Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

It was indeed hard for Geng Zhiye to rush home as soon as he could. Ye Fan ignored his little bastard: "Let's talk about this later. I'm going to the company."

Dabao: "I'll accompany you."

Ye Fan glared, and Dabao stopped and muttered: "I don't want to play computer."

"Once you're there, they lose interest in doing anything. Isn't that worse than playing on the computer?"

Ye Fan didn't speak without thinking. In the past, when Dabao wanted to go, Ye Fan didn't allow him because he was worried that he would affect the employees' work and make them upset. Once, Dabao insisted on going with him. Ye Fan rarely refused his son, but seeing that he looked so pitiful, he made three rules for him - when he arrived at the company, he could only watch and listen, and not talk too much.

Dabao agreed. However, when he arrived at his company, all the employees chatted with Dabao. If you asked him "What year are you in college?", he would ask "What major?", as if he was treating Dabao like his own junior.

Everyone loves a good kid who studies well. Dabao has a lot of small problems, but he has never done anything out of line. In the eyes of all the graduates of Beijing University, he is a good kid. Good kids are more ambitious than them and want to contribute to the national defense cause. They like Dabao more and more.

So much so that when Dabao didn't show up for a while, they would ask Ye Fan, "Is Dabao's major so busy?"

None of them even have a partner, but they still want to be a father.

Ye Fan was speechless.

Dabao smiled foolishly when he heard this: "Everyone give me face."

"You stay home. I have something important to do today." Ye Fan glared at his son. "If you dare to sneak over, I'll ask your dad to kick you."

Geng Zhiye's strength made it seem like he was lifting a chicken, which shows how strong he was. Dabao's expression changed: "I'm not going anywhere."

Ye Fan mentioned "drawing lots" last night. Because traveling on business with Ye Fan is comfortable and one does not have to worry about food and accommodation, as she provides food and accommodation, it is almost like traveling at public expense. Therefore, all the employees who have traveled with Ye Fan want to go on business trips with her.

We don't need so many people, we can just decide by drawing lots.

After Ye Fan finished her work at the company, she went to an office not far from the company and asked two veterans to go with her to the bank to deposit the cash she had accumulated in recent days.

After leaving the bank, Ye Fan went to the store again to count the inventory and clothing styles. After finishing the store, Ye Fan went home to open the warehouse to see how much was left, and discounted the items that needed to be discounted, and finally decided on the goods for September.

Coming out of the warehouse, Ye Fan was soaking wet, so he turned on the stove to boil water for a shower and hair wash. Just after washing his hair, Ye Fan was about to go to the main room to blow dry his hair under the air conditioner, but the sun disappeared.

Dabao came out of the kitchen holding a watermelon: "Mom, it's sunny now and it's getting cloudy and it looks like it's going to rain. Are you still going to the army?"

"Your dad asked me to go today?"

Dabao was stumped by the question: "——I don't know how you two discussed it."

"I'll call and ask later." Ye Fan had Geng Zhiye's office phone number. "Why aren't you at grandma's house?"

Dabao's clothes were taken away, and he came back alone yesterday evening: "Grandpa took Erbao to visit friends today. Chen Xiaohui is at home. Grandma said she will go to work tomorrow. I will go there tomorrow morning."

"Do you hate her that much?"

Dabao: "She loves to talk nonsense. She is always pointing fingers at other people. Whenever grandma and grandpa chat about current affairs, she will bring it all up to me. In my opinion, she is just too idle. Find her a partner and give her a child. She is so busy that she has no time to complain to me when she sees me."

Sometimes Chen Xiaohui cared about people but didn't pay enough attention to the main point. Ye Fan comforted him: "It feels better now that you've said it. Don't argue with your grandma when you go to her house."

"I know." Dabao cut the melon and asked his brother and grandmother to eat it.

Geng Sensen went to wash his hands, Geng Leilei threw down his notebook and pen and got off the bed, and Yu Wentao got up from the ground.

When Geng Zhiqin became pregnant, Yu Wentao asked her brothers from her natal family to buy more than ten kilograms of cotton. She also bought a lot of cloth. When she had nothing to do, she spread a mat on the ground to make clothes for the child.

