It snowed all night, and at dawn, the sky finally cleared. The morning sun poured silently on the corrugated roofs, giving off a bone-chilling air. In the yard, more than half a foot of snow stained the high and low chicken racks and dog kennels into white and shiny patches. Sun Guodong got up early, he gently pushed open the door, there was a world of ice and snow in front of him, and he suddenly felt enlightened, he stepped out of the door, and stepped on the snow to make a deep footprint.

Twice during the night he got up and went to the stable, and fed the fat and sturdy white horse with enough fodder, and now, when he saw his master standing at the door, he kept digging the ground with his two front legs, and made a gray sound from his mouth, as a sign of his friendliness to him. Sun Guodong knew that it was thirsty, so he returned to the house, brought a bucket of water, gave it a drink, and then picked up a broom from the corner of the wall, went to the yard, and slowly cleared the snow.

The sun has risen high. The alley suddenly became lively, and after a crackling firecracker, several naughty boys hurried past the door, and the smell of gunsmoke spread along the wind, and then was swept away by the cold wind in a panic.

The Chinese New Year is approaching, and the smell of stewed chicken and boiled fish often wafts from the chimneys of every house, blending in with the snow in front of you, making it even more auspicious. In the harvest year, the people in the village naturally taste the income of their labor, and there is an indescribable emotion in their hearts.

The courtyard door opened, Sun Xiaohong walked out of the courtyard, a snow light came into view, and she immediately squinted her eyes. Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, and her mother urges her to go to the village for a treat. She stood at the door and watched the alley that no one cleaned up and walked out.

The snow in the alley is piled up, about half a foot high, and every step is particularly strenuous. She staggered, the cold wind beating on her face, like a lingering past, a faint pain in her heart, and like a trance of human sophistication, lost in the cold frost and snow.

The cold wind blew on her face, like a lingering past, and it ached faintly in her heart. It's also like a trance-like human world, lost in the cold wind.

Sun Xiaohong walked out of the alley against the wind, and a cold wind blew through the gray and white haystacks, and all the filthy things were swept away.

Rural people celebrate the New Year, and they all want to be auspicious. After Sun Guodong finished sweeping the yard, he put the broom back in its place, stood in the yard, shook off the snow and dust on his clothes, and walked into the house silently, busily picked up a bottle of paste, and pasted a pile of Spring Festival couplets prepared in advance, hanging money and blessing characters on the doors and windows inside and outside the house one by one. Even if my brother and sister-in-law don't come back for the New Year, their family will live like this every year.

After everything was taken care of, Sun Guodong hung two bright red lanterns on the rafters under the eaves, as in previous years. These two lamps were specially bought by Sun Guodong from the bazaar, and he has to replace them with new ones every year. After connecting the cable, when it was night, he pulled the power supply, and these two red lights, with a full New Year's flavor, illuminated the entire courtyard brightly, brightly, and seemed to gather all the good luck, and they all felt festive when they looked at it.

After Sun Guodong was busy, he led the big white horse out of the stable, he put on the carriage, walked out of the alley, and took the eldest uncle to the graveyard.

The people in the house are still busy, cooking and chopping vegetables. Grandpa sat cross-legged on the kang with his eyes closed, grandma kept busy in the kitchen with her mother, only the eldest aunt and her little daughter, like watching the excitement, they were like strange visitors from the sky, they all looked around, looked west, and stood by. Everyone was busy, and no one came forward to greet them.

My sister and aunt are sticking New Year's pictures in the back room, and on the lifelike New Year's pictures, two big-headed dolls with exaggerated expressions are stretching out their chubby little hands, pouting and selling cuteness to everyone in the house, which is particularly pleasing.

When Sun Xiaohong came back from outside, the work at home was almost busy, she went back to the house to change into a light blue jacket, and slowly walked to the door of the inner room, she pushed open the door and saw that the house was very lively, and she felt bored, so she quietly leaned on the door frame and listened for a while, she didn't want to get close to the eldest uncle's family, so she silently watched their every move, and every word and deed.

The eldest uncle doesn't seem to care about these small things, he may think that he has money in his pocket When he walked there, he was afraid to give three points, otherwise the eldest aunt would not be so arrogant. In the past two days, in addition to the convenience of going to the toilet, the eldest aunt seems to have never been out since entering the door, and grandma also helped to wash the pots and dishes, she is like she hasn't seen anything, and she really treats herself as a VIP.

Sun Xiaohong looked intently at the hypocritical faces of her eldest uncle's family, and suddenly became bored in her heart. These so-called city people are really capable of pretending, and they have to wear a false mask even when they go back to their hometown, saying insincere words, doing inconsistent things, and seeing their open-mouthed appearance, they really have no shame at all. Sun Xiaohong thought like this, and her clever eyes became indifferent: "Isn't it just a few dollars?" What's the big deal, running to the countryside to pretend, even the brothers are squeezed, what kind of ability, in this case, why do you come back, no one knows who is better, look at the parents are so tired that both legs are straight! People's hearts for people's hearts, four taels for half a catty! Look at their tired posture and don't take a hand, how much they have done for them, they may not appreciate it. ”

My brother doesn't look like my brother, and my sister-in-law doesn't look like my sister-in-law, their family is not good, who knows what kind of cat they play in their hearts. Sun Xiaohong watched their every move with disdain and did not come closer. She thought that her mother was still working in the kitchen, and turned to go to the kitchen.

