Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

Professor Li was very embarrassed. Geng Sensen came out with a basketball to smooth things over: "Grandpa Li, my uncle's watermelon is good." He looked inside the car and confirmed that there were white cantaloupes. "This melon is also good. It doesn't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. It grows naturally with plenty of sunlight. It's very sweet, but not as sweet as industrial sugar."

Professor Li had a little girl named Ningning who wanted to pursue Geng Dabao. She was about ten years old. He said, "Then I'll buy two for Ningning to try. Ningning likes them." Then he picked a watermelon and two cantaloupes.

Uncle Yu rounded off the decimal point, and the old professor went home and calculated, and found that it was not much more expensive than at the vegetable market.

When the neighbor who was out taking out the garbage heard that "no fertilizers and pesticides were used", he finally understood why the watermelons are not as sweet as before. Her daughter meant that in the past, there was a shortage of supplies, and sugar was a strategic material that was difficult to buy, so even a little sweetness was considered delicious. Now that sugar is available, people don't need it, so naturally they think watermelons are not as sweet as before.

The neighbor asked Yu Xiaojiu to wait for her, and she went back to the house to get a basket and bought a watermelon weighing five or six kilograms, and four cantaloupes. The peppers didn't look good, but they were dark green and showed that they had been exposed to the sun, unlike the tender taste of the peppers bought at the vegetable market. She bought another two kilograms of peppers.

Yu Wentao was surprised that the yard was not smaller than hers, but there was no pepper planted there.

My neighbor planted some, but her peppers were long and thin, so she could dry them into red peppers and save them for eating slowly in the winter, but she didn't plant any green peppers.

People in the alley who were about to go to the vegetable market came out and saw several people outside Ye Fan's house. They thought the vegetables sold by Sanbengzi were good, so they came to take a look. At first glance, they saw a curved pumpkin, which was not as beautiful as the straight pumpkins in the vegetable market.

When asked about the price, she shook her head. Ye Fan's neighbor said, "Naturally grown pumpkins are like this." Pointing to the spots on the pumpkin, "This must have been pecked by birds. Birds and insects eating this means it's not sprayed with pesticides."

That makes sense!

Geng Sen Sen wanted to applaud her.

Uncle Yu used to want to come to Ye Fan's place often to sell vegetables, but one time when he came, he found that the neighbors were very indifferent and not as enthusiastic as before, so he stopped coming here.

His family doesn't have a plastic greenhouse, so they grow vegetables in the fields and yards. They don't have to worry about selling vegetables if the quantity is small. They don't expect to buy a house for their children. Now the children are richer than their elders, and they don't need subsidies from the two uncles of the Yu family. So when he heard Professor Li's hint just now, he almost said "buy it if you want."

Now that he realized that it wasn't that he looked down on his food, but that he really didn't understand it, Uncle Yu said in a friendly manner, "Even if it doesn't look good, it's best to eat it now. It will go bad in two days."

The neighbor picked up a tomato and said, "This is the same as the one in my yard. The tomatoes in the vegetable market are picked just as they turn red. If you pick them too late and load them onto the truck before sending them to the vegetable market, they will go bad."

A neighbor who didn't plan to buy vegetables from Uncle Yu asked, "So the tomatoes we buy at the market are half-ripe? No wonder they're so hard. They're not as good as the sandy tomatoes we grow at home in the summer. I thought out-of-season vegetables were like that."

Xiao Wang was in a hurry to go back to the house to cook, and he didn't want to leave Uncle Yu here alone, so he asked, "Aunt, do you want to buy it? If not, Grandpa Yu will go somewhere else."

Upon hearing this, the old lady asked, "Grandma Erbao, is he your relative?"

Geng Sensen: "My grandmother's younger brother. He grows vegetables at home to earn some pocket money when he has nothing to do."

When the aunt heard that the neighbor was not a vegetable vendor and that the eggs in the cart were big and small, and it was obvious that they were not laid by feed chickens from a chicken farm, she believed her neighbor's words, bought twenty eggs, a few pounds of vegetables that she didn't have in her own yard, and also packed a few crooked melons.

