Jewellery: It can’t be exchanged for a bite to eat!
Regarding this siheyuan courtyard house, Xie Mingtu originally did not want it. But before he could say the words of refusal, he looked up and saw Xie Yazhi gazing at him with tears in her eyes. Around them, everything was lively and bustling, filled with people who had come to celebrate.
“Just think of it as something your uncle and aunt are giving you…”
“A wedding gift for your marriage.”
As his parents, they should have been the ones to raise him, watch him grow up, build a career, and marry a wife. In the countryside, parents even helped build houses and paid the bride price. Xie Yazhi was afraid he would refuse anything else, but since they were going to the capital, that small courtyard house would be just right.
Once they went there, they would at least have a place to stay.
“Accept it.” Xie Yazhi’s voice carried a hint of sobbing. She was terribly afraid that her own youngest son would reject her again.
So Xie Mingtu closed his eyes for a moment and nodded.
The very next second, Xie Yazhi broke into a smile of joyful tears. She rubbed her nose and did not say anything more. She only choked out one sentence:
“Go and visit your grandmother.”
Xie Mingtu turned and left. He returned to the room, and not long after, came out carrying a small wooden box. He handed it to Xie Yazhi.
“I’ll exchange this with you.”
He said nothing else, leaving Xie Yazhi standing there in a daze, staring at the wooden box in her hands.
The child said he was exchanging it with her? What did that mean?
Her thoughts were scattered. She wanted to open the wooden box on the spot and look inside, but she also treasured it too much and could not bear to open it right then. No matter what was inside, this was the first thing the child had ever given her.
Even if it was something else…
Xie Yazhi felt a little timid in her heart, afraid she might see something that would make her sad.
She carried the wooden box home. Only after arriving home did she open it. When she lifted the lid, she saw a layer of pale velvet cloth covering the top. Her fingers trembled as she lifted the velvet cloth, and at once, she saw a gleaming golden sight.
It was a pair of gold bracelets, a pair of earrings, a necklace, and beneath them was three hundred yuan.
Xie Yazhi froze on the spot. She picked up one gold bracelet. She wanted to smile, but the smile would not come out.
“What does he mean by this? Exchange it with me? He’s even giving me money?”
“I don’t want it. Tomorrow I’ll have his grandparents give it back to Xiaotu.”
“Does he think I sold the house to him?”
Jiang Liming, standing beside her, said, “Don’t return it. Accept it. He made these things by hand.”
Xie Yazhi picked up a bracelet and slowly rubbed the pattern on it. Carved on it was a pine-and-crane design symbolising longevity. Tears shimmered in her eyes.
“What did you say?”
“It was probably prepared for his grandmother. Since he gave it to you today, you can return it if you want. Our mother would happen to be delighted.”
“…That child made this with his own hands?” Xie Yazhi widened her eyes.
“Don’t you know what this youngest son of yours is like? Not only is he clever, with a good memory and good physical strength, he also knows how to carve. I heard he made plenty of little wooden carvings for your daughter-in-law. He can also make gold and silver jewellery.”
“These things aren’t suitable to wear outside. You can keep them as a keepsake.”
Xie Yazhi was overjoyed. “How do you know that child made them himself—”
Before she could finish the sentence, she herself saw a tiny character “Tu” engraved on the inside of the bracelet. That discovery instantly made her feel as sweet as if she had eaten honey.
“Xiaotu.”
“It really was made by our son? How does this child even have such skills?” Xie Yazhi immediately put it on her wrist. She felt the gold bracelet suited her very well; the bright gold made her skin look fair and beautiful.
Xie Yazhi, who had always thought gold was tacky and vulgar, could no longer say such words.
These were all gold ornaments handmade by her son.
They were for her, his mother.
And the design was pine and crane, symbolising long life!
It was a blessing for her, his mother.
Xie Yazhi’s mind automatically filtered out everything Jiang Liming had just said about how it was supposedly prepared for his grandmother and only given to her by accident today. Absolutely not! The child had clearly wanted to give it to her himself!
