It was also in this summer that the second aunt reaped the fruits of her love, and after being introduced by Mrs. Xu's daughter, the second aunt got acquainted with an active officer in the next village. The second aunt did not refrain this time, and established a relationship with him, and Hongyan's biography has become an important part of the second aunt's life now.

On the day of the first snowflakes of the winter falling outside the window, my father called. When Grandpa came back from the village committee, his hat and body were already covered with white snowflakes, and Grandpa dusted off the snow on his body and said to Grandma, "Boss is coming back for the New Year this year." ”

When the grandmother heard this, she said happily: "When will you come back?" said that you didn't say how many days you would stay? I told his sixth aunt to let her arrange a blind date. ”

Grandpa said: "I haven't bought the ticket yet, and I can only know when I will get home after buying the ticket, and I said that I won't leave until after fifteen." ”

Grandma was full of joy when she heard this, and saw that the two had a partner, and her father's marriage had not yet been settled, so she went around asking people to introduce objects, like my father's age at that time in the countryside was already an older youth.

After the New Year, the atmosphere of the festival is getting stronger and stronger, every household is busy steaming, boiling, frying, the purchase of New Year's goods are purchased back early, the taste of the rural New Year is lively and grand.

On this day, the grandfather's family was also busy preparing for the New Year's goods, and the courtyard walked into the Li family's son Qiangzi and his younger brother, Qiangzi and his younger brother carried two cardboard boxes, one large and one small, the big cardboard box read: Panda brand 14-inch color TV, and the small cardboard box reads: Yanwu brand double card recorder.

When you enter the door, you shout: "Uncle, auntie, where are you busy?"

When Grandpa saw them entering, he greeted them and said, "Qiangzi, when did you come back? What are you doing here? Big box, small box." ”

Qiangzi smiled and said, "Uncle, come into the house and say." With that, he carried the box and went into the house.

The uncle in the house sat alone on the side of the kang, and when Qiangzi entered the door, he and his younger brother put the box in their hands in the middle of the house, sat directly next to the uncle, put his hand on the uncle's shoulder and said: "Uncle, I just entered the door and came back this morning, and I came to see you and the fourth brother as soon as I came back." ”

At this time, grandma and the third aunt also came in, and the grandfather looked at the energetic Qiangzi who was wearing a black sheepskin jacket that was rare at that time and said, "Look at you dressed so brightly and making a lot of money outside?"

Qiangzi said: "I won't tell you, I made more or less money in Guangzhou this year, but I didn't make a fortune, and I can get mixed up to this day is all the credit of the fourth brother, and today I came to thank the fourth brother for showing me a clear way." ”

Hearing this, the grandparents were stunned, and even the second aunt who was pouring water stopped and looked back at Qiangzi, and the grandfather said, "What did you say, why did Si'er give you directions?" ”

Qiangzi smiled: "Uncle, I'm not joking with you, what I said is true, and I sincerely thank the fourth brother." It's not appropriate for the fourth brother to send anything like this, I want to think about it, just send you the old couple and the second and third Ya something, forget it, I am in Guangzhou to do household appliances trade, and when I came back, I consigned two sets. ”

He turned around and said to the second aunt: "Erya, this dual-card tape recorder has given you and Sanya, and now this is popular in big cities, and this TV will be sent to the uncle and aunt." ”

When Grandpa heard this, he hurriedly interrupted Qiangzi's words: "Don't, don't, don't, what TV set you take before you understand things, we can't ask for it, you better move it to your house quickly." ”

Qiangzi said: "Uncle, we also have it in our family, and they are all the same." This thing is expensive in the market, but we are a first-class wholesaler, and it is cheaper than the outside. ”

The third aunt had already entered the door curiously at this time, and when she heard Qiangzi say that she gave the recorder, she asked happily: "Really Brother Qiang?"

Grandma glared at the third aunt.

Grandpa asked strangely: "Qiangzi, you keep saying Xie Si'er, what the hell is going on?"

