all the way

As soon as Liu Xia came home, it became very difficult for Mao'er to go to school in the morning. If Liu Changqing hadn't been there to guard him, Liu Ling and the others would think that Liu Xia really dared to let Mao'er not go to school, and just waited for the exam.

Liu Xia really has a lot of resentment towards Rongze's schools that are closed after the 22nd of the lunar calendar. The cat's appearance of not being able to wake up every morning when he gets up from the hot quilt makes his resentment even deeper, but fortunately, In just three or four days, Maoer and the others finished the two courses on Thursday morning.

On Thursday morning, Liu Xia wanted to go directly to school with Mao'er, and come back with him at noon after his exams. Liu Kui grabbed his neck and carried him directly to the kang: "Don't go to see the child off today, you put it aside." Waiting outside the classroom, the child still wants to take the exam?"

Liu Xia thought Liu Kui was joking with him, but when the cat was supposed to leave after eating, he found that the eldest brother really didn't let him see the cat, and the cat also said to him seriously: "Uncle, Don't send me off, if you're outside, I'm sure I just want to go out to see you, and I'll fail the exam."

Liu Xia thought for a while, and agreed: "Then you take the exam obediently, this year my uncle will make you a beautiful award certificate."

As soon as Mao'er came out of the classroom after the exam at twelve o'clock, he saw Liu Xia smiling at him standing under the big bare poplar tree.

The wind was so strong that Liu Xia's short hair could be messed up. The cat was held high by Liu Xia, and he combed Liu Xia's hair with his small hands.

When they were standing outside Liu Rui's classroom waiting for him to come out, Mao'er's Chinese teacher and two other young teachers walked by, and he said with a smile, "Hey, Liu An is so big that my uncle has been hugging her all the time." ?”

Liu Xia smiled and replied: "It's too cold today, I'll warm him up, his hands are numb from the cold."

Today is almost considered a holiday, just wait until the 22nd to get the notice. I went back to Liujialing with Liu Xia and the others. This time there were also Liu Changxing's second son Yong Bin and Guan Erping's son Guan Qiang.

Both Yong Bin and Guan Qiang came to Wangning this year when they should be in the fourth grade. They usually don’t go back to Liujialing, but live in Luogezhuang at night. The people in the room are all colleagues who have been together for many years, and no one said anything about the children staying at night.

They are all from nearby villages, everyone knows how far Liujialing is.

They are in the same brigade, and Liu Changxing and Guan Erping have a special affection for Liu Changqing's family, so Yong Bin and Guan Qiang are no strangers to Liu Xia, but looking at the stylish and handsome Liu Xia who is wearing jeans and a down jacket, they At first, he was a bit restrained, but after a while, Liu Xia and Mao'er's Chinese teacher spoke Mandarin, and they still spoke the native dialect when they left school. After the two children asked him a few questions, they immediately became casual.

Mao'er was still young, so he couldn't be allowed to walk the mountain road for too long. After passing Fujiazhuang, Liu Xia would carry him on his back. Actually climbed up.

When Liu Kui usually came to pick up Mao'er and Liu Rui, he would carry the cat from the bottom of the north slope of Shangyao to the top of the slope. The cats would walk on their own on other routes. Carrying more than half of the north slope, the slope of the last third of the journey quickly becomes steeper, and the cat will definitely not let him carry it obediently.

But they had just walked to the halfway up Yaopo and turned a very sharp bend. Liu Xia saw Liu Mao sitting on a rock and resting against the west cliff at a glance. The distance between them was less than 20 meters.

Liu Mao turned his head and saw them. After a moment of stupefaction, he stood up and stood where he was.

Liu Xia didn't know what to do, he didn't feel comfortable talking to Liu Mao, and he also felt the cat on his back was a little stiff.

Turning the cat upside down, Liu Xia tried to act nonchalantly and continued walking, stopping in front of Liu Mao, but didn't speak.

Liu Mao and Liu Xia looked at each other for a moment and then turned their heads away. He was carrying a half-worn backpack. He turned the backpack forward, squatted down, and said to Liu Rui: "Come on, baby, two Uncle will carry you for a while."

