Seventy-five years passed quietly in the cold wind and heavy snow.
In January 1976, on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, Zhou Bingyi brought Hao Dongmei back to Jichun from the Corps.
Wang Zhong went to pick him up, not by bicycle, but by bus.
After not going home for six years, Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei were inevitably a little timid about their hometown. After leaving the station and sitting on the bus, they looked here and there all the way. The words in their mouths never stopped, and the expressions on their faces were... There was a smile on the face the whole time, and the hand we held was let go every step of the way.
When he arrived at the door of his house, looking at the brand new courtyard gate and the greatly changed courtyard, doors and windows, Zhou Bingyi looked at Wang Zhong in surprise: "Bingkun, did you do all this?"
Wang Zhong carried the luggage: "You have nothing to do when you are free. Hurry up and stop here. You are thick-skinned and thick-skinned and can handle this cold weather. My sister-in-law has a delicate body!"
Zhou Bingyi said with a smile: "I know I feel sorry for your sister-in-law, yes, yes, let's get in the house quickly, get in the house!"
Hao Dongmei felt warm in her heart. Her brother-in-law was indeed different when he grew up, and he felt sorry for her.
After six years of not seeing each other, Wang Zhong, the brother-in-law, has changed a lot.
But when I think about it carefully, it seems normal. After all, Wang Zhong is the only man in the old Zhou family now.
Wang Zhong walked in front, followed by Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei.
As soon as the door was opened, a chubby little thing jumped up excitedly with short legs: "Dad! Daddy!"
"Mom! Grandma! Dad is back!" Xiao Congcong, who is more than two years old, can already walk and run, and speaks fluently. For Wang Zhong, a strict father, he is both afraid and loving, and he likes to go to Wang Zhong when nothing happens. Rely on your side.
"You brat, you're disobedient, why did you run out again!" Wang Zhong first put the salute in his hand on the table, then bent down to pick up the little boy who was holding his legs, and scolded him with a straight face.
"Congcong helps grandma make dumplings." Little Douding's face, clothes, and hands were still stained with flour, and he was dancing and explaining in a cute way.
"Is Congcong so old?" Zhou Bingyi looked at the strong and fat little Zhou Cong with an expression of surprise and joy. Hao Dongmei, who was holding Zhou Bingyi's hand, also looked at Zhou Cong in Wang Zhong's hand with a smile on her face. .
"This is uncle and aunt, call someone quickly!"
Zhou Cong was a little afraid of strangers. Seeing Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei staring at him, he immediately shrank into Wang Zhong's arms but refused to call anyone.
"This kid is usually very diligent, but I don't know what happened today!" Wang Zhong explained.
Zhou Bingyi and his wife were not at ease: "Children are inevitably a little afraid of strangers. It will be fine once they get familiar with it!"
Li Suhua, who heard the sound, also opened the curtain and walked out, wearing a scarf with a lot of flour on it. He held a rolling pin in his right hand and a half-rolled dumpling wrapper in his left hand.
"Bingyi! Dongmei!"
"mom!"
When mother and son reunite, they inevitably embrace each other passionately and express their sincere feelings to each other.
"Stop standing here, sit down in the house!" Wang Zhong chatted from the side, and Li Suhua realized it and hurriedly pulled her eldest son and his wife into the house.
Both Zheng Juan and Guangming, who were pregnant with their big bellies, were standing at the table with some flour on their hands. On the table were a plate of already-wrapped dumplings, a bowl of pork and cabbage stuffing, and a bowl of leek and egg stuffing. There is also a stack of rolled out dumpling wrappers and a small pile of small dough balls.
After greeting each other, Li Suhua took Zhou Bingyi and his wife to sit on the kang. They seemed to have endless things to say. Wang Zhong took over Li Suhua's burden and took over the task of rolling the dough. His proficiency was beyond comparison. Li Suhua is slow.
Hao Dongmei still wanted to help, but was stopped by Li Suhua.
"You have just arrived home. It's been a long journey, so just take a rest!"
"Mom! You can speak idioms now!" Wang Chong, who was rolling out the dough, laughed and joked.
"Dad! Dad! What is an idiom?" Xiao Zhou Cong stood on the small stool beside the table, pulling on Wang Zhong's cotton pants, which were a head higher than the table. He was curious and tight. Due to his age, his memory was limited. , learning and understanding abilities are limited, but I am very curious about everything.
"Congcong, come to grandma, grandma will tell you!" Li Suhua spread his hands towards Xiao Congcong.
