After a lively New Year's Eve dinner, the old couple went to sleep. They had drunk some wine, and since they were old and not as healthy as they were young, they did not stay up to celebrate the New Year.
Chen Lingling, the youngest child in the family, also went to sleep with her grandparents. The large living room was occupied by a few young people chatting and bragging.
After everyone chatted for a while, Chen Xiangbei suddenly walked to the door of Old Lady Xia and the others and put his ear close to their room. It had been a long time and there was no sound from inside. They must have fallen asleep.
He took a deep breath and suddenly rushed into his room.
The people outside the door had no idea what this man was up to. He was acting so mysteriously, as if he was doing underground work.
Soon, Chen Xiangbei took out his new cotton-padded jacket and new sweater from his room and pitifully begged his brothers and sisters to save him.
"My clothes are torn. What should I do? No matter how I sew, it's still torn." He exposed the torn part of his cotton jacket on the table, with his crooked and clumsy sewing marks on it.
"My mother told me hundreds of times not to wear this cotton-padded jacket in advance, but I couldn't help it, and then this happened." Chen Xiangbei had a sad face. Although he was emotional and scared, his voice was very low for fear of waking up the sleeping Old Mrs. Xia.
He had a premonition that if he went out wearing this tomorrow, he would not be able to survive even on New Year's Day.
"Brother, sister, brother-in-law, can you help me think of a solution?"
Chen Xiangnan pointed at himself and said, "You expect me to sew?"
Chen Xiangbei immediately turned his head away from him and stared at Chen Xianghong pitifully. "Sister, you are the best. You can definitely help me, right?"
Chen Xianghong picked up the cotton-padded jacket first. Looking at the tear that ran across the back, she said sadly, "Even if I mend it for you, the mark will be obvious. Third Brother, I will mourn for you."
Chen Xiangbei seemed to have been drained of all his strength, his eyes dull, "I'm dead, I'm dead."
Yu Hongzhen also picked up the cotton-padded jacket, and couldn't understand why. "What on earth did you do to make the clothes like this?"
Chen Xiangbei's eyes dodged. "He was climbing the wall to watch the fun and fell down. Then he hit someone and started fighting with them."
Yu Hongzhen pointed at his cuffs and said, "These sleeves are worn like this, are they from fighting?"
Chen Xiangbei pulled out a handful of marbles from his trouser pocket and said, "The cuffs must have been rubbed by him playing with marbles while lying on the ground."
Yu Hongzhen was shocked. "How old are you? Only five or six-year-olds play this game."
Chen Xiangbei held his head high and said, "I won so much just because I played with children. I can't beat adults."
Yu Hongzhen: ...I don’t know what he is so proud of. He can bully children so confidently.
On the other side, Chen Xiangnan also picked up his sweater with two fingers, looking very disgusted, "How long have you been wearing it secretly? It's pilling like this?"
Chen Xiangbei said with a smile, "I wore it right after Mom made it for me. It was still autumn then, and just this one was warm enough. In winter, I can wear it underneath. I'll wear it whenever Mom goes to work, and change into my old one when she gets home."
Chen Xiangnan: "Why don't you wear the old one?"
Chen Xiangbei was silent for a moment, then went back into the house and took out his old sweater.
He pointed at the tangled sweater. When they spread it out, they realized that the sweater looked like it had been bombarded. The wool was sparse in some places and messy in others.
Even Xiao Ma, a psychopath who often goes crazy, dresses more neatly and appropriately than him.
Chen Xiangnan didn't even want to touch it, and before he could say anything, he was told to take it back.
Yu Hongzhen swallowed his saliva. He didn't want to sleep in the same room with Chen Xiangbei anymore. It was too sloppy. "Comrade Chen Xiangnan, can I sleep in the same room with you?"
Chen Xiangbei threw the old clothes back, then pitifully held up the tattered new clothes and said, "What should I do? I don't want to get beaten."
Seeing him like this, everyone felt that he deserved it, but it was not good to just stand by and watch him die.
Chen Xianghong suddenly said, "I remember the cotton-padded jacket Dad wore last year was similar to yours. He has new clothes this year, otherwise..."
Chen Xiangbei shook his head. "I know that one. I went to look for it in his cabinet this afternoon, but I couldn't find it after searching for a long time. In the end, I got beaten up."
Chen Xiangnan: "Who asked you to try on his new clothes for so long? I think you completely forgot about finding clothes. You were just vain."
Chen Xiangbei pouted, "Don't scold me first, second brother, you are the smartest, think of a way for me. Otherwise, I will go steal again?"
Chen Xiangnan: ...
Yu Hongzhen: "Stealing is not good."
Chen Xiangbei: "Then you're just going to watch me get beaten? Never mind, let's give it a try."
He didn't know where he got the wire from, but after fiddling with it for a few times, he opened Old Lady Xia's room. He was about to walk in quietly, but was grabbed by the back of the collar and pulled out.
He looked back in confusion, "Brother-in-law, what are you doing?"
Yu Hongzhen endured it, "You are breaking the law, do you know that?"
Chen Xiangbei said angrily, "Why would a family break the law? If you want to show off, go to your army. We won't do that to you."
Seeing the two of them about to argue, Chen Xianghong immediately said, "I remember my second brother has an old sweater that looks very similar to this one. Why don't you take it out and use it as a last resort?"
Chen Xiangnan: ...Chen Xianghong, you are so noble. You used my things to help your man shut up Chen Xiangbei.
He was very unhappy. After the clothes were worn by Chen Xiangbei, could he still wear them?
But facing Chen Xiangbei's face that was about to cry, Chen Xiangnan couldn't say no. After a stalemate, Tang Jiao said, "Forget it, just lend it to Xiangbei for emergency use."
He couldn't refuse his wife's face, so Chen Xiangbei nodded in agreement with a dark face.
Chen Xiangbei immediately expressed his gratitude to his second brother and praised him profusely. Chen Xiangnan didn't want to listen to his nonsense and went straight into the house, but he didn't expect Chen Xiangbei to follow him in.
He was rummaging through his clothes and didn't even notice Chen Xiangbei's shining eyes.
"Second brother, give this to me."
"Brother, I think this one is pretty good too. It looks similar to the new cotton-padded jacket I made. Can you lend it to me too?"
"Brother, can you lend me this hat?"
"Brother, you've preserved these shoes so well. They've been here for several years. Please lend them to me."
"Second brother..."
Chen Xiangbei was like a mouse in a rice jar, looking at this and that piece, he really wanted to take them all into his room. He really couldn't understand why everyone made the same amount of clothes every year, but every piece of his clothes was tattered, while his second brother's clothes were neatly arranged, and except for the color being faded, everything else looked like new.
Chen Xiangbei's mind suddenly opened up. If his second brother was a woman, she would definitely be the most virtuous one in the entire compound.
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