Speaking of the Zhao family in Shanghe Village, everyone in the Shengli Commune knows everyone.
"The Zhao family is in trouble. The eldest son works as a cadre in the county, the youngest son does business in the provincial capital, the eldest daughter runs a restaurant in the county, and the youngest daughter is a teacher in the county junior high school. Besides, his eldest daughter-in-law , I heard it was some kind of interpreter, who specially greeted foreigners, and I saw that they were all provincial leaders, and the youngest son-in-law is a policeman, and this family can run sideways in the county town, not to mention the village."
"That's not true, but it's useless for others to be envious. They all take college entrance examinations seriously. If you are envious, you might as well go home and let your children study hard."
This makes sense. Reading is naturally useful. Since ancient times, there have been too many people relying on reading, and it is the best way to change class.
In 1981, Jiahui and Zhao Donglin graduated. After graduation, Zhao Donglin was assigned to the Yun County Economic Reform and Development Committee. At first, he promised Secretary Zhong to return to the commune, but in September 1980, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued an order to strengthen and improve The document of the agricultural production responsibility system, the responsibility system was rapidly promoted, the people's commune system was gradually abolished throughout the country, the Shengli commune became a Shengli township, and the higher-level leading organization was Yun County.
On this day, Zhao Donglin went to the countryside for research and met Mayor Zhong.
"Donglin, you are in charge of the economy in the county, so you have to provide some welfare for our township."
"Major, look at what you said, I'm just an ordinary clerk, and I can only do things according to the rules."
At most, the research report should be more beautified and more detailed, and the decision-making has to be made by the leaders above.
Mayor Zhong was also joking with him, patted Zhao Donglin on the shoulder and said, "I believe in your work. Let me tell you, if there are any good projects, don't forget about our township. Your father's family's planting industry is developing very well now. Fruits Vegetables have been supplied to the province, as well as animal husbandry, and the eggs in our entire township have been contracted by them."
Who would have thought that the Dong family, which was called stupid by the villagers at the beginning, has become the largest family in the village now. The family is busy and even hires workers to work. For this matter, someone sued the village, saying that the Dong family is The remnants of feudal society are old wealth of landlords.
The leaders of the township are both helpless and funny. Now that the economy is reforming, the state supports the people in creating wealth. The land planted by the Dong family has formal contracting procedures, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Of course, the Dong family is also very good at life. They deliver vegetables and eggs to the leaders of the village during the New Year. There must be twenty catties of pork and two chickens during the New Year.
In this way, on the premise of not violating policies and regulations, naturally no leader will make trouble with the Dong family.
"I have a project here. I know a friend in the provincial capital. His uncle wants to start a garment factory. The wages of workers in the provincial capital are high, and the land is also expensive. He asked me if there is any suitable place in Yun County."
Mayor Zhong Wenxian knew the elegance, patted Zhao Donglin's arm, and said with a smile, "Let's go, I'll be the host to treat you to dinner at noon, let's chat while eating."
There is a lot of land in the village, and what is lacking now is a formal factory. In addition to taxation, it can also provide employment opportunities. He must take this opportunity, and the key point of this opportunity lies in Zhao Donglin.
When Zhao Donglin returned to the county in the afternoon, he called his friends in the provincial capital and told him about the situation.
"That's fine. Anyway, it doesn't matter where my uncle sets up the factory. Since it's your hometown in Donglin, I have to go and have a look even if it's for your face."
"The transportation in Shengli Township is very convenient. It only takes a few hours for a truck to travel from the village to the county seat, and the folk customs are very simple."
"I understand, outstanding people, otherwise how could you have cultivated so many outstanding talents in your family."
Zhao Donglin smiled heartily, "Yes, let me know in advance when you come over, I will make arrangements for you, and I will definitely make you feel at home."
"Hey, look, you are too polite, don't prepare anything else, just let me have enough of your husband's pheasant, and I like to eat your wife's stewed chicken with mushrooms."
"Then this time has to be arranged by Ms. Dong. She is much busier than me now. I haven't seen her for a few days."
"From what you said, I can hear the taste of a boudoir resenting her husband. Why, I miss my daughter-in-law!"
"Daughter-in-law must be thinking about it. Can you miss your daughter-in-law?"
"I don't have to think about it, I stay with her every day, and we hate each other."
Zhao Donglin smiled, "Okay, don't complain in front of me, you two are a standard bedside quarrel."
"Okay, tell me when your Ms. Dong has time, and I'll take my uncle and my wife there with me."
