Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Geng Leilei went to the bed in the next room and opened the books placed against the wall. They were about internal combustion engines and generators. Even though he had heard alumni talk about them at the University of Science and Technology and had occasionally come into contact with them in his major of communications engineering, he still felt a headache when he saw the pictures and texts above.

By finding these books for Dabao, isn't the second uncle afraid that Dabao will become irritated after reading them and then have the opposite effect?

Geng Leilei flipped through a few more books at random and couldn't help but complain that after reading these books, Dabao could launch missiles at home by himself, so why would he go to university?

Geng Leilei thought of Dabao often lying on the bed reading books, so he couldn't help but go out and ask: "Dabao, do you understand those books?"

Dabao: “I guess you don’t understand.”

"Should?" Geng Leilei was confused by his answer.

Dabao nodded: "Because I haven't read it carefully."

"Then what do you usually watch in bed?" Geng Leilei couldn't help asking again.

Dabao: "My dad asked my second uncle to find some books on watchmaking."

"Not all of those?"

Dabao shook his head: "If Second Uncle dares to be so selfish, I will move all the books he found to the kitchen and leave them for Grandma to light the stove."

Geng Leilei opened his mouth, wanting to say that there was no need to be so extreme. Suddenly he saw his aunt and grandmother lifting up the stone slab above the sewer. "Aunt, grandmother, there is no need to go to such lengths to find work for yourself. I roughly know where my second uncle works as a fitter. I guess you don't know very well. I won't ask."

Ye Fan wiped the sweat off his head with his arm: "I'm overthinking it. I really smell a stinky rat."

Geng Leilei ran over and said, "How could there be a dead rat in the sewer? The sewer is a paradise for rats."

Ye Fan looked around to see if there was any, and then asked her mother-in-law with her eyes. Yu Wentao shook her head: "I don't have any here either. Do you feel that the smell has faded?"

Ye Fan smelled it carefully and found that it was indeed lighter. "Isn't it over here?"

Geng Zhiqin asked: "Did you hear it right?"

Zhang Xiaoming came back from selling vegetables and saw two more boards in the yard: "What happened?"

Ye Fan suspected that he had smelled it wrong: "Xiao Ming, smell my yard to see if there is any strange smell."

Zhang Xiaoming pointed at the sewer. Ye Fan shook his head: "I'm not talking about the sewer. It's another smell." He wanted to just say "dead rat", but when he heard the word dead rat, he imagined that smell.

Zhang Xiaoming walked from the east wing to the west wing, then to the corridor under the courtyard gate and stopped. "There does seem to be some smell. Like, the smell of a dead rat?" He looked at Ye Fan uncertainly.

Geng Huihui exclaimed: "Really? Find it quickly."

Dabao had just washed a cucumber and was about to give one to his cousin. Upon hearing this, he stuffed it into Erbao's hand and said, "Here."

Erbao went to the kitchen to get a small bamboo basket and put the cucumbers and tomatoes in it. She held the bamboo basket in one hand and ate a tomato with the other, then followed her brother to look for a dead mouse.

Dabao turned around and glared at her: "Go eat! Don't you mind the smell when you're so close to me?"

Ye Fan heard this and said, "Dabao, Erbao likes to follow you. Just go find your own, don't bother with her."

Dabao muttered, "It's not like I'm looking for something delicious."

Geng Benben screamed, and Dabao was startled. When he came to his senses, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Aunt, is this it?" Geng Benben didn't bother to answer Dabao and pointed at the pepper that looked like a small fruit tree. "It's right under the pepper."

Zhang Xiaoming grabbed the shovel next to the wall of the house and said, "Sister Ye, Benben, please move aside and let me take a look." He used the shovel to pick up the chili vines that were growing into the wall. He almost vomited out the overnight meal when he saw what was underneath.

Erbao was curious and tilted his head to see that she was choking on a tomato. Dabao saw from the corner of his eye that her face was not right and quickly patted her, "I told you to stay away but you didn't listen, you must be stuck."

Erbao swallowed the tomato in his throat and his little face turned red.

Ye Fan asked: "Are you okay?"

Erbao shook her head, as if she was not the one choking, and asked impatiently: "Mom, why are there so many dead mice?"

Yu Wentao was about to ask, but after hearing this, she couldn't help but ask: "Yes, isn't the rat poison you made in the house?"

Ye Fan: "Could it be that he took the medicine in the house and died here?"

"What kind of rat poison did Sister Ye buy that is so powerful?" Zhang Xiaoming asked as he shoveled soil to cover the maggot-infested rat corpse.

Ye Fan said: "Rat extermination is strong!"

