The family was slaughtering a chicken today. Li Xia was the first person to come back to the Gu family to celebrate the New Year. He offered to help with the work, but was pushed by Chen Dongju into the main room to sit on the kang and have a rest.

She also took out the melon seeds and peanuts she had prepared at home: "The men will take care of killing the chickens, and we women can just stay at home, warm ourselves by the fire and chat."

So Li Xia started chatting with Chen Dongju and Ding Hehua, all they talked about were things in the village. Li Xia had only been there for one day, but he had already heard a lot of gossip.

"In the first half of the year, two families at the end of the village had a fight over watermelons that grew by themselves at the entrance of the courtyard wall. One of the people had his head broken. When the team leader found out, he was very angry and directly picked the watermelons and took them home to eat himself."

"The man in the family at the east end of the village was incompetent and couldn't have children. He wanted to have a son, but do you know what he did? He asked his wife to find a male educated youth in the village to borrow sperm. The male educated youth was so scared that he ran out of the house for a long time..."

"There is also a woman from the next village. I heard that when she was young, her husband broke his waist and had to lie in bed, so she found a man in the village to help her..."

"Labangtao? What is Labangtao?" This touched upon Li Xia's blind spot in knowledge.

Then Chen Dongju explained to Li Xia what Labangtao was. Labangtao was a special form of marriage that existed in the Eastern Province. When the man in the family was unable to work and could not make ends meet, the woman, if she wanted to make ends meet, would find another single man to join the family and they would live together, which was also a form of polyandry.

Li Xia: “…”

She was really shocked.

After hearing these gossips, Li Xia realized that in this era, which was once thought to be very conservative, people were actually so extravagant.

Not long after, Gu Hongjun's voice came from the kitchen: "The food is ready, it's time to eat!"

Ding Hehua put down the melon seeds in her hand, stood up and said, "It's time to eat. I'll go serve the dishes."

Li Xia also wanted to help but Chen Dongju didn't let her and asked her to go to the table and wait first.

When Ding Hehua served the dishes, she placed the chicken closest to Li Xia and took the initiative to say, "Sister-in-law, eat more. The chicken we raise at home tastes great."

"Thank you, sister-in-law." Li Xia picked up a piece of chicken with a smile. She didn't expect that Gu Hongjun's cooking skills were so good.

Gu Yongnian, who was sitting farthest from Li Xia, said: "..."

Did his wife put the chicken so far away because she was afraid that he would eat it?

Gu Yongnian winked at Ding Hehua, but found that Ding Hehua's attention was all on Li Xia. She kept asking Li Xia to eat more and didn't even look at him.

Gu Yongnian: “…”

After the meal, Chen Dongju praised Ding Hehua in front of Gu Yongnian, saying that Ding Hehua was a good daughter-in-law in every way, hardworking and not lazy, but sometimes she liked to get stuck in a rut. She was afraid that Ding Hehua would be unhappy when Gu Weicheng and his friends came back, but she didn't expect her to be so enthusiastic.

Gu Yongnian felt suddenly sad when he heard what his mother said.

This time it's not his wife who is being stubborn, this time it's his turn to be stubborn!

From what his mother said, she didn't notice that he didn't have a single bite of chicken at noon?

Gu Weicheng helped clean up the dishes, and then said he would take Li Xia and An An to pay tribute to his mother.

Gu Weicheng's mother Chen Wan has been dead for 19 years. Gu Hongjun's family has always come to pay homage to her over the years, so there are not many weeds in front of the grave and it is kept very clean.

It is called "worship", but in the context of today's movement, it is necessary to break the old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits. Burning paper money for the deceased is part of feudal superstitious activities. Gu Weicheng is a soldier and cannot violate discipline.

So they didn't burn paper money or incense. The three of them stood in front of Chen Wan's grave. Gu Weicheng looked at the old grave and said, "Mom, your unfilial son is here to see you."

The fourteen-year-old boy was falsely accused and expelled. Before leaving, he stayed at the grave for a whole night and expressed his farewell to his deceased mother.

With his own perseverance, he begged the recruiting office to accept him into the army. In the battles that followed, he made countless contributions and won countless awards. He fought bravely for his motherland and finally grew into the tall and handsome man he is today.

Now, he is finally back.

"An An, call me grandma." Li Xia said to An An.

"Grandma." An An shouted, "I am Daddy's son. My name is An An. Grandma, do you think Dad and I look a lot like each other?

This is the flower I picked on the road. My mother said it is a plum blossom, the same as the plum blossom that "blooms alone in the cold winter in the corner of the wall". The teacher said that plum blossoms represent "nobleness". Grandma, I want to give this plum blossom to you. "

As she spoke, An An placed the plum blossoms in front of the grave and bowed to the old grave.

Li Xia looked at An An, who was so sensible, and smiled with relief.

Gu Weicheng glanced at Li Xia, and Li Xia gave him a look that said, 'Don't look at me, I didn't teach him so much, it's just that my son is smart.'