Reborn in 1966

Chapter Forty-Two Trivial Matters

Grandma carefully calculated the money and receipts she received, and said to Shen's mother with a smile, "Peihua's mother, we've received quite a lot this year. I think we'll get even more grain than in previous years when we distribute it in a couple of days."

Mother Shen said, "I've also heard that the harvests in the past few years have been better than in previous years. We can finally eat our fill."

Grandma said, “I’ve thought it over. We got a lot of cloth coupons this year, and it’s a good harvest. Let’s make some new clothes for the children. Look at our two daughters, they’re so pretty, but they’re not dressed well. It makes me feel bad. When we go to the commune, let’s go to the supply and marketing cooperative to get some cloth and make two blouses.”

Mother Shen said, “Mother, there’s no need. They are still young and growing. They won’t wear the new clothes for more than a few days. I think we should make two new outfits for you and my father. We’ve been back for almost ten years and we haven’t seen you or my father make a single new outfit.”

Just then, Mr. Shen walked in and heard his wife say this, and he also said, "I think Peihua's mother is right."

After being persuaded by Mr. and Mrs. Shen and their children, Grandma finally agreed to make a new outfit for Grandpa and Grandpa for the New Year. Mr. and Mrs. Shen entrusted the task of buying the fabric to Uncle Shen and his wife. A few days into the twelfth lunar month, when Uncle Shen and his wife went home for the weekend, they brought back several pieces of fabric. These pieces of fabric were for Grandpa and Grandma, Second Grandpa and Second Grandma, and Third Grandma to make new outfits. They were either black or dark blue, colors that were quite suitable for the elderly.

Pei Yin thought it would be very festive for the elderly to wear a silk Tang suit cotton-padded jacket for the New Year. Unfortunately, at that time, the supply and marketing cooperatives only sold cotton fabrics in a few colors, and almost everyone wore clothes made of this kind of fabric. If you were to wear a silk garment and parade around the market, you would probably be labeled a counter-revolutionary in some places, and the crime would be pursuing capitalist enjoyment.

When Tian Lingling got married, her family gave her a sewing machine as a dowry. There were only a few such machines among all the households in Shenjia Village. After the fabric was bought, Shen's mother and Tian Lingling took the measurements for the elderly. Shen's mother made five tops whenever she had time, hoping that the elderly could wear new clothes for the New Year.

During the Lunar New Year, Peitian's biggest concern is when to slaughter the pig.

The pig at home has been raised for over a year. It's not exactly fat and strong, but it weighs over 100 pounds. These past few days, Peitian has been wandering around the pigpen in the backyard whenever he has free time. When his grandmother saw him, she asked him what he was looking for. Peitian said he was checking if the pig had lost any weight. It's almost the twelfth lunar month, and more and more families in the village are slaughtering pigs. In just a few days, we've already heard of two families slaughtering pigs.

Grandma chuckled and said, "You little glutton, if you keep wandering around like that, even the pigs will be scared of you. Don't worry, we'll definitely slaughter our pig today, and then we'll have a prosperous New Year."

Last year the harvest was bad, and we didn't get much grain. We only made dumplings for the New Year. This year, we must make sure the children have a good meal.

Grandma is getting old, and her thinking is a little different from before. Seeing her children so hungry that they look like they have nothing but bones on their heads, she feels terrible. Whenever there's something good to eat, she thinks of making it for the children. Last year was a bad year, and everyone in the village was struggling. Fortunately, this year the village organized various activities, and both farming and other sideline businesses are doing very well. Grandma just wants the children to eat more; they're still growing, and how can they grow up healthy if they're hungry all the time? As long as her elderly relatives have something to eat, that's enough. She'll definitely slaughter the pig she's raised for a year so the children can enjoy a few more meals with meat.

As December approached, more people went to the commune's supply and marketing cooperative to buy things. The village then brought out the oxcarts and hired someone to manage them. A trip to the city would cost a certain amount, which was considered an additional source of income for the village.

Pei Yin wasn't very interested in going into the city. These days, she would buy things at the supply and marketing cooperative. If she could go to the department store, the sales clerks there were all incredibly arrogant. They were all people with thin upper and thick lower eyelids, and they would ignore you when you bought something. They didn't treat customers like gods at all.

Peihua and Peijun were quite interested. Their grandmother made a list and gave it to them. They took advantage of the fact that Aunt Shengquan's bicycle was not in use and rode it to the commune. Since the commune was located in the county seat, the two of them went to the county department store and bought everything on their grandmother's list. They also went to the Xinhua Bookstore and used the money that their family had given them to buy some comic books to take back for themselves or for their younger siblings.

