Chapter 762: Family trouble
On New Year's Eve in 1985, even ordinary people's families were not so harmonious, and differences in thinking and concepts abounded.
Take Courtyard No. 2 of Shan'er Hutong as an example. Almost every household has a generation gap problem between two generations.
The mother and daughter in the Mi family are mainly angry.
The reason was the panic buying in the first two years. In addition to a large amount of chemical fiber cloth, Aunt Mi also brought home two boxes of Lighthouse brand soap.
Although the cloth was later disposed of through Ning Weimin's sales channels.
But Aunt Soap Rice didn’t sell it, she kept it at home and used it frugally.
This is because soap was still available on a ticket basis at that time, and it was an absolutely in short supply.
There was even a time when soap was so scarce that even bathhouses had to dry the soap to the point where no lather could be produced by rubbing it, and then cut it into triangles for use.
And in order to prevent people from stealing soap, the bathhouses in the capital also set up special catch bonuses.
But who could have imagined that the development of daily-use products has been rapid in recent years, and industrial coupons will soon be abolished.
With the trend of large increase in residents' income, obvious changes have occurred in the consumption areas, consumption varieties and consumption levels of daily necessities.
Taking detergents as an example, in the past, residents almost always used soap and nothing else whether they were washing their hands, face, hair, or bathing.
But in the past two years, imported, joint venture and domestic soaps of various brands and different fragrances have been put on the counters, and more and more residents are using soap.
There are also several types of shampoos for washing your hair, such as the Bee Flower brand from Wella from Germany. In addition to shampoos, there are even conditioners.
Although the price is more expensive, it is also favored by young ladies.
In terms of laundry, as urban households began to use washing machines extensively, traditional washtubs and washboards were gradually phased out, and various brands of laundry detergents also replaced soap.
All in all, all of this has led to a sharp reduction in the use of soap.
As a result, Mi’s soap could no longer be used. After cleaning before the Spring Festival, Aunt Mi once again counted the number of soaps in her home and saw that there was still a box full of soap and she became anxious.
On New Year's Eve, she made new rules for her family for the coming year, saying that she was no longer allowed to buy soap.
Old soap must be used up before you can buy it. People should "cherish blessings and be content" and avoid waste.
Master Mi doesn’t care, but how can Mi Xiaohui agree?
The girl who has just entered the first grade of high school is the most beautiful time.
In particular, she secretly ordered the soap she had hoarded at home and found that at the current rate of consuming one bar per month, it would take at least eight and a half years, which is the length of a "War of Resistance Against Japan."
When all the soap runs out, Mi Xiaohui might become a mother herself. How scary this would be.
Ever since, the second lady of the Mi family turned over and said that whoever likes to use soap should use it, but she didn't use it anyway.
She uses Green Baby soap, and also buys fragrant Macacin and Pechoin.
Well, now the mother and daughter got into a fight and got angry.
On New Year's Eve, the family didn't even have a good lunch. The mother and daughter bickered from morning to afternoon.
In the end, Aunt Mi even resorted to economic sanctions and wanted to cut off Mi Xiaohui's pocket money.
Unexpectedly, Mi Xiaohui was not afraid. The little girl had a very strong waist.
She claimed that her sister had sent her a lot of money in the past few years, and the two hundred dollars she had saved were enough for her to go to college.
So Aunt Mi was completely at a loss and began to complain again, pointing at Mi Xiaoran who was far away in a foreign country, saying that the eldest daughter was the culprit who spoiled the second daughter.
He even turned his face around and became picky about the things he sent back from the United States with Mi Xiaoran. He even looked down on foreign goods.
She pointed to a box of cookies in an iron bucket and asked Mi Xiaohui, "Is this really from the United States? They Americans are so weird. Why do the cookies look so bad? They have to be bent. Qu, just like cat poop. Can they really eat it?”
Then he pointed at the jacket that was also sent back this time.
“And your sister bought you that dress, what the heck, it was so expensive, it actually cost forty-five dollars, and it even had a pig face printed on the back. Americans just make money. It’s easy, but you can’t be so frivolous...”
Although Mi Xiaohui knew that Aunt Mi was using the subject as an excuse, she couldn’t help but laugh.
"Mom, you are so stupid. I bought this from Disneyland. Where is the pig printed on the back? That is Mickey Mouse."
But Aunt Mi did not hesitate to do that.
"It doesn't matter where he bought it, he can't ask for arbitrary prices! Besides, what's so good about a mouse in a rice bag? It's nothing more than a pig with a printed head. At least the fat pig arch is auspicious to wear during the New Year."< br>
In short, the thinking consciousness of mother and daughter began to diverge in life.
And from then on, they gradually drifted apart, until they reached a point where they completely didn’t understand each other’s worlds.
Compared with the Mi family, the disagreements in the Bian family occur between mother and son.
And it's not these trivial matters, but how to prepare for Bian Jiangong's marriage.
