Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Zhao Tiesheng was rebuffed and looked displeased, but Zhao Da'e had already left, so he had no choice but to return to the front yard.

Inside the main room, Zhao Tingxu was also smoking a pipe. His older brother, Zhao Tingming, was also in the room. The two brothers were silent, just smoking in a depressed mood.

Zhao Tiesheng entered the house and saw Zhao Tingming there as well, but he kept his head down and didn't say anything. Wang Guixiang was boiling water when she started scolding him: "Tiesheng, can't you be a little more dignified? So what if your wife isn't back? Look at you, always causing trouble, making a scene every day. If you don't want to live, your father and I still have a few days to live."

Zhao Tiesheng hung his head, looking somewhat dazed: "I didn't cause any trouble."

"You haven't made a fuss yet?" Wang Guixiang's voice immediately rose: "You do nothing all day but wander around. Acting like you can't afford to live, what's the big deal? If your wife doesn't come back, fine, I don't care anyway. She gave birth to two girls, and she's still putting on airs. If she gave me a grandson, I'd be willing to kneel down and kowtow to her."

She's incompetent, yet she has such a terrible temper. What use is a woman like that? If you don't have a son, everyone will dare to bully you. What will you do when you're old? You won't even have anyone to wear mourning clothes for you; who will carry the funeral banner for you?"

In Dongtaizi Village, there's a custom that when an elderly person passes away, their son will carry a soul-summoning banner to send them off. If they don't have a son, they'll find a way to adopt one, and then send the deceased off and bury them.

This custom has remained unchanged since the older generation. Many people have sons not for the sake of their lives, but perhaps because they want someone to bury them and give them peace in the afterlife.

Inside, Zhao Tingming said with dissatisfaction, "Sister-in-law, even if there's no son, the village can still bury him. His fifth and third brothers passed away a couple of years ago, leaving no male heirs. He had no wife or children, but the village still arranged for everyone to bury him, didn't they?"

Shouldn't you be more open-minded? The village bulletin board says every day: "Boys and girls are the same." Your old-fashioned thinking, all you think about is having a grandson, that won't do. Besides, I think your eldest granddaughter, Da'e, is much better than any young man. Capable, sweet-talking, and good-looking. She'll definitely amount to something.”

Wang Guixiang retorted, "Brother, no offense, but you have five daughters and still want a son. It's normal for my Tiesheng to want a son, isn't it?"

Zhao Tingming laughed and said, "If you want sons, fine, then have a few more! What's the big deal?"

"Wouldn't they be fined?" Wang Guixiang said, dissatisfied.

Zhao Tingming paused for a moment, then said, "You're afraid of spending money, but you want a grandson. You want an ox to pull the millstone, but you don't feed it grass. That's impossible. So you can only let your silly nephew sleep on a cold kang (heated brick bed), relying entirely on the heat. There's no other way."

Zhao Tingming took a sip of the cheap tea with tea dust, took a drag of his cigarette, and stared at Zhao Tingxu: "Hey, what are you thinking, father? Your second son's wife has been back at her parents' house for half a month now, and you don't have any ideas at all?"

What? You're done? Do you want your second son to be a bachelor for life and then get a divorce? That's why I'm saying this: nobody else cares about you, but my sister-in-law is always nagging. What girl would want to live with her like that? She's always holding her grandson, today's grandson, tomorrow's grandson. Isn't a granddaughter a person? Does having a girl mean you should die? Things are already like this. My opinion is that life should continue as it is. As the old saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, there's always firewood to burn.

First, go and bring the goose's mother back; then life will feel real. Don't wait too long, or it might really be gone forever.