Chapter 56

Han Shengyi watched Chu Jiujiu return to the desk, and then looked at Guo Youmian again.

"If you can't find me in the future, just give the things to my grandparents. There's no need to run around looking for me."

Guo Youmian thought he was concerned about her and smiled quickly, "It's okay, I'm not afraid of hard work."

Han Shengyi thought he had been quite straightforward, but she still didn't understand. Frowning, he could only point out, "But you running around like this, asking others where I am, really bothers me. Doesn't your family also want others to know that we know each other? Then let's just do it like before and don't make it so troublesome."

Guo Youmian's heart skipped a beat when she heard what he said. She felt that Han Shengyi was unhappy, but she couldn't find out what he was unhappy about. She felt aggrieved. Guo Youmian lowered her head and pursed her lips, then took out a new handkerchief from her pocket.

Still, there was a pile of small change inside. This time, the handkerchief was bought by Guo Youmian at the supply and marketing cooperative with her father's help. It was said that this was the most popular pattern in the cooperative.

She originally wanted to hand it over to Han Shengyi happily, but now, she was not happy anymore. Han Shengyi took the handkerchief and thanked her. Guo Youmian smiled weakly and then went home.

When she returned home, she was in a bad mood. Her elder brother Guo Youtian had disappeared again, and her younger brother was sleeping soundly in the house. Aunt Guo was doing needlework in the main room. When she saw Guo Youmian coming back, she put down the basket.

"How is it? Has it been delivered?"

Guo Youmian nodded dejectedly.

Aunt Guo asked again, "Did you find out?"

Guo Youmian looked up in confusion, "Mom, what are you asking about?"

Aunt Guo: “…”

"Silly girl, haven't I told you several times? Go ask the Han family what they've been doing in the cowshed at night lately. Why are they always lighting the oil lamps?"

After a long while, Guo Youmian finally remembered this matter. She said guiltily, "I'm sorry, Mom, I forgot about this."

Aunt Guo: "Look at you, what else can you do? I asked you to find out something, and you forgot it. You, you are really going to piss me off to death!"

Guo Youmian was already in a bad mood, and now she was being scolded by her mother. She couldn't help but ask aggrievedly, "But whether the lights are on in the cowshed at night or not, what does it have to do with us? Why do you have to know this?"

Aunt Guo was holding her breath. How could she know the answer? It was Guo Heizi who asked her to do this. He went to work on the dam every day and didn't care about the family affairs at all. During the busy farming season, she was the one who worked hard with the three children. It was bad enough that he didn't care about her, but now he assigned such strange work to her.

He also said that it must be investigated.

Damn it, she’s not an investigator, how can she investigate?

Besides, who doesn’t light a lamp at night? Why is it so strange to light a lamp in the cowshed?

Guo Youmian felt aggrieved and Aunt Guo was angry. It was not until the evening when Guo Youtian came back that the atmosphere in their family recovered a little.

——

Li Yan's sudden marriage to Chen Sanzhu caught everyone off guard. The biggest victim of this incident was not the educated youth, but the poor team leader.

Li Yan left. She went to work in town, but her household registration remained in Qingzhu Village. She hadn't dealt with work points, grain allocations, or the reports required by the commune. Three days after she married Chen Sanzhu, she packed her bags and moved to town. Even though she was gone, she still remembered the benefits of Qingzhu Village. She repeatedly told the brigade leader that even though she was in the city, she was still an educated youth from the village, and she couldn't lose a single cent of her food. If she did, she would report it to the Revolutionary Committee.

Captain: “…”

You better get out of here now.

Just a few days after Li Yan took over the job, she fulfilled her promise to Chen Sanzhu and married him. Before the marriage, Chen Sanzhu had promised to buy her a three-wheeled bicycle and a watch. Now the family had a bicycle, and the remaining items were a radio, a sewing machine, and a watch. Chen Sanzhu said he was still short of two industrial coupons, and when he had enough, he would buy them for Li Yan.

Before getting married, Li Yan asked for many things, such as a large mirror, a set of enamelware of her own, a new skirt, and small cowhide high heels that were only sold in the city department store. No matter what she wanted, Chen Sanzhu agreed to it all, and he actually fulfilled some of the promises for Li Yan.