When Peihua and Peijun returned with the gifts, Peitian and Peizhi were very excited. These were things for the family to use during the New Year, things they had been looking forward to all year. Especially when they saw the comic books in their older brother's hands, the two of them jumped up excitedly. In this era of material scarcity and spiritual poverty, anyone who had a comic book was admired by many. Sometimes, just to borrow a comic book from someone, one would not only give up their favorite things in exchange, but also have to agree to some requests. Peitian had agreed to many requests in order to see other people's comic books. As far as Peiyin knew, in the summer, Peitian helped a friend in the village catch cicadas in the woods by the village during the hottest time of the day for a comic book. After catching cicadas for several days, Peitian's eyes were red.

Ms. Shen didn't say anything about her two sons buying comic books. In her opinion, her two sons were already adults, and she should support their decisions. Besides, she was now a private teacher at the brigade school, and she was paid work points, which were for able-bodied laborers. She could afford to buy a few books for her children.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, the village school closed for the holidays as soon as the twelfth lunar month began.

Shen's mother helped clean the house, prepare for the New Year, and most importantly, make clothes.

Because of Tian Lingling's sewing machine, several neighbors would come over to use it whenever they had free time to make new clothes for their families for the New Year. With so many people around, gossip started to spread, and Peiyin learned even more of the village's gossip.

That day, Chen Qiuping brought the already cut clothes to be made. Shen's mother had already finished one and was sewing on a button. The two of them worked and talked, and their conversation eventually turned to Shen Peihong's family.

After the team distributed the work points, Shen Peihong's family received very little money. The two elderly people in the family were also old, and the little money, ration coupons, and grain they had would probably only last them until the end of the year.

After Shen Peihong's wife returned home, she had a big fight with Shen Peihong. But no matter how much they fought, it was still the same old story. Shen Peihong's eldest daughter, whom everyone in the village called "Big Girl," decided to find herself a husband and get the betrothal gifts first so she could use them herself. So, she went to Aunt Hua's place.

Shen Peihong's eldest daughter is truly a good child. After telling Aunt Hua about her family's difficulties, she said that since her mother is weak and her father doesn't care, she can make her own decisions. As long as the other family can afford the dowry, it doesn't matter if the family is poor; they are all capable and can manage.

Aunt Hua happened to know a family in Zhao Village, the same village as her aunt. They were also surnamed Zhao, and according to seniority, Aunt Hua would have to call her Second Aunt. The young man was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was an only child, and his mother was the only one in the family. The two of them lived in three small rooms with a small courtyard. The young man had worked for so many years to get married and had saved some money. In the first few years, he was thinking of finding a good wife, but as he got older, he just wanted to find a woman who could help tidy up the house and take care of his mother.

After Aunt Hua informed both families of the situation, the two young people felt that they could still get along, so they thought they would get engaged and give the betrothal gifts to Shen Peihong's family first. Who knew that things would take a turn for the worse at this point.

Shen Peihong liked to wander around. Sometime during the day, he went to a small mountain village in Qinghe and took a fancy to a family there. He returned without a word with the betrothal gifts. The three women in the family didn't know about the money given as betrothal gifts until Da Ni told her parents that she wanted to get engaged. Only then did Shen Peihong tell Da Ni, "You already have a husband's family. What's the point of getting engaged? Your father has already taken back your betrothal gifts."

Shen Peihong's family was in an uproar.

Da Nizi and the young man from Zhao Family Village were already in love, but this guy actually married two women.

Da Nizi absolutely refused, and said to Shen Peihong, "Girl, I don't want to. If you're willing, you can marry him."

Shen Peihong said, "Your father has already accepted the betrothal gifts. As the saying goes, marriage is arranged by parents and matchmakers. You think you can make your own decisions about marriage? I think you're just being stubborn."

Shen Peihong's wife was furious. She plopped down on the ground and started wailing. She said that Shen Peihong had been idle all year, only caring about himself and not taking care of the family, young and old. She said that among all the families in Shenjia Village, who was like him? She was so unlucky to have married such a scoundrel. Her daughter was also unlucky to have such a father. She said that no father would marry off his daughter like this, accepting the betrothal gifts without asking any questions and not even knowing whether the man his daughter was going to marry was good or bad.

Although Shen Peihong was a scoundrel, he had one redeeming quality: he didn't beat his wife. He also had another flaw: he didn't like to talk. You could say whatever you wanted, and he would just sit there and listen. No matter how nasty his wife's insults were, he wouldn't show any change in expression; he would just let it go in one ear and out the other.

Seeing that things had come to this point and things were about to get complicated, Shen Peihong's mother realized that although her eldest granddaughter wasn't a stunning beauty, she was still a virgin, honest and hardworking, always putting aside one task for the housework and the fields. She couldn't let such a good child be ruined just because the family was poor.

Having exhausted all other options, Shen Peihong's parents went to her fourth grandfather and asked him to come to their home to seek justice.

Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes. Fourth Grandfather saw that Da Nizi and the young man from Zhao Village were getting along quite well, and the young man from Zhao Village himself knew that he was a good person. He wanted the two young people to get together, but there was Shen Peihong in the middle. He was the mother-in-law, and he had the right to veto the children's marriage.