Beicha is a place with vast land and sparse population. Most of the local residents are refugees from famine in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. The rest are people who were recruited from other provinces to build factories and forest management offices after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The land at the foot of the mountain where Lao Li's family lives is not only large, but also has a lot of idle land. When Li Muwu went to the street to tell the street that his son wanted to get married, the street immediately approved a piece of land. Nowadays, getting married and having children is a big deal. Beicha has a small population. How can it support socialist construction without having more children
Li Muwu saw that the people on the street were easy to talk to, so he hesitated for a moment and asked, "My third son is getting married next year, but my fourth son is about to graduate, and my second son is in the army but he may have to come back at any time. Why don't you just give me the land as well?"
People on the street looked at him, a little speechless: "Old Li, do you know how much money it costs to build a house? Your salary is enough to support a large family, but it's a bit risky to build a house, right? Look at how much empty land there is in your area. Let me tell you, it's not that other families don't want to build houses, they just don't have the money to build them. Don't just want to take the land and then leave it there idle. I can't speak for you."
Li Muwu was so clumsy that he didn't know what to say. He smiled naively and tried to explain it more clearly: "I was thinking of building the house for the third son first, and then the fourth son's at the end of next year. The money for building the house is not only from my salary, but also from the pension money my eldest brother and fourth brother give to my mother. Besides, my second son's salary is not bad, otherwise how can there be so much money to build three houses."
When people on the street heard this, they remembered that Li Mingxi could send back nearly 600 yuan in allowance every six months, and they were immediately envious: "Your son is really good. He can get such a high salary right after graduation. He is the first in our street. By the way, what does your son do in the army? Does he have a girlfriend? I have a niece who graduated from high school and is very pretty. Do you want me to introduce her to your son?"
"I don't know either. They said it's confidential. Besides, he hasn't been back for several years. What kind of person would you introduce to me? It's a waste of time for the girl." Li Muwu smiled naively. "Well, will you approve my land?"
"Approved!" The street clerk stamped the official seal readily: "As long as we have the ability to stamp it, we will approve it."
Li Muwu had attended a literacy class and knew a few words. He took the document and read it laboriously and felt there was no problem. He quickly folded the approval document and put it in his arms. He then took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, took out a cigarette and handed it to several people in the room: "This was brought back from Bingcheng by my fourth son during the Chinese New Year last year. We don't sell it here." Those people quickly took it and thanked them. Some of them lit it up and smoked it, while others put it to their noses to smell it and then clamped it between their ears.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Li Muwu hurried home to give the approval slip to Old Lady Li. Old Lady Li glared at him and hit him on the butt with her pipe: "Forgot that I, your mother, can't read? Read it to me again, I want to hear what it says."
Li Muwu finished reading it haltingly. Only then did Old Lady Li take the approval note, open the box and put it in a used notebook. She patted the kang and motioned Li Muwu to sit on it: "It's autumn now, and it will snow in a month or so. Take this opportunity to find someone to cover the house. Otherwise, it will take until after the Qingming Festival for the ground to thaw. Another thing, you go to the carpenter's house first and order a large wardrobe, two large boxes and a kangqin. He can finish them in one winter." Li Muwu memorized everything and hurriedly got off the kang to do it.
*****
Mingnan worked at the power plant of the hydrolysis plant. The power plant, bathhouse, barber shop, hospital, supply and marketing cooperative, fire department and other places were all in the same area, which was part of the logistics support. When Mingnan got off work at noon, he quickly washed his face, combed his short hair in front of the mirror, and went to the hospital happily.
Li Mingnan was tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he always spoke politely, so the nurses in the hospital all remembered him. When they saw him coming, a bold girl took the initiative to ask, "Why are you here, Mr. Li? Are you here to get medicine?"
Mingnan shook his head absentmindedly: "No."
The nurse was about to ask if he was here to see the patient, but Mingnan suddenly saw Meng Xiaoxi coming out of the office. His eyes lit up instantly and he rushed over in a few steps. Meng Xiaoxi looked up at him, her face flushed: "You're here?"
