In 1990, a distinguished official came to Lao Lujia, a poor village in Lujiawan, a poor county in Shaanxi Province.

The villagers crowded in groups at the door of Lao Lujia, watching the black car that had arrived at Lao Lujia's mud-brick house after a long journey.

At that time, for ordinary people, a four-wheeled car was a symbol of status, because in that era, there were only two types of people who had four-wheeled cars - bosses and officials.

"He is a high-ranking official in Beijing!" The woman from the Feng family, a neighbor separated from Lao Lujia by a mud wall

, got first-hand information and came out. The villagers gasped. Since the reform and opening up, even the county leaders rarely went to the countryside. Unexpectedly, Lao Lujia could still have a Beijing official. The villagers were in a commotion, with envy in their eyes, wondering how Lao Lujia could suddenly have a distinguished guest from the sky.

In fact, Lu's father was also very puzzled, because the person the distinguished guest knew was not him, but his father who died in the anti-Japanese war when he was just born.

"Comrade Lu died heroically to protect us. I have always wanted to visit Comrade Lu's family to repay his revolutionary friendship for us, but for various reasons I have delayed my visit until today." In front of Lu's father was a man in a suit. It was hard to guess his age. He had silver hair but a young face. He was tall and thin, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looked very elegant, not like an official at all, but more like a scholar.

Lu's father was a little confused about this friendship that lasted for more than 40 years.

Bei Mosha pushed his glasses and said, "It's like this. Back then, your father and I had an agreement that if I have children in the future, I'll become relatives with your family. As for me... I got married a little late, not until I was in my forties, so the agreement with Comrade Lu had to be delayed until today to fulfill."

Lu's father, who had only worked as a coal miner for a few days, stood up hurriedly: "I dare not, I dare not!"

Bei Mosha waved his hand graciously and said kindly: "This is our agreement. A gentleman should value his promise more than a thousand pieces of gold. What's more, this is an agreement between our comrades out of revolutionary friendship. I have decided to marry my little daughter to your son, Comrade Lu's grandson."

Lu's father's eyes became dull again. This time he didn't even say he dared not. He just said I'd go out for a while and hurried out the door.

This time, Bei Mosha was a little puzzled.

Bei Mosha is over 60 years old. When he was a spy in Shanghai, he met Lu Laodi, the father of Lu Ba who died early. Lu Laodi received the news that his wife who stayed in his hometown gave birth to a big fat son, Lu Ba, so he was happy and wanted to become a relative of Bei Mosha who was working with him at that time.

This was originally a casual remark, and Bei Mosha never took it seriously. He was born in a wealthy family and has always been pampered. Even if he later participated in the anti-Japanese work and became a spy, he still concealed his identity as a rich young master. In Shanghai dialect, he is a white-faced man. (Note 1: likes to have fun, with the meaning of a wan!)

After the founding of New China, Bei Mosha did not form any deep friendship with any revolutionary female general until 1965, when Bei Mosha, who was in her forties, went to Hong Kong and unexpectedly formed a deep friendship with the daughter of a Hong Kong boss.

Miss Shen Wubi resolutely broke away from the pit of the bourgeoisie, threw herself into the arms of the proletariat, and followed Bei Mosha to the north. The society at that time gave a high evaluation to Shen Wubi for having such a consciousness to get rid of the decadent and decadent life of the bourgeoisie and be willing to live a poor life of the proletariat. Shen Wubi was very glorious for a while.

Unfortunately, the good story of the virtuous couple did not last long. In 1966, a Peking Opera "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" caused the anti-rightist rectification, which involved Bei Mosha. Because Hai Rui was dismissed from office because he wanted to redress the grievances of the rightists (Note 2: people among the proletariat with bourgeois ideas), Bei Mosha, a Peking Opera fan who works in the municipal government and pays attention to the quality of life, supported Hai Rui's dismissal naturally with the intention of redressing the grievances

of the rightists. Bei Mosha was not wronged. (A fictional character, don't take it personally) The main reason for defining Bei Mosha as a rightist is that he chose to marry a Hong Kong bourgeois lady instead of many authentic proletarian revolutionary female generals. It can be seen that the root of his ideology is bourgeois and corrupt.

