Siheyuan: I just want to live

Compared with the chaos in Yi Zhonghai's home, the New Year's Eve dinner in Chen Feng's home was filled with joy and harmony.

Although the dishes are similar to last year, still mainly based on chicken, fish, eggs, etc., the addition of Jin Ling and her brother in law this year has added a lot of liveliness to the family.

After the meal was ready, Chen Feng completed a series of traditional rituals as he did last year, and specially served an extra bowl of dumplings before calling Jin Ling and others to come and eat.

We have to admit that the custom passed down by our ancestors does have a profound meaning. Last year, Chen Feng served an extra bowl of dumplings, and this year he welcomed Jin Ling as his wife; and this year he served an extra bowl of dumplings again, hoping that the new year will bring more happiness and joy.

"Hmm..." After thinking carefully, Chen Feng came to the conclusion: "Next year, there will probably be no new members joining my family. Polygamy is not allowed in today's society, and Jin Ling is still young, so having a child is even more of a long way off."

Therefore, if we want to add more family members, we may have to wait another two or three years until Jin Ling grows up.

When all the preparations were completed, Chen Feng warmly invited everyone to pick up their chopsticks and start eating.

Seeing Jin Ling and her brother, Chen Feng stood up and walked into the house, took out the wine that Hou Debang had sent today and opened a bottle.

Then, he poured himself half a glass, about three taels of wine. This amount of alcohol was just right for him, and if he drank a little more, he might really get drunk.

Chen Feng picked up the wine glass and slowly savored the delicious food and wine, while listening to Jin Ming talking about the friends he made at school and the interesting experience of blasting snow piles with Xiaolong and others today.

When they were halfway through the meal, Jin Ling saw Chen Feng drinking alone. For some reason, she suddenly said to Chen Feng, "Honey, I want to try some wine too."

Hearing this, Chen Feng might have been a little confused from drinking so much that he actually poured Jin Ling about one or two glasses of wine. He thought it was New Year's Day anyway, so it didn't matter if he drank less.

By the time they finished their New Year's Eve dinner, Chen Feng was a little tipsy, and Jin Ling's face was also red from drinking, which was very cute.

After dinner, Chen Feng took a novel and started reading in the main room, while Jin Ling started to clean up the table. Jin Ming, that kid, had finished his meal and went back to sleep.

After Jin Ling had cleaned up the table, she saw Chen Feng was still reading, so she walked over to Chen Feng, patted his shoulder gently, and then asked softly: "Husband, why don't you go upstairs to sleep? What are you waiting for here?"

Chen Feng raised his head, smiled at Jin Ling, and replied, "I have to stay up tonight to celebrate the New Year. You go upstairs and sleep first! I will sleep after midnight."

When Jin Ling heard Chen Feng's words, her heart moved, and she suddenly remembered the traditional custom of staying up all night during the New Year.

She couldn't help but recall the New Year holidays she spent at home when she was a child. At that time, her father always took on the responsibility of staying up all night, and she was never asked to join in.

Now, she has grown up, married to Chen Feng, and started to experience the lifestyle in her new family.

When Chen Feng explained to her the significance of staying up all night, she felt a warm feeling well up in her heart. She realized that even though she had left her original family, this tradition still existed in their lives.

Thinking of this, Jin Ling decided to express to Chen Feng her willingness to spend the New Year's Eve with him: "Husband, I will spend the New Year's Eve with you today!"

"No, I can do it myself. We have other things to do tomorrow! We have to get up early, so you should go to bed early!"

However, Chen Feng smiled and rejected her proposal, reminding her that he had important matters to deal with tomorrow.

Jin Ling understood Chen Feng's good intentions and knew that he hoped she could get enough rest to prepare for tomorrow's activities.

Although she was a little disappointed, she still followed Chen Feng's advice and went upstairs to her bedroom alone to rest.

Lying in bed, Jin Ling was thinking about many things. She thought with emotion that life is like this, with both the continuation of tradition and the space for personal choice and adaptation. She thanked Chen Feng for giving her the right to choose freely, and also looked forward to more interesting experiences and good times together in the future. Gradually, Jin Ling fell into a sweet dream, with a vision of the New Year and an expectation of a happy life.

Therefore, Chen Feng sat alone in the main room, holding a novel in his hand, reading it with relish.

Originally, Chen Feng had no interest in staying up late, and today he was a little sleepy due to drinking. As he sat there to watch the New Year, his eyes kept closing, his head nodded from time to time, and he dozed off.

Finally, the time came to twelve o'clock, and Chen Feng quickly lit a plate of opening firecrackers to indicate the arrival of the new year.

Afterwards, he did not cook dumplings immediately like he did last year. Instead, he gently closed the door and went straight upstairs to rest.

Chen Feng knew that it would be difficult to wake up Jin Ling and her brother at this moment, so he decided not to disturb them anymore.

Tomorrow morning, when the sky gradually brightens, Chen Feng will go downstairs to cook dumplings and set off another plate of firecrackers to welcome the dawn of the new year.

The next morning, the morning light poured into the room through the window, and Chen Feng got up early.

