Chapter 6: Yan’yan, From Now On, You’re the Head of the Household

In the evening.

The food on the table was unusually abundant.

Sun Shi had stewed half an old hen in a chicken soup, and the other half with potatoes and mushrooms. She had braised pork with sweet potatoes and sweet potato noodles, stir-fried a plate of eggs with scallions, and steamed a large half-basket of dumplings.

Su Jinyan looked at so much food, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

Sun Shi had really splurged today, but in total, there were only two catties of meat. One catty was used for the braised pork with sweet potatoes, and the other catty was used for the dumplings.

This one catty of meat had filled a whole large half-basket of dumplings, so the amount of meat in the filling was imaginable.

This steamer wasn’t the small one placed on modern rice cookers, but the large steamer used on the big pots in the countryside.

Sun Shi was usually very frugal with cooking. Except for her and the children, she and her father-in-law and Zhao Yuanyi only ate until they were six or seven-tenths full, mostly with watery food.

Was today an open invitation to eat their fill?

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Sun Shi first ladle out a large bowl of chicken soup, putting six small pieces of chicken in it. Then she took out a large bowl and scooped in some chicken stewed with potatoes and mushrooms, followed by some braised pork with sweet potatoes and sweet potato noodles. Finally, more than a dozen dumplings floated on top.

“Yuanyi, take these two bowls to the village leader’s family to thank them for their help over the years.”

Then she took out another large bowl, filled it with ten dumplings, and topped it with two chicken feet from the chicken soup. “Take this bowl to your grandparents. Tell them that you and Yan’yan got your certificate today and made some good food. Let the old couple share the joy.”

Su Jinyan looked at the two skinny chicken feet on top, and her mouth wouldn’t stop twitching. She had always known that their family had a bad relationship with those in the old house, but today she truly experienced it.

These two chicken feet were practically an insult.

One large bowl, not even full, was treated so differently from the village leader’s family.

And Zhao Zhengjun, sitting on the kang head, didn’t show the slightest displeasure at this action.

They weren’t sincerely sending dumplings to the old couple in the old house, but rather to vent some resentment in their hearts.

Recently, the loudest arguments had come from the old house, spreading rumors everywhere, saying that Su Jinyan, this delicate city girl, would definitely abandon her husband and children and go back to the big city to live a good life on her own.

Their Su family thought they had gotten a golden goose, but in the end, it was all for nothing.

It wasn’t that Sun Shi was unfilial to her in-laws, nor that Zhao Zhengjun was unfilial to his parents. It was precisely because they had been too filial and too trusting of them in the past that the resulting blow had completely overturned their entire understanding of family.
The couple, who had always been blindly filial because they could bring money back home every month, had never seen the true faces of the Zhao family.

Almost simultaneously, Zhao Zhengjun became disabled, and Sun Shi went blind. The entire family of old, weak, sick, and disabled were driven out of the house penniless, without even a catty of grain given to them. If the brigade hadn’t intervened, they might not even have had the patched quilts and a few bags of sweet potatoes and potatoes in the dilapidated old house.

Even so, after Zhao Zhengjun’s disability allowance and veteran’s allowance came through, half of it was still taken away by them, the simple reason being filial piety.

Filial piety was a knife hanging over their heads; even if it didn’t kill them, it would strip off a layer of skin.

In this era, if word spread that someone was unfilial, their reputation would be ruined.

Finally, Zhao Zhengjun used half of the money, which was fifteen hundred yuan, to sever ties with those relatives, and the brigade issued a severance letter.

They had thought that their small family could live a stable life from then on, but unexpectedly, Zhao Yuanyi’s elder brother and sister-in-law, seeing the money, became greedy and worried that the disabled father and half-blind mother would spend all the money on medical treatment, so they demanded that they provide for the elders and proposed dividing the family.

Five hundred yuan was divided out of the fifteen hundred yuan. At that time, Zhao Zhengjun’s leg needed money for treatment. He went from the city hospital to the county hospital, and from the county hospital to the town hospital. Finally, seeing that there wasn’t much money left, Zhao Zhengjun decisively gave up treatment and returned home. He used the remaining money to renovate the old house and build another room.
They couldn’t let the whole family have no life in the future just because of medical treatment, right?

And so, Zhao Zhengjun’s left leg became completely disabled. As for Sun Shi’s eyes, she wasn’t born blind. It was when the news of Zhao Zhengjun’s injury came that she fell while doing farm work and was pricked by wheat straw. The Zhao family didn’t spend money to send her to the hospital, and he himself had no money, so her vision gradually became more and more blurred.

Thinking of the actions of those in the old house, a smile appeared in Su Jinyan’s eyes.

Hmm, well done.

Zhao Yuanyi quickly returned after delivering the food to both families, only relaying what the village leader had said. He didn’t mention the old house at all.

No one wanted to bring up unpleasant things, so the family happily began to eat.

At the dinner table, Sun Shi, who had been poor her whole life, gave all the meat to others, not willing to eat a single piece herself.

In fact, Su Jinyan didn’t agree with this kind of outlook on life.

She picked up several pieces of pork and chicken from the pot and put them in Sun Shi’s bowl. “Mom, you eat some meat too. You still have to look after two children in the future. You need to take good care of your health.”

Sun Shi was stunned, feeling that Su Jinyan’s change today was too great. Zhao Zhengjun, who had always been taciturn, was also puzzled. He glanced sideways at Zhao Yuanyi, shook his head, not knowing what the young couple were up to.

However, Zhao Zhengjun was very satisfied that the two’s relationship had suddenly improved and that it was no longer just his son’s one-sided affection.

“Okay, okay, Mom will eat, Mom will eat.”

Sun Shi said happily, eating a piece of pork as she spoke.

She didn’t know what the meat tasted like, she just felt so happy that she couldn’t find her way around, everything tasted sweet.

Today was truly a good day.

Her daughter-in-law hadn’t left. Not only hadn’t she left, but she had also gotten her certificate with her son and was even going to take them, the old couple, with her!

Sun Shi ate her meal with a happy smile that never left her face.

The dishes lacked oil and were dry and not very tasty. One catty of meat had been used to make a large half-basket of dumplings, so the amount of meat inside was pitifully small. Coupled with the lack of seasoning, it was truly not delicious.

Su Jinyan felt that “inedible” wouldn’t be an overstatement.

It seemed she had to learn how to cook.

After dinner.

Under the dim kerosene lamp, Sun Shi looked very happy.

“Yan’yan, Mom paid back all the money we owed the villagers today. As for the money your dad borrowed, we’ll send a remittance from the post office when we get to town.”

Then, Sun Shi began to give her an accounting. “Our family had two chickens. We ate one today, and the other one was sold to the village for two yuan and five mao. We also sold thirty eggs. The task pig weighed one hundred and eight catties, and the village leader also converted it into work points in advance and gave us the money. Adding Yuanyi’s work points for this year, the brigade gave us a total of forty-nine yuan and five mao. Mom spent sixteen yuan and five mao to buy fifty catties of refined grain and fifty catties of coarse grain to take with us to Beijing. (Here, the prices are based on the supply and marketing cooperative prices in the 1970s: cornmeal was eight fens per catty, and white flour was two mao and five fen per catty. The black market prices that will appear later will be higher.)”

“Adding the twenty yuan you gave this morning and the little bit we had originally, our family now has a total of sixty-two yuan. You and Yuanyi officially got married today, and your dad and I discussed it. From now on, you’ll be the head of this household.”

As Sun Shi spoke, she pushed a pile of scattered bills towards Su Jinyan.

Su Jinyan was stunned for a long while before reacting. She quickly pushed the money back to Sun Shi. “Mom, no way! We still have to go to school. All the big and small things in the family still need you and Dad to worry about.”

“Besides, how can a junior be the head of the household when the elders are still around?”

What a joke! She didn’t want to deal with the daily calculations of firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

Sun Shi smiled, thinking that as expected of a daughter from a wealthy family, she didn’t even blink at so much money. Which of the young wives in the village wouldn’t want to snatch it up as soon as they saw it?

Which daughter-in-law didn’t hope to be the head of the household?

Having such a daughter-in-law would make one laugh in their dreams, right?

Sun Shi stared with her half-blind eyes, smiling happily, and pushed the money towards Su Jinyan. “Your dad and I are old and don’t have the energy to manage money. You’ll be the head of the household from now on. If Mom needs you to buy grain or vegetables, just give Mom some living expenses.”

“When we get to Beijing, Mom won’t understand anything. Moreover, our household registration isn’t there, so we can’t get rationed food. Everything will depend on you and Yuanyi. Your dad and I will be a burden to you.”

The old couple also had their own calculations.

Their grain supply wouldn’t transfer. In Beijing, all food and expenses would come from their daughter-in-law. They had nothing; how could they be the head of the household?

Once they got to Beijing, it would be their daughter-in-law’s territory. Everything would be up to her. They just needed to take care of the children.