T/n:
Cun as a suffix means “Village”
Dayangcun : Dayang Village
Chapter 19 p1
The news of Ye Qingzhi leaving the village with Auntie Ye and He Dagu the day before had already spread like wildfire.
Especially since some villagers knew He Dagu and were aware she had been looking for a match for her divorced nephew.
After some discussion, everyone concluded that the most likely scenario was: Auntie Ye brought He Dagu to see Ye Qingzhi, they hit it off, and Ye Qingzhi went with He Dagu to Dayangcun to meet the man. If they were a good match, they would get their marriage certificate.
That’s right, the marriage process in the 1960s was that simple and fast.
“Auntie Ye, was that man at the village entrance this morning the one you introduced to Qingzhi?” Big Sister Li asked, grabbing Auntie Ye and not letting her go.
Big Sister Wang ran over, her voice filled with excitement. “I saw him and Qingzhi leave together. Auntie Ye, what does the man do? He looked quite tall. What about his looks? Our Qingzhi is so beautiful, she can’t marry an ugly duckling. Hahaha, right, Auntie Lin?”
Auntie Lin smiled and waved her hand, saying it was impossible. Auntie Ye treated Ye Qingzhi like half a daughter; she would never introduce her to an ugly duckling.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Little Ye, was the one you introduced to Qingzhi Dahong’s soldier nephew?” Old Mrs. Li was one of the people who knew He Dagu.
Counting the time, Ye Qingzhi and He Qiming should have already gotten their marriage certificate by now, so Auntie Ye no longer kept it a secret.
“Yes, it’s Dahong’s nephew who’s a soldier in the army. He’s divorced, right? With two children and no one to take care of them, he wanted to find a hardworking and good-tempered wife. When I heard that, I thought, isn’t that just Qingzhi!” Auntie Ye said happily, slapping her thigh.
No one objected to Auntie Ye’s praise. In their eyes, Ye Qingzhi was indeed a hardworking, capable, and good-tempered person.
This was also why Ye Qingzhi wanted to leave as soon as possible. The original host was truly a very hardworking and resilient person, with a very good temper, the kind who believed that suffering a loss was a blessing.
But Ye Qingzhi was different. She herself was not that hardworking, and she especially disliked hardship and suffering losses.
“A soldier? A soldier is good! They get a subsidy every month. If Qingzhi marries a soldier, she’ll have a good life,” Big Sister Li said, but in her heart, she felt that the man might not take a fancy to Ye Qingzhi.
Beside her, Big Sister Wang had the same thought. Soldiers had a good reputation and a salary. Even though he was divorced, many young, unmarried girls would be willing to marry him.
Men were all the same. If they could choose a young, unmarried girl, why would they choose a widow like Ye Qingzhi with two burdens?
“Didn’t Dahong’s nephew go back to the army? Who did Chungen’s wife and Shouxi’s wife see?” Old Mrs. Li asked, looking at Auntie Ye in confusion.
“It was Dahong’s nephew, He Qiming. Dahong had her eye on Qingzhi for a long time and kept asking me to be the matchmaker. So, after the hundred-day memorial, I asked Qingzhi privately, and she was willing to meet him. So Dahong sent a telegram to Qiming two days in advance, telling him to rush back from the army,” Auntie Ye said with a chuckle.
Everyone silently calculated in their hearts. Oh my, without realizing it, it had been almost four months since Wei Jiancheng died.
He had been away for six years and had found a mistress outside. For Ye Qingzhi to wait until after the hundred-day memorial to go on a blind date, no one felt she had done anything wrong.
If it had been anyone else, they might have remarried right after the first seven-day memorial.
“Is it really Dahong’s nephew? Hey, is that Qingzhi?” Old Mrs. Li squinted, unable to see clearly.
“It is Qingzhi. Is that the soldier, He Qiming, next to her? Oh, with all those bags, did they move the entire supply and marketing cooperative back?” Big Sister Li’s eyes were sharp, and she could see more clearly.
“They’re talking and laughing. They must have hit it off. Auntie Ye, you’re going to get a big chicken leg,” Big Sister Wang said, looking at Auntie Ye with envy.
It was a custom in their area that if a matchmaker was successful, the bride’s family would give her a big chicken leg on the wedding day.
As they slowly approached, Old Mrs. Li finally saw clearly. “It really is Dahong’s nephew. The man is handsome, and the woman is beautiful. They’re a good match.”
The people around them all nodded. Just from their appearance, the two of them were indeed a good match.
“Auntie, are you all chatting here?” Ye Qingzhi said, leading He Qiming to the shade of the ginkgo tree. She patted his arm. “Hurry up and give the aunties some wedding candy.”
“Wedding candy? What wedding candy?” Big Sister Wang rushed in front of Ye Qingzhi and asked in shock, “Did you two get your marriage certificate?”
Ye Qingzhi nodded with a smile. “Yes. We’re not young anymore. We felt we were a good match, so we got the certificate.”
“That’s too… good.” Big Sister Wang had been about to say “too fast,” but seeing the candy He Qiming handed her, she immediately changed her tune and said with a broad smile, “Your name is He Qiming, right? Qiming, our Qingzhi is a good woman. You have to treat her well in the future.”
“Of course. Qingzhi is my wife. I will definitely be good to her,” He Qiming said, looking at Ye Qingzhi with a smile.
“Oh my, oh my, look at this lovely couple,” Big Sister Li teased.
Ye Qingzhi smiled shyly and took the candy to distribute with He Qiming.