It was not as if she had asked the child for it.
This was her youngest son’s heartfelt affection for her.
Seeing the way her expression changed in an instant, Jiang Liming found it amusing.
“What? Are you still going to return it?”
“What?” Xie Yazhi now had a gold bracelet on each wrist and happily put the gold necklace around her neck. “This was given to me by my youngest son. Who would I return it to?”
“It’s mine. Don’t you dare touch it randomly in the future!”
Jiang Liming smiled and shook his head. “Wear it to sleep tonight, then. Just make sure it doesn’t dig into you.”
When Su Xiaoman first received the whole box of gold jewellery from Xie Mingtu, she was also startled. There were not only gold bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings, but also gold hair ornaments, a gold phoenix crown, gold hairpins, and so on.
“Where did you get all these things from?” Su Xiaoman was genuinely worried he had robbed a gold vault.
Haha, but at this time, she had never heard of any gold vaults either. If any family had so many things, would they not have hidden them away long ago?
“I made them by hand.”
Su Xiaoman put the ring on her ring finger. “I’m asking where the gold came from. Don’t tell me it’s made of brass?”
“From when I was little.”
Su Xiaoman listened as he explained the story. It was something from more than ten years ago. Back then, in the neighbouring village, there had been a big landlord. His end had not been good. His children had all died during that turmoil, leaving only one old man living alone up on the mountain with no one to look after him. Once, he was bitten by a snake on the mountain and was saved by Xie Mingtu, who occasionally brought him food afterwards.
That old man gave him two gold bricks as thanks. Xie Mingtu was still young at the time, and in that era, those things were not even as valuable as a few mouthfuls of food. They were also a hot potato to hold onto, so he simply found a random place on the mountain and buried them.
“Just how many treasures have you hidden that I don’t know about?” Su Xiaoman truly admired this Xie Gouzi’s experiences. At the same time, she also wanted to ask just how many old men this righteous young man had saved.
It was not only the old man who had given him gold bricks. Back then, her father had also received Xie Gouzi’s kindness.
It sounded a little like a Qidian male protagonist, always running into old grandpas.
“Nothing much. I’ve given everything to Manman.” Xie Mingtu smiled and pinched Su Xiaoman’s face.
“He also told me where many things were buried at his home… But they belonged to other people. I never dug them up.”
Su Xiaoman lay on Xie Mingtu’s chest, thinking, How are you a villain? You clearly have the potential of a Qidian male protagonist. Meeting so many old grandpas—if only your heart had been a little darker…
Excited, she rolled around in Xie Mingtu’s arms.
Later, thinking about it, this was probably also a limitation of the era. Su Xiaoman had come from the future, so of course she knew what would happen later. But Xie Mingtu came from the 1960s. Those buried antiques and treasures were not exactly good things to have back then.
They could not even be exchanged for a bite of food!
That honest little rabbit must have thought that way!
Too lazy to dig them up. Better to dig rabbit holes instead — at least then he could roast rabbits to eat.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
This was probably also an opportunity granted by the times.
Even now, when Xie Mingtu had given her a small box of gold jewellery, these things could not be openly shown. Su Xiaoman touched her earlobe. Even among the girls in the cultural troupe, she had not seen anyone with pierced ears.
So they could only be put away, kept at the bottom of the chest.
After waiting a few more years, when social attitudes gradually opened up, they could take these things out. As for those things buried in the earth, if there was a chance, of course they should also be dug up and brought into the light. If they were precious antiques, then naturally they should be donated to a museum and preserved as cultural heritage.
It was only people of this era who treated gold and silver like dirt.
Today, when Xie Yazhi said she wanted to give Xie Mingtu a siheyuan courtyard house, Su Xiaoman was startled too. What surprised her even more was that when Xie Yazhi brought it up, she actually seemed extremely ashamed, feeling that such a broken-down house was completely unpresentable.
