Struggle Life in the 1970s

Hearing this, Chu's father and mother breathed a sigh of relief. The family had enough money to send the two children to school. However, this would mean reducing Chu Guangyao's expenses, which they were somewhat reluctant to do.

Chu Ye continued to increase his efforts, "I think if I work hard in the next few months, I can get into a technical secondary school, which is better than going to high school. I can start working soon, and then I can help the family, and my parents won't have to work so hard."

Chu Ye's face showed an expression of admiration, which made the old couple feel warm in their hearts. They felt that this girl was not raised in vain. Not only did she not require them to worry about her, but she also cared about them.

Father Chu took a puff of his pipe and thought carefully. According to Chu Ye, there are many advantages to studying in a technical secondary school. When you graduate, you will have a job and earn a salary just by sitting in the office.

Besides, once she has a job, maybe a guy from the city will fall in love with her. Then she can marry him directly to the city, and he can also go with her to the city to enjoy a good life!
Father Chu's vision became more and more beautiful. He felt that he already had a son-in-law from the city. In the future, his son-in-law would toast him, pick food for him, and praise him when talking to him!
When Chu Ye gave birth to another big fat boy, he asked his in-laws to go east. If they dared to disobey, he would ask Chu Ye to bring the child back. Wouldn't they be anxious like ants on a hot pan!
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what Chu Ye said was reliable.

He exhaled the cigarette in his mouth and put the pipe on the table. "Okay! I'll listen to you. You should study hard during this period and make sure you get into a good school!"

-

The next day, Chu Ye got up early and asked his mother for a dollar. As soon as he walked out of the yard, he saw the neighbor's ox cart waiting for him.

Chu Ye trotted a few steps and greeted the people in the car, "Brother Jianwen, you came and didn't call me. How long have you been waiting outside?"

A young man in his twenties was sitting on the ox cart, holding the reins with one hand and putting a straw hat on his head with the other hand. He was wearing black patched clothes and pants. He smiled shyly and said, "I just got out, so I'm not in a hurry. It won't be a problem for me to wait for you for a while."

"Look, my wife is still seeing me off and hasn't even entered the house yet."

Following the direction of his finger, Chu Ye saw a woman standing at the door of the next door. She was thin and had long hair. When she saw Chu Ye looking at her, she smiled gently and waved at the two of them.

Chu Ye curved his eyes and waved his hand.

Chu Ye climbed onto the ox cart and sat firmly. Jianwen waved to the woman, signaling her to go into the house quickly, and then drove away.

Jianwen is the son of our neighbor Aunt Wang. The woman just now is his wife, named Zhuang Nianci. She was originally an educated youth who came to the countryside. Later, she fell in love with Jianwen's brother. They got married and held a wedding banquet a few years ago.

A few days ago, Sister Nianci discovered that she was pregnant. She vomited violently and couldn't eat for a long time. Seeing that her body was getting weaker and weaker, Brother Jianwen could no longer sit still and planned to go to the city to buy some nutritious food.

It just so happened that Chu Ye also wanted to go to town, so he simply asked him to go with him.

The ox cart moved slowly forward, the ground was uneven, and Chu Ye was bouncing on it. The air was still a little damp in the early morning, and dewdrops hung on the weeds on both sides of the road. Looking at the sun showing its face in the distance, she couldn't help but think of her past life.

In her previous life, Sister Nianci’s baby was dead at birth.

She suffered from severe morning sickness during her pregnancy and was not in good spirits until the time of delivery. The child was born before the ninth month. It was said that she had an argument with Brother Jianwen at the time, which caused her miscarriage and the delivery came prematurely.

At that time, Sister Nianci was stimulated and her amniotic fluid broke. She was in great pain at home and was about to give birth. But according to Aunt Wang, rural women give birth at home, calling a midwife over, and it will be over in half a day.

Nianci was unwilling to do so, saying that such a thing had to be done in the hospital, and that giving birth at home was out of the question. The two of them were deadlocked, with Jianwen caught in the middle, and in the end they went to ask the midwife but missed the best time.

Sister Nianci gave birth to a little girl in great pain, but the fetus was trapped in the mother's body for too long and died as soon as it landed.

It was from then on that Sister Nianci always had complaints about Brother Jianwen and Aunt Wang.

At that time, Chu Ye had already married into the Zhao family. I only heard that the Wang family had not lived in peace for several years because of this incident.

Sister Nianci has always refused to have a second child, and Aunt Wang is eager to have a grandson, so conflicts arise frequently between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

In the end, Sister Nianci was forced to leave home and go to another place. Brother Jianwen also gave up his work at home and went to work elsewhere alone. Aunt Wang was so angry that her hair turned gray and she was bedridden in just a few years.

Looking at Brother Jianwen driving the ox cart, Chu Ye couldn't describe the feeling in his heart. His love was obvious, and he was trying to make his wife live comfortably. Sister Nianci's love was also clear, and she was willing to stay in the countryside for love.

But love is so fragile, and one thing after another prevents the two from going back to the way they were before.

She decided to do something about it.

She asked, "Brother Jianwen, you and Sister Nianci have a really good relationship. How many months has Sister Nianci been pregnant?"

Jianwen smiled shyly and said honestly, "She's already two months pregnant. We went to the clinic for a checkup the day before yesterday. The doctor said her constitution is not good and she needs to stay stable for the first three months."

Speaking of his wife, the usually silent Jianwen could not stop talking, "Originally, there were eggs at home, and my mother said to give them to her to nourish her body, but Nianci vomited when she smelled the eggs."

