Chapter 70 Visiting
The next day before dawn, the eldest brother Lu took the second brother Lu to worship the ancestors.
The second brother Lu was still wondering why he got up earlier than the rooster.
The eldest brother Lu sat on the grave of grandma, blowing the cool breeze in the early autumn morning, and took the second brother Lu to drink wine.
The second brother Lu: "..."
The eldest brother Lu was very proud: "I'm drinking according to the emperor's order, hehe."
The second brother Lu: "..."
He cleared the grass on the grave for grandma and the third brother, and burned a few pieces of paper.
He seemed to know why his parents and the third brother's wife were so happy.
The second sister-in-law Lu was always self-centered, and she naturally thought that everyone was deliberately happy in order to exclude her, so she became more and more unhappy.
She was up half the night last night because Fang Dihua deliberately didn't give her any pig's liver for dinner.
It's still hot now, and Lin Shu is afraid that the pig's liver will go bad, so she boiled two pounds of it for dinner, planning to slice it for the two old ladies to eat with garlic paste.
The two old ladies love their children, so of course they won't eat alone, and the family must share it.
Lin Shu also made radish stewed with salted meat and eggplant stewed with soybean paste, so the first and second brothers Lu got two slices to try, and then the second sister-in-law Lu didn't get any!
Although the second brother Lu didn't eat any and gave it to her, she was still unhappy.
Was it about the two slices of pig's liver?
It was the mother-in-law who deliberately ignored her and excluded her!
She was so angry that she really wanted to overturn the table, but reason made her hold back.
The more she thought about it at night, the more she felt wronged and uncomfortable. She sobbed for half the night, but the man slept soundly as if he knew nothing.
She thought about it all night, and finally came to a conspiracy theory - this was all Lin Shu's conspiracy. She didn't know how she had confused her mother-in-law in the city hospital, and now she was instigating her parents-in-law to force her to take the initiative to separate the family!
Yes, that's it!
She knew very well that once she lost her temper, she would face public dislike from her parents-in-law, and even demands for separation.
The man definitely didn't want to separate the family. He couldn't leave his parents and eldest brother.
To be honest, Lu Ersao didn't want to separate the family either. What did she say about being the master of the family?
No, no, no, Lu Ersao didn't want to at all. If
the family separated, she would have to cook for herself, and her cooking was not as delicious as Lin Shu's.
This is secondary. The key is that after the division of the family, she has to pay for the elderly and money. She can't share the money earned by the third child, nor can she benefit from her parents-in-law.
Her mother-in-law is strong and earns more work points than her. Her father-in-law is a barefoot doctor and earns more money and work points than her.
If the family is divided, life at home will become similar to that of other families and will be very hard.
She doesn't want that at all.
She doesn't want to divide the family. She just wants her parents-in-law to see Lin Shu's true face, dislike Lin Shu, and even better, marry Lin Shu off.
She glared at Lin Shu who was preparing to cook, but smiled and flattered Fang Dihua, humbly apologizing, "Mom, I was wrong, I won't do that again in the future."
Fang Dihua was digging the vegetable field, digging out the old trees that no longer bear fruit to plant new ones, and loosening the soil and catching insects for Lin Shu's sunflowers.
Lu Ersao glanced at Lin Shu and saw that she didn't come over to do anything bad to her, so she decisively said, "Mom, I was blinded by the lard that day and ate four scrambled eggs. It was too greedy. I won't do that again in the future."
It is so difficult for people to admit their mistakes and apologize for them.
Some people make bigger mistakes for a small mistake. Anyway, they just don't admit their mistakes or apologize, and finally cause a big mess.
Second Sister-in-law Lu couldn't say sorry to Lin Shu, but she was flexible in front of her mother-in-law, so she didn't have any difficulty in saying it.
Fang Dihua saw that she was sincere in admitting her mistakes, so she said: "If the family is divided, I don't care what you want to eat or do. As long as the family is not divided, the things in this family, except for the extra salary sent back by the third child, all other things belong to everyone. You can cook whatever you want to eat, but everyone has to eat together, and no one can eat alone." Second
Sister-in-law Lu agreed repeatedly, but she thought in her heart: Why didn't you say that Lin Shu ate so much?
Humph, you want to force me to take the initiative to divide the family?
No way!
I rely on you!
Fang Dihua saw her expression and knew that she was not convinced in her heart, but she didn't say much, and asked her to go to the private plot with the second child before breakfast.
