My birthplace is a place called “Zhangwa”, more than 100 miles away from the nearest urban area, 60 miles away from the county town, 10 miles away from the town.
Every Spring Festival home from the city station first to the county, then to the town, then to the village, in my words, is to return to the end of the day, back to a map can not be found in the place.
In recent years, I have often heard friends and colleagues say that they are “engaged in development” over there, and I always sigh that probably all of China has been developed, and it is not our turn to do so.
Everyone is buying houses
What I hear most these years is that people in the village are buying houses.
The neighbor’s son and daughter-in-law bought a house in Kunshan, the eldest brother next door bought a house in Suzhou, and a large number of people bought a house in the city, county and town.
“Their house has not been built for a few years, how to buy a house?”
“All the Chen family in beitou have moved away, except one who hasn’t bought an apartment outside. Most of our old Li family has moved to South.”
Whether they had lived in buildings, bungalows, or brick and wooden houses in the village, young people were moving out in droves. When the old people who had been left behind died, the houses stood empty with locks on the doors. Over the years, there have been many dilapidated and collapsed houses in the village.
I have two younger brothers, and I don’t have a date yet. It is to think the house buys in the city to say to go out some better, convenient look for an object, before two years must buy a flat in the city, bought also not to live, still had not decorated now.
Elder brother has two children, this year around, also with sister-in-law every day in the town busy to buy a house. On the 28th day of the 12th month, my elder brother drove my mother, sister-in-law, younger brother and I to see a house together. Halfway, the neighbor girl Xiaolan called to say that she bought the land next to a, let brother go to see, a piece of land in case of sixty one, if brother and her buy together, in the future when a building can save a lot of money.
We crossed the street and turned north. Then we went up the hill and came to the community xiaolan was talking about. There is a concrete road in the middle of the residential area, and on both sides are the houses just built. There are about ten rows, with four or five meters between them.
The area used to be farmland, but you can still see some of the vegetables growing next to the houses. Xiao LAN led us to the property she had bought, and sure enough there was space between her share and another house. Not for a while, the owner of the land driving a Hebei license plate car over, we explain the purpose, she thoughtfully, “did not intend to sell, you really want to give seventy thousand.
“Next to only sell sixty one, the same area on a price to sell it.” DaDi said.
The landlord refused.
“Two prices for the same thing.” Mother turned to go, “Buying land is also a problem, which one of you has the time to build a house at home, hire bricklayers, buy materials? I am too old to run. It can take as little as six months or as much as a year to build and decorate a house. You can’t stay out of business and spend so much time at home.”
A group of people came to the opposite of the town government has been built commercial housing area. Just parked the car, a few people hula a surround come up, like the station pull like, this to the east, that to the west pull. The old people all say this place is a mountain before, there are a lot of graves on the mountain, the development of commercial excavators all dug flat, built a set of houses.
“This door face wants 380,000 yuan.” Brother pointed to a house said, I took a look, “what is this called a concierge, I don’t know what business can be done in this back road.”
Walking along, we met a neighbor in the village, who told us that his son had two more houses to sell and would take us to see them. After a while, he pointed to a half-built two-story building and said, “Two hundred and ninety thousand for a set.” The door was too narrow, too close to the front row of houses, and the light was bad.
Then go on, meet the sister-in-law’s distant uncle, he also introduced a house. The frame of 3 two floors, sitting room is quite big, 3 rooms one hall, still send a basement, ask price 380,000. My mother liked it, but my sister-in-law didn’t like the size of the house.
It turned out to be a nephew who had just moved to town and was still cleaning the house. He told us that he had bought the house for three hundred and fifty thousand. Then he asked his brother, “Why would you buy a house too?”
‘You’ve all moved away and left me alone in the village. Who shall I play with?’ The elder brother smiled.
Back in the evening, I asked my brother, “Why buy a house in town? There are fields in the village, green mountains and clear water, raise a few chickens and ducks, their own point of vegetable garden is not very good?”
“That, sis, is the life of a rich man in the city. He goes back to the country for his old age, grows a little vegetable garden, lives in two cottages, and gets his pension every month. He can buy whatever he wants. Rural people, on the other hand, have no source of income. They expect to earn money by working in the fields. They are much more tired and laborious.
When the little brother began to talk, he would never stop saying, “The countryside is all dirt roads. When it rains, the ground is covered with mud. In the city or town can still find a supermarket to work, earn pocket money, in the countryside is a dead horse, even a job opportunity is not. Children’s education and medical care are better than those in the countryside, right? Who would want to stay in the country compared with that?”
I replied, “The countryside is a vast land with great potential. We can develop cooperatives and build a united economy. We can also open a chicken farm for ecological agriculture and sightseeing.”
“Don’t mention chickens.” Brother a listen to also picked up the words, said his aunt’s house is open a chicken farm, rice a kilo of rice, eggs three yuan a kilo of money, the loss is very anxious.
