Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Ye Fan was convinced by Geng Zhiye's words and promised him to ask Zhang Xiaoming another day, provided that the girl agreed to meet him.

Geng Zhiye: "If the woman agrees but Zhang Xiaoming doesn't, we might offend her. Let's ask Zhang Xiaoming first."

Zhang Xiaoming might want to find someone who is a few years younger than him, with a similar family background and a good reputation, so that they can work hard together. Taking this into consideration, Ye Fan thought Geng Zhiye's concerns were justified.

"I'll ask him when we take a break during the rain." Ye Fan said.

It hadn't rained for more than ten days and the ground was cracked. Ye Fan felt that it was going to rain. However, this year was a bit dry, and after another six or seven days, the crops were about to die from the sun before God showed mercy.

It was cloudy in the morning when it rained, and Zhang Xiaoming was worried that they would encounter heavy rain before reaching the city, so he discussed with his uncle Yu that they should each pull half of the pork and go to the university town first, as university teachers had high salaries and could afford to buy meat.

Ye Fan's home was located between several universities. Uncle Yu left his nephew and son at Ye Fan's home, and went to sell meat and vegetables near the teachers' apartments with Zhang Xiaoming.

As expected, it was sold out at eight o'clock.

Yu Xiaojiu and Zhang Xiaoming went directly to Ye Fan's house and said that they would sell meat and vegetables around several universities in the future.

Ye Fan agreed: "In the future, one of you will be in the south and the other in the north. If it's hard to sell, one of you can go to the east and the other to the west. The route is fixed, and the old professor is used to buying from you. We don't have to worry about someone following suit and selling meat in the future."

Uncle Yu asked, "Are you still selling popsicles today?"

The weather is hot and humid today. It should be cool in the morning but it is so stuffy that people can't stand it. Ye Fan nodded and said, "Pull six boxes, put one in the park, and put the rest in the car and sell them slowly."

Then Ye Fan followed Yu Hongwei to the popsicle factory.

Yu Hongwei failed the college entrance examination last year and repeated his studies this year. He still hadn't received his admission letter yet and thought he was doomed. He was the one who spent the most money in the family, so he was very active in making money. Yu Hongwei thought that if he worked harder, his brother and sister-in-law would not have any objections if he repeated his studies for another year.

Because they went early, Ye Fan and Yu Hongwei arrived at the park before nine o'clock. The hot and sticky old men and women came over as soon as they saw the familiar car and asked, "Xiao Ye, why are you here so early today?"

Ye Fan: "The weather is not right and I'm afraid it will rain heavily soon."

The aunt wanted to buy a popsicle, and when she heard this, she thought that if it rained heavily, Ye Fan's popsicles would definitely be on sale. However, after waiting for an hour, and then two hours, the sun didn't come out, and the rain didn't appear. The aunt couldn't stand it anymore, so she bought eight popsicles and took them home.

Ye Fan was worried that it might rain at any time, so he didn't put popsicles in the Children's Palace. When Dabao, Erbao and Benben finished their morning classes, Ye Fan asked them to go home with Yu Wentao.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the popsicles were sold out, and Ye Fan asked his uncle and others to return to the village immediately.

Halfway through the journey, the sky darkened and my uncle wished he could fly. Then, just as he reached the door of his house, raindrops as big as beans began to fall like hail.

It didn't rain the next morning, but it did after dinner.

It was August 11th, a Tuesday. Zhang Xiaodi was reading a book in his room. Zhang Xiaoming was embarrassed to chat with him, but also didn't want to go to his parents' room, so he went to Ye Fan's house with an umbrella.

Zhang Xiaoming went to the main room and saw Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye both on the bed. Ye Fan was leaning against the wall reading a newspaper, while Geng Zhiye was holding a big baby in his arms. The big baby looked listless and rarely lost his energy. Zhang Xiaoming asked, "What happened to the big baby?"

Geng Zhiye touched his son's head and found it was no longer hot. He felt relieved. "He was a little hot before going to bed last night. He didn't cover himself with anything and took off all his clothes. He woke up in the middle of the night with a cold and had a fever in the morning."

Zhang Xiaoming hurriedly asked if he had taken the medicine. Geng Zhiye nodded, and Zhang Xiaoming pulled a chair and sat down. "After the beginning of autumn, the weather is getting colder, so you can't leave nothing covered. Dabao, cover your stomach even if you feel hot."

Dabao didn't move, as if he didn't hear anything.

Geng Zhiye explained for his son: "You have a stuffy nose and it's uncomfortable." Then he winked at Ye Fan.

