New Year’s Eve, Xiyuan.
The Chen family has officially moved from the "Plum Garden" to the "West Garden".
If moving from Qingfeng Village to Ke Town means changing from a farmer to a town dweller, then moving from Ke Town to Yuezhou City means truly becoming a city dweller.
Oh, there's a small problem.
At that time, Chen Qiu and Chen Dong's household registration was still agricultural. If it weren't for the help of Zhang Hongbo, the deputy commissioner in charge of science, education, culture and health, the two little guys would not have been able to transfer schools.
Chen Qiu went to the high school department of Yuezhou No. 1 Middle School, and Chen Dong went to Lu Xun Primary School. Both schools are among the best schools in the urban area.
However, the two of them can only be considered as students on a temporary basis. When they are ready to take the middle school entrance examination and the college entrance examination, they still have to go back to Ke Zhenyuan School to take the exams.
The third child had excellent grades, so Chen Xia was not worried at all. As for the fourth child, well, it was hard to describe. There were 50 students in the class, and it was only thanks to Comrade Chen Bingkun that he could rank 40th.
When the principal of Lu Xun Primary School saw his grades, he looked so constipated that it really made Chen Xia embarrassed.
Learning this stuff really requires talent. Fortunately, the Chen family is not short of money, so let him go to the pharmaceutical factory to manage the gate.
The West Garden is very large. My father-in-law and mother-in-law opened a vegetable garden in a corner of the garden, near the pond.
It was still winter, not a good time to plant anything, but the two old men had already discussed it enthusiastically many times, ready to start work as soon as spring came.
In the evening, the lights in the small western-style building were quite bright, and Chen Xia deliberately turned on the lights in all the rooms from the first to the third floor.
At that time, the electric lights in rural areas were only 15W, and better-off families in the city would use 40W bulbs just to make their homes brighter.
But Chen Xia has higher requirements, because he likes his home to be bright, the brighter the better, so he always buys high-brightness light sources.
This time when they moved to Xiyuan, the only request he made to his mother-in-law was to replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs in all rooms except the chandeliers in the living room and dining room.
For this purpose, the construction team bought a batch of "Huguang" fluorescent lamps from a five-star store in the provincial capital. Chen Xia still felt that the brightness was not enough, so two fluorescent lamps were installed in each room.
I don’t know if this is the first one in Yuezhou City, but it is definitely a record for the most installed in private residences at one time.
Before the Chinese New Year, Chen Fang and her grandmother both went home for "vacation", and Gu's mother cooked dinner herself.
Gu Lin was helping from the side, but although she was helping, she pouted and looked reluctant.
Ever since the little girl made scrambled eggs with tomatoes by putting the whole tomatoes and eggs directly into the pot, Old Man Gu and his mother decided to teach their daughter a lesson.
When you get married, you should act like a married woman. Fortunately, the Chen family has no parents-in-law, otherwise such a lazy daughter-in-law would be sent back to her parents' home.
So now, after get off work every day, Gu's mother will personally supervise her daughter to learn how to cook, and if she doesn't obey, she will just use the spatula to cook.
This made Chen Xia feel distressed. Seeing his wife's pitiful appearance, he really wanted to yell:
"Mother-in-law, you did a great job~~~"
At this time, Old Man Gu was writing Spring Festival couplets in the study on the first floor. The old intellectual had basic skills in calligraphy. Chen Qiu and Chen Dong kept clapping beside him, making the old man very proud.
"Uncle Gu, you are amazing. Your calligraphy is so beautiful."
Old Man Gu smiled as he looked at his handwriting: "I am old now, and my writing is not as good as it used to be. Back then, it was really like flying dragons and dancing phoenixes."
Chen Qiu was more eloquent and quickly flattered him, saying, "This is like an old horse in the stable, with ambitions to run a thousand miles, or a martyr in his old age, with unwavering ambitions."
“Hahaha~~~”
The old man, the two children and the three of them were chatting happily in the study.
Chen Xia was responsible for pasting Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters. In addition, many lanterns were hung in the garden.
Chen Chun finally rushed back before dusk, and the family was finally reunited. As for his two brothers-in-law, they still had to stay in the army and did not return.
This is the first time that the Chen and Gu families celebrate the New Year in Xiyuan, so of course it has to be grand.
The most important thing about the New Year's Eve dinner is the food. The Chen family's table is quite delicious. In addition to the various game purchased from the Qingtan Commune in the mountains, such as pheasant, rabbit meat, wild boar tripe, there is also Laogu chicken.
Another thing is seafood. When Chen Xia went to the Zhoushan Islands to buy New Year's goods this time, he specially asked the ocean fishing boat to help purchase some treasure crabs and lobsters. In addition, there was no shortage of yellow croaker and shrimp.
Seeing Gu Lin's hand secretly reaching for the dish, trying to steal some food, Gu's mother saw it and knocked it down with a chopstick, "You are rude, take the food away quickly."
"Mom, you've changed and become more and more strict. We have Xiaofang and grandma at home, so I don't have to cook or do laundry, okay?"
"Bullshit, that's because Xiao Xia dotes on you. You can choose not to do it, but you can't be incompetent. What right do you have to say I'm strict when you can't even make scrambled eggs with tomatoes?"
Gu Lin felt sad. She couldn't understand why her husband asked his parents to live with him.
Everything was fine originally. She had food and clothes provided for her at home and lived a happy life every day. But now, her mother has retired and is watching her at home every day.
This life is unbearable!
Chen Xia had seen it at the door a long time ago and was secretly laughing. His purpose was of course to take care of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, but another important reason was that he had someone who could suppress Gu Lin.
In the evening, Chen Xia took out a bottle of Moutai liquor, filled up the glasses for Old Man Gu and Mother Gu, and then filled up his own glass. The women and children drank Coke, and the six of them drank a glass together in a lively atmosphere.
Old Man Gu suggested, "How about we each say a lucky word? I'll start by saying, 'I wish our family good health.'"
Mother Gu: "I hope my daughter and son-in-law can let me have my nephew soon."
Chen Xia: "I wish my wife will become more and more beautiful."
Gu Lin: "I hope my husband can kill my father soon and become the dean."
Chen Chun: "I wish Uncle Gu and Lao Er success in their careers."
Chen Qiu: "I wish Uncle Gu and Aunt Zheng good health, I wish my eldest sister a speedy marriage, I wish my eldest brother and his wife a son soon, and I wish my fourth child can reach the top 39 in the exam."
Hahaha, everyone burst into laughter. Chen Dong almost cried: "Third brother, is there anyone who wishes you well like that?"
Mother Gu asked with a smile: "Xiaodong, what is your wish?"
Chen Dong thought for a moment, as if he had made up his mind. "Then I'll wish myself to be ranked 35th in the class next semester and not let the third brother look down on me. Humph."
Now everyone was laughing so hard that they fell on the table and couldn't get up.
Chen Qiu pointed at Chen Dong and cursed, "I really am stupid. What's the difference between you being ranked 35th or 39th in the class? And you still want to make a wish for that?"
Chen Dong pouted and said, "You top students will never know how difficult it is for us poor students to improve one level."
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