Three or Two Things about Rebirth

Qiu Luming learned how to knit with Yuanbao needle from his mother and also brought woolen work to his workplace.

When there are no readers, she reads books; when there are readers, she knits scarves.

Knitting is really an addictive thing. Once you start knitting, you can't stop. Although your shoulders and back ache, you still want to knit! Qiu Luming quickly knitted the scarves for his second and third brothers, and finally knitted a red scarf for himself.

Although the New Year begins after Laba, the real preparations for the Spring Festival begin on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Little New Year.

On the 23rd, sticky sugar-coated melons; on the 24th, sweep the house; on the 25th, fry tofu; on the 26th, go buy meat; on the 27th, kill the rooster; on the 28th, let the dough rise; on the 29th, steam the buns; stay up all night on the 30th; and on the first day of the new year, twist your body.

On the day of the Little New Year, people worship the Kitchen God, make dumplings, and have a family reunion dinner. Then they clean the house, wash the quilts and curtains, fry meatballs, steam buns and tofu, make frozen dumplings, prepare chicken, duck, fish, frozen pears, tomatoes and other new year goods, buy couplets, blessing characters and hanging money, and exchange gifts with relatives. All of these tasks must be completed within the next seven days.

By the way, locals still go to the graves to burn paper during these days, while outsiders draw a circle with a wooden stick at a corner of the intersection and give money to their deceased relatives within the circle.

This custom could not be completely banned even during the most severe years of combating feudal ideas.

The Qiu family only started burning paper at the street corner in the past five or six years. He Manshu is a staunch atheist. When she misses her deceased parents, she will play the accordion or write a diary. She is against burning paper.

Qiu Jiye was born in a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. He studied Yi before studying medicine. His understanding of the laws and rules of the world is very different from He Manshu's. Six years ago, his parents died one after another. After he rushed back to Hebei to pay his respects, he took his son to the street corner to burn paper every year on the third festival to express his grief.

It is rare for the couple to respect each other and not interfere with each other.

The streets of Jiayang County are lined with small stalls selling New Year's goods. In the words of He Manshu, there are almost more sellers than buyers.

Yes, in recent years, more and more people have been doing business. In the summer, there are billiard tables and barbecue stalls on the street, and business is booming. The number of self-employed people is increasing rapidly, and the income gap between residents has begun to widen significantly.

My eldest brother said that the south had already become prosperous a long time ago, and it was only in this small northern city that the spring breeze of reform had difficulty blowing over.

Qiu Luming pulled the sled and went home side by side with his mother. The sled was loaded with a basket of pears, a net bag of large tomatoes, a cardboard box containing ten new bowls and a new pair of chopsticks, seven or eight strings of red firecrackers, and a dozen large firecrackers that were one meter long.

Passing by an ice cream stall, the vendor hunched his shoulders, folded his arms, stamped his feet and shouted loudly. It was Qiu Luming's junior high school classmate, named Zhang Hao. He was wearing a military coat and cotton unlined jacket, covering himself tightly. He felt a little embarrassed to see Qiu Luming. Qiu Luming did not go to other stalls to choose, but bought two boxes of ice cream at his stall, one box of Dajiaoban and the other box of Meidenggao.

Zhang Hao was too embarrassed to take the money. After some arguing, he finally accepted the money. In the end, he still threw two large Northeast boards at Qiu Luming's sled.

There are fewer people coming to the reading room to read books these days. It is said that they are either making dumplings at home or sent out to give gifts.

Qiu Jiye didn't have many friends, so the task of giving gifts was given to Qiu Jiashu.

But Qiu Jiye is one of the only two vice presidents of the county hospital after all, so doctors and nurses would give him some New Year gifts. He Manshu is the dean of studies, so colleagues would also give him gifts, as would former students, who would even send him packages from other places.

He Manshu registered all the gifts and distributed them in a coordinated manner. Basically, when someone came to give a gift, she would say, "It's winter, and I, an old lady, won't go to your house. Just take these back!"

Just like that, cigarettes, alcohol, sugar and tea went around in circles and became a mixed bag.

There is another group of people who give gifts. They are all Qiu Jiye's former patients. At the end of every year, Qiu Jiye would be immersed in the sound of thanks and blessings. His former patients would bring cleaned roosters and geese from the countryside, or fish caught from ice holes. Some even brought a bag of homemade frozen tofu, and some even gave him a bright red feather duster that they had glued to their own heads!

An old man named Qi from Taiping Village, who was over 80 years old, drove a horse-drawn sleigh himself and brought half a pig. He said that since Dr. Qiu didn't have time to go to his house to eat the pig-killing meal, he had to deliver it.

He Manshu refused to accept it no matter what, saying that Old Qiu had only treated your granddaughter once, and the child's recovery was better than anything else, so there was no need for him to send gifts every year!

The old man was really stubborn. His face turned black and his eyes glared. "What! Intellectuals look down on people!" After saying that, he actually raised his hand and lifted up the pork slice. With a bang, the pork fell onto the solid road surface.

