The Chinese New Year must always be joyful, at least in the eyes of outsiders.

So early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Wei and his wife changed into new clothes, each carried two boxes of cakes brought back from Shanghai, and accompanied their old father to go to grandma's house to pay New Year's greetings.

Before going out, Shirley suddenly thought of something and turned around and went into the house. When she came back, Zhang Wei had a few more red envelopes in his hand.

"New Year's money."

Shirley whispered in Zhang Wei's ear, and at the same time winked at the father-in-law who was waiting in front.

Zhang Wei understood instantly, quickly caught up with his father and stuffed the red envelope into his father's pocket.

"Dad, there must be a lot of kids at grandma's house today."

"Dad is rich and doesn't need yours. You have already spent a lot of money when you come back for the New Year..."

The old man is a bit concerned about face and has been strong all his life. He is always unwilling to show his weak side in front of his son. This became especially obvious after he fell ill, and sometimes he even acts like a child.

The old man refused several times, but finally couldn't defeat Zhang Wei and accepted his eldest son's kindness.

Zhang Wei held Shirley's hand tightly and smiled gratefully. This was an oversight on his part, but luckily Shirley thought of it for him.

Zhang Wei's grandma's house is not far from the house his parents rent now, about a quarter of an hour's walk away.

Along the way, Zhang Wei's father walked first with his hands on his back. Occasionally he would stop and chat with acquaintances, appearing very happy.

The county town is very small and there are many acquaintances, so there are always stops and starts during the short journey.

Whenever he meets acquaintances, Zhang Wei's father always takes the initiative to say hello and proudly introduces Zhang Wei and his wife to others. He also specially emphasizes that his son and daughter-in-law have now settled in Shanghai, as if this is such a great thing.

The same.

Zhang Wei felt helpless about the old man's behavior of "showing off his baby" in front of others, but he could only smile awkwardly along with it, which earned him the comment from the old man that "he is still a silly boy at such an old age."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Wei's grandma's family never lacks the younger generation who come to pay New Year's greetings. Among them, the children of his second uncle and third uncle's family go to pay New Year's greetings for the New Year's money. Basically, they can't see anyone after receiving the New Year's money.

Therefore, Zhang Wei has always looked down on the character of these two uncles. If the upper beam is not upright, the lower beam will not be much better. Otherwise, the two families would not be three generations old, and they would form a group to trick the "boss".

Of course, the eldest son is Zhang Wei's father. This was something that all the neighbors in the old yard knew very well. It is estimated that only Zhang Wei's grandma didn't know. She thought that the eldest son should help his younger brothers and sisters and never considered the elder's family.

Do you still have the ability to help? When things happen, you always favor the smaller ones unreasonably, such as the matter of demolition funds...

Now Zhang Wei's grandma is over ninety, and what she loves most is her youngest son, grandson, and great-grandson...

Zhang Wei, the eldest grandson, is less likely to be loved by his grandma. She protects the children. This is Zhang Wei's objective impression of his grandma. He himself doesn't know when he started to have such an impression. Maybe it was from junior high school.

In 2008, he discovered that his grandma secretly gave New Year's money to two uncles' children, but did not give it to him and his brother...

"Mom, wish you a happy New Year! I brought Dawei and his wife to wish you a happy New Year."

As soon as they arrived at grandma's house, Zhang Wei's father took Zhang Wei and his wife into the back room, where Zhang Wei's grandma was sitting on the kang.

"Grandma, happy New Year!"

Zhang Wei took Shirley to bow to his grandma, and then placed the snack gift box he brought on the kang.

"Okay, grandma is fine..."

Grandma reached out to hold Zhang Wei's hand and patted the back of his hand. Her face was already smiling, revealing her only two or three remaining teeth.

Zhang Wei chatted with his grandma for a while, but did not see his third uncle's family, so he asked: "Grandma, where are my third uncle and his family?"

"Your third uncle is playing mahjong at the mahjong parlor. Your third aunt has gone to fetch her. She should be back soon."

"What about Yongyong and his family?"

Yongyong is the son of Zhang Wei's third uncle's family, and he is a homeless person. Now the child can do soy sauce, but he still lives with his parents. At this time, the family has not seen anyone.

Zhang Wei's grandmother said: "Yongyong and his wife are also in the mahjong parlor."

Zhang Wei was speechless. The third uncle's family really did not disappoint him. Both my father and son were so unreliable.

"Really, you don't care about the old people or the children every day. They just know how to make money. This is not like a living family. You don't talk about the third child."

Zhang Wei's father said something dissatisfied, but Zhang Wei's grandmother immediately dropped her wrinkled smile.

"Isn't it just a matter of playing mahjong during the Chinese New Year? Why do you say this is just a money trick?"

Small mahjong? If you win or lose thousands, can it be considered small mahjong?

However, Zhang Wei's father saw that his old mother couldn't listen and didn't want to cause trouble for the old man during the Chinese New Year, so he simply stopped talking, got up and went outside the door.

Zhang Wei chatted with his grandma for a while, but it was almost noon and his third uncle and his family hadn't come back yet.

There are constant firecrackers outside, and when you see the cold pots and stoves inside, is this also called the New Year?

"Grandma, why don't you go to my house for lunch? Third Uncle and the others don't know when they will be back..."

