In the afternoon, Chu Guangyao and his friends from the same village went out to play in the snow. Chu Ye was left by Chu's mother, sitting next to the stove with needle and thread to mend the holes in the family's clothes.
"We women need to be skillful with our hands. If you marry into your husband's family if you are not good at it, you will be disliked by others." Chu's mother's wrists flew, and the thin wool was knitted into a row in her hands. A sweater was already When most of the crochet is done, add a few more rows to the remaining hem to tighten the stitches.
Chu's mother has long been familiar with these skills and can carve into the seams of bones, so at this moment she looked directly at Chu Ye talking, but her hands were busy non-stop.
Chu Ye sat aside and just nodded silently when he heard this, without any further argument on this topic.
Seeing that she was obedient, Chu's mother kept talking about what happened to various families in the village in the past six months. Chu Ye was used to it. After finishing the work at hand while listening to the gossip, she got up and walked into the house, took out the cloth bag she had been using for a long time, and planned to sew a few more stitches on the strap.
So inadvertently, a piece of white paper fell from the cloth bag and landed right at Chu's mother's feet.
Chu's mother bent down to pick it up, and with a casual glance, she only recognized the three words "人" and "household registration" at the top.
Her education level was not high, she had not been to school since she was a child, and she did not know many words for um, so when she handed the paper over, she casually asked what was written on it.
"Ah, this is the household registration transfer application form issued by the school." Chu Ye paused and continued to add, "With this form, I can change my household registration from rural to non-agricultural."
"Then you will be a city dweller from now on?" Chu's mother put down the stick and needle in her hand and asked doubtfully.
"Well, if this is done, it will be an urban household registration in the future. But I think our rural household registration is pretty good and there is no need to change it." Chu Ye took the paper and put it in the cloth bag pretending not to care.
"How can this be possible?" Even if Chu's mother didn't study much, she still knew the natural advantages of urban household registration. How could she not give up this hard-won opportunity?
Hearing this, Chu Ye was unmoved. She held the needle and thread in her hand, as if she didn't take it to heart at all.
"Can your brother use this piece of paper?" Chu's mother asked tentatively, and Chu Ye immediately understood. She was asking if Chu Guangyao could use this piece of paper to get a city household registration.
"Probably not. My name is written on it, and I have to hand this paper to the school when the time comes." Chu Ye looked embarrassed.
"Well, then such a good opportunity can't be wasted." Chu's mother put down the things in her hands, went out and called Chu's father who was chopping firewood in the yard into the house. Chu's mother asked Chu Ye to take out the paper, and then asked Chu Ye to take out the paper. She repeated what she had just said.
After all, Chu's father had gone to school for a few years. He quickly read the words on the white paper and understood its importance.
But obviously, he was not very excited about moving his daughter's household registration to the city.
If it was a son, he might have dragged Chu Guangyao to apply for it without saying a word, but when it came to his daughter, he felt that the household registration would always be the same.
After all, the daughter's family has to marry off when she reaches old age. Once you get married and enter the husband's family's household registration, who cares whether you had a rural or urban household registration.
However, to be cautious, he still asked more, "What are the benefits of changing your household registration? Will it cost money?"
Chu's mother didn't dare to interrupt. Chu Ye pretended to think when she heard the words, seeming to recall what the teacher told her at school. Soon, she replied, "The teacher said there is no money to change the household registration. I just need to travel to a few more places and go through the process." .”
"But the teacher said that if we change our registered residence in the city now, we should perform well in school in the past two years. When the internship is assigned, we will be given priority."
What Chu Ye said was half true. When the time comes for internships and job assignments, the place of residence will indeed be considered, but more emphasis will be placed on students' academic performance during school.
What's more, technical secondary school normal students like them are prepared for the construction of basic education in response to the country's call. When the time comes, they will go to some township schools to contribute to the education of students there, so there is no such thing as changing their household registration. Good job thing.
But of course she couldn't say all these words. She knew very well what her parents thought. Changing her household registration was a huge benefit for her, but for her parents, it was troublesome, glorious, and full of uncertainty. things. After all, once Chu Ye gets the urban household registration, he will no longer have the same household registration as them, which will make it difficult to handle. This is undoubtedly a matter full of risks.
The Chu father in front of him was silent for a moment. He subconsciously reached into his arms, took out the cigarette rod and put it into his mouth. Without lighting it, he started to smash it with his mouth.
"You are a little girl. It doesn't matter whether you change your household registration or not. What do you think?" Father Chu asked.
If it were in the past, she would naturally not be asked for her opinion on these matters, but after Chu Ye's prediction came true, and she worked hard on her own to get into a technical secondary school, she didn't need to pay for it from her family, and she would still be allocated something after graduation. Work, which obviously increased her status in the hearts of her parents.
