Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Ye Fan stepped on Geng Zhiye's foot.

Tao Chunlan was about to scold her son-in-law and tell him to stop talking. But when she saw Ye Fan's actions, she swallowed her words and thought, "He deserves it," and went out with her chopsticks and dish.

Ye Fan glared at Geng Zhiye: "Too much talk!"

Geng Zhiye muttered quietly: "It's not wrong."

"But you can't make trouble in front of my mother." Ye Fan gave him a look, and Geng Zhiye followed with the dishes.

Considering that the sun was scorching after lunch, playful children rarely went out, and not many people bought popsicles, so Chen Xiaohui went to Zhang Xiaoming's house at 2:30. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaoming was also in Xicheng, so Chen Xiaohui rode two kilometers to get there.

Chen Xiaohui and Geng Zhiqin arrived and carried popsicles on their backs through the streets. Zhang Xiaoming pulled empty boxes to the popsicle factory to buy popsicles.

The next morning, Ye Fan asked Geng Zhiye to accompany Dabao and Erbao to the Children's Palace. At about ten o'clock, Ye Fan set out for the popsicle factory. When she came back, she first went to the park, then went to Zhang Xiaoming's house to drop off four boxes. She drove the remaining three boxes to parks and scenic spots far from the city, and stopped at the gate of a temple for a few minutes.

As expected, there were still people praying in such a hot day. Ye Fan looked at the age of the guests and felt that they were students and parents taking the college entrance examination. Calculating the time, the admission letters from various universities should arrive, so it’s no wonder that the parents of students who haven’t received the letters are anxious.

The place Ye Fan found was short of popsicles and ice cream, so they were sold out before four o'clock. Ye Fan went to the popsicle factory to get three boxes, and while selling them, she went to Zhang Xiaoming's house and saw her sister-in-law and Chen Xiaohui eating watermelon at Zhang Xiaoming's house. "You two have done good business these two days."

Chen Xiaohui: "I was at the entrance of the Children's Palace, and she was at the entrance of a state-owned unit not far from the Children's Palace. Half of them were sold by noon. After lunch, we took a rest at a shady intersection, and some were bought by children in the alley. Then we just strolled around and sold them all. I think you can order a few more boxes tomorrow."

Ye Fan: "It's already the beginning of autumn, and the mornings and evenings are not as hot as before. Haven't you noticed? You can just sell for another week and then call it a day."

Chen Xiaohui motioned for her to see how hot it was outside.

Ye Fan: "Then I'll give you two another box each?"

Chen Xiaohui, on the other hand, didn't dare to ask for a box.

Ye Fan glanced at her speechlessly and turned to Geng Zhiqin and asked silently, "What about you?"
Geng Zhiqin: "We don't expect to make a living by selling popsicles, so why should we make ourselves so tired?"

Zhang Xiaoming nodded: "When I'm too tired, I think it's better to take a day off, but if I take a day off for one more box, I'll earn a few dozen less, so it's better to do this every day."

Ye Fan asked Chen Xiaohui: "Aren't you afraid of getting heat stroke and staying at home until school starts?"

After hearing this, Chen Xiaohui didn't dare to be stubborn. She shared a box of popsicles with Geng Zhiqin and went to the alley where there were many children.

Ye Fan only had two boxes in his car, and he was sure they would be sold out before the sun went down, so he wandered around the city, going wherever he went, without deliberately looking for customers. He ran into Yu Hongwei halfway, and Yu Hongwei immediately pulled over and asked, "Did Benben receive the admission letter?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "It should be soon. Which trip are you making today?"

Yu Hongwei: "My cousin is here in the morning and at noon. They are taking a break while selling popsicles at the entrance of the park. It's my turn to come out and take a look."

Many people came out of Yujia Village this year. Ye Fan was worried that Yu Wentao would get heatstroke from cooking during the dog days of summer, so he asked the people of Yujia Village to prepare their own lunch. Ye Fan asked, "Where did you eat lunch?"

