Just then, Second Uncle walked in: "Ze-zai, why are you only coming back today?"
"Second Uncle, Happy New Year. I came back from Hunan Province, so I'm a little late."
He pulled his girlfriend over and introduced her, "Siyu, this is your second great-uncle, quickly greet him."
Wang Siyu greeted politely, "Second Uncle, Happy New Year."
Second Uncle took a red envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her, praising, "Hmm, the little girl is really pretty. Zezai has good taste."
Second Uncle chatted with Chen Ze for a while before leaving and turning around to go into Chen Qiang's house to play mahjong.
"Siyu, you stay home and chat with Grandma for a while, I'm going for a walk around the village."
"Oh, I see."
When Chen Ze stepped out of his house, he found that there were no more outsiders in the village. They had mostly gone home for the Spring Festival and would usually come down around the seventh or eighth day of the new year.
Passing by my uncle's house, I heard a lot of noise inside, including the clattering of mahjong tiles, but unfortunately, he wasn't interested in mahjong.
We walked directly to the center of the village, where the village children were setting off firecrackers everywhere.
Now, everyone in Chenjia Village, whether adults or children, greets him when they see him.
When he met a child, he would take out a red envelope and give one to each child. Each red envelope contained five yuan. The children who received the red envelopes would all shout "Wishing you prosperity!"
Chen Ze really enjoys it when people say "Congratulations on getting rich" to him, because he firmly believes that these four words can bring him good luck.
Before long, he arrived at the artificial lotus pond. The lotus flowers had withered, leaving only the shriveled stems exposed.
Walking along the pond, it felt like returning to my childhood. I remember when we were little, he would often take Chen Hao and Chen Qiang to jump into the pond to pick lotus seeds to eat.
He really likes the taste of lotus seeds; they are sweet and refreshing.
"Brother Ze, didn't you say you wouldn't be back until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?"
Following the sound, Chen Hao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips and looking like a spoiled rich kid, walked towards him.
Chen Ze laughed and said, "I had nothing to do in Shenzhen, so I came back early to visit my grandma."
Suddenly, someone in the distance seemed to be calling his name.
Chen Ze looked back and saw Chen Qiang running towards him, shouting, "Cousin, something's happened, something's happened!"
Chen Ze hurriedly went over and asked, "What happened?"
"Cousin, your old house is on fire."
The old house is on fire? He was terrified; his girlfriend and grandmother were still at home.
He didn't have time to ask any more questions and turned to run home.
When he arrived at the old house, it was already surrounded by people.
In the crowd, Wang Siyu hugged her grandmother and cried incessantly, like a child who had made a mistake.
Chen Ze looked at the old house engulfed in flames, his head aching. He took out his phone to dial 119 to report the fire.
Chen Qiang, who was behind him, said, "Cousin, I have already called 119 to report it."
Chen Ze turned to his cousin and asked, "Who started the fire?"
"Go ask your girlfriend."
Chen Ze came to Wang Siyu's side, and his grandmother urged, "Good grandson, come and comfort Xiaoyu."
Seeing Wang Siyu crying her eyes out with snot and tears streaming down her face.
He took out a tissue and stepped forward to wipe away her tears, comforting her, "Okay, okay, don't cry, tell me what happened."
Wang Siyu threw herself into his arms and burst into tears again, as if she had found her pillar of support.
Grandma explained the whole story to Chen Ze.
It turned out that Grandma said she was going to cook sweet potatoes for Wang Siyu. Wang Siyu felt sorry for Grandma because of her limited mobility, so she went to the kitchen to help her start the fire.
Seeing how well-behaved and sensible she was, her grandmother took a hoe and went to the vegetable garden to dig sweet potatoes, leaving Wang Siyu alone at home boiling water. After adding a pile of firewood, she ran to the toilet.
When she came out of the toilet, she found the entire kitchen engulfed in flames, with the dry firewood and sawdust already ablaze. Wang Siyu hurriedly ran to the toilet, fetched a bucket of water, and tried to put out the fire.
However, with such a large fire, her little bit of water was simply a drop in the ocean and had no effect whatsoever.
Behind him, Chen Hao teased, "Brother Ze, this is a sign that you're about to make a fortune. Others say their ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke, but your ancestral home is emitting auspicious smoke. This year, the company is sure to be booming."
Chen Ze rolled his eyes at him.
Hearing Chen Hao's words, Chen Qiang, who was standing to the side, held back his laughter.
At that moment, the wailing of sirens grew louder as two red fire trucks drove in through the archway, and firefighters quickly got out to begin rescue operations.
They skillfully set up water hoses and sprayed water at the fire. After more than ten minutes, the fire was gradually brought under control, and black smoke filled the sky.
Second Uncle walked over with his hands behind his back and said with a smile, "Little girl, since this is your first time visiting a Cantonese family, you don't really need to burn down the groom's house to celebrate. Setting off some firecrackers will suffice."
Wang Siyu, who had stopped crying, burst into tears again upon hearing his words: "Aze, Second Uncle, he bullied me."
Chen Ze patted her on the back and comforted her, "Second Uncle, I was just kidding, don't cry."
"Aze, it's all my fault that I burned down Grandma's house, sob sob sob..."
“It’s alright, it’s burned down, I’ll rebuild a villa for Grandma to live in.”
Chen Ze instructed Chen Qiang, "Bring Grandma to stay with you for a while. Once I've rebuilt the house, I'll bring her back to live with me."
Chen Qiang said ingratiatingly, "Cousin, don't worry, I'll go back and make room for Grandma later."
Chen Ze is now a celebrity in Chenjia Village, worth billions. When the Chen family members in the village see him, they all take the initiative to greet him.
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