Chapter 101
Xu Wen looked at Sang Xiaoqing
Sang Xiaoqing pursed her lips and didn’t say anything
What Xu Wen said was also very tempting to her
How many millionaire households could there be in the entire Wei Zhuang Commune?
But in Xu Wen’s description, it wasn’t difficult to become a millionaire household in the south
Of course, this is not difficult is a prerequisite, you have to dare to think and dare to do, in addition to suffering losses, there is a certain amount of risk
People are all the same! All people are the same, they only want money but not risk I don’t want to separate from Xu Wen yet
They haven’t been separated since they got married, and Sang Xiaoqing really doesn’t want to
But thinking about the family’s high debt, besides the 500 dollars Xu Wen owes, she also owes a lot of money to the brick kiln factory
Like Xu Wen said, the family is struggling to make ends meet and will not be able to repay the debt in the next few years
After a long silence, Sang Xiaoqing nodded her head, “I’m willing”
Her brother and sister-in-law agreed, along with her parents
Xu Wen knew what they were worried about, and after some thought, added, “I can’t help much from afar, but I’ll pay for Xiao Che’s tuition No matter what, we can’t delay Xiao Che’s schooling In addition, I’ll give the family a guarantee that if my brother doesn’t make enough money in a year, I’ll be responsible for the family’s expenses” She was sure that Xu Wen would be able to make a good living
She was sure that Xu Wen would be able to make money, but she couldn’t make a clear promise, she could only make this promise politely
She doesn’t have to pay tuition for college, and there is also a part of the subsidy, if Xu Wen really can’t earn money, he can take it out to subsidize the family
Zhu Meizhen shook her head, “It’s not like the family hasn’t had a hard time, and in the early years, they ate the chaff and ate the food and didn’t get over it In my opinion, Xu Wen is a big man to take advantage of the young to go out and explore the world is always right It’s better than being stuck in this poor place for the rest of our lives Anyway, we’ve already had so many famines at home, so it’s not bad to add one more year to the list If we make it, the whole family will benefit, if not, we can start all over again”
“You’re so open-minded!” Xu Qiushi was reluctant, “It’s all very well to make money, but how hard is it to live without it? We don’t care, but you can’t bear to see Chunsheng suffer with us at such a young age? Besides, the people need to have their feet on the ground”
In any case, Xu Qiushi was the most stubborn one, and refused to agree
Xu could not help but miss his grandmother again
If she were still alive, she would have said, “Only animals are tethered in front of the house, men need to go out and see the world more often”
The fifteenth day of the first month of the year has arrived, Xu Qiushi still does not let go
Xu Wen was so anxious that he circled the house all day
Before Xu Wen opened his mouth, he didn’t care
Now that Xu Man has given him a direction, he can’t do what he used to do, which is to earn this amount of labor every day
On the night of the tenth day of the first month, Lu Yuanzheng went to the commune and bought two bottles of good wine, inviting Xu Qiushi to sit at his home
Only Xu Qiushi was invited, not even Xu asked to stay, let her wait at Xu’s house
That day Xu Qiu Shi came back, basically considered drunk, but the next day on the loose agreed to Xu Wen to try to break into
Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Wen will have to leave on the sixteenth day of the first month, and on the fourteenth morning, Xu Wen and his family were busy preparing their bags for the trip
Zhu Meizhen was busy making dumplings
In the north, nine out of ten Chinese New Year festivals are filled with dumplings
New Year’s Eve is dumplings, the 15th day of the first month is dumplings, birthday dumplings, mid-autumn dumplings, in short, all-purpose dumplings
Lu Yuanzheng was making lanterns for Xu Che, Dongsheng and Chunsheng
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, lanterns are needed
There are lanterns for sale in the market, which are small square boards with an arched wire threaded through them Outside the cover of a thin bamboo compiled oval frame, the frame will paste a layer of cellophane, painted with flowers and plants
The price is not expensive, is the same
Good-looking are expensive, only hit the day of the lantern, the people can not afford
The children in the hutongs, nine out of ten are carrying these lanterns
Lu Yuanzheng felt bored, so he made them for the children
He got four pieces of thin wood boards of the same width and length, and hollowed out the center of the wood pieces, the whole like a rectangular mouth
