Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Geng Zhihui was speechless.

Chu Fenghe felt pain in his chest and head, and it hurt everywhere. "No, Benben, do you know what it means to go to military school?"

Geng Benben: "Bleeding and sacrificing!"

Geng Zhihui threw the notice on the table and said, "You are lucky to have shed blood and sacrificed your life. At the very least, you will be bedridden for three months, and at the worst, you will be paralyzed, missing arms and legs, and become blind and deaf! Do you want to live like this for the rest of your life?"

Geng Benben rolled his eyes: "If I go to Normal University, I can live safely until old age? What if I go to school today, sleep on the upper bunk, and fall down and die in the middle of the night?"

Geng Zhihui opened his mouth and said, "...Don't argue!"

"You are the first to argue! This is not the Anti-Japanese War. The number of soldiers who die every year is less than that killed by criminals." Geng Benben asked, "Everyone else is fine, but I am. It's either because I neglected training or I'm unlucky. In the former case, I deserve to be injured because I am not as skilled as others. In the latter case, I just accept my fate!"

Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe were both speechless.

Geng Benben hadn't been to the park recently, nor had he played table tennis at the Children's Palace. Every day he either stayed at home or went to Zhang's house for a while, for fear that the postman would come and not find him. Therefore, he felt very uncomfortable.

Now that the notice had finally arrived, Geng Benben took a saltwater popsicle from the refrigerator and walked out. Geng Zhihui hurriedly asked, "Where are you going? I haven't finished talking yet."

Geng Benben rolled his eyes and turned around, "I'm going to the park to help my sister sell popsicles. Keep talking, isn't my mom here? Let my mom hear it." After saying that, he strode out.

Geng Zhihui was so angry that he was speechless. He finally managed to utter a word, but before he could finish, Geng Benben had disappeared from his sight. Geng Zhihui was so angry that he pointed at the empty door and asked Chu Fenghe: "Does he have me in his eyes?"

Chu Fenghe was also very angry, with a wooden face: "Probably not."

"It's all Aunt Yu's fault!" Geng Zhihui said.

Chu Fenghe subconsciously looked outside and realized that there was no one else at home. He breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't talk about Aunt Yu. Aunt Yu doesn't have the courage to support him to apply for military school."

Geng Zhihui: "That's Lao San and Ye Fan."

Chu Fenghe nodded: "With their support, Benben has nothing to worry about. But if Benben doesn't want to do it, no matter how much they say, it's useless." He paused, "To put it bluntly, my son still has the most ideas."

"I was—"

"Did you have time or I have time like Ye Fan does now to supervise Dabao and Erbao's studies, and even have time to accompany the two children to the Children's Palace, visit the Forbidden City and climb Xiangshan Hill?" Things had come to this point and there was no point in Chu Fenghe getting angry. He persuaded himself to accept it while persuading Geng Zhihui.

Geng Zhihui was speechless.

Chu Fenghe sighed.

Geng Zhihui knew she was upset when he saw this, so he stopped talking nonsense and asked, "What should we do now?"

Chu Fenghe: "Zhang's younger brother is in the same school as him. There is also a direct train from the capital to the school, so we don't have to worry about the journey. The third brother knows what can and cannot be brought to the army, and he is better at packing than us. We will leave in a few days."

Geng Zhihui couldn't believe it: "We - in a few days?"

Chu Fenghe: "Or wait to be scolded at home?"

The eldest son of the Geng family lived thousands of miles away from the capital. Yang Mengxia was worried about her son going back alone because it was too far away, so she naturally couldn't scold his second brother. Geng Zhiye, as a younger brother, couldn't scold his older brother either. Yu Wentao was a stepmother and didn't have the confidence to scold Geng Zhihui, so Chu Fenghe was referring to her parents.

Geng Zhihui asked "what to do" because his father-in-law and mother-in-law thought that Geng Benben had applied to either the National Normal University or Renmin University, or at worst, the Forestry University, which was in the capital and would have a stable job after graduation. If they knew that Geng Benben was going to a military academy, the old couple would be so angry that they would not be able to eat for three days.

When Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe arrived at the Chu family, the Chu family said that the old couple had not eaten for three days because they were so angry with Ye Fan.

Older people can't stand not eating for a day, let alone three days. Chu Fenghe thought it was an exaggeration, but seeing that her parents were indeed angry, she followed their lead and blamed Ye Fan for being immature.

