Chapter 15 Uncle's Family

Accidents come and go quickly.

Lu Yang was dumbfounded and almost thought that these guys were idiots sent by monkeys.

But I still have to thank Laoliu's sister-in-law. She is indeed a heroine. No wonder she was able to set up the first and only convenience store at the entrance of the village.

Lu Yang carried the wine, paper-wrapped peanuts, paper-wrapped dried fish, and popsicles he had bought and put them in the basket in front of the bicycle. Before getting on the bicycle, he bowed to the fat wife of the sixth brother's family and said, "Sister-in-law, you are so generous. I admire you."

Liu Xiao'e held the boning knife in one hand and used the other hand to push back the shiny hair that blocked her forehead. When she smiled, she actually had dimples, which were quite deep. She squinted her eyes and said, "Yang'er, please come often. Don't worry, your sister-in-law is here, and no one can touch you."

Lu Yang got on his bicycle.

He pedaled as fast as he could, wishing he would make the pedals of the new bicycle his father-in-law bought start to smoke.

Even after turning a corner, I couldn't see the store anymore.

Lu Yang stopped with a guilty conscience.

A hand patted his chest: Oh no, there must be something wrong with my eyes. The sixth brother's wife is as fat as a ball, but I actually think she looks pretty when she smiles and moves her hair in front of her forehead with her hand.

vomit.
Suddenly I felt a little nauseous.

Lu Yang shook his head. It seemed that the light was too bright and he was dizzy.

Push hard.

Continue on your journey, "Ding-ling", whenever Lu Yang meets an acquaintance, he will stop and say hello.

"Hello, Aunt Li."

"Second Grandma, are you taking a walk? Are you going to the Sixth Old Man's store to chat with the Fat Sister-in-law? Oh, then you have to walk slowly."

"Yang Yazi, you bought a lot of things, right? Are you going to visit your uncle?"

"Yes, I haven't been back for a long time. I went to see my uncle and some cousins ​​and chat about some things."

Born and raised in a small mountain village.

Whenever you meet someone from the same village, if you count three generations back, you are guaranteed to be a relative. Even if they are not relatives, then they are relatives' in-laws.

For example, after Lu Yang married Yin Mingyue, his father-in-law's surname was Yin and his mother-in-law's surname was Ma. The three major surnames in the village are Yin, Ma, and Lu. If you get serious, the whole village is full of relatives.

Since they are relatives, it is only natural to nod when you meet them.

Lu Yang rode his bicycle all the way, politely greeting everyone he met, until the gravel road came to an end. He turned onto a small road and rode for less than two miles. There was a big mountain in front of him. At the foot of the mountain, there were a group of old houses made of earthen bricks and green tiles, and occasionally one or two new houses made of red bricks and green tiles.

Stop the bike.

Lu Yang pushed it past a pond and walked along the path towards a row of old houses made of earthen bricks and green tiles.

His addicted gambler father drowned in the pond in front of this house in the middle of the night.

There are a total of five rooms in this old house, which were left by my grandparents. The two on the left belong to my uncle, and the two on the right belong to my gambler father. Now I have inherited it.

In the middle is the ancestral hall.

This kind of ancestral hall in the family is also called the main hall. It only has a simple square table with the tablets of grandparents, great-grandfather and great-grandmother on it. During festivals, the whole family will pay their respects and burn some paper money.

"Fourth brother, I saw you. You're back. Wow, you're riding a beautiful bicycle. Mom, Dad, I'm going to pick you up." A little girl ran out of the old house. She looked about seven or eight years old, with two pigtails on the back of her head. She ran down the slope towards Lu Yang.

It also woke up Lu Yang who was reminiscing.

Small summer flower?
Lu Yang's memory overlaps with the person in front of him.

Soon, the little girl ran up to him, raised her head, and there was question in her big black eyes?

What happened to fourth brother?
What a strange look. He didn't smile when he saw Xiao Xiahua. Is it because he has a little sister-in-law now? Just like mom said, he is not close to us anymore?

Lu Yang came back to his senses and laughed.

He bent down, picked up the little girl with one hand, and continued pushing the bicycle forward: She is so light! This little cousin should be ten years old, but she is still so small, and she is also a malnourished child.

"Xiahua, tell your fourth brother how old you are this year. If you answer correctly, you will get candy."

Lu Yang's generation was determined when his grandfather was alive. At that time, his uncle Lu Dapiezi and his gambler father Lu Erpiezi had not yet separated. His uncle's family already had his eldest cousin Lu Youren, second cousin Lu Chunhua, and third cousin Lu Youyi. Lu Yang happened to be the fourth. When his grandfather was still alive, his younger brothers already called him the fourth brother.

In Lu Yang's arms, Xiao Xiahua smiled sweetly, revealing her slightly leaky teeth. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then muttered in distress, "How stupid! Is Xiao Xiahua nine or ten years old?"

Secretly avoiding her fourth brother's gaze, she started to count on her little fingers again: "Oh, that's not right, it's nine years old, but why do my father, mother, and brothers all say that Xiao Xiahua is already ten years old?"

With her little head, she might not quite understand.

What is a full age and what is a virtual age? In the era when our ancestors lived, it was easy to die before adulthood, and "ten" is homophonic with "death", so people avoid it. In order to avoid this unlucky homophony, people would choose to celebrate their tenth birthday at the age of nine, and this tradition has continued.

Lu Yang found it very interesting and continued to ask her: "Xia Hua, can you tell Fourth Brother what grade you are in now? If you answer correctly, you can also have candy."

As a result, she seemed a little unhappy.

Xiao Xiahua looked at her fourth brother and said pitifully, "Fourth brother, have you forgotten that Xiao Xiahua has not been to school yet? Dad and mom always say that it is useless for a girl to study. Isn't it better to save money for your brothers to marry wives?"

You know what, the tone she imitated is really similar.

But Lu Yang couldn't laugh: Yes, she is nine years old, and she is my little cousin, but she has not yet been enlightened.

Arrived.

He put his little cousin down.

After setting up the bicycle, he took out the wedding candies he had brought from home in the morning from the basket, divided out half of them, and then took out five popsicles that had already shown some signs of melting. He stuffed them all at once, along with the half of the wedding candies he had divided out, to his little cousin: "Go, find your brothers. It's not easy to work in the fields in such a hot day. Let them all have a popsicle to cool down. As for you, Xiao Xiahua, you can take a few more candies. It's a reward from your fourth brother."

"Yeah, there's candy to eat. Fourth brother is the best."

Xiao Xiahua took the candy and popsicles from her fourth brother and immediately forgot her previous unhappiness. She secretly glanced behind her to make sure that her father and mother had not come out, then she happily skipped away. She knew where her brothers and eldest sister-in-law were working.

Lu Yang watched her back as she walked away.

I thought to myself: Children’s happiness is indeed easy to buy.

Sadly, we all have to grow up eventually.

He picked up the remaining half bag of candy, Lao Baisha liquid, paper-wrapped peanuts, and paper-wrapped dried fish, turned around and went up the steps under the eaves. Before he got close to his uncle's door, he could already smell a strong aroma of Chinese medicine.

(End of this chapter)