Chen Nongmo nodded: "My eyes are like my father's, and the rest is like my mother. My eldest brother takes after my father except for his eyes." They were just wrong.
Cao Qiuhua handed over another photo. Chen Nongmo looked at it carefully. The 2-inch photo was quite old and the edges had faded. The beautiful woman in the photo had a serious expression and was holding a pink ball in her arms.
".This is?"
"This is a photo of Wu Wen when he was one year old. At that time, your father was still out fighting the Japanese. We didn't know when he would be back. The little brat changes every day, so I thought of taking a photo of him as a souvenir when he turns one year older." As she spoke, she took all the dozen photos in her hand and skillfully arranged them in order according to age.
"When he was younger, he looked more like me, and as he got older, he looked more like Demao."
It's true. Chen Nongmo looked at the pictures one by one, and from the childish little boy, he saw a young man with sharp eyebrows and eyes.
She turned over the last one and saw May 6, 1955 written on the back.
"Only until 15 years old?"
"The brat became more and more rebellious as he grew older. Later on, he refused to take any photos anymore. It was not until he joined the army and grew up and became more sensible that he sent me a few photos." Although he said he was disgusted, the way Cao Qiuhua stroked the photos showed that he cherished them very much.
Chen Nongmo noticed her actions and said with a squint: "Qiuhua's mother misses her elder brother."
Cao Qiuhua also smiled and said as he sorted out the photos: "I did think about it, especially during the Chinese New Year."
Every hundred miles has different customs, and every thousand miles has different customs.
However, the concept of family reunion during the Spring Festival has continued to this day. Chen Nongmo could understand Qiuhua's mother's feelings at the moment. She helped to organize the photos and changed the subject: "When will Zong's father and second brother come back?"
After taking care of the third and fourth brothers, Father Zong carried a lot of food and went out with the second brother.
They said they were sending some food to the lonely elderly people in the village.
At first Chen Nongmo thought that every village was like this, but after asking carefully he realized that only Shanshun Village had such a custom, and that it was not very old, starting from a man-made disaster in 1940.
Cao Qiuhua put all the photos into the envelope and calculated the time after hearing this: "It will take at least more than an hour."
"Then let's start making dumplings. Dad Zong and the others will be back just in time for lunch." On New Year's Eve, the village slaughtered the New Year pig, and each family got a large piece. Today's dumplings are filled with cabbage and pork.
"OK!"
= After dinner, the snow fell heavier and heavier.
Today is a holiday. Chen Nongmo, who doesn't have to study, is wrapped up like a dumpling by Qiuhua's mother and goes to the production team's public housing with his brothers.
The public housing was a place to temporarily store grain after the autumn harvest and was also a house for collective labor. It was very large and had high walls.
Every time the commune projectionist came to show a movie, he would choose this place.
During the New Year's Eve, the old secretary had to work very hard to get the opportunity to screen a movie today.
In this era of information blockade, news spread much faster than Chen Nongmo had imagined. By the time the brothers and sisters, wearing new leather boots and carrying small stools, rushed to the public housing from the foot of the mountain, the house was already crowded with people.
Not only people from this village, but also many villagers from neighboring villages came. Everyone wore their neatest clothes and chatted happily, even though there was still more than half an hour before the movie started.
Chen Nongmo looked at the crowd of people and asked, "Are we too late?"
"It's not too late, come this way." Cao Liu raised the stool above his head and motioned his petite sister to follow him. Chen Huai, who was also as strong as a mountain, followed immediately, and he and his second brother stood in front and behind to protect the people and squeeze to the front.
"We're here." Chen Nongmo, who was not squeezed at all, looked up when he heard the words, and saw a few teenagers with empty seats not far away, waving at them.
"Did Second Brother tell you in advance?"
"Well, your legs are short and you can't run fast." It was the third brother Chen Huai who replied.
Chen Nongmo turned around and politely rolled his eyes at his third brother, who looked serious and had no idea what hurtful words he had said.
Then he lowered his head, paid attention to his feet, and walked straight to the empty space.
Chen Huai scratched his head and asked uncertainly: "Did Sixth Sister roll her eyes just now?"
Cao Liu glanced at his brother speechlessly and answered affirmatively: "I rolled my eyes at you."
"Why?"
Cao Liu shook his head and strode to catch up with his sister, blocking out the stares from his friends, and he and the third brother protected the little girl on both sides.
At this time, just as her buttocks touched the stool, Chen Nongmo realized that the people sitting in the front row were the educated youth from the village, and the girl named Tong Xiuxiu happened to be sitting in front of her. She subconsciously looked at her second brother on the left.
Cao Liu didn't notice his sister's eyes. He took out a walnut from his pocket, crushed it with two "cracks", and took out the flesh with his big hands and handed it over.
Just as Chen Nongmo reached out to take it, another handful of melon seeds was handed to her from the right. She simply pulled her pocket out and motioned for her third brother to put it in.
This is nothing, but in the eyes of others, it is inevitable that the little girl is considered to be spoiled. She even wants walnuts to be peeled by others. After all, she is a spoiled girl in the city.
Of course, most people only grumbled in their hearts, and only a few could not control their mouths and jokingly taught her: "Girls should behave like girls, how can they ask men to serve them?"
