Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

From the tone of the old man's voice, it doesn't sound like he wants to sell pork with Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye.

Ye Fan asked Geng Zhiye: "What do you think?"

Geng Zhiye had a guess in his mind: "Does Dabao know the old man just now?"

Dabao and Erbao often play in the alley, and they both know everyone in the alley. Dabao nodded and changed the newspaper: "Dad, don't you know them?"

Geng Zhiye got home on the evening of the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month. The next day he was assigned to write Spring Festival couplets and then rent a car to transport pigs. This was the only day he had free time, so how could he have time to get to know his neighbors?

"Don't keep me in suspense." Geng Zhiye glared at his son.

Dabao nodded: "Yes, I know you. What's up?"

Geng Zhiye: "How many sons does he have?"

Dabao was stunned for a moment, and his father asked him what he was doing. Facing his father's eyes that didn't allow him to talk nonsense, Dabao honestly said: "Three sons and two daughters."

Geng Zhiye asked again: "How old is your son?"

Dabao thought: "They are all different ages. The eldest son seems to be younger than his mother, and the youngest son is a classmate of brother Benben."

Ye Fan was very surprised: "The youngest son is so young?"

Dabao asked: "Doesn't he look like the grandpa's son? I don't think so either. I asked grandma and found out that the younger son started school late. He is actually only one year younger than Sister Huihui, and the grandpa is one year older than grandma."

Ye Fan: "Retiring before you're 60?"

Geng Zhiye said, "That old man looks seven or eight years older than Aunt Yu. He either looks old or works very hard at his job. Men who work very hard can retire at the age of 55."

Dabao admired him and said, "Dad is so smart. That old man is the one. Grandma said he was sick and wouldn't let me go to his house to play."

Ye Fan hurriedly asked him if it was an infectious disease.

Dabao shook his head: "Grandma didn't say that."

Geng Zhiye: "That old man didn't even breathe or grunt when he spoke, so he definitely didn't have tuberculosis or something like that. It's okay, Dabao, don't listen to your grandma's nonsense."

Dabao: "His house is not fun either, and it's not as spacious as ours."

She has five children, but her house is not as good as hers. There is no other reason except that she has no money to buy a bigger house. Ye Fan said, "Maybe you are right."

Dabao pointed at himself and said, "Me? Is Uncle going to sell pork to you and dad?"

Geng Zhiye didn't think so: "Ye Fanfan, let's make a bet?"

"Brush your shoes!" Ye Fan threw Dabao's shoes to him, "After you're done, I'll go and recite my lessons." When Ye Fan thought of ancient literature, ancient Chinese, Tang poetry and Song lyrics, he regretted choosing Chinese language and literature.

To put it bluntly, I still don't love you.

Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui watched the class with great interest. They envied Ye Fan's teacher and asked Ye Fan for her class schedule, hoping to attend a few public classes at her school.

Geng Zhiye sat on the bench and said while brushing his shoes: "Tell me what you think."

Ye Fan: "That old man didn't say whether he wanted to do it or let his son do it. It's useless for us to talk more."

Geng Zhiye raised his eyebrows: "So you also found out that he wanted his son to sell pork?"

Dabao was stunned for a moment and couldn't help asking, "Isn't it the uncle?"

Geng Zhiye: "Your mother is a student, so how can she often take him to sell pork? The uncle asked your mother if she would still sell pork before the Lantern Festival. He probably hoped that your mother would take care of his son. Your mother went to school, and his son continued to sell. He asked your mother if anyone made things difficult for her, probably because he was afraid that his son couldn't handle it."

Erbao opened his mouth and exclaimed: "Dad is so awesome!"

Geng Zhiye smiled: "It's just so-so."

Ye Fan rolled his eyes: "Look how proud I am of you."

Geng Zhiye: "Isn't it worth it for me to be proud of myself for being faster than you?"

Ye Fan stood up and said, "Since you are so awesome, why don't you brush the shoes by yourself?"

Geng Zhiye waved his hand: "Go and do your thing."

Ye Fan took out the book and sat next to his daughter to read.

Geng Zhiye washed his clothes and shoes, put the washing machine in his stepmother's room, cleaned the yard, and took out his books.

When Dabao and Erbao saw how serious their parents were, they felt embarrassed to go to the park.

It was almost noon, Ye Fan gave the book to Geng Zhiye, Geng Zhiye took it into the house, and Ye Fan washed the rice and steamed it.

Geng Zhiye went to the kitchen and asked, "Are you cooking fish or meat?"

Ye Fan: "Use warm water to soak the black fungus and day lily, and then soak some white fungus. I'll cut some pork and fry it in oil, then stir-fry the pork ribs and stew it."

Geng Zhiye asked again: "Is the pork belly you bought enough for the New Year?"

