Struggle Life in the 1970s

In the afternoon, Chu Guangyao and his friends from the same village went out to play in the snow. Chu Ye was left behind by his mother and sat next to the stove, sewing the holes in the clothes of his family with needle and thread.

"We women need to be deft with our hands. If you don't have good hands skills, you will be looked down upon by your husband's family when you get married." Mother Chu's wrists flew, and the thin woolen thread was woven into a row in her hands. Most of the sweater had been crocheted, and there were only a few more rows left at the hem before the stitches could be closed.

Chu's mother was so familiar with these hand skills that they could be engraved into the joints of her bones, so at this moment, she looked at Chu Ye with fixed eyes while speaking, but her hands were busy non-stop.

Chu Ye sat aside and just nodded silently when he heard the words, without arguing any more on this topic.

Seeing that she was obedient, Chu's mother continued to talk about what had happened in the village in the past six months. Chu Ye was used to it. After listening to the gossip and finishing the work in her hands, she got up and walked into the house, took out the cloth bag she had used for a long time, and planned to sew a few more stitches on the bag strap.

Then, inadvertently, a white piece of paper fell from the cloth bag and landed right at Chu's mother's feet.

Chu's mother bent down to pick it up, and with a casual glance, she only recognized the three words "人" (people) and "户口" (household registration) at the top.

She had a low level of education, had not been to school much since childhood, and did not recognize many Chinese characters, so when she handed the paper over, she casually asked what was written on it.

"Ah, this is the application form for changing my household registration issued by the school." Chu Ye paused and continued, "With this form, I can change my household registration from rural to non-agricultural."

"Then you'll be a city dweller from now on?" Chu's mother put down the knitting needles in her hand and asked in confusion.

"Well, if this is done, you will have a city hukou in the future. But I think our rural hukou is also good and there is no need to change it." Chu Ye took the paper and put it in the cloth bag pretending not to care.

"How can this be possible?" Even though Chu's mother was not well educated, she knew the natural advantages of having a city hukou. How could she refuse this opportunity that she had finally obtained?
Hearing this, Chu Ye was unmoved. She held the needle and thread in her hands, as if she didn't take the matter to heart at all.

"Then can you let your brother use this piece of paper?" Chu's mother asked tentatively. Chu Ye understood immediately that she was asking whether Chu Guangyao could get a city hukou by using this piece of paper.

"It shouldn't be possible. My name is written on it, and I have to hand the paper in to the school later." Chu Ye looked embarrassed.

"Well, then such a good opportunity can't be wasted." Chu's mother put down the things in her hands, went out and called Chu's father, who was chopping wood in the yard, into the house. Chu's mother asked Chu Ye to take out the paper and asked her to repeat what she had just said.

After all, Mr. Chu had received some education. He quickly read through the words on the white paper and understood their importance.

But it was obvious that he was not very excited about moving his daughter's household registration to the city.

If it was a son, he might have dragged Chu Guangyao to handle it without saying a word, but for his daughter, he felt that the household registration was the same no matter what.

After all, girls have to get married when they reach a certain age. Once they are married and registered in the man’s family, no one will care whether they had a rural or urban household registration before.

But for the sake of caution, he still asked, "What are the benefits of changing your household registration? Does it cost money?"

Chu's mother didn't dare to interrupt. Chu Ye pretended to think, as if recalling what her teacher had told her in school. Soon, she replied, "The teacher said that changing your household registration doesn't cost money, you just have to go to a few more places and go through the process."

"But the teacher said that if we change to a city hukou now and behave well in school in the next two years, we will be given priority when it comes to internship and job assignments."

Chu Ye's words were half true and half false. When it comes to internships and job assignments, the place of residence will indeed be taken into consideration, but more emphasis will be placed on the student's academic performance while in school.

What's more, these secondary technical school teacher trainees are preparing to respond to the country's call for basic education construction. At that time, they will go to some township schools to contribute to the education of students there, so there is no such thing as getting a good job by changing their household registration.

But she couldn't say all these words, she knew her parents' thoughts too well, changing her hukou would be a hundred benefits for her, but for her parents, it would be troublesome, glorious, and full of uncertainty. After all, once Chu Ye got a city hukou, he would not have the same hukou as them, so it would be difficult to handle, and it would undoubtedly be a risky thing.

Mr. Chu in front of him was silent for a moment, then subconsciously reached into his arms, took out the pipe, put it in his mouth, and smacked his lips without lighting it.

"You are just a little girl. It doesn't matter whether you change your household registration or not. What do you think?" Chu's father asked.

If it were in the past, they would naturally not ask for her opinion on these matters. However, after Chu Ye's prophecy came true, and after she worked hard to get into a technical secondary school, not only did she not need her family to pay for her education, but she would also be assigned a job after graduation. This obviously increased her status in her parents' hearts.

