Jean Love

"Which people in your family are at home now?" I called Zhao Xin.

"My parents and my brother's wife take her kids."

"What else? What about your brother? Are they at work?"

"Yes, at this time, they must have all returned to work in the factory, what's the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I want to go and have a look tomorrow, and wish a new year."

"Oh, how about I call them and let them know."

"Okay, just tell us that we will go there at noon tomorrow." I was supposed to go on the second day of the Lunar New Year, because the cousins ​​and sisters-in-law who live in the town will come back and need the chef, so I can't leave, so I didn't go, and I was delayed. , After so many days, and later, because of Quan'er's registration, it has been delayed until now.

On March [-], [-], my mother helped to buy pork and a box of apples.Me, Chen Wu, Chen Quan, Brother Xiao Wu, we went to Zhao Xin’s biological parents’ house together. Chen Wu drove, accompanied by Brother Xiao Wu. A group of four arrived at one o’clock at noon. Firecrackers were hung in front of the door, crackling, Red confetti flew up, and a puff of gray smoke rose.

A person came out of the room, not too tall, with short hair and round face, fair and clean, I guess this is Zhao Xin's sister-in-law, greeted each other without talking too much, gave us a seat, poured tea, and brought us The melon seeds and bean cakes were placed on the table, and she sat back on the mahogany sofa by the wall, watching TV quietly, teasing the baby playing in the cradle beside her from time to time.

After a while, my sister, Zhao Xin's biological mother, came back with a shovel on her shoulder, a wooden handle in her left hand, and a handful of cabbage and some garlic sprouts on her right wrist. When the wrinkles that climbed up quickly gathered together, they smiled and greeted one by one: "Hey, Mao Ya is here, and Chen Wu is here too, sit inside and drink tea. Oh, my family is taller, eight years old, time is good Hurry up." Put down the things in your hand, come into the living room to pour tea for us, say hello, and then go to the front kitchen to prepare the lunch at noon.

Near two o'clock, brother-in-law, Zhao Xin's biological father also came back. His thin and frail body made him look much older at first glance. He was dressed in plain gray clothes and his mid-length hair was combed back. Also black, gray-black face, small but energetic eyes, flat mouth, grinning: "Maoya is here, Quanquan is here too, oh, my family has grown taller." The face is blooming. The smiling face reveals kindness and kindness, and the smile is a little far-fetched, as if there is some fetter.

"Brother-in-law, I'm back. Why are you so busy? I didn't come back until two o'clock." I looked at his face.

"I can't help it. There are many things in the new year, spring plowing and spring planting, everything needs to be prepared. Now is the time to plant cigarettes, and they will be planted soon." He still had a smile on his face, with an easy-going expression.

"Come on, brother-in-law smokes." Chen Wu handed him a lotus king and helped him light the fire.

"Do you still grow cigarettes?" I asked.

"What was planted has never been stopped, and has been planted." He said.

"Do you plant a lot?"

"Four to five thousand, it's not too much, it's about the same every year."

"It's very tiring. They have grown up and have gone out to work to make money. Don't work too hard on yourself."

"It's not hard. Farmers don't have to work as hard as before. To grow yellow tobacco, you don't need to shoot bamboo shoots. There are special medicines. You can just touch them on the branches. When you grow peanuts, you don't have to pull weeds all day long. There are herbicides, which are more effective than before. Spray the herbicide twice, once before the peanuts grow and once after they grow, put in the fertilizer, and basically wait for the peanuts to be pulled out, which is much easier than before." The brother-in-law said lightly, holding up the teacup and motioning for us to drink tea.Then he said: "Some people here earn more than 5 yuan a year just by growing yellow tobacco, and it's just the work of the two parents-in-law."

"Oh." I was silent.

"What? You didn't go to work so late this year?" asked the brother-in-law.

"I resigned and I won't go out this year." I said.

"Oh, what's the plan?"

"Think of a house."

"Oh, that's good, it's time to build a house. There are so many people, and the children are getting bigger and bigger. Not to mention, building a year earlier will save a lot of money. Now everything is expensive. Reinforced concrete, red bricks and gravel are all the same price. Skyrocketing, everything is expensive.”

"Yes, you can build it early, you will have a new house to live in, and you will save a lot of money."

