The area of ​​Beicha is vast and sparsely populated. Most of the local residents came from the desert in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and the rest were recruited from other provinces to build factories and forest management after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The land at the foot of the mountain where Lao Li's family is located is not only large, but also has a lot of vacant land. When Li Muwu went to the street and said that his son was going to marry a wife, the street immediately approved a piece of land. Getting married and having children is a big deal these days. With a small population in Beicha, how can we support socialist construction if we don’t have many children?

Seeing that the people on the street were easy to talk to, Li Muwu hesitated and asked: "My three boys are getting married next year, but the fourth boy Yan Zhan also graduated, and my second child is in the army, but he has to come back at some point, so let's just say You give me the land together."

The people on the street glanced at him and were a little speechless: "Lao Li, do you know how much it costs to build a house? Even though your salary is enough to support a family, building a house is a bit of a problem, right? Look at you both. How much space is there, let me tell you, it's not that other people don't want to build a house, and they don't have the money to build it. Don't just ask for a place and leave it there for me later, I can't speak for you. "

Li Muwu didn't know what to say with a clumsy mouth. He smiled honestly and tried to explain more clearly: "I thought about building the third boy first, and then building the fourth one at the end of next year. The money for building a house is not just my salary. Yes, as well as the pension money that my elder brother and fourth younger brother gave to my mother, and besides, the salary of my second child is quite a lot, otherwise I would have so much money to build three houses."

When the people on the street heard it, they remembered that Li Mingxi could send back nearly 600 yuan in allowances in half a year, and they immediately envy: "Your second kid is really good, and he can get such a high salary as soon as he graduates. It's the first one. By the way, what is your second kid doing in the army? Is there a match? I have a niece who graduated from high school and is very handsome. Would you like to introduce it to your second kid?"

"I don't know either, it's a secret, and I haven't come back for several years. What kind of person are you introducing? It's a waste of time for other girls." Li Muwu smiled honestly: "Then what, will my land be approved?"

"Approval!" The clerk on the street quickly stamped the official seal: "As long as we have the ability to do so, we will approve it."

Li Muwu went to a literacy class and knew some words. He took it over and read it with difficulty and felt that there was no problem. He quickly folded the approval document and put it in his pocket. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to the room. A few people in the audience: "This is what my fourth child brought back from Bingcheng during the Chinese New Year last year. We didn't sell it here." Those people hurriedly took it and thanked them. On the ear again.

Seeing that the matter was done, Li Muwu hurriedly went home and handed the approval note to Mrs. Li. Mrs. Li glared at him and tapped his butt with a cigarette bag and pot: "Forget about your mother, I can't read? Give it to me. Read it again, I listen and dictate what it says."

Li Muwu stammered and finished reading it, and then Mrs. Li took the approval slip, opened the box and put it in a used notebook, patted the kang and motioned for Li Muwu to sit up: "It's autumn now, let's take a look It has to snow in the month, take advantage of the empty space and find someone to cover the house, otherwise it will not be able to thaw until after the Qingming Festival. Another one, you will go to the carpenter's house in a while to order a large wardrobe, two There is a big box and a kang qin, and he has finished playing it in one winter." Li Muwu remembered them one by one, and hurriedly got off the kang to do it.

*****

Mingnan works in the power plant of the hydrolysis plant. The power plant here is in the same place as the baths, barber shops, hospitals, supply and marketing cooperatives, fire brigade and the like, which belong to the logistics support. From noon to noon, Mingnan quickly washed his face, brushed his short hair in front of the mirror, and went to the hospital in a good mood.

Li Mingnan is tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and always speaks politely, so the little nurses in the hospital remember him. When they saw him coming, a bold girl took the initiative to ask, "What's wrong with Li Gong? Are you here? Are you here to get medicine?"

Mingnan absently shook his head: "No."

