Struggle Life in the 1970s

A voice rang in my ear, "Fourth sister, this is to celebrate your admission to school. You should eat more."

After saying that, Chu Guangyao lowered his head and stirred the noodles in the bowl in silence.

To be honest, he couldn't figure out what his mentality was. It seemed that he had thought about more in the past few months than in the previous ten years combined.

In the past, when Chu's mother specially left something for him, he would take it naturally, because he had been like this since he was a child, and he didn't notice anything wrong.

But one day, his sister suddenly changed. She stopped caring about him, became obsessed with studying, and even hid her food.

From then on, he began to slowly think about the reasons for his sister's changes, and began to see clearly how his sister was living at home. Then he was shocked to realize the difference in treatment between him and Chu Ye.

After discovering this fact, he felt extremely helpless again.

Chu's mother was only thinking about his own good, and he couldn't hurt her feelings in vain. But once he accepted it, he would be hurting Chu Ye in disguise. Although Chu Ye had never expressed dissatisfaction with such things, he could vaguely feel Chu Ye's depressed mood at home.

He didn't want this sister who had grown up with him to become estranged from him. All he could do was to repay her as much as possible in a place where his parents couldn't see.

He lowered his head to eat noodles, but at this moment, another bowl came over, and a pair of small hands holding chopsticks pushed some of the meat foam in the bowl back.

When they looked again, the two bowls had the same amount of minced meat. Chu Guangyao raised his head, his mouth bulging. Chu Ye reached out and touched his head. In Chu Guangyao's eyes widened in disbelief, she gently said, "Let's each have half, eat."

-

The notice says school will start at the end of August.

There is still more than a month left. Apart from the feeling of unreality when she first received the notice, she will devote herself to earning work points and money in the days that follow.

It was a hot summer day, but Chu Ye never dared to stop. The running around for days made her tanned even darker, like a small black grape. When she opened her mouth to speak, her white teeth could be seen.

During this period, she would go to the educated youth compound whenever she had time to talk with Sister Deng and Mu Jiajun, and the friendship between the three of them became increasingly close.

The relationship between her and Chu Guangyao was not as cold as before, but all of this was maintained unilaterally by Chu Guangyao. Later, Chu's mother was partial to him several times and gave him the good food, which he directly divided into four parts, and each family member got one.

After this happened a few times, Chu's mother felt a little embarrassed. In addition, Chu Ye was now admitted to school and would have a job in the future, so the family would definitely rely on her, so she didn't dare to do this openly anymore.

Sister Nianci next door's belly was getting bigger and bigger. She didn't eat much because of the hot weather. Seeing this, Brother Jianwen went to the town many times to buy seafood for her. This cost a lot of the family's money. Although Aunt Wang didn't show it on her face, she felt a little uncomfortable.

Just then, after dinner in the evening, Aunt Wang came home to chat, and somehow she brought up this matter.

"Oh, you don't know, just this food has cost our family this much." Under the light, Aunt Wang made a gesture, and there was a glittering number six.

In other words, since Sister Nianci became pregnant, the family has spent at least sixty dollars.

You have to know that at that time, a young person who just started working only earned a dozen yuan a month, not to mention in the countryside, where the whole family relies on farming for a living, and the income is pitifully low.

In addition, Uncle Wang had passed away many years ago, and Aunt Wang had to raise the two children alone. Jianwen's sister married and moved to another place early in her life and rarely came back, so there were only her and Jianwen left at home.

Fortunately, Brother Jianwen grew up, was filial, and worked hard. He saved some money for the family and married such a good wife. However, now that his daughter-in-law is pregnant, they spend a lot on food every day.

"You said that when we were pregnant before, we ate whatever was available at home and continued to work in the fields after eating. People nowadays are not as healthy as we were back then."

Aunt Wang complained casually, but in fact she didn't have any bad intentions, she just felt sorry for the family's money.

She is a woman who has raised two children. She has always worked her best in the hope of getting more work points. Her family used to be poor, but fortunately, her neighbors were all good people who helped her get to where she is today. She now cherishes the money she earns more and more.

But conflicts between people often start small. At first, they are thought to be trivial matters that can be tolerated. But then trivial matters accumulate and eventually break out completely in a quarrel. Both parties then express their dissatisfaction, and the words they say become sharp swords that pierce each other's hearts.

Mother Chu was about to agree with her, but was interrupted by Chu Ye's sudden voice. The little girl said softly, "Aunt, when I was talking to Sister Nianci a few days ago, she said that you treated her like your own daughter and treated her very well. She felt that marrying Brother Jianwen was the right choice."

"Oh, look at what nonsense she is saying. Once she marries into our family, she will be our daughter." When Aunt Wang heard Chu Ye's words, her complaining mood disappeared. She took Chu's mother's hand and started to talk about all the good things about Nianci.

