Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Tao Chunlan watched her daughter and son-in-law leave before she realized, "You asked them to do that?"

Yu Wentao: "Date?"

Dabao asked curiously, "Mom and Dad are still in a meeting so late?"

Yu Wentao choked on her own saliva. Tao Chunlan glared at her: "No. Mom and Dad want to go out and play. For example, sometimes you want to play with your classmates."

Dabao opened his eyes wide: "Mom and Dad are so big now."

Tao Chunlan: "Adults and children all want to play."

Yu Wentao was really afraid of teaching her grandson bad things: "Just like your grandfather, he forgot to go home for dinner when he was looking for someone to play chess with."

Dabao nodded with a confused look on his face.

Yu Wentao was afraid that the children would learn this to Ye Fan: "Dabao, don't tell mom and dad. They will be embarrassed because they are so grown-ups. Let them go out more often in the future, and you and Erbao can play at home. But if you really want to go out with mom and dad, that's fine. Your parents love you and won't abandon you and Erbao to run away by yourselves."

Dabao shook his head: "Mom didn't abandon me and Erbao."

Yu Wentao: "Then you and Erbao can play in the living room."

Dabao nodded obediently: "Sister, Mom is tired, let's let Mom rest for a while. Sister, what do you want to play? Brother will accompany you?"

The more people there are at home, the more lively and delicious the food is. Erbao ate too much quietly and didn’t want to move. He stretched out his little hand and said, “Brother, hold me.”

Tao Chunlan used to take care of Erbao and knew her well. She carried her to the bench and said, "Dabao, your little sister is sleepy. Watch her and don't let her fall."

Dabao pulled a small stool and sat next to the chair to protect his sister.

Yu Wentao and Tao Chunlan came out of the kitchen. Dabao was still sitting on the bench and leaning on the chair, staring at his sister, as if he hadn't moved.

Erbao fell asleep, Tao Chunlan carried her back to the room, and Yu Wentao took Dabao out.

Yu Wentao, like Ye Fan, was standing at the door watching Dabao. Dabao had someone to rely on and was not afraid of people. He ran towards Liao Dadi and asked him what he was playing.

Liao Dadi was playing cockfighting with his friends while bending his legs, but Geng Dabao was much shorter than him, so he asked Dabao to play with his younger sister. Geng Dabao went to find Liao Miaomiao. The moon was very bright today, and Liao Miaomiao and her little sister were skipping rope. Geng Dabao didn't know how to do it, so he volunteered to help them hold the rope.

"Malan flowers bloom on twenty-one, twenty-eight, twenty-five, six, twenty-eight, twenty-five, seven..." Geng Dabao couldn't help but sing along, his little face full of smiles. Yu Wentao no longer worried that her clever grandson would turn into a little ape after staying on the island for too long.

The next morning, Tao Chunlan went to the vegetable market and saw several middle-aged women walking into the market, chatting and laughing. Tao Chunlan had just arrived a few days ago and only knew one of them, who Liao Miaomiao had told her about - Liu Qing.

On the train from Hangzhou to Ningbo, Ye Fan told her mother-in-law that everyone in the family quarters knew that her surname was Chen. Yu Wentao was shocked. Jiangnan was thousands of miles away from the capital, so how could a military wife on the island know that?

Ye Fan said that she didn't care how they knew it. Anyway, no one dared to say anything in front of her. The reason why she told them was that she didn't want them to be too passive when someone was being sarcastic.

Tao Chunlan thought her daughter was worrying too much. The soldier was not at home, and the soldier's wife was doing the laundry, cooking and taking care of the children alone, so she had no time to gossip. Unexpectedly, Liu Qing came the next day.

When Tao Chunlan was young, she was more aggressive than Yu Wentao, otherwise, how could she dare to start a revolution as a girl? The complicated work over the years has smoothed her edges, but it doesn't mean that she is easy to bully. Otherwise, when Yu Wentao heard Liao Miaomiao's words and shouted for revenge, she would not have kept silent.

Yu Wentao used delicious food to make the children of the neighbors quarrel with their parents. It was really childish and caused little harm to Liu Qing herself and her friends.

Tian Xiaofeng said that Dabao would not live long if he ate too much foreign stuff. Did she really think that foreign stuff was inedible or was she envious? Of course it was the latter. Liu Qing deliberately went to Ye Fan's house to fetch water. If it wasn't because of envy and jealousy, could it be that she was defending Chen Xiaohui?

