The third branch was full of crafty people, so how could they possibly choose that house?
They immediately spoke up.
“Let’s leave that house to Big Brother’s family. We’ll continue living here. You can just divide the courtyard into two and build a wall in the middle. We’ll make a separate entrance for ourselves. That would be the fairest arrangement!”
Although Liao Chunmei didn’t want to agree, the village chief had already nodded, so they had no choice but to accept it.
In the end, what was supposed to be a wedding homecoming banquet turned into a “family separation banquet”!
After Shen Niannian and Gu Yanzhi finished eating, they first went to the old house to help Shen Dajun clean it up.
Gu Yanzhi cut down all the weeds in the courtyard with a sickle, then shoveled them away with a spade.
Fortunately, after her third uncle’s family made a fuss, everything was divided fairly. Her father also received a large iron cooking pot, along with some pots, bowls, and other kitchenware.
There was already a stove in the old house, so they could simply put the cookware there and use it.
The house next door belonged to the family of the young man named Xiaolei from earlier. When Shen Dajun had lived in the old house before, he had been closest to their family.
His father, Shen Jianping, had grown up together with Shen Dajun and they had been good friends since childhood.
So when they heard that Shen Dajun had separated from the family and moved here, they all hurried over to help.
Especially Xiaolei’s mother, Wang Fengxia. She helped Shen Niannian clean the entire house, inside and out.
Although the house was old, it had the advantage of being spacious.
There was a very large courtyard. As for the collapsed section of the courtyard wall, Shen Niannian had already discussed it with Uncle Jianping and Xiaolei. They would find a few people tomorrow to help rebuild that section, and she would pay the labor costs.
It wouldn’t cost much to rebuild just that section of wall. Uncle Jianping had roughly estimated the cost earlier. The existing bricks could still be used; they would only need some cement and sand. There were people in the village who worked as bricklayers, and they could finish it in half a day.
Including materials and labor, it wouldn’t cost much—around ten yuan should be enough.
Labor was cheap in the village. Even building a large tiled house only cost a few hundred yuan.
So Shen Niannian left the matter in Uncle Jianping’s hands.
Actually, one of the reasons she had wanted to split from the family was so that her father could live here. With Uncle Jianping’s family right next door, they could look after him from time to time.
Especially since her father’s leg was inconvenient, she wanted Xiaolei and the others to help him out.
“Auntie, Uncle Jianping, Brother Xiaolei, you all know that my dad injured his leg, and the doctor said he needs to rest properly. He can’t recover properly over there. Now that we’ve separated from the family and he’s living here alone, I was thinking… It’s not the busy farming season right now. Could Uncle Jianping and Brother Xiaolei help look after him?
“It’ll probably mean bothering Auntie to make an extra portion of food too. But don’t worry, I’ll… including the cost of his meals, I’ll give you twenty yuan a month. Would that be okay?”
As soon as she mentioned paying them, Shen Jianping hurriedly waved his hands.
“Girl, talking about money with your uncle makes things too formal! How could I possibly take your money?”
Shen Xiaolei chimed in as well.
“Exactly, Niannian. How could we take your money? Besides, Uncle Dajun helped me plenty when I was little! Isn’t it just a matter of coming over to keep an eye on him? It won’t be any trouble!”
But Shen Niannian shook her head.
“No, Uncle Jianping, Brother Xiaolei. If you don’t accept it, I won’t feel comfortable asking you to help. My dad can’t cook, so I’ll have to trouble Auntie to make an extra portion of food. These days, everyone’s life is difficult, and every family is short on grain. How could I take your food for free? My dad wouldn’t agree either!”
In the end, Wang Fengxia spoke up.
“How about this, Niannian? Your auntie can’t take that much from you either. Ten yuan a month is enough. Twenty is really too much. That’s even more than the wages of temporary workers in the city. Besides, how much can your father eat by himself? It’s just an extra bowl of food. And as for looking after him, it’s really just giving him a hand from time to time!”
Shen Niannian thought about it and nodded.
“All right, then. Thank you, Auntie. And thank you, Uncle Jianping and Brother Xiaolei!”
Uncle Jianping’s family were all straightforward and kindhearted people. Shen Niannian figured that whenever she came over in the future, she could simply bring more things with her, and that would take care of everything.
She first gave Auntie Fengxia this month’s ten yuan, then gave Uncle Jianping the money for rebuilding the courtyard wall.
By the time they had finished with everything, it was already getting late.
She reminded her father to make sure he rested properly. Apart from the wool sweater, the two bottles of liquor, and the two tins of malted milk powder, Shen Niannian carried everything else over to the neighbors next door.
The pastries and candies could be given to Uncle Jianping’s little daughter.
The little girl was only five or six years old, and she was thrilled when she received the treats, calling Shen Niannian “Big Sister” over and over again.
Shen Niannian also brought a box of pastries to several other nearby elderly neighbors.
After all, it’s said that more gifts never hurt, and close neighbors are often more reliable than distant relatives. They all lived in the same village, so if anything happened to her father, everyone could lend a hand in time.
More importantly, she was worried that the Shen family might come over and cause trouble.
Given her father’s personality—honest, softhearted, and not very good with words—she was afraid they might deceive him and take advantage of him again.
When everyone heard that she wanted them to help keep an eye on Shen Dajun, they happily agreed. Everyone knew what the Shen family was like.
And now that Niannian had even brought them such expensive pastries, one after another they patted their chests and promised her:
“Niannian, you can go home without worrying. We’ve got your dad covered!”
“Exactly. With us here, Li Guihua and Liao Chunmei won’t dare come over and cause trouble!”
“Uncle Dajun has suffered so much all these years. We’ve all seen it. Don’t worry, Niannian!”
With their assurances, Shen Niannian finally felt at ease.
Before leaving, she also gave her father the two hundred yuan she had gotten back from Li Guihua.
Shen Dajun refused no matter what, but Shen Niannian insisted on stuffing the money under his pillow.
“Keep this money for now. You might need it someday.”
On the way home, Shen Niannian touched her completely empty pocket and couldn’t help sighing.
The little money she had secretly earned from selling steamed buns and secretly reselling things on the black market was all gone!
It was only because she had been determined to make money ever since graduating from middle school—and had found ways to do it without letting the Shen family know—that she had managed to quietly save up what she had.
Otherwise, if something like this had happened to her father today, she might not even have had any money to spend!
Looks like she would have to start thinking seriously about ways to make money again.
Although in 1979 the country had just begun promoting reform and opening up and the policy of developing the economy, the situation inside the country was still unclear. The revolutionary committees were still arresting people everywhere, and it was all too easy to be accused of “speculation and profiteering” or of “cutting off the tail of capitalism.”
Doing business still carried considerable risks.
Especially since Gu Yanzhi was a soldier, and his parents both worked in factories. She couldn’t afford to be branded with some kind of bad political label.
If it ended up affecting him or his family, that would be a serious problem.
She was still thinking about all this when the bicycle suddenly came to a stop.
Shen Niannian stared blankly at Gu Yanzhi as he turned around.
She saw him lower his eyes and reach into his clothes, pulling something out.
“What is it?”
Curious, Shen Niannian hopped off the bicycle.
Gu Yanzhi pursed his lips and held the “something” out to her.
“I heard you sigh just now. I’m sorry, Niannian. I forgot. We’re already married—we’re family now. I should have given this to you a long time ago!”