Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Ye Fan's guess plus Geng Zhiye's words equal the complete picture of the Zhang family.

Yu Wentao secretly sighed that her daughter-in-law and son were truly a family.

"Fanfan, what do you think?" Yu Wentao asked.

Ye Fan didn't answer and asked first: "You didn't make a blind promise, did you?"

Yu Wentao's expression suddenly became unnatural. Seeing this, Yang Mengxia couldn't help but sigh: "Aunt Yu——"

"Listen to my explanation!" Yu Wentao was afraid of Geng Zhihua, and even a little timid towards Yang Mengxia, and said hurriedly, "I am also thinking about Fanfan."

Yang Mengxia nodded and continued editing!
Yu Wentao didn't realize that Yang Mengxia didn't believe her, so she continued to say, "Didn't the third brother say that he had to go back to school on the ninth day of the first lunar month? If he leaves, who will accompany Fanfan to sell pork?"

That's quite thoughtful. Yang Mengxia asked, "Don't you have to pay people for helping you?"

Yu Wentao: "Whoever you ask for help has to be given a dollar or two." The implication is that if it's not a member of the Zhang family, it will be someone else.

Yang Mengxia asked: "Wouldn't it be good to give it to your nephew or nephew-in-law?"

"This..." Yu Wentao forgot that Ye Fan could ask the villagers for help when she went to the countryside to transport pigs. "But it's not safe for Fan Fan to drive alone. What if she's busy until four or five o'clock, and the bus stops when she delivers the car to the factory and comes back, you ask her to ride her bike back by herself?"

Yang Mengxia forgot that Ye Fan had to return the car before going home.

Seeing that she was speechless, Yu Wentao couldn't help but feel proud: "Fanfan, what do you think?"

Ye Fan: "I said you just thought that I might be busy until four or five o'clock. You didn't think that I might only work half a day in the morning and be home at two o'clock in the afternoon."

Yu Wentao never thought that when she opened her mouth, she didn't know how to refute.

"Then, what should we do?" Yu Wentao couldn't help but ask.

Ye Fan: "What else can I do since you've already agreed? But if my uncle and cousin ask me about this, I'll say that you found the person."

"I just looked for what I was looking for, and they don't dare to blame me." Yu Wentao said.

Ye Fan nodded: "Tell Uncle Zhang later, no, Uncle Zhang wants to ask you about this on New Year's Day today? His family doesn't celebrate the New Year, or did something go wrong?"

Geng Zhiye: "The eldest son of the Zhang family doesn't look like he's in trouble when he comes to pay New Year's greetings."

Yu Wentao regretted talking about this in the room. She couldn't win against Ye Fan alone, and now there were two more. She was powerless to resist. "That's right, everyone was praising Ye Fan for his ability, and I couldn't help but say a few more words. Then the conversation turned to selling pork, and Old Zhang said he wanted to ask his son to help Ye Fan sell pork."

Yang Mengxia sneered: "So you said it without thinking, okay. You agreed to it and then remembered to ask Ye Fan?"

Yu Wentao hesitated and said, "Well, not entirely. I——"

"Forget you." Yang Mengxia didn't know what to say to her. She said she was competitive and despised the poor, but she agreed to the poor Zhang family. She said she treated everyone equally and was kind-hearted, but she kept saying this and that. "This is just one time, it won't happen again."

Yu Wentao secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "There will definitely not be a next time!" Then she looked at Ye Fan, "What about this matter?"

Ye Fan: "What I say doesn't count. The key is whether we can rent a car."

"Of course! The goods were delivered before the New Year, and the whole factory was busy with production before the Lantern Festival. There was no need for a car." Yu Wentao said.

Ye Fan thought about this before he dared to agree to let the citizens go there once during the Lantern Festival. "Not necessarily. I'll go to the factory to ask in a few days. After confirming when to use the car, I'll go to the village and ask the uncles to find a few pigs."

"Then I'll go back and tell Mr. Zhang that I may not be able to rent a car?" Yu Wentao asked.