He quickly and skillfully completed a series of actions: setting off firecrackers, cooking dumplings, and loudly calling for his family to get up. When everything was ready, everyone sat around the table and enjoyed a late dinner.

After dinner, Chen Feng packed his luggage, carrying cigarettes, alcohol and some tributes, and walked towards the gate of the courtyard with Jin Ling.

However, before they walked out of the back door, they ran into Yu Shui, Xiao Long and others who came to pay New Year's greetings.

Chen Feng, like last year, generously gave each person a one-yuan red envelope as New Year's money. Then, he and Jin Ling hurriedly left the courtyard.

It is worth mentioning that Jin Mingma did not go out with them, but stayed at home to guard the door. After all, this was their own ancestor worship, and it was not appropriate to take him with them.

Chen Feng rode his bicycle and took Jin Ling all the way west. After more than an hour, Chen Feng and Jin Ling arrived at the south gate of the Revolutionary Cemetery.

After Chen Feng parked his bicycle, he led Jin Ling up the mountain. Chen Feng came relatively early today, and there were not many people going up the mountain at this time, and almost no one going down the mountain.

When he arrived at the tombstone of his parents and grandfather, Chen Feng stopped, took a deep breath, then pointed at the row of tombstones and spoke to Jin Ling.

"This is the tomb of my parents and the elders in my family. I'm bringing you here to recognize them today. I'm also bringing you here so that they can get to know you and bless you from heaven."

After saying that, Chen Feng introduced the relationship between the tomb owner and himself to Jin Ling one by one.

But Jin Ling was also honest. Every time Chen Feng mentioned a name, Jin Ling kowtowed three times in front of the tombstone, and said hello to them in a mumbling voice: "Hello, Grandpa!", "Hello, Mom and Dad!"...

Chen Feng told Jin Ling that it was enough to just bow and not kowtow, but Jin Ling insisted on kowtow, so Chen Feng had no choice but to let her do it. As a result, after one round, Jin Ling's forehead was already red from kowtows, and her head was buzzing.

After introducing Jin Ling, Chen Feng took out the towel he brought and carefully wiped each tombstone, as if he wanted to wipe away the traces left by the years.

Chen Feng stared at the tombstones with a complicated expression in his eyes, and then he stood there quietly.

After a while, Chen Feng arranged the tobacco and alcohol tributes he brought one by one.

Then he said softly: "Dear elders, I came to see you today. I hope you rest in peace in heaven and bless our family to be safe and sound."

After saying that, he took Jin Ling and kowtowed to the tombstone three times, then stood up and left.

Chen Feng turned around, took Jin Ling's hand, and slowly left the cemetery. Their backs gradually moved away, and they slowly walked down the mountain road.

After leaving the cemetery, Chen Feng took Jin Ling back to the courtyard. Today, this trip almost took up the entire morning.

But today was okay. When Yan Fugui saw me coming back, he didn't order his children to stop me and ask for New Year's money like he did last year.

Since he didn't come to cause trouble for her, she was happy and free, so she took Jin Ling back to the backyard.

When he arrived at the backyard, Chen Feng found that Xu Damao's door was still not open. He guessed that he still hadn't returned from Xu's father's place!

After arriving home, Jin Ming came up to him as soon as he saw him come back. He said to Chen Feng with a two-yuan bill in his hand.

"Brother-in-law, after you left, Grandma Jiang from the front yard came to our house and gave me two yuan, saying it was my New Year's money. I said I didn't want it, but she gave it to me anyway!"

Chen Feng looked at the money in Jin Ming's hand, touched his head with a smile, and said, "Okay, I get it, just take it! Don't lose it!"

After hearing what Chen Feng said, Jin Ming put the money into his pocket, then glanced at Jin Ling and quickly ran back to the room.

When Jin Ling saw Jin Ming running away, she tried to catch up with him by overtaking Chen Feng. Seeing this, Chen Feng quickly grabbed her.

Then he asked in confusion, "Jin Ling, why are you in such a hurry?"

Jin Ling looked at Chen Feng who was holding her, and said anxiously, "You saw it too, Jin Ming has two dollars in his hand! Why does a little kid like him need so much money? I'll get it for him and save it for him to marry a wife in the future!"

Chen Feng looked at Jin Ling in silence. Are you going to deceive children like this now? Isn't this a classic? It has been passed down to later generations without changing a single word.

Chen Feng said to Jin Ling very gently, "Leave the money to Jin Ming! Doesn't he have my money when he gets married? Okay, don't bother with him."

"We should cook. Will you cook with me?"

When Jin Ling heard that Chen Feng was going to help Jin Ming find a wife in the future, she was moved again. In fact, Jin Ling had never expected Chen Feng to help Jin Ming find a wife and start a family. As long as Chen Feng could help her raise Jin Ming, Jin Ling would be grateful to Chen Feng.

Seeing that Chen Feng was trying to stop her, Jin Ling had no choice but to give up. For the time being, she could only go cook with Chen Feng. However, when Jin Ling looked at Jin Ming's room for the last time, there was still a gleam in her eyes.