Yes, in the emotional war between parents and children, parents have always been the weakest party.
Especially when it comes to the marriage of children, beating a mandarin duck with a stick is always counterproductive. The more parents try to stop it, the less likely they are to stop it.
In the end, because Bian Jiangong insisted on going his own way, he was determined to be "Yang Zongbao" instead of marrying "Mu Guiying".
Especially when the Polar Bear Dormitory is built, two-income earners can basically allocate a unit.
For this reason, Aunt Bian had no choice but to comply with her son's wishes, and reluctantly made the reckless Mu Yueying her daughter-in-law, and became in-laws with a paralytic.
However, such a compromise also made Aunt Bian feel that her son had suffered a loss, and she increasingly hoped to take the initiative in organizing the wedding.
It should be said that the woman's attitude is still very gratifying.
Except for a color TV and the requirement to bring her mother to live with her, the woman made no demands to the Bian family and left everything else up to the man.
But Aunt Bian’s thoughts are all rejected by her biological son Bian Jiangong.
I think times have changed and her ideas are outdated.
Let’s talk about the furniture issue first.
When getting married in the past, everyone would find the wood themselves and hire a carpenter to build it.
When Bian Jiangong’s brother Bian Jianjun got married, this was how the couple had their large cabinet and sofa.
So for her second son’s marriage, Aunt Bian has been running around all over the place recently, and finally managed to find ash for making furniture through several self-employed people who often come to the sewing club to batch goods.
What I never expected was that Bian Jiangong didn’t want it.
This kid was so attracted to the new modular cabinets in the furniture store that he insisted on spending more than a thousand yuan to buy a ready-made set.
Aunt Bian could not defeat her son no matter what she said.
Finally, after thinking about it, this guy is spending his own salary anyway, so just buy it
But even the wedding banquet, Bian Jiangong insisted on holding it in the canteen of the work unit, but this kind of pretense was Aunt Bian really didn't expect it.
According to Aunt Bian’s idea, the wedding banquet should be held at home. At most, the neighbors and close relatives could be invited to make it a happy occasion.
There is no need to prepare too much food, just three or four tables of flowing mats are enough, and the two meals at noon and evening can be eaten separately.
All you need to do is ask a serious chef who is a chef in a serious restaurant to bring someone over to set up a tent to cook a few dishes, and finally wrap up a red envelope worth twenty or thirty yuan.
With this kind of full calculation, the total pick-up fee will not exceed three or four hundred yuan.
Isn’t this how common people’s family’s happy events are always done? It’s economical and cost-effective. But Bian Jiangong said that he had to invite many leaders and colleagues in his unit, so he insisted on doing something grand in the polar bear's cafeteria.
He also calculated the accounts for Aunt Bian and said that a table cost sixty yuan, and the dishes were six cold, eight hot, and one soup.
Even relatives, friends and neighbors were invited, and there were almost twelve tables.
In addition, the factory promises to supply each table with two bottles of "Shuanggou" liquor, four bottles of Jingcheng White Brand beer, and all sodas at cost prices.
If there is not enough liquor, prepare some more.
The key is to do it outside, which saves face and saves trouble.
Don't worry about anything, just wipe your mouth after eating and leave
If you do it at home, you have to hire a cook and build a greenhouse. The whole family, old and young, are busy working together. You can't open more than one table at a time, and you can do it all day long.
This idea really frightened the old lady for several days.
You know, Aunt Bian and Uncle Bian, an old couple, have never been out of restaurants many times in their lives.
I don’t even think that working outside is something ordinary people like me can afford.
And although it’s not expensive to watch a table alone, it doesn’t seem to cost much more than doing it at home.
But there are twelve tables at once, which is an astonishing number.
That is to say, the drinks, cigarettes and candies will cost at least eight or nine hundred, which is a person’s annual salary.
More than double Aunt Bian’s initial budget.
So the old couple were naturally dizzy when they heard their son's idea. They both felt that such a wedding banquet was a bit too extravagant, and they couldn't help but feel distressed.
However, Bian Jiangong believes that being in society depends on friends, and communication is more important than anything else. The economic accounts of the past are no longer applicable, and all aspects must be taken care of to be harmonious.
It doesn't even matter if his parents disagree or don't contribute money. Bian Jiangong claimed that Ning Weimin had already told him that he would sponsor his wedding banquet for free. At worst, he would just go to Tan Palace to host it.
In this way, Aunt Bian was put on the back foot by her son, for fear that she would not be able to repay such a huge favor.
I could only hold my nose and agree with Bian Jiangong's idea.
But having said that, the old lady thought about it. Over the years, her eldest daughter-in-law and her second son Bian Jiangong have been selling Ning Weimin’s off-product clothing in their respective factories and have made a lot of money. Each has saved eighteen thousand.
Especially because she manages the sewing club and earns a generous monthly salary of 200 yuan. After all, her family is much richer than before, so there is nothing wrong with being extravagant.