Liu Rui is not yet ten years old, and his body is relatively weak since he was a child. Usually, Liu Kui has to carry him for a certain distance. Liu Xia originally planned to pass Shangyao and carry Liu Rui to Wanhe after going down the too steep south slope. of.

Liu Rui was indeed a little tired, so she obediently went over and lay on Liu Mao's back.

No one spoke anymore, and a few people quickened their pace and hurried on their way.

The relationship between Liu Mao and Maoer is unknown to everyone in the entire Liujialing brigade. Yong Bin and Guan Qiang are already over ten years old and understand everything. They also feel a little uncomfortable. Head on the road, the relaxed and happy atmosphere because of the winter vacation at the beginning disappeared.

When they reached the steepest slope, Mao'er and Liu Rui got down and walked on their own. When they got down the slope of Shangyao, all six of them were sweating profusely.

When we got to the fork in the bend river, Guan Qiang suddenly said: "Uncle Liu Mao, Uncle Liu Xia, my uncle told me to go and see my third aunt when I come back, I will turn here."

Liu Xia and Liu Mao said almost at the same time: "The slope at Shishukou is very steep, you should be careful!"

Yong Bin said: "Let me go with Guan Qiang. Anyway, going back to my house from the Niangniang Temple is almost the same as walking here."

Guan Erping's third aunt did marry in Wanhe, but Liu Xia always felt that Guan Qiang and Yong Bin didn't want to go with them.

Without those two children, the atmosphere was even more awkward and depressing.

When they got home, it was still early, and Liu Kui and the others were still digging the kiln and transporting soil. Liu Mao put down his backpack, picked up a shovel and went into the cave that Liu Kui was holding.

Liu Changqing said to Liu Xia: "You are tired after running twice today, go wash up, have some food, and play with the baby."

There are enough people, Liu Xia will be unable to turn away when he goes in, and he doesn't want to get along with Liu Mao anymore, so after dinner, he sits with Maoer and Liu Rui on the kang in the main room, watching them do their winter homework.

In the past two years, the students' winter and summer homework is no longer the content in the textbooks assigned by the teacher, but the ready-made homework that is printed like a magazine. Liu Xia wants them to finish it early so that they can play casually.

Liu Mao's return has an impact on Mao'er, but compared with the happiness of being able to be with Liu Xia every day after the holiday, the depression can be completely ignored.

Liu Mao's bag contained three new clothes, which were ready-made clothes, one for each of Liu Changchun, Liu Changqing, and Sun Chang'e. Sun Chang'e took the clothes and said to him, "Boy, it's not easy for you to support a family now. Chrysanthemum doesn't have a job either, from now on you'll win if you just add money to your uncle, your uncle and I both have clothes."

Liu Mao showed an almost imperceptible smile and said nothing.

Liu Yu came back the second day after Liu Xia came back. He wore ragged clothes and worked with the whole family every day. He didn't say anything about Liu Mao's return, until he saw the clothes Liu Mao bought for Liu Changqing and his wife. Only then secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and became a little more affectionate towards Liu Mao.

Liu Yu was overjoyed with Liu Xia's pair of jeans. He wanted to wear jeans for a long time, but he was afraid of Liu Changqing and Liu Changchun repairing him, so he dared not buy them. This time, the pair Liu Xia gave him, he wore very It fits well, and it is much higher grade than the jeans he saw in Rongze Free Market.

Another one, because it was given to him by Liu Xia, he won't be judged as a burnt bun if he wears it.

On the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month in the lunar calendar, a large group of people followed Liu Kui to Wangning to pick up the new year's goods that Liu Chuan had sent back. When they came back in the afternoon, the house became more lively: Su Xiaohui, Liu Yun, and Liu Lei came back, and Liu Wei was also on vacation.

Liu Yun and Liu Lei look alike, but the Liu family can easily tell them apart.

The two little guys are more than ten months old. They can eat, sleep, and toss. They may climb to the edge of the kang and fall if they can't see at a glance. On the first day home, grandma, aunt, and mother were watching. They each fell off the kang once, and cried so much that they shook the world.

Sun Chang'e told Su Xiaohui not to do anything, but to just look at the two children with good eyes.