Father Lu went to find Xu Laonian himself and asked him to make a wooden photo frame.
Yesterday, Lin Shu brought back some photos, including photos of Wei Ling interviewing Lin Shu and Fang Dihua, and photos of Lin Shu and Lu Dasao, single photos, couple photos, and photos with children.
Fang Dihua said that she wanted to hang these in a separate photo frame and hang it in the room of the third son's wife, so that the third son could see them at a glance when he came back.
Auntie Li from next door came to see Lin's mother and gossiped with Fang Dihua, "Second grandma, I have something funny to tell you. Later, Widow Sun found a bald man. Hey, guess what?"
Fang Dihua: "Why, is his bald head made of iron?"
Auntie Li laughed, "Second grandma knows how to tell jokes. The bald man also brought two brothers with him. They stayed at Widow Sun's house at night. Hehe."
She gave him a look, as if to say, "Think about it carefully.
" Widow Sun had heard Song Chunfang say bad things about the original owner before, but she didn't mix it in and scold the original owner, so she was not there when Fang Dihua got angry and beat people.
Widow Sun is 31 years old this year. Her husband died in the winter of the year before last. Her eldest son is 12 years old this year, her daughter is 10 years old, and she has a youngest son who is 6 years old.
Her husband is the second oldest, but the brothers have long separated and each has his own children. Since
her husband is gone, it is only a matter of time for her to marry a man. Otherwise, her children are not yet adults, and she can't raise them even with the subsidy from the brigade.
But according to Aunt Li, they live together without getting married and bringing two brothers with them. It sounds not decent.
Fang Dihua is not a gossiper. She is too lazy to care. She just listens and knows that there is a new person in the village. The main thing is to know which village the new person is from, what kind of character he is, what his parents do, and whether he is a bad element.
After all, a village is a collective. If a stranger suddenly comes and has bad character, he will become a potential crisis to the village.
Of course, this doesn't mean that everyone should interfere in other people's marriages. Matchmaking, blind dates, and marriages are all for the purpose of living together, so no one will interfere. Even
members of a village don't all have good relationships. Some people have conflicts and don't interact with each other.
But you still have to get to know the details of the villagers. If the other person's character is not trustworthy, then don't interact with them. It's best to stay away from them. Anyway,
the children of the Lu family cannot hang out with people who steal and gamble, otherwise Fang Dihua will break his legs.
Aunt Li whispered to Fang Dihua about the recent activities of Lu Shaocai and Zhao Meifeng.
Lu Shaocai was still so noisy, because he had to calculate the work points for the autumn harvest, so he pretended to be an important person.
Zhao Meifeng has been trying very hard to find a match for her daughter recently. She said that the match must be one that eats commodity food, has a high salary and a good status.
I heard that she went to the county several times and also went to the city. She brought a man back to meet him the other day, and she took her daughter to the county yesterday.
I don't know how the match went.
Fang Dihua was very clear in her mind. Zhao Meifeng was so capable, half of which was hoping to get benefits from Lin Shu.
But it seemed that Zhao Meifeng was still a bit savvy. She didn't use the banner of finding a second marriage for Lin Shu, but was looking for a match for her daughter.
If she dared to reveal any of Lin Shu's reputation, Fang Dihua would go and slap her.
The third daughter-in-law is now full of thoughts and tricks. Zhao Meifeng and Lu Shaocai are no match for her. Anyway, Fang Dihua doesn't care much about her daughter-in-law.
After breakfast, everyone went to work.
The autumn harvest has begun.
Cotton, sorghum, millet, soybeans, corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, these crops should be harvested from the end of August to the beginning of September, and then winter wheat will be planted in September. Only after planting can we take a break.
It is said that the three autumns are not as busy as the summer, and the three summers are not as long as the autumn.
Because autumn lasts from July to September, it takes three months to do all the work, which is very long, but it is not as busy as in the summer when there is a whip.
The Lujiazhuang team also began to call for young and strong people to sign up and take turns to watch the harvest.
When the crops are ripe, unruly people start stealing. If no one is watching, they can steal a large area in one night.
In the 1960s, those years were really poor and hard. People could not eat enough, and the members stole food just to eat.
Now it is 1971. Although the food is not good, the sweet potatoes and corn can still make everyone eat 70% full, so they are not so hungry.
So those who steal food, except for a few who do it for food, many do it to exchange for other things.
Stealing is a means, and the purpose is varied. Some people even steal public crops to exchange for dowry to marry a wife.
