It is said that people should stay up all night on New Year's Eve.
In the main hall, people were busy introducing new brides, praising their children, chatting about the harvest of the coming year, and young girls and boys were looking for partners.
The atmosphere was very harmonious, with people chatting about all sorts of things.
Compared with the Zhang family, the three Ping'an brothers felt like they were out of place.
That’s right, if you don’t agree, there’s no need to talk too much.
Seeing that the topic shifted to Zhang Mingyou's work assignment, the three Ping An brothers found a reason to leave, thinking out of sight, out of mind.
Seeing this, Zhang's mother also stood up and wanted to follow her grandchildren back, but the three brothers politely declined. They thought they still had some good judgment.
Can it be called family happiness?
Seeing grandparents smiling all night long, why spoil their reunion?
The sound of firecrackers could be heard sporadically in and outside the village. These were the sounds of small cannons that had not yet been fired, being lit by children from various families while playing.
Heavy snow flakes were floating down from the sky. The temperature in the early morning was extremely cold. Families were calling their children's nicknames to go home, but the children were still playing and could not leave.
If we were in the compound at this moment, the New Year's Eve party in the auditorium would have ended, and there would still be groups of friends gathered under the street lights.
Just like their home, uncles and aunts would gather in the living room all night long, drinking, chatting and bragging, while the three brothers began to prepare New Year's gifts.
In their own courtyard, Xiao Wang and Xiao Zheng were taking turns keeping watch. Ping An was homesick like crazy. If it weren't for his two younger brothers, he would have wanted to just leave...
Without parents around, nowhere is home after all.
As soon as Liu Yi entered the bedroom, the first thing he said was: "I'm going to visit Grandpa Dashan in a couple of days to wish him a happy new year. Let me mention it."
Wuyi paused as he took off his coat. "Well, I do need to say something. Otherwise, how can we be fair to the soldiers stationed on the front lines?"
Ping An raised his lip when he heard this. "You don't have to show up. Grandpa Dashan will know what's going on. I wonder if Grandpa will intervene?"
Liuyi narrowed his eyes. "Even if the emperor came, it would be useless. This is a good opportunity to come to my hometown to sound the alarm, so that no one can take advantage of us."
"Is Dad overthinking this?"
Liuyi glanced at his brother and said, "You're overthinking it. Don't parents send a lot of money to support the elderly, or don't they let them go to Beijing to retire?"
As he spoke, Liuyi turned his head and looked in the direction of the old courtyard. "Who gave them the life they have now? They eat our food and live in our house. If they still want to mess up our family for his grandchildren, then they really don't deserve our respect."
Wuyi heard this and jokingly said, "Er, you are so unfilial. Be careful that your father will punish you."
"Hmph..." Liuyi smiled disapprovingly, "Dad wouldn't be willing to do that. Didn't he tell me to run to Grandpa Dashan if anything goes wrong?"
Wuyi held his chin in his hand and said, "I miss my dad so much. If he were at home now, he would definitely take us to set off firecrackers and fill the whole yard with ice lanterns."
"Well, Mom will cook a lot of delicious food herself, and Grandma will have already prepared big red envelopes and toys. As for Grandpa, he will take us out for family reunions at dawn..."
Ping An forced himself to cheer up, smiled, and said comfortingly, "I'll be home in a few days. Come, let's count how much New Year's money we have."
Liuyi threw the red envelopes he received tonight onto the kang in a listless manner, leaned back, rested his head on his hands, and rolled his eyes.
"What are you thinking about? Come and help count."
What are you thinking about? Liuyi felt that he had thought about too much, just a few red envelopes, a few cents, and a few pieces of wool. But after hearing Ping'an say this, he still lazily stood up and sat up straight.
Father Zhang has been a little absent-minded since his three little grandsons left. Looking at the heartless man who was still listening to his grandsons talking about trivial things in the army, he shook his head secretly and got off the kang.
When Zhang Laoer saw him put on his shoes, he followed closely behind him and asked quietly, "Dad, where are you going? We have to go to grandpa's grave later."
Nowadays, going up the mountain to worship ancestors has been stopped, and even the tablets of ancestors in the ancestral hall have been hidden somewhere by the old captains and clan leaders.
Thus, the ancestor worship on New Year's Eve was tacitly moved to the night of the 29th, just before dawn on New Year's Eve. And in just over an hour, according to past custom, Father Zhang would bring the male members of his family to the old man's grave to offer a few words of consecration.
When asked by his second son, Father Zhang shook his head and said, "Let me go see if the three children are asleep."
"They should be asleep. Usually, they would fall asleep immediately when the time comes. It's already very late today." Zhang Laoer thought about it and said, "I'll go check. Maybe the gate is closed. You can rest for a while."
"Forget it, let's go together." Father Zhang walked out of the yard first with his hands behind his back, lowering his head and thinking about his own thoughts silently.
Zhang Laoer followed behind and walked. Seeing that they were approaching Zhang Guoqing's yard, he asked softly, "What do you think of Xiaoyou's job?"
Zhang's father paused when he heard this. "What are you thinking? Just follow the rules." He picked up his pace, then thought about it and felt uneasy. He turned and looked at his son, "Don't mention this in front of Ping'an and the other two."
Zhang Laoer suddenly laughed with joy.
"What are you laughing at? You're just like a fool. Don't you see that these three kids look down on their third brother? It's useless to say anything, they are not your brothers."
After saying this, Father Zhang sighed again, "Even our Xiaowu doesn't want to take care of these things anymore. I mentioned it to him once in a letter before, and he never mentioned it in my subsequent replies. In the end, it's like helping a useless person. What a good opportunity... Alas..."
Zhang Laoer looked at his father with amusement and was about to open his mouth when a gust of wind blew by, making him shiver with cold. He quickly swallowed the words of comfort that were about to come out of his mouth and pushed him forward.
Is it because he's a hopeless case? His father said it didn't matter, but he didn't dare to say it. Who can guarantee that if he continues to serve in the army, he won't have the opportunity to go to the battlefield?
Didn't you hear that kid just now talk about how terrified he was when he entered the war preparation state in the first half of the year? Speaking of enduring hardships, apart from the three brothers, the next generation really didn't suffer much.
Ever since Xiaowu settled the family, life has been getting better and better. People often say that a comfortable life will wear down one's fighting spirit, isn't that the case now?
If it were Yinsuo, Tongsuo and others, they would probably try their best to climb up in order to escape from working in the fields, and they would probably find a way out to the bright future.
Besides, the policy of going to the countryside was suddenly implemented, and joining the army was originally a stopgap measure. Wasn't it just the hope to get a good job after discharge, marry a good wife, and have a bunch of kids?
Can you expect a child who escaped from working in the countryside to suddenly undergo a complete transformation? It wasn't that he looked down on his nephew.
But some people are destined to live a life that depends on their abilities. Just like his son Shitou, his father wants him to succeed.
But is it possible?
Even if you push him forward, he will still have some concerns and hesitations.
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