29. Same China, Different Spring Festivals
I went back to my hometown to celebrate the Spring Festival. There are three bedrooms, one for my grandfather, one for my parents and my little nephew, one for Wen He and his wife and my eldest nephew, and one for Wen Hua?
Wenhua had a camp bed next to the window in the restaurant. There was no air conditioning at home, and they used an iron stove to heat their home in winter, which burned coal. The stove was located at the end of her bed, and every day when Wenhua got up and blew her nose, there would be black stuff in it.
She is unhappy and is unhappy when she sees a coal stove. When she was before school, her grandmother took her to sleep with her and she was poisoned by coal smoke. The harm was saved because her grandmother climbed out in the middle of the night and opened the door. But the family always said that her grandmother's bronchitis was caused by Wen Hua, so she is unhappy!
When she was in elementary school, every student in the class had to bring firewood to school to light the stove. She couldn’t find any firewood, so she was punished by the teacher to stand in the corner, which made her unhappy!
When she was in middle school, her grandmother passed away. The mourning hall was set up in her hometown in the countryside. Wenhua and her two sisters were sleeping in the side room and were poisoned by gas again. The fourteen-year-old Wenhua fainted and fell from the high steps. The moment she saw people running towards her from all directions, she thought in her mind that her grandmother had come to collect the debt, and she never dared to be unhappy again!
Wen Hua felt that she was the tragic heroine chosen by God, and she could talk about her bad things for three days and three nights.
On New Year's Eve, families across the country gathered together for family reunions. Friends lined up to post pictures of their New Year's Eve dinners. Wen Hua liked each one of them. Their family's New Year's Eve dinner was a pot of pork rib soup at 5:30, but Wen He didn't like it, so she made rice and stir-fried vegetables, stir-fried shiitake mushrooms with pork slices, her favorite. Wen Hua also didn't like to chew bones, so her mother added another dish, shiitake mushrooms and rapeseed.
Wen Hua has never eaten mushrooms since she was a child. She ate a small bowl of rice with some vegetables. She had physical nausea on New Year's Eve.
Before the party started, my parents took the children to my grandmother's house to pay New Year's greetings. Soon, many short videos were sent to the family group. My grandmother gave birth to six children, and it was very lively during every festival with four generations living together. The younger generations kowtowed to ask for red envelopes, and the adults played cards with the elderly. Wen Hua looked at his grandfather who was sitting in a daze at the dining table, walked over and sat down to talk to him.
As usual, when the Spring Festival Gala began, the host said, "Dear audience friends," and then my grandfather stood up and said, "It's eight o'clock, time to go to bed."
The old man’s biological clock will not change because of CCTV.
Wenhua went to the bathroom to smoke secretly. There were many places she could go to celebrate the New Year. Several old friends had made plans to play mahjong and drink. However, at this time, other people's families were still celebrating the New Year with a lively dinner. If she wanted to go out, she had to make plans after ten o'clock.
After putting on some makeup and taking her bag, she went out. Wen He angrily scolded her, "You don't even spend the New Year with your family. You just go out and have fun."
Wen Hua held the door open and looked back at her, "Is this home?" She wanted to ask, but in the end she could only smile and act heartless.
She ran to the roadside in one breath. It was difficult to get a taxi on New Year's Eve. She stood in the cold wind for a long time and walked along the main road towards the city. There were almost no passers-by, which was okay. Wen Hua looked at the lights of thousands of houses and felt that the weather was really cold. The wind felt like a knife blowing on her face. She walked against the wind for forty minutes and arrived at the pedestrian street. Friends finally started to leave their homes to keep their appointments.
Lin Zhengze sent a red envelope for the New Year, "Happy New Year, smell the flowers, I miss you."
"Lin Zhengze...", she called, feeling like crying.
"I'm here," he said.
"I changed my ticket and will be back on the eighth day of the new year. Can you come back earlier?"
Come back and stay with me, Lin Zhengze. I feel a little lonely.
"I can't come back on the eighth day of the New Year," he said.
"Yeah, it's okay, I'm just being casual..."
"Come to me, let's celebrate the New Year together."
Five minutes later she received the flight information and returned home at four in the morning. Wen Hua vomited all over the place while holding the toilet.
The next day, various dinner parties began, with relatives and friends. The family never cooked again. Wen's mom and dad filled the refrigerator with dumplings and let grandpa cook them every day. Wen Hua would go home for an hour in between playing cards and drinking to accompany grandpa for dinner, and then go out again after eating.
On the fifth day of the New Year, there were guests at home. They said they were friends of Wen's father. The family of three came to pay New Year's greetings. The other party's son was said to be in his thirties, but looked like he was fifty. He had a side-parted hairstyle and a protruding belly. When he smiled, he looked like Maitreya Buddha. Wen Hua clicked on Lin Zhengze's photo to refresh her eyes.
On the sixth day of the New Year, the two families had dinner together. At the table, they talked back and forth, trying to bring Wenhua and Maitreya Buddha together. Wenhua smiled and said nothing, pretending not to understand.
"Come back, you're old enough now, we'll feel more at ease if you start a family," said Wen's mother.
"You come back to eat free meals and rely on your parents?" she said.
"You haven't made any money in the few years you've been away. Last year, you even asked your family to borrow money. Tell me why you borrowed the money at that time? You've been working for so many years and you don't even have tens of thousands of dollars? Come back quickly. Uncle Wang's family is in business, and the two shops on the commercial street are for his sons. You just need to get married and live a stable life running the shops," said Wen's mother.
Wen Hua clenched her fists and wanted to hit herself. Last year, last year, she actually regretted it as soon as she told her parents. She said at the time that she had the money and didn't need it anymore, but this talk would remain with her for the rest of her life.
"No, that man makes me sick. He's fat and has big ears," Wen Hua said.
"You still look down on me? You are so lucky. You can't get married here at your age. Who among the same age hasn't got a family? Who among the young people would date someone as old as you?" Wen's mother was also angry.
They parted on bad terms. Wenhua went out for a drink and packed up to take the train to Chengdu the next night.
"Let her watch the game however she wants. I don't care whether she lives or dies," Wen's mother said to her angrily. Wen Hua wiped his tears in her grandfather's room and secretly stuffed five thousand yuan into his hand.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
