Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 763 Both have new clothes, brothers are happy to celebrate the New Year!
Inside, the lid of a steaming pot was lifted, revealing boiling water inside. Han Fengjiao stood by the stove holding bread, while Liu Lizhen used a rolling pin to put rolled noodles into the pot. Wu Qiuxia and the others were chopping pickled vegetables, potatoes, and radishes, preparing to make some sauce later.

Yang Shuhua and Guan Hua bought a lot of things. In addition to buying socks for everyone, they also bought thermal underwear for Xu Laonian, Liu Lizhen, and Yang Yusheng. After they distributed the items, Li Fuqiang noticed that Yang Yusheng was not in the room.

Upon learning that Yang Yusheng had gone for a stroll in Nanshan with Ma Liu and the others, he smiled and said, "I think Uncle San must be getting restless in the city, otherwise why would he be running to the mountains all the time?"

"Yeah, after the New Year, let's take Uncle San to the mountains to hunt dogs. We have to let him have a good time!"

"What else is there to say... Hey, I'm back now."

At the courtyard gate, Yang Yusheng, Ma Liu, Lao Zhao, and Lao Yang entered one after another. They carried two old air rifles and two old shotguns with handles, and two small cloth bags hanging from their waists. One bag contained slingshots and bullets, and the other contained bird carcasses. They also carried three cloth bags in their hands, which contained pheasants, jumping cats, and greyhounds.

"Oh my god, Uncle, Third Uncle, you've been hitting me quite a bit! Where did you get all this stuff?"

Yang Yusheng smiled broadly, quite pleased, and said, "Haha, Old Zhao said there's a place in Nanshan that's full of pheasants and birds that didn't go south for the winter. So when we went there, we shot down all the birds and pheasants in front of us. Some of the pheasants and jumping cats here were picked up from the place where you set the trap."

Ma Liu laughed and replied, "The place where you set the trap was pretty good too. I just walked around for a couple of minutes and spotted three pheasants."

Xu Ning boasted to them for a bit, then clapped his hands and said, "You guys hurry up and wash up, it'll be time to eat soon. Tomorrow, stay home and rest, don't go anywhere."

"This is it, we're doomed! I told you, we had to keep an eye on this kid!"

"Haha, then I'll stay home and play mahjong tomorrow. It's rare to have so much free time. This is such a comfortable life!"

These elderly men were all quite happy, even Ma Liu, Lao Yang, and Lao Zhao, who had no children. This year, they finally understood what true happiness meant.

"Third Uncle, Shuhua bought you a set of thermal underwear, a pair of leather shoes, and a coat. Why don't you try them on?"

Li Fuqiang helped Yang Yusheng wash his face and hair, and took the opportunity to say something.

Yang Yusheng dried his hair and said with a smile, "Okay! You two are living better and better lives now. Although I haven't been of much help, as your uncle, I should enjoy myself too."

"Oh dear, you've helped me a lot. If you hadn't reasoned with me before, would I have come to my senses?"

"Go away, I don't want to hear such empty talk. Is your brother-in-law going to the city to do business next year? I forgot to ask him when he was here yesterday."

"Of course I'll go! All that's left is the license. Da Long has already found the place. After the Lantern Festival, we'll go clean it up, set up a few tables, and we'll be open for business. Oh, my brother even planned out the layout for the shop. If we set up the tables according to this layout, it'll look so spacious and bright. It'll be a pleasant surprise as soon as you walk in..."

Yang Yusheng walked to the east room, picked up the shirt lying on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), put it on, and said, "You don't need to worry about the license. Let him start operating first and see how business is going. The most important thing is the price. It must be affordable, understand? This shirt fits well. Shuhua has good taste. If my daughter-in-law bought it, she would definitely have bought a size too big."

"Oh dear, my two sisters-in-law don't hang out with you often, how would they know what size you wear? Stop nitpicking."

Yang Yusheng smiled but didn't say anything. Outside the living room, Xu Ning beckoned Ma Liu, Lao Zhao, and Lao Yang into the west room. He pointed to three stacks of clothes, shoes, socks, and other items piled on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said:
"Grandpa, this pile was paid for by my wife and picked out by my sister-in-law. Grandpa Zhao, this pile was bought for you by my brother Yong, and also picked out by my sister-in-law. Grandpa Yang, I don't need to say anything about this pile, right? My brother Jun's wife bought it for you..."

The three old men smiled broadly upon hearing this, especially Zhao Shengmin, who never expected that Hu Zhiyong would buy him clothes, pants, and shoes. Before he came down the mountain, Hu Zhiyong had already paid him his salary and given him some wine and cigarettes for the New Year.

Old Yang was somewhat used to it. When Yang Jun lived with his ex-wife, she would buy him clothes, but she had never bought him such a complete set. Now that he was living with Sun Cuiping, she had bought him a complete set of clothes all at once, which surprised him. Moreover, he had heard that Sun Cuiping was very careful with her money and wished she could split every penny in half. So, he had nothing to say about her!
Ma Liu touched the fabric of the clothes and the quality of the leather shoes, and said with a smile, "They went to the same street together, why isn't it here?"

