When Erqiang entered, Dongnan and Nannan gave him a perfunctory greeting. Dongnan walked up to Ma Mingchun and asked, "Did you pay for the oxcart?"
Ma Mingchun shook his head, and Dongnan took out fifty cents from his pocket and handed it over. Ma Mingchun refused, and Dongnan's face darkened: "Take it. How could I let you come all this way for nothing? It's so cold, it must have been hard for you. My mom made rice cakes, go in and get them quickly."
Upon hearing that there was rice cake, Ma Mingchun quickly put the money away carefully: "Thank you, Brother Southeast, I'll go get the rice cake."
Yan Erqiang glanced at Dongnan, feeling that these words were meant to annoy him, but Dongnan didn't even look at him. After Ma Mingchun went in, Dongnan continued with what he was doing.
Liu Jin glanced at them curiously, wondering who this person was, but he was still attracted by the snowman and continued to pick up the snow on the ground with his gloved hands, forgetting about Er Qiang.
Yan Erqiang was a little annoyed. What was wrong with these kids? They were so rude. Yan Zheng saw Nan Nan and quickly ran up to her: "Nan Nan, Nan Nan, I missed you so much! I want to build a snowman too!"
Yan Xiaonan patted Yan Zheng's head and said, "Why don't you go inside and say hello to Grandma before you come out to play?"
Yan Zheng nodded hurriedly, agreeing with everything Nan Nan said. He grabbed Yan Ge and rushed towards the main room, crying, "Grandma, Grandma, I missed you so much!"
Grandma Yan was listening to the radio in the main room, which was playing her favorite opera. When she saw Yan Zhengyan run in, she quickly handed him some freshly made rice cakes with a smile: "Here, child, are you hungry? Eat some rice cakes."
Yan Zheng and Yan Ge knew there would be good food at Grandma's, so they each grabbed a piece of rice cake and put it in their mouths. Oh my, it's so delicious! Grandma Yan was happy to see the two little ones eating with their eyes squinted.
Yan Erqiang and Cai Min also entered the main room. Upon hearing the sound of opera, the first thing they looked at was the radio. Goodness, life back home is so good now; not only do they have bicycles, but they also have radios!
Cai Min, in particular, had no idea that life was so good for people in the countryside; she didn't even own a radio.
If Cai Min knew that her hometown had a radio a few years ago, but she didn't want them to know and would put it away every time they came, wouldn't she be furious?
Grandma Yan watched them enter, but instead of greeting them, she fixed her eyes on the radio. Her mood immediately darkened: "Erqiang, you're back! What do you think of the radio your older brother bought me?"
Upon hearing that it was bought by their elder brother, the couple immediately forgot all their worries. They had no choice but to, because their elder brother's fists were quite hard.
Yan Erqiang took out a piece of fabric from his bag: "Mom, this is the fabric I bought for you. See if you can make a dress with it?"
Grandma Yan accepted it with a smile: "It's good that you're back. Why are you being so polite? Xuemei's room is still available for you. Go and put your luggage away first."
Seeing that his mother wasn't upset, Yan Erqiang felt much more relaxed and quickly pulled Cai Min into the room. After they left, Yan Ge and Yan Zheng took out scissors from the basket on the kang (a heated brick bed) and took out the handkerchief package sewn onto their padded jackets.
"Grandma, this is the pocket money that Yan Zheng and I saved up. Here you go." Yan Zheng handed the handkerchief to Grandma Yan, and then glanced back furtively. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his parents hadn't come out.
Grandma Yan opened the box and saw neatly stacked 50-cent and 1-yuan notes. She was stunned and asked, "Children, how long have you been saving this money?"
Yan Zheng proudly said, "Grandma, we each have 50 cents a month. We've saved it for two years, and we have 24 yuan in it. We're giving it to you as a token of our respect."
Grandma Yan patted the two children's heads and said, "Okay, Grandma accepts it. When you get married, Grandma will give you a big gift."
"Don't let my mom and dad know," Yan Ge whispered.
Grandma Yan nodded, relieved that the two children hadn't gone astray. Yan Aidang's expression relaxed a bit, and he grabbed a piece of rice cake and ran out to find Yan Xiaonan.
Yan Zheng was still thinking about building a snowman, so he quickly ran outside with Yan Aidang. Yan Zheng sat next to his grandmother and chatted with her: "Grandma, give me one last New Year's money this year. Don't give me any more next year. I'll give you money instead."
Grandma Yan asked in surprise, "Yan Ge, what's wrong with you?"
Yan Ge looked at his grandmother and smiled: "Grandma, I'll take over my mother's job after the New Year. I'll be able to earn money from now on."
Grandma Yan was taken aback: "Yan Ge, your mother isn't old enough to retire yet, how could you have taken her job?"
“My maternal grandmother wanted to give my mother’s job to my aunt’s son. My father got angry and made my mother give up her job so that I could take over, so that no one else would covet it,” Yan Ge whispered to Grandma Yan.
"Oh dear, how could this happen? The second son certainly got angry, but is your mother willing to accept this?" Grandma Yan sighed.
“How could I not want to? I’m her own son. She gave the job to her nephew instead of me. It doesn’t make sense anywhere.” Yan Ge shrugged.
A resounding cheer erupted outside: "Nan Nan, I want to go too! I want to go too!"
Yan Ge became curious: "Grandma, I'll go out and take a look."
It turned out that Yan Aidang had been pestering Yan Xiaonan to go to the mountains to see Zhongnan and also wanted to try beggar's chicken. Yan Xiaonan had no choice but to agree, but only if they got their parents' permission first.
Yan Daqiang, standing on the rooftop, shouted, "Nannan, I'm going too!"
Yan Aidang looked up and said, "Dad, the kids are going to play, so you don't need to get involved."
Upon hearing this, Yan Daqiang said, "Nan Nan, I don't agree with Yan Aidang going to the mountains."
Yan Aidang got anxious upon hearing this: "Dad, let's go together, let's go together!"
Everyone smiled, their lips pursed; Uncle was so adorable.
Ma Mingchun, who was eating rice cakes in the kitchen, overheard their conversation and immediately ran out: "Nannan, my brother and my sister are going too."
Yan Xiaonan nodded. With so many people around, it was lively. She said to Ma Mingchun, who was about to leave, "Go and call Ye Chen'er."
Ma Mingchun sighed and was about to leave in his oxcart when Cuihua ran out and gave him a basket of rice cakes to take back with him.
Liu Jin panicked: "Auntie, Auntie, I'll go, I'll go."
Yan Zheng playfully pinched his nose: "You can't go, you're too young."
One sentence stirred up a hornet's nest. Liu Jin cried out and stumbled into the main room, throwing himself into Grandma Yan's arms. Grandma Yan almost laughed herself to death, but was also driven crazy by the piercing noise.
Southeast followed him in, picked up Liu Jin in one scoop, and said, "Liu Jin, don't cry, Daddy will take you with him." The crying stopped abruptly; what a drama queen.
Xuemei stood at the kitchen doorway, and instead of leaving, she turned back: "Mom, what's wrong with Liujin? He's only a few years old."
Cuihua laughed: "Xuemei, everyone says that children resemble their fathers. Liujin looks exactly like Dongnan when he was a child, always causing trouble."
Southeast~
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