Xia Weiliang said harshly: "I didn't ask him to donate the whole amount, just donate ten or twenty thousand!"
"Hey, last time I heard that Yunliang came back, he told me that Zekai often appeared on TV with the deputy mayor. At the end of last year, the mayor seemed to have given him an award. What kind of top ten people are you?
I thought about it in my heart, even if I donate tens of thousands of dollars, people will be unwilling to do so, so why do you have to make that person uncomfortable?" His wife Lian Liting said something.
This made Xia Weiliang silent.
He was just the village party secretary, and there were mountains between him and the deputy mayor that he could never cross in his life. He said, "I'm going to the east bank for a walk. You don't have to wait for me to eat. I'll be back later."
"Don't be too late." Lian Liting shouted.
No one answered, Xia Weiliang had already gone out.
When passing by Xia Zekai's house, he also smelled the strong aroma of meat, and heard the laughter in the house. He looked at their house, the five cars parked along the wall, and the pair of grinning rocks at the door.
Lions, I didn't think so before, but now I suddenly felt like they were real lions, glaring at him fiercely, as if they could pounce at any time...
He felt frightened, so he walked a few steps quickly, walked past the door of the house, and headed towards the east dam.
…
"Mom, these white meatballs are a bit bland. It would be better if I added more salt." Luo Xiyun took a bite of the first pot of meatballs that had just been cooked and made a suggestion.
"Is that so? How about I add more salt to the remaining stuffing?" She was not sure.
Luo Xiyun quickly waved his hand: "Forget it, just make it lighter. When it gets hot again, you can just put some salt in the soup. It's better than adding too much salt."
"I've let you tell me all the bad things." Zhou Yinghong said to her.
Luo Xiyun smiled and continued to stir the meatballs that had been put into the pot to prevent them from sticking together.
Xia Zekai came over and took out the first pot of meatballs. A dozen adults and children stood and ate the dipping sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and minced ginger.
There was only meat at noon today. After eating, they lost their appetite as soon as they saw the meat.
Grandpa Xia Shande also ate two pieces that were a bit fatter. His teeth were weak and it was difficult to chew.
Seeing a group of grandchildren gathering around him, Xia Shande felt particularly satisfied.
He thought that even if the rest of his life was over, he would have nothing more to ask for.
…
Xia Weiliang walked on the river dam for more than an hour. Apart from him, he didn't see anyone else on the dam for such a long time.
He looked into the distance, feeling particularly quiet in his heart. Then he looked at the Yellow River at the end of his sight. The expression on his face changed. No one knew what he was thinking.
It's too cold on the top of the dam. It's close to the Yellow River. The wind blowing over there carries moist vapor, which makes it even colder when it blows on people.
Even though he was over sixty years old, he couldn't stand it, so he hurriedly got down from the river dam, hoping to go home and eat some hot dumplings.
Before he reached the bottom of the dam, he saw several vehicles pulling fireworks coming from the north and stopping at the mouth of the dam. He was still wondering, these days all the fireworks sellers went to the village to sell?
Before he could figure it out, someone got out of the first car. When he saw him, he took out a pack of cigarettes, took one out and handed it to him: "Uncle, I want to ask something."
Xia Weiliang smoked all year round, and the index and middle fingers of his right hand were yellowed. He was doing this in his position as village party secretary, and smoking had become a daily routine.
He took the cigarette, lit it, and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
"Is this Xiazhuang?"
"Well, there is a big stone monument there, can't you see it?"
"Oops, I didn't pay attention, uncle, is there a man named Xia Zekai in our village?"
When Xia Weiliang heard this name, his calm mood fluctuated again. He asked, "What are you looking for him for?"
This is also a partial recognition that there is such a person in their village.
The stall owner nodded happily when he heard this, pointed to several cars behind him filled with fireworks, and said: "Boss Xia bought these fireworks. Let us deliver them directly to his home. Uncle, how do I get to Boss Xia's house?"
ah."
As he spoke, he gave Xia Weiliang a pack of cigarettes.
"Buy them all?" Xia Weiliang's movements were a little dry. He glanced at the fireworks again and asked them: "These cost tens of thousands of yuan, right?"
"Together, the three of our families' income is about a hundred thousand dollars."