So Bei Mosha was locked up in the cowshed, and the bourgeois lady Shen Wubishi was sent to the factory to accept the supervision and re-transformation of the working class.

In 1975, when the wind was relieved, Shen Wubishi took her six-year-old son Bei Luqing and left her three-year-old daughter Bei Luxin and returned to Hong Kong without looking back.

Bei Mosha was imprisoned early during the ten-year Cultural Revolution, so she avoided the great catastrophe that followed. As soon as the Cultural Revolution ended, she was quickly promoted to an important position in charge of the economy.

Shen Wubi, who took over her father's business in Hong Kong, did not know whether it was because she could not forget the romantic love history of the year or because of the bourgeois family's keenness to the economy, she sent her sixteen-year-old son Bei Luqing back to Bei Mosha.

At this time, Bei Mosha discovered the difference between her three-year-old children. Bei Luqing was studious and polite, like a future social elite, but her daughter Bei Luxin was playful and decadent.

Why the bourgeoisie produced good results and the proletariat produced bad results, Bei Mosha was unwilling to delve into it.

Because soon Bei Luxin caused Bei Mosha a huge disaster - she got pregnant before marriage! And she couldn't tell whose the child was!

At that time, the situation was tense again. It was said that the old Buddha began to talk about whether the path of socialism had gone astray. He did say that a black cat or a white cat that could catch mice was a good cat, but obviously he let the black cat catch mice, but he did not intend to let the black cat be the boss. There

were rumors that the old Buddha wanted to confiscate private assets above a certain amount of assets. Once the rumor came out, the social atmosphere began to be rectified.

It happened that Bei Luxin got pregnant before marriage at this time. If compared with the social atmosphere in the 1980s, it would be a female hooligan crime.

When her life and future were at stake, Bei Mosha suddenly remembered the engagement with Lu Laodi in a critical moment.

After such inquiries, Lu Laodi really had two suitable sons.

Lu Laodi had four children. The eldest was studying in a junior college in Xi'an, the second had to drop out of school due to financial problems, the third was a daughter, and the fourth was a boy, who was just ten years old this year.

But the eldest and the second child were already 20 years old, which made Bei Mosha feel like he had found a way out of a desperate situation. In his opinion, with his status, if he proposed to the poor Lu Dad, Lu Dad would definitely agree to it with great joy. Who knew that Lu Dad would slip away with a swoosh.

Could it be that he was unwilling? So Bei Mosha was depressed.

In fact, he really wronged Lu Dad. For the extremely poor Lu family, this kind of thing was like a huge pie in the sky, so big that it could bury Lu Dad. Whether to accept it or not, Lu Dad had no say.

He slipped away to find someone who could make the decision, and the one who could make the decision was Lu Ma.

The rule in rural Shaanxi is that women should not go on stage when eating, and when guests come, they cannot sit in the living room and talk loudly. This is a custom and has nothing to do with gender equality.

Because most women stay in the kitchen, many major family matters are resolved in the kitchen, such as now:

"Lu Ma, Comrade Bei said he wants to marry into our family!!" Lu Dad rushed in and said anxiously.

Mother Lu was kneading dough. When she heard this, her eyes were dull for a moment. She pulled the bellows on the stove for her. (Note 3: Rural stoves have bellows, which are manually pulled to make the firewood in the stove burn more vigorously.) The eldest son, Lu Xiaoping, jumped up with joy and shouted, "Is it true?!"

Mother Lu was used to being the boss. She raised her chin slightly and said, "Xiaoping, go and give the girl a glass of water first to see if her nausea has improved!"

Lu Xiaoping understood and immediately poured a bowl of water happily, and hurried out.

Mother Lu continued to knead the dough. Father Lu knew that Mother Lu kneaded the dough to think.

Although Mother Lu had participated in a study class during the agricultural work cooperative period, she forgot what she learned before and after, and she still can't read a single word today, but this did not prevent her from thinking about problems and steering the family. In fact, in many cases, the methods she came up with were more direct and more effective.

