The paper money in the shop was sold until the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the business a year ago was finally concluded. The shop was closed, so the young couple still went to the town to exchange for banknotes. Taking advantage of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, all the shops in the town were still open, so they took Chu Xiuxiu and Chu Li, who was already on holiday, to do some shopping again.
I said I was going shopping, but actually there wasn’t much to buy, but it wasn’t Chu A Nai who had prepared it, it was all delivered by various companies in the first few days!
As soon as the work of collecting copper coins and paper money for the New Year stopped, Zhao Chenggong and his younger brother went to the town to buy New Year's goods the next day. They made a lot of money with Chu Yi and his wife this year. When they had enough money, they planned to have a prosperous New Year.
The Zhao brothers really bought a lot of things. The ox cart passed by Zhao's house when they returned to the village. The two unloaded most of it and got off. Then Zhao Cheng got on the ox cart and followed him to Chu's house, giving away a lot of tea, wine and Come eat!
"I thought you two didn't have time to buy New Year's goods, so I happened to go to town with my brother today, so I brought some back together!"
As soon as Zhao Cheng was sent away, the two Shen brothers came to the door and brought a lot of bacon made by the Shen family themselves, as well as four big round carps!
"Auntie asked us to bring the New Year's gifts first, so I don't need you to prepare the bacon and fish yourself!"
It’s really early to give New Year’s gifts now. They are usually given when we visit around the Spring Festival. Besides, “Mother-in-law has prepared too many New Year’s gifts this year.”
Shen Songjie shook his head: "This is nothing, my mother-in-law said that she would kill the New Year pig on the 26th and then send a pig leg over!"
Shen Luzhu and Chu Yi had to talk hard before their two brothers agreed to go back and help persuade Shen's mother, but they must not let her give away any more. They had to prepare the New Year's goods at home, so how could they eat so much!
The Shen family's pig legs were finally persuaded, but who knew that the next day someone actually carried half a head of pork into the hospital! It was actually Uncle Jiang and Jiang Quan and his son!
"Uncle, what are you doing? How can there be any reason for the elders to kill the pig and send half of it to the younger generation?" Shen Luzhu went back to the courtyard for convenience, and happened to catch up with him. He was really confused, why were both of them sending things to their house? That’s so much for one gift!
"You have helped my Jiang family so much, half a pig is nothing! Besides, your aunt is thinking about you. She knows that you are busy, so she may not have time to prepare these!"
Jiang Jiayuan wanted to invite Chu Yi and others to eat pork butchered vegetables. Seeing that the business of the paper money shop was really inseparable from people, he gave up: "Okay, okay, your shop is also busy, and the family is also planning to eat pig slaughtered vegetables." Well, I won’t stay any longer, I’m going back!”
And Chu Ping, he would go to the mountains to try his luck every year in the past, and this year was no exception. As soon as the work of burning copper coins and paper stopped, he went into the mountains like a hunting guy. As expected, there were no pheasants and rabbits in the mountains. Shao put it into his backpack, and on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, he stuffed a lot of them into the Chu family yard.
Speaking of having all these things, Grandma Chu is the happiest. With so much meat, food and drinks, there is no need to prepare any New Year’s goods. Just buy some Spring Festival couplets with blessing characters and it will be complete, and you will save a lot of money!
The old man is right. Mr. Shen is a soft-spoken person. They did not agree with this deal at the beginning. Now it is impossible for them to intervene. His grandson has only listened to his wife since they got married. He will not make trouble with her. In the end, I won't get anything. Isn't it okay to just get thirty or forty taels a year without worrying about it?
There is no need to prepare meat, food and drinks, but for the New Year, new clothes and new shoes and socks are naturally indispensable. In ordinary households in the countryside, aunts and daughters-in-law usually make them by themselves. Those with more money can make one for the whole family. Those who are not so spacious can only make one. It can be made for the elderly and children, and some people take apart old coats, wash the fabric and turn it inside out, and it lasts another year.
Chu Yi and his wife are better off than most families in the village. They should buy some fabrics and new cotton to make their own. However, the business of the paper money shop is really busy. Let alone making new clothes, they don't even have time to buy fabrics. .
Fortunately, there are ready-to-wear shops in the town, with a wide range of clothes for men, women, old and young. You can always buy them if you want.
