Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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“What do you mean he can’t come back?” Ye Lan grabbed Ye Ning’s hand, her dark yellow face full of panic, “Sister, you can’t say this nonsense.”
“I also thought it was a lie.” Ye Ning choked with sobs.
After a while, “Dad, in order to make more money, went to a coal mine instead of to the city. After going down to the mine… He didn’t come up. They didn’t even recover his body. I got a call and I went to the place where Dad worked, and only got his bag of clothes.”
Ye Lan was already 8 years old. A poor child who had long been in charge. She knew what it meant when her sister said that her father was gone. She grabbed Ye Ning’s other hand and cried that her eldest sister was lying.
Ye Lan still couldn’t believe that her father, who smiled and said he was going to make money a few months ago, was gone.
“Do you have no money to spend? I have living expenses from dad about eight yuan, Ye Ning, there are some lies you can’t tell.” Ye Lan stopped calling her sister and called her by her first name.
Li Fang had a difficult delivery when she gave birth to Ye Lan, and Ye Lan was ordinary-looking, so she didn’t like her second daughter very much. The least popular children were the most sensible. Ye Lan was like this. She had been a diligent director since she was a child and knew that it was not easy for her parents. She would save all the pocket money she got, but the original person would spend it as soon as she got it, and then she would lie to Ye Lan to get the money. She hoped that this time it was just Ye Ning lying deliberately because she wanted pocket money.
Ye Ning looked at her younger brother and sister, her tears never stopping. She sniffed, opened her luggage bag and took out the larger cloth bag. It was filled with Ye Qingshan’s clothes. When she went out during the Chinese New Year, Ye Ning packed everything. Yes, seeing these familiar clothes and items, Ye Lan felt her eyes go dark.
“…” Ye Lan opened her mouth, her throat seemed to be blocked by something, and she couldn’t make any sound.
She no longer had a mother, and now she didn’t even have a father. They had become unwanted children.
“I don’t want new clothes, and I don’t want to eat meat. Sister, please let dad come back.” Ye Gu cried.
“What about dad? Why is there no body? You didn’t even find dad’s body, so you just brought back a bag like this?” Ye Lan grabbed Ye Ning and shook her like crazy.
Ye Ning shook off her hand, picked up the bag that fell on the ground, and put it carefully on the table, “Dad went down into a mine. The gas pipe exploded below and the whole mine collapsed. There was no way to dig down… There were six people in total, none of them came up. It’s not like we didn’t try to find the body, anyway… the fallen leaves have returned to their roots. The mine owner asked experts to look into it, but there was no way to dig it out.” Her two siblings, Ye Lan and Ye Gu, hugged each other and cried.
After a while, Ye Lan’s eyes were as swollen as steamed buns, and she asked hoarsely: “Then you just lied to them that dad would come back, but now dad can’t come back, what should we do?”
Ye Ning sighed, no matter how powerful Ye Lan was, she was still a little country girl who had not stepped out of society, let alone a little boy who only half-understood things.
“I have thought about this before. I originally planned to build a tomb for our dad, but now we have to wait. If they know that our dad is gone, not to mention the people in the village, our grandfather and uncles will be eager to attack us, and peel off our skin.”
“Then let dad be a lonely ghost? That won’t work. Besides, our family is separated from the old house, and they can’t control us at all.” Ye Lan said angrily.
“No matter how the family is separated, they are all elders, naturally one level higher than us. How can you be tough on them in the village? Even the village chief and secretary will speak for them.”
Ye Ning pulled Ye Lan and asked her to sit down, looking at Ye Qingshan’s pile of clothes, she said: “You are about to take the high school entrance examination. When the high school entrance examination is over and Xiao Gu finishes this semester, we will go to the city together. After we are stable in the city, we can choose a day to erect a memorial for Dad. Before that, let’s find someone to make a memorial tablet for Dad first and worship at home. If Dad is alive in heaven, he will definitely not blame us and will protect us.”
After hearing her sister’s words, Ye Lan knew that it was all because of her and Xiao Gu. Otherwise, the eldest sister was a high school student herself and over eighteen years old, so she wouldn’t have to worry about these relatives in her hometown.
Ye Gu was so young that although he was listening on the side lines and had no role to interrupt, he knew that his eldest sister was thinking about them.
“What about the family’s fields?” They had no maternal family to support them, and now that Ye Qingshan is gone and Ye Gu was still so small, the family’s fields may not be saved.
“We will sell them.” Ye Ning said solemnly.
Sell? Ye Lan’s red and swollen eyes widened, looking particularly funny.
“You can’t sell it. It’s the lifeblood of the family. What will we eat if it’s sold?” Ye Lan looked at Ye Ning anxiously. She believed that her eldest sister really had this idea.
What was the field? It was the life of the people. Without the fields and land, what would they eat and drink?
Ye Ning glanced at her and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve found a job in the county town. I can support you all. Besides, if we don’t sell it, can we keep the land? It’s better to sell it than let it be taken away by that old woman’s family. Are you willing to give it to them?”