Ye Fan planned to go find Zhang Xiaoming after the rain stopped, but he didn't expect him to "fall into a trap". "Xiaoming, I just calculated the account, and I can get my money back before National Day. No matter how much you make in the future, it will be net profit. According to last year's situation, you can earn enough money to marry a wife by the end of the year. When do you plan to find a partner?"

Zhang Xiaoming was shocked. "Me?"

Geng Zhiye smiled and said, "If it's not you, how could it be Dabao?"

Dabao slapped his father on the hand.

The boy was dazed as the drug took effect, and he was weak due to illness, so his slap didn't make any sound. Geng Zhiye pretended not to see it and comforted Zhang Xiaoming: "Say whatever you think, there are no outsiders here."

Zhang Xiaoming smiled naively and said very embarrassedly, "Let's wait a little longer. Xiaojun is getting married in more than a month. After Xiaojun gets married, he needs to prepare a dowry for his elder sister, and he needs money everywhere. We'll talk about it next year when we have more money."

Geng Zhiye raised his eyebrows at Ye Fan. What did I say? He doesn't agree.

Ye Fan rolled his eyes at him. What was he so proud of? "Xiao Ming, I'm not asking you to get married now. Meet each other first. If you're compatible after a few months, you can get engaged after the New Year and get married next November. Your parents won't have to worry about you that much."

Aunt Zhang favors her second son, but she is not indifferent to her other children. Recently, the family often talks about Zhang Xiaojun and Zhang Xiaofen's marriage, and Aunt Zhang is worried about what to do with her eldest son.

When Zhang Xiaoming heard the word "parents", he thought of his parents who often sighed about his marriage, and he was not as determined as before. "Actually, I am looking for one. My mother asked a relative to help me keep an eye out for someone a few days ago."

Geng Zhiye: “Didn’t find it?”

Zhang Xiaofen's colleague, who was also a temporary worker, heard from Zhang Xiaofen that her family had a car and her brother made a lot of money in business, so he said he would come to visit Zhang Xiaofen on Sunday. At Zhang's house, he saw Zhang Xiaoming, who was the same height as her, a little over 1.6 meters tall, and he never came again after that.

Zhang Xiaoming didn't know about this, and neither did Zhang Xiaofen. However, almost all the girls that his relatives introduced to Zhang Xiaoming were not satisfied with his height.

Zhang Xiaoming is not the shortest person around here.

The average height of gay men in that era was a little over 1.6 meters, and that of female comrades was a little over 1.5 meters. Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye's heights stood out both in the city and in the army.

Aunt Zhang always looks up when chatting with Ye Fan.

Yu Wentao joined the art troupe because of her outstanding qualifications, and she is also a little shorter than Ye Fan.

But then again, I want to find a tall partner because I am short. No one says that if you are not tall, you can't find a tall partner.

Zhang Xiaoming smiled bitterly: "Yes, I do, but they think I'm too short."

Ye Fan couldn't help but comfort him: "It's not that I think you're too short."

Zhang Xiaoming asked hurriedly: "No? That's what my relatives said."

Seeing his son close his eyes, Ye Fan handed the towel blanket to Geng Zhiye, who wrapped it around his son. Dabao felt uncomfortable and couldn't fall asleep, so he reached out and pushed it when he felt something on his body. Geng Zhiye held his little paw and said, "The sweating sickness will be cured."

Ye Fan was afraid that his son would faint from the heat, so he warned him, "Uncover it only if you can't stand it anymore."

Dabao moved his head to show that he heard it. Ye Fan retracted his gaze and continued to say to Zhang Xiaoming: "If your house is as spacious as mine, your two sisters can live in Erbao's room, and after you get married, you can live with Aunt Yu, and your brother can live with Dabao. In the future, if you have children, there will be enough space for them to live together. They will definitely not mind that you are short."

Geng Zhiye understood what he said: "Fanfan is right. If you buy yourself a three-wheeled motorcycle and are richer than most people, the girl won't think you are too short."

Ye Fan: "You don't have these two things yet. You are good at speaking, and the woman thinks you are smart. Marrying you will make life better and better, and she won't care about your height."

Zhang Xiaojun is 1.7 meters tall, and he is not as tall as his second brother, but he will grow taller and will definitely be taller than his eldest brother in the future. Zhang Xiaoming is the shortest among the three brothers and often feels inferior. Hearing this, he opened his mouth slightly in disbelief.

Ye Fan said: "Don't disbelieve it, this is the reality. Height is not as important as having enough food and clothes."

Geng Zhiye was surprised: "I thought you would say height is not as important as money."

"Talk about money all the time, how vulgar is that?" Ye Fan rolled his eyes.

