When it was getting dark, the dinner that Li Jiaming's father invited guests and the fourth uncle bought vegetables was finally served on the table, except for the chestnut stewed chicken that was eaten by a few small ones, there were all kinds of big fish and meat.

Money is a person's guts, Li Jiaming's father was not a stingy person, and now that he can make living money, he doesn't care how much money his brother spends. When the fourth brother came back after buying vegetables, Li Chuanlin called Li Chuanzu's family of three, as well as Aunt Hongying and Aunt Lianxiang.

The seven families at home sat at two large round tables, sat in a somewhat dilapidated but neat hall, and ate more than a dozen catties of meat, seven or eight catties of fish, other dishes and two bottles of bulk wine bought by the fourth uncle. Everyone who is usually tight can be regarded as a good tooth sacrifice, and even the uncle who usually puts 'thrift' on his lips has loosened and loosened his trouser belt. If Uncle Chuan Meng and Uncle Chuan Zong are also at home, the Li family in Huangniping will be able to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in advance and have a reunion dinner.

After eating, the eldest sister, the second sister, and the third sister served tea to everyone, and Li Chuanlin, who was full of red drink, pulled the fourth brother into the bedroom, took out a small pile of money of different denominations from his body, set aside the travel expenses back to the county, and handed him the rest.

"Fourth, that's all there is to you, even if the second brother borrows you less, you will pay it back next time you have money. ”

Li Chuantian hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Third brother, this is the outside, I cut down trees on your mountain to make a house, and you didn't count a penny with me." ”

"What's the matter, you're making a house, I'm a dinner party!"

"Third brother, when I went to work, you and the second brother gave me three hundred yuan for the journey. Later, I paid back your money, why don't you?"

"That's different, you're running for the future, of course you have to help when you're a brother!"

Hearing the dispute in the room, the second aunt, who had been listening to the movement outside, walked in, pushed back the money in Li Chuanlin's hand, and said helpfully: "The third child, you still owe the debt, the fourth child is now making money easier than you, what do you care about him?"

But you, even if you pay off your accounts next year, you can't stay at home anymore, you have to go outside to make money. Jiade said that Jiaming is smart, tsk tsk, just in the fifth grade, he did the county's mathematics competition papers, and he can also get three perfect scores, and he will definitely be admitted to college in the future, and Wen Mei doesn't seem to be bad.

If you don't hurry up now, in the future, you will have to provide two people with a study, and you will not be able to sleep at night!"

There is an old saying in the countryside that 'the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother', and in this big family, it is not the eldest aunt but the second aunt who is like a mother. Hearing the second sister-in-law say this, even Li Chuantian, who had a marriage with her and her second brother Zhang Luo, hurriedly brought up the old matter.

"That's it, look at the big brother. His four sons are separated so much, if it goes well, the big one can be used for the small one to study, and he has a sad face all day long. Let me tell you, studying in the city is not as good as at home, and the tuition fee may not be high, but the living expenses are not a few hundred yuan a month, and there are also round-trip expenses during the winter and summer vacations.

Third brother, my co-workers are inquiring, they heard that you are a real carpenter, and they all said that if you don't worry, you can find those good factories if you want to find them. When they reply, you will go to Guangdong with me to work, the second brother can't leave, what can't you leave?"

As soon as his sister-in-law persuaded him, Li Chuanlin saw that the fourth brother insisted on not wanting it, so he had no choice but to give up, handed the money to his sister-in-law, and said with a smile: "Second sister-in-law, I can't listen to you? When the fourth worker's co-workers have permission, I will go to Guangdong to work." Ming Yan is really sensible, and with your help to see, what else do I have to worry about? You take this money, although Ming Ling is sensible, he still can't take too much money in his hands. ”

The second aunt took the money and counted it, stuffed it into the pocket on her waistband, and whispered: "Fourth, while everyone is happy, you can also go and talk to the eldest brother about the house." Although you are working outside, the family still wants to be sophisticated, no matter how bad the eldest brother is, he is still the eldest brother, and the relatives still want him to come forward. ”

"Hey", the fourth uncle agreed, and hurriedly went out to talk to the uncle.

Building a house is a big deal in the countryside, and the relatives who come to help have to greet them, and after the completion of the work, they have to treat and return the gifts, and these things are inseparable from the person who takes the lead. The Li family was originally a small surname in Yinzitan, adding up to the seven families in this house, if the uncle didn't come forward, he would let relatives, friends, and people with foreign surnames see jokes.

The adults gathered in the hall to discuss the construction of the brick house, the children went home to do their homework, and Li Jiaming also carried the three little ones upstairs, supervising them to do their homework while pricking up their ears to listen to the movement downstairs.

The mud house and wooden floor are not soundproofed, except for the fourth uncle's house, which is talking about his father going out to work. Although there is a second aunt to help take care of it, but who has no time to go to relatives? The father is still not very relieved, and he is asking Aunt Cha Ju and them, and when the second aunt is not at home, he also helps to see the two brothers and sisters.

Li Jiaming has always hoped that his father would not be a drag on his brothers and sisters and that he could go out to work and make money, but when he heard that he decided to go out after the New Year, he was very reluctant. If possible, he would rather stay together as a family of three, even if he lives a little poorer, but he can't be so selfish.

My father is only in his early thirties, and he can't live not only for himself and his little sister, but also for himself! If my father is still guarding his two siblings, and the family's economic situation is not good, I am afraid that even the widow who 'dragged the oil bottle' (remarried with children) would not look down on him. Only when his father went to Guangdong with his fourth uncle, only in that kind of place where there are many boys and girls, can his loyal and kind-hearted father find a suitable girl who appreciates him.