Chu Ye was not lying. Nianci did praise Aunt Wang in front of her. Nianci knew that she had spent a lot of money since she became pregnant, but she couldn't control her morning sickness and loss of appetite. In addition, Brother Jianwen also cared for her. When he saw that Nianci was not feeling well, he often looked for delicious food in town. As a result, money was spent like water.

Nianci was also afraid that her mother-in-law would have opinions, so she treated Aunt Wang like her own mother. However, this family was reserved and didn't like to express themselves. They hid their love in their ordinary actions and didn't say it out loud.

"Aunt, do you think Sister Nianci is carrying a boy or a girl this time?" Chu Ye asked in a puzzled manner.

Women in the village who have given birth to many children are very experienced in this regard. They can guess whether the baby is a boy or a girl just by looking at the condition of the pregnant woman during pregnancy. Although it may not be accurate, many people are willing to make a guess.

"I think it's a little girl, preferably one who is as fair and skinned as Nianci." When Aunt Wang mentioned this, her eyes curved a little, and she looked like she was ready to be a grandmother.

"Wow! How long will it take before the baby is born?" Chu Ye continued to ask.

"It should be the end of October. You will be in school by then. By the time you come back, the baby will be a few months old." Aunt Wang was very happy and welcomed the new life that was about to come into the family.

The day before yesterday, Nianci went to the health center for a check-up. Aunt Wang accompanied her. After the check-up, the doctor told her the expected date of delivery and said that Nianci had been in good health recently and the baby sounded healthy too.

"That's great! When Sister Nianci gives birth in the hospital, you will become a grandmother." Chu Ye clapped her hands and said happily. She also deliberately mentioned that she wanted to give birth in the hospital to see Aunt Wang's attitude.

As expected, after she finished speaking, Aunt Wang's eyes froze and her face darkened. "Going to the hospital to give birth? It will cost a lot of money. Then we can ask a midwife to come to our house and give birth to the baby in a short time."

All women in the village give birth at home. No one goes to the hospital, which wastes time and money. She thought Nianci knew about it, but she didn't expect that Nianci was determined to give birth in the hospital.

That won’t work. There’s no need to be so troublesome to have a baby.

Aunt Wang turned her head and asked Chu Ye, "Did Nianci tell you this?"

She wanted to know if this was Nianci's idea. If so, she had to persuade her to stop.

Chu Ye pretended to be stunned, then quickly waved his hands to explain, "This is just my own guess. I thought that Sister Nianci was an educated youth from the city, and it was her first time to give birth. Besides, her health was not that good to begin with, so she would suffer less if she gave birth in the hospital."

Seeing Aunt Wang's expression relax, as if she had heard it, Chu Ye continued, "After all, this is the first child in the family, so it's never too much to be safe. Sister Nianci will suffer less, and you and Brother Jianwen will be happy too."

“But...” Aunt Wang felt that what Chu Ye said made sense, but she couldn’t get over the hurdle in her heart.

All the women in the village, including herself, gave birth at home alone, lying on the bed and gritting their teeth to give birth to the baby. Then there were female relatives who helped to deal with the blood, and that was the end of the matter.

If a midwife can be hired at home, delivery can be more efficient and the pregnant woman can give birth quickly.

She had originally thought of asking a midwife to come over, but now seeing Chu Ye's suggestion to go directly to the hospital, no woman in the village would go to the hospital to give birth.

But on the other hand, what Chu Ye said made sense. Nianci's physique was not as good as those of them who had been working in the fields since childhood. Moreover, the production situation varies from person to person. Once it starts, it will be like one foot in the gate of hell, which is extremely risky.

As Aunt Wang thought about it, she felt more and more that this was a big deal and needed to be discussed carefully. She couldn't sit still here, so she said goodbye to Chu's mother and hurried home.

Chu's mother couldn't keep her, and after Aunt Wang left, she looked at Chu Ye with complicated eyes, as if she thought Chu Ye shouldn't talk too much, and seemed surprised that Chu Ye could think of so much. But in the end, she didn't ask anything and told Chu Ye to go to bed early.

Chu Ye didn't know what Aunt Wang said after she went back. But when he saw Aunt Wang again the next day, she looked cheerful and casual again, as if no worries could trap her heart. Sister Nianci held her belly and smiled as she held Aunt Wang's arm. They had a good relationship like a real mother and daughter. In contrast, the taciturn Brother Jianwen looked like an outsider son-in-law.

Seeing this situation, Chu Ye felt relieved. In her previous life, Sister Nian Ci had poor health and was delayed in pregnancy, so the child was eventually dead at birth. This created a rift between her and Brother Jianwen, which eventually led to a breakup.

I hope that in this life, they can avoid misfortunes and have a good ending.

The summer ended with the sounds of frogs and cicadas. Chu Ye went to the black market a few more times, but did not pick anything special. She only managed to earn four dollars. She carefully put the money she had earned throughout the summer into a cloth bag and even sewed a small pocket in it. Then she continued to pack her bag with a pair of tanned hands, checking if there was anything she had missed.

Tomorrow morning, she will report to school and start her new life.

(End of this chapter)