People like to follow the trend. When others see that several people are buying, they also go to Uncle Yu to buy vegetables. Uncle Yu doesn't carry much, and he sells most of the vegetables as soon as he comes out of the alley. He goes to his daughter's house first, leaves half for his daughter, eats at his daughter's house, then goes to his son's house, gives the rest to his two sons, and drives home.

Before 10 o'clock, Yu Xiaojiu and two old men led the cattle and sheep to the river. The cattle and sheep ate grass while he chatted with them. Yu Xiaojiu fiddled with his pipe and sighed: "I used to dream of being old like this."

The villagers of Yujia Village all have a good life. Some grow fruit trees, some grow vegetables, some do renovation work, some go to Hangzhou to work in a garment factory—Yu Wentao's nephew sent them there on a business trip, and some open shops in the city to do business. Everyone is in a good mood, the old filthiness is gone, and they can chat well.

An old man who was about the same age as Uncle Yu said, "We have to thank Boss Ye." He paused and said with emotion, "That girl is really capable."

Uncle Yu always spoke of Ye Fan with respect: "She had abilities when she was a girl."

The taciturn old man said, "I heard that her company is investing money in it? My grandson said that her industry is a bottomless pit. People who do this have to cooperate with foreign countries. They can't do without cooperation with foreign countries."

Uncle Yu was also worried that Ye Fan had never encountered setbacks, was arrogant and stubborn, and would end up losing everything, so he specifically asked his nephew how Ye Fan's company was doing. His nephew replied that it was not making much money, but it had not lost money in the past two years. He had made a lot of money from selling Han cards before, and the company had tens of millions in its account at most.

Uncle Yu did not think Ye Fan was rich just because of this number, so he asked if the tens of millions in the account meant that she had invested a lot. The implication was that if she lost money, it would be a big loss. Yu Wentao's nephew told his uncle that if there was no money in the account, he could still mortgage the company to the bank for a loan.

Uncle Yu could tell that Ye Fan didn't owe the bank any money and his actual assets were valuable, so he wouldn't suddenly run out of money and go bankrupt.

From then on he stopped worrying about it.

When Uncle Yu heard what his fellow villagers said, he thought to himself, how can a little bastard like you understand the big boss's plan?

"That's what Ye Fan studied at school, so he knows it." Uncle Yu asked, "What did your grandson study?"

The old man who praised Ye Fan complained that his old friend couldn't speak. He said that since Ye Fan had to take care of children and the elderly, and yet she was able to run the company, she deserved encouragement: "His grandson only learned to use a computer in the past two years."

The old man's expression suddenly became ugly: "Why didn't you tell me that your grandson has never seen a computer."

"I will buy him a computer tomorrow." The old man was one of the people who first made candied haws with the Yu family, giving their own vegetables and pigs to the Yu family so that the Yu family could make a profit. His son is now working in the city with the village chief's son as a decorator. He works when there is work and comes back when there is no work. He is dirty all day long. It seems that he does not make money, but in fact, it is better than working as a laborer in a year.

He worked for seven or eight months last year without affecting his geography work, and his son received five or six thousand yuan at the end of the year.

The old man's family was rich, but he didn't show off. The other old man didn't know, so he said, "You buy it. I'll wait for you to buy it."

At noon, the old man came home and asked his daughter-in-law to buy a computer for his grandson.

The daughter-in-law was shocked: "You know computers?"

"How come I don't know? Doesn't Boss Ye's company sell computers? Let's go find your big brother Yu. He's in the computer store and can give us a discount."

The daughter-in-law pointed at the kid leaning against the door frame waiting for dinner and said, "He's not even as tall as the computer desk, how can he use a computer?"

The old man has several daughters, and his son is the youngest. His son gave birth to a daughter and he dared not have another child because of the family planning policy. Later, he heard that government officials can only have one child, while rural people can have one child after paying a fine. He also heard that some places have more relaxed policies, and if the first child is a daughter, there is no fine for another child.

In either case, it means that if his family has another child, the child will not be locked up.

This kid is six or seven years younger than his sister, so it is normal that he has never seen a computer. But the old man wanted to prove himself: "People in the city are trained from a young age. Ginkgo's daughter and son go to that palace to learn things. Ginkgo's son is not older than him."

