Chapter 11 New Year's Goods

Among her friends, Luo Yan felt that her brother belonged to the latter category.

Firstly, since the older brother is still family, people are always protective of their own, and they feel that if there are any problems with him, it's because of someone else's influence; secondly, most of those endless tricks did indeed come from Zhou Weifang, who had great leadership skills since childhood and was almost always able to command a large following among his peers in the alley.

Half of the "world" was built by the two of them together.

Zhou Weifang has Mongolian ancestry, and he was born with a broad frame and tall stature, making him stronger than the average child and responsible for frontal attacks.

Luo Hong was as thin as a monkey, and he looked even more like one when he ran. He would occasionally stick out his leg to trip someone up, responsible for flanking attacks.

The two are evenly matched in every way, so Luo Yan wouldn't be surprised if they did something.

But Liu Yinfeng doesn't think so.

Most parents are protective of their children, and she was no exception. Once her child went astray, she would inevitably look for reasons in others first.

With this mindset in mind, she said this to her son during dinner: "The Zhou family has its own difficulties. I can't control what the three parties do, but you can't follow his example. This child has always been clever, but now he's too shrewd. Is business something you can just do casually?"

There really are no secrets in the world. Luo Hong didn't expect this matter to be kept secret for long anyway: "As long as you have a license, then it's in accordance with regulations."

Liu Yinfeng: "The rules aren't set in stone. What if they change someday?"

Luo Hong: "That was before. Now, people all over the country are removing their labels. Things are different now."

Liu Yinfeng: "I've seen more changes than you've eaten salt. In short, I only have one thing to say: I don't ask you to be rich and powerful, I just want you to be safe and sound."

Luo Hong was not a skilled debater, and besides, home was not a place for reasoning.

He felt that many things couldn't be explained in just a few words, so he simply brushed it off with, "I know, I know."

As children grow up, they are no longer under their mother's control. Liu Yinfeng was afraid that if she said too much, he would only oppose her more, so she swallowed the rest of her words.

But as one person finished speaking, another took the stage. Luo Xinmin continued, "The bicycle factory has a bright future. If you learn well from Master Zhang, you'll be fine in the future."

The couple has been planning for their son's future in every possible way and has done their best.

Master Zhang is a level six welder, one of the best in the factory. Everyone thinks it's a good thing to be an apprentice under him.

But those with great skills also have great tempers. Master Zhang is autocratic and serious, and he never allows his apprentices to have any opinions.

With Luo Hong's temperament, working under him was a matter of just getting by day by day, with everyone hoping to be promoted to a permanent position and operate independently as soon as possible.

He knew his parents had put a lot of effort into him, but he still couldn't help feeling annoyed whenever the topic of his master came up: "I know, I know!"

The tone was much higher than the previous sentence, as if shouting at an adult.

As children grow older, parents become less assertive.

The couple fell silent and ate their meal quietly.

At a time like this, it was not Luo Yan's place to point fingers and give advice. She picked at the rice grains, looked left and right, and turned on the radio.

The announcer spoke clearly and forcefully, filling every crevice in the room and dispelling the momentary stagnation.

Luo Hong suppressed his emotions and said, "I'm an adult, I know what I'm doing."

Whether the parents believed it or not, they just nodded, hoping to get through this ordeal.

But for Luo Hong, the biggest problem is actually his younger sister.

Luo Yan didn't say a word all night. After dinner, she went back to her room to do the homework she had gotten back from her mother that afternoon.

Luo Hong knocked on the door and entered after he had just finished solving one problem.

The brother and sister looked at each other, as if whoever spoke first would lose.

Perhaps because she had always been on the side of justice since childhood, Luo Hong couldn't help but feel guilty and sighed, "Go ahead and scold me, it won't make a difference if you're the only one left."

You could tell he was mostly unconvinced.

Luo Yan was a natural conservative, and her life motto was that a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. She really couldn't understand why her brother would get involved in such a risky thing. If it were when they were children, she would definitely have given him a good scolding.

However, as one grows older, reading enlightens the mind.

Luo Yan disagreed, but she respected his independence as a person and said, "I just hope you are careful and don't get into trouble."

Luo Hong patted the back of his sister's head and changed the subject, saying, "She looks like a washboard."

Exaggerating, Luo Yan slapped her brother's hand away: "People say that those with flat heads are smarter."

Luo Hong touched his own: "No wonder my grades are bad."

Luo Yan: "Then it might be a problem with the whole head, not just the back of the head."

I couldn't help but want to yell at him a couple of times.

Luo Hong: "That feels better. Now you can continue writing."

"What's wrong with this guy?" Luo Yan pushed him hard, "Go, go, go, close the door behind you."

As soon as the door closed, Luo Hong let out a heavy sigh of relief.

He thought to himself that there were probably few brothers in the world who were so afraid of their sisters, and muttered to himself, "Whoever he marries in the future, he'll have a 'good life'."

Luo Yan didn't care whether others were having a good time or not; she was doing quite well. Especially since the next day was the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, and every family was starting to prepare for their New Year's Eve dinner.

Fried meatballs, dumplings, and cakes—everyone brought out all the food they usually saved, and after the steaming hot food was cooked, they generously shared some with their close neighbors.

Wang Xiujuan, a native of Beijing, brought the Luo family a large, uncut piece of Sachima.