Then the four pieces of mouth-shaped thin wooden boards nailed into a twenty-centimeter rectangle with two open ends
The word “mouth” is also glued with transparent cellophane
Get two more boards, both sawn into the shape of a pentagram, the inside of the pentagram just to match the top of the rectangle
One serves as the base and the other remains hollowed out to make the inside of the pentagram into an openwork pentagram
Bend the arch wire, burn it through the bottom five stars, and then between the five stars nail a nail that can penetrate the board, a simple lantern is ready
In order to make the lantern look better, Lu Yuanzheng also put his pen on the cellophane and drew a few pictures
Feeling that there was still a bit of decoration missing, Xu Wen took the wool and tied a few spikes of thread to hang on the corners of the five-pointed star above the lantern
“How the hell did you convince Dad?” Xu Man asked curiously as he bit into the end of the wool, his hands moving nonstop
“Didn’t say ah! Just a drink”
Xu Man rolled her eyes, “What the hell?!” She wasn’t a child, she wasn’t that easy to fool
Lu Yuanzheng laughed, “A conversation between men is not suitable for a woman to listen to”
Xu asked, “”
“Pull back if you don’t talk!” Xu Man pouted
She was genuinely curious, after all, Zhu Meizhen, her, and Xu Wen combined hadn’t convinced Xu Qiushi
Lu Yuanzheng only had a drink with him and Xu Qiushi agreed?
Normally, Lu Yuanzheng would have coaxed her, but this time he just looked at her, raised his hand and rubbed the top of her head, and still didn’t tell her
Xu Wen didn’t ask again
There was only one situation where Lu Yuanzheng would hide something from her, and that was when the content of his conversation had something to do with her, and it was for her own good
At the very least, he felt it was good for her
Not saying it was because he didn’t want to take credit
Usually fooling around, he still said more than he did when it came to feelings
After making a lantern, there are still a lot of wooden boards left, Lu Yuanzheng thought about simply make a lantern car
That is, the wooden boards put together into the shape of a small car, about like a tractor head or locomotive as simple as the shape Wooden boards are still all hollowed out in the center, underneath the nail on the appropriate baseboard Then the spikes were smashed in for the candles
Four small wheels were made out of wood at the bottom, and when they were done, they were still painted and tied with a string
The final winner of this lantern was Toshio
Chunsheng can only walk, pulling the rope, looking at the cart lantern candlelight swaying, happy mouth watering
Dongsheng and Xuqie loved the five-pointed star lantern and Chunsheng’s car lantern
It was easy for the two half-grown children to coax a one-year-old child Not long after, Chunsheng’s hand was replaced by a five-pointed star lantern, and the car lantern was coaxed away by Xu Che and Dongsheng
The little guy couldn’t keep up with them, and fell far behind, dragging the extinguished lantern, exposing a mouthful of small white teeth and giggling
He was too young to carry a wooden lantern, and dragged it on the ground and extinguished it
Sang Xiaoqing hurriedly picked it up and relit it
Lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first month can not be extinguished, extinguished will be considered unlucky
There was still one pentagram lantern left, Lu Yuanzheng handed it to Xu Man, “Here, my big girl must have one too”
Xu Man: “”
OK!
Being spoiled by a man as a child is also a kind of happiness
Xu Man took the lantern
Lu Yuanzheng lifted up the sleeve of the pentagram, burned the tip of the sharp iron nail with a lit candle, and inserted the candle
Inserting the candle directly without burning it hot would break it
After dinner, the Hsu family was going to give their grandmother a lantern
It is to light the lantern and hang it on the grave
Lu Yuanzheng had to do the same
Xu Wen and Xu Che accompanied him to buy a few lanterns and went to the cemetery to hang them for their grandparents
By the time they arrived at the cemetery, many families had already finished giving away their lanterns, which looked like ghostly flames from afar
Some children from poor families, who wanted the lanterns especially, would come to the cemetery and take them without asking
Of course, this must be especially bold children, ordinary children do not have the courage
When seen from afar, they looked like flames moving on their own, more like ghost flames
Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Man saw one, but pretended not to see it
Who would come to the cemetery with a lantern if they didn’t have to?
Give the children some self-respect
Xu Man suddenly remembered something and asked Lu Yuanzheng, “Where is your father’s grave?”