“Sell it to Er Mazi. He is rich and his family is powerful. If you sell it to them, I’m sure Ye Fangming and Ye Qinghe won’t dare to get it out.” When Ye Lan heard this, she gritted her teeth and agreed to sell it, “Have you found a job? Are you not going to college?”
When Li Fang was still here, she always said that the only way out was through studying, so all three children in the family were sent to study, even if she didn’t like Ye Lan. Looking around the entire township, Ye Ning and her family were the only ones whose children went to school. She was the only girl like Ye Ning who went to high school. When she was admitted to high school, Li Fang expected her to go to college. She also said that selling iron was enough to support her. She had always regarded herself as a future college student and often talked about where she would go to college in the future, which showed her expectations for college.
“Well, I’ve been behind on classes for so long. I’m afraid I won’t be able to pass the exam, so I might as well go to work early. Don’t think so much, just have something simple for lunch, and I’ll go find Er Mazi in the afternoon.”
Ye Ning was really considering going to college. It had been a long time. To be honest, she went to school enough in her previous life, but she couldn’t deny that a diploma was really useful. It was just that she had been out in society for many years, and the knowledge she learned had long been returned to the teacher. She would have to take the college entrance examination in a few months. With her current standard, she couldn’t pass the exam. Besides, the 1980s was a golden age when money was everywhere. She still wanted to start her own business when the policies were relaxed.
Ye Ning could cook, but couldn’t cook on a stove. So, Ye Lan made lunch. When she just learned about her father’s death, no one was in the mood to eat, so she cooked noodles and casually cooked a few bites. The two sisters took advantage of Ye Qingshan’s death. After putting things away, Ye Ning began to ask Ye Lan about the fields at home.
It was not like they won’t come back to their hometown. Ye Qingshan still had to be buried here. She had to come back every Qingming Festival to sweep the tomb, so the house couldn’t be sold. When she got rich, she could build a two-story building when she came back. Maybe Ye Ning would come back to his hometown when she got old.
They had to keep their private land. This was close to their home. The main private land was not much and it was not worth much money. The fields and land in Datou were both good and bad. Ye Qingshan was lucky. The lot he caught was good, with more good land and less bad ones. This was why her grandfather and uncles wanted their fields so much. The two fields were close to and next to a stream, and every day there was one load more grain than other families. Fortunately, the family was divided before the fields were divided. If it were combined with the old house and divided after the fields were divided, it would never be their turn to get the good land. It would be good enough if they got their house.
Ye Ning wrote down all the fields and private land in the book, marking the distance and size, and ticked the private land in the back mountain. “There must also be a cemetery.”
“Here, our dad told me that he will be buried there when he gets old.”
Ye Lan often followed Ye Qingshan up the mountain and knew all the fields in his family and his divisions.
Ye Ning nodded, ticked that piece of land, and decided to sell everything else.
“How about leaving a paddy field?” Ye Lan looked at the fields written in the book. These were all their family’s and they would be gone if they sell them.
People in Ye Ning’s time could no longer understand farmers’ feelings for the fields. Mainly at that time, young people in her hometown went out to work, and many places were abandoned. Only some old people who were relatively close were still farming. She saw Ye Lan glance at her and said with a smile: “I’m worried if we keep it, and if we give it to others but not to grandpa, we will definitely be scolded by others. It’s better to sell it and save worry.” She only said that because the three of them had to go to school.
Now that she was at home, selling it to pay for tuition could be considered a solution.
In the end, Ye Ning still left a piece of land by the roadside. Most of the rural homesteads were her own fields. If Ye Ning wanted to build a house in the future, or wanted to build a house for her children, there was still land available.
Calculating the time, most people had finished lunch by now. Ye Ning took the notebook and IOU and took Ye Lan to Er Mazi’s house.
“Second Aunt, are you at home?” Ye Lan called outside the courtyard gate.
“Yes, I’m at home.” The second aunt picked up her apron and wiped her hands, then opened the door, “It’s Xiao Ning and Xiao Lan from Brother Qingshan’s house. Come in quickly. Have you eaten?”
“Yes, my dad called me a few days ago and told me to come back and give the money back to Uncle Youcai.” Ye Ning came in and saw Er Mazi, that is, Ye Youcai, sitting at the dining table eating, and said embarrassedly: “We are here by accident. You guys eat first and we will come back later.”
“No, you educated people are just different from us. Why are you so particular? Mom, why are you standing here? Go get the bowls and chopsticks.” Ye Youcai waved his hand and signalled to Ye Ning and Ye Lan, saying they are welcome and find a stool to sit on.
“No, no, we really have eaten.” Ye Ning quickly refused, found a chair and sat down, and said: “My dad borrowed fifteen yuan from you when he went out. He sent me the money a few days ago and asked me to give it back to you.”
“Your dad is just too polite. Let’s use the money first. I know it’s not easy for him.”
Ye Ning smiled and didn’t answer the question. Seeing the second aunt go in, she pursed her lower lip and asked: “Uncle Cai, I heard someone say you want to buy land?”
The reason why they approached Er Mazi was that besides his money, another reason was that he had approached them to buy land first.
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