"Yeah!" Mingnan nodded stupidly, and looked at Meng Xiaoxi for a long time before he remembered the purpose of his visit: "Well, I'll pick you up and go to the cafeteria for dinner."
Meng Xiaoxi nodded, looked at Mingnan with her big, bright eyes, and turned away shyly: "I'll go change my clothes."
Mingnan couldn't help but grin at Meng Xiaoxi's figure. The girl next to him who had taken the initiative to talk to him but was left aside by Mingnan felt a little embarrassed. She returned to the nurse's station as if nothing had happened and couldn't help but ask, "Are you and Meng Xiaoxi dating?"
When Mingnan heard the word "dating", he couldn't hide the excitement on his face. He kept looking up. Meng Xiaoxi came out and saw this scene. She couldn't help but glared at him: "You're stupid."
Meng Xiaoxi took off her white coat and put on a white and blue striped sailor shirt, which made her look energetic and good-looking. Meng Xiaoxi walked to Mingnan's side, paused for a moment, and then walked forward. Mingnan hurriedly followed. When he pushed open the door and saw that there was no one around, he whispered, "You look really good in this dress. I also have a sailor shirt. Let's wear the same one tomorrow."
Meng Xiaoxi burst into laughter, her big eyes turned into two crescents, revealing two dimples on her cheeks: "Who wants to wear the same clothes as you? Isn't it shameful?" Mingnan smiled and felt his heart pounding, as if it was about to jump out of his chest with excitement.
The hydrolysis plant occupies more than half of the urban area of Beicha District, so not only does each branch have its own canteen, but there are also shared canteens in various areas. Although the food in each place is similar, each chef has his own taste, and it is still very fresh to change the place from time to time.
The two of them took their lunch boxes to the window to line up. It was autumn now, and the canteen had a rich variety of food. Mingnan stretched his neck to look for a long time and saw that the dishes sold today were pork stewed with beans, squash stewed with potatoes, and catfish stewed with eggplant. Mingnan was a big boy, just 20 years old, and it was the right age for him to eat. He stood at the window and not only ordered a large portion of catfish stewed with eggplant and pork stewed with beans, but also two grain steamed buns. Meng Xiaoxi didn't have a big appetite and liked sweet dishes, so she only bought squash stewed with potatoes and two ears of corn.
Mingnan looked at the food in her lunch box and put the two pieces of fish he bought into Meng Xiaoxi's lunch box. "The catfish stewed with eggplant is enough to make the old man die. This is the first time the cafeteria has stewed catfish this year. You can try it and see if it tastes good."
Meng Xiaoxi looked at the lunch box and felt a little worried: "But I'm afraid it will be wasted if I can't finish it."
"It's okay. Don't you have me now?" Mingnan looked at her and smiled: "Whatever you leave behind is mine."
Meng Xiaoxi blushed again, lowered her head, took a bite of the fish and smiled to Mingnan: "Delicious!"
In an instant, Mingnan felt like his soul was about to fly away.
Mingnan was always honest when he was in school. He didn't read any romantic love books like Mingdong did when he was young. So when it comes to love, he has always had the most simple and sincere idea. He thinks that if he likes someone, he should treat her well with all his heart and want to give her the whole world.
Meng Xiaoxi met the straightforward and passionate Mingnan when she was just beginning to fall in love. Within a few days, she fell deeply in love with him. She began to think about Mingnan all the time, looking forward to having meals with her, taking walks to the river together, and even suddenly laughing while washing dishes at home at night.
Aunt Meng was worried when she saw the girl laughing foolishly from time to time. She couldn't help but poke Master Meng and motioned him to look at Meng Xiaoxi who was knitting a sweater: "Look at your daughter. She has only been with Li Mingnan for a month, and she seems to have lost her soul."
Master Meng saw that although Meng Xiaoxi was knitting with both hands, her eyes were looking into the air and she would smile from time to time. Master Meng coughed lightly and said, "So the country advocates free love now. If you have a foundation of love and want to get married, you can live a sweet life in the future."
Aunt Meng sneered: "When you have a bunch of children and have to worry about firewood, rice, oil and salt all day long, there will be no honey. At that time, it will be no different from drinking bitter water. But Xiaoxi is better than me..." She glanced at Master Meng and turned away with disdain: "After all, she drank honey, but I have to drink bitter water in this life."
