Yan Jiecheng's Leisurely Life in Siheyuan

Chapter 13 New Year’s greetings
The next morning, Yan Jiecheng was awakened from his sleep by a loud noise.

When I opened the door, I saw Jiefang and Jie Kuang pasting Spring Festival couplets on themselves.

"You two are so unbelievable! You didn't even tell me before you put up the couplets. Luckily I reacted quickly, otherwise it would have been stuck on my face."

"Brother, I thought you wanted to sleep a little longer."

At this time, Jie Di, who was not far away, threw herself directly onto Yan Jiecheng's legs and said dissatisfiedly.

"Big brother, second brother, and third brother won't give me firecrackers."

Jie Di was only six years old at the time, and firecrackers were so dangerous that he naturally couldn't be allowed to play with them.

So Yan Jiecheng bent down and held Jie Di in his arms, saying with a doting look on his face.

"What's so fun about firecrackers? Later, I'll take you shopping and buy you lots of delicious food. I won't give them to your second and third brothers. How about that?"

Yan Jiecheng's words made Jie Di clap her hands happily.

"That's great, brother. You're so kind."

"Okay, big brother, go wash your face first, and I'll take you out later."

After hearing that Yan Jiecheng was going to take Jie Di out to the streets, the two brothers Jiefang and Jie Kuang no longer had the heart to post Spring Festival couplets. They immediately said loudly.

"Brother, I'm going too."

"Okay, hurry up and get to work. I'll take you there when you're done."

Soon, the four brothers and sisters appeared on the street.

At this time, the streets are filled with the atmosphere of the New Year.

"Brother, I want to eat this."

"Brother, that's delicious."

Yan Jiecheng fulfilled all the requests of his younger brothers and sisters.

Soon the three of them had their hands full of various snacks.

The group walked on the street until noon, and seeing that it was almost time, they headed towards home.

When the group passed by the supply and marketing cooperative and saw the huge crowd of people there, Yan Jiecheng had an idea and stopped.

"Brother, why don't you leave? It's probably time for dinner at home."

"Brother will buy each of you a pair of shoes. After all, it is Chinese New Year."

The cotton shoes worn by Yan Jiefang and his two siblings were made by Yan's mother herself and had many patches on them.

The most pitiful one was Jie Di, the uppers of the cotton shoes on her feet were made of several pieces of cloth.

Of course, these days, most kids wear these kind of shoes.

"Brother, are you really going to buy us shoes?"

Faced with Yan Jiefang's questioning, Yan Jiecheng couldn't help but knocked him on the head.

"When has Big Brother ever lied to you?"

After saying that, he brought a few little ones to the supply and marketing cooperative.

These days, you can’t just have money to buy shoes. You need cloth coupons to buy cloth shoes, and shoe coupons to buy Warrior shoes.

Yan Jiecheng had been working in the steel rolling mill for such a long time that he had accumulated some money.

Since you are planning to buy, just buy more at one time.

Yan Jiecheng bought five pairs of cotton shoes, three pairs of Warrior shoes, and two pairs of leather shoes. He also bought malted milk, cigarettes, alcohol, and other items.

After buying the things, Yan Jiecheng returned home happily with the three of them.

As soon as she got home, Yan Jiedi excitedly came to her mother Yan with her cotton shoes and Warrior shoes to show off.

"Mom, look at the shoes my eldest brother bought me."

Yan's mother was busy at the time. When she saw the shoes in Yan Jiedi's hand, she couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Oh my God, is this the end of the world? Why buy such nice shoes? How much do they cost?"

At this time, Yan's father in the living room was twitching with heartache.

In other words, his relationship with Yan Jiecheng is a bit strained now, otherwise he would definitely say a few words.

Seeing that Yan's mother also came to the living room with Yan Jiedi in her arms, Yan Jiecheng quickly took out the shoes and said something.

"Dad, Mom, I bought shoes for you too, two pairs for each of you, one pair of leather shoes and one pair of cotton shoes." Yan's mother looked at the leather shoes on the table and couldn't help but said with heartache.

"Jie Cheng, we have shoes at home, why are you wasting money?"

Yan's mother complained, but her eyes revealed happiness.

"Mom, I've already bought it, so just wear it. This is a token of my son's love."

"Mom, I'm really lucky today! There's still malted milk in the supply and marketing cooperative. There's only this last can left, and I saw it. Drink one cup every day. It's good for your health. Don't let it expire."

After Yan Jiecheng finished speaking, he handed the cigarettes and alcohol to Yan's father and said.

"Dad, these are cigarettes and alcohol I bought for you. Don't sell them right away."

"Jie Cheng, you spent a lot of money on these things, didn't you?"

"Dad, don't worry about how much money it is. Money is earned to be spent."

After packing up everything, Yan's mother quickly brought the food to the table.

Seeing that there were only four dishes on the table, Yan Jiecheng was speechless.

It’s okay to save money on ordinary days, but today is Chinese New Year.

In a dish that was said to be braised cabbage with pork, Yan Jiecheng didn't even see any meat.

A plate of scrambled eggs probably only has three eggs.

There was a plate of vegetarian meatballs. Yan Jiecheng took a look and saw only ten of them, and at the end was a plate of peanuts.

The person who speaks the most without restraint in the family is the third child, Jie Kuang.

When he saw that there were only these four dishes for the New Year’s Eve dinner, he immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Mom, this is what we're going to have for New Year's Eve dinner today. Where's the meat that big brother brought back?"

Upon hearing this, Yan's mother knocked on Jie Kuang's head with chopsticks and said dissatisfiedly.

"You're not satisfied with this dish. Do you want to eat dragon meat? Besides, there's only so much pork. You'll have to eat more."

After suppressing Li Kuang, everyone started eating.

At this time, Yan's father took out a bottle of Lianhua Bai and said to Yan Jiecheng.

"Jiecheng, today is New Year's Day, come have a drink with Dad."

Yan Jiecheng glanced at the wine bottle and said.

"Dad, you know I don't drink. You drink it yourself."

Xie Chengcheng didn't really not drink, but he saw that what Yan's father took out was an opened bottle of Lianhua Bai.

If Yan Jiecheng remembered correctly, he had bought the wine for his father last year. He didn't know how much water had been added to it.

When Yan's father saw that Yan Jiecheng refused, he didn't say anything else and just drank by himself.

After eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, Jiefang and Jie Kuang couldn’t wait to take Jie Di to the alley to set off firecrackers.

Yan Jiecheng was also planning to go back to his room to sleep, but his father stopped him and said something.

"Jiecheng, take this red envelope for good luck."

Looking at the red envelope handed over by Yan's father, Yan Jiecheng was stunned.

Neither his original self nor the two years since he crossed over had ever received a red envelope from Yan's father. The sun really rose from the west.

"Dad, I'm too old to accept red envelopes. You should keep them for your younger brothers and sisters."

"They are still young, why give them red envelopes? What if they spend it recklessly? You just take it."

"Okay, I'll take it then."

Yan Jiecheng didn't want to argue with Yan's father, so he took the red envelope and left the house.

When he returned to his room, Yan Jiecheng opened the red envelope and saw a crumpled dime inside.

This old man is so stingy that he wastes a piece of red paper.

At this time, at the Yan family, Yan's mother looked at her husband and finally couldn't help but complain.

"You, it's okay if you're stingy on weekdays, but look at how much money Jiecheng spent today, and you only gave him a dime in red envelope. What do you think Jiecheng will think?"

……

(End of this chapter)