Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Summer passed, and Dabao was in the first grade of junior high school. His junior high school was not in the Shanxi Brigade, but four or five miles away from the military family quarters. He needed to ride a bike or live in the school dormitory, but Dabao was too young to ride a bike, and he didn't want to live in the school dormitory, so Ye Fan asked him if he wanted to repeat the grade.

Dabao refused and said he would run over.

Ye Fan couldn't bear to let Erbao go to elementary school with Liao Xiaomei, and she would pick up and drop off Dabao.

Dabao felt embarrassed, so he asked his mother to stop the car at the intersection leading to the school, which was less than half a mile away from the school, and he walked there by himself.

The first time Ye Fan sent Dabao for a ride, he met Liao Dadi, who said he could carry Dabao. However, Liao Dadi was not very old, as Dabao was under ten years old and he was under thirteen, and he could not even ride steadily.

Ye Fan coaxed Dabao by saying that she was tired of reading at home and came out to pick him up so that she could rest her brain. Dabao often heard his mother say that she was tired of reading and went out to get some fresh air, so he believed it.

On rainy days, Ye Fan would walk with Dabao holding an umbrella and bring him a box lunch so that they could have lunch at school at noon - the school had a cafeteria and he could ask the cafeteria chef to heat up the food.

Also traveling with them were Liao Dadi and students from the Shanxi production team.

Summer rain is often accompanied by strong winds, and the howling wind is very scary, so no students laughed at Dabao in this kind of weather. Instead, they thought it was safe to have an elder follow him.

Classmates no longer laughed at him, and Dabao no longer resisted his mother's pick-up. Ye Fan also studied junior high school knowledge to prepare for the exam, and talked to Dabao about what he learned today on the way to pick him up. At first, Dabao thought his mother suspected that he was not paying attention in class, so he asked his mother why she asked these questions. Ye Fan said that she had been away from school for too long and had forgotten everything her junior high school teacher taught her.

Dabao instantly thought of his mother's college entrance examination, and later he took the initiative to talk to his mother about the math formulas in the Chinese textbooks. Sometimes he would also talk about the school situation and the confusion and worries of the teenager.

Ye Fan would not tease him at this time, because the young man wanted to save face, and after being teased once, he would not say it again.

Two months later, the eldest child got used to being picked up and dropped off by his mother, while the second child complained that his mother was partial to him and had to pick up and drop off his older brother every day.

Dabao asked his mother to send his sister off, and Ye Fan agreed. At seven o'clock the next day, Ye Fan pushed the bicycle and asked Erbao to sit in the front and Dabao to sit in the back.

Erbao exclaimed: "Why do I have to go so early when my class starts at 8:30?"

Ye Fan: "Your brother arrives at school at 7:30. If you don't leave now, you will be late. Or you can ask your brother to walk there, and I will stay at home with you for an hour and then take you to school?"

Mom was idle at home, so she asked her brother to walk over? Erbao realized that he was being too much, "Then you send your brother off first, and come back to send me off."

Ye Fan agreed to her and let Dabao get in the car.

As soon as Dabao got in the car, he murmured, "Mom, it's so hard. I can just walk to school with others."

Ye Fan rode his bike farther away from home and said, "Erbao actually just wants an attitude from his mother. If you don't believe me, go back and ask my little sister. She will definitely not let me send her off."

Ye Fan sent Dabao back and asked Erbao when he would go. Erbao wanted to play for a while before going, but was worried that her mother would scold her if she told the truth, so she said she would ask her younger sister to go with her.

At noon, Ye Fan went to pick up Dabao and asked Dabao to go home and ask how Erbao went in the morning.

Dabao got off at the door of Liao's house, gave his schoolbag to his mother, and ran to Liao's house to find his younger sister. From his younger sister, he learned that Erbao complained that his mother was annoying and wanted to send her to school. Dabao returned home speechless, looking at his sister as if she was crazy.

Erbao was flustered by being looked at, and stared at him warily: "What are you doing?"

Dabao opened his schoolbag: "It's okay! Don't disturb me while I'm doing my homework."

Erbao made a face at him and went to the kitchen to find his mother: "Mom, I cooked rice in the rice cooker."

Ye Fan: "I see. Erbao is sensible and knows to turn on the stove. We can eat after mommy cooks. Are you going to do your homework or wash your hands?"

