Seventy Buddha Cannon Fodder

Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, Gu Mingdong was woken up by the movement next door.

He vaguely heard the excited voices of the twins.

Before he could get up, the twins ran in, and they threw themselves on Gu Mingdong together: "Dad, get up quickly."

Today they all put on new padded jackets. Although they are all dusty and dirt-resistant, Gu Xiuxiu is good at making the padded jackets to fit them well. They even made two big pockets out of floral cloth. The twins wore special clothes. Spirit.

The twins were clearly delighted at the rare new clothes.

Gu Mingdong opened his eyes helplessly, and pinched his son's chubby cheeks one by one: "I usually like to stay in bed, and your aunt can't wake up, but I got up early today."

Gu Liangxing didn't mind his father pinching the meat, and said inarticulately: "We are going to visit the New Year with my second uncle, and there will be candies."

"Isn't the sugar in the house enough for you?" Gu Mingdong laughed.

Gu Liangchen was beside him, tilted his head and said, "That's different, the candies from New Year's greetings are for nothing, and our candies are bought with money."

Gu Liangxing also agreed: "We have to hurry up to pay New Year's greetings and bring back some more candies."

Gu Mingdong was amused: "You are not very old, you are all smart ghosts."

Now that his son was up, Gu Mingdong had no choice but to get up quickly, and he also put on new clothes.

He took the twins outside and saw that the second younger brother Gu was also standing there in a brand new suit, but the third younger sister Gu fourth sister was busy in the kitchen with old clothes on.

"Why don't you wear new clothes?" Gu Mingdong asked.

Gu Sanmei smiled and said, "I'm cooking, it's a pity that the new clothes get dirty, and I'll wear them after I'm done."

The custom in Shanghe Village is to eat glutinous rice balls on the morning of the first day of the new year, but the current conditions do not allow it. Gu Simei thought of a way to knead flour into small balls, and then boiled them with sugar.

Although it is a solid ball, it tastes good with sugar added.

After the family of six finished eating the sweet flour dumplings, the second brother Gu took a nephew by the hand and planned to go out to pay New Year's greetings.

"Third Sister, Fourth Sister, you should join in the fun together, I'll just stay at home."

Generally speaking, the younger generations go to pay New Year's greetings, while the elders stay at home and wait for others to come to pay New Year's greetings.

But the situation of the old Gu's family is different. The whole family is of the junior generation, and the seniority is only junior and younger. Gu Mingdong, the only one who got married and gave birth to a baby, can only stay behind.

Gu Sanmei was a little eager to try.

In the past years, the family had a hard time, and they were embarrassed to mobilize people to pay New Year's greetings, just like taking advantage of others, but today is different, their house also has a sugar plate with biscuits in it!

Gu Simei hesitated and said: "Brother, I'd better stay and help you."

"What kind of help do you need for New Year's greetings? Go ahead. Every household is filled with a large group of children. It's not a loss if you don't come to our house." Gu Mingdong laughed.

When Gu Simei heard this, she really didn't object.

Gu Mingdong was not joking. At this time, every household is a group of children, and five of them are not too many.

When the younger siblings left with their children, Gu Mingdong moved a stool and sat at the door waiting for someone to come.

Unexpectedly, the waiting time lasted for a long time, and there was no one who came to pay New Year's greetings.

Gu Mingdong recalled it for a while, and then remembered that the life of the old Gu's family was difficult. In the past, there were only some cheap melon seeds in the house to pretend, and the location was also biased. Every year, the children who paid New Year's greetings were not happy to come here.

The original owner had such a miserable life, Gu Mingdong couldn't help but sighed.

Just as Gu Mingdong was sighing, a few children came here with little interest.

Gu Mingdong stood up and looked around, and saw clearly that they were the grandchildren of Gu Jianguo, that is, the children of his cousins ​​Gu Baojia and Gu Weijia.

As soon as he thought about it, he understood that Gu Jianguo also knew the situation of the old Gu's family. He was afraid that their family would be too deserted. Before going out, he must ask his grandchildren to come to visit the New Year.

"Uncle Adong, happy new year, we wish you a happy new year." The five children shouted in unison.

Gu Mingdong smiled: "Happy New Year, come, this is the lucky money from my uncle."

