Father's Land Mother's River

Chapter 31 The Turning Point

At this time, Guan Xiaoyun was also in a dilemma.If Liu Xiaonan applied for a job in a rural credit cooperative, should she stay in the countryside or work in a textile factory?

Who doesn't yearn for life in a big city?She was looking forward to following Liu Xiaonan to the mining area three years later, but living in a small town as big as Fuzhou City, let alone a big city like Bincheng?

Thinking of Gu Yu's haughty look back then, it was very annoying.Don't dare to think about it if you don't have a chance. Now that the opportunity is in front of you, wouldn't it be a pity to give up?
If Liu Xiaonan also wants to work in a textile factory, will he encounter Gu Yu again?Will Gu Yu cling to Liu Xiaonan like she did when she was a child?Even though the city is so big and the chances of meeting them are slim, she is worried for no reason.

Furthermore, if the two of them went to work in the textile factory together, Liu Xiaonan would miss the opportunity to take over. Could it be that the two of them returned to the countryside to continue doing farm work five years later?Then why go around in a big circle?It's better to apply for the job of rural credit cooperatives in a down-to-earth manner, or wait for the succession honestly.

Guan Xiaoyun couldn't solve this problem, so he asked his parents for advice.After discussing it with her parents, she told her to discuss it with Liu Xiaonan and make her own decision.

Guan Xiaoyun anxiously went to find Liu Xiaonan.Liu Xiaonan was rummaging through the Chinese and mathematics textbooks from the previous junior high school at home. He picked up a mathematics book and said to Guan Xiaoyun: "I don't do anything these days, I just give you extra lessons."

Guan Xiaoyun asked eagerly: "Where are you, what are you going to do?"

Liu Xiaonan smiled maliciously: "Of course I want to work in a textile factory, maybe I can meet Gu Yu and reminisce about our childhood friendship."

Guan Xiaoyun suddenly felt suffocated, and muttered in a low voice: "I knew early on that he was a villain."

"What are you thinking about?" Liu Xiaonan tapped Guan Xiaoyun's head with a book: "I'm just kidding. I've made up my mind. We both go to work in a textile factory. It would be best if we have the opportunity to stay in the city. There really isn't." Opportunity, when I come back to take over, you and I will live in the mine."

This is the most reasonable plan, Guan Xiaoyun felt relieved, and she asked, "Have you thought about applying for a job in a rural credit cooperative?"

"I have thought about it. If we are not engaged, I will first consider working in a credit union. I guess you also want to go out in the city, why don't we go out together while we are young. What do you think? If you want Live a stable life, if I want to work in a credit union, I will stay."

"Your father can't control you, how can I control you?"

"That's different. We will live together in the future, and we will both sleep on the same kang. I have to be responsible to you."

Guan Xiaoyun lowered her head shyly: "You still have the face to say it. If you don't drink and show off, how can I ignore you when you're drunk like that? How ugly it would be if it got out, and if it wasn't true, it would become true."

Liu Xiaonan bravely asked: "Aren't you afraid that I will crawl to your side in the middle of the night?"

"I don't know." Guan Xiaoyun covered his face with the book in his hand.

A few days later, Liu Xiaonan and Guan Xiaoyun went to the township government to register together with their household registration and graduation certificates.There were a lot of people who signed up, and there were even more people watching the fun. Like going to a big market, the township government had to send people to maintain order.

Many people speculated that the work in the textile factory must be very hard, and people in the city were unwilling to do it, so they had to recruit workers in the countryside.

The township government vacated a large conference room, and Bincheng Textile Factory sent a special person to sign up for the interview.

Most of the recruiters are women, who are uniformly dressed in light gray work clothes with the capital letters "DF" printed on the chest.The tone is soft, the attitude is kind, beautiful and generous, and there is a temperament and demeanor that is completely different from that of the rural people, which makes the rural youths who come to sign up feel admiration and awe.

Liu Xiaonan handed over the household registration booklet and graduation certificate, and the young girl across from him glanced at him, then lowered her head to examine his residence registration booklet and graduation certificate, and said to herself: "There are still high school graduates in the countryside."

Rural people are not worthy of high school?Liu Xiaonan looked at the handwriting she wrote on the form, it looked like a crab crawling, and really wanted to ask her what school she graduated from.Isn't the sense of superiority of your urbanites reflected in your household registration?Not necessarily how superior it is!

Guan Xiaoyun handed over her household registration booklet and graduation certificate, and the middle-aged elder sister opposite looked at her in surprise and said, "You are a non-agricultural household! This job recruitment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you. Work hard after the factory, find a young man in the city to marry, and you can move your household registration to Bincheng."

