Early morning.
Sunlight pierced through the heavy mist and fell across the mountains and farmland. People in the brigade had already started getting up one after another, hurrying to cook breakfast before heading to work.
Cooking smoke curled upward, and the air was filled with the smell of food from every household.
Even though life was difficult these days, it was still full of the warmth of everyday living.
Actually, Hong’an Brigade had not suffered too severely from the disaster.
Although the entire previous year had been plagued by drought, a heavy snowfall came at the end of the year. The brigade had already mobilized all the commune members to gather the accumulated snow and pile it into the mountain reservoir.
When spring arrived, the snow in the reservoir melted, finally easing the disaster completely.
Now, it was almost time for the busy farming season of double harvest.
Looking at how well the crops were growing in the fields, the commune members finally felt reassured. They had hope for the future again.
Many young men and women who originally had no plans to marry were now preparing to hold weddings this year.
Getting married in this era was simple too.
A bride price of three to five yuan and a set of furniture. That was already considered a respectable marriage.
When Lu Yuning got up, she discovered that the elders in the family were actually discussing Fifth Cousin’s wedding arrangements.
Grandma Lu and Eldest Aunt Lu were talking.
Grandma Lu said, “Tell your father-in-law to find time to take out a good piece of wood from the storage shed. After the busy farming season is over, we’ll make a set of furniture. And hurry up with building the house on the family homestead too…”
Fortunately, over the past few years, they had already slowly saved enough green bricks and mud bricks. Now they only needed to apply to the brigade for some gray roof tiles, then buy a few more from the tile factory when the time came.
Eldest Aunt Lu nodded slightly.
“Mhm. His father and I have also saved ten yuan. We’ll handle the bride price ourselves.”
This was also the rule of the old Lu family.
Although each branch of the family still ate together, every month they would give Grandma Lu a fixed amount of money.
If they only worked farm labor in the brigade, then their work points would be counted and handed over to Grandma Lu. When the work points were settled mid-year and at year-end, the grain and money exchanged from them would be counted as communal family expenses.
These communal expenses generally covered things like the children’s schooling, making clothes and shoes, and the daily meals everyone ate at home.
Eldest Uncle Lu and Eldest Aunt Lu had six sons, so the two of them consciously contributed more as well.
They couldn’t very well shamelessly live off the work points and grain earned by the two younger brothers’ families.
After all, grain was incredibly precious these days.
Eldest Uncle Lu worked as the head of security at the brigade’s agricultural machinery station. His salary was sixty-four yuan, and with various subsidies added in, it came to around seventy-two yuan altogether.
In this era, that was a huge sum of money.
But with so many children needing houses built and marriages arranged, they had spent quite a lot over the years.
Oh, right.
When it came to children from each branch getting married, that was the responsibility of their own branch.
Grandma Lu would not use much of the communal money she managed for that. At most, she would only contribute small things like candy and peanuts.
Over the years, several cousins from the eldest branch had married one after another. No matter how much they tried to save, the cost of building houses could not be avoided.
The wages Eldest Uncle Lu had saved over the years had basically all been spent.
And that was already with both Eldest Uncle Lu and Eldest Aunt Lu being very frugal.
Eldest Aunt Lu also worked in the brigade earning work points for grain rations.
Otherwise, life for the eldest branch would have been much harder these past years.
Like this time with Fifth Cousin’s marriage, even just listening to it, Lu Yuning felt like the money was flowing away like water.
First Cousin was better off because he was in the army. His salary and subsidies were enough to support his family.
The year before last, his military rank had been promoted, and his wife was finally allowed to follow the army. First Sister-in-law had taken the children and gone with him.
Second Cousin worked as a permanent employee at the town’s green brick factory and earned twenty-seven yuan a month.
The factory provided married staff housing.
Second Sister-in-law worked there as an accountant, earning forty-eight yuan a month.
So most of the time, Second Cousin’s family lived at the brick factory in town. But like First Cousin, every month they sent some filial money back to Grandpa Lu, Grandma Lu, Eldest Uncle Lu, and Eldest Aunt Lu.
Ten yuan per person each month.
That was already quite a lot.
Third Cousin worked as a cashier at the forestry farm, earning twenty-three yuan and eight mao per month. He also sent ten yuan home every month to Grandpa and Grandma, along with Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt.
