Three or Two Things about Rebirth

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, we still eat dumplings, and they are frozen dumplings.

There were still six plates of leftovers from the New Year’s Eve dinner on the table.

——There are still some frozen leftovers in the big vat in the warehouse, which will probably have to be eaten until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but there will truly be surplus every year!

He Manshu looked at the time on the clock and urged Qiu Liu Xiaomei, "Hurry! Wake Dabao up, change his clothes, and eat!"

He ordered Qiu Luming again, "Yoyo, cook the dumplings. I'm going to change my clothes!"

After saying that, he hurried into his bedroom.

Don't be surprised why Teacher He looks so hurried and flustered. When you see the Qiu family is only halfway through their breakfast, someone opens the second door of the Qiu family and shouts, "Happy New Year, Teacher He!", then you will understand everything.

He Manshu was shocked when she heard the New Year greetings, "Oh my god, why are they coming earlier this year?"

Just as he finished speaking, seven or eight young men and women in their twenties came in. They stood in the living room of Qiu's house, laughing and joking. They didn't realize that they had dirtyed the floor or disturbed their breakfast. Instead, they looked as if they had some regret for not being able to block the family's bed.

He Manshu smiled so much that crow's feet appeared at the corners of her eyes. Her eyes were shining. She called their names one by one, gave them melon seeds and candies, and asked them to sit down.

There was no room for all these people in the Qiu family, so they didn't sit down. They all bowed and wished a happy new year to the Qiu family members who all stood up from the table except Qiu Jiye. "Happy New Year, Teacher He! Happy New Year, Uncle Qiu! Happy New Year, brother, sister-in-law, brothers and sisters! Happy New Year, Mom He! Wish you a prosperous life, give me the red envelopes!"

It was noisy and chaotic, but He Manshu smiled so hard that her teeth were showing. She took out a stack of red envelopes and handed one to each person. "Here! It's an old tradition, one dollar per person!"

The young men were sitting in a row eating fruit, and they all took the food with a smile. Some even secretly grabbed peanuts and melon seeds from the fruit plate on the coffee table and stuffed them into their pockets, grinning as if they had gotten a great bargain.

A group of people left in a hurry, and He Manshu didn't see them off. She sat down to eat quickly.

Qiu Jiashu sent them to the gate and came back with another group. Qiu Luming, who had just sat down, stuffed a piece of braised pork into his mouth and stood up again. This group was younger, and the New Year greetings procedure was similar to the previous one. He Manshu happily sent out another wave of red envelopes as usual.

As soon as those people turned around, Qiu Luming quickly sat down to eat and urged Dabao to eat quickly. Dabao had just woken up and had no appetite, but after being urged by his aunt, he ate a few dumplings and some vegetables.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, another wave of students attacked...

Early in the morning on New Year's Day, the Qiu family finally finished their breakfast as if they were marching to a battle.

At around nine o'clock, the Qiu family welcomed the group greetings from the leaders of the Education Bureau. The two leaders, who looked not much younger than He Manshu, bowed to He Manshu and Qiu Jiye as soon as they entered the house, calling them teachers and grandmasters, and even imitated the rogue young men in front of them and stretched out their hands to ask for red envelopes. He Manshu laughed and actually stuffed a one-yuan red envelope into each of them, "It's you who have led to such a bad atmosphere that my monthly salary is not enough to give out red envelopes!"

Principal Guo of No. 1 Middle School, who was wearing glasses, carefully collected the red envelopes and said with a smile: "In the past, each red envelope cost 1 cent, but now it costs 1 yuan, which has increased tenfold. I have become rich!"

The other was the deputy director of the Education Bureau, who smiled and said to Qiu Jiye, "We didn't take the red envelopes for nothing. Over the years, we helped our master pull firewood, fetch water, and water the fields to grow vegetables. We did everything!"

"Yeah." Qiu Jiye nodded, "A few guys came into my backyard and ate all the cucumbers and tomatoes."

Hahahaha, everyone seemed to have returned to their youth in the 1960s. The huge laughter they burst into almost lifted the plastic sheets covering the Qiu family's windows.