After dinner, the cousin and aunt did not come home, they were the lobbyists invited by the mother, and the aunt was especially able to say that in order to accompany the aunt, they had been here for two days. They watched TV, chatted about family life, and joked a little from time to time, but there was no cold scene.

The eldest uncle is rich, and the cousin is looking for an opportunity to stammer, and now she is just slapping the horse, and between words, she stepped on her mother's shoulder and said that her mother was a rough person without culture, and said that the family life was tight, while showing off the wealth of the family. There are no children to show cleanliness, no old people to show filial piety, how can Sun Xiaohong think that they are all the way.

Maybe the cousin was afraid of affecting the conversation between them, so she deliberately drove Xiaohong's sister and two younger brothers to Xiaohong's house to play poker. There was no family in the house, so it was much easier for them to speak, and the aunt's mouth was open and she had no scruples.

Grandma and Mom were busy, they did the last meal and the next meal, and they didn't stop for a moment. Mom is a good-faced person, she would rather be tired than let her face be heated, in order to entertain her uncle's family, it was already more than ten o'clock in the middle of the night, and she was still busy making dumplings in the kitchen. This is the rule left by the elders, every Chinese New Year's Eve, every thirty nights, after midnight to pick up the gods, the whole family must eat a vegetarian dumpling to herald the wind and rain of the year.

This year, the uncle went home for the New Year, and this precedent cannot be broken. There are a lot of people who eat dumplings this year, even if you count them big and small, there are more than 20 people, and the only people who make dumplings are grandma and mother, they start to wrap after dinner, which has been many hours, and they have not finished wrapping.

Seeing that they were able to wrap up, the eldest uncle didn't know when he walked in, he frowned, looked at the dumplings on the board, lowered his head and sniffed it, and felt that something was wrong, so he asked: "Mom, what kind of stuffed dumplings are you wrapping?" Why didn't I smell it? ”

"Ah, vegetarian! The rules of the old generation, we eat like this every year, you also ate when you were a child, have you forgotten it after so many years of not coming back for the New Year? Grandma didn't look up and continued to wrap the dumplings in her hand.

"Wasn't the conditions bad at that time, and I looked at the meat all year round. It's different now, why are you still vegetarian? Does this style have to be changed? The uncle said, and with an unhappy face, he pinched the vegetarian dumplings wrapped by his grandmother with his hands, and put his hands behind his back.

"Yes, we eat like this every year, we are used to it, in fact, the vegetarian dumplings are also quite fragrant!" Mom said while rolling the dough, for fear that that sentence would be careless and make him angry.

"Why are you still vegetarian for the Chinese New Year? Our family never eats vegetarian food during the Chinese New Year, and we all eat meat-stuffed dumplings. Eat vegetarian dumplings, it's not tasteful, it's better not to eat it! Listening to her uncle's words, Xiaohong's mother was surprised, she stopped the rolling pin in her hand, frowned, glanced at her uncle, did not speak, and an inexplicable annoyance came to her heart, he is a famous entrepreneur in the province, and now he has become such a virtue when he returns to his hometown. Our family doesn't owe him anything, what kind of uncle did he come back to pretend to be? After living for so many years, she has never seen such a shameless person, Xiaohong's mother was completely enraged. If it weren't for her elderly in-laws, she would have reasoned with him. The mountain farm is big, and there are all kinds of lynx beasts, and now it is an eye-opener, which is really beneficial.

I thought: Since you are so picky, why did you come back for the New Year? Knowing that the living conditions in the countryside are not good, as the eldest brother, he should take care of some, since he has come back, he has to follow the customs of the villagers, and the brothers and daughters-in-law serve on and off the table every day, and eat two more bites if they are delicious, and eat two less bites if they are not delicious, how can they say such words? Why are you still sarcastic like this, as if I have meat and am reluctant to eat with him, do you think I'm a bully, so I open my mouth?

When the uncle saw that his mother and his brother and daughter-in-law did not speak, he walked out stupidly. Xiaohong's mother is angry in her heart, and she can't have a seizure. She quietly called Sun Guodong out and whispered to him: "Guodong, your eldest brother is really hypocritical, my mother and I have made dumplings for most of the night, and people come over and come coldly, saying that they don't eat vegetarian stuffing, what do you say?" You said he wanted to eat minced meat, he said it earlier! You see that the meat in the warehouse is frozen, take it out and turn it into ice, and the dumplings must not be wrapped until dawn! "Xiaohong's mother just can't understand, she still picks and chooses to eat dumplings, this person is really unstoppable. What kind of brother is this, the brothers are not close at all when they meet, and they haven't said a complete sentence properly, they are clearly enemies in their previous lives, and they are inseparable as soon as they meet.

"Don't wrap it, what do you eat, don't eat and pull down!" Sun Guodong gritted his teeth in anger, this is his brother who is a compatriot, but he didn't expect him to become like this after he became developed.

"Forget it, I've done a lot of work, and it's not bad for these dumplings. You go to the barn and bring in a piece of meat, and I'll give them a few less. They don't eat vegetarians, let's eat, and if they celebrate the New Year, they should be auspicious. ”

"I haven't seen each other for more than ten years, why did he become like this! If his life is three intestines and two and a half are idle, he will not be like this! Isn't it deliberately embarrassing for the poor to get other land, and to fart when they get land? Sun Guodong said, turned around and went to the warehouse to get a piece of meat, he put the meat on the vegetable mound, picked up the machete, and was about to chop it down.