The filling was generous; Luo Yan took a bite and felt as if her teeth were stuck together, making it difficult to open her mouth. She mumbled, "Mom, it's so sweet."

"It has to be sweet," Liu Yinfeng said, counting the dried fruits and walnuts in the house to see if there were enough for eight different kinds. "Your Aunt Xiujuan added two pounds of white sugar."

Many families probably only have this much sugar for a year. Luo Yan clicked her tongue: "Are we not going to live after the New Year?"

Knowing that saying this was unlucky, he patted his mouth first to gain the upper hand.

Liu Yinfeng didn't say anything more to her, only saying, "Her second son is going to bring a girlfriend home, so we have to pay attention to every aspect of it."

"I see," Luo Yan said. "Then we'll be able to eat wedding candy soon."

She kept talking all day, doing nothing but waiting at the kitchen door for food.

Liu Yinfeng suspected that if she ate any more, she would have indigestion: "Take some hawthorn pills to help with digestion."

Luo Yan only heard the first two words, then clapped her hands and said, "That's right, we should eat candied hawthorns during the New Year."

She's a woman of action, licking the crumbs from her Sachima (a type of Chinese pastry) off her lips: "Mom, I'm going for a walk in the street."

The streets and alleys were crowded with people. Liu Yinfeng reminded them, "Keep your money safe and don't go too far."

Luo Yan responded crisply and rushed out the door.

She was in a good mood and was walking with a bouncy gait. She didn't look carefully and almost knocked down Hongyu, the new granddaughter of the Li family.

Li Hongyu, with her hair in pigtails, was still getting used to her new environment and looked at everyone with wariness.

Fortunately, Luo Yan managed to stop and regain her balance, then squatted down and said, "I'm sorry, did I bump into you?"

The principle of "you can't hit someone who's smiling" applies everywhere. Li Hongyu understood Mandarin, so she shook her head and didn't say anything.

Luo Yan patted her head and took out a milk candy: "How about Auntie treats you to some?"

Li Hongyu didn't dare to reach out and take it, and timidly turned to look at her mother, Zheng Sanmei.

Zheng Sanmei was plucking chicken feathers in the yard.

She didn't speak Mandarin very well, and she was afraid that her accent would make people laugh at her. She wiped her hands on her apron shyly and shook her head slightly.

Luo Yan wasn't very good at dealing with strangers, so she simply widened her smile: "It's alright, sister-in-law, you don't need to be so polite."

After she finished speaking, she stuffed the candy into the small pocket on Hongyu's chest: "I have something to do, I'll be going now."

Zheng Sanmei couldn't very well chase after her, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw her daughter's smug expression and smiled too. She whispered in her dialect, "When your aunt comes back, you have to thank her, okay?"

Li Hongyu, who is four years old, nodded sensibly and said, "Mom, you can eat too."

Zheng Sanmei: "You eat it, Mom doesn't like it."

She was content just watching her daughter eat, and at the same time, she made up her mind that she would keep her child in Beijing no matter what. After all, compared to the impoverished life in her hometown, even ordinary families in the alley were considered wealthy.

Luo Yan was unaware that she had been included in the ranks of the wealthy, and pettily compared which stall had the bigger candied hawthorns.

Under the guise of celebrating the Chinese New Year, Xi'anmen Street was filled with vendors hawking their wares, but the police turned a blind eye, maintaining a delicate balance between the two sides.

To be honest, you wouldn't have seen this scene a few years ago, since all supplies were subject to unified purchase and distribution, and non-state-owned stores could not buy or sell them.

But since the resumption of the college entrance examination, many things have gradually been unrestricted.

Regardless of what the higher-ups think, the general public finds it very convenient.

Luo Yan only wanted to spend five cents when she went out, but when she returned home, she had no money left in her pockets and was carrying things in both hands.

Liu Yinfeng has already bought a lot of New Year's goods for the family. Seeing her daughter come in with bags and bags of things, she said, "How long will it take to eat all this?"

Luo Yan's mouth was empty at the moment, and her big eyes smiled like crescent moons: "There's not enough for me to eat until the second day of the Lunar New Year."

Eat up, eat up, how many days a year do we get to enjoy this?

Liu Yinfeng indulged her daughter: "Fine, they're all yours. You can put them in the cabinet yourself."

Luo Yan: "I don't eat alone."

The last word mingled with the sound of firecrackers outside, startling both the mother and daughter.

Liu Yinfeng had even seen real guns and bullets, so she was very brave. She quickly calmed down and said, "Are you so big that you're not afraid of firecrackers?"

Luo Yan: "I'm a child who's afraid of firecrackers."

Kids are often reckless and cause trouble several times a year because of it.

Liu Yinfeng has been quite annoyed with her son these past few days: "Isn't your brother just that kind of kid?"

The mother and daughter spoke ill of others without any attempt to hide it. Luo Hong, who had just gotten home from get off work, spoke up for herself: "I didn't burn down anyone's woodshed or blow up any alley's latrine."

Luo Yan grabbed a bunch of her brother's short stories: "It wasn't me, you guys are the ones who caused this mess."

Since nothing happened, Luo Hong is now denying everything.

But when he thought of the word "they," he felt somewhat wronged, wondering why he was the only one being criticized while his accomplice Zhou Weifang was able to go unpunished.

Unfortunately, no matter how unfair it was, he could only silently endure it, since the other person wasn't a member of the Luo family.

A note from the author:

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