Struggle Life in the 1970s

Chu Ye didn't care about the rumors in the village.

In her previous life, she was in the Zhao family, watching Zhao Xuesong squander the family fortune. As a woman, she struggled to keep the family together. Wasn't there more gossip in the village back then than now? But she managed to get through it.

Moreover, she also knew that apart from those who sincerely wished you well, the others were just there to watch the fun and casually agree with her. After all, it was not their family's day, so who would really care?
Chu Ye put his thoughts aside and went to work in the fields or to the mountains as usual. He also followed Brother Jianwen to the town from time to time. After a while, he earned another five dollars.

Up to now, she has made a total of fifteen yuan from selling things. Although it is not much, at least she has money and is confident.

Chu's father and mother naturally knew about her making money, and they had no objections. After all, once Chu Ye was admitted to a technical secondary school, the government would waive her tuition and accommodation fees, and she would also receive a living allowance every month. It could be said that she could study without spending a penny at home, and when she graduated and had a job, she could help the family. The old couple were naturally very happy.

Faced with the rumors in the village, Chu Ye was not affected at all. Just then, the appearance of a postman broke the situation.

It was an afternoon in mid-July. A man riding a green bicycle and wearing green work clothes knocked on the gate of the Chu family.

But the result is obvious. Everyone in the village is harvesting wheat in the fields. Even the elderly and children want to help during the busy farming season.

In the past, postmen also delivered letters to the village. When no one was at home, they would slip the letter through the crack of the door so that the recipient could see it when he opened the door when he got home.

But he couldn't do that today. The postman glanced at the envelope in his hand, which showed that the sender was from Tongyang Normal School, the best technical secondary school in the city.

He knew that this was an acceptance letter. Unlike previous letters, it could not be casually stuffed into the crack of the door, but had to be formally handed over to the recipient.

He glanced at the name above and rode his bike to the field asking for directions.

When the Chu family was sweating profusely from working in the fields, a fellow villager with quick legs and feet had already arrived first. With a beaming smile on his face, he shouted from a distance, "Old Chu, hurry up, there is good news in your family."

When the family of four looked up, they saw a green figure slowly appearing on a rugged goat path. Then they saw the figure riding a bicycle slowly towards them, holding the handlebars steadily.

Chu Ye unconsciously put down the sickle in his hand, stared with his eyes wide open, beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his forehead into his eyes, the salty taste stung his eyes and hurt.

But she didn't dare rub her eyes, her heart was pounding, anticipating that what was going to happen next was exactly what she had been waiting for.

Sure enough, the postman followed the direction pointed by the villagers and arrived accurately in front of the Chu family. Since the postman could not figure out the direction and asked along the way, he naturally attracted a lot of people to follow him. At this time, many villagers were standing in the fields, all craning their necks to see what was going on.

The postman glanced around and finally his eyes fell on Chu Ye. The little girl was wearing a short-sleeved shirt made of blue cloth and a straw hat. Her face was sunburned and her hair was wet with sweat on her forehead, but her eyes were unusually bright, as if filled with stars.

He walked up to Chu Ye, confirmed his identity, took out a letter from the green cloth bag hanging from the back seat of the car, and handed it to him solemnly, "This is your admission letter."

He smiled and said, "Little girl, keep it well. You will need to read it when you report."

Chu Ye lowered her head and happened to see the sender on the letter. This was exactly the school she wanted to go to. When something she had been thinking about for a long time came true, she felt a sense of unreality.

There was solid, thick soil under my feet, but it felt like I was stepping on cotton and my whole body felt light.

She couldn't hear what the villagers around her were discussing, nor could she see the expressions of Chu's father and mother. She only felt her own heart beating strongly.

The time seemed so long as if two lifetimes had passed, yet so short as if only one second had passed.

Seeing her in a daze, Chu Guangyao touched her gently, and then took it with a pair of hands covered with many tiny bloodstains. Chu Ye smiled brightly, "I will keep it well, thank you."

After the postman left, Chu Ye was not in a hurry to open the letter. Instead, he folded it and placed it neatly on the top of his shirt.

The sound of family members happily talking to others was heard in his ears. Those who had originally predicted that Chu Ye would fail the exam did not dare to say anything discouraging at this moment. Chu's father was also surrounded by several people, who praised him for being blessed.

Until the end of the working day, people kept coming to congratulate us. We were all from the same village, so any news would spread quickly.

In the evening, Chu Ye went to the educated youth compound after dinner. She had thought that now that Mu Jiajun had moved to the second floor, she would meet many people when she walked over. However, when she arrived at the iron gate, she saw Mu Jiajun and Sister Deng standing under the tree full of green willow branches.

The two of them were originally looking over here, and when they saw Chu Ye coming, Sister Deng waved hurriedly and then quickly walked over to greet him.

"Sister Deng, why are you outside?" Chu Ye also hurried over, and her quick walk turned into a jog until she held Sister Deng's hand. Then she looked behind her and saw Mu Jiajun walking slowly towards her.

She hesitated, looked at their smiling eyes, and said, "Are you two waiting for me?"

"See, I told you she's very smart." Mu Jiajun also walked up to her and did not answer the question directly, but his words verified her guess.

