After a nice nap, the young couple drove the ox cart to Jiang's house in the afternoon, carrying large and small packages. Jiang Quan was stunned as soon as he opened the door of his courtyard: "Cousin, why are you back? You’ll be back soon, didn’t you agree that I would pick you up early tomorrow morning?”
"The paper money in the shop has been sold out, and we have nothing to do while we're there. We rented a carriage and came back early this morning. Why don't I tell you that I'll give some New Year's goods to my aunt and uncle along the way."
Jiang Quan hurriedly took the things from Shen Luzhu's hand and shouted into the yard: "Mom and Dad, come out quickly, my cousins are here to give us New Year's goods!"
Sitting in the warm main room of the Jiang family, the two families chatted eagerly. Aunt Cui learned that the Chu family rented a car and complained a little: "Why don't you send someone back to let you know, so that you can ask Ah Quan to pick you up?" , it’s inconvenient to rent a car with your family, but Ah Quan can help you move things when you go there. By the way, why didn’t you bring Zhengzheng over? The child is almost two years old now. Is he walking and talking more fluently? ?」
Shen Luzhu explained with a smile: "We didn't expect to be able to sell out a day in advance. As soon as the work in the shop stopped, we were even more anxious to go home. Maybe we were tired from all the hard work today. During lunch, He just dozed off and didn't wake up until we went out, so we simply left him at home and brought him to visit his aunt and uncle in a few days to pay New Year's greetings."
Aunt Cui nodded and said very understandingly: "It's hard for adults to be on the road like this, let alone he is still a little baby. It's normal to be tired. You can rest at home. Lu Zhu, you plan to stay at home this time. Stay a little longer?"
"The specific date for returning to the county town has not yet been determined. Paper money sales have been very cold during the first month of the year, so it won't hurt to stay a little longer."
Aunt Cui happily patted Shen Luzhu's hand: "The relationship is good. I haven't told you yet. Ah Quan's marriage has been decided. She is a girl from the Xu family in the next village. She has discussed with the woman that at the end of the first year, on the 28th Just get down to business, it would be great if you guys could stay a little longer!"
When Chu Yi heard this, he patted Jiang Quan on the shoulder: "When did you decide? I didn't listen to you the first two times I came to deliver goods. Otherwise, your cousin and I can give you a gift when we are hired?"
Jiang Quan scratched his head and said with some embarrassment: "My cousin and sister-in-law have so many things to do, so I won't cause any trouble. I just want you to come and have a wedding banquet on your wedding day."
Aunt Cui mentioned her son with a smile and explained: "It's what his father and I wanted to do. We were afraid that if you were in a hurry to go back to the county, your business would not be worth it if it was delayed here."
Shen Luzhu asked hurriedly: "Aunt, really, what business are you delaying? Nothing is as important as Ah Quan's marriage. What is the temperament of the Xu family girl? How old is she this year?"
Jiang Juan smiled and replied: "She is the same age as Ah Quan. She is a virtuous and capable girl with a very kind temperament. She has a pretty good reputation in their village."
"That's a good relationship. Our Ah Quan is so good, so we deserve a good girl."
The son's decision to arrange this marriage can be regarded as settling a major concern of Jiang's father. What's more, the prospective in-law's family is really good character: "It's all thanks to Ayi and you guys. If this brat hadn't followed you." Qian, if people think he can be successful in the future, he won't accept this marriage so happily."
Chu Yi waved his hand and said, "What are you talking about, uncle? It's because Ah Quan himself has the ability, and he has been recognized by the Xu family and the girls of the Xu family."
Aunt Cui also said: "He just doesn't know how he got lucky. To say that the girl from the Xu family is really a good person, she told the matchmaker that A Quanneng is so caring about her sister and nephew. She is responsible and responsible. With a strong sense of responsibility, I will be good to my wife and children in the future. I said that if she were Ah Quan, I would also hope that my sister can be happy. She also said that our family will be a good family with loving parents and kind brothers and sisters."
Shen Luzhu praised: "This girl is really good. She has great eyesight and such a clear mind. She is a perfect match for Ah Quan."
It was still early when they left Jiang's house, so the young couple dropped by Zhao Cheng's house again, unloaded the New Year's goods, and chatted with Zhao Cheng for a while before returning to the Chu family's old house. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Chu Li and his wife in the courtyard. Playing hide-and-seek with Cihua, this is Zhengzheng's favorite game recently. He especially likes to ask others to help him hide, and then ask Cihua to find him. Every time he is found, he claps his hands and laughs for a long time, and Cihua Also out
She is surprisingly patient and takes the trouble to play with him over and over again.
Hearing the noise of the young couple returning, Li Hua jumped out first, with her erect tail swaying, followed by Zheng Zheng, who was walking on short legs and kept shouting "Mom and Dad" in her mouth. Finally, she was deeply afraid of Zheng Zheng. Chu Li was unsteady and fell. He bent over and stretched out his hands to protect Chu Li behind his back. When the couple saw the warm and loving scene, they couldn't help but smile at each other.
With his uncle, aunt and third grandfather around, even if he woke up and didn't see his parents, Zhengzheng wouldn't cry. After Chu Li explained to him where his parents were, he stayed with Li Hua honestly. Playing, just looking around from time to time, now seeing his parents returning, he walked around Lihua who was squatting at Shen Luzhu's feet, begging for a touch, and immediately threw himself into the arms of his aunt.
