On the afternoon of the 28th day of the lunar month, fine snow fell in the sky, and in less than an hour, the entire Yangjiazhuang was white, and the roofs, tree branches, roads, and distant mountains were covered with snow.

The whole village was silent.

The people in the village are busy at home to eat for the New Year, and then they are resting with delicious food and drink, and no one wants to come out to suffer from the cold on a cold day.

Xiao's family, He Fangfang took Xiao Qin and Xiao Xiu to work in the kitchen.

The kitchen of the Xiao family is an adobe house with a stove and cabinets with old wooden boards.

The cabinet where the dishes and chopsticks are put is still made of old wooden boards that Xiao Yuan picked up, re-planed, painted, and nailed.

In the past 20 years or even longer, the Xiao family didn't even have a cabinet for putting dishes and chopsticks, and after eating, they threw the dishes and chopsticks everywhere, or stacked them together and put them on the stove, and when they ate again, they were naturally not clean, and the Xiao family was lazy, and if they were dirty, they would be dirty.

The words they often say are: if you don't do it, you won't get sick.

After Xiao Yuan came, he couldn't stand this, so he picked up the wooden board while she was herding the sheep, and spent a lot of effort nailing such a cabinet that could put kitchen utensils and chopsticks.

He Fangfang was making croquettes, she looked very bad, and her face was full of depression.

Xiao Qin put her hand on the side: "Mother, don't think too much, in fact, it's okay to tell me that they are divided, and you have to cook for them all day long, and you have to serve them. ”

Xiao Xiu also said: "Yes, they don't give you the money they earn, can you still force them, they don't give money, but they still have to eat and drink at home, and during the New Year's holiday, you have to find a way to make clothes for your new daughter-in-law, you say, isn't this an increase in the burden on the family, it's better to separate the family as soon as possible." ”

He Fangfang also knows this truth, but she just can't get over this hurdle in her heart.

Xiao Qun sat in the room and smoked, he smoked cigarettes, spit out smoke rings, and choked people in the room.

Xiao Yuan sat a little farther away, and he whispered to Xiao Qun: "Dad, I won't be able to stay for a few days after the New Year, I want to take Xiaobai away." ”

"Okay. ”

Xiao Qun didn't want Xiao Bai to have more children, what could he do when he went out, he thought that if Xiao Bai also went out to work, the family would have one more entry: "If you are away from home, you take care of your brother more." ”

"Hmm. ”

Xiao Yuan nodded: "Dad, don't worry, when I get to the capital to find more work to do, in addition to doing small jobs, I can also serve dishes and wash dishes or something, one person works two jobs, I can always earn more money, and when I earn money, I will send more money home, you and my mother should take good care of your health, with the money given by me and Qinzi, you can always live as a family, plus you don't have to support my brother and Xiao Li's family, in fact, life can be much lighter than before." ”

Xiao Qun smiled a little when he heard this: "Okay, then you can find more work, do whatever you want to make money, don't be afraid of hardship, don't be afraid of tiredness, don't fight when you are young, when will you fight." ”

It happened that Xiao Qin entered the house with food, and as soon as she heard this as soon as she entered the door, Xiao Qin felt as uncomfortable as if she had been pricked with a thorn.

She knew that being a father was watching his second son talk well, so he desperately squeezed Xiao Yuan, thinking of pulling out some money from Xiao Yuan, so that he could build a house for the rest of his son and marry a daughter-in-law without having to work.

But he didn't want to think about it, is money so easy to earn? He also said that if Xiao Yuan worked a few more jobs, he didn't worry at all about whether he would be tired or sick as a son, he only thought about money, and only thought about himself.

Thinking of the days they have lived since childhood, Xiao Qin couldn't help but feel sad.

But if Xiao Qun and He Fangfang are diligent and work more, their seven brothers and sisters will not have never gone to school, her second brother is so smart, he bought books to study in the capital, learned drawing, learned arithmetic, in order to expand his business, he is still learning foreign languages with others, if the family sends the second brother to study early, maybe the second brother will be the top student in the college entrance examination like An Ning, even if he is not the champion, it is absolutely no problem to take a good university.

