Dead after eight years [rebirth]

In order to save costs, Cheng Shuibei and Xiao Houer did not hire professional decoration workers, but did everything from painting walls to laying floors by themselves.

The biggest expense in the entire renovation process was the fire alarm system that Cheng Shuibei spent a lot of money on installing for the bookstore.He is afraid of fire, not only because it will be full of books, but also because of the changed Christmas Eve.

Everything was ready, and the signboard of "South and North Bookstore" was hung up on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year. Cheng Shuibei hung up a piece of red cloth meticulously, waiting for the ribbon-cutting and opening after the year.

After cleaning up the stall at noon, Cheng Shuibei bought a bunch of things, followed the little monkey home to visit Grandma Hou.

Grandma Hou and the little monkey also lived in the private house in the west of the city. When they came here again, Cheng Shuibei's mood had quietly changed.

Before the holiday, the city was rectified, the old sofas that had been weathered by wind and rain were cleared away together with the garbage dumps on the street, the leafy grape racks at the entrance of the small shop turned into hibernating withered vines, and the yelling little yellow dogs at the alleys grew into The big yellow dog became a couple with the little black dog at the end of the alley.

Cheng Shuibei and the little monkey walked through the winding alley together, and reached the depths of another alley.

"Grandma, I'm back!"

There were still more than ten meters away from home, and the little monkey yelled.

Before entering the door, the little monkey pulled Cheng Shuibei and told him again and again: "Brother Bei, my baby ears are not good, you should speak louder later!"

"Got it!" Cheng Shuibei entered the door carrying rice, noodles, and oil.

At the end of the year, there are many people shopping for vegetables and new year's goods. Grandma Hou was busy until noon on the 29th.There is no thirty this year, and 29 is New Year's Eve. When Xiao Cheng and the others came in, Grandma Hou was making dumplings.

"Look at you, just come and bring something!"

Cheng Shuibei put the things away and greeted the old man with a smile: "Happy New Year, grandma! Little monkey is doing well. These are the 'year-end awards' he earned. You have to accept them!"

Grandma Hou got up excitedly, moved a small bench for Cheng Shuibei, and brought him delicious food.

"Grandma, aren't the little oranges used by the gods during the Chinese New Year? You didn't let me eat them, why did you take them out!" The little monkey laughed and blamed, Cheng Shuibei shyly peeled off half of the sugar The orange stuffed was given to him.

Grandma Hou patted her grandson on the back heavily: "Why are you so old that you don't know what's going on? He's a guest."

The little monkey smiled "hehe", and then fed the orange petals to grandma's mouth.

A few people were polite for a while, and Grandma Hou was busy making dumplings again.

In the small aluminum basin is the classic filling of chives and eggs. Grandma Hou took the dough and told Cheng Shuibei the secret of making dumplings: "Add an egg when kneading the dough, and the dumplings will not break easily. If the dumplings filled with meat , You can also put an egg in the stuffing, so that the stuffing can be huddled into a ball, the taste is good and it is not easy to lose the soup..."

Cheng Shuibei talked and laughed with Grandma Hou until the sun went down. It was already five o'clock, and it was time for him to go home and prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

Before going out, Grandma Hou took out a small red envelope that she folded from red paper from her pocket and handed it to Cheng Shuibei.

Grandma Hou held Cheng Shuibei's hand and said eagerly, "Here, you are about the same age as my grandson, both children. Remember to put the lucky money given by grandma under your pillow at night when you go to sleep."

Cheng Shuibei's heart felt hot, he happily said goodbye to his grandparents and grandchildren, and rode home on a small electric donkey.

When I came back, I passed by the place where old man Zhang used to live, and a new family had already lived there. A six or seven-year-old girl was sitting at the door reciting nursery rhymes.

Cheng Shuibei thought, if old man Zhang was here, he would be able to collect another New Year's money.

After hesitating again and again, Cheng Shuibei did not abduct Cheng's small courtyard.After moving into Zhang Cian's house, he learned from Cheng Nan that Zhang Cian bought the small courtyard.

Cheng Shuibei wanted to pay him back the money, but he was powerless, so he could only silently acknowledge his feelings and pay back the money when the day came.