Su Xiaohui said: "Mom, you still ask me to work, as long as you don't ask me to watch them, I will do anything." She was really tortured by the two sons.

Su Xiaohui went to work, and the children were not looked after. Sun Chang’e’s big family couldn’t go there. Su Xiaohui’s natal brother just gave birth to a daughter, so her mother couldn’t help him either. Su Xiaohui hired her aunt’s cousin to help with the babysitting , Give my cousin 20 yuan a month.

But her cousin has just turned [-], so she thinks about watching TV all day long. She only watches the children when Su Xiaohui is at work, and she always tries to put the two children to sleep. Don't do anything, let alone help Su Xiaohui cook, wash clothes and so on.

Su Xiaohui is busier after getting off work than going to work every day. At night, Liu Yun and Liu Lei, who have had enough sleep during the day, are very energetic. can not sleep.

So, Xiumei took over the job of taking care of Liu Yun and Liu Lei.

23 Sacrificial stove, in the evening, after the family finished eating the sacrificial stove noodles, they sat and talked in the main room. Liu Changchun said he had something to do with Liu Mao, so he went down first.

Liu Mao was going back to Luogezhuang early the next morning, and it was normal to say something to Liu Changchun before leaving, and everyone didn't mind.

After a while, Liu Yu said that he had something to do and had to go home, Liu Ling stood up and went out with him.

About an hour later, Liu Ling came back alone, and called Liu Changqing and Liu Kui out.

Liu Xia came back from going to the bathroom with Maoer, when he heard Liu Ling talking to Liu Changqing and Liu Kui: "...that's all I heard, and then my uncle kept sighing. , but the ground is so cold, and the second brother has been kneeling, I feel..."

Liu Kui said, "Uncle, what's the matter with Liu Dongju? Otherwise, Liu Mao wouldn't say such things!"

Liu Changqing said: "Why don't you go to Luogezhuang tomorrow to find out what's going on, and say nothing to cause Liu Mao to have an accident."

Liu Xia led the cat and walked over: "Uncle, brother, when Jianbin was leaving later today, I seemed to hear him say that Uncle Changxing Hei might come back to sacrifice the stove today, go ask him, don't Tell my elder brother to run to Luogezhuang."

Liu Kui said: "Don't wait for tomorrow, I'll go to Uncle Changxing right now."

Liu Ling ran to catch up: "Brother, wait for me, let's go together."

Back in the cave where he lived, Liu Xia was very upset. He didn't want to see Liu Mao anymore. Liu Mao was also the person he had been with for ten years like his own brother. He didn't want Liu Mao to have any accidents. Moreover, he and Liu Mao came back together that day, although he didn't say a word, but he still felt very uncomfortable seeing Liu Mao's head with so many white hairs in the past few years.

Liu Mao is the kind of person who looks younger than his actual age, but now, Liu Xia feels that he is much older than his elder brother Liu Kui.

It was already late when Liu Kui and Liu Ling came back, and Liu Xia happened to read to the cat the part where Santiago and the shark fight (the old man and the sea), and he heard the voice and said to the cat: "Uncle has something to do with grandpa. , I will be back in 10 minutes at most, you wait obediently, and my uncle will read to you when he comes back."

Mao'er was nestled in Liu Xia's arms listening intently, reluctantly moved out, picked up the book and looked at Liu Xia.

Liu Xia put on a cotton jacket and ran out without any trousers on. The main room lights were still on, and he ran in. Liu Changqing and Sun Chang'e were there, as well as Liu Kui, Liu Ling, and Liu Hai.

Seeing his bare legs, Liu Ling quickly let him sit on the kang and wrapped him in a quilt.

Liu Changqing and the others were not influenced by Liu Xia. Liu Kui tucked Liu Xia's quilt and continued: "Liu Mao may not have enough money to save, so he borrowed 500 yuan from the unit account. Xiaoyu now says why don't you get married? He gave the money to Liu Mao again, and Liu Mao has already returned it to the unit.

Uncle Changxing said that he later heard from someone next to him that when the cashier told Liu Dongju about this, she didn't make a fuss at the time, but sneered and said, "As long as he has the ability to pay back, he can borrow whatever he wants, and I don't care about him." It's nonsense', it seems that he and Xiaomao are not from the same family.