Sister Deng smiled and looked at Chu Ye, her eyes full of pride. "In the evening, we heard that you received the admission letter today. We guessed that you would come over in the evening, so we waited for you outside. We didn't expect you to really come." Sister Deng was really happy for her and even wanted to applaud her.

Hearing this, a warm feeling flowed through Chu Ye's heart. She reached into her pocket and took out the envelope.

The envelope was intact, as if it had not been opened. Chu Ye said, "I want to open it with you."

However, the roadside was obviously not a good place to open the envelope, so Mu Jiajun led the two to his room on the second floor.

The layout inside was no different from the previous room in the kitchen, except that the roof had just been repaired and light bulbs could not be installed for the time being, so he had been using the desk lamp on the table for lighting.

A warm yellow light lit up in the room, shining on the faces of the three people. Chu Ye took the envelope, and under the encouraging gazes of the two people, he carefully tore open a corner, and then took out a piece of white paper inside.

Then it slowly unfolded, and three furry heads came closer, staring at the black words on it for a long time. Chu Ye felt a pair of warm hands around her shoulders. She turned her head and saw Sister Deng's eyes full of joy.

In her ears, it was Mu Jiajun's voice, "Congratulations, you passed the exam."

-

The next morning, Chu's father gave Chu Ye a meat ticket with two kilograms of meat on it and asked her and Jianwen to go to the town to exchange it for meat.

In the afternoon, Chu's mother did not go to work, but processed pork at home. In the evening, Chu's father invited nearby neighbors to his house for dinner, saying that it was to celebrate Chu Ye's admission to school.

Chu Ye specifically asked Chu's father, and then called Sister Deng and Mu Jiajun over.

As evening approached, about ten people sat in the Chu family's yard. The village chief also came over after hearing the news and said a few words of congratulations with everyone.

Chu's mother made hand-rolled noodles, cut the pork into small pieces, and then cut the carrots and potatoes into cubes to make the sauce.

Everyone who comes to eat is given a bowl of noodles with a spoonful of sauce, which they stir with chopsticks. The noodles are wrapped in finely chopped meat. For rural people who can only eat meat a few times a year, this meal is considered to be full of sincerity.

When receiving guests, they were served first. Chu Ye personally served the two bowls to Sister Deng and Mu Jiajun. At the end, he was called over by the village chief.

At this time, everyone had just picked up their rice bowls, and a pleasant aroma of meat filled the yard. The village chief pulled Chu Ye into the crowd. Everyone obviously understood that he had something to say, so they put down their chopsticks and listened quietly.

"Well... I'll just say a few words to excuse my delay." The village chief patted Chu Ye's shoulders twice and continued, "This little girl from the Chu family has grown up under everyone's watch. She has been a good student since she was young, and now she has been admitted to a technical secondary school."

"Everyone knows that after graduating from technical secondary schools, the government will assign jobs to them, so they won't have to worry about food and clothing in the future. Old Zhao in our village talks about his eldest son every day. He did the same thing. He stayed in the city to work after graduation."

The Old Zhao that the village chief mentioned lives at the entrance of the village, very close to the village chief's home. His eldest son has been a good student since he was young. A few years ago, he was admitted to a technical secondary school in mechanical and electrical engineering and started working after graduation. Because of this, Old Zhao always talks about his son in public and in private, and everyone in the village knows about this.

Being stared at by more than a dozen pairs of eyes, Chu Ye smiled with pursed lips, feeling a little embarrassed.

The village chief praised him a few more times, then pulled Chu's father in front of the crowd, praising him for his good parenting. Faced with so many people's flattery, Chu's father was in a good mood and soon started chatting with them. Chu Ye took the opportunity to slip back to the main hall.

By the stove in the main hall, Chu's mother handed a large bowl of noodles to Chu Guangyao, and then took out a bowl from her room. In it was half a bowl of minced meat, fried until golden and with a meaty aroma.

Chu's mother poured all the minced meat into Chu Guangyao's bowl, scooped a large spoonful of the sauce, and then urged him not to go out and to finish eating here.

Chu Ye came over and saw this scene. She lowered her eyes and said nothing. Chu's mother was used to treating Chu Guangyao specially, so she didn't think there was anything wrong with this. Instead, she took the bowl, scooped up two chopsticks of noodles, poured the sauce on it, and asked Chu Ye to eat it.

She didn't have any objection, but Chu Guangyao, who was sitting, didn't agree. Seeing Chu Ye was about to leave with the bowl, he stood up and pulled Chu Ye over. The two of them went into the inner room together. After walking two steps, he turned around and said to Chu's mother, "Mom, my fourth sister and I will go to her room to eat so that others won't see us."

When they got to the house, they sat on the edge of the bed. Chu Guangyao took the rice bowl and used chopsticks to divide most of the minced meat into Chu Ye's bowl.

Chu Ye looked stunned and puzzled. It had been several months since Chu Guangyao last gave her something, and they had seldom seen each other during this period.

Chu Guangyao usually has to go to school and can only go home once every two weeks. Chu Ye often goes to the educated youth compound for study, and the most common time they meet is at the dining table.

During these few months, Chu Ye could feel that Chu Guangyao always wanted to get close to her. Take the past few days for example, when Chu Ye had collected the wheat ears in the field and tied them into a large bundle and was about to move it to a nearby place, Chu Guangyao saw it and hurried over to take over. He forcefully took the bundle from Chu Ye's hands and left.

(End of this chapter)