"Why are you drinking bitter water?" Master Meng was a little unconvinced. "Since the day we got married, my salary has never been in my hands for more than a day. I put it in my pocket in the morning and have to give it back to you at noon. You call this bitter water? What do other women drink? Arsenic?"
Aunt Meng couldn't help laughing at what Master Meng said, and she scolded him with a smile. Master Meng couldn't help laughing himself, "Don't do these useless things, find a day to invite Mingnan to come to our house for a meal. You said they have been together for a month, Mingnan sends Xiaoxi home every day after get off work, and he has never come to our house for a proper meal."
"Why not call Mingnan's family over? You can chat with Mingnan's father, and I'll have a good talk with his mother and grandmother." Aunt Meng slapped her thigh and made a decision: "How about this Sunday? You don't have to go to work."
Master Meng took out a cigarette and tapped it on the table: "We didn't buy much pork last month. Can we buy pork this week?"
"It should be about the same. I'll talk to the neighbors and ask them to lend us some meat for a month. We have to prepare it in a decent way." Aunt Meng said, "Last time at Mingnan's house, we had fish and meat, and a pot of Feilong. The meat was so delicious. I ate two of them when Xiaowei was born."
"That's because his family knows how to hunt." Master Meng said sullenly, "I'm not good at that. We don't have to prepare the same dishes as her family. It's the first time the son-in-law comes to visit, so we have to kill a chicken and make some pork and celery dumplings. Later you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy some canned food. It will look so bright.
The two of them made an agreement, and when Mingnan sent Meng Xiaoxi to the door of the building the next day, Aunt Meng called him from the second floor: "Mingnan, come up, I have something to say to you." Since his future mother-in-law had invited him, Mingnan quickly tidied his clothes and happily followed Meng Xiaoxi upstairs.
Aunt Meng looked Mingnan up and down and liked him more and more. The young man was energetic, kind to her daughter, and his family had no burden. She liked this marriage very much.
"Mingnan, is everything going well at home lately?" Aunt Meng asked Mingnan to sit down at the table and brought the prepared poached eggs in sugar water to him. "You must be very tired after working all day. Eat a few poached eggs to fill your stomach."
Mingnan looked into the big bowl and saw five eggs in it. He was so frightened that he said quickly, "Auntie, this is too much. Bring out another bowl. I'll give two to Xiaoxi. She didn't eat much at noon, so she must be hungry by now."
Seeing Mingnan thinking about her daughter all the time, Aunt Meng grinned happily and said, "We'll have dinner at home later, just eat it."
Mingnan pushed the bowl to the side of the stream and said to her habitually, "You eat first, and I'll eat your leftovers later."
Meng Xiaoxi smiled at Mingnan, picked up a spoon and ate an egg under Aunt Meng's stunned eyes. She also drank half a bowl of sugar water and pushed the rest aside. Aunt Meng didn't know what to say. She tapped Meng Xiaoxi's forehead with her finger and said, "Why are you so honest? You eat what I tell you to eat. How could you let Mingnan eat what you left?"
"It's okay, Auntie. We did the same thing in the cafeteria." Mingnan quickly helped Xiaoxi cover her hand, and looked at her forehead with some concern to see if it was red. Auntie Meng saw that the two were willing to fight and the other was willing to be beaten, so she didn't say anything more. She looked at the young people flirting with each other and felt amused and speechless. Looking at her own daughter, she almost forgot about her mother except Mingnan.
Mingnan finished his poached eggs and drank the sugar water cleanly. He stood up to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Aunt Meng snatched them away and put them on the table, then pulled him to sit down again: "Don't bother with these useless things. Let me tell you something serious. You and Xiaoxi have been together for so long, you should ask your family to come and get to know each other. Invite your whole family to come to our house for dinner this Sunday and chat together."
Mingnan knew his mother-in-law was pleased with him, and nodded happily: "I'll tell my grandma when I get home."
"Okay, then you should go back early. It will be dark soon." After Aunt Meng finished her business, she didn't want to keep him any longer. Mingnan quickly stood up and said goodbye, looking at Meng Xiaoxi reluctantly.
