The next day was New Year’s Eve.

On New Year's Eve, everyone got up early, especially Lu Wei and Ye Zhi. Because when they were steaming buns last night, Shen Nanzhen and Lu Xiangqian happened to be back, so they were not asked to do the job of steaming the buns. The two elders said that they had not spent the New Year together for a long time, so they made a fuss with the children in the kitchen for a long time.

Shen Nanzhen and Lu Xiangqian returned to Beijing on a special plane. After arriving in Beijing, they went to a meeting and arrived at the Siheyuan a little late.

However, when the children saw their grandparents coming home, they became energetic again and worked with them until almost twelve o'clock before going to bed.

Lu Wei and Ye Zhi did not go to the kitchen to join in the fun, and planned to get up early today for the New Year.

After Ye Zhi finished washing up, Lu Wei had already heated up a few steamed buns from last night. There was also a pot of porridge on the coal stove, which Lu Wei had cooked at around four o'clock.

Although it was a holiday today, Lu Wei's biological clock still woke him up when the army's wakeup call sounded.

Ye Zhi couldn't get up and slept until a little after six o'clock.

In winter, the sky gets light slowly in the morning and it is still dark when you get up. After a simple breakfast, Ye Zhi cleaned up the place. The whole courtyard was quite large. In addition to a few rooms, Ye Zhi swept the main hall, the yard, the corridor, and the gate of the yard.

Lu Wei was responsible for washing fennel, leeks and cabbage, intending to use them to make dumplings later. After washing the vegetables, Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu also got up one after another, and Lu Wei began to chop the meat.

After Ye Zhi finished sweeping the floor, the other people in the family also got up. However, because Nian Nian Sui Sui He Ping An went to bed a little late last night, he didn't sleep until 8:30 before Lu Wei woke him up.

After the children woke up, Lu Xiangqian and Lu Wei took the children and Ye Xiaoding out. At eleven o'clock, they brought back half a slaughtered sheep.

Lu Wei walked into the door carrying half a sheep on his shoulders, and several children followed behind him, also carrying small buckets. Their clothes were still dirty, Pingping and Anan's braids had become a little loose, there were some red spots on Niannian and Suisui's faces, and their shoes were wet and dirty, as if they had jumped out of a mud puddle.

When the children saw Ye Zhi and the others, they started chattering, "Mom, look what we brought back..."

"Mom, Grandpa said we're going to have mutton hotpot tonight. Grandpa brought it back from far away."

"There are still several left, but they were divided up by other grandfathers and uncles."

Ye Zhi and Shen Nanzhen had just finished kneading the dough for dumplings. When they heard the child shouting, they turned their heads to look out into the yard.

When Ye Zhi saw the mud and stains on the children, she was stunned and couldn't help asking, "Where have you been?"

Shen Nanzhen looked at the small buckets carried by several children, and couldn’t help but say something to Lu Xiangqian, who was also carrying a bucket: “Didn’t I ask you to keep an eye on the children and not let them watch the slaughter of sheep?”

Lu Xiangqian brought back a few black goats from the southwest. He went out early this morning to slaughter the goats and share the meat with a few comrades.

However, Ana Shen was afraid that the children would be scared at night after watching it, so she specifically told him not to let the children watch the sheep being slaughtered. But now, looking at the spots on the clothes of several children, it seemed that they had watched the whole process.

Lu Xiangqian chuckled twice: "Our family has lived in peace and security for many years and we will all do great things in the future. How can such a small thing scare them?"

When Nian Nian and Sui Sui heard what Lu Xiangqian said, they immediately dropped the bucket they were carrying, walked to Shen Nanzhen’s side, and said proudly: “Grandma, we are not afraid at all. Grandpa also said that he would take us to the shooting range to shoot. We want to be a majestic soldier like Grandpa in the future!”

Ana Shen was amused by the two little guys. Looking at their missing front teeth and their little mouths that were leaking a little, she said, "Soldiers defend our country. If you really join the army in the future, grandma will be proud of you."

The two little guys laughed, rolled their eyes, and asked, "What if we don't become soldiers, but become doctors like grandma?"