In the past, Yu Wentao's brothers and nephews were reluctant to eat in the city, so Ye Fan asked them to give some money to have lunch at Ye Fan's house. Last year, when he made some money, Ye Fan was still a little worried about the frugal habits of rural people, and they would make do with lunch and get tired after a summer.

Yu Hongwei said: "My cousin brought me a bowl of noodles with soybean paste in the lunch box I used in high school."

Ye Fan nodded: "If you are well fed, you won't get sick easily."

"I know. Where is my sister-in-law going?" Yu Hongwei asked.

Ye Fan: "What about you?"

"I only have a little over one box left in the car, so just walking around will be enough."

Ye Fan said, "Let's go together. If it doesn't sell well, let's go to the factory gate and try when the workers are about to get off work."

Although it has been several days since the beginning of autumn, it is still very hot when people get off work at five or six o'clock because the densely populated urban areas are not as cool as in the countryside. Ye Fan and Yu Hongwei's popsicles were sold out in ten minutes at the factory gate.

Yu Hongwei went to the park gate in Dongcheng to pick up a few cousins ​​to go to Ye Fan's house, put down the box of popsicles and went back to the village. As soon as they left, Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe arrived home.

Ye Fan was stunned when he saw them. "Did you come directly from work?"

"No, from the train station. We're on a business trip these days." Chu Fenghe asked before Ye Fan asked where she was going: "Where are Huihui and Benben?"

Ye Fanxin said, "Are you guarding me like a thief? I know the confidentiality regulations."

"Playing in the park." Ye Fan pulled the popsicle box back from the park. The kids wanted to play for a while longer, so when Ye Fan came back he asked her mother-in-law to cook at seven o'clock.

Geng Zhihui asked: "How did Benben do on the exam?"

Ye Fan immediately wanted to complain. Why did he ask me at this time? He had brought the person to the Chu family for more than half a month last year, why didn't he ask for my opinion? "Ben Ben said it was okay."

Chu Fenghe asked: "The notice hasn't come yet?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "If you can stay at home for ten days or half a month, you two will definitely be able to see his notice."

Yu Wentao came out of the main room and said, "Wash your face and take a shower first. We can talk later if we have anything to say." Then she took a big watermelon, put it in a bucket, washed it, and cut it into four halves. She put two of the halves in the refrigerator to eat after dinner, and cut the other two halves for the couple, Geng Zhiqin, and Ye Fan to eat.

Geng Zhiqin came back earlier than Ye Fan and took a shower as soon as he got home. Yu Wentao cut the watermelon, Geng Zhiqin cleaned up the basin and towel, went to the main room to eat a bite of watermelon, and sighed comfortably.

Seeing this, Ye Fan asked, "Are you tired of going out every day?"

Geng Zhiqin used to spend a whole day in the park without feeling tired. Now she feels exhausted after riding a bike for more than ten kilometers in half a day, but she doesn't want her mother to worry: "A little bit. Maybe it's because I haven't done it before and my body is not used to it yet."

Chu Fenghe curiously asked her what she was busy with recently.

Geng Zhiqin explained that she rode her bike out to sell popsicles. Suddenly, he thought of something and mentioned that Huihui was also selling popsicles in the park this year.

Chu Fenghe frowned and asked, "Do my parents know?"

Geng Zhiqin shook his head: "I don't know."

Chu Fenghe looked thoughtful, as if she was afraid that her parents would know. Yu Wentao looked at Geng Zhiqin: Why don't you tell the truth? Geng Zhiqin handed her mother a piece of melon: "You eat it too. Is it because there is less rain this year? The melons feel sweeter than last year."

"Is it?" Yu Wentao took a bite and thought the melon was sweet, perhaps because it was a psychological effect. She asked Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe if it was sweet.

Chu Fenghe shook his head: "It's just so-so, compared to what we had before - just right, not greasy."

Ye Fan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard this. The temperature difference between day and night in the north is larger, there is less rain than in the south, and the watermelons are sweeter than in the south. If the second sister-in-law could mention "before", it must not be the northwest.