"This is a good thing!" Mother Lu affirmed first.

"Of course." Dad Lu said happily, "If our son marries a Beijing wife, he will be able to move to the capital in one step."

Mom Lu pondered and said, "It's not marrying, it's marrying!"

Dad Lu jumped up and said, "You want our child to marry into someone else's family? You want our grandson to take someone else's surname? Absolutely not!"

Mom Lu put the dough in her hand on the panel and said, "Do you have the money to marry a wife? Will the daughter of another family live with our son in our broken cave? Our son goes to the city and eats and uses other people's things. Will they be willing to raise your son for you, and then raise

your grandson for you? Can you guarantee that your grandson will take your surname, but will he recognize you as his grandfather?" Mom Lu's series of rhetorical questions made Dad Lu completely speechless. Mom Lu's shrewd eyes sparkled and said, "So if our son marries their daughter, we are destined to lose a son. We can't lose this son in vain!"

Dad Lu said nothing. He picked up his pipe and squatted in a corner of the kitchen, drawing circles.

Lu Xiaoping saw Bei Lvxin standing under a big walnut tree. She was wearing a red bat-shaped woolen sweater, step-on pants (note: elastic pants with heels that were very popular in the 1990s) and high heels, with curly short hair. In Lu Xiaoping's eyes, she was extremely fashionable, many times better than those girls in Xi'an.

He liked Bei Lvxin at first sight. Although Bei Lvxin had an undisguised look of disgust, he felt his heart beating for this tall, fashionable girl who exuded extraordinaryness.

Bei Lvxin was carsick all the way from Xi'an to this shabby place. She had seen all the muddy roads and muddy houses she had ever seen in her life. The car was shaking so much that she almost vomited. She couldn't help but hatefully wish she could vomit out the damned thing in her stomach.

"Are you feeling better? Have a drink of water!" Lu Xiaoping thought that the woman in front of him would soon become his wife, and even his tone of voice became a little lingering.

Bei Lvxin took a look at the bowl. Due to long-term smoke, the glaze of the Lu family's bowl was gray. Bei Lvxin pushed Lu Xiaoping's hand away with disgust, pointing at the villagers who were looking over their shoulders and said, "Are these people sick?"

Lu Xiaoping hurriedly said, "No, no, the people in our village are very healthy. The last health survey organized by the county showed that there were not many people with high blood pressure in our village!"

Bei Lvxin looked at the man in front of her who was wearing a white shirt, had a rustic face, but looked very capable and marketable. Thinking of spending her whole life with such a man, her rosy lips curved up disdainfully and uttered a Cantonese sentence: talking at cross purposes.

After she finished speaking, she walked away with resounding steps, leaving Lu Xiaoping behind to ponder that Cantonese sentence.

Lu Xiaoping was proud of having studied in college and English, and could vaguely distinguish the first word of Bei Luxin's sentence: Gay. The rest, relying on the lyrics of the school's Cantonese cassette, seemed to be Cantonese duck, gay and duck. Lu Xiaoping thought that it was either a hit it off. Although he was a little happy, he felt that this woman's words were too much... I would have to talk to her about it when I became her wife.

While he was thinking about it, he happened to see his second brother Hu Xiaofan carrying water over, and naturally he was the first to share his joy with his brother.

Hu's father, out of admiration for Lu Yao's famous novel "Ordinary World" that describes coal miners, named his four children Lu Xiaoping, Lu Xiaofan, and the poor third daughter, a good girl named Lu Xiao, and the last one was Lu Xiaoshi.

However, Lu's father and Lu's mother probably had no chance of having another child, so Lu's father could only regret that he could not live in an ordinary world in this life.

"Do you know what the official is here for?" Lu Xiaoping asked, holding his brother.

Lu Xiaofan had to put down the burden on his shoulders and said, "What are you here for?"