“Besides, who’s going to drive up to you for sightseeing when we’re so far away from the city? Do cooperative villager is not so good organization, how much capital does early get foreshading? You will not be believed till you have done well. Who will listen to you till you have done well?”
I have nothing to say.
An empty nester in the village
Together we must marry our wives
Later in the year, my cousin and brother-in-law came to my home to pay New Year’s call. In the chat, they said that the fourth cousin’s son, Ci Bo, was about to get married.
Her daughter-in-law asked for a house in the street. She had already spent more than three hundred thousand yuan on it. When she got engaged, she asked for twenty thousand yuan. Fourth cousin really can not take out, just like sending a task, to relatives under the loan notice – each uncle and uncle to borrow twenty thousand, each aunt and aunt to borrow ten thousand – first put together the gift money. Calculate calculate, do banquet to return tens of thousands of, smoke all want “greater China”, wine is also more than 100 yuan a bottle, can only say when the time comes.
I was surprised, “Marry a wife’s son from the beginning to the end not hundreds of thousands?”
“Including the house, there are not hundreds of thousands, daughter-in-law children can not get home.”
Cousin to me calculated a sum of money: buy a house already spent more than three hundred thousand, do wedding room to buy furniture, electric appliances and decorate for certain, dish down can’t 780,000? Twenty thousand for engagement, eighty thousand for marriage, and more than ten thousand for “three gold pieces”. Do the banquet get forty thousand, now a lot of rural people get married also want to have a car have a house, this girl’s house only wanted a house, did not want a car, if she and other want a house to want a car ratio how to do? In case the bride price is enough, the girl wants a car or not to buy a car and then asks you for the money of a car. You say you are going to get married and you have spent so much money in the early stage, will you give it or not? Do not give, the marriage that sees turns a head yellow, give, again where get money? Word wave 32, can’t afford to delay.
‘At first it was ten thousand. Who knew it was like getting caught step by step. The more money you spend, the more money you spend. If your relatives and friends work together, you should marry your daughter-in-law in.”
I asked, when the four brother-in-law was killed by a wall in the construction site compensation money?
Cousin said, at that time the loss of less than 100,000 yuan, several children go to school, early spent no.
Cousin also said, her neighbor a young man talked about an object, two people talked for two or three years, to talk about marriage, the young man’s home to the girl’s family to marry, was told by the girl’s father to have a house and a car to marry, no room no car.
The young man’s father died young and his mother was ill. How could he have so much money? A good marriage was spoiled by the girl’s father, then the girl married a rich man in town.
The girl married that day, the young man rode a motorcycle to chase the girl’s wedding car, all the way to cry.
“Pity, you see.”
cheated
Young people are not at home, and the countryside is full of empty nesters and left-behind children, which gives fraudsters countless opportunities. Some with “gold ingot,” “silver,” “gold bar,” “silver bar” cheater, three days two go to the village to cheat the old man and woman.
I have seen my mother bought a hundred pieces of “silver bar”, my mother said there are many people in the village to buy, I asked, that sell gold bars silver bars (probably lead bars) that day in the village to sell thousands of pieces? “Not just thousands, but tens of thousands.”
Once a stranger came to our place with instruments, looking for the old man to lead the way and “treasure hunt” with him, saying that the one who saw it had a share. He used instruments in the mountain to explore, really dug out a statue of “Jade Goddess of mercy”. Foreigner say, dig to a not enough cent only, I also did not take money, want you to give me two thousand dollars, “jade Goddess of mercy” calculate you of a person?
The old man took the “jade Guanyin” over and over to see, outsiders said: “you look at the jade, green yingying, without any impurities, is absolutely good jade, at least worth a house of money.
The old man believed it, pidianpidian home to spend two thousand dollars to buy it. Only later did the old man wake up to the fact that he had been caught in the trap of foreigners: they had already buried it, deliberately asked someone to lead the way, put on a show for a few dollars, and sold it for two thousand.
When I returned home this year, I saw that almost every household in the countryside had installed water purifiers. I asked my mother, is this free? Mother said more than two thousand to buy, I checked the Internet, not worth two thousand at all.
I said it was too expensive. Mother said again: “buy one get one free, buy water purifier send disinfection cabinet.” But even then, the two pieces add up to less than two thousand, and the wool still comes out of the sheep.
Books must be coaxed into reading
The elder brother’s two children, the elder brother’s name is Qiqi, four years old, attends the kindergarten at home; The younger one was two years old. She had been staying with her parents in Suzhou until the Spring Festival.
Over the past few years, elder brothers and sister-in-law said to their mother, after the New Year want to change, put the small home, take away the big. The kindergarten in my hometown is not as good as the kindergarten teachers in the city. If I bring Qiqi to study in Suzhou, I can get a better education.
