1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 307
As we all know, maternal love has a shelf life, and the more often children come back, the shorter the shelf life.

Those who go to other provinces to work and come back only once a year may be able to relive the love and care of their mothers during the first three days of their return home, but they will be treated like dead dogs that everyone hates and scolded by their mothers.

But for children like Tugou and Yang Mo, who work nearby and come back once or twice a month, the shelf life of maternal love can only last about one or two hours.

So, the manager of the quality control department who was quite impressive in his own company, after having bought more than 50 minutes of pampering at home by bringing back half a truckload of rice, noodles, meat and vegetables, was kicked out by his mother and sent to work in the yard...

………………

"In TV dramas, people come back to inherit their family business, but I come back to inherit the vegetable leaves!"

"Even if our family doesn't have any inheritance, it's still okay to come back for the New Year and have a ready-made hot meal, right?"

"But what happened is that it's almost half past eleven and I haven't even had a bite of hot food yet. I'm now stuck with picking vegetables and cooking... The water has stung me so much, and I don't even care about my daughter's little hands!"

Classmate Tugou, who had just been forced by his mother to wear a new flowered coat, squatted in the yard indignantly, washing the winter bean stalks he had brought back.

Mother Lu, who was peeling eggplant with a knife, glared at her fiercely: "What's the matter~ You still want to eat ready-made food when you come back?... Reincarnation is a technical job. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not being good enough!"

"Do you think you can sit in the office drinking tea and reading newspapers like you do at work? I'm busy from morning till night 365 days a year. These days I'm either busy picking corn or selecting seeds. When I have a little free time, I have to deal with a bunch of trivial matters at the chicken farm... It's good enough for me to have lunch with you in the house. Are you waiting for me to cook for you? Why don't you go to heaven?"

At this time, most of the crops planted in the rural areas of Qi and Lu were old varieties that could be saved for seed, so whether it was wheat, corn, dry rice, or vegetables, the strongest seeds needed to be selected for next year's planting;
Although it should have been done long ago, under Yang Mo's instruction, the scale of the village chicken farm has been expanded again and again, and the things that need to be coordinated and handled are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Therefore, as one of the main persons in charge of the cooperative, Lu Ma has been so busy in the past few months that she has not even had time to rest her legs... Forget about selecting and preserving seeds. She can even fall asleep on the kang as soon as she returns to the house.

Seeing the smug look on his mother's face, Tugou rolled his eyes and said, "Mom, the benefits of this chicken farm are there. I get my salary back every month. We don't lack food now. Why do we have to stick to that three mu and a half mu of land? Why not just lease the land to someone else?"

This is the truth. With the dividends from the chicken farm and the salary that Tugou classmate takes home every month, the family has saved at least 5,000 to 6,000 yuan this year. Although it is not yet the standard of a 10,000 yuan household, it is already more than most people in Linyi County... If it were in the past, we would have been labeled as rich peasants.

When Lu Ma heard this, she rolled her eyes and said, "What are you talking about! Giving the land to someone else? Why didn't you say you were selling this old house too? If it weren't New Year's Day, I would beat you to death with my shoe soles!"

For old-fashioned rural people, land is their lifeblood. If you ask Lu Ma to lease the land to others, you might as well take her life.

As she spoke, Lu Ma slammed the kitchen knife on the chopping board, dragged a dirty aluminum basin over, and swept all the cut eggplants into it: "I think you are born to be a miser. You can't stand seeing your family saving some money... You don't even look at yourself. In a few months, you will be twenty-one. Jiang Hongyan, who is about the same age as you, has a child who can already help with cooking... If I don't do my best to help you save more dowry, who would want an old woman like you!"

When Tugou heard this, his face suddenly turned bitter.

In the rural areas of the north now, although it is rare to get married at the age of thirteen or fourteen as in the mountainous areas of the south, generally speaking, unless you are still in school, you can find a husband after the age of sixteen... Even after the age of eighteen, you can be regarded as an old maid in the eyes of the older generation.

In fact, one of the very important reasons why Tugou wanted to run away to Qingdao to work last year was that her mother wanted to find a husband for her.

Although it was considered extremely open-minded in today's rural areas that Lu Ma let this tiger girl grow up until she was twenty years old before finding a husband for her, she just didn't want to get married so early.