Ye Fan nodded: "Don't make random promises anymore."

"It's not like I'm ignorant." Yu Wentao muttered, "I'll go out and take a look." Then she walked out. If she was a step slower, Yang Mengxia would stop her and scold her.

Yang Mengxia sighed when she saw this: "My mother said a few days ago that she is much better than before."

Geng Huihui was not surprised at all: "She is not my grandma if she is so obedient. Auntie, my grandma has only done one thing in half a year since we moved here. She is actually much better than before."

Geng Benben: “I didn’t cause any trouble before.”

Geng Huihui asked, "Small matters don't count, do they? Auntie, when grandpa was still around, she didn't dare to make big mistakes, but she made small mistakes all the time. If you don't want to help her clean up the mess every other day, just be strict with her. She won't dare to take it to heart even if you scold her like you did to Dabao."

Ye Fan laughed: "Tell me later that you should stop talking about family matters outside. Otherwise, your uncle will go to school in a few days, and the house will be full of old people, women and children. If bad guys come in, we will have no choice but to pay the money."

Geng Huihui suddenly realized, "That's right. I said that the school subsidy for you and my uncle was not much, and the money earned from selling pork was only enough to pay for Dabao and Erbao's tuition and buy stationery and clothes. Outsiders must think so too. So she is the richest in the family, and when someone breaks in, they will definitely look for her first." At this point, Geng Huihui put down the playing cards, "Aunt, come here, I'll scare her!"

Seeing that she went as soon as she said so, Yang Mengxia was speechless: "How can Huihui say that wind is rain? She is not like her parents at all."

Geng Zhihui is a slow person in life, he is not impatient or impatient when encountering anything. Chu Fenghe is not as slow as him, nor as decisive as Ye Fan. But Geng Huihui is not only like the one raised by Ye Fan, she is also better than him.

Ye Fan: "She is only seventeen or eighteen years old, which is the age when she is easily overwhelmed. Sister-in-law, aren't you like this at your age?"

When Yang Mengxia was this old, it was the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At that time, there were many spies lurking in the capital. Often, there was a gunshot here and someone was assassinated there. Yang Mengxia thought about catching spies every day.

"I get angry easily, but not as quickly as Huihui. As soon as her grandmother leaves, she chases after her. How can she be a teacher with such a temper? If she sees students disobeying her, won't she be unable to resist and take action?"

Geng Leilei: "No one stipulates that if you go to a normal school, you have to become a teacher. You can work in a government agency."

Yang Mengxia shook her head: "Even worse. Some people in government agencies are afraid of taking responsibility. Not only do they drag their feet, but they also like to shirk responsibility. How can she stand it? If she were in a public institution, even if she wasn't the head of the department, she wouldn't be able to stand their Tai Chi back and forth."

Geng Leilei was very curious: "How did Mom bear it at the time?"

Ye Fan smiled and said, "Your mother obviously can't stand it. Otherwise, how could she take the initiative to go to school?"

Yang Mengxia nodded and admitted: "At first, your elder brother wanted me to go to a state-owned enterprise because there would be opportunities for promotion. If I went to a school, I would be a teacher for the rest of my life."

Geng Leilei always thought his mother liked being a teacher, and never thought it was the best choice for her. "Why haven't you and dad mentioned that government agencies are so troublesome?"

Yang Mengxia didn't understand what his son meant: "Didn't you hear us complaining about our colleagues' inaction? There aren't many such people, so it's not worth complaining about."

Ye Fan couldn't help but say, "If I had a capable leader, it would be less stressful than being a teacher in school."

Yang Mengxia: "This kind of thing depends on luck. Generally speaking, it's better to be a teacher and have less worries."

Geng Leilei asked: "Aren't you anxious when students are disobedient?"

Yang Mengxia was anxious at first: "Teach what needs to be taught, educate what needs to be educated, and I just need to have a clear conscience."

Ye Fan was very surprised. He didn't expect his sister-in-law to say this: "Leilei, respect the fate of others, and you will find that being a teacher is the easiest job in the world."