No matter how broken or shabby it was, it was still a siheyuan in the capital.
At this time, houses were not worth as much as they would be later. In the city, housing was allocated by work units. If you had a job, you had a place to live. As for the countryside, building a house simply meant applying for a piece of land and then paying for materials and labour. So for people of this era, a house was not some unreachable dream.
Even poor families could save up and manage it eventually.
No wonder people said that the 1980s and 1990s were full of gold everywhere. Go to the capital, buy a few plots of land, build a few buildings, and even lying down, you could win.
But it was far too early to talk about such things. It was still 1976. Speaking of which, time was passing quickly. Next year, the college entrance examination would be restored.
Su Xiaoman was a little hesitant in her heart about whether she should take the college entrance exam at the end of next year and go to university again. As for Xie Gouzi, that fellow did not need to. He had already been recommended to university.
Jiang Yantang would probably take the college entrance exam too, right? When Xie Mingtu told her about Jiang Yantang joining the army, Su Xiaoman had been shocked. Jiang Yantang, the original male lead of the book, had actually joined the army too? Hadn’t he previously preferred going to the countryside rather than joining the army?
Now he had actually become a soldier.
As for which company Jiang Yantang was in now, neither Su Xiaoman nor Xie Mingtu had looked into it. Of course, Su Xiaoman thought of Jiang Yantang at this moment mainly out of curiosity.
Since even Jiang Yantang was not returning to Qiaoxin Village, was there still any possibility between him and the female lead, Zhang Lili?
Su Xiaoman: “…”
The last time she returned to the village, she had seen that the female lead, Zhang Lili, was now working hard in the countryside raising silkworms. She seemed to have asked around about the male lead, Jiang Yantang, but after learning he had joined the army, she had only sighed and shown a sorrowful expression.
Perhaps they could meet again a few years later. Zhang Lili definitely knew how to do business. As for Jiang Yantang… Su Xiaoman felt there was no need for Zhang Lili to hang herself on Jiang Yantang’s tree either. The 1970s and 1980s were exactly the era when legendary lives unfolded. Outstanding people emerged one after another, and there were countless myths of sudden wealth and climbing social classes.
Forget it. Their affairs had nothing to do with her and Xie Mingtu right now.
They should live well in the present.
Su Xiaoman wrapped her arms around Xie Mingtu’s neck and told him a sad piece of news.
“After holding two wedding banquets, we’ve spent all the money in our pockets. Our pockets are cleaner than our faces.”
Xie Mingtu smiled and kissed her. “I’ll work hard to earn money for Manman in the future.”
“Of course you have to work hard to earn money.” They still had to earn money for the children’s milk powder.
That New Year’s Eve, Su Xiaoman and Xie Mingtu did not return to Qiaoxin Village. Instead, they spent the New Year with Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang. Su Xiaoman went with Grandma Jiang to buy New Year goods and prepare the reunion dinner. Even the rabbits Su Xiaoman had raised earlier had already turned into stir-fried diced rabbit meat.
It was worth mentioning that these two rabbits had been personally dealt with by the rabbit killer — student Xiaotu.
He was truly clean and efficient when killing rabbits.
Even Su Xiaoman herself could not compare.
However, after watching him kill the two rabbits, Su Xiaoman vaguely felt something was not right…
Wait, didn’t I raise these two rabbits so I could perform a “rabbit-killing warning” in front of him?
Why had this fellow killed them himself?
Su Xiaoman secretly ran over to the rabbit killer and glanced down below him.
“When you killed the rabbits, didn’t you feel pain?”
Comrade Rabbit Killer was extremely cold and ruthless. “No.”
The number of rabbits that had died under Comrade Killer’s hands was not in the thousands, but certainly in the hundreds. It was only finishing off two rabbits. How could that be difficult?
Su Xiaoman held her cheeks. “I underestimated you. You can even kill your own kind without mercy.”
Xie Mingtu raised an eyebrow. “Could it be that you really dare to kill a rabbit?”