Wearing a cashmere scarf and leather high heels, Li Yan felt like she was another Second Aunt. She was so ecstatic that she almost forgot her last name and that her house was empty.

She wore this fashionable dress and showed it off in front of Ma Wenjuan several times before leaving with her luggage. After she left, Ma Wenjuan lost her appetite, not because she missed her that much, but because she was worried.

Ma Wenjuan is an example of a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She quarrels with Li Yan every day, but she doesn't want anything to happen to Li Yan at all.

After worrying for a long time, Ma Wenjuan felt that this was not a good idea, so she found Ding Boyun, hoping that he could go and persuade Li Yan.

Ding Boyun rejected her: "Li Yan is already married to Chen Sanzhu. I can't persuade them to divorce."

Ma Wenjuan: "Divorce is better than continuing to be Chen Sanzhu's wife! If Li Yan marries Chen Sanzhu, she will never be able to go home again!"

Ding Boyun: "You are wrong. Li Yan has never thought about going home. She only wants to return to the city, and now she has done it."

Ma Wenjuan choked, "But...but even so, she can't marry Chen Sanzhu!"

Ding Boyun was tired of hearing Ma Wenjuan repeating over and over again that she couldn't marry Chen Sanzhu. He raised his eyes and said, "Whatever Li Yan wants to do is her own business. We are both educated youth. We can help each other when we have difficulties, but for more things, we can't control it. Ma Wenjuan, Li Yan is not your family. There is no need for you to worry so much."

Ma Wenjuan was stunned for a moment. In an era when the proletariat was a big family, Ding Boyun's words were quite cruel. She looked at Ding Boyun and felt a little strange.

Realizing his own gaffe, Ding Boyun closed his eyes, pressed his eyebrows together, and apologized to Ma Wenjuan: "I'm sorry, I've had a lot of things going on at home lately, and I'm a little upset."

Ma Wenjuan had never heard him talk about it, so she couldn't help but ask, "What happened at home?"

Ding Boyun smiled and said, "No, it's not a big deal. Don't worry about me. I can handle it quickly."

After hearing what he said, Ma Wenjuan felt embarrassed to ask further.

No matter how upset people outside were, the Chu family was a peaceful little world. Chu Jiujiu sat at home reading the newspaper, her legs swinging back and forth on the chair. After an unknown amount of time, Chu Shao and Han Shengyi walked in.

Chu Jiujiu quickly put down the newspaper and asked, "Where are my glutinous rice noodles?"

Chu Shao was patting the fallen snow from his hair. When he heard that Chu Jiujiu's first concern was Jiangmi Tiao, he couldn't help but puff out his beard and glare, if he had a beard.

…

ungrateful.

Chu Shao complained in his heart, then took out a bag of sugar-soaked snacks from the backpack behind Han Shengyi.

Chu Jiujiu was happy to eat the glutinous rice noodles she had been craving for, and naturally she was in the mood to care about other things. "It's snowing so heavily outside. I thought we are in the south, so it doesn't snow here."

Chu Shao: "Who told you that? It still snows in the south in winter, but not as heavily as in the capital."

Han Shengyi took off his coat and walked into the bedroom. A clothesline had been hung above the coal stove at some point. Now Chu Shao hung his clothes here, so he didn't have to worry about them freezing.

Han Shengyi hung his coat on the clothesline and walked out. Chu Shao wiped the snow off his pants and asked him, "Do you remember the heavy snow in the capital five years ago? We lived in a military compound at the time, and everyone lived on the first floor. I wanted to go out this morning, but I couldn't open the door for a long time. The snow was so heavy that even the door was blocked."

Talking about that time, Han Shengyi also revealed a nostalgic look, "Yeah, I remember it too. Our house has high stairs. I walked out of the house and wanted to go out to play for a while, but when I stepped down, one of my legs was empty, and half of my body was standing in the snow. I couldn't even turn around to go back."

Chu Jiujiu had never seen heavy snow and thought they were bragging.

"That's too much! How can there be such heavy snow? This isn't Siberia."

