Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Geng Zhiye took out the salary that he hadn't handed in yet, and Erbao reached out to take the two big unity notes. Geng Zhiye was shocked by her speed, and when he came to his senses, he yelled, "Geng Erbao, give it back to me!"

"Dad, if you are promoted again you will be a general." Erbao put his hands behind his back.

Geng Zhiye asked cautiously: "So?"

"A general should be generous. A stingy person cannot be a general."

Geng Zhiye snorted coldly: "I've only heard that kindness doesn't command the army and justice doesn't command wealth. Why? You said it's exactly the opposite?"

Erbao: "What the ancients said may not be completely correct. We should look at things from a dialectical perspective."

Geng Zhiye had always known that his daughter was smart, but he didn't speak easily. But he didn't expect her to be so talkative: "Why do you need so much money?"

"I—" Erbao has no shortage of clothes, stationery, or snacks, "Ten dollars for me, ten dollars for my brother."

Geng Zhiye snorted: "How nice of you to your brother!"

"My brother is good to me too." Erbao put the money in his pocket and hugged his father's arm, not caring about his sarcastic tone, "Don't you love me?"

Geng Zhiye took her hand away: "It doesn't hurt!"

Erbao felt that the money was saved, took two steps back and snorted, "If it doesn't hurt, then it doesn't hurt! Who cares! I have grandma and mom, and grandparents to love me." After saying that, he ran out.

As it got dark, Ye Fan was worried that she would fall: "Slow down!"

Erbao stopped instinctively and realized that her mother was not calling her to "come back", so she went to her brother's bedroom and took out two piggy banks from the bedside table and put ten dollars in each of them.

Geng Zhiye saw that his daughter looked relaxed, didn't walk properly, and was jumping and hopping. He realized that she had hidden the money: "Ye Fanfan, you gave birth to two Pixiu."

Erbao stood outside the door and shook his head: "Dad, you are wrong. My last name is Geng. If I am a Pixiu, I am also called Geng Pixiu."

Geng Zhiye waved his hands with an irritated look on his face, as if to "go wherever is cooler" and said, "Your brother is not at home, which makes you look so ugly."

Isn't it? If the eldest child is at home, there is no need for the second child to ask for a reward.

Erbao moved to his grandmother's side: "What are we going to eat tonight?"

Erbao is still growing up, and sometimes she has physical education classes in the afternoon, so she is hungry before school is over. Yu Wentao is worried that she will have stomach problems from being hungry, so she steams the rice before Erbao gets home, or turns on the stove to light up the fire, so that Erbao can cook when she gets home.

I didn't prepare any rice or noodles today.

The sky was clear and the sun was warm, which made it easy for the dough to ferment. After lunch, Yu Wentao kneaded the dough, then took out the meat she had bought in the morning and went to the market to buy some vegetables. She prepared three fillings and had just finished making the buns when Erbao came home.

Yu Wentao: "When the buns are cooked, we'll eat."

"Is it a meat bun?" Erbao asked.

Yu Wentao nodded and asked Ye Fan what kind of soup he wanted to drink.

Ye Fan: "Erbao, take out your malted milk and make a cup for each of us."

Erbao didn't move: "Maltese is sweet, don't you not eat sugar?"

Ye Fan stared at his daughter and asked, "Didn't I say eat less?"

"Yes, yes, I forgot. Studying is too tiring." Erbao moved the malted milk on the table to the coffee table.

Geng Zhiye snorted unhappily.

"Dad, is your throat uncomfortable?" Erbao asked with a concerned look on his face.

Geng Zhiye: "My hands are itching!"

Erbao suddenly didn't dare to use his father's words to bully his father, and obediently made a few cups of malted milk.

A few minutes later, the aroma of pork and noodles drifted into the main room, and Yu Wentao went to the kitchen. Then she put the buns on the chopping board on the sieve to continue steaming, and she carried a basket of buns to the main room.

Yu Wentao asked: "Erbao, is it delicious?"

Erbao nodded: "Grandma's buns are the best."

"It's a pity that your brother can only eat from the same pot." Yu Wentao felt distressed when she thought of Dabao.

Ye Fan had a headache: "You raised BenBen and he even went to military school, but I never saw you nagging about him all day long."