Therefore, although Tugou is no longer a burden who stays at home all day and eats free meals, he is still frightened when he hears his mother mention the word "dowry".

After laughing, Tugou washed the vegetables more skillfully: "If you don't want to lease the land to others, then don't lease it to others. Why are you so angry... I mean, it's so troublesome to choose seeds, and the yield is low. Don't the supply and marketing cooperatives have new seeds imported from abroad now? Not only are the yields high, but the crops grown are also said to be valuable. It's so convenient for our family to buy seeds directly!"

Mother Lu sneered at her daughter who was trying to change the subject: "Ha~ Money trees are valuable. Do you have any seeds?"

"You're always shopping. You're such a spendthrift girl. No matter how much money your family has, you'll squander it all... If someone marries a daughter-in-law like you who doesn't know how to manage the household, they'll be in trouble for the rest of their lives!"

As she spoke, Lu Ma looked sad and her hands moved faster: "No, as a mother, I have to help you save up some dowry, otherwise our daughter will really not be able to get married!"

Hearing his mother talking about dowry every three sentences, Tugou's face wrinkled into a bitter gourd: "Mom, I just asked you to spend a few dollars to buy some seeds, why are you making such a fuss!"

Mother Lu looked at her daughter with a disdainful attitude. This girl came out of her belly, so how could she not see through this little trick of changing the subject?
She was not fooled at the moment, nor did she expand on the topic she was most familiar with, "On the importance of women managing the household", but instead tilted her head and shouted loudly into the house: "Boss Lu, come out!"

"Hey~! I'm here...what's up?"

In less than three seconds, a middle-aged man who was not very tall obediently lifted the curtain and ran out. Judging from his charming face, he must have been a handsome man with many romantic relationships when he was young... However, his flattering and obedient attitude had nothing to do with the five words "Lu Da the Boss".

Seeing that Father Lu came out so quickly, Mother Lu hummed with satisfaction, and then nudged Tugou classmate with her chin: "Check your daughter's pulse and check her health!"

When Tugou heard this, her face changed drastically. If her mother hadn't been staring at her with a threatening look and her right hand hadn't been touching the broomstick intentionally or unintentionally, she would have stood up and run away immediately.

Damn it, I can’t escape this today!

Father Lu looked at his daughter with a pouty mouth, then looked at his wife who was sneering all the time. He scratched his head in embarrassment, but finally did not dare to go against the will of a certain big boss. He brought a small stool and sat in front of Tugou classmate, then put his finger on his daughter's wrist.

"Well, the pulse is a little slow, the Yang Qi is insufficient and slightly cold, and the left Guan is slightly sunken... My daughter, you must have been drinking a lot during this period?" Father Lu said in a low voice.

Tugou blinked his eyes and said with a guilty tone: "Um, um... no!"

Father Lu glared at her lovingly: "It's not the same as before. You're working now. It's normal to drink a little. It's necessary for work... But drinking too much is not good after all. Drink a little, drink a little, drink a little from now on, okay?"

Tugou finally realized that she was no longer the little girl who stole wine to drink, and nodded excitedly: "Okay, I'll have a drink next time... I'll have a drink with you tonight... I'll go to the village entrance to get a bottle of Luo Beichun first, and I'll see if I can get a bottle of good wine tomorrow!"

When he heard the word "good wine", Mr. Lu's eyebrows almost flew up, and he felt that his love for his daughter was not in vain.

"Hmm~! Hmm~!"

An untimely cough was heard from Lu's mother. Lu's father turned his head guiltily to look at her. When he turned his head back, his face was full of seriousness.

"Um... your pulse is a little weak, girl, try not to stay up late these days. Even if you are busy at work, try to go to bed before 10 o'clock!"

Tugou, who was used to waiting until all the programs on TV were over before going to bed, smiled awkwardly and said, "Okay, try to go to bed early, try to go to bed early!"

Father Lu glanced at her with dissatisfaction: "It's not about trying your best, it's about going to bed early... Have you been suffering from insomnia recently? Are you not as energetic as before?"

Tugou's face wrinkled into a ball, but she knew that lying to a "former barefoot doctor" with profound attainments in traditional Chinese medicine was a very stupid thing to do, so she could only nod her head: "That... maybe it's because I've been under a lot of work pressure recently. Dad, you know, I'm the quality control manager now!"

