Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1083 Celebrating the Chinese New Year (Give a reward of +10 to reader 20189428)

The day after the annual meeting was actually uneventful. Xiao Wei didn't go to the company and stayed home all day. Chen Hui handled some company matters, while Xiao Wei took Bei Bei to slide around in the pond in the yard.

Xiaowei's mother, Aunt Wang, Fourth Aunt, Step-Aunt, Beibei's Grandmother, and Wang Guifang were busy in the kitchen frying meatballs, fried dough sticks, and twisted dough sticks.

The workers at home were all given a holiday and will come back to work on the tenth day of the lunar new year.

Geng Hui and Xia Maosheng went back to Xia's father's house. They invited the whole family to come for the New Year, but they declined, probably feeling there would be too many people. Their family has more than ten members. Xiao Wei didn't insist either; there really were too many people.

Chen Hui went to the company, while Chen Xiao took the children to sleep in.

In the evening, Chen Hui's mother and Lao Chen finally finished their work and came over. They're spending the Spring Festival at Xiao Wei's house this year.

The third day, the 22nd, was Lunar New Year's Eve.

Xiaowei and Chenhui were woken up early by Xiaowei's father to put up couplets, paste up the character "福" (fortune), hang up couplets, and paste auspicious words all over the rice jar and water bucket. There was even a "May you see happiness upon leaving the house" sticker on the glass door. This is tradition.

Chicken, duck, and goose pens, dog kennels, garages, yard gates, company gates—nothing is spared.

Eight large red lanterns hung under the awning of the company gate, and red covers were also placed on the gateposts and the lights in the pavilion. Red lanterns were also placed at the main and auxiliary building entrances, one on each eave. The entire courtyard was filled with the festive spirit of the New Year.

Right now, everyone in the north is doing the same thing.

In many parts of southern China, there's no tradition of hanging red lanterns, and in some areas, couplets aren't even displayed. Each region has its own traditions.

More than two hours had passed by the time the two of them finished all their tasks. When they returned to the courtyard, they saw Beibei, dressed in new clothes, leading Chen Xiaohui, who was also dressed in new clothes, strolling slowly in the courtyard.

The two little porcelain dolls are just too cute.

Xiao Wei said, "Xiao Xiao Hui can walk upright normally now? I didn't notice, it's so fast."

Chen Hui said, "He can't walk fast. I have to hold his hand. He could walk a long time ago, okay? He could take his first steps when autumn just started."

Xiao Wei said, "This is too fast. I thought he would be at least two years old."

Chen Hui glanced at Xiao Wei: "You didn't walk until you were two? How slow would you be?"

Beibei looked down at Xiaoxiaohui, mumbling something unintelligible. Xiaoxiaohui stretched out his free right hand and made a clapping motion in the air: "Baba."

Beibei then looked up and immediately let go of Xiaoxiaohui's hand, running over with a smile: "Daddy. Daddy Chen."

Chen Hui jogged to meet his son, saying, "Slow down, slow down, you can't run yet, son."

Xiao Wei stretched out a hand to stop Bei Bei: "No, no, Daddy's hands are dirty. You'll get your new clothes dirty."

The little girl immediately stopped and bent down to check herself.

Beibei led Xiaohui, and the four of them slowly walked back into the house. Xiaowei put down the bucket of paste and went to wash his hands. The paste was made by mixing flour and water on the stove; it was used to paste Spring Festival couplets and the character "福" (good fortune). This was an old tradition, and it worked better than glue.

Chen Hui's mother stood at the kitchen doorway talking to Xiao Wei's mother and the others inside, eating fried food in her hands.

Chen Hui's father, Xiao Wei's father, the old man, the fourth uncle, and Uncle Wang sat on the sofa drinking tea and talking.

Xiuer was helping in the kitchen; the girl was already quite the little kitchen pro. Poor children learn to be independent early.

Xiao Hong, Chen Xiao, and Wang Guifang sat by the living room window, chatting and enjoying the view.

"What do Xiaohui's parents do? They seem so high and mighty, even though they're all smiles, they still make you nervous."

Xiao Hong said, "You're not familiar with them yet, but it'll be fine once you get to know them. Look how nervous my dad is!"