I picked out new clothes and a lot of fine fabrics. After leaving the clothing store, I went to the Zhendong market to catch a big market. I had my hands full of dried fruits and roasted seeds and candies and snacks. There was nothing else to buy. Then I had lunch. , headed back home.
When the four of them got on the bullock cart, they happened to meet Chu Ren and Li, who were also returning to the village, with their son Chu Mingxuan. After greeting each other, they got on the bullock cart and staggered back to the village.
Being bored on the road, Shen Luzhu rummaged for some snacks to relieve the boredom of the children.
Chu Ren looked at the large and small parcels at the feet of the four of them, and said casually: "I heard that the Dragon Boat Festival did not go well, and I didn't see you guys out at the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was actually worried about my cousin for a while. Now I see you My cousin bought so many things, it seems like business is doing well!"
"It's all thanks to A-Zhu!"
"The younger siblings are indeed amazing!"
"My cousin is honored." For some reason, Shen Luzhu never had a good impression of his eldest cousin. When the topic came to him, he didn't want to say more, so he imitated Chu Yifu's song of concubine and spoke concisely and to the point.
But it was awkward to sit like this, so Shen Luzhu had no choice but to change his focus and started chatting tepidly with his cousin-in-law, Mrs. Li.
The Chu family's New Year is no different from when Shen Luzhu lived in the Shen family. She wakes up early in the morning and starts cleaning the house, then puts up Spring Festival couplets with the character "Fu", and then prepares the New Year's Eve dinner and makes dumplings. This is how most people in the north celebrate the Spring Festival. It's only the first time in the past 20 years. I always feel a little weird when I'm not at Shen's house for the Chinese New Year.
The kitchen was still dominated by Grandma Chu, and Shen Luzhu and Xiu Xiu were ordered around. It wasn't until almost noon that Uncle Chu's family arrived, and the aunt and cousin-in-law also entered the kitchen, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
For some reason, as long as her cousin-in-law Mrs. Li is around, Grandma Chu always likes to let her and her cousin-in-law work together. This time, in order to avoid being accused of being lazy, Shen Luzhu worked quietly the whole time, vowing to clear away the unfounded charges.
Xu had chatted with Shen Luzhu on the bullock cart the first day and got to know each other a lot. Today, the hostess took the initiative to chat with Shen Luzhu: "My brother and sister, this wooden hairpin on your head is quite unique. I saw you wearing it yesterday." , but it was customized in the town?”
"This was made by Chu Yi himself!"
"Chu Yi?"
Mrs. Li was a little surprised, and Shen Luzhu was about to praise him, "How about their Chu Yi?" The cousin-in-law pursed her lips and asked in a low voice with some hesitation and disgust: "Isn't this coffin wood used..."
What kind of expression and tone is this? Shen Luzhu is speechless! Don't say Chu Yi is useless, even if it is used, so what. They didn't steal or rob, and it's not like they dug up someone's grave or dug up someone's coffin to make it. She is very precious, so why does Mrs. Li have it? dislike!
"House sister-in-law, my cousin's hairpin is made of peach wood." It was Chu Xiuxiu. Seeing that Shen Luzhu didn't say anything, she replied on her behalf.
"What's wrong with Taomu?"
The disgust and disdain on Mrs. Li's face once again irritated Shen Luzhu. Her usual smile was gone, and her tone was unconsciously cold: "My family makes a living by making coffins, and my cousin married into a coffin shop." How could my eldest grandson not even know that peach wood cannot be used as a coffin?"
The two things that the eldest mother-in-law is most proud of are: one is that her eldest son was admitted as a scholar at the age of 20, and the other is the background of the daughter-in-law. If the daughter-in-law comes from a good background and can help her son, it also proves that her son will definitely succeed in the future. Great potential! Therefore, she always respected her in-laws very much, and she was also very indulgent towards Mr. Li.
This Shen family not only flirted with Li family, but also dared to mention that her eldest son was the grandson of the coffin shop. Wasn't the reason for the separation of the family in the first place to end this poor background? It was simply stepping on her back!
"How many times have I told you not to involve Chu Ren in the family business! Besides, I don't know what's wrong? Qing He grew up in the town when he was a child. His father is a scholar and teaches in a private school. There is no need to know these things. No countertop stuff!”
