Xiao Yu took the basket from his bicycle and said, "I brought you dumplings, tofu and vegetables. You can have the dumplings for lunch. Where's Da Jun?"

Lin Sijun: "Brother is taking a shower in there. He just cleaned the pigsty and he stinks."

Lin Wudi pinched his nose and said, "It stinks, it stinks."

Xiao Yu: "Okay, I'll go back first."

Lin Sijun: "Brother-in-law, take care."

When Lin Dajun was taking a shower, he heard Xiao Yu's voice, so he quickly finished his shower and ran out, but he didn't see Xiao Yu: "Where's my brother-in-law? I think I heard my brother-in-law's voice."

Lin Sijun: "My brother-in-law left. He brought some dumplings, tofu and vegetables. Let's have dumplings for lunch."

Brother Lin Wu clapped his hands: "Eat dumplings, I love dumplings, I love dumplings the most."

Lin Dajun patted Lin Wudi's head and did not forget to complain: "Besides eating, what else can you do?" In his eyes, Lin Wudi was not good at anything except eating anything.

Lin Wudi opened his hand and puffed out his chest proudly: "I can also tell stories."

Lin Dajun: "...What a proud look."

Lin Sijun: "Brother, you should think about yourself. I'm going to be here on the second day of the new year, and your baby isn't ready yet. I won't trust you by then, and your bike will be gone."

Lin Dajun: “…” He was hit in the chest by an arrow.

Lin Sijun grinned and showed a smug smile to Lin Dajun. If his elder brother didn't prepare the little chicken and his sister didn't believe him, then the bicycle would be his. Lin Sijun had a beautiful thought.

"The army." Lin Zhen came over with a basket.

Lin Dajun looked at her, looking listless: "Lin Zhen, you're here?"

Seeing that he looked weak, Lin Zhen asked concernedly, "What's wrong with you?" Every time she saw Lin Dajun before, he looked full of energy and alive, and in great spirits. But now he looked sick and listless.

Lin Dajun: "My sister said that I am the head of the family and asked me to find a way to raise two chicks. But I don't know how to do that. If I don't do it well, my sister will definitely be disappointed. Maybe by then the bicycle that she wanted to reward me for graduation will be gone." Then that bastard Lin Sijun got the advantage.

Lin Zhen rolled her eyes and said, "Go ask my mom. She will definitely know where the chicks are. Let's go."

Lin Dajun was stunned: "Yes, how could I forget?" He can ask his future mother-in-law for help.

Lin Zhen said, "By the way, here is a bowl of dumplings. My mother asked me to bring it to you for lunch." It was only one bowl, only enough for the Lin brothers to share two or three each. There was no other way. There was not much flour and meat in their family, so even if they did, each person in the family could only eat two or three.

Lin Dajun: "We have dumplings at home. Our brother-in-law just brought them to us. You can take them back and eat them yourself."

Lin Zhen smiled and refused: "It's one thing for your family to have it, and it's another for my mother to ask me to send it over. Let's go and ask my mother about the chicken."

Lin Dajun: "Okay... Sanjun and Sijun, I'll go ask Jizai, you two put the dumplings that brother-in-law brought in, we'll eat them later."

Lin Sijun: “I know.”

Fifth Brother Lin: “I don’t know.”

Lin Sijun washed his hands, then picked up Lin Wudi and said, "Let's go and cook dumplings."

Brother Lin Wu: "Let's eat dumplings. I love dumplings the most."

Lin Sanjun put the cut pig grass aside, then went to the toilet, picked up the half-full dung bucket, and planned to dump it. Speaking of which, Lin Dajun is one year older than Lin Sanjun. When he was young, he ate better than Lin Sanjun, but he was not as tall as Lin Sanjun. Lin Sanjun used to live in the county town and exercised with Xiao Yu every day. Xiao Yu also taught him some military fighting skills. Later, because he had to go to school, he returned to the countryside, but Lin Sanjun did not stop exercising. He got up early every day, ran around the village, and then practiced a set of boxing taught by Xiao Yu. In terms of self-discipline, Lin Sanjun followed Xiao Yu completely. Maybe because of the frequent exercise, Lin Sanjun's height has increased rapidly. At the age of 14, he is already 1.6 meters tall. You should know that Lin Dajun is only over 1.5 meters tall.

