Chapter 30 New Year
Chapter 31 New Year
After a bumpy journey, Fang Qing's family finally returned home and began to clean the house immediately. Because today is the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, and on New Year's Eve the whole family will return to the old house to celebrate the New Year, Fang's mother had to clean up each room in advance and prepare the fillings for tomorrow's dumplings.
The three of them divided the work and finally finished cleaning up before dark, and Fang's father finally returned home under the moonlight.
"Why have you three been gone these days? If you don't come back, I'll chase you to Liujiagou!" Father Fang swept the dust off his body, changed his clothes and sat down.
Fang's mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen. While picking vegetables, she told Fang's father everything about her trip back to her parents' home. Seeing that Fang's father did not look happy, she quickly praised him.
"Lao Fang, you've been really good during the few days we were away from home. I noticed that you washed the sheets and quilt covers, and even cleaned the windows. You've made great progress!"
Father Fang snorted, leaned back in his chair, struck a match, and took a few puffs of his cigarette. "Hmph, don't you see who I am? How can such a small matter be difficult for me? If it weren't for the fact that you guys haven't come back yet, this kind of thing wouldn't be worth my effort..."
The couple boasted for a while and were about to call people for dinner when there was a knock on the wooden door of the small courtyard.
As soon as Fang Ming opened the door, he shouted excitedly, "Uncle? You're finally back! Mom, it's my uncle!"
Fang Deli handed the things in his hand to Fang Ming and went straight into the house, "Second brother, I'm back."
When Mr. Fang saw that his younger brother finally came back after disappearing for several months, he was both excited and angry. He walked forward and looked at him carefully for a long time. He saw that although the brother was darker and thinner, his shoulders had muscles. Then he patted his brother's shoulder vigorously.
"You little brat, you're finally back! You left without saying a word and didn't even leave a message at home. Don't you know how worried your mother is about you! You!"
Fang Deli patiently explained, "I followed others out to do business, and I left in a hurry without saying goodbye to my family. It was my fault. I will go back and apologize to all the brothers and sisters. But second brother, I really learned something and made some money this time out there."
As he spoke, he unbuttoned his coat, pulled out a paper bag from the lining of his clothes and placed it on the table.
"Brother, this is my salary for the past few months, plus some money I earned from trading goods. It's all here. Brother, you have helped me a lot before, so use this money to help you with your household expenses!"
Father Fang was stunned when he saw the tightly wrapped paper package on the table. He reached out to open the package and saw that there were several hundred-yuan bills and some ten-yuan and five-yuan bills inside. He was stunned for a moment, and then became nervous again.
"Deli, tell me the truth, how did you get this money? What kind of job did you do to earn so much money all of a sudden? Are you doing anything illegal?"
Fang Deli became angry when he saw the scrutiny and distrust in his second brother's eyes. "Second brother, what do you mean? I earned my money through my own labor. How come it's illegal when it comes to you? Do you really not trust me?"
Seeing that his father and uncle were about to quarrel, Fang Qing, who was eavesdropping in the attic, hurried down and said, "Uncle, you're back!"
Fang Qing ran over and hugged his uncle. His uncle picked him up and turned him around. Then they looked at each other happily.
Fang Deli pointed at the money on the table and showed it to Fang Qing, "Girl, your uncle did what he said. I have earned back the big hundred yuan I promised to give you!"
Fang Qing felt warm in her heart as she looked at her dark and thin uncle. It turned out that her uncle loved her the most. "Uncle, you've been working hard outside for the past few months. What did you do? How can you earn so much money?"
When this was mentioned, Fang Deli finally became interested and told him everything about how he followed that big brother to travel around the country and start a business.
It turned out that Fang Deli not only followed the truck to transport the goods, but also took the opportunity to get a lot of medicinal wine to sell in another city. With his eloquence, the medicinal wine sold very well. After a few months, in addition to the salary from working for others, he also made a lot of money from selling medicinal wine.
Fang's father, who was sitting beside him angrily, finally understood how difficult it was for his brother, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize, so he could only ask Fang Ming to go out and buy some wine, "Go to the store in front, buy that ten-year-old wine, and bring back a roast chicken."
Fang Deli sat steadily, listened to the roast chicken and drank the wine, and finally smiled: his second brother still cared about him after all.
The two brothers drank until very late. They were silent at first, but later they hugged each other's shoulders and cried, recalling the hardships of their childhood. Finally, they both fell asleep on the table.
The mother and her two sisters took great pains to finally settle the two drunkards. Although Fang's mother was happy to see the money on the table, she did not touch a cent. She rewrapped the money and put it in her uncle's pocket, and told the brother and sister not to talk about it.
After a restful night, the next morning, uncle Fang Deli had breakfast, washed up, and hurried to his eldest brother's house to see his mother.
Before leaving, he called Fang Qing over, and while his sister-in-law wasn't paying attention, he stuffed a brand new hundred-yuan note into Fang Qing's pocket, "Take it, this is what your uncle promised, you can't let me break my promise. Use it to buy some school supplies, go back, I'll come again tomorrow. Don't tell anyone else..."
After the old uncle gave his instructions quietly, he ran away, leaving Fang Qing standing there, touching the money in his pocket and smiling with satisfaction.
The return of the old uncle made the Fang family lively. Early in the morning of New Year's Eve, each family returned to the Fang family's old house one after another.
My aunt and her family arrived first with New Year's goods. Because my uncle was there, my aunt did not find fault as she usually did, but sat aside and chatted with everyone.
My eldest aunt and her family went back to their old home in the countryside to celebrate the New Year. Before leaving, they ordered a box of frozen hairtail and hurried to catch the bus.
The younger aunt and her uncle Zhao Qiangshan arrived late, carrying a large box of Yufangzhai pastries in their hands. They sat on a small stool and helped Fang's mother pick vegetables.
My cousin Fang Liwei from my uncle's family has graduated from high school and was admitted to a technical college in the province. I heard that he will be assigned to the railway department after graduation, which made many people envious. My aunt is even more proud of this and brags about her child's bright future whenever she meets someone.
Although Fang's mother was happy for her child, she felt uncomfortable listening to her child's endless showing off, so she deliberately chopped the meat. The chopping board made a clanging sound, which disturbed Fang's grandmother, who was frowning in the room.
Although Fang Deli is a man, he can see clearly the conflicts between his sisters-in-law. He kept praising his eldest sister-in-law for her youth and beautiful new clothes, which interrupted the awkward atmosphere.
As night fell, big red lanterns lit up thousands of homes, and the Fang family finally had their reunion dinner.
No matter what barriers there are in daily life, they all turn into blessings to each other at this moment. With the sound of firecrackers outside the window, we look forward to the new year with joy.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Grandma Fang got up early, changed into clean and festive clothes and sat firmly on the armchair. The younger generations came one by one to pay New Year's greetings, and the old lady distributed New Year's money with a smile.
But when the aunt looked at Fang Qing's new leather shoes, she couldn't help feeling jealous.
(End of this chapter)
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