As night falls, the sound of firecrackers coming from outside wakes Luo Yan from his memories.

He wiped away his tears, walked out of the room, climbed to a high ground, and looked towards the densely populated area of ​​the village.

On this night of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, the sound of firecrackers became louder and louder, and the sky was lit by fireworks from time to time, blooming beautiful flowers.

At this time, a very strange firework suddenly rose above the village. When it bloomed, it looked like a red footprint more than ten feet long, as if it could level the entire Redwood Village if it was stepped on.

"Hahaha, okay, these footprints fireworks are only as powerful as our Tao'er when they are released."

"When spring comes, we will use these footprints to crush that little bastard in the east and turn his shabby houses into your breeding farms. Now let's go back to the house to eat."

In a deep courtyard surrounded by thick bluestone walls, an old man took his son and looked at the fireworks, and said proudly.

The colorful fireworks in the sky continued to bloom. After one of them exploded, a dragon-shaped card flew out from it. It flew far away and finally landed in a small courtyard surrounded by a low wall in the village.

On the stone table in the courtyard, there was a plate of freshly made multigrain flatbread and two plates of pickled wild vegetables. A middle-aged couple and a little girl of about ten years old were sitting on the stone bench next to them.

When the girl saw the card floating in, she hurried over to pick it up and started playing with it happily.

"Feiyu, hurry up and eat. The food will be a little bitter after a while." The mother at the stone table shouted.

The girl ignored her mother's words and said to the middle-aged man next to her, "Father, do you think this card looks good?"

"Good-looking, good-looking." Shangguan Hong touched the little girl's head, put down the bowl and chopsticks, sighed secretly, turned around and walked into the shabby room behind him.

When he came out again, he held a set of red coarse cotton-padded clothes in his hand and said to his daughter: "Feiyu, this is your New Year's clothes, go and put it on!"

When the girl saw the new clothes, she jumped up and down happily, quickly took them and ran into the house.

Shangguan Hong and his wife looked at each other, with happy smiles on their faces.

No one knows that behind this smile, he spent three days and three nights squatting in the forest in exchange for the two mountain beasts he caught before his legs were swollen from the cold.

No one knew that these two mountain beasts were originally intended to be exchanged for seeds that would fall to the ground in spring.

After a while, Shangguan Hong saw that the girl hadn't come out yet, so he shouted into the room, "Yu'er, come out to eat quickly and join me after eating."

Get up and go to the east end of the village."

When Shangguan Feiyu heard that he was going to the east end of the village, he immediately responded, "I've eaten, let's leave now!"

After saying that, she ran outside the house as fast as she could, jumping up and down, with her red face and her new red clothes, like a dancing butterfly.

"This child..." Shangguan Hong shook his head.

…

"Brother Luo Yan, brother Luo Yan, are you at home? My father and I are here to see you." Shangguan Feiyu shouted loudly as soon as he arrived outside the hut at the east end of the village.

Luo Yan, who was standing on the high ground, heard a clear and sweet female voice coming from below. He hurried back and walked up to meet her.

"Uncle Shangguan, sister Feiyu, happy New Year, come sit down in the room." Luo Yan invited the two of them into the room.

"Drink water." He poured a glass of water for the two of them, feeling a little embarrassed.

The family was so poor that they didn’t even have tea for the New Year guests.

Shangguan Hong didn't seem to notice his embarrassment, nor did he notice that a mouthful was missing from the teacup. He took a sip and said, "Xiao Luo, happy New Year."

"Brother Luo Yan, do you think my clothes are beautiful?" The little girl is at an active age, so naturally she can't help but want to show off her new clothes.

""Beautiful, like a little fairy!" Luo Yan said with a smile.

"Child, come and sit here!" Shangguan Hong pointed to the stone bench beside him.

Luo Yan agreed and moved his body over, and Shangguan Feiyu also ran over and sat down next to him.

Shangguan Hong took out a large cake wrapped in hemp paper from his arms, handed it to him, and said kindly: "Your aunt specially left this for you. Mix it with some pickles to make it more delicious."

"Thank you, uncle!" Luo Yan took it and did not forget to thank him again!

Shangguan Hong said: "You kid, why are you so polite to my uncle? Your father and I have known each other for eight or nine years, and we are better than brothers. You were also raised by my uncle. When your father left, he specifically asked me to take care of you. Alas...

…, it’s just that I don’t have much ability…”

"Don't say that. I know how you treat me. In my heart, I have already regarded you as my uncle."

"Okay, it's Chinese New Year, so let's not talk about this anymore."

The three of them chatted for a while. Shangguan Hong saw that it was almost done and stood up to leave.

He patted Luo Yan on the shoulder and said, "You are wearing such thin clothes. Don't freeze. Get some rest early. I will go back first."

"By the way, after spring, you yourself

Please note that the village chief has been attacking your land for more than a day or two. In the past, because your father was here, he didn’t dare to go too far, but now you are the only one left in the family... Well, in any case, you should be careful. "

"Uncle, I understand." He nodded.

After giving the instructions, Shangguan Hong pulled Shangguan Feiyu and said, "Yu'er, let's go back so that Xiao Yan can rest early."

The little girl said "Hmm" and stood up sensibly. Before leaving, she quickly handed the dragon-shaped card in her hand to Luo Yan.

On the way back, Shangguan Hong remained silent.

"Father, why don't we bring brother Luo Yan to our home? He is so pitiful alone." The little girl raised her head and asked innocently.

Shangguan Hong sighed and said: "Yu'er, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. The village chief's family is very powerful and has always wanted to occupy your brother Luo Yan's land. If we take Xiao Luo home, we will

Offended him...

We are from a small family, how can we offend the village chief, and your brother is not at home... After the spring starts, I will stay at home and help your mother more, and don't run here again if you have nothing to do."

On the other side, after sending Shangguan and his daughter away, Luo Yan returned to the house again, looked at the card in his hand, and put it in his pocket, feeling a warmth rise in his heart.

Then, he drew two circles on the ground, found two pairs of bowls and chopsticks and placed them in the circles. He picked up the multi-grain pancake given by Shangguan Hong and broke it into three parts.

A piece of big cake was placed in both bowls, and then he knelt down with a pop and his forehead touched the ground.

Bang, bang, bang! After three ringings, Luo Yan said: "Father, mother, it's New Year's Eve, and my unfilial son is here to kowtow to you. Don't worry, I will take good care of myself."

Although he still doesn't know who his mother is, according to custom, he still worshiped her together.

…

Early the next morning, in the open space in front of the Huang family compound, many boys and girls, ranging in age from seventy-eight to seventeen or eighteen years old, gathered for body training.

Among the children, Huang Yuntao, wearing a blue fish-embellished robe, lazily put his feet on the wooden stakes, with an arrogant look on his face, and his tall figure stood out among the crowd.

On his left hand side, there is a skinny boy like a monkey, with a pair of rat eyes, and the black eyes are rolling around. While kicking the wooden stake, he said flatteringly: "Master, I heard that you are planning to
Chapter completed!