Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Ye Fan smiled and explained that he could park the car at the intersection.

Geng Sensen shook his head: "To be on the safe side, please don't show up! You won't be here for many years anyway. If I can handle it in the next two years, no one will rush me."

Ye Fan told Geng Sensen that he would hand over the company's finances to him in two years. Geng Sensen knew how much his aunt's company was worth, and was worried that if he messed up, his aunt would suffer heavy losses. Recently, he was working while consulting old employees and paying attention to various financial disputes, so he really had no time to find a partner.

Geng Sensen is younger than Geng Huihui, and Ye Fan doesn't mind his niece's age, so he naturally won't urge his nephew to go on a blind date. So seeing that he was really worried, Ye Fan nodded and said forget it.

In a blink of an eye, it was September 20th of the Gregorian calendar, Wei Jianshe's wedding day.

Ye Fan's whole family went.

Yu Wentao didn't want to go at first, but Ye Fan reminded her that "Aunt Li will go." Yu Wentao remembered that Aunt Li was Wei Jianshe's aunt, and other neighbors would also go if they gave their share of money, so she decided to go with Ye Fan.

Dabao and Erbao went there by themselves.

Wei Jianshe set up a separate table for Ye Fan's family, but the best man and bridesmaid could not sit with Ye Fan, so the table was not full. Ye Fan then went to find Dong Ying, Zhang Xiaoming, and Chang Guangrong and his wife.

Chang Guangrong and his wife came too. He was too busy at the factory to go to the south to get the goods, and the store was out of stock so Ye Fan and Wei Jianshe helped him bring them, and they did it more than once. Chang Guangrong was not stupid, so he naturally wanted to show his appreciation.

Chang Guangrong and Zhang Xiaoming's attire did not steal the groom's limelight, but they had gained experience over the years, especially Zhang Xiaoming. He himself did not notice it, but because he had money and friends, he had the confidence and was more confident than before. When paired with the expensive clothes, he looked like the successful people in the TV dramas that Qian's father watched.

All the relatives of the Wei family went to greet them, even Wei Jianshe's eldest cousin who was a leader in a state-owned enterprise. Qian's father couldn't help but tell his wife, "Jianshe's friends are all nice."

Mother Qian nodded: "Yes, today is not the weekend, so I came."

Qian's father wanted to say that he didn't mean that, but he was worried that others would hear it and think that he, as a father-in-law, was saying bad things about his son-in-law behind his back, so he could only swallow it back with helplessness.

Then Wei Jianshe's father asked his in-laws to sit down and have a rest, and continued to chat with him.

Wei Jianshe and his wife also wore suits and wedding dresses, but unlike Zhang Xiaojun, they bought them. A few days ago, Wei Jianshe went to a wedding dress production site and bought a wedding dress and a cheongsam.

She wore a wedding dress during the ceremony and a red cheongsam when toasting. In those days, the countryside didn't have the facilities to do so, so when Qian's mother saw her daughter come out in a new outfit, she was surprised and asked, "How much did it cost?"

Qian's father was sure that his daughter's statement that her son-in-law had 10,000 or 20,000 yuan in his drawer was not an exaggeration. That 10,000 or 20,000 yuan could not be all of his son-in-law's savings. After all, he would not put all his money in one drawer. His son-in-law was a businessman, and he must know better than him that "eggs should not be put in one basket." Thinking about how Wei Jianshe usually ate very modestly, and did not look like a wealthy man at all, he felt that the people in the capital were really rich, and that his son-in-law had two houses and a store, but he was not a rich man. At the same time, he felt that his son-in-law was low-key and his daughter had made the right choice in marrying him.

All in all, Qian's father was very satisfied with his new son-in-law.

The Qian family was about to harvest soybeans and corn at that time of the year, so on the second day after his wedding, Qian's father asked his son-in-law to buy him a train ticket.

Wei Jianshe was surprised: "Why don't you stay for two more days?"

"Go back and harvest the crops."