Zhang Wei saw that his third uncle and his family didn't know when they would be back, and he didn't know whether they were too busy to leave, or whether they were deliberately hiding for fear of coming back to cook. In short, there was no hope of eating the meal on time.

Zhang Wei didn't insist on having this meal, so he wanted to persuade his grandma to eat at his house.

After all, because Zhang Wei came back to celebrate the New Year this year, Zhang Wei’s mother prepared a lot of things. The chicken and mutton that had been stewed in advance were frozen in the yard. They can be served as soon as they are warmed up. Now it takes a lot of money to go back and cook.

It doesn't take much effort.

"Oh, brother, are you here so early?"

There were voices outside the house, and Zhang Wei knew from the sound that it was his second uncle, who had obviously come here for lunch.

It didn't take much effort to see Zhang Wei's second uncle pushing the door open and entering the house first, followed by his entire family, but Zhang Wei's father stayed outside and did not follow him in.

"Happy New Year to grandma."

The daughter-in-law of Zhang Wei's second uncle's family held a five-year-old child in her arms. After entering the house, she casually wished her grandma a happy new year. Then she put the child on the kang and immediately got on the kang herself.

As for Zhang Wei's second uncle's cousin, he started looking around as soon as he entered the house, "Grandma, where is third aunt, it's already noon, why haven't you cooked yet?"

Suddenly, the cousin's eyes fell on the pastry gift box brought by Zhang Wei.

"Grandma, is there anything we can eat at home? I stayed up all night and didn't even eat breakfast, and now I'm almost starving to death."

Zhang Wei knew at a glance what this guy was up to, and answered with a smile: "It's almost time for lunch, please bear with me. Third aunt has gone to call third uncle, and he will probably be back to cook soon."

The pastry he brought back from all the way was to honor the old man, but he didn't want to feed the dog's belly.

"Brother, I can bear it, but the child hasn't had breakfast either."

Zhang Wei's grandma looked dissatisfied at her granddaughter-in-law who was sitting on the bed: "Fangfang, how can you not feed your child during the Chinese New Year? What should you do if your child is hungry?"

Fangfang said: "I don't sleep at night, I can't get up in the morning, and no one eats it."

Zhang Wei's grandma ignored the grandson's daughter-in-law, turned around and called her great-grandson to her side who was playing with other people's toys on the kang, and pushed a gift box of cakes that Zhang Wei had brought over.

"These are the pastries your Uncle Dawei brought from Shanghai. You can eat some first..."

Seeing this, Fangfang came over with a smile. After helping the child open the pastry gift box, she took out a piece and took a bite. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she said to the child: "Huhu, this pastry is delicious. Eat more of it."

A little bit."

Zhang Wei was speechless and looked away.

"Really, I don't wash my hands, and I don't take off my shoes when I get on the kang."

Shirley muttered with a cold face. Zhang Wei saw that Shirley couldn't stand it, so he gently squeezed her hand and asked her to tolerate it.

"Dawei, when did you come back?"

Zhang Wei's second uncle took out a cigarette, knocked out a cigarette, handed it to Zhang Wei, and lit one himself.

"I got home yesterday."

Zhang Wei took the cigarette but did not light it. He felt that smoking was not good when there were old people and children in the house, not to mention that Sherritt hated second-hand smoke.

When the second uncle saw that Zhang Wei had not lit his cigarette, he asked him if he had no fire. He took out a lighter and wanted to light it for Zhang Wei.

Before Zhang Wei could refuse, he heard Shirley coughing loudly several times, "The room is a little choked. I'm going to go out and take a breath."

Zhang Wei immediately threw the cigarette on the table, smiled and said to his second uncle: "I will go out with my wife to get some fresh air."

When Zhang Wei and his wife left the house, Zhang Wei's second uncle not only did not look embarrassed at all, but instead picked up the cigarette that Zhang Wei had left on the table and threw it to his son.

"Good smoke, don't waste it."

Soft China is indeed a good cigarette, and Zhang Wei is still a heavy smoker, but at least he still has some sense of public morality. When he smokes, he will take care of non-smokers and hide away or not smoke at all.

Zhang Wei couldn't do something like his second uncle smoking in front of the elderly and children without any scruples, and of course he wasn't willing to do it.

He doesn't care if he harms his own health, but why do you harm the health of others, let alone your own relatives.

"David, your second uncle really doesn't want to think about the elderly and children." After leaving the house, Shirley couldn't help but complain to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei was also a little angry: "His family is like that."

Shirley said: "Let's go back to eat at noon. I probably can't bear to eat with them."

Zhang Wei did not agree immediately, but hesitated and said, "I'll ask my dad and see what he means."

Zhang Wei found his father at the entrance of the alley and mentioned that he wanted to go back for lunch.

Zhang Wei's father sighed and said, "Okay, your third uncle and his family don't know when they will come back. Let's go back and say hello to your grandma. If your grandma is willing to come with us, we will take her back with her."

When Zhang Wei accompanied his father back to the house again, he couldn't help but want to complain.

In the winter in the north, there is little ventilation in the house to keep warm. At this time, the smoke shed in the house was very choking. I don't know how much the father and son smoked.
To be continued...