Geng Leilei imagined that the student didn't listen after being taught once, and ignored after being taught twice. He suddenly couldn't help but get annoyed: "I finally understand why Second Uncle is so angry. You are being selfish if you put it too seriously."

Ye Fan nodded: "You are right. But we did not persuade your uncle not to work so hard. If your uncle dies at work one day, we will be proud of him. If you sacrifice yourself to save others, we will also be proud of you. We will not blame you for not thinking about your parents before saving people, nor will we complain that we have raised you in vain."

Geng Leilei opened his mouth: "——Should I praise you?"

Ye Fan: "I don't save people but I don't stop others from saving people. I also praise others for their bravery. You should praise them."

Geng Leilei didn't want to talk.

Geng Zhiye smiled and said, "Leilei, you will find that most of them are ordinary people who are neither good nor bad. These people will not help the evildoers and will do some good deeds. There are very few great loves and great evils."

"What about you? Uncle San, have you ever thought about sacrificing yourself?"

Geng Zhiye: "I am an officer with a high salary. Sacrificing my life on the battlefield is considered to be a loyal and dedicated soldier. It shows that I am a qualified soldier, unlike those who earn only 20 or 30 yuan but are not afraid of sacrifice. I am not as good as them."

Geng Leilei could neither agree nor refute. He felt aggrieved and wanted to leave. He also understood why his second uncle was so angry. "You guys, I don't know what to say."

Geng Benben couldn't help but say, "Brother Leilei, have you ever thought that if you don't cheat others, you are a good person? People like my aunt, uncle, and aunt are very kind?"

Geng Leilei looked confused, as if you were talking nonsense.

Geng Benben: "Your standard for being a 'good person' is too high. You can only find one person out of ten thousand who takes care of others before himself. I - I will give you all the New Year's money I have hidden!"

This curse was really strong. Geng Leilei didn't know how to answer.

Ye Fan: "Don't think too much. When you graduate from college and see more, and have more responsibilities on your shoulders, you will find that you are actually an ordinary person - one of the majority of people your uncle mentioned."

Geng Leilei thought to himself, you might as well not say anything.

Geng Benben: "Don't be fooled by my parents' righteous words. They are also ordinary people. If you ask them to jump into the water to save people, they will hesitate. Before, my parents said they were worried that workers would be laid off and unable to survive. If you ask them to find a solution, they would only say that this is something that government leaders should worry about. They might even ask if the country is so poor that people have to be laid off."

Geng Leilei wanted to ask him how old he was, "Why do you speculate about your parents like that?"

Geng Benben rolled his eyes: "I thought you would ask, is it really impossible not to lay off people?"

Geng Leilei also wanted to ask the same question.

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Ye Fan said, "Leilei, you have studied history, right? In the history books, should redundant officials and staff be laid off? Since you think they should be laid off, why do you think workers shouldn't be laid off?"

Geng Leilei was speechless again.

Ye Fan asked: "Do you still play poker?"

Geng Leilei doesn't want to play anymore.

Geng Sensen looked up when he heard footsteps and saw his eldest brother leaving. He couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect Huihui to be right. There are only five left in the room."

Ye Fan: "You are quite patient."

"I think it's enough as long as I don't cause trouble for my parents and the government." Geng Sensen looked outside, "My brother is just like my second uncle and second aunt, they only talk. If he thinks about it more, he won't say that my young aunt is selfish."

Ye Fan raised his eyebrows: "I'm not selfish?"

"You didn't reject grandma. You made money without forgetting your fellow villagers. How can you be selfish? Not many people can do what you do." Geng Sensen lifted the quilt. "If my brother were you, he would definitely complain that grandma was looking for trouble for him and asked grandma to reject that Mr. Zhang."

Geng Benben: "You're going out too?"

"Go to the toilet." Geng Sen Sen put on a hat and scarf and went to the public toilet.

