In the past, the Li family had more than 3,000 acres of land in Xinglong Town, Bayan County, Heilongjiang Province, two greenhouses for mules and horses, more than 30 long-term workers, and a trustworthy housekeeper. The Li family has two compounds, one of which has four turrets, and there are people who change shifts at night.

After her husband died, Mrs. Li led her five sons over. The five sons grew up and married the daughters of wealthy families.

The eldest son went to university in Beijing and worked in Beijing after graduation. He went to the kiln, fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the kiln, and wanted to buy it for himself as a daughter-in-law and live a lifetime. The kiln owner asked him to take a few thousand silver yuan and said, "If you don't take the money, don't talk nonsense with me." ”

The eldest son didn't have so much money, and he was so worried that he was almost blind. He sent a letter to his mother asking for money, and Mrs. Li calculated that she had to sell 150 acres of land, but she did not agree.

The son wrote again, saying, "I am blind. ”

Mrs. Li didn't believe it, so she went to Beijing, saw that her son was really blind, went home and sold 100 acres of land, and took all the family's money to Beijing. She bought the woman in the kiln and cured her eldest son's eye before returning to Heilongjiang.

The eldest son has seven children in the family, three sons and four daughters. After he had a woman outside, he never came back, first in Beijing and then in Shanghai. The eldest daughter-in-law led her seven children to live with Mrs. Li.

Mrs. Li led the family, and there were twenty-six grandchildren, thirteen grandchildren, thirteen granddaughters, and fifty or sixty children together. This family is very peaceful, and there is no anger to fight. There is a special kitchen at home, and there are two servants who specialize in cooking, cooking inside and eating outside. There were two large long tables in the dining room, one for men and one for women.

Here in the northeast, the weather is so cold that the kang is burned, and the firewood for the kang is carried by the servants to the door of the kang. The daughters-in-law don't have to cook, they dress up beautifully, and concentrate on serving their husbands and children.

The old lady and her daughters-in-law ordered: "You don't have to worry about the affairs of the family, everyone should educate their children well." "The five daughters-in-law are all a little educated, and the second daughter-in-law with the highest education is a graduate of the national high school.

The boy's dress, Mrs. Li was in charge, and they all wore the same clothes, shoes, and hats. I usually don't dare to ask the children out of the compound. When the children went to school, the car was sent to the car, and a car owner, a long-term worker with good marksmanship, carried a gun, afraid of being kidnapped by the beard. The girl's dress, her own mother worries, which daughter-in-law's house has the fabric that her mother accompanies her, which is enough.

Lao Li's family is in Xinglong Town, and the poor are also handed, and the rich are also handed. When the rice comes, the bud rice can be carried casually, and it can be carried as much as it can. When steaming bean buns during the New Year, the old lady gave half a pot to the one who asked for rice.

There is a relative in the tunzi, and there is a lot of land, and the firewood stacks in the yard are set on fire every year. No one set the Li family on fire, and there was no beard to rob it.

Mrs. Li and her daughter-in-law both had small feet, and the girls in the village were bound at that time. Mrs. Li, who is over 80 years old, does not call her granddaughter to bind her feet, she said: "I know that I am guilty of binding my feet, so I will not ask my granddaughter to bind her feet." My granddaughters are so handsome, I don't believe my granddaughters can't get married! I really can't get married, I raise it at home! ”

Mrs. Li's fifth son, Li Yanling, and his wife, Li Wang, took a group photo in 1943. Courtesy of Li Wenyi.

More than 80 years ago, there was an old lady's words, and the thirteen sisters of the Li family did not bind their feet.

The old lady lived to be ninety-two years old, and when she died, the family had already married six grandchildren and daughters-in-law. Which grandson gets married, he receives a lot of silver hoarding. At that time, there were also those who specialized in selling silver hoards. The hoard is pasted in a cardboard box, which is very beautiful. There is a silver plaque in the hoard, a silver flower pot on one side, and a silver vase on the other. There are also many tents, some of which are bright red, some of which are dark red, and most of them are of silk. One tent is one foot and two, enough for a set of clothes.

After the land reform, the Li family had nothing, so they separated and went to find their own way to live.

The person who told me the story was called Li Wenyi, Mrs. Li was her own grandmother, she was eighty-eight years old this year, with a straight waist, beautiful looks, and big feet.