"I just grabbed my things and went straight home."

Old Yang asked in confusion, "Then why didn't you take your things home? It's quite far from the old house."

Ma Liu retorted, "Old Yang, how can you not know what's good for you? Xiao Jun was thinking that we're all wearing new clothes, but you're the only one who doesn't. You can't just stand by and watch, so you just threw your clothes down. Otherwise, would you feel good seeing us wearing new clothes?"

Old Yang belatedly remarked, "That seems to be true; Xiao Jun is quite meticulous in his work."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Try them on. The supply and marketing cooperative will be open for half a day tomorrow. If they don't fit, you can go and exchange them."

"It'll definitely fit! You've bought me so many clothes already..."

The three old men put on their new clothes and took a few steps outside. When they saw that Yang Yusheng had also changed his clothes, the four of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Sun Lianfang and others also praised them, saying that they looked more and more energetic in their new clothes.

Around 5:30, the Xu family set up two tables in the living room. On the tables were a bowl of noodles, four kinds of sauces, leftovers, and pickled vegetables.

Old Xu slurped up a couple of mouthfuls of noodles and said, "We'll have to write the couplets soon, right? Feng'er, after you finish eating, hurry up and cut some red paper, then moisten the brush and grind some ink..."

"Okay, Dad, didn't you learn any new words this year?"

"Do you think your dad's brain is just for show? All the words are already in my head."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "It wasn't the time this morning when I was asking my third uncle for advice. I racked my brains to come up with two couplets."

"Get out of here! You're everywhere, you annoying thing!"

"Hahaha……"

After dinner, everyone gathered in the living room to chat. Li Jinyu wiped the large round table three times, Xu Feng spread out red paper and cut it with an iron ruler, and Li Mantang sat to the side grinding ink.

Liu Lizhen brought over some tea and said with a pout, "Look at you, how many people do you need to serve you just to do a little work?"

"Hey, why are you always criticizing me during the New Year? Can't you say something nice to me?"

At this moment, Yang Jun, Li Feng and others arrived one after another. Seeing that Xu Laonian was writing couplets again, they took the still-wet couplets in their hands and blew on them to make the ink dry as soon as possible.

"Uncle, then I won't stand on ceremony, I'll take this couplet."

Xu Laonian waved his hand expressionlessly: "Take it all away, take it all away."

In reality, he was overjoyed. This feeling of being needed and recognized was exactly what Xu Laonian had been dreaming of. Otherwise, why would he have gone to such lengths, racked his brains, and exhausted all his energy to try and kill the wild boar with a sledgehammer? Wasn't it all to make a name for himself in Qing'an?

Liu Lizhen asked, "Jun, are you coming over tomorrow?"

"I'll come over for a visit during the day tomorrow, and then stay home for dinner. I just got married this year, and Cuiping and I need to stay home for the New Year. It's a good opportunity to have Lifeng and Lihong come over so we can all have some fun together."

"That's fine. Ask Cuiping if she needs anything else at home, and she can come and get it. We have so much stuff that it's almost a mountain."

"Okay!"

Around 9 o'clock, everyone dispersed and went home to sleep. The next day was February 19th, Lunar New Year's Eve.

The morning air was fresh. Xu Ning stood on the platform, took a deep breath, stretched, and said to Xu Feng, who was feeding the dog, "I know you went to the reservoir and got all wet. Why didn't Mom scold you when you got home?"

Xu Feng turned around, carrying the water spout, and asked, "Why?"

"I tried to reason with Mom and talk to her nicely!"

"Oh my, it has to be my second brother! I knew he was the best to me. Second brother, do you want to wash your face? I'll get you some water..."

Xu Ning grinned and said, "No need. You should be able to collect a lot of pocket money this year. Come here, I have something to tell you."

Xu Feng, without a care in the world, ran over, blinking her big eyes: "What's up?"

"Now that you're getting your allowance, are you feeling a bit more financially secure? When you start organizing things to do... Dad's definitely going to join in the fun..."

Xu Feng listened with increasing enthusiasm, nodding vigorously: "Second Brother, don't worry, I'll take care of everything!"

“Good sister, it’s settled then. We’ll return the child’s money in full and give him an extra 10% interest. We’ll split the adult’s money 20/80.”

"Hmm, second brother, is eldest brother an adult or a child?"

"He's been married for so many years! He can't be considered a child anymore. Anyone younger than me is a child, and anyone older than me is an adult, understand?"

"Got it! Hehe, I'm sure I'll make a lot of pocket money this time, enough to buy a schoolbag."

Xu Ning frowned upon hearing this: "Didn't I give you money to buy a schoolbag when you went to school in the city? What did you do if you didn't buy a schoolbag?"

Xu Feng shrank back as if deflated, and said, "I treated the English teacher's child to snacks."

"Oh my god, you're really good at scheming... Anyway, how's your English grade?"

"It's great! My English teacher gave me extra lessons, and sometimes she even invites me to her office for a small cake at lunchtime."

"Alright, your second brother has never had a mini cake before."

Xu Feng glared at her and said, "Why didn't you eat there last time you went to the city? You even smeared egg and cream all over my face, have you forgotten?"