"I'll do my homework. I'll wash my hands and eat after I finish it." Erbao ran back to the living room and sat opposite his brother to do his homework.

Ye Fan slowly prepared the side dishes and picked the greens. At about one o'clock, Ye Fan's family had lunch. After lunch, the brother and sister took a nap. Ye Fan woke them up and sent Dabao home first. After sending Dabao home, Erbao fell asleep on the bench. Ye Fan led Erbao, who was dazed, to school. Erbao was completely awake and asked, "Didn't I ask you to send me home?"

Ye Fanxin said, you have a goldfish brain, and you said I was biased this morning. But the little ghost had an idea every now and then, and Ye Fan was too lazy to argue with her: "I was afraid you would fall asleep while walking."

Erbao felt guilty and muttered "nagging" and ran away before her mother could hear her clearly.

On his way back, Ye Fan met Liao Xiaomei, who asked with a smile, "Does Erbao need you to take him home again?"

Ye Fan felt that there was something wrong with this: "Did Dabao tell you?"

"Yes. You told me that you would only send Dabao and not her. It's so annoying that you told me that you would send her." Zhuang Qiuyue had never picked up or dropped off a child. First, Liao Miaomiao could take care of her younger siblings. Second, Zhuang Qiuyue thought that the school was less than 500 meters from the family compound and there was no need for pick-up or drop-off. So when Liao Xiaomei heard Dabao say that Erbao was complaining at home, she thought that Erbao was deliberately showing off to her that her mother loved her. But after thinking about it carefully, Erbao had no intention of showing off. Liao Xiaomei was as speechless as Dabao - Erbao was sick!
Ye Fan: "She used to go to and from school with Dabao every day. She is not used to being separated all of a sudden and can't help but have wild thoughts. Don't take anything she says to heart."

The younger sister shook her head: "He is several years younger than me, so I am embarrassed to argue with Erbao."

"Then go quickly."

Liao Xiaomei thought of something: "Auntie Ye, why don't you ask Dabao to learn how to ride a bike?"

Ye Fan: "Dabao is short. You are a few months older than Dabao. Can you ride your 28-inch bicycle?"

Liao Xiaomei shook her head: "My brother can't ride well."

"Yes. What if Dabao falls and can't attend classes for a few days? I will need to take care of him every day. Isn't that more troublesome than picking him up and dropping him off?"

The younger sister forgot for a moment: "Dabao is still suffering."

"That's right." Ye Fan said this, and he also felt that his son should learn to ride a bike.

Geng Zhiye came back in the evening, and Ye Fan asked him to teach Dabao how to ride a bike. Dabao had a good sense of balance, and after a few days of learning, he dared to ride alone, but he didn't dare to sit on the seat because it was too high from the ground. If he accidentally fell, he would not only break his legs, but also hit his head.

But it is difficult to ride a bike without sitting on the seat, so Dabao lost interest after trying it a few times and asked his mother to pick him up.

In November of the Gregorian calendar, the second crop of rice on the island was harvested and the oranges had turned red. It was a weekend when the Shanxi production team was picking oranges, so Ye Fan asked Dabao and Erbao to stay at home with her.

Erbao didn't understand and asked, "Mom, why can't we go up the mountain to pick oranges?"

Ye Fan: "Last year the orange trees belonged to the production team, and the members didn't feel bad about eating as many as they wanted. This year the orange trees have been divided according to population, and you ran over without being invited. Would you be happy if it were you?"

Erbao thought about herself picking cantaloupes at home, and suddenly someone came to help her pick cantaloupes and eat her own cantaloupes. She would think that person was mentally ill, "But my older brother and younger sister are there."

Ye Fan: "Zhuang Qiuyue has forgotten it. Zhuang Qiuyue wants to save face. She should know that the orange tree is hers. She would be embarrassed to eat someone else's. Maybe she will come back soon."

Erbao: "Then I'll go to the yard to see when she comes back."

Dabao muttered: "I'm free!"

"I finished my homework last night." Erbao moved a stool to the yard, but soon felt bored, so he went back to the house to get a book and said to Ye Fan, "I'm going to bask in the sun."

Ye Fan laughed: "Who asked you?"

Erbao pretended not to hear and went to the yard to read a book in the sun, while keeping an eye on what was happening next door.

Zhuang Qiuyue hadn't come back yet, but Wan Siqin came back with her children. Erbao covered his face with a book, revealing a pair of eyes to look at Wan Siqin for a moment, then ran back to the house and said, "Mom, Aunt Wan went too, and she just took a few oranges. Last year she seemed to take half a basket. Is it because no one gave her this year?"

