Chapter 7 Section VII

The folk proverb says that a son's daughter-in-law is indispensable to a father, and a coffin to a son is indispensable to a son. Marrying the daughter-in-law of Sanwazi Jianfeng into the door, the knot in the old man's heart suddenly dissipated.The three daughters-in-law of the three sons are all married now, and he has fulfilled his obligations as a father; as for the coffins that the sons return to him and his wife, let them do it according to their conscience!He is not yet sixty this year, he has not seen any lingering symptoms in his body, and he feels that his spirit is still good. He is just the age of an old boy as the farmer said. The coffin is not urgent, so the children can slowly prepare it in the future.

It's not easy!Ever since this daughter-in-law with a blunt northern Shaanxi accent stepped into the gatehouse and became a member of the triheyuan that seemed uncoordinated for the time being, the fifty-eight-year-old owner of the Zhuangjiayuan couldn't help but sigh that the daughter-in-law for Sanwazi finally got married. Yes, it's really not easy! Lu Kejian from Lujiabao ranks eighth in the family's Ke family. He is known as Lu Laoba. He is a shrewd and capable man, but his mouth is sealed by an upper-middle peasant, and he cannot speak freely in the streets of Lujiabao. and doing things.Upper middle peasants, also known as well-to-do middle peasants, and peasants are humblely called big-bellied middle peasants.The government's class line in the countryside is to rely on the poor and lower-middle peasants, unite the middle peasants, and attack the isolated landlords and rich peasants.How should we treat the upper middle peasants?There are no express regulations, and it seems to be in the cracks between two hostile camps. I really can't tell what it's like.During the team meeting, the team cadres shouted in a high-pitched voice on the radio, the poor and lower-middle peasants stood on the left, and the wealthy and bad people stood on the right. The formation is clear and cannot be confused.At this time, on this occasion, Lu Laoba couldn't find the place where he should stand.In such an embarrassing situation, Lu Kejian has developed a magnanimous mind, willing to see an unobtrusive corner squatting down, smoking a pipe with his head curled up.

This uncomfortable situation of not being able to stand up and squat down, although it is uncomfortable, after a long time, I get used to it.After all, the two things that made the old man most uncomfortable have passed away.In the land reform in 1950, Lu Kejian, a young farmer in his early thirties, spent half a year tormenting his short black hair to more than half of his white hair, turning it into the color of a blue short-haired rabbit with mixed blue and white.Thank God, the cadres in the gray uniforms in the land reform work group really did what they said they should do, and set him up as a well-to-do middle peasant, and finally kept their existing land, farm animals, and courtyard houses.He patted his blue rabbit-like hair, crying and laughing like crazy, as long as he was not classified as a landlord or a rich peasant, it didn't matter if he plucked all his hair!

Unexpectedly, ten years later, the "Four Cleansing Movement" came again.This time, after half a year, more than half of Lu Kejian's black-silk blue rabbit-fur-like hair fell out. Every morning when he washed his face, he rubbed it with his hands, and the stubble fell into the basin.There were originally three well-to-do middle peasant households in Lujiabao, one was promoted to landlord and the other was promoted to rich peasant. The two old men who had bent their waists were pushed into the small queue. As a punishment, they cleaned up every morning. The streets and alleys of Lujiabao.Thankfully, Lu Kejian escaped again by chance, and still maintained his original identity as an upper-middle peasant. This time, he didn't have the slightest thought to appreciate the high-profile of those "four cleanup cadres" who were seeking truth from facts.He was not pushed into the rank of landlord and rich peasant. It was entirely out of luck, out of luck, that insider information came out from the people close to the working group, saying that in order to reflect the policy, all three upper-middle peasant households could not be promoted. As landlords and rich peasants, one household must be left to reflect the policy, otherwise, Lujiabao would not have the special status of upper middle peasants.