"Why don't you look down on things that are not on the table?" Grandma Chu slapped the kitchen knife on the vegetable pile, obviously angry at Wang's words.
What Grandma Chu asked was also what Shen Luzhu wanted to ask. Who didn't use the money from selling the coffin for food, clothing, or his eldest cousin's education? Why didn't he feel resentful when he spent the money? I really pick up the bowl to eat meat and put down the chopsticks to curse!
It’s not that Mrs. Wang really dislikes this craft. When she married Uncle Chu, wasn’t it because of the Chu family’s craftsmanship and prosperous days? It's just that people change. What seemed good at first has now become a stumbling block preventing my son from getting promoted and making a fortune: "Mom, I didn't mean that..."
"Those who are celebrating the Chinese New Year should be careful what they say!"
Shen Luzhu prepared new year's money for all the children in his family and put them in red envelopes made of red paper. During the New Year's Eve dinner, Grandpa Chu indeed gave the New Year's money to Chu Li, Chu Zhi, Chu Xiuxiu, and Chu Ren's three-year-old son Chu Mingxuan. The children paid New Year greetings to their elders and said auspicious words before happily accepting it.
Just as he was about to wait for his uncle, third uncle and Chu Ren to give them, he followed behind. But after waiting for a long time, I saw that the other elders didn't move. Although I didn't know why, I had to silently withdraw my right hand that was about to take out the red envelope!
It was only later that I asked Chu Yi privately that I found out that, unlike the Shen family's custom, only grandpa and grandma in the Chu family would give New Year's money: "The other elders in the family did not give it, but my third uncle secretly gave it to me and Ah Li in private."
"Fortunately, I didn't take it out just now, otherwise it would have been so embarrassing! Then let's give it to Ah Li and Xiu Xiu quietly later!
"good."
Originally, if everyone gave it, Shen Luzhu would just follow the elders and give the children's belongings together, but now the Chu family does not have this habit. Chu Li and Xiu Xiu gave nothing privately, just Chu Zhi and Chu Mingxuan's, for fear of If you don’t appreciate it if you give it to others in private, it’s not beautiful to think about it too much.
The lobby sister-in-law's thinking was a bit strange. Last time she misunderstood her for being lazy, and in the afternoon she suspected that her hairpin was made of coffin boards! The eldest uncle is even more weird. If the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law look back and think she is showing off her wealth and causing trouble again, they will feel a headache just thinking about it, so they might as well forget it.
The New Year's money had already been wrapped, and there was no reason to unwrap it, so I gave it directly to Chu Li and Chu Xiuxiu, two each.
After eating dumplings at midnight on New Year's Eve, Uncle Chu's family went home to rest. Shen Luzhu originally thought that just like the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, people would come again early the next morning, but he had already had lunch on the first day of the Lunar New Year and saw no one. He was a little confused and found out after asking Chu Yi.
This has been the case every year since then. The eldest uncle's family, thirty years old, stays at the old house. On the first day of the new year, they go to the aunt's aunt's house. After the uncle's cousin returns home on the second day of the second lunar month, they will come to accompany grandpa every day. After a few days, on the sixth and seventh day of the lunar month, my cousin's family will go back to town again.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, married daughters will go back to their parents' homes to pay New Year's greetings. In the past, Chu Yi would take Chu Li back to his maternal home, but getting married this year was different from previous years. Grandma Cui also handed Chu Yi a letter early, asking the young couple to take Chu Li to her place in the third year of junior high school.
Early in the morning, the young couple crossed the river carrying New Year's gifts. The shops in the village were still closed on the second day of the lunar month. These New Year's gifts were bought together in the town on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, including clothes for the elders and clothes for the nephews. The toys and snacks I bought, and the fabrics I bought for my sisters-in-law and brothers.
Chu Yi and the two led Chu Li to stay at the Shen family for a whole day. After dinner, they crossed the river and returned to the Chu family's old house under the reluctant eyes of everyone in the Shen family.
As soon as he entered the door, he heard Xiuxiu say something new: "Cousin, my cousin came back this afternoon. She seems to have something to do. I have been waiting for you for a long time. After dinner, I sat down in the main room again. After a while, I left when it got dark!"
"Did you say something?"
"That's not true. I just kept asking when you would come back. I thought maybe I had something to ask my cousin and cousin-in-law!"