Daughter-in-law: "That's called the Children's Palace. We also asked him to go to the Children's Palace when he went to school in the city. People in the Children's Palace learn calligraphy and playing ball, not computers. Besides, instead of letting him learn computers, you might as well take out the money you would have used to buy a computer and buy him a house, and rent it out in the future. Maybe his salary won't be as high as the rent."

"Who did you hear that from?" The old man frowned, thinking what a mess this is.

Daughter-in-law: "Gingxing said that. Boss Ye always said that it is better to hope that you will be successful than to hope that your children will be successful. I think so too. The parents are incompetent, so how can our children be capable? A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, but a mouse gives birth to a son who can only dig holes."

The little brat understood this: "I don't know how to dig a hole."

His mother almost choked up, and after a while she said, "Look, he still can't understand what people say even at this age. Can he learn it? It's good enough that he can understand it."

"But houses in the city are expensive. Xiaoqin's house is not big, but it costs hundreds of thousands now."

“A good location is expensive, and a location far from the city is cheap.”

The old man stood with his hands behind his back, disdainfully: "What's the difference between that and living in the countryside?"

"Other people have subways and buses in rural areas. Does your village have buses or subways?"

The old man has taken the subway before. It is more stable and faster than the bus. It only takes a short time to get to the destination five or six miles away. Although it seems far, it is very convenient to travel. "Then I'll listen to you."

The daughter-in-law has always wanted to buy a house, but the old man said that the man would prepare a house for his granddaughter's wedding, so he only needed to buy one for his grandson. The daughter-in-law didn't dare to ask for money, fearing that she would be scolded by her parents-in-law. It was a rare opportunity, and she was afraid that her father-in-law would regret it in a few days, so she said that she would go to the city in a few days, hinting that her father-in-law should take out the passbook.

The old man was stimulated today and immediately went back to his house to look through his passbook. His daughter-in-law couldn't wait for a few days, so she went to the city to find Yu Yinxing the next day and asked her which house was good, and went to the new property that day. When the daughter-in-law came home, the old man regretted it, but the house had already been bought. The house could not be returned, so the old man went around the old friend. The old man deliberately looked for him and asked if the computer had been bought. The old man explained that his grandson was young, and then said, "Your grandson is so old and there is no rush. I will buy it in two years. In the future, it will be better than your grandson."

The old man became competitive and couldn't help but retort, and as they talked, the two of them started arguing.

Uncle Yu went over to listen and was speechless but also wanted to laugh.

The next morning, Yu Wentao and her nanny Xiao Wang were cooking in the kitchen when Yu Xiaojiu's voice came from outside. Ye Fan went out to buy duck eggs and saw the horn on the car and said, "No wonder it's so loud."

Uncle Yu: "Hongwei bought it for me. It's becoming more and more convenient now."

While holding the duck eggs, Ye Fan asked, "How is Hongwei doing recently?"

"The principal asked him to be the head teacher, praising him for his good teaching and patience with poor students, and the parents of the students all like him. My daughter-in-law said that she had opinions about the teachers who were better than him. I don't know what the result will be." Uncle Yu said, "It's better not to be the head teacher, there is not much money."

Ye Fan wanted to laugh. When you have money, your tone of voice is different.

Uncle Yu likes to report family matters to Ye Fan. When he mentioned that some villagers were arguing over a computer, he asked him if he would buy a computer for his grandchildren.

Ye Fan: "That's not necessary. If you want them to learn more, you can take advantage of the summer vacation to sign up for a computer class and just learn the basics. I have a computer at home, but Huihui has only been able to type and play games after several years of study."

Ye Fan’s neighbor bought eggs from Uncle Yu and went back to scramble the eggs. The egg yolks were different from those in the vegetable market, and the color of the scrambled eggs looked better than those in the vegetable market, so he ran out when he heard Uncle Yu’s voice.

She has sharp ears, and when she heard the word "computer", she asked, "Mom, do you have a computer at home?"

Ye Fan was confused by the question.

"My family wants to buy a computer, too. Where did you buy it? Is it expensive?"

Professor Li's Ningning really likes Uncle Yu's melons, which are sweet and crisp. He also came out of the house: "Don't you know how many years we've been neighbors? Comrade Xiaoye has a computer company."

We don’t usually interact with each other, so the neighbor lady doesn’t know: “You can use computers?”

Ye Fan: "This is what I studied in college. By the way, have you seen the Fanhua computer commercial endorsed by Dabao?"

