Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

"Stop talking, your grandfather is going inside." Zhang Yumei nudged Zhao Dage, signaling her not to say too much.

He then whispered a warning: "Don't tell anyone else this... umm, I won't say anything out of turn, but it's easy for someone to go around telling on you."

Zhao Da'e stuck out his tongue and clicked his tongue.

She didn't care if anyone tattled on her; even if Zhao Tingxu were right across from her, she would still dare to say such things.

However, Zhao Da'e felt that Zhang Yumei was quite good, at least she could distinguish right from wrong.

With Zhao Chunni and Zhang Ruifeng pushing and persuading him, Zhao Tingxu finally entered the house.

Even after entering the house, Zhao Tingxu was still rambling on: "Chunni, you have no idea. That bastard who sells water vats sells them to others for 110, but he sold them to me for 150. Isn't that ripping people off?"

"Dad, calm down. Why are you so angry? Maybe the water tank we sold you is of good quality," Zhao Chunni said. "At your age, please calm down. It's not good to be so angry."

"Good quality my ass! It's the same thing, but he sells it to me for more, as if he thinks I don't know the price." Zhao Tingxu said angrily, "Damn it, he's provoking trouble, he's taking advantage of everyone, he's gone too far..."

Zhao Da'e turned his back, covered his mouth, and chuckled.

The old man's posture is really impressive.

I have to say, Zhao Tingxu is quite amusing when he's angry...

Zhao Tingxu was pushed by Zhao Chunni to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed): "Oh, Dad, don't be so angry. Besides, my little sister is very busy, she doesn't have time to deal with this. You're thinking of bothering her with such a small matter? That's just making trouble for her. You're getting old, you should calm down. Getting too angry is bad for your health."

Zhang Ruifeng also said, "Dad, don't be angry. Didn't he return the forty yuan later? Once it was returned, it's all over."

"Heh." Zhao Tingxu couldn't help but smile when he thought of this, a strange smugness creeping onto his face: "He dares not give it to me!!! He's gone too far..."

Zhao Tingxu was on his way to pick up the water vat he had bought on a tractor when he started chatting with Zhang Ruifeng. Zhang Ruifeng lived nearby and naturally knew the price. This conversation led to trouble. Zhang Ruifeng said that the large water vat usually only cost a little over a hundred yuan, and someone had bought one a few days ago for 110 yuan—and that person was from their village, so it wasn't a fake.

Zhao Tingxu immediately became furious upon hearing this. He felt that as the renowned "head of the family," how could he have been tricked as soon as he stepped out the door? How could he let this go? Wouldn't it make him look extremely naive and brainless?

Besides, what kind of bastard was that guy selling the jars? He really ripped him off.

Zhao Tingxu was already short of money, and buying the vat was a last resort. If Zhao Yongbo hadn't smashed both the water vat and the pickle vat, rendering them useless, Zhao Tingxu wouldn't have bothered buying it. Being ripped off naturally infuriated him. He went to the seller and questioned the owner about why the water vat he was sold to was so expensive. The owner initially denied it, but later admitted it, saying, "We sold it to you, and you agreed to it at the time, you paid for it, it's legal and reasonable. We didn't steal from you. You agreed, so it's reasonable."

Zhao Tingxu naturally objected, and then an argument ensued...

As expected, Zhao Tingxu even slapped the woman selling water vats. Fortunately, the woman was also a shrew and didn't try to extort money from Zhao Tingxu. Instead, she slapped him twice across the face...

The two fought fiercely until the police arrived and calmed things down.

Finally, the owner of the tank felt that continuing the argument would negatively impact his business, so he refunded thirty or forty yuan, and that was the end of it.

Regardless of the circumstances, at least the boss refunded the money, and Zhao Tingxu was angry. As for the fact that he fought with the female boss today and was slapped twice by the plump woman and lost the fight, Zhao Tingxu forgot about it.

At home, Zhao Tingxu's catchphrase was: "You've gone too far..."

He always had an inexplicable sense of pride.

Anyway, at home, Zhao Tingxu is the head of the household, and outside he's a bandit-level figure, so he can't afford to suffer any losses.

“Yes, yes, Dad, he wouldn’t dare not give it back to you,” Zhao Chunni said. This old man’s temper was truly unmanageable: “Alright, Dad, wash your hands, we’ll make dumplings later.”

Zhao Tingxu finally quieted down, but he was still muttering to himself.