So I am not too entangled in this matter.
But the problem is that even so, it can only be done once and never again. In the end, the mother and son of the Bian family still stumbled over one thing, and they really couldn't communicate.
That is, Aunt Bian insists on following the old etiquette. On the day of the wedding banquet, all relatives of the woman can come, but only the mother-in-law cannot come to the wedding.
Bian Jiangong believed that this old custom was the residue of feudalism and should be changed.
What's more, the woman's family had few relatives, so how could he bear to let his mother-in-law, who was paralyzed in bed, stay home alone and not see the lively scene of his own daughter getting married.
That's it, mother and son are at odds with each other, and no one can convince the other.
On New Year's Eve, everyone was still talking about this matter and getting angry with each other.
This cannot but be said to be the result of hard work and a side effect of the changing times.
Finally, there is the Luo family, which has similar conflicts to the Bian family.
But the difference is that the two parties involved in the conflict are not mother and daughter or mother and son, but mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
The focus of the conflict is not the marriage of the children, but the education of the third generation.
The eldest grandson of the Luo family, Robin, nicknamed "Pan'er", is four years old. Luo Guangsheng and Miao Yujuan go to work on weekdays, and Aunt Luo has always taken care of them
Now that all the children of the same age are attending kindergarten, Miao Yujuan also wants to find a kindergarten for her son.
On New Year's Eve, she brought it up.
But I didn't expect that Aunt Luo would be extremely reluctant to let go and would not agree to send the child away, life or death.
The old lady’s reason is ridiculous.
"What kind of place is a kindergarten? A kindergarten is a place where children are kept. I have seen children kept in small cages and raised, and they were tied up with ropes when they came out to let out air, and they were tied up one by one and walked on the street. Wearing the same clothes and saying the same words, you can’t tell who is who, and they are all cut neatly like cakes. There is no freedom to run in and out of the yard. I can’t bear to send our children away. It’s not a waste of money. Just take the blame.”
But the problem is, the destructive power of these words cannot be underestimated, and it directly scares the children who have no ability to distinguish.
Who wants to be put in a small cage?
So the four-year-old Pan'er lay in Aunt Luo's arms and shouted, "Grandma, if I don't go into the small cage, I won't go to the kindergarten!"
Well, this time Miao Yujuan All the ideological work done for the child in advance was in vain.
Miao Yujuan quickly coaxed her son, "Didn't we all agree last night? We don't want to change our minds."
Pan'er said, "You only said there are slides and swivel chairs. , there is a swing, but it didn’t say there was a cage.”
Miao Yujuan said, “Of course there is no cage. That’s grandma lying to you.”
Aunt Luo refused to admit it, "I didn't lie. When have I ever lied to children? Children in Dongkou Kindergarten sleep in cages."
Miao Yujuan couldn't laugh or cry, "Why is that a cage?" "It's obviously a small bed with railings, Mom, the Bian family's grandson is one year younger than our Pan'er, so they have to send it to the kindergarten..."
However, Aunt Luo, who has always been easy-going, is not happy with her grandson. On the issue, he was extremely stubborn and refused to give in.
"The Bian family is the Bian family, and our family is our family. No matter what happens, my grandson is not allowed to be sent to kindergarten. Otherwise, if I stay idle at home, it will be a waste of manpower."
Luo Guangsheng reads When his wife was in trouble, he couldn't help but help.
"Mom, if your child is sent to kindergarten, he can receive formal education and understand the truth in the future."
Unexpectedly, the old lady pouted him back with just one sentence, "None of the three children in our Lao Luo family has ever been to kindergarten. , including you, who doesn’t understand the truth?”
Luo Guangsheng was choked and opened his mouth for a long time, and rolled his eyes for a long time before he found the words again.
"Mom, times have changed, and people's way of living must also change. The old way of living is not necessarily scientific..."
But Aunt Luo didn't know why today, she was like a literary star. Style, even words from history books are used.
"Since Pangu created the world and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the present day, which dynasty has had a kindergarten? Which emperor was trained in a kindergarten? I don't believe it. Otherwise, if we don't go to a kindergarten or engage in the Westernization Movement, our children will have no future?"
A big nest of roast chicken left the eldest son completely speechless and had no choice but to shut up.
Miao Yujuan had no choice but to tell the truth.
"Mom, leaving your child at home will inevitably lead to pampering by the parents..."
Of course this was not heard, and Aunt Luo also changed her face a bit.
"What are you talking about? Didn't you just watch our Luo family's son strive to marry into our family? The old Luo family is such a tutor, and he has never pampered his children. Besides, I can't live without children. , the child can't live without me. Do you have to make us old and young sad..."
Well, since the words have come to this, naturally I can't continue.
Seeing their son coquettishly coquettishly in Aunt Luo's arms, and the old and the young making out, Miao Yujuan and Luo Guangsheng could only look at each other, speechless.
(End of this chapter)