Unlike Lu Xiaoping, who looked smart and energetic, Lu Xiaofan looked a little wilted, skinny, with his head tilted, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses and a navy blue sportswear that was too big for him. So in comparison, he was far less pleasing to his parents than Lu Xiaoping.

In fact, among the four children, Lu Xiaofan, who ranked second, was neither the eldest son, the only daughter, nor the youngest son. When his parents counted their children one by one, he was the first one to pass by.

"To propose to me!" Lu Xiaoping emphasized the word "propose".

"What?" Lu Xiaofan was really surprised.

"I'm going to marry a city wife!" Lu Xiaoping was very proud.

Lu Xiaofan said stupidly: "Brother, I don't think there is anything good about this marriage. We are from the country and she is from the city. We will be bullied if we marry her. Don't you like Xiaofeng from our neighbor's house?" Lu Xiaofan walked all the way carrying water, and Bei Luxin had already received several cold stares. It was obvious that she looked down on them, who were from the country.

Lu Xiaoping sneered and said, "So you are short of experience. I have seen through it in the past few years in the city. It is useless to have no connections or connections, no matter how capable you are. If you marry a wife like this, you will have to work less for many years. Xiaofeng, Miss Bei is the phoenix!" Lu Xiaoping went to Xi'an to study for a few years. Every year he felt that he had nothing to communicate with his family. They were not on the same level and had no experience. So he put his hand on Lu Xiaofan's shoulder and said, "Forget it. You won't understand even if I tell you. Don't just stay in your own doghouse. People should have a long-term vision. Don't worry, when I go to Beijing, with my talent and the influence of their family, I will definitely be able to make a name for myself. By then, I will never forget my parents and brothers, especially you, Xiaofan!"

Lu Xiaofan's college entrance examination last year was actually not bad, and even better than Lu Xiaoping's. However, because his family supported Lu Xiaoping, his expenses were higher every year, and there were only a few fruits in the garden, so they could not afford to support another college student.

Lu's father and mother thought that Lu Xiaofan was not as smart as Lu Xiaoping, and he would not have much success after studying. If he was in debt for tuition, how could

he support his children? So they let Lu Xiaofan go home and drop out of school to farm. Lu Xiaoping meant that Lu Xiaofan had sacrificed for him, and he would not forget it.

Lu Xiaoping left with empty hands, and Lu Xiaofan picked up the water again. He suddenly heard a sound in the wheat pile next to him! He looked up and saw wheat! A young man sat up on the pile, wearing a white sports suit, and he was also fair and handsome. Who else could it be but Bei Lvqing, the son of the Bei family.

Lu Xiaofan immediately thought that Bei Lvqing must have heard everything Lu Xiaoping said just now, and his face turned red like a cockscomb flushed with blood.

Bei Lvqing's slender legs jumped down from the microphone with great elasticity, tilted his head towards Lu Xiaofan, took out the earphones from his ears, indicated that he had just listened to the music and didn't hear anything, then jumped off the microphone! Patted the debris on his body and walked away.

Lu Xiaofan looked at the back of the person with a red face. He was not a fool. If Bei Lvqing hadn't heard what Lu Xiaoping said, why would he want to distance himself from her? But when he thought of Bei Lvqing's actions to avoid his embarrassment, he suddenly liked Bei Lvqing.

In fact, Lu Xiaofan liked Bei Lvqing the first time he saw her, because Bei Lvqing was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Lu Xiaofan had seen people, from classmates to neighbors in the village, not to mention boys, even girls were not as beautiful as Bei Lvqing.

The wind and sand in Lujiawan were very strong. No matter how bright the clothes were, they would become a dirty color after a long time. It was better to wear black, blue and gray.

Therefore, when Bei Lvqing appeared in front of Lu Xiaofan wearing a white sportswear and earphones in his ears, Lu Xiaofan felt as if his eyes were suddenly brightened.

Bei Lvqing stood out among them, which made boys like Hu Xiaofan envy, admire, and feel inferior.

Bei Mosha at home was a little surprised after hearing Lu's father's suggestion. She felt guilty about letting her daughter marry the son of the Lu family, but the Lu family actually wanted to give their son to him, which made Bei Mosha a little speechless.

