As they chatted, it was almost dark. Uncle finally lit the oil lamp. Normally, they would have eaten dinner before dusk, not wanting to waste kerosene.
Chen Yang was here today, so he was happy and lit the lamp to prepare for dinner.
Most of the city had electricity by this time, and Chen Yang's home had light bulbs installed. Large-scale electrification in the countryside wouldn't happen until around the 1980s.
"I've sliced and seasoned this windblown mushroom for you to go with your drinks, and I've also fried some peanuts."
"The braised pork is also heated. You men sit at the table and drink, we'll eat."
Aunt Chen had rarely cooked a pot of white rice. Today, there were two meat dishes, and two green leafy vegetables. This was comparable to New Year's. She had indulged herself.
"Aunt, you and Hongmei, please take some dishes. The table is so big, the four of us don't need to monopolize the whole thing."
In those days, when guests came, men in the countryside sat at the table to drink and eat, while women did not.
But since they were his aunt and cousin, Chen Yang didn't follow this custom. If his aunt didn't eat, Chen Yang wouldn't be able to eat either.
"Yang Yang, you all eat. I've saved some food in the kitchen. Besides, I can eat this white rice even without any dishes."
Hearing Chen Yang's words, Aunt Chen felt warm inside. She hadn't doted on her nephew in vain; he knew how to care for her.
"Yang Yang, ask the two of them to join the table. It sounds like I'm preventing you from eating. We're all family, no need for such formalities. You and Hongmei have also been hungry for a long time."
"Shugen, why aren't you pouring drinks for your cousin? You silly boy, you have no sense."
Listening to Uncle Chen's words, Chen Yang chuckled. His uncle was soft-hearted but spoke harshly.
These were clearly words of concern, but they sounded harsh coming from him. Fortunately, Aunt Chen was long accustomed to it.
Hearing that both Chen Yang and her husband had spoken, Qin Liyun had nothing more to argue about. She called her daughter, and the two of them scooped a bowl of rice and joined the table.
"Zhugen, Shugen, raise your bowls with me to your cousin. We haven't seen each other for five years. Welcome, Yang Yang, to visit us again."
Uncle Chen held his bowl and took a big gulp. The two cousins didn't hesitate and also took a big gulp.
Seeing their posture, Chen Yang felt he had to match them and could only drink along.
As they drank, Chen Yang didn't even realize when his aunt and cousin had left the table.
The "Shaodaozi" that Old Man Zhang bought was at least fifty percent alcohol. Even sharing a bottle among four people, Chen Yang's head was buzzing.
"Yang Yang, Uncle wants to ask you for a favor."
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Uncle Chen, for the first time, put his arm around Chen Yang and used the word "request."
He was usually a proud man, never having said "request" to anyone. Otherwise, he wouldn't have insisted on returning the money that Chen Yang's parents had secretly given him as New Year's money.
"Uncle, just say it. We're family, there's no need for requests. If I can help, I will."
Chen Yang supported his red-faced uncle and quickly replied.
"I'm truly helpless with this matter. Zhugen is as stubborn as a mule. The daughter of the grain bureau, can our family afford to marry her?" Su Dan Fiction Network
"He's set on that girl. How many girls has the matchmaker introduced to him, and he ignores them all. Help me persuade him. We are farmers who dig for food from the soil, how can we be worthy of her."
"She's a golden phoenix, she's gone to high school and works in a cotton mill, a legitimate worker with a stable job. What are we? We're just farmers who can't even fill our stomachs. What can we use to marry that golden phoenix?"
Uncle Chen sighed. Chen Yang glanced at Zhang Zhugen. If he hadn't returned this time, he wouldn't have known that his elder cousin had such a story.
In his previous life, when he returned to China, his elder cousin was already married. His cousin-in-law was deaf and mute, but his elder cousin treated her very well, never letting her do any heavy work.
However, at that time, Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen had already passed away, and he had never known that his elder cousin had such a love that couldn't be fulfilled.
"Uncle, Zhugen isn't bad. In terms of looks, he's definitely a handsome young man in any village within a ten-mile radius."
"Our family's foundation is indeed a bit thin, but the young man is good. A family's foundation is always built up. If Zhugen and that girl truly love each other, we shouldn't be the ones to break them up."
Chen Yang looked at the stubborn Zhang Zhugen, thinking to himself, perhaps it was because of that girl in his previous life that his elder cousin stubbornly refused to look for other girls.
It was Uncle Chen's helplessness that forced him to go to the black coal mines in Jin Province.
In those days, what ways could farmers have to earn money?
"Yang Yang, do you think I don't want him to marry that girl? That girl is fair-skinned, like a city girl, and a worker. Such a good daughter-in-law, I want her too."
"But her parents want 'three rounds and one hum,' where can we get this money? Even if they don't look down on us for being farmers, can she get used to living in this dilapidated thatched hut?"
"We are from different worlds. I've long advised Zhugen to give up this idea, but he won't listen."
As Uncle Chen spoke, his eyes turned red. Chen Yang unintentionally saw him slap himself hard.
"It's my fault as a father for being useless. If I had this money, my child wouldn't have wasted these years."
Zhang Zhugen and that girl had been together for several years, but there was no way. The girl's family looked down on Zhang Zhugen's poor family.
The "three rounds and one hum" they mentioned was just a threshold to make Zhang Zhugen give up.
"Uncle, what are you doing? Let's think of a solution together."
"I'm afraid that even if we manage to gather the 'three rounds and one hum,' they might not have other conditions."
Chen Yang shook his head. It was only in movies that poor boys married rich ladies, or rich young masters married Cinderella.
In reality, as Uncle Chen said, marriage is about living, about daily expenses, and everything costs money.
Even if the two truly loved each other, the disparity in their living environments would inevitably lead to conflicts when they overlapped.
Even if that girl didn't mind that his elder cousin's family was poor, could she get used to living in a thatched hut?
"Dad, Liu Ting and I are truly in love. I won't marry anyone else but her. I will earn enough money someday."
Zhang Zhugen blushed. Looking at his stubbornness, Chen Yang suddenly thought of how he looked when he saw him in his previous life after returning to China.
His face was weathered, protecting the deaf-mute cousin-in-law. The thatched hut had been replaced by a single-story cement house. Although the home looked warm, Chen Yang always felt something was missing from his eyes.
Chen Yang now seemed to understand. His elder cousin lacked the persistence in love and the longing for life itself.
The deaths of Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen had struck him too hard. For his sake, Uncle Chen had died in the black coal mines, and Aunt Chen had died of excessive grief.
Who was the most heartbroken and self-blaming? Besides his elder cousin, who else could it be?
Perhaps he had resigned himself to fate, or perhaps to fulfill his parents' dying wish for him to get married and have children, his elder cousin had eventually married that deaf-mute cousin-in-law who didn't mind his family's poverty.
He took great care of her out of responsibility, but without love.
"Just be stubborn. One day, when you've angered both your mother and me to death, and there's no one to care for you, let's see if you're still stubborn."
Uncle Chen, in anger, slammed his hand on the table. It looked like he was about to hit someone, and Chen Yang quickly stopped him.
"Uncle, it's not that there's no way. If Zhugen哥 had a job, we would be on equal footing with them, and the money would eventually be saved up."