Ana Shen smiled even happier, wiped the blood off the child’s face, and said, “When a doctor saves the dying and the wounded, grandma will certainly be proud of you.”

Pingping heard the conversation between Shen Nanzhen and her brothers, tilted her neck, pulled Lu Wei's palm beside her, and then asked: "Dad, if I'm not like my brothers, I'm neither a soldier nor a doctor, I want to be like those grandfathers on the street, selling candied haws, okay?"

Lu Wei was so amused by Ping Ping's pouting that he didn't even bother to wash his hands. He picked Ping Ping up and said with a smile, "If my daughter's candied haws are sweet and crispy without hawthorn seeds, then Dad will be very proud of you."

When An An saw Ping Ping being lifted up high, she also pulled at Ye Zhi's clothes and shouted, "Mom, I want to be lifted up high too! Hurry up and pick me up."

Ye Zhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Both children were six years old now. How could she lift them?

Ye Zhi pushed An An and said to her, "Let your father lift it. Your father is stronger."

An An was seen walking towards Lu Wei again. When Lu Wei saw that An An also wanted to lift up, he put Ping Ping down and it was An An's turn to lift up.

The two little guys laughed for a while, and then started chattering together, discussing whether they wanted to be a soldier, a doctor, or a candied haws seller in the future.

Ye Zhi looked at them and echoed a few of their words. Finally, she whispered in her ear, "Mom, I don't want to be a doctor or a soldier. I want to sing and dance like those sisters in shiny clothes on TV!"

Ye Zhi chuckled, patted the child's head, and said, "Okay, no matter what you do in the future, Mom will support you."

An An has always loved beauty. She likes to wear bright colors such as pink and red. When she was three years old, she had already started learning how to tie her hair. She also loved to put on all kinds of beautiful hairpins. She was so vain.

An An smiled with satisfaction and followed Ping Ping to the kitchen to wash their hands.

Ye Zhi watched Grandpa Lu give them some warm water to wash their hands, then went over to see what to do with the half sheep. However, Lu Wei had already placed the goat on a table in the yard. Ye Xiaoding took out a chopping board and a kitchen knife from the kitchen, and probably chopped the goat directly in the yard.

Ye Zhi watched from the side and asked, "How are you going to cook this lamb?"

For the New Year's Eve dinner tonight, Ye Zhi had already discussed with Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu what dishes to cook, but she didn't expect that there would be half a sheep. The sheep looked quite plump, and Ye Zhi hadn't eaten it for a long time.

Lu Wei picked up the big knife and chopped the lamb chops into pieces in a few seconds. Hearing Ye Zhi's question, he answered, "Do you want to eat shabu-shabu mutton or grilled mutton?"

Ye Zhi smiled and said, "You like to eat mutton hotpot, then let's have mutton hotpot."

Ye Xiaoding said at the side: "Uncle, I want to eat grilled lamb skewers!"

Lu Wei smiled, without stopping the action of chopping meat, "It's all right, this half of the lamb is enough for several meals anyway, so we can roast this lamb leg and eat it."

The weather in Beijing is cold, so these meats can be kept for several days and there is no need to worry about them being wasted.

Ye Zhi glanced at Ye Xiaoding beside her and found that his clothes were also dirty like those of the other children, so she asked, "Why are you like them, getting your clothes so dirty?"

Ye Xiaoding has been a clean boy since he was in high school. Now that he is in college, even though his clothes are ordinary, they are neat and clean. It was the first time that Ye Zhi saw him so sloppy.

Ye Xiaoding brushed off the stain on his clothes with his hand and said with a smile: "I got it when I was helping to catch the sheep just now. I can just change it tonight."

Lu Wei had just finished processing the lamb leg and said to Ye Zhi, "Wife, mine is dirty too. Why don't you care about me?"

Lu Wei changed out of his military uniform and wore a blue-black jacket today, and it was hard to tell whether it was dirty or not. However, after Lu Wei said this, Ye Zhi still moved closer and smelled a hint of blood.

She asked, "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Lu Wei. Take off your clothes later and I will help you wash them."