The little red envelopes that had been prepared a long time ago were stuffed into the hands of the five children. Gu Jun, the oldest, pinched it and looked at the uncle in surprise.

Although he is an uncle, Gu Mingdong is young, has only been married for two years, and the family is in trouble. Before marriage, he does not need to give money. After marriage, he always gives a penny.

After stuffing the red envelopes, Gu Mingdong brought over the fruit plate, grabbed a handful of candies and stuffed them into their pockets. The candies were bulk candies he bought from a supply and marketing agency, wrapped in simple cellophane.

After distributing the sugar, I gave them each a biscuit.

When he came out of the old Gu's house, Gu Bin, the youngest, couldn't help but took a bite of the biscuit. The biscuit was crispy and sprinkled with sugar. It was fragrant and sweet after one bite: "It's delicious."

The other children also tasted it, and they all thought it was delicious, and they were reluctant to finish it all at once.

Gu Jun couldn't help saying: "Grandpa is right, Uncle Adong has changed a lot."

It's not as stingy as before, the biscuits are delicious, the candies are delicious, and he's still a villain hero in the village. The children immediately admire this uncle next door.

The second child, Gu Yong, hurriedly opened the red envelope, and exclaimed in surprise, "One dime!"

"So much?" Their grandfather only gave five cents.

Several children opened the red envelopes one after another. Each red envelope contained five cents, and they immediately became happy.

While speaking, Gu Bin had already finished eating his own piece of biscuit, and started staring at the one in his sister Gu Fang's hand: "Sister, if you don't want to eat it, just give it to me."

Gu Fang was not happy: "I will eat slowly."

Gu Bin fumed: "Then you will share half with me. If you don't share, I will go home and tell Mom that you bullied me."

Gu Fang glared at her younger brother, feeling displeased in her heart that he could only share half of it with him, Gu Bin began to eat triumphantly.

At this time, other children in the production team noticed that they were eating biscuits, and immediately surrounded them and asked which one was so generous.

The attraction of biscuits is huge. Gu Mingdong was lamenting that there were few children paying New Year's greetings, and a large group came, talking auspicious words in a hurry, and all their eyes were looking at the biscuit box on the table.

Gu Mingdong also treats everyone equally, no matter whose family the children share the candy, one piece of biscuit for each child.

As for the New Year's money, except for relatives, of course, there is no need to give it out.

The clever child glanced at the biscuit box, thinking to himself that there must be nothing left after all the points, thinking of going home and calling his younger siblings over.

The children are coming and going, and there are bursts of excitement.

The children who came to Lao Gu's house naturally had to pass by Widow Liu's house. One of the children was about to go in, but was stopped by the neighbor: "Don't go to her house, there are only melon seeds, which are still moldy."

The child who wanted to go in immediately gave up the idea of ​​going in.

Widow Liu was showing a smile, and wanted to grab a handful of melon seeds and stuff them for the New Year's children, but they all left.

Her face darkened, and she put the melon seeds back in frustration.

Liu Aihua and Liu Xiaozhu also went out to pay New Year's greetings. The first day of the Lunar New Year is a good day, so I don't like to curse people, but anyone who comes to visit for New Year's greetings can always get some melon seeds and peanut candies.

The siblings seldom go out, and no children are willing to play with them, so they have to go together.

After walking around, the pockets of the siblings were also bulging, most of which were peanuts and melon seeds, and a few were candies.

After going around in a circle, Liu Xiaozhu looked in the direction of the old Gu's house: "Second sister, shall we go there?"

Liu Aihua pursed her lips.

Liu Xiaozhu said enviously: "They all said that Lao Gu's family has biscuits, and everyone who went there got them."

Liu Aihua also wanted to eat biscuits. She looked around the door of her house, hissed, and dragged her younger brother to go around the path, so as not to be seen by her family.

Seeing the two children of Widow Liu's family, Gu Mingdong was also taken aback for a moment.

He subconsciously looked at Liu Xiaozhu, and it was not difficult to find Wang Mazi's shadow after careful observation.

Probably because he observed for a longer time, the siblings became more uncomfortable and flinched.

Gu Mingdong came back to his senses, he didn't get along with the Liu family, and he was tired of Bai Xiaohua, but it had nothing to do with the two children.

Gu Mingdong didn’t want to care about those who were celebrating the Chinese New Year, so he still grabbed a handful of candies and stuffed them into their pockets, and gave them biscuits, treating them no differently.

