Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

A few days after my third uncle left, December passed and time quickly entered January 12.

It's the new year, and things will be uneasy from the beginning. Zhao Shanhe is ready. No matter how strong the wind and waves are, I will remain unmoved.

On New Year’s Day, my grandmother, my second uncle and his family all came over. It’s the New Year, and everyone is preparing to have a meal together again.

"Let's make dumplings. Dumplings represent the transition from the old to the new and bring good luck for the year," Zhao Shanhe suggested.

"It's good to eat dumplings. Before your grandfather died, he wanted to see your father again and eat dumplings, but neither of his wishes came true," said grandma.

"Mom, let's not talk about these unhappy things on New Year's Day," said the second uncle

Then everyone helped to make dumplings. The Zhao Shanhe brothers were the ones who made things worse. They usually just waited for everything to be done for them, but they just added to the chaos and were kicked out. They decided to go and have a smoke.

The dumplings are made with pork and green onions. In that era, let’s not talk about anything else, just the pork itself, the taste is so delicious, which is incomparable to the pigs raised with feed and clenbuterol in later generations.

"Eat dumplings and drink wine, the more you eat, the more you have. Come, have one." The person who said this must be my second uncle, an old drunkard.

Zhao Shanhe's two brothers, plus his second uncle and his eldest son, started drinking. This time, his third uncle was not there, and his second uncle and his son fell down under the care of Zhao Shanhe's two brothers.

After drinking, Zhao Shanhe went out to get some water and saw that it had started snowing outside. The ground was covered in white.

Zhao Shanhe has forgotten how many times it snowed this winter, but this is the first snow in 1966, which means something different. Snow means a good harvest, and it will be another year of good weather and good harvest. I hope everything goes well, Zhao Shanhe sighed.

Zhao Shanhe took out a cigarette and lit it. He wondered how your parents are doing in the future. It was all because of your unfilial son. A few tears fell from the corners of his eyes.

At this time, Zhao Shanhe was standing in the heavy snow, feeling inexplicably lonely. He didn't know why he suddenly felt emotional.

"Brother, what's wrong with you? I saw you standing outside the window for a long time," Daya asked. It has to be said that girls are very meticulous.

"Brother, I'm fine, I just feel a little emotional for no reason," said Zhao Shanhe.

"I'm glad you're okay. I thought something happened to you, brother." Daya said

Zhao Shanhe looked at the girl in front of him and saw that she had grown into a graceful young lady, no longer the snotty girl who followed him around when she was a child.

"Daya, your father has been gone for almost eight years. You are already a grown-up girl. You will be 19 after the new year. What kind of person are you planning to date?" Zhao Shanhe asked

"I don't want to get married. My brother is so good to me. I want to stay with him, my mother, and my family for the rest of my life."

"Silly girl, what nonsense are you talking about? How can one stay single for a lifetime? You will become an old maid and be laughed at by others. Tell me what kind of person you want to find. I will give you some advice." Zhao Shanhe started chatting with Daya.

"Then I will find someone who can endure hardships, is willing to make progress, and treats me well, preferably someone like my eldest brother or second brother," Daya said

"Sister, you are a bit contradictory. Words like being able to endure hardships and being ambitious have nothing to do with the elder and second brothers. The elder and second brothers have been spoiled by you. They have nothing to lose and cannot endure hardships.

Do you have a suitable young man in your company? If not, I will find one for you. The young men in the technical department are all motivated and can endure hardships. Otherwise, they can't get into the technical department. How about it?" Zhao Shanhe said

"Brother, are you so anxious to marry me off? I just graduated and I want to work hard for a few years to repay you for raising me," Daya said.

"Daya, you don't want to be like the third brother and take care of your elder brother in his old age, do you? It's only natural for your elder brother to take care of you. I'm the elder brother after all. I don't need you to repay me. As long as you live a good and happy life, that's the best way to repay me," Zhao Shanhe said.

Daya threw herself into Zhao Shanhe's arms and started crying, "Brother, you are so good to me, how can I repay you in the future?"

"I've told you that you don't have to repay me. I treat you well because we are a family. Isn't it my duty to treat you well? Hurry up, you're such a grown-up girl and you're still crying." Zhao Shanhe said as he helped Daya wipe away her tears.

"I'll introduce you to Xiao Gao from Corey later. I think he's a good guy. How about bringing him here for you to meet? If you like him, I'll take care of him," Zhao Shanhe said.

"Brother, I don't want to get married. I won't pay attention to you anymore." Daya ran away shyly.

After Daya ran back to the room, Zhao Shanhe suddenly realized that he came out to relieve himself. When he concentrated his attention, Zhao Shanhe felt like his bladder was about to explode.

"Shanhe, wait, I'm just about to look for you." Zhao Shanhe had just gone to the public toilet to relieve himself and walked to the gate of the courtyard when he heard someone calling him. The front yard was close to the public toilet, so Zhao Shanhe went to the toilet.

Zhao Shanhe turned around and saw that it was Sha Zhu. His relationship with Sha Zhu had eased a little because of Ma Dongmei's kindness, but they didn't interact with each other normally. Why did Sha Zhu look for me?

"Silly Zhu, what's wrong? Is there something you want to tell me about?" Zhao Shanhe asked, no longer calling him Brother Zhuzi.

"Come over and have a drink with me tonight. I have something to ask you," said Sha Zhu, and patted the wine in his hand.

When he heard about dinner, Zhao Shanhe remembered the last time Sha Zhu invited him to dinner. He didn't get to eat, but instead got a bottle of wine and ate at his home with He Yushui.

"Shazhu, just ask whatever you want to say. There's no need to eat. Someone is coming to my house and I don't have time," Zhao Shanhe refused.

"Shanhe, my wife's due date is coming soon, so I want to ask you for advice," Shazhu said

Zhao Shanhe calculated that Sha Zhu was pregnant at the blind date banquet in Shanhu, which means she got pregnant around the end of March or the beginning of April. This means it happened this month.

Zhao Shanhe then told them what to prepare and what to pay attention to.

After returning home, Zhao Shanhe mentioned Daya's matter to his family, and Aunt Chen asked Zhao Shanhe to make the arrangements.

Time quickly came to the Little New Year. The Spring Festival in 1966 was on January 1. You can calculate when the Little New Year is.

Early in the morning, Sha Zhu was calling for people in the yard. His wife had a stomachache and was probably about to give birth. Sha Zhu had wanted to send her to the hospital in the past few days. Xu Damao's wife was also hospitalized in advance, and he, Sha Zhu, could not be worse off than Xu Damao. Ma Dongmei said it was still early and it was probably the New Year, so they should wait a few days before going.

Everyone was getting ready to go to work, and a few middle-aged women in the yard helped find a place to sleep and sent it over together.

When Zhao Shanhe returned home, the third aunt had already spread the news that Ma Dongmei had also given birth to a son for Sha Zhu at noon.

Zhao Shanhe didn't expect that because of his butterfly wings, Sha Zhu married Ma Dongmei and got rid of Lou Xiao'e's He Xiaofan. Sha Zhu was not trapped by Qin Huairu for the rest of his life, and his relationship with He Yushui did not deteriorate. He was much happier than in the TV series.

I just don’t know if Sha Zhu’s son will be named He Xiao. Probably not, because He Xiao is the He of He Yuzhu and the Xiao of Lou Xiao’e. Maybe he will be named He Dong, the Dong of Ma Dongmei.