Qiu Luming clicked her tongue twice, put on her new dark green down jacket, said hello to her sister-in-law and left the house. She realized that the door of her house would not be closed this morning, so she decided to go out and play with her classmates.

As soon as he went out, he almost bumped into Qin Huifang. The two of them happily held hands and jumped to wish each other a happy new year. Qin Huifang was followed by four young men, who were crowded on the steps in front of her house, saying that they wanted to go in to wish Dr. Qiu and Teacher He a happy new year.

——The Seven Eccentrics of Jiayang officially became the Six Eccentrics of Jiayang. Xu Zhenhua had no contact with these friends since that time when they met in the reading room. Qin Huifang said that he seemed to have gone to Shanghai to celebrate the New Year.

"I advise you not to go in. Inside is..."

Before he could finish, Qiu Luming suddenly shouted at them to go down the stairs, "Come on, someone is coming out!"

The six people walked to the east until the group of people walked out of the Qiu family and walked away. No one knew which teacher's house they went to.

"Oh my god, that seems to be the principal of No. 2 Middle School. No, these people are directors, deputy directors, or principals!" Zheng Wei sighed.

Qin Huifang snorted, "Did you see the county party committee's party?"

Zheng Wei shook his head seriously, "I haven't seen it."

"That's right, they are all for old revolutionaries and cadres to celebrate the New Year, there is no place for your family!"

Yang Dawei interrupted Zheng Wei who was about to speak, "Let's go in and wish Teacher He a happy new year!"

"I don't want to go. Teacher He has never taught us, and I'm a little afraid of her. I don't dare to go." Lu Jiaming shrank behind Qin Huifang and said.

"She didn't teach you, what are you afraid of?" Qin Huifang grabbed Lu Jiaming from behind like a chicken, "Are you going or not? If not, we'll go by ourselves!"

"Go away! Why don't you just go away, tigress!"

"Can you say that again!"

As they were making a noise, a group of children came to the door of Qiu's house. They were all from nearby neighbors. The oldest was eleven or twelve years old, and the youngest was four or five years old. They gathered together spontaneously, wishing a happy new year to every household, saying auspicious words, and getting some melon seeds, candies, and small firecrackers in return, before moving on to the next household.

Because of these children, the six people did not go to Qiu's house and were stranded on the road.

At this time, a voice behind him said gently: "Hey, Lu Ming, are you here to wish Aunt Xia a happy new year? Come in quickly!"

Qiu Luming slowly turned around. Yes, it was this woman who almost ruined the family’s New Year’s Eve dinner.

Xia Yanjing was wearing a grey tweed coat with a fur collar, a pair of high-waisted leather boots, and had her hair loose in big waves. One has to say, she really knows how to dress up.

But she didn't know that Qiu Luming had already taken his anger out on her. She still smiled brightly and said in the lark-like voice of a music teacher, "Students, come in and have some melon seed ice cream!"

Yang Dawei looked at Qiu Luming and whispered, "Who is this woman?"

"Xia Yanjing." Qiu Luming said vaguely in a low voice.

"Blind?" Zheng Wei blurted out, then realized that something was wrong and quickly made amends, "You, why are you giving your elders a nickname?"

At this time, the children filed out of Qiu's house. Qiu Luming pointed at Xia Yanjing's house and waved his hand, "Go and pay New Year's greetings! Teacher Xia's house has melon seeds and ice cream! Let's go and pay New Year's greetings!"

"Oh, there's ice cream!" The children were very excited, but many of them were from the same primary school and knew Xia Yanjing was their teacher. They knew she was a very capable teacher, so they were afraid to take a step. Qiu Luming pulled Qin Huifang, and the two of them led the way into the Liu family yard. The children followed in and almost knocked Xia Yanjing down at the door.

When Qiu Luming entered the room, he first wished Liu Changhai a happy new year. "Uncle Liu, happy new year to you, President Liu! I wish you a prosperous career and a high position in the government!"

The five weirdos behind him also followed suit and shouted happy new year greetings. Liu Changhai smiled happily and kept inviting them to eat melon seeds and milk candies.