Ye Fan: "Because I feel embarrassed. From now on, if people invite you two to eat oranges, you can only eat one or two. If you want to eat some, mom will buy them for you. Oranges are not valuable on the island. They are as cheap as apples, plums and persimmons in the north."

Erbao nodded: "I know that the oranges should be kept to sell for money."

Ye Fan smiled and said, "Erbao is sensible. Do you still want to watch?"

The wind was strong in the yard. Erbao shook his head, took off his shoes and went to the bench. He pulled the small quilt on the bench to cover his feet, but he felt not warm enough. He put his feet on his mother's legs and asked his mother to cover them with the quilt.

Seeing how much trouble she had, Dabao wanted to slap her legs twice: "Are you comfortable?"

Erbao smiled shyly: "Mom, are you tired?"

Ye Fan shook her head: "Don't move, Mom is reading a book."

"I'll read a book too." Erbao asked her brother to bring her cotton-padded jacket over, and she put it behind her as a pillow, then lay down and read with the cotton-padded jacket as a pillow. Maybe it was too comfortable - her feet were warmed by Ye Fan's legs and the quilt, and Erbao fell asleep while reading.

Dabao has been learning English since primary school. Junior high school English is not difficult for him. Math is easy for him because he has read a lot of comic books and has good comprehension. Chinese is not difficult either. There are very few homeworks that bother him. He finishes the homework assigned by the teacher around 10 o'clock. At this time, Erbao is still sleeping. Dabao moves to his sister's side and pokes her face.

Ye Fan saw Erbao move and couldn't help but say, "Aren't you tired of waking up and asking you to play with her?"

Dabao sat down opposite him and said, "Mom, do you want to review the history and geography for the first grade?"

Ye Fan: "Then you ask questions and I answer them?"

Dabao was happy to do this. Ye Fan didn't answer, and Dabao didn't laugh at his mother, because his mother said that she had forgotten a lot of knowledge after leaving school for many years.

Erbao woke up when she heard the sound and saw her mother and brother studying together. She immediately felt abandoned, so she picked up her book and squeezed next to her mother, wanting to help her mother review as well.

Dabao was speechless: "Why are you everywhere?"

Ye Fan smiled nonchalantly: "Dabao, go get mom a glass of water."

Dabao glared at his sister, poured half a cup for his mother and half for himself: "Geng Erbao, do you want some?"

Erbao nodded: "Brother, give me some malted milk."

"I owe you." Dabao complained, but still added a spoonful of malted milk to her drink.

At this time, Dabao heard footsteps. Dabao looked at his mother, who is it? Ye Fan also heard it and asked him to go out and see. Dabao went outside, and the person had already entered the yard and was only a few steps away from Dabao. Dabao had seen her before, but he didn't know her name. He only knew that she was the mother of his junior high school classmate, "Auntie, are you looking for my mother?"

"Is Dabao at home?" The person who came was actually the same age as Ye Fan, but Dabao's classmate was her second child, and she looked a few years older than Ye Fan.

Dabao nodded: "My mother is in the room."

Ye Fan came out of the house and saw the visitor carrying a small bamboo basket. Although the basket had a lid, he could not see what was inside, but he could see orange color from the gaps in the basket. Recalling that the Shanxi production team picked oranges today and shipped them to the capital tomorrow, Ye Fan could be sure that there were oranges inside.

Ye Fan invited the other party to come in first and asked Erbao to clean up the table.

Erbao moved everything on the coffee table to the dining table, and then sat down next to his mother with his brother. Ye Fan asked him to sit down, and he was not polite, as if he was ready to have a long talk with Ye Fan. Ye Fan immediately realized that sending oranges might just be an excuse.

Ye Fan smiled and asked, "Are you not busy today?"

"We're almost done." The woman smiled. "We were wondering why Accountant Ye didn't go up the mountain. It turns out he was there to teach Dabao and Erbao how to do their homework."

Erbao wanted to show off that she had finished her homework, but Ye Fan said first, "Yes. Dabao is in junior high school now and has a few more subjects, especially history and geography, which he has never learned before. It's a bit difficult for him to learn. My wife is not at home, so I have to tutor him. By the way, how many orange trees do you have? How did you pick them so quickly?"