For people like Liu Qing, explanation is covering up, and no explanation is guilty.

Tao Chunlan stopped at the intersection for a minute before entering the vegetable market. Even though Tao Chunlan was mentally prepared, she was still stunned by the variety of seafood.

The fishmonger couldn't help but ask, "Are you Accountant Ye's mother? What would you like to order?"

Liu Qing and the others nearby looked over. Tao Chunlan realized something when she came to her senses, but she pretended not to know and pointed at the fish and asked, "What kind of fish? How do you cook it?"

The employee told her that if she wanted to make soup with the small yellow croaker, she could buy some snow vegetables.

Tao Chunlan picked six and said in a worried tone, "I don't know if Fanfan likes it."

The employee handed her the fish and took the money: "Accountant Ye said that she can't do it, so she can eat anything."

Tao Chunlan laughed and said, "Listen to her nonsense. She is hard to raise. She has refused to eat since she was little. I said this because I am afraid you will laugh at her."

The fishmonger was very curious about Ye Fan's affairs, especially the fact that she and Chen Xiaohui had the wrong child: "You must have put a lot of effort into it, right? No wonder Accountant Ye is so pretty, tall, and powerful."

Tao Chunlan nodded: "Yes. She can't make shoes or clothes, and she has never cooked a meal. Fortunately, I am in good health and can help her take care of Dabao and Erbao."

The fishmonger secretly smacked his lips. How could he hurt Accountant Ye so much? But he couldn't hurt him so much: "What if you get sick?"

Tao Chunlan: "I have a salary. I can hire a caregiver. Her father and I have saved some money over the years. When we are old and have not spent all the money, we will give half to Fanfan and keep it for her to hire a caregiver in the future. If she doesn't want to cook, she can go to the cafeteria to get food. If she can't make clothes, she can buy them. It doesn't cost much."

The fishmonger was extremely shocked and said, "But shoes shouldn't be hard to make, right? I always buy shoes that don't fit my feet."

Tao Chunlan nodded: "If the clothes sold in the store don't fit, you can ask a master to make them. If the clothes don't fit, you can ask a tailor to fix them. There is no law in our country that requires female comrades to be able to do these things. In our place, girls go to school when they are young and work in factories when they grow up. There is no time to learn, and many of them can't make shoes or clothes."

The fishmonger was envious and couldn't help asking, "Captain Geng also bought some to wear?"

Tao Chunlan thought, you want to ask if Geng Zhiye would have any objections. He wears military uniform every day, why does he need to buy his own clothes? Tao Chunlan smiled and pretended not to know: "My son-in-law? When he was dating Fanfan from our family, I knew that she could only cook porridge. The first time my son-in-law came to our house, I hadn't retired yet and was not at home. She tried to show off her kneading skills. She added water when there was too much flour, and added flour when there was too much water. As a result, she kneaded more and more flour. When I came back, she had half a basin of noodles. We rolled them into noodles and it took our family three meals to finish them."

The fish seller suddenly wanted to laugh.

Tao Chunlan said with disdain, but with a smile on her face: "It's because of me and her father that she spoiled him."

"What happened next?" The fishmonger had long forgotten about Chen Xiaohui and only wanted to have fun.

Tao Chunlan: "Later, if she wanted to make it, I would teach her. If she didn't want to make it, she would just buy some noodles. Working is so tiring and she has to take care of the kids. There's no need to make her life so hard. It's not like she doesn't have the conditions."

In fact, the latter sentence was said by Ye Fan. Tao Chunlan has been frugal for half her life and was reluctant to buy a rice cooker or a refrigerator. With the positions of Ye Fan's parents, they could get them legally, but these two items were imported and too expensive for them.

Ye Fan and his brother, sister-in-law and the whole family voted, and the result was naturally three to two. Ye Fan got the things home, and Tao Chunlan kept nagging about how much electricity it would cost, and Ye Fan said, "Aren't you tired?"

After Tao Chunlan finished speaking, she couldn't help but think of Ye Fan, who seemed to be afraid that money would go moldy overnight, and would never make things himself if he could buy them, unless he was in a good mood. To be honest, Tao Chunlan was not used to it a few years ago, and couldn't say it calmly. In the past two years, she has gotten used to it, and thinks that this is how life should be.

What if you run out of money and get a serious illness? Money doesn't necessarily cure it, so just leave it to fate and let nature take its course.

