Chapter 20
“We Mengmeng is one year old today, and grandma will cook you a red egg to eat.”
After the New Year, Mengmeng also celebrated her first birthday. Early in the morning, her mother dressed her up, wearing red and bright new clothes, stepping on a pair of small tiger cloth shoes, and drawing a red dot between her eyebrows. She finished the red egg obediently, and called out “grandma” with a particularly cute smile.
This smile filled Mrs. Feng’s whole body with strength, she stood in the hall with her hips on her shoulders and said, “Old man, move that table outside. Yimin, move the chair out too, don’t put it here. Occupy space. Old man, go and take out the things I prepared, yes, put them in that basket. Big baby, second baby, what about the gadgets you prepared for your sister? Hurry up and take them out.”
The whole family was turned around by Mrs. Feng, and in the blink of an eye, a large space was vacated in the main room. All kinds of gadgets were placed in a circle, all of which were used by Mengmeng to catch Zhou. There are textbooks, pencils, abacus, rulers, etc. that Su Wan brought from school, as well as cute little toys and snacks, such as rattles, rice cakes, white rabbit toffee, etc. Su Wan also used the clams she used. Oyster oil, scissors, and embroidery patterns were also brought out and placed. Finally, the brothers put all kinds of small shells they carefully selected on it.
Madam Feng looked around and felt very satisfied, so she took out a small red cloth pocket from her bosom, and put two pieces of ten yuan in it, and put it in together.
The family took Mengmeng to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors, and it was almost noon when they came back, so Zhou had to finish before lunch.
As soon as the Feng family got home, Brother Rui slipped in through the crack of the door, and then his parents pushed open the door and walked in. The family walked in front of Mengmeng, and Yang Xiaojuan took out a small wooden box from her pocket. He teased her and said, “Mengmeng, you will be one year old after today. My aunt has prepared a small gift for you. Do you like it?”
Yang Xiaojuan opened the box, and a pair of small round silver bracelets with exquisite workmanship lay inside, quietly shining bright white light. There were also a few small bells embedded in the pair of small bracelets. Yang Xiaojuan picked them up. After shaking it twice, it made a jingling sound.
“Oh, from the Guangming family, it’s too expensive for you to give this stuff.” Madam Feng shouted after seeing it. Although it was the intention of the old Zhang family, she couldn’t just accept it without shame, she had to give it to her. Push away push away.
Yang Xiaojuan pinched Mengmeng’s chubby face, smiled very lovingly, and said, “What are you being polite? What is the relationship between our two families? This is my birthday gift to Mengmeng, come to my aunt to put it on for you. “
Yang Xiaojuan pulled off the bracelet and put it on Mengmeng. Not to mention, Mengmeng’s little fat wrist looked even fatter and tenderer when she wore this silver bracelet. She waved her little hand to make the bracelet jingle. Ring, I was amused by the sound.
Brother Rui stood on the side and watched for a while, then walked around the adults to the main room, and carefully placed a blooming pink peach blossom on the ground.
After such a long time, everyone who knew each other in the village also came. Now who doesn’t know that the old Feng family values Mengmeng’s daughter the most, and makes her birthday as grand as the eldest grandson. This is the only one in the village, Lao Feng No other grandchildren in the family have this treatment. They made good friends with the Feng family and came to the door with gifts. Most of the gifts were six or eight eggs, or a few salted fish, which made the gifts from the old Zhang family even more valuable.
Su Wan also pondered with Feng Yimin in private: “The bracelet that Accountant Zhang’s family gave to Mengmeng must have cost a lot of money. When his brother Rui’s birthday is over, what gift should we give back?”
Feng Yimin didn’t think about this. Today, he is in good spirits when it comes to happy events, and he replied casually: “Guangming and I are a lifelong friendship. We used to be classmates when we were studying. I saved him when he fell into the sea, and now he is again. They are all cadres in the village, so don’t worry about it, we will keep the gifts he gives Mengmeng.”
Feng Yimin was a man and was careless in the first place, but Su Wan lived her life carefully and still thought of giving Brother Rui a better gift at that time.