This father refers to Lu Yuanzheng’s own father
“In Wei Zhuang Commune”
“Aren’t you going to send him a lantern?”
Lu Yuanzheng shook his head, “Not yet”
Not referring to today, but to the existing policy
After saying that, he added, “I can’t go openly, but in the morning I went to buy lantern things for these little ones and stopped by to hang them for him”
Wei Zhuang in addition to his father and his grandparents
Xu Man nodded, suddenly remembering something, “Lu Yuanzheng!”
“Hmm?”
“You ran to your mother-in-law’s house and fooled my brother and my mom with empty cigarette boxes, saying that I wouldn’t give you money to spend But I saw you pulling out money that wasn’t the ones I gave you Also, I emptied my pockets this morning when I soaked your clothes in the big tub before I left the house The twenty dollars I gave you was still in my pocket, and when it got wet I left it on the table without taking it So where did you get the money on you to buy the lanterns and all that?”
Lu Yuanzheng rubbed the tip of his nose and whispered, “Let’s talk about this at home”
Not waiting for Xu Man to open his mouth, he added, “In front of my grandparents, mom and dad, you have to give me some face, right?”
Xu Man opened his mouth and closed it again, nodding his head, “Okay, let’s go home then!”
Lu Yuanzheng: “”
After returning home, Dongsheng went out with a lantern to play with the village children
On this day, the village would be especially bright even without streetlights
It was because the middle of the month was the days when the moon was at its fullest and brightest
It was also because the production team would hang lanterns in front of every house, and there were children running around with lanterns
They ran in groups, one by one, and wherever they went, it was bright
Usually in the production team, they would go to bed almost as soon as it was time for supper, but not on the 10th of New Year’s Eve and the 14th of New Year’s Day
On this day, children and adults could stay up as long as they wanted
The lights would not go out early to save kerosene
Especially on the 14th day of the first month, it costs not only kerosene but also candles
Of course, candles are limited in supply, and usually a child can light a lantern with one candle a night
One candle could also burn for quite a while
After Dongsheng went to play, only Lu Yuanzheng and Xu Wen remained in the house
Lu Yuanzheng drummed on the stove
They stayed at Xu’s house during the day, but every couple of hours, Lu Yuanzheng would come back to work on the stove to add more charcoal and then simmer it down in case the stove went out and the room got cold
Xu Man poured hot water into the glass bottles she used for her fluids, sealed them, and raced them under the covers to warm them up
She filled four bottles in one gulp
After finishing, she sat cross-legged on the bed and asked Lu Yuanzheng, “Now that we’re home, can we talk?”
Lu Yuanzheng just wanted to open his mouth, but Xu Wen added with a smile, “If you lie, you’ll go sleep in the next room”
The courtyard is a big place!
Lu Yuanzheng watched the stove fire become strong, hooked on the stove cover, washed his hands in the washbasin on one side, and dried them off, before speaking with a bitter smile, “We are all comrades in arms, we are all brothers, why do we have to do this?”
“Who’s your comrade and brother?” Xu Man didn’t eat this set of his, reaching out and pointing his index finger at him, forbidding him to come closer, “Don’t you come this way with me! Don’t come close to me even if you don’t make it clear”
She wasn’t really angry, Lu Yuanzheng wasn’t such a feckless person, he naturally had his uses for keeping money on him
She just wanted to clean him up, who made him run to the Xu family to sue her for blackmail?
He’s not a big fan of this!
He obviously has two boxes of cigarettes in his pocket, but he still has to take an empty cigarette case to act there
Lu Yuanzheng saw that Xu Man had to settle the score, took a matzah, sat in front of the stove, and honestly explained: “We pay an extra month’s allowance”
The legendary ten months’ salary? Xu Wen raised his eyebrows and didn’t say anything, mentally calculating the expenses during the New Year’s Eve of Lu Yuanzheng, shaking his head, “Wrong!”