"That's enough. We, Benben, and Huihui are all registered in the city. Aunt Yu will use our share to buy a few pounds. Otherwise, how can I dare to cut some meat and cook vegetables every day." Ye Fan cut the meat and chopped the ribs into small pieces, then went to wash her hands. "Let's go to the park?"

Geng Zhiye washed the green onions and ginger, then wiped his hands while shouting outside: "Dabao, Erbao, put on your hats and scarves!"

Dabao and Erbao heard what their mother said in the yard, and they took out their hats and scarves, wrapped themselves up so that only their eyes were exposed, and then one of them held their mother and the other held their father to go and pick up their aunt and their older brothers and sisters.

When the family of four reached the intersection, they saw Yang Mengxia bringing back the four children.

Dabao and Erbao ran over and asked how much money they had earned.

Yang Mengxia had read in books that poor scholars needed to write letters for others to make money. She thought it was very fresh and admired people who bent over for a living. Now that she is making money by writing calligraphy that she practiced when she was young, she is a little embarrassed: "It's about the same as what you made yesterday morning."

Dabao couldn't help but say, "Auntie is amazing. She made so much money on her first try. Are you going there again this afternoon?"

These two days, every household was preparing to write Spring Festival couplets. Someone found that last year's ink had dried up and the brush was difficult to use. They were too lazy to buy ink and brushes, so they went to the park to bother Yang Mengxia.

Yang Mengxia said: "Yes, I have. I have already told them."

"Then let's go home quickly." Dabao turned around and shouted to his parents, "Let's cook."

Ye Fan took advantage of his son being far away and unable to hear him and said, "He really knows how to arrange things!"

Geng Zhiye held her hand and said, "Let's go home first."

Going to the kitchen, Ye Fan took down the kettle, put the frying pan on it, and fried the pork belly to release the oil. Ye Fan put in the washed ribs, and then added seasonings, soaked dried goods, and simmered them with water.

After dinner, Yang Mengxia went to her mother-in-law's room to rest. Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye were very tired after being busy for several days, so they also went back to their rooms to take a nap.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the whole family went to the park together.

A few old men were playing with spinning tops in the park. When they saw Geng Zhiye coming, they stopped and chatted with him. They had heard that he had gone to sell pork a few days ago, so they asked him how his pork business was going.

Geng Zhiye didn't like to show off his wealth, and he didn't know how much money his family had. He gave his salary directly to Ye Fan, and Ye Fan gave him pocket money. So he said two words, "Not bad," and talked about his rural relatives.

The uncles were well versed in the ways of the world and would not ask him in public how much money he made. They just followed his words and said, "We want to buy some green vegetables, but they cost several yuan per pound. Rural people can't finish eating them and feed them to pigs. What's this?"

Geng Zhiye: "The higher-ups are also aware of this problem, otherwise they wouldn't have proposed internal reforms."

The old man smiled again: "Yes! In the past, when we were poor, we should have nationalized things and distributed them uniformly to prevent people from wasting. Now the situation is much better, and we should restore the market economy. The higher-ups proposed reforms, which is great."

Geng Zhiye agreed: "Yes. People below are also very supportive. I heard that we sold pork here before, and people from the street office also bought it?"

Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye only found out about this last night. Yang Mengxia wanted to give Ye Fan the home address of a relative who worked in the industrial and commercial department, but Ye Fan didn't say no, so Yu Wentao said that the government staff had no objection, and that everyone in the street knew that Ye Fan sold meat because they also bought it.

At that time, Geng Zhiye couldn't help but complain in his heart that his stepmother's gossiping nature was not without its disadvantages.

The old man nodded slightly to prove that Yu Wentao was not talking nonsense: "Several people from the street came to ask your sister-in-law to write Spring Festival couplets this morning."

Geng Zhiye was surprised: "Why didn't my sister-in-law say anything?"

An old man saw that Geng Zhiye seemed very nervous and quickly comforted him, "Comrade Xiao Yang doesn't know them."

Another old man said: "They didn't say they were from the street office."

The old man who was not good at speaking could not help but say: "How can someone introduce himself when writing Spring Festival couplets?"

Several people smiled and nodded in agreement with his words.

Geng Zhiye thought to himself that the street staff here are good people. "What else can the village sell at the park gate?"

Several uncles agreed that it was possible.

The idle old lady saw Geng Zhiye chatting and laughing with a few uncles, so she came over curiously and asked, "What are you talking about?"

The old man said, "Comrade Geng asked if he could still sell vegetables and meat here in the future."

The aunt said without hesitation: "Sure."

The old man immediately said, "If she says yes, then yes. Her eldest son is the director of the neighborhood committee."

The aunt first admitted this, and then said in a big way: "If you dare not let me sell him, I will take care of him!" Then she muttered, "Who can a small official control?"

Geng Zhiye laughed: "Auntie, have you written the Spring Festival couplets? I'll write them for you for free."

"If you say so, I'll go home and get the red paper." The aunt pretended to go home.