"Okay, then it's settled."
After putting down the phone, Zhao Donglin thought about it, and made another call to Jiahui's office.
"Hi, hello."
When the familiar voice came, Zhao Donglin's heart softened unknowingly. He unbuttoned his neck and relaxed his sitting posture.
"It's me, Dong Lin."
Jiahui was preparing a translation material, when she heard Zhao Donglin on the phone, she said in surprise, "Well, why did you call me at this hour, something happened at home?"
"No, I just miss you."
Jiahui held the phone and smiled, "Don't lie to me, I don't know you yet, and you always keep a clear line between public and private, so you won't call me during working hours."
Zhao Donglin also laughed, and told Jiahui about the garment factory.
"This is a good thing. With the garment factory, our township can be revived."
Economic development requires a "living" character, which must be circulated like capital. If we just cultivate the land behind closed doors, we will not be able to develop the economy. This is why so many polluting enterprises were established in the early stages of reform and opening up, and why these polluting enterprises were excluded when the economy was sufficiently developed.
Garment factories are polluting to a certain extent, but they are better than paper mills and chemical factories. On the other hand, garment factories need a lot of workers, which drives local employment.
"Old Xing said that he wants to eat your stewed chicken and mushrooms. When will you come back?"
Jiahui works as an interpreter for the provincial government and often receives foreign guests. The provincial capital is more than 100 kilometers away from Yun County, and it takes more than two hours by car. Zhao Donglin has no time to go to the provincial capital every day, and Jiahui has no time to come back every day. This is how they lived in a different place.
"The day after tomorrow, I have some materials to catch up, I will definitely come back the day after tomorrow, you can tell Lao Xing, and the family will also agree."
"Well, good. Don't work too hard, pay attention to rest."
"Well, don't worry, you also take care of yourself, and there are a few children. When you go back at night, you should take care of them, live and study, and there should be no omissions."
"Okay, I will complete the task assigned by Ms. Dong to the letter."
The children's school has been transferred from the provincial capital to the city. With Jiahui's current work situation, there is no way to take care of them. Zhao Donglin works in the county, and the two bought a house in the county. Zhang Qiaoer specializes in taking care of the children's daily life in the county. .
"The mouth is poor, so let's do this first. If you have something to say, you can talk about it after get off work."
"Okay, hang up."
Jiahui smiled, that's how he is, always let her hang up first.
Plus, Jiahui stepped up to finish the work, and worked overtime until ten o'clock at night. When she returned home, Shen Nianru was waiting for her.
"Godmother, why haven't you slept yet?"
"I don't worry if you didn't come back, why is it so late today?"
"I'll go back tomorrow afternoon, and I have to finish what I'm doing quickly."
Shen Nianru sighed helplessly, "You should also pay attention to your body, don't treat yourself like a desperate third mother."
"No, I'm combining work and rest. If I go back tomorrow, it's equivalent to rest."
For Jiahui, work is always to serve life, and winning social status and economic accumulation are all for better enjoying the quality of life.
In the afternoon of the next day, Jiahui and the leader asked for leave to go back to Yun County, just in time for the last long-distance bus.
On the way, the sky became overcast, and it looked as if it was about to rain. Jiahui was worried that she would be drenched on the way. Fortunately, the rain didn't stop until Jiahui got off the car. Lili got down.
"On a day in June, the child's face is cloudy and sunny for a while, but it can be tortured enough."
Jiahui looked up when she heard the voice, and it was her mother-in-law Zhang Qiaoer who was muttering on the side of the road.
"Mom, where are you going?"
Zhang Qiaoer was not prepared to be called out like that, and was taken aback.
"Oh, Jiahui, I was so scared that I almost couldn't hold my breath."
Jiahui smiled and walked over, "I just came back, mom, where are you going with the umbrella, isn't today Saturday?"
"It's Saturday. There is some study group in Heidan School to make up lessons. I went to school today and haven't come back yet. I think it's raining. I have to send him an umbrella."
"Well, then I'll go, I'm going fast, I'll be there in a few minutes."
The house they bought was close to the school and not far from the county government. Such a house only cost more than 3,000 yuan, with two floors and six rooms. It was built by a capitalist before, and the whole family got separated during the Great Movement. After a while, the house was inherited by a distant nephew.
Jiahui took an umbrella and walked towards No. 1 Middle School. She was already familiar with this school. Meixiang had taught here for three years. Students in the second grade of junior high school will be promoted to the third grade of junior high school next semester, and it is understandable that they are more nervous about studying.
