bestfiction Chapter 60 "Full of Love" - World Widows Raising Children 1
Chapter 60 "Full of Love" - World Widows Raising Children 1
When Liu Yuxi opened her eyes again, it was still dark. Feeling no movement around her, she had Xiao Liu transmit the original owner's memories.
It is now December 1954 in Beijing. The original owner was 24 years old and had twin sons, Wang Jianguo and Wang Jiandang, aged 6. They lived in the east wing of the front courtyard of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, yes, the very same No. 95 Nanluoguxiang from the famous TV series "Full House of Love". Her husband, Wang Jun, was a retired soldier who sacrificed his life a few days ago while protecting the equipment of the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill during an attack by enemy agents. His body was only brought to the mountain today.
Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill has now begun to be a joint public-private enterprise. Wang Jun himself was wounded and retired from the battlefield after being awarded merits. He was assigned to the security department of the steel rolling mill as the captain. After his sacrifice, the street and the factory reported it together, and Wang Jun was posthumously recognized as a martyr. Today, a plaque of honor was nailed to the front door of her house.
The factory sent the original owner 1200 yuan in compensation (for convenience, it's written directly in the second set of RMB banknotes, as the specific compensation standard couldn't be found, so a compromise figure was used), and each child will receive a subsidy of 5 yuan per month until adulthood. According to regulations, one person from their family can fill in for them, and they will be paid as a regular employee.
The original owner was a war orphan. After growing up, she worked as an assistant in a rear-area medical station, caring for patients. Because Wang Jun was wounded before liberation, he fell in love with the original owner while recuperating in the rear, so the two started a family. In the first few years, the two rarely saw each other. It wasn't until last year when Wang Jun was discharged due to injury that the two were able to have a normal married life. Now, at the height of their love, they received the devastating news. The original owner couldn't accept it for a while, and coupled with not eating or drinking for the past few days, she passed away.
The original owner was just having a moment of despair. When Xiao Liu found her, she regretted it, but it was too late to go back. So the original owner had two requests: one was that she could not remarry, and the other was that she hoped to take good care of her two sons as they grew up. These were not requests for Liu Yuxi.
After receiving the memories, Liu Yuxi went to the space and ate some millet porridge. This body hadn't eaten for several days and desperately needed to eat. After finishing the meal, Liu Yuxi went to the next room to check on the two children. The two little brothers were sleeping head to head, with dried tear stains on their faces. The blankets felt warm, so she went back to her own room.
She took out a small flashlight, shining it at its weakest setting, and first, according to her memory, took out all the family savings and pension money and put them in her spatial storage. The savings and pension money totaled about 1800 yuan. She also took out the family's household registration book and put it away, as she would need it later.
When Wang Jun was assigned a job, it was a cadre position, but there were no suitable apartments available in the old tenement buildings. So he was given two east wing rooms and one side room in the courtyard of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. Perhaps as compensation, a private property deed was issued for him at that time. He also needs to take out the property deed and go to the street office tomorrow to complete the transfer of ownership. He will deal with the rest after dawn.
She slept soundly until dawn. When Liu Yuxi opened her eyes, she saw her two eldest sons sitting by her bedside, watching over her. Seeing that she was awake, they rushed to her side, calling out "Mother, Mother," their eyes filled with fear. Their father's passing and the original owner's behavior these past few days must have made the children extremely anxious. Liu Yuxi quickly comforted the two children, "Jianguo, Jiandang, Mother's here, don't be afraid!" Hearing their mother's voice, the two children could no longer hold back and burst into tears. It took Liu Yuxi a long time to soothe them.
Then I went to the kitchen and made some corn porridge for the two children. Given the original owner's condition these past few days, the neighborhood committee was worried and arranged for someone to cook for them every day. The two children weren't hungry, but since something had happened at home, they didn't eat much. Besides, these days, all they could eat was corn porridge and cornbread. It was good enough if they could get enough to eat.
After the three of them finished eating, Liu Yuxi asked her two children if they wanted to go to the neighborhood office with her or wait at home. As expected, both children wanted to go with her, so the family of three went out, locked the gate, and walked out of the yard. The auntie across the street called out, "Yuxi, where are you taking the children?" "Auntie, I'm taking the children to the neighborhood office to take care of some things." "Then go ahead!" This conversation was just normal neighborly greetings, and nothing else seemed amiss. It might be because Liu Yuxi had only been there a short time, and the honorary plaque on her door made everyone a little hesitant. We'll have to see what happens later.
On the way, Liu Yuxi recalled the days after the couple moved to Nanluoguxiang. The three old men, apart from conveying the latest policies of the street, had not yet developed the habit of holding large meetings at every turn. The deaf old lady in the backyard did have some problems. Judging from her bound feet, she was not born into a poor family. Moreover, a resident with an urban household registration was designated as a five-guarantee household by the street office, receiving a subsidy of 5 yuan per month. There must have been something going on in between.
Liu Yuxi felt that the most likely scenario was that the courtyard was indeed donated by the deaf old lady. Because she was an elderly person living alone, the neighborhood committee compensated her with the status of a "five-guarantee household" (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly). The reason why the old lady usually took care of her was because the old man in the courtyard was supposed to take care of the elderly people living alone in the courtyard. The old man and his wife had no children, and the old lady usually didn't have anything to do at home. The other two old ladies all had several children, so the old lady took care of her.
He Daqing has been working in Baocheng for three years, while He Yuzhu is now working at a steel rolling mill, but is currently only paid as an apprentice. He will be able to get a level nine cook's salary next year after passing the certification exam, which is 27.5 yuan a month. In the courtyard, apart from not getting along with Xu Damao, they don't have any major problems with others except for talking a little awkwardly. However, because there are no adults to guide them at home, the brother and sister are a bit sloppy.
As for the Jia family in the Central Court, Jia Dongxu is now a first-class fitter, apprenticed to his great-uncle Yi Zhonghai. His grandson, Banggeng, is two years old. Jia Zhangshi is a somewhat unreasonable old woman, always envious of others' success and wishing others had nothing. Sometimes she'll steal cheap things left outside by neighbors, like a honeycomb briquette or a few dried vegetables. She also helps take care of her grandson, so the housework falls to Qin Huairu.
Besides, how many clothes do people have to wash these days? Especially in winter, Jia Dongxu's work clothes get dirty easily because of his work, so she washes Jia Dongxu's work clothes the most.
Second Uncle does indeed like to beat his two younger sons. Now he mainly beats Liu Guangtian because Liu Guangfu is still young. Besides his feudal patriarchal mindset, Liu Guangqi is indeed more civilized and less naughty. In comparison, Liu Guangtian becomes the brat, so he gets beaten more often.
As for Uncle Yan Bugui, his stinginess might be related to his status as a small business owner. What does "small business owner" mean? It means a family-run workshop. How did such a family workshop make money in the past? They had to rely on calculation and saving. He was exposed to this kind of education from a young age, and it has become a habit. Moreover, although his salary as a primary school teacher wasn't as low as in the novel, it wasn't high either. To support several children, he still had to save money, so of course he was stingy. Liu Yuxi thought about the affairs of the courtyard while heading to the street office.