Reborn back to 1984

Chapter 12

If Zhang Lingen hadn't stopped Shen Heying, Zhang Xiuqing would really have been beaten today: "Okay, don't say a few words! The children cooked white rice and cooked so many fish. They didn't want to steal it, but just wanted to honor us. Why are you scolding them. Go wash your face and get ready to eat!"

Shen Heying had been hungry for a long time, seeing that the situation had come to this point, she had no choice but to stop, and walked out, cursing non-stop.Zhang Xiuqing and the others had long been used to her cursing, they all went in one ear and out the other, and no one took it to heart.

After dark, mosquitos were flying everywhere, Zhang Xiuqing continued to drive them away like last night, the two sisters moved the Eight Immortals table to the yard, Zhang Xiaofeng was anxious to eat, and quickly moved all the stools out.

Shen Heying kept cursing until she sat down at the table, and when she put a small fish into her mouth, the chopsticks never stopped. While eating, she rolled her eyes at Zhang Xiuqing and cursed in her heart: "Prodigal, Damn girl, little monster..."

The chopsticks of other people have not stopped. In fact, if you add some chili to the braised miscellaneous fish, the taste will be better, and it can also remove the fishy smell. However, people in southern Jiangsu generally don't eat spicy food, and the cuisine is sweet. Few people grow chili peppers.Almost every household in Zhang Xiuqing Village can make soybean paste, but no one can make chili sauce. In order to make the fish more delicious, she had to settle for the next best thing and use green pepper instead.

Grandma Li next door passed Zhang's house with a big cattail fan, and when she saw them eating, she stopped to say hello.The three siblings called grandma one after another, and Shen Heying said casually: "Auntie, have you eaten? If you haven't eaten, come eat with us."

Although the words were polite, everyone present knew that this was just a greeting and should not be taken seriously, otherwise they would be laughed at by the villagers as "fake politeness meets honesty." Grandma Li slapped her thigh with a cattail fan to drive away The circling mosquito declined with a smile, "I'm full, you guys eat!"

Hearing the voice, Grandpa Li also came over: "What good food are you eating today? It smells so good that you can smell it even next door."

Shen Heying is a face-saving person, although her heart is still hurting, her face is not showing at all, she said with a smile: "It's just some small fish, shrimps and snails, what good things are there!"

Grandpa Li couldn't believe it. He took a closer look and found that it was indeed the case. It's just that although the food is common, the method is a bit special. The fish, shrimp, and snails are not fried separately, but all mixed together. There is a big plate full, so I can't help but look at it a few more times : "Is this dish cooked by Xiuqing? You can tell it's delicious just by looking at it."

Granny Li praised in a timely manner: "Xiuqing is the smartest girl in our village. She looks decent in everything she does, and she can read books better than anyone else. The husband always praises her."

Shen Heying said half modestly and half complaining: "How can she be as good as you say? If you don't get angry, I will be thankful!"

Granny Li followed the conversation, half-truthfully said: "Since you despise her, then give it to our family. My nephew and grandson have taken a fancy to Xiuqing and want to ask her to be his wife..."

Zhang Xiuqing had just put a mouthful of rice into her mouth, and when she heard this, she almost choked, and vaguely remembered that such a thing had happened in her previous life, but her father rejected the young man's love of gambling, so she declined.

Zhang Xiuqing has passed this year. In the countryside, there are very few girls at this age who have not been engaged. Shen Heying couldn't help but stop her chopsticks and carefully recall the appearance of Grandma Li's nephew. Before she could think about it, Zhang Lingen opened his mouth and said: Two words: "Eat!"

Without expressly refusing, Grandma Li felt that there was something to be done, and decided to have a good talk with Shen Heying after Zhang's family had a good meal, so she walked away with a smile on her fan.