First Cousin had three sons, while Second Cousin and Third Cousin each had two sons.
First Cousin’s own salary was high, so the burden on him wasn’t heavy.
As for Second Cousin and Third Cousin, both husband and wife in each family had salaries, and they didn’t have too many children, so their financial pressure wasn’t heavy either.
It was just that the Lu family had too many people.
Half of the money sent back by the three older cousins was left for Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt, while the other half went to Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu. The two elders also used most of that money to subsidize the family’s daily expenses.
After all, life really had been difficult these past two years.
Then there was Eldest Cousin Sister from Second Uncle Lu’s branch.
She taught at an elementary school in the city and earned thirty-eight yuan a month. Her husband worked as a police captain at the city Public Security Bureau and earned fifty-eight yuan a month.
Eldest Cousin Sister only had two children now.
Her husband’s parents were also still working in government offices and drawing salaries, so their burden was the lightest of all.
Every month, just like First Cousin and the others, Eldest Cousin Sister also sent ten yuan home.
Then there was Fourth Cousin.
He had only been married a few years. Before, he had worked as a temporary worker at the furniture factory in town, and only became a permanent employee before the famine years.
This year, his salary had been raised a little, and now he earned twenty-five yuan and three mao a month.
Fourth Sister-in-law worked as a waitress at the state-owned restaurant in town and earned twenty-three yuan a month.
So Fourth Cousin, like the other cousins, also sent ten yuan home every month.
But there were still younger cousins attending school, and that was another major expense.
Even though tuition was only five mao per person for elementary school, there were currently two children attending primary school, Lu Yuning’s Third Brother and Twelfth Cousin from Second Uncle Lu’s branch.
Junior high school cost one yuan per semester.
Tenth Cousin from Eldest Uncle’s branch and Ninth Cousin from Second Uncle’s branch were both in junior high school. One in second year, one in third year.
Then there was high school, which cost five yuan per semester.
Fifth Cousin from Eldest Uncle’s branch had already graduated from high school a year ago, but Seventh Cousin was still in his final year of high school.
Sixth Cousin from Second Uncle’s branch had also only just graduated from high school.
Lu Yuning’s Eldest Sister was the same age as Fifth Cousin and had also graduated a year ago. She was currently preparing to take the exam for a teaching position at the town’s elementary school.
And Lu Yuning’s Eldest Brother was the same age as Seventh Cousin, so both of them were still in their final year of high school.
Just counting this huge family, one could easily imagine how much they had spent over the years.
Even though they were extremely frugal about schooling, there were still unavoidable daily necessities like exercise books, scratch paper, pens, and ink.
Those were still expensive.
Because of all these reasons, the Lu family still lived very tightly, calculating every expense carefully just to make ends meet.
That was why Eldest Aunt had said she and Eldest Uncle had only managed to save ten yuan.
It really wasn’t because they were incapable.
In fact, they were already very capable.
But whenever they managed to save a few hundred yuan, it had to be used to build houses. Otherwise, there simply wouldn’t be enough room for everyone to live.
The old family house had already been expanded several times, and only then had the children of the three branches each managed to get a small room of their own.
When Lu Yuning grew older, she would have to move into her Eldest Sister’s room.
After all, Eldest Sister had reached marriageable age.
If she passed the exam and got the teaching position at the town elementary school, then she would move into the town dormitory, and the empty room would happen to go to Lu Yuning.
Lu Yuning actually thought this arrangement was pretty good.
Listening to Grandma Lu and Eldest Aunt discussing how to prepare for the wedding, the whole morning passed by along with breakfast.
After breakfast, the cousins who had returned home on farming leave to help all carried their hoes and headed to the fields.
Grandma Lu stayed home to feed the family’s pigs.
Actually, the various branches of the Lu family had already split their household registrations and divided the housing. Each branch had its own assigned section with its own front entrance.
But everyone was used to living together as one big family, so they still ate and lived their daily lives at the old couple’s place.
That was why each household had also opened small side doors for easy movement between the homes.
In truth, Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt’s home was basically connected to the old couple’s courtyard. It was only because a small section had been separated for the elders and a wall had been built that the brigade allowed them to officially split the household registration.
And once they split the households, each household could raise one pig.