"There are many orange trees, but only a few of them produce sweet oranges. Speaking of this, I have to thank Accountant Ye. If it weren't for your support in our independent work, the summer rice harvest would have been higher than last year, and every family would not have gone hungry this year. The team leader would not have dared to divide the orange trees."

Ye Fan laughed and said, "You guys are willing to listen. If it were Su Yuanhang's father, he would just think I'm talking nonsense."

The woman couldn't help but laugh: "Accountant Ye thinks giving advice is no big deal, can I ask you for another idea?"

Here it comes! Ye Fan was ready for battle, but his expression remained calm: "You go ahead."

"It's just that our orange sales to the north won't last long, right?"

Ye Fan nodded: "First, you need shipping, which is not an advantage compared to fruit farmers outside the island. Second, oranges are not only grown in Yongcheng, but also can be grown south of the Huai River. Third, I can't be the only one in the entire Yongcheng who has connections with the capital. If a high-ranking official's son is transferred from the capital tomorrow, and he also wants to make achievements to facilitate promotion, he will definitely find ways to ship local products out and lead the locals to a well-off life."

"What if he doesn't come this way?"

Ye Fan: "If they don't come to Ningbo, they may go to Hangzhou. Every politician hopes to make achievements in his career. If they have connections at home, they will not stay in the capital forever. It is not as easy to achieve political achievements in the northwest, southwest and central plains as in the coastal areas with mountains, water and abundant resources."

The woman understood a little bit. If Ningbo and Hangzhou didn't compete with Hengshan Food Factory for business, other provinces would have it too. "You mean it can only be sold for a few years?"

Ye Fan: "Maybe one year, maybe three years, it can't be as long as five years. As long as you don't rely too much on technology, you can achieve results in five years in any industry. For example, Hengshan Food Factory, at the beginning, there were only Su Yuanhang and I, but now, in less than five years, we have machines and factories."

“You are amazing.”

Ye Fan shook his head, "We did everything in secret. Now that we don't have that worry, the Capital Supply and Marketing Cooperative can find cheaper sources of goods, such as buying seafood from Bohai." He drew the location of Bohai on the table, "Being so close to the capital has greatly reduced transportation costs. For bamboo shoots and other mountain products, we can contact Huzhou, which is to our north and close to the capital. There are canned goods in the north and oranges in Jinling, both of which are closer than us. As for the quality of oranges, most people are willing to buy them because they are sweet. It's useless for a few experts who only want to buy ours, they can't eat so much."

The woman understood this time, "What about canning it?"

Ye Fan: "It's not an advantage. The towns on the shore have developed and dared to use the strategy of small profits but quick turnover to attract citizens. Who would come to the island to buy meat and seafood?"

The woman suddenly thought of the fact that after the household contract responsibility system was implemented, members could raise pigs themselves, just like raising chickens before, and they could slaughter and sell them at will. "From what you said, pork from our island will no longer be attractive?" Ye Fan nodded, "That's true."

"Then what should we do? Accountant Ye, since you can think of this, you must have a solution. You were able to get ahead of others when you started the food factory, so can you get ahead of others now?"

Ye Fan asked: "In a few years, rice, flour and pork will no longer be rare, and you will have no worries about food and drink. What do you want to do?"

The woman couldn't imagine, "I don't know. I haven't lived that kind of life yet."

Ye Fan: "Do you still remember Su Duofu's grandfather and father?"

The woman had no recollection, but she had heard someone say, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Fan smiled and said, "Do rich people often go out to play?"

The woman had seen rich people in movies who went here today and there tomorrow, but she still didn't understand what Ye Fan meant.

Ye Fan: "Since we are inferior to others in everything, let's do what others don't have. Where else can citizens go on weekends besides parks?"

"You mean coming to the island?"

Ye Fan nodded: "When we get to the island, we have goat meat, free-range chickens, fruits, and home-raised bees. Have you heard from people who come to the island to buy vegetables that our mutton doesn't smell bad and our chicken is more delicious than farm-raised ones? The honey is also real, and it's safer than buying it in the store?"

"Then how can we get people to come?"

Ye Fan couldn't help but be curious: "Are you asking for the captain, or for yourself?"

The woman confessed that she had just been elected as the Women's Director of the Shanxi Brigade at the beginning of the year. The brigade leader also knew that she came to Ye Fan's house. She was asking on behalf of the production team.

