Chapter 7 Old Man
Lu Old Man Lu was unhappy today, or rather, very upset. The root cause was that he was in unbearable grief.
When he first heard the news about San'er, he felt as if someone had hit him hard in the chest.
His wife said that maybe his son was entangled somewhere, and that he had a head injury and could not remember anything and could not find his way home?
Anyway, if he had not seen the body, he would not take it seriously. If he did not hold a funeral, there would still be hope.
When the pension was just issued, the commune and the brigade came to him to discuss whether they should give Lu Shaotang a glorious and decent funeral, with the government paying for it and the Lu family not having to pay a penny, so that students could study in the future and sweep the graves during the Qingming Festival.
They thought this was an honor for the Lu family, but for him and his wife, it was like a knife in their hearts.
They refused, but the sadness was forcibly suppressed in their hearts, like air that was repeatedly compressed, and might explode one day.
When he was paving the land today, Old Changtou came up to him and gave him advice in a tone that he thought he had a good relationship with, "Handle the funeral as soon as possible while the government is still paying. If you delay, people may not care. It costs a lot to hold a funeral."
Old Man Lu ignored him and just kept paving the land.
He didn't know if Old Changtou was tactless or did it on purpose, but based on his jealousy of him in the past, Old Man Lu felt that it must be intentional.
Old Changtou said self-righteously, "Brother Lu, I'm really doing this for your own good. Your third daughter-in-law looks so... She's so young that you can't keep her. I heard she's been making trouble at home these few days. Tell me, don't keep her. A girl can't be kept when she grows up. If you keep her, she'll become an enemy. This daughter-in-law who has lost her husband is even more so. The longer you keep her, the more she'll hate you."
Haha, what about losing her husband and falling ill? These are all excuses. In the final analysis, she just wants to remarry, but the Lu family won't allow it?
Old Changtou thinks he's very smart. He helped the Lu family to mediate the conflict and rescued the beautiful young widow who was held by her husband's family.
He was not a former resident of the Lu family but a refugee. His father was also a village chief at the time. He felt that he was not inferior to Old Man Lu and wanted to compete with him in everything.
Old Man Lu disdained quarreling with others.
Arguing can't solve the problem except getting angry, it will only make your already uncomfortable heart worse.
People who really care about him will definitely understand his mood at the moment and will definitely not come to provoke him.
This kind of self-righteous person comes here to complain, he doesn't understand what you say, and he doesn't want to listen, he just wants to laugh at you or make trouble.
Old man Lu can imagine the thoughts of these people.
Ah, what happened to the second master of the Lu family? Isn't he still farming with us peasants?
Ah, what happened to your third son's career? Didn't he die young?
What's the use of such a beautiful daughter-in-law? He still has to remarry!
He ignored it and just worked hard on the land. Haha, brother? Is your second master someone you can call a brother? Old
man Lu has been the head of the family since he was very young. At that time, the villagers called him Second Master Lu. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the old men and tenants in the village changed their names to Second Master to express their gratitude and respect, which is similar to the honorific title of seniority.
Old Changtou thought he was kind and really wanted to help Old man Lu.
He and Old man Lu secretly compared themselves, first with their fathers and ancestors, and then with their wives. If the wives were not as good as them, they compared with their children, and then with their children...
Now the most outstanding son of the Lu family is gone, and the most beautiful daughter-in-law will eventually remarry. Old Changtou felt that he had won, and that Brother Lu was too pitiful.
He had to give Brother Lu some advice and not let him make mistakes.
Seeing that he was about to talk, Old Man Lu's hand slipped and the hoe head hit the silly toe, causing him to groan in pain.
Old Man Lu frowned and said, "I'm sorry, I was distracted."
Old Changtou was in so much pain that tears fell from his eyes, but he couldn't argue with Old Man Lu, "It's nothing."
Old Man Lu was kind and honest, and he never quarreled with others. Old Changtou didn't suspect that he did it on purpose, and thought that he was distracted because he was sad.
The production team leader took the initiative to let Old Man Lu go home and rest early.
When Father Lu was the accountant of the brigade, they were partners and had a good relationship. He knew the pain in Father Lu's heart, and felt that it was meaningless to say a thousand words, so he could only whisper: "Second brother, take care of yourself, think about your sister-in-law and the children."
Father Lu naturally knew this, so he was holding on. He still had two sons, two daughters, and grandchildren. Of course, he would not collapse because of a son.
But... he knew the reason. This emotion was uncontrollable. He couldn't let it go just by saying so.
It would take time to slowly digest it.
Father Lu carried the hoe and walked home, replaying the things that happened when Lu Shaotang was a child in his mind.