That was how the family could justify building a large pigsty and raising two sows and one boar.
At the end of the year, they would slaughter one for meat, while normally they waited for the two sows to give birth to piglets to sell.
They could also raise more hens.
Each household was allowed three chickens, so with four households together, they could raise twelve.
But Grandma Lu wasn’t greedy.
She only raised ten chickens—one rooster and nine hens.
Sometimes they hatched chicks to sell, but most of the time they kept the hens for laying eggs so the family could eat them and nourish their health.
There were also ducks, geese, and all the other animals a farming household could raise.
Basically, if it could be raised on a farm, the Lu family raised it.
At only five years old, Lu Yuning already held a huge broom to sweep the courtyards, helped Grandma Lu hang laundry out to dry, went to cut pig grass, and dug up earthworms to feed the chickens.
Once the work in the fields became busy, she would also carry a basket to pick up fallen wheat ears and rice stalks…
In short, everyone in the Lu family spent every day bustling with work.
The complete opposite of this was Lu Yuxin’s family next door.
For three generations, she was the only daughter in the family, so everyone doted on her dearly.
According to the family genealogy, Lu Yuxin’s grandfather was someone Lu Yuning had to call Ninth Grandpa.
He was Grandpa Lu’s clan elder brother and belonged to the Ninth Branch of the family tree.
Ninth Grandpa Lu and Ninth Grandma Lu treasured Lu Yuxin to the point of being afraid she would break if held in their palms, and afraid she would melt if held in their mouths.
Her family also had nine cousins and three biological older brothers.
Altogether, she also had twelve older brothers.
And the entire family adored only her.
She was the same age as Lu Yuning.
While Lu Yuning had to help Grandma Lu with all kinds of household chores, Lu Yuxin didn’t have to do any of that.
Instead, she had her Third Brother and younger cousins protecting her as they ran around the entire brigade playing.
From the plotline provided by the system, Lu Yuning knew that the original host had always envied Lu Yuxin and felt that she was much happier than herself.
And whenever the two girls met in daily life, Lu Yuxin would often offer Lu Yuning candies and biscuits she had never even seen before.
Although the original host refused every time, seeing that Lu Yuxin also had a cousin serving in the army and could write letters every month asking him to bring her whatever snacks she wanted while she herself could not, it still hurt.
Mother Lu and Father Lu had always been afraid their children would trouble the cousins from Eldest Uncle’s branch, so they constantly reminded them:
Relying on father, mother, brothers, or sisters was never the most dependable path.
Only relying on your own hard work and what you earned through labor was the proper way.
Because of that, the original host had never written a letter to First Cousin.
She was afraid of troubling him and drawing the dislike of Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt.
But today, as Lu Yuning observed at the breakfast table, although the third branch of the Lu family was said to have split off, in reality, the entire big family was still very close.
If that weren’t the case, Father Lu and Mother Lu wouldn’t have been quietly discussing in private about adding a little money for Fifth Cousin’s wedding.
Although it was only ten yuan, wasn’t that still a piece of their sincerity?
Besides, Father Lu and Mother Lu both worked farming at home. Usually, Father Lu would also follow the brigade workers to do some bricklaying and masonry work on the side to earn a little extra pocket money, but other than that, they had no additional source of income.
There were only so many work points in the brigade, and even when exchanged for money each year, it wasn’t much.
And Eldest Sister Lu Yuqing was also about to get married soon. By then, Father Lu and Mother Lu would still need to prepare her dowry.
A few years later, Eldest Brother Lu Yujie would also need to marry, and the family would have to build another house…
For Father Lu and Mother Lu to be willing to discuss adding ten yuan for Fifth Cousin was already extremely generous.
Anyway, in Lu Yuning’s view, although the Lu family wasn’t living especially well, at the very least, they were better off than many and lacking compared to few.
Even during the two hardest famine years, no one in the family had gone hungry. That alone was already rare.
She also didn’t think Lu Yuxin’s kind of life was anything worth envying.
Right now, Lu Yuxin was still young, so it could be excused as childish innocence that she asked First Cousin for snacks and treats.
But what about later?
In any case, Lu Yuning felt that these things were definitely not as simple as they appeared on the surface.