Wei Jianshe had lived in the countryside before. He calculated the time. His brother-in-law had to go to class again, and his sister-in-law was too busy to handle it alone. After breakfast, he went to the station to buy a ticket for tomorrow afternoon. Before, when he brought his grandchildren, it was inconvenient to go to some places because he was worried that the children would be scared and cry. Now that only the two of them were left, Qian's father was familiar with the city, so he took his wife to the memorial hall, but they went to the monument first.

Qian's mother was illiterate, but she was born in a war-torn era and could understand her husband, so she always stayed with him quietly.

Wei Jianshe didn't know where his father-in-law had gone until he got home. The next day, after seeing his father-in-law off and returning the car to Ye Fan's house, Wei Jianshe sighed, "My father-in-law is not an ordinary person."

Ye Fan: "Your father-in-law's family background means he can be a government official, which is extraordinary. But I didn't expect Qian Xiaoru's parents to be so easy to get along with. Before, when I heard her insisting on going back to her hometown, I thought her father was stubborn and her mother was short-sighted, just like Guangming's childhood friend's parents."

"Then why did you arrange a blind date for us?" Wei Jianshe was surprised. His sister Ye was not such an unreliable person.

Ye Fan: "Geng Zhiye said it's okay to meet him."

"No wonder." Seeing that it was getting late, Wei Jianshe said, "I'll go back first. But I still want to say thank you, sister!"

Ye Fan smiled indifferently.

Wei Jianshe was startled when he arrived at the door, because the main door of Ye Fan's house was in the front yard. He didn't hear any footsteps in the main yard. The person at the front door seemed to appear suddenly: "You, are you coming to Sister Ye's house for dinner?"

"No!" Chu Guangming suddenly remembered that Ye Fan's family should prepare dinner, "Yes. I just got out of class. I have something to ask Aunt Ye."

Wei Jianshe didn't ask what was going on. The college students' affairs definitely had nothing to do with him. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "In the yard." He waited for him to go in and closed the door.

Ye Fan didn't rush in when he heard the two people's voices. When he saw Chu Guangming, he asked, "Isn't Dabao with you?"

Chu Guangming shook his head: "I heard from my classmates that he is still in the laboratory."

"How did your classmates know?"

Chu Guangming: "He is the only one in our school who has a mountain bike. Although everyone is used to him riding that bike every day, we still find it strange and can't help but take a few more glances at it."

"Just one?" Ye Fan was surprised.

There are quite a lot of rich people in the city in recent years, and those who made money from "official speculation" in the past now dare to use them. Ye Fan thought mountain bikes were not uncommon, so she bought it because Dabao liked it.

Chu Guangming nodded: "Some people also drive to school. But everyone knows that the car belongs to the elders in the family, so they are not very envious. The mountain bike belongs to Dabao himself."

Ye Fan: "I was careless."

"It's okay. Dabao has a good personality and is very popular even without the car."

Erbao came in from outside: "Is he more popular than you?"

Chu Guangming said “hmm”.

In fact, he couldn't figure it out. Logically, he looked like his father, he was not bad looking, and he often wore Dabao's clothes and shoes, so he should be as popular as Dabao. After seeing Dabao "snatching" money a few days ago, Chu Guangming seemed to understand that Dabao was more outgoing than him, so he had friends in all grades.

Chu Guangming didn't envy this ability, because he got a headache when he thought about a group of people shouting and yelling every time he played basketball: "Auntie Ye, come in first?"

Ye Fan went into the room and asked him and Erbao what they wanted to drink. Erbao put down his schoolbag and said, "I'll see what grandma cooks. Please don't make noodles. I've had enough in the cafeteria."

Geng Huihui lived closer to home and came back earlier than her. She came out of the kitchen and said, "Don't worry, I'm here to make instant noodles."

Erbao asked: "Sister, guess why instant noodles are called instant noodles?"

Geng Huihui choked up: "——Eat it if you want!"

