"Aunt, you're giving us so much, we really can't carry it all. My dad's retired now, so if there's time later, he can come back and help out again."
In 1979, Jiangsu Province hadn't yet implemented the household responsibility system, and the busy harvest work was still a collective effort. Otherwise, Chen Yang's father would have certainly returned to help his aunt, uncle, and younger uncle with farm work during busy seasons.
However, with Xiaogang Village leading the way, this year's grain harvest had been bountiful, and next year should be similar.
"Yangyang is right, we can't take this much. Second brother is fine, it's just a short trip back to Jinling. My aunt and I still have to go back to Beijing."
"One item each, we'll take a little back to taste the flavor of home. This is your kind gesture, and it's enough that we brothers and sisters understand each other's feelings."
Chen Liqi looked at his younger brothers and sisters. This year, he was happiest during these few days when he could come back home to visit them.
He was getting older, nearing sixty. Even if he returned once a year, he might not have many more years to travel.
His biggest worry was that after he was gone, his sons and daughters would not be close to their uncles and aunts at home, and that these relationships would break.
Fortunately, after these few days of interaction, he could see that his usually aloof daughter was quite optimistic about her cousin, Chen Yang.
He hoped that the family would get along well in the future and maintain contact.
"Big brother, you and sister-in-law prepared so many good things for us, clothes and gloves. We can only save some of the food from home and take it with you."
"You only come back once a year. You can't eat this normally, so you have to pack more."
Chen Yang's aunt carried some food in her hand. It was nothing special, just some dried sweet potatoes, peanuts, and homemade sugar brittle.
These were things they had eaten since they were children. Although their parents were long gone, these skills had been passed down by their two aunts.
They all knew that their big brother had a particular fondness for these since childhood. As people get older, they tend to miss the things from their youth even more.
Second brother was a little better off, as Jinling wasn't far from Pengcheng, so they could take some back. But big brother was all the way in Beijing, and only returned around the New Year once a year.
"The several boxes we brought back are full. That's enough, that's enough."
"Don't see us off anymore, go back, go back. It will be too late, and we'll miss the bus."
Chen Liqi sat on the ox cart, waving goodbye to his family.
Chen Liming, Chen Yang, and Chen Yue also waved. Chen Lisong, having borrowed an ox cart from the team, personally took them to the county town to catch the bus to Pengcheng, and then transfer to another bus back to Jinling.
Chen Yang knew that his uncle had to rush back to Beijing. Along the way, even though there was a strong sense of parting, he didn't disturb the elder.
The overnight train journey later would not be easy.
In those days, without special connections, it was impossible to buy a sleeper ticket. Traveling nonstop from their hometown in Peixian to Beijing would take at least a day.
Even sitting for that long would leave one with a sore back and aching waist. Young people were fine, but for the elderly, their bodies couldn't take it.
Chen Lisong saw them off to the county town to catch the bus and then returned. His two elder brothers were already well-established. He and his two sisters, by undertaking the fishpond contract at home, had to achieve something.
He had discussed with his eldest nephew earlier. If everyone secretly agreed to raise fish, they would all follow suit.
Anyway, their sons were now adults. If this endeavor succeeded, they would secure a foundation for their sons. If it failed, they would at worst spend a few years in prison.
At their age, what else did they have to look forward to? The lives of rural people were cheap. Working themselves to death all year only earned them a few work points. They were not destined to eat planned rations, nor could they receive a state salary.
If they didn't take a gamble now, and waited until they were too old to work and burdened their children, what would be the point of living?
Chen Lisong's determination was also partly due to Chen Yang's support. Although Chen Liqi was a bit worried about policy, he couldn't refute it.
His younger brothers and sisters lived hard lives. Although he and his second brother secretly helped out each year under the guise of gift-giving, it was like a drop in the ocean.
Life had to be lived by themselves.
With the work points paid out by the collective each year, honestly, if they got a headache or a fever, they couldn't even afford to go to the hospital three times.
It was fine at first, whether in the city or the countryside, medical expenses were reimbursed 100%. But later on, rural people had nothing.
With the introduction of medical insurance, most only covered 50%. If they encountered a serious illness and needed imported medicine, any medicine not covered by the insurance was impossible to afford.
It wasn't that people didn't want to live, it was simply that they couldn't afford to be sick and dared not get sick. Sudian Novel Network.
To gamble on an uncertain treatment result, sacrificing all the family's savings, buying houses and cars, the price was too heavy.
Therefore, there were so many fathers or mothers, husbands or wives, who, upon receiving a diagnosis, would jump from the hospital rooftop without a second thought.
They didn't want to die; they desperately wanted to stay with their families and live happily.
They simply didn't want their loved ones to face such difficult decisions.
If they were saved, the family would be ruined, and there was no guarantee of recovery. Even if they recovered, living would still be a problem.
If they weren't saved, how could they live with their conscience? That was their beloved kin, to so coldly refuse to help and watch them miss the chance for treatment, how could their conscience be at ease?
To put it bluntly, there was only one illness in the world, and that was poverty!
Therefore, Chen Liqi could only hope that his younger brothers and sisters would live well as they planned.
The farmers of China were truly too bitter.
Despite doing the hardest labor, they received the least reward.
Even in the decades of economic development to come, it was the blood and sweat of rural farmers that supported the construction of cities.
It was merely a shift from rural fields to urban construction sites, continuing to do the hardest work, and incidentally gaining a new title: migrant worker.
When will farmers truly live good lives, when will rural children receive the same education as urban children, and when will rural elders receive the same social security and medical care as urban elders?
Then, we would not be far from our ultimate goal.
As the car moved further away from their hometown, Chen Liqi's worries grew.
Even this old man, who had been on the battlefield, experienced countless enemy bullets, and served the country wholeheartedly, felt immense emotion at this moment.
Our country truly needed to change, to transform into something new, a new situation that would allow the common people to live better lives.