Seeing that Bei Mosha didn't say anything, Lu Ma mistakenly thought that Bei Mosha was unwilling and didn't care about the customs, so she quickly lifted the curtain and walked in, and said: "Comrade Bei, oh no, Bei's in-laws, we want to marry our child into your family, but there is no other way. You can see that our family is poor. I can't bear to see my daughter-in-law suffer with us after entering the family, so we have to let our son go back with you!" As she spoke, she lifted the curtain and pressed the corner of her eyes, and said: "We know you don't mind, but after our son goes out, we can't care about it no matter how distressed we are. The only hope is that your in-laws will treat him well!"

"Of course!" Bei Mosha said quickly. He was a gentleman, and a gentleman couldn't bear to see a woman cry the most.

Mother Lu continued, "So this son is equivalent to your son, your in-laws' son. This is our little thought. Can you understand?"

Bei Masha had

no choice but to say, "Of course!" Mother Lu breathed a sigh of relief and said to Father Lu with a ruddy face, "I know that your in-laws are a reasonable person. See, I was right!"

Father Lu's belief in his heart is that Mother Lu is omnipotent. At this time, Bei Lvxin came in, and he put on airs and said, "This is an obvious thing. What's the point of you, a woman, talking about it!" His original intention was to say something for his son in front of his future daughter-in-law.

But as soon as Father Lu finished his talk, he immediately remembered that he was marrying his son, not marrying his wife. He couldn't help but feel a pain of hitting his feet with airs. But Bei Lvxin didn't seem to hear him talking. She sat on the wooden stool beside the table and rubbed her ankle.

Mother Lu acted as if she didn't hear what father Lu said, and said in a fierce tone, "My dear relative Bei, to be honest, you've seen the situation in my family. The cost of Xiaoping's college education is very high, but we are determined to sell everything we have to let our child go to school!" The fact that Lu Xiaoping is going to college is what mother Lu is most proud of. At this point, mother Lu couldn't help but puffed out her chest and continued, "So, dear relative, let's be frank. Our family is really penniless. I'm afraid the expenses for the child

's wedding..." Bei Mosha was also a veteran. Although his proletarian thinking was a little complicated nowadays, he quickly got to the point and immediately said, "Don't worry, we will pay for the wedding expenses of the two children. And since your family is marrying off a son, we will also pay for the betrothal gift!"

Mother Lu's eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She looked at father Lu and said with forced calmness, "Then our son will be in the hands of you from now on."

Bei Luxin on the side sneered silently.

Bei Mosha thought for a while and said, "It is a little unreasonable to let your eldest son marry into our family. How about this, let's let your second son Lu Xiaofan marry into our family.

At this time, Lu Xiaofan just pushed the door open with a load of water on his shoulder. Seeing that everyone in the family was suddenly looking at him quietly, he looked down at the water tank to check himself. He didn't know that when he was still dazed, an extremely brilliant green hat fell from the sky and was actually put on his head. When

Bei Mosha said to let Lu Xiaofan marry into our family, Lu's father and mother were shocked, because no matter how they thought about it, they felt that the Bei family would naturally choose the most promising one in their family. As the eldest son of a college student, they didn't even dare to think about introducing the inconspicuous second son to Bei Luxin.

But they changed their minds and were happy again. After all, marrying into the family means giving their son to someone else. It was a blessing from their ancestors that they could not send away the eldest son who could bring honor to the family.

Lu's mother waved to Lu Xiaofan and said, "Fanfan, come here! "

Lu Xiaofan thought his mother had some instructions, so he immediately put down his burden and walked over obediently.

Looking at her skinny son who usually never caused any trouble, Lu's mother said with tears in her eyes, "Kneel down to your father!"

Lu Xiaofan turned around to look at Lu's father, thinking that his father was still alive and well, why should he kneel down to all the ancestors.

"It's not this, it's this!" Lu's mother pointed at Bei Mosha and said, "From now on, he is your father!"

Lu Xiaofan couldn't help but open his mouth. Bei Mosha couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and said, "No, no, this is not the old society!"