Lu Wei glanced at Ye Xiaoding who was still helping to pack the mutton, and shyly turned his head to the side. He leaned close to Ye Zhi's ear and said, "After making dumplings this afternoon, I will go to the bathhouse with the children. You can help me next time..."

Before he could even finish the word "wash", Ye Zhi hit Lu Wei on the shoulder and cursed, "Have some shame, I meant to help you wash your clothes!"

Lu Wei didn't care. He pecked Ye Zhi on the face, then stretched out his hand, motioning Ye Zhi to help roll up his fallen sleeves and prepare the mutton slices.

Ye Xiaoding was already used to this, so he walked back to the kitchen with the lamb chops on a plate to see what Ana Shen was going to do with it.

Seeing Ye Xiaoding walking away, Ye Zhi asked, "Are you going to the bathhouse this afternoon? I was thinking of boiling some water early so I can just give the child a quick bath."

Lu Wei nodded and then asked, "Do you want to go together?"

Ye Zhi shook her head like a rattle, "No, I'll just wash it by myself."

She had never been to a bathhouse before, and she found it difficult to accept the scene of a large group of people being "frank with each other".

Then Ye Zhi said, "Remember to clean your two sons. They haven't taken a bath in several days!"

Since coming to Beijing, the children just wash their feet and go to bed every night. Ye Zhi was used to taking a bath every night, but now she just wipes her body every day as she always feels itchy.

Lu Wei smiled and nodded: "Got it, I'll give it to you when we get back to Yangcheng."

Ye Zhi stretched out her hand and twisted the back of his hand, "Hurry up and slice the mutton, otherwise the meat will freeze."

After Ye Zhi and Lu Wei finished their fight, they went to the kitchen to help Shen Nanzhen. Twelve dishes were prepared for tonight's New Year's Eve dinner, and they had to be busy from morning to night. And dumplings are the top priority on the dining table. Ana Shen has already kneaded the dough for making dumplings and is ready to take it to the main room for everyone to make dumplings together.

Several children had already washed their hands and faces, and when they saw everyone gathered around the table to make dumplings, they also gathered around. Because there were so many people, Lu Wei moved two octagonal tables together early this morning. Now that the table was bigger, several children gathered around it, imitating the adults and preparing the dumpling skins.

But the kids were just messing around, and the dumplings they made either had broken skins or were not sealed properly. They would probably burst as soon as they were put into the pot.

When the elders saw this, they didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, they smiled and praised the children for helping with housework.

Ye Xiaoding and Lu Xiangqian were frying meatballs, smiling dates, fried crispy snacks, and some New Year snacks in the kitchen. After making a few dumplings, the children went to the kitchen to eat fried food. However, Lu Wei was afraid that they would get angry, so he didn't dare to let them eat too much, so he sent them to help put up the couplets.

The couplets were made of red paper that I bought myself and were written by Grandpa Lu and Lu Xiangqian. They had all practiced calligraphy, and their handwriting was powerful and beautiful. Several children watched them very attentively.

Lu Wei also said to Nian Nian and Sui Sui: "Look at the handwriting of great grandfather and grandfather, and then look at your own handwriting. When you have time, practice it better for me."

Nian Nian and Sui Sui stuck out their tongues, ignored Lu Wei's words, and wanted to slip away, but were pushed aside by Lu Wei to watch.

Ye Zhi also has a headache about her two sons, so it's good that Lu Wei can suppress them now, so that the children won't become lawless.

Nian Nian and Sui Sui watched for a while, and when they saw Lu Wei taking the couplets to paste them, they immediately ran over with sticks and glutinous rice paste to help, not wanting to watch anymore.

After putting up the couplets, everyone had a simple meal at noon. Grandpa and Grandma Lu said that it was rare that everyone was in Beijing to celebrate the New Year this year, and since all the people in the courtyard were old neighbors, they planned to take the children out to give some New Year snacks to their old comrades.

The children’s favorite thing is to follow their elders around. Not only can they get a lot of candies, but they can also follow them to play everywhere.

Lu Wei and Ye Zhi also went, but they only visited the homes of a few closer neighbors and then went back home to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

When they came back, they happened to pass by Zhang Lanying's house, so they went in to take a look.