Qiangzi restrained his smile and said seriously: "It's really the fourth brother who gave me some guidance, it was last year, ah no, it's not the New Year, it's still this year, I remember very well that I came to the house on the seventeenth day of the first month of this year and wanted to call your eldest brother, so I wanted to ask the eldest brother about the situation there, whether the salary is high, whether the job is good or not, I worked on the construction site in Beijing for a year last year, and I didn't make any money and wanted to change places." ”

Qiangzi continued: "When I got home, there was no one at home, and the fourth brother sat here as I am now, and I also sat in this position, thinking that I would sit with the fourth brother for a while and wait for you to come back, and the fourth brother would take a cane and draw on the ground by himself, and I just looked at him and painted, and when I looked at it, I felt that the fourth brother wrote two words: Guangzhou." ”

"At that time, I was still thinking about myself, when did you teach the fourth brother to write? I wondered very much, how did he learn it? When I looked closely, I couldn't see anything. At that time, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration in my mind, wondering if it was the meaning of the fourth brother asking me to go to Guangzhou to find a job? Thinking about it, I didn't wait for you to come back, I went home full of lawsuits, and when I got home, I was thinking about the word Guangzhou over and over again.

Originally, I also had a few alternative destinations in my mind, namely Shenzhen and Shanghai, and Guangzhou just thought about it and didn't pay much attention to it, and I thought about it all night, and when I got up in the morning, I made up my mind to pack up and go to the station. ”

Don't hide it from the uncle and aunt, I still regret coming on the train to Guangzhou, you said that we are not familiar with our life in Guangzhou, and we still don't understand Cantonese, and if we don't get it, we have to run back. Later, I thought about it, since I came, I should find some work to do first, not everything will be smooth sailing, so cheer myself up.

Not to mention, I really went to the right place, I met my current boss in Guangzhou for two months, a local person, a very smart and righteous boss Mr. Liu, he recruited me into the company as a salesman, that is, to do household appliances business, salary plus commission, I worked for more than half a year to become a business supervisor. ”

Speaking of this, Qiangzi mysteriously stretched out five fingers: "At the end of the year, the boss of the commission alone gave me this number." ”

After listening to Hadron's miraculous narration, the room was quiet for a while, and no one needed to speak.

Grandma thought for a while and spoke: "Qiangzi, what you said Si'er wrote to you to let you go to Guangzhou, I'm afraid it can't be taken seriously, you are older than Si'er, and you also know that Si'er doesn't say to write when he is sick, and he will only call a mother in his mouth. ”

Qiangzi said: "Auntie, I really made a special trip to thank the fourth brother when I came back this time, and these two things didn't cost money, and when I came back from leave, Mr. Liu disagreed, saying that it was the peak sales season before the holiday, and there was a shortage of manpower." Later, I told him about the fourth brother, and he also felt very amazing after listening to it, and said that I knew that he didn't use the wrong person, so I gave me a vacation. The two pieces in my house were given to me by Mr. Liu, I said to buy two more pieces, Mr. Liu was very happy and simply sent two sets, two pieces for a family, Mr. Liu also said, I also came to our hometown to see if I had time, to meet the fourth brother, aunt, I didn't say a word of lie. ”

Before leaving, Qiangzi said: "Tomorrow I will go to the county seat to buy an antenna, and I can watch the Spring Festival Gala after the New Year." ”

Qiangzi left, the rest of the family stared at the stupid, last time the uncle wrote to Wu Laobo and found the cow, this time Qiangzi saw the uncle writing was supported to Guangzhou by a pole and became a sales supervisor, grandma asked grandpa suspiciously: "Can this be true?"

Grandpa also shook his head in confusion and said, "I don't understand, maybe Si'er really has some special abilities?"

The happiest is the third aunt, looking at the grandfather and grandmother there ignorant and cranky, she couldn't wait to secretly carry the Yanwu brand tape recorder back to the room, thinking that she finally had a cassette recorder to listen to pop songs, and hurriedly opened the package only to find that there was no tape to listen to.

The fact that the TV and cassette recorder in my grandmother's house were actually earned by my uncle's writing suddenly spread wildly in the village, and everyone who heard it was surprised and their eyes widened, and their faces were full of incredible expressions.

Various versions are spreading at a rapid pace, especially during the Spring Festival, ushering in the small talk of visiting relatives and friends, and this incident is told as a headline anecdote.

Uncle suddenly became famous and famous.

