1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 4 Curious Aunts
The next day
The snow outside the window stopped, and the leaves of the sycamore trees in the yard squeaked in the wind.

The golden sunlight shines through the glass windows with petal patterns onto the blue and white sheets, waves of warmth spread out, and the air seems to be filled with a comfortable warm fragrance.

"Clatter, crash, crash!"

The melted snow water flowed down the eaves, wet the ground, and woke Cheng Kaiyan up from her sleep.

"Mom! I'm hungry!"

Cheng Kaiyan wrapped herself in a quilt, turned over and faced the window, blocked the sunlight with one hand, and shouted outside the window.

Anyway, he has become more and more proficient in calling her this, without any barriers at all, this is his biological mother.

There was no response to the call, and the yard was very quiet at this moment.

It was so quiet that you could hear the chirping of sparrows in the trees and the sound of melted snow dripping down the eaves onto the plastic shed.

Cheng Kaiyan got up and rummaged through the closet to find some old clothes, big-toed cotton shoes, cotton pants, and a cotton coat, and put them on, but the cuffs and trouser legs were too short.

"These are the clothes I wore when I was in high school. Just wear them for now."

His warm military coat was washed by his mother and is now drying in the yard.

When I walked into the yard, I found that there was no one there; everyone had gone out to work.

Firstly, all the young people in the courtyard have gone to the countryside, and secondly, there are very few housewives these days.

Most families have many children, and there are relatively few only children like Cheng Kaiyan. Many children mean a heavy family burden. It is not enough to support the whole family by relying on only one person working. Women also have to work, and holding up half the sky is no joke.

The sun is shining brightly.

The golden sunlight released bursts of warmth, shining on his face, making him stretch lazily, then turned and walked into the kitchen.

Sure enough, there was a bowl of hot millet porridge under the lid of the pot, as well as some unfinished dishes from yesterday.

"Oh...this day is so comfortable."

After finishing her meal, Cheng Kaiyan moved a recliner and lay down under her door, basking in the sun with a picture book in her hand.

The sun is warm and makes people sleepy.

On the first day back in the city, just take a short nap. We modern people are a bit lazy.

……

At this time, the vegetable market is closed today, Saturday. The reason why there is no one in the yard is because everyone has gone to buy vegetables.

Xu Yuxiu, Aunt Wang from the east wing, and Aunt Zhao from the west wing went out early, carrying their vegetable baskets.

At eight o'clock, several women gathered together after shopping.

"Yuxiu, you bought so many vegetables. Can the two people in your family finish them? There's beef and mutton. How much is the beef and mutton today?" Aunt Wang glanced at the vegetable basket.

"What can't you finish? Kaiyan ate most of the four dishes and one soup yesterday. Beef is 61 cents, mutton is 75 cents, and the prices have increased."

Xu Yuxiu shook her head. Her monthly salary of more than 50 yuan was more than enough to support the mother and son. Besides, she had saved a lot from living alone in the past few years. Now all she needed was a few more pairs of chopsticks.

But yesterday her son ate most of the food in one meal, which really scared her. She had never seen this little boy eat so much since he was a child.
"It's almost the New Year at the end of the year, so it's normal for the price to go up. But your boy ate most of it by himself? He can eat so much, it seems that a few years of training in the army did have some effect. When Cheng Kaiyan was a child, he was a famous "girly boy" who never played with boys. At that time, our Ruixue and a group of little girls were surrounding him." Aunt Zhao said with a smile.

Cheng Kaiyan inherited Xu Yuxiu's outstanding appearance and was born with a delicate and pretty figure, so people in the compound jokingly called her a girl.

Because he was born prematurely, he had been in poor health since childhood and could not play with the naughty boys in the courtyard.

So Xu Yuxiu taught him how to play the piano and paint.

Among all the naughty kids in the alley, Cheng Kaiyan is a very special one.

Other boys are all messy and dirty, rolling in the mud, catching sparrows, digging water holes, and don't play with girls.

Cheng Kaiyan stayed at home, playing the piano and drawing, and dressed neatly. Many little girls thought he was amazing and versatile, and they loved to play with him.

Just like Zhao Ruixue from Aunt Zhao's family, when she was a child, she had big braids and a runny nose but she would always follow Cheng Kaiyan, but now she has grown into a tall and cool female college student.

"Haha, my health has improved a lot in the past few years in the army. By the way, today is Sunday, does Ruixue in your family have a day off?" Xu Yuxiu smiled helplessly and suddenly asked.

