Chapter 52: Reborn in the Nineties: The Tyrant Flower Chapter Fifty-Two: Partnering

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Chai Mi's parents separated from the old family residence on the twelfth day of the lunar twelfth month; it was freezing cold, and the back courtyard didn't even have firewood for burning.

The separation was truly just a simple splitting of the household.

Besides three rooms that leaked wind on all four sides, there was nothing else.

But then, Chai Zhongxiao and Wang Huirong turned around and decided to live together with Third Uncle Chai You De again.

(Partnering — should be a form of living together cooperatively, but it's generally used to describe father and son; it's a dialect term. "Living together cooperatively" might not be quite right; only "partnering" makes sense.)

Chai Mi remembers her mother Su Wan once saying how bitter the days were when they first moved to the back courtyard: no firewood, they were still in the production team at the time, so they had to go outside every day to pick up cow dung for fuel; the pot was brought from her maternal family, the lid too; the bowls were sent by Old Aunt; there were no chopsticks, they ate with tree branches.

It can be said, the bitterness was extraordinarily bizarre.

But by the eighteenth day of the lunar twelfth month, Chai Zhongxiao and his wife said they wouldn't separate from Chai You De anymore, and the two households partnered up again.

In the end, the ration fields in the village that Chai Zhongxiao owned, which had been vacated for his three daughters, were also given to Chai You De and his wife.

The third year, the old family residence built a new house.

Half the money for the new house was borrowed from Chai Mi's family; at that time Chai Youqing went to Da Kube County to cut reeds... Chai Mi's mother went to the southern rice paddies to transplant seedlings and saved money...

(Often heard people mention it, but I don't know the specific work; it should be making paper after cutting reeds.)

The other half was borrowed by Chai Zhongxiao from his second daughter.

Of course, neither of Chai Zhongxiao's two households paid it back.

But Chai Mi's second aunt was hard-headed, directly scolded Chai Zhongxiao and severed the father-daughter relationship; over ten years passed before the relationship eased slightly.

Afterwards, the old family house was built. Chai You De saw that Father Chai Zhongxiao had no more use value, so he stopped helping Chai Zhongxiao with work.

Never went to help Chai Zhongxiao farm again.

Chai Zhongxiao was forced to seek out Chai Mi's parents again to help farm.

The result was, during spring planting, Chai Mi's parents were good sons in Chai Zhongxiao's eyes; during autumn harvest, they were also good sons.

Once there was no work, Chai You De once again partnered with Chai Zhongxiao...

This went on for many years.

This past is fine if not recalled; once recalled, Chai Mi hates the Chai family people even more.

"Second Uncle, your writing is good, your characters are beautiful..."

"No, absolutely not." Chai You Fu stood up immediately and said: "Chai Mi, don't listen to people's nonsense. This kind of major event, we three are real brothers, how could I forge a fake will?"

"Then who did it? My grandparents? Or Chai Lao San?" Chai Mi's gaze fixed on Chai You Fu.

"This I don't know... wait, no fake will was made at the time." Chai You Fu's voice even trembled a bit, obviously lacking confidence.

"Hehe." Chai Mi smiled and said: "Old news, no matter Second Uncle, even if you did it, I don't care."

"I really didn't do it..."

"Dare you swear on the lamp?" Chai Mi pointed at the fifteen-watt small bulb overhead and said: "I'll turn on the light. If you did it, the light goes out and the person dies."

Chai You Fu froze directly: "I..."

Chai You Fu didn't dare.

Chai Mi smiled without speaking.

Around here, oaths are generally sworn by pointing at a lamp, more common than swearing to heaven. People often swear on the lamp.

But Chai Mi also doesn't know if it's efficacious.

But the wiring in this era isn't too stable, power outages happen often.

So, many who did unconscionable things, when swearing, the power would suddenly go out...

It spread into people's mouths as oaths coming true, and over time, basically no one dared swear on the lamp anymore.