The next day, the third aunt said to her grandmother: "Mother, the TV is here, we can't let Brother Qiang buy an antenna anymore, give me some money and I'll go with Brother Qiang, let's buy the antenna ourselves." ”

Grandma knew Sangu's ghostly eyes, and felt that she was right, so she gave Sangu money, and told her that she must not let Qiangzi spend money anymore, Sangu happily agreed and ran away, she was happy because her song tape was available.

When my father entered the door, the antenna had just been installed and was being debugged, and when he saw Qiangzi busy saying hello, he entered the house and threw his backpack on the kang, saying, "Mother, our family also bought a TV?"

The grandmother glanced at her tired father, who felt sorry for her son but deliberately resented: "Do you still know that you will come back? This TV set was sent by Hadron, and it was troublesome for people to help pick it up, so you know that it is ready-made. ”

The father knew that grandma was not really to blame, so he smiled and said, "Isn't this coming back?" and then immediately reacted and said, "Sent by Qiangzi?"

Grandma said, "You help first, and then you'll talk about it when it's over." My father agreed.

Grandpa said again: "Boss, estimate that you go and give the money to Qiangzi, the gift is too heavy." Father nodded in agreement.

Money, hadron naturally confiscated. He said: "I said, brother, why are you so polite, I didn't pay for it, and besides, what is this little thing that we have played since childhood?"

My father asked for it again and again, but in the end he had no choice but to say thank you.

After dinner, although it was the first time that the family had a TV set and turned on to play programs there, the family's attention was still focused on the uncle. When my father understood what was going on, he felt very strange and sat there thinking.

Grandpa said, "Your mother and I don't know a lot of words." It's simple, I've also seen Si'er's comparison, I didn't understand, these days you take the time to take a closer look, isn't this Si'er really a little special?"

The third aunt took over the conversation and said, "Brother, call me and let's go together." ”

Grandma glanced at the third aunt: "There are you everywhere, let you buy an antenna and spend dozens of dollars to buy songs to listen to, you go to school hard, if you graduate this year and can't get into college, you will come back to farm quickly, and some of the work you have to do." ”

The third aunt was not angry when she heard this, she knew it in her own heart, her boyfriend had already told her that his family was helping her find a job in the county town, so she didn't have to worry about graduation and had nothing to do.

Father said: "According to common sense, this thing doesn't make sense, Si'er can't write at all, but what others say has a nose and eyes, and no one can not believe it, don't worry about it, I'll observe it when I'm fine at home." The three sisters want to see it together, and they can see it more clearly with one more pair of eyes. ”

While he was talking, the first group of villagers came to watch TV in the courtyard.

In the rural areas of the 80s, there were not many peasant households with televisions, and often the homes of those who had televisions would be overcrowded at night, and everyone watched, laughed, and discussed.

In the summer, put the TV directly in the yard to accommodate more people.

Mrs. Zhang's grandfather didn't like to be busy, so he went back to the house early to rest after watching it for a while.

Uncle slept alone after the age of ten, grandma arranged him in the Westinghouse in order to cultivate his ability to live alone, still returned to the room at about eight o'clock, at this time grandma or two aunts called hot water to wash their faces, wipe their arms, and then wash their feet, all this was cleaned up, and the uncle took off his clothes and pants, neatly folded them and put them on the side of the kang, and then slept under the bed.

Every seven or eight days, grandma has to give my uncle a bath, and grandma has contributed to the formation of this good habit.

This Spring Festival is the most lively festival in the history of our family, the East House TV is full of young and old, there are not enough benches at home, there are those who bring their own benches, and those who stand and squat, and every day they basically release the word goodbye on the TV, and everyone will say goodbye to their families.

Only the hero of the TV returned to the room early, back to his own dark and incomparably silent small world, regardless of the noise outside, the uncle flew and roamed in his own world.

At breakfast on the fourth day of junior high school, my grandmother said to my father: "Your sixth aunt introduced you to a partner, and when we meet the day after tomorrow, you will pick yourself up when the time comes, and settle down early, you are twenty-six years old, and your life's major events should be solved." ”

When my father heard this, his face turned red at first, and he said a little shyly: "Dad, mother, I was just trying to tell you about this, but I never found a chance, I, I, I have a partner outside." The father stammered, and the next sentence was heard only by the grandfather next to him.