At first, Chen Nongmo had no idea that he was being talked about, until his second brother turned around, smiled honestly, and said modestly: "My dad usually takes care of my mom like this, and we boys are just following his example. I'm sorry to make you laugh."
"I heard that Aunt Xiuying from the next village wanted to marry her younger sister to our father. Unexpectedly, my father liked our mother. Later, the man Aunt Xiuying's younger sister married was not a good guy, so she held a grudge against our mother. Every time they meet, their eyes are not eyes and their noses are not noses." Chen Huai whispered in his sister's ear.
Chen Nongmo sneered. He didn't expect to hear more gossip about Zong's father. However, Zong's father was such a considerate person with good looks, so it was not surprising that he was liked by others when he was young.
What made her even happier was her second brother Cao Liu’s counterattack.
She is humble in everything, but she is always cautious. No wonder the aunt Xiuying looks so unhappy.
"Crack. Crack." In the next few minutes, the four brothers squeezed walnuts together and gave all the walnut kernels to their sister.
Chen Nongmo naturally accepted everyone who came to her. Even if she didn't look back, she could feel the air pressure behind her getting lower and lower.
But who cares? To put it bluntly, her sister's life is not good, although it is sympathetic, but what does it have to do with Qiuhua's mother and Zong's father? Aunt Xiuying did not blame her worthless brother-in-law, but instead took her anger out on others. I don't know why.
"Do you want to eat it? My family sent it to me." Tong Xiuxiu also heard the noise behind. She had been working in the countryside for more than half a year. There were no secrets in the countryside, so she naturally knew what Aunt Xiuying was saying. She couldn't stand this kind of people taking advantage of their seniority the most, so she took out the biscuits that she had been reluctant to eat from her pocket, turned around and handed them over.
Chen Nongmo was a little surprised, and his eyes moved from the biscuit box to the girl's blushing cheeks.
She had already learned from her third brother that more than a month ago, when her second brother went to the town to sell prey, he met Tong Xiuxiu, who had rashly entered the black market and was targeted by someone.
Because of that help, Tong Xiuxiu started to have feelings for her second brother.
This is not surprising, many girls have a hero complex.
Chen Nongmo himself is also an ordinary person. If he was saved by a young man with good character and appearance in a critical moment, he would probably feel good about him.
But, the second brother said that he wanted to join the army after the New Year and had no plans to date, so it was not convenient for her to go to see the second brother at this time . However, being stared at by so many eyes, she would be embarrassed if she didn't accept the girl.
Thinking of this, Chen Nongmo, who did not intend to interfere in other people's feelings, took out a few candies from his pocket and stuffed them into the other party's pocket, then took a few pieces from the cookie box and said politely, "Thank you."
Tong Xiuxiu glanced at the tall and strong man again, her face turned even redder, and she handed over the remaining biscuits: "Comrade Cao, please have some, thank you for last time."
Cao Liu: "Thank you, but no thanks. You already thanked me for the last time."
Hearing this, although Tong Xiuxiu felt a little disappointed, she didn't say anything else. She turned around dejectedly and whispered with her friend next to her.
"Second brother is really popular." Chen Nongmo winked at the third brother on his right.
"Of course not. I will be so popular in two years." This was Chen Huai's confident response.
Chen Nongmo. Should she tell her third brother that the real silly him and the fake silly second brother are definitely not on the same level.
= The movie is very good, it is an old movie that was released in the early 1960s.
Except for Chen Nongmo who was watching it for the first time, everyone else had watched it no less than ten times.
But people's enthusiasm for the animated film could not be resisted. After the 110-minute movie was over, many villagers were reluctant to leave and gathered together to discuss it enthusiastically.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and Chen Nongmo and the others had to go back to help prepare dinner. After saying goodbye to the people they knew, they picked up their small stools and left.
Hundreds of people were crammed into the public housing complex, and it was barely warm enough.
After coming out, the cold instantly came from all directions.
Chen Nongmo shrank his head and buried his entire face in his scarf, trying to keep the warmth he brought from the public housing unit for a little longer.
"You'll feel warm if you run." Cao Liu helped his sister tighten her scarf again, and made sure that everything except the eyes was tightly covered before he pulled her and started running in small steps.
After returning home, Father Zong took my second brother away to post couplets.
Chen Nongmo and his three other brothers followed Qiuhua's mother to clean up the evening dishes.
There are eight main dishes in total, including chicken stewed with mushrooms, pork and cabbage stewed with vermicelli, and stir-fried pork slices, and each one is very filling.
When the meal started, Zong's father brought out some rice wine and gave everyone a big bowl. Even Chen Nongmo was allowed to have a couple of sips.
The taste was soft and mellow, with a fragrant aftertaste, completely different from what she thought was spicy. If she wasn't being watched closely, she would really want to drink a few more sips . After eating and drinking, the sky was completely dark.
The boys, unable to calm down, dragged their sister to the yard to play with firecrackers.
Chen Nongmo has no particular preference for this kind of thing, but it's fun to throw two of them during the Spring Festival.
After throwing firecrackers, the whole family gathered together to play cards and stay up until midnight before returning to their rooms.
Chen Nongmo thought that the last day of 70 years had ended here.
But when she changed into soft clothes, lay in the warm bed and moved the pillow, she found a heavy red envelope underneath.
One, two, three, four. Six in total.
(End of this chapter)
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