The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 7 First acquaintance
"Yingying, you just saw my second child, and you lived in our house when you first came to our commune. I treated you like my daughter. If you are willing, I will talk to Jiang Cheng when he reports to the city."

After Jiang Cheng left the kitchen, Zhao Yuxia asked Zhou Lingying again.

In Zhao Yuxia's heart, she was actually thinking that if Zhou Lingying didn't express her opinion, then forget it. If she didn't have a plan for the future, after her son went to the city to work as a driver, he would be the target of many girls in the city to marry, so there would be no chance for her.

Zhou Lingying nodded shyly this time, and then she also planned to stay for dinner. It wasn't that she was craving for fish, nor did she have any other ideas, but she hadn't eaten at Aunt Zhao's house for a long time, and she missed the taste of Aunt Zhao's food.

Seeing Zhou Lingying nodded, Li Xianglan had to talk to Yuxia about another matter, which was the issue of the three children left by Jiang Quan. Without Jiang Cheng's help, it would be very difficult for Li Xianglan to raise three children in the countryside.

Adoption is just a suggestion. Even if you don't adopt, it's fine to help a few children grow up. But if you don't raise them all, it's better to adopt, at least it's not in vain. If you adopt, you have the obligation to support the children when they grow up.

Zhou Lingying was somewhat reluctant about the adoption, as she was only 18 years old and didn't want to be someone else's mother. But she agreed that if she was with Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Cheng was willing to help the three nephews, she didn't object.

It doesn't matter if she raises him for nothing. Zhou Lingying feels that she is not incapable of having children, so she doesn't worry about not having her own children to support her in her old age.

Seeing Zhou Lingying like this, Zhao Yuxia told her that she would talk to Jiang Cheng about this tonight. But whether it would work out or not still depended on Jiang Cheng, and she could only act as a matchmaker.

In the evening, the fish was stewed and noodles were added to it. It was very fragrant.

Zhou Lingying was arranged to sit next to Jiang Cheng, and Zhao Yuxia also introduced Zhou Lingying to Jiang Cheng at the dinner table. She was a female educated youth who came last year and had nowhere to live so she stayed at their house and lived in his room.

Although I live in the educated youth dormitory now, I will still come to visit them. I brought some food here today.

"Comrade Zhou, I have to thank you for taking care of our family. Sister-in-law, please bring a fish back to Comrade Zhou later. The weather is hot now, and if we catch too many fish and don't handle them properly, they will easily go bad. We have to eat them quickly in the next two days." Jiang Cheng said immediately after hearing his mother's introduction. Anyway, he had a lot of fish in his space, so even if he ate them all, he could just go catch more.

"Jiang~Jiang Cheng, you don't have to be so polite. Let's not call each other comrades. Just call me by my name, Zhou Lingying." Zhou Lingying said nervously while sitting next to Jiang Cheng. Mainly because she knew Aunt Zhao's intention of inviting her to dinner, but Jiang Cheng didn't know.

"Well, Zhou Lingying, you should eat more fish. They are just caught and very fresh." Jiang Cheng said with a smile.

The fish and noodles are served in a large bowl, so you can just stand up and pick them up. Although there is no seasoning, only some salt, it tastes really good.

At Jiang Cheng's invitation, Zhou Lingying relaxed a lot, and since she was familiar with the rest of Jiang Cheng's family, she was no longer nervous, so she used her ability as a team leader in the educated youth team and talked and laughed with everyone.

Zhou Lingying has two dimples when she smiles. Jiang Cheng looks at her carefully and finds that she is pretty. However, people in this era, unless they are naturally beautiful, will become country girls after staying in the countryside for a year. Just like people in later generations who travel to XZ on a budget, they will change a lot in a year.

This is the case for the educated youth who were assigned to the south. If they were assigned to northern Shaanxi or the northwest, they would live in cave dwellings. They were exposed to the wind and sun every day, and the young people would look like uncles and aunts in a few years.