This time it has nothing to do with Ye Fan. Chu Fenghe is embarrassed to pull Ye Fan out to take the blame, but he also doesn't want to be scolded, so he can only stay as far away from him as possible.

Chu Fenghe asked again: "Should we tell them now that Benben's notice has arrived?"

Geng Zhihui's face changed slightly, and he wanted to go back to work immediately after hearing this: "I haven't cleaned up my house much, so my clothes and quilts are going moldy. I'll go back and clean up in a few days before returning to work."

Chu Fenghe thought, you are still good at finding excuses. The capital is so dry that clothes and quilts will not get moldy even if they are not exposed to the sun for three years.

"Then in a few days?" Chu Fenghe asked.

Geng Zhihui wanted to stay at home for a few more days. The food at home was delicious, life was convenient, he didn't have to think about work all day, his nerves were relaxed, and he wouldn't be woken up by any noise at night. It was comfortable and free.

But when he thought about his father-in-law and mother-in-law who were 70 years old, and that he had to deal with them neither lightly nor seriously, and that he had to endure whatever they said, Geng Zhihui felt annoyed. He took a long vacation every six months, and it was not to come back to suffer. So Geng Zhihui wanted to go back earlier.

Be indecisive and let God decide.

Geng Zhihui asked Chu Fenghe to write two slips of paper. If he chose one of the two, there was a 5% chance that he would get the shorter time. That was fate. He opened the slip of paper and saw "" written on it. Geng Zhihui decided: "I will go home in four days."

Chu Fenghe: "Huihui and Benben still have some time before school starts. Can we ask them to stay over there for a few days?"

Geng Zhihui asked: "Is Huihui willing to give up her small business?"

The popsicle business in the park will last until around August 20th, just like last year. Huihui has time to go to the staff quarters of her parents' unit, but Geng Huihui doesn't want to go.

Before dinner, Geng Huihui was eating tomatoes with Dabao and Erbao in the yard. Chu Fenghe mentioned this matter, and Geng Huihui replied that she would read books as soon as her popsicle business was over, and she planned to pursue a master's degree - her aunt said that a high degree of education would bring good pay.

Ye Fan was in the kitchen at the moment, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but say, "It's up to you whether you want to go or not, don't bother me."

Geng Huihui curled her lips and said directly: "No!"

Chu Fenghe was not surprised at all: "The uncles and aunts in the family compound asked you how you were doing a few days ago. They missed you. Are you really not going?"

Geng Huihui was unfamiliar with them, so she was being attentive to them for no reason: "Are you trying to introduce me to someone?"

Chu Fenghe choked.

It's just because most people asked casually, and those who really wanted Geng Huihui to go back wanted to help her find someone.

Geng Huihui rolled her eyes when she saw this: "I'm only eighteen, eighteen years old! What are you thinking about? Let's talk about this ten years later!"

Geng Zhihui's expression changed: "How many years?"

"Ten years, what's wrong with that? You got married at the age of 25, and my uncle got married at the age of 28. Wouldn't it be just right for me to be 28 in ten years?" Geng Huihui looked towards the main room. "My aunt is 26 this year and still has no partner. Instead of worrying about me, you might as well pay more attention to your sister."

Geng Zhiqin hurried out of the room: "Just talk about you, why are you dragging me into this?"

Geng Zhiye was helping Ye Fan in the kitchen. He frowned when he heard his sister's tone and asked in a low voice, "Why is Xiaoqin so afraid that we would know?"

As luck would have it, Yu Wentao came in to see if she needed help. She wanted to ask directly, but when she turned around, she saw Geng Zhiqin rolling his eyes at Geng Huihui. She was afraid that Geng Zhiqin would retort before she could finish her words, so she simply asked Ye Fan in a low voice: "Old Third, what do you mean?"

The couple was startled, and Ye Fan almost cut his hand: "When did you come?"

Yu Wentao looked at Geng Zhiye. Geng Zhiye immediately understood: "When I was talking about Xiaoqin?" No wonder he didn't notice, it turned out that he had just arrived. Geng Zhiye said helplessly: "It doesn't mean anything."

Yu Wentao: "I'm not deaf yet!"

Geng Zhiye nudged Ye Fan with his elbow: Confess?
Ye Fan asked her mother-in-law to come in first and block the light at the door. When Yu Wentao came in, she stared at her and Geng Zhiye. Geng Zhiye saw that he couldn't fool her, so he explained that he and Ye Fan were not sure. They only knew that Zhang Xiaozhi was going on a blind date in the park, and the boys wanted to help Zhang Xiaodi test his brother-in-law. As a result, they saw Geng Zhiqin chatting with a gay man in the park. The gay man was Xiaoqin's colleague.

