This year's Chinese New Year's Eve is particularly special for the Li family.

The large dining table at Aunt Li's house was filled with all kinds of cold dishes. In the kitchen, Aunt Li's daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter-in-law were crowded together, hurriedly and lively, continuing to prepare dishes. The heat steamed out, and the white mist drifted straight into the living room.

There was a card table in the living room. Aunt Li sat on the side, and her rough fingers, who were used to housework, wiped on the mahjong, and knew what kind of card it was. This skillful skill shocked the granddaughter Xixi who was watching the cards next to her.

At the beginning, Aunt Li was happy to tease her granddaughter, who was going to take the university entrance examination next year, and after a game, she drove her away in disgust because she lost two in a row. After a lap, Xi Xi sat back beside her with the sauce duck leg of the cold cut, and she happily performed the card again.

"Hey! Self-draw! Aunt Li's eyes lit up, she put the cards in her hand on the table, and screamed excitedly.

"It's the second one."

"Mom's luck is so good today."

"I can't do it anymore, I'm losing until now. Wife, come and play for a while. The eldest grandson, who was nearly thirty years old, spread his hands, shouted to admit defeat, and quickly got up from his seat.

Aunt Li took change from other people, and the automatic mahjong table had already upgraded its cards. Aunt Li glanced at the kitchen and saw that her daughter-in-law was still busy with something in the crowd, so she pushed Xixi beside her, "Go, help make up the flowers first." ”

"Oh. How do you make up for flowers? Xixi took the sauce duck leg in her mouth, wiped her hands with a tissue, and muttered something.

Her father sat at the opposite house, pointed out a few words, and said with a smile: "You have been watching it for so long, and you can't make up flowers, why are you so stupid?" ”

"What is she doing with this? Just study hard, get into a good university, and find a good job like her brother and sister. What kind of mahjong to learn! Aunt Li was not happy and taught her son-in-law a lesson.

When the son-in-law saw his mother-in-law speak, he had to bow his head.

"Is this a flower too?" Xixi took Zhang Qi's chicken and showed it to Aunt Li.

Aunt Li nodded her head, "This is one." Your dad really didn't misjudge you. You stupid head, you have been watching it for so long, and you don't know a single one. ”

Xixi dealt with it with a hippie smile, and when she saw her sister-in-law coming, she hurriedly gave way, "Sister-in-law, you come." ”

"Oh, I'll take a look." Aunt Li's granddaughter-in-law also knew that this sister couldn't play cards, so she didn't shirk it, and took over the game with a smile.

"What is your husband doing in the kitchen? Don't burn my kitchen. Aunt Li craned her neck and looked at the kitchen.

"He steals it. Mom is making braised pork, it's almost ready. The daughter-in-law replied and played a south wind.

Aunt Li's eyes immediately returned to the card table, "Bump." ”

"Then let's eat after this fight." Li Qinghui sat at Aunt Li's house, looking at the cards, and said.

"Mahjong players, you're ready to finish." The shouts of the second daughter Li Yujiao happened to be heard in the kitchen.

"Got it!" Li Yujiao's husband answered, and called Xixi, "Go and help set the dishes and chopsticks." ”

"Brother Wenwen, set the dishes and chopsticks." Xixi turned her head and found Wenwen who was nesting on the sofa watching TV.

"You go too."

Xixi, who wanted to get rid of her work, was immediately glared at by her father.

She had no choice but to eat the duck leg in three or two bites, and carried the duck bone to the table.

Wenwen followed behind and laughed, and she poked her shoulder with a duck leg.

"Don't put oil on me!" Wen Wen immediately shouted.

The two were fighting, and they were lectured by Li Bihua, who poked her head out of the kitchen, and then obediently took the dishes and chopsticks and set them around the big dining table.

The grandson-in-law, who was originally sitting on the sofa watching TV with Wenwen, also stood up at this time, followed the two eldest children, entered the kitchen, and stood with the eldest brother-in-law to look east and west, and was blasted out by the women in the kitchen.

The big red word of blessing hangs on the snow-white wall behind the dining table. The TV in the living room showed a live broadcast of the prelude interview of the Spring Festival Gala. Mahjong tiles tap on the table. The clashing of pots and pans in the kitchen and dining table is endless. The aroma of food spreads indoors.

It wasn't until a large family sat down at the table in a row, lined up side by side and hand to hand in a circle, that Aunt Li felt a little empty in this bustle.