He had already figured it out. In the future, both his and his brother's ID cards and their home addresses would be written at No. 148, Erdao Hutong, Gulou Street, Jiangshuo City Business District.

When Cheng Shuibei returned home, he found that Zhang Ci'an hadn't left yet, and he and Cheng Nan were huddling around the door to post couplets.

During this period of time, he was so busy that he forgot about "24 House Sweeping" and "28 Decals".

Aunt Hu asked someone to clean up the house, and the ingredients and semi-finished products for the New Year's Eve dinner had already filled the refrigerator.

Zhang Ci'an is tall, and he can stick the horizontal batch on the high door with a little tiptoe, but when Cheng Shuibei did this work in the past, he always had to carry a stool.

Cheng Nan helped out with scissors and tape, and when he saw Cheng Shuibei coming up, he stuffed things to him: "I'll go drink water, you come and help Brother Ci."

After speaking, he got into the house.

Cheng Shuibei: "..."

"Tape." Zhang Ci'an supported the couplet with one hand, and reached out to Cheng Shuibei's chest with the other.

"it is good."

Xiao Cheng cut the transparent tape into small pieces, and pasted them on his sleeves one by one, so that Zhang Ci'an could take it easily.

He held his arms up like a Statue of Liberty, funny.

But Zhang Ci'an didn't laugh, and Cheng Shuibei's intention was not to be funny.

Cheng Shuibei was afraid of unintentional physical contact with Zhang Cian when passing the tape, so sticking the tape on his arm can effectively avoid this problem.

"Xiaobei." Zhang Ci'an seemed to have seen through him, and squeezed Cheng Shuibei's forearm through the padded jacket.

Cheng Shuibei hurriedly pulled away: "Ah, it's posted, I should cook, you should go home for the New Year soon."

After speaking, Cheng Shuibei hurriedly hid in the house.

Zhang Ci'an outside the door gave a wry smile, said "good night" and left after stopping for a long time.

Cheng Shuibei went into the kitchen to work on the New Year's Eve dinner, and after a while Cheng Nan also sneaked in, and asked him, "Where is Brother Ci, didn't you invite him to celebrate the New Year with you?"

Cheng Shuibei curled his lips: "He wants to go home to accompany his parents, why, aren't you happy to have New Year's Eve dinner with me?"

"Oh," Cheng Nan grabbed half of the cucumber on the chopping board and took a bite. "I heard him talk about the New Year's Eve dinner this afternoon, so I thought he would want to stay for the New Year."

Cheng Shuibei was silent.

Zhang Ci'an never took the initiative to express anything, if he was willing to take the initiative to mention something to others, then he must really want it.

But Cheng Shuibei drove him away.

"Okay, what are you worrying about, kid? Go out and stop making trouble—wash your hands after eating cucumbers!"

Cheng Shuibei drove his brother out as well, and left himself in the kitchen.

These six months were absurd, he allowed Zhang Ci'an to come to his side, and allowed the three of them to live under the same roof.

Let yourself think of bits and pieces about Zhang Ci'an when no one is around.

This can't work, it's too presumptuous, and God will punish him.

Cheng Shuibei pinched the back of his neck with his fingers soaked in cold water to remind himself.

While cooking dumplings, Cheng Shuibei saw half of an old pumpkin in the refrigerator, the old pumpkin that Dad loved most.

So in addition to the hearty dishes on the table, there was an extra bowl of light pumpkin noodles.

Cheng Nan stood by the dining table, looked at the noodles, then at Cheng Shuibei, then ran back to the room and took out the small celadon jar, and placed it in front of the pumpkin noodles on which the bowls and chopsticks were placed.

"Dad, it's Chinese New Year, let's eat."

After the meal, Cheng Shuibei stopped his brother who wanted to go back to the room to date Maxwell and Galileo, and gave him the lucky money that Grandma Hou had given him: "Remember to put the lucky money under the pillow."

He had thought about giving the lucky money by himself, but there is no reason in the world for a younger brother to give lucky money to his elder brother, so Cheng Shuibei could only pass on the small red envelope with Grandma Hou's blessing to his elder brother.