There are also people who think it is a waste if they don't steal public things, because they think others will definitely steal, and they will suffer if they don't steal.
Big Brother Lu and Second Brother Lu had to sign up. It was all voluntary. Every family had to provide at least two laborers.
If food was stolen, everyone would get less, so everyone was proactive in watching for the spoils.
Of course, there were also cases of surveillance and theft.
Generally, the team leaders knew who was what kind of person, and basically matched them reasonably, letting a straight-minded and honest man like Second Brother Lu lead a few slightly cunning ones. He could control everyone except Big Brother Lu.
As for Big Brother Lu, he had to be the team leader, leading two honest ones and two not-so-honest ones.
The team implemented a system of collective responsibility. Whoever patrolled a certain area would have their work points deducted if there was theft, and the team leader would have double the points.
If Brother Lu was detained, he would definitely be beaten by both his parents. No matter how old he was, Fang Dihua would definitely beat him.
If you hadn't been lazy, how could they steal the food?
Fang Dihua and others went to work, and Lin's mother helped Lin Shu with some work at home.
Farmers never have idle time. There is always endless work to do at home, such as washing, sewing, twisting hemp ropes, rubbing corn kernels, grinding, etc.
With her mother and children accompanying her, Lin Shu was also particularly relaxed.
While she was busy at home, Zhao Meifeng called her at the door. Lin Shu: "Sister- in-law
, what's up?"
Zhao Meifeng came in with a middle-aged man, holding a pile of cloth in her hand, and said with a smile: "Old Third's family, you have good craftsmanship, help me make a dress." Lin Shu stood up to greet him, glanced at the man, and said to Zhao Meifeng: "Who will do it?" Zhao Meifeng pointed to the man next to him and smiled: "My brother will do it." Lin Shu glanced at the man again, "Aren't you from Langfang?" Zhao Meifeng: "Anyway, he is a relative here." Then she began to talk about where her relative worked, how much he earned a month, and that he lost his wife last year. Lin Shu felt that the man was staring at her too eagerly. What else didn't she understand? You want to be Wang Po, but unfortunately I am not Pan Jinlian. She sneered and said in a cold voice: "Sister-in-law, I don't make clothes for men outside. I told you that. Why can't you remember it? Are you doing it on purpose?" Zhao Meifeng was stunned. When did you say that? The man's face suddenly changed, and he grabbed the cloth and left. Zhao Meifeng glared at Lin Shu and said angrily: "Old Third, are you stupid?" I introduced you to someone out of kindness. I was afraid that you would be gossiped about, so I found an excuse for you to meet someone. But you are here to pretend to be innocent! She hurriedly chased after the man. She caught up with the man and smiled, "Chief Xu, don't be angry, she's still a little confused, we just want to meet her today, what do you think?" The man waved his hands repeatedly, frowned and said disdainfully, "She's too coquettish and gorgeous, we can't afford her." This woman looked very beautiful and smart, not like Zhao Meifeng's silly and easy to control. The look she gave him was full of sarcasm and disdain, making him feel like he was looking at a cockroach. Such a woman is a thorny rose, no matter how beautiful she is, he can't subdue her, can't afford to deal with her, maybe she will even yell at him to catch a hooligan. He got on his bike and ran away, not wanting to say a word to Zhao Meifeng. Zhao Meifeng was so angry that she put her hands on her hips and spat, "You old pervert, your wife has only been dead for two months and you're looking for a second marriage, you're not worthy of her, are you?" She thought that this guy was too short and a little older, Lin Shu would definitely not like him, so she should bring that Section Chief Wu here.
The man was young, tall, and good -looking. As long as Lin Shu liked him, everything would be fine.
The next day, she excitedly brought a woman in her forties and two men, one 25 and one 35 years old, both tall and handsome.
The younger one was Wang Shouke, an intern police officer at the county public security bureau, and the slightly older one was Wu Xuan, who was discharged from the army and transferred to the security department of a textile factory as the section chief.
Zhao Meifeng was looking for someone for Lin Shu who could bring benefits to her family, either to get Lu Shaocai promoted or to arrange jobs for herself and her son.
This Wang Shouke was the person she was looking for for her daughter Lu Jinling.
Wang Shouke and Wu Xuan are cousins, and they know each other. Zhao Meifeng spent a lot of money to get to know the two through a matchmaker in the county.