After saying this for a few days, Liu Dongju went back to her mother's house again, but this time the stay was short, and she came back in less than a week. After coming back, she is not as old as before. Either they don't speak, or they swear when they say something wrong.

This time I don't know what's going on, I don't slump here and there with my face hung up for others to see, I sit in a daze, I talk to myself after a while, sometimes I even gnash my teeth as if I'm arguing with someone, just like crazy.

After three or four days like this, I don’t know why and suddenly went crazy again. At noon that day, as soon as Xiaomao came home from work, she yelled and cursed at Xiaomao. At first, it seemed that it had something to do with the 500 yuan. He said that Xiaomao married her back. Xiaomao had to recognize what kind of person she was, and he had to support her. He said that after Xiaomao married her, she never spent a total of 50 yuan on Xiaomao. Dare to take out five hundred and give it to others.

Later, the cursing was completely inexplicable, and the people around couldn't understand it. It probably meant that if it wasn't for Xiaomao, she wouldn't be what she is now. She was blamed by Xiaomao until now, she scolded and cried , more and more troublesome.

Xiaomao ignored him at first, and went to the cafeteria to grab a meal and sit in the courtyard to eat, but Liu Dongju was so ruthless, she pulled Xiaomao's rice bowl to the ground, and hopped and scolded him. I didn't pay attention to her, didn't eat any food, so I went to work at the weighbridge again.

Liu Dongju is a shrew who is used to it, she actually drove her all the way to the weighbridge, and she didn't care what people were still on the road, and she wasn't afraid to wait in line to pass the pound. The drivers watched the joke and scolded Xiaomao like a madman In the end, even our family members were scolded, but Xiaomao got annoyed and slapped her several times in the past.

Uncle Changxing heard from others that Liu Dongju was slapped and lay in the soot on the side of the road, her face was swollen.

She is naughty, when has she suffered such a loss?But Xiaomao was really annoyed, she wanted to fight but couldn't, so she ran to Xiaomao's mine leader, crying and making noise, so noisy that they couldn't work in the whole building, the mine leader asked Xiaomao to call him In the past, I told him not to go to work first, and let him solve the family problems.

After Xiaomao passed by, she dragged Liu Dongju to divorce. Liu Dongju bumped into the wall and asked to drink medicine, but was stopped by the people next to her. In the end, she threw Nana to Xiaomao and went back to her mother's house alone.

Her mother came the next day, and then started arguing with Xiaomao, saying that Xiaomao disliked Liu Dongju, who was born as a girl..."

Liu Xia was annoyed: "Second brother is so useless, a bitch can't deal with it, and she is half-crippled after a beating, let's see if she dares to find trouble for nothing in the future!"

Liu Changqing's face darkened: "Don't interrupt when the adults are talking, go back and sleep with the baby in your arms."

Liu Xia wanted to hear a few more words, but Liu Changqing looked at him, and Liu Kui didn't speak, so he had no choice but to go back in despair.

Knowing that it was because of Liu Dongju's matter, Liu Xia no longer cared about it. If he heard later that Liu Dongju was pregnant again, he would definitely not take it so seriously.

Liu Xia didn't know that when Liu Mao returned to Luogezhuang, he heard the news that Liu Dongju had cut her wrists at her mother's house and was sent to the health center, so he had no choice but to give up the divorce plan.

24. After cleaning the house, several adult men in the Liu family changed into clean clothes and brought presents. Liu Changqing took them with them to see the third grandpa. This year’s relief food is more than in previous years. People in Liujialing don’t have to worry. He would starve to death, but most of them were coarse grains. Liu Chuan had bought [-] catties of white flour for the third grandfather according to Liu Changqing's request a month ago and sent them over.

The live sacrifice stove that dug the cave was officially closed that afternoon. It was Liu Changqing's order. The children were sensible and filial and wanted to help him do more, but he didn't want the children to work hard for a few months. I am busy working all day, and I can't even live a relaxing day.