The door of Zhang Lanying's house was open, so Ye Zhi and Lu Wei walked straight into the yard and called out, "Aunt Zhang, I'm Xiao Ye, are you home?"

Zhang Lanying heard Ye Zhi's voice and hurried out of the main room. Seeing Ye Zhi and Lu Wei standing together, they looked like a perfect match. She immediately smiled and said, "It's really hard to take your eyes off you two standing together. You're a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a perfect match."

Lu Wei pursed his lips and smiled, then called out, "Aunt Zhang, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you."

When Lu Wei and Ye Zhi returned home last night, Zhang Lanying had already returned to her own yard. However, after he returned to Beijing, he got up early one day and went out to chat with Zhang Lanying. It was just that Zhang Lanying had not met Ye Zhi at that time.

Unexpectedly, they happened to meet each other yesterday.

Ye Zhi handed the snacks she had prepared in advance to Zhang Lanying and said with a smile, "Aunt Zhang, this is a little snack made by our family. I thought it was the New Year so I sent some to you. My mother said that your favorite thing to eat was brown sugar fried dough twist, so I prepared some more for you."

"Oh, Nanzhen is back in Beijing, right? Your mother hasn't been back in many years. When you are free tomorrow, Aunt Zhang will go and chat with her." Zhang Lanying didn't hesitate to take the things Ye Zhi handed over, and then said, "I am alone at home for the New Year this year, so I didn't prepare these things. This is perfect, and Aunt Zhang doesn't have to go out to buy them. Thank you."

Then she added, "Come on, come in and sit for a while. I'll pour you a cup of tea."

Ye Zhi thought that she was back to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, so she didn't say anything polite to Zhang Lanying. She said, "Aunt Zhang, we won't go in and sit down. We have to go home to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner."

Zhang Lanying smiled and said, "That's right. We have to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. You guys go get busy first. Come to my house when you have time."

"good."

When leaving Zhang Lanying's house, Ye Zhi asked Lu Wei: "Is Aunt Zhang's husband gone?"

Lu Wei nodded: "Yes, he died. He has two daughters and two sons, all of whom are married. However, the sons are in the army. The eldest son is an air force pilot and happened to be on a mission, so he can't spend the New Year in Beijing. The youngest son is in the frontier, and he probably can't leave either."

Ye Zhi knew that Zhang Lanying had a daughter who worked at Wangfujing Department Store. She was probably very busy and might not be available even during the Chinese New Year.

One of my daughters is the director of a cultural troupe. It seems that there is a performance during the New Year, so she has to organize and arrange some work.

Ye Zhi said, "It would be lonely for Aunt Zhang to celebrate the New Year alone. Why not let her celebrate the New Year with us? That would be more lively."

Lu Wei thought about it and said, "Aunt Zhang may not come if we call her. Let's wait until grandpa and grandma come home and ask them to call her and see if Aunt Zhang will come over."

After Ye Zhi and Lu Wei returned home, they did not rest but started preparing for tonight's New Year's Eve dinner.

Because there are quite a lot of people in the family, they will have dinner tonight in the dining room next to the kitchen. There is a big round table there, which can easily accommodate the whole family.

Early this morning, Lu Wei lit a stove in the restaurant, and it is now warm inside.

There is also a stove in the middle of the table, planning to use the half sheep that was brought back today to make mutton hotpot. In addition, there are whole roast duck, steamed yellow croaker, roasted lamb leg, stir-fried green clams, fried squid with chili strips, stewed chicken with abalone, steamed crabs...

Including several large plates of dumplings, there were a total of twelve dishes, filling the entire round table.

After burning firecrackers, we prepared to eat.

Grandma Lu and Shen Nanzhen went to Zhang Lanying's house twice and finally invited her to come. Zhang Lanying looked at the lively courtyard, and her originally cold and lonely mood began to warm up.

Zhang Lanying said, "How can I feel so embarrassed to bother you during the New Year?"