After more than a year of training, Lin Sanjun has not only grown taller, but he no longer looks as introverted and gloomy as before. On the contrary, he has a boyish toughness. Perhaps this child is subconsciously learning from Xiao Yu, his straight military posture, and his way of walking. Looking at Lin Sanjun, one would think he has been trained in the military, and he looks a bit like Xiao Yu's shadow.

Lin Dajun followed Lin Zhen to the captain's house.

Lin Zhen: "Mother...Mother...the army is looking for you."

The captain's wife came out of the kitchen and looked at Lin Dajun. She looked like a mother who was getting more and more satisfied with her son-in-law. She could see that Lin Dajun was a bit silly, and she liked such a son-in-law. In the future, she would let her daughter take charge of the family, and her daughter could live an easy life. The captain's wife: "Dajun, what do you want to talk to your aunt about? Did you see the dumplings that your aunt asked Xiaozhen to send to you brothers?"

Lin Dajun: "I see. Auntie, do you know where there are chicks?"

The captain's wife: "Do you want to raise chicks?" Their family had raised hens before, but they had been eaten a long time ago due to famine. But now they can raise them.

Lin Dajun: "My sister asked me to raise a chicken. She said that we have to dig earthworms, dry them and feed them to piglets anyway, so why not raise hens as well? The earthworms can be fed to the hens, and the eggs laid by the hens can be eaten by us brothers."

The captain's wife said, "That's fine. After the New Year, my aunt will go catch some chickens and bring you two."

Hearing the captain's wife say this, Lin Dajun finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Auntie, I'm going back."

The captain's wife: "Oh." She sent the dumplings over and did not invite Dajun to have dinner.

After Dajun left, Lin Zhen said, "Mom, Dajun just said that after he graduates from school, his sister will buy him a bicycle. Do you think this is true?"

The captain's wife was surprised: "Did the army tell you this in person?"

Lin Zhen recounted the situation at the time: "The Great Army said so, and the Fourth Army also said so, so it should be true, right?"

The captain's wife was somewhat tempted after hearing this. It was not that she was greedy for the bicycle, but her daughter married a soldier, and it was a face-saving thing for her if her daughter and son-in-law had a bicycle.

The captain's wife said, "That should be true. You should be polite to Dajun's sister and treat her as politely as your grandmother."

Lin Zhen: "...Isn't it more polite than to grandma?"

The captain’s wife: “…” That seems to be the truth.

Lin Zhen: "Mom, what kind of betrothal gift will the army give us when we get married?"

The captain's wife: "Don't think about these things, it's useless. People should live in the present. Thinking about these far-reaching things will not help you."

Lin Zhen: "Okay, okay, I get it, stop nagging me."

The captain's wife said: "I am not nagging you. I am teaching you. I am doing this for your own good. If it were someone else, I would not teach you."

…

Xiao Family

There were enough dumplings for lunch, because Qin Xiangju had a lot of Fuqiang flour, so she made a lot of dumpling wrappers, and therefore a lot of dumplings. The ones given to Lin Dajun and his family were about 15 dumplings each, and a total of 60 dumplings were taken. 60 dumpling wrappers consumed a pound of Fuqiang flour. So for today's meal, the Xiao family used 5 pounds of Fuqiang flour just to make dumplings. Excluding the ones given to the Lin family, there were still about 240 dumplings left in the family. Including Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu, there were 12 people in the Xiao family, just 20 dumplings each. Of course, Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu couldn't eat 20 dumplings, so they gave the extra ones to Grandpa Xiao and Grandma Xiao, the two patriarchs of the Xiao family.

The Spring Festival is the most pleasant day for the people across the country. No matter they are farmers, workers or cadres, they all reunite with their families. Just like at this moment, the 13 members of the Xiao family are basking in the sun. Even Jixiang, who is only one month old, was taken out because there was no wind, so they dared to bask in the sun. Moreover, the winter sun is not as hot as the summer sun, so even if the baby's skin is tender, it will not be damaged by the sun.

