Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 59

Zhou Yuren was completely bewildered upon hearing the name and laughed, "I can't even remember such a long name. What is this 'Tenigel'? I don't know it."

“His Chinese name is Lao Ma, do you remember him?” Zhao Da’e asked again.

Zhou Yuren put down his chopsticks: "Well... if you put it that way, I remember. Last time the village organized a big campaign to repair the river embankment in Halagui, there was indeed a guy named Lao Ma, and the two of us worked together for three or four days."

Zhou Yuren remembered this as soon as it was mentioned. He took out his tobacco pouch, rolled a pipe, and started smoking.

"That old Ma is indeed an old Mongolian. He's a complete idiot when it comes to work. He's good for nothing and doesn't excel at anything. He's a half-baked bricklayer."

Zhao Da'e chuckled to himself: That's for sure. Zhou Yuren is an extremely efficient and capable person. No matter what he does, he is exceptionally refined and courteous.

(I tried my best to pronounce this dialect, but there really is no standard pronunciation.)

While eating, Zhou Chunwen said, "You two chat later, or the food will get cold."

As she spoke, Zhou Chunwen put a few pieces of chicken in Zhao Da'e's bowl, and gave him the chicken thigh as well. She gave the other chicken thigh to her younger sister, Zhou Chunhong. She then picked up the chicken wing, which had very little meat, and started eating it herself.

Zhou Yuren puffed on his cigarette, saying, "What do you know? You're just a kid, what do you know? Your brother's wedding is a big deal..."

Zhou Chunwen was stunned for a moment, looked at his father, and then looked at Zhao Dage, who was over six years old: I don't understand. I'm sixteen or seventeen and I don't understand anything. My cousin is six years old and she understands everything. Okay?

Zhou Chunwen snorted and buried his head in his food.

Seeing that Zhou Yuren remembered, Zhao Da'e continued, "Old Ma has a daughter named Ma Huaihua. By her generation, everyone uses Han names. The chubby little girl I'm talking about is Ma Huaihua. Uncle, if you go to the big construction project in a few days when it's cold in winter, to build the reservoir or something, and you run into Old Ma there, ask him about it and see if there's any chance of it happening?"

“We’re so poor here, and my family isn’t well-off either…” Zhou Yuren became a little embarrassed.

Zhao Da'e chuckled: "It's alright, Lao Ma's family is even poorer."

Zhou Yuren: "..."

Zhou Chunwen: "???"

Zhou Chunwen's lips curled into a smirk: "So my cousin means there's no limit to how poor we can get?! Marrying a wife from a family even worse off than mine will only make life harder. My mother-in-law will be coming to beg for money every day!"

"His family is so poor, and our family isn't rich either. If we poor people team up, won't we be doomed?"

Zhou Yuren glared at Zhou Chunwen: "Eat quietly, sir... I'm talking to your cousin, don't interrupt."

Zhou Chunwen, still fuming, had no choice but to eat: "Fine, fine, marry someone even poorer, and you two will have to work even harder." However, the Zhou family wasn't wealthy either; it would be best if they could help his older brother find a wife.

If they were wealthy, Zhou Tianfu wouldn't have been waiting until he was eighteen or nineteen without anyone coming to propose marriage. In these remote rural areas of the north, people generally get married very young. In extremely poor areas like Jurenzhangzi, people usually have children by the time they are eighteen or nineteen, but Zhou Tianfu still hasn't had anyone come to propose marriage.

Firstly, although the Zhou family wasn't the poorest, they lived deep in the mountains. This was even more extreme than Zhao Da'e's family's village, Dongtaizi. At least Dongtaizi was a small mountain village in a hilly area; Jurenzhangzi was practically in the deep mountains and forests.

The fact that Zhao Da'e can find mushrooms just by going out illustrates this point; there are many bachelors in places like this. Even if you live well in the mountains, the land here is barren, and people rely on the mountains for sustenance and the sea for food. Without land, there is no food. Are you going to spend all your time catching rabbits in the mountains?