Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

My name is Qin Jingru.

I grew up in the village.

My parents are very nice to me.

Oh, to use today's words, that can't be called pretty good, that's called extremely good.

I am proud to say that I eat the same food as my two older brothers. They like me and give me more food in private.

Compared with other girls in the same village, I am the best looking.

Because of this, I have always wanted to marry into a good family since I was a child.

There's no way. What girls in that era talked about most was marrying so-and-so and living a good life.

Marry so-and-so, because the mother-in-law in her family is very good at torturing you.

Or marry so-and-so, or whatever.

After I became old enough to understand things, this topic has been with me throughout my childhood, and I have never stopped talking about it.

Everyone in the village knows that my father loves me and always makes fun of this.

At that time, I was proud.

Dad loves me and will always find a good family for me.

Until I heard that my cousin got married and moved to the city.

At that time, I heard that the betrothal gift alone was ten yuan, and there was meat in the gift! Real big fat meat!

After hearing this, I developed something called "ambition".

It's funny to say, my ambition at that time was to eat meat, to have ten dollars, and to marry into the city.

In the eyes of ordinary girls, this kind of thing is "ambition", no, it should be called "delusion". My conditions are better and my father likes me more, so he allows me to have this kind of "ambition".

But he didn't think I could marry into the city.

He told me that if I had the ability, I should find someone myself. Now people are allowed to fall in love freely.

Freedom of love, this is something he learned from the village teacher.

It's funny, there is no such thing as freedom of love.

But at that time, I don’t know where I got the courage from, I just felt that I could marry into a good family, marry into the city, and that would be the best marriage.

So, I have always been paying attention to my cousin who married and lived a good life in the city.

But unfortunately, she seldom comes back.

Actually, it's not her fault. I heard that life in the city was not easy during those years. If she came back and had another mouth to feed, it would be a bit too much for her to handle.

Until one day in 62, she came back and came to see me specifically.

She asked me about a marriage proposal and asked if I was interested.

interest?

I'm really interested! That means marrying to a city!

Without hesitation, I followed her to the city.

However, her expression seemed strange. Later, I found out why.

My father actually doesn't agree with this.

He took my cousin aside and asked her many details, and only after she finished did he let me go.

It was only later that I realized that city dwellers who had some defects, such as poor health or wanted to marry a younger woman, liked to go to the countryside to seduce young girls. The country girls didn't understand these things, they just knew that they could marry in the city and eat commercial grain, so they went there immediately. Once they went, they could never come back.

This is what my father is worried about.

At that time, I was busy and there was no one at home to help, so I went up with him.

What is lost every day are work points. If the work points are not enough, it will feel like a spring famine, which is really uncomfortable.

I don't think it's a big deal. After all, my cousin can't harm me. She and I are sisters.

Later, we really became sisters...

I am proud.

But I also have low self-esteem.

exactly.

I am proud in the countryside, and my pride comes from my father and my two brothers.

I feel inferior in the city, and my inferiority complex comes from the fact that I come from the countryside.

Everyone was calling each other comrades, but in reality, there was still an unfathomable chasm between the two sides.

It was on that day that I saw Wei Ge'er.

I fell in love with him the first time I saw him.

He's so good-looking!

On the way, my cousin told me about his conditions.

To be honest, the conditions are too good.

I actually know what the wages of city workers are. After I thought about marrying into the city, I kept collecting news about the city, such as how much the wages are in the city and how high the officials in the city are.

But most of it is just fake news.

Seriously, we still have to compare it with our family's income.

After hearing about Wei Ge'er's salary, I was stunned. His monthly income was equal to our annual income. No, it was even more than our annual income.

The most important thing is the cook.

Hello, cook!

I am not Lou Xiao'e, who dreams of romance and sweet things. I don't want to marry a high-ranking official, but a worker. That would be great, so I can eat commercial grain.

This condition is so good, so good that it’s a little outrageous, so good that I feel a little inferior.

I wonder if this person is ugly.

But after seeing people, I was confused.

The first thought that popped into my mind was: What does he want?

However, there seems to be something wrong with his attitude towards his cousin.

Despite this, he still took me out to play, which was called a date back then. Oh, and I think it’s still called that now.

He took me to many places.

I went to the department store and they bought me a set of clothes. My god, that set of clothes cost thirty-two dollars and a half! We worked for a year, which was equivalent to one piece of clothing. When I held it, my hands were shaking.

He also took me to eat roast duck.

Everything in the city is good, beautiful, nice to look at and delicious.

But, it’s too expensive.

It’s so expensive that my heart trembles.

Finally, after some hesitation, I asked my question.

Because it was very strange that every time he bought a roast duck, he would bring a portion for his cousin, which was not in accordance with the rules, and there was no need for these gifts to introduce him.

Others may say they don’t know, which is possible, but he is a cook, so he should not be ignorant of this.

What I didn't expect was.

He confessed.

He confessed his relationship with his cousin.

Speaking of which...

My first thought was - that's it?

Yes, that's what I thought.

It doesn't matter if a man has several wives. Wang Laosi, a man at the village head, has three wives at home. That was a thing of the past. It's not like there were no wives at all. His family is still supported by three wives.

I didn't say I disagreed, I just felt I should hesitate before agreeing.

He is good-looking and earns a lot of money, so I have no reason to refuse.

But who knew, after I agreed, he would say another...

He is so bad.

This is my second impression of Wei Ge'er.

but

So what?

He is good-looking.

And you can make money.

That's good enough.

As for how many there are, it doesn't matter, anyway, he promised me that I am the queen. My cousin has to call me sister!