Chu Guangming couldn't help wanting to laugh when he heard this, but he couldn't laugh when he thought about what he was going to say next: "Aunt Ye, didn't you ask me to remind my friends not to do anything too extreme?"

Ye Fan remembered that she didn't want Chu Guangming's friends to become like him, having parents but acting like they don't have any, so she said something extra: "What happened?" "It's only ten days before the Mid-Autumn Festival. My childhood friend told his parents that if I didn't buy anything for them, they wouldn't know what to buy, so I gave them 1,000 yuan to buy it themselves. But before I even took out the money, his father mocked him, saying, "You are so rich. We dare not spend your money." Some of his words were very unpleasant to hear, so I won't learn them."

Ye Fan asked: "Today?"

Chu Guangming nodded: "He is not as busy as us, and he came back from school in the morning. Because of this, he didn't eat lunch at home, and ate with me at school. After lunch, he went back to his new home in the south. He originally thought that if his parents were in a good mood, he would take the opportunity to tell them that he bought a house. He knew that his parents, brother and sister-in-law had saved some money over the years. If his brother and sister-in-law wanted to buy a house, he could lend them the money and they could pay it back at any time."

No wonder he made a special trip, it turned out there was more than one thing. Ye Fan asked: "Is your childhood friend very conflicted? On the one hand, he blames his parents for not understanding that he doesn't want to help his brother and sister-in-law move out, and on the other hand, he feels sorry for his family because they are squeezed into a slum?"

Chu Guangming was shocked. Did he say that?

Ye Fan said, "Your childhood friend's personality is a bit like Chen Xiaohui's. Chen Xiaohui used to blame her adoptive parents for making her suffer, but at the same time, she didn't suffer much grievance since she was a child, and her adoptive parents even supported her to go to high school, so she couldn't bear to blame them. But time can dilute everything. When your childhood friend has a girlfriend and needs to save money to raise the child, he won't be ashamed of not taking out the money when he has it."

"What should we do now?" Chu Guangming said, just ignore them.

But his childhood friend is different. His parents treated him very well before. In the past two years, they had conflicts because his childhood friend wanted to sell goods, but his parents did not support him. Later, his childhood friend made money to prove that his decision was right, which made his parents look incompetent and cowardly, and his parents were unhappy. Later, his parents asked his childhood friend for money, but he did not give it to them. So his parents thought he was an ungrateful person and could not be relied on, so they turned their faces away when they saw him.

This afternoon, Chu Guangming asked his childhood friend: "Do you blame me? If I hadn't supported you, you and your parents might still be fine."

The capital for the first shipment of goods was borrowed from Chu Guangming. Hearing that the "support" he mentioned was referring to this matter, he decisively answered, "No." He was silent for a moment because of his family's attitude, and then said, "I didn't have my own room before. Now I have a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. I have everything. People of the same age as us, except you and Dabao, who doesn't envy me?"

This is true.

A mutual friend of the two bought a house before school started. The size and price of the house are similar to Chu Guangming's childhood friend's, but the house is on a higher floor, on the sixth floor, which is further inside his community. He has to walk 100 to 200 meters more to take the bus. It is far from the vegetable market and it is not convenient to visit Dabao. So their mutual friends have envied the good location of his house more than once.

Ye Fan: "I can only do his brother's job. I heard that the housing prices in some places have risen to 1,000 per square meter?"

Chu Guangming nodded: "You heard what Grandma Yu said, right? It's from Aunt Qin."

Chu Guangming originally bought two houses and planned to take his time to choose the rest. However, when he heard Yu Wentao muttering, "Xiaoqin's house has tripled in price" during filming, he panicked and decided on the house immediately.

Ye Fan listened to what the employees said, and the employees admired Ye Fan for her foresight and were very grateful to her for reminding them.

"Yes. Aunt Dabao's house is in a good location. There are several primary schools, middle schools and universities within two kilometers. It's not far from the vegetable market and bus stops." Who said what was not the point. Ye Fan said directly: "If he doesn't buy it, he will lend all the money to his brother, and his brother can't afford it."

