Forty Little Arsonists
The Spring Festival arrived in the blink of an eye. This year's Spring Festival was much more lively with the addition of my maternal grandfather's family and my eldest uncle's family. My second uncle's family, who still live in Baima Village, had to come and celebrate with us. My second aunt must have been quite happy, since her family also lives in this village, it was like going back to her parents' home.
On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, Cheng Enjiu and his son-in-law had already prepared all the New Year's goods. Li Wei and her aunt took Li Lin and Li Lianhui to the city, and as usual, they bought new clothes for everyone, including her second uncle's family.
Li Wei is quite wealthy now, having earned a considerable amount of money in the past six months. She brought some money with her, intending to buy gifts for everyone, but her aunt, who is even wealthier than her, didn't give her the chance. After all, her mother had given her aunt a lot of money, so how could Cheng Fei let Li Wei spend it herself? Li Wei was quite frustrated that she had money but couldn't spend it.
But considering that the neighborhood kids all got along well, Li Wei bought gifts for each of them. Especially for Comrade Luo Da, who had performed exceptionally well this year, Li Wei generously bought him two sets of sportswear, since Grandma Luo's eyesight couldn't keep up with how quickly Luo Da's clothes wore out. Then she thought that Grandma Luo might give one set to Luo Er, so she bought a smaller, cheaper one for him too. Luo Er hadn't contributed much, but he'd certainly caused her a lot of trouble; having anything to wear was good enough. Of course, she couldn't buy him anything too expensive; without a difference, how could she tell who was better?
The other two people who deserve recognition are Aunt Lin Si, who lives on the left, and Aunt Wu Feng, who lives on the right. These two women played an indelible role in Li Wei's hair accessory business, and Li Wei specially bought two bright red scarves as a reward for them.
The two were overjoyed to find that not only did they earn money from their work, but they also received a gift as a reward.
There's another person we absolutely have to visit: Grandpa Luo the Second. Li Wei plans to pay her respects to her maternal grandfather before the Lantern Festival. As for gifts, she'll just bring some local specialties from home. After all, her relationship with her maternal grandfather is special, and he probably won't accept anything too valuable.
To make it easier to take care of them, the New Year's Eve dinner was held in Li Wei's newly built house. The lively family of fourteen people had their laughter and chatter carried far through the windows illuminated by red lanterns.
With more people this year, Li Wei had more free time and didn't have to help her mother. Since she was idle anyway, she prepared two extra dishes, or rather, main courses: fried dough twists, which were small egg and milk buns she made herself, and pumpkin pancakes and squid bought in the city. In the end, all the other dishes were left over, but these were all eaten up by the children, making Li Wei feel very accomplished.
My mother, Cheng Min, commented: "He only knows how to ruin oil."
After dinner, my aunts and uncles cleared the table and then watched the Spring Festival Gala. Li Wei took the twins out to see how the ice lanterns were going; the children were very excited, as they had never played with them before.
Li Wei went to the several small buckets and tapped them. She estimated they were almost ready. She then cracked open the frozen blocks of water (made with various inks) inside the buckets, draining the unfrozen water. She took the buckets inside to thaw them slightly, then removed the hollow ice blocks and placed them on the porch to continue freezing. At this point, she lit the small candles she had bought and placed them inside the hollow ice blocks.
Suddenly, blue, pink, and green ice lanterns lit up, making Li Lin and her companion jump for joy.
Of course. That wasn't all. She also cut out the character "福" (fortune) from red paper and pasted it on the outside of the ice lanterns. It looked even more festive. Inspired by the twins, Li Wei got so excited that she made them some portable ice lanterns to carry around in, so they could play with them tomorrow.
After breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Wei took the twins into the village to visit neighbors and relatives. When they finally arrived at Grandma Luo's house, a huge group of children had already gathered. The three Luo boys were all dressed impeccably, seemingly having just returned from their New Year's visit.
Grandma Luo was delighted to see Li Wei and the others arrive, and happily offered them melon seeds and candy. Uncle Luo was not there. Aunt Luo and Li Wei had a past disagreement. When Li Wei wished her a Happy New Year, Aunt Luo only gave a few forced hums. However, she was very warm towards Li Lin, pulling her aside to ask her all sorts of questions and looking her over as if she were her own daughter.