The nurse also asked if she was coming to see the patient. Mingnan suddenly saw Meng Xiaoxi coming out of the office, his eyes lit up instantly, and he jumped over in a few steps. Meng Xiaoxi looked up at him, her face was a little red: "Are you here?"

"En!" Ming Nan nodded stupidly, looking at Meng Xiaoxi for a long time before he remembered his purpose: "Then what, I'll take you to the cafeteria for dinner."

Meng Xiaoxi nodded, glanced at Ming Nan with big, bright eyes, and turned her head shyly: "I'll change clothes."

Looking at Meng Xiaoxi's figure, Ming Nan couldn't help grinning, and the girl who took the initiative to talk to him but was left to the side by Ming Nan was a little embarrassed. While returning to the nurse station as if nothing had happened, he couldn't help but ask: "Are you dating Meng Xiaoxi?"

As soon as he heard the word "subject", the excitement and joy on Mingnan's face couldn't be hidden, and he raised his head sharply. When Meng Xiaoxi came out, he saw this scene and couldn't help but give him a look of anger: "Stupid."

Meng Xiaoxi took off her white clothes and wore a sea soul shirt with white and blue stripes inside, looking energetic and good-looking. Meng Xiaoxi walked to Ming Nan for a while and then walked forward, Ming Nan hurriedly followed, and when he opened the door and saw no one beside him, he whispered, "You look so good in this dress, I also have sea Soul shirt, we will wear the same tomorrow."

Meng Xiaoxi laughed, her big eyes turned into two crescent moons, revealing two dimples on her cheeks: "Who wants to wear the same clothes as you? Are you ashamed?" Ming Nan smiled, feeling his heart pounding, excited It almost jumped out of his chest.

The hydrolysis plant occupies more than half of the urban area of ​​Beicha District, so not only does each branch have its own canteen, but also shared canteens in various areas. Although the food in each place is similar, it is still very fresh to eat in a different place from time to time by one chef and one taste.

The two walked to the window with their lunch boxes in line. In autumn, the variety was more abundant. Mingnan stretched his neck and watched for a long time. He saw that the dishes on sale today included stewed pork with beans, stewed potatoes with melon, and stewed eggplant with catfish. The young man Mingnan had just reached his twenties, when he was ready to eat. He ordered a large portion of stewed eggplant with catfish, stewed beans with pork, and two multigrain steamed buns. Meng Xiaoxi didn't have much appetite and liked sweet and savory dishes, so he only bought potatoes stewed with melon and two ears of corn.

Mingnan looked at the rice in her lunch box, and put the two pieces of fish she bought into Meng Xiaoxi's lunch box: "The stewed eggplant with catfish will kill the old man, this is the first time stewed catfish in the cafeteria this year, can you taste it? ?"

Meng Xiaoxi looked at the lunch box a little worried: "But I'm afraid I can't finish it and waste it."

"It's okay, isn't there me now?" Ming Nan looked at her and smiled: "The leftovers are mine."

Meng Xiaoxi blushed again, lowered his head and took a bite of the fish towards Ming Nan Yile: "Delicious!"

In an instant, Ming Nan felt that his soul was about to fly.

Ming Nan was honest when he was in school, and he didn't read any romantic books like Ming Dong did in those days. Meng Xiaoxi met the straightforward and enthusiastic Ming Nan at the beginning of her love affair, and fell deeply into it within a few days. She began to think about Ming Nan all the time, looking forward to having dinner with her, taking a walk by the river, and even washing dishes at home at night also suddenly burst into laughter.

Aunt Meng looked worried, poked Master Meng, and motioned him to look at Meng Xiaoxi, who was wearing a sweater: "Look at your daughter, it's only been a month since she was married, and she seems to have lost her soul."

Master Meng saw that Meng Xiaoxi was stunned in the direction of his eyes looking at the void, although Meng Xiaoxi was constantly playing the sweater, and from time to time he pursed his lips and smiled. Master Meng coughed softly: "So now the country advocates free love, and it will be like honey in the future."

