"Your things are all here. From now on, you're on your own. Hide it away. I'm going back now. You can stay here tonight." With that, he left.
Zhao Meilan hadn't expected her father to give her so much dowry. Clutching the small box, she gritted her teeth and cried her heart out. After a while, she quickly tried to hide the things in her arms.
My father had just taken it out of the cellar, so it definitely couldn't be left there. But after looking around, there was nowhere to put it. The floor inside the house was paved with blue bricks, so we finally went to the kitchen, moved the cabinet, and started digging a hole underneath. We dug more than two meters deep before we could finally put the box inside.
She quickly buried it, then looked at herself, all dirty, and thought to herself, "Luckily, I had some free time these past few days and moved some of my clothes over; now all I have left at my parents' house is my dowry." (But that's another story.)
When I have nothing to do, I wander into the office to listen to gossip, like what Xiao Sun says.
"Zhao Meilan's dowry would be considered a lot by ordinary families, but considering the Zhao family's wealth, it was quite meager."
How to say it?
"Logically speaking, a wealthy family like theirs should have at least twelve quilts, but do you know how many Dr. Zhao and his mother delivered?"
"How much?" the crowd asked, puzzled.
Xiao Sun didn't keep anyone in suspense, simply saying, "Six beds."
"What?! That's half gone!"
Who can argue with that?
"Most importantly, do you know that not only are there six blankets, but everything else has been reduced by half?"
"Ah, this, this..." Upon hearing this, everyone felt sorry for Doctor Zhao.
"But," Xiao Sun said, looking at them with a regretful expression.
"But what?"
"But Dr. Zhao's girlfriend's family is quite well-off. Although she was left with nothing by her family, she has a good mentor. He matches whatever dowry Dr. Zhao's family gave her, and however much it was, he makes up for it all."
"So, Dr. Zhao's mentor is quite good."
"I heard that someone needs Dr. Zhao's care in their old age and for him to see them off in their final days."
"That's to be expected."
Thinking about it further, I realized it wasn't that simple. It was probably something given to Dr. Zhao by his partner's mentor, and it was all provided by Dr. Zhao's parents. And sure enough, I guessed right.
After confirming the candidate, Zhao's father instructed Zhao's mother to make the arrangements, saying, "Just prepare six sets of bedding for the nuns; for the rest, make double the amount."
"This," Zhao's mother asked.
Seeing that Zhao's mother looked unwell, Zhao's father quickly said, "There are already several joint public-private enterprises. We don't know what will happen in the future. Even if we have meat, we shouldn't come to the folds."
To tell you the truth, before liberation, I bought several small courtyard houses, each with its own entrance. The houses weren't very big, just like the eldest son's family. I didn't even dare to put my own name on the property deeds.
The house for the two siblings is in their maternal grandmother's name. I will also put the house for the third and fourth children in their maternal grandmother's name. Even if they try to find out later, they won't be able to. We'll divide the house among them when the children get married in two years.”
"Hey, honey, is there some kind of rumor going on?"
"I haven't heard any rumors, but I know the Communist Party has done a lot of things like seizing property from landlords and distributing it to the rich. Although such things have been rare since the founding of the country, who knows when they might do something like that? We'd be in big trouble then. Now they're promoting this public-private partnership, which makes me worried."
"What should we do then?"
"So we need to get the children out of there as soon as possible. The eldest is getting old, and Meilan is in the military hospital, so that shouldn't be a problem for the time being. Now there's Meisheng and Meiju. I plan to find a way to send them to the army in the next couple of years."
"this"
"Don't stop me," Zhao's father said.
After thinking for a moment, Zhao's mother said, "I won't stop you anymore, you can make the arrangements."
"Also, we'll secretly pack some important things around the house into boxes. We'll hide everything that needs to be hidden, but we'll do it in a way that's intimidating."
I know that.
"Also, let him move Meilan's things to the courtyard in advance."
After thinking about it, Zhao's mother agreed.
On the same day, Zhao's father found Zhou Eryin and his master, gave them some money, and asked them to purchase wedding supplies according to the list. At the same time, he told others that the head chef had provided all the supplies.
(In those days, some far-sighted people made preparations early on; otherwise, how could a large number of people have emerged who kept up with the times and found ways to get rich during the reform and opening up?)
Dad originally planned to stay in the hospital for ten days or half a month and then go home, but Grandpa Wang needed to get injections every day without interruption, so Grandpa Wang stayed in the hospital. As a result, Dad stayed for a month and a half until his wound healed and he could walk.
When I got home, I had a lot of bags and packages. Since my home was close by, I didn't look for a car and walked back slowly, but it still took me more than half an hour.
"Nothing at home has changed," Dad replied.
"Alright, you should go lie down on the kang and rest. I'll tidy up some things," Mom said. I followed behind her, handing her small items, busy as a bee.
Dad quickly lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed), afraid Mom would nag him. Looking at the mother and daughter busy at work, he asked Mom:
"Honey, how much longer do you have on your vacation?"
"That depends on your recovery. Why are you suddenly asking this?"
"I just suddenly realized that if you go to work, it'll just be me and the kids at home, plus Sister Wu taking care of her daughter. Wouldn't that be inconvenient?"
Mom didn't worry and came over to ask, "What's wrong?"
Dad noticed that Mom wasn't thinking about it that way, but he still felt he had to say it, just in case anything went wrong. He asked:
"How old is Sister Wu this year? How old is her daughter Shanshan? If you go to work, it's not only inconvenient for me, a man, to be at home alone with both of them, but it also creates a bad impression."
Upon hearing this, the mother suddenly remembered that she had just dealt with Zhao Meilan, and she didn't want to encounter another Wu Meilan or Zhou Meilan. Thinking about it, that made sense, but she didn't know how to arrange things for Sister Wu and the others, so she asked, "But..."
"There's no 'buts.' They just don't have a job or a house. You can ask them if they still have their old house deed. If they do, Xiao Fang can go to the housing management office and ask them to help resolve the issue."
If there's no property deed, then arrange a job for her. I see that Sister Wu's daughter is getting on in years; see if you can find someone to put her in a textile factory or something. Don't you know that the mother and daughter usually make a living by sewing and mending? Going to work in a textile factory shouldn't be a big problem for them. Besides, she's still young; she can learn gradually."
"Okay, I'll go ask after I finish packing. I'll try to get it sorted out before I go to work." Liu Linjuan wasn't one to procrastinate.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com