Liang was now content with having a son, but although she smiled as she spoke, her brows were still furrowed.

The Xiao family did not hold a full-moon banquet. This was not the right time of the year for that.

Speaking of auspicious full moon gifts, Lin Yiyi gave two 450g bags of milk powder and a piece of cotton cloth, while the eldest wife gave 2 kilograms of rice noodles, which surprised Lin Yiyi.

Last year during the Chinese New Year, Lin Yiyi and Xiao Yu came on the 28th of the lunar year. Lin Yiyi prepared a pair of cotton shoes for Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu. Cotton shoes don't cost much. Children's cotton shoes don't use much cotton. She just paid someone to make them, but they were very cheap. This year, she forgot to prepare them. The main reason was that she came back early and was busy preparing milk powder for Jixiang's full-month baby. Now it was New Year's Eve. Everyone was sitting in the sun. Lin Yiyi was thinking about what to give Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu.

Whether in modern times or in this era, conflicts among adults are conflicts among adults, but children should not get angry. Moreover, she and Qi Bocai have had no conflicts in the past year. No matter what Qi Bocai wants to do, at least this year has been calm.

So what should we give to these two children?

Lin Yiyi sat down, took off her cotton jacket, covered her legs with it, and thought. Sitting in the sun, it was a bit hot wearing a cotton jacket, but covering her legs with the cotton jacket was very comfortable.

Thinking of this, she looked at Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu. Suddenly, looking at Xiao Zhu's hair, she thought that for a little girl like Xiao Zhu, a red hair tie would be the best gift. What about Xiao Rui? It should be practical and inexpensive, but not wasteful. Lin Yiyi immediately thought of something. Lin Wudi had a liberation cap for children, which she bought from the system mall. She could just give Xiao Rui one as well.

After thinking it over, Lin Yiyi stood up.

As soon as Xiao Yu saw her stand up, he looked at her. He just wanted to stare at her now, fearing that she might be in trouble. He knew too well that if she lost too much blood, she would easily become anemic, and anemia would cause dizziness, so he kept looking after Lin Yiyi. "What's wrong?"

Lin Yiyi said: "It's okay, just sit down, I'll go get something from the room."

Xiao Yu: "Do you want some brown sugar water?" For some reason, he would feel uneasy if his wife didn't drink the brown sugar water. He couldn't wait for her to drink a warm pot of brown sugar water.

Lin Yiyi: “No.”

Xiao Yu: "How about you drink something? Mom said brown sugar water is better."

Lin Yiyi: "..." She pulled his arm, asked him to squat down, and then whispered in his ear, "Don't be so surprised. Drinking too much is not good. I have to pee urgently. How many times a day do I have to go to the toilet?"

Xiao-Woo: "...Okay then."

Lin Yiyi couldn't help but smile as she went back to her room. However, when she returned to her room and looked at the underwear exposed between the desk and the window, she was speechless. The sun was so bright outside, if the underwear was exposed to the sun, it would have dried out. Lin Yiyi: "Hey..." When she went out, she was holding two things in her hands.

The Xiao family members were all together, watching her go in and come out. Naturally, they also saw what she was holding, and everyone was curious.

Lin Yiyi sat next to Xiao Yu and waved to Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu: "Xiao Rui, Xiao Zhu, come here. It's New Year's Day and Auntie hasn't given you any New Year's gifts yet."

Although Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu were shy, they were very familiar with Lin Yiyi. Although they only dared to call her "Auntie" and rarely talked to her, they were not afraid of her. When they heard Lin Yiyi calling them, the siblings walked over, still wearing the cotton shoes that Lin Yiyi gave them last year. In the middle of winter, it would be very cold for children not to wear cotton shoes. Since there were cotton shoes at home, there was no need to wait until the first day of the first lunar month to wear them.

Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu: "Second aunt."