Dabao glanced at the baby quilt and said, "Why make it for her? She hasn't come back by herself during the entire summer vacation."

Yu Wentao sighed: "Children are all debts."

"Is my dad like her?"

Yu Wentao was almost choked by Xigua: "You - I am not your father's biological mother. I have a bad fate, and the children I gave birth to are all debts."

"Try to make amends for my aunt." Dabao said, "I guess it's because of people like my aunt that there is the saying 'once a daughter is married off, she is like water spilled'."

Geng Sensen agreed: "I think so too. Even so, my mother feels sorry that I am not a daughter."

Yu Wentao did not defend her daughter this time. She stared at the watermelon with her head down, as if to stare out the seeds. She said slowly and heavily, "I told you before that I couldn't rely on her when I got old, but your grandfather didn't believe me."

Ye Fan: "You said this when she was only a teenager, no one would believe it."

Dabao asked: "No one knows a daughter better than her mother?"

Yu Wentao shook her head: "Girls are extroverts."

Dabao subconsciously looked at his mother, as if asking if he could say it.

Ye Fan smiled and nodded.

Dabao: "My mother is not like that, and neither are you. Did you say that to my aunt, and she feels that we are no longer a family after marriage?"

Yu Wentao was a chatterbox, often saying things without meaning them, and I don't know if she said anything. If Ye Fan hadn't scolded her a few times, just because she secretly sent roast duck legs to Dabao, the children in the family wouldn't have been as close as they are now, and the relationship between cousins ​​is better than that between real siblings.

Seeing Yu Wentao pondering, Ye Fan said for her, "Dabao, even if your grandma said that, if your sister Huihui were to replace her, it would only prove to your grandma that she was wrong."

Yu Wentao nodded: "In the past, I believed what I said, and I thought she had a good temper. In the first year of the college entrance examination, your father-in-law and I made the decision, so she didn't get angry when she didn't pass. Who would have thought she would be so stubborn when it comes to marriage."

That's because she herself is not sure. Besides, making the decision is not changing the application secretly. If Geng Zhiqin really wants to apply to another school, he can pretend to obey but secretly disobey. Ye Fan thought so in his heart, and wanted to complain that she was very sneaky when dating.

Ye Fan shook her head and put the matter out of her mind. After all, she and Sun Laifu were now a family, so there was no need to mention Liu Ning. "No one is perfect. Your original wish was for her to marry a good man. If you wanted her to be around, you would have helped her find a son-in-law from the beginning."

Yu Wentao's brows relaxed: "Ah, you are right."

Ye Fan wanted to say something when the phone rang. Dabao handed over his towel and Ye Fan wiped his hands and answered the phone. He thought it was Geng Zhiye, but when he picked up the phone, Chang Guangrong's voice came in.

Yu Wentao was surprised to see that she only listened but did not speak: "Why did the third brother look for you?"

Ye Fan laughed, "You thought it was him too? Chang Guangrong is looking for a date for Hongwei. The girl is not outstanding in appearance, height and figure, but she is not short or ugly. She graduated from a technical secondary school and wants to find a man with good conditions and a family with no burden. But such a man settled down before graduating from college, so she has wasted her time until she is as old as Hongwei. She wants to wait a little longer, and her family asked her to meet him first. What do you think?"

Yu Wentao: "You have high standards. You don't appreciate grandeur."

Ye Fan also felt that it would be useless to meet her, because the woman worked in the district tax department, which was stable and respectable, and considering the current economy of the capital, she also had a lot of free time.

Chang Guangrong was not optimistic on the phone either, because he used the phrase, "Do you want to meet him?"

But what if something that no one is optimistic about actually happens?

Ye Fan: "Hongwei's school is on vacation, and I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well make some friends."

"Then let's meet." Yu Wentao stood up, "I'll call the village."

Ye Fan: "He is in the village?"

Dabao knew: "He went to the city with his uncle in the morning. After his uncle sold vegetables, he went to his eldest cousin's house for dinner. He wholesaled popsicles for the store and went back with his uncle in the evening."