After receiving the biscuits, Liu Aihua and Liu Xiaozhu were really happy, and even made their New Year greetings louder.

After walking out the door, Liu Xiaozhu took a bite of the biscuit, squinted his eyes and smiled: "It's delicious."

Liu Aihua took a bite carefully and found it delicious. She put the biscuit away: "Take it home and give Mom a bite too."

When Liu Xiaozhu heard this, he resisted the desire to eat it all in one go, and left most of it.

When the siblings returned home, they first dug out the melon seeds, peanuts and candies they got during New Year's greetings. Widow Liu looked at them and touched their heads with a smile: "You guys keep them and eat slowly."

Liu Aihua took out a biscuit and stuffed it into Widow Liu's mouth: "Mom, eat a biscuit, this biscuit is delicious."

Liu Xiaozhu also quickly took it out to her.

Widow Liu was stunned for a moment, and only bit a small corner: "It's delicious, mom has eaten it, you can eat the rest yourself."

Liu Aihua leaned in her arms: "I want mom to eat with me."

With a warm heart, Widow Liu asked with a smile, "Who gave the biscuits?"

Without waiting for her daughter and son to answer, she said again: "Your uncle's family? It's just that their family has good conditions. I'm really willing to part with it."

The uncle she was talking about was Old Liu. As the captain of the brigade, Old Liu's family was in good condition, and every year it was a popular place for children to pay New Year's greetings.

The siblings nodded falteringly, not daring to say they were next door.

At this moment, Bai Xiaohua came out of the room, Liu Aihua and Liu Xiaozhu subconsciously stuffed the biscuits into their pockets, and looked at Bai Xiaohua nervously, but Bai Xiaohua saw the things on the table and swept them into their pockets.

Seeing her actions, Liu Xiaozhu was so wronged that he almost cried.

Widow Liu's complexion changed: "Xiaohua, this is what Aihua and Xiaozhu got from New Year's greetings, let them keep it for food."

Bai Xiaohua rolled her eyes: "I'm not allowed to eat something for the Teeth Ceremony when it's Chinese New Year's Eve."

After finishing speaking, regardless of the faces of the mother and son, she turned around and entered the room again, and there was the voice of her flirting with Liu Dazhu from inside.

Widow Liu held a bad breath in her throat, scolding or not.

At the end, she finally swallowed her breath and comforted the two children: "Forget it, today is the first day of the new year, you can't swear at people, and you're not allowed to cry, or you'll be unlucky for a whole year."

From the bottom of his heart, he has even more dissatisfaction with Bai Xiaohua, thinking that the daughter-in-law here really needs to take good care of her, and this has already climbed to the heads of the three of them.

Liu Xiaozhu had no choice but to hold back his tears, and felt happy when he touched the biscuit in his pocket: "Fortunately, she didn't see the biscuit."

Widow Liu sighed, holding the two children in her arms, wondering what she was thinking.

It wasn't until near noon that the New Year's greetings finally came to an end. The child who walked the farthest could finish walking the surrounding production teams.

If the twins weren't young, Second Brother Gu could have dragged them all the way to the town.

The five children, each with their pockets full, took them all out and dumped them on the table when they got home.

Gu Sanmei looked at this side and that side, and sighed: "Our family is still at a loss."

Isn't that right? Most of the things they brought back were melon seeds and peanuts. Some of them looked like they were fried by themselves. There were not many candies, and most of them didn't even have packaging.

It's not like their family has both candy and biscuits.

When other people give candy, it means that each person puts one piece, and it is good to give two generously. Unlike their prodigal brother, the candy is grabbed by the handful, and the biscuits are given piece by piece.

Regarding the big brother's prodigal family, the three brothers and sisters reached an agreement at this moment, especially since there were not many biscuit boxes left, and they were all distributed to him.

Gu Mingdong was amused by her, and flicked his sister's forehead: "Can it be compared like this?"

"The New Year's greetings are a good omen. There are many people who come to our house, and they all leave happily, which means that our family will also have a prosperous life next year."

Having said that, Gu Sanmei didn't think it was such a loss.

Gu Mingdong also took out five big white rabbit toffees from the house, and shared one for each person: "Eat it, it will be sweet for a year after eating this candy."