Geng Zhiye sneered: "We are a couple. I am vulgar and you are not. How could we have lived together for so many years?"

Ye Fan choked.

Zhang Xiaoming wanted to laugh when he saw this.

Dabao pulled the towel over his head and complained that his parents talked too much.

Geng Zhiye showed her son's head and said, "You have a stuffy nose and you dare to cover your head? Mommy is not going to make fun of you anymore."

Ye Fan glared at Geng Zhiye, who is poor?
Geng Zhiye smiled, turned his head and said to Zhang Xiaoming who was sitting across from him, "I ran into my childhood friend a few days ago. I heard that you and Fanfan were buying a car together. I thought you were very motivated and hardworking, so I wanted to introduce you to someone. How about I tell you about the girl first?"

"Someone your childhood friend knows? He must be amazing!" Zhang Xiaoming shook his head vigorously, "He doesn't think highly of me."

She is quite self-aware. Geng Zhiye smiled and said, "Just listen and you will know." He first said that the female comrade was three years older than Zhang Xiaoming, worked in a health center, both her parents were working, and her brothers also had decent jobs. When Zhang Xiaoming heard that she was so good that he was not worthy of her, he was about to say that there was no need to say more, but Geng Zhiye changed the subject and said that she was married.

Zhang Xiaoming thought to himself, so that's how it is.

Out of curiosity about the families of high-ranking officials, Zhang Xiaoming did not interrupt Geng Zhiye. Geng Zhiye said that the lesbian had given birth to a child, but the child went abroad with her ex-husband. The lesbian's ex-husband was handsome and tall. If it were not for the special circumstances in the early years, such a comrade would look down on her. So after the reform and opening up, she could go abroad, and her ex-husband divorced her. He went abroad because he was afraid that she would not let him go.

She was very angry at her ex-husband's pettiness and swore never to date someone like him again.

Geng Zhiye finally said, "She is in an awkward situation now. If she gets a high-profile date, she won't be accepted. If she gets a low-profile date, she's afraid she'll get nothing. She's been looking for a few suitors in the past six months and none of them are satisfactory. Her parents know my childhood friend and often ask me for help. I think it's better for you to meet first and give each other a chance."

Zhang Xiaoming had the same idea as Ye Fan: "It's not difficult to find someone who doesn't want her or anything like that." The implication was that with so many gay men in the capital, how could it be my turn?

Geng Zhiye: "I'm telling you the truth? Her height is as high as your ears, maybe as low as your chin. She looks similar to Xiaozhi, and can only be described as pretty. She has to work on duty at the health center. Although it's a stable job, it's not as popular as being a teacher. She's married and has children, and doesn't want to marry a second time. If we don't talk about family background, she can only find someone like you."

"It's a fact that her family is well-off." If you don't mention it, it doesn't exist.

Ye Fan: "What Dabao's father meant is that men who marry her should not try to take advantage of their parents-in-law. Just like if you marry her, don't expect her parents to help Xiaofen and Xiaozhi get married. In this case, she is no different from ordinary lesbians. If you really want to make a fuss, no one will dare to bully you if you marry her."

Geng Zhiye nodded: "After all, there are very few people who would take the initiative to bully others to death. Many people will never encounter such a thing in their lifetime. There is no need to marry a woman you don't want to marry just for something that is unlikely to happen."

Zhang Xiaoming agrees with Geng Zhiye's argument. First, when he needed protection, his powerful father-in-law and mother-in-law might have passed away. Secondly, there have been a lot of divorces in recent years, and he might have divorced before he met a bad guy. So there is no need to sacrifice yourself just to avoid being bullied in the future.

At the same time, Zhang Xiaoming was also very clear that the female comrade Geng Zhiye mentioned looked down on him. "Brother Geng, even if she is not as tall, beautiful, and educated as Sister Ye, she is also the child of a high-ranking official. A meal at a state-owned restaurant is enough for our family to spend for a month. We can't eat together. Besides, I can't afford to buy a house now.

Ye Fan: "She has a house with two bedrooms and a living room. You can go to her place."

Zhang Xiaoming was stunned: "No, no, marrying into the family?"

Geng Zhiye: "The child will have your last name, so why marry into the family? You are dreaming! If you marry into the family, you will be a member of the Jiang family, and you will be allowed to take advantage of me."

Zhang Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief. If the eldest son and grandson of the Zhang family married into the Zhang family's family, his father would be so angry that he would die immediately.

Ye Fan: "How about we meet first? Don't be in a hurry to refuse, they may not be willing to meet you."

