As soon as the sky was getting light, the water well in the Li family's yard began to creak non-stop.
"Crash—"
Li Minghua straightened up from the well platform, his red, frozen hands still dripping with ice water.
He had just finished rinsing the greasy sausage when the water splashed on Li Mingyuan, who was sharpening a knife next to him, and on his newly shaved hair.
"Minghua! Watch out!" Li Mingyuan wiped his hair, and the bone-chopping knife in his hand continued to make a "squeaking" sound on the bluestone slab.
Li Guifang's loud voice rang out from the kitchen at the right moment: "Mingyu! Bring us the dried vegetables from the east room!"
She was still holding a kitchen knife covered in chopped green onions in her hand, chopping on the chopping board with a few green coriander leaves stuck to the back of the knife.
"Oh my god!" Li Guifang glanced at him, the tip of her knife pointing at the corner of the yard. "Mingyu, what are you doing? The fish can't be killed until tomorrow!"
Li Mingyu withdrew his hand from the bucket awkwardly, and the carp splashed water all over his face.
Holding a candy cake beside him, Li Anyuan laughed out loud, "Fourth Uncle is a big glutton!"
"What are you laughing at!" Wu Xiaomei came out of the side room, carrying a dustpan, spider webs still hanging from the ends of her hair. "Come and help me pick the leeks!"
At the foot of the west wall, Li Jianghai was wrapping red rope around the newly bought "Earth Red" firecrackers.
Li Shuduo squatted beside and counted the sugar melons. Her cotton-padded jacket was stuffed bulging with them!
"Xiuying!" Li Guifang opened the window and shouted, "Can you lend me your millstone?"
Before he could finish his words, Xiuying's voice from next door came out: "Why are you in such a hurry? I'm grinding tofu right now. I'll bring it to you later!"
Outside the courtyard gate, the sound of car bells came from far away.
An old man selling New Year's goods passed by carrying a straw target full of candied haws. The bright red haws were wrapped in crystal sugar coating, shining in the morning light!
Several children ran after the car, and the frozen ground made a "crunching" sound under their shoes.
Just when the Li family's yard was busy, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the gate.
I saw Old Mrs. Ji, leaning on a crutch, rushing in aggressively with Ji Ke's wife Sun Li and Ji Xue's wife Zhao Cuihua.
"Li Guifang! You have no conscience!"
As soon as Old Mrs. Ji stepped into the door, she started shouting loudly, knocking the ground with the cane in her hand, as if she would not give up until she got an explanation.
The eldest daughter-in-law who followed closely behind her had red eyes, obviously she had just cried.
Li Guifang, who was chopping stuffing in the kitchen, popped her head out with a kitchen knife in hand when she heard the noise: "Hey, isn't this Aunt Ji? It's New Year's Day..."
"Stop playing dumb with me!" Old Mrs. Ji interrupted her, her voice trembling. "We're just neighbors. Is it really necessary to report this minor incident to the police? My son Xing'er is still in custody at the police station!"
Sun Li wiped her tears and stepped forward: "Aunt Guifang, our Ji Xing was a little impulsive, but you can't..." Before she finished her words, Cui Lian grabbed her sleeve.
The yard suddenly fell silent. The red string in Li Jianghai's hand, which was wrapping firecrackers, snapped, and Li Mingyuan put down his half-sharpened bone-chopping knife.
Wu Xiaomei leaned half of her body out of the kitchen window, holding a handful of unpicked leeks in her hand.
Li Guifang put the kitchen knife on the chopping board, wiped her hands and walked out: "Aunt Ji, what you said..."
"What's wrong with what I said?" Old Lady Ji pounded her cane again. "We'll compensate you for the losses your shop incurred. Do you think it's necessary to send someone to jail? It's New Year's Day..."
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