Chapter 670: Water
She looked at grandma in surprise and asked, "Grandma, where are your godfather and godmother? Aren't they up yet?"
Not really. It's already daybreak. My stepfather and stepmother are polite people. Even if they are sleepy, they shouldn't be still awake at this time.
Could it be that he left first?
"Oh, they have finished eating a long time ago. They are taking Mingxue and Wangyou's family of three home to get something. I guess it's a New Year's gift prepared for your godfather's family. They are also going to Dong's house to pay New Year's greetings today. We will go there first. Come and have breakfast."
After Zhang Jinlan finished her explanation, she waved to her granddaughter.
By the way, I served her a bowl of wine-brewed dumplings. Each one was only as small as a thumb, but was filled with stuffing and tasted especially delicious.
Sweet with a hint of wine, and also with the aroma of sesame and peanuts.
Jiang Fubao ate a whole bowl of the eight-treasure dish, which was salty and sweet, and could be called a perpetual motion machine.
She started burping as she went out.
She had a midnight snack last night, but she wasn't really hungry.
But the wine-brewed dumplings were so delicious that I couldn’t resist.
"Hey--"
Halfway through the walk, Zhang Jinlan suddenly turned around and called Jiang Fubao.
Jiang Fubao was shocked.
"Look now, are you still hiccuping?" Zhang Jinlan said with a triumphant smile.
"Grandma, it's true. I don't hiccup anymore. I was thinking of giving myself a shot, but you are really capable. You are better than me."
Jiang Fubao raised his thumb and praised, and Zhang Jinlan's face became even more proud.
"It's nothing great, it's just a folk remedy. If you keep having hiccups, just scare them off and they will stop." Zhang Jinlan held Jiang Fubao's hand and walked step by step, not forgetting to explain to her.
In fact, this method is known to all older people in the community.
Including modern times.
But Jiang Fubao has no family, so he knows nothing about these things.
It was the first time she had heard of it, so she felt an inexplicable warmth in her heart.
It is a feeling of being cared for and concerned about, and it is also like a heritage passed down from generation to generation, and now passed on to her by her grandmother.
So this is family.
Jiang Fubao thought in his heart.
Her hand was held tightly by her grandmother. Ever since they got separated during the last lantern viewing, her grandmother had been particularly worried about her.
Whenever she went out with her grandmother, no matter how old she was, her grandmother would hold her hand and would not let go until they reached their destination.
It's the same this time.
When she arrived at the Dong family's door, she was able to use her right hand again.
Jiang Fubao's left hand was a little cold, but his right hand was warm and his palms were sweating.
Grandma's palms are thick and warm.
There is a layer of old silk on top, which is a characteristic of people who do farm work all year round.
Even though I'm rich now, no matter how much facial cream I put on these weather-beaten hands, they can never change back.
The gatekeeper saw that the people knocking on the door were from the Jiang family, so he let them in without reporting the situation.
In their eyes, the Jiang family is their own family.
Without even needing to lead the way, the few of them walked into the inner house with ease.
As soon as he entered the main room, Jiang Fubao saw his godfather and godmother sitting together, but his godfather and brother Bujiu were nowhere to be seen.
"Grandpa, Happy New Year! I, your granddaughter, wish you a happy New Year and all the best. I wish you stay younger and healthier every year..."
After saying some nice auspicious words and receiving the red paper packet, Jiang Fubao sat on the chair next to Dong Wei.
"Grandpa, where are godfather and brother Bujiu? Why aren't they here?" she asked curiously.
"Yesterday on New Year's Eve, a family in Chang'an Town set off fireworks in their yard. Sparks landed on the second floor. By the time they found out, the fire was already very big. It happened that the family's house was not near water, so several families nearby were implicated and their houses were completely destroyed. The police came in the middle of the night and shouted that they would not punish them. Your godfather was worried and followed him."
Dong Qing sighed and took the lead in explaining.
The family was finally reunited, but this happened.
I don't know how bad the fire was and whether there were any casualties.
She didn't sleep well last night and her eyes are all dark blue.
Don't worry.
When her daughter asked her questions, she couldn't help but talk more.
"Don't worry, godmother. Everything will be fine. Brother Bujiu has always been lucky. It should be just the house that burned down. He and godfather must be arranging a place for the people. I guess they will be back soon."
Jiang Fubao's words had just fallen.
There were footsteps outside.
Everyone looked towards the door in unison.
A hint of pale blue clothing appeared first, followed by a pair of shoes embroidered with dark gold patterns. Dong Qingyi recognized them at the first sight.
This pair of shoes was exactly what she showed to Meng Zhili.
The father and son came in one after the other.
Seeing them, not only Dong Qingyi but also Dong Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened? Are there any casualties?" he asked.
"Fortunately, there was no fire. People have to stay up all night on New Year's Eve, so when these people saw the fire, they all ran to put out the fire. Unfortunately, the little water they had was not enough to put out the fire. These houses were built along the street, and they were all connected to each other. It was over now. They were all burned.
My father and I worked until the morning. A total of eight houses were burned down and needed to be rebuilt. Three houses were only damaged and only needed to be repaired. Fortunately, there were no casualties. If it were a normal day, these people would have gone to bed long ago. I am afraid that in their sleep, they would have…"
Meng Bujiu didn't dare to think further.
Even if there are only seven or eight people in a family, if all eleven families were burned, how many people would die?
"Luckily, it's really lucky. As long as we are alive, we can always get by. Burning down the house is nothing. It's okay."
Dong Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Fubao also let out a breath of foul air.
It's New Year's Day, and she really doesn't want to hear bad news.
As long as people are alive, they can rebuild their houses even if they are burned down, but the money in the house cannot be burned. As for the banknotes, they are all recorded. Even if they are burned, the government intervenes and the bank dare not embezzle them.
Every household saves money so they don't have to start from scratch.
The land also belongs to them.
Just build a new house on the original site.
In the final analysis, everyone else will be implicated. Unfortunately, the court has no relevant laws, and the first family will not bear the cost of building houses for other families.
But the government should give some compensation.
Jiang Fubao didn't ask any more questions, she believed that her brother Bujiu would handle it.
As for why the godfather followed me, it was probably because he was worried about me as a biological father.
After all, when you hear about a fire on the street, your first reaction is that it’s over and people are going to die.
"Yes, fortunately, is Fubao here to wish you a happy new year?" Meng Bujiu chuckled and sat down.
He didn't sleep all night and rode back in a hurry early in the morning just to get home faster.
The moment he sat down, he wanted to let out a sigh of relief.
Too tired.
Jiang Fubao saw that he looked exhausted and said worriedly, "Father, Brother Bujiu, you two should go to sleep for a while. You won't be able to hold on any longer."
Staying up all night is harmful to your health. If you don’t get enough sleep in time, you may even die suddenly.