Like a Flowing River (Da Jiang Da He / 大江大河)

~ Episode 10 ~

Put on some weight for me.

Here.

Here it is. You also must eat.

It's here. It's here. It's here.

Mother.

- You're back. - Yes.

Eat.

Eat. It's over here. Look at you.

- Let me do it. - It's over here.

Look at how stupid it is.

- It doesn't know that the food is here. - Mother, why are you feeding the rabbit with wet grass?

Didn't I tell you before? You can't feed them with wet grass.

The rabbits will get diarrhea after eating it. They will die.

Look, how could I have forgotten this?

Xiao Ping.

I am going to cut some green vegetables. I can do this well.

There is no need to, Mother. I will do it myself.

These rabbits will be giving birth in less than a month.

Every family in the Xiaoleijia Brigade is waiting for the birth of the baby rabbits.

We can't let anything go wrong at this time.

Say, isn't this strange?

This...

... can rabbits breed in winter too?

The worker at the livestock station told me that these are high quality long-haired rabbits.

As long as they are well fed and kept sufficiently warm, there is no worries about them being able to give birth in winter.

It's going to be fun in our home then. There would be ten or more additional rabbits.

How is it over at your side?

We are quite alright at our side. My father and mother are quite alright.

When I went home the last time, my father and mother asked me to send their greetings to you.

I am not asking about this. I am talking about your stomach.

You are married for ... about half a year or so.

There is no movement here yet.

Mother, I've already discussed this with Dongbao.

We will not have any children within the first two years.

What?

The two of you don't want children?

It's not like that. Just for these two years, we don't want any children yet.

Look, I am still attending school in the TV University. I have lessons twice a week.

It's inconvenient to travel if I get pregnant.

I might not be able to continue with my classes if that happens.

So, we have decided that we will not have any children for these first two years.

The work in the brick factory is already settled smoothly.

And Shigen and Hongwei are helping me.

Furthermore, Old Uncle is keeping an eye on everything. Basically, there is no need for me to be too involved.

But I still have to be personally involved in this newly established Xiaoleijia Brigade construction team.

I will have to go to the construction site tomorrow. I will be away for a few days in this trip.

This is the first project of the construction team, hence, it must be done very well. Right?

Right.

Go, and don't worry about anything.

Right, is Xiao Hui really not coming back this year during the New Year?

Xiao Hui said in his letter that his school has built a new research laboratory.

His professor asked him to stay back to help. He is helping to translate a lot of English materials.

And it includes the most advanced researches in the chemistry field. That is definitely not some ordinary translation.

Your younger brother is really very capable.

I really envy him.

I initially planned to discuss with him about the Brigade going into enterprises when he comes back.

I guess I have to wait a while longer.

What's that noise?

Mother!

What are you doing?

Little old lady.

What are you doing?

There are rats in the house. I'm banging here and there to frighten them away.

- Go. Go. - Mother. Mother.

Would they be frightened away just by you banging like this?

I will get some rat poison later. Okay, don't trouble yourself anymore. Go to bed.

Okay. Okay. I'm tired too.

I'm going back to bed. You go back too.

Are there really rats?

You are a scourge.

- Mother, are you done yet? - I will bang.

- Scourge. Scourge. - Why are you tormenting all of us like this?

- Are you going to let us sleep or not? - Dongbao.

Mother could be angry with me.

Why is she angry with you?

She asked me if I'm pregnant already.

I told her that we have decided not to have any children in the next two years.

I think I did not consider everything properly.

Rats. So angry with them.

This matter...

...she can't be blamed entirely then.

She is already old afterall. It is normal for her to have such thoughts.

I will talk to her about it later.

I really did not consider her feelings.

So, what is your opinion about this matter?

Of course, it is the best if I could complete my studies in the TV University.

But what are we going to do about mother?

I will take care of mother.

Ping Ping, my attitude will not change.

The Xiaoleijia Brigade is most lacking in educated people. You must study well.

This matter concerning the children, it is still not too late if we had them two years later.

Let's go to bed. Quickly.

Switch off the light.

Mom, I want to tell you something.

Ping Ping and I have decided that we do not want any children in these next two years.

No, this was decided by me. If you have any thoughts about it, please tell me now.

You are aware of your son's temper. I will do whatever I have said.

So, even if you have any thoughts, it is basically useless.

Why then must you be at loggerheads with this matter? You will only hurt yourself when you get angry.

- Did you hear me? - Heard it.

Mother, Ping Ping has a strong character. She will not take the initiative to ask you for help.

So, if there's any work in the home that needed to be done, can you just help her a bit?

