Su Mao looked down at the cigarettes, took one out and handed it to Su De, then opened another. "Didn't you say earlier that your master's 70th birthday is coming up? And you're worried about not having enough money to buy a gift? Take this one with you, and buy some fruit later."
He handed over another half of the cigarette and said, "Keep this half for yourself. It's the New Year and other holidays, don't be so frugal."
Su De waved his hand: "No, no, I don't smoke now."
"You don't smoke, do you? You just don't have money to smoke."
My fourth brother had six children. Because the first four were girls, his wife had a sterilization after the birth of twins, a boy and a girl. Even though he made good money as a carpenter, he still struggled to make ends meet.
Unlike him, although he was the eldest brother, the family planning policy in the village was strictly enforced in the early years. He was at the critical moment and did not dare to commit a crime against the wind. Once the storm passed, no matter how pregnant he and his wife were, there was no news. Therefore, they only had three children, two boys and one girl.
Su Mao couldn't help but think of Ahua again.
Actually, Ah Chen's second child was a boy, so there was no need to have another one. But Ah Hua listened to his parents and wanted to tie Ah Chen down with more children...
As Su Mao sighed, his wife Lin Chunjiao came out.
"What are you guys talking about? The meal is ready, let's eat quickly."
"Oh, okay."
Lin Chunjiao saw the half-pack of cigarettes in his hand and the pack and a half in Su De's hand. Her face darkened, but she said nothing and turned to go into the house.
When Su Mao entered the room, she grabbed his ear.
"You're quite generous. That pack of cigarettes is at least two or three yuan, and this half a pack is ten or twenty yuan, and you just threw it out without saying a word."
Su Mao snatched the ear back and laughed dryly: "Ah Jiao, Ah De is my brother, not an outsider."
Lin Chunjiao was annoyed: "He is not an outsider... He was unwilling to take Aliang to be an apprentice, and you still say he is not an outsider."
"Didn't Ah De say that he needed his master's approval before he could accept an apprentice? His master is superstitious and used Ah Liang's horoscope to calculate his fate, and he found it unsuitable."
"You believe this nonsense? If you ask me, that's just his excuse."
"No, don't you know what kind of person Ade is? Don't be angry. I heard there are a lot of job openings in the city right now. After the New Year, I'll take Aliang to look for some. Working in the city is all office work, which is better than being a carpenter standing and doing heavy work all day, don't you think?"
Hearing this, Lin Chunjiao sighed, "Alright, let's eat quickly. We'll talk about Aliang later. He has to have a good job, otherwise it's hard to get married."
Aliang will be 20 after the Chinese New Year. People in Niuwei Village get married early. Aming, the son of the old Zhang family, got married at the age of 17. His wife is already pregnant and will have a grandson next year. This is why Lin Chunjiao is anxious.
Su Mao sighed.
How could it be because of work? The main reason is lack of money.
The Zhang family spent three thousand to marry their daughter-in-law. He and Gillian worked very hard over the years and only saved more than four hundred. It was too difficult to get married.
Not to mention, if Aliang really wants to get married, this shabby house won't do.
Thinking of Su Mao, he no longer enjoyed his meal and looked miserable.
On the other side, when Su Chen returned home, Liu Chunhua had already come back happily. She took off her coat and was cooking. Honghong helped to light the fire obediently, and Old Man Su was washing Apeng's dirty coat.
"Dad, I'll do it. It's so cold, and the water is icy."
Liu Chunhua was jealous: "Ah Chen, you didn't even tell Shui Bing when Mom was washing clothes."
Su Chen was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Mom, it's my fault. When I make money, I will buy you a washing machine so that you don't have to wash by hand."
In the original owner's memory, the eldest daughter of the village chief of Niuwei Village who got married bought a washing machine at the beginning of the year. It was green and had two tubs. The left one was for washing clothes and the right one was for spinning clothes. It was very convenient to use.
Liu Chunhua immediately waved her hands after hearing this: "No, no, that thing costs over a thousand. I've been washing clothes all my life. Why spend that money? If you really have that much money, you might as well buy yourself a coat. Wearing a sweater every day is so cold."
Su Chen looked down and smiled.
"Mom, I'm not cold."
You have already started practicing, why are you afraid of the cold?
Besides, the original owner actually had a leather jacket, but it got dirty after he fell down, so Liu Chunhua washed it and it’s not dry yet.
"It's not cold, not cold. If you catch a cold later, you'll know how serious it is." Liu Chunhua dragged him to the stove and asked Honghong to get up. "Help me light a fire and warm yourself up."
Honghong was very happy: "Dad, I want to play with my little brother."
"Ayun is awake?"
"Uh-huh."
In the evening, Liu Chunhua stewed two eggs, which was a rare occasion. The children were so happy that their mouths were full of soup.
However, Old Man Su frowned the whole time. Su Chen asked about it, but Liu Chunhua waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about your father. He was born like this."
Old Man Su glared at her and smiled at Su Chen: "Dad, it's okay, eat."
It doesn't look like everything is alright.
But it seems like Dad doesn't want to say it.
Su Chen didn't intend to force her, so he just buried his head in drinking his porridge.
After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, Liu Chunhua had neatly wiped the child's face, hands and feet clean. She also picked up charcoal from the stove and put it in a bamboo hand-warming basket. She threw one to Old Man Su and carried the other herself before going to the neighbor's house.
Seeing this, Old Man Su stopped her and said, "Why are you going there so late? Isn't lighting a lamp free?"
"What do you care about me?!"
Liu Chunhua turned around and walked out, turning back to glare at Old Man Su.
Old man Su felt helpless and simply turned off the lights in the house and went back inside.
Su Chen watched all this silently, returned to the house, took out a hatchet and started carving the little man.
Honghong and the others were playing with Ayun, and when they saw this, they came over curiously.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
“Making wood carvings.”
"Wood carving, what are you carving?"
"Carve a little man."
"Wow, is Ayun so small?"
"Well, it's just not as fragrant and soft as Ayun."
"Mmm, my brother smells so good~"
…
Children go to bed early and soon have no energy left and fall asleep on the bed.
Su Chen put down the hatchet, carried Honghong to the next room, and opened the door. He saw Old Man Su hurriedly wiping his tears. Su Chen was startled and asked in a low voice: "Dad, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay, it's okay. Are the children asleep?"
"Um."
"Then I'll come over and hold you together."
Su Chen tucked the quilt for the child, then secretly glanced at Old Man Su. Seeing that he had recovered, he went back.
After he finished carving the little man, tidied everything up and was about to go to bed, he suddenly slapped his forehead.
This brain!
Hi, the original owner’s father is celebrating his 60th birthday this year.
According to custom, on his birthday, all his children and grandchildren would come back to celebrate, but now his eldest and fourth brothers have a bad relationship with their parents...
It seems that I still have to visit my eldest and fourth brothers before the New Year.
The next day, Su Chen got up early and went to town as usual, but instead of taking the bus, he found Su Xiaoyan at the market.
"What do you want?"
Su Xiaoyan was busy working. When she saw someone, she subconsciously asked. After a long while, she didn't hear any voice. She looked up and was surprised: "Little brother?"