Shen Nanzhen took her arm and said with a smile: "Look at what you said, it's too formal. In the past, didn't we always let you come to my house and I go to yours? With our friendship, how can having a meal be considered a nuisance? You are giving us face. Come on, come on, sit down."

Grandma Lu smiled affectionately and said, "Opportunities like this don't come often. It's rare for us to get together, so just be happy. My husband and I spent the New Year at the retirement home before, but it wasn't as lively as this year. There were only old people, and none of them were very active. This year is really great, so lively, and I feel happy watching the children chasing and fighting."

Grandma Lu had hardly seen her children for several years before, so she could understand Zhang Lanying's feelings very well. Especially during the Spring Festival, when every household was laughing and eating New Year's Eve dinner together, she felt even more lonely.

So when she knew that Zhang Lanying was spending the New Year alone this year, she went with Ana Shen to call people over to have some fun together.

Ye Zhi and Lu Wei looked at each other subconsciously after hearing what Grandma Lu said.

Originally, when I returned to Beijing this time, I also wanted to talk to the two elderly people about the issue of retirement. Ye Zhi also wanted to follow the elderly people's opinions, but after hearing what Grandma Lu said, they also came to the same idea in their hearts.

No matter what the old man says, we have to take them back to the south.

After listening to Grandma Lu's words, Zhang Lanying also nodded: "Yes, even if I just watch the children chasing and fighting, I am happy in my heart. But the children have to be busy, there is nothing I can do about it, work is more important."

"Come on, come on, sit down and eat and chat." Lu Xiangqian took out two bottles of Moutai from the main room and asked everyone to sit down.

When Lu Wei saw Lu Xiangqian got the wine, he pulled Ye Xiaoding to wash the cups and also got a few bottles of Beibingyang soda for the children.

When the children saw Lu Wei giving each of them a bottle of soda, they immediately clamored to open it.

As Lu Weiyi opened the bottle, he said, "You can only drink a little first, otherwise you won't be able to eat again later."

"I know, Dad!"

Everyone sat together and raised their glasses before eating: "Come, let's have a drink first. I wish everyone a happy new year, good health, and everything goes well."

“I wish all the children good health and happiness, and academic progress.”

After everyone had a drink, they started to eat the New Year’s Eve dinner. They even brought a TV over and turned it on to create a New Year atmosphere.

As the TV broadcasted intermittently, Ye Zhi looked at Lu Wei beside her and said to him, "Deputy Chief of Staff Lu, I wish you peace and health."

As a military wife, every time Lu Wei went on a mission, she had only one thought in mind: she hoped he would return safely.

This time when he came to Beijing, the organization also promoted him, which was a double happiness.

Lu Wei clinked his glasses with Ye Zhi and said, "I also wish my wife good career and good health."

Then he added: "I hope that after work, she can spend more time with me, her husband."

Ye Zhi smiled and said, "Others dislike their wives for being too strict, but you are different."

Lu Wei drank the wine in the glass, then picked up a piece of duck wing and put it into Ye Zhi's bowl. Ye Zhi's favorite food was wings and claws.

He said, “I just like being controlled by you.”

Ye Zhi looked at the duck wings in the bowl, smiled, and picked up a piece of his favorite mutton hotpot for him: "I'll take care of you until you're 80 years old, okay?"

Lu Wei: "Add another ten years, to ninety."

Ye Zhi couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat. It was uncertain whether she could live to be ninety years old.

But he still grumbled, "I'm so old, how can I still have the energy to care? Eat now, or the food will get cold."

Grandpa Lu on the other side was holding a wine glass and wanted to pour another one, but Grandma Lu tapped his hand with her chopsticks: "Old man, you promised me you would only drink one glass!"

Grandpa Lu held the bottle of wine and laughed, "I'm happy today, let's have another drink, really just one drink."

Grandma Lu had no choice but to take the bottle from him and said, "No, one glass is enough."

Grandpa Lu: "Half a cup, half a cup is fine, right?"

Grandma Lu couldn't bear it, so she angrily poured him half a cup and said, "Measure your blood pressure before going to bed, you old man!"

"Okay, okay, you're becoming more and more nagging."

Grandma Lu wanted to fill his glass, but when she heard him say that, she immediately stopped: "The last half cup."