"Let's have a holiday, but I don't know if this girl will come back. Last time she said her school is holding an English poetry recitation competition and they are busy with it. We don't understand this."

When Aunt Zhao mentioned her daughter's status as a college student, her chin raised, especially in front of Xu Yuxiu, a lady from a wealthy family, she felt particularly proud!
Our daughter is a college student! And she is studying in a key university!

The scorpion poop is unique in the yard! Who wouldn’t like it?
In addition, the two-day weekend is not implemented yet. It will not be implemented until 1995, fifteen years later.

So many people think that students of this era have no holidays, but in fact, in addition to winter and summer vacations, there are holidays every week.

Many schools arrange breaks at fixed times; it is impossible for teachers and students to work continuously without rest.

For example, classes are from Monday to Saturday morning, and students have holidays on Saturday afternoon and Sunday to go home.

In addition to the holidays stipulated by the state, township schools also have two busy farming holidays, namely the spring rice planting holiday and the autumn harvest holiday. These holidays usually last for one week.

"By the way, which unit was Kaiyan assigned to? I heard from Director Hu of the Street Office that according to regulations, the second-class merit must be divided into jobs. Which unit was Kaiyan assigned to?

A second-class meritorious serviceman should at least be assigned to a good unit, right?

Last year, an ugly guy named Zhou from Meizhaha Hutong next door was discharged from the army and was assigned to work as a salesman in the supply and marketing cooperative. Wow, within a few days, he was spotted by a young girl. She was so beautiful!
Your family must be good, at worst it is a supply and marketing cooperative, maybe it can even go to the police station."

Aunt Wang asked curiously.

When Aunt Zhao heard this question, she also pricked up her ears.

Xu Yuxiu felt a little embarrassed. How could she, who had always been outstanding and had a very high self-esteem, say this?

You said your son was stupid and didn't get a job, so he just ran back after getting the retirement pay?
Xu Yuxiu had no choice but to evade the question, "Well, I don't know about this question either. The child just came back and took a few days of train ride. He went to bed right after taking a bath yesterday. Now the sun is shining and he hasn't even gotten up yet!"

"That's it."

Aunt Zhao shook her head secretly and noticed a hint of unnaturalness on Xu Yuxiu's face. She also figured out what was going on.

I heard that soldiers now have another option after retiring, which is not to be assigned a job, but to receive a huge amount of retirement pay. Could it be that Cheng Kaiyan is blinded by money and will come back after receiving the retirement pay?
But she didn't ask too many questions. Instead, Aunt Wang seemed to be ignorant of the ways of the world. She kept asking this and that, as if she wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

In a place like a siheyuan, neighbors may seem to be friendly on the surface, but secretly they are quibbling with each other and all kinds of rivalries are inevitable.

In particular, the Cheng family has a special status in the courtyard, and many people are paying attention to them.

Although Cheng Zaifu is dead, he was once a professor at Peking University.

Xu Yuxiu was born into a wealthy family in Beijing and was highly educated. She was now a teacher, earning more than 50 yuan a month, which was basically twice the salary of many people in the hospital.

They are a respectable family, and they are at the top of the contempt chain in the entire Xiaowei Hutong.

Now his only son Cheng Kaiyan has returned after winning second-class merit in southern Xinjiang. A while ago, there was a lot of fanfare, letters of praise, the title of "the family of a meritorious official", and certificates of honor. He is in great glory.

Now if he can find a decent job, with this family background, this appearance, and this ability, he is definitely a rich son-in-law! Even if Zhao Ruixue from Aunt Zhao's family graduates from college and gets married in the future, she may not be able to find a family with such conditions.

Auntie Wang's eldest son took over his father's job at the steel mill and was a first-class official maintenance worker, earning 33 yuan a month. It sounds like a high salary, but it's really nothing in Beijing.

Moreover, Wang Nanhua, the eldest son of Aunt Wang, was short and fat. Aunt Wang had always wanted to find a pretty wife in the city but had not been able to find one.

It is said that comparing goods will lead to throwing them away, and comparing people will make you angry to death.

So the aunties in the courtyard were not really concerned about what Cheng Kaiyan's job was, but they came to inquire about information.

After all, there is a saying that goes, I am afraid that my brothers will suffer, but I am also afraid that my brothers will drive a Land Rover.

(End of this chapter)