Class 1 of the second year of junior high school is on the second floor. Jiahui walked to the door and looked in. There were sparsely sitting students in the class, some were busy doing their homework, some were whispering, and some were reading with idle books.
Jiahui knocked on the door, and the sound of "dong dong dong" sounded. The students who were whispering and reading idle books immediately sat upright, thinking that the head teacher had come.
"Zhao Zhuojun."
A gentle female voice sounded, and the students turned their heads to look back, only to see a gentle and beautiful woman standing by the back door, with long hair shawl, wearing a decent suit, carrying a black leather backpack, and stepping on black high-heeled shoes .
"Wow."
This is too good-looking, it is like a movie star in a pictorial.
At the moment, people don't pay much attention to dressing up. Maybe the big cities receive more fashion information faster and more, but the small counties are not as good.
Zhao Zhuojun, who was lecturing to his classmates, turned around in surprise when he heard a familiar voice, and it was indeed Jiahui standing at the door.
He stood up from his seat and walked towards her under the eyes of the whole class.
"It's raining, I'll bring you an umbrella."
Jiahui smiled and handed over the umbrella.
"Well, you just came back? I didn't see you when I went back at noon."
"Yes, come back and rest for two days." As she said, Jiahui looked at the time on her watch, it was already past four o'clock.
"You are about to leave school, what do you want to eat tonight, I will make it for you."
Looking at Jiahui's half-wet hair, Zhao Zhuojun speculated that she must have caught the rain halfway. He remembered that it started to rain after 3:40, that is to say, Jiahui was on the way home at the station at this time.
"I don't have anything special to eat, you should go back quickly, don't catch a cold."
Knowing that he cared about her, Jiahui was very happy.
"Well, I know, you go in, I'll be right back."
Zhao Zhuojun nodded and returned to his seat. All the students in the class were asking, "Who is this? Zhao Zhuojun's aunt?"
"Zhao Zhuojun has only two aunts, one is a restaurant owner, and the other is Teacher Zhao from our school."
"Then who is this? It can't be his sister, can it?"
"This is Zhao Zhuojun's mother."
"Mom? Who are you kidding? His mother looks so young, in her twenties?"
"You don't know that. Zhao Zhuojun's mother divorced his father. This is Zhao Zhuojun's stepmother. Zhao Zhuojun keeps calling her aunt."
"Oh, no wonder he's so young, but his stepmother is very kind to him and even gave him an umbrella."
"It seems to be good, but who knows, everyone says that the stepmother is not good. If it is good, Zhao Zhuojun can not call her mother."
It was said in a low voice at first, but the louder it became, the whole class could hear it.
Zhao Zhuojun closed the book, glanced at the students in the back row, picked up his schoolbag and umbrella, and left the teacher directly after class.
"Hey, you got into trouble, and Zhao Zhuojun got angry."
The gossiping classmate covered his mouth, feeling a little sorry and unwilling to admit his mistake, so he said, "I'm telling the truth, so others are saying the same thing, and I'm not the only one who said it."
"Then what else do you know, what does Zhao Zhuojun's stepmother do, and how she looks so good-looking."
"I heard that I work in the provincial government as an interpreter for foreigners, and often bring back chocolates from abroad. The monthly salary is more than two hundred."
"Really? Then Zhao Zhuojun's family is very rich."
"His father is also from the government."
"Yeah, you can see that everything he wears is good."
"His stepmother looks very kind, she smiles so kindly, she doesn't look like a bad person."
"Being so kind to him, why didn't Zhao Zhuojun call her mom?"
"Maybe I just don't want to call, it's okay."
Everyone talked one after another, and after talking for ten minutes, the head teacher really came, and was very angry when he saw that they were not serious about studying.
"What's going on, you are here to learn, not to whisper!"
Everyone lowered their heads to read, and no one dared to say anything. The head teacher went around and finally found something was wrong.
"Where's Zhao Zhuojun?"
After asking for a few seconds, a student answered in a low voice, risking the teacher's anger, "Going back."
"gone back?"
The head teacher didn't quite believe that Zhao Zhuojun studied hard and never left early after eating.
"Teacher, it was Zhao Zhuojun's stepmother, oh no, it was Zhao Zhuojun's mother who gave him an umbrella, and then he left."
The sequence is indeed like this, but there is a little discrepancy in the middle, which can be completely ignored.
