Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 34 - 034 Implementation begins

Chapter 34: 034 Implementation begins

The topic of adoption brought silence to everyone; Li Xianglu, who lay on the kang watching the scene unfold with cold eyes, was also shocked. Adoption? When did this come up?

Upon hearing his brother’s words, Li Dafu was also slightly taken aback. Indeed, it was no longer feasible for Xiang to return to Er Fu’s house, there was too much estrangement between the mother and daughter. In such a case, his mother would certainly want the child to come live in his own house, but with such a large family to care for, Li Dafu sighed, involuntarily glancing towards where his wife was.

At this moment, Liu Aidang’s eyes also lit up. Yes, after hearing about the things said by Er Fu’s house’s Jianqing who came back, she had started to think that Xiang might not be able to return to Er Fu’s house this time, and so her own family would have to take her in. Although Xiang was a good girl and hardworking, her own family had many matters to attend to and really couldn’t allow a child, reunited with her parents, to live here. Besides, her parents were alive; whom would she belong to once she grew up? When married, wouldn’t she still call her biological mother? There’s no such thing as overnight hatred between mother and child; maybe it wouldn’t be long before the two reconciled. Wouldn’t she then be raising an ingrate?

Seeing her husband looking her way, Liu Aidang knew his thoughts aligned with hers. She couldn’t help but slightly curve her lips, gave an almost imperceptible nod, then leaned towards Mrs. Wu and said, "Mom, what are you talking about? What’s this adoption or not adoption? They’re all children of our Li Family; if there’s really no other way, then just let Xiang come to our house. We have enough food, it’s not like we’d starve her."

Li Xianglu looked on coldly at the scene before her. This great-aunt really had heavy scheming.

Er Fu, witnessing this, shook his head and said, "No, if raised in my big brother’s house, she’s still my child. This woman might come up with more trickery any day. It would be better to adopt her out to someone else’s family; then she would become their child. I’d like to see what havoc she could wreak then, and if so, we could just have the police arrest her and send her to jail!" His words were spoken through clenched teeth!

Li Dafu’s expression shifted slightly, revealing some hesitation.

Old Mrs. Wu glanced at the stupefied Ge Sanmei sitting on the floor, then at Er Fu, whose stance was rigidly firm, and sighed, "We’ll have to discuss this matter of adoption at length. Er Fu, you go back for now, and let Xiang stay at your big brother’s house for a few days. We’ll continue to discuss the adoption."

It was already dark. No matter how important, matters had to be dealt with one by one.

And so, Li Xianglu was left at Li Dafu’s house.

Liu Aidang had prepared Saozi Noodles since the men in the family hadn’t eaten at noon.

Each had a bowl, eating with loud slurps.

Li Xianglu sat on the kang, staring at her nearly full bowl of Saozi Noodles, eating half before cautiously asking, "Grandma, what does adoption mean?"

Mrs. Wu took a sip of the Saozi broth, raised her head, looked at the clueless child, and then it dawned on her—they had never consulted the child’s wishes from start to finish.

Letting out a sigh, she laid aside her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a blue handkerchief before speaking, "Xiang, it’s like this, in our Li Family, there’s a branch that’s down to a single person, called Li Huai Ren. He’s three years younger than your grandfather, so he’s your cousin. He went to war twenty years ago and only came back a few years ago. I heard he got military benefits, quite impressive. But he hasn’t married or had children all these years. Last year he came back, renovated the family house, planning to retire here. Your Third Uncle and the others discussed it and decided to adopt a child for your cousin, so when he passes away, there will be someone to tend to the funeral rites. Not long ago, your Third Uncle asked our family if we’d be willing to let you be adopted. At the time, your mom disagreed, so the matter was dropped." Here, Mrs. Wu let out another sigh. Back then, she thought Er Fu’s house was a good place, unwilling to separate her own flesh and blood, she had not agreed to the adoption, and even declined the three hundred jin of fine grain offered by Huai Ren as nursing food. Who would have thought that they had better plans, intending to sell their daughter for a higher price?

Continuing, Mrs. Wu sighed, "In the end, this matter is all about you. If you’re unwilling, nobody will force you. You can stay at your uncle’s house, with your grandma here, you have nothing to fear!"

Hearing this, Li Xianglu wasn’t certain how much genuine feeling Mrs. Wu harbored, but was still touched, her eyes reddening as she finished the noodles in her bowl with loud slurps.

In the evening, Li Xianglu went to stay in the same little cave where Li Xiangwei lived. In Li Dafu’s house, daughters were cherished, and both Li Xiangwei and Li Xianglu were the only precious daughters in their respective homes. However, the treatment each received was worlds apart.

After Li Xiangwei went to bed and put out the oil lamp, she heaved a sigh in the darkness, looked at her cousin who had also settled down, and asked, "Little sister, what are you thinking? Do you plan to be adopted?"

Li Xianglu was silent for a long time, just staring at the pitch-black ceiling, until finally she murmured, "I don’t know."

Li Xiangwei shook her head in the dark, not saying a word, and fell asleep.

Over the next few days, Li Erfu’s house was in chaos. Livid, Er Fu had his brother provide a written statement, determined to drag Ge Sanmei to the commune to file for divorce; he wanted nothing to do with this woman anymore.

That’s when Ge Sanmei calmed down, no longer daring to make a fuss. In those days, although everyone had heard about divorce, nobody had actually seen it happen—it was mainly something said to occur among city folk and was quite rare to witness.

Finally, Li Erfu’s house agreed to the adoption. After hearing the news, Li Xianglu felt an indescribable complexity in her heart, as if relieved yet also incredibly bitter.

By this time, it was already March in Guanzhong. The snow had fully melted, and the production team began assigning tasks to every household, requiring them to pull up the cornstalks from the fields and to deeply plow the wheat fields that had thawed early, in preparation for planting.

At that moment, Li Dafu’s house was packed with people, both on and off the kang – they were the elderly generation from the Li Family Village Production Team, among them a man dressed in a bleached Zhongshan suit sitting on the edge, his hair gray, long eyebrows drooping from the sides of his forehead, he looked just like the God of Longevity from New Year’s paintings.

Li Dafu opened the discussion, "Uncle Huai Ren, regarding my brother’s daughter Xiang, what do you think? The child has had a tough life, and it’s unclear what’s happening—it may be that the mother and daughter have some misaligned fates, always incompatible. She often suffers at home too, but she’s an honest child. If you’re willing to take her in, she’ll be able to wash and clean for you, no problem."

At this, the Third Uncle became a bit angry and said, "Dafu, what are you talking about? Didn’t your family disagree before? I’ve already arranged with the Sanhe Family to adopt the Sanhe boy. Changing your mind like this at the last minute isn’t good." After speaking, he also glanced at Li Huai Ren.