Aunt Meng sneered: "When you have a bunch of children all day long, what kind of honey is there? It's almost like drinking bitter water. But Xiaoxi is always better than me..." She glanced at Master Meng, and turned her face away in disgust: " After all, she drank honey, but I drank bitter water."

"Why do you drink bitter water?" Master Meng was a little unconvinced: "I haven't had more than a day of salary in my hands since I got married. It's not like what you say in our family. It's also called bitter water. What is it? □□?"

Aunt Meng couldn't help but be amused by what Master Meng said, and Master Meng also laughed: "Don't make this useless, find a day to let Ming Nan's child also come to the house for a meal. I bring Xiaoxi back from get off work every day, and I haven't eaten a meal in our family yet."

"Just call Ming Nan's family, you and Ming Nan's father will chat, and I will talk to his mother." Aunt Meng patted her thigh and made a decision: "Why don't you just use Sunday this week? None of you work."

Master Meng touched a cigarette and knocked on the table: "Our family didn't buy much pork last month. Can we buy pork this week?"

"It should be about the same. When I talk to the neighbors and ask them to borrow us meat for a month, we have to order it properly." Aunt Meng said: "Last time at Mingnan's house, it was both fish and meat, and the whole thing was done. A pot of flying dragons, the meat is so fragrant, I still ate two when I was born Xiaowei."

"That's because his family knows how to hunt." Master Meng said dully: "I'm not good at this. We don't necessarily have to cook the same dishes as her family. It was the first time my uncle came to the house, so I had to kill a chicken. Dumplings with pork and celery wrapped in a curtain, go back to the supply and marketing agency to buy some canned food or something, it looks so bright.

The two negotiated, and when Mingnan sent Meng Xiaoxi to the door of the building the next day, Aunt Meng stopped him from the second floor: "Mingnan, come up, I have something to say with you." Nan quickly tidied up his clothes and followed Meng Xiaoxi upstairs.

Aunt Meng looked at Ming Nan up and down, and the more she looked, the more she liked it. The young man's spirit was good for his own girl, and he didn't have much burden on the family. How would you like this marriage.

"Mingnan, isn't the family doing well recently?" Aunt Meng pulled Mingnan to cook at the dinner table and cooked him a bowl of poached eggs in sugar water: "It's very tiring for a day at work, so eat a few poached eggs to cushion your stomach."

Mingnan looked into the big bowl, and there were five eggs in it, and he said quickly, "Auntie, this is too much, take out another bowl, I'll give Xiaoxi two, she didn't eat much at noon. ."

Seeing Ming Nan thinking about her daughter, Aunt Meng grinned happily: "I'll have dinner when I go back home, you can eat."

Mingnan pushed the bowl beside the stream and said habitually, "You eat first, I'll eat the leftovers."

Meng Xiaoxi smiled at Ming Nan, lowered his head and ate an egg and drank a small bowl of sugar water, then pushed the rest aside, propped his chin with his hands and watched Ming Nan ate up a large bowl without blinking. Aunt Meng looked at the young man with amused and speechless frowns, and when she saw her own girl, she almost forgot her mother except Ming Nan.

After Ming Nan finished eating the poached egg and drank the sugar water, he stood up to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes, Aunt Meng grabbed it and put it on the table, pulled him and sat down again: "Don't be busy, it's useless, listen to Auntie Let me tell you something serious, I have called your whole family to our house for dinner this Sunday, you two have been together for so long, and you haven’t invited your family over to sit down yet.”

As soon as Ming Nan heard that his mother-in-law was satisfied with him, he nodded happily: "I'll tell my mother when I get home."

"Okay, then you can go back early, it will be dark in a while." Ming Nan stood up to say goodbye, and looked at Meng Xiaoxi reluctantly. Meng Xiaoxi stood up and said with a blushing face: "I will send Ming Nan ." He pushed Ming Nan out.

Aunt Meng looked at the backs of the two with joy and sadness: "I won't stay if my daughter is too old."

