Chapter 312 – Two Aunts
Originally, some people in the village said that Zhang Linglan was getting older and still not married, calling her an old maid.
However, initially, some people admired Zhang Linglan’s beauty and wanted to find a match for her.
But all the proposals were from inappropriate matches—either she would become a stepmother to several children or the second wife of an elderly widower…
Grandma Zhang was quite happy when she first heard someone was coming to propose to her youngest daughter.
After all, which mother doesn’t want to see her children start families and have children of their own? In the mindset of the older generation, perhaps only this way could life be considered relatively complete.
So, Grandma Zhang let the matchmakers into their home.
However, upon hearing about the prospective matches, she got furious. She grabbed a broom and chased those matchmakers out, cursing them thoroughly.
She even declared that the man introduced must be a first-time groom, or else they shouldn’t even bother coming to her house.
Her youngest daughter had just returned, and Grandma Zhang would rather support her for the rest of her life than see Linglan marry into such terrible families, marrying bad men and being mistreated.
Although she hoped to see Linglan get married and have children to complete her life.
But that was secondary; the most important thing was for Linglan to be happy and joyful.
Grandma Zhang was very angry, but Zhang Linglan maintained a good attitude.
She didn’t oppose the idea of marriage and having children; after all, who wouldn’t want to have someone they mutually love and grow old with?
Her requirements weren’t high, even a rural person would be acceptable, as she herself was born in a rural area.
But not opposing didn’t mean she would settle for just anyone.
Her mother also respected her thoughts.
So she had a good mindset.
Seeing her mother so angry, she knew it was actually her mother’s way of showing her love.
After all, in a mother’s heart, her children are always the best.
There were men in their twenties who were still unmarried, but there weren’t many in the countryside, so they might have to look in the city.
Originally, the villagers thought that Zhang Linglan’s standards were too high and that Grandma Zhang’s demands were too high as well.
After all, they didn’t know what Zhang Linglan had gone through in the years she was abd*cted.
They only saw that Zhang Linglan was very beautiful.
Those who wanted to propose to her were attracted solely by Zhang Linglan’s beauty.
But now, after learning that Zhang Linglan was a movie star, those who had been rejected and felt that Zhang Linglan thought too highly of herself suddenly felt embarrassed.
Zhang Linglan was a movie star.
She was famous in Hong Kong.
Where did they get the confidence to think they were good enough for Zhang Linglan?
It was truly a slap in the face!
Actually, these people were a minority, but they did exist.
However, after the movie ended tonight, there were no more of them.
Especially after they heard that the reason this movie could be shown in the nearby production brigades, including theirs, was because of Zhang Linglan, they realized that Zhang Linglan had such great connections.
So, those inappropriate people no longer dared to have any thoughts.
Zhang Linglan then lived a peaceful life. As for marriage, she wasn’t in a hurry and would wait for fate to decide.
Everything could come slowly!
*
“Ningning, let’s go to Tianjin this weekend,” Xu Fanghua said on Thursday evening, just after dinner, in the small courtyard.
“Is there something to do in Tianjin?” Xu Jinning asked, somewhat puzzled.
Saying this, she got up to help Xu Fanghua clean up the dishes and take them to the kitchen. The meal was cooked by her brother-in-law, Song Yi, so naturally, she took responsibility for washing the dishes, although her sister wouldn’t let her do it. However, she could at least help with clearing the table.
“Ningning, did you forget? Dad has a younger sister who married and moved to Tianjin. She’s our aunt.”
With Xu Fanghua’s reminder, Xu Jinning suddenly remembered.
That’s right, there was an aunt in Tianjin.
Xu Aiguo was the eldest in the family, with two younger sisters: the older one named Xu Aian and the younger one named Xu Aining. Together, their names formed the word “Anning (Peace).”
However, Xu Aiguo also had a younger brother.
When they were young, they encountered several consecutive years of famine. During this famine, Xu Aiguo’s brother was only a few months old. Grandma Xu was malnourished and emaciated, naturally unable to produce milk. At that time, there was no way to buy milk powder or malted milk.
So, the little brother starved to death.
Fearing that the other children would also starve, the Xu family’s older and younger daughters were given away.
They were sent to families in the city that had the means to raise children; otherwise, the children would have faced certain death with their birth family.
Xu Aiguo, being the eldest son and a male, could not be sold and stayed with the family, though he also nearly died.
The older and younger daughters, sent to different cities, survived and became the daughters of those families.
However, when the famine was over and Grandpa and Grandma Xu tried to secretly visit them, they found that both families had moved.
No one knew where they had gone.
In other words, the two daughters might never be found again.
Two years later, Grandpa and Grandma Xu died from overwork and worry.
Before they closed their eyes for the last time, they held the hand of the teenage Xu Aiguo and told him he must find his two sisters.
Xu Aiguo agreed.
Over the years, he continued to search.
Finally, five years ago, he found his sister, Xu Aian, and her family.
By then, Xu Aian was already married with children, and her adoptive parents had passed away.
Xu Aian returned to the Qinghe Production Brigade to meet Xu Aiguo. The siblings embraced and cried.
Afterward, Xu Aian visited their parents’ graves.
From Xu Aian’s account, Xu Aiguo and the others learned that the family had moved to Tianjin back then.
At the time, Xu Aian was still a child, and the distance between Tianjin and their village was too great to maintain contact. Later, further turmoil made it even more difficult.
However, it was good that they could reconnect now.
Unfortunately, their parents were gone, and the younger sister was still missing.
Back then, giving away Xu Aian and her sister was a wise decision.
It allowed the sisters to survive.
They still hadn’t found their sister, so her situation remained unknown.
But as for Xu Aian, her adoptive parents had treated her well, always considering her their own daughter.
Later, Xu Aian got married and had children, but then her husband cheated on her.
So, she divorced him.
However, she didn’t mind, as she focused on raising her four children, who were filial to her. Without having to take care of anyone else, her life was quite comfortable.
“This time we are going because Aunt’s eldest daughter, our cousin, is getting married and having a wedding banquet.”
“Originally, our parents, the uncle and aunt, were supposed to go.”
“But since it’s a long journey, our parents can’t make it. Since we are in Beijing, which is not far from Tianjin, and it’s the weekend, our parents asked us to go in their place.”
“We’re going to celebrate the wedding.”