Father Lu secretly glanced at Mother Lu next to him and found that she was staring at him intently. He coughed immediately and looked at his daughter with some resentment: "This child, why are you not being honest in front of your father... Your pulse is strong and tense at the inch, but deep, thin and tight at the foot. It is obvious that you are worried, not insomnia caused by stress... Besides, your unit is so profitable and you are working so smoothly, where does all the pressure come from!?"

Student Tugou stuck out her tongue and didn't dare to argue anymore... Her father had already saved her face by not continuing to discuss the possible causes of her insomnia based on her pulse. If she didn't know what was good for her, she would definitely be humiliated.

"Hmm~!"

Lu Ma's cough was heard again, but this time there was a hint of impatience in her cough, and she was obviously dissatisfied that her man had not yet gotten to the point.

Father Lu shivered from his coughing, and gave his daughter an apologetic look. He then slightly adjusted his pulse-taking posture. After a while, he whispered uncomfortably, "Daughter, um... have you had irregular periods recently?"

Tugou blushed, glanced at his mother who looked indifferent, and said reluctantly, "A little bit."

Father Lu touched his nose and said, "Um...are you still having menstrual cramps?"

Guessing what his father would say next, Tugou nodded dejectedly: "Yes."

Father Lu smacked his lips as if he had a toothache. “Although this has something to do with the fact that you haven’t paid attention to keeping warm and have not avoided eating raw or cold food recently, from your physique, the main problem with this imbalance of yin and yang is... ahem, my girl, you’re almost twenty-one, it’s time to find a partner!”

Tugou's ears turned red and he looked at his mother with gritted teeth.

I knew that you called Dad out to check my pulse just to bring the topic to this matter.

Thinking of this, Tugou stared at his father with some resentment.

Fortunately, we had such a close relationship in the past. Not only did we sneak out to drink together in the past year, but in the past year, I even buried several bottles of good wine in the "secret base" without telling our mother. As a result, when our mother got angry, you were scared?

Please, when I came back last month, you took my pulse and checked my health as usual. You should have figured out this kind of problem a long time ago, okay? Can't we just talk about it privately? Why are you bringing it up in front of my mother at this moment... That's really mean of you!
Finally hearing what she wanted to hear from her man, Lu's mother was very proud. After snorting, she raised her chin to her daughter and said, "You heard what your father said, you will be 21 soon, it will be too late if you don't find a partner... Even if you are wild and feel that you haven't had enough fun and don't want to get married so soon, there is no problem in dating someone first, right?"

As she spoke, Lu Ma clicked her tongue and said, "Yin alone cannot produce life, Yang alone cannot grow... This is what your father often said when he was courting me when your mother was still a girl... I, your mother, have always remembered it!"

After glaring at Mr. Lu, who looked a little embarrassed, Mrs. Lu poked her daughter's forehead with her finger and said, "You're fine now, aren't you? You're just being naughty and your body is in trouble... As a girl, your health is the most important thing. If you have a lot of problems and can't even give birth to a big fat boy, who would want you!"

Tugou stared at his mother with dissatisfaction: "Mom, the workplace is different from the village. I'm busy from morning till night at work. How can I have time to date?"

As he spoke, Tugou fiddled with the two childish little buns that his mother had tied up according to the New Year paintings of the golden boy and jade girl, and straightened his neck proudly: "Mom, don't even think about finding a partner for me in the village. To be honest, even if I dare to get married, others may not dare to marry me!"

This is indeed the truth. Including Yangjia Village, several nearby villages were able to prosper last year thanks to broiler farms and direct vegetable supply, all thanks to Yang Mo and her efforts.

Faced with such a female god of wealth who holds the hopes of the entire village, who would dare to offend her?
According to some current traditions in rural areas of Qi and Lu, not daring to offend a local dog classmate means not daring to take her in as a daughter-in-law... You have to know that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has always been one of the three unsolvable problems in China. At this time, some rural areas in the north even have the tradition of giving the new daughter-in-law a sense of power.