Geng Sensen arrived at the door and saw grandma chatting with someone in the alley. He immediately ran to the public toilet and then ran back home to report: "Aunt, grandma is chatting with Uncle Zhang and Aunt Li. Do you want me to ask her to come in? She won't talk too much and make mistakes."

Ye Fan: "Let her be happy during the New Year."

Geng Sen Sen lay back on the Arhat bed.

Seeing this, Yang Mengxia couldn't help but ask, "Don't you have a headache after sleeping for so long?"

"Where did I sleep? I was reading." Geng Sen Sen took the pillows of Dabao and Erbao to use as a backrest, it was so comfortable.

It was Chinese New Year, and Yang Mengxia didn't want to scold him for reading idle books, so she sat at the dinner table and played poker with Ye Fan, Geng Zhiye and Ben Ben. During lunch, Yu Wentao said that the park was lively, so the family went to the park to play.

The next day, Geng's family went to the Chu's house, and Ye Fan's family went to the Ye's house.

Under Geng Huihui's chatting, Geng Zhihui did not bring any fish or meat to his mother-in-law. Instead, he brought things that could be bought at the supply and marketing cooperative, which were very common for the Chu family.

Geng Huihui said she missed her grandma, so she asked her parents to pack up and go to her grandma's house after dinner. Chu Fenghe suspected that she only cared about her grandma's New Year's money, but he didn't refuse his daughter.

Little did she know that before leaving, Geng Huihui secretly winked at her aunt.

Yu Wentao didn't understand: "Huihui's eyes are cramping?"

Yang Mengxia laughed: "Huihui means that I will take my parents away, and you can just pack your things for my mother's house."

Ye Fan nodded: "That's right." But there was nothing to pack. Ye Fan had sent the meat, fish and shrimp over before the New Year. What she prepared was similar to what her second sister-in-law did.

Yu Wentao smiled: "Huihui did the right thing! If we bring that Spanish mackerel over, her grandmother will doubt that it is not fresh. It will bring bad luck to her to give her a dead fish during the New Year."

The Ye family was far away from here, and Ye Fan had to leave. He didn't want to listen to her nagging: "Stop talking. Dabao, Erbao, wear hats and scarves."

Dabao patted his scarf: "Okay!"

Ye Fan pulled one with each hand and said, "Let's go."

Yu Wentao and Yang Mengxia saw them off to the bus. As the bus drove away, Yu Wentao said, "Everyone is gone. Just make something for lunch and it will be enough for us."

Yang Mengxia asked her if she wanted to go to Yujia Village. Yu Wentao shook her head: "I went there before the New Year. I'll go there some other day. If I have nothing else to do, I'll go with her. When are you going to visit your relatives?"

Yang Mengxia: "These few days are not suitable, they all have to visit relatives, I will go in a few days."

I do have to visit close relatives' homes these days.

When Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye brought Dabao and Erbao to the Ye family, the eldest brother Ye said, "Finally they are here." Before Ye Fan could say anything, he added, "Dabao, kowtow to your uncle quickly. Your uncle is going to visit grandma Jingjing's house."

Dabao doesn't think it's shameful to kowtow to his elders, so he kneels down and kowtows. Erbao kneels down and kowtows like his brother.

Ye was teasing Dabao, and seeing this, he quickly pulled one in each hand and said, "Okay, it's enough as long as the thought is there." He gave the prepared red envelopes to the two children.

Tao Chunlan handed over hers and her husband's.

Dabao took the New Year's money and asked, "Where's grandpa?"

Tao Chunlan: "Your grandpa will be back in the afternoon." Then she asked Ye Fan if he could stay at home for two days.

Ye Fan: "I'll go back in the afternoon on the fourth day of the New Year."

Tao Chunlan was very happy. After Liangliang received the New Year's money from her aunt, she urged her son and daughter-in-law to go quickly, otherwise they would miss lunch.

Ye Jin rode his bicycle with his wife and children to his mother-in-law's house.

What surprised Ye Fan was that Xiao Jingjing knew to say "goodbye" to her aunt. Ye Fan couldn't help but say, "Jingjing is bolder than before?"