This is not surprising either.

In previous years, during the Chinese New Year, Uncle Li couldn't cook or play cards well, so he sat on the sofa in the living room and watched TV.

Aunt Li doesn't feel lonely when she is busy watching people in the kitchen; When you kill on the edge of the table, you won't think of Uncle Li; It was only then that she found that it was Li Qinghui sitting next to her instead of Uncle Li, and she remembered that there was one less person in the family this year.

Uncle Li said on the phone yesterday that he would not come back, and also told her the reason why he did not come back.

Aunt Li thinks she has a strong heart and believes that Uncle Li is an old man with a strong heart, but she is always at ease with her children.

Li Qinghui knocked on the side for several days, but she didn't reveal half of the news. At this moment, she noticed Li Qinghui next to her, her eyes wandering, always glancing at her face, and constantly searching at home.

At the dinner table, everyone routinely said blessings, and after touching the glass once, they moved their chopsticks and gossiped.

Hands are, of course, the first topic that comes up.

Miao Ying was a little surprised when she heard that Li Qinghui had lost the most today. "Losing more than my sons? You're not lucky today. ”

"yes, bad luck." Li Qinghui coped.

"It's not good luck, it's obviously bad hands. I didn't play well before. Li Bihua exposed her brother's shortcomings.

Li Yujiao also laughed and teased Li Qinghui.

Lai Qinghui did not refute.

Among the three siblings, he was originally the worst fighter.

It's just that today, he played abnormally and played very badly. If it weren't for the people at the poker table, one was a son, the other was a brother-in-law, and it wasn't for Li Bihua and Li Yujiao's two sisters, he would have been seen through a long time ago.

Li Qinghui knows it in his heart, and he also knows that Aunt Li must have it.

He couldn't help but glance at Aunt Li again.

Aunt Li looked at her nose and nose, put a piece of braised pork into the bowl, separated the fat part, and threw it in Li Qinghui's bowl, "You eat the fat one, I'm too old to eat this." ”

The expression on Li Qinghui's face distorted slightly.

Li Bihua, Li Yujiao and Miao Ying were all stunned.

Li Qinghui stiffened his head, and without waiting for his twin daughters to speak, he stuffed the fat into his mouth.

"Xiao Miao's braised pork is really well cooked, how many years have passed, you have the best roast." Aunt Li happily ate the piece of lean meat, and without waiting to swallow it, she took another piece, or separated the fat part and threw it in Li Qinghui's bowl.

At this time, the people at the table, except for Wenwen and Xixi, the two youngest, could see that Aunt Li was angry with Li Qinghui. The people who were huddled in a circle looked at me, I looked at you, and looked at each other, but they didn't ask questions, nor did they give Li Qinghui a round.

Everyone in the family knows that when Aunt Li crackles and scolds, she is just emotional, and she may not have fire in her heart, and she will leave her words behind. On the contrary, when she was yin and yang, she was really angry.

Li Bihua hurriedly opened the topic, so that the atmosphere at the dinner table would not be cold.

Li Yujiao kept up with her sister's rhythm and talked and laughed tacitly.

The others slowed down, but they also followed the topic opened by Li Bihua and discussed, and they didn't go to see Li Qinghui.

It's Miao Ying, who didn't even look at her husband at this time. She has been married for so many years, and she has been with Aunt Li for a long time, treating Aunt Li as half a mother, and Aunt Li as half a daughter, although she is not as free as she does with Li Bihua and Li Yujiao, but she is also caring. Miao Ying secretly wondered that Aunt Li would be so angry, I am afraid that Li Qinghui did something. All day, Li Qinghui was playing mahjong with Aunt Li. Could it be that Li Qinghui set off a cannon to make Aunt Li happy, which was self-defeating and made Aunt Li angry? That's not going to be like that, is it?

Miao Ying immediately thought of Li Qinghui's strangeness during this time.

Li Qinghui was originally haunted by Uncle Li's death. I don't remember the day it started, and it seemed that he had suddenly come out of that grief completely.

Today's Chinese New Year's Eve, when she was busy in the kitchen during the day, Miao Ying could still see the loss that Li Bihua and Li Yujiao sisters couldn't hide from time to time. Thinking about it carefully, Li Qinghui was very active in helping Aunt Li buy New Year's goods before the Chinese New Year, and he ran here at two ends in three days. He was only excited, as if there was no sadness at all......