Now, if you don't dare to show your power to your classmate, it means that you can't set rules and establish your mother-in-law's authority. In the days to come, you will definitely not be able to control the new daughter-in-law, and the whole family will definitely be in turmoil... As a son, whether he should favor his daughter-in-law or his mother is also one of the three unsolvable problems in China.

But if she dared to show off her power to classmate Tugou, given her fiery temper, she would definitely turn hostile on the spot, and might even ruin all the projects in the village. In that case, how would the mother-in-law be able to gain a foothold in the village?

Therefore, facing this situation, the best way is to simply not marry this woman, so as not to cause trouble for yourself;
And if Lu Ma insisted on finding a marriage for her daughter, the best way would be to marry Tugou off to a village where she had little influence. That way, the new mother-in-law would not be so embarrassed.

But this is also extremely difficult.

It's very simple. Among the more than 260 villages in Linyi County, how many can avoid the influence of the drilling company, directly or indirectly?
Not to mention the villages in Linyi, there are also a large number of villages in the nearby Qihe, Yucheng, Pingyuan, Shanghe and other areas that have connections with the drilling company and Xialiu Sales Agency. With the breadth of Lu Ma's network of contacts, it would be strange if she could find suitable in-laws all at once!

Thinking of this, Tugou was very proud. I am a genius for throwing this unsolvable problem to my mother!
Unexpectedly, Lu Ma sneered: "Oh? No one dares to marry you? Even the boy from Old Yang's family doesn't dare to marry you?"

The kid from the Yang family?

Yang, Yang Mo?
Student Tugou was stunned.

Mother Lu snorted, "You said you were busy with work and didn't have time to find a partner. If I remember correctly, you and Yang Mo lived in his yard for nearly a year... If you don't have time to find a partner at work, don't you have time to have a meal and chat in the same yard after work?"

"Also, although Qingfeng Food is a large company, you are a manager and a leader in the village. No one dares to give you a hard time... But after all, you are just a regular employee who has just been appointed. Yang Mo is a section chief after all. Can't he control you?"

Tugou seemed to have his lifeline nailed to him. His face suddenly turned red and he was hesitant and didn't dare to look at his mother.

Seeing this, Mother Lu waved her hand. When Father Lu retreated into the house, she curled her lips and said, "My daughter, no one knows her better than her mother. You came back with Yang Mo quite a few times last year. Do you really think I can't see what you mean to that boy?"

"Humph, look at your useless look. Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough. It's a matter of course. Why are you blushing?"

Mother Lu slapped her daughter on the head in a domineering manner: "I'm not afraid to tell you that we and the Yang family have been planning to become in-laws for more than a year or two... If it weren't for you, a scumbag, I might have even had a grandson!"

Eh, eh?

Have you been planning to beat your in-laws for a long time?

Classmate Tugou looked at his mother with a messy face.

Mother Lu sneered, "Why else do you think I agreed to let you stay at Yang Mo's house? Even if you two grew up together naked, you're grown up now. You should avoid suspicion when you're in a melon field, right?"

Tugou looked at his mother in disbelief: "Mom, was that when you had this idea?"

Mother Lu slapped her again and said, "What are you thinking? Do you think I am the kind of person who would sell my daughter just for a job? Not to mention that Yang Mo only promised to help you become a contract worker. Even if he promised to help you become a regular employee, I would never push my own daughter into a man's room!"

As she spoke, Lu Ma poked her daughter's forehead in frustration and said, "We have been neighbors with the Yang family for more than ten years, and the relationship between the two sides has always been good. In fact, as early as when you were not even sixteen years old, the two sides had the intention of becoming relatives."

"It's just that the two sides just hinted at something, and Yang Mo got his admission letter and was admitted to university. So we decided to wait a few more years until Yang Mo graduates from university... It would be best if you could also be admitted to university, so that we can have the best of both worlds... We are from the same village, and both are college students. It would be such an honor to become in-laws."

"So do you still remember that year when I took you to the county and gave you a messy haircut like that disco singer... It's not because I follow the trend, but I wanted you to study with peace of mind and get into college, and to avoid some unnecessary trouble... Who told you to look like me? You haven't even graduated from junior high school, but you look like a flower bud."