Grandma didn't hear clearly, so she hurriedly asked, "What are you talking about?" ”

Grandpa saw that his father's face was crimson, and he only cared about eating one bite at a time, so he smiled and replied for his father: "The boss said that he has a partner." ”

Grandma was happy when she heard it, and asked like a machine gun: "Good thing, a good thing makes you talk like a thief, tell me how old is the woman's village, what are you doing?"

My father recovered a little bit at this time, and muttered: "She met me from working with me, her hometown is Hunan, we have known each other for several years, and she is very good, and it was only last year that the relationship was confirmed." ”

The third aunt grabbed the conversation again: "Brother, is she good-looking?"

The father glanced at the third aunt: "It's good to eat? ”

Grandma said: "My home is from Hunan, it's far away, I've known her for a few years, and I know her better, and what is the situation of her family? Have you told her about our family?"

Father: "She has three sisters, she is the second, a sister and a younger brother, one year younger than me, and I told her what happened to our family, and she didn't dislike it." We have worked together for several years, get along very well, she can work, can endure hardships, does not talk much, is diligent, she is very good to me, I also like her very much, but she has not pierced this layer of window paper, this summer or her master saw that we were in love with each other did not confess, only from the matchmaking to be our matchmaker, we only formalized the relationship. ”

Grandpa said: "This is good, know the roots, it is fate to know you so far, we will not stop the boss, when do you want to get married, come to a letter in advance, and our family is ready to prepare." ”

Father: "She also went home this year, if her family doesn't object, we will discuss the date, and then we will go home to have a banquet, and talk about the day." ”

The second aunt and the third aunt asked in unison, "Do you have any photos?"

The father smiled and took out a color photograph from his jacket pocket and reached out to hand it to his grandmother. Grandma quickly reached out and slapped the hand of the third aunt to grab the photo, took the photo and looked at it carefully, the photo is a group photo of the parents on the riverside, and the background is the city's high-rise buildings. The mother is only a little lower than the father, and her face is beautiful.

Grandma said, "You look good, you look very handsome, and the boss has a good eye, this was taken in the city where you work?" After speaking, she handed the photo to grandpa.

Grandpa: "Just look at it." He handed the photo to the third and second aunts who were dumbfounded.

The third aunt held the photo, the second aunt tilted her head to look at it, and the third aunt expressed her opinion while watching: "Well, the future sister-in-law is very beautiful, worthy of my brother, looking at the photos, you can see that the skin is really good, tender and tender." ”

Grandpa thought about the problem further: "Boss, if you get married this year, it is best to choose the second half of the year, and I am ready to rebuild the house in the spring." You'll have to come back then, too. ”

Grandpa Zhang, who didn't speak much, spoke: "When the time comes, they will go to my place and squeeze in, and when the house is built, they will move back." ”

Father said: "Master Zhang, don't bother first, I've thought about this problem for a long time, the house won't be flipped first, I can't pull the famine (borrowing) because I get married, just the south house, pick up and paint in advance, we will work hard for a few years, and then it will be too late to flip the cover." There is also the fact that Zhang Ye's house will be done together at that time, and you don't want to pay for it, otherwise our family will build a new house, and your old man's house will be too old, and it will not be coordinated in a yard. ”

Mrs. Zhang's grandfather waved his hand: "No, no, no, it's good for me to live in an old house." ”

Grandpa said: "Uncle, don't shirk, I understand what the boss means, your two houses don't cost much, this is up to the boss." ”

Grandma changed the subject: "Tomorrow I will go to your sixth aunt and ask her to push the blind date." ”

When my father was leaving, he said to his grandfather and grandmother: "I read carefully when my four children were writing, and they were not writing at all, and there was no comparison or order of writing, and there was no way to distinguish horizontal, vertical, apostrophe, and pen when writing. ”

Grandma snorted in her mouth.

After my father had been gone for more than a month, he called back, saying that he had discussed with his mother, and that he would come back in the second half of the year to get married, and let his grandparents choose a date to prepare according to what they said during the New Year, and he would come back early to help.

Coincidentally, a few days after my father made the call, the parents of my second aunt's boyfriend also came to the door and said that they wanted to let their son take home leave in the second half of the year, and the wedding was also held by the way. All of a sudden, our family was happy.