Chu Shao: "If it's not Siberia, there can't be heavy snow? After the snow fell that year, the roads in the capital were closed for several days. Fortunately, it didn't snow any more, otherwise, the people would have starved to death in their homes."

Seeing how serious he was, Chu Jiujiu couldn't help but mutter, "Really... before global warming, the weather was this bad."

When they were alone together, Chu Jiujiu would occasionally get carried away and say words that did not even exist in this era. At first, Chu Shao felt like he was facing a great enemy, fearing that Han Shengyi would discover her tricks. But after it happened so many times, Chu Shao no longer cared.

Han Shengyi must have noticed that something was wrong with Chu Jiujiu a long time ago, but no matter how hard he thought, he could not imagine that there was something wrong with Chu Jiujiu's background. He only thought that Chu Jiujiu's past experiences were very exciting, and he was a particularly understanding person, so even if he knew it, he kept it in his heart and did not say it.

As long as he doesn't say anything, Chu Jiujiu won't be able to reveal the truth, so there is nothing to worry about.

——

In December, Chu Liqiang sent a huge sum of money, a full fifty yuan. But after receiving the money, Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao learned from the next letter that, as usual, only thirty yuan of the fifty yuan belonged to them. For the remaining twenty yuan, Chu Liqiang asked Chu Shao to give ten yuan to Grandpa Han and Grandma Han, and another ten yuan to the three teachers who had taught them for half a year.

He gave money to the teachers, firstly as tuition payment, and secondly to thank them for spending their time and energy to teach his children under such circumstances; he gave money to Grandpa and Grandma Han to express his gratitude to them for taking care of the two underage children like a parent when he could not come in person.

The amount of money was not much because Chu Liqiang did not want to repay all the favors at once. He planned to take it slowly, paying it every few months or half a year. This way, they would not feel that it was too little, nor would they think that he was a fool with too much money and was taken advantage of.

Chu Shao handed over the money for the teacher. They refused it for a few times but finally accepted it.

Xiao Ning and his wife gave five dollars, and Fang Weiping and Song Chaoxin also gave five dollars. However, Song Chaoxin knew that he was not of such great use, so he only took one dollar as a token of his appreciation.

But they refused to accept the money given to Grandpa Han and Grandma Han. The two children of the Chu family were kind-hearted, not asking for anything in return, and did not mind their status. Although they took care of the two children, they would not have been able to take care of them if the two children were not willing to get close to them.

What's more, whenever Chu Jiujiu had something delicious, she would think of sharing it with them. Chu Shao even brought a bag of food and ate at their house every night. It was thanks to the two children that the Han family could eat so many delicious foods. If you really counted it, they should give money to the two children.

Chu Shao would not persist, and after being righteously rejected, he had to take the money back. In his reply, he told Chu Liqiang about this matter. Chu Liqiang was silent for a while, and wrote to tell him that since the other party didn't want it, he shouldn't force it, as some favors were hard to calculate.

After two rounds of receiving and writing letters, 1970 arrived. On New Year's Day, Chu Shao nailed a nail on the wall and hung up the new calendar he bought from the town. This calendar was super thick, almost the same size as a dictionary. Since having this calendar, Chu Jiujiu had one more task every day when he woke up.

——Tear off the calendar.

When there was no calendar, Chu Jiujiu watched the sun rise in the east and set in the west, and she had no clear concept of time. But after she got a calendar, she suddenly felt that time passed too quickly day by day. Before she knew it, the twelfth lunar month had arrived.

When the twelfth lunar month arrives, there are specific customs and things to do every day. Chu Jiujiu felt it was new at first and followed Grandma Han to do it for a few days, but later she got tired of it and just looked forward to one day.

That is - the day of slaughtering pigs and distributing meat is coming!

Before distributing meat, grain, peanuts, and radishes were distributed first. Grain was distributed according to work points, and peanuts and radishes were distributed per person. After paying the public grain, each person only got one or two kilograms, which was so little that there was no need to calculate it according to work points.

Because Zhou Xiaohe's incident happened not long ago, the scorer didn't dare to let others keep the score no matter how busy he was. During the busy farming season, he was almost exhausted to the point of vomiting blood. Finally, the team leader couldn't stand it anymore and assigned the deputy team leader Zhang Qingfa to him. Only then did he barely get through the busy farming season.