Second brother Gu exclaimed in surprise: "Toffee, big brother, when did you buy this?"

Gu Mingdong smiled and said, "I bought it specially for you, I am reluctant to give it to others."

The children of Gu's family finally broke free from the thought of losing the New Year's greetings, and they all became happy.

The other members of the production team are also discussing about the old Gu's family.

Li Tiezhu and his wife said: "Is Gu Mingdong rich? He is willing to give biscuits. These biscuits can fetch a lot of money."

Li Tiezhu took a sip of tea: "I heard from Anan that this biscuit was given by their aunt."

"No wonder, it was given by Xiuxiu." His wife thought it was reasonable.

But he still couldn't help but said: "Then he is swollen face to pretend to be fat?"

Li Tiezhu always felt that Gu Mingdong was good, so he spoke for him: "You can't say that, have you seen the cotton padded clothes on their children, they are all new, and other candies also need money."

"Where did their family get so much money?" his wife muttered.

Li Tiezhu said: "A Dong has worked so hard this year, and he has won three awards from the town. Last time, he was given a bonus of [-] yuan for his bravery. It's not all money."

"That's right." His daughter-in-law sighed, "Hey, Ah Dong is promising, and their family got up all of a sudden."

After finishing speaking, she stared at her husband again: "Why don't you know how to learn from him."

Li Tiezhu touched his nose: "He only worked hard after his wife died. My wife will be fine."

Is this cursing yourself to death?His daughter-in-law was so angry that she almost cursed, and glared at him angrily. Li Tiezhu was shocked, and quickly slipped out of the house to avoid being chased and beaten by his wife.

Gu Jianguo and Gu Baojia were speechless when they heard about this, and secretly complained to him: "Gu is really biased, the same nephew, she only thinks about Adong's house, and never brings anything to our house."

Gu Baojia said impatiently: "She is A Dong's biological aunt, she is separated from our house, can it be the same?"

His daughter-in-law continued to mutter: "It's clothes and biscuits, how much did you add to it, their family is really lucky."

Gu Baojia was even more impatient: "Why don't you see that A Dong sends the meat to the city every time he divides it? Did you ask me to send it once?"

Chrysanthemum's face changed. Although Gu Jianguo was a scorekeeper, he handled things fairly and never profited for his own family. Their family didn't get much meat, so how could they give it to the aunt in the next room.

Gu Baojia looked at her face and continued: "The clothes made of rags are not worth a few dollars. If you are envious, save the meat next year and give it to aunt, and aunt will definitely want to return the gift."

His wife glared at him angrily, turned and left.

Gu Baojia cursed for no reason, and simply went out to find someone to chat with.

Gu Mingdong's subtle changes reached their peak on the first day of the new year.

Seeing their children happily eating biscuits, the members of the Dahe Village production team were thinking in their hearts that the old Gu's family was completely different.

On the second day of the new year, I went back to my mother's house.

Gu Mingdong's family had no daughter-in-law and needed to go back to her natal family. After Gu's mother died, Gu Mingdong's family lost contact with their uncle. Their grandma and grandpa were gone, and Sun Tao was a disgusting person. Naturally, Gu Mingdong would not ask for trouble to pay New Year's greetings.

After Li Lijuan got married, she also severed ties with her natal family, who ignored her there, and Li Lijuan never took Gu Mingdong back, so the two families had no contact at all.

So the family of six stayed at home and waited for Gu Xiuxiu to come back.

Not long after the sun rose, Gu Xiuxiu's voice came from outside: "Adong, aunt is back."

When Gu Mingdong went out to take a look, he saw Gu Xiuxiu with big and small bags, followed by Sun Qiang and Sun Shumei.

"Gu, come in quickly." Gu Mingdong greeted.

"You are all here, uncle?"

"It's okay. Your uncle can take care of himself. I'll ask my neighbor to take a look. I'll go back after lunch without delay."

Sun Qiang originally said to stay at home to take care of his father, but Uncle Sun drove them out, saying that although he was paralyzed, he could still move his hands and shout, so it would not be a problem for a long time.

The third younger sister Gu and the fourth younger sister were already busy making tea, and the second younger brother Gu brought over the fruit plate with winking eyes. The twins no longer remembered Gu Xiuxiu, and only called aunt after Gu Mingdong's introduction.