Since leaving the island, the money that had gone out of his hands was more than a month’s allowance
Thinking she didn’t believe him, Lu Yuanzheng emphasized, “Really! In addition, there are family members coming to the team allowance, and the road allowance for vacation”
The team reimbursed him for the train tickets to and from his vacation
The team reimburses him for his vacation train tickets
Lu Yuanzheng thought to go back to buy tickets, the money was not turned in
Xu Wen was not really angry, and when he heard him say so, he tsked, “Your welfare benefits are really good”
Lu Yuanzheng sighed softly, “Welfare is no better than life is worth”
Those who are alive, call it welfare
Brothers who died, only have pensions
Xu Wen remembered the empty table at New Year’s Eve last year in the army, and for a while it was also a bit difficult to comfort, “It’s always getting better and better At the very least, there won’t be an empty table on the island for New Year’s Eve this year”
Lu Yuanzheng nodded, “Uh-huh” After a pause, he sighed again, “This person ah! It’s really quite contradictory In the past, we often fought in wars, and we always thought that it would be good if we could finish the wars and stop fighting and bleeding and sacrificing Now that we don’t really need to fight much anymore, sometimes it’s a bit uncomfortable”
Xu Wen knew that on the island, many warriors were in this state
She could understand, “About the time you guys were too used to the old way of life, the current life is too bland for you”
Lu Yuanzheng nodded, “Counting the time, when we get to the island, we should be able to see new recruits on the island”
“Then the veterans who are going to be discharged will have to leave as well?”
Lu Yuanzheng nodded
Originally, the veterans were to be discharged in the winter, but their island’s discharge rate was a bit high, and for fear of affecting the New Year’s Eve war preparations, the higher-ups gave the order that the veterans were delayed in being discharged
Waiting for the newly enlisted soldiers to complete a month of recruit training to the island to adapt, and then let the veterans discharged
Bao book net w w w b a o s h u 2 c o m
The veterans have no opinion, the military camp is easy to get out and hard to get in, it is a place where you can’t come back after leaving
They were willing to stay a few more days
“Then we’ll go back just in time to see the veterans off?”
Lu Yuanzheng hmmmed
Xu Wen carefully measured his expression, “You don’t seem very happy”
Lu Yuanzheng covered his face with his hands and pushed them back, sighing heavily, “Parting in life and death, which one can be happy This parting is sometimes a lifetime In the past, we fought shoulder to shoulder, not to mention delivering each other’s lives When fighting in a war, often rations and grass couldn’t make it to the front line on time Occasionally picking a wild fruit, we all had to share it
Such close people, such a friendship, once separated, it’s hard to see each other again, it’s inevitable that there will be some emptiness in the heart Every year I have to send off a group of people, and I still haven’t gotten used to it”
“I understand” Xu Man softly said, “I’ve heard a saying before, and I don’t know where it’s been passed down, saying that ‘the most ironclad relationship between men is the one that has carried a gun together, or the one that has whored themselves out together’ It’s really hard for you to get hurt once a year with such iron feelings”
Lu Yuanzheng was a man of heavy feelings, and he didn’t like separation
Lu Yuanzheng was silent for a while and asked Xu Wen, “Who said that? You call him here, I definitely won’t beat him to death! The first half of the sentence is still a human word, and the second half of the sentence even if it is the truth, put it together and say it, who is insulted?”
Xu Wen blinked, “That I don’t know Anyway, it wasn’t me who passed it on”
Lu Yuanzheng: “”
After chatting for a while, Xu Man was a little sleepy
“Go to bed early, you still have to get up early tomorrow to go home for the fifteenth day” Lu Yuanzheng got up and mixed warm water for her to brush her teeth and wash her face
“What about you? Not going to sleep?”
“I have to go call Dongsheng back” Lu Yuanzheng put down the thermos and tested the water temperature, “Just go to sleep after you wash”
Xu Wen couldn’t keep her eyes open, but she was still thinking about the clothes soaking in the big basin, “The clothes haven’t been washed yet! They’re leaving the day after tomorrow, so they won’t dry out if they’re not washed!”
“If it won’t dry, it won’t dry It’s too warm to wear such thick clothes in the south”
“It won’t be able to be put in the patio for a whole year”
“You sleep at ease, I’ll come back to wash it” Lu Yuanzheng sat on the edge of the bed and tucked Xu Man in, “After tomorrow, we should return to Rainbow Island”
Xu Man nodded, “I’m really a bit homesick”
Compared to the courtyard, the wooden house on Rainbow Island gave her a greater sense of belonging