"My mother killed the old hen at home and made chicken soup. She can drink some."

"So this time, I have to buy some more chicks and raise them at home, otherwise the chickens at home will be eaten up soon."

Jianwen spoke in a cheerful tone, expressing his happiness that Nianci was able to drink the chicken soup.

After hearing this, Chu Ye felt even more emotional. She pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Sister Nianci really suffered a lot during her pregnancy. I wonder if it will be very hard to give birth to a child?"

This question left Jianwen speechless. He hesitated for a long while, "That shouldn't be the case, right? I still remember my mother said that she gave birth to me very quickly. She was working in the fields when she suddenly had a stomachache. She rushed home in a hurry, but I was born before she even reached the door."

Jianwen scratched his head. He could not explain why he was asked about something that he had only worried about seven months later. When women in the village gave birth, the family was filled with joy. The pain and suffering of women during childbirth were not publicized afterwards.

Chu Ye has experienced these things, and when he thinks about them now, he still feels a pain in his stomach.

But she was fine at the time. Her parents-in-law were looking forward to the birth of their grandson, so they invited a midwife to live at home when she was about to give birth. The midwife was even more dedicated and caring when she was giving birth.

But so what? The pain and suffering of childbirth will not let go of any woman, and there is no help, only hard work.

Thinking of these things, her face turned painful. She continued to speak, but her tone was very light, as if the swaying of a handful of grass, sending her words to Jianwen's ears.

"But Sister Nianci is a girl from the city, she hasn't suffered much. If she gives birth at home, you, Brother Jianwen, won't be able to help, wouldn't that harm Sister Nianci?"

Jianwen, who was driving the ox cart, couldn't see Chu Ye's expression, but just by listening to her words, he also realized a problem that he had not expected.

He frowned, his wheat-colored face full of confusion. When he knew that Nianci was pregnant, he was just happy. These days he was only thinking about nourishing Nianci's body. He really didn't think about such long-term things.

He scratched his head, thought about what Chu Ye said, and soon figured it out. He said casually, "Then if Nianci wants to go to the hospital, I will take her to the hospital. I can't let Nianci suffer."

His face lightened up and he felt that this was not a big problem.

Hearing this, Chu Ye's heart seemed to be relieved a bit, and she began to take precautions, "What if Aunt Wang doesn't allow me to go to the hospital? After all, going to the hospital costs a lot of money."

"No way?" He thought for a moment and continued, "But what you said makes sense. Then I will make more money and let Nianci not suffer so much."

"Si Ya, you are so young, but you think so far ahead. You are educated, and you are as smart as Nian Ci."

Jianwen raised his thumb and didn't realize that Chu Ye was testing his attitude. He just felt that people with educated minds had different minds.

Chu Ye felt helpless when he saw this, but the point had already been made. Thinking back to his past life, he guessed that Aunt Wang also had a lot of problems. It seemed that he had to find an opportunity to test Aunt Wang's opinion.

From ancient times to the present, it has not been easy for women to give birth. She was reborn once, no matter what the reason was, but since she could use her own power to change something, it was always a good thing.

This was how she saved Mu Zhiqing before, and she hoped that she could also save Sister Nianci’s child in the future.

The ox cart traveled slowly along the way and arrived at the town at almost noon.

Jianwen hurried to the market, while Chu Ye had his own things to do.

The middle school in the town was her destination this time. She had not been there for two months since she went home for the holiday before the New Year.

From the outside, the school looked no different than before, but standing at the door, Chu Ye felt as if he were in another world.

She looked down at his clothes. The hem of his rough blue lapel jacket was worn out, and there was mud on his trouser legs, probably from squatting on the ox cart. She lowered her head and patted the dirt until the traces of mud faded.

She touched the pigtails in front of her chest, feeling anxious. She had been standing at the door for ten minutes, so long that the old man at the door kept looking at her.

She walked up to him, smiled, bowed and greeted him, "Hello, Grandpa Wang, can you let me in? I have something to ask the teacher."

As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Wang's eyes lit up in surprise, "Little girl Chu Ye, it's you! I said I looked for a long time and thought it was you standing there, but you didn't come over for a long time."

The sudden enthusiasm made Chu Ye at a loss. She stood at the door and listened to the old man's muttering.

Uncle Wang is the gatekeeper of the town. Every time Chu Ye went to or from school, he would say hello to him. Chu Ye was a good student, so he was quickly remembered by the uncle.

Often, before Chu Ye opened her mouth, he would cheerfully shout, "Girl, come to school." "Girl, walk slowly on the way home and be careful."

In one week, just two simple greetings and two sentences.

But these words, spanning many years, reached her ears again and warmed her heart.

She was in a daze for a moment, but saw that the old man had already opened the small iron gate of the campus and let her in.

"It's been two weeks since school started after the Chinese New Year, and I still haven't seen you come to school. I thought you didn't go to school anymore. Today I finally saw you."

He saw that Chu Ye didn't bring any bag or schoolbag, and wondered, "Why don't you bring a schoolbag with you? Are you not going to school?"

Chu Ye was silent, then shook his head, "No, I still have to go to school. I came to the teacher to talk about this."

"That's good. You are a good student. You need to study hard and make a name for yourself in the future so that you won't be bullied. Go quickly. School isn't over yet, so the teachers should still be here."

Chu Ye obeyed, bowed silently to Uncle Wang again and said goodbye, then walked into the campus.

(End of this chapter)