Zhang Xiaoming only delivers popsicles to the west of the imperial city. Some people who do business with Ye Fan have stores in the east of the imperial city. If they want to sell popsicles in the summer, they have to ask the people in Jiacun to be responsible.

The people in Yujia Village who have cars also have shops in the city, and they are too busy to handle it, so they let Yu Hongwei, who is free, do this. Yu Hongwei's uncle is so generous because he is a teacher in the city, and he can give extra lessons to their grandchildren when he returns to the village during the winter and summer vacations.

Ye Fan nodded to show that he understood, and waited quietly for a reply from the villagers.

Yu Hongwei's family didn't have a telephone, so the village brigade received the call and shouted "Yu Hongwei" on the radio. Yu Hongwei went to the village office and either called back or asked Wen Tao to call back.

People who are stingy about money will call Wentao. Yu Hongwei is a teacher in a key middle school with a high salary, so he doesn't care about a few cents, so he calls back as soon as he arrives at the village committee.

Yu Wentao hung up the phone and said to Ye Fan, "He said he would listen to me."

Ye Fan: "I hope he really listens to you."

"He has seen so many people who dislike him for not being a city person, and finally there is one who doesn't dislike him. He will definitely not dare to treat me perfunctorily."

Ye Fan thought about it and said, "Then I'll ask Chang Guangrong to arrange it?"

"You're not going?"

Ye Fan: "I'm going to the army. I don't know what Geng Lao San is doing."

Yu Wentao was embarrassed to say don't worry about him, my nephew's matter is more important: "Then arrange it. The woman's elders will go, I will accompany Hongwei."

Considering that the teacher had to go back to school at the end of the month and the girl was working, Chang Guangrong arranged the blind date on the last weekend morning of this month. The next morning, Yu Xiaojiu came to sell vegetables, and Ye Fan told him the time and place, and asked him to remind Yu Hongwei that he didn't need to dress too formally on the blind date, but he couldn't be too perfunctory.

Uncle Yu couldn't understand it, and Yu Hongwei didn't understand it either. At around four or five in the afternoon, Yu Hongwei drove his three-wheeled motorcycle to Ye Fan's house with his father and a bag of clothes.

The clothes were good ones, given by Yu Hongwei's brother and sister-in-law, all of which were mid- to high-end. Ye Fan picked out a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, and then a pair of trousers and a short-sleeved shirt.

Yu Hongwei is a teacher, so he doesn't dare to wear fancy clothes. His clothes are either black and white, blue or other light colors. His sister-in-law thinks they are too light, and in her own words, not festive, so she specially chose a pair of bell-bottom pants and a floral shirt, with the label still on.

Uncle Yu pointed at the new clothes and asked, "What about this one?"

Ye Fan: "Girls want to go to the disco, Hongwei can wear this."

Yu Wentao was shocked: "She still goes to the disco?"

Ye Fan: "Not all the people in the disco are bad people. Xiaozhi and her boyfriend have been there."

Yu Wentao pointed to the east and asked: "Didn't Lao Zhang break her legs?"

Ye Fan laughed, "I just went there out of curiosity. Let's talk business, Hongwei. If she thinks you're not fashionable enough, it means you two are not the same type of people. Forcing yourself to be together won't end well. Chang Guangrong knows a lot of people. If this one doesn't work, there's always another one. Also, you have to pay for the first time, but you can't be a sucker."

Yu Hongwei: "I know I'd rather be single than marry a troublemaker."

Ye Fan said so much because he was worried about running into someone who was two-faced and annoying: "Where are the shoes?"

Yu Hongwei: "Leather shoes?"

Ye Fan: "Buy a pair of Warrior shoes. Dabao, bring your Warrior shoes over here."

Dabao took the Warrior shoes from the wall and tore off the toilet paper wrapped around them. Uncle Yu asked, "Are these shoes expensive?"