Tao Chunlan nodded: "This child is even harder to take care of than you were when you were a child."

Ye Fan was weak and prone to illness when she was young, so Tao Chunlan was afraid to sleep at night, fearing that her daughter would be stiff when she woke up. Jingjing was in good health, but she was sensitive.

However, if she is weak, she can only take medicine to recover slowly, and there is no point in worrying. Tao Chunlan is sensitive and inexperienced, so she needs to be cautious, so she can't help sighing when talking about her granddaughter.

Ye Fan: "Isn't he quite well behaved?"

Chen Xiaohui couldn't help but say: "Xue Baochai's body is Lin Daiyu's heart."

Ye Fan was stunned and opened his mouth: "What can you tell from such a young child? They say you can tell a person's future by looking at him when he is three years old, and Jingjing is not even three years old yet. You and mom should take good care of her in the next six months, and we can tell who she looks like after she turns three."

Tao Chunlan nodded: "You are right, it's too early to worry."

Ye Fan glared at Chen Xiaohui: "Don't talk nonsense in front of my sister-in-law!"

Chen Xiaohui curled her lips and said, "Dabao, Erbao, it's cold outside, let's go back to the house."

Dabao didn't want to pay attention to her, but he didn't wear a hat and was afraid of the cold wind and a headache: "Sister, let's go inside and play."

Tao Chunlan winked at Ye Fan, and Ye Fan slowed down his pace. When Chen Xiaohui arrived at the main hall, she asked, "What did Xiaohui do again?"

"How do you know I'm going to talk about her?"

Geng Zhiye: "I know everything. You don't need to worry about your brother and sister-in-law's work, and you can't worry about your father-in-law's work. There are only a few people in the family. Speaking of Jingjing, isn't she the only one left besides Jingjing?"

Tao Chunlan nodded slightly: "It's her. Annoying, someone introduced a date to Xiaohui a few days ago, but she didn't want the younger one. Almost all the people her age are married, and she said she wouldn't marry a divorced man. Isn't she going to be left alone in the future?"

Ye Fan asked: "Are you worried about what your relatives and neighbors will say?"

Tao Chunlan: "It's not that I'm afraid of gossip, but I'm afraid she will be alone and helpless in the future. You said it's okay not to have children, at least she will have someone to talk to when she's old."

Ye Fan shook his head: "Don't we have Jingjing? Let Jingjing find a live-in son-in-law. With our family watching over her, her son-in-law won't dare to leave the family without a son-in-law. When the time comes, let Jingjing take care of her in her old age."

Geng Zhiye agreed: "If Jingjing can't take care of her, let Chen Xiaohui pay for a nanny herself. No matter which unit she is assigned to after graduating from university, her pension will be enough for her in the future."

"Since both of you said so, I won't push her anymore? Because I asked her to go on a blind date, and she has been sulking these past few days." Tao Chunlan sighed, "It's like I owe her something."

Ye Fanxin said, maybe in her heart you owe her something, after all, if you hadn't neglected her she wouldn't have stayed in Shencheng for so many years.

But with Chen Xiaohui's brain, if she really felt that way, she would definitely not be able to help but reveal it. She hadn't mentioned it in all these years, and she could still face Ye Fan calmly, and even stayed at her house for a few days, so she should have no resentment in her heart.

Ye Fan: "You urge me to go on blind dates every day, and I'm annoyed with you too."

Tao Chunlan couldn't help but think of the time many years ago when she locked Ye Fan in the room and Ye Fan wanted to fight her to death: "You are much better than before."

Ye Fan knew that Tao Chunlan had a knot in her heart - in her mother's view, Chen Xiaohui was reluctant to break off ties with the Chen family, and Chen Xiaohui, as a daughter, was half of the Chen family, which was why her mother couldn't help but care about it.

This is human nature.

Ye Fan: "Go in."

It was almost noon, and when Tao Chunlan entered the house, she asked Chen Xiaohui what she wanted to eat for lunch.

Chen Xiaohui: "Doesn't Ye Fan still have a pound of shrimp left? Let's cook shrimp noodles."

