After the three brothers and sisters became sensible, the situation at home has improved greatly.
Parents valued education, so each of the three brothers and sisters learned an art. I don’t seek to make this a career, I just hope to learn something elegant and cultivate my sentiments.
My boss chose music, and he plays the piano and violin well. Although he finally learned computers, he didn't need the music he learned in elementary school.
The second eldest child, Zhang Yuanying, can draw and is now studying design in France, so he has not wasted the pen and ink he wasted in his childhood.
Zhang Yuanjun’s third-grade primary school started a calligraphy class, and he has been writing calligraphy for more than ten years every week until now.
His father admired Zhang Yuanjun's calligraphy very much. He liked writing when he was young, but he didn't have the conditions when he was studying and couldn't learn it systematically from a good teacher.
Zhang Yuanjun learned calligraphy, but he practiced hard for several years with Zheng'er Ba Jing, a teacher from the local calligraphy association.
In previous years, my father had written the Spring Festival couplets. This year, I made an exception and asked Zhang Yuanjun to write:
"You, the master, write it to see if you have been idle this year. If you write well, I will give you a few hundred more New Year's money this year."
The table was covered with red paper sprinkled with gold, and pens and ink were ready and set aside.
“What should I write about this year?”
"Write it as you read. It should be appreciated by both refined and popular people." His father deliberately tested Zhang Yuanjun.
"That's not easy. Heshun has a hundred blessings, and peace is worth a thousand pieces of gold." Zhang Yuanjun opened his mouth.
My father was speechless: "This couplet is older than me. How many years have passed since I wrote it?"
"I am happy to live in a treasured land and prosper for thousands of years, and my family will be blessed with good fortune."
"It's too vulgar. Did you learn this in school?" Father Zhang had to re-examine the knowledge in his son's belly.
"I have an elegant person. The water flows even when there is a rush, and the mood is quiet even when the flowers fall frequently. There is no noise among the carriages and horses." Zhang Yuanjun was very proud of this couplet.
But my father was still dissatisfied: "It's elegant enough, but it's more like a couplet in the study. It's not appropriate to post it during the New Year."
"You find it vulgar to be vulgar, but you say it's inappropriate to be elegant." The mother supported her son.
Zhang Yuanjun's mind was stimulated and he said with a smile: "I have a couplet, which is both vulgar and elegant.
"Set off thousands of firecrackers to bake out the poor. Over the past few years, this little slave has disturbed me and left me empty-handed. Burn three sticks of high-quality incense to bring the God of Wealth in. From now on, I hope you, old master, will protect me and give me a hundred thousand dollars. How can I criticize you? There is more ointment to moisturize the spring cold.
"How about it, if I dare to write it, you dare to post it?" Zhang Yuanjun said with a joking smile.
"Isn't that what the Spring Festival couplets all over the street mean? I'll use you to write them." My father also smiled.
The mother was teasing and said: "You are a high school graduate, how can you pretend to be knowledgeable in front of college students? Just let your son write, and I will post what he writes."
My father said: "How could I have had the opportunity to study in the past seventy years? Eight out of ten people my age in the village are illiterate. I am considered a highly educated person after studying in high school. If the policy at that time did not allow it, would I not be able to go to college?"
"I'm not happy with you anymore. I've been talking about this nonsense for decades, and I'm tired of hearing it. Write it quickly, post it, and I'll cook." After her mother said that, she turned and walked into the kitchen.
After the father and son finished writing, they carried a small ladder, and Zhang Yuanjun posted the Spring Festival couplets.
Zhang Yuanjun has never celebrated the New Year in the north, but in his hometown, the New Year has never been like what the Spring Festival Gala said. People across the country eat New Year's Eve dinner and watch the Spring Festival Gala at the same time.
Zhang Yuanjun's family started eating at 4:30 pm before it got dark, and Zhang Yuanjun drank some wine with his parents.
Halfway through the meal, my parents’ cell phones rang.
Don't think about it, it must be the boss and the second kid who made an appointment to call back.
I still remember last year, when my second sister was celebrating the Chinese New Year abroad for the first time, she cried loudly on the phone to the sound of 30-year-old firecrackers.
This year Zhang Yuanjun teased her about this matter again, and Zhang Yuanying was so angry that she shouted on her mobile phone:
"Mom, hit him for me."
Mother slapped Zhang Yuanjun hard on the back: "How dare you call her through your mobile phone, if you have the ability, wait for her to come back."
The daily necessities at home are trivial and unnutritious. My mother told her children on the other side of the ocean over the phone what she had cooked for this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner:
"Just me, your dad and the third child will eat together. We don't have to cook much, just six bowls."
"Your aunt's Linlin brought her boyfriend back for the New Year."
"Don't forget to call your grandma and grandpa to say New Year greetings. Half a month ago, you asked the boss if the boss and the second child would come back this year."
“It’s good to celebrate the New Year with Chinese friends, it’s lively.”
"Also, have you received the things I sent to you two? If it is not convenient for the school to open, you can take it to Chinatown and pay some processing fees for them to make it. Don't be stingy and ask a few more classmates and teachers to eat together. Do you hear me?"
"I heard it, I heard it." The two eldest members of the Zhang family said in unison.
"Tell your dad."
"I have nothing to say." Zhang's father didn't know what to say on the phone, "Don't cause trouble outside and study hard. That's it, hang up and I'll eat."
"You're such a tough-talking person." After hanging up the phone, my mother scolded my father, "Last night, I was sighing, saying that the house wasn't lively enough because the two elders were away, and now I ask you to say it but you won't say it."
"No one is here, what can I say over the phone. Eat, eat."
After dinner, my father sat in the living room, smoked a cigarette and then went out.
"Who are we playing cards with again?" Mother said while cleaning up. "The stool at home is so hot that I can't sit down for even a minute."
The mother put the dishes and chopsticks into the sink, wiped the table clean, and asked her son, "Are you going out later?"
"I'm not going out, I'm watching the Spring Festival Gala." Zhang Yuanjun was already sitting on the sofa, ready to turn on the TV with the remote control.
"Okay, you wash the dishes. I'll go out."
"My dad, you also want to go out and play mahjong." Zhang Yuanjun said with a smile.
The mother didn't listen to him at all. She smiled, changed her shoes and went out.
Zhang Yuanjun said to himself that with this situation and this scene, you might have a different feeling when watching the Spring Festival Gala.
But after watching a few programs, my heart didn’t waver.
After all, Zhang Yuanjun had no interest in this party because the huge entertainment resources in his previous life had spoiled his taste.
The TV was on, firecrackers were crackling outside the window, and Zhang Yuanjun's cell phone started to ding.
They are all New Year greetings messages from classmates and friends. Those who are interested can send MMS messages.
Now there is no such thing as "massive messages without reply", but Zhang Yuanjun doesn't have the patience to reply one by one.
Then he also edited a text message:
"You know there were two great men in ancient China: Confucius and Laozi, so if Confucius can't solve the problems in this world, I can help you solve them. The New Year is here, and I am here to wish you a happy New Year! Haha, don't think wrong, I will give you a gift Blessings, you should feel honored!”
OK, select a contact, and send a group message!
Hengdian, the crew of "Sword and Fairy", the crew is still working hard during the Chinese New Year, but it's just that the work ends early today.
Liu Yifei was lying in her room, looking through the New Year greeting messages sent by her friends. When she saw the message from Zhang Yuanjun, she giggled:
"This guy is too funny."
Then he replied: "I also wish you a happy new year, hehe."