This winter is very windy, badminton can’t be played, and it will be very cold in the yard if you don’t do very intensive activities. After the kiln digging stopped, Liu Xia and the others spent most of their time in the house reading and practicing calligraphy, so their family didn’t have any problems. Perceived other anomalies outside.

It wasn't until the morning of the 28th, when they were preparing to write couplets after breakfast, that they heard cries and noises from Liu Fulai's house, that Liu Xia and the others knew that new rumors about cats had spread in the village .

Niu Sanni cried very loudly, and Liu Miao roared at the top of his lungs.

"You beat me if I say anything, Liu Fulai, you beat me to death, Guan Qiang and Yong Bin just came back with the cat and the accident happened, they are both dying, everyone in the village knows , If I say something wrong, you will hit me, am I afraid that you will get bad luck if you go to his house... Oh, my dear mother..."

"I told you to shut up, did you hear me? What else do you do all day long besides making troubles and spreading gossip? Master Changqing's house is a hundred times better than ours, did you see that? The cat just grew up in someone else's house." There are three college students in the family, and Uncle Liu Chuan is still a commodity. You are blind and can’t see these things? You talk about cats all the time when things happen in your own house. Are you a pig brain? If you continue to talk nonsense like this , Liu Xia came here and beat you to death, I won't care anymore..."

Liu Changqing's family was standing in the yard except Liu Chuan, Sun Chang'e was holding Liu Yun, Xiumei was holding Liu Lei, and Su Xiaohui was holding a small broom for cleaning pots.

Su Xiaohui asked Xiumei softly: "What does this mean to their family? Who's wrong with our cat?"

Xiumei gritted her teeth and said: "Our cat is nothing like that, everywhere there are shrews with mouths that are more stinky than butts, Niu Sannier, this is death, you don't know how to feed dogs."

Liu Xia stroked Mao'er's head who was standing hugging his waist, his lips were drawn into a line, and he squinted his eyes to look in the direction of Liu Fulai's house.

Mao'er raised his face and asked Liu Xia: "Uncle, what happened to Guan Qiang and Uncle Yong Bin? I held your hand all the time when I came back that day, and you still walked so far behind my back, I didn't even call them both. !"

Liu Xia picked him up and said, "That's right, none of us recruited, what are you doing listening to those gossips? Let's go back to our room with my uncle. They think they'll get bad luck when they see us, but I don't think so." Seeing them pickle my child's eyes!"

Liu Changqing said: "Little Xia, don't let the boy talk nonsense, take the boy and wait for me in the house."

Liu Xia carried the cat into the main room, and Liu Changqing soon came in, followed by Liu Ling and Liu Wei. Liu Ling patted the cat's head and said to Liu Xia, "Don't think too much, remember your goal. Just do it."

Liu Wei squeezed Mao'er's face, smiled at him, and said nothing.

It was windy today, so Liu Changqing decided to write the couplets on the kang in the main room. Liu Ling and Liu Wei sat on the stone table in front of the kang to cut the paper, and put the written couplets aside to dry the ink.

Liu Changqing sat at the east end of the kang, stretched out a piece of red paper that had been cut out on the kang table, and said to Liu Xia: "Teach the children to help me stretch the paper when I write."

Liu Xia was surprised: "Uncle?"

Liu Changqing looked at him calmly: "Anyone who dislikes coming to our house to get some bad luck is inauspicious, then he will be hit if he doesn't come. Remember, this is our house. It doesn't make sense that we have to avoid them in our own house."

Liu Xia nodded happily, with an indescribable feeling in his heart, he felt that he was a wimp who wanted to take the cat to hide in his room just now to avoid the person who came to write the pair.

Liu Xia and Mao'er sat on the west side of the Kang table, and Liu Changqing first wrote two couplets for his family.

The kang table was not long enough, so Liu Xia taught Maoer to pull the paper to the most suitable place for writing a word at a constant speed when Liu Changqing finished writing a word and dipped it in ink.

Such a simple thing can be done after only teaching Maoer once. Liu Xia sat beside him, watching him help the grandfather with his work with great interest.

Liu Xia turned his head and saw the peaceful and peaceful eyes of Guanyin Bodhisattva. He closed his eyes and said in his heart: Bodhisattva, please bless me to graduate soon, and take my cat and leave this place as soon as possible!May my cat be free from the interference of these gossips and live a happy life after I leave here.

