Chapter: 139 New Year’s Eve Dinner

This cotton-padded jacket was brought from home when I went to the countryside. Now that I have worn it for two years, the cotton inside has begun to clump.

When the cold wind blew, Zhao Kaiyang, with his hands in his sleeves, couldn’t help shivering from the cold, and even his shoulders were hunched.

Looking at the two people standing in the backyard, Zhao Kaiyang felt for the first time that he and they were from two different worlds.

Even though they were in the same yard at the same time, there seemed to be an unbreakable barrier between him and them.

The sound of small firecrackers exploding in the yard restored a lot of popularity to the educated youth point that had been silent for a long time.

Several people in the front yard crowded behind the house and watched the excitement with flashlights.

But no one stepped forward to join in, as if they could no longer fit in since the day they separated.

Although they live in the same yard now, there is an invisible dividing line.

Wang Qiaoyun came through from the back. Unlike other people in the front yard, she could swagger into Lin Weiwan’s team and envy others.

“Brother Xiaopang, bring me a few, I want to play too.”

After all, they were all eighteen or nineteen years old. Even though they were doing the same work as the adults, they were still very lively and liked to participate in the play.

When they were happy, they played and made a fuss, and when they were unhappy, they fought.

Under the envious eyes of everyone, Wang Qiaoyun, accompanied by the fat man, stood at the door of Du Shanshan with a small whip and started to set off the small whip, having a lot of fun.

The firecrackers were set off one after another, and attracted Shen Zhenzhu and Zhou Rongrong who lived outside the educated youth point.

Shen Zhenzhu’s eyes had been looking at Ye Jibai’s tall figure since she entered the backyard.

Looking at the two people standing very close, Shen Zhenzhu’s eyes seemed to be poisoned and stared at Lin Weiwan, fearing that she would touch Ye Jibai.

Why should she, an orphan who had a hard life and killed her parents, stand there.

Only she was worthy of a person like Ye Jibai, and Shen Zhenzhu’s eyes were on Ye Jibai again.

From the clothes to the temperament, Shen Zhenzhu can be sure that Ye Jibai is not from an ordinary family.

Although I don’t know how old Ye Jibai is, the temperament of people who have been in high positions for many years is different from that of ordinary people.

Shen Zhenzhu is in Haishi, and she has a relationship with Shen’s father, so she has met many people.

She has a good eye since she was a child, which is somewhat similar to Lin Weiwan.

Zhou Rongrong looked at her sister-in-law’s wolf like eyes. What else did she not understand?

A barely perceptible smile rose faintly at the corner of her mouth, and the inexplicable light in her eyes was safely hidden in the darkness.

These days, Shen Zhenzhu told everyone how much she took care of her sister-in-law, and she put layer after layer of gold on her face.

When she returned to the house, she was like two people, either saying that the food was salty or that the rice was not good enough.

She didn’t help at all when she was working and making fire. Zhou Rongrong hated the way Shen Zhenzhu looked down on her. Now who is more noble in the Shen family or the Zhou family.

They are all family members with bad backgrounds. She doesn’t believe that Shen Zhenzhu can still make any trouble.

Shen Shili seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. So many letters had no news.

Zhou Rongrong didn’t want to guess anything anymore. The worst plan was that Shen Shili found someone else in the city and didn’t want her anymore.

Zhou Rongrong’s eyes gradually became empty, but she was thinking about how to send the little ancestor in front of her far away.

Lin Huahua stood aside, watching the four people having fun, and couldn’t help but smile.

Play, play, there will be a time for you to cry. I know so much now.

I reviewed two years in advance, just waiting to see you people anxious and painful.

As she looked at it, she set her eyes on Zhao Kaiyang in the crowd.

A trace of cruelty was hidden in her eyes and disappeared completely. She glanced at Chen Lei standing next to Zhao Kaiyang.

Lin Huahua cast her eyes on the people playing in the yard again, but she was thinking about another thing in her heart.

Lin Weiwan clapped her hands, “Let’s go, go back to the house, it’s so cold.”

The four people went into the house one by one, and the backyard returned to peace again.

Several people in the front yard also walked back. Zhou Rongrong followed Shen Zhenzhu with a flashlight.

The cold wind blew over, which made Zhou Rongrong’s envious head sober up.

She looked at Shen Zhenzhu who had already surpassed her with a big smile.

“Zhenzhu, slow down, wait for me.”

“Can’t you go faster? You’re so slow. If you want to walk, walk faster. You’re going to freeze to death.” Shen Zhenzhu hugged herself with both hands.

Without a military coat, she was only wearing a cotton coat and cotton pants, which were soaked by the wind.