Lin Yiyi first took out two red hair ties. The hair ties were small and inconspicuous, so everyone just focused on the green ball in Lin Yiyi's hand and didn't see the hair ties. Lin Yiyi gave the red hair ties to Xiao Zhu: "Use this when you braid your hair next time, so that your mother can braid it more beautifully."

When Xiao Zhu saw the red hair tie, her eyes were filled with love. Her mouth was open, she really loved it. For a child of her age, a pair of cotton shoes might not be as attractive as two hair ties. Xiao Zhu: "Thank you, Auntie." She said softly.

Lin Yiyi smiled and said, "Let your mother tie your hair again."

Xiao Zhu: "Hey." She ran to Qi Bocai and gave him two hair ties. Compared with last year's cotton shoes, this year's hair ties are indeed inconspicuous. Qi Bocai was originally wondering whether Lin Yiyi would give him a cotton jacket this year since she gave him cotton shoes last year, but it turned out to be only a hair tyre. Although hair ties look good for children, they are not worth the money and have no practical use. However, although Qi Bocai was complaining in his heart and looked a little dissatisfied, he still said nicely: "Your second aunt is really thoughtful. This hair tyre is really beautiful."

Lin Yiyi: "..." Did Qi Bocai think he didn't see the expression on her face? But she didn't have much hope for Qi Bocai in the first place. She knew that Qi Bocai was suddenly polite to her, and there must be other reasons. Now it seems that her guess was right.

Then, Lin Yiyi spread out the liberation cap in her hand and put it on Xiao Rui's head. It was a child's liberation cap, which looked very good on the child's head, especially with a small red star on the front of the cap.

Xiao Rui: "Wow... This is a PLA hat." He knew that Lin Wudi had one. Once when he came to the countryside, Lin Wudi was wearing it, so he had seen it. He was very envious at that time, but he was an introvert and just envied him but didn't say it out loud, not even to his parents.

Xiao Rui was wearing a liberation cap and kept touching it with his little hands.

Lin Yiyi's smile deepened. She could see that the child liked it. "Do you like it?"

Xiao Rui: "I like it. Thank you, Auntie." It should be particularly loud.

Lin Yiyi: "Xiao Rui looks really good in it. He looks like a little soldier, a member of the People's Liberation Army."

Xiao Rui: "Hey." He stood up straight and saluted Lin Yiyi in a weird but very childlike manner.

Xiao Rui smiled at Lin Yiyi again and ran to his mother. If Qi Bobao was not satisfied with the hair tie just now, then she was satisfied with the Liberation cap now. She saw that her son liked it so much. Also, because the Liberation cap had the word "Liberation" on it, and it was a cap that the People's Liberation Army would wear, it felt different, so Qi Bobao was very satisfied.

Xiao Rui: "Mom, does it look good on me?"

Qi Spinach: "It looks good."

Xiao Rui looked at Xiao Zhu again, and Xiao Zhu said, "It looks good. As good as her hair tie," and she added silently in her heart.

Then Xiao Rui looked at his father...his grandparents...Xiao Rui was such an introverted and quiet child, but he actually asked them one by one. It showed that he liked this liberation cap very much. He was really satisfied with this gift.

In fact, it is not just Xiao Rui, but children of this generation who have a mysterious admiration and love for the things of the People's Liberation Army. They always feel that if they put on military uniforms and put on liberation caps, they are the People's Liberation Army.

Liang watched them interacting and hoped that her own son would be as cute when he grew up.

Xiao Rui: "Mom, I want to go find some friends to play with." Although Xiao Rui is only four years old, he has his own friends, and he will be five after the Chinese New Year. At this age, if it were other children in the countryside, they would have gone out to play by themselves. There is no way they would be like Xiao Rui, saying hello to Qi Bocai.

Qi Bocai knew what he was thinking, so she said, "Go ahead, but don't get your hat dirty or damaged."

Xiao Rui: "Hey." He also wanted to show off to his friends and tell them that he had a Liberation cap that his aunt brought from the county town. It was a very nice looking one.