Thinking like this, Xiao Qin didn't have a good face for her father, so she put down her meal and left.

"Damn girl. ”

Xiao Qun scolded, looked at the meat dishes on the table, and didn't wait for others to come, so he picked up the chopsticks and ate them first.

He had only eaten two bites when a figure rushed over, and when he looked up, he saw that it was a dumb man.

As soon as the mute entered the room and smelled the meat, she immediately sat down, and she took the chopsticks to eat the meat.

Xiao Hei sat next to the mute, holding chopsticks and picking up the meat for the dumb man: "Lili, eat more." ”

Xiao Li also entered the house at this time.

He pulled Li Huihui over, and when he saw that the boss was sandwiching meat for the dumb to eat, he hurriedly pressed Li Huihui to let her sit down too, Xiao Li picked several pieces of meat in a row and fed them to Li Huihui: "Huihui, hurry up and eat, I'll go to the kitchen to get it if it's not enough, you eat more, see how thin you are." ”

Xiao Qun watched his two sons and two daughters-in-law pick out good things to eat on the table, and no one said that he would let others, let alone wait for the kitchen cooks to come in and eat together, his hands trembled with anger.

Xiao Yuan sat on the side and watched the four people eat with their mouths full of oil, and couldn't help frowning.

He got up and went into the kitchen.

He Fangfang saw Xiao Yuan coming, so she hurriedly stuffed a few fried meatballs for Xiao Yuan: "Hurry up and eat, if you don't eat, you won't be able to eat for a while." ”

Xiao Yuan couldn't eat it, but He Fangfang stuffed it directly into his mouth, and he could only eat it.

After eating the meatballs, Xiao Yuan and He Fangfang spoke: "Mother, wait for the New Year and let my father clean up our homestead, and when the spring comes, I will find a way to get some money and send it back, you can set up two rooms for the boss and Xiao Li as soon as possible and divide them out." ”

"Okay. ”

He Fangfang knew what Xiao Yuan was afraid of, and she happily agreed: "I'll look at this, if your father doesn't agree, I'll be finished with him, whoever is a daughter-in-law knows that she is lazy and doesn't do any work, I, the mother-in-law, have been busy in the kitchen for a long time, those two are good, they only woke up in the morning, and when they woke up, they knew to find food, and they didn't know how to help." ”

The more He Fangfang said that the more angry she became, the more sad she became: "It is said that raising children to prevent old age, I look at it, I can't count on my son, I'm afraid that when I and your father can't move until the old age, I will be kicked out by your brothers." ”

Xiao Yuan made a straight face: "What are you talking about, they don't care, I can watch it no matter what, don't worry, I have a bite to eat, I can't starve you." ”

He Fangfang lowered her head and wiped a handful of tears: "Second child, don't listen to what your father says, it's not easy for you to be outside, you have to eat better when you earn money, don't exhaust your body, everything is empty, your body is your own, you are really tired, it is you who suffers." ”

Xiao Yuan agreed: "I know, I'll go out for a walk." ”

Xiao Yuan walked outside the Yang family.

He looked at the smoke curling from the roof of An Ning's kitchen, stood for a while, and then walked into the distance.

When Xiao Yuan walked to the entrance of the village, An Ning chased after him.

"Give. ”

An Ning handed one of the hot bean bags in his arms to Xiao Yuan: "Hurry up and eat it while it's hot." ”

Seeing An Ning smiling, Xiao Yuan also smiled: "Just steamed?"

"Hmm. ”

An Ning smiled and handed the bean bag to Xiao Yuan: "My craft, I know you are worried about this bite, I thought that it was ready to ask Xiao Qin to take it home for you to eat, but I didn't expect you to come out, it just so happens that there is no one now, hurry up and eat it." ”

Xiao Yuan took a bite of the bean bag, the slightly sour aroma of fermented flour in his mouth, and the soft and sweet taste of red beans mixed with sweet potatoes and dates.

"Delicious. ”

He smiled and took another bite: "I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I won't forget this bite for several lifetimes." ”

"I like to eat and I'll make it for you later. An Ning took out a cloth bag from her arms again, which contained fried fragrant walnut kernels: "Here, go back and eat it as a snack." ”