On Chinese New Year's Eve, Shuangliu Village is surprisingly quiet, except for the occasional sound of artillery fighting, the whole village is quiet and peaceful, the family on the kang is keeping vigil together, happily welcoming the New Year, even the dog is quietly lying in the middle of the kang and pretending to sleep, Liu Lao Niang and Aidao sit on the west side of the kang to make dumplings, Renzhang leads the younger siblings to crowd in the east of the kang while eating peanuts and melon seeds, while playing a game of guessing.

"Mother, what time do you eat dumplings at night?" Xigu's stomach is already growling with hunger.

"Your father said that as in previous years, why don't you have to be in the middle of the night, if you are really hungry, there are roasted sweet potatoes on the stove, eat some cushions first."

"Xigu, it's still hungry, it's good to eat dumplings in the middle of the night with your stomach left, tonight we will compete to see who eats the money The door is open, the candles are burning on the candlestick, the incense burner is burning, and the family sits around, how about it?" Zhizhang sent a war letter to the valley.

"Compare to whom, who is afraid of whom? Mother, you can't make a mark this year, every year's dumpling money has been eaten by my father, a total of six money, five of my father's bowl have been eaten, and one is left in the bowl of offerings, we are all able to eat, and we can't eat a single money. Xigu was very dissatisfied with Liu Laoniang's cheating behavior in making dumplings.

Old lady Liu and Ai Dao laughed when they heard it, Old lady Liu is very superstitious, Father Liu is the pillar of the Liu family compound and the god of wealth in the family, so every year when making dumplings on Chinese New Year's Eve, she makes a mark in advance, and when she eats, she puts all the rich into Daddy Liu's bowl.

Xinzhang played crazy for a day, so sleepy that he couldn't stand it, so he curled up in the corner of the kang and fell asleep, Liu Lao Niang and Ai Dao finished wrapping dumplings, Ai Dao looked at the wall clock, it was more than nine o'clock, Liu Lao Niang was free, and began to miss Yizhang and Lizhang, tears fell down, Renzhang put his arm around Liu Lao Niang's shoulders and kept soothing, "Mother, the second brother is not good, and he has made great contributions, and he will not wipe his tears during the New Year." Aidao also followed the persuasion, "Mother, third brother, you don't have to hang up, didn't Uncle Wenxi count it, others are good, working in a place far away from home, maybe they will come back after the New Year." ”

"Mother, don't cry, my sister-in-law is celebrating the New Year in our house for the first time, so it's not good for her to see you wiping your tears for the New Year."

"Mother, Zhizhang is right, you see how capable my sister-in-law is, she is so filial to you and her father, if she sees you crying like this, what will we do this year? You can't cry for the sake of your sister-in-law, okay? Aidao persuaded her mother, but her tears couldn't stop flowing, she also missed the two brothers Yizhang and Lizhang, especially Lizhang, who had been away from home for five years.

Renzhang saw that his mother and Aidao were crying, and he also cried, and scolded himself for not being able to do it while crying, in order not to make his mother and eldest brother and sister sad, he deliberately shouted loudly, "Mother, I seem to hear my father's voice, are my father and sister-in-law coming back from the study?" This voice really worked, Liu Lao Niang, Liu Aidao and Liu Renzhang all stopped crying, Renzhang jumped off the kang and looked into the courtyard, and really saw Liu Lao Dad and Zhang Yan enter the courtyard from the outside.

Renzhang hurriedly asked Mrs. Liu and Aidao to wipe away their tears, Zhang Yan walked in with a red face, she said to Mrs. Liu with a smile, "Mother, you and your brothers and sisters are in a hurry, there are too many things to do in our Liu family compound next year, so I will talk to my father for a longer time." ”

Zhang Yan is like a happy flame, her appearance, the atmosphere in the house suddenly became active, Renzhang neatly helped Zhang Yan take off the windbreaker, Xigu and Zhizhang began to make noise with each word, and cheered on the kang, Liu Lao Niang saw that Liu Lao Dad did not enter the house, so she asked Zhang Yan, "Girl, where is your father?" Didn't I come back with you? ”

"Mother, my father has been busy all day, he is too tired, I will let him go to the West House to squint for a while, and call him again during the New Year." Zhang Yan said with a smile.

"Girl, you're doing the right thing! Your father really needs to sleep more, and after twelve o'clock, people will come to his door to kowtow to him, and he has no time to sleep. ”

"Mother, then let's play a guessing game together, how about singing if you lose?" Zhang Yan proposed to Mrs. Liu.