Actually, Aunt Luo, having given birth to three mischievous boys, was quite envious of families with daughters, especially the Li family in the backyard. Look at their daughters! Although she had her issues with Li Wei, she couldn't deny that Li Wei and Li Lin were undeniably beautiful and adorable. They were even more charming than the city girls. Little red woolen hats and little red woolen gloves, especially the gloves with little rabbits and bears sewn on them—styles she'd never seen before. Moreover, both girls wore matching new floral jackets, peach-colored corduroy pants, and red cotton shoes. From a distance, they looked even more like twins.
Aunt Luo San didn't say it, but she was secretly delighted. Looking at her lively and boisterous Luo Er and Luo San, she wondered why none of them were daughters.
After politely declining Grandma Luo's offer to stay for lunch, Li Lin and Li Lianhui disappeared after returning home and having lunch. It seemed they had been lured away by Luo Er, who was carrying a lantern Grandma Luo had made from sorghum stalks. Li Wei didn't go out; she took off her coat and sat on the warm kang (heated brick bed) looking at her aunt's high school textbooks. Dad, several uncles, and Luo San, who had arrived sometime earlier, were playing cards in the next room. Mom said that Luo San had a very capable cousin in the city, and Luo San had done quite well with her this year.
Meanwhile, my mother, Cheng Min, along with several aunts and neighborhood women, sat on and off the kang (a heated brick bed), chatting and eating melon seeds with a clatter that shook the roof tiles. It was a rare few days of leisure throughout the year, and everyone was in a good mood.
Li Wei thought her mother's wisest decision was to build two heated kang beds in the first-floor rooms instead of beds in both. In the dead of winter, when she came in from the freezing cold outside, she would take off her shoes and put her icy feet on the warm kang, and then sit down. Li Wei, who was extremely afraid of the cold, felt that was happiness.
Of course, if the kang (heated brick bed) is heated too high, people will feel like ants on a hot pan, which is a real ordeal.
Li Wei was leaning against the pillows on the heated kang, reading a book and feeling sleepy, when Li Lin rushed in in a panic: "Mom—Mom—Xiao Hui has set Uncle's woodpile on fire!"
Everyone in the house ran to Uncle Luo's house to put out the fire.
Li Wei suddenly realized that the room had become quiet. Not knowing what had happened, she simply lay down, pulled up the blanket, and took a nap, completely unaware that the room was empty.
More than an hour later, family members gradually returned. Cheng Min, the last to return, didn't discipline the culprit, Li Lianhui, who was terrified and crying pitifully, nestled in his grandmother's arms. Although, thinking about how this kid had set half of the Luo family's sorghum stalks on fire with his little lantern, and how one wall of their house was blackened by smoke…
Cheng Min and Li Zhaoxing felt incredibly guilty. Although Uncle Luo and Grandma Luo kept saying it was nothing, that the child hadn't been paying attention and was just playing around, Cheng Min still promised on the spot that after the fifteenth, she would have her second brother send a cartload of sorghum stalks over. Anyway, her father had plenty of firewood at home, and it was just sitting there anyway, so she decided to have her second brother bring it all over so that her parents could use it and wouldn't have to think about going back.
She couldn't criticize her son anymore, but Cheng Min was still upset about it. It was the New Year, why was he so restless? Although her mother was probably afraid that she would hit the child and kept saying auspicious things like "fire brings good fortune," Cheng Min still felt frustrated.
Suddenly noticing her eldest daughter fast asleep, she immediately realized that the broken lantern the two younger children were playing with was something this girl had made. She reached out and pulled Li Wei up, launching into a tirade of scolding. Li Wei was completely bewildered, not understanding what she had done wrong, but she could still grasp the gist: her mother seemed to be blaming her for not taking the children out to play and not watching them properly. What did she mean by that?
However, Cheng Min was pulled aside by her father and husband before she could say more than a few words. Old Master Cheng was very unhappy: "Can you blame the eldest girl for this? How can you, as her mother, be so angry? The child kindly made toys for the two younger ones, and that's not right, you..."
My mom got another scolding from my grandpa.
Finally, the grandmother gave a concluding speech, classifying Li Lianhui's arson case as an accident. She stated that because the suspect was under the legal age, he would not be held responsible, but he should receive fire safety education. In this respect, the guardian, Cheng Min, bears responsibility and is liable for compensation to the victims.