Ye Fan knew that he would not get anything out of her by asking, so he just followed her lead and said, "Eat more."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sound of footsteps approached from afar. Ye Fan knew without turning his head that the one running in the front was Geng Dabao, followed closely by Erbao, and behind Erbao was Geng Benben, who was more stable than before after the college entrance examination.

In order to confirm his guess, Ye Fan turned his head and saw that Dabao was almost at the door of the main house, and Geng Zhiye had just entered the courtyard.

Dabao jumped in and exclaimed, "Wow!" Ye Fan spoke first: "Wash your hands!"

Erbao stopped and turned to turn on the faucet in the yard, and then Dabao, who entered the house first, was the second to eat the watermelon. Erbao picked up the watermelon and took a bite before realizing that the watermelon was too big to eat, so he asked Ye Fan to cut it into small pieces.

Ye Fan cut the watermelon into four pieces horizontally. Dabao gave her a thumbs up and said, "You are worthy of being my mother." "Eat yours." Ye Fan handed a piece to Geng Zhiye who came in last.

Geng Zhihui looked at his brother for a while before coming back to his senses: "You--Aren't you in the two-year training period? The Navy doesn't want you anymore?"

Geng Zhiye rolled his eyes at him——

Do you think I'll pay attention to you?

Geng Zhihui almost choked on the watermelon. His son tried to hold back his laughter and said, "My uncle performed well in the military academy, and the head of the Capital Military Region who went to the school to select candidates found him and kept him in the capital."

Chu Fenghe couldn't help but feel happy for him, and also for his own family, because after they left, Geng Zhiye left too, and the house was full of the elderly, the weak, women and children. If Geng Huihui encountered something at school, she would have to trouble Ye Fan's family or ask the villagers for help if she didn't go to the Chu family to find someone.

As an officer, Geng Zhiye was strong and skilled in martial arts. With him at home, they could go on business trips wherever they wanted and for as long as they wanted.

Chu Fenghe: "Can you stay here for a few years?"

Geng Zhihui said: "It's not that easy to change troops. I may have to retire here."

Geng Zhiye shook his head: "That's not true. The army has more people, but the air force and navy have fewer people. If the country has more money after the reform and opening up, and expands the navy and air force and reorganizes and streamlines the army, I might make some moves."

Geng Zhiye thought about the navy's equipment, each one more expensive than the last, and it was also expensive to maintain, so it was hard to expand. Geng Zhihui wanted to tell the truth, but it seemed like he was deliberately trying to argue, so he simply said, "Let's talk about it later. If I stay in the capital, I can come back often, right?"

Geng Zhiye: “It’s not clear yet.”

Ye Fan: "Second brother, eat the watermelon first. After you finish eating, we will go to cook and you two brothers can have a good chat."

Before they finished eating, Zhang Xiaoming came over and Ye Fan asked him to come in and eat a piece of melon. Chu Fenghe thought Zhang Xiaoming wanted to see Ye Fan for something, so he urged Geng Zhihui to eat quickly and go out after eating to cool down outside.

Ye Fan smiled and said, "Xiao Ming has nothing to do. He came to drive to the countryside."

Chu Fenghe couldn't help but ask: "Aren't you married? Even after getting married, you still go to the countryside every night? Does your lover have any objections?"

Dong Ying had no choice but to accept the situation. The house she rented only had two rooms, one bedroom and a kitchen and dining room. Since the revolution had just ended when she divorced, everyone was worried about the resurgence of the revolution. The Dong family did not dare to buy her a house, and they were also worried that she would get into trouble by living in a big house, so they let her rent a small house.

The mother and daughter lived in a small house, which was very spacious. Dong Ying thought it was good. Zhang Xiaoming moved in, and Dong Ying put a curtain in the bedroom and made a small bed for her daughter. The three of them lived together, and Zhang Xiaoming didn't dare to have any thoughts about sleeping at home.

Dong Yingye mentioned moving to a new house, and Zhang Xiaoming said that he had saved some money in the past few days and would buy a house that would be spacious after cleaning it up and moving in. Dong Yingye was too lazy to move, so the family of three just made do with it.