After the "Four Cleansing Movement" ended, Lu Kejian touched his bald head, winked at his wife, and shared his new life experience: "Tell me, why did the working group work as a middle peasant in Sanhu?" Here, we were specially selected to 'reflect the policy'? First, we didn't intercede with the working group, and second, we didn't find anyone to walk away, why?" His wife didn't answer, she knew that he didn't actually ask her, but wanted to tell her the mystery Sure enough, Lu Laoba asked and answered himself very proudly: "I have no enemies in Lujiabao! Without enemies, no one will bite us in front of the working group. The working group will say that we are sincerely walking with the poor and lower-middle peasants." Damn it. So! Let us stay and continue to be middle peasants."

This was the only reason why Lu Kejian survived the disaster that he could come up with after searching his stomach.After gaining this life experience, he was undoubtedly very excited. He couldn't even restrain the impulse. He ran to the yard and shouted at his son, daughter-in-law and grandson who had closed the door and turned off the lights, and listened to his instruction: "Do you understand? Don't be crazy! You just have to say a word, offend a person, and this person will bite us every time you move, and you can bear it! People are not afraid of being good, but we are afraid! Our dangerous elements will rise to... ...Understood? It's like picking two baskets of eggs for the first episode. People dare to touch us, but we dare not touch people! I always say you, just work, don't talk, cadres say good, bad, wrong, and right. I have no opinion at all. If it’s okay, everyone is good. If it’s bad, everyone is bad. It’s not our family that suffers, so there’s no need for us to gossip. The cadres can’t be offended, and the commune members can’t afford to offend either. This time, you all understand, right? Don’t blame my housekeeper for being strict, right?”

The whole family is convinced of the old parents. The "Four Cleanups" ended and the "Cultural Revolution" began. The work points in Lujiabao Village have been depreciated year by year, but the prices of the components have been rising day by day.The poor and lower-middle peasants are becoming more and more valuable, not to mention the land-rich elements, the middle peasants are not very popular anymore, and the upper-middle peasants are almost no different from the landlords and rich peasants.Lu Kejian was troubled by the daughter-in-law of Sanwazi, not to mention the other conditions, when the middle peasant was mentioned, all normal women and their parents shook their heads and waved their hands.No one is sure, maybe a certain movement starting tomorrow will easily upgrade the upper-middle peasants into rich peasants or landlords. Who would open their eyes and walk into such a suffering family?Seeing that the fine hair on Sanwazi's upper lip turned into a black beard, and scabies pimples gradually gathered on his cheeks, any parent knows that the child's body has reached the critical age for marriage, but he can only Just procrastinating like this... Thank God, this girl from northern Shaanxi suddenly came to Yangjiaxie Village. She didn't think she was a middle peasant.

After observing the new daughter-in-law for a month, the Kejian old man found that this baby is good, hardworking and frugal, which seems to be expected.The women who came from the barren mountainous area of ​​northern Shaanxi to the wealthy Guanzhong generally show that they can endure hardships, work harder, and be less particular about life than the locals.The fourth sister has already started working in the field, she is active and will not be lazy, especially when doing piece work points, she often earns the maximum work points.The flaws of this new daughter-in-law are also obvious. She is not strong at needlework. It is said that there is no cotton grown in northern Shaanxi, so naturally she can't spin and weave.The craftsmanship on the stove is also not good, and it can barely roll out thick noodles, which taste loose and soaked, without any gluten.It is said that northern Shaanxi mainly eats artichokes and millet, and rarely eats wheat, so naturally they cannot learn the technique of rolling noodles.All these two, as a housewife in Guanzhong, have to be said to be two regrettable deficiencies. However, it is not difficult to learn from my wife who has excellent weaving and cooking skills.What worries Lu Laoba the most is that this woman in northern Shaanxi does not understand the very strict etiquette in Guanzhong villages. For example, when relatives or other guests come to the house, the parents should receive them. Should avoid, should not nag.When my uncle came, Fourth Sister actually leaned against the table and asked this and that, which was unseemly.For example, at home, one should walk steadily and talk steadily, but Fourth Sister actually hums some tunes and walks in and out, which is not dignified.All of these need to be adjusted slowly so that the a bit crazy mountain women can learn the etiquette in Guanzhong as soon as possible, especially for a middle-class peasant family like myself, who can't tolerate crazy elements!