After slapping her daughter on the head for the third time, Lu Ma said bitterly, "Who knew that you, this damn girl, would not live up to your expectations at all. You can learn all those messy things quickly, but you can never understand the knowledge in the textbooks. Yang Mo was admitted to university, but you couldn't even get into high school. In the end, you had to use your connections to get you into a small technical secondary school (at that time, there were two types of technical secondary schools: small technical secondary schools and large technical secondary schools. Small technical secondary schools were technical secondary schools that you could attend after graduating from junior high school, which were roughly equivalent to technical schools and vocational high schools in later generations, but the value was much higher; large technical secondary schools were technical secondary schools that you could attend after graduating from high school. Many technical colleges in later generations were upgraded from large technical secondary schools)... It was because your father saved a lot of people when he was a village doctor before, otherwise you wouldn't have had any connections and could only get a junior high school diploma."

"What's even more infuriating is that I don't know who you, a silly girl, picked up on because of your bad temper. The older you get, the more you become bad-tempered. All you do is learn opera and fight all day long. Not only do you not behave like a girl, but you've never thought about dating... Seeing you like this, I'm both relieved and worried. I want to start talking but I don't know how to start."

At this point, Lu Ma sighed heavily: "Originally, as long as the two people have compatible personalities, it would be a good thing for a college student to marry a wife who graduated from a technical secondary school... At least they can live together in the future without being at odds with each other, right?"

"But no one expected that after Yang Mo went to college, he stayed in Quancheng except for a few days during the Spring Festival... I heard from his mother that this kid sent all the food coupons and subsidies issued by the school to his family, and he needed to work part-time during the winter and summer vacations."

"Ah~ Although filial piety is commendable, this way, you two will have no time to be alone, and the two families will have no chance to cultivate your relationship... and you, silly girl, become more and more wild as the year draws to a close. You want to run away all day long, and you won't stop even if you are called. Not only will you have less time to spend together, but when you see each other once or twice, you act so heartless, as if you treat me as a buddy;"

"Of course, the Yang family was afraid that their child would be distracted and affect Yang Mo's studies, so they didn't tell him about this. That was also an important reason... But no matter what, it's a fact that you two never had the sparks that young men and women should have in the past few years."

"As time went by, our two families' thoughts on this matter gradually faded... After all, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Yang Mo is already a college student after all, and the old Yang family never brought this matter up to him. I don't want to force you two together, lest outsiders say that our Lu family is marrying above our station."

"Later, when I saw that Yang Mo had already graduated and was interning at a drilling company, the Yang family still hadn't told him about this, and I was really annoyed... Although my daughter and her husband are a bit of a jerk, they look like top-notch talents. Do they really think that I have to cling to their college student?"

"So, at the end of last year, I was thinking about finding a new husband for you, and then you, a bastard, heard about it, stole the family passbook, and planned to run away to Qingdao to work... I was so pissed off!"

Speaking of the past, Mother Lu slapped her daughter on the head again, and then ignored Tugou's protest: "Fortunately, although the old Yang couple are a bit unkind, Yang Mo still has some conscience. When he heard that you were going to Qingdao to work, he immediately jumped out and wanted to help you solve the problem of finding a job."

"To be honest, I was actually skeptical at the time. After all, this kind of thing is a bit too presumptuous. But I think this little guy is pretty good. Although there is still no spark between young men and women in the look he gives you, I quite like his loyalty and loyalty, so I agreed... Even if I can't help you solve your work problems, it's not a bad thing for the two of us to spend time together and cultivate our relationship!"

At this point, Lu Ma snorted twice, then glared at her daughter in annoyance: "Otherwise, would I have asked you to take your two boxes of costumes and millstones with you?"

"You bastard! The costumes are for you and Yang Mo to cultivate your interest, and the millstone is for you two to make a living... You can't even see the use of this, you really make me worried to death!"

Upon hearing this, Tugou wanted to cry but had no tears: "How could I know that you meant this? It really exhausted Yangshidan and I to move all that stuff over there!"

Mother Lu looked at her with disdain: "But what I never expected was that such a beautiful girl lived under the same roof with him for a year, and when she came back at the end of the year, she was still a girl... I don't know whether Yang Mo is as slow as a log in this regard, or you, a silly girl, are so late in maturing that you still haven't figured it out!"

Tugou's face was almost bleeding, and he had no idea how to respond to his mother.