"That's it, okay. I don't think you're in the mood for class anymore. It's raining outside. If you have an umbrella, you can go back. If you don't have an umbrella, wait for your family to pick you up."
Everyone was excited for a while. At this time, even if you don’t have an umbrella, you don’t want to stay any longer. You just need to share one with others.
Hulala, after a while, everyone in the class disappeared.
…
Zhao Zhuojun was walking on the road with a schoolbag on his back and an umbrella. Although he was young, he had already grown to 1.7 meters. The young man was slender and slender, with no expression on his face, but he could not hide his innocence.
He doesn't mind people saying that Jiahui is his stepmother, because this is a fact in itself, just like Jiahui doesn't mind others attacking her with marital problems, what Zhao Zhuojun cares about is what others say, he is the only one who treats him badly. Don't say "Mom".
During many sleepless nights, Zhao Zhuojun secretly gave himself the courage to say that word, but after dawn, facing Shang Jiahui's gentle smile, he seemed to be silenced, unable to make any sound at all.
He knew that he was an awkward child, and if it were another child, he might have changed his mind a long time ago. It was because he took this matter too seriously that he couldn't say it easily.
It's not that he was stingy, but he couldn't accept the care and concern calmly. After all, he was a child abandoned by his biological mother, so how could he deserve any love
Passing the corner, I saw Jiahui buying vegetables at a stewed meat shop.
"I'm home?"
"Yes, boss, here are three catties of beef."
"Okay."
"I'll have another one to burn, and give it to my family as a supper."
"Okay, is your son in junior high school?"
"Yes, it's the second year of junior high school, and the learning tasks are heavy, so I have to make up for it."
"That is, when you really grow your body, you need to make up for it."
The boss cut up the meat neatly and put it in the oil paper, and handed it to Jiahui after tying it up.
"The money is just right, but I'm not. You go slowly."
Jiahui carried two packs of lo-mei, stepped on her high-heeled shoes and walked away gracefully. Behind her, Zhao Zhuojun's eyes were moist.
She always kindly and proudly called him "eldest son", "my son" or "my family Zhuo Jun". She treated him as if he had come out, so why did he stay in that identity and couldn't come out.
She is the mother, and only she is worthy of the title "mother".
That night, Jiahui brought over the hot roast chicken.
"Zhuo Jun, you haven't slept yet. I'll heat up roasted chicken for you. Eat some when you're hungry."
Jiahui put the plate on the desk, and was about to leave after speaking.
"Wait a moment."
Jiahui turned her head, and saw her eldest son looking at her seriously, and said with a smile, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Zhuojun's heart was pounding, and he mustered up the courage to open his mouth.
"Thank you, Mom. I always wanted to say thank you."
Although the word thank you cannot express my gratitude, but I really want to tell you that I know your dedication and I am grateful.
Jiahui didn't realize it at first, and thought she was hallucinating, but seeing her son's expression, she knew that what she just heard was true.
Her eyes were red unconsciously, and she smiled at Zhao Zhuojun with tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Silly son, it's only natural for a mother to be kind to her child."
He has grown taller than himself, but his body is thin, he looks a little thin, but he already looks like a little boy.
Looking at him, Jiahui felt relieved that my family had just grown up.
"Don't read too late, go to bed after eating roast chicken, and go to grandma's house with me tomorrow."
Zhao Zhuojun's eyes were also red, and he nodded heavily. Tomorrow, he can finally say frankly that he is going to grandma's house.
Jiahui returned to the bedroom with red eyes. Zhao Donglin, who was still working under the lamp, looked back at her and realized something was wrong. He hurriedly put down his pen and walked over.
"What's the matter, are you crying?"
Jiahui shook her head with a faint smile on her face.
"It's not crying, it's crying because of being moved."
Zhao Donglin wondered, "Crying because of being moved? Why are you moved?"
Jiahui held Zhao Donglin's hand, played with his fingers, lowered her head and said slowly, "Just now I gave Zhuo Jun a midnight snack, and he called me 'Mom' and thanked me."
After finishing speaking, Jiahui couldn't help but shed tears again, she leaned on Zhao Donglin's shoulder, Zhao Donglin hugged her clearly, patted her on the back lightly, silently comforting her.
"I'm so happy. Although I don't mind whether he recognizes me or not, or a title, I'm just very happy."
Jiahui babbled on, not knowing what she was talking about, Zhao Donglin just hugged her like this, comforting her loudly, "I know, I know."
He understands her devotion, her tolerance, and her touch.
It is precisely because of understanding that we love so deeply.