Wang Guifang nodded: "A little, but not as good as Xiaohui's parents."

Chen Xiao said, "Don't even mention you, I get a little nervous in front of them. My child is almost two years old. He's so young but has such a big heart."

Xiao Hong laughed and said, "I'm nothing compared to Fourth Uncle and Grandpa. They're the ones with big hearts. Grandpa even calls me 'little brother' all the time."

Chen Xiao said, "That's how it should be at home. Besides, they didn't even know. Who would have thought?"

Xiao Hong said to Wang Guifang, "Xiao Hui's parents are central government leaders; one is in charge of electricity and the other is in charge of money."

Wang Guifang's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Huh? Really?"

Xiao Hong said, "Aunt Chen is the deputy director of the Liaodong branch of the People's Bank of China and the director of the Northeast Bureau of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. What do you think?"

Wang Guifang turned her head and looked at Old Chen, who was sitting on the sofa smoking a cigarette and chatting and laughing with a cadre and three farmers. Then she looked at Aunt Chen, who was standing at the kitchen door looking for a chance to sneak a bite. She felt as if she had entered a fairy tale world.

"Grandma." As soon as Xiao Xiao Hui entered the house, his eyes lit up and he went straight to his grandma. His eyes were fixed on the meatball in Aunt Chen's hand, and his mouth was watering.

Aunt Chen turned around when she heard her grandson's voice. She saw her eldest grandson clumsily taking small steps towards her, and she immediately smiled and bent down to greet him.

"Oil, there's oil. New, new clothes!" Beibei called out to Aunt Chen, blocking Xiao Xiaohui's way.

Little Hui was blocked, so he reached out his little hand and grabbed Bei Bei's arm, trying to focus his gaze on the meatball. Then he saw the meatball rise up, enter Grandma's mouth, and disappear.

Xiao Xiaohui looked blank for a moment, then gradually changed, his lips turned down and his little eyebrows furrowed.

Aunt Chen laughed as Bei Bei scolded her, stuffed the meatball into her mouth, and went to wash her hands.

Xiuer turned her head and saw the two little ones. She took out two meatballs, stuffed one into each of their mouths, and interrupted Xiao Xiaohui's carefully prepared sob.

While eating the meatballs with her little cheeks puffed out, Beibei watched Xiuer's hand warily, afraid that it would fall on her or Xiaoxiaohui.

Not on the head either. It's a new hair accessory.

Xiao Wei's mother said, "Wei, page your brother. Why hasn't he arrived yet? He should have been back yesterday, but he's already almost thirty."

Xiao Wei said, "Hey, why are you in such a hurry? They're driving back. If they leave in the morning, they won't get home until the afternoon. That's six or seven hours, and there's Xiao Haitao too."

The old man said, "Your brother's name is Haitao. Your father's name has the character 'Hai' in it, isn't that a generational mismatch?"

Xiao Wei said, "My brother said our next generation will be all about the ocean."

Xiao Wei's father said, "Panhai. If you ask me, it's my father's fault. He didn't think about his grandchildren's future when he named me."

Uncle Si said, "Nobody cares about that anymore. All the guys of Xiao Wei's generation have two-character names. Who follows the 'fan' character?"

Xiao Wei's father said, "The third child's family followed the 'fan' character in their names. If we're talking about the eldest son, we have to blame him. He chose the two characters, and that's how all the children are chosen."

Old Chen said, "We don't care about these things anymore. Back then, I was planning to name Xiao Hui according to the family lineage, but my dad said it's a new society now, so whatever, just use two characters and it'll sound nice. So we named him Chen Hui, and his generation uses the character 'Hui'."

The old man said, "Your family only has one child, that's fine, but what about families with several children? How are we supposed to manage?"

Xiao Hong asked, "Grandpa, what word should Xiao Wei and the others use?"

The old man said, "The character 'Da' (大) is difficult to use in a name, so I simply didn't use it."

Xiao Hong glanced at Xiao Wei: "Zhang Dawei, nickname Xiao Wei; Zhang Dabing, nickname Xiaobing. Haha."

(End of this chapter)