Xia Weiliang didn't want to say anything anymore. He walked straight ahead. At this moment, he was thinking about going home and eating a bowl of leek meat and going to bed.
He intuitively realized a problem: someone who could spend 100,000 yuan to buy fireworks and light them up might not take him seriously at all, and he couldn't afford to offend him at all.
"Uncle, you haven't told me how to leave yet." The stall owner who got off the bus asked quickly when he saw Xia Weiliang leaving.
Xia Weiliang paused for a moment, then said: "Follow me, that's the two-story building in front."
The stall owner was afraid that he might have taken him the wrong way, so he finally called Wang Yi and after some communication, he knew that Xia Weiliang had not lied to him.
The only two-story building in Xiazhuang, it is a landmark building.
When I drove over and saw 5 cars parked by the wall, the stall owner knew that he was gone.
If nothing else, he happened to know Bentley and wondered what kind of family would be able to drive this car.
Before the three of them came, they were still a little nervous. Even though the family had received a deposit of 1,000 yuan from Xia Zekai, they were still worried about being cheated.
I was also wondering if it was a trick played by other stall owners to stabilize the three of them first so that other stalls could ship out their goods as soon as possible, and then after the Chinese New Year, these fireworks would fall into their hands.
After this last annual collection, no matter how cheap you sell it, not many people will buy it.
The three of them also discussed it and sent it to him together at noon. If it was fake, they would hurry up and bring it back to the big market to sell it quickly. The time was still tight.
Now, the three families are relieved.
Wang Yi had already heard the commotion and came out to pick up the fireworks. There were four trucks of fireworks in total, and it was hard to find a place to unload them.
It was Xia Weicheng who gave the idea. He said to his son: "Zekai, our family can't unload so many fireworks. It will be troublesome to light them by then. You might as well unload them directly in the village committee compound. There is room over there."
, all the young and old men in the village came to watch, just for fun."
"Okay, let's start playing tonight and let's all have fun together." Xia Zekai was quite open-minded.
But he still picked some and unloaded them in his yard first, letting his daughter, nephew and niece play with them.
When the little ones saw so many fireworks, they were so happy that they couldn't find the north.
Not to mention them, the neighbors who heard the commotion came out to see four cars of fireworks. They were also confused. How arrogant this was, considering buying a car.
Xia Weicheng personally called Xia Weiliang, the village party secretary. He didn't mention the donation he had made to build the road. He just said that he could use the village committee's compound to place fireworks and watch the fireworks together in the evening.
It took more than two hours to count the fireworks from the three families one by one, and the accounts were clear. Xia Zekai took his laptop, used the mobile wireless network card to access the Internet, and transferred the accounts to them one by one.
These companies did not do stupid things like raising prices, and in the end they spent less than 90,000 yuan in total, which was a little less than Xia Zekai expected.
When sending them off, several stall owners also said to Xia Zekai: "Boss, please contact me frequently if you have any questions. We will definitely give you the most affordable price."
"Yeah, okay!" Xia Zekai responded in a very perfunctory manner.
Dozens of men, women, and children from Xiazhuang heard the news and came. Looking at the mountains of fireworks piled up in the middle of the village committee compound covered with plastic tarpaulin, they suddenly felt that their eyes were not full.
"Everyone, starting from eight o'clock tonight, we will go to the barrage to set off fireworks on the sandy land. We will try to complete the fireworks within three days. Anyone who wants to see them can go, but you must pay attention to safety then!"
I don't dare to put so many down there.
At this time, Xiazhuang had not yet begun to respond to the country's implementation of the village-to-village plan, unlike Boss Xia, who had a lot of money and spent his own money to harden the ground around his house.
Most of the land on both sides of the road is their own private land, where they grow some vegetables and use it to put dry wood and corn stalks in winter.
They are all treasures used for cooking. If he sets off fireworks all night, who can guarantee that there will be no accidents?
Both sides of the barrage are covered with sandy land left by the siltation of the Yellow River. There is no grass growing on it, so there is no need to worry about accidents.
Xia Zekai and the others used to play football on that sandy land when they were young. Unfortunately, twenty years have passed and some of the friends they used to play with have been separated forever due to accidents, and they can no longer be together.
On the night of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, over the sandy land to the east of Xiazhuang North, the dark night sky was torn apart. Colorful lights enveloped the earth, and fireworks of various shapes rose and fell in the sky, blooming to their heart's content.
For two full hours, there was no darkness in that area.
Nearly half of the young and old men in Xiazhuang have never left the county in their lives, let alone seen such a dense display of fireworks.
Many old men and women came over to take a look despite the cold night wind, wrapped in thick cotton clothes and trousers. There were also some elderly people who were still alive, and their families carried them on tricycles to take a look.
For them, this is the most brilliant release in life!
"gorgeous!"
This is what the old and young men in Xiazhuang said about that rainy night with fireworks.
That night, a man named Xia Zekai in Xiazhuang bought more than 100,000 yuan for fireworks and set them off for three consecutive days. The news spread immediately, and several nearby villages knew about it.
Such a large amount of fireworks can be seen in villages close to the north and south, and many people from other villages have decided to go and have a look tomorrow night.
"Uncle Kai, it's so beautiful, so beautiful, I don't know how to describe it." Xia Jingrui had an exaggerated expression on his face.
He didn't feel sleepy at all.
After coming back from the barrage, he was completely excited. When he got home, he kept glancing at the pile of fireworks in the yard, thinking about setting off more fireworks.
Xia Yunhui would not tolerate his son's problems and slapped him on the back: "Go to bed. If you don't get up tomorrow morning, I will beat you."
"Dad!" Xia Jingrui shouted in a long voice in grievance, but Xia Yunhui remained unmoved.
Dong Fei also came over and took her son's hand upstairs: "Jingrui, be obedient and wait until you wake up tomorrow before setting off the fireworks. Your Uncle Kai has bought so many fireworks, are you afraid that you won't be able to play with them?"
"Oh!" Xia Jingrui reluctantly followed her mother upstairs.
As he walked, he turned and looked downstairs.
My niece Xia Yuxi is very well-behaved and quiet. She always stays with her mother Li Aijuan and goes upstairs to sleep when the time comes.
Luo Xiyun also took the girl upstairs, but Xia Zekai found that their second son had been following him and refused to go up.
"Tongtong, it's too late today. Go to bed quickly, or you won't be able to get up tomorrow morning."
Tongtong shook her little head and glanced at the figure on the stairs, then withdrew her gaze and quickly ran to her father's side, hugging his thigh: "I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleeping."
Xia Zekai raised his head and glanced at his wife's back. He seemed to know what was going on, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, as long as you stop being naughty, mom won't beat you."
"I don't believe it!" Tongtong answered simply, without any sense of security at all.
This made Xia Zekai amused, and he asked: "Then why are you willing to sleep?"
"Dad, go to bed too and protect me." Tongtong emphasized.
Xia Zekai said "ok", bent down and picked her up and walked upstairs.
When they got to the bedroom, Tongtong would not leave his father's side even if he died. He would glance at his mother from time to time, for fear that she would suddenly rush over and beat him.
This time it was finally apparent that although this child could not keep up with her sister in studies, she was much more thoughtful than her sister.
Xia Zekai thought to himself that two girls tied together are not as good as Tongtong alone.
"What a talent!" He sighed in his heart.
Luo Xiyun also saw something strange about her second child, and she wondered: "Tongtong, are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"No, I'm fine!" Tongtong said quickly.
Xia Zekai leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear: "She still remembers what happened in the morning and is afraid that you will hit her."
Luo Xiyun had forgotten about this a long time ago. She waved to Tongtong: "Come here and sleep quickly. If you don't sleep, I will really beat you up."
"Mom, are you really going to stop hitting me?"
"You want to be beaten, right?" Luo Xiyun asked him deliberately with a straight face.
Tongtong quickly shook his head and said, "Mom, I'm sorry this morning. I know I was wrong. I won't do that again."
"Well, remember this for yourself. I will definitely beat you up next time."
Tongtong nodded "Yeah" and jumped onto the bed.
…
The night passed quietly. On New Year's Eve, Xia Zekai got up early as usual and went out for a run with Tongtong.