Mother disagreed and said she would take both. “Oh! The big one was also put at home from the age of two, I just took him to kindergarten, will eat and drink well with, I can do some work, you put the small one at home, I can’t relax? If you leave the small one at home, I won’t do anything, I won’t plant any more, I won’t sell the cows or raise any more pigs. I’ll ask for your pocket money, and you two can do as you like.”
After the year, the elder brother still left the big one and took the small one away.
My cousin’s child Xing Xing and my cousin’s husband came to pay New Year’s visit together. During the meal, my brother-in-law pointed to me and asked him, “Who is this? Do you know him?
The stars did not look at me, but smiled and buried their heads in rice. I knew that the young man did not like to talk, so I rounded up and said, “He knows someone who grew up here. He must know someone.”
After dinner, I chatted with my cousin, I asked: “The stars on the second year of high school?” Cousin said yes, are seventeen or eighteen years old, not sensible.
“1.8 meters tall, thin, white skin, good-looking, you don’t have to worry about marrying in the future. Now you can train yourself to go to college and work after graduation.”
My cousin frowned. “I’m afraid I’m not going to college. I almost quit school and went to work some time ago. Really, the tickets have been bought, ready to go to Shanghai the next day, Yue son (star sister) weekend to grandma’s home to play, grandma asked how you come alone, your brother did not come? Yue son said my brother will go to Shanghai to work tomorrow. My parents quickly called me and said I was clowning around. Why don’t they let their children go to school? What kind of work do you have at a young age?
“It’s not my fault. The child is clamoring not to read. Don’t read, don’t read, then go out to work, so I contacted him in Shanghai aunt, let him go to work. If my grandparents didn’t stop me, I would go to work. Supported by his grandparents this time, he offered to let me study, buy me a laptop and install an Internet cable at home. Are you angry or not? I had no choice but to obey him. You see, it was coaxing him to go to school.”
“When children are young, they are more disobedient.”
A wife, that’s all
Younger brother Li Wei is 27 years old, still have no object, mother worry every person to talk about. A circle of relatives and friends are also concerned, said he: “Mouth zha so stupid, not coax, not cheat, honest, how can you find a girlfriend.”
“Look who’s out here, and he’s coming back with a free one… So and so went out alone and came back a family… Now people are too responsible to take things too hard, to learn to coax girls happy rhetoric, good arms and legs is not as good as a good mouth…
In fact, a few years ago, Li Wei worked in Suzhou talked about a little girl from Anhui, hit it off quite well, he also sent a photo of the two of them home to his mother, mother was happy from ear to ear, who knows the little girl came home during the New Year, under the arrangement of his family, the blind date was successful, after the year did not go to Suzhou. After such a blow, my younger brother did not want to mention this matter again for several years.
Young people are not at home all year round, only around the Spring Festival ten days stay at home, so blind date also have to hurry up, once missed, another year, the bigger the more difficult to find.
Mother started all seven aunts and uncles, hurriedly think who home has not married girls, what daughter’s classmates, daughter-in-law cousin, etc., as long as you can get, all to Li Wei here said.
Aunt’s niece New Year visit relatives, uncle saw, they tried to encourage aunt matchmaking, said her brother. Seeing the opportunity, the aunt dragged her sister to introduce Li Wei’s situation: “the young man really spirit, this year 27, talent good still able, have a craft, the house bought in the city, have no object, if your girl has no object, let two young people meet, see if they can match?” The girl’s mother listened to her aunt praised her younger brother as a promising young boss, and agreed to see him.
Blind date set in the ninth day, take long long meaning, the place is in the aunt’s home. Blind date that day, mother and brother with alcohol and cigarettes, drinks went to uncle’s home.
The younger brother came back and we asked him, how are you?
“The girl is just so-so, a little dark, working in the country.”
In my mother’s words, the girl came with her mother on a motorbike — that means the girl is not peevish, she has the strength and the strength to bear.
That night my mother called aunt to ask each other’s opinion, that the other side of the brother is quite satisfied. Brother likes the kind of delicate quiet, he is not satisfied, we let him think before he makes a decision.
The next day, the younger brother said, “That’s it! Everyone my age is married. Some people are so nice and have money at home, and the daughter-in-law they are looking for is just that. What else can I choose?”
Since there is no disagreement on either side, let the marriage be decided. On the 16th day of the first lunar month, mother called the matchmaker to have dinner with the girl’s family. We ordered a set meal for 1,000 yuan, and brought our own drinks and drinks.
The girl’s mother, girl and sister came. At the dinner table. My mother kept putting food into the girl’s bowl, and I could see that my mother really liked the girl. My mother also prepared gifts and red envelopes for everyone in advance. After dinner, when they were gone, mother asked her brother to rent a car and send the girl home.
