Su Chen touched the red head.
"Be good, just wear it if I buy it for you. Daddy can earn money."
As he said this, he took out a wad of money and waved it in front of Honghong.
Today he spent ninety yuan on two coats, and he bought the child's sweater, pants and shoes in a store, and bargained down the total price to one hundred and thirteen yuan. He also bought two pairs of fireworks for fifty yuan. After deducting the money for the yellow paper and cinnabar flowers, he still had more than thirty yuan left.
When Honghong saw this, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Chen took out a dollar and handed it to her.
Honghong waved her hands quickly: "Dad, I don't want it."
"Here, this is the pocket money Daddy gave you this month. Your younger brothers and sisters also get some."
While Honghong was in a daze, Su Chen got up and went into the house. He gave Yueyue, Apeng and Acai pocket money, and then asked Apeng: "Why are your clothes dirty? Did you fall?"
Apeng shook his head: "My brother pushed me."
"Brother? Which brother?"
"Brother Hui~"
Ah Hui is the third son of the eldest brother.
Hearing this, Su Chen patted Apeng's head and said, "Don't cry anymore. Next time if your brother wears new clothes, you should return them."
A Peng curled his lips and said, "He doesn't have new clothes. He only wears A Liang's old clothes."
Su Chen was stunned for a moment, then nodded at Apeng's head with a wry smile.
"Don't worry, there will be."
Seeing Honghong teaching her younger siblings how to try on new clothes, Old Man Su watched happily from the side, and Su Chen went next door.
Little Ayun was sleeping soundly, with her little mouth pouting and sucking from time to time.
There was movement in my trouser pocket.
Su Chen looked down and saw the little paper man sticking out his hands and head again.
He nodded the little paper man's head.
"You have evil spirits and resentment in you. Don't get close to Xiaoyun. You will harm his weak body."
The little paper man then shrank back unwillingly.
Su Chen leaned close to Xiao Ayun's face and kissed her. Only then did he get up with satisfaction and went to the main room to pick up the two packs of cigarettes: "Dad, I'm going to my eldest and fourth brothers' houses."
Old Man Su was originally watching his grandchildren change clothes with a smile on his face. Upon hearing this, he hurried out and asked, "Why are you going to their house?"
"Oh, I want to carve something. Fourth brother is a carpenter, so he should have some wood. I'll go ask him. Big brother and fourth brother live together, so I'll take a look."
Old Man Su thought this was an excuse. After thinking for a moment, he sighed and said, "Go ahead, talk to your eldest and fourth brothers. If they..."
"Don't worry, I'll bear it if you scold me, since I'm the one who was in the wrong anyway."
Before Old Man Su could say anything, Su Chen had already walked out the door.
The eldest and fourth brothers of the Su family built a house together at the end of Niuwei Village after they separated eight years ago. Because they didn't have much money, they used yellow mud and bamboo strips to make the walls. When it rained, the yellow mud would fall down, and they had to repair it from time to time.
Just as Su Chen walked over, Su Mao, the eldest son of the Su family, was walking back carrying yellow mud. When he saw him, his face relaxed.
"What are you doing here?"
"Brother, I went to the city recently and made some money. I bought cigarettes for you and fourth brother."
Su Mao's eyes flashed with guilt when he heard this, but he quickly stiffened his neck and said, "Take it back. I don't need it."
"Brother, I know I did a lot of wrong things before. I am sorry to you and your sister-in-law, as well as your fourth brother and his wife. I know my mistakes now, and I will make amends in the future."
Su Mao snorted: "Who would believe your nonsense?"
Su Chen sighed. Why should I be blamed for the sins committed by the original owner?
He still had a smile on his face: "Brother, do you want to paste the wall? I can help you."
As he said this, he put the cigarette aside and helped pick up the dustpan.
Su Mao dodged: "Who asked you for help? Get out of here."
But the dustpan was filled with yellow mud and was very heavy, so he couldn't hide far before Su Chen grabbed him.
"Brother, it's getting late, you should hurry up."
Then he went to the wall without saying anything, and quickly spotted a few places where bamboo strips were exposed: "Brother, bring me a bench!"
The skill of wall-pasting was learned by the people of Niuwei Village, and almost everyone knew how to do it. The original owner also remembered it. He wet the yellow mud with some water, kneaded it, and took out the large debris inside. Soon Su Chen began to paste it, smoothing it with a bamboo stick from time to time to ensure it was flat.
Seeing this, Su Mao opened his mouth, but he couldn't say anything harsh. He just lowered his head and continued to paste the wall in silence.
When the wall was almost pasted, Su Chen's fourth brother Su De came back with something. When he looked up and saw Su Chen, he was stunned for a moment and snorted softly: "Achen, why are you here?"
"Fourth brother, I came to ask you for help."
Su De immediately frowned and said, "I don't have any money!"
"I'm not asking you to borrow money. I want to ask you for a piece of wood. Oh, and do you have a chisel? I'd like to borrow that, too."
"Wood?" Su De was puzzled. "What do you want this for?"
"I want to carve a little man."
Su De's face darkened. "Ahua just died, and your child just ignored it and just played cards. Now he's messing around with all this. Do you want Ahua to die with regrets?"
These words were a bit harsh, and Su Mao couldn't help but touch his nose.
When the family business was divided, he and his fourth brother did suffer a great loss, and they also cut off contact with their parents. But Achen's wife Ahua was a good person. In the past few years, knowing that they had a hard time, she often secretly sent food to his house and bought clothes for their children. However, in recent years, Achen had more children, and life became difficult. The two families also got better, so she stopped sending food.
After all, although he, Ade and Achen are brothers, he is closer to Ahua than him.
Su Chen was not angry, but nodded with a smile: "Yes, yes, you are right, Fourth Brother, I really shouldn't mess around. I should work hard to raise my children. But I'm not carving figurines for fun, I have serious business."
Su De had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. He softened his heart upon hearing this and asked him, "What could be the serious matter?"
Su Chen sighed and told him what happened this morning. Finally, he took out the little paper figurine and said, "I have to keep my promise. Paper is not strong after all. It will get wet and break easily. If it is a wooden figurine, it can be kept for a longer time."
Su De and Su Mao were horrified when they heard this. Su Mao even reached out and touched Su Chen's forehead, muttering, "He doesn't have a fever!"
Su Chen knew they didn't believe him, so he brought up what he had said to Su Xiaoyan and her parents before, and pointed to two packs of cigarettes: "Brother, if you don't believe me, just go back to the city and ask. I'll set up a stall on Chunming Street. Here, these cigarettes are a thank-you fee from the person who settled this matter."
Su De and Su Mao looked at each other and fell silent.
After a long time, Su De said, "Take the cigarettes back, we don't want them. I'll give you the wood."
He went back into the house and rummaged around for a while before quickly picking out three palm-sized pieces of wood. "Is this okay?"
Su Chen nodded: "Okay, okay, thank you, Fourth Brother."
He didn't need the chisel anymore. He picked up the wood and left: "Big Brother, Fourth Brother, I'm going home to eat first."
After taking two steps, he broke into a jog.
"Hey, you smoke!"
Su Mao grabbed two cigarettes and chased for about ten meters. Seeing that some people came out to watch the fun and Su Chen had run far away, he went back in disappointment.
Su De frowned suspiciously: "Brother, do you think Achen is really capable?"
"Who knows? Don't lie."
"That's impossible. Although Ah Chen has loved playing since he was a child, he has never done anything petty theft, let alone cheating people out of money."
Su Mao sighed: "Let's talk about this cigarette later..."