Wang Yi and Cui Xiaofeng got up early this time. They didn't knock on the door when they came over. They just exercised by themselves outside on the roadside. It seemed that in their daily life, apart from protecting Xia Zekai, exercise took up most of the time.
time.
On this day, many people got up early, posted couplets, set off firecrackers, and made dumplings.
Xia Zekai's family was no exception. After breakfast, the brothers started busy posting couplets, not only here, but also on the other side of the old house.
"Brother, it's too low. Let's raise your left hand a little higher. Hey, that's it!" his younger brother Xia Zejiang yelled from below.
There aren't many times when he can boss his brother around, and opportunities are rare.
After a while, when posting other couplets, Xia Zejiang gave instructions again.
Children such as Yatou and Tongtong all put on bright red coats and looked very happy.
But Tongtong was stupid and bold, holding a handful of throwing cannons in her hand. When she saw her father standing on the chair, she raised her hand and threw a small handful of throwing cannons over.
"Bang bang bang bang..."
A series of dense explosions came out so suddenly that Xia Zekai's legs softened in fright and he almost tilted from his chair.
He looked back at Tongtong angrily: "Tongtong, you still deserve a beating."
Luo Xiyun also saw this scene. She was frightened just now. If her husband really fell from the top and accidentally bumped into something, he would never think about it this year.
She was so angry that she came over to catch Tongtong and gave her two slaps. She also said to her: "I just told you yesterday, stop making trouble. You did it again today, Tongtong, if I don't slap you, your skin will be itchy, right?"
.”
"Mom, let me go, I don't dare anymore." Tongtong cried loudly with a miserable face, but there wasn't a single tear on his face.
Now the girl didn't even help her, she ran far away and followed her brother and sister to play throwing cannons.
She was timid and had no strength in her hands. She threw ten of them, but four or five failed to make any sound.
Seeing her cousin and brother Xia Jingrui raise their feet to step on her unfired cannons, and a low sound of explosions came from under her feet, her eyes lit up, even at this late hour.
The explosion of the cannon was not very strong, and there was no vibration when she stepped on it. She found it very fun.
After finishing breakfast, Xia Shande called Xia Zekai over: "Zekai, come here and help me."
In the room where Xia Shande slept, there was a large handful of red 100-yuan banknotes thrown on a square table. Look at the weight, it was tens of thousands of dollars.
There are also two sets of red envelopes scattered on the table.
Xia Shande said: "Zekai, you gave me all this money. I'm thinking of dividing it up with the girl and the others in the evening. Do you have any objection?"
"Grandpa, this money is all yours. You can divide it how you want. If the money is enough, I will give you some more." As he spoke, Xia Zekai got up and walked out.
Xia Shande waved his hand: "When you come back, you have enough money. Even if my hands are not steady, I can't put it in even after pretending all morning. You stuff two thousand into a red envelope."
Hearing what his grandfather said, Xia Zekai felt sad in his heart. Looking carefully at his grandfather's hand, he saw it was trembling slightly.
But he knew that this was not a disease, but that he was getting older and his mind could no longer control his atrophic muscles.
"Okay, I'll pretend!" Xia Zekai counted the money and stuffed it into the red envelope.
Xia Shande was sitting on a chair on the side. He slowly tapped the table with his fingers and said, "Zekai, this year's Chinese New Year is really lively. I'm very happy."
"Yeah, then next year we will get together to celebrate the New Year. Zejiang will also get married in June this year, and there will be even more people by then." Xia Zekai paused for a while while pretending to be a red envelope, and then smiled again.
Xia Shande always had a smile on his face. When he heard what his grandson said, he said: "You are right. There are more and more people in our family. More children will bring blessings, but I am afraid that grandpa will not be able to wait until then."
"Grandpa, why are you talking about the Chinese New Year?" Xia Zekai didn't like to hear it.
Xia Zekai packed a total of 16 red envelopes with more than 30,000 yuan, and there were still about ten red envelopes left, which Xia Zekai put aside.
Every red envelope looks quite thick.
After he finished loading it, he handed it to his grandfather Xia Shande.
But his grandfather didn't hold it firmly. His hand shook and several red envelopes fell to the ground.
"Look, I don't have any strength in my hands." Xia Shande said with a smile.