Zhang Xiaoming couldn't help but ask: "What does that mean?"

Ye Fan: "That's what Dabao's father's childhood friend said. The girl hasn't replied yet. You're worrying about this and that now, maybe you're just wasting your time."

"Oh." Zhang Xiaoming nodded sensibly, "What if she's sick like Dabao and she agrees in a daze?"

Dabao looked up: "Xiaoming, I am sick, not stupid."

Zhang Xiaoming choked. Ye Fan was amused and scolded him with a smile: "Go to sleep!"

Dabao squeezed into his father's arms. Geng Zhiye quickly hugged him to prevent his son from falling off his lap: "Dabao, aren't you afraid that your classmates will see you and laugh at you?"

Dabao usually doesn't squeeze into his father's arms. He doesn't care who laughs at him when he's feeling unwell. "Who told you to ask the doctor to give me a needle in my butt?"

Geng Zhiye: "How dare you say that? You cried like a river bursting its banks just because I got an injection—"

"Don't say that!" Dabao covered his father's mouth with his hand.

Geng Zhiye took his hand away: "If you don't want to sleep, get up."

Dabao turned his body sideways, found a comfortable angle and closed his eyes.

After Dabao’s fuss, Zhang Xiaoming felt that he was thinking too much and it was unnecessary.

Seeing him nod, Ye Fan said to Geng Zhiye, "When the rain gets light, take him to buy some clothes and give him a haircut. Just a light cut, not like you did."

Geng Zhiye touched his short flat head and said, "How neat. I washed it while taking a shower."

Ye Fan: "I'm serious. Just give Dabao a neat student hairstyle. Don't buy fancy clothes. Black and white won't go wrong. Buy two pairs of Warrior shoes. If they have thick soles, buy thick soles to make him look taller. Oh, and buy a pair of razors--"

Zhang Xiaoming was so busy: "Sister Ye——"

"The clothes, shoes, and razor can be used for a long time, so it's worth buying them." Ye Fan interrupted, "If you don't meet them this time, put them away. You can still use them before the next meeting. Besides, Uncle Zhang can use the razor, and your brother can wear the shoes and pants."

When Zhang Xiaoming heard that his family could use it, he said he would listen to Ye Fan.

Ye Fan added: "Let's go to the cinema to see if there are any new movies recently."

Zhang Xiaoming couldn't help but ask: "Do we still need to go to the cinema?"

Ye Fan: "No one is going home. You asked her if she wanted to go home, and she said she could wait a while. Do you know what this means?"

Geng Zhiye smiled and said, "I don't mind dating you. It's the first day you two meet and you don't know each other well. It's better to go to a movie theater to kill time. Don't think you are being considerate by asking her to go home. If a woman is willing to date you, she won't mind wasting time."

Zhang Xiaoming was enlightened, and blurted out: "Brother Geng is amazing, he even knows this."

Geng Zhiye always felt that this didn't sound like a compliment to him: "This is common sense!" The implication was that you are stupid.

Zhang Xiaoming didn't dare to say anything more.

Ye Fan: "If it's almost noon when she comes out of the cinema, ask her what she wants to eat. If she says it doesn't matter, then ask her whether she wants dumplings or kebabs, or whether she wants to go to a Russian restaurant. If she says it's hot and she doesn't want dumplings, what do you say at this time?"

"Mutton kebabs?" Zhang Xiaoming asked tentatively.

Dabao couldn't help but say: "Russian restaurant!"

Ye Fan glared at his son, "Stop talking, your voice is hoarse." He then said to Zhang Xiaoming, "Forget about roast duck, a duck from Quanjude costs only six or seven yuan, and you two can eat at a Russian restaurant for about the same price."

Geng Zhiye and Ye Fan had been there with their family. Geng Zhiye said, "It looks high-end, but milk tea is only 30 cents a cup. Two cups of tea, a dessert, such as cheese cake, a barbecue, any staple food, and one or two dishes, it's about five yuan."

Zhang Xiaoming didn't expect it to be so cheap, and couldn't help asking, "Can we take it out?"

Geng Zhiye didn't understand.

Zhang Xiaoming: "I want to buy a cake from the restaurant entrance some other day. My younger sister and younger brother have never eaten honey cake since they were grown up."

Geng Zhiye opened his mouth, wanting to ask if you had eaten it. "Ask later," Geng Zhiye said, "Are you going to stop eating?"

Zhang Xiaoming arrived at the door and saw that the rain had stopped. "It will be sunny tomorrow and we can go to the countryside the day after tomorrow."

Ye Fan: "After the 25th, have the villagers kill two pigs, one for you and one for my uncle."