Ye Fan: "First, build a few fishing spots on the beach, behind the vegetable market, not far from the ferry, so you can cast your hooks after getting off the boat. Secondly, you need to eat when you come here, right? If the other party is a businessman, he doesn't need to go to work every day and wants to come out for a few days to rest, right? So you have to build a house, with guest rooms upstairs and a kitchen and restaurant downstairs. It has to be unique."

"What kind do you like?"

Ye Fan laughed: "I like it but it's useless."

"Please tell me."

Ye Fan: "You can use stones to repair the house. The outer wall does not need cement and can be kept as it is. The inside must be clean and tidy. People in the city rarely use bamboo to make things, so chairs and fruit plates can be made of bamboo. By then, the vegetable market can be transformed into a large store to sell local specialties. For example, fish and fruits will be sent to the food factory for processing. After the food factory is finished, part of it will be sold to supply and marketing cooperatives outside the island, and part will be put on consignment in the store. In this way, the vegetable market will not have to worry about being closed down by people from outside the island, and the food factory can continue to produce, and you can make money like you do now."

The women's director imagined: "If you want to make money, you need a lot of people, right?"

"Isn't the island next door a temple of Guanyin? The revolution has been over for several years, there must be people who can't wait to burn incense and worship Buddha, right? You can cooperate with the island next door. Their island is small and has no special products. There is no Guanyin on your island. When guests from here are introduced to that island, they can say that the incense is effective. When tourists go to their island and introduce this place to us, they can say that this is a leisure resort."

The women's director had not expected this to work, and her eyes widened: "But what if the incense doesn't work?"

Ye Fan: "Just say that he is not sincere, or the gods are not at home, or that it will only work if he comes three times."

"Isn't this a lie?" The director of women's affairs couldn't help but frown.

Ye Fan laughed: "How many people do you think still believe in ghosts and gods after ten years of revolution? They are just seeking psychological comfort. If you can comfort him, he won't go to the next island."

Dabao shook his head: "Mom, it's magical."

"Are you and Erbao worshipping the gods with Coke and popsicles?" Seeing that the woman opposite was puzzled, Ye Fan roughly told her what Dabao and Erbao did when his sister-in-law was discussing filling out her application form after the college entrance examination last year.

The director of the women's department was speechless after hearing what Ye Fan said, but she wanted to laugh: "Since your aunt was able to pass the undergraduate entrance exam in the first year, she can pass the exam the second time without praying to the Buddha."

Dabao: "It's just in case."

Ye Fan asked: "Isn't this just psychological comfort?"

"No!" Dabao said stubbornly.

Ye Fan nodded: "If you say it's not, then it's not."

"Are you just trying to be perfunctory with me?" Dabao asked.

Ye Fan glared: "Not finished yet?"

Dabao shut up immediately when he realized something was wrong.

Ye Fan said to the female comrade opposite, "Now everyone doesn't have much money, and the food factory's business is the same as before. This year, some people came to the island to collect duck feathers. It's time to remind everyone to be prepared for danger in times of peace. People will think that you are just showing off your power and looking for trouble as soon as you became the director of the Women's Department."

The women's director asked, "So you mean three to five years from now?"

Ye Fan nodded: "Don't blame everyone, they have never been out of the past, their experience is limited, and they are afraid of poverty and dare not change. Let's not talk about others, if I ask you to take out 200 yuan at a time to repair the house and the dam, would you be willing?"

The women's director instinctively shook her head.

Ye Fan: "Have people outside the island not yet implemented household contracting?"

The women's director nodded and said, "I went to the dock a few days ago when I left the island and found that the leaders of the production teams were still leading the members to sell things."

"Then it won't be too late to prepare for the house fishing I just mentioned three years later. Because after becoming self-sufficient, everyone will go to the city to sell things in order to make money. The citizens' money will be spent, the market will be active, foreigners will have confidence in our market and come to the mainland to invest, and the unemployed will work in factories to earn money, and then the cycle will repeat, and everyone will have money and be in the mood to go out and play." Ye Fan asked worriedly after he finished speaking, "Is this understandable?"

Women's Director: "Do we make money from foreigners?"

"Our products are cheap. Foreigners sell our products to countries with material shortages. We earn money from those countries." Ye Fan said, "For example, Southeast Asian countries need to import many things. Yongcheng has a seaport, so the money will flow to Yongcheng first."