At present, no one is in the mood to talk. Everyone eats fish in big bowls and eats with big mouthfuls.At that time, there were many fields in the countryside, heavy physical labor, and people's appetites were large. No one could eat just one bowl of rice.Before Zhang Xiuqing was reborn, she only ate half a bowl. Sometimes an egg and a cucumber were enough to deal with it. After being reborn, she could eat two big bowls per meal. If she ate less, she would feel weak all over.

Although Zhang Xiaofeng is only ten years old, he eats much better than his two elder sisters. There is an old saying in the countryside called "Half-sized boy, eat me to death!" It refers to boys in Zhang Xiaofeng's age group.

That night, all five members of Zhang's family had enough to eat. When they put down the empty bowls and chopsticks, there was a pile of fish bones and snail shells in front of everyone.Zhang Xiaofeng ate to his heart's content, belched non-stop, left his job, and went to watch TV at the only house in the village with a TV; Zhang Xiuhong wanted to watch TV at first, but she was worried that her mother would promise her elder sister to others. Deciding to stay at home, she looked at her father with a serious face, then at her elder sister with a calm face, and swallowed back what she wanted to say.

As soon as the table was cleared, Grandma Li came again. Shen Heying sat her down and talked: "Auntie, how old is your nephew? Where does he work? How many acres of land does the family have? How many houses? How many brothers?"

Grandma Li answered one by one, her voice was not too loud, just enough for Zhang Xiuqing to hear: "My nephew and grandson are the same age as Xiuqing, also, he is a little less educated than Xiuqing, only graduated from junior high school, and now works in a pharmaceutical factory , working overtime a month to get a salary of 80 yuan... He comes to our house every year, you should have seen him, he looks very handsome, tall and white...both parents are in good health, One elder brother and one elder sister are all married... The house was newly built last year. There are five rooms, all of which are open and bright. They will all belong to him in the future. If you are interested, I will make an appointment with them, and you can see for yourself ..."

At this time, there are signs of free love, but it is not too popular yet. The dominant thing is "the order of the parents and the words of the matchmaker".The specific routine is generally that the man is in love with a daughter of a certain family, and please ask relatives and friends to go to the woman's house to try it out. A pig's leg, a matchmaker's mouth, all belief is lost.

After the woman inquired, good things will take a long time.If you meet a good old man and think "it is better to demolish ten temples than destroy a family", he will say yes to the young man if he is not good; He will try his best to say no; besides these two possibilities, there is a third possibility, that when he meets someone who is not afraid of the height of the stage when he goes to the theater, he just messes up a good marriage.

Even after many years, Zhang Xiuqing still remembers her distant cousin. The family fell in love with a girl from the same village. At first, both parties were very satisfied. The night before the marriage was about to be arranged, a little brother who was very friendly said something. Slander: "I heard that the girl often had a runny nose when she was a child..." I didn't say much else. There were many people present at the time. Zhang Xiuqing's cousin probably felt ashamed and regretted it, even though his parents tried to persuade him: "Which child Haven't you ever had a runny nose? You used to have a runny nose when you were a child, have you forgotten?" But her cousin was so determined that he refused to get engaged, and the news spread, which earned him the nickname "Pig-headed Three".Because of this incident, none of the daughters of the nearby family were willing to marry him. Later, they had no choice but to marry a girl who was not very well-off in all aspects from another village.

After the woman inquires, if she thinks it's okay, she will enter the process of watching the kiss.When the appointed time comes, the person in charge of dating will lead the girl's mother, sister-in-law, aunt, aunt and other elders to the man's home. The first thing to look at is the young man. Height, weight, and skin color are must-see items. Eyes, teeth, and bridge of the nose are incidental items. Project, and then listen to the young man to see if he speaks clearly. If you are too eloquent, you will be easily passed. If you can’t make a boring fart with three fists, you will be easily passed... The second is to look at the wealth of the family. How many acres of land, how many rooms, and the roof of the house How many beams are there, how many cabinets are there in the house, how many pigs are in the shed, how many chickens, ducks and geese are raised... The third is to look at the family members, whether the brothers are harmonious, whether the aunt is aggressive, whether the sister-in-law is easy to get along with, and one more thing The most important thing, if the brothers are already married, have they separated or not.

