Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 119: Buy a large monthly ticket with 116 votes and get a bonus update of 360 more

Chapter 119: Buy a large monthly ticket with 116 votes and get a bonus update of 360 more

As soon as the first lunar month ended, the weather warmed up suddenly because this year the New Year fell in February; hence, once we passed the first month, it was already March, and the temperature rose quite quickly.

However, this place is not in the southern Guannan; it’s located in the northern Guabei, where the weather still carries a chill, and the knife-like winds are still quite biting.

Li Xianglu is still wearing her cotton-padded jacket, as the weather is still cold, and she fears that taking it off might lead to a cold.

A few days ago, Ge Sanmei came over, but she dared not enter the house. She stood at the door cursing and making a scene, accusing Li Xianglu of letting some wild man throw her own brother into the river.

It goes without saying that this ’wild man’ referred to none other than Qin Xi.

But it wasn’t long before Li Dafu, accompanied by a few sturdy women, came and dragged the troublemaker away.

At the beginning of March, a rumor spread around the village that Li Erfu had taken Ge Sanmei to the county to get a divorce certificate. Li Xianglu was somewhat curious, knowing Ge Sanmei’s temperament, she would never agree so readily, and wondered how Li Erfu managed to accomplish this.

It wasn’t two days before Li Jianqing came and relayed the details of the event.

Li Erfu insisted on getting a divorce and obtaining the divorce certificate. Ge Sanmei was unwilling, but after making a fuss for a good number of days, she finally compromised—on the condition that Li Erfu give her two hundred jin of grain.

In an unexpected turn, Li Erfu agreed and immediately handed over two hundred jin of cornmeal. Their household didn’t receive a lot to begin with, and with this, they would be hard-pressed to make it last until July.

Yet, with the divorce, Li Erfu’s household registration was completely separated from Ge Sanmei’s. Now Li Erfu and Li Jianqing share one registration, while Ge Sanmei is registered with the eldest and the second, the advantage being that they could have their own contracted land come spring.

After the fifteenth, Qin Xi started running to the city again, just like going to a job, leaving after breakfast and returning before dinner every day. Li Xianglu didn’t ask too much, only simplifying the lunch preparation, maybe making noodle soup or warming some buns with thin porridge. Only in the afternoon would she prepare something nicer, and Qin Zhen had already complained many times.

Li Xianglu hung the washed clothes out on the rope in the yard. As she was wiping her hands, she saw Qu Yeyu coming in from outside.

Li Xianglu smiled and said, "For such a busy person as you, you still find time to come?"

Qu Yeyu’s Aunt Qu was strict and usually didn’t let her leave the house. It wasn’t the busy farming season now, and it was common for people to visit each other’s homes, but Aunt Qu believed that girls should stay quietly at home and not run around all day, lest it tarnish her reputation and affect her prospects of marriage.

Qu Yeyu’s household registration had been transferred over. Her Daddy had died back in her hometown, and her Mom had remarried, so Qu Yeyu came to live with Aunt Qu. Fortunately, out of consideration for her older brother’s past protection, Aunt Qu took her in and also transferred her household registration.

Qu Yeyu was quite capable, and now at 17 in the year 1976, she would be of marriageable age in another year. Aunt Qu had not been so stringent originally, but recently, a girl from Jishui, a neighboring village was found pregnant, apparently from her habit of visiting around and getting involved with some lad.

However, Aunt Qu had a different view of Li Xianglu who could send things from Shanghai to her family. She was quite content for Qu Yeyu to come over and work together with her, personally escorting her to the beam above to watch her enter the house before leaving.

Li Xianglu dried her hands, leading the visitor straight to the kitchen. There was a pot of braised pork trotters on the stove, bought by Grandpa Li from the collective before the New Year. There were still four left, and Li Xianglu planned to stew them for the afternoon meal.

Qu Yeyu had long been accustomed to the smell of meat emanating from Li Xianglu’s kitchen every day. Sniffing, she said with a smile, "Xianglu, your family eats meat every day, yet you don’t seem to gain weight. Look at me, I put on pounds even if I just drink cold water," saying so, she touched her chest.