This time, Chu Shao did not work as hard as before, so his family received less grain. He put the new grain into the grain jar, and then Chu Shao went back to the threshing ground without stopping.

The two fat pigs have been transported here, and many people are watching here. Only by seeing the two fat pigs die with their own eyes can they feel the sense of ritual of the upcoming New Year.

After listening to Han Shengyi's description, Chu Jiujiu didn't dare to watch the pig slaughtering anymore. It was not until the pig was slaughtered and Chu Shao came back to call her that she trotted all the way to the threshing ground.

The meat is distributed according to the number of people, but there are various parts of a pig. Everyone wants the fat, but not everyone can get what they want. Therefore, when distributing the meat every year, the team leader will prepare a bunch of lots in advance and let people draw lots to decide the order.

If you draw a small number, you can pick first. If you are the last one to pick, there will definitely be nothing good left.

Chu Jiujiu looked at the lottery box in Chen Jiefang's hand eagerly. Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao had already agreed that Chu Jiujiu would draw the lottery.

She insisted that she was extremely lucky, but Chu Shao had never noticed it. However, since she insisted so much, Chu Shao just let her go.

It doesn't matter who smokes, everyone gets to eat meat anyway.

The lottery box was handed to Chu Jiujiu. She rubbed her hands together and touched a piece of paper. She felt that this was the guidance of fate. Chu Jiujiu pulled it out and unfolded it quickly.

Chu Shao lowered his head and leaned over to look: "Number 232."

Chu Shao laughed and praised her: "Great, you were just one step away from being the last one."

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

She and Chu Shao stood there silently until the sun was about to set. Finally, the butcher in front called their number. At that time, one of the two pigs was left with only a skeleton, and the other was almost a skeleton, with only a little meat on the hind leg.

The pork hind legs are all lean meat, which no one likes, so they all avoid it when picking meat. Chu Jiujiu and the others didn't have much to pick, so they pointed to that piece and the butcher cut off a pound of it for them.

Each person got half a catty, and two people got one catty. They tied it with a straw rope and Chu Shao was about to go back with the meat. At this time, Chu Jiujiu tugged at his clothes and said, "Chu Shao, the meat has been divided. Where are the bones and the liver?"

"If someone wants to buy it, they'll be bought. If no one wants, the team will sell it to the town canteen. You want it? Then go ahead and buy it. These things don't require meat coupons."

When Chu Jiujiu heard this, she immediately pointed at the dark red pig liver and said, "I want to buy some pig liver. It's good for your eyes. You spend too much time reading under the oil lamp every day. Eating pig liver can prevent myopia."

Although he was paying for it himself, when Chu Shao went to buy it, he still felt that it was Chu Jiujiu who was spending the money. He took out two dollars and not only bought pork liver, but also pork spine. There was very little meat left on it and it was very difficult to chew, but the bone stew in this place was the most delicious, and the braised one was also good. Chu Shao could eat ten bowls of rice with the soup.

Of course, these words were not said by Chu Shao, but by Chu Jiujiu who kept repeating them in his ears. Countless facts proved that what Chu Jiujiu said was right. Chu Shao couldn't help but start to imagine what braised pork spine tasted like.

After taking the meat back, they did not go back to their own home directly, but went to Han's house. Seeing that they brought back all lean meat, even Grandma Han couldn't help but sigh, "Who smoked it? Their hands are so smelly."

Chu Jiujiu: “…”

Woo.

Although it snowed in winter, the temperature here was far from below zero. The Spring Festival came late this year, and it is already February, when spring is about to begin. Everyone takes the meat home and usually tries to cook it first, trying to keep it until New Year's Eve, and then eat it together.

The local methods are nothing more than smoking, salting and air-drying, but Grandma Han is more impressive, she can make ham.

Originally, she didn't intend to make it into ham, but Chu Jiujiu's luck was too bad. It happened that Han Shengyi was going to the team leader to get the big bone that he had promised earlier. By the way, she gave Han Shengyi a few cents and asked him to buy a pig casing. Han Shengyi went, and when he came back, he not only brought back two big bones, but also the intestines of two pigs, and of course, the casings were also brought back by him.