"What's the point of me complaining? He's so far away. Even if his school is right next to mine, he can't get out." Yu Wentao suddenly remembered something, "Do you have the Yang family's phone number?"

Ye Fan: "What?"

"Ask your eldest brother's brother-in-law to take Benben out to improve his diet. If he can't go out on weekdays, he will definitely be able to go out on weekends."

Ye Fan was speechless and simply ignored her.

Yu Wentao finds Geng Zhiye: If she doesn’t hit you, then hit her!
Geng Zhiye nearly choked to death on the buns: "First of all, Benben is rich, and so is Zhang Xiaodi. Xiao Ming gave them money secretly. They are not stupid. If they are greedy, they can go out together. There are roast duck, soup dumplings and pot stickers over there, which are better than those in the capital and have more varieties. Secondly, my eldest brother's brothers-in-law have been busy for six days and finally have a day off. They are not in the mood to take care of the children. Finally, Leilei has been to his grandmother's house. His grandmother knows that the Yang family and Benben are in the same city. Even if you don't say it, they will ask their children and grandchildren to go over to see him."

Yu Wentao: "But why haven't I heard Benben say that your sister-in-law's family has seen him?"

Ye Fan: "Have you asked?"

Yu Wentao thought about it carefully and it seemed that she had never asked this question.

Erbao handed his grandmother a bun and said, "Brother Benben is tall and strong, and you can tell from the looks of it that he has plenty of food and drink. Grandma, you haven't been to my brother's school, but I have been there. There are several cafeterias, so you can eat whatever you want."

Yu Wentao had eaten in the cafeteria before, and the taste was so-so, and the spicy soup was like washing water: "It's just to please your grandmother."

Erbao: "Then why don't you buy a big rooster for your brother to nourish him at the weekend?"

Yu Wentao thought one rooster was too little, so she went to buy a roast duck on Saturday afternoon, and Dabao got a duck leg when he got home. Dabao had just taken a bite when Geng Sensen came in. Yu Wentao hesitated for three seconds and gave him the other duck leg.

Geng Sensen is four or five years older than Erbao. He took out the dirty clothes and said, "Give them to Erbao."

"She's out playing. When she comes back it will be cold and fishy." Yu Wentao gave it to him.

Geng Sensen washed his hands, took it and asked, "Where is Erbao?"

"In front of Guangming's house."

No wonder there were so many kids in the alley except Geng Erbao. Geng Sensen was afraid that Chu Guangming would feel sad when he saw the duck legs and it would be difficult for him to find Erbao, so he sat with Dabao and ate the duck legs.

Yu Wentao tore the remaining duck meat into small pieces, heated up a few steamed buns in the rice cooker, and cooked a pot of dumplings.

Ye Fan and Yu Wentao made dumplings this morning. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked for more than two hours. After making them, Ye Fan took 100 dumplings and gave them to the employees.

At that time, several people were discussing whether to cook for themselves or go out for lunch. When Ye Fan's dumplings were delivered to them, the eight old men wanted to kowtow to her.

Ye Fan asked: "Do you want to hire a nanny to cook lunch and dinner?"

Some of the eight people had good family conditions, but they couldn't afford a nanny. Ye Fan's words stunned them, and they couldn't help but wonder whether they were born under the red flag or grew up in the old society.

Ye Fan was confused: "No? That's fine. You guys always bring materials back, and if you're careless for a moment, you might—"

"Wait!" The classmate who was closest to Ye Fan interrupted, "We will do a thorough cleaning tomorrow. Bring all the company-related documents here or lock them in a cabinet. We will make sure there is not a single word in the living room, kitchen, or bathroom."

Ye Fan: "Then I'll ask someone. Let me be frank. Many city dwellers want to save face. If a temporary worker earns 30 yuan a month and I pay 40 yuan, they would rather be a temporary worker than a nanny. A nanny may be from the countryside or an outsider."

A junior fellow student said, "As long as it's edible, it's fine. Last year, I almost sent us to the hospital because of cooking."

Ye Fan was stunned: "When?"

The junior brother didn't dare to tell the truth: "I can't remember clearly. Senior sister, shouldn't you go to the sales department?"

Ye Fan glared at them before leaving.

The junior brother leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her coming downstairs: "My senior sister has such a powerful aura!"

Ye Fan's old classmate slapped his thigh and said, "It's broken!"