Therefore, Chu's father was willing to listen to Chu Ye's opinions on important matters. After all, she was now the most educated person in the family. "My thoughts are the same as Dad's. We are a family. No matter where my household registration is, my heart is with our family. But when I was in school, I also heard other classmates say that this kind of thing has many advantages. Changing to a city household registration will not only make it easier to find a job, but also make it easier to find a partner in the future. So I am also unsure."

To strike the snake at its most vulnerable part, she talked about the things that the two of them cared about the most. They might not care about the relocation of their daughter's household registration, but once they understand that this matter will bring many benefits in the future, they will consider it more.

"Okay, I'll discuss it with your mother. Transferring household registration is not a trivial matter." Father Chu tapped his pipe and made his conclusion.

After that day, there was no more snow. The gloomy sky was stained with thin sunlight, and the snowflakes on the road gradually melted, revealing some earth color in the white ground.

Two days later, the smell of the New Year became strong, and the stoves in every household became hot as everyone started preparing for the New Year. Some were even so impatient that they started preparing New Year's goods.

At the same time, Chu's father also made up his mind. Yesterday afternoon, Chu took Chu Ye and the paper to the village to get a certificate of household registration transfer.

Early this morning, he took Chu Ye and Guangyao and planned to take Jianwen's ox cart to the town. One was to prepare New Year's goods, and the other was to get a grain and oil certificate from the Grain Bureau, so that the process would be completed.

So today, the three of them got up early and met Jianwen at the gate of the courtyard. Then Jianwen went to the brigade to get the ox cart, and the three of them walked towards the village entrance.

The fields full of vitality in summer fall into sleep in winter. At a glance, there is still a thin layer of snow covering the ground, and the yellow soil under their feet is frozen solid. The three people walked forward in silence. When they got closer, they saw a green pickup truck parked under a big tree at the entrance of the village. The front of the car was thick and heavy. Through the glass window, they could see a middle-aged man sitting in the driver's seat, patiently waiting for something.

Looking back, I saw several people already sitting in the car, all of them were educated youth from the village. Seeing them holding large and small bags and sitting obediently in the car, their eyes could not hide their excitement.

When the three Chu family members approached, the educated youths all greeted them warmly. Chu Ye then realized that the truck was originally to take them to the city. It was almost the New Year, and the educated youths also wanted to go home. Knowing that they had a lot of luggage and it was difficult to travel on the road, the town government specially dispatched a car to pick them up.

The original plan was to pick people up a few days ago, but we encountered heavy snow and the mountain roads were slippery and difficult to drive on. We were afraid of accidents, so we only dared to drive into the mountains after the sun came out these days and melted a lot of the snow on the road.

While talking to them, Chu Ye looked at the people in the car, but she did not see the two people she wanted to see.

She started asking, and the educated youth knew that the three of them had a good relationship, so they said that they were the ones who had packed up quickly and should come over first, and there were a few people left who were following behind and would probably be here soon.

Chu Ye understood and started talking to these educated youths about other things. Chu Guangyao was originally standing under a tree, and when he heard the laughter here, he ran over without leaving a trace, wanting to listen to what these older brothers and sisters said about the outside world.

The educated youth were fully aware of this. They came from different parts of the motherland and had different things they had seen and heard. They were all educated intellectuals and could speak with great confidence.

When they were talking until their mouths were dry, a black dot appeared in the distance. Everyone looked over and saw the black dot coming towards them. Jianwen appeared in front of them driving a ox cart.

Immediately, four people got off the ox cart, each holding luggage. They first thanked Jianwen, then turned around and faced Chu Ye.

Sister Deng was stunned at first, then her eyes were filled with joy, and she ran towards Chu Ye with a big bag in her hand. Mu Jiajun behind her was obviously much calmer. He and the other two loaded the luggage into the car, and then came to Chu Ye.

As he approached, Chu Ye's conversation with Sister Deng unconsciously stopped. Her throat tightened and she touched the red scarf around her neck somewhat unnaturally.

Sister Deng didn't notice any of this and was still enthusiastically asking her about her situation at school. Mu Jiajun didn't interrupt her, but just walked up to her, took the luggage from her hand, and turned to load it into the car.

When she turned around again, she heard the driver honking his horn. Chu Ye knew that the driver was urging them. Chu Guangyao had just followed his father on the ox cart and was waiting for her.

Sister Deng stopped talking, opened her arms with a smile, took a step forward and hugged her in her arms. Before Chu Ye could hug her back, Sister Deng withdrew, patted her shoulder, and told her to study hard and become a teacher in the future to contribute to the construction of the motherland.

Chu Ye nodded heavily. Although he felt that Sister Deng was a little weird at this time, he thought that they hadn't seen each other for half a year and were facing separation when they met again. He thought that she was moved by the scene and felt emotional.

So she would never have thought that this farewell would be the last time she and Sister Deng would see each other.

Many years later, when she recalled this scene, she only regretted that she did not hug her back and did not say a few more words of farewell to Sister Deng.

(End of this chapter)