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