Su Xiaoman was choked speechless by him.
“…”
She really had never killed a rabbit before. Forget rabbits, she had never even killed chickens, ducks, or fish. In the past, whenever Xie Mingtu was around, Xie Gouzi did it for her.
Later, when she cooked fish by herself at her grandparents’ house, Grandma Jiang had instructed her to hold a kitchen knife and taught her how to knock the fish unconscious with one strike. Su Xiaoman held the knife sideways and spent ages smacking it without managing to knock the fish out.
The fish leapt up, slapped her in the face, and rolled onto the ground.
Grandma Jiang was furious at her uselessness. She snatched the kitchen knife from her hand, picked up the fish from the ground, and with one smack, the fish stopped moving.
She could not even kill a fish, let alone chickens and ducks. She did not dare. She absolutely did not dare.
But in front of the enemy, she could not show any weakness.
“Don’t look down on me. Next time I’ll kill a rabbit for you to see!”
Xie Mingtu smiled and leaned close to her ear.
“Why don’t you eat a little rabbit for me to see?”
Su Xiaoman reached up and rubbed his face.
“I don’t eat rabbits.” After saying this, Su Xiaoman suddenly thought of a phrase and deliberately said in an unbearably cutesy tone:
“Bunnies are so cute, why would you eat bunnies?”
Xie Mingtu’s head was full of question marks.
“???!!!”
At that moment, Grandpa Jiang happened to pass by the doorway and asked curiously, “What are you two talking about?”
Xie Mingtu lifted the rabbit in his hand and said happily, “We’re talking about eating rabbit.”
Grandpa Jiang nodded. “These are rabbits Manman raised herself. Very fat!”
Grandma Jiang poked her head out and added, “Of course. When Manman wasn’t around, her grandpa kept secretly feeding the rabbits.”
Xie Mingtu: “…”
Su Xiaoman: “…”
Su Xiaoman laughed and pinched Xie Mingtu’s waist.
“These are rabbits Grandpa secretly fattened up. You’d better savour them properly later.”
“Grandma, let’s go make dumplings!”
During the New Year, Su Xiaoman and her husband prepared the reunion dinner together with Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang. At the rest home, there was even an end-of-year activity for pounding glutinous rice cakes. Su Xiaoman brought Xie Mingtu along to join the fun. Xie Mingtu was strong and contributed a lot. Afterwards, the two of them received several glutinous rice cakes.
Su Xiaoman made dumplings with Grandma Jiang, while Xie Mingtu wrote Spring Festival couplets with Grandpa Jiang, cut window flowers, and made several red lanterns to hang under the eaves. Firecrackers crackled outside, while inside the house, everything was bright and festive. Su Xiaoman had made Grandpa and Grandma a set of bright red cotton-padded jackets, and when they wore them now, they looked wonderfully festive.
Grandpa Jiang criticised her, “Why didn’t you make a set for you young couple too? A family should be neat and matching.”
Grandma Jiang said, “Young people don’t like dressing this festively.”
“This New Year is really lively, with Xiaoman and Xiaotu keeping us company.”
“It would be even better if we had an extra great-grandson next year.”
“Xiaotu, you need to work harder.”
Su Xiaoman listened to Grandpa and Grandma’s words with a flushed face. Xie Mingtu, meanwhile, ate while smiling. His expression made Su Xiaoman unable to resist stepping on his foot under the table, but Xie Mingtu still kept smiling and even picked up some rabbit meat for Su Xiaoman.
“Manman, eat more.”
Su Xiaoman also picked up some rabbit meat for him.
“Xiaotu, you eat more too.”
Xie Mingtu smiled as he ate the rabbit meat.
That night, the little rabbit still found the right place to celebrate the New Year.
Bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, a new year was about to begin again. Next year, the couple would head north. They still did not know what kind of life would be waiting for them. It was not only Xie Mingtu — even she herself had little experience living in the north.
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