Miao Ying couldn't help but worry about Li Qinghui's psychological state.

The couple's twin daughters were also a little worried at this time, but like their mothers, they couldn't show it.

"Why doesn't anyone eat these bamboo shoots? This year's winter bamboo shoots are delicious. Li Yujiao took a piece of bamboo shoots from the chopsticks soup pot and beckoned everyone to eat together.

As soon as Li Bihua's chopsticks touched the tip of the white and tender bamboo shoots, she blurted out the word "Dad", and her voice stopped abruptly.

The white and chubby winter bamboo shoots rubbed Li Bihua's chopsticks and sank.

The bamboo shoots that Li Yujiao was holding also fell into the bowl, making a loud noise.

The two sisters both remembered that Uncle Li liked to eat winter bamboo shoots the most in the family. Their family celebrates the New Year, whether they eat at home or eat Chinese New Year's Eve dinner outside, it will be called winter shoot soup. In the past, when grandparents and grandparents were still alive, they would go to the old people's homes to eat, and there was always a soup with winter bamboo shoots on the dinner table in winter.

The winter bamboo shoots were brought by Li Yujiao from home, and they were bought long before the Chinese New Year. It was Li Bihua who cooked the soup, and without thinking, just like in previous years, winter bamboo shoots were added to the chicken soup.

The two sisters only remembered in a trance at this time that the person who liked to eat winter bamboo shoots the most in the family this year was no longer there.

The atmosphere at the table suddenly became dull.

Lai Thanh Fai is one of the outliers.

He peeked at Aunt Li's face, and couldn't help but look around the room, trying to find that familiar figure.

The figure naturally appeared at the crowded dining table.

Maybe my old father is sitting in his study right now, looking through his old books? The last time he took his dad to the bookstore to buy the book, he hasn't finished reading it yet, right?

Perhaps, Dad is sitting on the sofa and watching the Spring Festival Gala. When the Spring Festival Gala was the most prosperous, Dad didn't praise Uncle Zhao and Aunt Song; When he was most bored, he didn't change the channel to watch other shows. This has become a reservation for their family's Chinese New Year's Eve. In the past, my son and daughter would say that it was not good-looking and that they wanted to change the channel, but after changing it, they finally used the Spring Festival Gala as background music. After that, a few small ones also got used to such a static Chinese New Year's Eve.

Li Qinghui thought again that his father might go to the balcony to smoke. The old man quit smoking and drinking, and his life is regular, only on days like the Spring Festival, he will smoke one or two. The cigarette was not bought by himself, but given by someone during the New Year's greetings. This community is an old community for many years, and the neighbors all know each other, and they will always visit each other a few days before the New Year, say good New Year, and then send some prepared New Year's goods and two cigarettes, which is counted as a New Year's greeting.

Li Qinghui thought as his gaze swept around the room.

It was pitch black in the study, and the lights were not on.

The sofa in the living room was empty, and there were no people sitting.

The glass windows of the balcony reflected the light of the living room, and there was no spark from a cigarette.

Lai was disappointed to find that his father did not show up at home.

It's obviously a big Chinese New Year's Eve......

"You," Aunt Li chewed slowly and ate the third piece of braised pork tonight, and without waiting for her children and grandchildren to change the topic stiffly, she opened her mouth slowly, "One by one, play with me about those clothes, what ......kind of kiss" She dragged out her voice, I don't know if she deliberately used the tone to strengthen the momentum, or she was recalling the four-character idiom that she had heard in one ear.

Xi Xi whispered: "Caiyi entertaining relatives? ”

Wen Wen burst out laughing.

The table full of people looked at the two juniors. Even if these two people, one is about to turn eighteen and the other is twenty, in the eyes of the Li family, the two who are still studying are just big children.

Although Aunt Li is angry, she is still very tolerant of these two children.

If Li Qinghui said this, she would turn the spearhead on the spot and scold Li Qinghui.

"That's right! That's the word. I haven't read much, I'm not educated, I'm not as good as you old men, but I know the word. You're just trying to amuse me. Aunt Li spoke.

Wenwen tried to bite his cheek and smiled. Xixi pretended that she didn't speak. Others also withdrew their gaze.