Geng Zhiye nodded.

The aunt didn't bother to be polite with him, and she ran home to find red paper. Her daughter-in-law was at home on holiday, and she couldn't help but say, "The Spring Festival couplets are ready."

"Was it written in the park?" the aunt asked. "Was it written by a child or a lesbian?"

The aunt's daughter-in-law thought her mother-in-law looked down on her child's calligraphy: "Didn't you see it yesterday? You also praised the calligraphy for being beautiful."

"I dare not answer directly, because it is written by a child, right?" The aunt cut out a pair of Spring Festival couplets from the remaining red paper, "I asked the child's father to write it for us. It's free. We will post it on the gate of the courtyard. I heard that he is an officer."

The daughter-in-law wanted to say that it was unnecessary, but after hearing the last sentence, she let her mother-in-law leave.

The aunt's home is one kilometer away from the park, but she walks fast and it takes her half an hour to go back and forth. Just at this time, Yang Mengxia stopped writing to take a rest. Geng Zhiye took the brush and wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets for the aunt. He wanted to give it to his son, but when he looked left and right, he saw a group of children skating in the lake in the distance.

Geng Zhiye said: "I will write one next time, and give one away to thank everyone for supporting my sister-in-law, nephews and nieces, and my son and daughter in the past few days."

Those who had planned to write casually went home immediately to get red paper when they heard about such a good thing. However, there were too many people and Geng Zhiye was writing until the sun went down and his hands were almost numb.

Ye Fan asked her sister-in-law and nephew to bring a bench and table. She helped Geng Zhiye move his fingers as she walked: "Are you stupid? Don't you know how to take a break?"

"As a soldier, I feel tired after writing Spring Festival couplets for a while. The uncles and aunts must think I am a useless person." Geng Zhiye defended in a low voice.

Dabao pouted and said, "Dad is dying for face and suffering!"

Geng Zhiye raised his foot to kick him: "My hands cannot move, my legs are fine."

Dabao was so scared that he ran forward: "Auntie, my dad hit me!"

Yang Mengxia thought to himself, you deserve this beating! But he said, "Slow down, don't fall."

Dabao reached out to his cousin: "I can get a bench."

Geng Leilei handed him a folding stool and asked casually, "Uncle and aunt are still working on New Year's Eve. Can they handle it?"

Yang Mengxia didn't know what was going on with Geng Zhihui, so she asked Geng Huihui if she knew when her parents would be back.

Geng Huihui said nonchalantly, "I don't know. Auntie, hurry up, grandma and aunt should be ready for dinner."

Yu Wentao and Geng Zhiqin got off at the Park Station at 4 p.m. and saw many people queuing up opposite Geng Zhiye to write Spring Festival couplets, so the mother and daughter went home first.

The sun set at 4:30, and Geng Zhiqin cut two Spanish mackerels and stewed them with tofu.

The tofu that Yu Wentao bought was all stored on the roof and had long been frozen. At noon, she heard from her sister-in-law that someone in the village was making tofu, so Yu Wentao bought half a board and brought it back in her sister-in-law's vegetable bowl.

Geng Zhiqin thought it was too much trouble, but Yu Wentao said that handmade tofu was more delicious than the tofu made by machines in the tofu factory. Geng Zhiqin didn't think there was any difference, but she didn't want to listen to her mother's nagging, so she stewed it anyway.

Geng Zhiqin put the tofu in the pot, covered it with a lid, and asked, "What are we going to do next?"

"This pot of food is enough for us." Yu Wentao had steamed the rice early. As there was nothing to do at home for the time being, she asked Geng Zhiqin to go out and see why he hadn't come back yet.

Geng Zhiqin took the flashlight to the intersection and shone it on Erbao, who ran over and hugged her waist: "Auntie!"

"Do you miss your aunt?" Geng Zhiqin handed her the flashlight.

Erbao nodded and went to pick up her parents.

Seeing this, Geng Zhiqin muttered, your thoughts are really worthless.

When they arrived home, Yu Wentao asked them to wash their hands. She unplugged the socket and carried a pot of rice to the main room.

Geng Zhiqin washed his hands and went to serve the food. The women used bowls and the men used basins, half a bowl and half a basin each. Dabao saw that his father and brother both used basins and said, "Aunt, are you discriminating against me?"

Geng Zhiye: "Can you finish it in the bowl? I'll give you half of my bowl."

Dabao didn't dare to ask for it, but said "OK", pulled his father's basin over, and picked the fish and tofu from the basin into the bowl. Ye Fan frowned: "What are you doing?"

Dabao stopped, hesitated for a moment, and returned the basin to his father, then picked up the bowl and waited for his grandmother to add half a bowl of rice to him. Yu Wentao served the rice to the older grandchildren and took Dabao's bowl: "You got scolded, right?"

Dabao muttered: "She is the best in the family!"

Ye Fan didn't hear clearly: "What did you say?"