In order to clean, Shen Zhenzhu took a wet towel and wiped the dirty cuffs with soap. Otherwise, she would not dare to confess when she saw her favorite person during the New Year.

The clothes were still hanging in the house. When she heard the noise, even if she didn’t have a military coat to wear, Shen Zhenzhu came out wearing a padded jacket. Now she felt cold when she got home and went straight into bed.

The two had eaten dumplings during the day. Now there was no condition to make dumplings at night, so they could only go to bed early.

In the sea market, Shen Shili went out with a bag of apples and two fishes during the day.

He arrived at the staff family compound and went up to the second floor along the wooden stairs. He knocked on the door twice and waited at the door.

The wooden door opened with a “creak…”, and the one who opened the door was a pretty but slightly dark girl.

“Why are you here?”

“Yanzi, I came to see you. Isn’t it almost the New Year? I’m giving you some New Year’s goods.” Shen Shili handed the apples and fish in his hand to the girl.

“You…you should leave quickly. It’s not good for people to see you.” Feng Yan hurriedly took the things and drove her away.

Shen Shili could only smile and nod and leave.

Aunt Wang, who came out to take out the garbage, kept an eye on the door of Feng’s house.

Seeing the young man leave, she smiled and asked Feng Yan, “Yanzi is dating someone.”

Feng Yan was a little shy, but because she was dark skinned, her blushing didn’t show.

“My cousin came to give you some things. Aunt Wang, don’t guess.” After saying that, she closed the door with the things in her hand.

Aunt Wang curled her lips. The young man looked at Yan Zi with a look of daze. How could he be a cousin? Did she think she was blind? The young man looked handsome and well dressed, so why did he fall in love with Yan Zi?

No, she had to find a way to ask around. If he was a good man with good conditions, she could introduce him to her old lady. What if they succeeded?

The four people gathered together and started chopping stuffing and kneading dough. There were only two kinds of stuffing for dumplings, radish and meat and pickled cabbage and meat.

Pure white flour, the five people took out half of their white flour and put it together, preparing to make more dumplings.

One good thing about the Northeast is that in winter, the outside is a natural big freezer. When the dumplings are just made and put outside, they will be frozen hard in a short time.

But they have to be put away well, otherwise they will be taken away by other things.

The four of them were talking and laughing while listening to the radio. Hu Xiaopang even told them a few jokes.

After the dumplings were wrapped, they were taken outside to freeze. Wang Qiaoyun moved the kang table to the middle, and the four of them played poker and ate melon seeds together.

“This ghost thing is really good.” Wang Qiaoyun picked up the apple in her hand, which was sweet and crisp.

Ye Ji looked at the apple on the plate with his white eyes, wondering how the deployment was going over there.

At twelve o’clock, Hu Xiaopang went out to set off firecrackers, and Lin Weiwan and Wang Qiaoyun quickly put the dumplings into the pot.

In this era, it was good to eat meat once or twice a year. Many families had to count the meat they got.

Those with wives and daughters at home might not be able to eat it, but the eldest son and grandson could eat more.

After the dumplings were cooked, it was not difficult to eat one or two bowls with an open stomach.

The dumplings were ready. As usual, two large bowls were filled for Shen Minghua and put into the basket, with the vinegar sauce and garlic paste specially prepared by Lin Weiwan.

The four of them also gathered together to eat hot dumplings, chatting and laughing to officially welcome the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit in 1975.

In Haishi, Zhou’s mother was making dumplings with two-grain flour, looking at Zhou Weibei who was still lying on the bed.

“Xiaobei, after the New Year, come to work with me. I have already made an agreement with Director Chu. If you work hard, we will be treated well.

Zhou Weibei looked at the roof with empty eyes, and jumped up when he heard Zhou’s mother talking about going to work.

“Mom, I won’t go, I won’t go even if I die. If I go to pick up manure, how will my classmates look at me?

I’m only nineteen years old, how can you let me get married, and which girl is willing to marry a manure picker?”

Zhou Weibei didn’t dare to think about the days when he was with manure all day long. Now he didn’t feel hungry just watching Zhou’s mother making dumplings.

The smell could be smelled from two or three meters away. If the family was not so poor, he really didn’t want to eat the food cooked by his mother.

“What are you going to do if you don’t go? We can’t be the same as before now, we have to live.

I can support you for one day, ten days, ten years, can I support you for a lifetime? If I die one day, will you starve to death…?”

Mother Zhou looked at her youngest son with great regret. Now, of her four sons, only this useless one is left.

The adopted daughter ran away and never sent anything home, not even a penny.