Therefore, Chu's father is also willing to listen to Chu Ye's opinion on important matters. After all, she is now the most educated person in the family. "My thoughts are the same as my father's. We are a family. No matter where my registered permanent residence is, my heart is always with our family. However, when I was in school, I also heard other students say that there are many benefits to this kind of thing. Changing the registered permanent residence in a city is not only easier to allocate work. , it will be easier to find a partner in the future, so I am very unsure.”
What she said was the most important thing for the two of them. They may not care about the transfer of their daughter's household registration, but once they understand that this matter will have many benefits in the future, they will become more interested. consideration.
"Okay, I'll discuss it with your mother. Transferring household registration is not a trivial matter." Chu's father tapped the cigarette rod lightly and made a conclusion.
After that day, there was no more snow in the sky. The gloomy sky was stained with thin sunlight. The snowflakes on the road gradually melted, revealing some earthy colors in the snow-white earth.
Two days later, the smell of the New Year is strong, and the stoves of every household are getting hot, and they are preparing for the New Year. Some of them are even anxious and have prepared New Year's goods.
At the same time, Chu's father also made up his mind. Just yesterday afternoon, Chu took Chu Ye and the piece of paper to the village to issue a certificate of household registration transfer.
This morning, I took Chu Ye and Guangyao with me and planned to take advantage of Jianwen's oxcart to go to the town. One was to prepare the New Year's goods, and the other was to go to the Grain Bureau to issue a grain and oil certificate. In this way, the process was completed.
No, the three of them got up early today and met Jianwen at the gate of the courtyard. Then Jianwen went to the brigade to get the bullock cart, and the three of them walked to the entrance of the village.
The fields that were full of life in summer fell into a deep sleep in winter. At first glance, there was still a thin layer of snow spread on the ground. The yellow soil under their feet was frozen solid. The three of them walked forward in silence. As they approached, they saw a big tree at the entrance of the village. I don't know when a green pickup truck had parked. It had a thick and bulky front. Through the glass window, I could see a middle-aged man sitting in the cab, waiting patiently for something.
Looking back, there were already several people sitting in the car, all of whom were educated youths from the village. They all held large and small bags and sat obediently in the car, but their eyes could not hide their excitement.
When the three members of the Chu family came closer, the educated youths all greeted them warmly. Only then did Chu Ye realize that the truck was originally taking them to the city. It's almost the Chinese New Year, and the educated youths have to go home. Knowing that they have a lot of luggage and it's difficult to walk on the road, the town government specially dispatched a car to pick them up together.
The original plan was to pick them up a few days ago, but unexpectedly it was snowing heavily and the mountain roads were slippery and difficult to walk on. I was afraid of an accident, so the sun came out these days and melted a lot of snow on the road, so I dared to drive this car. Come into the mountains.
While Chu Ye was talking to them, she looked at the people in the car, but she didn't see the two people she wanted to see.
She asked, and the educated youths also knew that the three of them had a good relationship, so they told them that they had packed up and came first, and there were a few others behind who were probably arriving soon.
Chu Ye understood and started talking to these educated youths. Chu Guangyao was standing under the tree. Hearing the laughter here, he ran over without a trace and wanted to hear what these elder brothers and sisters had to say. world.
The educated youth also know everything about this. They come from different parts of the motherland, and what they have seen and heard are different. They are all educated intellectuals, and they speak clearly and clearly.
When they were talking a little dry, a black dot appeared in the distance. Everyone moved their eyes and saw the black dot approaching with a "clack", and Jianwen appeared in front of them driving a bullock cart.
Immediately, four people got off the bullock cart, each holding luggage. They thanked Jianwen first, turned around, and faced Chu Ye.
Sister Deng was stunned at first, then her eyes were full of joy, and she rushed towards Chu Ye with a big bag in hand. Mu Jiajun behind her was obviously much calmer, and he and two other people loaded their luggage into the car, and then came to Chu Ye's side. .
As he approached, Chu Ye's conversation with Sister Deng stopped unconsciously. Her throat tightened and she touched the red scarf around her neck unnaturally.
Sister Deng didn't notice this and was still asking her about her situation at school enthusiastically. Mu Jiajun didn't interrupt, he just stepped forward to take the luggage from her hand and turned around to load it in the car.
When they turned around again, the driver's horn sounded in the car, and Chu Ye knew it was the driver urging them. Chu Guangyao had just followed Chu's father on the bullock cart, and now he was waiting for her.
Sister Deng stopped talking, opened her arms with a smile, and took a step forward to hug her. Before Chu Ye could hug her back, Sister Deng withdrew, patted her on the shoulder, and told her to study hard and become a teacher in the future. Contribute to the construction of the motherland.
Chu Ye nodded heavily. Although he felt that Sister Deng was a little weird at this time, he thought that the two of them had not seen each other for half a year, and now they were facing separation when they met, thinking that she had fallen in love with each other, and felt emotional in her heart.
So she would not have thought that this farewell would be the last time she and Sister Deng met.
Years later, she recalled this scene again and regretted that she had not hugged her back or said a few more words of farewell to Sister Deng.
(End of chapter)