Mingnan's mother-in-law invited to dinner, and the old Li family was suddenly busy, and Mrs. Li was not afraid of wasting electricity. In the evening, she rummaged through boxes and cabinets, turned out her neat clothes, and checked them one by one to see if they had been bitten by insects.

Zhen Zhen sat on the kang in Mrs. Li's house and teased Mrs. Li while playing with the sheep's crutches: "Nanny, can you see such a dim light?"

Mrs. Li squinted her eyes and touched a little bit: "If you can't see it, you have to look at it. If there is a bug eye, you must sew it up quickly, otherwise the more you pull the hole, the bigger the hole will become, and you will be blind. Your eldest brother has used them, and the rest is enough for a patch or something, and I have to save it for your third brother to get married in the past few months, and I don’t know if it will be enough by then.”

The more old lady Li said, the more worried she became, Zhen Zhen also sat next to her and sighed, Mrs. Li was worried about Mr. Bu, and what Zhen Zhen was worried about was that there were all kinds of cloth in the western-style building in the space, what excuse did she use to take it out? .

Mrs. Li sighed, Zhen Zhen followed with a sigh, and when Mrs. Li sighed three or four times, she finally realized that something was wrong, she looked at Zhen Zhen Le: "What do you have to sigh, the whole family is yours Lots and lots of clothes."

"I'm not thinking about cloth." Zhen Zhen sat on the kang holding her cheeks: "When the third brother gets married, he has to make bright clothes for Sister Meng to look good when he picks up the relatives. Besides, the bedding has to be made two new beds. of."

"That's not it." The older Mrs. Li said, the more worried she became, but Zhen Zhen suddenly remembered something: "Damn, I heard that people in the past knew how to spin cloth. Be a quilt or something."

When Mrs. Li heard this, she was refreshed: "If you don't tell me, I've forgotten about this, I just use cotton, but our spinning wheel has already been broken, but it doesn't matter, it's not a rare thing, I'll ask your uncle carpenter to help me later. Let's fight one."

Wang Sufen brought a pot of hot water to Mrs. Li and asked her to wash her feet. Hearing their grandfather and grandson talking, he asked, "What are you fighting again?"

"Spinning wheel, Zhen Zhen said that she spun a bed sheet and quilt." Mrs. Li hurriedly told Li Sufen: "Tell me about my brain, when Zhen Zhen was planting cotton for the past two years, I never thought of this."

Li Sufen was also interested when she heard it: "I'm good at spinning this thread. It's winter, and I can't go out of the house. Then I'll be spinning at home."

Mrs. Li nodded happily: "The cloth spun from cotton is soft, and it would be good to be a diaper for Mingnan's children in the future."

Seeing that Mrs. Li was running more and more, Zhen Zhen tried her best to bring the topic back: "Then what about the material of my third brother's wedding clothes?"

"Save it, and then ask other people to borrow some cloth tickets. Isn't that what they do now?" Mrs. Li put her feet in the hot water basin and sighed comfortably: "Bring me another pot of hot water and turn around. I will continue it myself, and soak it for a while."

Wang Sufen went out to get the water bottle, Zhen Zhen finally thought of an excuse that she could say on the face: "Milk, I can get some cloth."

Mrs. Li looked at her in disbelief: "Now there is a shortage of cloth, just your third aunt, her niece's daughter's classmate is selling cloth in the supply and marketing cooperative, and they say that now they have to collect cloth tickets for defective products."

"Don't worry about it." Zhen Zhen was afraid that if she said too much, Mrs. Li would ask endless questions, she hurriedly got off the kang and pretended to be sleepy, and yawned in a decent manner: "I don't necessarily mean this. Okay, let's talk later."