As for Li Wei, she bears absolutely no joint responsibility.
Cheng Min realized she had taken her anger out on her parents, and after being scolded by them, she sat down in her chair and remained silent.
Li Wei is now fully awake and understands what happened. Li Lianhui put the small ice lantern in someone's woodpile, wanting others to see the beautiful scenery painted inside the ice lantern, which could only be seen at night. Accidentally, the candle fell out and set the woodpile on fire.
For such a trivial matter, her mother actually took her anger out on someone else, and that person was none other than herself. Li Wei was furious and threw herself into her aunt's arms with tears in her eyes: "Auntie, I'm innocent! You have to stand up for me!" She was as wronged as Dou E.
In this room, the most outspoken, the boldest, and fearless of both the elderly and the young, is her aunt, Cheng Fei. Her grandparents had just criticized her mother, but it didn't carry much weight; now it's up to her aunt to step in.
Auntie, you can't let me down! You have to get justice for me from a family, ethical, and moral standpoint. Grandma just vindicated me from a legal perspective.
As expected, Cheng Fei, seeing her pitiful niece nestled in her arms, turned her tenderness into anger, pointing at her sister: "What kind of mother are you? You can't even tell right from wrong! They're both the same child, but the one who caused trouble gets away scot-free, while the obedient and sensible one gets a scolding. Look how wronged the child is. Don't think I don't know when you've ever disciplined your child. Isn't it always Xiaoming taking care of the two younger ones, blah blah blah..."
Finally, the criticism session turned into a commendation session for Li Wei. Li Wei seized the opportunity to suggest that, given her outstanding performance this year, shouldn't she receive some kind of recognition?
Having been given a democratic lesson by everyone, Li Wei's mother glanced at her sideways and asked, "What do you want?"
Li Wei shrank back in fright and quickly declared, "I don't want money, I don't want money."
Now she's a nouveau riche, she's not short of money.
This amused everyone, and the shadow of Li Lianhui's arson case dissipated.
The joyful and leisurely days passed quickly. Before the Lantern Festival, Li Wei went to her second grandfather's house with her maternal grandfather to pay New Year's respects, and there was nothing much to worry about. After the Lantern Festival, school started in a few days. Li Lianhui, Li Lin, Wu Feng, and Luo Er also ended their days of skating and skating on the river every day, and reluctantly put on their schoolbags.
This year, apart from my aunt taking the college entrance exam, there haven't been any other major events in my family.
The whole family mobilized to create every possible condition so that my aunt could study without any worries. My grandfather would bring his daughter treats, money, and clean clothes every few days, and also pick up a change of clothes. After working so hard for more than two months, the teacher still called the old man in and criticized him, saying that he was putting too much pressure on the child, that the child was carrying too much burden, and that her grades had obviously declined. The teacher said that the parents should give the child some guidance and help her let go of her burdens and start studying with a lighter heart.
The old man was completely confused. When did I put pressure on my daughter?
The old man asked his daughter, and she said it was nothing, that she hadn't done well on the mock exam because she hadn't performed well, and that everyone makes mistakes sometimes, telling her father not to worry and to go about his business.
After discussing it with my mother-in-law, son-in-law, and daughter, we decided to visit less often in the future. I guess we were going too frequently and putting a burden on the children.
Li Wei knew about this, and she also knew that her aunt hadn't gotten into university and refused to retake the exam. Fortunately, she found a good job and was doing well. Li Wei felt that her aunt was under more pressure in her current situation, and there was really nothing she could do to help.
Given her aunt's attitude, it would be amazing if she would even listen to a little kid's ramblings. She has to rely on herself for this. It's like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge; many people have gone through this stage. There's nothing more to say.
However, Li Wei couldn't just do nothing. She had to do her best. In her spare time, she wrote a small collection of jokes for her aunt. They were all jokes or riddles that were popular in later generations. She filled the whole book and asked her grandfather to take it to her.
Whether the effect was good or not, her aunt was all smiles when she saw Li Wei when she got home. At the very least, she treated Li Wei very well, which made her happy during her heavy study life, so it was worth the effort.
As for whether her aunt could get into university, Li Wei knew that it was beyond her control.
Let's do our best and leave the rest to fate.
If Li Wei didn't believe in fate before, she does now; otherwise, where would she have come from?
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