"Ah, my memory isn't good, I'm getting old."

Before breakfast, Xu Long carried a basin to the outside of the courtyard. Xu Ning stood by the door frame with a ladder on his back, holding the ladder from below. With just a glance, Xu Feng got there first. Meng Ziyan and Wang Shujuan, with their pregnant bellies, held couplets in their hands.

Xu Long scoffed and said, "No one in our family is as cunning as you. Even someone as shrewd as Feng'er was subdued by you. You're quite the expert."

Xu Ning looked down at him: "You didn't do any work either, so how dare you criticize me?"

"I didn't apply any paste?"

"I was holding the ladder too, otherwise what if Feng'er fell down?"

Wang Shujuan quickly reached out to stop them: "Alright, alright, you two brothers shouldn't be arguing so early in the morning. You've ruined my whole day's good mood."

"Sister-in-law, you be the judge, isn't this his fault?"

"Blam him, blame him, but don't be like him."

"Hey, I...no, you guys ganged up on me, didn't you?"

Xu Feng finished pasting the couplets, climbed down the ladder, sighed, and said, "Brother, if we had teamed up to mess with you, I wouldn't be the one pasting the couplets now."

"You all think you're right no matter what you say!"

The group exchanged knowing smiles. After pasting the couplets on the courtyard gate, there were still the pigsty, sheep pen, doghouse, car, outhouse, lower room, door, and windows. In short, just pasting the couplets took almost an hour. Xu Feng's face was red from the cold, and her hands and feet were almost frozen. She went into the house and crawled into the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room, tucking her hands under the small quilt to warm them up.

After breakfast, Xu Laonian, Xu Ning, Xu Long, and Xu Feng carried yellow paper and offerings, boarded the old Dongfeng truck, and headed towards Dongshan.

They were originally supposed to visit the graves on the 28th or 29th of the twelfth lunar month, but they had invited people from the village to dinner on the 28th and sent gifts on the 29th. Therefore, they could only visit the graves and burn paper money on New Year's Eve. This was not considered taboo, because the custom in Qing'an is that people can visit the graves for three days from the 28th of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve.

Upon arriving at the cemetery, Xu Laonian told his parents about the family's recent situation, adding affectionately, "Mom and Dad, your two eldest grandsons and our Xu family's only daughter are all quite promising. The eldest is attending night school and preparing for university entrance exams. The second son's stall is making money, and next year he's going to open a car repair shop. The business is getting bigger and bigger. Feng'er is studying in the city and is doing very well; she's definitely a university prospect! Our Xu family's life is getting better and better, so you don't need to worry..."

When they got home, Yang Yusheng and the others had already set up a mahjong table. He played mahjong with Lao Yang, Lao Zhao, and Ma Liu. Xu Laonian also called Wang Erli, Liu Daming, and Lao Jiang to set up a table, while Xu Ning and the others sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and played cards.

Only Liu Lizhen and the others were busy in the kitchen. Everyone had a different task. If they needed to do something, she would just ask Wang Biao to do it. Besides, it was quite interesting for the women to sit in the kitchen and dining room, chatting while working. They didn't feel that the men were playing around inside. They felt unbalanced, after all, the men had worked outside all year and only had a few days of rest during the New Year.

Moreover, Xu Laonian and the others knew what was important and what wasn't urgent. Around 11:30 a.m., they put away the mahjong tiles and went to the living room to help with the work...

Around 2 p.m., one fragrant dish after another was served, and everyone sat around the table.

Today, those having dinner at Lao Xu's house include five people from Wang Erli's family, three people from Meng Quezi's family, four people from Li Fuqiang's family, two people from Guan Lei's family, three people from Da Laba's family, as well as Yang Yusheng, Ma Liu, Lao Zhao, and others.

It was a lively and bustling event, with people chatting about everything under the sun, dreaming about the next thirty years, looking forward to the growth and prosperity of their families, and hoping for a prosperous country, a wealthy and well-fed population!
The drinking session proceeded slowly, with no one in a hurry to leave the table. It wasn't until 11:30 p.m. that Liu Lizhen and the others brought the dumplings to the table, and everyone poured themselves a full glass of wine. While watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV, they raised their glasses and drank heartily.

Time flew by, and it was midnight in the blink of an eye. Old Xu swayed as he stood up, raised his glass, and said, "Let's count down with the TV hosts, and then shout 'Happy New Year!' and have a drink together, shall we?"

"Okay, that's a good idea..."

The sound came from the television, and everyone counted down.

"Five, four, three, one... Happy New Year!"

Then, everyone raised their glasses and took a sip of wine, which meant that 1985 had officially begun, and the Xu family was also ushering in a year of great development!
Why did Xu Ning choose to start a business in 1985 and try to expand as much as possible? Simply because that year was the right time to make money, and everyone who did it was the first to reap the rewards.

A year later, in 1986, a document would be issued that would prevent Xu Ning and others from entering the mountains to hunt livestock at will.

All of this was part of Xu Ning's plan. He wanted his family and friends to enjoy the benefits of the times, which was his fundamental purpose in returning to the small mountain village!

(End of this chapter)