"Yumei, go and greet your grandfather. Tell him your maternal grandfather has arrived and ask him to come over for dinner," Zhao Chunni said.

Zhao Tingxu waved his hand and said, "No need. I don't need him to accompany me. I'm not visiting relatives during the New Year. Why would I need someone to accompany me?"

Zhang Ruifeng thought about it and felt that it would be impolite not to invite his father-in-law over for lunch.

The villages weren't very big, unlike in the city where even a father and son might live in opposite parts of the city. The villages were small, with perhaps one living in the north and the other in the south, but they weren't particularly far apart, only a few hundred meters.

So Zhang Ruifeng personally went to invite his elderly father, Old Zhang, over.

Old Zhang is over eighty years old and has long since retired, but he is in very good health. He can walk without anyone's help, which is remarkable for his age.

Old Zhang used to work in the county, but he retired, and his youngest son, Zhang Laoliu, took over his job.

To put it simply, only the fourth son in the Zhang family is still farming. The eldest son has passed away... Yes, the old man was over eighty, and the old man was over sixty. They hadn't been in good health for the past two years, and then they passed away.

The second son works in the village, the third son said he would open a small restaurant in the county, the fifth son owns a supermarket, and the sixth son will take over.

Only the fourth son, Zhao Da'e's uncle, stayed at home and farmed.

It wasn't because Old Zhang was too biased, which led to him arranging jobs for all his other sons, but not for his fourth son.

Firstly, Zhang Ruifeng was indeed too honest and straightforward, and he didn't quite know how to handle social situations that required socializing. Secondly, Zhang Ruifeng had originally been assigned work, as mentioned earlier, at the repair shop, but the repair shop went bankrupt…

There's not much that can be done about it.

His family arranged a job for him, but the workplace went out of business, so there was nothing they could do. However, Zhang Ruifeng now drives a tractor and can earn a decent income, which is alright.

When Old Zhang arrived at Zhao Chunni's house, Zhao Chunni quickly asked Zhang Yumei to greet him: "Your grandfather is here, he's already at the door, go and greet him quickly."

Zhang Yumei then went out to answer it.

Zhao Tingxu muttered in the room, "Why call him? Every day, I'm not an outsider, and it's not like it's my first time here. I even invited several people to have dinner with me. It's not that much. Besides, how old is their old man? It's not good for him to stumble and fall."

Zhao Chunni said, "Dad, look at what you're saying. You've come all this way, so you should let him keep you company and talk to you. It's alright, he's really in good health. He's over eighty years old and nothing's wrong with him."

Zhao Tingxu nodded in agreement: "The Zhang family members are all in good health. When we were looking for a husband for you, the first thing we looked for was their good bloodline and the fact that they don't have this or that disease."

Zhao Tingxu is right. In fact, when two families in rural areas get engaged, the family's financial situation is very important, but the family's physical condition is even more important.

The main thing to consider is whether the family is long-lived and whether they have any special diseases. In this era, diseases like tuberculosis are generally classified as difficult and complicated illnesses. Brain diseases are also something that needs to be considered.

Generally speaking, medicine was not advanced in this era. Children of people who died suddenly from conditions like cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, or heart disease such as coronary heart disease, or who did not live long, were generally not favored.

Zhang Ruifeng's family has a good lineage; the older generation was known for their longevity. Old Zhang himself inherited this, and he's already 83 years old this year. In this day and age, 83 is considered very old.

In Northeast China, there's a saying: "At seventy-three or eighty-four, even if the King of Hell doesn't call, you'll go on your own."

This statement actually refers to these two special ages, which are challenging periods.

Because most of the people here are from Shandong, and they came here as refugees during famine. That region is known as a land of etiquette, so they particularly revere Confucian culture. The two sages of Confucianism, Confucius and Mencius, correspond to the figures who lived to be seventy-three and eighty-four years old, respectively.

Since sages lived to such an old age, ordinary people should naturally not exceed their lifespan; that is the correct approach.

Hence this proverb.

Of course, people didn't really respect Confucius back then, and always called him "Confucius the Second".

Actually, this is a more "friendly" way of addressing Confucius. Although most people have criticized Confucius in this era, it must be said that Confucius was highly respected by the people, at least in his local area.