The family is worried about marrying a daughter-in-law and a daughter.

The weather is gradually warmer, and the uncle has to sit at the entrance of the village for half a day every day as before, people's curiosity is strongly aroused, and the uncle can always surround five or six people, as long as the uncle starts to paint on the ground, people will stare intently, for fear of missing a stroke. After reading it, they were all disappointed and stared at each other.

On this day, when the sun was about to turn to the back of the mountain, two young men came out of the village, the slender and tall one was Katsuko from the village, and the young man who followed next to him was short, burly, and strong, with long shawl hair that only fashionable young people had at that time, and his eyes flashed with an unkind gaze, revealing a fierce aura.

The two walked side by side, and when they walked to the entrance of the village, Katsuko suddenly pointed to his uncle and said, "Brother Hei, he is the blind, deaf and dumb little four who was blown to the sky and changed his writing to the TV." ”

The person who was called Brother Hei glanced at the uncle and asked Shengzi, "He really can't see or hear anything?"

Shengzi hurriedly said: "It's true, no one in the same village knows anyone, Brother Hei, I don't believe it anyway." You see, it's right now. ”

Brother Hei stopped and said to Katsuko, "Let's go, go over and take a look." ”

The two of them came to the uncle, and as soon as Katsuko bent down, he squatted there to watch the uncle's crutches draw on the ground, while the short young man stood there with his arms crossed.

The two of them watched quietly for about a minute.

No one noticed that the expression on the face of the short young man was quietly changing, first staring at the ground with wide eyes in surprise, and then looking at the uncle's eyes with a puzzled gaze, those empty eyes really proved to be blind!

He didn't speak, he was silent for a few seconds, and then he turned around and called out to Katsuko behind him: "Let's go." ”

Katsuko hurriedly got up and chased after him.

Three days later, at noon, a jeep with a public security license plate came to the village, took the village chief and the security director to Katsuko's house, and took Katsuko, who had eaten half of the meal, into the car and left.

People in the village said that Katsuko didn't study well when he worked in the city, and he ate, drank, and fought with a gang of gangsters every day.

The third aunt graduated, stayed at home for less than two months, and was recruited by a company in the county, and got her wish to earn wages and eat imperial food with her beloved.

Later, when the third aunt came back, she said that her boyfriend's family really worked hard for her work, and she never left her boyfriend in her life.

The parents' wedding can be described as shabby.

My father came back a month before the wedding, and when he came back, he began to paint the South House twice with white putty, and there was no new furniture in the house except for a newly bought double bed and a dresser.

My father said that such weddings were all negotiated with my mother, and that I would buy new furniture when I went home and built a new house.

My mother, my grandfather, grandmother, and brother-in-law traveled thousands of miles from Hunan a week before the wedding.

The wedding of the parents is described as shabby, which is not an exaggeration, and it is very simple when it is generally not rich at that time.

On the day of the wedding, my mother was taken to the new house by my father at Grandpa Zhang's house, in fact, I just walked dozens of steps in a courtyard, and at noon I set up more than a dozen tables of banquets in the courtyard to marry my mother home.

The mother's family did not dislike the simplicity and simplicity of their parents' wedding at all, but quietly told her mother behind her back: It seems that you have found the right person, we don't have to worry about you, saying that my father is a man who can live a thrifty house.

My grandfather's family returned to their hometown in Hunan three days after the wedding, and the grandparents wanted to keep them for a few more days.

Just ten days after her parents' wedding, the second aunt was picked up by the second aunt in a sedan chair, and then went to live in the army with the second aunt for more than a month.

My second aunt is gone, and my parents are going back to Jiangsu to continue working and continue to work hard for this family. All of a sudden, the three children in the family are gone, and there are only four grandparents left with their uncle and Grandpa Zhang, who is not good at speaking, and the hustle and bustle of the past has become much more deserted.

Before leaving, my father said to my grandparents: "Father, mother, we have all left home, I am afraid that you two elders will have to work hard for a while, and when we work for a few more years and earn enough money for you to provide for the elderly, we will not come back." ”

My grandmother looked at my parents and said, "Your father and I are still very tough, don't worry about it, be good outside, let us hug our grandchildren as soon as possible." ”

Grandma's eagerness to hug her grandson made my parents smile embarrassedly.