Tao Chunlan asked the fish seller: "Isn't that right?"

The comrade imagined that he had money, "Yes! Who knows when it will be blown away by a typhoon, so why save it." Afraid that his colleagues would laugh at him, he hurriedly added, "I'm not talking about me. Accountant Ye can do it, and Captain Geng has a high salary. If we spend all the money this month, we will still have some next month."

Tao Chunlan nodded and moved aside a few steps: "My son-in-law is also good. He hasn't had enough crab roe buns, give me twenty crabs."

The comrade who was tying the crabs with straw ropes was shocked and stared: "These white crabs, twenty?"

Tao Chunlan: "My son-in-law has a big appetite. When he comes to visit us, none of us can eat as much as he does. My in-laws even say that he always comes to our house first, like a live-in son-in-law. He never thinks about how much food he saves for his Geng family by having three meals a day at our house."

The comrade who was tying the crab paused. Didn't Captain Geng and Accountant Ye live together? They usually looked affectionate and affectionate, but that was just an act for everyone to see. Damn it! Who said that? Is it necessary to pretend to this extent? If this was an act, he would rather have a son-in-law who was so good at pretending than one who was too lazy to pretend and waited for his daughter to prepare and serve him every day.

"Doesn't he miss Accountant Ye?" said the comrade who tied the crab.

Tao Chunlan subconsciously said, "Fanfan is at home." Then she pretended to be enlightened, "Don't you know? Fanfan and Dabao and Erbao have lived with me for the past few years. My in-laws missed Dabao and Erbao, so Fanfan brought them over to stay for a few days."

Everyone who heard this couldn't believe it. The Ye family was not without sons, but they actually asked their married daughter to live in her parents' home. How much they loved Ye Fan?

Tao Chunlan felt that it was about time, so she took the crab and bought four jade fish. Her basket was also full, so she went straight home without going to the vegetable market. Naturally, she was not aware of the fact that Liu Qing and the others had faces that looked like an overturned palette, which was very interesting.

Yu Wentao was very satisfied to see that there was pickled mustard greens and yellow croaker soup and braised croaker in the morning: "Grandma Dabao, why don't you steam the white crab?"

Tao Chunlan: "Can you finish it?"

"Why did you buy it if you can't finish it?"

Tao Chunlan didn't want to say that she did it on purpose: "Zhiye, do you want to eat it?"

Geng Zhiye shook his head: "No time in the morning."

Yu Wentao immediately said, "I have time to eat slowly."

Tao Chunlan: "No. Eat the fish first!"

Yu Wentao stood up: "It won't be fresh by noon."

Tao Chunlan wanted to say she was talking nonsense: "Then I'll wash and marinate it later. I heard someone say it yesterday afternoon. Marinated crab meat tastes almost like cold noodles. Have you ever tried it?"

Geng Zhiye hurriedly reminded: "Mom, pickle it for yourself. Fanfan has never eaten it. Dabao and Erbao have weak stomachs."

Tao Chunlan's expression changed and she glared at Geng Zhiye: "Eat!"

Yu Wentao burst into laughter and picked up a piece of small yellow croaker: "Erbao, grandma will feed you hot food. Let your grandma eat raw pickled food. You have only been here for a few days and you have already learned how to pickle raw food. Look at how capable you are."

Tao Chunlan was always too lazy to pay attention to her, not to mention that she didn't know how to pickle raw food and felt a little guilty, so she didn't want to talk nonsense with her: "Fan Fan, are you going to the food factory later?"

Ye Fan nodded: "Su Yuanhang is not here these days, I have to go over to receive the goods."

Tao Chunlan: "I heard from Xiaohui that she also listened to Su, Su Yuncheng, that young man, who said to go to the brigade headquarters to receive the goods, not buy from individuals. Isn't it easy for you to get into trouble now?"

Ye Fan: "If we go down to collect it ourselves, we need to rent a hand tractor from the brigade, and we need two people. Now they go out to sea or catch fish, or go up the mountain to cut grass, and they just go around to the food factory to give it to me. But just in case, the members will tell the team leader, and the team leader will make a note of it. If someone really reports it, the team leader will say that he asked the members to deliver it directly."

Yu Wentao frowned: "If there is someone - then you are not in danger?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "It's different here than in the city. A brigade is actually a big family, and all the members are related to each other. Even if there are a few outsiders, they wouldn't dare to do anything bad behind the scenes unless they don't want to stay here anymore."