"I like to eat rice!" Dabao asked loudly, "Is it not allowed?"

Ye Fan glared at him and said, "Although I don't want to beat my child during the New Year, if you want to be beaten, I can satisfy you."

Dabao muttered softly, "You're scaring me again." He only dared to mutter this one sentence. He took the bowl and buried his head in eating rice, tofu and Spanish mackerel.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and we can set off firecrackers. Dabao wants to be the first one to get up and set off the firecrackers. After dinner, he has to wash his face and feet and go to bed.

Geng Huihui whispered to her aunt: "Let's go to the back to sleep."

Geng Zhiqin thought that her mother woke up at three or four o'clock and could not make it until six o'clock. She was either turning on the stove to boil water or cleaning the yard. The noise of clanging woke her up, and she still thought it was a big deal that she was awake and wanted to be lazy.

Oh my god, the sun hasn’t come out yet at seven in the morning. It’s winter vacation and no one in the family can go to work. There’s no need to eat too early. Why should I get up?

Geng Zhiqin doesn't understand her mother, and her mother doesn't understand why Geng Zhiqin is still so lazy in her twenties.

Geng Huihui's idea was exactly what she wanted, so Geng Zhiqin immediately asked her to get a flashlight and they went over first.

Yu Wentao couldn't help but ask: "You two are going to sleep in the back?"

Geng Huihui nodded: "I don't want to share a bed with you."

Erbao asked: "Auntie, should I sleep alone tonight?"

Geng Zhiqin subconsciously said, "You can sleep with your mom." Seeing her brother, he added, "Let your dad sleep alone."

Geng Zhiye laughed angrily: "Thank you for remembering that I'm home!"

Geng Zhiqin realized her mistake when she said it. Her brother rarely came back for a few days, but she separated her brother and her sister-in-law. Anyone else would have scolded her directly, "You're welcome!" She smiled awkwardly and pulled her niece, "Go away! Go away!"
At around six o'clock the next morning, Dabao got up and opened the curtains. It was dark outside. He lay down and planned to take a nap when he suddenly heard the door open. Dabao sat up and looked out like a thief.

The kitchen door next door opened and the kitchen light came on, casting light into the yard. Dabao saw that the person walking back and forth was his grandmother. Dabao knocked on the window, and Yu Wentao was so frightened that she dared not move.

"Grandma?" Dabao wondered why his grandma wasn't moving.

Yu Wentao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the old man had returned. Yu Wentao went to the window and asked, "Why did you wake up so early? Sleep a little longer."

Dabao couldn't sleep: "Grandma, why did you get up so early?"

"Grandma can't sleep. You are different from grandma. You need to grow taller if you sleep more."

Dabao lowered the curtains and lay down, but after a while he remembered something and simply turned on the light and put on his clothes.

Geng Benben couldn't help but pull the quilt over his head: "Dabao, aren't you sleepy?"

"Have you been reading novels again?" Dabao didn't sleep on the same bed with Geng Benben, so he didn't know whether his brother had secretly read novels. He only remembered that the light was still on when he was about to fall asleep.

Geng Huihui borrowed many books from the school library. Geng Benben was not interested at first, but found them interesting as he got into them. The house was noisy during the day, and he wanted to go out and play, so he was not in the mood to read. At night, he couldn't fall asleep, so he took out the novel and became more energetic as he read. Geng Benben didn't know what time he read last night: "Don't tell my parents."

Dabao asked: "If you don't sleep at night and don't get up during the day, will you be able to get up when school starts?"

Geng Benben stretched out his hand and promised that he would not study after the fifth day of the New Year and would read textbooks and do his winter vacation homework.

Dabao exclaimed: "You haven't finished your winter vacation homework yet?"

"Have you finished writing?"

Dabao: “I finished it a long time ago.”

Geng Benben suddenly felt terrified and immediately sat up: "When was it written?"

"It's just the holiday." Dabao got out of bed and put on his shoes. Geng Benben asked, "Where's Erbao?"

Dabao nodded: "I wrote it too."

Geng Benben fell weakly on the bed: "Damn it! Why is a primary school student, a freshman in junior high school, so hardworking?"

"You can play every day only if you finish writing." Dabao didn't understand him, "You have to write sooner or later, why don't you finish it earlier? Brother Benben, I'm going out now."

Geng Benben waved his hand: "Turn off the lights."

Dabao turned off the light and heard his grandmother asking him if he wanted to go to the toilet. Dabao took a piece of paper and went to the public toilet with his grandmother.

After returning home, the old and the young washed up, Yu Wentao asked Dabao if he was hungry and cooked him a bowl of noodles. Dabao was not hungry but a little thirsty, probably because he ate too much meat last night.

Yu Wentao poured a glass of water for her grandson and went out to chat with others.

Dabao was feeling lonely in the house, so he squatted on the doorstep with a cup in his hand and watched his grandmother chat with others.