The team leader didn't ask for money; these were the village's New Year gifts, a reward for Han Shengyi, who had worked hard for the village all year. Chu Jiujiu smelled the pig intestines and ran out immediately. Grandma Han didn't mind them; she actually liked them. After washing them, she cut them into pieces and prepared to make braised pig intestines that night.

Pig intestines were cooking in the pot over there, and over here, Grandma Han was still stirring the meat filling. She stirred it quickly for nearly half an hour. Grandma Han saw that the pork filling had all stuck together and became very tough. She nodded with satisfaction, took out a funnel, and began to stuff the meat filling into the casing.

When Grandma Han was stuffing the meat, Chu Jiujiu was standing opposite her, holding the tail of the casing and tying it tightly with a rope after a distance of two or three inches as Grandma Han said.

Chu Shao was watching the fire over there, and Han Shengyi went out to look for Grandpa Han. Now Grandpa Han's health was getting stronger day by day. As his health improved, he couldn't stay idle at home. Whenever he had time, he would go out for a walk and enjoy the scenery of Qingzhu Village.

The firewood crackled, and the room began to warm up. Chu Jiujiu looked at Grandma Han's skillful movements and couldn't help but envy her, "Grandma Han, how come you can do everything? You're amazing! You're the most amazing grandma I've ever met."

Grandma Han laughed at her compliment and continued to stare at the funnel. Maybe because the New Year was approaching, Grandma Han was in a good mood today, so she told Chu Jiujiu about her past experiences.

"When I was a child, my family was even poorer than it is now. There were seven of us brothers and sisters, and none of us had enough to eat. My father had to go out to earn money, and my mother was in poor health. I was the eldest child in the family, so naturally I had to do everything. Children of poor families have to take on responsibilities early. You will never understand this truth in your lifetime."

After hearing this, Chu Jiujiu asked curiously, "Then Grandma Han, how did you get to know Grandpa Han?"

Han Shengyi once mentioned that their ancestors were all farmers, but Chu Jiujiu could not tell at all from Grandpa Han that he was a farmer when he was young. He had a kind of elegant and friendly temperament. In Chu Jiujiu's imagination, she always felt that Grandpa Han must have been a spirited scholar when he was young, just like Xu Zhimo and Hu Shi.

Recalling the scene of her first meeting with Grandpa Han, Grandma Han lowered her eyes and made an indistinct sound, and it was unclear whether she was laughing or snorting.

"When I was young, I worked as a vegetable washer in a restaurant run by a Frenchman. One time, I forgot to leave through the kitchen, and the foreman saw me and beat and scolded me. Your Grandpa Han happened to be eating there and saved me."

Chu Jiujiu's face was full of aunt's smile when she heard it. She let out a long wow, "A hero saves a damsel in distress."

Don’t look at Grandpa Han’s current character. When he was young, he was a popular young man in the capital. He was talented and popular. Even though his family was not strong enough and he had no background, he was still a favorite in the eyes of those noble ladies.

Grandma Han was dazzled by his handsome smile and became obsessed with him, determined to follow him.

Who hasn't made some foolish mistakes when they were young? Grandma Han raised the corner of her mouth unconsciously and said, "What kind of hero is he?"

Although she said so, even Chu Shao saw the smile on Grandma Han's face. He turned around with amusement and added another piece of firewood to the stove.

Chu Jiujiu was addicted to listening to this. She wanted to know more: "And then what? Grandpa Han saved you, and then you got married?"

"No," Grandma Han replied. "I was only sixteen at the time, and he was already twenty-four. He was very busy, negotiating with the Japanese every day to prevent them from taking advantage of us Chinese. Even though your Grandpa Han never carried a gun in his life, he did contribute a lot to the new China. In short, he wanted to work, and I wanted to study more. Later, I went to a women's normal school for a few years, and after graduation, we got married."

Chu Jiujiu's eyes widened. "Grandma Han, you are a professor too?!"

Grandma Han gave her a strange look, confused as to why she'd suddenly said that. The generation gap spanning nearly a century was enormous. When Grandma Han was young, 99% of the graduates from normal universities weren't teachers, but various clerical positions. However, in modern times, it was assumed that everyone went to normal universities to learn how to be a teacher.