Zhang Xiaoming: "Because it's cold, everyone is willing to go into the kitchen?"

Ye Fan shook his head: "It's time for college students to go to other places to study - dumplings on the bus, noodles when you get off."

Zhang Xiaoming's ears automatically understood that the meat was easy to sell. He wanted to say something, but when he saw someone coming in from outside, he was stunned.

Geng Zhiye saw this and asked Ye Fan to go down and take a look. Ye Fan was stunned for a moment when he walked to the door in his sandals. Then he came to the door and said, "Sister-in-law, why didn't you send a telegram in advance?"

Geng Zhiqin, Erbao and Yu Wentao all came out of the house.

Yu Wentao saw Geng Sensen and Geng Leilei's hair dripping with water and exclaimed, "Did you get wet? Xiaoqin, quickly turn on the stove to boil water, take a hot bath and don't catch a cold." Geng Sensen said nonchalantly, "It's okay."

Yu Wentao: "Dabao is sick today."

Geng Sensen was surprised: "What a coincidence! I wanted to play with my brother Dabao. Have you taken the medicine?"

Ye Fan asked them to go into the house and not to worry about Dabao for the time being.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoming said he would go back first.

Ye Fan nodded, opened the refrigerator, and took out three leftover milk-flavored ice creams. Yu Wentao couldn't help but say, "Take a hot bath first before eating."

Ye Fan: "If you want to get sick, this is not a big deal."

There was a kettle on the stove with hot water in it. Geng Zhiqin waited for her sister-in-law to finish eating ice cream and then asked her to take a bath. Usually, Erbao would definitely take the opportunity to eat ice cream, but today, his brother was crying at the grave while getting an injection, which scared Erbao so much that he dared not eat too much.

Geng Sensen asked: "Where are Ben Ben and Hui Hui?"

Ye Fan: "A few days ago, Huihui was selling ice cream in the park and was seen by her aunt. Her grandmother ordered her to go there quickly, and she went there after dinner this morning."

There was a park selling couplets in front of him, so Geng Sensen was not surprised to hear that they were selling ice cream. He asked directly, "Will you get scolded if you go over there?"

Ye Fan nodded and asked, "Did Lei Lei receive the notice?"

Geng Leilei used to feel a little uncomfortable with his uncle and aunt because of their selfish remarks towards them. But when he returned home and heard his father praising Ye Fan for his quick mind, he no longer thought of setting up a rural cooperative and his opinion of them changed.

Geng Sensen complained to his father while his brother was not at home. Geng Zhiye's elder brother asked his eldest son to buy groceries and cook, claiming to help his parents share the housework. Geng Leilei finally realized that a person's power is limited, and it is not easy to take care of himself and not cause trouble to his family and society. He finally understood his uncle and aunt.

Facing Ye Fan, Geng Leilei felt a little ashamed and didn't dare to look up at her. He said weakly, "I received it a week ago."

Yu Wentao was worried: "I don't know if Hongwei has received the admission letter. If he doesn't pass, will he have to wait another year?"

Ye Fan: "He is nineteen this year, and will only be twenty next year."

Yu Wentao shook her head: "If he fails the exam this year, it will be a waste of time to come back next year. It would be better to let him go to a technical secondary school in the first place."

Ye Fan didn't want to argue with her, so he asked Erbao if he was sleepy and if he wanted to sleep on the Luohan bed for a while.

Erbao was painting today's rain in the house for more than an hour. When he was tired, he followed his mother's instructions and slept next to his father. He whispered, "Dad, does my brother's butt still hurt?"

Geng Zhiye's arms ached, and he said helplessly, "Your brother is a delicate person."

Dabao muttered, "No way. The needle hurts!"

Geng Sensen heard his voice and went over: "You're not asleep?"

Dabao opened his eyes: "My butt hurts and I can't sleep."

Geng Zhiqin rolled his eyes when he heard that. Two hours had passed, how painful could it be? And he said he was not a squeamish person. "Sesen, don't worry about him. Are you hungry? I'll make you some egg pancakes."

Geng Sensen glanced at the watch on his uncle's wrist. It was only ten o'clock, and there were still more than two hours before dinner. By then, he would be so hungry that he would be sweating. "Thank you for troubling me, aunt."

Geng Zhiqin went to the kitchen, and Ye Fan asked her mother-in-law if she wanted to stay in the countryside for a few days as it was cool there.

In the past, the Yu family did not have enough food, and Ye Fan would not allow her mother-in-law to stay overnight. Now that the family is contracted, the land is well managed and the harvest is abundant, Ye Fan no longer prevents her, and Yu Wentao wants to go back.

But Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye took turns selling popsicles, and Yu Wentao wanted to help share the burden. Yu Wentao realized that the family was taken care of by the eldest daughter-in-law, so she said, "It's okay to stay for a few days."

Ye Fanxin said, that was really subtle.

"Then ask Xiao Ming to take you there tomorrow afternoon?" Ye Fan asked, "Bring a few more clothes with you, and ask Xiao Ming to take you back when you've had enough."

Yu Wentao was worried about her nephew's notice: "Then let's do it tomorrow. Do you want to buy something?"

Ye Fan: "What do you think?"

Yu Wentao was embarrassed to go back to her parents' home empty-handed. But the villagers would have wild thoughts if they saw her. Yu Wentao didn't want to be chased and questioned by them, so she went to the supply and marketing cooperative the next morning.

Geng Zhiye took Zhang Xiaoming to get a haircut and then bought him some clothes.

Nowadays, almost all people working in government agencies wear black trousers and white shirts. Zhang Xiaoming bought two sets of such clothes, and Geng Zhiye let him change into one set and then took him to buy shoes.

The thick-soled Warrior shoes are one centimeter thicker than the cloth shoes Zhang Xiaoming usually wears. The black pants make his legs look longer. Combined with Zhang Xiaoming's neat short hair and clean-cut face, he instantly looks three or four years younger.

Geng Zhiye was not satisfied, so he took him to the store and bought him razors, soap, and other items. Geng Zhiye reminded Zhang Xiaoming to remember to use them. Zhang Xiaoming was incredulous, and asked after leaving the department store: "Is blind dating so particular now?"

Geng Zhiye: "If you want to be looked up to by others, you have to be so particular."

"But isn't it a lie?"

Geng Zhiye asked: "You can't afford it?"

Zhang Xiaoming could afford it, but he felt that being so particular was not like him. "Will my parents scold me for being a spendthrift?"

"Do your parents want money or a daughter-in-law?"

Of course it's the latter! If he said he bought it for a blind date, the whole family would praise him for being smart. But his mother would add that he spent so much money but didn't know if the match would be successful. His second brother would say jealously that he was rich.

However, Zhang Xiaoming did not make it home. When he reached the entrance of the alley, he was stopped by an old man and a woman who were chatting in the shade. Zhang Xiaoming stopped and Aunt Li exclaimed, "Is this Xiaoming? Oh my god, I don't recognize him."

Zhang Xiaoming's face turned red.

After Geng Zhiye finished his work, he left, hiding his identity and name.

It was half an hour later when Zhang Xiaoming returned home after dealing with these old men and women.

It was the first time for Zhang Xiaoming to be so glamorous and looked so awkward that he hid back in his room as soon as he entered the yard.

Zhang was lying on the bed reading a book. When he heard the noise, he looked up and was stunned. Then he couldn't help but sit up, "You——"

"I'll change it." Zhang Xiaoming said hurriedly.

Zhang Xiaodi: "What to change? Isn't it good?"

Zhang Xiaoming stopped and asked tentatively: "Do you think it's good?"

"You should have bought me new clothes a long time ago. Wearing old man's shirt every day makes you look more like your father than he does." Zhang Xiaoming looked at the bulging bag in his hand, "What else?"

Zhang Xiaoming took them out immediately: "There is also a set of clothes and a pair of shoes. Brother, you try it." He stuffed it into his hand and said, "There is also soap and a razor, and a face wash. I'll put it over there on the basin rack. Everyone can use it in the future."

Zhang Xiaodi: "Put it in the house!"

"But--"

Zhang Xiaodi glared: "I don't want to give it to the second brother, okay?"

Zhang Xiaoming was worried that he would use the kitchen knife to chop people again, so he quickly comforted him: "Okay, okay." After that, he took off his clothes and put on his shorts and old man's shirt.

Zhang was surprised. Was his elder brother sick today? He was willing to spend money like this. "Why did you suddenly think of buying clothes?"

"Brother Geng asked me to buy it. He said he would introduce me to a girl later."

Zhang was very surprised and thought Geng Zhiye was so nice: "He is not related to our family and he doesn't want anything from us, but he still helps you. This shows that he has a kind heart."

"Yes." Zhang Xiaoming sighed, "They are so nice."

Zhang Xiaodi stopped talking nonsense when he saw that his elder brother would not be an ungrateful person. "Put your clothes aside. I am a student. If I wear your clothes, I will look like an adult. My classmates will not play with me."

Zhang Xiaoming believed it and stuffed his clothes and shoes into the closet.

