The 1970s: Military Family Beauty

In fact, the Jiang family did not have enough food to eat, but the couple sent all the food coupons they saved back to their hometown.

The conditions of Jiang Dapeng and Hu Xiuqing were considered quite good by the villagers. The husband was a cadre and the wife had a formal job. It was very promising for the two rural kids to have made it to this point, and they were the hope of leading their family out of the dire situation.

Jiang Dapeng and his wife are from the same village, so they treat their mother's family and their parents' families equally. If they give their mother 20 kilograms of food coupons, they cannot give only 19 kilograms to their mother-in-law's family.

Ever since Hu Xiuqing got a formal job and started receiving a salary, the couple would send money home every month, and they would save up the food coupons and ask someone to bring them back together at the end of the year.

Over the years, it has become a routine. If it rains and I don't go to the post office to remit money, my family back home will ask about it when I write to them.

But over the years, the Jiang family has grown from one child to three children, and it has been very difficult for them to send money to save food coupons and medical expenses. After all, the income is fixed and it is right there. No matter how much the couple saves, it is not enough and they can only grit their teeth and swallow it.

Jiang Furong had no idea about her parents' arrangements and plans, let alone their interactions with their hometown. She could only smile in response to Zhang Haiyan's questions.

"I'm not too sure. My mom is in charge of everything in our family." Jiang Furong knew she had no say in the family affairs, so she told him her real reason for coming: "Haiyan, I came here specifically to ask you about taking the bus to the county town."

After all, Zhang Haiyan had only been working for a year or two, so she had learned a lot of things not only from her own experiences but also from chatting with colleagues.

How to take a bus to the county town, how much the ticket costs, how many times a day the long-distance bus runs, and approximately when it passes the gate of the compound are all clearly known.

However, Zhang Haiyan thinks it's not a good idea for a girl to travel alone in a car: "There are all kinds of people on the bus. Some are honest, some are not. Seeing that you are a shy girl, they will bully you! Although they dare not do anything to you, if they rub their arms against you or bump into you as they walk by, it's disgusting!"

Jiang Furong had not expected this problem.

I have only been in this time and space for two or three days. I have been in the compound. It is quiet and clean everywhere, except for Hu Xiuqing who is a little noisy. The living conditions are a bit simple.

Jiang Furong was a little worried: "But my dad is not at home, and my mom has to go to work. If I don't go to pick her up, my grandma and aunt won't know where she is. I heard she brought a lot of stuff with her, so it will be difficult for her to get there. Besides, my dad wrote to tell them that someone will pick her up. If I don't go, they will just wait for her in the county town."

My father is not at home, and I am the only able-bodied laborer.

Jiang Furong revealed her true plan: "Actually, I wanted to take a bus from the county town to the provincial capital railway station to pick them up."

It’s not that I’m in a hurry to meet up earlier, but I don’t have a phone number and can’t contact the other person. I don’t know what the situation is, so I can only wait. Isn’t that more anxious?

Zhang Haiyan was also worried about her: "Have you ever been to the provincial capital? I don't remember you even being in the county town."

Jiang Furong was surprised: "Am I so old-fashioned? Staying at home every day and not going anywhere? What's the difference between that and staying in the countryside?"

No, no, no, she is not as good as her grandma and aunt!

After she finished reading the letter, a memory emerged in her room at night. Her grandmother was the head of the Jiang family. She often went to the market in town and brought out local specialties from home to exchange for some money to buy food for the whole family.

Zhang Haiyan chuckled. "Where do you think we are now? Isn't our compound in the countryside? Outside the wall is all village land."

Jiang Furong thought about it and realized that this was the case. It was similar to where she lived before.

Three days ago, when she had just graduated and started working, she rented a house in the urban village. Later, she achieved some success in her work and bought a large flat. The selling point of the large flat is that you can enjoy the undulating rice waves from the balcony.

After wandering around, I still ended up wandering around the village.

Sister Li, who was listening to their conversation nearby, then said, "Haiyan, why don't you ask if anyone else wants to take the bus to the county town tomorrow? If you can get a classmate to accompany you, you won't be so scared."

Zhang Haiyan's eyes lit up: "Sister Li, you are really thoughtful. Why didn't I think of that? Jiang Furong, wait a minute, I'll go ask for you."

After saying that, he ran out like a gust of wind.

Jiang Furong thanked Sister Li: "Thank you, Sister Li. When I heard what Haiyan said just now, my scalp went numb. It's really scary to meet disgusting people on the bus."

Sister Li smiled and said, "Why are you being polite? Haiyan and I are colleagues. These are trivial matters. If we know something, we can definitely tell it to you."

After a while, Sister Li started to make small talk again: "Xiao Jiang, last time you talked about joining the army, did you ask about your family later?"

Jiang Furong shook her head: "I haven't had time to ask yet."

Sister Li casually asked, "How long has your grandma been staying at your house? Is she coming to visit you, or is she coming to live with you?"

The latter sentence means to ask, is grandma here to take care of her in her old age?

Jiang Furong still shook her head: "I don't know how long I'll stay, but my grandfather is still at home."

Sister Li said "oh" and stopped talking, continuing to knit a sweater with her head down.

Jiang Furong felt that Sister Li would definitely not ask such a random question. She saw the sweater in Sister Li's hand. It was a child's sweater. It had been knitted for two days and was almost finished. It looked like it was probably for a two or three-year-old child. An idea suddenly struck her, and she took the initiative to ask, "Sister Li, do you want to ask an elderly person to help take care of the child?"

"Eh?" Sister Li couldn't help but stand up: "Xiao Jiang, how did you know?"

Jiang Furong smiled. This kind of intuition must have come from her. It was just a child's sweater, plus a question about how long the old man would live there, and she inexplicably thought of hiring a nanny to take care of the child, and she was right!

"My grandma was so kind to everyone, especially children. Whenever someone in our village had a child and couldn't raise it, they would come to my grandma for help." As this memory surfaced, Jiang Furong spoke with a smile on her face. "Maybe when you asked that, it reminded me of when I was a kid, those people who came to my grandma asked the same question."

Sister Li smiled and said, "Xiao Jiang, you're really smart. That's what I'm asking about. However, it's not our family that needs an elderly person to help take care of the children. It's someone else's family that wants a nanny to cook and clean. She can go during the day and go back home at night."

Jiang Furong smiled: "Okay, I'll remember that. When my grandma comes, I'll ask her. But I can't guarantee that my grandma has time."

When grandma comes, she definitely won’t go to someone else’s house to work as a nanny.

But she brought her aunt with her, I wonder what she wants to do?

My aunt got married two years ago. I don’t know how she was willing to leave home and go out with grandma.