Lu's mother said sternly, "This is not the new society, this is the most basic rule of being a human being in our family!"

After she said that, Bei Mosha couldn't say anything. The extremely shocked Lu Xiaofan was held down by Lu's mother and kowtowed to Bei Mosha three times. After

kowtowing, Lu Xiaofan, who was so dizzy that he didn't know which way was which, only heard Bei Luxin say disdainfully, "Singing opera! "

He turned his head and saw Bei Luqing with earphones in his ears, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the door, and Lu Xiaoping, who was shocked, looking at him. He heard Bei Mosha coughing in his ear before saying, "Since everyone is here, I will announce the marriage of Lu Xiaofan and Bei Luxin. Considering that it is inconvenient for Lu Xiaofan's parents to travel a long distance, we will hold the wedding in Lujiawan!" He paused and said, "In view of the fact that Lu Xiaofan has Qiang minority ancestry and is over 18 years old, according to China's Marriage Law, he does not need to abide by the provision that he must be 22 years old to get married. Their marriage is legal and reasonable!"

Bei Mosha said the last paragraph with great force. It was completely said to the villagers outside the wall to prevent the villagers who had only a superficial understanding of the law from spreading rumors that the Bei family did not abide by the marriage law. For Bei Mosha, an astute and far-sighted old politician, it was obvious that there was no loophole in this marriage.

After hearing what he said, Lu Xiaoping turned around and rushed out of the house. Lu Xiaofan was anxious and was about to chase his brother, but his mother called him and said, "Fanfan, married people should not run around. If you fall or bump into something, it will be unpleasant."

Lu Xiaofan was completely stunned and could not see anyone. He only saw Bei Luqing showing his white teeth and smiling at him.

Lu Xiaoping was obviously greatly shocked. He did not show up for the whole night. Lu's mother, who always regarded Lu Xiaoping as her heart and soul, completely ignored this matter and just calmly handled the wedding.

Bei Mosha went to the county the next day and withdrew 2,000 yuan and gave the money to Lu's mother, of which 1,000 yuan was for the wedding and 1,000 yuan was for the betrothal gift. When

Lu's mother took the stack of money, no matter how ambitious she was, her heart could not help but tremble. This was not only a huge sum of money, but also her son, the son she once hugged and embraced. This was not only the son she once hugged and embraced, but also a huge sum of money that she had never seen or even heard of.

It seemed that Lu Xiaofan was the only one in the family who was worried about Lu Xiaoping's absence. He was the only one who knew that when the ambitious Lu Xiaoping heard about this marriage, he had high expectations and might even have a plan to rise. So Lu Xiaofan didn't want to deprive his brother of his ambition at all.

And compared with Lu Xiaoping, he had no intention of marrying a girl from the city.

When he was hesitating and putting forward his opinion, Lu's father said angrily: "Xiaofan, you should think more about the family. Who is your brother? A college student. How hard did we work to train a college student? Can you bear to let others spend a sum of money to buy the only hope of our Lu family's glory?"

Lu Xiaofan bowed his head in front of his father, ashamed of his selfishness for not considering that his brother was much more important to the family than himself.

◇◆◇

Shaanxi people steamed buns when they got married. The shapes of the pastries were varied. Flowers were images of wealth and small animals were also vivid. Craftsmanship was very important, especially the pair of tiger buns that were hung on the bride's neck at the wedding.

Lu's mother was very skillful and could have made it herself, but her son was marrying the daughter of a high-ranking official in the city. To make it a solemn occasion, Lu's mother specially invited Old Lady Liu, the mother of the local village head, to make the pair of tiger buns.

Bei Mosha didn't know much about customs, but he knew the ways of the world. The village head's mother came to help, so she could naturally feel the respect and support of the local government. The village head naturally felt that it was a great honor to have such a close encounter with a senior official in Beijing. Both sides were happy, which showed that Lu Ma was very good at dealing with people in the local area.