For the sake of his father's happiness, Li Jiaming doesn't mind having a strange stepmother, even if that stepmother may affect family harmony, he doesn't want to 'again' watch his father be lonely for decades.

It's just that these words can't come out of Li Jiaming's mouth, if he says it, not only will his father not accept it, but I'm afraid even the second uncle will oppose it. A man of more than twelve years old can easily arouse the sympathy of his elders when he says such things, and he will mislead in things, but he cannot help but find someone to go to Zhang Luo, like his father's character, and there are children at home, it is unlikely that he will take the initiative to pursue the girl, and even if a girl takes a fancy to him and chases him, it is very likely that he will refuse them.

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Jiaming supervised the three little ones to do their homework and dictation, and helped Mao Tong check the homework, and asked the well-behaved little sister to go downstairs and call the fourth aunt up. The fourth aunt can be the family of the fourth uncle with a flexible mind, that is, a smart woman, who has been working outside for many years, and she is more knowledgeable than the second aunt, so she should be able to understand her own thoughts.

“…… Fourth aunt, you don't have to be too deliberate, just pay attention to the girl who secretly has a good impression of Yeye (Dad), if he refuses, tell him: Wenwen and I want more stepmothers. ”

The fourth aunt was stunned, she had thought about how smart and stubborn her little nephew was, but she never thought that he would have such an idea.

"Jiaming, you?"

If you want to be trusted, you must have the conditions for people to believe, Li Jiaming waved his hand like an adult, interrupted the fourth aunt's questioning, and said calmly: "Fourth aunt, don't treat me as a child completely. If I was at my age in ancient times, I would have tested Xiucai and Zhongju people, and I was a genius like the fourth brother, maybe I even won the Jinshi. Reading can be sensible, I just read a few more books than Mao Tong and them.

As the old saying goes, 'less husband and wife, old companion', I will always be old, and I must always have a companion. You also know that Wenwen and I will definitely be able to go out to study and work in the future, even if Yeye is willing to go out with us to retire, we are busy with work and he has no companion, how do you let him live?"

For a while, the fourth aunt, who was gentle on the outside and shrewd on the inside, had the illusion that the nephew in front of her was not a twelve-year-old man, but a middle-aged man in his thirties.

After being in a trance for a while, the fourth aunt, who didn't completely treat Li Jiaming as a child, really regarded him as an adult, and hesitated: "Jiaming, the outside may not be what you imagined, everyone is sometimes very realistic." ”

Li Jiaming knows what the fourth aunt means, there are many widows and remarriages in the countryside, and there are always only second marriages and remarriages, and I have never heard of someone who can remarry a big girl with yellow flowers after losing his wife, unless the girl is deaf and dumb, or the man has no children and no daughters, or the family is very good.

It's the same outside, everyone's concept of marriage and love is very conservative now. Don't look at Guangdong as the earliest place to open up, but those migrant girls are all out of the countryside, and many people may be very open in life, but it is difficult to change the things in their bones. Of course, there are girls who have changed inside and out, but those who have walked into nightclubs, KTVs, and entertainment cities, it is difficult for good girls to accept a man with two children and a poor family.

Li Jiaming smiled and continued to explain calmly, as if he was talking about someone else's business.

"Fourth aunt, you're wrong. The material foundation is the cornerstone of the relationship, and the feelings without material security at all are all children's plays, and it cannot last long. I admit that yes yes may not be able to give others a rich life in the short term, but we also have our advantages. Don't forget, Wenwen and I, we will definitely be able to go to university and work in big cities.

I can't guarantee anything else, as long as there is a good girl who is willing to marry me, her children will be our brothers and sisters in the future, and her mother's family will be our grandmother's family. ”

Although Li Jiaming said everything correctly, after all, he was only a twelve-year-old man, and the fourth aunt still didn't have full confidence in him. In the big cities, there are many educated people who are poor, and there are many ridicules in the newspapers that 'it is better to sell tea bombs than to make an atomic bomb.'" People in the countryside are also realistic, living a life is not only to save face, but also to have a lining.

Li Jiaming knows this kind of concern, he did business in his previous life, and it is already his instinct to figure out people's hearts. If it weren't for the purity of his heart and the fact that he hadn't used those scheming, the small place of Huangniping would have made him toss into a miasma.

"Fourth aunt, don't worry, I'm different from the fourth brother and the third brother. Their ambition is to be a scientist, I don't have the patience or their interest, I just want my family to be well. I'll tell you the truth, after graduating from college, I will go into business and make money. With my brain, and my usual way of behaving, do you think I might not succeed?"

After a pause, Li Jiaming still didn't mention the fourth uncle's house, the fourth aunt is so shrewd, it is unlikely that she can't see the benefits of doing it on the street, and they must have their reasons for doing this.

The fourth aunt, who was feeling that her brain was not enough, didn't think about it, she just felt that she really didn't look away, this little nephew was really a smart and precocious child. The matter of finding a partner for the third brother, in fact, the second brother and the second sister-in-law mentioned it to her privately after confirming that the third brother would go out to work, but they were also worried that bringing children to the door or the new siblings who had children in the husband's family would affect family harmony.

It's just that everyone hasn't thought that this nephew is more thoughtful than they think, looking for a big girl who has never been married, has a little vision and courage. When the children of the new siblings are older, these two children will have already completed their studies, and it will not affect the harmony of the family at all.

Of course, the fourth aunt also understands Li Jiaming's subtext, she needs to be a lobbyist at a critical time, and she is a lobbyist for both men and women, to dispel the concerns of both parties, and may even use some small means.

However, the fourth aunt didn't think there was anything about it. If she is a working girl, it is much better to have two promising college student stepsons and stepdaughters, and to be able to prosper with her mother's family, than to marry those working boys who can only brag and talk sweetly.