Ye Fan wanted to say it was not expensive, but he noticed that he was staring at the paper in Dabao's hand: "You think you are afraid of it getting damaged by the sun? No, if you don't wrap it in paper and dry it, it will turn yellow. Look at Dabao's shoes, he has worn them several times and they are still as good as new." He handed them to Yu Hongwei, "You can buy them in department stores. Don't go to the store to buy leather shoes, your brother has them in his store, he imports them from the south, they are cheap and durable. No one cares if you are wearing a famous brand or not."

Dabao: “Someone cares.”

Ye Fan said: "Guangming will suspect that a brand name is fake when he wears it. But when you wear a knockoff, people will think it is real. Guess why?"

Dabao was stumped by the question.

Yu Hongwei understood why he was not allowed to dress too formally. If he wore a suit, people would think he only had one set of clothes, which would not impress the woman. He had already started working and could afford clothes, so if he dressed sloppily, people would think he was just being perfunctory.

Yu Hongwei smiled and said, "Thank you for your advice, sister-in-law. I know how to arrange it now."

"That's fine. When the time comes, go to Chang Guangrong's house and he will take you there. The girl's brother will accompany her. Her brother is a friend of Chang Guangming's childhood friend's younger brother. Even though they are not familiar with each other, they can still talk to each other. You don't need to be nervous. When Chang Guangrong asks you what arrangements you want to make, just say you will follow his instructions." Ye Fan said as he folded the clothes.

Yu Hongwei was not nervous: "If you hadn't reminded me that I can't just look at the person when looking for a partner, I might have already found someone."

Ye Fan raised an eyebrow: "Is there someone pursuing you at school?"

Yu Hongwei smiled embarrassedly.

Uncle Yu was still thinking about what to do if it didn't work out this time, but when he saw that his son wasn't so annoying, he relaxed. After packing his clothes, he took his son back home.

Geng Zhiye didn't come back that night. Ye Fan suspected that Dabao had guessed it right, and he thought it was too much trouble.

Geng Zhiye had been transferred to the capital for so many years, but Ye Fan had never been to the army, and he always rushed back. He couldn't embarrass Commander Geng in his first appearance, so the next morning, it was drizzling, and Ye Fan went to the barber shop with an umbrella to get his hair permed.

A few years ago, Geng Zhiye reminded Ye Fan that he could grow his hair long, but Ye Fan never cut it. In the past, it was difficult to get water, but now it is convenient to wash hair with running water, so Ye Fan also let Erbao's hair grow long.

Erbao also likes to have a small braid, and you can use a lot of beautiful hairpins and hair ties.

Ye Fan permed her hair below her chin, went home to put on some makeup, changed into the skirt she bought in the south, and asked Dabao how she felt.

Dabao looked at him and said: "The mouth is not red enough, and it needs sunglasses."

Ye Fan went to the bedroom, put on lipstick and sunglasses, and came out again. Dabao couldn't help but applaud: "Big star!"

Geng Sensen nodded repeatedly: "My aunt wants to be a star, and Hongcheng Ajie has to give way to you."

"I'll be called a northern girl when I go to Hong Kong. It doesn't matter if I'm pretty." Ye Fan took off his sunglasses. "Besides, what's so good about being a star? If I want to be a star, I'd rather be the boss of the stars."

Geng Sensen suddenly pretended that he was afraid to talk to his aunt, just like a little follower of a big sister.

Dabao put his thin arm on his mother's shoulder and said, "Will you wear this to send me to school later?"

Ye Fan touched his forehead. He didn't have a fever. What nonsense was he talking about?

"Mom!" Dabao was speechless.

Geng Sen Sen: "I also think you are seriously ill. On the first day of your freshman year, your uncle and aunt gave you a gift but you despised them. Now you are a junior and you still ask your aunt to give you a gift. Do you really think you are a big treasure? Is there any treasure as big as you?"

Dabao kicked him, but when he missed, he chased him. Geng Leilei thought they were childish, so he went to the kitchen to ask his grandmother what she wanted to eat in the evening, and then took the vegetable basket to the small vegetable garden in the south to pick vegetables. Ye Fan went back to change his clothes.