There are many customs in southern Jiangsu, one of which is to live separately.If the old couple has more than two sons, if the elder son does not separate after marriage, it will be difficult for the younger son to marry in the future. If the old couple has only one son, the young couple can choose by themselves whether to live in separate families or together after marriage.

After seeing the kiss, if the woman is satisfied, she will enter the engagement procedure.At this time, parents will usually ask their children for their opinions. If they agree, they will hold a family meeting behind closed doors to discuss how much dowry they want; The phenomenon of disregarding the wishes of the daughter.

Shen Heying was quite moved after hearing Grandma Li's words.At this time, there are two standards for young men's aesthetics, the first is tall, and the second is fair skin.Whoever has a pretty face, is taller than 1.7 meters five, and is in good health is a handsome man.If this handsome man has double eyelids, a high nose bridge, and an oval face, he will be "Wei Jie". No matter where he goes, he will be favored by old, middle-aged and young women. To paraphrase a group of fans: San Chong Andy Lau, man The best of all!
I am a little speechless about the aesthetics of big girls. Old people like big buttocks and good fertility. Middle-aged people like big strength and ability to work, while boys like big breasts and pretty faces.

Zhang Xiuqing basically didn't do farm work in the past, and her reputation in the village was not very good, but according to her close friends, there are quite a lot of young men who have a crush on her.It was about this time in the previous life. Grandma Li came to her door to say goodbye. Because she was afraid that her parents would let her go, she brought out the matter of Shen Anlin, and then met their unanimous opposition. Shen Anlin brought her home, and since then no one has come to kiss her...

Grandma Li knew who was in charge of Zhang's family, so she secretly observed Zhang Lingen's face while she was talking. Seeing that the other party's face was not happy, she couldn't help but feel a sinking heart. Sure enough, after she finished speaking, Zhang Lingen declined politely on the grounds that Zhang Xiuqing wanted to continue studying. up.

When Shen Hehuaying heard the words "I still need to study", she immediately became furious and jumped up to quarrel with Zhang Lingen.

Grandma Li originally wanted to say something nice to her nephew and grandson, but when she saw this situation, she had no choice but to go forward to persuade them to fight.Zhang Xiuqing winked at Zhang Xiuhong. Zhang Xiuhong was very clever, and immediately grabbed Grandma Li and said, "Grandma, I heard your grandson crying just now, as if he was looking for grandma, why don't you go back and have a look?"

Grandma Li immediately got off the donkey along the slope, turned and left.

Zhang Xiuhong closed the courtyard door, and Zhang Xiuqing grabbed the excited mother: "Mom, I don't want to go to school anymore, I want to do business to make money, so stop arguing with Dad..."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Heying interrupted sharply: "What business do you do? I have read the books for you for so many years in the hope that you can hold a solid job in the future and eat at the public house, not for you to speculate The thing is, don’t you know that it’s against the law? If you are a girl, if you are locked in, how can there be a boy from a good family willing to take you? What’s more, our family is so poor, where did you get the capital? Even if you borrow money from relatives , What if you lose money? You’re already this year, don’t think it’s just one…” Speaking of this, he calmed down: “Xiuqing, you’d better settle down, Mom will choose one for you Good marriage, just wait to get married!"

Zhang Xiuqing shook her head. She didn't want to quarrel with her mother, so she turned to her father and said, "Father, I want to fish to make money. Help me. You can waste a little effort at most. You won't lose any money!"

Zhang Lingen was silent for a while, and replied with one word: "Okay!"

The matter was decided in this way, Zhang Xiuqing couldn't help being dumbfounded, she racked her brains and prepared a lot of drafts in advance, how could she know that half a sentence would not come in handy, if she knew it earlier, she wouldn't be wasting brain cells, hey...

(End of this chapter)