The New Year's Eve dinner was a lively one because we started early and it was only seven o'clock when we finished.

Just after dinner, Zhang Lanying's daughter came over. After a few greetings, she went to her daughter's house, saying that she wanted to have dinner with her grandson.

After dinner, there was nothing to do, so Shen Nanzhen said she would take the children to the Shichahai Ice Rink to skate, saying that Lu Wei loved to go to the ice rink when he was a child.

When a few children went to the park some time ago, they saw a lot of children skating and had wanted to try it for a long time.

After knowing they were going to the skating rink, several children changed into new clothes and shoes.

Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu were old and afraid that the road would be slippery, so they said, "You young ones go play. I'll watch TV with your great-grandfather. When you come back, we'll eat dumplings together and stay up to celebrate the New Year."

After hearing this, several children nodded repeatedly: "Great!"

Shichahai is not far from the Siheyuan. It takes about twenty minutes to walk there from the alley, which can be regarded as a stroll after dinner.

There were quite a lot of people along the way. Occasionally, you could hear laughter coming from the courtyards, the sound of firecrackers, the sound of children throwing firecrackers on the ground, and some people lighting fireworks...

When the group arrived at the ice rink, there weren't that many people there, but there weren't too few either. After all, there wasn't much entertainment in those days, so ice skating was a good choice.

Ping Ping and An An watched the kids riding on the scooters and skating with sticks, and they shouted, "Grandma, I want to ride on that kind of skating scooter!"

"Dad, I want to sit too. I don't want to slide."

The children had never celebrated the New Year in the north, so naturally they didn’t know how to ice skate, but fortunately there were some manual slides suitable for children, which looked quite fun.

In addition to the noisy children, there are also many people in the ice rink who are sliding quickly on the ice in skates with smiles on their faces.

Lu Wei readily bought tickets for the children and rented a roller skate for each of them.

Lu Wei looked at Ye Zhi and asked, "Wife, do you want to go out and play?"

Ye Zhi didn't even think about it and shook her head: "I don't know how to play. I don't want to play anymore."

In fact, Ye Zhi had learned skiing before, but had never learned ice skating. Looking at everyone skating quickly, she was a little unsure whether she could play.

The more reluctant she was, the more excited Lu Wei became. He pulled her to the ice rink and immediately felt the slippery soles of his shoes.

Lu Wei said, "What are you afraid of? Your man is here and he won't let you fall."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Wei pulled Ye Zhi to skate forward. Ye Zhi couldn't help but screamed, "Ahhh——" When the children heard it, instead of being scared, they thought Ye Zhi was having a great time. They jumped up and down and clamored to go up to the ice rink to play quickly.

After Ana Shen prepared the skate cart for the children, several children whizzed to the middle of the ice rink.

Ye Xiaoding thought that Ye Zhi and Lu Wei had no time to take care of the children, so he also went to the skating rink and played with the other children.

Shen Nanzhen and Lu Xiangqian didn't want to join in the fun, so they sat aside and watched them play and chatted.

On the other side, Lu Wei pulled Ye Zhi and slipped into the crowd. Whenever Ye Zhi thought they would stop, Lu Wei would take her around in a circle, almost scaring her to vomit.

Ye Zhi shouted to Lu Wei: "I don't want to play anymore, don't go so fast!"

Lu Wei: "Open your eyes, don't keep them closed."

Ye Zhi felt the sound of the wind whistling past her ears and slowly opened her eyes. It turned out that Lu Wei had brought her to a corner of the ice rink where there were fewer people. Under the light, she didn't seem as scared as she was at the beginning.

Lu Wei smiled and said, "Really? Actually, you won't be that scared if you open your eyes."

Ye Zhi smiled, pinched his palm, and said, "I told you to wear gloves a long time ago. Look at your hands, they are a little cold."

Lu Wei has always been like a little furnace, especially when they were in Qiongzhou Island. Ye Zhi was most afraid of him coming close to her in the summer. In less than two minutes, she would be sweating because of Lu Wei's body temperature.