The rain stopped at noon the next day, and Ye Fan called Geng Zhiye and asked when he could go over.

Geng Zhiye asked Ye Fan to take the bus. He turned around and asked the guard to pick her up at the bus stop. Finally, he reminded Ye Fan to bring more clothes.

Plans can't keep up with changes.

Perhaps every autumn rain brings a chill, and when the sky clears up the weather becomes cooler. Ye Fan can only wear a black jacket over her red skirt.

Dabao came back from his grandma's house again: "Mom, where are your black boots? Change them, change them, flat shoes don't give me the aura."

Yu Wentao couldn't believe it: "A 1.7-meter-tall guy doesn't have an aura?"

Dabao nodded: "My mother is a person who can be a sister. Mom, you are really a little weak. Think about what a military camp is like? The men are tall and strong, and the women are heroic--"

Ye Fan said, "You're talking about the honor guard! Most of the male soldiers are about 1.7 meters tall, and the female soldiers are about 1.6 meters tall."

"But he has a straight back and a strong aura." Dabao said as he went to his mother's bedroom and took out a pair of black Martin boots.

Ye Fan reluctantly put them on. Dabao wrapped his mother's shoes in a plastic bag and stuffed them into a canvas bag, then picked out a chain bag: "Mom, you carry this bag, and when you return to the army, ask Dad to carry the bag, just like--"

Geng Sensen: "The eldest lady and her bodyguard."

Geng Leilei glared at his brother: "If my uncle hears you, he will beat you. At least you are a queen and a knight."

Ye Fan glanced at the two brothers and said, "Is there any difference? Come on, Geng Dabao, stop searching. I have to go. Your father's people are on the way to pick me up."

Dabao stuffed the coat he had just taken out back into the car: "I'll take you to the station. But, will you run into any hooligans if you get on the bus dressed like this? You should be equipped with a private car. How about we not buy a house first, but a car?"

Ye Fan: "One Alto can buy two houses of your aunt's family."

"Forget it, it's not worth it! The car you and Xiao Ming bought for five or six thousand yuan, but now it can't even be sold for two thousand yuan. Our house was bought for less than ten thousand yuan, but now it's fifteen thousand and everyone is scrambling to buy it." Dabao picked up the bag, and Geng Sen Sen and Geng Lei Lei couldn't help but follow.

Yu Wentao laughed: "Where are you two going?"

The two brothers stopped, and Geng Sen Sen wanted to explain but swallowed it back: "Aunt is dressed so beautifully that she needs a bodyguard. I'll see her off." In fact, it was the first time that Ye Fan dressed so formally, and Sen Sen thought it looked beautiful and fresh. Geng Lei Lei had only seen such a fashionable and charismatic lady on TV and magazines before, so the two brothers and Dabao sent her to the station.

Ye Fan came out of the alley. Many neighbors stared at her but no one dared to ask her where she was going.

When Dabao and his two cousins ​​came back, Aunt Li stopped Dabao and said, "Where is your mother going? Are you going to receive foreign guests dressed like that?"

Dabao laughed and said, "Go to my dad's army."

"To the army?" Aunt Li frowned, then suddenly realized, "I understand, something is wrong with your father."

Although Dabao usually likes to tease his mother to keep a close eye on his father, he actually doesn't believe that his father would do anything reckless. Hearing this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "My dad asked my mom to go."

Aunt Li curled her lips in disdain: "Your father is so childish! He's showing off that he's the only one who has a wife."

Ye Fan was a man who would change out of his pajamas to buy breakfast, so he would never wear slippers, a vest, or shorts to go to the army. Geng Zhiye really wanted to take the opportunity to show off, so no matter what people said to him during breakfast, he would add, "I may be a little busy this morning, my wife will come over."

Before noon, everyone from the political commissar to the sentry knew that the division commander's sister-in-law was coming today.

Officers who had no training tasks or had completed them did not go back to the dormitory to rest, nor did they go to the library to take cultural courses. They looked out from time to time. When they saw the division commander's car coming in, they immediately dropped what they were holding and moved towards the division headquarters.

(End of this chapter)