"Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
Zheng Juan was distracted by Lin Yue's questioning. When she looked over there, she found that the face outside the window was gone.
"No...it's nothing. Maybe I saw it wrong."
In fact, she was not mistaken. There was indeed a person standing outside the window just now, but now he was pulled away by another person.
Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei stood outside the alley.
"Zhou Bingyi, what are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm going to do? Either he doesn't come back, or he causes so many things when he comes back, and he can't survive this year?"
Hao Dongmei said: "Your brother has more truths than anyone else. Do you think it will be useful to come to him?"
Zhou Bingyi said: "I will come even if it doesn't matter, because I am the eldest brother."
Hao Dongmei was speechless, "Brother? Didn't you listen to what Bingkun said just now? What he did was learned from you and Zhou Rong. If you reason with him, he will just say, OK, let your wife have a baby first." How can you answer the child when he comes out?"
"He dares!"
"Doesn't he dare? You know best whether he dares or not."
"..."
"I can see that he has problems with me and our family. If he tells you that you divorced your sister-in-law, I will go and apologize to dad. How will you answer?"
Zhou Bingyi patted the bicycle handle: "If he dares to say that, I will slap him..."
Hao Dongmei said: "Wouldn't that more solidify what he said at home?"
Zhou Zhigang said that the third child had forgotten his mother after marrying a daughter-in-law. What did the third child say about him and Zhou Rong? Aren’t you also trying your best to sacrifice your partner for love?
His younger brother asked him to divorce his wife who was unable to have children. What would the neighbors think if word spread? Isn't this normal?
Oh, just because of this punching, who is the one who married a wife and forgot her mother?
"But……"
"Stop it, the third child is no longer the original third child. You can't control this matter. Just take it one step at a time."
Hao Dongmei pushed the bicycle and walked forward.
Zhou Bingyi stood there for a while, thinking about the whole thing, then shook his head and pushed his bicycle to follow.
…
Early the next morning, Lin Yue, Zheng Juan and Cong Cong drove Uncle Ding's Fiat car to Beituo Temple to pick up Guangming and go home for the New Year.
On the other side, Zhou Bingyi returned to Lao Zhou's house alone.
After returning home last night, Hao Dongmei had an argument with her mother about the secretary sending tea back to Lao Zhou's house. She said some unpleasant words and was slapped by her mother. After some persuasion from him, Hao Dongmei and her Mom has reconciled and will stay at Hao's house on New Year's Eve instead of coming to Lao Zhou's house to spend the New Year's Eve.
If Zhou Bingkun were here, they might say that he was neglecting his parents in order to please his father-in-law and mother-in-law. After all, according to the tradition of Jichun, no daughter-in-law would spend the New Year's Eve at her parents' house.
Fortunately, Zhou Bingkun and Zhou Zhigang had a quarrel and returned to Taiping Hutong with his wife and children.
Zhou Rong, Zhou Zhigang, Li Suhua, and Feng Huacheng were making dumplings. Yueyue was sitting on a chair alone, staring at the roof boredly, counting the number of nails on the beams.
"Dad, the nanny of Dongmei's family has gone back to celebrate the New Year. Didn't her father have an asthma attack yesterday? He is still weak now. The house is too deserted and my mother-in-law can't handle it alone. I asked Dongmei to stay at their house to take care of the elderly. .”
Zhou Bingyi took off his scarf and hung it on a hook on the wall while explaining why his wife didn't come with him.
Zhou Zhigang raised his head and glanced at him: "Is that so? Didn't your brother offend Dongmei yesterday? I can understand that, and I don't want to have such a brother in my body."
Li Suhua pushed his wife: "Can't you just say a few words?"
"Okay, don't tell me, don't tell me." The old man agreed and put the dumplings on the bamboo plate behind him.
Zhou Bingyi hurriedly went outside to wash his hands, then picked up the rolling pin to help roll out the dough.