Meng Xiaoxi stood up and said with a red face: "I'll see Mingnan off." Aunt Meng looked at their backs and felt happy and sad: "My daughter has grown up and can't be kept here."
Mingnan's mother-in-law invited them to dinner, and the Li family was immediately busy. Old Mrs. Li was no longer afraid of wasting electricity. She rummaged through the drawers and took out all her neatly-made clothes late at night, checking them one by one to see if any of them were eaten by insects.
Zhenzhen sat on the kang in Grandma Li's room, playing with a sheep's crutch bone and teasing Grandma Li: "Grandma, can you see in such a dim light?"
Old Mrs. Li squinted her eyes and touched it bit by bit: "You have to check even if you can't see it. If there is a worm hole, you have to sew it up quickly, otherwise the hole will get bigger and bigger, and this beautiful dress will be wasted. Oh, we have used all the cloth coupons we saved up for your eldest brother and his family. The rest is only enough for a patch or something. We have to save more in the next few months for your third brother's wedding. I don't know if it will be enough by then."
The more Mrs. Li spoke, the more worried she became. Zhenzhen also sat beside her and sighed. Mrs. Li was worried about the shortage of cloth. Zhenzhen was worried about the fact that there was plenty of cloth in the western-style building in the space. What excuse could she use to take it out
Old Lady Li sighed, and Zhenzhen followed suit. After she sighed three or four times, she finally realized something was wrong. She looked at Zhenzhen and laughed, "Why are you sighing? You're the only one in the family who has the most and neatest clothes."
"I'm just thinking about the cloth." Zhenzhen sat on the kang with her chin in her hand. "Third brother is getting married, so I have to make Sister Meng a bright dress so that she will look good when she comes to pick her up. Besides, I have to make two new quilts."
"That's right." The more Mrs. Li talked, the more worried she became. Zhenzhen suddenly remembered something: "Grandma, I heard that people in the past knew how to spin cloth. What did they spin? Can we do it? At least we can make a quilt lining or something."
Old Lady Li perked up when she heard this: "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten about this. Cotton will do, but our spinning wheel has been broken for a long time. But it doesn't matter. It's not that hard to find. I can ask the carpenter uncle to make another one for us later."
Wang Sufen brought a basin of hot water to Old Lady Li to wash her feet. When she heard the two of them talking, she asked, "What are you fighting about again?"
"Hit the spinning wheel. Zhenzhen said she wanted to spin sheets or something." Old Lady Li told Li Sufen hurriedly, "Look at my brain. I didn't even think of this when Zhenzhen was growing cotton these past two years."
Wang Sufen also became interested when she heard this: "I am good at spinning. Winter is coming and I can't go out. I will just spin at home then."
Old Mrs. Li nodded happily: "The cloth spun from cotton is soft, and it will be good to use as diapers for Mingnan's child in the future."
Seeing that Old Lady Li was getting more and more anxious, Zhenzhen tried hard to bring the topic back: "Then what about the material for my third brother's wedding clothes?"
"Just save up some, and borrow some cloth coupons from other families. Isn't that what people do now?" Old Lady Li put her feet in the hot water basin and sighed comfortably: "Bring me another pot of hot water, I'll refill it later and soak for a while longer."
Wang Sufen went out to get the kettle, and Zhenzhen finally thought of a plausible excuse: "Grandma, I can get some cloth."
Old Lady Li looked at her with disbelief: "Cloth is in short supply right now. Your third aunt's nephew's daughter's classmate is selling cloth at the supply and marketing cooperative. She said that even defective products need cloth coupons."
"Don't worry about it." Zhenzhen was afraid that if she talked too much, Old Lady Li would keep asking questions, so she quickly got off the kang and pretended to be very sleepy, and yawned in a serious manner: "I may not be able to do this, let's talk about it later."
