Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 31: Urging Marriage

Crackling!

The sound of firecrackers announced the arrival of New Year's Eve, but unfortunately it stopped after a short while.

This thing is a rare commodity. The entire Hongjia Village only bought two baskets, one in the morning and one in the evening.

Early in the morning, Zhou Fengnian was awakened by the sound of chopping meat, but he didn't plan to be lazy any longer. He got up, dressed, and went out.

After going to the kitchen and taking a look, Zhou Fengnian said to his mother, "Mom, you and sister-in-law, don't be busy. I'll prepare the stuffing later. I'll also cook the New Year's Eve dinner."

Zhou's mother immediately said, "You should take a rest. You have been busy for a year. Go home and have a good rest. Leave the stove matter to us."

Zhou Chunhua on the side said, "No, Third Brother's cooking is delicious. I heard from Aunt Li that it's almost as good as the state-owned restaurants."

"Yes, I like cooking, but I don't like cleaning up the dishes. Leave the cooking to me later."

After saying that, Zhou Fengnian went to get some water to wash up.

Zhou's father and his two elder brothers went to attend the village collective meeting. I guess they took the Daqianmen to show off again.

After Zhou Fengnian started to make the filling, it didn’t take long for him to prepare the filling for dumplings to be eaten during the New Year.

Two pounds of meat and four pounds of cabbage. They have a large family and this year is another bumper year. Even if they make twenty dumplings each, they will have to make at least two hundred.

Moreover, Zhou's father also decided to prepare four dishes and one soup for this year's New Year's Eve dinner.

This is the most sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner that Zhou's father could think of. In the past few years, the New Year's Eve dinner was considered good if it had steamed buns made of two kinds of flour and two dishes.

After Zhou Fengnian prepared the dumpling filling, he asked his mother, two sisters-in-law and fourth sister to make dumplings while he was thinking about what dishes to cook tonight.

This year, the family prepared a lot of New Year's goods, but if we eat as much as we can, it will only be for two or three meals. There are nine people in the Zhou family, and the youngest, Zhou Xiaomei, is already eleven years old and goes to school.

If Zhou Fengnian really did this, his father would be so angry that he would jump up and down, and then say that he was a spendthrift.

"Let's make Sichuan-style bacon, bacon chicken and winter melon soup, spicy stir-fried cabbage, braised pork and spicy shredded potatoes."

The cured chicken was a wild pheasant that my elder and second brothers caught in the mountains. They climbed two hills in the middle of winter and were lucky enough to get back before dark.

After Zhou Fengnian made his decision, he started to prepare four dishes and a broth, which had to be cooked into a large plate, otherwise there would not be enough for nine people.

Prepare the dishes first and start cooking at a certain time in the evening.

"Add a pickle and peanuts. These two don't count as dishes."

It’s the New Year, so it should be a little more sumptuous.

"Back, back!"

Near noon, the eldest brother Zhou Weitian pushed open the gate to the courtyard and started complaining before he even entered the house: "Dad, don't let me go to the next village collective meeting."

"What's wrong? Didn't you say you were going this morning?"

"Look at what we talked about this morning. There is no real business. It's all confusing and I can't understand what you are saying."

Zhou Weitian was talking when he suddenly smelled a fragrance in the house. He immediately left Zhou Fugui and ran to the main house: "Mom, what are we having for lunch? Why does it smell so good?"

"What a jerk."

Zhou Fugui couldn't help but feel itchy when he saw his boss's expression.

Then he turned around and said to Zhou Jiaan: "Don't be like your elder brother. He already has a child but you are still acting like a child."

"How could I possibly learn from my elder brother? Dad, you're overthinking it." Zhou Jiaan said hurriedly. He was also greedy, but he knew to change after being beaten. His elder brother only remembered the food and not the beatings. As long as there was food, he would not remember it no matter how much he was beaten.

Before Zhou Fugui and Zhou Jiaan entered the house, they heard Zhou Weitian's words: "Mom, are there only noodles? Is there any meat?"

Zhou Fugui immediately pushed the door open and slapped him: "Eat meat, eat meat, I think you are going to be a landlord, why don't you go to heaven!"

Zhou's father was so angry that he wanted to teach his greedy eldest son a lesson, but he was quickly stopped by Zhou's mother.

This is not popular during the Chinese New Year.

After Zhou's father and the other two finished their meal, Zhou Fengnian asked, "Dad, big brother and second brother, what did the village assembly say?"

"What else can we do? Just the same old stuff. Watch out for the candlelight and start planting next spring."

"Dad, why don't you tell me about the third brother?"

Zhou Weitian couldn't help but said excitedly: "Third brother, many people in the village envy our family now, and many people want to introduce you to a wife. After the meeting, those aunts and uncles surrounded Dad just to ask about you."

"Ah? Dad, you didn't agree to it carelessly, did you?"

After hearing this, Zhou Fengnian immediately asked, he hadn't thought about it yet.
"I didn't agree, but what if I agreed? You are my son!"

Zhou's father said sulkingly, as a father, can't he control his son's marriage?
"I have no plans to do that now. I rent a house myself. I will buy one later."

Zhou Fengnian explained that he had some idea about buying a house, but it was quite expensive.

Luo Cheng's two-entry courtyard house cost eighteen hundred yuan not including the furniture, and the one-entry house cost less than one thousand yuan; that is to say, Luo Cheng bought it early, eight or nine years ago, and only spent more than eight hundred yuan.

Zhou Fengnian asked Luo Cheng to help inquire about buying a house. Luo Cheng also agreed to find a chance to ask. After all, he was an old resident there and had lived there since the end of 1953.

"As for San'er's marriage, you should ask Lao San for his opinion."

Mother Zhou patted Zhou Fugui and continued, "San'er might want to marry the daughter of a high-ranking official in the city, so don't agree to it blindly."

"Forget about the daughter of a high-ranking official. The previous one has already left a shadow on me. It's fine as long as we get along well."

Zhou Fengnian shook his head and said that there seemed to be quite a few "new-age women" like Xue Peihua, and there should be quite a few in the song and dance troupe.

However, not getting married in one's twenties is considered late marriage. If Zhou Fengnian delays for a few more years, the street office and the factory will probably come to urge him to do so.

Why don't such a good person get married? With the care of the family, you can devote more energy to work, etc.

"But San'er, you should also consider getting married. You can't just use the house as an excuse."

Zhou's mother also urged: "Why, you can't get married without a house? Your eldest brother and second brother are about to have a son, and you are still single, how can that be reasonable!"

Father Zhou also took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Don't tell others that your sister is married and you haven't yet found a wife. People will gossip about you if they tell others about it."

Nowadays, getting married late definitely has a bad reputation. If a woman gets married late, it means she has some health problems or a bad personality; if a man gets married late, it means the person he chooses is not good enough.

That's how gossip spreads. You say you can do it? Then why don't you get married? There's something wrong.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'll consider it. If it doesn't work next year, then the year after. Is that okay?"

Zhou Fengnian sighed and said, "I want to marry a wife, so I can find one right away. Isn't it just that the factory is too busy?"

"Ask Fourth Sister. I haven't had any time to rest in the past three months. I will be busy until March after the New Year. After March, the new factory construction may still need me. How can I have the time?"

There is another reason Zhou Fengnian didn't mention. He didn't want to hang himself on a tree too early. However, if he told this reason, he would probably be beaten up by the mixed team.

(End of this chapter)