Several people were busy all morning, and at about two o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Rong wanted to coax Yueyue to sleep, but the little girl didn't listen to her at all, and kept asking her aunt to take her out to visit. Zhou Rong has not been home for so many years. She didn't have any friends here, and there was no way to take her out to play. When she got annoyed, she said some harsh words, and the little girl became angry and ignored her.
"Excuse me, Mr. Zhou Zhigang, is Mr. Zhou at home?"
At this time, a man's voice came from outside, speaking quite politely.
Zhou Zhigang and Li Suhua looked at each other and couldn't figure out who they were, yet they came out to visit on New Year's Eve.
"I gonna go see."
He got off the kang, opened the door and walked out. He saw a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a black woolen coat standing in front of the door. Behind him was a young man who also wore glasses and carried a bag on his shoulder. .
Frowning, he looked and looked and thought again and again, and he got an impression.
"You are...the editor-in-chief of that magazine, right?"
On the eve of the Spring Festival in 1976, this man came to see Feng Huacheng at Lao Zhou's house. He said that he had heard that Feng Huacheng was the uncle of Lao Zhou's family and came here specially to make an appointment.
Editor Shao smiled and said, "You have a really good memory. Yes, I am Shao Jingwen from Golden Land Magazine."
Zhou Zhigang is willing to deal with intellectuals, and he is even more willing to let his neighbors see intellectuals visiting his home.
"Come to see Hua Cheng." After saying that, he turned back and shouted towards the back room: "Hua Cheng, Hua Cheng, our editor-in-chief Shao from Jichun Magazine is here."
Feng Huacheng heard that Golden Land Magazine wanted to ask him for a manuscript, so he quickly put down the green onions in his hands, clapped his hands and walked out of the room.
Shao Jingwen's expression was a little embarrassed.
"Mr. Zhou, I'm not here today to see Teacher Feng."
"You're not looking for Hua Cheng? Then you are..."
"I'm here to see your youngest son Zhou Bingkun."
Zhou Zhigang was stunned after hearing this. He couldn't figure out how Shao Jingwen got in touch with Zhou Bingkun.
"Oh, that's it." Shao Jingwen quickly explained to him, patting the shoulder of the young man who came with him: "This is Xiao Cui, the photographer of our magazine. Yesterday, Bingkun went to the magazine The company asked me if I could provide a camera and wanted to borrow it to take a family portrait on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month. I thought that Xiao Cui had a lot of experience in photographing people and was a native of Jichun, so I suggested that I bring him over today. He took some photos for you, Bingkun also thinks this suggestion is good, no, I will bring him here today."
The whole family looked at each other. Yesterday, Lao Zhou's family was waiting for Hao Dongmei's parents and did not go to take a family photo. The photo studio was closed on the 30th and did not open until the eighth day of the first lunar month. By that time, Zhou Zhigang had to go back to Chongqing and they all thought that the family photo would not be taken. Who would have thought that the third child would handle the matter quietly and find a professional photographer, but who would have thought that as soon as he walked in last night, he would get into a fight with his own father because of Zheng Juan's injustice.
What do you think this is?
"Zhou Bingkun isn't here." Zhou Zhigang exploded when he heard the words "family portrait". Hao Dongmei was so angry that if she didn't come back, that kid wanted to sever the father-son relationship with him. Family portrait, family portrait? What blessing? The whole family is unhappy!
"Not here?" Shao Jingwen was a little bit smart. He also noticed that Zhou Zhigang's tone was harsh when talking about his youngest son: "Then do you know where he went?"
"Taiping Hutong."
"Oh, Nacheng, you are busy, I will go to Taiping Alley to find him."
Shao Jingwen quickly took Xiao Cui away from the yard. The latter asked curiously what happened to the old Zhou family, but he did not reply, because even a fool could see that the father and son were not happy, otherwise why did Zhou Bingkun not celebrate the New Year at home, but ran away Taiping Hutong? Faced with this situation, it is better for outsiders to leave as soon as possible, as Shao Chu will cause trouble.