Li Xianglu widened her eyes, staring at Qu Yeyu’s bulging chest. Was this really the result of drinking cold water?

Li Xianglu cautiously touched her own chest, which was no longer very tender. A little bump was beginning to form, pink and tender, and she could only hope it continued to develop and break through!

Qu Yeyu set down the small basket she was holding and took a big gulp of the tea handed to her by Li Xianglu. She laughed and said, "Your family even drinks tea, we only drink plain water at home, unless we’re sick, then we might get to drink a bowl of sugar water."

Putting down her bowl, Qu Yeyu took out a pair of shoe uppers from the basket and handed them over: "Here, the shoe uppers you asked me to make are finished."

Li Xianglu took them, looked them over and admired the meticulous stitching—it was a hundred times better than her own work. She could manage making the soles just fine, but as for the uppers, she’d rather not even think about it—it would just be a waste of fabric.

Qu Yeyu shook her head with a look of pity: "Aunt Qu said this cloth is woolen. She hasn’t seen anyone wearing it for over a decade; even folks in the county aren’t wearing such fine material anymore. Why would you use it to make shoes?"

Li Xianglu laughed: "The piece was just the right size for a pair of shoes. If it were larger, I would’ve made clothes out of it long ago."

Qu Yeyu nodded in agreement, thinking to herself: Exactly, who would be so foolish to cut good woolen cloth for shoe uppers? If you don’t have enough fabric for the shoe surface, you could just piece multiple fabrics together. There’s absolutely no need to cut up fine cloth like that.

And yet, Li Xianglu was precisely such a fool. She had measured the cloth and found it was enough to make a Zhongshan suit and a small vest with leftovers to spare. So, she decided to cut some out to make a pair of thick-soled cloth shoes for Grandpa Li to wear in hot weather.

As Qu Yeyu was picking up another of Li Xianglu’s shoe uppers to work on the buttonholes, she suddenly slapped her forehead as if remembering something and blurted: "Oh dear, how could I forget, I came here to tell you something."

Li Xianglu chuckled: "What’s the matter? You sound so serious."

Qu Yeyu looked at Li Xianglu’s expression and hesitated for a while before saying: "Your Daddy is getting remarried."

At that moment, Li Xianglu, who was examining the shoe uppers, nodded to show she was listening, then it struck her: "What did you say?"

Qu Yeyu repeated: "Your Daddy wants to get married again."

Li Erfu getting remarried?

Li Xianglu’s mouth fell open in astonishment. This could be the most unbelievable thing she’d heard all year.

Feeling a bit confused, Li Xianglu asked, "Do you know who it is?"

Qu Yeyu whispered mysteriously: "I heard Aunt Qu say it’s a widow from another county who comes with a child. She has already moved in to live at your uncle’s house."

A child? Li Xianglu was stunned. Was this a package deal?

Seeing that Li Xianglu wasn’t even a bit angry, just curiously gossiping, Qu Yeyu couldn’t hide her irritation: "You’re taking this too lightly. How can you not feel upset?"

Li Xianglu smiled: "What’s there to be upset about? It’s just a remarriage, and what does it have to do with me?"

Qu Yeyu’s eyes widened: "But that’s still your Daddy!"

Li Xianglu shook her head: "Not anymore. Nowadays, I only have one Grandpa, and whatever they want to do has nothing to do with me anymore."

Qu Yeyu sighed. She understood that feeling. When her Daddy had died, her Mom remarried after three months, taking her younger brother and leaving her behind. Left alone, she shuffled between various uncles’ homes for over a year, hardly able to get enough food or clothing, and having to serve a whole family. It wasn’t until she felt like she couldn’t go on that Aunt Qu finally came to take her away.

Thinking about it, Xiangxiang had it even worse than her. Her parents were both alive but didn’t want her. Fortunately, she had Grandpa Li; otherwise, she would have suffered so much more.

ps: Done, see you tomorrow.