Zhenzhen went back to the house and locked the door. She flashed into the space and went into a western-style building at the edge to look for stored fabrics. The owners of these buildings were all capitalists, and the wives of capitalists liked to wear cheongsams the most. But in the current atmosphere, not only would wearing cheongsams be criticized and criticized, but even wearing clothes with fancy colors would be said to be a manifestation of "feudal, capitalist, revisionist" and "decadent" lifestyles. Fortunately, in these families, men's clothes were mainly gray, black, and dark blue, and there were a lot of fine woolen fabrics stored in the house, which felt soft and thick to the touch.
Zhenzhen found a bag and put three or four meters of gray woolen cloth, three meters of dark blue cloth, and ten feet of blue silk on top. The cloth can be used to make winter coats, but Mingnan got married in the summer, so Zhenzhen thought about going to the department store in the capital some other day, where there are many good cloths for sale.
However, it was still early to get married, and the Li family was currently thinking about visiting Meng Xiaoxi's home. Zhenzhen thought about her large family, and Mingnan and Mingbei were very capable, so they could probably provide three kilograms of food for the family, so they had to bring some food to the door.
Old Lady Li prepared a basket of eggs and ten kilograms of flour, and Zhenzhen went to the mountains to catch two wild rabbits, two pheasants, and two big fat fish. Mingnan had also wanted to get some wild animals, but he worked during the day and it was dark when he got home at night, so he couldn't go up the mountain at all. Seeing Zhenzhen bringing back so many things, Mingnan excitedly picked up Zhenzhen and threw her up: "My dear sister, you are so kind."
Zhenzhen was suddenly thrown two meters off the ground, and she slapped Mingnan on the head in fear: "If you dare to throw it at me again, I will stew these things tonight."
Mingnan put Zhenzhen down with a wry smile: "I just forgot you're a grown-up girl when I was so happy. Well, I'll treat you to a movie next Sunday. The new movie released this month is really good."
"Okay." Zhenzhen agreed happily: "I'll sit between you and Sister Xiaoxi then."
Mingnan immediately swallowed his words and said, "Well, how about I give you money and you can take your fourth brother to see it."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Mingbei was very happy: "Zhenzhen, you can call me Sister Wanqiu, and then you can sit between us. I have no objection."
Mingnan couldn't help but laugh, "As if your opinion has any effect, if Zhenzhen doesn't go, can Yu Wanqiu go to the movies with you?"
Mingbei's face immediately turned green: "I haven't graduated yet, but after graduation, Yu Wanqiu and I will definitely be together. She knows that I like her."
"Of course I know. Even a blind man can see that." Mingnan laughed, "But that girl has her own ideas. She may not be interested in someone as simple-minded as you with strong limbs." Seeing Mingbei's face turning green, Mingnan quickly added, "There is still more than half a year left. You can't act like a child all day long. At least let the girl think you are reliable."
Mingbei calmed down after hearing this. He scratched his head and looked confused: "I am the same height as you, how can you say I haven't grown up?"
Mingnan put his arm around Mingbei's shoulders: "Growing up doesn't refer to height, it refers to your maturity in mentality and behavior. Let me ask you, do you like that girl and want to marry her?" Seeing Mingbei blushing and nodding, Mingnan couldn't help laughing: "Then you have to make her feel that you are reliable. Don't do things in a haphazard manner all day long. At least prepare for the factory exam now, so that she knows that you have a plan for your future."
Mingbei nodded, and looked at Mingnan with some worry: "But the hydrolysis factory hasn't recruited any workers in the past two years since you joined the factory. What if they don't recruit next year?"
"Then you can take over Dad's job." Mingnan rubbed Mingbei's head and said, "You only thought about getting married and forgot about your own work."
Mingbei smiled and nodded: "Then I'm not afraid anymore. I'll tell her after the job is settled."
Mingnan waved at him with a wicked smile and whispered to her, "Half a year won't make a difference. Tell her that you can take over when no one is around. This girl is smart and will definitely know what you mean. Give her some time to think about it, right?"
Mingbei nodded seriously and looked at Mingnan with admiration: "Brother, you are really my brother!"
The author has something to say: I will update it first, then correct the typos and send out red envelopes. All of them will be sent out before 8 o'clock tomorrow morning at the latest. The weather has been hot and cold recently, so everyone must be careful to prevent colds, because my daughter has caught it again~~