Thinking of this, Mother Zhou cried while making dumplings.

The good family has become like this now. He feels ashamed to see people, but she has the face to see people.

In the past, she was the wife of the deputy director, and many people envied her. When she went out, everyone had to talk to her. Now she has to push a manure cart through the streets to collect manure.

If she didn’t meet those former subordinates in the factory one day, she would have lost face long ago.

She sat down on the chair somewhat powerlessly, and the dumplings in her hands became slower.

“We can’t go back anymore, Xiaobei. Why don’t you work for a few years while you are still young? Mom will be with you. Let’s save some money. When we have saved enough, we can marry a country girl.

When we find a better job, we can sell this manure job.

Mom has no other ability, this is all I can do for you. Now you don’t want it, do you know how many people want this job?

We can only endure it if it’s a little dirty and smelly, it’s better than us not having enough to eat.”

Thinking of devoting herself to the old director who had already been spoiled for Zhou Weibei’s job, Zhou’s mother felt sick in her heart.

If she had any way, she would not want to go down this path. Fortunately, she had not suffered much in the Zhou family over the years, and she was still younger than the women of her age.

Zhou Weibei could only turn his head slowly to the side and cry after listening to his mother’s words.

During this time, he was either sleeping or sleeping, as if nothing had happened when he was asleep.

His father was still the deputy director, his eldest brother was a soldier, his second brother was a doctor, and his third brother went to the countryside.

When he was at home doing nothing, he would rather be hungry than wake up and face everything, escaping from reality and everything he didn’t want to accept.

“Mom, I’ll go. After the New Year, I’ll go pick up manure with you. “

Zhou Weibei’s voice was a little choked. He slowly stood up and walked to Zhou’s mother.

He followed Zhou’s mother to learn how to make dumplings bit by bit, and it took him almost half a year to see this little bit of meat. It would be a lie to say that he was not greedy.

He almost forgot what the meat tasted like. The faint laughter of other residents in the building made their family seem even more desolate.

Equally desolate was the Shen family next door. There was only a wall between the two families.

No one looked down on anyone, even though the son-in-law Shen Shili had to call Zhou’s mother “Mom”.

But now the Shen family is in a difficult situation. The whole family is supported by Shen Shili’s salary, so forget about the matter of rushing to recognize his relatives.

Shen Shili had no such plan. Anyway, Zhou Rongrong was the adopted daughter of the Zhou family. She was not even close to him.

“Shili, our family is counting on you now.” Mother Shen was shoveling the dumpling stuffing.

Although they were making the same dumplings, the Shen family had more meat in the dumpling stuffing than the Zhou family next door. It looked more appetizing.

“Mom, I know, don’t worry, I will work hard and take good care of you and grandma.”

Shen Shili said he understood. Looking at the house which was less than ten square meters, it turned out that his bedroom alone was nearly twenty square meters.

Now a family of three had to squeeze into a ten-square-meter room.

And it was Lin Weiwan’s house. He never thought in his life that one day he would have to rent Lin Weiwan’s house to live.

If he had not married Zhou Rongrong but Lin Weiwan, would it be different now?

Did he pocket all the rent for this villa?

Thinking of this, Shen Shili suddenly realized that he was too sincere in the past.

He was worthy of Zhou Rongrong and this relationship, but he was most sorry for himself.

If he married Lin Weiwan, even if something happened to the Shen family, he would not have to work from eight to five to make a living under the hands of others.

Thinking of this, Shen Shili regretted it. He was young and ignorant…

Educated youth point, after dinner, several people were too sleepy to go back to sleep, Ye Jibai helped Lin Weiwan clean up.

Quietly holding Lin Weiwan’s fairy-white fingers, “When I finish my business, you will come with me. I promise to treat you well in this life.”

Ye Jibai didn’t know how to coax the little girl, so he could only express his feelings by saying what he wanted to say in his heart.

He liked Lin Weiwan more and more, and he didn’t want to let go and couldn’t let go.

The two of them stayed together for a while, and Ye Jibai returned to the front yard.

Lin Weiwan locked the door and went straight into the space, of course, holding the increasingly clever little Mi. She went to sleep straight after entering the villa, and when she woke up, she began to read medical books again.

She figured out the prescriptions and the effects of the medicines bit by bit.

When she was tired of studying, she picked some fruits in the orchard behind. The fragrance of the fruit filled the air as soon as she took a bite.

When Ye Jibai returned to the room, several people had already fallen down. The lights in the room were not turned off on New Year’s Eve.

Ye Jibai looked at the people on the kang without much expression, and quietly took off his outer tire and got on the kang.