Guan Xiaoyun was so shocked that he couldn't believe it, his dilated pupils were shining brightly: "Really?"

Out of enthusiasm, the middle-aged elder sister said with certainty: "I understand the relevant policies, and I will tell you responsibly that you have a unique advantage of household registration, and you should make good use of it."

The middle-aged elder sister turned to a middle-aged man who looked like a leader, and said, "I have a suggestion. In the future, I will go to some small towns to recruit workers. The girls are simple and beautiful, and they have urban household registration. They can solve the marriage problems of older men and young people in the factory. Kill two birds with one stone."

The middle-aged man nodded and said, "Your suggestion is very targeted. I will report to the factory leader after I go back."

Liu Xiaonan who was standing on the side saw and heard it, but he didn't quite understand it.Isn't the textile factory a country of daughters?How can there be marriage problems among older men and young people?Why go to rural towns to rob marriage resources?
On the way home, Guan Xiaoyun was very excited, talking and laughing, pedaling the bicycle very fast.

Liu Xiaonan removed the handlebars with both hands, and maintained the balance of the bicycle with her body, without losing any speed.The sky was high and the clouds were clear, and they seemed to blend into a wider world.

Guan Xiaoyun blushed and said, "Xiaonan, let's not make our relationship public, okay?"

"Okay." Liu Xiaonan answered briefly.

Guan Xiaoyun explained: "I'm afraid that if the people in the textile factory find out, we won't be recruited."

"What people emphasize is unmarried. Aren't we unmarried? What are you afraid of?"

"Anyway, it's just fear."

Liu Xiaonan said in her heart, I know what you are afraid of.When he heard that the middle-aged elder sister asked Guan Xiaoyun to take advantage of her non-agricultural household registration, he already had a clear premonition. He knew too well what kind of life Guan Xiaoyun was looking for.

But he didn't feel any sense of loss, and he also understood the dream he wanted to pursue, and even thought that if they let each other go, maybe each of them could fly higher and farther.

Guan Xiaoyun asked Liu Xiaonan to help her with her homework every day, and she never worked so hard in school.

Liu Xiaonan laughed that she knew that if she worked so hard, she might be able to get into university.He advised Guan Xiaoyun not to be overly nervous. The textile factory recruits workers who can adapt to work in four shifts, and does not value much education. The exam questions will not be too difficult, but it is just a formality.

Guan Xiaoyun was also afraid that he would delay Liu Xiaonan's review, Liu Xiaonan said: "It doesn't matter if I fail the exam, I will make sure you can pass the exam."

"why?"

"Because you have a unique household registration advantage."

Guan Xiaoyun stared at Liu Xiaonan innocently and aggrievedly: "What do you mean?"

Liu Xiaonan said, "Why ask questions knowingly? In five years, anything can happen. I've made up my mind. If you want a Bincheng hukou, I respect your choice."

Guan Xiaoyun lowered his head and said, "If I had given you everything that night, you wouldn't have said that."

"Okay!" Liu Xiaonan also felt that she was going too far, took a step back and said, "Just pretend I didn't say anything."

Examinations, physical examinations, and the final list of recruited personnel were copied on big red paper and posted next to the gate of the township government, and the time of entry into the factory was announced.Liu Xiaonan ranked first, and Guan Xiaoyun was among them.

Guan Xiaoyun was busy making new clothes for the two of them, and Liu Xiaonan was busy doing all the work at home within a few days.

It took Liu Xiaonan two full days to cut down the corn ridges by the river.Suddenly hit by a strong wind, a large piece of corn tilted and fell, and it was very difficult to cut in a mess.

After soaking in flood water for two days and one night, the corn stalks died prematurely, and some ears of corn became moldy and sprouted. If they were not harvested, the yield would be severely reduced.A large amount of soil is deposited on the corn leaves, and after the corn is harvested, people become mud monkeys.

Liu Xiaonan squatted by the river washing his hands and face, and the fourth brother insisted on wrestling with him when he passed by.How could he have the strength to wrestle, not to mention the opponent is the powerful fourth brother.

The fourth brother said: "You are a city person, and I will never have the chance to wrestle with you again. Practice the tricks I taught you before, and if you are bullied in the city, you will put them down. Those educated youths who were sent to the countryside in Bincheng None of them are my opponents."

Liu Xiaonan smiled and said, "Fourth brother, I'm going to work, not to fight."

The fourth brother said stubbornly: "Those urban people have always looked down on us rural people. Once you fight, you can't lose to them."

