The days of being a buyer in Siheyuan

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Minghui's family of three and He Yuzhu's family returned to Liujia Village together. Of course, He Yushui went with them as well. After all, she couldn't stay in the courtyard alone.

After arriving at Liujia Village, the group separated, but the two families were close to each other, so they could visit each other anytime.

"Oh, you guys are finally back, otherwise I would have asked Lao Er to look for you this afternoon."

Before they entered the door, they were seen by Liu's mother, who immediately started shouting loudly.

"Hurry up and give me my grandson to hug. I haven't seen him for a long time. I miss him so much."

Liu's mother ran to Yu Li. It was not known whether Pang Pang recognized Liu's mother or not. He stretched out his hand and made an "ah-ha" sound, which made Liu's mother's heart almost melt.

"Mom, look, he recognized you."

Yu Li smiled and handed Pang Pang to Liu's mother, and then they went into the house together.

"Knowing that you are coming back, we built an extra room a while ago, and we also have a kang. We have heated it up in the past two days. I promise you will sleep soundly tonight."

Liu's mother followed behind and chattered non-stop. When the two of them came in, they found that there was a small house inside. It was not big, made of adobe bricks, and the bricks used for the walls were all made at home, which is a necessary skill in the countryside.

The roof is made of straw. Since tiles also require tickets, Liu's father chose straw, which is more cost-effective, to make the roof.

"Third brother, third sister-in-law, you are here."

In the yard, the eldest sister-in-law Yang Xiulan and the second sister-in-law Qin Xiangye were washing things. The New Year was approaching and all kinds of furniture, big and small, in the house needed to be moved out and cleaned, and the house inside and outside also needed to be cleaned.

"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, I'm here to help too."

Seeing this, Yu Li quickly rolled up her sleeves and joined in. Of course, her eldest and second brothers were responsible for moving the furniture, and the girls only needed to wash things.

"Brother, Brother, what do you need me to do?"

Seeing this, Liu Minghui also decided to lend a hand. He couldn't be lazy while the whole family was busy.

Liu Lao Da and Liu Lao Er were not polite and asked Liu Minghui to chop firewood. There were two or three piles of firewood in the corner. These were picked up or chopped from the mountain before winter and were neatly stacked. Now it was just the right time to chop them into small pieces for burning.

After receiving the task, Liu Minghui picked up the axe and went to work. This was an easy task for him because of his extraordinary physical fitness.

......

"It's time for dinner. I'll make the rest in the afternoon."

After a busy morning, Liu's mother prepared lunch and invited everyone to eat.

At the dinner table, the big table was almost full of people, mainly because there were so many children. For example, the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law were each holding a child. The eldest sister-in-law's child looked older, probably one year old, while the second sister-in-law's child was not even as big as Fatty's. Not to mention Liu Minghui's eldest niece, who was almost four years old this year, was also sitting around the table waiting for dinner.

"Okay, let's eat."

As the head of the family, Liu Wen started eating first, and then everyone started eating. Because Liu Minghui's family had returned at noon, Liu's mother prepared a sumptuous meal. She took out two dried rabbits and fried them with chili peppers, which immediately whetted everyone's appetite. The staple food was the common steamed corn bread, which was already the best meal in the countryside.

After dinner, a few women cleaned up the table, and Liu's father and others went outside to smoke and chat.

"Minghui, you are planning to have your second brother move to the city, right?"

During the conversation, Liu's father suddenly asked about this. This was something Liu Minghui and Liu Dazhuang had talked about before. He felt that Liu Dazhuang's frequent absence from the steel mill left a bad impression on him.

Now hearing Liu's father's question, Liu Minghui expressed his thoughts.

"Although I am the section chief now, it would not be good if someone caught me, and it is not so safe to go to the countryside now."

Liu Minghui explained his ideas in detail, and after hearing what Liu Minghui said, Liu's father had no choice but to agree.

The next day was New Year's Eve. The village became lively early in the morning. Of course, there were no programs, but children from all households came out to visit each other. Of course, they did not come to ask for New Year's money. Everyone was in financial difficulty those days and there was almost no New Year's money.

However, every family will prepare some snacks, such as peanuts, pine nuts and the like. Everyone has these, but children still like to visit other people's homes, and then after getting a bag full of snacks, a group of people will run out to play.

No one went out today. Everyone was helping with housework at home, such as pasting Spring Festival couplets and window decorations. In the afternoon, Yu Li and the other two would work with Liu's mother to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner for tonight.

Although the harvest is not good this year, the Liu family has Liu Minghui at home, so they are not short of food. When Liu Minghui came over yesterday, he caught an old hen and brought over 20 kilograms of flour, which served as food for several people for the next few days.

These can add a lot to the New Year’s Eve dinner.

In the afternoon, because fish had to be on the New Year's Eve dinner table, Liu's father took Liu Minghui to the river next to the village to fish. When they arrived there, they found that the river had frozen. Fortunately, they brought a big iron rod and found a big brick from the riverside, and little by little they smashed a hole in the ice.

In fact, fishing in this situation is very easy, because when the river freezes in winter, the fish in the water will lack oxygen. When you smash a hole, the fish will surface to breathe.

Sure enough, the efforts of the two lived up to everyone's expectations and they successfully caught two good fish, each weighing about two kilograms.

Seeing that it was getting late, the two of them quickly took the fish home and handed it over to the people in charge of cooking.

"Come in and help, we can have dinner now."

At Liu's mother's call, Liu Minghui and his brothers hurried to the kitchen door to help serve the dishes. Tonight's meal was particularly sumptuous.

Not only were there fish and chickens, but the village would also be slaughtering a pig and getting some meat. This year, Liu's mother specially bought a pig's head and made a dish of braised pig's head for the few people.

Finally, a tray full of steamed buns made of white flour was brought out, and immediately a scent of wheat filled the air.

More than a dozen members of the Liu family sat together, with Liu's father drinking and chatting about the past year. When it comes to this, Liu's father always mentions Liu Minghui, and says with tears in his eyes: "If it weren't for Minghui, life at home wouldn't be so easy."

You have to know that there was never such a sumptuous meal during the Chinese New Year in the past. These were all brought by Liu Minghui for their family, while he was warning the rest of the people.

"You should cherish it. Now that the third brother has become famous, don't think about getting something for nothing. You should know that you still have to rely on your own efforts. Only when you have ability can others respect you."