Soon, the whole bowl of fish and noodles was eaten by several people. They were so happy. However, they learned that Jiang Cheng got the fish from Qingshui River. They didn't know how he got it, but they told him to be careful when going to the river.

"Chengzi, it's getting dark, you should take Yingying back home." After dinner, Li Xianglan was cleaning up the dishes, and Zhao Yuxia said to Jiang Cheng. After sending Jiang Cheng away, there were some things she had to talk to Jiang Changhe about, after all, he was Jiang Cheng's father.

After hearing this, Jiang Cheng agreed immediately, went to the kitchen to get a fish weighing more than four pounds, took some milk candy from the room, and then accompanied Zhou Lingying back to the educated youth point.

The two chatted all the way, and Zhou Lingying found Jiang Cheng very knowledgeable and humorous. I just don't know if Aunt Zhao will tell Jiang Cheng about that when he goes back tonight.

The educated youth site, where the educated youth lived, was built near the town. It was between Kaiyang Village and the town, and it only took about ten minutes to walk there at a leisurely pace, so Jiang Cheng quickly escorted Zhou Lingying to the vicinity of the female educated youth dormitory.

"Jiang Cheng, why don't you come in and sit down and have a drink of water before leaving." Zhou Lingying invited him at the dormitory door.

"Don't do that, female donor. The female demon inside will eat me."

Jiang Cheng did not accept Zhou Lingying's invitation. When chatting on the road, he knew Zhou Lingying's living conditions. There were three or four people in one room. But it was still better than the educated youth who went to northern Shaanxi. There was a long kang, which could sleep more than ten people.

Zhou Lingying couldn't help laughing at the simple refusal joke. You know, she had made a big decision to invite Jiang Cheng to sit in the room. If she brought Jiang Cheng into the dormitory, the other female educated youth would definitely see it, and then they would make fun of it even if it was nothing.

Jiang Cheng gave Zhou Lingying the fish and some milk candy and then left. After he left, Zhou Lingying tasted a milk candy and it was very sweet and delicious.

But if the fish was brought to the dormitory, Zhou Lingying would have to confess the truth. After work in the afternoon, she said she would send some food to the Jiang family. Everyone cooked for her but she didn't come back.

Now, I took a few kilograms of coarse grains with me, came back well-fed, and got a fish weighing several kilograms. Was this to help others or to fight against the local tyrants?

Jiang Cheng went home immediately after sending the people to the educated youth dormitory. When he got home, he washed and took a shower and went back to his room.

It was dark, and Jiang Cheng lit a kerosene lamp in his room. In the 1970s, most rural areas had no electricity or electric lights, so they usually used kerosene lamps. If you went out, those with better conditions might have flashlights at home.

After taking a nap at noon, Jiang Cheng couldn't fall asleep at night. Just then, his mother Zhao Yuxia came to his room to ask Jiang Cheng what plans he had for his brother's three children.

Zhao Yuxia could only tell her son Jiang Cheng some of these things in private. On the one hand, he had a child. On the other hand, his brother had just passed away not long ago, and Li Xianglan had no intention of remarrying.

Having a few children around would also hinder Li Xianglan's thoughts on remarrying. But the Jiang family can't be so selfish. Li Xianglan and Jiang Cheng's brother have been together for a long time. Although she has three children, she was actually a little over sixteen years old when she got married. Now she has been the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family for more than six years, and her age is only 23 years old.

It would be impossible to let Li Xianglan be a widow for the rest of her life when she is only in her early twenties, so if there is an opportunity and the conditions are right in the future, the Jiang family will allow her to remarry.

But there are prerequisites for remarriage. The child cannot be taken away. If anyone can take someone away, it can only be the eldest daughter. The son is a member of the Jiang family. It is impossible for Li Xianglan to take her son to remarry and take someone else's surname.

(End of this chapter)