Chapter 8: Life in the County Town (I)

  This small town is located in the northern part of Yunxian County, with only two main streets intersecting at a crossroads. However, it has the advantage of convenient transportation, as the national highway runs along the edge of the city from north to south. The dense and intricate alleys are scattered among the residential areas, but fortunately, these alleys are straight and horizontal, making it possible to reach the main road without getting lost in a maze-like situation.

  The county town was mainly based on agriculture, but in that era of big and comprehensive, small and many, there were still factories, such as machinery factories, textile mills, flour mills, etc. Basically self-sufficient, but with the passage of time, gradually eliminated, disappeared.

  The street where Grandma's house is located is a north-south road, about 1,000 meters long. The northern end of the street is where the county government is located, and the southern end is where the county high school is.

  My grandma's home is located in the middle of this street, the old house originally belonged to a large landlord in the county, later because my grandpa was literate and worked in the county committee, he was allocated this residence.

  Grandma's house, the northern neighbors are all county-level cultural and educational bureaus, water conservancy bureaus, agricultural bureaus, commercial bureaus and other government offices. Although small, it has all the internal organs, while the south side is a residential area.

  Across from Grandma's house, after crossing the road, there is an elementary school and some small county government offices. If this street is mainly political, then walking south for a few minutes to the intersection, the main street that leads out is a commercial district.

  My grandma's house used to be the landlord's mansion, so it was very majestic and a typical northern quadrangle courtyard. On the steps, there were heavy black wooden double doors with rusty iron hinges on top. Upon entering the passageway, you could see Chairman Mao's portrait printed at the top of the walls on both sides.

  As I walked in, I saw a stone screen wall with a stone carving of the character "Fu" (good fortune). Walking further in, to the left front of the main house is a pomegranate tree and to the right front is a jujube tree. The age of the two trees can't be discerned, but their trunks are thick enough that an adult can't wrap their arms around them. They are lush and green, with sunlight filtering through, clearly very healthy.

  The main house is the east house, facing east and west. The three main rooms are made of green bricks and tiles, and there are also halls and south houses, west houses, which are also made of green bricks and tiles, but each has only two rooms.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at the two big trees in front of him, thinking that every autumn, the two trees were laden with fruit, and they ate until their bellies were full and round, indeed a foodie.

  This is the first courtyard in memory, with a small garden behind it, and another courtyard further back, but it was allocated to others. After the house reform, the two families negotiated and divided the garden equally, built a wall, and became a separate quadrangle courtyard.

  The foundation of the main house is obviously higher, with six layers of bluestone slabs, and there are two black wooden pillars on either side of the corridor. On the north side of the corridor, a simple small kitchen was built against the wall using wooden boards.

  The main house has a pair of large black wooden doors, which creaked loudly when opened. The old-fashioned house generally had a threshold, this one was very high, about 60 cm high. Two or three-year-old children found it difficult to step over from above. In memory, Fang Mengnan was often trapped by the threshold and could only hold up his hands for adults to carry.

  Grandma opened the door, and behind it was a large water tank. Grandma carried Fang Mengnan over the threshold into the living room. On the wall in front of them hung a portrait of Chairman Mao standing in front of the Yellow River Hukou Waterfall. Below the portrait was a long stone table with a white ceramic half-body statue of Chairman Mao on it. To the left of the statue was Grandpa's black and white memorial photo. On both sides of the table were two red vases, each about the length of an arm, symbolizing "peace and safety". In front of the table was an eight-immortals table.

  On the left wall is a photo wall, on which some black and white photos are hung, including some family portraits, even Fang Mernan when he was a baby.

  Looking up, this house is really tall, with a distance of ten meters from the ridge to the ground. Old houses, especially tile-roofed houses are all like this. However, grandma's house used many small bamboo sticks as thick as fingers, woven horizontally and vertically into square grids, and then covered with straw mats for a suspended ceiling.

  The living room was partitioned off with a small black wooden board, so the back became a small kitchen. In winter, it can also be used for heating. However, now it has become a storage room because Da Cheng's uncle brought flour from the countryside and put it all in the back. After he finished moving, he bid farewell and left to attend to business in the county seat. Grandma looked at the sky and invited him to stay for lunch.