The key is...where is Taiping Hutong?
I remember when he came to Guangzi Picture to find the old Zhou family, he walked all the way and asked around, and it took him a long time to find the place. Taiping Hutong was probably even harder to find, because Guangzi Picture had been built privately and randomly in the past few years. Clutter the surrounding area.
If it's not appropriate to go back like this, I should at least meet Bingkun, not to mention he brought some new year's goods.
Feng Huacheng felt a little embarrassed that he had been treated in a different way. He looked at Zhou Bingyi and said, "This editor Shao looks very familiar with Bingkun?"
We've already seen this, otherwise how could we have the photographer work overtime on New Year's Eve?
"Who knows which string he got on the wrong string?" Zhou Zhigang walked into the main room angrily. Shao Jingwen didn't come to Feng Huacheng specifically to ask for a manuscript, but to find the unfilial son who was expelled from Tsinghua University and threatened to sever ties with him last night. , which made him very unhappy, because he thought from a different angle that Zhou Bingkun was using Shao Jingwen to ridicule his decision yesterday to ask the whole family to wait for Hao Dongmei's parents without taking a family photo, which was a failure... No, fuck it!
Zhou Zhigang, Zhou Bingyi, and Feng Huacheng entered the house one after another. Zhou Rong wanted to pour a cup of hot water for the old man, but when she walked into the outer room, her face changed.
"Dad, Mom, have you seen Yueyue?"
Just now she was playing with the doll she got back yesterday in the compartment with the bed, but she disappeared when she went to the toilet.
"Yueyue? Isn't Yueyue playing with toys in that room?" Li Suhua walked to the main room, looked at the compartment where the bed was placed at the back, and found that no one was there.
"Where are you outside? Are you playing in the yard?"
Gu Si and Zhou Rong shook his head: "I looked for it, but it wasn't there."
"Did you go to Old Liu's house in the neighboring yard to play with his granddaughter?"
"have no idea."
Li Suhua walked out of the house and went to the neighbor's house on the right to ask. The answer was no. Their granddaughter was taking a nap on the kang.
"You think this Chinese New Year...where can she go?"
The two of them were anxious. Yueyue was only eight years old and a girl. She really wanted to run into the street. What if something unexpected happened?
"Rong, do you think Yueyue will follow the editor Shao just now to find her uncle?"
Zhou Rong's face changed slightly when she heard this. Yes, Yueyue has been clamoring for her aunt since last night. Shao Jingwen said she was going to Taiping Hutong, so the little girl might actually follow her.
"I'll go find her."
"Wait, mom is going with you."
Li Suhua folded her cotton-padded jacket twice and caught up with Zhou Rong from behind.
"mom?"
After thinking for a moment, she realized that Li Suhua most likely wanted to take this opportunity to have a good talk with Bingkun. On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, she went to live in Taiping Hutong. She could also say that there were too many people in the family to live together. If it was New Year's Eve, If you don't live at home, what will people say if they find out? What's more, tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and I have to go out to pay New Year's greetings. The eldest brother and the second child are all here, but the third child and his family are nowhere to be seen. What is this?
"Okay, I'll take you there on my bike."
"Just walk there. The buildings there are in such a mess now that you don't know the way."
When Zhou Rong heard that this was true, she stopped insisting and walked to Taiping Hutong with Li Suhua.
…
As the old lady said, the situation of private buildings and random construction in the area near Taiping Hutong was worse than the photo album. The two of them walked around for almost half an hour and asked two households before they found the residence of Zheng Juan’s mother. The two rooms given to her.
Before he could go over, he saw several people standing inside and outside the courtyard.
Editor Shao and Zhou Bingkun stood in front of the door. Opposite them was photojournalist Xiao Cui, who was taking pictures of the two with a camera.