People said that he was a troublemaker since he was young, disobedient and always causing trouble, but in fact, San'er was more sensible than his two older brothers, and was also filial to his grandparents.
When he was four or five years old, he would scold anyone who said bad things about his grandparents, and beat the boy whenever he got the chance.
When steel was being smelted, other people's pots could be kept, but his family had to give them to the steel smelters.
San'er was not convinced and would snatch them back, and if they refused to give them to him, he would smash the pots.
Those outsiders in the village said that he was a bad boy and a troublemaker.
But in fact, San'er was a good boy. In order to prevent his parents from being suppressed by others, he followed his uncle to the army at the age of ten. In order not to make things difficult for his uncle, he had to fight hard to win over those teenagers and enter the military academy.
After he joined the army, he didn't spend a penny and had the logistics department send all his money back. He also bought food coupons from the homes of wealthy comrades and sent them back to supplement his food.
Thinking of the third son, he couldn't help but think of the third daughter-in-law. She was so young, and he and his wife would feel bad if she was left as a widow.
If she wants to remarry, she can wait for a year or so, after the Chinese New Year, and then she can look for someone in the spring.
It would be best to let the eldest daughter find her a young working-class family with a simpler family, with wages and no need to work in the fields, and with a small population and no conflicts.
When the time comes, the family will give her a dowry, so that she can marry off in a dignified manner and no one will look down on her. With her conditions
, it's okay for her to marry a first-married young man, and she doesn't need to be a stepmother. She will definitely not be allowed to take the child away. He and his wife are reluctant to let her be a burden, and they don't want her to be a burden.
He walked to the west well platform, but saw the second daughter-in-law looking around there.
This well was dug by him after he asked a fortune teller to look at it. The water in the well is abundant and sweet. After more than 30 years, the water is still abundant. You just need to go down and dig out the silt every few years.
When San'er was seven or eight years old, he dug the well. The boy was naughty and bold, and he took the initiative to dig the well. Who knew that he would find a gold bracelet from the bottom.
The gold bracelet belonged to his blind mother. The old lady had poor eyesight, and the maids would steal her things. But the old lady was smart and could quickly find clues and let him check. She probably threw the thieves into the well out of fear.
That was the only gold ornament left by his blind mother. It was found by San'er, and he still keeps it.
Thinking of his mother and San'er, Old Man Lu felt a pang of pain in his heart.
Recently, he could associate everything he saw with his parents and San'er. Seeing things reminds him of people.
Is there anything more painful and heartbreaking in this world than seeing the young send off by the old?
Alas.
The old people who were drawing water or cooling off at the well greeted Old Man Lu one after another.
Old Man Lu nodded slightly and could not muster the energy to speak.
When Second Sister-in-law Lu saw Old Man Lu coming back, she immediately came up to him and
said, "Dad, there's something wrong with the girl from the third son's family." She kept talking and trying to make Old Man Lu believe that Lin Shu was possessed by a ghost.
When Old Man Lu heard this, his head tightened. Although the third daughter-in-law was sensitive and weak by nature, she was actually kind and hardworking. But this second daughter-in-law... said sweet words on the surface but played tricks behind the scenes.
Oh, I didn't know this when I went on a blind date.
Old Man Lu said nothing and walked home carrying the hoe.
Second Sister-in-law Lu followed him and kept chattering, which annoyed him so much that his head was swollen. "Your brother-in-law is gone, don't you feel any grief? You're still jumping up and down every day. Why are you showing off?"
Old Man Lu usually doesn't talk much, but he is very clear-headed. When the news about the third child came back, he could tell who was really sad and who was hypocritical.
But he was a father-in-law, he would not chat with his daughter-in-law casually, let alone teach her a lesson.
When they walked to the lower building of the courtyard gate, Second Sister-in-law Lu was still saying, "Dad, I think the third child's family probably heard what others said, maybe they want money."
The 800 yuan pension!
Who doesn't want it?
She wants it even more!
Second Sister-in-law Lu: "Dad, do you think the third child's family... has any ideas? Maybe they have already found someone? I heard that there is a man in her grandmother's manor, her grandmother..."
Seeing that she was getting more and more outrageous, Old Man Lu coughed heavily to interrupt her and quickened his pace into the courtyard.
He thought the third daughter-in-law was still lying on the kang, but when he went around the screen wall, he found that she was repairing the vegetable patch with the eldest daughter-in-law!
Old Man Lu paused, this... something is wrong.
Not to mention that the third daughter-in-law has been lying on the kang recently, she has never cared about the family's vegetable and land farming before. She eats whatever others grow.