Yu Wentao exclaimed: "This is nothing?!"

Geng Zhiqin quickly went to the kitchen door: "What's wrong?"

Yu Wentao wanted to ask her, but Ye Fan took the lead and said, "It's okay. You can wash your hands now. There is one dish left. Let's eat after it's cooked."

Geng Zhiqin thought her mother had done something again and her sister-in-law scolded her mother. In this situation, Geng Zhiqin was too lazy to get involved and told her nephews and nieces to wash their hands.

Yu Wentao lowered her voice and asked, "Why don't you let me ask?"

Ye Fan: "It's not even a stroke of luck, why are you asking? What if they've already separated?"

"How do you know they've broken up?" Yu Wentao asked.

Ye Fan stepped back to let Geng Zhiye cook. She washed her hands and said, "Remember a few days ago I asked you to walk around the park more often and keep an eye on the hooligans so that they wouldn't bully the old men and women selling popsicles and Huihui? I was actually hoping you'd run into Xiaoqin and that gay man. But—" she glanced at her and said, "Dabao ran into them once in a while. You went there every day and didn't run into them. Either they broke up or you're just unlucky."

Yu Wentao always thought that Ye Fan was mainly worried about hooligans bullying Geng Huihui, and even thought about saying that there were people from this alley in the park where Geng Huihui sold popsicles, so he needed to take the popsicles from Ye Fan and not watch outsiders bully Huihui.

"Why don't you just say it? If I had known, I would have waited for you in the park." Yu Wentao muttered softly.

Ye Fan: "You stood guard at the park entrance to make sure Xiao Qin wouldn't see you, and then hid far away before you could find her?"

Yu Wentao was unsure: "This damn kid is still sneaking around when dating someone. Annoying, is that comrade's family the same as Zhang's? His looks and height are similar to Zhang Xiaoming's, and Xiaoqin is worried that I won't agree?"

"You think too much. Her brothers are so tall, how could she like a short guy? It's not like she was abused by her brothers when she was a child and they dare not find someone taller than her." Ye Fan wiped his hands.

Yu Wentao: "Then will I still go to the park?"

Ye Fan nodded: "Nowadays, people talk about free love. If you ask too many questions, she will get annoyed. It's better to catch her in the act!"

Yu Wentao couldn't help but frown: "It's troublesome! I should have arranged a blind date for her!"

Ye Fan: "It's not like ten years ago. If you don't get married or join the army, you have to go to the countryside to farm. Besides, Xiaoqin couldn't go to college back then. Now he has a job and confidence, so it's strange that he would listen to you!"

Geng Zhiye put the scrambled eggs with green peppers into a bowl, cleaned the pot, put the kettle on the stove, closed the stove halfway, and asked Ye Fan to serve the dishes.

Ye Fan picked up a bowl of food with chopsticks: "Would you like to eat first?"

Yu Wentao was upset and waved her hands, saying that she was not hungry.

Ye Fan frowned. What was she doing?

Yu Wentao turned her back to Ye Fan and didn't notice that she looked unhappy, so she walked out directly. Chu Fenghe couldn't help but ask, "Aunt Yu, why are you going out if you're not going to eat?"

"I'm not hungry!" Yu Wentao spat out two words and continued walking out.

Chu Fenghe quickly wiped his hands and went to the kitchen, asking, "Fanfan, did you scold her? It's almost time for dinner, can't we talk about it after dinner?"

Geng Zhiye: "Second sister-in-law is often rated as an advanced individual, right?"

Chu Fenghe was stunned: "No. Why are you asking this suddenly?"

Geng Zhiye said: "You are so eloquent and you know how to draw inferences from one example. You must be outstanding at work. If you don't select me as an advanced individual, who will?"

"..." Chu Fenghe suddenly felt that he was breathing out more than breathing in, "I can't be so weird without you!"

Geng Zhiye raised his eyebrows: "So this is called yin and yang? Thank you, second sister-in-law, for telling me."

Chu Fenghe was full of energy and turned around to walk out.

Ye Fan glared at Geng Zhiye and took the dishes to the main room.

Geng Huihui came over to serve the dishes and saw this scene. She suppressed her laughter and said, "Uncle, you are still good at speaking."

Geng Zhiye said: "I don't know who your mother learned to be so self-righteous and likes to be smart."