Qiu Luming unceremoniously grabbed a handful of candy and put it in his down jacket pocket, then signaled with his eyes for everyone to grab a handful.

Liu Zhiguo, the eldest son of the Liu family, was about the same age as Qiu Luming and had gone out to pay New Year's greetings early. The 15-year-old youngest daughter, Liu Yuning, was obediently putting on her hat. When she saw Qiu Luming, she pointed at her in surprise and said, "Why aren't you wearing a hat?"

Qin Huifang didn't wear a hat either. She shook her head and said, "A hat will suppress my bangs, so a scarf is enough."

"That's so ridiculous!"

"No!" Qin Huifang's mouth is harder than an iron gate. Only those who are cold know who is cold.

When Qiu Luming heard Xia Yanjing walk into the side building, his eyes turned, "Xiaoning, come with us to pay New Year's greetings. There are four brothers here to protect you! After paying New Year's greetings, come to my house. I will read you novels. I bought them in Harbin. There is a bag with all the novels by Qiong Yao, Xi Juan, and Cen Karen! They are so good..."

"Xiaoning! Come with your mother to your aunt's house to pay New Year's greetings later. Don't wander around!" Qiu Luming heard the anxiety and anger in Xia Yanjing's voice.

She smiled slightly, "That's okay, let's go to pay New Year's greetings first. Xiao Ning, come to my house tonight and call Han Meifen so the three of us can watch it together!"

Liu Changhai finally heard the conversation in the kitchen and walked out of the living room with a frown on his face. "Luming, you're at work now. It's okay to read some novels. Xiaoning is in the third year of junior high school. It's not the time for her to read idle books. She will take the college entrance examination in the future."

"Will reading idle books mean I won't be able to get into college? Aunt Xia said it won't interfere with my work and can improve my writing skills! It seems that when I was fifteen, Aunt Xia strongly recommended me to read Qiong Yao's novels. She said that love is the most sacred and beautiful emotion in the world. If a person doesn't love well, his life is in vain! And the first love in youth is the most unforgettable. She also said that her first love..."

"Qiu Luming!" Xia Yanjing interrupted Qiu Luming in a harsh voice, the smile on her face long gone, "Luming, aren't you going to pay New Year's greetings? Why aren't you going yet? Everyone will be having lunch soon, how can you pay New Year's greetings?"

"No, every family has two meals during the Chinese New Year, so there's no delay!"

"If you don't pay New Year's greetings, we will go too!"

"Oh, then Uncle Liu and Aunt Xia, we're leaving. Thank you for the melon seeds and candies! Xiao Ning, come find me when you have time. That book is so interesting, and your mother loves to read it, too!"

Qiu Luming waved at Xia Yanjing, whose face turned pale, and left the Liu family with a smile.

Standing on the road outside the Liu family's gate, Qiu Luming laughed up to the sky. Qin Huifang looked at her with sorrow, "Are you crazy?"

Qiu Luming was still smiling, and suddenly raised his index finger, "Shh!"

She heard Liu Changhai angrily questioning Xia Yanjing in the Liu family's house, "Didn't you say that you only knew about revolution and never had a girlfriend? Who was your unforgettable first love?"

"Chang Hai, I've never been in a relationship before, and you're the first one!"

"Oh, nowhere? The child from the old Qiu family has been aggressive since she was young, how could she lie!"

"You! You would rather trust a fool than me? Liu Changhai! Can you please leave me alone? I just used some tricks to annoy He Manshu and find something for her to do! In short, stay out of women's business!"

"I'll keep my distance, and you'll go to heaven!"

.......

Qiu Luming, who was originally quite happy, immediately froze her smile when she heard the words "tiger" and "fool". She grabbed Ma Mingjun's arm and said through gritted teeth, "Old Ma, you are the most resourceful one among the six freaks in Jiayang! I want you to smash the glass in her house without anyone noticing!"

Ma Mingjun exclaimed, "This is not good. What if your second brother wants to catch me?"

"I don't care. I just want to hear the sound of glass breaking in her house. Just tell me whether you will help or not?"