On the night of the 30th of the lunar year,
Normally, the people in the Xie family had to go to Xie Zhenghe's house for dinner, but they moved to where Xie Zhengchuan used to live. The main room was not big, and there was no room for the whole family and the children, so the two decided to have dinner at Xie Zhenghe's house.
Xie Zhenghe and Pan Yumei naturally had no objection. They had worked hard all day, and sometimes when they were busy, they would go to Xie Zhengchuan's house for dinner.
The eldest daughter was having dinner at home on her thirties, and both of them wanted to do better. Mrs. Liu raised this daughter well, and Xie Zhenghe treated her like his own mother. The people in the Xie family were also kind, so she lived a comfortable life.
The three of them were busy at home early in the morning.
"Auntie, you don't have to work hard. If you want to help, just sit by the stove and add some firewood."
As Xie Zhenghe was stirring the meat filling, Pan Yumei poured soybean oil into the pot, which would be used to fry meatballs, banana leaves and fried sugar cakes.
"I can still help out with my old bones. I haven't done much work for a while and I'm feeling lazy. I always want to find something to do." Mrs. Liu said as she added firewood to the stove.
Pan Yumei put the wrapped oil-sugar cakes on the chopping board and waited for the oil to heat up. "Mom, you just don't know how to enjoy life. There's not much work for you to do at home. You just walk around the village every day. Isn't it good to wait and play with your grandchildren for a while?"
"Well, life is beautiful now, but mother is too idle. I envy your mother-in-law. She helps Xiaoli hold the baby. I help take care of the baby when I have nothing to do. Oh, they are so cute. These chubby babies look smart. Mother wants to hold one, too."
Xie Zhenghe and Pan Yumei looked at each other, feeling somewhat helpless. They said that Granny Liu had been going to Zhengchuan's house for some time, so she must be waiting for them here.
Pan Yumei scolded, "Oh my god, there are four children in this family, but they are not enough for you to hug. If you want to hug them, I will tell the children to come and kiss Grandma Liu."
Granny Liu rolled her eyes at her and said, "Tsk, don't you two know what mom means? You're just fooling me. You need to have a baby of your own. I've asked a few kids for you, and they want a little brother or sister, too. Lai Fu visits Li Dan every day, and Tie Dan brags about his brothers and sisters. He told me about it a long time ago."
Xie Zhenghe felt warm at heart when he heard what Granny Liu said. Laifu was really sensible now. He helped him with work in the mountains and fields, did well in school, and took good care of his younger brothers and sisters. In fact, he always felt guilty when he saw such a sensible son.
He was very spoiled when he was a child and was spoiled by Pan Zhaodi, who didn't pay much attention to him. The two daughters were not valued by their mother, so as a father, he inevitably paid more attention to his daughters.
Xie Zhenghe sighed and thought, that's all. Lai Fu is still young and he can love him more. He is too busy this generation. He heard from Hu Zi that Lai Fu likes their game consoles and plays it often. He asked his third brother's wife and found out it's a bit expensive, but he still paid for her to buy him one.
Pan Yumei didn't know what Xie Zhenghe was thinking, "Mom, don't worry. We don't want it. It depends on the date. The baby will come when it's time. There's no need to rush."
When Mrs. Liu heard that Pan Yumei meant that the two of them were willing to have it, she immediately became happy, "Hey, don't worry, it's okay if you want it."
The three of them worked for the whole morning, and at noon they cooked a pot of stewed vegetables in a frying pan and ate it with steamed buns, which tasted delicious.
In the afternoon, Su Li and Xia Xiuzhi came to Xie Zhenghe's house to help with cooking. In addition to cooking a large table of dishes, Daguo also made a lot of dumplings.
After dinner was ready, Pan Yumei asked Lai Fu and Xiao Dongqian to invite other people to come home for dinner.
There were two large tables of food, one for the adults and one for the children. Xie Zhenghe took a lot of canned food and seafood from the cannery. Several families also donated some. There were also canned yellow peaches and oranges from the cannery on the dinner table tonight.
The two elderly people Xie 嫅 and Xie 齂 looked at the big table of food, and then looked at their son and daughter-in-law, and the table full of children. They were extremely happy. Their family was so prosperous!
Each family member holds a glass of wine or drink.
