Mother He, who was doing handicrafts, heard her little daughter's voice and looked up quickly, and saw Lucky carrying things into the courtyard.
She hurriedly put down the things in her hands, stood up and left the greenhouse:
"Didn't you say you wouldn't get home until this afternoon?"
"There's nothing going on in the office today, so I came back early."
As he spoke, he entered the room and put the things in his hands on the table.
"Mom, what's going on with the plastic shed in the yard?"
Mother He smiled and explained:
"Your sister and your brother-in-law came back a while ago and saw me doing handicrafts in the yard. My hands were a bit cold, so they built a small greenhouse with plastic wrap."
Lucky said a faint "Oh" and then opened the bag:
"Mom, these two bags of new year's goods were specially sent by Daxun from the provincial capital."
He Ma glanced at the contents of the bag. They were all vacuum-packed seafood, and most of them were the same as the seafood her eldest son-in-law had delivered half an hour ago.
"Will he come to our house during the Chinese New Year this year?"
Lucky paused and explained:
"Yesterday he went to Jiangnan Province with his parents. It may be fifteen days before he comes back..."
.............
At about 5 o'clock in the evening, my younger sister Xiuyu came home. When she arrived at the door of the canteen, she smelled the aroma of the food and stepped into the canteen in three hurried steps.
I saw that the small dining table was already filled with various dishes.
Look closer.
"Hey, where do you get so much seafood? Large yellow croaker, sea crab, this is fried salmon, right?"
She remembered that among her family's New Year's goods, apart from some dried seafood, there were only a few smelly mandarin fish.
Happiness, who was setting out the dishes and chopsticks, smiled and said:
"Your eldest brother went to the city's seafood wholesale market this morning."
Wang Youde, who was drinking liquor, said:
"Spending money indiscriminately is expensive and unrealistic. If you don't feel hungry after eating, you might as well buy more pork."
Lin Guizhi took a photo of his wife:
"It didn't cost you a penny. If you can, don't eat it later."
Then I thought of my little son who was celebrating the New Year alone in the city, and sighed:
"It would be great if Qingzhi could come back."
Happiness comforted:
"Mom, when Qingzhi comes back on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, we will have another New Year's Eve dinner."
After Wang Youde filled his own wine glass, he began to pour wine for his family.
"It's Chinese New Year today, let's have some drinks together."
Seeing that his father was about to pour wine for his wife, Wang Lidong quickly stopped him:
"Dad, I'm happily pregnant, so I can't drink."
"Your mother drank a lot when she was pregnant with you."
"That was in the past, and we were not particular about it. The doctor said that if a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, it may affect the child's intelligence."
Hearing that it would make his eldest grandson stupid, Wang Youde hurriedly said:
"Then don't drink."
Wang Lidong asked his wife:
"What do you want to drink?"
Xingfu looked at several drinks that her man bought specially for her:
"Fresh orange juice."
"OK."
I took a bottle of fresh orange juice and poured a glass for my wife.
Seeing that everyone's glasses were filled with something, Wang Youde raised his glass and said:
"It's Chinese New Year, let's have a drink together."
"Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year."
"cheers!"
...
Ten minutes later, Wang Lidong and his wife whispered:
"Forgot to buy an electric hot pot."
"hot pot?"
"Some dishes are already cold. If you have a hot pot and heat it up, it won't be a problem if you eat it for two or three hours."
At this time, Wang Youde said to his eldest son:
"Qing Lai, let's go to Secretary Wan's house early tomorrow morning to wish him a happy new year."
Every year on New Year's Day, Wang Youde would take him and Qingzhi to Wan Shan Tang's home to pay New Year greetings.
And you have to go there early. If you're late, you'll have to queue for at least an hour or two.
After all, there are thousands of households in Wanjiazhuang, and most of them will go to Wanshantang's house during the New Year.
"Dad, forget it this year. Your body has not recovered yet. If you accidentally bump it, you will have to spend it in the hospital this year."
Wang Youde felt that what his eldest son said made sense and nodded:
"Then you... take Xiuyu there."
Wang Lidong hurriedly waved his hands and said:
"I can't go even more. I will definitely run into family heirlooms. What if we start a quarrel?
This is not a New Year greeting, but an attempt to cause trouble in the past."
He still wants to hide under the quilt tomorrow and sleep in with his wife in his arms.
After eating well enough, early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, I braved the whooshing cold wind to pay New Year greetings to someone I didn't like.
Wang Youde frowned and rubbed his bald head out of habit:
"hiss....."
I accidentally bumped into a small hill.
"The swelling should have subsided by then, on the fifth and sixth day of the lunar month. Please come with me."
"OK."
Queen Mother Lin Guizhi said:
"Qing Lai, how have you been doing in the past two days?"
Wang Lidong replied:
"I've seen six or seven, but I'm not very satisfied with them. After the Chinese New Year, I plan to see two more."
"You didn't even take a fancy to it?"
"Mom, the land owned by these families is all good. But the area is a bit small, the largest is just over 4 acres, and at most there are only two families connected together."
Wang Youde sipped his wine and after hearing his son's words, he thought for a moment and said:
"I remember Shancai, Chuanzhi and their land are all vacant, and the land of these families are all connected together, at least more than 30 acres."
Wang Lidong said:
"I've gone to see it, but the prices offered by these companies are too harsh."
"too harsh?"
"One acre costs 2,000 yuan, and the five families own a total of 38 acres of land. If you want to rent, you have to rent one piece. The minimum rent is 10 years, and the rent is paid in one lump sum."
Wang Youde said in disbelief:
"2000?"
"right!"
"Last year our rent from Guancai was only 400 yuan/acre, and we still paid it once a year."
Wang Lidong said:
“I know our family can make money by farming, but now that we have no land, we can raise the price by sitting on the land.
Happiness asked:
"Qing Lai, what are the prices of the previous lands?"
"Those companies have also gone up, but those who don't have enough money are asking for it very hard. 1,200 yuan/acre, paid once a year."
Xingfu thought for a moment and then said:
"Qinglai, do you remember what Lao Cai said years ago? There is a lot of land in their village that is deserted, and most of it is connected together.
Why don’t we go there and have a look before the New Year?”
Wang Youde asked:
"The vegetable vendor?"
"Yes, just him."
"Their village is not close to our Wanjiazhuang, at least ten miles away."
Wang Lidong said to Xingfu:
"Lao Cai, don't think about it for now.
On the one hand, it's a bit far away. If you really want to own the land there, you have to live there."
Another thing he didn't say was that if he really rented the land there without cooperating with Lao Cai, people would definitely feel uncomfortable.
As a local gangster with a little money, it was very easy to cause trouble for Wang Lidong.
.............................
On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Public Security Li drove a police car to the gate of Lao Wang's house.
I got out of the car, closed the door, and walked to the courtyard:
"Is Youde at home? Is Youde at home?"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were watching TV series to kill time in the house. When they heard the shouting, Lin Guizhi pulled the eldest daughter-in-law to get up:
"Happiness, just sit down."
As he spoke, he stood up, opened the door and took a look:
"This is Public Security Li, please come in quickly."
Publican Li was not polite and followed Lin Guizhi into the living room.
"Happiness is here too. By the way, where's Youde?"
Lin Guizhi said:
"He is chopping firewood in the back. Li Gongan, you sit down, I will call him now."