The junior fellow was startled: "Why are you so startled?"

"Forgot to remind her to be quick."

People who usually don't talk can't help but express their opinions at this moment: "The nanny needs to go in and out of our dormitory. Cooking skills are more important than character. We have all heard that this year, several companies have similar research directions to ours. If we get ahead of them, they will bribe the nanny to poison us when they are anxious."

A junior fellow student: "With my senior sister's connections, the police dare not slack off. Aren't they afraid of being found out and shot?" "Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. Their investment has gone down the drain, and they want to die. It's worth it to drag us along before they die. What if the police don't find any toxins?"

Junior brother scratched his head: "Why is it like being in a movie?"

"Movies have logic, but life doesn't. Ye Fan has been in the industry for so many years without any major incidents, it should be because she is cautious. There is nothing wrong with us listening to her and waiting for her to find the problem slowly."

Junior brother fell on the computer desk: "But I don't want to cook."

When Ye Fan heard that they almost poisoned themselves, he became more and more scared on the way home. When he got home, he asked his mother-in-law if there was a reliable female comrade in Yujia Village who could cook and was between 40 and 50 years old.

The Yu family's close relatives either moved to the city or stayed at home to grow crops and vegetables, so they couldn't be nannies. She didn't know the distant relatives very well, so Yu Wentao decided to ask Geng Zhiqin to accompany her back to the village tomorrow weekend.

The next morning, Yu Wentao said she wanted to go back to her parents' home. Geng Zhiqin asked Geng Huihui to accompany her. Yu Wentao was eager for her to go find Sun Laifu, so she asked Huihui to accompany her.

Ye Fan asked Dabao to go to Zhang Xiaoming's house to ride a bike.

After dinner, Geng Sensen rode his three-wheeled motorcycle to take his cousin and grandmother to the station. Dabao wanted to ride, although there is no requirement for a driver's license to ride a motorcycle these days, but Dabao has a baby face and the traffic police will definitely stop him when they see him.

Erbao followed, calling herself "sending grandma off", but actually asking Geng Sensen to take her for a ride. First they went to her grandma's house, then to her mother's uncle's house, and finally to her father's uncle's house.

The brother and sister wandered around the city for an hour before returning.

Zhang Xiaoming was waiting for a car at Ye Fan's house. When he heard the car coming out, he felt smoke coming out of the tires: "Erbao, do you have any gas left?"

Geng Sensen: “We just added it.”

Zhang Xiaoming was embarrassed: "I was just kidding."

Ye Fan came out slowly: "There is a gas drum in the car. Do you think they paid for your gas?"

Erbao jumped out of the car: "Yes. Xiaoming, what are you thinking? We are still students, how can we afford to give you gas."

Zhang Xiaoming picked up the oil drum on the car, half of which was missing: "Erbao, was it your idea not to come back after sending your grandma off?"

"I'm not driving, so what can my words do?" Erbao asked back.

Zhang Xiaoming: "Except your mother, who in your family is not afraid of you?"

Erbao opened his eyes wide: "How come I don't know how powerful I am? Xiaoming, you are——"

Ye Fan interrupted: "Erbao, have you finished your homework?"

Erbao shook his head: "Xiao Ming, if you need gas money, go find my guardian. I'm going to do my homework." Then he ran into the house.

Geng Sen Sen felt embarrassed, and Ye Fan raised his hand and told him to go back to the house.

A few minutes after entering the house, before Zhang Xiaoming had finished getting the goods, Geng Sensen and Dabao came out. Ye Fan reminded them to "watch out for cars when crossing the road" and left them alone.

Zhang Xiaoming was not in a hurry to leave after loading the goods. He asked quietly: "Xiaozhi wants to borrow a few thousand yuan from me to buy a store. But the store is too remote, I don't know what to do with it."

Ye Fan: "Which street are we on?"

Zhang Xiaoming shook his head: "The street behind. The popularity over there is exactly the opposite of ours."

Ye Fan thought about the geographical location. In five or six years, that street seemed to be an electronics street in her previous life. When Ye Fan came to the capital to play in her previous life, that street had been demolished for several years. A friend who was traveling with her gossiped with her and casually said, "This street used to be very lively."

