I sat down at my desk, took a sip of water from my teacup, and picked up a book to read. My heart gradually calmed down.
After finishing lunch in the cafeteria, Li Chu was walking towards his office when Director Liang stopped him: "Xiao Li, are you going out for the three-day holiday?"
Li Chu thought for a moment and said, "I should go to my sister's house tomorrow. My wife and I will go back to her house on the second day of the Lunar New Year. We'll be fine on the third day."
Is your sister's house far from the hospital?
"It's in the staff quarters of the district grain bureau. What's up, Director?"
“Is that so? Our department doesn’t arrange for anyone to be on duty during the holidays, right? If anything happens at the hospital, we can have them come to your home on the third day of the Lunar New Year. You can make the trip there, and usually nothing will happen. What do you think?” Director Liang suggested to him.
"No problem, Director," Li Chu replied readily.
Director Liang smiled and patted Li Chu on the shoulder: "Okay, I'll report to the medical office in a bit."
Director Liang's job as a leader is quite difficult. The Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine has a total of seven doctors, including himself. Apart from Dr. Li Chu and Dr. Luo, the remaining four doctors are all old and difficult to manage. Director Liang can hardly assign any tasks.
If it weren't for the city's unified requirement to send doctors to the countryside in the past two years, and the fact that Li Chu and Dr. Luo had already gone in the first year, it would have been impossible to arrange for those two doctors to go in the second year.
Fortunately, Li Chu's medical skills are now quite advanced, and he has a good reputation in the hospital. Every time he participates in an in-hospital consultation, the heads of other departments also acknowledge his expertise.
Finally, it was time to leave work, and Li Chu ran home like an arrow released from a bow.
People were setting off firecrackers on the street from time to time, and a group of children followed behind, watching, laughing, and making noise.
As soon as Li Chu entered the courtyard, he smelled a delicious aroma wafting through the air. Yes, it was the New Year; whether rich or poor, everyone had to find a way to make dumplings and stir-fry some meat dishes.
When I got to my door, I found that the Spring Festival couplets had already been pasted on the door. Without asking, I knew that it must have been put up by my third uncle. Every year during the Spring Festival, my third uncle would write Spring Festival couplets for the people in the courtyard in exchange for some melon seeds and peanuts. It was one of his special traditions.
The first line reads: May every year bring you good fortune; the second line reads: May every year bring you peace; the horizontal scroll reads: Spring breeze brings blessings.
It's a very standard couplet, but I must say, the Third Uncle's calligraphy is actually quite good.
Just as I was looking at them, I heard Uncle San's voice from behind me: "Xiao Chu, you're back from get off work. You weren't home at noon, so I had Jie Cheng put them up for you. What do you think of the Spring Festival couplets I wrote for your house?"
Li Chu turned around and gave a thumbs up: "Not bad, not bad at all. The content is good, and the handwriting is good too. Uncle, your handwriting has now reached a high level!"
"Xiao Chu, you're overpraising me. It's barely passable." The Third Uncle said modestly, but he couldn't hold back his smile.
Li Chu pushed open the door: "Uncle, please come in and sit down. I'll get you some melon seeds and peanuts."
Upon hearing Li Chu's words, the third uncle's smile widened even more: "I won't go in. My family is making dumplings, and I need to go back and help." He said this, but didn't move an inch.
Li Chu entered the house, grabbed a handful of melon seeds and a handful of peanuts from the plate on the table, and went out.
When the old man saw that Li Chu had given him so much, he grinned so hard you could see his back teeth. He said, "Oh my, this is too much, Little Chu." He quickly lifted up the hem of his clothes to cover it up. "Thank you so much. You're so kind. I just wanted to write some Spring Festival couplets, and you gave me so much."
"Don't be so polite, Uncle. You're helping me write Spring Festival couplets, so I'll give you some melon seeds and peanuts as payment. It's only right."
"That's why I say you're a college student, Xiao Chu; you're so sensible," the third uncle praised.
"Well, Uncle, you must be busy, so I won't invite you in. I'll go back and tidy up too."
"Xiao Chu, you're busy. Your wife will be back soon. I'm going back to make dumplings." The third uncle happily carried his melon seeds and peanuts back home.
When the three women saw their husbands returning with so many sunflower seeds and peanuts, they beamed with joy: "Goodness, so many! That must be two or three ounces!"
The third uncle poured the melon seeds and peanuts into a plate on the table before saying to the third aunt, "I told you at noon that we should put up the Spring Festival couplets for Xiao Chu. When he comes back, he definitely won't be short of our things. See? I told you so."
The three women chuckled and said, "Yes, yes, you're right."
"That's right. When have I ever said anything wrong? Every single person in this courtyard, without exception, is the least likely to renege on our property."
The three uncle's four children sat around the table, looking at the plate of melon seeds and peanuts, silently calculating how many they could get tonight.
After returning to his room, Li Chu took out a packet of tea from the cabinet. This tea was a reward from the system's daily check-in service, and he planned to take it when he went to Uncle Wang's house later. He didn't need to take anything else, or he would get scolded for taking too much.
Before his wife returned, he took out a piece of meat and chopped it into filling. Although he didn't have to cook at home today, he still had to make dumplings when he got back tonight.
While I was chopping the filling, I heard Xiao Hei's barking coming from afar. No problem, Ding Qiunan was back from get off work.
"Li Chu, why aren't you cooking? Why are you chopping filling?" Ding Qiunan entered the house but didn't smell any cooking aromas, so she went into the kitchen.
"Honey, you don't need to take off your coat. I'll be done in a minute. We won't be eating at home tonight; we'll go to my Uncle Wang's house."
"Uncle Wang? Oh, the Uncle Wang you told me about in Hainan? He's back?" Ding Qiunan stopped taking off her coat and asked.
"Yes, I just got back last night. They sent someone to inform me this morning. My sister and her family will be going over tonight."
"What should we bring? I'll go pack."
"Just pack that packet of tea on the table. You don't need to take anything else. He doesn't need anything else. If we take it, we'll just get scolded."
Before they finished speaking, the minced meat was ready. Li Chu didn't waste any more time. He put on the hat and gloves that Ding Qiunan had knitted for him, pushed his bicycle, and went out with his wife.
When they arrived at the gate, Li Qin and Wang Ziwen, along with their child, had just arrived and were talking to the sentry at the gate.
Li Chu got off his bicycle, pushed it over, and said, "Sister, brother-in-law, you just arrived too?"
"Uncle, Aunt," the sweet-talking Wang Jiayuan called out to them first.
Ding Qiunan also called out, "Sister, brother-in-law." She then smiled at Wang Jiayuan and touched her face.
Wang Ziwen turned to look at the two of them: "We thought you two had already gone in. Turns out you're still behind us. Wait a minute, I've already made the call, Zhang Meng will be out soon."
"Qiu Nan's commute home is long, so it took her a while."
Li Qin walked up to Ding Qiunan, took her hand, and asked, "Qiunan, are you cold on the way?"
"Sis, I'm not cold. Li Chu bought me this cotton coat, and it's very warm."
Wang Jiayuan ran to Li Chu's side, and Li Chu picked her up and placed her on the front bar of his bicycle. Then he started chatting quietly with his brother-in-law. Only Wang Jiadong stood to the side, pretending to be deep and serious like a little adult.
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