But it’s cold here, especially in this era when cities haven’t developed rapidly, there aren’t many tall buildings, and the perceived temperature is even lower.

So when they came out, Ye Zhi put gloves on the children, and she and Shen Nanzhen also wore them.

However, the father and son of the Lu family were upright and unafraid of the cold, and just came out.

Lu Wei took Ye Zhi for a slow stroll and said, "It's not cold. Your gloves are warm."

"See where the kids are. Don't let them get lost."

However, a few children came to the park yesterday and already knew the way back to the alley. But even so, they still had to be watched closely. As time went on, more and more people came.

Ye Zhi looked around and soon saw a few children among the crowd of people wearing blue and black clothes. However, they were playing even crazier than Lu Wei. They held two small sticks in their hands, sat on the slide, and whizzed forward.

Ye Zhi couldn't help but say, "It's more fun here. Look how happy the kids are."

Although the snow in Beijing was not particularly heavy, the children made a snowman every day, even if it was only as big as a palm.

You won't see snow in the south.

Lu Wei said, "You can come back more often in the future. They like to play in the snow and come back here to celebrate the New Year in winter."

Ye Zhi: "That's fine."

She likes snow very much, too.

After playing at the skating rink for more than two hours, the children were still reluctant to leave if Lu Wei hadn't grabbed them.

Ye Zhi had already stepped aside and sat there watching them play. If they continued playing, they would have no chance of staying up tonight and would probably fall asleep as soon as they got home.

Pingping looked at the skateboard that was taken back by the store and said, "Mom, I want to play again tomorrow."

An An: "Mom, I want one too!"

Niannian: "Mom only plays with Dad and never plays with us. Tomorrow Mom will play with us."

Sui Sui: "That's right, Dad is bullying Mom again!"

Ye Zhi looked at the sky and saw snow falling again. There were even some snowflakes on the child's head. She said, "Let's see what the weather is like tomorrow. If it snows too hard, how about we build a snowman at home?"

The children nodded weakly: "Okay, this is the only way."

By the time we got back to the courtyard, it was almost eleven o'clock. Under normal circumstances, everyone would have probably gone to bed. However, because it was New Year's Eve, every household still had their lights on, waiting to set off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year.

When we got home, Grandma Lu had already heated up the dumplings. The children had consumed a lot of energy, so after playing for a while, they could eat another bowl of dumplings.

Nian Nian and Sui Sui wanted to have more bowls, but Ye Zhi was afraid that they would be too full and would have trouble sleeping, so she didn't give them too much.

After eating dumplings, several elders gave the children red envelopes with New Year’s money.

The children’s favorite thing is to ask for New Year’s money. They said a lot of auspicious words sweetly and made the elders laugh.

Grandma Lu said, "You are so good. I will put the New Year's money under your pillow later. You can't open it, okay?"

"I understand, grandma."

Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu also gave red envelopes to Lu Wei and Ye Zhi. Ye Zhi took it and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that we have some too."

Grandpa Lu smiled and said, "Silly child, in our eyes, no matter how old you and Lu Wei are, you will always be children."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Ye Zhi carefully put away the red envelope.

Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu are old and don’t plan to stay up all night. They are going to bed early with their children and go out to play tomorrow.

When it was twelve o'clock, Lu Wei lit two more strings of New Year's Eve firecrackers. The sound of firecrackers rang out one after another in the alley, and some people set off fireworks.

Originally, Ye Zhi planned to stay up all night, but before two o'clock, she couldn't help but fell asleep, so Lu Wei directly carried her back to the room.

Then he fell asleep soundly while holding his wife.

On the first and second days of the New Year, they don’t have to visit relatives, but just sit and chat with neighbors in the alley.

On the third day of the New Year, it snowed again, so Lu Wei and Ye Zhi took the children to Chang'an Avenue and the Forbidden City to see it after the snow.

Then we took a family photo there.

On the fourth day of the New Year, Lu Wei had to go to a meeting again, while Lu Xiangqian and Shen Nanzhen made an appointment with their comrades to go out for dinner.

Ye Xiaoding and a few other kids got up early and went out to play on the ice rink.