Old Zhang knew he had a hurdle in his life, and when he arrived at Zhao Chunni's house and saw Zhao Tingxu, he said, "Hahaha. My in-laws are here! I told you I had a hurdle in my life this year, and I didn't expect you to come."

Zhao Tingxu naturally knew that Old Zhang was joking, so he laughed and said, "Hmph. I'm not afraid you'll have any troubles. I just came to see you. To see if you can live to see next year."

"It's going to be tough. I'll be eighty-four next year. Even if the King of Hell doesn't summon me, I'll have to report for duty myself. I'm not going to outlive Confucius."

"Ha ha ha ha."

The two of them chatted and laughed as they entered the house.

Zhao Tingxu actually dislikes trouble. He comes to his daughter's house, and her in-laws come to accompany him. Although it is only proper etiquette, it is still quite troublesome.

Once inside, Old Zhang said, "Come, come, in-law, please sit on the kang (heated brick bed)."

"That won't do," Zhao Tingxu said with a smile. "I'm not old enough. I can't sit on the kang (heated brick bed). You'll have to be the one holding it down."

Northeast China is quite cold due to its temperature. In rural areas, earthen kang beds are the most common heating device in winter.

The earthen kang (heated brick bed) can be used for both cooking and heating.

The kang (heated brick bed) became the warmest place.

In general, there are rules about where people sit at meals. In many places, there are even rules about where people sit while drinking. The first person to accompany someone is the host, and the second person is the host. Of course, there are also other terms like "guest of honor" and "guest of second honor."

However, this is the countryside after all, so there aren't many formalities. Being able to drink alcohol is already a good thing.

Everyone was struggling to make ends meet, so they weren't that particular about food.

Red tape is something you can only think about after you've had your fill.

Before people are full, they always think about being well-fed, warmly dressed, and sleeping comfortably.

In this era, food, clothing, housing, and transportation are relatively simple. Everything is for the sake of survival.

Good families eat refined grains like rice and wheat flour, and can also prepare a few dishes. Occasionally, when life is more comfortable, they might make dumplings.

There's a saying: Which family doesn't eat dumplings during Chinese New Year?

The meaning behind this statement is actually quite heartbreaking; in reality, most people who say this are not living very well.

Old Zhang and Zhao Tingxu declined a few times, but in the end they sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Although Zhao Tingxu was not young, he was much younger than Old Zhang. Old Zhang was over eighty years old; an eighty-year-old man was truly an old fellow.

As the saying goes, "It's rare for a person to live to seventy." Even in modern times, there aren't many people over eighty who are still in good health.

In this day and age, it's truly rare to live to be over eighty. Old Zhang is considered one of the oldest people in the village, so it's only natural that he sits on the kang (heated brick bed).

Zhao Chunni warmed a pot of wine.

The wine pot was a very small one, only enough to hold about two or three ounces of wine; it couldn't hold more.

The table hasn't been set up yet; the dumplings are being wrapped.

"My dear in-law, it's been years since you last visited," Old Zhang said with a smile. "The last time I came was when your third son got married."

Zhao Tingxu nodded.

It's true that I haven't been to Zhao Chunni's house for many years. But it's not that I haven't come at all; it's just that when I do come, I don't eat.

Zhao Tingxu is someone who rarely goes to markets, so he doesn't come here often.

He's usually quite busy, either playing cards or doing farm work; he doesn't like to move around much.

Besides, why come to my daughter's house when it's not a holiday?

Historically, dealing with in-laws has been relatively rare.

This isn't a lie, or something directed at Zhao Tingxu's family. It's the truth: throughout history, very few in-laws have had a good relationship.

Generally speaking, the conflict between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law is an age-old problem that no one can truly solve. However, divorce is still relatively rare in this era. The inability to divorce, coupled with the persistent and difficult-to-resolve mother-in-law/daughter-in-law conflict, results in a difficult situation for both sets of parents to manage.

Moreover, in this kind of relationship, it's better to avoid contact. Out of sight, out of mind; ignoring each other is a very good option.

Constant interaction and financial dealings can actually make things worse. No one is ever truly at peace; everyone is somewhat unbalanced. There will always be someone who benefits, but someone else will inevitably suffer. This is an unavoidable problem.

Zhao Chunni's relationship with her mother-in-law was actually quite ordinary, a fact that Zhao Tingxu was also aware of.

After all, in a traditional era, although Zhao Chunni had a son, he was mentally challenged, so she naturally wouldn't be particularly popular.