  The two rooms on the left and right are bedrooms, Grandma lives in the south bedroom. This bedroom has old-fashioned wooden lattice windows that are very large, almost taking up half of the wall, so it is well-lit and very bright. The north bedroom window is small and dark, it is said that when Fang Mo Nan and Mo Bei were disobedient, they would often be locked in what was commonly known as a "small black room".

  It's a tile-roofed house with an attic for drying grains.

  The ground is paved with bluestone and polished bright by people walking back and forth.

  Fang Mo Nan stood in the old house of her memory, which now had a hint of human presence and was no longer deserted as it had been for years without anyone living there. She had lived here until she returned to the city to attend elementary school, so she was very familiar with it.

  No matter how many years have passed since the past life, Fang Mo Nan is still familiar with this place, and he looks at everything here with a lot of emotion. This life will start from here.

  Grandma is busy putting away the things she brought from the countryside, sweeping the slightly dusty house. It seems like she hasn't been home for a while, and only her youngest daughter has been doing some light chores. Let's see, since Da Chengzi is eating at home today, I'd better hurry up and make lunch.

  The unattended Fang Mernan walked into the bedroom, which was just like it was in his memory. There was a desk with an alarm clock, a square mirror, and a wooden comb on it. Against the east wall was a huge kang, which was very warm during winter and could accommodate four adults sleeping on it. At the head of the kang was placed a large wooden chest, and against the south wall was a single bed. Under the big window on the west wall was an old sewing machine.

  Fang Mo Nan stroked the familiar yet strange, unknowingly approaching noon.

  "Mom, I smell the dish fragrance, you guys are back from Er Yi's house." The person hasn't arrived yet, but already heard the bright and cheerful voice of Xiao Yi outside the house.

  Fang Mo Nan heard the sound and walked out of the house, standing in the doorway, looking at the person who had come. It was Xiao Yi. She was as lovely as a flower, and even though she was covered in dust, it couldn't hide her jade-like complexion, which resembled Grandfather's large photo. Her big eyes, slender figure, and black hair were all perfectly arranged in two braids on top of her head. She wore an old earth-colored outfit that was stained with dust. With a smile on her face, she said to Fang Mo Nan, "Little South, you haven't gotten darker, it seems like you've even become whiter, and prettier."

  "Quickly, little swallow, go wash up, look at all the dust on you!" Grandma came out of the kitchen, carrying a dish she had just stir-fried. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she went to sweep the room again.

  "Yes, the new leader is coming, so the room has been repainted. I went to sweep it today." Xiaoyi pointed at her dirty clothes and looked at Grandma, exclaiming: "Oh my, Mom, not only is Nannan's skin fair and tender, but your face is almost as white as hers! Weren't you supposed to be harvesting wheat? Instead of getting tanned, you've become even paler!"

  "Hmm, you're already twenty and still not decent. I want to become like that, or else I'll become an old monster." Grandma couldn't stand her dusty clothes, proving that even though her daughter worked at the county committee compound, she wasn't working in an office but doing rough work in logistics. She frowned tightly and urged her to hurry up, "Quickly go wash up, your big brother Cheng will probably arrive soon."

  "Oh" Xiao Yi carried a porcelain basin with a washcloth inside and walked towards the well in the courtyard.

  "By the way, I'm not around these days, are your elder brother and them okay?" Grandma brought the dishes into the house and came out to ask in the corridor. Although it's not right, all mothers think that the son is leading them astray.

  Auntie was still fuming, remembering her precious son. She was so angry that she didn't even call out to her brother. "He's already been driven out of the house, what's the point of mentioning him? Think about how we spent all our savings on his wedding and he moved out, living a life of his own, never giving us a single cent... And if it weren't for him back then, I wouldn't be in this state..." She was still indignant when recalling past events.

  That year, my grandfather passed away. Because of the replacement matter, my aunt and older brother quarreled over the position, which made everyone unhappy. Due to financial difficulties at home, my aunt didn't even get to attend high school. Later, my uncle and his family spread rumors about my aunt everywhere, making her reputation suffer. Until now, she's still doing temporary work, feeling bitter and tired, with a low salary.

  "You're almost an adult now, what else do you want?" Grandma said painfully, closing her eyes in distress, both sides of her hands were flesh and blood, who could she tell her sorrows to.