Zhang Xiaoming was too embarrassed to tell the truth in public, so he said that his wife was reasonable and easy to talk to. Chu Fenghe knew that it was not easy for him, so he said, "Then live a good life and don't let her down."

"I know." Zhang Xiaoming threw the melon peel into the trash can, washed his hands, and went out with the gas tank to drive the car.

Chu Fenghe looked at his back and said, "It's so fast. Before, when Uncle Zhang came to Fanfan to do business, he had nothing. It hasn't been long now, and he has a house, a wife, and everything."

When Ye Fan heard the word "house", he thought about the money he had, and in the evening he discussed with Geng Zhiye about buying two stores.

Geng Zhiye: "Open a store? Can we open a store now?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "It's OK in some cities in the south, but not here."

"Then why did you buy the store?"

Ye Fan: "Sell the things grown in the village in front of the store. The house is yours, the things are yours, who can stop you from selling them? If you are not allowed to sell them in the store, then put the things in front of the store."

Geng Zhiye sighed: "You are really good at finding loopholes. Don't forget, you are a student now."

"I remember." Ye Fan said, "I am in such a hurry to make money because I want to buy a computer."

Geng Zhiye subconsciously asked: "What is it?"

"Computers." Ye Fan thought for a moment and added a few words, "Information technology."

Geng Zhiye thought about the computer course she took this semester, "Is it expensive?"

Ye Fan: "We don't have it in the mainland. If you go to Hong Kong to buy it, the cheapest one costs 10,000 or 20,000 yuan."

Geng Zhiye sat up from the bed.

Ye Fan was shocked. What happened to him?

Geng Zhiye asked in disbelief: "How much did you say?"

Ye Fan: "Ten or twenty thousand, maybe twenty or thirty thousand."

"One?" As Ye Fan nodded, Geng Zhiye took a breath, "Robbery? Isn't this more profitable than dumping that stuff into our country in the late Qing Dynasty?"

Ye Fan didn't know the current production cost of a computer, but she knew that a near-monopoly business would make money. "It should be very profitable, but it's not as fast as that thing."

Geng Zhiye pondered for a moment and said, "Ye Fan, why don't you change your major and stop studying classical Chinese. Study computers and produce computers in the future."

Ye Fan was stunned. Who of them lived an extra life? How could they dare to think more than me?

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but ask: "Is it difficult? Am I just daydreaming?"

Ye Fan shook his head subconsciously: "No - I work with computers? And I produce them myself?"

"Yes. You are from the computer department, so you must know the internal structure of the computer, right? Our country has set up several special economic zones. You can go to the special zones to buy what you need." The more Geng Zhiye talked, the more he felt that this matter was simple. However, if it was really simple, Western countries would all produce computers, and computers could not be so expensive. "Am I thinking this matter is simple?"

Ye Fan nodded: "There are some things we can't produce ourselves."

Geng Zhiye was stunned for a moment: "I, I didn't say that we should use all domestic products. We can buy and research at the same time. Many weapons in our army were developed in this way. Look, we can calculate the first mushroom egg with an abacus. A computer is not simpler than a mushroom egg, right?"

Ye Fan was moved by what he said: "I'll talk to my classmates about this when school starts?"

"Let's chat. Are all your classmates in the computer department from well-off families?"

Ye Fan nodded. In those days, rural people and even ordinary citizens in the capital had never heard of computers, let alone asking their children to apply for the exam. "Do you mean to form a partnership with your classmates?"

Geng Zhiye: "Can you handle this by yourself?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "I'm too busy. Apart from other things, the production of the shell requires one or two people to travel south to make molds."

Geng Zhiye said: "They can help you share the work, and they can also pay to help you share the risk."

Ye Fan couldn't help but stand up: "Do you really think it's okay?"

Geng Zhiye: "I don't know about others, but I feel you can do it. Ye Fanfan, it's not like you to be so unconfident."

(End of this chapter)