She can't say that your girl has been taken advantage of by that bastard several times unintentionally, and that Yangshidan is not as stupid as you think, right?

Seeing this, Lu Ma poked Tugou's forehead jokingly and said, "But it's okay. Your father diagnosed you like this, and I know what the problem is... Now that you have finally grown up and are finally thinking about finding a partner, the biggest problem has been solved."

"Hehe, such a beautiful girl, and you grew up together. As long as you are willing to take the initiative, even if Yang Mo is slow, I don't believe he won't be tempted!"

"As long as the paper between you two is broken, I will go to Old Yang's house and bring up the old matter... Hey~ I don't believe this marriage won't be successful!"

"Humph, although Yang Mo is getting more and more powerful now, our daughter is not bad, right? After all, she is a formal employee and a big manager. It's not unfair for her to be his wife, right?"

In the value system of the older generation of Qilu people, whether a couple is suitable or not is mainly determined by two considerations: "academic qualifications" and "establishment".

In the past, Tugou was just a junior college student, while Yang Mo was a college student. Although junior college students were very popular these days, and many people would take the initiative to apply for junior colleges after graduating from junior high school, the gap between the two was indeed quite large, so it was normal for them to be considered "unmatched";
But now, since Tugou has got a regular job, the difference in academic qualifications is no longer important. After all, in the eyes of people in Qilu, a regular job is the lens of the universe. As long as you have a regular job, you are worthy of anyone.

Seeing his mother's smug look, Tugou almost cried: "Mom, you don't know anything. Yangshidan, he, he... Oh, Yangshidan sees me as a brother, he won't be attracted to me... If you force it like this, if he doesn't have control over his words, he and I won't even be brothers in the future, how embarrassing it will be!"

For some reason, Tugou did not tell anyone about Miss Mu.

Or maybe in her heart, Yang Mo hasn't really established a relationship with Miss Mu yet, so she doesn't want to say it out loud.

But no matter what, at this moment, her heart was in a mess, with mixed feelings of shame, embarrassment, shock, joy, fear, etc.

In his confusion, Tugou forgot that he hadn't had lunch yet. He threw the bean stalks he had washed countless times into the basin, and then ran out of the door...

Seeing her daughter's panicked look, which was no different from that of someone escaping from a bridal sedan, Mother Lu curled her lips.

What does it mean that I treat you as a brother but I am not attracted to you?
I'm your mother, an experienced person. Can't I see that the way Yang Mo looked at you when he came back recently has actually changed subtly?
Cut~!

I never fight a battle that I'm not sure of winning. Do you really think I'm just randomly matching people up?

………………

After being blown by the biting northwest wind for several minutes, Tugou finally felt the heat on his face finally subside.

He looked around and found that he had accidentally walked to Yang Mo's yard again.

Hearing the shouting and yelling coming from inside, Tugou pouted.

That bastard Yang Shidan is now a section chief, and people from several nearby villages have to look at his face. I guess from the minute he returned home, there has been a constant stream of guests running to his house to ask for drinks, right?

Cut~!

This bastard, there was a fire at home, but he didn’t even bother to come over and ask her to eat together!
Thinking of this, Tugou touched his empty stomach and felt an inexplicable sense of grievance.

snort!
If you don’t want to shout, then don’t shout. Let’s go home and fry some bean sticks ourselves!

When we get back to the company, don’t even think about me cooking for you!
Just as Tugou turned around and walked towards his home angrily.

But suddenly I found that a senior section chief, wearing a dirty thick cotton jacket, was walking towards me with a sad face, dragging a small sack.

"Eh? Yangshitan, you're not drinking in the house...what are you doing?" Classmate Tugou looked at him in surprise.

Hearing this, Yang Mo waved his hands weakly: "Hey~ Don't mention it, the one-hour motherly love time is over. Based on the simple principle of not tiring the own livestock with a son, my mother sent me out to prepare straw for tomorrow's office!"

Photo hall?

Hohoho~!

You sheep dung, now you have come to this day!

Classmate Tugou covered his mouth and laughed with glee.

"Hey, Yang Shidan, I haven't had lunch yet. I'm cold and hungry. Please give me something to eat!"

Lu Yingying looked at Yang Mo in front of her with a smile...

(End of this chapter)