I Got Rich in Period Fiction
Chapter 452 My Motherland

Chapter 452: Chapter 452 My Motherland

Lin Wen’s job was busy, but not so busy that he had to work overtime day and night without going home. He would head home every two or three days, and that’s when he noticed something slightly different about his wife than usual.

However, where exactly the difference lay, he couldn’t quite put his finger on. By the time he wanted to give it some serious thought, his work piled up one thing after another, leaving him no time to ponder.

Then came a weekend in mid-August.

To enrich everyone’s leisure life, the village invited a cultural publicity team from the county town.

The cultural publicity team had also gradually become complete over the past two years.

In the years before, this cultural publicity team had all but existed in name only. Later, the team leader went door-to-door and brought many old colleagues back to work. However, some were of old age, and others, due to significant reasons, could no longer engage in cultural work. They ended up recruiting some educated youths who had returned to the city, but even now, in the year ’84, their entire county still really did not have staff who graduated from specialized schools.

Yet, when they made their debut last year, they caused a sensation throughout the entire county.

So, their performance schedule was indeed very packed and busy. If it had been other teams inviting them over, they might not have been scheduled until who knows when, but the Qiao Family Team, to be honest, the leader of the publicity team had long wanted to pay a visit.

Then, the team’s loudspeaker started broadcasting, "Attention all members, attention all members, the cultural publicity team from the county town will perform at the team headquarters tonight at seven o’clock sharp. Please bring your own stools and do not bring sunflower seeds or peanuts. Watch your children and make sure they do not run around or make noise during the performance..."

Even though the people of the Qiao Family Team had already known that the cultural publicity team was coming, many were not quite sure.

But now, with this formal notice, it was one hundred percent certain. At this time, a movie, or even a shadow play, could make the members as happy as though it was the New Year, let alone a live performance by the cultural publicity team.

It is said their program was very rich—they had singing, crosstalk comedy, and variety acts—each one of them was incredibly skilled.

Almost as if they were movie stars.

That’s why even the people from Hejia Village brought their stools and ran to the team headquarters.

The team headquarters, no matter how big, couldn’t accommodate so many people. The Qiao Family Team was still under construction, but there was a space in front of the headquarters that had been planned out and had a tent put up, electrical wires were strung up, and two large trucks were parked nearby. Inside the headquarters were places for the performers to apply makeup, as well as for storing their musical instruments.

Just like the New Year, these people had their dinner early and even Mr. Wu, swinging his stool, followed Wu Qianyun towards the direction of the team headquarters.

Qiao Qingyu hadn’t eaten dinner at home and nobody knew what she was busy with. Ever since she returned home, she would often vanish without a trace, and her family had become used to it.

Arriving at the team headquarters, there were people maintaining order; village militiamen and patrols were all present. In front of the stage, there were even more than twenty pots of fresh flowers arranged in alternating colors, with several different varieties, looking very pretty.

One act after another took place, and everyone watched with rapt attention.

Afraid of missing a single line of a song, afraid of missing even a glance from a performer.

Then the announcer, holding the microphone, stood in front of the stage and began with a pleasant voice, "Coming up next, we have Comrade Fang Yulan performing a solo on the Erhu entitled ’My Motherland.’"

Fang Yulan?

At this moment, Lin Wen sat with his eldest son and his youngest in his lap, but when he heard the announcer’s words, he was stunned.

Wasn’t this his wife’s name?

Same name and surname?

After dinner, his wife told him to take the two children to watch the performance first, saying she had something to do at the Tian family’s home. He knew because of that past incident, his wife felt a great deal of sympathy for the Tian family’s daughter-in-law who was abandoned by the educated youth university student.

And she often played matchmaker for her, trying to find her a good family. The two got along pretty well.

He didn’t dare to say anything or ask because every time he did, his wife would explode into a temper, and the events of the past were dragged out again, never-ending.

He wasn’t an utterly wicked person; if he were, he wouldn’t have feelings of guilt or repentance. Precisely because he was not, he now felt very guilty, feeling that he had been quite cruel in the past. How could he have left his beloved sons behind and go back to work in the city?

So whatever his wife wanted, he didn’t interfere. She had the final say in the household, and it was the same with his salary.

But he also had to admit, he had finally found his place here.

As Lin Wen was still in a daze, a woman appeared on the stage. She seemed very nervous, standing there not even knowing to sit down, holding an Erhu in her hand.

The younger son shouted out loud, "Mommy... Mommy..."

Lin Wen was staring hard, looking intently at Fang Yulan. She was his wife, not a namesake.

Yet this Fang Yulan felt so unfamiliar, making him think she was a completely different person from his wife.

Lin Wen held his son, his mouth agape and his mind blank for a moment, and at the same time, Fang Yulan also had a split-second of emptiness in her mind.

There were so many people below, from the Qiao Family Team and Hejia Village, almost a few thousand in total, some familiar and some not. Suddenly there was silence, as all eyes were fixed on her, as if spotlighting her under their scrutiny, making her feel as though she might faint any second.

At that moment, Qiao Qingyu called out nervously from the side, "Sister-in-law Yulan... Sister-in-law... sit down, sit down."

A chair was placed in the center of the stage, and now Fang Yulan had her hair pinned up, revealing her slender neck. Her eyebrows were naturally arched—there was no need for makeup; her lips were a light color, brightened by lipstick. She wore a sky blue cross-collar performance outfit. She was already tall, and women of that era were rarely overweight, giving her an impressively elegant and beautiful presence standing there.

Everyone saw her as both familiar and strange.

And in that moment of blankness in her mind, she heard Qiao Qingyu’s reminder, and she sat down on the chair.

The crowd below reacted all at once with a loud buzz.

Wasn’t that Old Fang’s granddaughter, Yulan?

"The Erhu, isn’t that one left by Old Fang?"

"How could it be? Wasn’t it broken back then?"

"What do you know? Being broken doesn’t mean it turned to ashes, why couldn’t it be repaired?"

"Good heavens, what’s going on with Yulan? We had no idea, could she have joined the cultural publicity team?"

"Well, certainly, how else could she be wearing a performance outfit!" someone said with conviction...

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