"It wasn't forced out. You know the house at that time." After speaking, he looked around: "It was built, it has been a few years, and it hasn't been renovated yet. You see, only the younger one got married, and their room was decorated. Yes, the others haven’t been renovated yet.”

"Come slowly, the main body is built, and the rest will come slowly."

I took a sip from my teacup and looked around. The living room of their house has been slightly renovated, probably because the son got married. The couple’s wedding room is on the left hand side of the living room. The door is open and the floor is covered with polished floor tiles. A large bed, a white curtained mosquito net, a large wardrobe by the door, made of wood, painted with pig liver red, the same style and color as the dining table, sofa, and coffee table in the living room.

"Are these custom made? Painted yourself?"

"Bought, delivered, a set, a total of more than 800, including ten stools with backrests, a large enough round table with a movable glass turntable, a long sofa, two The short sofa and a two-meter-high wardrobe are not expensive, and I bought them in the town, and the young people liked them, so they bought them."

"Oh, it's very good. It's very discerning. It's not expensive. The stool is very solid to sit on." I moved my butt on the stool a few times.

Curtains are hung on the big window in the living room, the light yellow color is very soft, and the walls around the living room are covered with tiles about one meter high. A digital machine, two or three thermos bottles in the corner, a telephone set in a special tin box, covered with a handkerchief bordered with floral lace.

"Come, come, it's time to eat." Hearing my sister yelling, I turned around and saw her holding a wide-mouthed stainless steel basin with both hands, slightly bowing her head, walking towards the dining table in small steps, haha, her face With a festive smile on his face.

Lunch at two o'clock, there are many dishes on the table, chicken, cured duck, braised pork with preserved vegetables, sausages, and a plate of stir-fried choy sum..., placed on a round glass turntable.My sister took off the apron around her waist, waved her hands, and went to greet Chen Quan and brother Xiao Wu, but they ran to us, a little strange. "Mao Ya, let's see what the two of them eat. Give them some food. They must be hungry. It's past two o'clock." The elder sister looked apologetic, and stretched out her hands, trying to get close to the two little guys again, but again Rejected, resentful.

"Let me come, don't worry about them, sister, you also sit up and eat together." The sister who had never seen her sit at the table to eat before this time pulled a stool, sat down beside me, and kept talking. My friend persuaded me to eat more vegetables, and said: "The cooking is not delicious, I don't know how to cook without you, so I will just let it go." Like ten years ago, this kind of modesty will probably not change in old age.

My brother-in-law asked me if I drank alcohol and what kind of wine I drank. I said quit and drink tea. He shared a beer with Chen Wu. Everyone drank, ate, and chatted. In this way, we chat lightly.

His daughter-in-law didn't sit up, scooped up the rice, took the dishes, saw her move the movable glass turntable on the dining table twice, moved the best dishes to me, and then walked to the sofa in the corner, Sitting there, burying my head in eating, I didn't say hello very much, I couldn't tell whether it was enthusiasm or hostility in my eyes, from the beginning to the end, from the beginning to the end, I didn't hear her call me.After the meal, we got up and left the table, stretched our waists, and said we were going home. She took her son to sleep in the room. A cute six- to seven-month-old baby boy did not come out to see him off. My name is Chen. All sent a small profit in the past.

My brother-in-law also came over with red envelopes, gave them to Brother Xiaowu and Chen Quan, and stroked their heads a few times: "Be good, be healthy, study hard!" He sent them out the door and looked at me: "I won't go to work this year, it's the holidays. Coming soon."

"Well, yes." I agreed, but didn't dare to look into his eyes again.

My sister picked up some oil and bean cakes, packed them in two bags, and walked out of the back room quickly: "Let's go in a hurry, let's play for a while, stay here for one night, it's not that there are no beds, there are a lot of beds. .”

"No, I'm going home. I'm going back to Foshan in the next two days to do some errands. I'll come back when I have time. If you have time, you should go over to our place and go home early. Don't be too tired."

They stopped by the gate and looked at us. I saw that the luxuriant plantain tree on the open space at the gate had been cut down bare, with a layer of fine sand and loess on the surface, and three or four buds were breaking through the ground. My sister said, put the old one Cut it off, and the new one will be stronger.

We waved goodbye and headed the way we came.Divorced, how far can this family relationship with them go, can it go on forever?keep going.