Ye Fan: "You really know how to eat! Are you kneading dough in such a cold day?"

Chen Xiaohui: "You can cook noodles. By the way, I heard that you sold pork for half a day in the south before the New Year? You made a lot of money, right? Will you go there again?"

Geng Zhiye coughed lightly and said, "Don't bother yourself with this matter. I'm here to take care of it."

"How many days can you stay at home?" Chen Xiaohui asked.

Tao Chunlan had a headache and couldn't help but want to say a few words, but she didn't want to quarrel with Chen Xiaohui on New Year's Day, so she asked Dabao and Erbao to put on scarves and hats and took them out to play.

Dabao asked: "Grandma, I want to eat candied haws."

Tao Chunlan took some change and said, "Grandma, buy it! Fanfan, Xiaohui, you two go cook."

Ye Fan raised his hand to show that he understood. When he saw her mother go out, he immediately said, "I can sell pork with you. I'll give you half of the money I make. But the premise is that you don't spend a penny on the Chen family in Shencheng. I'm not afraid of you getting angry. If you still buy things for them, I won't work with you even if I'm in partnership with outsiders."

"You--that's not what you said before!"

Ye Fan: "Guess why I agreed to your request without hesitation?"

"So you're just giving me a perfunctory answer when I asked you this before the New Year?"

Ye Fanxin said, "You are not stupid. If you don't cut off ties with them while you are in school, you will not be able to do so once you start working. Because once you dare to mention this, they will dare to go to your workplace and make trouble."

Chen Xiaohui didn't dare to call the police because she was afraid that Chen Kuanren would fight her to the death after he was released. She bought clothes for the Chen family and sent them to them because she was afraid that they would make trouble.

Chen Xiaohui: "They can't go to school to make trouble?"

Ye Fan: "The school has the responsibility to protect students. You can call the police. When you get to your workplace, your leaders will let you solve it yourself. They will also talk to you and ask you to compromise, because their making a scene will have a bad impact on the unit and the leaders."

Geng Zhiye said, "The sooner this matter is resolved, the less worries we will have. Otherwise, I will have to come back to you later."

Chen Xiaohui stared at Ye Fan and asked, "Are you serious?"

Ye Fan: "Killing people is not against the law, I would have killed them both long ago."

Chen Xiaohui couldn't help but shudder: "Yeah, there's no need to be so cruel."

Ye Fan: "If killing is not against the law, I would have killed you long ago. You don't have to bother me with this every day."

Chen Xiaohui shut up, fearing that if she said one more word, Ye Fan would kill her. Although Ye Fan didn't dare, her words were sharper than a knife.

Why didn’t I discover it in my previous life?

Geng Zhiye wanted to laugh: "She is a loser, and you know this not just today."

Chen Xiaohui yelled, "Shut up!"

Geng Zhiye asked: "Do you dare to yell at Chen Kuanren and Zhao Ruping?"

Chen Xiaohui wanted to go out to find her mother. The couple was so irritating. Chen Xiaohui stood up and said, "You guys cook for yourselves." Then she went out.

Geng Zhiye put his hand on Ye Fan's shoulder: "Let me make a bet. It will be in vain for you to say such harsh words this time."

Ye Fan: "No. She loves money. Maybe she was tired of being poor in the Chen family before. She knows that she can make money by following me, and just for the money, she will be brave for once."

You know what, Ye Fan guessed right this time.

Chen Xiaohui encouraged herself outside, and then in the evening she burned the letter she received before the New Year, which was from Chen Kuanren urging her to return to Shanghai to celebrate the New Year.

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Ye Fan and his family were planning to go back home. Chen Xiaohui took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and whispered to Ye Fan, "Let me think about it."

Ye Fan: "I will sell pork on the 13th day of the first lunar month. If you haven't made up your mind, I will go with someone else. I may sell something else during the summer vacation. If you haven't made up your mind, I will go with Xiaoqin and Huihui, the three of us."

(End of this chapter)