Mother let aunt to 20,000 yuan “meet the bride” to the girl — as long as the girl’s home to take this money, it is equal to the marriage decided, the next step is to decorate the house to do banquet, and then into the bridal chamber, mother also at ease.
Old people take care of left-behind children
Forcing people to surrender
My cousin, Jingjing, was born in 1994. She is 1.65 meters tall. She is neither fat nor thin, but also good-looking. Not so.
In the fall when she was 14 or 15, I do not know why, Jingjing’s hair began to fall out in large quantities. Within a week, her hair was all gone. Jingjing was so anxious that she couldn’t stop crying.
Women in the village say that Jingjing “belongs to a tree”, tree leaves her hair. Uncle took her to the Hospital in Wuhan to see, with bags of big packets of medicine back to eat, then also grow a layer of fufu, but not long before it fell off again, repeated several times, finally no longer grow.
Jingjing, who was in middle school, could not stand the strange eyes of her classmates, and dropped out of school before long. Those years, uncle aunt because of the crystal hair, worried about the heart, everywhere to see a doctor to take medicine, looking for a variety of folk prescription, such as with pig gallbladder smeared on the scalp, eat fried black sesame black beans, the result is the same, not a root has grown.
Until now, I still wear wigs every day.
Last Spring Festival, she went to her classmate’s home to play. Her neighbor’s mother saw her and asked her to make a matchmaker to introduce Jingjing to her son. Jingjing said no hair to her classmates mother, let her message, see if the other side can accept, accept the blind date, not to accept even, there is no need to move on. The other party replied that wearing a wig is not out of the way and agreed to blind date.
The boy was two years older than Jingjing. His family had a two-story house in the town. His uncle and aunt said that the conditions were good and that they had their own defects, so they should not be too picky.
The boy condition is not bad, is not tall, probably than jingjing half head. After kissing, the boy rented a car to send Jingjing back, Jingjing took the boy home to give 20,000 yuan gift. The boy also bought jingjing a mobile phone and a watch for her birthday in the Lantern Festival.
Can quickly this year New Year’s day, uncle to call me, said jingjing and boy make the contradiction, the other end of said either married or break off an engagement, jingjing to work in guangzhou, make a phone call to ask jingjing, uncle didn’t say a few words, he cried, my profile, please inquire, is strange jingjing is still the man’s problem, if it is their daughter’s problem, let me persuade her.
“No hair, people do not abandon has been good, do not want to think, miss the future may not be able to find such conditions.
There is an unwritten rule in my hometown that if a marriage fails, it depends on who wants to break off the marriage. If the man proposes to break off the marriage, the present does not need to be withdrawn. If the woman wants to break off the marriage, she must return whatever she takes.
I knew what my uncle wanted me to ask. I wanted to find out whether Jingjing wanted to break off the marriage or the boy did. I asked Jingjing, “Do you mean to break off the marriage?” Jingjing hesitated for a while before giving me back: “It’s me.”
“The boy half a year don’t give me dozen a telephone don’t send a message, say to get married at the end of the year get married, which have such, this isn’t want to force me to propose abdication?”
“They don’t want you back, so can you continue?”
“You have no idea how disgusting the boy’s family is. I was not at home, they actually came to my home to threaten my mother, said I should go home to get married, or within three days to refund 30,000 yuan to him, my mother angry red (blood), such a person I can still marry him?
I made it clear that Whatever decision you make, I’ll back you up.
Soon, the uncle gave the boy a refund of 30,000 yuan. The original gift was 20,000 yuan. They calculated all the money for the mobile phone, watch, food and drinks, including the red envelope money for the matchmaker and the rental money for Jingjing when she came back.
After the Spring Festival, I took my two nephews to uncle’s house to play, two nephew climbing up and down on the wood piles, aunt, jingjing and I sat all chat, aunt is in the heart, “you said how dumb jingjing, we ate ten thousand yuan kui, cheap that kind of (people), people use mobile phones and watches are counted as money… You say a work, want so good mobile phone have what use, again is not I ask you to buy, be you willing to buy, retire when I get your mobile phone to return your mobile phone, get your watch to return your watch, Do I want you these things to eat? Also dead expensive, people have made money, Jingjing did not know to return the phone and watch to the people.”
Jingjing lowered her head and whispered: “I’ve been using my cell phone for half a year, but I don’t want it.”
I said, “How dare you be related to a man like that, aunt? Do you dare to marry Jingjing to him? Don’t say to eat ten thousand dollars of kui, be to spend ten thousand dollars upside down to want to return this match. Don’t worry, it’s a blessing to suffer a loss. You forget that my elder brother still had three days to get married and the little girl ran away. Wouldn’t it be a loss of 20,000 yuan? Then my brother married a wonderful wife. Look at your sister-in-law’s two big fat boys, like big bear, bear two.”
Aunt, I got up and shouted: “Bear big, bear two, go home with me!”
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