Candy was precious now, so they certainly couldn’t give everyone a handful. Two pieces per person was already generous.
Everyone took the candy. It was a happy occasion, so they all showered them with good wishes.
Before long, the children who had heard the news gathered around Ye Qingzhi and He Qiming. The two of them didn’t show any favoritism and gave each child two pieces of candy, which made the children grin from ear to ear.
“Qingzhi.” Auntie Ye beckoned to Ye Qingzhi and whispered in her ear, “Don’t hand out candy here. There are so many people in the village, you won’t have enough. Hurry up and go home.”
Houxicun was not a small village, with a population of over six hundred. If they gave two pieces to each person, they would run out before they even reached their door.
Knowing that Auntie Ye meant well, and that they indeed didn’t have enough candy, Ye Qingzhi nodded and pulled He Qiming home.
This was his first time at Ye Qingzhi’s house. Looking at the neat and tidy house, He Qiming didn’t compare Ye Qingzhi to his ex-wife. Everyone had a different personality. Besides, he didn’t require his wife to do a lot of work. As long as she could take good care of the children, planting flowers was not a problem in his eyes.
Noticing the un-dug sweet potatoes at the foot of the wall, He Qiming astutely picked up a hoe.
“The sweet potatoes are not urgent. There are only a few left. It’s fine to dig them later. Can you help me pick the oranges? The ones at the top are too high for me to reach,” Ye Qingzhi said. She was about to get a ladder when He Qiming had already climbed up the tree in a few swift movements.
“Hand me the basket,” He Qiming said, reaching out to Ye Qingzhi.
The two orange trees yielded a full large basket. She picked out three small baskets of the best ones. One for Big Sister Li, to return the favor for the seeds. One for Auntie Ye, and one for her newly-minted in-laws.
She would give some of the rest to He Dagu and Auntie Lin, and also send some to the Brigade Leader and the Village Secretary. She would need their help with something later.
“Are all these for gifts?” He Qiming asked, jumping down from the tree. He had picked a few of the largest and yellowest oranges from the very top, which looked very sweet.
“Mm.” Ye Qingzhi nodded and took the orange He Qiming handed her. She peeled it and ate a slice. “So sweet. You have some too.”
She subconsciously fed it to He Qiming. Only after feeding him did she realize how intimate the gesture was. Just as she was about to pull her hand back, she saw He Qiming lower his head and take the orange, saying with a soft chuckle, “It is indeed very sweet.”
Although it was a very normal sentence, it sounded particularly ambiguous to Ye Qingzhi’s ears.
“Um… can we take that pickle jar?” Ye Qingzhi pointed to the one-meter-tall pickle jar.
He Qiming was taken aback for a moment. “We have to take four children this time, and there are many other things. Such a large pickle jar will be hard to carry. How about next time?”
From their place to the base, they had to take a bus to the train station, then a three-day-and-three-night train ride to Xishi, then a five-hour bus ride to Wushi, then a transfer to the town which took over two hours, and finally, from the town to their base was another half-hour bus ride.
So, it was not an easy task to take a one-meter-tall pickle jar to the base.
After hearing He Qiming’s explanation, Ye Qingzhi was dumbfounded. Five transfers, with four children, and a lot of other luggage. It seemed she had no choice but to give up the pickle jar.
She pulled He Qiming into the house and pointed to the already packed sacks. “Can we take these?”
Two sacks of various dried vegetables, one sack of sweet potato flour, dried sweet potatoes, dried potatoes, and soybeans, and one sack of miscellaneous things like ginger, garlic, dried herbs, and vegetable seeds.
Besides the sacks, there were also two baskets full of things, including small pickle jars with chili sauce, the oil jar, and the aluminum pot and wine flask she wanted to take.
She hadn’t even packed the clothes and shoes yet. And her work points, she planned to exchange them for fine grain to take with her.
“Are we taking all of these?” He Qiming knew there would be a lot of things, but he hadn’t expected this much.
“I’ve already streamlined these. There was even more before,” Ye Qingzhi said, looking at the things. She had worked hard to get all of this. She would be really unwilling to leave it behind.
It was cold in the Northwest, and there were even fewer vegetables in the winter. She couldn’t stand eating cabbage and potatoes every day.
“How about we mail these things? As for the large pickle jar outside, I have a classmate who works in the city. I’ll ask him if there are any large trucks going to the Northwest. If there are, we can have them take it for us,” He Qiming said, seeing that Ye Qingzhi was reluctant to part with anything.
Ye Qingzhi thought for a moment. Mailing things was fine, but the pickle jar was out of the question. She was mainly reluctant to part with the pickles inside. Asking someone to take something for her would incur both a favor and money. It was better to just buy a new one there.
“Don’t bother your classmate. It’s too much trouble. We can just buy a new pickle jar then.”
Since she couldn’t take it, she would just give the pickles in the jar to Auntie Ye. She had to keep the jar. She would move it to He Qiming’s house tonight. It might be useful in the future.
He Qiming nodded, but he planned to ask anyway. If there was a large truck going, he would take it. If not, then forget it. It was really hard to move.
After eating the orange, he picked up the hoe again to dig up the sweet potatoes. He asked, “Are we taking these sweet potatoes too?”
“No. We can exchange the sweet potatoes for fine grain from the production team. And the work points I and the two children have earned, after deducting the grain I owe the team, should be over a hundred catties. We can exchange them for some millet then. It’s good for the body. The children all look so thin. They need to be nourished,” Ye Qingzhi told He Qiming her plan.