Chu Guangming sighed: "But his brother is not the head of the family. I suspect his brother and sister-in-law are not as rich as his parents."

"Where is his sister-in-law? Seeing that the youngest son can't be relied on, the only one left is the eldest son. The eldest son and his wife took the opportunity to make a scene and asked to move out. His parents dare not refuse, right?"

Chu Guangming: "He will come back and stay with me tonight. I will ask him to persuade him tomorrow."

The next afternoon, Chu Guangming came again.

Dabao teased, "In the past, I had to ask you to come to my house three times and four times. Now that you have money and a house, you come to my house every day to ask for money. Chu Guangming, are you sick?"

"You are sick!" Chu Guangming stretched out his hand and punched him: "Aren't you very busy?"

Dabao: "I'm not busy at the beginning of the semester. But it's also possible that I have money and don't care about the subsidy, so the tutor doesn't dare to use me like a workhorse.

"Finally admit that you are rich?" Chu Guangming asked hurriedly.

Dabao: "I denied it too. It's just that the money is not at home and I am penniless!"

Chu Guangming pushed him away: "I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for Aunt Ye."

"My mom understands, and I understand everything." Dabao hooked his neck and whispered, "My dad is in the room."

Chu Guangming immediately followed him to the backyard.

When he arrived at Dabao's bedroom, Chu Guangming saw the chocolates on the table. He opened one to fill his stomach, then picked up the thermos and poured himself a glass of water.

Dabao couldn't help but look at him. How come this kid didn't feel so polite after coming back from a trip to Hong Kong? "Give me - give my senior brother a drink."

Chu Guangming saw the bagged coffee: "Do you want coffee?"

Dabao shook his head: "No! It's like washing pot water. I want to add milk and sugar. It's troublesome!"

"Then why do you put it here?"

Dabao: "Sister Huihui gave it to me. Tell me what it is."

Chu Guangming first confessed what he had said to Ye Fan yesterday, and then talked about what happened today: "This morning, my childhood friend took advantage of his brother being alone and persuaded him to buy a house. At lunch, his brother took the opportunity to bring up this matter and was scolded by his father."

"That's it?"

Chu Guangming: "His brother has a high salary, while his sister-in-law has a low salary. His sister-in-law keeps her own money, and his brother gives almost all of his salary to his parents."

"As it should be. They are a family of four eating with their parents."

Chu Guangming: "It doesn't take that much. Half a month's salary is enough to cover basic living expenses."

Dabao understood: "Did his brother say that he didn't want his parents' money, and it would be ok if his father gave his money back to him?"

"Yes! His father scolded him for being too independent, saying that he didn't want his parents, etc. His voice was so loud that everyone in the compound could hear it. Several neighbors also said that the house prices were so high that they would definitely drop, and asked his brother to wait a little longer. It would be unwise to buy now as it was chasing high prices. But his family didn't trade in real estate, they just bought one for themselves, so what did it matter if the price went up or down? Besides, what if the price went up?"

Dabao: "You think the odds of a fall or a rise are 50-50, so it's worth a gamble."

"The main thing is that he doesn't have to borrow money from outsiders. If he needs to borrow from all his relatives and friends, I would suggest him to wait, just like his neighbors do." Chu Guangming said.

Dabao: “But they think it’s impossible to go up, it’s bound to go down.”

"Yes." Chu Guangming sighed, "If my childhood friend can bear it and ignore his parents, I won't bother to wade into the muddy water."

Dabao said, "The only solution now is for him to buy a house himself. When his brother sees that his younger brother has a house, he will be furious and will have a big fight with his father. At worst, he can just move out. His salary can cover the living expenses and rent, and the family of four won't have to live together."

Chu Guangming's eyes lit up: "Why didn't I think of renting a house first?"

Dabao raised his eyelids: "Do you know why? Because you are stupid!"

(End of this chapter)