Geng Zhihui heard the "sarcastic voice" outside the door and wanted to come in and say something, but he felt that his brother would say he learned this from him, so he simply went to the main room and wait for food.

Geng Zhiye unplugged the phone and took the rice cooker to the kitchen.

Dabao opened the pot lid and asked, "Brother Leilei, how much do you want?"

"Let me do it." People in the southwest eat rice, and Geng Leilei is used to eating rice, so when they buy Northeast rice, Ye Fan or Yu Wentao will steam the rice. If they can't finish it, they will put it in the refrigerator to make fried rice with egg. Dabao and Erbao like to eat fried rice with egg.

Geng Leilei has a big appetite, but he doesn't dare to take too much, for fear that his brothers and sisters won't have enough to eat. When he sees his uncle carrying a basket of steamed buns in, Geng Leilei fills a bowl with it.

There were many people at home, so they had two tables to eat. One table was for the younger generation, and one table was for Ye Fan, Geng Zhiqin, Geng Zhihui and others. While eating steamed buns, Geng Zhiqin asked, "Third sister-in-law, what happened to my mother?"

Ye Fan: "I think you are disobedient."

"I-I didn't do anything today." Geng Zhiqin asked again, "Am I not sensible enough? I'm earning money from the school and still selling popsicles."

Geng Zhihui: "Maybe they dislike you as a teacher selling things on the streets."

Geng Zhiye turned to his brother and said, "You're not hungry either, are you?" The implication was, otherwise why can't steamed buns fill your mouth.

Geng Zhihui almost choked on the steamed bun.

Ye Fan glared at Geng Zhiye and said nothing more! Then he turned around and said to the next table, "Huihui, go get a plate and leave some food for your grandma and your mom."

Upon hearing this, Geng Zhihui went to the kitchen to get a bowl, took half a bowl of vegetables for himself, and went out to eat with a steamed bun.

Geng Zhiye frowned upon seeing this: "What a mistake!"

Ye Fan: "He is worried about his second sister-in-law going out to check."

"Take your bowl and go out to eat this morning." Geng Zhiye looked across the table, "Huihui, your dad has this habit of squatting against the wall. Don't your grandma and grandpa scold him?"

Geng Huihui: "He didn't dare to squat and eat with a bowl in his hand at his grandparents' house."

Geng Zhiye nodded: "I don't think he would dare to do that."

Geng Huihui: "So what happened to grandma?"

Ye Fan: "Your grandma may not be hungry. How about you go out and take a look?"

Geng Huihui put some vegetables in the rice and went out with the bowl to find her grandmother. When she got to the door, she saw her grandmother chatting with Aunt Li at the door. She guessed that her grandmother was not really hungry.

When she got close, Geng Huihui opened her eyes wide in shock and almost screamed. Realizing that there were neighbors around, Geng Huihui whispered, "Is my aunt looking for a date?"

Yu Wentao was so engrossed in chatting that she didn't notice her. She was startled when she heard her words: "Why did you come out instead of eating in the house?"

"So you said you weren't hungry and it wasn't because you were angry with your aunt?"

Yu Wentao didn't understand why: "Why is your aunt mad at me?"

Huihui thought, no wonder my uncle was bullying my mom, it turned out my mom really asked for it, "I thought you weren't hungry but you were full because of her anger."

Yu Wentao looked at her second daughter-in-law at the intersection: "So she's not hungry but is full from being angry? No, why would your aunt be angry with her?"

Geng Huihui started by talking about her grandma saying "I'm not hungry" and went on to talk about why her dad came out to look for her mom. Yu Wentao was amused after hearing what she said and didn't bother about her daughter's ignorance. "It's your uncle who has to deal with your parents."

Aunt Li was also happy: "I didn't expect that Dabao's father is more powerful than Dabao's mother. Dabao's father doesn't talk much, so I thought Dabao's mother had the final say at home." Yu Wentao: "In our family, Dabao's mother has the final say. Dabao's father is Ye Fannao, and he will bully anyone if he says something wrong about Ye Fan. He even dares to criticize me."

Aunt Li was stunned when she heard this, and thought that the two of them had a pretty good relationship.

Geng Huihui couldn't listen any longer: "Grandma Li, don't listen to my grandma's nonsense. My uncle scolded them because they bullied my aunt first. My aunt has a good attitude and usually doesn't bother to care. My uncle thinks my aunt is working hard to go to school to earn money and take care of Dabao and Erbao, and he doesn't want her to be wronged in other ways."