As she was thinking this, she had just finished sweeping the courtyard when she heard Lu Yuxin’s crisp voice ring out from the neighboring yard.
“Third Brother, Little Cousin, hurry up! I promised Yuchun I’d go pick wild plums with her!”
“Coming, coming! Let’s go, Fubao, I’ll carry you.”
“Okay! Thank you, Little Cousin!”
Just as Lu Yuning was carrying the swept-up trash and preparing to go dump it outside, she happened to run right into Lu Yuxin’s little trio as they came out.
Lu Yuxin smiled brightly at her.
“Yuning, do you want to come pick wild plums with me?”
Lu Yuning glanced at Lu Shier (Twelve) from Ninth Grandpa Lu’s family, who was carrying Lu Yuxin on his back. She pressed her lips together slightly and shook her head.
“No, I still need to help Grandma hang up the laundry.”
Lu Yuxin looked disappointed.
“Ah, like that… then never mind. We’ll play together next time!”
Lu Yuning nodded and watched the three of them run off.
Well, no.. not three people running.
Only Lu Shier and Lu Shisan (Thirteen) were running.
Lu Yuxin was being carried on the back of ten-year-old Lu Shier.
Luckily, Lu Shier was tall and sturdy.
Otherwise… with Lu Yuxin’s chubby little body, it would’ve been a miracle if his waist didn’t snap.
Lu Yuning shook her head and slowly dragged the trash bucket out the door.
When Grandma Lu came over after feeding the pigs and saw this, she immediately strode over, snatched the bucket from Lu Yuning’s hands, and scolded her with annoyance,
“How many times have I told you? After you finish sweeping the yard, tell Grandma and let me come dump the trash. Why can’t you remember?”
Lu Yuning gave an embarrassed smile.
“I forgot, Grandma.”
Grandma Lu sighed helplessly, dumped the trash into the compost pit behind the narrow alley, covered it back up, then returned and said to Lu Yuning, who was standing at the doorway,
“You’re still little. You can’t try to act tough. Remember that in the future, understand?”
Lu Yuning nodded.
“Mhm, I remember, Grandma.”
Just then, Ninth Grandma Lu from next door also came out to dump trash. Hearing Grandma Lu lecturing Lu Yuning, she immediately spoke up.
“Honestly, Tenth Younger Sister-in-law, your Yuning is still so little. Why are you making her help with all this work at home? Look at my Fubao—I’ve never made her do anything…”
“She’s such a tiny little girl. There’s barely enough time to dote on her, yet you’re so heartless you still make her work?”
Grandma Lu’s expression cooled. She lifted her eyes and gave Ninth Grandma Lu a glance.
“Ninth Sister-in-law, this is my child. I’ll teach her however I want. I don’t need you worrying about it.”
With that, Grandma Lu grabbed Lu Yuning by the arm and pulled her back into the courtyard.
Lu Yuning: …
This Ninth Grandma was doing it on purpose, wasn’t she?
Ninth Grandma Lu still stood at the doorway and kept talking.
“Tsk, truly like a dog biting Lü Dongbin—unable to recognize a good person’s heart! I was only being kind, just feeling sorry for that child Yuning…”
“Hey, Twelfth Younger Sister-in-law, don’t you think so too?”
Twelfth Grandma: …
What did this have to do with her?
Her granddaughters were all grown and already married.
This old woman from the Ninth branch really was…
Too lazy to bother with her.
Seeing Twelfth Grandma pretending not to hear, Ninth Grandma Lu became annoyed. She snorted and muttered,
“One by one, all of you old things are rotten-hearted!”
While saying that, she carried her trash bucket and stomped back into the courtyard.
As soon as Grandma Lu entered the yard, she let go of Lu Yuning and lowered her head to look at the silent child.
“Yuning, don’t listen to your Ninth Grandma. We don’t learn from their family’s ways.”
What kind of proper elders made one branch of the family desperately support the other two branches?
Was that something decent elders should do?
That was favoritism taken straight to the heavens.
Lu Yuning nodded obediently.
“Mhm, I understand, Grandma. Don’t worry, I won’t learn from their family.”
Only then did Grandma Lu smile in satisfaction.
“Alright, go wash your hands. Grandma will make some sugar ci baba for you.”
Lu Yuning’s eyes lit up!
She loved sugar ci baba!