On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, before dawn, Li Guifang took her entire family to her mother's home.
This was a great joyous event - her brothers had gone to Haicheng to run transportation business since the reform and opening up, and later they had established themselves there and brought their wives and children over.
It has been five or six years since they last returned to their hometown in Ji City to celebrate the New Year.
"Mom, why are the uncles coming back suddenly?" Wu Xiaomei asked while fastening the buttons of her newly made cotton-padded jackets for the children.
Li Guifang was stuffing her bag with homemade cured meat and sesame candy, smiling from ear to ear: "Hey, my roots are right here. No matter how far I go, I always come back to visit!
I received a letter last month saying he would be back for the New Year this year. My eldest brother wrote in the letter that after so many years away from home, it was time for him to come back and visit.
Li Mingyuan squatted at the entrance to the main hall, polishing his newly bought leather shoes, and interrupted, "My uncles, you're coming back this time. You'll have to stay until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, right?"
"That's right!" Li Guifang's eyes narrowed into slits with a smile. "The letter said that you should stay home for a while!"
Li Guifang's parents' home is not far away, and it only takes two bus rides to get there.
As soon as I reached the intersection, under the crooked old locust tree, I saw Li Jianguo's iron tower-like figure, stretching his neck to look around.
This guy, who had a body full of lumps and bumps from working on a ship at sea, had his eyes red as soon as he saw the girl.
"Hey there! Little sister!" He rushed over in two steps, and grabbed Li Guifang's elbow with his big hand like a palm leaf fan. "Finally, I've been waiting for you to come!"
As he spoke, he bent down and rubbed the heads of several children one by one, his voice trembling: "Good boy, you have grown so tall!
The last time I saw it, it looked like bean sprouts!"
"Brother, it hasn't even been three years since we last saw each other!"
Hearing the sound, the yard suddenly became lively.
Upon hearing the sound, the sisters-in-law who were busy in the kitchen put down their spatulas and came out to greet her.
Sister-in-law Zhuang Fangtao heard the noise and came out of the kitchen with a winnowing basket: "Finally you're here! I've been kneading the dough for a long time, just waiting for you to come and make dumplings together."
Li Guifang handed the bacon and sesame candy she had brought to her sister-in-law: "We pickled them at home. Let the children have some."
The little guys were like puppies having fun, and they surrounded us with a roar.
Li Jianguo's loud voice echoed in the yard: "Come in and warm up! The second and third brothers have gone to town to buy New Year's goods and will be back soon. We have to get together this year no matter what!"
The little guys were like puppies having fun, and they surrounded us with a roar.
Li Jianguo's loud voice echoed in the yard, "Hurry up and get inside to warm up! The third and fourth brothers have gone to the street and will be back soon. We have to have two cups of tea this year!"
Li Guifang stood in the courtyard, looking at this old house filled with memories. It was bought by her parents with most of their life savings after they retired from the Zhang family.
The old couple dug out the bricks one by one from between their teeth. Now they have turned yellow and a few tiles are missing, but the sense of steadfastness they have in their hearts is exactly the same as it was back then.
Ever since the brothers went to Haicheng, the place has become very quiet.
Even she rarely comes back, but now she is popular again.
As soon as he entered the house, Li Jianguo mysteriously took out several shiny little boxes from the inner room.
"Come here, here's your uncle's gift to you!" He stuffed it into Li Mingyuan's hands one by one. "This is the most fashionable electronic watch in Haicheng, with luminous lights!"
The brothers and sisters held the watch in their hands, their eyes wide open.
Li Mingyu exclaimed in surprise, his fingers rubbing uncontrollably on the surface: "Uncle, uncle, how much does this...how much does this cost?"
"Oh! It's not worth much!" Li Jianguo waved his hand and stuffed another piece into Wu Xiaomei's hand, "Xiaomei, too!"
Wu Xiaomei held the watch, her palms sweating: "Brother, this is too expensive, we..."
Li Jianguo waved his hand and said, "What's so expensive? Haicheng is full of these things now."
He suddenly lowered his voice and said, "But you have to keep it safe..." He suddenly lowered his voice and said, "But when you wear it, be careful not to let anyone notice you..."
"I saw this in my classmate Xiaopang's hand the other day. He said it was very expensive, costing over 70 yuan!"
Li Jianguo laughed so hard his belly was shaking. "They bought it after it was passed around several times by dealers! We buy it directly from the Shatouzui Hong Kong Goods Market, at wholesale prices!"
Li Guifang was stunned when she heard this: "That must have cost a lot of money, right?"
Li Jianguo smiled slyly and rolled up his sleeves to reveal a watch of the same style on his wrist. "This only costs 5 yuan in Haicheng!"
"What?!" Everyone in the room exclaimed in unison.
Li Minghua nearly dropped the watch in his hand. "It's worth five dollars, and you're selling it for seventy? This is too much profit!"
Before everyone could recover from the shock, Li Jianguo took out several furry teddy bears from his bag as if by magic.
What's even more amazing is that when he pressed the bear's belly, the bear actually spoke: "Happy New Year! Wish you good fortune!"
The children were immediately shocked. Xiaoyang was so frightened that he threw the bear out. The bear was still giggling on the ground.
Li Guifang slapped her thigh and said, "Oh my God, this toy can speak human language now?"
Li Jianguo shook his head proudly: "This is just the beginning! Haicheng now has dancing robots! I'll bring you a few next time!"
Li Mingyu looked at the talking teddy bear and felt like he was dreaming.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