In any case, Lu Laoba's mood is relatively good.Transplanting cotton seedlings in the cotton field, during the break between work, the team leader publicized Dazhai’s method of political evaluation of workers. He sat on the soil beam, held a dry pipe, and stared at an ant nest next to his feet.The ant nest is very small, but there is a small hole as thick as a straw, and there is a pile of fine sand at the entrance of the hole, which proves that the hole has reached the sand layer under the soil layer.A few ants crawled out of the hole and burrowed into the clod in the ditch, and one by one the little ants burrowed into the hole with a grain of food in their mouths.He was fascinated by it, watched it with relish, and was full of interest, so he ignored what the captain said about political evaluation.

Lu Laoba continued to observe the ants carefully.This group of little creatures quietly dug a small hole as thick as a straw in the wide field along the lower river, and then busily went in and out, looking for the next grain of food, biting it into the hole, raising their children, and hurrying back and forth. Happy.The ants did not dare to think of occupying the entire river, let alone compete with the birds for the sky, but quietly satisfied with a small hole as thick as a straw.When people plow or weed, they accidentally destroy their nests. They don't complain, and they don't have the ability to launch a war of revenge against humans. They just dig out the holes again and continue to live.

Lu Laoba seemed to feel that he was an ant, and the stalk-thick nest was no different from his courtyard house.In the wide and fertile riverside of the river, he now occupies the courtyard with only a little more than one-third of the land, and he goes in and out every day, busy.Any kind of movement can completely destroy his nest, just like destroying this small ant nest. Lu Laoba smiled imperceptibly, laughing at his own victory, all the victories of foreign and domestic policies.He and his family members of nearly ten people followed the foreign policy of being patient and dealt with all matters outside the family. The most important result shown in decades is that they did not capsize in the increasingly complicated Lujiabao .Just keep this one, suffer a little bit, bear a little bit of anger, what's the big deal? In the village, he is a turtle-like person who doesn't fight for work points, doesn't retaliate when he scolds, and it seems that anyone can touch his bald head.But at home, Lu Laoba is a sacred and awe-inspiring parent.He runs the family strictly, and his family law is strict. None of his sons, daughters-in-law, or grandchildren dare to offend him.The daughters-in-law empty the urinal for him in the morning.The daughters-in-law handed him meals three times a day with both hands.The daughters-in-law did not dare to turn their lips back to him.The real economic power of the family of ten is firmly in his hands, and it is up to him to make the final decision on whether all expenses are reasonable or not.There are not many such respectable family elders in Lujiabao, let’s just talk about the captain, who learned the method of recording work points in Dazhai, and commanded the members all the way. But what about at home?His daughter-in-law dared to call him by name, but he couldn't offend her.Lu Laoba is living a good life. He moved his eyes away from the ant nest, staring indifferently at the scorching sun at noon in the fourth month of the lunar calendar, and made up his mind: he should give his third son a family training, let him understand how to be a good husband, this little thing I just got acquainted with my daughter-in-law, so I don't look like I'm big or small.Once a man loses his husband's posture in the eyes of women, he will never want to live like a man in his life, and there will be endless troubles.In Lujiabao Village, there are no crop yards where women are in charge of the household.Women, they are careful, but they can't tell the difference between big and small, near and far, inside and outside.It is necessary to make this mountain girl who obviously lacks strict family education accept the Lu family's etiquette as soon as possible, so that she can be harmonious and unified as soon as possible in this crop yard that is always lurking in danger...Teaching a daughter-in-law is better than training a son first.