In the evening, Zhang Xiaoming drove Yu Wentao to the village. Uncle Yu had just finished cooking. Zhang Xiaoming was not hungry after dinner, so Uncle Yu picked a tomato and cucumber for him to quench his thirst.

The next morning, after selling the vegetables, Uncle Yu took his son and nephew to follow Zhang Xiaoming to Ye Fan's house.

Ye Fan said to his uncle, "It's not as hot as it was a few days ago. Let's take three boxes of popsicles and sell them slowly in the car. We won't sell them in the park. Xiao Ming, we will split the money 50-50 between our two families."

Zhang Xiaoming said nonchalantly, "It's all right."

Uncle Yu looked at the sky and said, "It feels very hot."

Ye Fan: "It was hot under the tree before, but now it's cool." He said to Hongwei, "Let's go get popsicles. Xiao Ming, you go home and rest. My uncle can go to the park to experience it. We will sell popsicles in the park until 11:30. Everyone will go home to cook, and then we can go somewhere else."

Uncle Yu still thought that they could pull a few more boxes, but because he didn't dare to offend Ye Fan, he let his youngest son and Ye Fan pull three boxes each.

The Yu family was not familiar with Yang Mengxia and her son. Uncle Yu was a little afraid of her because, in the words of the villagers, Yang Mengxia was an official's wife, and people have been afraid of officials since ancient times, so they stayed at Ye Fan's house for a while and then went to the park.

Dabao was sick and couldn't go to the Children's Palace, so Geng Zhiye asked his sister to take care of Dabao and Erbao, and he accompanied his sister-in-law to withdraw the money.

Ye Fan was very satisfied with the house of his fashionable colleague, but worried that things might get worse, so he reminded Geng Zhiye a few days ago to go back and buy that house first.

Yang Mengxia has a gentle temperament, which would be considered a lady from a noble family in ancient times. The old couple who owned the house chatted with Yang Mengxia and found that she was very knowledgeable. She must like the decoration style of their home very much and thought that the house would not be ruined, so they immediately transferred the ownership to her.

There was only one thousand left out of the ten thousand yuan. Yang Mengxia looked at the fluttering property certificate and felt that it was not worth it. After parting with the owner, Yang Mengxia could not help but say, "The money is worthless."

Geng Zhiye was very puzzled as to when his sister-in-law became as money-loving as Ye Fanfan.

"Sister-in-law, do you think it's too expensive?"

Yang Mengxia shook her head: "It's not about whether it's expensive or not, but I feel that the savings I have saved for many years are gone just like that, and I feel complicated."

Geng Zhiye: "You and my eldest brother have been married for more than 20 years, and both of you are working, and this is all you have?"

"There are still 6,000 left, plus what my mom gave me, 8,000." Yang Mengxia paused, and then said, "It's actually 9,000. I'll give you 1,000 when I leave, and you can give Lei Lei 50 yuan pocket money every month. I'll give it all to him at once, and he - I'm afraid he'll get used to spending lavishly and break the law in the future."

Geng Zhiye: "Then just give us 500. Leave 200 for his daily use and 300 for emergencies. The other house Fanfan saw cost 10,000, which is far inferior to this one, but it is more spacious than this one, so it's worth buying. Aunt Yu also thinks so, so she took out the money last month. Shall we go take a look this afternoon?"

Yang Mengxia asked: "How much did you take?"

Geng Zhiye: “Three thousand.”

Yang Mengxia sighed: "I didn't expect that I would need to borrow money from her in the end."

Geng Zhiye said, "Fanfan originally wanted to ask you to use ours. She earned more than a thousand this summer, and including the previous ones, she still has more than two thousand dollars left to save."

Yang Mengxia couldn't help but stop and said, "So many? I heard that the university doesn't have a holiday until July. Excluding the rainy days, isn't it only 30 days?"

Geng Zhiye: "Fanfan and Hongwei go to sell popsicles together, 3,000 to 4,000 at a time. Even the biggest department store in the city doesn't buy as many as they do. The popsicle factory gives the lowest price, and they make half the profit by selling popsicles at three cents each."

Yang Mengxia calculated that even if there were 2,000, she would make a net profit of 30 yuan a day. "Didn't Fanfan say before that she would get 30%?"

Geng Zhiye nodded, "It was like this before. Sister-in-law, ice cream and red bean paste flavors are profitable. Red bean paste flavors cost five cents each and the net profit is three cents. Ice cream makes a net profit of fifty cents, so one hundred makes five yuan. During the hottest period, we sold more than two hundred ice creams a day."

“People in the capital are so willing to eat this?”