Liu Xiaonan had no choice but to stand up and compete with the fourth brother a few times, but the fourth brother was not satisfied and wanted to teach him the trick of "rabbit kicking the eagle".

Where could Liu Xiaonan kick the fourth brother, the fourth brother lay on his back on the ground, grabbed Liu Xiaonan's two arms, kicked his stomach with one foot, and lifted him up in the air.

The fourth brother explained how to use strength with his arms and legs, and swayed Liu Xiaonan back and forth to let him experience the use of strength, but he didn't throw him from the top of his head.

The mountains are far away and the rivers are long, and the autumn leaves are light yellow.After practicing wrestling, Liu Xiaonan and his fourth brother sat side by side on the river bank, watching the river flow slowly.

On the surface of the clear river, small fish splashed in flakes, like scattered raindrops the size of beans falling on the river surface.

The fourth brother is like a stone Buddha, just sitting and watching, without saying a word.

Liu Xiaonan also had enough patience to accompany the fourth brother, he guessed that the fourth brother must have something to say to him.The fourth brother has saved himself, taught himself to wrestle, helped him to work when he was tired, and only told himself what was on his mind. Could it be that this is also a kind of inexplicable fate?

A flock of wild ducks quacked and flew overhead without landing on the river, and flapped their emerald green wings towards the southwest.

The fourth brother looked for the shadow of the wild duck, and murmured to himself, "They all flew away, not even a single feather was left."

Liu Xiaonan suddenly understood that the fourth brother was lamenting and reminiscing about his lost youth.The fourth brother must be thinking that if he could go back more than ten years and happen to be as old as himself, he would definitely take this opportunity to go far away to find his own happiness.

This is the little-known side of Fourth Brother, and his heart suddenly felt sore and his throat choked up.I wanted to cry but I couldn't cry, my heart was in a panic, I just hugged my fourth brother's generous shoulders tightly.

As usual, Liu Zhixin went home to check the field first, saw all the corn felled, and thought that his son would be more sensible after having a wife.

When I got home, I found out that my son was going to work in Bincheng in a few days. I was happy but also a little sad.After all, this bear son still had a grudge against him, and finally seized the opportunity to leave home.

He asked about the relevant details and his son's specific performance over and over again, and Jiang Changling told him over and over again.

He suddenly saw a terrible fact: as a father, he had never participated in his son's major life choices, and his son had never sought his own opinion.He is a failed father.

When Liu Xiaonan and the fourth brother came back, they saw their father standing on the street, looking into the distance, wondering what he was thinking and looking at.

He walked into his father slowly, and unexpectedly saw a trace of sadness hanging on his father's face, looking a little old and helpless under the light twilight.For the first time, he realized that his rebellion had also caused deep harm to his father.

Liu Xiaonan stood beside her father and reported, "Dad, I'm leaving to work in the Bincheng Textile Factory. Before I leave, I'll try to take the corn back home."

Liu Zhixin looked at his son who was covered in dirt and was a head taller than himself, and said distressedly: "Don't do it, go to Fuzhou City tomorrow to find a bathhouse to wash and bubble, get a haircut, and go to Bincheng to work cleanly. Your mother and I won't be tired of the rest of the work."

Liu Xiaonan scratched her head, her hair was sticky and dry, grass leaves and soil fell down layer by layer.He grinned: "I was wrestling with my fourth brother, and my fourth brother was afraid that I would be bullied in Bincheng."

The son and the fourth child get along well.Liu Zhixin smiled and said: "Your mother boiled hot water, washed her hair and wiped her body before eating."

After dinner, Guan Xiaoyun came and brought Liu Xiaonan the new clothes he had just made.Liu Zhixin explained to them some common rules and regulations in the factory, emphasizing that they must respect the masters.

Jiang Changling counted out 100 yuan and handed it to Guan Xiaoyun, asking her to buy new clothes for herself when she went to the city, but Guan Xiaoyun only accepted it after giving way.

Stepping into the night, Liu Xiaonan sent Guan Xiaoyun home, only saying a few innocuous clichés along the way.

On September [-], [-], the Bincheng Textile Factory sent four buses to three townships to welcome the farmers' rotation workers into the factory.

More than 200 rural youths put down their hoes and whips, took off their sweat-stained, muddy and cow-dung clothes, boarded the bus with their luggage, and bid farewell to their relatives who came to see them off through the window with young and cheerful smiles.

If someone is willing to write a note for them, they will be the first generation of rural youths in this northern seaside city to cross the urban-rural divide, enter the city in an organized and large scale, and pursue their dreams.

(End of this chapter)