"No wonder. Where should we throw this? A public toilet?"

Ye Fan said quickly, "No, the neighbors will point their fingers at us and scold us if they see us. Throw it into the sewer outside. Benben, Huihui, get two buckets of water and flush it from here. Wash away the dead rats and the smell will go away."

The brother and sister immediately went to get water. Geng Leilei went out first to remove the stone slab above the sewer, and then retreated to the base of the wall.

Zhang Xiaoming shoveled the rat corpse covered with dirt and threw it into the waterway, then covered it with stone slabs. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, "Why is it so disgusting?"

Aunt Li came out: "What's disgusting?"

Zhang Xiaoming explained that the rat poison in Ye Fan's house was very powerful. Several rats in the house ate the poison and ran to the base of the south wall and died.

Aunt Li was shocked: "So powerful--" Seeing Ye Fan coming in, "Then when you poured the liquid into Wang Aihe's stomach that day, wouldn't she have died immediately?"

Dabao followed his mother out just in time to hear these words: "Ye Fanfan you——"

Ye Fan glared at him.

Dabao immediately changed his tone and called out "Mom". However, Ye Fan did not let him continue, "If Aunt Li hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it. Dabao, if you pour half a bottle of medicine into the sewer, not to mention a few mice, even a tiger can be poisoned to death in minutes."

Geng Leilei was confused. "Didn't my aunt poison him with rat poison coated on steamed bread?"

Geng Zhiqin suspected that there was a dead mouse in the house, so she went to check. The result was shocking, so she ran out to tell her third sister-in-law. Hearing this, Geng Zhiqin swallowed the words on her lips, "No. The steamed bread slices made by your aunt are still there. It was Dabao who poured the medicine into the sewer that day and poisoned him to death."

Yu Wentao came out to prove this point, "There is a hole in the sewer that leads to the vegetable garden." She came out to find Zhang Xiaoming to use a shovel to block the rat hole. "

Aunt Li looked at the whole family in confusion: "What's the matter with steamed bread slices and sewers?"

Ye Fan looked at Geng Dabao and said, "Now it's your turn. Go ahead."

Dabao touched his nose and started talking about the conflict between his mother and Wang Aihe. He said that he was worried that his mother would get carried away and really feed Wang Aihe rat poison, so he poured out the poison and put a bottle of water to fool his mother. Unexpectedly, not only did Wang Aihe scare her away, but also killed several big rats. Aunt Li was even more shocked than when she first knew that rat poison was so powerful: "Dabao's mother, you, you, when you were going to feed Wang Aihe rat poison, did you know that it was water?"

Ye Fan: "I have used rat poison to coat steamed bread slices, so I know how strong the smell is."

Aunt Li opened her mouth and said, "I, I always thought you were deliberately trying to scare her and didn't dare let her drink."

Ye Fan said: "If I hadn't realized something was wrong as soon as I got it in my hands, I wouldn't have dared to feed her the medicine right away."

Aunt Li was convinced: "Xiao Ming, you are not allowed to tell Wang Aihe about this."

The neighbors, who thought there was something exciting going on outside, heard what was happening and reminded Zhang Xiaoming not to let Zhang Xiaojun know about it.

Although the neighbors envied Ye Fan and Zhang Xiaoming for making money from their business, they would not deliberately lower the price to hurt others and not benefit themselves. So they were all annoyed with Wang Aihe, who was like a rat in the gutter, and did not want her to come back.

Zhang Xiaoming nodded: "She, Xiaojun and my mother have three rooms and a large living room. They won't come back even if we invite them."

Aunt Li felt that the tone was not right: "Did Wang Aihe say something to you when you sent your mother off? You never said that before."

Wang Aihe thought Zhang Xiaoming hadn't bought the house, and she was sarcastic to Zhang Xiaoming and Dong Ying. She also went to the old man to spread rumors, boasting that she was filial and would go back to pick up the old man as soon as the house was ready.

Aunt Zhang really feels that her daughter-in-law is capable but very filial, more filial than Dong Ying, who has not visited her much for a long time after getting married to Zhang Xiaoming.

Aunt Zhang also asked Zhang Xiaoming and Zhang Xiaojun to get along well, and to think of Zhang Xiaojun when there are profitable businesses in the future.

Honest people also have tempers. Zhang Xiaoming couldn't help but say, "My mother will regret it one day."

Aunt Li had said something similar to her family, and couldn't help laughing. Then she saw her sister-in-law and asked Ye Fan when she would go to wholesale popsicles.

Ye Fan glanced at his watch and said, "Let's go now." He said to Aunt Li's sister-in-law, "Aunt, you can still make it in half an hour."