Geng Zhiye got up when he heard his son's voice, and wanted to ask him if he was feeling unwell and why he got up so early. When he opened the main door and saw this scene, Geng Zhiye thought to himself, why is he acting like an old man?

Worried about scaring the child, Geng Zhiye approached and asked, "Dabao, what are you looking at?"

Dabao waved his little hand to his father. Geng Zhiye squatted down to help his son hold the teacup. Dabao whispered, "The uncle chatting with grandma is the uncle who came to our house yesterday. Grandma didn't ask me to go to his house to play. She chatted with others by herself and even smiled - Dad, look!"

Geng Zhiye turned around and saw a few old men laughing heartily about something unknown to them.

"Are you cold?" Geng Zhiye asked.

Dabao shook his head and asked quietly, "Dad, what are they talking about?"

Geng Zhiye: "It's so early in the morning, and you're still outside. What serious things can you talk about? It must be some gossip about other people. Let's go back to the house."

Dabao got up, took his father's hand and skipped to the main room: "Is mom awake yet?"

Geng Zhiye: "Let your mother sleep a little longer. Do you want some water?"

Dabao drank half a jar of wine from his father's hand, and then asked Erbao if he had woken up.

When Geng Zhiye went out just now, he heard some noise in Erbao's room: "Can you go over and take a look?"

Dabao went over and knocked on the door, and Erbao asked his brother to come in. Dabao opened the door, and Erbao pointed at the shoes on the ground and said, "Brother, help me get my shoes."

"I'm looking for trouble." Dabao complained and handed the shoes to his sister. "Do you want to practice Tai Chi with me?"

Erbao nodded: "Will you practice military boxing with me, and then we can learn English together?"

As long as Dabao is not asked to learn Russian, he can do anything. "Sure! Hurry up." Dabao went to the yard and waited.

Erbao ran to the toilet, and when he came back he tidied himself up and practiced Tai Chi with his brother.

By this time it was daybreak and the fire was lit. Yu Wentao came back to cook. Seeing this, she couldn't help but praise her grandson and granddaughter for being sensible and loving to study so early in the morning.

There was no peace in the room, Ye Fan couldn't sleep and got up. Geng Benben regretted not going to the back. Seeing how foresighted his aunt and sister were, they might still be dating Zhou Gong.

Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui were unable to sleep in because Yang Mengxia woke up and asked them to get up and prepare to go to work.

Geng Huihui dared to complain to her grandmother, and Geng Zhiqin dared to bully her mother, but neither of them dared to blame Yang Mengxia. Firstly, she was a teacher and the two of them did not dare to talk nonsense with her. Secondly, Geng Zhihua, the eldest son of the Geng family, was very majestic, and they were afraid that Yang Mengxia would tell him that they were lazy.

Geng Huihui pulled her aunt behind her aunt and cousins, muttering, "I should have slept in the front."

Geng Zhiqin: "If you sleep with your grandma, you will be woken up by her at six o'clock. It's seven o'clock now. It's worth sleeping an hour longer than before!"

"That's right! People shouldn't be too greedy." Geng Huihui comforted herself instantly.

Because they got up early, the meal was not ready when they got home. Geng Huihui saw Dabao walking around with firecrackers and couldn't help asking, "Can't we set them off earlier?"

Dabao shook his head: "No. Aunt Li, our neighbor, said that setting off firecrackers is not only to get rid of the old and welcome the new to drive away the Nian monster, but also to inform Grandpa that dinner is ready at home, so he can come and try it."

Geng Zhiqin was speechless but wanted to laugh. This little superstitious kid in her family was really superstitious. "Can your grandfather hear in the cemetery?"

"Grandma lit incense." Dabao pointed to the incense burner on the table in the main hall. "Many people lit incense, and the fragrance drifted out. You can smell it in the cemetery. Grandpa would follow the fragrance into the city, and then he would come in when he heard our firecrackers. Little aunt, don't you know?"

Geng Zhiqin shook his head: "First time hearing this."

"Me too, Aunt Li told me that." Just before Geng Zhiqin came back, Dabao went out with the firecrackers. Aunt Li, who was chatting with people in the alley, asked, "Is the meal ready?" Dabao replied, "No." Aunt Li told him to set off the firecrackers after the meal was ready, and gave him some scientific knowledge.

Ye Fan listened to the old man and the young man mumbling in the yard and shook his head helplessly.

The breakfast on New Year’s Eve was the same as usual, rice porridge, steamed buns, salted duck eggs and a stir-fried cabbage.

After dinner, Yang Mengxia asked her son to take off the coat and pants he had been wearing for the past few days and throw them into the washing machine, and the family of three put on new clothes. Seeing this, Dabao asked his mother: "Didn't you buy me new clothes?"

Ye Fan glanced at him helplessly, went to his room and opened the closet, "Look for yourself!"

