In the evening, back in the courtyard, Fatty took a bottle of wine, made a dish of celery and peanuts with vinegar, sliced ​​a plate of small sausages, and stayed up all night with Yu Li.

Yu Li said with emotion, "Another year has passed."

The fat man hugged her and sighed, "Yes, those peaceful days are gone forever..."

The fat man often spoke in incomprehensible language. Yu Li didn't understand, nor did she question him, because it didn't stop her from admiring her husband at all.

In the backyard, Xu Damao was also drinking.

Lou Xiao'e went to bed early, leaving him all alone. He hadn't touched the food on the table, and after seven or eight glasses of wine, he muttered drunkenly, "Lou Xiao'e! I'll teach you to look down on me, to look down on my family! Once I get that silly girl..."

The Lunar Year of the Snake (Yi Si year) ended with the chiming of the clock at 12 o'clock, and the Lunar Year of the Horse (Bing Wu year) quietly arrived.

Yu Li had fallen asleep in the fat man's arms at some point, leaving him alone to drink by himself.

After stuffing the last piece of belly fat into his mouth, the fat man glanced outside and said, "It's getting windy..."

"..."

On the very first day of the Lunar New Year, a deafening bark came from Fatty's house early in the morning!

People in the front yard came out to see what was happening. They found Banggeng slumped on the ground, Xiaodang and Huaihua looking terrified, and Shazhu cursing loudly: "What a terrible thing to do! Raising such a big dog, who the hell are you trying to protect yourself from?"

Yan Bugui came out buttoning up his cotton-padded coat, pointed at Sha Zhu's nose and cursed, "I was just trying to keep an eye on you! Sha Zhu, doing this kind of thing on the first day of the Lunar New Year, you're really despicable!"

The noise from the front yard quickly attracted the people from the middle yard as well. Yi Zhonghai came over, took a look, and said, "Since everyone is up, let's have a meeting together. Today happens to be the first day of the Lunar New Year, so let's have a New Year's greeting party. Let's make it a tradition to hold one every year."

Inside the fat man's room, Yu Li chuckled, "You're so naughty, where did you get such a big dog?"

"If it weren't for it, believe it or not, Sha Zhu would have already broken in with Bang Geng and was begging for money right by the bed."

Yu Li asked instinctively, "Do you want money? How much?"

"Not much, just three pieces."

Yu Li panicked: "I..."

The fat man covered her mouth: "It's the New Year, you're not allowed to imitate Sha Zhu, and you're not allowed to swear."

They love their New Year's greetings, so let them do theirs; Fatty has no intention of getting up. With Xu Jiang guarding the door, anyone who's not afraid can come and knock.

Yi Zhonghai waited and waited, but one family was always missing.

They were trying to create antagonism and get everyone to attack the fat man. Then, Uncle San and Xu Damao confronted Sha Zhu: "Is this how you do things? On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he just barged in and demanded money right in front of us, and he even asked for three yuan! Where's Qin Huairu? Where is Qin Huairu?!"

The third uncle and Xu Damao then began to talk about how Sha Zhu had taken Qin Huairu's three children, then cornered them in bed, banging on a bowl and demanding money.

Not less is not acceptable, it has to be 3 yuan!

That's three pieces! It hurt Yan Bugui so much he couldn't breathe.

Yi Zhonghai's original intention was to gather everyone in the compound together for a New Year's gathering.

The purpose of this New Year's gathering was quite simple. First, it was to gather everyone's melon seeds together for a good time and enjoyment; second, of course, it was for the sake of the Jia family.

The so-called New Year's greetings can't be the three uncles wishing everyone a Happy New Year, right? The children should come instead. In this courtyard, besides Liu Jiacheng from the front yard, and Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiedi from the third uncle's family, aren't there only the three children from the Jia family left?

It was called a New Year's gathering, but it was actually a large-scale begging scene.

However, Yan Bugui and Xu Damao's commotion completely disrupted Yi Zhonghai's plans, making him a bit flustered.

Liu Haizhong started acting like a cadre again: "Since that's the case, then Xu Damao and his third uncle, you two should have Qin Huairu return the money to you."

In the crowd, Jia Zhangshi remained silent until pressed, at which point she finally said, "She went back to the village early this morning."

Liu Haizhong wouldn't let her off the hook: "Then you can just back out."

Would Jia Zhangshi give up something she had already obtained? As she stood up to leave, she said in a petty tone, "You think it's true just because you say so? I have to ask my three children first..."

The New Year's gathering was about to fall apart when Yi Zhonghai tapped the table: "Your business can wait. Where's Fatty? Why isn't he here yet?"

As for the fat man, he never even considered going there.

I still have to visit several families for the New Year, and it's better to sleep a little longer with Yu Li than to spend time with them in the cold wind.

Xu Jiang crouched behind the door, barking wildly at anyone who approached, scaring people away.

What was supposed to be a proper New Year's gathering ended up with Sha Zhu sitting there like a big shot, having Uncle San and Xu Damao kowtow to him.

Didn't you want a refund? You get a refund after just one dose! He didn't forget to mock Xu Damao: "Third Uncle has a kid to take the pills for him, why don't you find a kid to take them for you? Wait a minute, you don't have any kids, and your wife can't lay eggs!"

Lou Xiao'e was so angry that she cursed him, "You shameless bastard!"

This bastard broke into someone's house on the first day of the Lunar New Year, then blocked their bed and demanded money, then went to the neighbor's door and started cursing, and now he's cursing Lou Xiao'e for not being able to lay eggs...

This is the first time someone has caused such a commotion on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Did anyone take action against him? No, with Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady involved, the matter was simply dropped.

The third uncle was even more furious with Sha Zhu: "I won't talk to you on New Year's Eve, but I'm going to make you furious on New Year's Day!"

"..."

The fat man slept until around 9 o'clock before getting up. He told Yu Li to get dressed, and he stretched, opened the door, emptied the chamber pot, and cleaned the coal stove.

Sha Zhu, unwilling to give up, stayed nearby. Upon seeing this, Lima led the three children over.

The fat man spoke first: "Even if you kowtow until your heads are raw, I still won't give you any money. If you don't mind taking a loss, then go ahead and kowtow."

Just as Sha Zhu was about to point his finger at him and curse, Fatty asked him, "And Sha Zhu, your nose is straight now, right? If you don't want to get knocked crooked again, then curse me. I don't mind helping you one more time."

Sha Zhu refused to believe it. He thought he could be beaten up while he was guarding the courtyard. With the deaf old lady backing him up, who was he afraid of?

Just as he was about to confront the fat man, a dog appeared from beside his feet. It had big ears, a black back, and four large, wide paws. It bared its teeth, arched its legs, and looked ready to pounce at any moment!

The fat man watched him with a cold smile, and after a long while, seeing that Sha Zhu made no further move, he finally sent Xu Jiang back into the house and went outside.

After the fat man left, Sha Zhu started cursing again. He wasn't afraid of the fat man, absolutely not! But that dog really terrified him; he'd been afraid of dogs since he was a child…

Banggeng and Huaihua, having failed to get any money and seeing Shazhu's pathetic state, looked down on him even more. They simply took their two younger sisters and ran off to play.