The road to wealth of a peasant widow

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, although she went to bed late the night before, Chen Cui still got up early.

After getting up, the children would come to wish her a happy new year, and then they would go to visit the graves. She couldn't let the children wait for her and delay this important event.

Chen Cui dressed up carefully today. She wore a new grey dress over her cotton-padded jacket and combed her hair very neatly with a wet comb.

The cotton shoes on her feet were made for her by Chen's eldest sister-in-law this year. The uppers were made of tung oil cloth. She originally intended to wear them when it snowed, but it didn't snow all winter, so she wore them today.

Sure enough, just as she had finished getting herself ready, the three Changping brothers got up and knocked on the main room door.

However, they knocked on the door softly, fearing to wake Sui Sui up.

Chen Cui opened the door, sat in the main hall, and looked at the children with a smile.

Changping took the lead, followed by Changan and Changfu. The three brothers knelt down in front of Chen Cui one by one and said in unison: "Mother, your son wishes you a happy new year. I wish you good health and success in everything."

Chen Cui helped them up one by one and brushed off the dirt on their clothes.

"Okay, okay, mom also hopes that you all will be healthy and grow up healthily."

After saying that, Chen Cui took out the New Year's money that she had prepared long ago and distributed it to them.

Each person was given a string of copper coins strung together with a red thread, with each string containing eighteen coins.

The children were very surprised when they got the string of money.

In previous years, the New Year's money given by parents was no more than three or five cents at most. Even if the money given by grandparents and the money received from visiting relatives and friends outside were added, the total amount was not that much.

"Mom, why is there so much New Year's money this year?" Chang Fu held the string of money in his arms cherishingly and said with his bright eyes.

"You are all grown up now, and it's time for you to learn how to spend money. From now on, each of you will have ten cents of pocket money every month, and you can buy things you like."

Chen Cui has seen some educational videos that said children should be taught to control money from an early age. This means they should learn to manage money because only children who know how to spend money can earn money.

The Liu family did not have such conditions before. Liu Eryong himself had little money and had no money to give pocket money to his children.

Now that they all have to go to school and will face more external environments and interpersonal interactions, it is time to give the children some money and let them learn to manage it themselves.

Several people put away their New Year's money, and Chen Cui handed them the prepared basket.

"Go to the old house first, meet up with your grandfather and uncle, and then go to the cemetery together." Chen Cui instructed.

The basket is filled with paper money, flint and other things. The children are going to visit the graves.

According to local customs, people have to go to the cemetery to burn paper for their ancestors on the first day of the Lunar New Year before returning home to eat dumplings.

Moreover, when visiting the graves, most of the male members of the same branch would go together, making the family appear prosperous.

Although Chen Cui despised the people in the old house, she would not let her children be rude at such an important event.

Several children agreed and prepared to go out with their baskets.

"By the way, I have a lot of paper money. Don't forget to go to the graves of your uncle Chunsheng's parents and burn a few pieces of paper money on each grave. Do you know where their graves are?" Chen Cui asked.

"Yes, I know. I've been there with my father before." Changping replied.

Wang Chunsheng was Liu Eryong's childhood playmate and they had a very good relationship.

He lost his father in his childhood and his mother in his youth. Later, he could no longer live on his own, so he left home to explore the world.

Chen had seen him two or three times before, but he hadn't come back in the past few years, and she didn't know if something unexpected had happened to him.

When Wang Chunsheng was not at home, Liu Eryong helped take care of his parents' graves.

Whenever he visited his parents' graves during festivals, Liu Eryong would pull out some weeds, add some soil, and burn some paper on their graves, to prevent the two elderly people from being left unattended and lying too lonely in the grave.

"Well, go ahead, and come back quickly." Chen Cui sent the children out.

Visiting graves during the Chinese New Year has nothing to do with women. No matter whether they are the daughter-in-law or daughter of the Liu family, they are not qualified to visit the graves.

Of course, Chen Cui was not interested in paying homage to the ancestors of the Liu family. It was so cold, wouldn’t it be nice to just stay in the warm kitchen?

Chen Cui glanced at Sui Sui and saw that she was sleeping soundly, so she went to the kitchen to add water to the pot. She would boil water and make dumplings when the children came back.

Taking this opportunity, she drew two buckets of water from the well in the space and put them into the water tank, so that she could go fetch water two days later.

Living in this place, far away from the crowd, convenient for going up the mountain, and with few neighbors, Chen Cui can maintain maximum privacy. She actually thinks it is pretty good. The only inconvenience is that it is too far from the well, making it inconvenient to get water.

She went back to the house and took another look. Seeing that Sui Sui showed no sign of waking up, she lit the fire, lit the charcoal stove, added a piece of wood into the stove, and let it burn slowly.

Half an hour later, when it was almost dawn, the three children came back panting and carrying empty baskets.

The noses and faces of several people were frozen red, and their eyes were also red, just like three little white rabbits.

Chen Cui quickly poured a few bowls of hot water and asked them to hold them in their hands, sit around the charcoal stove, and warm themselves up early.

"Did you go with the people from the old house?" Chen Cui asked Changping.

"Yeah." Changping replied.

What he didn't say was that they met the people from the old house on the road.

When they met, his grandfather and uncle were already halfway there with a few cousins. It was obvious that they had not thought of waiting for them and had forgotten about them.

Changping brought his younger brother over to say hello and congratulated his grandfather and uncle with auspicious words of New Year.

When my uncle saw them, he was obviously surprised. He just said, "Follow me," and didn't say anything else.

Their grandfather just glanced at them, nodded, and continued walking.

In front of the grave, they heard their grandfather praying for the ancestors' blessing for Brother Changsheng, asking him to pass the imperial examination this year to bring honor to the family. When the time comes, he will definitely come back to burn paper for the ancestors and give them gold and silver paper horses.

Seeing their grandfather kowtow devoutly, wishing only for his cousin's future, the cousins ​​present felt a mixed feeling in their hearts.

Until the end of the tomb-visiting, the three Changping brothers did not have any more communication with the people in the old house, and their grandfather did not even ask them a question.

It was impossible for the three brothers not to feel lost. After all, he was still their relative, their father's biological father, yet he was so indifferent to them.

But Changping has now learned to speak Tibetan and doesn't intend to tell his mother everything honestly.

On the way back, he told his two younger brothers not to tell their mother about visiting the grave, so as not to make her angry.

After the three of them came back, they even pretended nothing had happened and shouted that they were hungry, asking Chen Cui to make dumplings quickly.

The dumplings were cooked, the sky was bright, and Suisui woke up at this time.

For the first meal of the new year, the whole family sat around the table and ate dumplings happily.