Aunt Li's sister-in-law said, "I know the time. Please drive carefully. It's okay if you're late. Safety is the most important thing."

Ye Fan nodded and got in the car and left.

Zhang Xiaoming went back to his and Dong Ying's home to rest.

Instead, the younger brother of the Zhang family followed the younger ones of the Geng family to the park.

At noon, Yu Wentao brought lunch to Geng Huihui, and the children went home to eat wearing straw hats.

Having said that, even after Wang Aihe left, Zhang Xiaodi still decided to find a man from a slum for his sister, and asked his elder brother and sister-in-law to keep an eye out for him when they go shopping.

Dong Ying also supports her sister-in-law to find someone who is promising. Although a promising person may divorce and find a better woman in the future, a person without any prospects may also divorce.

This is what Dong Ying said to Zhang Xiaozhi, asking her if she dared to take the gamble. She also comforted her that she was mentally prepared now, so she would not be so angry that she would not want to live if she lost the gamble in the future.

Zhang Xiaozhi said she dared.

On the afternoon of August 4th, Zhang Xiaozhi got home from get off work, took a shower, changed clothes, and went to the South Park for a blind date.

When Dabao heard about this from Zhang Xiaodi, he urged Zhang Xiaodi to go over and take a look in the afternoon on the morning of August 4th.

Zhang Xiaodi shook his head: "No!"

"Let's try others." Dabao said.

Ye Fan was still at home at the moment, and upon hearing this he asked, "Little brother, if you are afraid of embarrassment, just hide aside and let Dabao and Erbao go over."

Zhang Xiaodi was so embarrassed that he dug his toes into the ground when he thought about it: "How can I try this?"

Ye Fan: "It's simple. If Dabao and Erbao accidentally bump into him while playing, just say sorry immediately. If he says, it's okay, be careful. At least it means he's not the type who gets angry easily. If he starts to curse, you can find someone else to date. There's no need to waste time on such an uncertain person. Don't try anything else. Everyone has their own preferences and it's hard to satisfy you."

Geng Benben asked: "I thought my aunt wanted to test whether he was willing to spend money on Sister Xiaozhi."

Ye Fan: "Are you asking your sister to sell popsicles to him? This trick really won't work. Some people know how to live and think that selling popsicles is not as good as going home to cook mung bean soup. Some people are generous to their own people but stingy to outsiders. I just went on a blind date with Xiaozhi today, so it's normal that I don't want to spend money on him."

At six o'clock, several children went to the South Park to wait.

When we got to the park gate, we were stopped by an old lady selling popsicles under a tree. Dabao ran over and asked, "What's up?"

The aunt opened the box and gave him some popsicles.

Dabao shook his head.

The aunt held his hand and pushed it into his hand, "Why are you being so polite to me? I can afford to treat you to a meal every day. Go and have fun."

"Thank you, grandma." Dabao reunited with his brother, sister and younger brother Zhang, holding four popsicles.

Walking into the park, Geng Benben said, "In the past, Aunt Qian was not as generous as her sister-in-law Aunt Li. Now she is so generous, she must have made a lot of money."

Dabao nodded: "I asked my mother, she and Xiaoming charge Grandma two yuan for shipping for a box of popsicles, and Grandma Qian can still make three or four yuan. If there are more ice creams and less popsicles in a box, she can make more money."

Zhang's younger brother asked, "Does ice cream make money?"

"Yes." Dabao saw his sister chewing faster than he did, "Erbao, eat slowly. Eating too fast will upset your stomach."

Erbao no longer bites the popsicle, but sucks it instead.

The kids ate their popsicles and found a cool place to stay. Five minutes later, a well-dressed man came to the park with a cart. Dabao patted Zhang Xiaodi: "Your future brother-in-law."

Zhang looked over and saw that the man was fair-skinned, about 1.75 meters tall, and had a scholarly air. "It shouldn't be him. He doesn't need to go out on a blind date at all."

Dabao: "My dad is such a guy, but he still wants to go on a blind date with my mom."

Zhang choked, "You - your dad used to be in a military unit where even flies were male. He was in the military except for a few days of vacation. How could he find a partner without blind dates? Are you dreaming?"

Dabao couldn't refute and snorted: "I only said one thing, and you have so many complaints." He stood up and sat cross-legged next to his sister.

Geng Benben smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Little brother, maybe your second sister is lucky - Hey, why is my aunt here selling popsicles? Isn't this stealing business from Aunt Qian? If my aunt knew about this, she would definitely scold her for being ignorant."

(End of this chapter)