Bei Luxin had been pregnant for almost three months, and it was the time when she had a strong reaction. In the past few days, she was upset and had a more severe attack. She vomited all over the place, which made people suspicious. After all, the reaction arc of the car dizziness was a little too long.

Dad Lu was too embarrassed to ask, and Mom Lu was trying to remain calm. They were both in a state of anxiety, and finally Mom Lu spoke up, saying, "Is that girl pregnant?"

Dad Lu's face changed immediately, and he picked up his pipe and puffed on it. After a long time, he said, "We need to verify it. We can't let our son marry a slut!"

Mom Lu said, "Then how can you verify it? You can even drag the girl to the hospital for a check-up?"

Dad Lu was already dissatisfied with marrying his son, and when he heard what Mom Lu said, he jumped up and said, "I said, how could you be so nice and still think about my father who has been dead for almost forty years? Turns out you want to stuff a slut into our family!"

"Keep your voice down!" Mom Hu quickly held Dad Hu down and said, "It will be bad if someone hears!"

Dad Lu blushed and said, "What's the matter if they hear it? At worst, the marriage will not be concluded!"

"This hasn't happened yet, why are you yelling!"

"I knew you couldn't bear to part with the 2,000 yuan dowry!" Dad Lu was so angry that he puffed up his courage and pointed his pipe at Mom Lu's nose.

Mother Lu sneered and said, "Why should I be reluctant? Since ancient times, men have supported the family. As long as you can afford the family's living expenses, Xiaoping's gift, Xiao's dowry, and Xiaoshi's university tuition, why should I be reluctant to give it up?" Mother Lu

hit the weak spot, and Father Lu was immediately hurt. He stiffened his neck and said, "When I was a coal miner, people talked about gender equality!"

Gender equality has nothing to do with coal miners, but Father Lu is very proud of having been a worker for a few days, so every time he wants to reiterate something, he will add a formula "When I was a coal miner" in front to show that he is knowledgeable and what he says is the truth.

Every time Father Lu mentioned the history of coal miners, Mother Lu would take a detour, saying that a tree needs bark and a man needs face. A man's self-esteem is like a scar, which cannot be opened by force.

The two thought about it for a long time and decided to give this unmarried daughter-in-law a try.

Lu's mother said that when she was pregnant, she couldn't stand the smell of fish. As long as she smelled the smell of fish, she would vomit even if there were several walls between them, so she asked Lu's father to get a fish.

Lu's father: "The nearest river to our village is ten miles away. When have you ever smelled the smell of fish?"

Lu's mother said indifferently: "What do you think is in the sack every time the township head goes home?"

Lu's father didn't say anything. He borrowed a bicycle from someone and rode back and forth for more than thirty miles. He brought back two crucian carps from the only place selling fish in the county.

Lu's mother asked Old Lady Liu and prepared the fish. People in rural Shaanxi rarely eat meat and fish, and there is not much wine and ginger at home. Lu's mother used pepper and garlic to make a pot of soup with the fish, and the fish soup was milky white.

At noon, when the soup was served on the table, Bei Luxin ran out and vomited as soon as she smelled it.

Her face turned green, and Lu's father's face turned even greener, but Lu's mother was very calm. Everyone at the table, including Lu Xiaoping, looked at the bowl of milky white fish soup with green eyes. She brought the whole bowl of soup to Lu Xiaofan, looked at her son and said in a tone that had never been softer than before: "Fanfan, drink all the soup!"

Lu Xiaofan had always been taught to respect his elders and be humble, and had never been loved so much by his parents. His face was as red as a rooster's comb, and his skinny little body shook repeatedly, saying: "Give it to my brother, he has to go to school in two days!"

Lu's mother said calmly: "He has spent all the money in the family. It's no loss for him to drink one less bowl of soup!"

Her words made Lu Xiaoping so angry that he threw down his chopsticks and ran out After going out of the door, Lu Xiaofan felt even more guilty and whispered, "Mom, then give it to my fourth brother and third sister!"