Zhengzheng was held in Shen Luzhu's arms. Chu Yi stepped forward and pinched his chubby face, and asked with a smile: "Is Zhengzheng well-behaved at home?".
Zhengzheng patted his small chest and responded with a sweet voice: "Good boy."
Showing that he had a good boy at home, he turned around and called his uncle after speaking, as if he was asking Chu Li to testify for him.
Chu Li did indeed testify for his nephew: "I snorted a few times when I first woke up, and he has been very well-behaved since then. I saw that the sun was quite bright outside, so I took him and Lihua to play in the yard. Later."
Shen Luzhu had already touched Zhengzheng's little hand when he hugged him. It was warm, but when he saw Chu Li's clothes clearly, he frowned: "Zhengzheng is wearing a lot of clothes, Ah Li, why don't you do it yourself?" Add an extra coat?"
"Sister-in-law, I'm not cold. I'm wearing a jacket underneath."
Shen Luzhu knew that he was coaxing Zheng Zheng to play, and he must have never been idle for a while. He always bent over and chased after him. He might have been sweating from the heat while running around, but he still said "I'm afraid you're all sweating right now, so you'd better take it back home or find a thick coat to put on, otherwise there will be too much wind and you may catch a cold."
Chu Yi reached out to take his fat son, nodded and told his younger brother: "Your sister-in-law is right, I'm here to take care of you, go back to the house to warm yourself by the fire."
Dinner was taken to the cousin's house next door as usual. After dinner, the two families chatted affectionately around the stove until the night got dark, and then they went back to their rooms to rest.
On the early morning of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the young couple drove the ox cart to the Cui family in the same village and the Shen family on the other side of the river. They delivered the prepared New Year's goods one by one. They originally planned to go to Uncle Zhang's house. Yes, but when I passed by, I found that the courtyard door was locked. I asked Shen's mother and found out that Uncle Zhang's family had been taken to Zhuangzi by his son two days ago, and the whole family was spending the Spring Festival there this year.
Because they still had to prepare food and things for the New Year the next day, the young couple did not stay at the two houses for long, and drove the ox cart back to the Chu family's old house before noon.
Cleaning the house, cleaning the yard, kneading dough, steaming flower cakes, deboning and stewing meat, and also preparing the time-consuming and labor-intensive dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner and all the items for sacrifices, but fortunately most of the things , the young couple bought finished or semi-finished products in advance, so it was not troublesome to prepare.
This year's Spring Festival, the family declined the invitation from the grandfather's family next door and planned to spend the Spring Festival in their own yard. The thirty-year-old son started getting busy early in the morning. The yard of the Chu family's old house was decorated with festive decorations such as "Fu" window grilles and couplet lanterns.
Although this is not the first time for Zhengzheng to celebrate the New Year, his activities were still very limited last year, and his little mind has long forgotten what happened during the Spring Festival last year. He would stand in the yard and look at this for a while, and then run over again. Look at that, as if one pair of eyes is no longer enough.
Uncle Chu saw that the little guy looked very interesting, so he found his own wheelchair and sat on it. Then he held Zheng Zheng and stood on his knees. He took him to touch the window grilles for a while, and then pulled him under the lantern. After a while, Hong Sui Zi ran to the kitchen to watch Shen Lu Zhu and Xiu Xiu prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. Li Hua followed behind the wheelchair and ran happily, meowing a few times from time to time, making everyone happy. Face smiling.
Although they had already separated from Grandpa Chu, and the ancestral tablets were all taken away by Grandpa Chu when the family was separated, Uncle Chu and his wife still retained the custom of worshiping their ancestors, burning paper and incense. Kowtow and pray for blessings, just what is in your heart.
Daqian has thirty
The custom of staying up late on New Year's Eve requires keeping the lights in the courtyard of a house all night long, and the family chatting around the stove to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one, which also means praying for blessings and driving away misfortune.
Therefore, the backing village is particularly quiet on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Most people have a hasty breakfast and then go back to their rooms to catch up on sleep. What's more, they don't even bother to eat breakfast and have already fallen into a dark and sweet dream. , I went to play chess and chat with Mr. Zhou.
I am a young man. Yesterday I relied on my novel energy to eat the hot dumplings at midnight. I still couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep. Therefore, he was also the first to wake up in the entire Chu family. Look. He looked at his parents sleeping in each other's arms, and finally crawled towards Li Hua, who was sleeping at his feet.
Shen Luzhu woke up leisurely, and reached out his hand from Chu Yi's arms to touch behind him in a daze. Unexpectedly, he missed it. He turned around and saw that the bed beside him was empty. He sat up suddenly and saw The two little ones at his feet were looking at him in confusion.
Chu Yi sat up, hugged his wife comfortingly, then hugged back his fat son who was sitting at his feet, touched his fleshy little hands and feet, and then said reassuringly: "It's okay, his hands and feet are warm. It's great, I just put in the firewood in the morning, so it wasn't cold in the house and didn't freeze him."
Shen Luzhu also knew about Chu Yi adding firewood in the morning, but when he was half asleep and half awake, he thought Zheng Zheng was gone and was startled. He pinched his face and enjoyed this lazy moment.
"Thank you all for your concern, "The Little Lady of the Coffin Shop" will be updated starting from today, thank you again!"