"I'm not unhappy, but you always think I'm unhappy and want to make me happy. Tell me, are you uncomfortable? Am I uncomfortable? Aunt Li put down her chopsticks solemnly, "I wasn't uncomfortable, but I was made uncomfortable by you." ”

"Mom......" Li Yujiao shouted.

"You don't talk much." Aunt Li glared, "You don't know what you're thinking?" You all crawled out of my stomach, and I pulled you up with a handful of and urine. As soon as you pout your ass, I know if you're going to shit or fart. Are you still playing with me? ”

Aunt Li smashed a bunch of and pee farts over, making Li Yujiao dare not speak.

"If you're sad, you're sad, if you want to cry, if you want to cry, if you want to mention your old man, just say it. One by one, constipation is the same. If you don't say it, there's no such thing? I think you've spent the last few decades in vain. Aunt Li said unceremoniously, "In the past, the puppy at home was hit by a car and died, and your three brothers and sisters would still cry." One cried louder than the other, took my hand, told me to save the puppy, and begged you old man, and rode a bicycle for dozens of miles—in the winter, the two of us rode bicycles, taking the three of you, the eldest holding the puppy, the old man with one in the front and back seats, and Jiaojiao sat in my back seat, and the family's faces were frozen red—running so far away to bury the puppy on the edge of the wild duck lake. The two of you are still looking for flowers everywhere," Aunt Li ordered Li Bihua, Li Yujiao, and Li Qinghui, "You still break wood, move stones, and make a tombstone." ”

The grandchildren, who had not heard the story, all widened their eyes and looked at the four elders curiously.

Li Qinghui's three brothers and sisters were a little stunned, and they were recalled by Aunt Li again.

"In the end, I pulled out a few grasses and tied a wreath and put it on the grave bag." Li Bihua said.

Li Qinghui sighed: "I still have a cut in my hand, and it hurts all winter." ”

Li Yujiao remembered that she cried all the way at that time, and her face was frostbitten when the cold wind blew. She subconsciously touched her cheek, and what she touched was the rough skin of a fifty-year-old woman.

"When you were sweeping the tomb during Qingming that year, you still had to go to sweep the tomb of the puppy. We're riding you over again. Later, after graduating from elementary school, the lake was filled, so I didn't talk about it. ”

Aunt Li's recollection ended, and her tone hardened, "It's okay now." Your own father is gone, and you don't have as much as that puppy who is talked about by you. ”

The three siblings also broke away from their memories, and their faces turned red.

Can this be the same? The three of them are now old and young, and they can't cry unscrupulously.

What's more, if they weren't worried about Aunt Li, how could they behave so unnaturally?

"Birth, old age, sickness and death, everyone has to encounter. You old man took the first step, and I'm also old, so I don't know how many years I have to live. ”

"Mom." Li Qinghui shouted, but this time Aunt Li didn't glare at him.

"I've let go of this kind of thing a long time ago. You don't have to do it one by one. Aunt Li said, "I tell you, when I die, don't bury me in the ground." When the time comes, take it out with the old man's ashes and scatter them in the sea. Xiao Chen told me a few days ago that there are more sea burials now, and there are subsidies. I've never been to sea in my life, so I'm so happy to go and see it when I'm dead. ”

Xiao Chen is a cadre of the neighborhood committee here. The government has been promoting environmentally friendly burials for many years, and this year the document has been distributed to the community, not limited to the promotion of television media. It's just that the timing is wrong. The people of the neighborhood committee also casually told some community residents who knew each other that the formal publicity action would probably wait until the Qingming Festival to be done together with the green festival, so as not to publicize it on weekdays, so that some residents would be taboo and feel uncomfortable.

Xiao Chen lost his words for a while, and told Aunt Li about it, and only then did he remember that it was less than a year since Uncle Li's death, and Aunt Li may still be immersed in grief. She mentions this now to rub salt on people's wounds.

Aunt Li was like no one, and asked Xiao Chen for promotional documents. She was too lazy to read the words, she only looked at the poster once, and she thought it was good, and made a decision on the spot, which caught Xiao Chen a little off guard.

Li Bihua didn't know the specific matters of the sea burial, but when she heard Aunt Li say this, she couldn't help but say: "Didn't you go on a cruise the year before last?" ”

"That's playing on a boat, what's the same?" Aunt Li is full of words.