Liu Changqing watched Liu Xia's every move calmly, and then looked at the cat happily waiting to stretch the paper for him, and sighed in his heart.

None of them expected that Guan Erping would be the first to write couplets this year.

Seeing that Liu Changqing finished writing all the couplets he wanted and put down his pen, Guan Erping said: "Uncle, Liu Xia, don't listen to the gossip of outsiders, I asked Guan Qiang to deliver plasters to my third aunt's house, come out from my third aunt's house, He saw that it was still early, so he asked Yong Bin to play in the river. When skating, the ice cracked. Fortunately, he was skating on the riverside, and the water was shallow. The two of them climbed up again by themselves, but they were really scared. The wind was blowing again, he was cold, and he had a fever and was talking nonsense, so I sent him to the health center, and he is almost on the mend now."

Liu Changqing said: "As long as there is nothing wrong with the child, don't think too much about it. After so many years, uncle still doesn't know what kind of person you are?"

As soon as Guan Erping left, Liu Changxing also came with the red paper, followed by Jianbin and Yongbin who was dressed like a ball. There were a few thin blood scabs on Yongbin's face, which were from the riverside. The reeds were rowed.

As soon as Yong Bin came, he went to play with Liu Rui, but Liu Rui rolled his eyes at him angrily: "You and Guan Qiang, you two fell into the river by yourself, and they all said I was a cat, why did you come to my house? Mile?"

Yong Bin smiled and said: "My uncle didn't ask me to come. My mother said I was good. I was afraid that I would have a fever again. If my uncle said I would be burned to death, I would have to come. But I just want to come to your house, brother Jianbin." I always say that your family is beautiful, I have long wanted to come and play, and today is just right, let me see that your uncle bought the cat a car that can turn on its own."

While Liu Changxing was waiting for the couplet, a few more people came, and they gathered around the kang to watch Liu Changqing write, and at the same time watch Liu Xia glue the picture of blue sky, white clouds, green grassland and two very, very beautiful pheasants on it for a week. The golden edge, and then write the words "Certificate of Award".

Liu Changxing couldn't help asking: "Yao'er, what are you doing—you make your own certificate?"

Liu Xia visually estimated the best distance to write the content of the main topic and said: "Well, my cat got 81 points in math and [-] in Chinese, which doesn't meet the requirements of their school's three-good student, but my family thinks he is a good boy. The three-good students are fine, I will make a certificate for my cat, and I will also stamp the certificate, in the past, my fifth brother used carrots to carve the stamps, but this year it will be stamped by my uncle."

Zeng Guangtong asked Liu Hai to bring back to Liu Changqing a set of tools for engraving seals, as well as several stones of good quality, one of which was relatively large. Finish.

The few people around the kang looked at Liu Changqing with complicated expressions, then at the award certificate that Liu Xia was making carefully, and then at the cat who was seriously stretching the paper for Liu Changqing.

Liu Changqing raised his head and asked Mao'er: "Boy, your uncle will give you a certificate in a while. Tell grandpa, what title do you want to be this year?"

The cat tilted its head and thought for a while: "I don't know, I just want to be my uncle, boy."

Liu Changqing wrote and said: "This is impossible to write, right? Grandpa thinks that you get [-] points in every arithmetic test, so you should be the smartest and most hardworking boy."

Liu Xia said: "Well, I think so too, we should add the most honest boy."

Liu Changqing said: "Yes, the child never tells lies. This title should be added. There are a lot of words. You can plan it. The stamp must not be too small. The stamp must look very conspicuous to win."

Su Xiaohui, who was in charge of lighting the fire in front of the stove, asked Xiumei: "I saw the certificates of cats in Yao'er's house, sister-in-law, cats didn't get enough marks in the exam, Liu Xia made him the certificates himself, will he be too used to the child? I heard from Liu Chuan that our uncle was very strict with them in the past, so why don't we care about Yao'er like this? It's not good for the child."