  "Yes, it would be great if I could get a permanent position." Xiaoyi pouted and pointed to the dust on her body. "Then I wouldn't have to spend all day like this." "Get a permanent position? It's not that easy."

  "Who made you have low education, only graduated from junior high school, and refused to go to school. If you had a degree earlier, you would have been transferred to a formal job, who can blame? Grandma is also heartbroken, the real reason for not going to school back then was because of poverty, in order to reduce the burden."

  "Hmph, I'd like to go up, but it's also got to be affordable. Alright, let's not mention these trivial matters anymore, what's the point? It's all been said before. Little Aunt didn't want to quarrel with Grandma over this, that would take three days and three nights to clarify, and even a fair judge would find it hard to settle family affairs. Why bother creating unnecessary trouble and getting angry for no reason? Let's change the subject... Ah, Big Brother Da Cheng is here too."

  "Big brother's uncle came to see us off, and my grandma and I brought a lot of things, including white flour, corn flour, mixed flour, shoes, and coarse cloth." Fang Mennai hastily chimed in, counting them one by one.

  Past events have passed, Fang Mo Nan is determined to make his family live a better life in this life, no longer thinking about the previous life's mediocrity, not making much money, and not having less to do.

  The old mother and aunt's generation, waiting for Fang Mo Nan and the younger generation to grow up, will worry about them again. The down payment for a house has used up all the savings of both the maternal and paternal families. This is finally over, can they rest assured now?

  But when Fang Mo Nan and his generation grew up, they shouldered mortgages, lived a hard and simple life, and finally paid them off. The house collapsed, old and worn out, without even a cozy nest left, it's really pitiful and there's nothing to say. Just thinking about it is terrifying, let's not think about the past, what's in front of us is the most important.

  "Mom, Xiaonan, returned to the countryside for a while, and she's still so neat and tidy." Xiaoyi looked at her with wide eyes after washing up.

  "Haha...... You're not even wearing diapers anymore, our little Nannan has grown up, can dress herself, eat, use the toilet, and doesn't wear open-crotch pants anymore. Haha......" Just thinking about this makes Grandma laugh so hard she can't close her mouth.

  At that time, children were all free-range, adults at home were either working or farming, and no one took care of the children. By summer, they even ran naked in the streets.

  "My goodness, after returning to the countryside for a while, you've become even better than when we were in the city. Your days are good, but I'm having a hard time, Mom, look at how thin I've become." Little aunt coquettishly leaned against grandma's shoulder.

  "Big Aunt, I'm back!" Da Chengzi's loud voice rang out in the courtyard.

  "Alright, wash your hands and let's have dinner!" Grandma exclaimed happily as she saw him coming from outside, then turned back into the house to set the table.

  Lunch was placed on a small, movable square table in the living room, very sumptuous, four dishes: tomato scrambled eggs, tomato stir-fried beans, garlic eggplant, and cold mixed cucumber, with steamed rice as the staple food.

  Fang Mengnan stayed in the countryside for nearly a month, and at noon he only ate lo mein or wonton noodles. This was his first time eating rice. Here, mainly eat noodle food, also eat rice but not much.

  "Hehe...... Mother is still good at this, just improving the diet." Little Aunt sat on a small stool, swallowing saliva and said.

  "Come on, Da Chengzi, hurry up and sit down to eat." Grandma said.

  The weather was very hot, but fortunately there were two big trees to block the sun, and they ate while sweating. They chatted while eating, Grandma asked Dachengzi, is the county's affairs done? He said it's done, after lunch I'll leave.

  After dinner, Grandma didn't keep him either. She watched as he drove the mule cart away until it disappeared at the street corner. At this time, Fang Mò Nán was also tired and went to take a nap on the kang. Little Aunt cleaned up the table and washed the dishes, said goodbye to Grandma, and went to sleep too. The work had almost exhausted her to death.

  "Grandma looked at the back of her younger sister and said, 'I'm going to the neighboring cultural center to wash clothes. They have running water there, so it's faster. When you wake up, call Nan Nan and send her off. Don't forget to lock the door.' She instructed her younger sister as if she were a child."

  Little aunt waved her hand and indicated.

  It is by