After she finished speaking, the conversation changed, "Okay, I'll explain everything today." House, passbook or something, whatever you three brothers and sisters do. Maybe I didn't have the last penny left, so I sold my house and went on a global tour. ”

Li Qinghui said: "Mom, if you want to travel around the world, we don't have to worry. ”

He still had some suspicions that Aunt Li was going to take the opportunity to live with Uncle Li.

Aunt Li doesn't pick up this stubble.

"You three brothers and sisters, it would be good if you could get together every year after I left and celebrate the New Year together. Don't gather at the time of the winter solstice, just gather for the New Year. The ashes of both of us will be scattered by then, and you won't have to sweep the grave. You guys just eleven and five-one, go out together, cruises, farmhouses, whatever. The three of you can live together peacefully and peacefully, and the old man and I can rest assured that we are over there. ”

Saying this, Aunt Li also showed a little gloomy, "I and your old man, a few brothers and sisters in the family, are waiting for their parents to go, and there will be less and less contact." Don't do that. The love that grew up together when I was a child, don't polish it. Think more about happy things, don't think about us. Your days are long. ”

Li Qinghui knew that Aunt Li's words meant something.

He hung his head.

Li Bihua and Li Yujiao didn't know about Uncle Li, nodded with red eyes, and agreed.

"Your parents are good, and so are you little ones." Aunt Li kindly looked at her grandchildren.

The twins, Xixi, and Wenwen all hurriedly agreed.

"Alright, let's eat, let's eat! Don't get cold. Aunt Li picked up the chopsticks again.

The atmosphere at the table suddenly became lively again.

Aunt Li took a bite of the winter bamboo shoots, "Don't do this next year." Except for the dead old man, no one in the family likes to eat winter bamboo shoots. ”

Li Yujiao's eyebrows drooped, but the corners of her lips were unconsciously curled, "Okay." Next year, let's cook your favorite fish soup. ”

Aunt Li suddenly smiled and nodded.

Li Bihua said playfully: "Mom, if you are buried at sea, then before that, we can go to Dad's grave on the winter solstice." Otherwise, there will be no chance in the future. ”

Li Qinghui looked at Aunt Li.

"Whatever you want. I'm not going. I'll have to see the dead old man all the way down after I go down. I've seen each other for decades, and I'm going to be together forever in the future, so I have to hurry up, rest for a few years, and be quiet and quiet. Aunt Li said indifferently.

"Shouldn't you drink Meng Po soup and be reincarnated?" Xi Xi bit another sauce duck leg and interjected.

"Why are you so superstitious, a little child?" Aunt Li said.

As soon as these words came out, everyone at the table laughed.

Li Qinghui also showed a smile and sighed in his heart.

Yes, they will be together for a long time in the future.

Life and death are only a temporary separation.

After eating the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, the three children helped clean up the scraps and left together, and after leaving together, they discussed at the gate of the community to go together to sweep Uncle Li's grave during the Spring Festival.

They need to use a sad farewell with all their strength to overcome the pain of losing Uncle Li like they did in childhood. Maybe it's the same as in childhood, they have to vent like this many times before they completely let go of this matter, but in the end, they took the first step today and have a beginning.

Aunt Li didn't know about it, but when she was on a video call with Uncle Li at night, she muttered, "...... The three of them will definitely sweep your grave. I wonder if you'll feel it, huh? ”

Uncle Li didn't know if he would feel it. Just thinking that Li Qinghui's three siblings could gradually let go of his death, he couldn't help laughing.

"Fortunately, you are ......," Uncle Li sighed sincerely.

If Aunt Li was the first to leave, Uncle Li didn't know how he and his three children would get rid of this grief.

Aunt Li rolled her eyes, "I'm sleeping." ”

She turned off her phone and thought about the past.

Back then, it was Uncle Li who proposed to bury the puppy well.

Aunt Li thought about it, and like Uncle Li before, a soft smile appeared on her face.

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Zero Time News: [#Chinese New Year's Eve#新春佳节阖家团圆] The editor wishes all netizens a happy Spring Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve, reunion night. Many netizens must be reuniting with their families at this time to celebrate the festival. When celebrating the Spring Festival, everyone should also pay attention to safety, and be careful of fire hazards when using gas and electricity; Do not drink excessively when eating Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, do not drive when drinking, do not drink while driving, and pay attention to food safety; Families with children and the elderly, please pay attention to the cold and keep warm; When you go out, beware of icy roads and falling. I wish you all a safe Chinese New Year.