Xiumei put a big oil cake into the pot and said: "My uncle said that the rules are determined by people, and there are not enough points for the children. We have no objection if the school does not give them the three-good student award, but it is good for the children to be left at our house." Why don't we win a certificate for the child? Isn't the school's teachers deciding the score themselves!"

Su Xiaohui thought about it, and Xiumei's words seemed to make sense.

Two of the people who asked for couplets tried several times when it was their turn, and wanted to tell Liu Changqing that they helped stretch the paper, but watched Liu Changqing explain to the cat in a warm voice some of the special structures of the frames while writing. When writing the characters, I can't open my mouth.

Liu Xia could clearly see the tangled expressions of the two people, and he knew very well that Liu Changqing had also seen it, but Liu Changqing acted as if he didn't notice it at all.

Mao'er didn't have any feelings for those two people. He was so happy that he could help grandpa with work, and uncle was always by his side, making him the most beautiful certificate.

In the afternoon, several groups of people came one after another, but compared with previous years, the number of people who came today was much less.

At dusk, when Liu Changqing was about to close the stall, Liu Yu suddenly ran in: "Uncle, Uncle, Niu Duner is here, he, he is still leading his wife, he wants you to write him a happy couplet."

Before Liu Yu finished speaking, Liu Xia saw Niu Dun'er from the window. There was a very thin woman behind him. Before Liu Xia could see her face clearly, he first saw her new pants, which were obviously just made The torn cotton batting exposed from the bottom of the trouser legs.

Yang Shuhuan is really ugly, dark and thin, with a big mouth, two big buck teeth, and a large and protruding scar on her forehead, but I don’t know if it’s because she fought against the arranged marriage with her death Liu Xia didn't find it annoying at all.

Yang Shuhuan was very silent. He only called "Uncle" and "Auntie" to Liu Changqing and Sun Chang'e in a low voice when Niu Duner introduced him to the Liu family when he first came in, and then Xiumei brought out melon seeds and peanuts for her to eat. At that time, she didn't speak any more.

Niu Dun'er didn't seem reluctant, and they realized that Yang Shuhuan's new clothes outside were made by Niu Dun'er who led her to visit Ning Xin yesterday.

Liu Changqing said to Niu Dun'er: "Since you have figured it out, live a good life. It is not easy to meet a good girl." Then he said to Yang Shuhuan who looked at him in surprise: "Girl, life is lived by people, you live it by yourself." Whatever it is, it is what it is in life.”

Sun Chang'e said to Yang Shuhuan: "That's right, girl, this family is run by women. Niu Dun'er can make money now, and if you take care of the house well, you won't have to worry about a bad life in the future."

After Niu Dun'er and Yang Shuhuan left, Su Xiaohui said to Xiumei: "If she was born into our family, no matter how ugly she is, she can't live like this."

Xiumei said: "That's right, Yunzhi and Yuzhi of our family grew up in this mountain nest since they were young, and they still work as teachers when they marry outside. Now Yunzhi has turned to eat commercial food, and our uncle won't do it if we are poor. Trade your daughter as an animal for someone else."

Because of the snow, Xiumei hasn't been back to her natal home for the second year of junior high school for two years, and the days have been a bit gloomy these days. The family decided to let Liu Kui and Xiumei go back to her natal home on 29th, and this ceremony was done in advance.

According to the customs in this area, men and women who are engaged but not married usually visit each other's home on the two days after the fourth day of the first lunar month, but the man can also visit on the last day or two before the year, regardless of odd or even days. The family asked Liu Yu to also go on the 29th.

The pure white noodle oil cake that Xiumei and the others steamed is a must-have gift for newly engaged couples. The number ranges from twelve to twenty, as long as it is an even number. Of course, the more the more the more face.

However, in the past two years, some people have started to use dim sum instead of big oil cakes to visit their future parents-in-law, which is more face-saving.

What the Liu family prepared for Liu Yu were twelve big oil cakes and four catties of dim sum that Liu Ling brought back from Kyoto.

Every time Liu Ling comes back, she will definitely bring snacks and three-yuan milk powder. These common things in Beijing are very rare in Wangning. There are only a few packets of dusty sesame cakes or cat feces on the shelves of Wangning Supply and Marketing Co. Beijing jujube), according to people who bought it, it smells musty when you open it, but it tastes very sweet when you eat it.

