C10 Part1

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Eldest sister-in-law’s eldest brother, Huang Yaozong, works in the county town supply and marketing cooperative; her second brother, Huang Yaoguo, drove for the county town’s textile factory. This second brother would frequently drive outside of the county and many times he would bring back snacks and other souvenirs. If one was even more outstanding, who would actually care about Lin Juhua, this second daughter-in-law. If they were really to argue. Mother Zhang would ask the eldest daughter to let the argument go. The eldest daughter-in-law was also looking out for her husband and his relationship with his brothers therefore she would argue less with the second daughter-in-law when possible.

Zhang Guo Qing’s eldest sister-in-law, Huang Cuilan, gave birth to three sons and one daughter. The two sons from the Huang family all worked at the factories. The Huang parents were left behind at the farm and swore on their life that they would never leave to live in the city. They complained that the city was too crowded. Zhang Guo Qing’s eldest brother’s three sons would often go to their maternal grandparent’s place for a visit. They may be small in age, but don’t underestimate them. They knew who adored and spoiled them, especially their maternal grandparents. They would bring their same-aged cousins along with them to visit. The two maternal grandparents lived by themselves and were happy to have more children visit them. Most of the clothes owned by these children were provided by this pair of maternal grandparents. The grandparents were very kind, and would say that their sons had extra products, like clothing and souvenirs, from their work and would give these products to the children. But reality was, for many people there were no “extra” products. Everyone was scrambling for more basic necessities and every day products, especially cloth.

Zhang Guo Qing and his eldest brother were twelve years apart. He grew up with his eldest brother. His eldest brother always song that he was the oldest, therefore he had to be even more stable and kind. His character was good, not to mention the good genes from the Zhang family. They were all very strong, handsome, and beautiful.

Since young, Zhang Guo Qing was very close to his eldest brother, as for the second brother—he always held the look of an enemy when he stared at Zhang Guo Qing. Most likely because when their paternal grandparents were around, except for their oldest cousin, Zhang Guo Qing was most spoiled by them. Furthermore, their parents also adored him the most, too. But Zhang Guo Qing was also very obedient, understanding, and never solved his problems using bad methods.

The day Zhang Guo Qing was born was also when the Taierzhuang battle ended and China declared victory. Everyone was happy and in a celebratory mood, therefore Grandpa Zhang named the baby Zhang Guo Qing, Guo Qing for National Day. Grandpa Zhang would say that the soul of this baby reincarnated just in time to hear the good news.

His oldest brother Zhang Guo Fu, his second brother Zhang Guo Qiang, he himself Zhang Guo Qing, and the two sisters: the eldest one Zhang Mei Li and the second one Zhang Mei Hao. These two sisters were rumored to be the village flowers*, and married into good families.

*(Village flowers—as in the prettiest ladies from the village.)

The older sister married the youngest son of the secretary* to the village. They both grew up together and could be known as childhood friends; and now the couple is working together at a clothing factory in the city. They gave birth to two sons and one daughter.

*(I used secretary because I was not too sure, but it should be some scholarly position in the village.)

As for the second sister and second brother-in-law, both of whom are older than Zhang Guo Qing by four years, they were more interesting. They met because the second sister would frequently send things to older sister and somehow the second brother-in-law caught a glimpse of her and fell in love at first sight. After many twists and turns, he finally found a person who could connect or introduce him to her and that person was Zhang Guo Qing’s eldest sister-in-law’s second brother: Huang Yaoguo. He abashedly asked for her hand many times and finally they got married without anyone knowing until one day he got drunk and spilled the secret out to everyone.

The second brother-in-law was the only child of his family, and his parents also worked at the clothing factory. Second sister's family found an opportunity to work at a temporary job. As of right now, they all work at the clothing factory. They only have one son. Fortunately, it was the 50’s, if it was the 90’s maybe the whole family had to go to the clothing factory to work. (Probably because they would not be able to leave a child by itself at home in the 90’s whereas childcare was more lax in the 50’s?)

Generally speaking, the Zhang family’s lifestyle wasn’t too bad. Out of all the families in the village, they were at the top or at least second place. If it wasn’t for the selfish second son and his wife, Lin Juhua, the family would be even better. Lin Juhua ate well, but was lazy when it came to working. She loved to gossip, but was afraid to attract people’s ire. She would work for a few days and then ask for vacation time. Her maternal family would come visit often causing her and her husband to argue over the smallest details—causing unrest for the whole family.

The whole family orginally agreed that the family would separate when Xiao Wu (Zhang Guo Qing) got married, however In the end, Zhou Jiao got pregnant not too long after getting married. Mother Zhang was worried about the two and decided to take care of them until their child passes it’s 100th days birthday. Then afterwards they would plan to separate the family.

This is what Zhang Guo Qing learned from the memories of this body. The parents were very understanding, except for the second brother’s situation, the whole family was harmonious. As an orphan in his previous life, this was all new experiences for him. Thinking about it now, he was someone who had parents and siblings now. He was very happy about these new changes. He also discovered that all the family members were over at his eldest brother’s place, and had stayed there for over four to five days already. Even second brother’s child was also brought along, but in his memories this little stone* regularly bullied the children of his eldest brother. There were a lot of things, a lot of people, and relationships that he would need to analyze slowly. The old Zhang Guo Qing’s thinking might have had biases in the past. For example, the old Zhang Guo Qing (the original 50’s Zhang Guo Qing) also secretly kept some of his money for himself and didn’t share with the family, how could he say that only second brother was selfish.

Translated 8/8/20