Zheng Juan was holding Congcong and standing out of the way. Beside her was a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old, and next to her was a little girl, who was Zhou Rong's daughter Feng Yueyue.
There were several people behind Xiao Cui. Li Suhua recognized the middle-aged man in the middle as Ding Jianye, the Wangcun Party Secretary who often visited her at home.
Why is Zheng Juan's house so lively?
Of course she didn't know that Jishantang's dividend to the magazine at the end of the year would allow all staff to receive two more months of salary. This did not include the rental income of the house. This year, Zhou Bingkun returned to Northeast China for the New Year. Could the magazine not express it? Small favors such as sending some New Year's goods and asking photographers to help take some photos are nothing compared to the profits Jishantang brings to the club.
Uncle Ding didn't dare to neglect him. If it weren't for Zhou Bingkun, how could he drive a car? How could the villagers who followed him in construction have a better life? There are also several young people who came back from Shenzhen. Who wouldn't miss Boss Zhou? good?
When Zhou Rong was puzzled, Lin Yue had already finished taking photos with Editor Shao. Yueyue took Guangming's hand and walked towards the middle, followed by Zheng Juan who was holding Congcong, the couple, a grown-up boy and a half, plus two children. , no matter how you look at it, they look like a family.
Li Suhua grabbed her from behind and waited until Xiao Cui finished taking photos of several people before walking over.
"Kun'er."
Lin Yue turned around and said, "Mom, why are you here?"
After finishing her work, she glanced at Zhou Rong and then at Yueyue, and realized that it was probably this girl who brought Shao Jingwen to Taiping Hutong without telling her family.
"Kun'er, come here. Mom wants to say a few words to you."
Li Suhua did not agree with his marriage to Zheng Juan at first, but after waking up more than a year ago, her mind changed.
Lin Yue told Zheng Juan to invite Shao Jingwen and Uncle Ding to sit in the room. It was cold outside, and then walked over to Li Suhua.
Zhou Rong thought for a while and followed Zheng Juan into the house, leaving mother and son in the yard.
"Mom, you came here to ask me to go back to celebrate the New Year, right?"
"Kun'er, your dad has such a stubborn temper. It's not like you don't know that he is stubborn, so can't you just let him be?"
"I gave in to him, but he didn't give in to Zheng Juan. Look at what he said last night. Can you bear it if it happens to you?"
"Your dad was also angry because of Dongmei's parents and didn't suppress his temper."
"Mom, just help him out. He is obviously biased against Zheng Juan. He even thinks that I have been degrading the old Zhou family from the time I married Zheng Juan to being expelled from the university. It is also our fault that my eldest brother did not go to university."
Li Suhua knew that what he said was true. She had tried to persuade Zhou Zhigang many times, even before going to bed last night, but was it useful? It's useless. Zhou Zhigang has been stubborn since he was young. He wants a father to say good things to his son? This was considered treasonous in the era when they got married.
"Kun'er, can you just treat it as my mother begging you to go back and celebrate the New Year? Even if you come here after eating the dumplings, you can go back early tomorrow morning."
The old lady walked from Guangzipian to Taiping Hutong, and begged him in a good voice, this matter...
Lin Yue sighed and agreed with the idea of not looking at the monk's face but at the Buddha's face.
Li Suhua and Zhou Rong stayed in the room for a while. After sending Uncle Ding and Shao Jingwen away, Lin Yue locked the door and the group walked towards the optical film.
Lu Zhourong asked him why Shao Jingwen was so kind to him. He smiled and changed the subject.
When I returned to Lao Zhou's house in the evening, Feng Huacheng had put a fire into the stove and was preparing to stew meat. Zhou Bingyi was accused of running back and forth because he either didn't know where the porcelain plate with dumplings was placed, or he couldn't figure out what was in the jar in front of him. The white particles were white sugar or salt, and Zhou Zhigang fell asleep leaning on the kang.
With the addition of Zheng Juan and Li Suhua, things have become much smoother.