Ye Fan: "How about trying to open a video store? Your brother-in-law is at work, and her children are too young to go out and set up a stall. If we open a store, your father can go over and watch over it. Even though he talks with heavy breaths and walks unsteadily, at least if he's sitting in the store, thieves won't dare to go in openly."

Zhang Xiaoming: "Xiaozhi didn't ask my dad to help her run the store. She just said that now, just like in the early years, the streets don't look kindly upon people who set up stalls anywhere."

Ye Fan: "In order to make money and disrupt the market, some factories only supply state-owned units. They feel sorry for the travel expenses to the south and just steal. This has happened in the past year. Seeing that it is getting more and more chaotic, the higher-ups ordered the streets to intervene. If it is like guerrilla warfare, not only will these people not be suppressed, but they will become more and more rampant. It will not be long before we severely crack down on "speculation and profiteering."

Zhang Xiaoming panicked: "Can I still set up a stall?"

Ye Fan: "You can put the things outside your store. You can be outside and Dong Ying can be inside. Besides, your child is young, and Dong Ying can't handle it alone."

Dong Ying was still in confinement, so her mother came to take care of her. Zhang Xiaoming's stepdaughter was older and could also lend a hand, so Zhang Xiaoming didn't feel that having another child meant more work.

Zhang Xiaoming thought about how Dong Ying would be too busy taking care of the kids and cooking at the same time, so she might not be able to eat. "You're right."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Ye Fan called Zhang Xiaoming and went back to the house to get the account book.

The account book records in detail the people who came to Ye Fan to buy goods in the past few years. Ye Fan tore off a piece of paper, copied the names of those people, crossed out the ones with stores, and finally there were about ten people left. Ye Fan handed it to Zhang Xiaoming: "There are no customers in the store at this time, please go there and tell them that Ye Fan hopes they can get a store and apply for a business license as soon as possible. By the way, remind Chang Guangrong."

Zhang Xiaoming's brain is not as smart as his brother's, but he has not been working for nothing all these years. He immediately understood that Ye Fan was worried that the people who worked with her would be imprisoned for "speculation and profiteering".

By then, Ye Fan will definitely have to use his connections to rescue the people. If he ignores it, others will be disheartened, so it is better to make plans early.

Zhang Xiaoming notified everyone, and half of them went to their relatives and co-sellers to borrow money that day. The other half were hesitant, and one of them was Ye Fan's neighbor to the west.

In the evening, the old man from the west came to Ye Fan's house and asked, "Do we have to buy the store?"

Ye Fan: "We are different from Han Dawei. The things Dawei sells are all made by his own hard work, and the street is very supportive. We are second-hand dealers. If there is a crackdown, it will be people like us who will be targeted. If I guess wrong, you and Auntie can go to the store and watch, and your daughter-in-law can continue to set up the stall."

Ye Fan then explained that the rent was now more expensive than before and that the store could be rented out if it was not needed.

The neighbor understood that it would not be wasted if he bought it. So he secretly asked Wei Jianshe to borrow money. Wei Jianshe's sister-in-law wanted to buy a store, and she asked him how much money he had when she had the chance. She never thought about whether Wei Jianshe wanted to buy the store or not. After all, in her opinion, Wei Jianshe's store was rented.

Such a selfish person, the money in her hands would be like throwing meat buns at a dog. Of course Wei Jianshe couldn't lend the money. He lent the money to Ye Fan's neighbor, and the IOU was written in front of Ye Fan and Yu Wentao.

After Qingming Festival, Wei Jianshe's sister-in-law asked him to borrow money again, but Wei Jianshe refused. His sister-in-law thought he didn't want to lend, so she was annoyed and angry and spoke harshly. Wei Jianshe was a carefree person to begin with, and it seemed that he had become more down-to-earth after being with Zhang Xiaoming for so long over the years, and he hadn't changed at heart - so the sister-in-law and brother-in-law started fighting.

When Aunt Li heard from the neighbors that a fight broke out at her sister-in-law's house, she left her dishes at the door and ran to her sister-in-law's house.

Ye Fan had just served the dishes when Yu Wentao snatched the dish away: "Go and have a look!"

"I'm quite surprised that Jianshe has endured this long." Ye Fan wiped his hands and said slowly, "I thought they would have to fight before the Lantern Festival."

Yu Wentao: "Do you know why?"

