This is my first New Year in Peijia Village

Pei Xu stared at him and said, "Even pearls are not that real."

Villagers hung ladders and red paper-cut lanterns on the trees in front of their homes, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Young people who returned to their hometowns would go out to the streets in groups of three or five before they even had time to sit down, shouting, "I haven't eaten the snail rice noodles at home for a long time. I really want to eat it. Let's go secretly, or we'll be scolded by the adults for leaving the table full of delicious fish and meat and going out to eat rice noodles."

The children who came back from the city played with the children at home, switching seamlessly between Mandarin and dialect, their faces filled with happy smiles of the New Year. The annual day of receiving red envelopes from the elders had arrived.

Jiang Lin pressed the other end of the drip irrigation pipe, while Pei Xu pulled the pipe and kept moving forward. Jiang Lin looked at his back in a daze.

Pei Xu radiates the aura of a science master. He installed the main parts of the entire drip irrigation and water-fertilizer integrated system by himself, including the suction pipe, water pump, pressure and flow detection and protection device, and constant pressure frequency conversion cabinet, which formed the water supply system.

Jiang Lin was looking at the design drawing of the filtration system and hadn't figured it out yet. Pei Xu connected the water pump outlet pipe to the centrifugal filter inlet pipe to filter out the sand and gravel particles in the water. The centrifugal filter outlet pipe was connected to the sand and gravel filter to complete the secondary filtration, followed by the tertiary filtration.

The remote factory technicians kept praising Pei Xu's technical talents in the video, and even offered him an olive branch to work as a senior technical consultant in the head office. The brothers on the side said, "This is not okay. He has such a sharp eye and dug into our main artery. Is it okay for the chairman to change jobs?"

Thinking of this, Jiang Lin couldn't help but smile. Whether it was Pei Xu in Beijing or Pei Xu working in the fields at home, he was still shining and exuding a unique personal charm. The brothers all agreed that when the show was broadcast, Pei Xu would definitely gain a large number of fans who admired him.

The two worked until noon on New Year's Eve, when Zhao Sumei shouted from the ridge of the field, "Go home and take a shower."

Jiang Lin checked his phone screen. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. He asked in confusion, "Are you rushing to take a shower at this hour?"

Pei Xu put away the redundant drip irrigation pipes that he had cut off and explained as he walked back: "According to our local custom, on New Year's Eve, children start taking a bath after noon, which means washing away all the dirt of the old year and welcoming the new year with a new spirit. Then they offer sacrifices to their ancestors and eat New Year's Eve dinner."

Jiang Lin said calmly: "I basically spend the New Year alone in Beijing."

Pei Xu asked subconsciously: "Why? Didn't your father call you yesterday and ask you to go home for the New Year? I think he still hopes you will go home for the New Year."

Jiang Lin said, "This is just your illusion. I was just a face for him in front of his relatives and friends, pretending that he, his new wife and son were a harmonious and happy model family. After the relatives and friends left, he would only point at my nose and scold me, asking why I didn't follow the path he arranged for me to do business or work in the system. He also belittled my achievements at work because I didn't appear on the Spring Festival Gala and didn't make him look good in front of his relatives and friends."

Pei Xu patted his shoulder and said, "Who says that you have to be on the Spring Festival Gala to be considered an achievement? You are the most popular person in Pei Village, and this title is hard to come by!"

After they took a bath, Zhao Sumei assigned them a task: to post Spring Festival couplets.

Pei Zongli was squatting on the ground in the kitchen, chopping boiled chicken with a kitchen knife, while Zhao Sumei was standing by the sink, washing vegetables. The two of them bickered from time to time, and the atmosphere was full of domesticated atmosphere.

Jiang Lin picked and chose, and said, "What should I put on the wall for your room? You have graduated and reached the top. You can't put up a wall saying academic success. How about a wall saying Purple Air Coming from the East or Great Ambition?"

Pei Xu held the paste and waited for a long time, and finally couldn't help but said: "Give me a more practical one, I want money."

Jiang Lin accepted the request, flipped through the pages, and finally found one: "I'll give you a picture of prosperity and wealth, tailor-made for you! Flowers have just been planted in the field. Is that a dark red rose? Yes! But it's more of a rich and noble flower in the world!"

Pei Xu carefully applied paste on the back of the couplets and said, "You look a lot like Song Yifan now."

Jiang Lin said with a smile: "Yifan always has a gloomy face when he pays. I guess he will be grinning from ear to ear when he makes money again."

The yellow chicken skin tightly wraps the tender chicken meat, exuding the original aroma, and is placed on an oval wooden chopping board waiting to be cut.

The sound of chopping vegetables came from the kitchen. Pei Xu's family members came home with the children, and the kitchen suddenly became lively.

Zhao Sumei and her two daughters-in-law set up the table and put out plates of steaming New Year dishes, including boiled three-yellow chicken, ginger duck, blanched prawns, stir-fried crabs with green onions, stir-fried vermicelli with shredded carrots, stir-fried clams with sour bamboo shoots, stewed snails and duck feet, sour shredded potatoes, choy sum with garlic, and cucumber salad with cilantro.

Jiang Lin swallowed his saliva unconsciously as he looked at these home-cooked dishes. He raised his phone to take a photo and shared it in the group, saying proudly, "The sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner will be served soon."

Song Yifan sent a drooling emoji, then unyieldingly sent a photo of a steamed king crab, "My crab is bigger than yours."

"If I hadn't seen you holding a foam box filled with king crabs on the day of finishing work, Song Yifan, you would have forgotten about entering the village." Li Xuran then added a smug expression while wearing glasses.