Half an hour later, when the dumplings were cooked, Zhou Zhigang woke up. He also knew that it was Li Suhua who called Lin Yue and Zheng Juan back from Taiping Hutong. He just smoked a cigarette silently, said nothing, and pretended that he had heard nothing. , didn’t see anything, so I ate a bowl of pork dumplings and half a bowl of tofu dumplings on a vinegar plate drizzled with sesame oil.
He didn't speak, so Lin Yue naturally ignored him. After the New Year's Eve dinner, he still took his wife and children back to Taiping Hutong. Yueyue made a fuss about going together. Zhou Rong said a few words and even cried. In the end, he had to give in and let her follow. Uncle is gone.
Early the next morning, Lin Yue got on his bicycle, carrying the girl in front and his wife and children in the back. He returned to Lao Zhou's house and ate another meal of dumplings. However, because they had been left overnight, the noodles were a bit hard and the texture was not as good as the others. Ten good nights.
Hao Dongmei also came over today. Strictly speaking, this is the first reunion year for the old Zhou family since 1969. In the past, either Zhou Bingyi was not here, Zhou Zhigang was not here, or Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng were not here. This is why Li Suhua The reason why I want to ask my third son back.
Lin Yue gave Yueyue a red envelope, and Feng Huacheng also gave Congcong a red envelope. Zhou Zhigang took them out to pay New Year's greetings. Zheng Juan discovered that Zhou Rong had taken away the money in Yueyue's red envelope. The reason... Zhou Rong said the denomination was too big, 100 yuan per piece, which was close to her husband’s two months’ salary.
Feng Huacheng looked a little embarrassed because the red envelope he gave to Congcong only contained 5 yuan.
"Happy New Year, happy New Year."
"happy New Year."
"How many bowls of dumplings have you eaten?"
"Oh, two bowls, that's a lot."
"I haven't seen you in five or six years, right? Hey, you're still in such good shape."
Zhou Zhigang led a small team of his family back and forth in the alleys of Guangzipi. The Zhou family has two sons and one daughter, which is quite small. Some families have five or six children, plus children as young as six or seven years old. , that’s really called a team.
Arriving at the door of Xiao Guoqing's house, Zhou Zhigang chatted with Xiao Guoqing's father.
"We only have three people in our family, and your family has six."
"What's the benefit? A pile of steel knives is not worth a ten-yuan ticket. It's been a few years since the college entrance examination was resumed, and only two college students have appeared in the optical film..."
Xiao Guoqing's father noticed Zhou Zhigang's expression and quickly stopped talking without saying anything further.
Xiao Guoqing's mother said: "This is Bingyi, oh, you are such a talented person. I even changed your diaper when you were a child."
Xiao Guoqing's father patted his wife and said, "The child is so old, why do you still say this..."
The Zhou family was amused by this couple.
Zhou Bingyi said: "Hey, aunt, let me introduce to you. This is my lover, Hao Dongmei."
The old woman said: "I know, I know, who among us doesn't know that you married the daughter of a big shot."
The old woman glanced at Zhou Rong who was standing next to her again: "And our Rong'er, not only is she highly educated, she is getting more and more beautiful. She is also one of the best in Peking University, right? And behind that is... uncle, right?"
Zhou Zhigang looked at his son-in-law with a smile, nodded and said, "Yes, uncle."
"I heard he's a famous poet in Beijing?" The old woman clapped her hands and gave a thumbs up to Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng: "The man is talented and the woman is beautiful, the man is talented and the woman is beautiful, no, how did he sing in the opera? Yes, talented man and beautiful woman."
After praising Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei and praising Zhou Rong and Feng Huacheng, when they got to Zhou Bingkun and Zheng Juan... they just skipped them.
Zhou Zhigang glanced at Lin Yue and Zheng Juan who were holding hands, and said to himself, look at what you have done, I will make the neighbors feel ashamed of you today. Let you know how to write the word "shameful".