Seeing Old Man Lu coming back, Sister-in-law Lu and Lin Shu took the initiative to greet him. Panpan and Tiantian, who were helping to knock the dirt, also ran over and said "Grandpa, Grandpa".
The two children are particularly close to their grandpa. Grandpa not only tells stories, but also looks good and smells good.
The two children think that their father and grandpa look alike from the photos, and they are particularly close to their grandpa.
Although Father Lu is almost sixty years old, he is thin, does not smoke and pays attention to hygiene. He does not look old. His facial features still show the handsome outline of his youth. He has a kind of elegant and calm temperament since he was a child. He is cleaner and better looking than most young people.
In fact, Lu Shaotang and Father Lu have very different temperaments. Father Lu is handsome, while Lu Shaotang has deeper and three-dimensional facial features. He inherited the advantages of his parents. Fang Dihua has a large frame, a particularly high nose bridge, and deep eye sockets. Lu Shaotang was born with a high nose bridge, high and thick eyebrows, dark eyebrows, and deep eye sockets.
Seeing the two delicate children, the big stone that Father Lu was pressing on his heart was immediately split by the children's crisp voices.
Yes, San'er still has children, and as a grandfather, he has to take good care of his grandchildren.
He was full of tenderness. After washing his hands and feet, he led the two children into the house and made maltose for them to drink.
Second Sister-in-law Lu: "..."
What's the matter? Is this possessed person just not going to care?
She saw Lin Shu and Lu's eldest sister-in-law discussing the matter of growing vegetables. She spoke softly, her eyebrows and eyes were relaxed, and she became more and more beautiful and charming. Where was the shy and timid look before?
This doesn't look like a widow whose husband has died!
Well, she must be missing a man!
Second Sister-in-law Lu felt that she needed to discuss it with her mother-in-law and let her mother-in-law put pressure on Lin Shu to prevent her from doing ugly things in the family.
As a result, Fang Dihua and her two sons did not come back until dark, and they were too lazy to pay attention to her.
Each of them carried a large bundle of firewood, either dry firewood or tall straw, which was dried in the sun and used as kindling.
When Mrs. Lu saw her husband coming back, she immediately threw away her hoe and rushed over to meet him, asking about his well-being, "Dad, why are you carrying so much? Are you tired? Let me do this job in the future, and you can come back early to rest."
Brother Lu handed the firewood to her with peace of mind, but looked at Fang Dihua and said, "That won't work. I'm the eldest son, and I have to work harder to support the family."
After that, he shrugged and pounded his back, shouting that he was very tired and his whole body was sore.
Mrs. Lu immediately dropped the firewood and rubbed his shoulders and back, and asked him to go into the house to take off all the dirty clothes, and she washed and hung up the children's clothes.
The eldest brother Lu just washed his hands and went into the house to wait for dinner with his parents.
The second brother Lu said nothing, sorted out Fang Dihua and his own firewood, and put away the firewood that Mrs. Lu had thrown on the ground.
Lin Shu saw him putting it on the haystack at the east wall, and hurriedly said, "Second brother, put it to the south."
The neighbors to the east are the eldest cousin's family, and they always steal the firewood from our house!
Seeing that Lin Shu actually took the initiative to talk to her husband, Lu Ersao was alarmed and shouted, "Cui Cui's father, come over quickly and wash the clothes." When Lu Da Ge
came home, he was served by people. If his parents didn't dislike it, it is estimated that someone would serve food for him during meals, but Lu Er Ge had to wash clothes for himself, his wife and children.
In the room, Lu Da Ge was still approaching Lu Lao Da Ge, and said shamelessly, "Dad, don't you drink a few cups today?"
Lu Lao Da Ge ignored him with a sullen face.
It can be seen from the death of his parents that the eldest son is a bit heartless. Even if the sky falls, it will not stop him from eating and drinking.
Fang Dihua cursed in a low voice, "Go drink horse urine!"
Your brother is dead and you drink all day long. You are really a heartless thing.
Brother Lu was so scared that he immediately lowered his head to eat the steamed buns, "Oh, this salad is delicious, did you make it, mom?"
Sister Lu was feeling sorry for her husband being scolded by her mother-in-law, and quickly asked, "Is it delicious? The third brother's wife made it, and I don't think it's that good."
Brother Lu: "Mm, delicious! Very delicious!" He was scolded by his mother and turned around to complain to Sister Lu, "You should also learn from me, don't just cook pig food all day long, which makes our father vomit."
Fang Dihua: "Take it back to your room and eat it!"
Rolling, rolling, nasty stuff!
My dears, please collect and leave a message, mua.
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: shadowless, and a person who does not want to reveal his name;