Today, the matchmaker brought the two here to get acquainted and have a look at each other.
Zhao Meifeng told them about Lin Shu's situation in advance. Now they just want to have a look. If the man likes her, he can wait until next year to propose.
She had said that Lin Shu's clothing making skills are very good, not worse than the tailor shops in the county, so the matchmaker brought fabrics and came to have a look.
Wu Xuan also brought fabrics.
If he is satisfied, he will ask the woman to help make two sets of clothes for the man and the woman. If he is not satisfied, he can make one set and give a few more cents for the labor fee, which is not in vain.
Wang Shouke came along purely to help Wu Xuan with his opinion, fearing that he would be nervous and deceived by the woman. He did not know that Zhao Meifeng had chosen him as her son-in-law.
Lin Shu was grinding rice with her mother at home and wanted to order some tofu. When she saw Zhao Meifeng and her four companions coming in, she asked her mother to continue with her work and went to entertain them.
Zhao Meifeng had learned her lesson and did not say anything else. She just said that Fourth Aunt Zhang wanted to make clothes.
It would be hard for you to refuse a woman making clothes, right?
Lin Shu glanced at the matchmaker and said with a smile, "Where is Fourth Aunt from?"
The matchmaker's eyes were always sharp. She looked at Lin Shu at a glance and had already used the standard of selecting a pig to measure her in her heart. Looking at the way her thin waist and hips swayed, her snow-white skin, and her big watery eyes, she was a woman who could seduce men and was good at giving birth.
Yes, she was a top-notch.
She winked at Wu Xuan and told him to give the matchmaker a lot of red envelopes if he liked her.
Wu Xuan liked her at first sight and handed all the fabrics to the matchmaker .
The matchmaker smiled and said, "I'm from the county town."
Lin Shu greeted them and looked at the two men again, "Fourth Aunt makes clothes and even brings bodyguards?"
Matchmaker Zhang laughed, "Young wife's words are really interesting."
She said that she and her nephew wanted to make clothes and put three pieces of fabric on the table.
Zhao Meifeng stared at Lin Shu eagerly. As long as she agreed, it would be fine. Humph, why do you say you don't make clothes for men? You just disliked the short and ugly one yesterday? Are you happy with the handsome and tall one today?
Why are you pretending? She was just waiting for Lin Shu to nod. It was a joke on Lin Shu. Unexpectedly, Lin Shu frowned and glared at her with dissatisfaction, "I say, sister-in-law, you are only in your early forties, right? How come you look like you are in your seventies?" Zhao Meifeng's face changed, "Are you kidding?" Lin Shu snorted, "Yesterday you brought a strange man to my house and asked me to make clothes for him. Did I say that I don't make clothes for outside men? I am a military wife and I have to pay attention to the impact of my words and deeds. As a military family member, don't you know these taboos? Or are you doing it on purpose?" Aunt Zhang was a smooth talker. She immediately smiled and tried to smooth things over, "Oh, her sister-in-law, don't be angry. We didn't know. I thought you were good at sewing, which is rare, so I wanted to make some clothes together. We didn't think much about it." She said that she came here just to make clothes and had no other ideas, and asked Lin Shu not to think too much. Lin Shu's expression softened and she smiled at her, "Fourth Aunt is a wise person. I have no choice. If I don't explain it clearly, there will always be people who come up with bad intentions, and it will be bad if people gossip outside." Fourth Aunt Zhang repeatedly said that she had no other intentions, she was just making clothes, and no one would gossip. Lin Shu asked her to take the man's fabric away, and took a tape measure to measure the size of Fourth Aunt Zhang. She was not a tailor who opened a shop. She made clothes for a man who was interested in her. No matter if he said something nonsense outside, Lu Shaotang would be uncomfortable if he knew. Although she and Lu Shaotang had no feelings, she could not ignore his face. But she would make money as she could. Zhao Meifeng immediately turned to look at Wu Xuan, fearing that he would be angry, but he was not angry at all. Instead, he looked at Lin Shu with more favor. However, she did not notice that her favorite son-in-law candidate, Wang Shouke, looked at Lin Shu with even more eagerness. Fourth Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "It's okay. Then don't let my nephew do it, just let me do it." Lin Shu took a tape measure and measured her size. While measuring, she said, "These people don't understand each other, so they always use their own thoughts to speculate about others. They think I can't keep it