Then, won't it get easier for her? We are ..

We are one family.

Isn't it so?

Will you say something?

That means you have given your consent. I'm going off.

I want to be angry. I'm so angry.

Secretary's mother, as the saying goes,

everything will flourish if there is peace in the family.

The way I see it, the Secretary's wife is quite a nice person.

Could there have been some misunderstanding between the two of you?

We do not have any misunderstanding.

The Song woman is a vixen.

She certainly knows how to trick people. She tricked my Dongbao until he is so confused on what to do.

All of you do not know.

From morning to night,

she doesn't do anything at all.

No matter whether it's day or night,

she'll be rolling on the bed with Dongbao.

No, Secretary's mother, how can your son and his wife be doing that thing in broad daylight?

It's the Song woman. It's her who wants to do it. Dongbao is being forced into it.

The Secretary is being forced into it.

It can't be.

Dongbao is being forced into it.

- It's true. - A daughter-in-law who does not respect her mother-in-law. The Heaven can't tolerate this behavior.

Right. What Older Auntie said is right.

You must think of a way to let your daughter-in-law do some work.

What ways can I think of?

Do not let her idle like this. Listen to Older Auntie.

Let me tell you this.

I am going to visit Old Auntie this afternoon. Bring my meal to me at five o'clock.

Mother, I might still be on the way home by five o'clock. I might not be able to deliver your meal on time.

Whatever it is, you must bring my meal to me. If you fail to do that,

I will tell everyone in the Xiaoleijia Brigade that you don't allow me to eat anything.

- Mother ... - In addition, I will not do anything from today onwards.

I will not make tea or cook. I will not help you to raise the rabbits.

I want to go out and have fun. You have to bring my meal to me. In any case,

I will not do anything anymore. I will not do anything.

Xiao Hui. I haven't written to you for a long time.

This is because I am especially busy now.

The one hundred doe rabbits that I am raising are going to give birth very soon.

But, other than raising rabbits,

Mother, I've brought your meal here.

Please eat while it is still hot.

I have to cook. I have classes to attend.

I really don't have any time at all.

Mother, I'm awake. I will come immediately.

Stand where you are!

- Stand where you are! - Older Brother Dongbao. - Secretary Dongbao.

Get inside. Explain yourself. What is happening?

We have just given him the wages for the construction brigade.

He didn't count the money, sign for it, nor put his fingerprint down. He just grabbed the money and ran.

So, it is just this little matter, and you are shouting at him so loudly?

Four-eyed is afraid that the accounts will not tally. Isn't this his responsibility?

Did you hear that? This is their responsibility.

I will question them if there is any problem. In future, when you receive the wages, please count the money on the spot,

sign your name, and make an acknowledgement on the account before you can go.

Got it. Got it.

Here. Sign here.

Why are you running? Secretary Dongbao is here.

Can the Brigade take back the wages after it has given it to you?

I have never seen so much money before.

I want to show it to my wife and my mother when I get home.

- I'm going off first. - Go. Go.

Next. Lei Xiaogang.

Me.

- How much? - One hundred and twenty. - One hundred and twenty. I'll add twenty more. - Sign here.

A hundred and twenty is not much.

But you must respond to Secretary Dongbao's call. You have to think about it.

Think about why it is so little, right? You can't be jealous when you see the other people getting more.

I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous.

As unskilled workers, we get eighty dollars a month. The masons get a hundred a month.

Secretary Dongbao has already explained all these to us before we started work.

I just want to ask Secretary Dongbao,

when will our construction team get a new work next month?

That's right, Secretary. All of us want to build houses with you and earn wages.

- Yes. Yes. - As long as all of you are willing to work hard,

- wages are not a problem. - Secretary, as if you didn't see it.

In this past month, right under your watchful eyes, who among us dared to lazy around?

And, we could get so much money in one go. We would be willing even if we were totally exhuasted.

This time round, we did a good job building

the dormitory of the credit cooperative. This news has already spread around the county seat.

There is already someone from the county who came to look for me.

They want to ask our Xiaoleijia Brigade to go and build houses for them.

Good! Good!

Shigen, here. Come over here.

Lei Zhengzhou.

- What is it? - This time round, you ..

Shigen, I'm thinking that in our next project,

can we change the way things are done?

What ideas does the Secretary has?

Director Shan of the credit cooperative

is already a friend of the Xiaoleijia Brigade now.

Should we not be making good use of this relationship?

Secretary, this is the situation now.

Together with the loan last time that we took from the credit cooperative

to buy the new tractors, our debt from them now amounts to some fifty to sixty thousands.

Do we still take another loan?