Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

"Brother, what did Dad tell you again?" asked the second oldest brother, An Huan. The two brothers lived together.

"Nothing, just about the marriage, go to bed early."

An Huan rested his head on his arm and looked at the ceiling. "Oh, if I had known, I would not have come. I have not prepared anything. I could have set off fireworks with my brothers in Sijiu City, but this year has been so boring.

Brother, do you snore? If you snore, I will go to sleep first, and you can go to sleep after I fall asleep. "

"If you are sleepy, go to bed first. I can't sleep." An Tong thought about what his father said to him. His father would not let him go without reason.

"Grass"

The next day, when Qin Jingru called Zhao Antong to have breakfast, Antong had a pair of panda eyes.

"Did An Tong not sleep well?"

"Mom, my brother is so excited. He's getting married soon. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep last night."

"Second brother, shut up. What are you so excited about? You're snoring so loudly, there's no way you can fall asleep."

An Huan stood up and said unhappily, "Brother, what does it have to do with me if you are too excited to sleep? Don't slander me. How can I snore?"

Zhao Shanhe was not in a good mental state either. He slept with his youngest son last night. This guy slept in a messy position, with his legs or head lying on the side all night. He did not sleep well that night.

"Alright, we are all brothers, why bother about such a small matter? There are fewer rooms now, so let's be patient. If you didn't sleep well, go and catch up on some sleep later. There's nothing to worry about during the New Year."

After finishing his meal, Zhao Shanhe said to them, "An Tong, you are familiar with this place. Take your brothers, sisters and mother out for a walk. I'm going to take a nap."

An Rong looked at Zhao Shanhe, and Zhao Shanhe asked, "Girl, what's wrong?"

"Dad, did you forget something?"

"It's nothing, what could I have forgotten?"

"New Year's money, you gave it to us on New Year's Eve in previous years. We didn't want it because we saw you were drinking last night. We've already finished dinner today, Dad, you didn't forget it, did you?"

Zhao Shanhe looked at Qin Jingru and asked, "Didn't you give it to them?"

Qin Jingru was cleaning up the dishes. "Hasn't it always been you who gave our family the New Year's money? I thought you had already given it."

"Okay, okay, Dad forgot. Come and get your New Year's money. Dad will give you more this year. You can have fun when you get out."

Zhao Shanhe took out money and gave each person 100 yuan, which was 100 yuan in the 1980s. Nowadays, children's New Year's money is still around 50 cents, so you can imagine how generous Zhao Shanhe is.

An Rong hugged Zhao Shanhe's neck like a koala, "Dad, you are so kind."

"Okay, come down quickly. You're already a grown-up girl, but you're still so irritable."

Zhao Antong looked at the hundred dollars in his hand and said, "Dad, I'm getting married soon, why don't you give it back to me?"

"That's right, then give it back to me."

Zhao Antong actually returned the money.

"Okay, take it. I won't give it to you once you start working," and then he said to the younger ones, "The same goes for you. Once you start working, I won't give it to you either."

"Take your mother and go have fun. It's not easy to come here, so don't miss the opportunity. Remember to find a phone later and call your grandmother to wish her a happy new year."

"I know, Dad, you can go with us."

"I won't go. I've been busy for a year and finally have a break. An Feng didn't sleep well last night, and Dad didn't sleep well either. It's just right that you're gone so I can catch up on some sleep. Remember to bring your keys with you, and don't ask me to open the door for you."

Zhao Shanhe didn't care when they left. He went back to the bedroom and fell asleep.

It was already noon when Zhao Shanhe woke up. He was still thinking about how to eat alone as he hadn't cooked in many years.

Unexpectedly, when I arrived at the living room, I saw the four children sitting on the sofa with their heads down, looking so disappointed. Qin Jingru was cooking in the kitchen.

"Didn't you guys go out to play?"

"Dad, don't mention it. Where can we go to play? There's not even a door open on the street. I want to buy something for grandma but there's nowhere to go. I've been blowing in the wind for half a day and now I'm back.

"Dad, why don't you drive here so we can go to the beach? I've never seen the sea in my life." An Rong said with a pout.

Zhao Shanhe forgot that this is not the afterlife. Many people travel during the New Year, but nowadays people celebrate the New Year at home and reunite with their families.

"Dad, let's do something. It's so boring. If I had known it would be like this, I might as well have spent the New Year in the city."

"I have some cards in my box. How about we play some cards after dinner? Dad will call a car and take you to the beach, and then we'll go home."

After the meal, the children played cards together. Zhao Shanhe ran around for a long time before he found a public phone, wished his family a happy new year, and asked his brother-in-law to arrange a car.

"Okay, we've found a car and it will be delivered to you tonight. Go to bed early tonight and I'll take you to see the sea tomorrow morning."

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, after everyone had breakfast early in the morning, Zhao Shanhe drove everyone to the beach. Although Yangcheng is not a coastal city, it also has the sea.

"Dad, the sea is so beautiful. Where is your camera? Take some pictures for me so I can show them to my classmates when we go back to school." An Rong asked Zhao Shanhe.

Several people took turns taking several sets of photos until they used up a roll of film.

The children had a lot of fun with the waves, the beach and the shells.

On my way home in the afternoon, I went to the train station. There was a train going back on the fourth day of the New Year, so I bought a ticket.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Shanhe and Zhao Antong went to Zhao Antong's father-in-law's house again, and said goodbye to him before leaving.

What Zhao Shanhe didn't expect was that this family was so efficient that they had already found a date.

"It's the eighth day of the first lunar month. Isn't it too stressful?"

"My dear relatives, I know you are too nervous. This is the closest good day. If you delay any further, the children will go back to school and there will be no time."

Zhao Shanhe had originally been thinking that when his brother-in-law came here, he would arrange to bring the people here over. But now plans cannot keep up with changes, and it is too late to wait for his brother-in-law to come.

"Okay, it's really late. The children are about to go back to school. How about this, can you please contact the relatives who are going to go? I'll buy the tickets and they will go back with us on the fourth day of the New Year.

There's nothing to do during the Chinese New Year, so I'll just hang out there for a few days. The wedding is only a few days away anyway."

"Okay, okay, my dear in-laws, I will contact them right away and ask them to get ready."

"Okay, please count how many people told me so I can buy the tickets first, so I don't get stuck when the time comes."

"It's just our family, my eldest son-in-law and his wife, and the children's uncles and aunts. That's all we have, sixteen people in total."

"Okay, then let's meet at the train station on the fourth day of the New Year. Don't be late." Zhao Shanhe told the departure time of the train.