Xie 㫅 narrowed his eyes and said: "Let me say a few words!"
Xie Zhengyang looked at his father's smug look and almost laughed out loud. Xia Xiuzhi, who was standing next to him, bumped into his shoulder and he stopped smiling.
Xie Zhenghe and Xie Zhengchuan also put their fists to their lips and coughed.
"You all did a great job today. I want to especially praise the third son's wife. The factory is doing well. I heard from Xiuzhi that we got a lot of money. Our family has become a millionaire. But you must not tell anyone about this, so as to avoid the villagers getting jealous. We just need to keep it to ourselves. You did a good job today. Keep working hard tomorrow. Let's eat!"
"It's time to eat!"
Everyone started to eat. Jinghui and the other two sat on the small chairs nearby. Christmas Eve was placed on a child seat. The four chairs were made by Xie Zhengchuan himself based on the drawings drawn by Su Li.
Pan Yumei picked up the empty bowl in front of Su Li and filled her with a bowl of fish soup, "Have some fish soup, Xiaoli."
"Thank you, sister-in-law." The two smiled at each other.
They were eating happily. The family had been busy for a while, and now they were chatting while eating. Lai Fu put down his chopsticks and walked to Xie Zhenghe and said, "Dad, is it time to set off firecrackers?"
Xie Zhenghe looked at his watch. It was past eight o'clock. "It's time to set off firecrackers. Zhengyang, lead the children to set off firecrackers. I bought a lot and brought them to you."
Xie Zhengyang picked up another piece of braised pork, put down his chopsticks and said, "Okay, big brother, I just brought a bag with some firecrackers for the children. It's not dangerous, let the children have fun with them."
"Ah, second uncle, did you buy firecrackers? I want a box." Xie Lai Fu looked at Xie Zhengyang with his big eyes.
When Li Danhuzi and the others heard about the firecrackers, they put down their chopsticks and came over.
"Uncle, we want one too."
"Uncle, give me one box. Give me one box."
Xie Zhenghe is a father of three children, but he is still a bit childish at heart. He loves to eat and play with children the most.
"We have everything. We have everything. I bought a lot. Come and get them."
Everyone surrounded Xie Zhengyang, and Xie Qi scolded him with a smile, "You are so old, but you are still like this. You have never grown up."
Xia Xiuzhi watched Xie Zhengyang distributing firecrackers to the children and thought her man was really adorable.
Xie Zhenghe took out the firecrackers in the house and handed them to Xie Zhengyang. He took a bamboo pole and handed it to Lai Fu, with the firecracker tied to the other end. He took out a match, lit the fuse and ran away immediately.
There was a crackling sound in the yard.
Xie Qi, Pan Yumei and Su Li blocked the ears of Jinghui and the other two children with their hands. Ping'an was so scared that he went straight into Xia Xiuzhi's arms.
Xie Zhengchuan walked to Su Li's side without knowing when, raised his hand and gently hugged her shoulders. The whole family looked towards the yard, and the loud sound of firecrackers indicated that a new baby was coming.
After dinner, everyone went home. Pan Yumei boiled water for the children to wash. The children had been playing so much that they were very sleepy and fell asleep soon after they got on the kang.
Xie Zhenghe and Pan Yumei went to Lai Fu and Xiao Dong's room first, holding the gifts they bought for the children and the New Year's money they had prepared. They gently placed the New Year's money under their pillows. The money was not much, only one dollar per person, but it was a huge sum of money for the children.
After all, one cent can buy one piece of candy, and one dime can buy ten popcorns.
Pan Yumei placed the new clothes for tomorrow's wear next to the two of them. Xie Zhenghe placed the game console he bought for Lai Fu, as well as the Liberation shoes and comic books he bought for Xiaodong on the kang, and then the two left.
Xiangzhi and Xianglan each received a new set of clothes, two hair flowers and hairpins.
After finishing the job, the two of them went back to the room to sleep.
After Su Li and Xie Zhengchuan got home, they gave the children new clothes, small leather shoes with velvet, toys and hair ornaments without waiting for them to go to bed.
Hu Zi was holding the new clothes with his mouth wide open, and he kept blinking at Su Li. Su Li reached out and flicked his forehead, "Go to sleep quickly, I'll give you the New Year's money tomorrow."
"Well, okay, mom, don't forget it!"
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