In the blink of an eye, it was already twenty-seven.
As the New Year approaches, the Ying family is busy like ordinary families.
It's a sunny day today. Mr. Ying set up a table in the yard early in the morning and was cutting paper, planning to write Spring Festival couplets.
Grandma Ying had gone out early with her precious great-grandson to do some shopping. Mu Huaixi followed Ying Mingcheng and ran three or four laps around the palace. After warming up her body, she followed him in practicing a set of boxing. Then she found a place to read medical books.
Her workout was over, but Ying Mingcheng's warm-up had just finished.
Mu Huaixi took the tea brewed by Aunt Da Chu and sat down on the recliner wrapped in a soft jacket. Ying Mingcheng had just taken off his coat and was doing push-ups while standing upside down in a cross-body vest.
His muscles glowed like honey in the sunlight. After doing a dozen reps with his hands on the ground, he changed to using one hand to do fifteen reps, alternating between the left and right hands. After doing a somersault with both arms, he climbed up to the horizontal bar next to him without stopping and started doing pull-ups.
Mu Huaixi was able to concentrate on reading at first, but soon she was attracted by his exercise movements. She looked at him after reading a page of the book, and finally put the medical book aside and admired him openly.
There was a special piece of compacted land in the palace used as an exercise area, with many instruments placed on it. Ying Mingcheng got down from the horizontal bar and lay on a slanted wooden bench. He pushed up the iron block at the end of the bench with his legs and started exercising his legs.
After finishing this set of exercises, the sun had risen high. He was soaked in sweat and white smoke came out when the cold wind blew. Mu Huaixi immediately opened the thermos wrapped in a towel next to him and poured him some rice soup.
Ying Mingcheng was walking towards her with a smile, but suddenly stopped, turned around and took a long knife. Mu Huaixi was startled and saw that a young man had come up behind him and was pulling out a spear from the weapon rack at the edge of the venue.
"Brother, come and show me how to fight!"
The young man in the dark blue cotton-padded jacket smiled and greeted, then attacked with a flick of his spear. Ying Mingcheng was naturally not afraid, and he swung his sword to block the stabbing spear, and the two men engaged in a fight.
Mu Huaixi widened his eyes and watched the two men fighting back and forth, and gradually discovered the difference. The young man who suddenly appeared was very good at using the spear, but his posture was very rigid, and it seemed more like he learned it from a martial arts teacher.
Ying Mingcheng's moves were more arbitrary. The long sword in his hand was just a simple weapon, used only to defeat the enemy. However, the opponent was his brother, so at the beginning he fed the opponent his moves in a proper manner, and then he used the long sword to make the opponent panic.
As the saying goes, an inch longer is an inch stronger, but this saying does not seem to apply to Ying Mingcheng. In the end, he simply threw away the knife and forced the opponent to retreat with just his fists and feet.
"Ha...Brother, brother, I give in, I give in." The young man, sweating profusely, threw away his gun and admitted defeat. Then he laughed and rushed towards Ying Mingcheng, "It's still more refreshing to fight with you, brother!"
Mu Huaixi handed towels to the two of them, and the young man's eyes lit up, "Thank you, sister-in-law!"
"This is Mingxin, he's in the navy now," Ying Mingcheng briefly introduced him, then turned around and patted his brother's arm, "Not bad, he's getting stronger."
"Hehe", Ying Mingxin and Ying Mingcheng look nothing alike. The only similarity is their temperament. It can be seen at a glance that they came from the military camp.
The two stood there and chatted for a while. Ying Mingxin looked at his watch and left in a hurry.
Mu Huaixi brought out hot tea from the kitchen. Seeing that her brother had left, she felt very strange. "Didn't he come back to celebrate the New Year?"
"They are not celebrating the New Year. They are back to handle formalities. They will have a patrol mission soon and cannot rest even during the New Year." Ying Mingcheng shook his head and did not take the matter seriously.
By the time they had lunch, Mu Huaixi discovered that his grandparents didn't care at all that Mingxin couldn't spend the New Year with them, and he couldn't help feeling a little sad.
Ying Mingcheng's brothers all work in defense-related fields, either as soldiers, staff officers, or in research institutes. His younger sister is in an art troupe, and they are busier during holidays, so they have no desire to reunite.
Ying Mingcheng said that when his grandfather was still in the military camp, he spent every year with the soldiers. His grandmother and they were used to it and did not take the Spring Festival seriously.
"But this year is different," Ying Mingcheng smiled and held her hand. "Grandpa and grandma will definitely be very happy with you and Xiaohui here this year."
Mu Huaixi shook his hand back and replied with a smile, "And you, we are so happy because you are with us."
Ying Mingcheng seemed to have not expected her to say that. He was stunned for a moment before he took her into his arms. Light snowflakes fell on the two of them, and the garden was silent.
The days approaching the Chinese New Year always pass quickly and happily.
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. Ying Mingcheng had just finished sweeping the fallen snow on the street in front of his house when he saw Mu Huaixi and Xiao Luoyi coming out with a string of red lanterns. When they saw him, they greeted him, "Brother Cheng, come and help."
There was already a lantern hanging at the door of their house, but the one Mu Huaixi was holding was bigger and newer. "Grandma bought it this morning. It's the latest electric lantern. It's perfect for getting rid of the old and welcoming the new!"
"Okay." Ying Mingcheng didn't think the lanterns had been hanging for too long, but he wasn't going to spoil the fun either. He put the long broom at the door and went to get the ladder.
Mu Huaixi was tidying up the red tassels tied around the lantern with Auntie Xiao Luo. Seeing him carrying a long wooden ladder over, she immediately held up the large lantern to show him, "Brother Cheng, look, this lantern can reflect the peony flowers!"
The new lanterns are double-layered, and the blooming peonies can be seen dimly on the inner red gauze. One can imagine how beautiful it would be if the lanterns were lit and the light was flowing.
"Not bad," Ying Mingcheng praised, set up a ladder, took down the old lantern, and connected the new lantern.
Mu Huaixi had been helping him from below. When he was connecting the wires, he even took out a pair of insulated hands and offered them to him. He was a real all-round little helper.
As soon as the lanterns were hung up, grandpa came out with couplets. Ying Mingcheng jumped down from the ladder, took the couplets and paste, and started to get busy again.
Mu Huaixi knew that his grandfather had been writing couplets these days, and even the words "May the abundance of natural resources bring long-lasting happiness, and may people live long and prosperous lives with great fortune" were posted on the warehouse in the backyard. Now he couldn't help but wonder what would be posted on the door.
She opened the spring couplets written with gold ink on a red background, and saw the large, flamboyantly written characters, but they contained the simplest blessings.
"Virtuous sons and virtuous grandchildren, harmony brings wealth and blessings", Mu Huaixi read out the first couplet and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth. Grandpa is showing off that his family has added grandchildren and blessings!
Ying Mingcheng's second line also unfolded: "Strengthen the army and the country, strengthen the body and maintain peace!"
Mu Huaixi was amused by the couplet, and felt that it was not at all out of place to appear in the Ying family. She couldn't help but give a thumbs up to her grandfather, "He has both a small family and a big country. Grandpa's couplet really has the world in his heart!"
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