Chapter 259 Business Compliments
"Gum candy, big candy, eating a piece makes your mouth sweet and your heart sweet..."
Loud shouts echoed through the loudspeaker over Kaoshantun. Yi Chichi, who was sweating from the heat as he shoveled snow at the door, raised his eyes and looked in the direction of the brigade headquarters.
"Mom, why is Captain yelling this?"
It snowed heavily at night, so I got up in the middle of the night to sweep the snow. When I woke up, the roof had not collapsed, but the door was blocked.
She was exhausted from shoveling snow until now, so she decided to take a break and chat.
"Call the kids in the village to go to the brigade headquarters to get some candy."
Wen's mother was sitting on a small stool preparing ingredients for the New Year's Eve dinner. She replied without even raising her head when she heard the voice.
Yi Chichi has a black question mark face. Is there such an activity in the village?
After asking, I found out that they all existed, mainly to let the children have a happy New Year.
But because of the poor harvest in the previous year, the team was only divided into two groups after the public grain was handed over. The remaining grain reserves were too small to be used to make sugar.
We had to be prepared for someone who might not have enough food and would come to borrow food, so this activity was suspended for two years.
Until this year, the amount of grain stored in the team's warehouse was still considerable, and the brigade cadres decided to restore the previous customs after discussion.
"It's a good custom. The children will definitely be happy."
She praised it.
Mother Wen laughed, "Yes, in the past when there was nothing to eat, the children looked forward to the New Year."
There are plenty of delicious foods, and adults won’t get angry even if you are greedy.
Normally, I would beat my children for fun when I had nothing to do, but it is not customary to beat them during the Chinese New Year.
The most important thing is that during the Chinese New Year the team will give candies to the children. Although the amount is not much, it is enough for the children to eat for ten days or half a month if they save it.
"The brigade headquarters must be very busy right now."
Then, Wen's mother asked her, "Do you want to join in the fun?"
"No……"
Subconsciously wanting to refuse, Yi Chichi suddenly remembered something, "Mom, what is a big piece of candy?"
She had never heard of this candy before today and didn't know if it tasted good.
Mother Wen was stunned by her question, then said, "You call it hemp candy in Linshi."
Yi Chichi instantly lost interest in joining the fun at the brigade headquarters. She had never liked eating sesame candies since she was a child because they were sticky and had a weird taste.
"I'd better shovel the snow."
Halfway through shoveling, Brother Liu and his men appeared in front of the courtyard gate carrying shovels, "Big sister, do you need help?"
Yi Chichi looked at the yard that had been almost shoveled and refused.
"I don't need it here. Look around and see who needs help. Go quickly."
"Okay!"
There are several families in the village who have no labor force. It is normal for the young and middle-aged people in the village to help clean the roofs and organize the firewood piles before it snows, and to block the doors and help clear the snow after it snows.
Therefore, as soon as Yi Chichi refused, Liu Erge and the others left with their shovels.
Amid the busyness, children came in groups to wish everyone a happy new year.
Wen's mother and Yi Chichi brought out twisted dough sticks, melon seeds, candies and other things to treat them, and sent away wave after wave of children.
After Niu Niu finished saying the auspicious words, Yi Chi Chi looked at her bulging little handbag and smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.
"Niuniu, you are so smart. You even know to bring a shoulder bag."
The little girl with two pigtails tied with a red hairband grinned and said cutely, "I didn't bring a backpack last year. I was tired from running."
Indeed, last year the little girl didn’t bring a backpack, and her pockets were full after running back and forth between the two houses, so she had to go home to put her things away.
In Aunt Ma's words, after running around the entire village, the little girl's legs became thinner.
"Who made the backpack for you?"
Yi Chichi asked her with a smile, grabbed the candy and put it into her bag. The little girl held up the pocket of her bag, her pigtails shaking with pride.
"Mom, you also embroidered little flowers for me."
As he said this, he pointed at the embroidery and showed it to her. Yi Chichi nodded and praised, "It's really beautiful. Our little girl is the prettiest."
"Aunt is the prettiest."
This was a little girl who knew how to flatter each other in business. When she heard the voice, she looked up and praised her sincerely, "Better than Niuniu."
Just then, a fragrance wafted over.
She sniffed her little nose and said it smelled great.
Yi Chichi knew where the fragrance came from and said with a smile, "Grandma is making something delicious, Niuniu, do you want some?"
The little girl's eyes lit up. She was about to nod in agreement, but then she remembered what her grandmother said before she left, and hurriedly shook her head, "No, Auntie gave me some candy."
This means that if you ask for candy, you can't ask for anything else.
Yi Chichi teased her and said it was okay, but she didn't expect that the child would unexpectedly abide by the rules set by her grandmother. She said she would not eat it and told Yi Chichi that if she ate it, her grandmother would spank her.
As a child, you must not be greedy and should know when to stop.
So, she patted her small bag and said, "Auntie, I have to go to Aunt Niu's house next door."
"You really don't want to eat something before you leave?"
“No.”
She waved her little hand, took firm steps, and called her brother Xiaochengzi, who was eating melon seeds, to leave.
"Goodbye, auntie."
Xiao Chengzi waved to Yi Chichi and ran to chase his sister.
After Yi Chichi watched the two brothers leave hand in hand, he turned around and went back to the house to help Wen's mother cook. Just after he finished two dishes, he heard shouting outside the door.
"Comrade Yi, are you home?"
The voice of the postman Xiao Chang must be Wen Shi’s delivery.
"Here I am."
She quickly put down her work and ran out, and saw a sled parked at the door, which was piled with packages. Xiao Chang saw her coming out and waved to her, "Comrade Yi, come quickly, there are four packages and two letters for you."
As he spoke, he took the form and asked Yi Chichi to sign it.
After the procedures were completed, he also helped deliver the package to the house.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Yi Chichi quickly grabbed two handfuls of candy and gave it to him, "Comrade Chang, I wish you a happy new year in advance!"
Until he would refuse, she added, "New Year, new atmosphere, blessing candy can't be refused."
After saying this, Xiao Chang could only swallow the refusal that was about to come out of his mouth and change it to, "Thank you, thank you, and I wish Comrade Yi and Auntie a happy new year!"
Then he took his candy and left, continuing to deliver packages.
After everyone left, Yi Chichi finally had time to look at the package.
There were four packages, two of which were incredibly large, about 1.5 meters high when standing on the ground, and the remaining two were one medium and one small.
The small one is the size of a shoulder bag.
The mailing locations were also different. One of the two large packages came from Beijing and the other from an island.
One middle school and one primary school, one is from the northwest and the other is from Sichuan.
The addresses of packages from the northwest were even more blurred.
Among the four packages, the only one from the island was sent by Wen Shi. If nothing unexpected happens, the rest should be sent to the old man and others.
As for the two letters, one was from Wen Shi. In addition to money and tickets, he also emphasized his longing for his mother and wife, asked them if they were living well at home, and reminded them not to treat themselves harshly in order to save money, to eat and drink as they pleased, and that he could support them.
At the end of the letter, he briefly described his daily life, and then asked Yi Chichi whether she would go to the island to visit her relatives after the spring, because he missed her.
Although the recipient of the other letter was her, Yi Chichi knew that she was just the person who was forwarding the letter.
Since the sender's surname was Song, the letter was most likely sent by a relative or friend of Mrs. Song and her husband.
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