Ye Fan nodded, "Wei Jianshe used to always look at the grass on the other side of the fence, and his sister-in-law felt that he would never be as good as his brother in his life. Later, he made money, and his brother was not as good as him. As husband and wife are one, his sister-in-law felt that she was inferior to him and always wanted to be better than him. She and her sister-in-law set up a stall outside Jianshe's store, and they could still cheat people in the first few months. Later, regular customers knew that the things outside were not as good as those in the store, and they could only watch Jianshe make money. Since Jianshe's store made money, they also wanted to open a store. However, the cost of opening a store has increased, and if the goods are not good, they will lose money. If nothing unexpected happens, they will go to Jianshe to get the goods."

When she arrived at Wei Jianshe's house, Ye Fan heard words like "store" from Wei's neighbors. The news that people who suspected her were looking for stores everywhere reached Wei's aunt and sister-in-law, and then Wei Jianshe's sister-in-law wanted to buy a house.

This is not the point for Ye Fan. Wei Jianshe can use this opportunity to split up the family business, and he can be brought along with him when he chooses wholesale goods in the future. He didn't know women's preferences before, but he has handled more clothing in recent years, and he is smarter than Zhang Xiaoming. With training, he can be independent in a few years.
It is safer for men to take the train than for women. When going to the small commodity market, Ye Fan took two bags, but he could carry four bags. His position as Ye Fan's was perfect.

Since it had nothing to do with wholesale, Ye Fan went home. As for whether to split up the family, it depended on Wei Jianshe. Wei Jianshe himself didn't want to split up, but Ye Fan got involved and split up the family. When Wei Jianshe calmed down, he might blame her for breaking up a good family.

Ye Fan came back before the food was cold. Yu Wentao was surprised: "So soon?"

"His sister-in-law wanted to borrow money for construction, but she refused, so she made a fuss." Ye Fan picked up the chopsticks.

Erbao asked, "Can Xiao Wei handle it?"

Ye Fan: "I don't know. But when it comes to household affairs, it's useless for anyone to help you if you can't stand up on your own."

After lunch, Ye Fan carried Erbao's schoolbag and sent her to school, and then went to the company. At noon, he went to pick up Erbao after work. When he saw Aunt Li at the door of her house, Ye Fan asked Erbao to come in to do his homework: "Is Jianshe okay?"

Aunt Li sighed, and after a while she said that Wei Jianshe was trying to split up the family. Ye Fan wanted to say something good. Aunt Li sighed again: "He hasn't found a girlfriend yet. What will he do now that he is separated from his parents?"

Ye Fan: "Don't you have one? Ask your elder brother and sister-in-law to introduce him to someone. Jianshe has a stable business in a store. If he finds a technical secondary school student who works in a company, the couple can have a stable income. Jianshe has free time to pick up and drop off the children, and his wife doesn't have to worry about conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Their married life will be better than finding a colleague with a stable job."

In Aunt Li's opinion, people without education are not as good as those with education, and setting up a stall or opening a shop is not as respectable as having a stable job. So much so that when Ye Fan mentioned "technical secondary school student", she almost blurted out "not a good match".

When Aunt Li was young, she had suffered from her mother-in-law's anger. As a daughter-in-law, she hoped that her husband would be rich and have no parents. So when she heard about the "conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law", she immediately felt that her nephew was not without merits.

The house you get when you work in a state-owned enterprise is not your own. Wei Jianshe's store is his own. If he works for two years, he might be able to buy a building.

Owning a house and a shop are advantages, and not needing a wife to pick up and drop off the children is also an advantage.

Wei Jianshe has many advantages!
Aunt Li: "Dabao's mother is still smart. I will go to the construction store after lunch and go back to divide the family business in the evening! Tomorrow I will ask my eldest son to find a partner for him."

Ye Fan smiled and nodded: "Very good."

A car came into the alley. Aunt Li saw Geng Zhiye getting out of the car. She thought that the couple must be missing each other after not seeing each other for a few days, so she smiled and said, "Let's go cook."

Ye Fan circled the car a few times and confirmed that it was not the car Geng Zhiye usually drove. The license plate had changed and it looked newer than the previous car. "Brigade Commander Geng, can I no longer call you Brigade Commander Geng?"

(End of this chapter)