"How could I be a professor? My grades in school were average. After graduation, I had too many things to do at home, so I didn't work much. Later, when my children grew up, I worked in the Women's Federation for a few years. It was also because of your Grandpa Han's influence. He knew I was his wife, so he asked me to work there. Otherwise, I would never have been able to do that."

When they were halfway through the conversation, Grandpa Han and Han Shengyi pushed the door open. When they heard what Grandma Han said, they didn't understand what they were talking about at first. After moving a stool over and sitting down, Grandpa Han suddenly realized that Grandma Han was talking about her youth.

She looked at Grandma Han in surprise. Grandpa Han looked at her as if she were an alien.

Grandpa Han's father was a farmer. In the late Qing Dynasty, as people were struggling to make a living, he joined others in a rage and rushed into the city. Whether through luck or sheer talent, he rose to prominence. Later, he had two sons, but before they grew up, he was assassinated by the enemy. Grandpa Han's eldest brother followed his father's path, joining the army to serve his country. He died a few years later. While it's a bit unfair to say so, the fact that he had two martyrs in one family certainly gave Grandpa Han a leg up in his career.

Therefore, he had a very high starting point, and there was no story like others who started from scratch and struggled for more than ten years before finally making some progress. Whenever they talked about their youth, they would inevitably talk about some sensitive topics, and others would be able to infer what their past status was by listening.

In the past, Grandma Han was very secretive about this and strictly forbade Grandpa Han and Han Shengyi to tell anyone about this, but today, she broke her own rule.

However, looking around him, his grandson was peeling garlic silently with his head down, Chu Shao was propping up his head, listening while staring at the flames that kept jumping in the stove, and Chu Jiujiu was pestering Grandma Han, asking her to continue.

Grandpa Han shook his head and smiled with relief. He walked aside to tidy up the bed that was messed up by Chu Jiujiu.

Everyone says that we should be on guard against others, but no one guards against their own children.

From 1967 to 1970, it has been three years since he came here. In the past, he always felt that being sent down to the countryside was the most difficult thing he had ever experienced in his life, but now it seems that misfortune often brings good fortune. Being able to meet Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu in this way, this experience may not be as bad as he imagined.

Looking at a piece of glutinous rice stick that Chu Jiujiu accidentally left on the bed sheet, Grandpa Han secretly raised the corner of his mouth. If Grandma Han could see it, she would definitely be very surprised.

Because this is the smile that Grandpa Han had when he was young.

Gentle, cheerful, and free of distractions. Only this kind of smile could make a young girl, naive in her worldliness, feel the thrill of her heart.

——

On the 26th day of the 12th lunar month, pigs are slaughtered and meat is cut for the New Year. On the 27th day of the 12th lunar month, chickens are slaughtered and brought to the market. On the 28th day of the 12th lunar month, rice cakes are made, steamed buns are steamed, and flowers are pasted on them. On the 29th day of the 12th lunar month, the New Year officially begins.

At the Han family, Chu Jiujiu watched Grandpa Han write Spring Festival couplets for everyone. Because his handwriting was so beautiful, several villagers asked him to write. They did not ask for anything in vain and gave him a handful of peanuts or a pound of pickles. One family was very generous and directly gave Grandpa Han two white flour buns with red dots printed on them.

The post office worked until the 29th. Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu rushed to the post office in the afternoon and called Chu Liqiang who was far away in the army. The post office was closed on the first day of the new year, so they could only wish him a happy new year in advance.

After hanging up the phone, Chu Jiujiu gave Feng Ruyi the gift she had prepared in advance. Feng Ruyi accepted it and gave each of the two children one yuan as New Year's money.

Feng Ruyi was so generous that she gave her so much money even though they were not related to her. Chu Jiujiu was so happy that she was laughing all the time when she returned home. Chu Shao, who was standing next to her, even began to doubt whether he was too stingy, which led to Chu Jiujiu becoming like this.

…

The Chu and Han families naturally celebrated the New Year together. On New Year's Eve, Chu Jiujiu, at Chu Shao's urging, reluctantly put on something that Chu Liqiang had sent her a few months ago, a big red flower as big as a fist.