because I'm young. Don't be afraid of you laughing at me and bragging. My parents-in-law are the best parents-in-law in the world, my two children are the best children, and Lu Shaotang is the best man in my eyes. It doesn't matter to me whether he comes back or not. I only love him in this life. If he doesn't come back, I will keep him for the rest of my life." Quick, matchmaker, use your eloquent tongue to spread the word for me! Spread it so that Lu Shaotang can hear it, and let him rest assured that his wife will not run away if he doesn't come back, and he can just make money outside with peace of mind! Fourth Aunt Zhang turned her head to look at Wu Xuan outside, who looked extremely satisfied. After taking the measurements, Lin Shu said that it would take a week to finish, and then Zhao Meifeng could send it over. Now that there are sewing machines, she can actually finish it in two days, but she doesn't want it to be that fast. Wu Xuan winked at Fourth Aunt Zhang, saying that he wanted to use the piece of red floral fabric to make a top for his future wife. Fourth Aunt Zhang: "My dear, make another one for my daughter. Her body size is the same as yours, so you can make it according to your own size." Lin Shu said lightly: "Fourth Aunt, if your daughter wants to make clothes, she should come and measure the size herself. The body sizes look the same, but they are actually very different." Fourth Aunt Zhang had no choice but to agree. She had already seen that Lin Shu was not as stupid as Zhao Meifeng said, but smarter than most people. Lin Shu wanted a deposit again. The tailor shop charges 80 cents for the work and accessories of a coat, and she also wants 80 cents. She only needs to pay 50 cents as a deposit. Zhao Meifeng was very angry and wanted to ask why Lin Shu was so stubborn. How could she talk about money with the customer in person? Lin Shu: "Brothers should settle the bill clearly. Sister-in-law, you don't think I'm doing it for nothing, do you?"
Zhao Meifeng: "..."
Doesn't she just want Lin Shu to work for her for free and earn this favor? This is what she said to Aunt Zhang before.
Wu Xuan immediately took out a coin and put it on the table.
Lin Shu gave Aunt Zhang two cents.
Aunt Zhang smiled and patted Wu Xuan on the back, telling him not to worry, she would definitely help him get the daughter-in-law.
She just lost her man, so she definitely doesn't have that mind, and it will be easy after the New Year.
Women will always be lonely without men. Parents-in-law will get old, and children will start their own families. No one can replace a man who understands their feelings.
Wu Xuan knew when to stop and signaled Aunt Zhang to leave.
Wang Shouke took the initiative to talk to Lin Shu about his acquaintances. Lin Shu had been commended by the Public Security Bureau twice and received two certificates of honor. They also knew each other, Li Guodong and Zhang Jianguo, so he could naturally find a topic to talk about.
Lin Shu was also more friendly to him than others.
Seeing this, Zhao Meifeng quickly pulled Wang Shouke aside and said that as long as Wu Xuan liked him, she could send Lin Shu more fabrics in the future. With Wu Xuan's height and appearance, there was no doubt that Lin Shu would be attracted.
Zhao Meifeng invited Zhang Sigu and the other two to dinner, as she also had to find Wang Shouke for her daughter.
Wang Shouke, however, was not interested at all and found an excuse to pull Wu Xuan aside and leave.
Zhao Meifeng was very anxious, "Fourth aunt, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Have a meal."
Fourth aunt Zhang was not in a hurry. She winked at the two men, but Wang Shouke refused to stay for dinner.
Who wanted the meal?
He took Wu Xuan on a bicycle and left, leaving Fourth aunt Zhang to have dinner by herself.
Watching the two men leave, Zhao Meifeng stamped her feet anxiously, "Fourth aunt, what do you mean by this?"
Fourth aunt Zhang sighed. Is there anything she couldn't understand?
Wang Shouke also fell in love with that little vixen!
Although she was a young widow, she was so charming.
Lu Jinling was not very good-looking, and she acted like a city lady. How could she be as attractive as this little vixen?
The Lu family would not let her take away the two children she gave birth to, so what's the difference between marrying her and marrying a lady?
These men are very smart.
Lin Shu didn't bother to think about it. She directly said that she would not remarry. If anyone still followed Zhao Meifeng, it would be his own death. She would not be responsible.
If she didn't know that Lu Shaotang was still alive, Lin's mother might be happy. Now that she knows her son-in-law is alive, she is very vigilant.
Lin's mother: "Your cousin's wife is not fun."
Lin Shu: "Mom, I know, if she makes clothes, I will make them. If she says something else, let my mother-in-law slap her."