"Girl, you lead your younger brothers and sisters to play, and I'll go to the Westinghouse for a while." Mrs. Liu also yawned, Zhang Yan hurriedly helped her to the West House, only to see that Daddy Liu's shoes had not been taken off, lying on the kang and snoring, sleeping soundly, Zhang Yan and Mrs. Liu took off Daddy Liu's coat with great difficulty, "Mother, then you also lie down and sleep for a while, and I will come over to wake you and Dad when it is close to twelve o'clock." As soon as Zhang Yan served Father Liu and Mrs. Liu to sleep, Xigu ran over and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, go and have a look, Xinzhang is sleeping again, and he is talking about a fire in the house." ”

Zhang Yan hurriedly ran to the main house, only to see Xinzhang sitting on the corner of the kang while crying while gesturing to fight the fire, but Renzhang, Aidao, and Zhizhang were laughing and leaning forwards and leaning back, Zhang Yan glared at Renzhang, and complained in his mouth, "What are you doing as a big brother, the little brother is crying like this, can you still laugh?" "Saying that he was going to hold the letter on the kang, he was stopped by Aidao.

Aidao explained to Zhang Yan with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you have wronged my eldest brother, don't you know, Xinzhang used to be like this, sleeping and sleeping, sitting up is either crying or laughing, he doesn't know anything afterwards, Uncle Wen Xi said, this is similar to sleepwalking, don't move him, he won't make trouble when he's tired, lie down and go to sleep." ”

Zhang Yan looked at Xinzhang suspiciously, only to see Xinzhang's eyes wide and wide, looking at Zhang Yan in horror, tears fell down like beads with broken threads, and shouted in a dumb voice, "Sister-in-law, there is a fire in the house, you quickly call my second brother to go home to fight the fire, and my father and mother are still sleeping in the house." After this period of hard work, Zhang Yan can already understand the mute language of the letter chapter, she doesn't feel ridiculous at all, she doesn't care about Wen Xi's warning of 'can't move', she hugged the letter chapter into her arms, and said distressedly, "Little brother, don't be afraid, sister-in-law will call your second brother to fight the fire." Strange to say, Xinzhang no longer made a fuss in Zhang Yan's arms, sobbing intermittently and falling asleep.

Aidao said to Zhang Yan ashamedly, "Sister-in-law, you are so good to Xinzhang, I am ashamed of being the eldest sister." ”

Renzhang was also ashamed, he suddenly felt in his heart how ridiculous he used to be jealous because Zhang Yan slept with Xinzhang in his arms at night, Zhang Yan loved Xinzhang like a mother, his eldest brother was really unqualified, no wonder Zhang Yan often humiliated himself, even the person who shouted for help in Xinzhang's dream was Yizhang instead of his eldest brother, and remembered that he and Lin Qi had been hugging each other frantically every time they had the opportunity to do things in recent days, and they felt even more ashamed of Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan smiled and comforted Aidao, "Eldest sister, you think about it too much, I'm angry because your eldest brother has no heart and lungs, you are the kindest and most capable eldest sister in our Liu family compound, and Xinzhang is also the closest to you, Xinzhang dreamed of a fire in his house, and dreamed of his second brother Yizhang, this is a good omen, indicating that in the new year, the days of our Liu family compound are prosperous, and Yizhang will also make new contributions in the beacon fire of the Korean battlefield." ”

Xigu lay on Zhang Yan's back affectionately, and said to Zhang Yan convincingly, "Sister-in-law, no wonder your father let you be in charge, you are Mu Guiying of our Liu family's compound, both wise and brave, and you are the most beautiful in everything." ”

"That's right, sister-in-law, my father went to Tianjin this time to buy a big wooden box for Da Ai, shake it to make a sound, and you can listen to the Yang family." Zhizhang listened to the Xihe drum at Daai's house in the morning and was fascinated, and he didn't even go home for lunch.

Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Zhizhang, that wooden box is expensive, don't mess around in Da Ai's house, it was bought by my father for Da Ai to learn the Xihe drum, including the copper plate and book drum, all of which are dedicated to Da Ai's home, and the Yang family you listen to is a fragment of Daai's master Ma Shaofen's rap, and after a while, Da Ai can also perform." ”

"That's great, sister-in-law can sing Lu opera, my fourth sister-in-law can sing Xihe drums, my uncle will tell the story, and our Liu family compound can set up a stage to sing a big opera." Xigu happily lay on Zhang Yan's back and dangled.