Yu Wentao couldn't help but say, "No wonder you dare to run a food factory."

Tao Chunlan: "Fanfan, no one outside does this. You still have to be careful. Don't be careful of the members, be careful of other people."

Ye Fan smiled and comforted her: "I know that not everyone can like fairies. Sometimes people may dislike them just because they don't like them. Just like Aunt Yu said before, you like me as soon as you see me."

Yu Wentao smiled and nodded.

Tao Chunlan said disdainfully: "Did I praise you? Don't think I don't know why you said that before."

Yu Wentao: "You can talk. There are no outsiders here anyway."

Tao Chunlan was afraid that her daughter and son-in-law would have a quarrel because of what she said: "I have to eat. Let's talk about it after I have a good meal."

Ye Fan naturally knew what her mother wanted to say. It was somewhat true that Yu Wentao said that she liked her just by looking at her, but it was more because her last name was Ye, her father could help Geng Zhiye, and her mother, brother and sister-in-law might be able to help Geng Zhiqin.

But then again, when a family is looking for a partner for their children, they have to consider whether it is cost-effective. No one likes to help the poor, unless they are mentally ill or born a saint.

Ye Fan handed Geng Zhiye a cornmeal bun and said, "The soup won't fill you up. Mom, Aunt Yu, where do you want to go? I'll go with you later. The army has a few three-wheeled vehicles. Geng Zhiye gave them a few dozen yuan for gas, so they should not have used up all the gas. You can go to the beach if you want. It's close here. You can walk there. But don't go into the water."

Tao Chunlan: "Don't worry about us. Go and get busy."

After the house was cleaned up, Yu Wentao held Erbao in her arms, and Tao Chunlan took Dabao out for a stroll. Tao Chunlan said they wanted to learn the way, and when Ye Fan was busy, they played by themselves, actually hoping to run into Liu Qing and the others.

Liu Qing didn't have a job, so she usually went to wherever it was cool after dinner. This morning, Tao Chunlan's words at the vegetable market were all about Ye Fan, and every sentence seemed to be mocking her. She was so angry that she couldn't curse Tao Chunlan to die early.

Now that Tao Chunlan is gone, she gave half of her savings to Ye Fan. Wouldn't Ye Fan be even more proud?

Then curse Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye to die early and their children to become orphans? But Yu Wentao and Tao Chunlan will only love their children more. Liu Qing can only hope that Chen Xiaohui will not be so cowardly and make the Ye family so chaotic.

Thinking this way, she felt relieved. As a result, Liu Qing came out and ran into Yu Wentao and Tao Chunlan with their two children under a tree. Tao Chunlan was carrying a military green bag, which was bulging with foreign stuff that must be available only to those with money and qualifications.

Liu Qing felt short of breath again.

Tao Chunlan glanced at her indifferently and asked Dabao where he wanted to go to play.

Every time Dabao goes to the beach with his parents, he can only play with sand. If he wants to play with water, he has to be led by his parents. Dabao is very annoyed. Dabao asked: "Grandma, have you ever seen the sea? I can go with you."

Tao Chunlan was touched: "How nice!"

When they reached the calm seaside, Dabao took off his shoes and ran into the water. Yu Wentao grabbed him and said, "Little rascal! I'm watching out for you. Come back here! If a big wave sweeps you in, and your grandma and I can't swim, who's going to save you?"

Dabao was very disappointed: "Grandma, why do you listen to mom so much? You are the elder!"

Yu Wentao: "Stop stirring up trouble for me. Go make a sand pile with Erbao!"

Dabao was so angry that he lay on the ground and pushed the sand onto his body.

Yu Wentao smiled and said, "Yes, that's it, let's play."

Dabao was shocked: "My clothes are dirty!"

Yu Wentao: "Wash it when it gets dirty."

Dabao got up and knelt on the ground: "I'll tell mom."

Yu Wentao wanted to laugh: "You sit on the ground and play in the mud and your mom doesn't care. Sand is much cleaner than mud." She brushed the sand off his face, "Don't want to play anymore? If you don't want to play, go play with Erbao."

Dabao suspected that his grandmother was deliberately provoking him, so he lay down again and pushed the sand on both sides onto his body. Erbao thought it was fun and scooped up a handful of sand to cover Dabao: "Brother, let me help you."

(End of this chapter)