Because Lu Xiaoshi was the only girl, she was always the most favored by Lu's father. As long as Lu Xiaoping was not at home, she would pick out all the good things first. When Lu Xiaofan said that, she cheered and went to serve the soup. As soon as she stretched out her hand, she was slapped hard by Lu's mother. She only heard Lu's mother sternly said, "A girl, greedy and lazy, it's not right!"

Lu Xiaoshi rubbed her red back of her hand and jumped to her father, "Dad, Mom is unreasonable!"

Lu's father smoked his pipe silently without saying a word. Lu Xiaoshi, who was ready to make a big fuss, finally smelled that the atmosphere was wrong, so he had to sit down with grievance, biting the steamed bun and crying.

Although Lu Xiaoshi was only ten years old, ten years of life made him understand that it was always right to see the fate of his brothers and sisters before acting, so he ate silently and escaped.

"Then mom and dad, you drink it!" Lu Xiaofan felt that the soup spoon in his hand was heavy.

"Drink it quickly! The fish is cold and smelly!" Lu's mother spoke more gently.

Lu Xiaofan's nose was sour, and he felt that his mother had never been so gentle, and it seemed that she had always been so gentle.

The fish soup was indeed delicious. This was a good thing that Lu Xiaofan had rarely tasted since he was a child. After drinking a few spoonfuls, he forgot about other thoughts and drank the soup up. There were many fish bones, but Lu Xiaofan was patient and ate it all. He looked at the bowl of soup without a drop left, still feeling unsatisfied.

Lu's mother had been sitting next to her son drinking soup, and she barely blinked. Lu Xiaofan waited until he finished drinking the soup before he said embarrassedly, "Mom, I've finished it all!"

"Well, OK."

Lu Xiaofan cried for a while, but no one paid attention to her, so she stopped crying. Now she pursed her lips and said in hatred, "In the future, he will have food to eat in the city, unlike us. Look at Bei Luxin and Bei Luqing, they don't have anything?! We even have to borrow food coupons to eat white steamed buns?" (Note: A kind of ticket issued by the mainland before 1993 to buy food with a limited quota and used together with banknotes)

Lu Xiaofan has a typical hatred of the rich. When she sees rich people, her first thought is not envy, but hostility.

When she was very young, she was taught that collective poverty is glorious and individual wealth is shameful. However, during the long years of growing up, she found that the facts were completely different, so she did not retain the education of being indifferent to material things, but only hatred for the rich. As long as others are rich, they owe her.

After his sister said that, Lu Xiaofan felt even more embarrassed. He thought that he should have pretended that he couldn't eat. But his mother said calmly, "You are the only one who is greedy. We girls don't eat half as much as you do!"

Lu Xiaofan angrily threw the remaining steamed bun in his hand into the bowl and said, "I won't eat it anymore!"

Lu Xiaoshi had already run away, leaving only Lu's father, mother and Lu Xiaofan at the table. Lu's father said, "Fanfan, this marriage..."

"This marriage must be done in a grand manner, Xiaofan, you must remember that whatever decision your parents make is for your own good and for the good of this family!" Mother Lu interrupted Father Lu's words and said forcefully: "There is an old saying that when a person is poor, his ambition is short. He can't even eat enough, so what's the point of having those empty things, don't you think? Fanfan, you are still young and don't understand that there is no such thing as a perfect match, nor is there a perfect match. Sometimes a perfect match may be an ugly match, and an ugly match may not be a perfect match."

Mother Lu's dialectics was so profound that Father Lu was so confused that he dared not interrupt his wife casually, and Xiaofan Lu was also confused.

"It's settled!" Mother Lu concluded.

◇◆◇

The next day, Bei Mosha and Bei Luqing, who had gone to Xi'an to buy wedding supplies, came back. Bei Mosha was very considerate and bought a woolen Zhongshan suit for Lu's father and a woolen coat for Lu's mother. Lu's mother took the things calmly without even saying thank you. Bei Mosha felt guilty but didn't dare to complain.

Bei Luqing changed into a denim suit. Lu Xiaofan only felt that Bei Luqing's legs looked very long in jeans. Lu Xiaoping's legs were also very long, but like the legs of a silk egret.