Xiao Zhou Cong tilted his head, looked at Li Suhua, and then at Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei who were sitting opposite Li Suhua. After thinking for a while, he pulled Wang Zhong's cotton trousers down from the small stool, and walked toward him with small steps and open hands. Li Suhua also called grandma to hug her.
Li Suhua hugged the kid onto the kang, took off his shoes, and wiped off the flour on the kid's body.
"Even though this boy is young and as skinny as a monkey, he is not afraid of me or his mother at all, so he should be honest in front of Bingkun."
Hao Dongmei's eyes fell on Xiao Zhou Cong most of the time.
With Li Suhua around, it didn't take long for little Zhou Cong to get acquainted with the uncle and aunt he had just met. The little guy couldn't rest, especially once he got acquainted, he would grab a few melon seeds, a few peanuts, etc. A few dried dates were given to grandma, aunt, and uncle.
In Wang Zhong's words: This kid is used to acting coquettishly to please his elders. He will definitely be a smart guy when he grows up.
After a while, he followed Wang Zhong's usual behavior, put the melon seeds in his mouth and knocked them, and then stuffed the melon seeds with saliva, melon seed skins and melon seed kernels into Hao Dongmei's hand, shouting "Auntie, eat it, Auntie eat it."
It made several adults dumbfounded.
However, there was a boy named Zhou Cong who was running around among the three of them. He was having a great time, and the smiles of the three adults never stopped.
In the evening, Wang Zhong originally wanted to take Zheng Juan, He Guangming and Zhou Cong back to Taiping Hutong and give the back room to Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei, but Zhou Bingyi said that he hadn't been home for a long time and had a lot to say to Li Suhua, so he and Hao Dongmei followed. Li Suhua can just sleep in the outhouse.
Wang Zhong didn't object for a second and asked Guangming to move to the back room to sleep with the couple. It wouldn't be too late to wait until Zhou Zhigang got home to talk about returning to Taiping Hutong.
But the little guy was so noisy and clamored to sleep with his beautiful aunt at night.
Hao Dongmei also liked this little guy very much, and nervously asked Wang Zhong and Zheng Juan for their opinions.
Wang Zhong and Zheng Juan naturally don’t mind! Zheng Juan was a little embarrassed: "This kid is not used to sleeping on the kang. He always likes to wet the bed in the middle of the night!"
"It's okay, it's okay, isn't it me?" Seeing that Hao Dongmei liked her eldest grandson, Li Suhua was too late to be happy, so she immediately patted her chest and assured her.
Not to mention, when it comes to raising children, even Zheng Juan, who has always been capable, is not as skilled as Li Suhua, let alone a newbie like Hao Dongmei.
Hao Dongmei also hurriedly said: "Don't worry, brothers and sisters. It's normal for children to urinate on the bed." She really liked looking at the lively and cute Zhou Cong.
Seeing Hao Dongmei's love for Zhou Cong, Wang Chongjue did not refuse.
Speaking of which, Hao Dongmei is also a poor person.
The little guy was full of energy, running, jumping, and rolling on the kang. After getting acquainted with Hao Dongmei, a beautiful aunt, she also became close to her. The smile on Hao Dongmei's face never broke, and her eyes never left Congcong.
Li Suhua felt so happy when she saw that Hao Dongmei liked Congcong so much.
She even began to long for the situation when Hao Dongmei would give her some grandsons.
"Congcong is only two years old this year, right? With this body and head, he looks similar to other people's three or four-year-old children." Zhou Bingyi also likes Zhou Cong very much. Hao Dongmei is infertile, and the couple is destined to be unable to have children. , Zhou Cong is now the only bloodline of the third generation of the old Zhou family.
Li Suhua said with a smile on her face: "I don't know where this child's appetite comes from. He eats more in one meal than other four or five-year-old children, and he especially likes meat."
"Juan'er also feeds him egg custard, milk, and malted milk every day. Bingkun also lets him run around, saying that eating well and exercising more will make him grow faster and stay healthy."
Wang Zhong's monthly income is not low now. Otherwise, ordinary people's homes would not be able to withstand such a situation.
The child was full of energy, but after being noisy for a while, he was exhausted. He began to feel sleepy and yawned profusely. Hao Dongmei gently coaxed the child to fall asleep, with a motherly smile on her face and her eyes full of care.
When Zhou Bingyi saw this, he couldn't help but have mixed feelings in his heart, but more of it was pity for Hao Dongmei.