Geng Zhiye: "There is real milk in the milk-flavored ice cream. Grandpas and grandmas are willing to buy ice cream for their grandchildren. Wait a minute, sister-in-law, do you think Fanfan got more than a thousand yuan from selling popsicles? No, there is also money from selling vegetables and meat in the morning."

Yang Mengxia couldn't help but say: "No wonder."

Geng Zhiye said, "Fanfan said that you promised Aunt Yu that you would borrow money from her if you had no money, but she took out the money. She might be unhappy that you are using our money."

"Then let's use hers." Yang Mengxia said, "Isn't it too urgent to go in the afternoon?"

Geng Zhiye: "The sooner you buy, the easier it will be. Instead of thinking about all these things, it's better to think about how the two houses are different and how to divide them between the two sons."

Yang Mengxia saw the house in the afternoon. It would cost at least two thousand yuan to decorate it like the one he had in the morning. The difference was so big that Yang Mengxia couldn't help but have a headache about whether to give the better one to the eldest son or the second son.

The next morning, Yang Mengxia took his two sons to visit both sides, and when they came back he asked them to draw lots.

The expensive house is close to Geng Leilei's school, and Geng Leilei also wants to decorate the house to his liking. Geng Sensen likes Dabao's room, which has an antique display cabinet and an old-fashioned desk, but he dares not say it out loud for fear that his brother will be petty. As a result, he draws the house in the south, and his brother draws the house northwest of Dabao's school as he wished.

Seeing that her two sons were very satisfied with the result, Yang Mengxia said that it was settled and they should not complain to her no matter how much their salary increased in the future.

The two brothers promised not to complain, and Yang Mengxia felt at ease staying here for a week before taking his youngest son back to the southwest.

At this time, Geng Zhiye had returned to school, and Geng Leilei took over the task of sending his cousins ​​to the Children's Palace.

On the morning of August 23, Zhang Xiaoming had not returned from selling vegetables yet. Cheng Shitou came to Ye Fan's house and heard that Geng Zhiye was not at home. He could not help but ask, "School starts so early?"

Ye Fan: "Summer vacation is only one month long, and we have been back to school for several days. Are you here to talk about Zhang Xiaoming?"

"Yes!" Cheng Shitou asked, "You know? That makes it easy. Can we go with him later?"

Ye Fan: "I'm selling popsicles at noon and don't have time, you can take him over."

Cheng Shitou was speechless. This woman was really obsessed with money. "Can't you take a day off?"

"Recently, we can only sell for a while at noon. It's not easy to sell in the morning and evening when it's cool. Maybe no one will buy in a few days." Ye Fan said, "Then you can rest as you like."

Actually, Ye Fan is not tired recently.

Before, Uncle Yu felt more comfortable under the tree in the park than under the fan at Ye Fan's house. He was shocked that Ye Fan even noticed this little thing. When Ye Fan brought the popsicles to the park, he took the initiative to say that he could only bring two boxes in a few days, and after the 20th, he might only sell one box a day.

Zhang Xiaoming considered that Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye had been selling popsicles before, so he said that he would be responsible for selling popsicles after Ye Fan brought them back. Zhang Xiaoming has been selling popsicles in recent days. Even if Cheng Shitou didn't come today, Zhang Xiaoming would still be selling popsicles.

Cheng Shitou didn't know how to divide the work, so he said helplessly: "Just ignore what I said. Where's Aunt Yu?"

A few days ago, Zhang Xiaoming said that Yu Hongwei received an admission letter, which looked like a supplementary admission. Even if it was a supplementary admission, Yu Wentao was very happy and ran back to her parents' home that day. Ye Fan said: "Her youngest nephew was admitted to the Normal School. The village chief said it was a big happy event in Yujia Village, and asked her brother to prepare a few tables. She went with the gift."

“Capital Normal University?”

Ye Fan shook his head: "From another province."

"That's not bad. Rural education can't compare with that in the city, and it's not easy to pass the exam." Cheng Shitou sat down to drink a cup of tea and chatted with Ye Fan for a few minutes. Zhang Xiaoming came back.

Cheng Shitou regretted helping Zhang Xiaoming when he saw that he was dressed like a rag-picker. But the girl had already made an agreement, so he couldn't regret it at the last minute, so he just pretended that he was blind and didn't know what he was like.

Ye Fan asked Zhang Xiaoming to go back and pack up. Zhang Xiaoming knew what Ye Fan meant, so he washed his hair, shaved and changed his clothes when he got home.

Half an hour later, Zhang Xiaoming arrived at Ye Fan's house, and Cheng Shitou blurted out, "Who are you looking for?"

(End of this chapter)