The Leisure Life in the 1970s

107

Chapter 107 107, Recognize a Son

On February 14, 1985, there were still five days before the Chinese Lunar New Year. The almanac said that this day was a good day, suitable for getting married, recognizing relatives, and moving.

This day was a very meaningful day for Ma Erha, because from this day on, he, Ma Erha, would finally have a son.

Aunt Ma's nephew is called Ma Gouzi, and he is 9 years old this year. Gouzi is his nickname, because he has not started school yet, so he has not been given a full name.

It is not that Aunt Ma's family deliberately harsh on their nephew. It is quite common in rural areas for children who have not been to school at the age of nine. There are even teens who are still pulling pig grass at home. There are a lot of illiterate people who can't read a single word.

As soon as Ma Erha returned to Hongqi Village, he asked Old Man Qiao to go to Ma Qianzi's house the next day.

When the people in his family heard that Ma Erha recognized Gouzi as his son, they agreed without much thought.

However, Old Man Qiao had rules for doing things. After asking Ma Qianzi and his wife, he asked Gouzi for his opinion alone.

Gouzi was already 9 years old and could remember things. Besides, the villagers were gossipy and said that he was a wild child without a father or a mother. When he was a child, he didn't know what it meant, but he knew it as he grew up. Moreover, Aunt Ma and the others didn't deliberately hide it from him.

Although Aunt Ma didn't abuse him intentionally, it was impossible to treat him like her own son. At most, he would starve to death.

But the sons and daughters of Aunt Ma's family, that is, Gouzi's cousins, always beat and scolded him behind his back, saying that he ate their family's food and was a burden.

Gradually, Gouzi became more and more silent. He got up at dawn every day to chop pig grass to feed the pigs, or went to the foot of the back mountain to collect firewood, and worked until he went to bed at night. He didn't dare to eat more than two meals a day. The most he ate was wild vegetable cakes. Later, when the family situation was better, he ate one or two more sweet potatoes.

Old man Qiao told him about Ma Erha's situation. Gouzi heard that he was the only one in his new father's family and he would not be able to have children in the future, which meant that his new father would only have him as a son in the future. He could take care of his new father until his death, and no one would scold him as a burden anymore. His eyes lit up and he nodded quickly to express his willingness.

So Ma Erha came to Ma Qianzi's house, and Old man Qiao, and everyone sat together to discuss how to recognize him.

Finally, Ma Erha gave Ma Qianzi's family 500 yuan as a compensation for changing his name, and Gouzi had nothing to do with their family from then on.

Of course, there was a nice excuse for giving out the 500 yuan, saying that it was to thank Ma Qianzi's family for taking care of Gouzi for so many years, and finally picked an auspicious day to hold a recognition banquet, which was February 14th.

In the countryside, if you want to recognize a son, you must hold a banquet to count, otherwise, even if the household registration is changed and the country recognizes it, the villagers will not recognize it.

However, Ma Erha originally did not intend to save the money for this banquet. He not only wanted to hold it, but also to hold it in a big way. He planned to invite all the villagers to drink and tell them that I, Ma Erha, also have a son!

After paying the change of name fee, Ma Erha took Gouzi to the town to register for household registration the next day, and also changed his name to Ma Chengcai, hoping that he would become a talent in the future.