He Manshu and Qiu Luming were stunned. Old Man Qi cracked the whip and the horse-drawn sleigh sped away.

He Manshu would accept these homemade gifts and give them in return.

This year, He Manshu sent two bottles of good wine and two packs of good cigarettes to Mr. Qi.

This Spring Festival allowed Qiu Luming to gain a better understanding of his father.

Her father was good at both Chinese and Western medicine. He learned Chinese medicine from his ancestors and taught himself since childhood, and studied Western medicine at a medical university after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After graduation, he was excluded and retaliated against, but he also had the ideal of dedicating his youth to the Great Northern Wilderness, so he came to the northernmost border of the motherland.

He always puts patients first in everything he does, adopts the best plan to treat diseases, does not perform surgery if medication is possible, does not prescribe drugs if acupuncture is possible, with alleviating patients' pain and saving money as the ultimate principle.

In recent years, as more and more people have come to consult doctors for divination, Qiu Jiye would also mention the fortune of the elderly patients and talk about the Five Elements and Six Qi. The patients trusted him 100% and cooperated with the treatment very well, so the effect was particularly significant. As a result, patients from several nearby forestry bureaus often came to Jiayang to see Dr. Qiu.

I can’t remember how much hospitalization fees he paid for so many patients, especially more than ten years ago, when there were really poor villagers who could not afford the hospitalization fees or even buy medicine.

Much of the money Qiu Jiye advanced became "bad debts". Of course, there were also honest people who came to repay the money even after ten years. Many patients were like Mr. Qi, who would come to give gifts during festivals and some even forced their children to kowtow to him to reiterate that they would never forget the life-saving grace.

The Qiu family keeps a record of their personal relationships, but never keeps a record of the money they lend, nor do they care whether the money is paid back. Qiu Jiye always says, "Human life is at stake, what does money matter?"

He Manshu said to her four children, "Remember, the four of you, never borrow money from outsiders! Mom gave birth to the four of you, which is enough for you to help each other. As for the money you lent out, since ancient times, debts of love are hard to repay, and debts of money are hard to collect. The moment your money leaves your hands, you should be aware that you can't get it back. If you still have to take the time to settle the account, regret, and complain, it's not worth it."

***

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Qiu Luming and Qin Huifang went to the Dream Hair Salon to get their bangs blown up.

The hair salon was so small that one could hardly turn around. There was a small stove at the door with a large pot of water always boiling on it. Next to the stove was a wooden washstand and a泔水桶 for customers to wash their hair by themselves.

As soon as Qiu Luming entered the room and saw the muddy footprints on the ground, he wanted to back out and leave. However, Qin Huifang refused to give in. She had to dress up beautifully for the New Year. Everything had to be new from head to toe. Bangs were a top priority and could not be compromised!

Seeing four people sitting on the bench in front, Qiu Luming thought he wouldn't have to wait long. But when he actually got in line, he found out that the gloves and scarves on the chairs were all reserved for seats. So when he counted, there were not just four people, but twelve!

It takes at least ten minutes to blow-dry a pair of bangs, not to mention that some people want to perm a head of wooly curls or a shawl-like afro. It takes more than half an hour just to curl the hair. It's really frustrating!

The young barber couple are from the south. They have been working in Jiayang for some years. They have a good reputation and have made a lot of money.

The roar of the hair dryer in the barber's hand was almost as loud as a tractor. While doing hair, he chatted and laughed loudly with the female customers, and took the time to put a piece of caozigao in his mouth or drink a sip of water.

The barber's wife looked tired. She kept fetching water, boiling water, pouring water, carrying the swill bucket outside, changing towels for customers, or filling bottles with shampoo.

The shampoo has a green apple scent, which Qiu Luming quite likes.

She suddenly noticed that the backs of the barber's wife's hands were chapped and red from the cold, and thought to herself that she could never earn such hard-earned money.

The two of them put down their gloves to reserve seats and went out shopping. They found a small restaurant, ate their fill, and then went shopping in several nearby boutiques. Qin Huifang also bought herself a white wool sweater.

When the time was about up, I came back and saw that there were still five!

In this way, the two of them started queuing up when Qiu Luming got off work, and it was not until eleven o'clock in the middle of the night that they finally had their bangs blown up. Qiu Jiashu came to pick up his sister, but Qin Huifang's brother did not come, because she had called home earlier and said that there was no need to pick her up, and Qiu Luming's second brother would take her back.

The Qiu siblings sent Qin Huifang to the door of her home. The lights in Qin's house were still on. The front door rang, and the second door quickly opened. The voice of Qin's mother complaining was heard, and then Qin Huifang started to interrupt and coax people with a laugh.

Qiu Jiashu looked at Qiu Luming's bangs and clicked his tongue twice, "Now he's 1.7 meters tall. How are you going to sleep at night? Don't let it get squashed. Do you sleep sitting up?"

As soon as he said that, Qiu Luming immediately felt a strong itch from the hairspray on his scalp. He wanted to scratch it but couldn't find the right spot, so he stomped his feet in frustration.