The female comrade suddenly realized: "No wonder you said that the citizens of Ningbo came to play. I thought there are many workers in the city, but not many of them are willing to come out to play."

"There will be more later."

The director of the Women's Affairs Department said: "For example, the household contract responsibility system has not been implemented yet. Is it not too late to prepare for it in five years?"

Ye Fan nodded: "If they are always afraid of wolves and tigers every time they make a decision, it won't be too late in five years. I said that before, I subconsciously thought that they had divided the land just like you did."

The director of women's affairs shook her head: "It will be difficult next year."

Ye Fan smiled and said, "Next year, we will distribute 100% of the land. At the end of the year, when Su Yuanhang's father goes to the city to report on the situation on the island, he will definitely say that the household contract responsibility system is feasible. With the precedent of Hengshan Island, the higher-ups will dare to make the decision and ask the lower-ups to do it. Once the higher-ups have made the decision, the lower-ups dare not disobey the implementation."

The director of women's affairs forgot about Su Yuanhang's father: "I feel like the old secretary should retire."

"This is his business, not mine."

The women's director heard from others that Ye Fan disliked Secretary Su, and she had already asked everything she wanted to ask, so she opened the bamboo basket and asked Dabao to get a basin for her to pour out the oranges.

Dabao subconsciously looked at his mother and asked, "Do you want it?"
Ye Fan nodded: "What should you and Erbao say?"

Dabao smiled and said, "Thank you, Auntie." Then he ran to the kitchen to get the vegetable basin.

The oranges this time were very good, not a single one was crooked or had scars. The female comrade still said, "Don't be disgusted by this small amount, Accountant Ye. When you're done, come visit our team. We've missed you after not seeing you for a few days."

Ye Fan smiled and nodded and sent her out.

The female comrade went outside and stopped when she remembered something: "Accountant Ye, what if people from outside the island or other islands want to learn from us?"

Ye Fan: "You treat people with sincerity and serve with heart. In the past two years, you have left a good impression on the citizens by giving away shrimps when buying fish. It is not easy for them to snatch customers. Besides, didn't I say that we should cooperate with Guanyin Island? With the Bodhisattva helping you promote, what can other islands do to compete with you?"

The female comrades were enlightened: "They have what we have, and we also have what they don't have. For example, Hengshan Island is now famous in the city."

Ye Fan nodded: "In the future, if the capital doesn't need your dry goods, a few production teams can rent a few transport vehicles, go to the ice rink to get some crushed ice, freeze the seafood and send it to Hangzhou. If you find it troublesome, just give it to Su Duofu."

The female comrade thought about the fact that each company is responsible for its own profits and losses: "If he could make a lot of money, Duofu would definitely resign."

Ye Fan: "His boat needs to sell the seafood, can't you just give him some hard work money and ask him to take it? Don't tell me you haven't secretly helped your relatives sell things?"

The female comrade immediately felt embarrassed. Every time she sent dry goods to the food factory, 30% of them were from relatives, and she thought Ye Fan didn't know.

Ye Fan: "Now the policy is becoming more and more relaxed. Maybe in the future, individuals will be able to run factories. After Su Duofu resigned, the new factory director was unwilling to help you. So let the team leader take the lead and let the production team run a food factory."

The female comrade thought that if an individual runs a factory, it would be the same as the old days of eating from the same big pot. Suddenly, she thought that the household contract responsibility system is the same as it was 20 years ago. Other aspects may really be the same as in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Since no one would come to do what Ye Fan said, the female comrade did not want to cause any trouble, so when she met the members and the team leader of the production team, she said that Accountant Ye was at home watching Dabao do his homework.

The reason why the members were so concerned about Ye Fan was that, firstly, they felt strange not to see Zhuang Qiuyue, Wan Siqin and others, and secondly, they calculated the time and thought that Head Geng would leave soon, and they were worried that Ye Fan would no longer care about them. Knowing that Ye Fan had something to do at home, the members were relieved and went about their own business.

The director of women's affairs gave the captain a wink, and the two of them went to a deserted place on the side of the road. Then the director of women's affairs told the captain what Ye Fan had said about "later".

After hearing this, the team leader sighed: "We take one step at a time, Accountant Ye takes one step at a time and looks ten steps ahead."

The Women's Director: "I'm afraid that after the old secretary retires, there will be another old secretary number two."

Team leader: "He is more rigid than the old secretary, but he is only in charge of me, not the members. Besides, we have people on our side."