It is impossible to buy any other variety of dim sum in other places in Wangning.

Liu Ling came back this year and brought twenty catties of snacks and five bags of milk powder. The cat had already drank almost one bag of milk powder, and only four catties of snacks were given to the third grandpa. Today, I will bring four catties each for Xiumei and Liu Yu .

At the age of 17, Xiumei came to Liujialing with a small package by herself, and was laughed at by people in her natal village for several years, so her uncle would not allow her and Liu Kui to come to the house. Liang has been fighting against his uncle, Xiumei may really become the water that was thrown out, and she will never return to her mother's house.

Now, life at home is better, everyone in the family including Liu Xia hopes to show Xiumei some face, so if Xiumei officially returns to her natal family to visit, the family will always prepare the best gifts for her.

In fact, even without these gifts, Xiumei would no longer be the object of ridicule when she returned to her natal home: Xiumei and her children wore more foreign clothes than those around her, and Xiumei’s in-law’s three college students and one in the county police station As a regular worker's uncle, these things have already won Xiumei's face.

On the morning of 29, the yard of Liu’s house became lively before dawn. If they wanted to go back the same day and have a relaxing meal at Xiumei’s family’s and Sun Yufang’s at noon, Liu Kui and Liu Yu had to leave before six o’clock.

Liu Xia and the others have long been used to the life of having a big brother and a big sister-in-law at home. When they are not at home for a day, Liu Xia and the others feel that the house is a lot empty and there is nothing good about it, so Liu Xia and Liu Hai kept telling Liu Kui: " Brother, you can come back early, if it is late and dark, it will be dangerous for my sister-in-law and Xiao Xin to go to the kiln."

Liu Kui said: "Why do I feel that you two want to call me back before I leave!"

Xiumei said: "Don't worry, you will definitely be home before 05:30. You stay home and watch Xiaoyun and Xiaolei more, and try not to make them sleep during the day."

On the other side, Liu Yu was fighting with Liu Changchun: "Yaoer gave me these jeans, he has been wearing them for two years, why can't I wear them?"

Liu Changchun said: "Yao'er is a college student in the city, what are you? You wear such a round buttocks, your father-in-law will think you are a bum, who would want to marry your daughter to a bum? ?”

Liu Yu asked for help: "Xiaoling Xiaohai, please tell my uncle quickly, you tell him that there are many children in the city who wear jeans and have not turned into bastards!"

Liu Ling said with a smile: "Fourth brother, if you don't win, you should change it. If the marriage is delayed because of a pair of pants, it's not worth it."

Liu Hai also said: "You'd better listen to my uncle, we wear jeans here, young and old."

Liu Yu stamped her feet and ran back to the cave where Liu Xia and the others lived, where most of his clothes were kept.

After several minutes, Liu Yu didn't come out, so Liu Ling and Liu Hai had no choice but to call him.

Liu Yu was still awkward being pushed into the main room by the two of them. He was wearing Rongze's most popular black carrot pants, but now he saw this pair of pants that he used to like the most. It makes people notice that the butt and thighs are short, so useless, uncle, look, how can this look better than the jeans I just wore?"

Liu Changchun said: "When you first bought it, I told your elder brother that it was ugly to wear. Didn't you say that wearing these trousers looks foreign, and Rong Ze is everywhere? Do children wear these trousers?"

"Ah——, why am I so unlucky? I have nothing to do with buying these ripped pants..." Liu Yu carried Liu Ling's backpack full of big oil cakes, and walked to his house, still yelling.

Liu Yu's bad mood didn't persist until he came back in the afternoon. He came back with Liu Kui, Xiumei and Liu Chuan. The reluctance to get married is definitely not because of Sun Yufang, it is purely unreasonable and making trouble.

So during dinner, Liu Kui and Liu Chuan gave Liu Yu painstaking education and guidance from the perspective of a happy married man, while Xiumei and Su Xiaohui comforted and warned Liu Yu from the perspective of a married woman. Explain how much it hurts the girl's heart to find all kinds of excuses not to get married when she obviously likes a girl.