Dabao saw the new clothes his mother bought more than half a month ago. Because the trouser legs were too long, he asked his grandmother to help him sew them: "I was busy and forgot. Don't be angry. It's unlucky to be angry during the New Year."

Ye Fan pinched his little face: "Why are you so talkative?" He let go of his hand and asked: "Do you want to change into new clothes?"

"No! I want to wear it tomorrow." Dabao closed the cabinet, went outside and saw his sister, "Erbao, we will wear new clothes tomorrow."

Erbao doesn't care whether the clothes are new or old, as long as she likes them and they are comfortable. But if it can make her brother happy, Erbao doesn't mind going along with him, "Okay. Brother, let's play shuttlecock?"

Dabao doesn't want to play shuttlecock, but his sister is so obedient, he should be nicer to her: "Let's see who can reach 100 first?"

Erbao nodded: "I'll go get the shuttlecock."

Ye Fan asked the brother and sister to go out because they were getting in the way by playing shuttlecock in the yard.

Dabao took his mother along to go with him.

Ye Fan's family of four had all their clothes and shoes cleaned up. Geng Huihui also washed her and her brother's clothes and shoes, and she and Geng Zhiqin did the washing together. It was still early to make lunch, so Ye Fan had some free time, so he went outside to watch the two children play.

After a few minutes, Ye Fan found that the old man who came to her house to chat yesterday morning kept looking over here. Ye Fan pretended not to see him. The old man went home after a while.

Dabao saw the old man looking at his mother, and when the old man came home, he went to his mother and whispered, "Does the old man want to talk to you about something?"

Ye Fan: "It's not a good deal if you're the one who's chasing after others."

Little clever Geng Dabao understood instantly, and waited for the old man to lose patience and take the initiative to look for his mother.

“Oh my——” Dabao exclaimed.

Ye Fan asked hurriedly: "What's wrong?"

"The busy man is back." Dabao pointed to the entrance of the alley.

Ye Fan looked over and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What busy people? It's your second uncle and your second mother."

Geng Zhihui approached and heard the last sentence, and asked: "What happened to us?"

Ye Fan: "Dabao said he thought you guys weren't coming back. Is there a bus today?"

Geng Zhihui didn't know if there was a bus, so the public bus took him to the intersection, and the driver turned back only after seeing him turn home. Chu Fenghe said: "In order for citizens to go out and play and visit relatives and friends during the Spring Festival, the first day of the New Year will be operated normally."

Ye Fan: "Come in quickly. Haven't you had breakfast? There's porridge in the rice cooker."

The couple didn't have breakfast and had no mood to chat with Ye Fan. They just nodded and smiled at Erbao and went back to the room to drink porridge.

Dabao and Erbao have never lacked snacks since they were young, so they were not curious about what Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe were carrying and continued to play shuttlecock in the alley.

Five minutes later, Geng Huihui came out to report to her aunt: "Did my dad's company get rich? They actually gave him a leg of lamb, two packets of brown sugar, and two packets of snacks that looked very expensive judging by the packaging."

Ye Fan: "Is that all?"

"There are also two bags of white round fruits. There are also some small things. Grandma said that my mother should stay at grandma's house on the second day of the Chinese New Year. Aunt, shall we cook the lamb legs for lunch?"

Ye Fanxin said, this is the real reason why you ran away. "You have to ask your mother about this. Otherwise, your mother will think I have never eaten mutton."

Geng Huihui didn't dare to ask her mother, for fear that her mother would say she was greedy, "Erbao, do you want to eat mutton?"

Erbao was speechless: "I said I wanted to eat, so you told Second Mom to make mutton for lunch, because I was greedy?"

Geng Huihui felt a little uncomfortable: "Erbao, a child who is too smart is not cute."

Erbao threw the shuttlecock to his brother: "It's your turn!"

"I thought you agreed." Geng Huihui ran to the yard without waiting for Erbao to speak, "Grandma, Mom, Erbao asked if we could cook mutton for lunch."

Geng Zhihui said: "If Erbao wants to eat, just make it."

Chu Fenghe thought that the New Year's Eve dinner should be more sumptuous than usual, so he asked directly: "Erbao, are you going to have it at noon or at night?"

Geng Huihui was worried that the night would be long and full of dreams: "Noon!"

Erbao rolled her eyes at her mother when she heard this outside the door. Ye Fan was both angry and amused: "It wasn't me who asked Huihui to say that. If you're unhappy, go find her!"

"No! It would be a waste if you don't eat it!" Erbao saw that his brother didn't catch the shuttlecock, so he picked it up and kicked it himself, "Brother, how many are there?"

Dabao: "Let's play for another ten minutes."

Ye Fan helped them keep track of the time. Ten minutes later, Ye Fan returned to the courtyard and heard her sister-in-law washing mutton in the kitchen. She couldn't help but go to the kitchen door to see: "Is everything done?"