Xiao Rui didn't want to take it off after he put it on, so he ran out of the Xiao family to find his friends. Seeing this, Xiao Zhu touched the hair tie she had just tied and followed him out. Xiao Rui had friends, and so did she. But Xiao Rui's friends were boys, and hers were girls. The girls would definitely envy her hair tie to death. Just thinking about it made me laugh, it was so funny.

Xiao Rui ran outside and went directly to the village gate, because the village gate was the most crowded place and everyone liked to sit and chat there. The adults chatted there and the children played nearby, so it was just the right time for him to go there.

Xiao Rui ran over wearing a liberation army cap, and Xiao Zhu followed behind. This scene was very attractive. Of course, the real attraction was Xiao Rui. He walked in front of his friend and wanted to show it off, but before he could open his mouth, his friend spoke up: "Xiao Rui, is this your PLA cap?"

Xiao Rui: "This is the PLA hat my second aunt gave me. Does it look good? My mother said it looks good, and so do my father, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents. I think it looks good, too."

Friend: "If you let me try it on, I'm sure it will look good on me."

Xiao Rui was reluctant to part with it: "This was given to me by my auntie. I don't want to give it to others. If you like it, can you let your auntie make one for you?"

The friend pouted and said, "My mom and my aunt quarrel every day. It drives me crazy."

Xiao Rui doesn't understand. He is only four years old. Those novels describe three or four-year-old children as being very sensible. That's all fake. If it were true, then this child must be more than three years old.

Friend: "Xiao Rui, please let me wear it. I also want to be a member of the People's Liberation Army."

"I want to take it too, just for a little while."

Xiao Rui held down his hat with his hands, fearing that they would come and snatch it away. Of course, this kind of snatching was different from the kind of snatching that took possession of it. If his friends snatched it away, they would just wear it for a while and then return it to him.

Friend: “You are so stingy.”

Xiao Rui said: "But this is a gift from my aunt, just one."

Young friend: "Your aunt is so nice, Xiao Rui... Does your aunt still need a nephew?"

Xiao Rui: "I don't know. My second aunt now has only two nephews, me and Jixiang. Zhuzi, what are you going to do?"

Xiao Rui's friend is named Zhuzi. He is a bit dark and dirty.

Zhuzi: "I want to ask your aunt if I can be her nephew. I also want this hat."

Xiao Rui was anxious: "That's my aunt, not your aunt."

Zhuzi: "I know, but I want to give it a try." He said with a grin.

Xiao Rui looked at him and felt that he was not in the mood to play with him, so he turned around and ran home. What if someone really came to look for his second aunt and wanted to be her nephew?

However, Xiao Rui thought too much.

The Xiao family has a relatively rich dinner. It can be said that the most sumptuous dinner of the year is the New Year's Eve dinner, which is even more sumptuous than the Chinese New Year. Some people even say that you should cook more food on New Year's Eve and eat the leftovers from the first day of the new year. Some places have this practice.

However, in some places, people invite their ancestors on New Year's Eve. After inviting the ancestors, the family members have dinner and the dishes that were prepared for the ancestors are re-cooked and eaten directly.

Every place has its own customs.

But the Xiao family didn't have this habit. And in this kind of year, there wasn't enough food for people to save for the first day of the new year. The food on the Xiao family's table had already been eaten up like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

After dinner, Lin Yiyi, who was having her period, did not go for a walk to digest the food. Her stomach started to swell a little, and she felt weak. This reminded Lin Yiyi of her life. Every time she had her period, her stomach would start to swell on the first night, and it would continue on the second day, but it would be gone on the third day. It seemed that her physical condition was similar to her original condition.

Xiao-Woo: "What's wrong?"

Lin Yiyi: "I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep. But I don't have the strength. Can you help me fetch some water?"

Xiao-Woo: "Okay."

Lin Yiyi didn't take a shower either, but just wiped herself in the bathroom. When she came out, she didn't see Xiao Yu at the door, so she went back to her room. As a result, she saw Xiao Yu sitting in the quilt. When he saw her coming, Xiao Yu said, "Come quickly, the quilt is warm."