Gu Xiuxiu hugged the twins with a smile and turned upside down: "It's heavy."

They took out the red envelopes and stuffed them into their small pockets: "This is the New Year's money from my aunt, take it away."

After speaking, he looked around the room again, frowned and said, "Why don't you see Lijuan?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly stagnated.

Sun Shumei faltered and said: "Mom, why don't you sit down and have a sip of tea first, and let's talk slowly?"

She had a premonition in her heart, but at this moment Gu Xiuxiu's expression still darkened.

After she regained her composure, Gu Xiuxiu asked: "Ah Dong, what happened at home, you can tell aunt directly, aunt can hold on."

In fact, before coming here, Gu Xiuxiu and Sun Guodong mentioned this matter, especially after Sun Shumei came here, when she came home, she hesitated to talk from time to time, she asked but didn't say anything.

Gu Xiuxiu knew her daughter well, and knew that something bad might happen to the old Gu family.

Gu Mingdong had no choice but to tell the story that Li Lijuan had passed away for almost a year, and also brought up the story of the entrusted person delivering the message but by mistake.

He originally thought that Gu Xiuxiu would be sad, or even angry, but Gu Xiuxiu sighed, "It really is."

"Last time you were evasive and refused to mention her, so I knew something must have happened." Gu Xiuxiu was sad in her heart, but she refused to show it.

"Lijuan has always been sensible. Knowing that something happened to her uncle, she would definitely not just come and take a look. I waited and waited, but I didn't see her. Aqiang and Shumei came back, and they didn't mention her at home. I guessed it in my heart."

"I just don't want to believe it... Do you think our old Gu's family has bad Fengshui? Why can't we keep people..."

Sun Shumei quickly comforted: "Mom, don't cry. If you cry, won't it make cousin and the child feel bad?"

Sun Qiang also said: "People who celebrate the New Year can't cry, crying for a whole year will not go well."

In fact, Gu Xiuxiu had already been mentally prepared, and now she forced a smile and said: "I won't cry, Lijuan is a sensible child, she must hope that we will get over it as much as possible."

After finishing speaking, he didn’t treat himself as a guest, he got up and started to work, he turned out the clothes of the brothers and sisters and sewed them, and by the way taught the two sisters who had lost their mothers and sisters-in-law, how to do it again. Gu Simei's job is to cook.

When Gu Xiuxiu came, it seemed that everyone in the old Gu's family was free and her work was taken away by her.

Gu Mingdong couldn't persuade her, so he had to let her be busy, and when she was busy, Gu Xiuxiu couldn't care less about being sad.

Gu Sanmei shook her head towards her elder brother, and pulled her younger sister over to help them. Gu Xiuxiu taught them the housework by hand. This was something her sister-in-law had to do every time she returned to her mother's house after her sister-in-law died.

She was afraid in her heart that she lost her mother, her nephew was fine, and her niece would be talked about.

After watching for a while, Gu Mingdong, who was completely out of control, had no choice but to drag Sun Qiang to the door to talk.

Sun Shumei said hesitantly: "Brother, cousin, I want to go to the next door to have a look at Xiaohua."

Sun Qiang frowned and scolded: "Why do you still go to see her? She didn't even invite you to get married, so obviously she didn't regard you as a friend."

Sun Shumei pursed her lips, lowered her head and remained silent.

Gu Mingdong pulled his cousin: "Let Shumei go, it won't delay things."

Sun Shumei glanced at her cousin gratefully, and ran towards Liu Dazhu's house.

Sun Qiang hated iron and scolded: "My sister is so stupid, she was treated like a monkey by that woman."

Gu Mingdong persuaded: "Don't always scold Shumei like this. She is a girl with a thin skin. She knows that you are worried about her sister, but if you speak well, can Shumei listen to you?"

Sun Qiang snorted coldly: "I just think that woman is not pleasing to the eye, even hearing her name during Chinese New Year feels unlucky."

On the other side, Sun Shumei ran to the door of Liu's house, took a look inside, and shouted, "Xiaohua, are you home?"

Only when she came over did she realize that today was the day to go back to her natal home, and wondered if Bai Xiaohua would also go back to her natal home.

Unexpectedly, before she finished speaking, Bai Xiaohua came out from inside: "Shumei?"