Yu Wentao had no way to refute, so she simply said, “You’re the only one who can say that!” and then left.

Geng Huihui subconsciously asked her where she was going, and Yu Wentao answered without hesitation: "To eat."

Geng Huihui muttered, "I'm hungry again."

Aunt Li whispered, "Your grandma is not hungry. She is worried about your aunt." She glanced at the Zhang family and said, "Xiaozhi has been dating three men in this period and none of them worked out. There was something wrong with her. Your grandma is worried that your aunt's boyfriend also has a lot of problems."

Geng Huihui thought to herself, everyone has a bunch of problems.

For example, her uncle usually has a good personality, and his boss likes him. He is good-looking and tall, but if you marry him, you have to be prepared to live apart from him frequently, and he can't take care of the family. Most women can't stand it.

Besides, her aunt, just because she was selling things in the streets, many families couldn't stand it and thought it was not decent. If she went on a blind date at this time, people would also think she was crazy.

Geng Huihui said, "If he has problems, he has problems. As long as my sister-in-law likes him, that's fine. If you can't stand his problems, it's not too late to divorce him."

"It's hard to find a partner after a divorce." Aunt Li said with a look that said, "You little kid don't understand."

Geng Huihui: "Xiao Ming's wife is still taking care of a child."

Aunt Li nodded: "Yes. So she looked down. If she had never been married and had no children, she could find someone like your uncle."

Geng Huihui: "My uncle also has shortcomings. My grandmother is a stepmother. The woman will also worry about the stepmother-in-law. If you don't know my grandmother, you will also feel that marrying my uncle means long-term separation and having to face the stepmother-in-law, which is not a good match."

Aunt Li was persuaded by the little girl.

Yu Wentao came out with the bowl, and she in turn advised Yu Wentao not to think too much, as children have their own blessings.

Yu Wentao thought that she was talking without any backache. Aunt Li was a little angry and used Huihui's words to stop her. Yu Wentao remembered that Geng Zhiqin had lost his father and his brothers were not close to her. The man didn't understand the situation and might have some opinions about Geng Zhiqin. So much so that she really caught Geng Zhiqin "sneaking around" with a young man in the park the next afternoon. She asked him in a nice tone where he worked and what his parents did, giving the impression that she was very satisfied with this future son-in-law.

Geng Zhiqin felt that her mother was just trying to save face and didn't want to make a fuss in public, so she went to her brother and sister-in-law for help as soon as she got home.

Fortunately, Ye Fan could drive to many places to sell popsicles, and came back half an hour earlier than her. He took a shower and rested, so he had time to talk to her: "What's wrong?"

Geng Zhiqin was embarrassed: "That's right, that's right——"

"Your mom found out about your date?"

Geng Zhiqin was shocked: "You, you, how did you know that?"

Dabao, who was sitting on the bed fiddling with the automatic alarm clock, said without raising his head: "We all know."

Geng Zhiqin couldn't believe it.

Geng Zhiye nodded: "Except for my second brother and second sister-in-law who are both very busy."

Geng Zhihui instinctively wanted to refute that he was not busy, but he was indeed very busy, so he could only let Geng Zhiye continue, "Now you understand why Fanfan said yesterday that you were angry because Aunt Yu was not hungry, right?"

Chu Fenghe suddenly understood, and also understood why Geng Zhiye was bullying her.

Geng Zhiqin lowered his head guiltily: "Well, then what do you think about this matter?"

Ye Fan: "Let's be together for half a year first, and we'll talk about everything after the New Year. It's different now than before. Before, when I married your third brother, we were making revolutions everywhere, and no one dared to mess with us. Now, it's like the song says, we are all the new generation of the 1980s, and we all have our own ideas. I think you're good during this period, and maybe after the New Year, the intern teacher will think you're good too, and then break up with you."

Yu Wentao couldn't help but say, "How dare he! He bullies our family because there is no one there."

Ye Fan had a headache: "Instead of cutting the losses in time, they were forced to get married. After they had a child, they fought every day and got divorced?"

Yu Wentao was speechless.

Ye Fan then said to Geng Zhiqin: "If he asks if he can meet his parents, just say we are busy."

Geng Zhiqin: "So what should I do in advance?"

Ye Fan nodded: "You can break up if you meet someone better. Don't be too moral, but don't be greedy."

Geng Zhihui subconsciously wanted to say that any relationship that was not aimed at marriage was just hooliganism. However, when he saw Geng Zhiye, he decisively swallowed his words back, not wanting to be silenced and unable to eat.

Three days later, Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe returned to the unit's staff quarters. Before leaving, he gave Yu Wentao 100 yuan, Geng Huihui 100 yuan, and Geng Benben 300 yuan. He put 250 yuan in a passbook to take to school just in case, and 50 yuan was his pocket money for school.

After they left, Benben asked his aunt, "Can we get the money we deposited in the capital back in the south?"

Ye Fan: "You can go to the local branch of the bank where you deposit the money to withdraw it."

Geng Benben put the money away with confidence.

Zhang Xiaoming was very excited when he first heard that his brother was admitted to a university, but he was very worried when he heard that it was a military school. He was still frowning when he returned home. Dong Ying said that she could ask relatives to take care of him, and Zhang Xiaoming was relieved.

Most of the money owed for the house was paid off, and Zhang Xiaoming was not under much pressure, so he discussed with Dong Ying to bring some money to his brother. Dong Ying often heard the elders say "poor at home, rich on the road", so she decided to give him 100 yuan.

The day before Zhang Xiaodi left home, Aunt Zhang came back with her second son and daughter-in-law for dinner. Xiaofen, who was married, and her son-in-law also came. Even though Zhang Xiaofen's son-in-law looked down on the Zhang family, Wang Aihe loved Zhang Xiaodi and felt proud to hear that he was admitted to university, so she prepared gifts for him.

Zhang Xiaoming only brought some vegetables, meat and cooked food and was squeezed out by Wang Aihe.

Originally Dong Ying wanted to ask Zhang Xiaoming to give money secretly, but seeing this, she took out ten big unity notes and gave them to Zhang Xiaoming during dinner, saying, "Don't treat yourself badly when you get there."

The military academy has subsidies, but the management is strict, so it may not be possible to go out often. Even if you have money, you have no place to spend it. Zhang Xiaodi refused. Dong Ying winked at Zhang Xiaoming, and Zhang Xiaoming gave it to his brother.

Wang Aihe couldn't help but say sarcastically, "Brother is really rich."

Dong Ying: "We have the money to give a hundred, and you can give ten. You two are both working, so you don't have even ten dollars, right?"

Wang Aihe didn't expect Dong Ying to admit it generously instead of making excuses, "We just bought a house."

Dong Ying: "Didn't dad give me the money to buy the house? I've been saving 20 bucks a month since we bought the house, so I guess I've saved more than 100 bucks."

Zhang Xiaoming hinted that she should say less. Dong Ying pretended not to notice and turned to her brother-in-law, asking him what he had prepared for his younger brother.

Zhang Xiaofen's son-in-law prepared a fountain pen for three yuan. Three yuan was a lot for Zhang Xiaoming's family before he started his business, but compared with the family of Zhang Xiaofen's husband, it was just a small fortune.

If he had prepared a Hero pen worth ten yuan, Dong Ying would not have said anything.

Zhang Xiaofen's son-in-law took out ten yuan and said, "I prepared a pen for you to use at school. This is for you to buy food on the way."

Zhang's younger brother immediately took it and said, "Thank you, brother-in-law."

With his previous temper, he would never take his money. Recently, he suddenly thought that he could save it if he didn't need it. If his sister didn't live well in the future, he could ask his elder sister to divorce. If there was no room at home, he could use the money given by his brother-in-law to rent a house for his elder sister.

However, Wang Aihe pretended not to see it. After dinner, she said she had to go to work. She didn't even clean up the dishes and dragged Zhang Xiaojun to catch the bus.

At the same time, Yu Wentao found all of Geng Benben's clothes, sewed pockets inside them, and changed all of Geng Benben's money into five-yuan notes, stuffing fifty yuan into ten pockets.

Geng Benben thought it was unnecessary, but his grandmother didn't listen.

At that time, Geng Zhiye was in the army, and Ye Fan also had to go to school. There was no one to send him there, and worried that it would be unsafe to go there at night, Ye Fan bought him a sleeper ticket for the afternoon.

The next morning, Geng Benben woke up and was horrified to see that his pants and coat were gone. He was so scared that he dared not move.

Zhang Xiaodi woke up earlier than him and had already come to his senses: "We were robbed last night."

Geng Benben asked hurriedly: "Where is my luggage?"

Zhang Xiaodi: "The luggage is fine. But it has been turned upside down. Your money must be gone."

Geng Benben packed his luggage with red eyes and found that except for the change on his body, the fifty yuan in his clothes pocket was still there, which made him feel much better.

Zhang saw the pockets in his cotton-padded jacket and couldn't help saying, "Luckily they didn't find it this time. If they had found it, they wouldn't want to bother us and might have just taken our luggage away."

"You don't have any money?"

"I took it." The money he had on him was gone. Fortunately, he was careful before going to bed and stuffed all the five and ten yuan bills into his shoes. The shoes were placed in a corner and were inconspicuous, so the dozens of yuan were saved.

Geng Benben couldn't help but admire his courage: "Grandma told me to separate them, but I thought it was unnecessary. Why are you so rampant?"

Zhang Xiaodi: "If it weren't rampant, your cousin wouldn't be in the capital during the summer vacation. He hasn't been back for a year."

"I don't know what they do there." Geng Benben muttered, "If it were me, I would have ordered people to arrest all these people long ago."

Zhang Xiaodi: "Stop complaining. Hurry up and pack up, we're almost at the station."

Worried about encountering thieves on the bus, Benben asked Zhang to take out one dollar to take the bus, and buy some buns from a random store when changing buses. When they arrived at school, they realized that someone was going to the train station to pick them up, but they were so focused on guarding against thieves that they didn't see it.

After this incident, the two of them didn’t dare to go out on weekends.

Geng Leilei had his holiday early and received a letter from his mother, saying that he would go to his grandmother's house for the New Year this year. His grandmother lived in the city where Benben went to school, so Geng Leilei went to his grandmother's house to rest for a day and then went to see Benben. After Benben had his holiday, Geng Leilei took him and Zhang Xiaodi around, had some good food, bought some local specialties, and then he sent them to the train station.

The two got off the bus smoothly, and couldn't help looking at each other, feeling lucky to have survived. They happily arrived at the door of their home and found it was locked, so they both went inside to look for the spare key.

Aunt Li's daughter-in-law saw someone climbing over the wall and wanted to shout "Catch the thief", but when she saw that it was them, she breathed a sigh of relief and scolded them: "I didn't go to military school in vain."

Geng Benben pretended not to hear, opened the door, went in, threw the dirty clothes into the washing machine and went to take a bath. After leaving the bathhouse, he went to eat a portion of braised steamed buns.

It was almost noon when he got home, and there was still no one at home. Geng Benben realized something was wrong, so he asked the sister-in-law of the Li family next door: "Did my grandma and aunt go to visit relatives?"

Aunt Li's daughter-in-law sighed and said, "You'll know when you go to the park."

Geng Benben locked the door and arrived at Zhang Xiaodi's door. Zhang Xiaodi was holding a big padlock, obviously ready to lock the door. "Your father and sister are not at home?"

Zhang Xiaodi: "My second sister has found a boyfriend. This weekend, they might go to the movies. I hope my dad didn't go to my second brother's house. Otherwise, I won't care about him even if he crawls to beg for food in the future."

Geng Benben thought, if you can't help but ignore it, you won't deliberately use a knife to beat your second brother. Geng Benben said, "Then let's go to the South Park first? I guess Dabao and Erbao are selling couplets there. If my grandmother is here, ask her if she knows where Grandpa Zhang is."

Ye Fan did plan to ask Geng Zhiqin to sell couplets this year. Unfortunately, the park is no longer the same as it was last year. At the end of last year, the park was filled with either young people dating or old people and children playing spinning tops or strolling around.

Just after the National Day this year, people practicing qigong appeared in the park, and then more and more of them appeared. Now the open spaces inside and outside the park are full of elderly people practicing qigong while sitting, lying or standing.

Ye Fan discussed with Zhang Xiaoming that whoever of them would set up the stall would carry the Spring Festival couplets, and they would sell vegetables and couplets at the same time. He also told Geng Zhiqin not to go anywhere and to stay at home to look after Yu Wentao.

Geng Huihui looked at Dabao and Erbao, and stared at her breast. However, they didn't stare at each other. Ye Fan suspected that she had a second love, and fearing that she would be embarrassed, he secretly followed her and found that she was hiding in the depths of the park to learn Qigong from Aunt Li.

Ye Fan almost fainted from anger.

The next day, Ye Fan asked Zhang Xiaoming to be busy for a day while she went back to her mother's house to see if her mother was also addicted.

Tao Chunlan thought, but it was a pity that she had to take care of her granddaughter and had no time to fool around with them. After enduring it, Tao Chunlan thought that those people were crazy.

Since nothing happened at her mother's home, Ye Fan focused on finding ways to deal with her mother-in-law.

But persuasion is definitely useless.

Ye Fan thought of a trick, and went to the firecracker factory to buy a large box of various small firecrackers, small throwing firecrackers and friction firecrackers. After buying the firecrackers, Ye Fan hid them in Dabao's room. While the old people were all in the park, she held a meeting with the neighbors who did not believe in qigong. Everyone agreed with her idea, and after the meeting, each child had ten boxes of firecrackers.

Geng Benben and Zhang Xiaodi heard the sound of firecrackers before they reached the park entrance.

When they arrived at the park entrance, they were shocked to see dozens of children throwing firecrackers on the ground. The old man sitting on the ground hurriedly got up and scolded the children. When the old man stood up, the children ran away, and when the old man sat down, the children set off firecrackers.

The two men looked at each other, why did it resemble the sixteen-character formula so much - when the enemy advances, I retreat; when the enemy stays, I harass; when the enemy is tired, I attack; when the enemy retreats, I pursue.

Ye Fan used this method. Dabao got tired of working for a day. Ye Fan told Dabao that if he didn't stop her now, his grandmother would get addicted and dare to provoke him.

Dabao asked his grandmother if she was stupid. Ye Fan said she was not stupid, but was possessed by a ghost, thinking that burning herself to death would allow her to ascend to heaven. Worried about scaring the child, Ye Fan said that this was the most serious case, and if it was mild, she might break bricks with her bare hands, break rocks with her chest, and become paralyzed on one side of her body, which was more painful than dying directly.

Since Ye Fan was able to get into university, deal with Wang Aihe, and make money, the neighbors often talked about her at home and had a unanimous opinion of her that Ye Fan was the most powerful person in the area.

The children at home also think that Ye Fan is very capable after hearing so much. Dabao told his mother's words to his friends, and the children believed it. For the sake of their grandparents, the children, who were only half-hearted in everything, persisted. Today is the sixth day.

In the past, the elderly could skip lunch and sit from sunrise to sunset in the afternoon. Now they have to get up and sit down, which is more tiring than running children. They are so tired that they don’t have the energy to practice before midnight.

Dabao did not let them go and continued to light small firecrackers and throw them into the crowd.

Yu Wentao was so angry that she pointed at Dabao and said, "Do you want to be beaten?"

"I'm hungry. If you don't cook, I'll keep setting off firecrackers." Firecrackers are very small and won't hurt anyone. After saying that, Dabao threw another one.

The neighbors asked Yu Wentao to go home quickly so as not to delay their practice.

Yu Wentao was so angry that she dragged Dabao and Erbao home. When she saw Geng Benben, she paused and asked unhappily, "When did you come back?" Without waiting for Geng Benben to answer, she said, "Home!"

Geng Benben and Zhang Xiaodi looked at each other without moving. After she and Dabao and Erbao walked away, they walked towards Geng Zhiqin and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

Geng Zhiqin whispered, "I don't know whose idea it was. At first, only one or two people practiced, but now all the old people in our area come here to practice. Your aunt said that if you want to strengthen your body, you might as well practice Tai Chi with her. Your grandmother said Tai Chi is useless." He said to the old people who sat down again, "Look, it's not the Five Animals Exercise, it's not Tai Chi, it's not Tai Chi, it's nothing, it's like a group of demons dancing wildly."

Geng Benben: "If they want to exercise, let them do it. Exercise can also help keep fit."

Geng Zhiqin nodded: "It's okay to practice for a while. In such a cold day, when you are tired of practicing, you sit on the ground, saying that it is to feel the qi in your body. When you are sick, you will say that practicing is effective and the poisonous qi is discharged."

Geng Benben couldn't believe it. This wasn't just practicing martial arts. It was clearly a mental illness. "So Auntie asked Dabao to lead these kids to set off firecrackers?"

Geng Zhiqin: "If your aunt comes forward, they will have to quarrel with your aunt. The children are naughty, and they are our grandchildren. We can't bear to hit or scold them, so they just take it." As soon as he finished speaking, a few more elderly people chased the children in anger.

Zhang Xiaodi asked: "My father is not here?"

Geng Zhiqin: "I was here yesterday, but got bored and went to the north park."

Zhang asked Geng Benben to accompany him to the north to look for it. Geng Benben asked, "Aunt, why don't you and my sister go home?"

Geng Zhiqin: "Your aunt gave Huihui and me the task of supporting these children here until all the old people go back home."

(End of this chapter)