Cheng Nan took it with his head down, and suddenly hugged Cheng Shuibei, crying in a low voice: "Dad is gone, I thought I would never receive lucky money again."

During this period of time, Cheng Nan's excessive calmness and maturity made Cheng Shuibei worry, and when facing this incident, his brother finally turned into that ten-year-old boy who could cry and make trouble.

Cheng Shuibei has not received lucky money for many years.

When he was a child, Shao He received so much New Year's money every year that he could buy a car, but as a stepson who was not well-known, he had nothing but his mother's 100 yuan.

At that time, Cheng Shuibei thought: It would be great if Dad was here. Dad would definitely buy him toys, cook delicious tea eggs, and give him a brand new ten-yuan note.

But whether it was in the past or now, my father has gone, leaving only the cold pumpkin noodles on the dining table, and the name that I dare not call out when I wake up in the middle of the night.

Cheng Shuibei looked at the small celadon jar on the table, and hugged his brother tightly.

Don't worry, Dad, I will take good care of my brother and myself.

Large and small places in the house were covered with stickers, some with cartoon characters on them. It seemed that Cheng Nan had chosen them, but Zhang Ci'an let him mess around. Terman.

Cheng Shuibei nestled on the sofa watching the Spring Festival Gala. Sister Ma said, "Couples are like playing mahjong, and the original pair is better." out.

Wearing the little green dinosaur pajamas bought by Zhang Cian, he moved to Cheng Shuibei's side with a big plush dog toy in his arms, and leaned carefully on Cheng Shuibei's body.

"What's the matter?" Cheng Shuibei asked in a soft voice, while wrapping one arm around his somewhat abnormal elder brother and patting him to comfort him.

"It's okay," Cheng Nan slipped into his arms again, "I'll watch TV with you. You are always alone, I should spend more time with you."

This is the first time someone said to accompany him.

He Mingsui and Shao Jihua walked around Shao He every day without saying to accompany him, Zhang Ci'an was always too busy and never said to accompany him.

Cheng Shuibei often wondered if it would be different if he ate the butterfly cake before jumping off the building.

But Cheng Shuibei also knew that Zhang Ci'an would not let go of his academic conference and make a special trip home to celebrate his birthday with him.So the butterfly cakes that he couldn't eat were destined not to belong to him.

If someone loves him, someone is willing to accompany him.

Cheng Shuibei rubbed the hood of his brother's little dinosaur pajamas, laughing out loud with the actors on TV.

He said he wanted to watch TV with someone, but before twelve o'clock, Cheng Nan fell asleep.

Cheng Shuibei carried his brother back to his room, tucked in the quilt for him, put the small celadon jar back on the bedside table full of snacks, and went back to his room.

As soon as he lay down, his cell phone rang.

The caller ID service would cost an extra three dollars, and usually no one would take the initiative to contact him, so Cheng Shuibei saved the three dollars.

Therefore, the incoming call on the screen has no number and no name.

Cheng Shuibei didn't know who would call him on New Year's Eve.

"Hello?" Cheng Shuibei answered the phone, but no one answered, only shallow breathing mixed with the sound of the wind.

He seemed to know who it was.

"Zhang Ci'an, is that you?" Cheng Shuibei asked.

"Well." The other end of the phone replied, "I'm downstairs, do you want to come down?"

If you don't sleep in the middle of the night and don't accompany your family on New Year's Eve, what is Zhang Ci'an doing here?

Cheng Shuibei was puzzled, but he still put on a coat and went downstairs.

At the entrance of the unit, Zhang Ci'an held up two shiny and burning fairy wands and waved them around.

There were a lot of burned ones piled up under his feet, probably because he had waited and prepared for a long time, and wanted to show Cheng Shuibei this childish festive fire.

"Happy New Year."

When twelve o'clock struck, every household set off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year, and the night sky was filled with gorgeous fireworks.

Amidst the crackling sound of firecrackers, Cheng Shuibei saw Zhang Ci'an walking towards him holding a small firework, and opened and closed his lips.

He said, "Xiaobei, I'm here to accompany you to celebrate the New Year."

The author has something to say: