novelraw Chapter 4 How about we all go to the countryside?
Chapter 4 How about we all go to the countryside?
The people living around the Tong family's house are mostly elderly, and some people still know about their backgrounds, such as the Fan Dayong family. His father used to work as a servant in the Guo family, and when they talk about Old Madam Tong's capabilities back then, especially the assets of the Guo and Tong families, they drool with envy!
However, the Guo family later fell into ruin, and Old Master Guo was abandoned by his favored concubine and illegitimate son, living a very miserable life. He went to his ex-wife and eldest son to beg for shelter, but was driven away by Old Madam Tong.
Later, for the sake of her son's reputation, Old Lady Tong had him rent a small, dilapidated courtyard for Old Master Guo to live in, but he died in less than two years.
Grandma Tong lived until after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and after watching her granddaughter and grandson get married, she left this world with a peaceful heart.
The old lady also orchestrated her granddaughter Tong Jiahui's marriage. Tong Yuheng's father, Tong Linsheng, was adopted by the old lady when he was a child and lived with her for seven or eight years.
Those who know they grew up together say that Tong Linsheng was Jia Hui's childhood sweetheart.
Tong Linsheng was a poor relative of the old lady Tong's maternal family, five degrees of kinship. His parents died during a famine when he was only nine years old.
Since no one in the clan would take care of him, they wanted to have Old Lady Tong take him in, even if he became a servant in their family in the future, at least he would have a way to make a living.
Seeing that he was clever and quick-witted, the old lady supported him to study for seven years. While he was in school, Tong Linsheng secretly joined the Party, saying that he wanted to go with the army to fight the Japanese. The old lady supported him, and from then on he joined the army.
He was gone for six or seven years. In the year the People's Republic of China was founded, Tong Linsheng returned as an officer. He said he wanted to marry Tong Jiahui, who was still in college at the time.
The two were not closely related by blood, and the old lady had watched Tong Lin grow up, so she valued his status as a poor peasant and agreed to the marriage.
After marriage, Tong Linsheng truly doted on his wife, and given their childhood bond, the two were very loving.
After getting married, Tong Jiahui gave birth to seven daughters, all of whom Tong Linsheng adored. He often jokingly referred to his family as having seven fairy daughters, a blessing that others could only dream of.
The Tong family raised their daughters very well; each one had rosy lips and white teeth, and was healthy and lively. The couple spent all their wages on the children's food and daily necessities, and they were unwilling to let them suffer any hardship.
Tong Jiahui's father co-founded his family's small clinic, earning a decent salary and often subsidizing them.
During the years of great famine, Tong Linsheng would always go to the mountains dozens of miles outside the city to hunt for food, so that his daughters could eat some meat as much as possible.
Tong Jiahui herself doesn't believe that the Tong family is still rich! Two years ago, her father was reported for hiding money in the house, but the police dug up the place and found nothing.
What wealth does the Tong family have left? Most of the money they have left goes to subsidizing their family.
But some people just have ill intentions. Although her father changed his surname to Tong after her grandmother, the Tong family, including her grandmother's branch, had a very high social class. Those people kept harping on this point, and Tong Anfu could only be sent to the countryside.
Tong Linsheng had some good comrades-in-arms, and with their help, he managed to arrange for his father-in-law to be sent to a relatively relaxed rural area instead of being sent to a labor camp.
Now that this group of orphans and widows has been targeted by Fan Dayong, it's a really bad thing.
Fan Dayong never believed that the Tong family was poor. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Old Mrs. Tong was so shrewd, how could she not leave a way out for her children?
"We know our own family affairs, but some people might not believe us! I'm afraid they might still try to take advantage of my grandfather and uncle!" Tong Yuheng was very worried about their current situation.
In the original book, the maternal grandfather, Tong Anfu, was tortured to death during repeated struggle sessions at the behest of Fan Dayong; the maternal uncle, unable to bear the persecution and tragic deaths of his wife and children, committed suicide.
"What should we do then? Should we write to your dad's comrade-in-arms and ask him to help look after them?"
"Mom, they've already been very kind to us, helping us carry things and messages. They're also at risk if they're discovered! Besides, they have families and businesses; they can't take care of them all the time."
"What can I do? When your grandfather was sent to the countryside, he insisted on severing ties with me, afraid that our family would be implicated. I've always regretted it..."
"That was the only option at the time; he did it for our granddaughters. Why don't we all go to the countryside to stay with Grandpa and his family? That way we can look after each other and avoid being bothered by these 'monsters and demons'!"
"Sister, can we go to Grandpa's village when we go to the countryside? Will the younger sisters be able to handle it?" Yuyao asked.
"If you can go, that would be great. The situation is getting more and more tense. Even if everything is fine this year, I can't guarantee what will happen next year. It's just that rural work is tough, and I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it." Tong Jiahui felt that her eldest daughter's idea made a lot of sense.
"Mom, some students in my class have recently gone to the countryside. After my sister and I graduate, one of us will also have to go..."
Yuyao thought of her classmates who had been selected by their families to go to the countryside, and then she thought of her own family.
Yuyao and Yuheng are one year and eight months apart in age. Yuheng started school a year later, while Yuyao started a year earlier, so the two sisters were in the same class.
At the time, the third and fourth twins were too young, and Mom was pregnant with the fifth child, so she was simply too busy to help. Therefore, she stayed home for an extra year to help look after Yuling and Yulong.
She didn't go to school until her fifth child could crawl and her third and fourth children could play with her.
When Yuyao registered, she went with others. When asked how old she was, she said seven (two years old in the traditional Chinese age system), which is how she registered her age.
Yuyao is very good at talking and she can make the teacher happy. The teacher tested her on a few math problems, and she could solve them all, so the teacher simply collected all the answers.
She was a few months shy of six years old at the time, but she wanted to stay with her older sister and not play in the mud with the twins!
The two sisters are currently in their final year of high school and will graduate next semester. One of them can take over their father's job, while the other will have to go to the countryside.
My two twin sisters, Yuling and Yulong, are currently in their third year of junior high school. They are fourteen and a half years old, or fifteen by the traditional Chinese age reckoning. If they could graduate from junior high school early, they might be able to become educated youth sent to the countryside.
The fifth child, Yuhan, was born in December 1957 and is now twelve years old and in the first year of junior high school. The sixth child, Yuxuan, is ten years old, and the seventh child, Yuqi, is seven years old. They can only go to the countryside with their mother.
"There are eight of us in our family. It won't be easy to divide us up together, will it? Is this even possible?" Tong Jiahui asked with some concern.
If they can't be separated, wouldn't that be even more worrying? Her daughters will grow up so quickly, and how can she feel at ease if these beautiful girls aren't by her side?
"Let's ask Uncle Gu for help! Let's trouble him one more time!"
Uncle Gu was my father's comrade-in-arms. They fought together against the Japanese, the KMT, and the American invaders. They were demobilized together, but Uncle Gu went to the Public Security Bureau, while my father was assigned to the security department of the steel factory for my mother's sake.
The two are friends who have risked their lives for each other. He was the one who helped my grandfather's family last time, and I'm afraid I'll have to trouble him again this time.