Geng Zhihui was squatting by the wall eating Sanzi. Hearing this, he said, "Make all of them! There are so many people at home. If we make less, it won't be enough to fill our stomachs."

Geng Zhiye came out of the main room and gave his second brother a small stool: "Can't you sit down and eat? If you don't know, you might think you are an old man. And the clothes you are wearing, how old are they?"

Geng Zhihui looked at his black cotton jacket and answered seriously, "Six or seven years. What happened?"

"Just this one cotton-padded jacket?" Didn't your sister-in-law know to make two more for you? Because his sister-in-law was in the kitchen and might be unhappy if she heard it, Geng Zhiye swallowed the words back.

Geng Zhihui nodded: "Yes. But it's not as resistant to dirt as this coat."

Geng Zhiye finally understood how no one could doubt his brother, a college student, when he lied that he was a second-level fitter. No one would believe that he only made a few hundred yuan a month when he looked so unkempt.

Geng Zhiye didn't bother to talk about his clothes, "How many days will you stay at home?"

"Half a month. By the way, where do I live?" Geng Zhihui asked.

Geng Zhiye was asked: "Where do you want to live?"

"In the back. I heard that the two sets are at the Normal University. It's a long way to go."

This surprised Geng Zhiye. He thought his brother didn't know. "Did you know that my sister-in-law bought two houses?"

Geng Zhihui nodded: "I know."

"Don't you think it's a bit early to buy now?"

Geng Zhihui thought his brother thought so. In fact, when Geng Zhihui first heard about this, he felt that Chu Fenghe was competing with Ye Fan because she wanted to buy a house too. Chu Fenghe was worried that he would get angry - Geng Zhihui earned almost all the money for the house, and she acted without his permission, which was very disrespectful to him, so she said before him that her brother also bought one, and her sister-in-law also wanted to buy one.

Geng Zhihui had been away from Beijing for several months and thought something had happened in the capital, so he asked her what had happened.

Chu Fenghe said that her mother-in-law made 2,000 yuan from the house, and her brother and sister-in-law made 500 yuan from the house. She also said that there was no need to hate money, Huihui and Benben were still young, and there would be many places to spend money in the future, so she decided to follow the trend and buy a house.

Geng Zhihui wanted to say that he could support the whole family, but he recently heard that his colleagues were planning to send their children abroad for further studies and return to serve the motherland, and he also wanted to give Benben away, so he said, "Just keep it after you buy it, and sell it when you need money."

So after hearing what Geng Zhiye said, Geng Zhihui said, "It's a bit early. But it's not impossible to sell it."

Geng Zhiye: "You don't mind having a few more apartments and giving me the old house?"

Chu Fenghe couldn't help but say, "Didn't you have no house at that time? Besides, who knew that someone was selling a house at that time?"

Geng Zhiye: "Then I'll transfer the house to you?"

Chu Fenghe said without hesitation: "I already have two sets at home, why do I need so many? Two sets for your family is just right, one for the first child and one for the second child in the future."

Yang Mengxia muttered quietly: "So I have to buy two sets too."

Ye Fan had sharp ears, and upon hearing this, he moved to the kitchen door and said, "Speaking of which, we should buy two houses. You and your eldest brother may live somewhere in your old age. If you live in the capital before retirement, the eldest or the second son can live with you. Your eldest brother may be transferred to the grassland or the plateau before retirement, and the teaching staff there is not suitable for Lei Lei and Sen Sen to go there. If they stay in the capital, we can't let them wait for the company to allocate housing for them."

Yang Mengxia couldn't help but say: "I'm so much older than you, but I haven't thought as far as you do."

"I'm out and about every day, so I'm quite sensitive to market fluctuations."

With Ye Fan's words, Yang Mengxia was sure that buying a house would not be a loss. Her parents resumed work a few years ago, and they received a large salary supplement. Yang Mengxia planned to call her parents to ask if the money was still there.

Yang Mengxia's hometown is Jinling. His parents used to work in the capital, but they took the initiative to return to their hometown after their work resumed a few years ago. Talents are in short supply everywhere these days, and Jinling is eager for them to come.

The procedures, accommodation, etc. will be arranged within a month.

Not long after her parents arrived there, they transferred Yang Mengxia's brothers there. Now Yang Mengxia has no close relatives in the capital, otherwise she wouldn't have had the time to help Dabao write Spring Festival couplets after returning home with great difficulty.

As the mutton was being stewed, Yang Mengxia had nothing else to do, so she went to a public phone booth to call her parents and tell them about her recent stay in the capital. Her parents naturally asked how her mother-in-law treated her.

Yang Mengxia casually said that her mother-in-law bought a house, cleaned up the main room, and she lived in one room, one room was given to the second son and his wife, the children lived in the side rooms, and the mother-in-law lived in Ye Fan's house.