Ye Zhi got up a little late, and when she went out, she happened to run into Zhang Lanying and her guests.

Before Ye Zhi could react, the young girl next to Zhang Lanying said, "Hey, why is it you?"

Zhao Xiaomin recognized Ye Zhi at once. Compared to the last time she saw Ye Zhi in the store, the clothes Ye Zhi was wearing this time were even more eye-catching.

Although it is also red, Ye Zhi's clothes have a strap around the waist, which makes her waist curve stand out clearly, which looks really beautiful.

Zhang Lanying looked at Zhao Xiaomin, then at Ye Zhi, and asked, "Xiaomin, do you know Xiaoye?"

Zhao Xiaomin looked at Ye Zhi with sparkling eyes, shook her head, nodded again, and said, "We met in a store before."

Zhao Xiaomin had been thinking about Ye Zhi these days, and even felt a little regretful that she didn't have the guts to go to Ye Zhi's house and try on her clothes.

Now, I didn’t expect to meet him again!

If this isn’t fate, then what is?

Seeing that Zhao Xiaomin knew Zhang Lanying, Ye Zhi walked over and said, "So you are Aunt Zhang's relative. Hello, my name is Ye Zhi."

"Comrade Ye Zhi, nice to meet you." Then Zhao Xiaomin said, "This is my aunt, my mother's sister. I came with my mother to see my aunt today. I didn't expect to meet you again here."

Only then did Ye Zhi realize that this Zhao Xiaomin was Zhang Lanying's niece.

Zhao Xiaomin said to a female comrade who was a little older than them behind Zhang Lanying, "Sister, this is the female comrade I mentioned to you. Do you think her clothes are very nice?"

The female comrade who was called "sister" was called He Xiaoli. She was the daughter of Zhang Lanying and worked in Wangfujing Department Store. According to Lu Wei, she was the director of the purchasing department.

Ye Zhi had met her briefly before, but they didn't speak.

This time, He Xiaoli looked Ye Zhi up and down and smiled: "The style is indeed very novel. We have never seen such a coat in our department store."

Zhang Lanying heard this and took Ye Zhi's hand, saying with a smile: "You don't know this, do you? Xiao Ye opened a small clothing factory and designs and makes clothes by herself! Nanzhen gave me a coat, which is very fashionable and of good quality. I haven't been willing to wear it yet."

He Xiaoli glanced at Zhang Lanying and joked, "Mom, I've bought you so many clothes, but you've never praised me."

He Xiaoli looked at Ye Zhi again. Ever since she knew that Zhang Lanying had gone to their Lu family's house for the New Year's Eve dinner, she had been wanting to find an opportunity to visit them. But I was so busy that I didn't have time to come here until the fourth day of the New Year.

Ye Zhi smiled and said, "Aunt Zhang, you're being polite. In terms of quality, it's really hard for small manufacturers like us to compare with department stores."

He Xiaoli was still carrying two bags of things, so she said, "Comrade Ye Zhi, would you do me the honor of having a cup of tea with me? My mother went to your house for dinner before, and I haven't had time to visit you yet. I happen to be free today, so let's sit down together after I put down my things."

Zhao Xiaomin had originally been thinking about going to Ye Zhi's place to see if there really were many styles. Now that He Xiaoli had spoken, she waited to go to her house to take a look.

Since the conversation has come to this point, Ye Zhi also knew that this might be a good time to promote her clothes, so she happily responded: "Of course you are welcome. I will go back to the Xia family and make some tea and wait for you to come over."

Ye Zhi went home, took out the Dahongpao that Lu Xiangqian brought back from the southwest, made two pots of tea, and waited for He Xiaoli to come.

After a while, He Xiaoli came over with two bags, but she first talked for a long time with Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu, mainly to thank them for letting Zhang Lanying have a lively New Year's Eve.

Zhao Xiaomin pulled Ye Zhi aside and asked her about her previous clothes, saying that she wanted to see her clothes.

Ye Zhi was of course happy to do so, so she took her to the room.

Fortunately, Lu Wei was in a meeting, so it was not inconvenient at the moment. Ye Zhi took out all the clothes she brought to Beijing this time.