"Did it happen during the day?"

The auntie went to bed early and couldn't wait for the prime-time commercials to come out in the evening. Ye Fan thought of this when he heard this, "Yes. That's my company."

The neighbor lady was stunned and looked at Ye Fan from head to toe. Suddenly she remembered something and said, "Hey, aren't you a trader?"

The aunt's son specifically said that Ye Fan was a "smuggler" and that he should avoid associating with people who engage in speculation, otherwise he would not learn well.

Ye Fan had no idea about this, so he told the truth: "I don't have money to start a business, but I make money by being a profiteer."

The old lady understood that the profiteer was trying to get a computer. Then she thought of the fact that Ye Fan had used Geng Zhiye's military officer status to speculate more than once. She felt guilty and ashamed, and didn't know how to respond: "You still have an idea."

"After studying for so many years, wouldn't it be a waste if you don't do this job?" Ye Fan handed the egg to his uncle.

The aunt asked: "Are you still weighing yourself?"

Ye Fan: "Neither is it from my uncle's house. Half of the dishes here are from the villagers."

Uncle Yu nodded: "The goose eggs belong to our neighbor. We don't raise geese at home."

Professor Li likes to eat goose eggs, but they are sometimes unavailable in the vegetable market. He has only bought them twice in the past three years. Upon hearing this, he put down the melon and picked out the goose eggs.

The neighbor lady couldn't help but look at Ye Fan again: "Can female lesbians learn computers?"

This old lady was more than ten years older than Ye Fan. She had worked in the revolution for several years. She held a high position before retirement, but her education level was not high. This was said by Yu Wentao. I don't know who the old lady asked. Ye Fan didn't take it seriously and said, "There are indeed fewer female comrades in this industry."

"You're the only lesbian I know." The old lady sighed and admired Ye Fan sincerely, "You're amazing!"

Professor Li couldn't help but say: "If gay men can do it, so can lesbians. You haven't seen it because you haven't seen it much."

The aunt's face turned green.

Uncle Yu thought to himself, this old man really doesn't know how to talk.

Fearing that the two would start arguing, Uncle Yu immediately asked how much the goose eggs cost.

The neighbor forgot to refute, and only remembered to complain when Professor Li returned home: "This guy, he's already retired but still thinks he's a teacher. Who is he trying to teach a lesson to?"

Ye Fan smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Maybe he's in a bad mood. What would you like to order?"

While picking vegetables, the neighbor asked: "Are the computers in your company expensive?"

Ye Fan: "It's more cost-effective than others."

The aunt smiled and said, "You can talk."

"My company will deliver it to your home and repair it for free if it breaks within a year. However, if the screen is cracked, you have to pay for it yourself."

The TV the aunt bought was not under warranty and she had to get it back herself. Upon hearing this, she gave the money and went home, and persuaded her son to ask Ye Fan to buy a computer.

Ye Fan lived across an alley from her home, so he couldn't hear what she said, nor did he know how she tried to persuade her. On the weekend, the aunt's daughter-in-law asked Ye Fan to take her to the computer store.

Yu Wentao wanted to say, my daughter-in-law is the boss.

Ye Fan looked apologetic and said, "Sorry, I have to go to Xiushui Market later. My friend and I have a trading company there. There are many customers this weekend, so I have to go over and keep an eye on them."

The aunt's daughter-in-law no longer looked at her as a "trader" and said, "You are really busy. Tell me the address and I will write it down."

Erbao went to the main room to get a notebook and a pen. The aunt's daughter-in-law asked casually, "Has your daughter graduated?"

Ye Fan nodded.

She then asked, "Which unit do you work for? Maybe I know her boss."

Erbao thought to himself, you do know my boss. However, Erbao did not say the name of the company, but the address of the company. The aunt's wife thought that Erbao was embarrassed to tell the truth, and she went home and lamented to her husband and parents-in-law that the little girl had a good height and face, but unfortunately she was not good at studying and her company was average.

The aunt asked which unit. When the daughter-in-law told him, her father-in-law was stunned for a moment and asked, "Where is the unit?"

The daughter-in-law said it again without knowing why. Her father-in-law was speechless: "There is only one unit over there - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!"

(End of this chapter)