When Yang's parents heard that Yu Wentao gave up the main house to their son and daughter-in-law, they said that Yu Wentao was more sensible than before, and then said that since that was the case, they should get along well.

Yang Mengxia also said that her second child bought two houses, and then asked her parents if anyone around them was in a hurry to sell their houses abroad, as she wanted to buy one there.

Yang's parents didn't agree with her coming back. There were more opportunities in the capital than in the south. Secondly, Geng Zhiye and Ye Fan were Lei Lei and Sen Sen's uncles and aunts. With their connections, they could protect their grandchildren for half their lives. She and her husband were half buried in the earth. If their daughter came, they couldn't protect her for a few days. So they asked Yang Mengxia to buy a house near Ye Fan's house. They would visit each other frequently and have a good relationship. After a long time, Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye could take care of their two nephews as their own sons.

Yang Mengxia was so roundabout because she was worried that her parents would not support her buying a house and would be very angry during the Chinese New Year. When she heard this, she said that she did not have enough money and a house would cost more than 10,000 yuan.

Mother Yang said directly: "I have it."

With the support of her parents, Yang Mengxia no longer worried about money. She smiled and said, "Ask my mother-in-law first. She will lend me some. If it's not enough, I'll ask you again." Then she said that Ye Fan asked someone to buy a lot of shrimps and sea fish, and went to the countryside to buy a lot of meat. She felt that the two children had gained weight in just a few days.

Mother Yang increasingly felt that it was better for her two grandchildren to be in the capital than to be with her.

The mother and daughter chatted for a long time before Yang's mother was willing to hang up the phone.

Perhaps Yang Mengxia did not ask her parents for money. When Yang's mother talked about her daughter with her husband, she said that she was still a child at her age and could not make a decision on such a small matter as buying a house.

Yang's father did not suspect anything and said that his daughter had never bought a house before, so it was normal for her to be hesitant. He then said that he would send her 2,000 yuan after the New Year, and since she wanted to buy a house, she should buy a spacious one, as both of her grandchildren's homes had empty houses, so his daughter and son-in-law could live in whichever house they wanted in the future.

Yang Mengxia never expected her parents to say this. Because her parents supported her, Yang Mengxia said to Ye Fan when she got home: "Let's look at houses after the New Year."

Yu Wentao was very happy that she finally figured it out: "I can only lend you 5,000!"

Yang Mengxia was not surprised that she had so much money. Her and Geng Zhiqin's salary was enough to cover the family expenses and support relatives, and the old man's salary was left over: "I will pay you back in a few years."

Yu Wentao: "It's okay to pay it back after Leilei gets married. Just don't forget it."

Geng Huihui asked: "Should we ask someone else?"

Ye Fan: "Ask about a few more houses. When you are ready to buy, schedule the transaction between the two houses in the morning or afternoon, or two days before or after. Don't leave it too long in between, otherwise the news will get out and the homeowner will definitely get suspicious."

Geng Huihui nodded: "If you think you can make a profit if you buy it, you will definitely raise the price."

Ye Fan did have this concern.

Yang Mengxia: "But I can only stay here until the tenth day of the first lunar month, so I don't have the time to take my time to read it."

Geng Huihui blurted out, "I'll help you look. If someone asks me about it, I'll just say that the houses I looked at before were just average, and you want to find a place like my aunt's where you can move in right away."

Yang Mengxia thought to herself, you are really proactive. She said, "Then I'll trouble Huihui."

Geng Huihui shook her head: "No trouble."

Seeing that his daughter was willing to do this, Chu Fenghe asked her to help her aunt look at two sets.

Geng Huihui agreed without hesitation. Chu Fenghe was very happy that her daughter was so sensible. When she heard that Geng Zhiye was going to take Dabao to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy fireworks, she gave each of her children five yuan.

Geng Huihui and her uncle muttered as they walked outside the door: "My mom, wait! I need to help my aunt, and my last name is Chu!"

Geng Benben was just about to ask her if she was free, but she actually agreed to his mother's request. Hearing this, Geng Benben couldn't help but ask, "Are you trying to appease our mother?"

"If I say I'm busy, my aunt will be in a dilemma and will say she wants to give the job to my aunt. My mother will also scold me. Benben, remember, you must agree to anything my mother asks us to do in the future. She won't be home for more than a few days, and when she leaves, we won't know whether we have done it or not."

This was the first time Geng Benben knew that he could pretend to obey but actually disobey. "What if we ask him to go to grandma's house?"

"You are a student, you have to do your homework!" Geng Huihui gave him a "so stupid" look.

Dabao pulled his father's hand, Geng Zhiye lowered his head, and Dabao stood on tiptoe and asked in a low voice: "Did you suddenly realize that I am the most obedient?"

Geng Zhiye: "Since you are so obedient, then don't buy fireworks for now. Daddy feels cold."

Geng Dabao's pupils trembled: "How could you do this?"

(End of this chapter)