The director of the Women's Department immediately thought of Su Yuanhang, who might stay in the provincial unit. "The people in the Organization Department also know Su Duofu. He dared to use chicken feathers as a token of authority. He asked Su Duofu to go to the Organization Department. I heard that the people in the Organization Department are in charge of promotions and appointments."

The captain didn't expect that they had two backup plans, and he stopped worrying that they would go back to the past five years after Ye Fan left: "Then we will ask everyone to grow more vegetables and fruits in the next few years, and citizens can buy all the fruits, vegetables, chickens, fish, meats and eggs in one trip. Even if there are cheaper ones in the city in the future, they will come to us to buy things when they have time."

The next day, when Orange boarded the ship, the captain of the Shanxi Brigade called a meeting of the members, saying that the variety of vegetables in the vegetable market was small and not attractive enough.

Growing vegetables does not require very good land, they can be grown in front of or behind the house, it is like a business with no capital, so the members think about what to plant when they return home.

There are many kinds of vegetables on the island, but they can all be bought in the city's vegetable market. The members really didn't know what to plant, so they wrote to the junior in the agricultural college and asked him if he had any fresh seeds.

In early December, a few people who were studying at the Agricultural College sent us a few packets of seeds. When the cabbages and radishes were harvested, the Shanxi brigade members prepared the land and planted the seeds immediately in the spring.

As for Ye Fan, she originally wanted to wait for Dabao to have winter vacation to take her and Erbao back home. But before she could send a telegram to her family, she received a letter from her mother saying that it was snowing heavily and they should not come.

Ye Fan wrote back to ask her to buy more food and go out less. Unexpectedly, at the end of the year, her mother sent her another letter, saying that her father-in-law was not in good health. Ye Fan gave the letter to Geng Zhiye: "Can we take a leave after the New Year? We can go back to see him?"

Geng Zhiye calculated the time: "I'll leave on the sixth day and come back on the thirteenth day. I can stay at home for four or five days."

No one expected that on the fifth day of the New Year, Geng Zhiye received a telegram from his second brother, asking him to reply quickly!

Geng Zhiye immediately arranged the work at hand, and the family of four went to Hangzhou to take the train on the afternoon of the sixth day of the New Year. Because the train was slow, they did not arrive in the capital until the morning of the eighth day.

When Geng Zhiye arrived at the entrance of the alley, he saw his uncle, his cousin, and the Yu family. Even before he reached the door, he knew that his father was gone.

Ye Fan went to the door and asked Geng Zhiye's aunt when it happened. Aunt Qin Yunzhi said it was on the evening of the fourth day of the Chinese New Year. Ye Fan was afraid that Dabao and Erbao would be scared when they saw the body, so she handed them over to Geng Huihui and she and Geng Zhiye went into the house.

Geng's father stayed at home for several days just to wait for Geng Zhiye. The day after Geng Zhiye came back, Geng's elder brother held a memorial service for Geng's father, and then cremated and buried him in a public burial.

After the old man was buried, a new problem arose. Geng's father left the house to his second brother Geng, but his second brother had a house in his unit that was more spacious than the old house and had a flush toilet. It was convenient for him and his wife to live in the unit, and it would be more convenient for Geng Huihui and her brother to go to school at their grandparents' house. What did he need the house for?

Second brother Geng said that according to previous rules, the property should be given to the eldest brother.

Brother Geng didn't know when he could return to Beijing, so what did he need the house for? Brother Geng asked Geng Zhiye to go to the study and said that he had no house, so this property would be transferred to him. When he was transferred to another place in the future, it would be inconvenient for Ye Fan to follow the army, and Dabao and Erbao's household registration could be transferred back to the capital and registered under this house.

Geng Zhiye called Ye Fan in and asked her to make the decision.

Ye Fan: "Aunt Yu is always worried that she will be homeless once the old man is gone. Why not put the house in Xiaoqin's name?"

Brother Geng let Geng Zhiqin in.

Geng Zhiqin said without hesitation: "I don't want it!"

Brother Geng frowned slightly, and Geng Zhiqin stood up in fear: "I-I, brother, it's not that I dislike my dad being at home all the time. I don't know who some of my classmates heard that one of my brothers is a senior government official, and the other brother is a senior military official. They chased me every day and wanted to be friends with me. If I have a house, can I still graduate safely?"

(End of this chapter)