Zhen Zhen went back to the house and plugged the door, her figure flashed into the space, she went into a foreign-style building on the far side to find the accumulated fabrics, the owners of these foreign-style buildings are all capitalists, and the wives of capitalists like to wear them the most It's a cheongsam. But in the current trend, not only is wearing a cheongsam to be criticized and contested, but even wearing clothes with fancy colors will be said to be a manifestation of the "Fengzixiu" and "decayed" lifestyle. Fortunately, in these people's homes, men's clothes are mainly gray, black, and dark blue, and there are a lot of fine woolen fabrics in the home, which are soft and thick when touched.

Zhen Zhen found a furoshiki, filled it with three meters of gray woolen woolen fabric and three meters of dark blue woolen fabric, and took ten feet of blue silk and put it on top. Woolen fabrics can be used to make coats in winter, but when Mingnan got married it was summer, and Zhen Zhen thought about going to the department store in the imperial capital some other day, where there were a lot of good fabrics for sale.

But it's still early to get married, and the old Li family's mind is now on the matter of visiting Meng Xiaoxi's house. Zhen Zhen pondered that she is a big family, Mingnan and Mingbei are very good at crafting, it is estimated that the two of them can eat three pounds of snacks for others, why do they have to bring something to the door.

Mrs. Li prepared a basket of eggs and ten catties of white noodles. Zhen Zhen went to the mountains to catch two hares, two pheasants, and two big fat fish. Mingnan originally wanted to get some wild things, but he Going to work during the day and arriving home at night, it was already dark, so I couldn’t go up the mountain at all. Seeing that Zhen Zhen had brought back so many things, Ming Nan excitedly picked up Zhen Zhen and threw it up, and slapped Zhen Zhen directly on the head: "If you dare to throw me again, I'll stew these things at night."

Ming Nan smiled and put Zhen Zhen down: "I don't feel happy so I forgot that you are a big girl, so what, next Sunday, brother, I will invite you to watch a movie. The new movie this month is so good."

"Okay." Zhen Zhen happily agreed: "I will sit between you two then."

Ming Nan immediately held back his words: "Well, why don't I give you the money, you can show it to your fourth brother."

"Okay, okay!" Mingbei was very happy: "Zhen Zhen, you called you Sister Wanqiu, then you will sit between us, I have no problem."

Ming Nan couldn't help laughing: "It seems that your opinion works, if Zhen Zhen doesn't go, can you go to the movies with you in late autumn?"

Ming Bei's face immediately turned green: "I haven't graduated yet. After graduation, my relationship with Yu Wanqiu will be completed. She knows that I like her."

"You must know, even the blind can see it." Ming Nan chuckled: "But that girl has an idea. With your simple mind and strong limbs, she may not really see it." Looking at Ming Bei, his face turned green. Now, Mingnan quickly added: "There is still more than half a year, you can't act like you haven't grown up all day, at least let the girls see that you can be reliable."

When Ming Bei heard this, he calmed down. He scratched his head and looked confused: "I'm not as tall as you, why didn't I grow up?"

Ming Nan stretched his arms around Ming Bei's shoulders: "Growing up is not about your size, but about your maturity in psychology and behavior. Do you like other girls and want to marry them?" Seeing Ming Bei blushing and nodding, Ming Nan I couldn't help laughing: "It's just to make her feel that you are reliable, don't do everything all day long, at least prepare for the factory exam now, and let her know that you have a future in the future. There are numbers."

Ming Bei nodded, and looked at Ming Nan with some worry: "But since you entered the factory, the hydrolysis factory has not recruited workers for the past two years. What if they don't recruit next year?"

"Then you go to pick up Dad's class." Mingnan rubbed Mingbei's head: "If you think about marrying a wife, you will forget about your work."

Ming Bei smiled and nodded: "Then I won't be afraid. I'll tell her when the work is done."

Mingnan waved to him with a smirk, and whispered to her: "It's not bad for the past six months, tell her that you can take over when no one else is there, this girl is smart, she must know what you mean, too. Is it okay to give people a time to think about it?"

Ming Bei nodded seriously and looked at Ming Nan with a look of admiration: "You are really my brother!"