This flower was similar to the ones soldiers wore when they first joined the army. Workers recognized as advanced and educated youth who had just been sent to the countryside would wear a large red flower on their chests. The one Chu Liqiang sent wasn't as large as theirs, about the size of an ordinary peony. It couldn't be pinned on the chest, but it could be worn on the head or in the ears.

The red flowers worn by the soldiers were made of a very hard cloth, while Chu Jiujiu's was made of silk. It looked beautiful and three-dimensional, but in the eyes of Chu Jiujiu, who had read too many fashion magazines, it looked a bit rustic.

When Chu Jiujiu opened the package and found this at the bottom, she immediately said that she would never wear it. However, because it was a gift from Chu Liqiang, she didn't throw it away and planned to put it away carefully. At that time, Chu Shao looked at the big red flower with a thoughtful look. Chu Jiujiu had no idea that he was planning to let her wear it during the Chinese New Year.

Chu Shao wanted to pin the flower on Chu Jiujiu's head. He imagined the scene, and Chu Jiujiu would rather die than obey. In the end, the flower was stuck in her ear. Knocking on the Han family's door, Grandpa Han was overjoyed to see Chu Jiujiu dressed like a New Year doll. If it weren't for the fact that she would be ten years old after this New Year, Grandpa Han would have wanted to hug her and give her a kiss.

This is the third Spring Festival that the Han family has celebrated in Qingzhu Village, and it is also Chu Shao's fourth Spring Festival in Qingzhu Village. Grandma Han has prepared a lot of dishes. In the past, she had no motivation for the New Year and was too lazy to come up with new ideas. Now, she has tried her best to make the most sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner with the least ingredients.

Today, Grandma Han is ready to show off her skills, and she won't let anyone help her. So, Chu Jiujiu plays stone chess with Grandpa Han on the bed. Grandpa Han is a great chess player, and Chu Jiujiu always loses, but she still enjoys it.

Chu Shao and Han Shengyi went out to buy firecrackers. Finally, there was an activity for boys that Chu Shao also liked, but Han Shengyi was not very enthusiastic. Until Chu Shao was on the way back, he secretly lit a small firecracker and threw it at Han Shengyi's feet when he was not paying attention. Then, the childish firecracker competition between boys began.

No matter how noisy they were during the day, everyone had to come back to have dinner together at night. A meal that usually took half an hour to finish, but today the Han family took two hours. Chu Jiujiu was so excited that she couldn't control her voice. Chu Shao tickled her, and Han Shengyi wanted to attack Chu Shao again to avenge the firecracker he set off today. The three children were making a lot of noise and laughing, and they almost blew the roof off the house.

Normally, Grandpa Han and Grandma Han would stop them, but not today. People all over China are celebrating the New Year at home. Today is a day for happiness and absolute immunity, and no one wants to spoil others' fun.

The Han family was so noisy that the other people living in the cowshed naturally heard it. Fang Weiping listened to the unusual fighting sounds of the children. He raised the water in his glass and clinked it with the wine in Song Chaoxin's glass.

Seeing this, Song Chaoxin put down his chopsticks with a smile and raised his wine glass. The two looked at each other, smiled, then lowered their heads to look for the peanuts on the plate.

In Deng Guoyuan and Xiao Ning's room, the two were also eating. Xiao Ning would sigh after every bite, knowing that she missed her daughter again. Deng Guoyuan comforted her with a few words. Hearing her husband's words, Xiao Ning felt better and stopped thinking about other things. She also shifted her attention back.

Not long after it got dark, the sound of firecrackers rang out one after another throughout the village. As soon as one family finished lighting theirs, the next family started to light them. The two young masters of the Chu family were not at home, so Dahuang and Erhuang squeezed into a chicken coop again. They were both adult chickens, but they were still so timid.

On New Year's Eve, the most tired people in the village are not the adults or the children, but the dogs in each household. As soon as they hear the sound of firecrackers, the dog security guards rush out and bark at the air. After a night, all the dogs lie on the ground motionless, they are really tired as hell.

Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao did not go home at night. In order to stay up all night to celebrate the New Year, they squeezed in with the Han family. But in fact, no one succeeded in staying up all night. Chu Jiujiu was the first to surrender. After that, everyone was so sleepy that they fell asleep and did not wake up until the early morning.

The first thing Grandma Han did when she woke up was to give each of her three children 1 cent as New Year's money. Grandpa Han no longer had to take medicine, which really saved the family a lot of money. The Han family's life was no longer as tight as before.

The Han family basically spent the first day of the Lunar New Year sleeping, but Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu could not do that. They had to go out to pay New Year's greetings to the captain's family, the third aunt's family, Chen Dahong's family, and not only to the families with whom they were on good terms, but also to anyone they met on the street. They also had to greet them politely. Everyone had a smile on their face, and Chu Jiujiu was grinning from ear to ear.

The team leader gave her ten cents, Third Aunt gave her twenty cents, Chen Dahong gave her five cents, plus a bag of winter melon candy. When she returned home and there were no outsiders around, Chu Jiujiu reached out her hand again and asked Chu Shao for money.

"Grandpa, Happy New Year, where's my red envelope?"

Chu Shao: “…”

Grandpa Chu, who never realized that he also had to give out red envelopes, stared at his granddaughter who was not much younger than him. After a long time, he was sure that Chu Jiujiu would not let him go unless he got the red envelope. Chu Shao silently returned to the bedroom and took out all the money from the closet.

When Chu Jiujiu saw his action, her heart suddenly surged.

Chu Liqiang sent them thirty yuan every month, but they could only use about ten yuan at most. Therefore, after so long, their savings not only did not decrease, but increased. Chu Shao counted the huge sum of several hundred yuan in his hand and took out a one-yuan note from it.

Chu Jiujiu glared at him immediately, showing no intention of answering the call.

Chu Shao took a look at her expression and silently took out another five-dollar note.

Chu Jiujiu then smiled brightly and snatched the money away. She said sweetly, "Thank you, Grandpa! May you live a long life! I'm going out to play!"

Chu Shao: “…”

Qingzhu Village is full of the festive atmosphere of the New Year and everyone is in high spirits, but other places are not so lucky.

In an inconspicuous alley in Shanghai, 600 miles away from Qingzhu Village, a woman with deep wrinkles on her face said to the girl opposite her.

"Xiuwei, do you understand what Grandma said? Your brother is going to work in the factory soon, and your sister can't endure hardship, so they have no choice but to let you go. Your father and mother left you in our home without giving us a penny, and we raised you well. Just do us a favor. In two years, when your sister gets married, I will ask your uncle to take you back. Okay?"

The woman spoke a mixture of dialect and Mandarin. The girl across from her wasn't originally from Shanghai; she'd grown up in Zhejiang. She couldn't understand her dialect, and neither could she. Every time they tried to communicate, it took them half a day. But today, Wen Xiuwei understood the woman's words quickly. She must have been planning this for a long time; otherwise, she wouldn't have brought it up on New Year's Day.

Wen Xiuwei pursed her lips and asked the woman, "But I'm only fifteen years old. Will they want me?"

The woman didn't care. "As for your age, just write it down casually. After all, you graduated from high school and have a diploma, so people will recognize you."

Wen Xiuwei lowered her head and remained silent for a long time. Finally, she raised her head and looked at the woman with her beautiful eyes like clear springs. She nodded slowly, "I understand. I'll go, Mama."

Hearing this, the woman didn't even smile. She had come here today to inform Wen Xiuwei, not to discuss it with her. Wen Xiuwei knew this and agreed to it. New Year's Day should have been a day for family happiness and relaxation, but Wen Xiuwei felt as overwhelmed as usual. After the woman left, she began to pack her luggage silently.

In fact, there was nothing to take with her. All the things in this house belonged to the woman's family. She had nothing, so naturally she couldn't take anything away.

Sitting on the creaking, aging camp bed, while no one else had returned, Wen Xiuwei quietly wiped the tears from her face and put the last thing into her bag. She straightened her back and comforted herself in her heart.

So many people have gone to the countryside, she doesn't need any more.

Besides, city people always like to spread rumors. Life in the countryside may not be that terrible.

It will be fine.

Everything will be fine in the future.