Cheng Enyue posted a photo of two bottles of Moutai and said, "Those who can't drink can go to the table with the kids. Guess which table I'm at?"

"Why are you all ready to eat?" Xiang Chuzhe was sitting in the driver's seat taking pictures of the stagnant traffic in front of him. "We are still stuck in traffic. It's a hard life."

Zhao Sumei asked everyone to sit down: "No need to wait for us, please find a seat and sit down quickly."

The children, wearing new clothes and new shoes, came out of the utility room happily holding several bottles of drinks. Pei Zongli held a transparent glass jar filled with red liquid and red fruit, and said with a smile: "This is the bayberry wine brewed last year. Now you can drink it."

Zhao Sumei brought the soy sauce dish to the table, and Pei Zongli called out, "Everyone is here, start eating."

The joyous New Year's Eve dinner began. Pei Lin poured a glass of fruit wine for Jiang Lin. Pei Xu quickly said, "Brother, Jiang Lin can't drink this."

Jiang Lin said unconvincedly: "Who said I can't drink? Brother Lin poured me some wine, I will drink it even if I can't."

Pei Zongli said with a smile: "This is fruit wine brewed at home. It has a low alcohol content, so you can drink it without worry. We locals like to brew our own fruit wine, such as bayberry wine, mulberry wine, and green plum wine."

Jiang Lin raised his glass and said, "This is my first New Year in Peijia Village. I am very happy and blessed to receive your care. I wish you all good health, peace, happiness and success in the new year. I will drink first to show my respect."

After saying that, Jiang Lin drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

Pei Xu advised quietly: "Drink slowly, this wine can easily make you drunk."

Jiang Lin said happily: "Tonight is New Year's Eve, I have to drink a little! I can drink a lot! Uncle Li said that fruit wine is not intoxicating!"

Pei Xu held his forehead and said, "We drink from big bowls here. As long as we don't get drunk completely, we are not considered drunk."

Zhao Sumei improvised a dish of sugar-coated peanuts, and the men at the table drank more and more happily, talking about everything.

As night fell, Peijia Village did not fall into darkness as before. Every household turned on all the lights in their homes, and the entire village was brightly lit.

The children played with their friends outside for a while, then came back to pester the adults who were still drinking, saying coquettishly, "Dad, Grandpa, we want to buy fireworks."

Pei Zongli said happily: "Okay, grandpa will give you red envelopes first."

Pei Zongli and Pei Lin left the table temporarily. Jiang Lin took Pei Xu upstairs and said, "I'll transfer 16,000 yuan to you. You give me cash and a few red envelopes. I'll give red envelopes to your parents and your brother's children."

Pei Xu took out a red envelope from the drawer and said, "You don't need so many. If you give them so much, they will be scared."

Jiang Lin took the red envelope and pushed his shoulder, urging him: "What do you care about me? Hurry up and give the cash. This is a little gift from me to your family."

Pei Xu couldn't resist him, so he counted out 16,000 yuan in cash and gave it to him.

Jiang Lin was sitting on the bed stuffing red envelopes. Pei Xu's gaze stayed on his face. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, Jiang Lin's cheeks were flushed from the inside out, making his skin look whiter. His bangs had passed his eyebrows and covered his eyes a little, adding a bit of laziness.

"What are you looking at? Help me count. Your parents each get 5,000, and each child gets 1,000."

Pei Xu said jokingly, "Young Master Jiang is very generous. This puts a lot of pressure on me. As his son and uncle, I can only give 1,000 to each of the elders and 100 to each of the children. That's it. After the New Year, I have to pack my bags and leave this home."

Jiang Lin said: "I'm happy, brother! In the past, no matter how much red envelopes I gave them, they were just a number and I only got a polite "Happy New Year" in return."

Pei Xu stirred up the atmosphere and said loudly: "This is simple. I will show you the classic expressions of children when they receive red envelopes. I will fill the emotional value pack for you."

Jiang Lin packed the red envelopes, and Pei Xu clapped his hands on the stairs and shouted loudly: "Children, Master Jiang who distributes the red envelopes has arrived, please line up to welcome him!"

The six children quickly divided into two teams, stood opposite each other, and cheered enthusiastically: "Warmly welcome Master Jiang to Peijia Village. Spend the New Year in Peijia Village. Happy New Year!"

The children performed in unison, as if they had rehearsed.

Pei Xu snapped his fingers and pushed Jiang Lin's shoulders down the stairs.

The red envelope was handed to the first child, "I wish my brother a happy new year, good health and good work."

Then it was the second child's turn. The little girl sincerely wished: "I wish my brother a happy new year, good luck in all seasons, peace and happiness."

When it came to the third child, Jiang Lin asked him with a smile: "What is your blessing?"

"I wish my brother a happy new year, a bright future, a bright future, and may he continue to walk on the flowery road that is full of people."

Jiang Lin said happily: "I really like what you said."

"I wish my brother a happy new year. I hope he can stop and rest occasionally, not carry so much pressure, not be anxious, eat well, and sleep well every night."

Jiang Lin touched her cheek and said sweetly, "Girls are little sweethearts, very heartwarming."

The little boy was only two years old. He looked in Pei Xu's direction and said word by word: "Happy New Year to...brother. Brother...is very good, a big star, great."

Jiang Lin picked him up and couldn't help but kiss him, "So cute."

The little girl is in the teething period and has lost her two front teeth, so she has a lisp when she speaks. "I wish my brother a happy new year. Please continue to be happy and at ease. Many people like you, including me."