It was said that we had to stay up on New Year's Eve, but before midnight, Cheng Maixiang was so sleepy that she couldn't open her eyes. She kept dozing off while sitting, and finally had to go back to her room to sleep.
The younger ones were not much better off. Qiaomai and Aimin fell asleep in the bed in a mess before Cheng Maixiang fell asleep. Aijun was barely holding on, only Aiguo was full of energy and didn't seem sleepy at all.
Cheng's mother decided to let Cheng Maiqing and Cheng Maidong go home, leaving only a few children to accompany her. After her son and daughter-in-law left, she closed the door and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Cheng Maixiang was awakened by the sound of firecrackers in the village. She turned her head to look at the window and saw a light on it. She sat up and opened the window drawer, and saw that the snow outside was a foot thick. It seemed that it had snowed all night.
Cheng Maixiang lived in the south in her previous life and rarely saw such heavy snow. She immediately became energetic and quickly put on the new clothes she had prepared, without even wearing a cotton coat, and ran into the yard.
The snow was above her ankles, and the crunching sound when she walked on it made Cheng Maixiang feel very novel. Cheng's mother was making dumplings in the kitchen, and when she saw her daughter playing in the snow like a child, she couldn't help but smile and shook her head.
Several children also stood up. Perhaps because they hadn't seen snow all winter, the children cheered and immediately grabbed the snow on the ground and started playing snowball fights.
Qiaomai has always been Cheng Maixiang's little follower, so naturally he is in the same team with Cheng Maixiang now. The two of them are fighting with the three boys on the opposite side, and the whole yard is filled with laughter.
Even Dahuang came out to join in the fun, following behind Qiaomai and barking at the three boys opposite. However, he was hit on the head by a snowball and was stunned for a moment, then he lay on the ground pretending to be dead.
Everyone laughed so hard that Cheng Maixiang squatted on the ground and couldn't stand up. Seeing that they were sweating, Cheng's mother hurriedly invited them to go back to the main room to eat dumplings.
The children all knew that according to the rules, they had to wish Cheng's mother a happy new year after eating dumplings, and then they would get a red envelope. They all went into the house cheering. Aijun and Min were boys at heart, and seeing that other families were setting off firecrackers, they couldn't help it. They took out a thousand firecrackers from the cabinet where they kept miscellaneous items at home and lit them with incense.
The firecrackers "crackled" and shook Cheng Maixiang's internal organs. In her previous life, she lived in the city and rarely heard the sound of firecrackers. Now such vivid sounds rang in her ears, making her feel that life was so real.
The children were all thinking about their lucky money, so they lowered their heads and ate voraciously.
Not long after, Aijun put down his bowl, knelt down on the straw in the main hall, and kowtowed three times. "Happy New Year, Grandma! Aijun kowtows to you!"
Cheng Maixiang almost spit out the dumplings in her mouth. Ever since Aijun was beaten by Cheng's mother, he was trembling with fear when he saw her. Now he was the first to kowtow and wish a happy new year, and his desire to please Cheng's mother was beyond words.
The other three children also kowtowed to Cheng's mother, said auspicious words, and then stood up.
Aiguo looked calm, while the other three children were still young, and they stared at the wallet in Cheng's mother's hand with anticipation.
Mother Cheng smiled kindly and took out three dollars from her wallet, giving them to Aijun, Aimin and Qiaomai respectively.
The three of them were stunned. In previous years, Cheng's mother had only given them a few cents, and they had thought it would be the same this year.
But one or two cents is not a small amount. After all, many families in the village only give a few cents to send their children away, or even give nothing.
Cheng's mother actually gave one dollar at once, enough to buy several kilograms of food!
Aijun Aimin cheered loudly, said thank you, and took the money directly from Cheng's mother.
Qiaomai didn't dare to take it. She turned around and looked at her brother. Aiguo thought about it and nodded slightly. Only then did Qiaomai take the money.
Cheng's mother took out another two yuan from her wallet and said to Aiguo, "Aiguo got first place in the class in the final exam and was ranked second in the district essay competition, so grandma is giving him a special reward."
Two dollars! That's so much!
The three children were originally very happy, but when they saw the patriotic New Year's money, they immediately became jealous.
Cheng Maixiang smiled and said to the three of them, "You three little brats, don't envy Aiguo for having so much New Year's money. Think about how he was studying. You guys were having fun and sleeping in. He earned this money through his own hard work. If you get good grades next year, even if grandma doesn't give you a reward, auntie will!"
The three children originally wanted to compete with each other, but after hearing what Cheng Maixiang said, they thought about it and realized that it made sense, so they gave up the urge to make trouble. Besides, one dollar was not a small amount, and it was enough to show off in front of their friends, so they became happy again.
Cheng Maixiang was washing dishes in the kitchen when she saw Qiaomai peeking in. She tilted her head and asked, "Aunt, when will my uncle and his family come over?"
Cheng Maixiang knew she was thinking about Yingying, so she couldn't help but smile and said, "With such heavy snow, it might take until noon. Go and pay New Year's greetings with Aiguo Aijun and the others first. When you come back, Yingying might be here."
Yingying shook her head, took the bowl that Cheng Maixiang had washed, wiped it dry and put it in the cupboard. "The three of them left early. My brother wanted me to go with them, but I didn't want to go with them. My parents and my second uncle and aunt are here too, and they're talking to grandma in the main room. Aunt, I'm here to keep you company."
Seeing that she was so young but spoke so conscientiously and pretended to be lonely, Cheng Maixiang couldn't help but smile and scratched her nose, "Okay, stop being sad here. No one is playing with you. How about I play with you?"
"Yeah," Qiao Mai nodded vigorously, and suddenly said to Cheng Maixiang with a mysterious look on her face, "Aunt, let me tell you, I just saw Aijun sneaking out of the storage room. He was really scared when he saw me. I went into the room to check, but I didn't find anything. Do you want to go over and take a look?"
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