The adults were chatting, and the auspicious time was coming soon. Madam Feng picked up Mengmeng and put her in the circle. She wanted to turn around and hug her milk, but was avoided by Madam Feng and smiled. She encouraged her to say, “Dear Mengmeng, have you seen the circle on the ground? You go inside and grab something and come back, and grandma will hug you, darling, hurry up.”
Mengmeng walked into the circle staggeringly with an ignorant little face, and stood there looking left and right, there were too many things on the ground, and she didn’t know which one to take. After a while, she got a little tired from standing, so she wanted to sit down, but before she could sit on the ground, Huzi jumped in from outside the circle and landed lightly beside Mengmeng, Mengmeng immediately With an innocent smile, he grabbed the fur on Huzi’s body and stood up again.
Huzi’s big orange tail is bent into a playful arc, and it walks slowly with four legs, leading Mengmeng to walk around the circle.
Standing outside the circle, Old Man Feng boasted first: “Huzi is really sensible, Mengmeng, you can choose what you like, you must choose what you like.”
Mengmeng’s eyes moved back and forth between the rice cake and peach blossoms, obviously hesitating. She had eaten rice cakes before. It was a very delicious snack, but the peach blossoms were also very beautiful. A small branch had more than a dozen flowers, and the flowers were very delicate. She liked flowers the most, so she wanted to squat She came down and picked up the peach blossom, but before her hand could reach it, Huzi suddenly took a small step forward, so Mengmeng’s little hand staggered the peach blossom, picked up the little red cloth pocket next to him and stood up .
“Okay, grandma knows that Mengmeng likes small money the most. When we grow up, we must be a little rich woman.” The happiest person here is Mrs. Feng, not only because the little red cloth bag is her The most important thing is to prepare, and the most important thing is to have a good meaning. She walked over and hugged Mengmeng, put a sip on her face, and kept praising her.
When the relatives and friends were gone, the family held a birthday banquet in the main room, eating the wild rabbits that Huzi had just caught. The rabbit meat was stewed in a casserole until it was crispy and fragrant. Su Wan clipped a little rabbit leg and wanted to feed it to Mengmeng. Unexpectedly, when she brought it to her mouth, Mengmeng avoided it. clamoring to eat by himself. No way, Su Wan had to put a small scarf around her neck and let her grab it in her hand.
Mengmeng held the rabbit’s leg in her hands, and the small mouth opened wide. She bit down with the four millet teeth, and then she bit down a small piece of rabbit meat and chewed slowly with her mouth pursed. , There seemed to be a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, and it was particularly painful to look at.
“We Mengmeng are the best. We just learned to eat by ourselves just after our birthday. It’s really promising.” Old man Feng likes to praise her the most, as if he was saying something amazing, his face is full of pride.
“That’s right, Mengmeng is the most like me.” Feng Yimin put a piece of tender rabbit meat in the small bowl in front of her, and said proudly.
Madam Feng was not convinced when she heard it. She looked up and down at her eldest son, squinted her eyes and said contemptuously, “Like you? When you were one year old, I fed you food, and you could choke on yourself. , don’t put gold on your face, how can the old Feng family have this inheritance? I think it looks like me.”
Feng Yimin endured a smile and buried his head to eat the meat, not daring to refute his mother’s words, he suddenly remembered something while eating, looked at Mengmeng with reluctance, put down his chopsticks and said, “Mom, pass In a few days, I will go to the south to communicate, and I will go after the spring ploughing.”
Madam Feng was taken aback, why didn’t you hear him say this? He quickly asked, “Why is it so sudden? What are you going to communicate with?”
Seeing that everyone in the family looked at him, Feng Yimin quickly explained: “It’s not reform and opening up now. People from the south have developed much better than us. I’m here to learn from their advanced experience.”
Old man Feng has been the village chief for so many years, so he still understands this kind of thing, and immediately asked the idea: “Are you going alone? Or with someone? How long?”
Feng Yimin’s face was inexplicably a little guilty, and his voice was low: “Dad, we are just me and Guangming in our village. We will go there for about two months, and we will come back in three months at most, but the work in the fields will be hard work, you two elders. “
The old man Feng waved his hand and said dignifiedly: “It’s not a big deal. If the organization wants you to go, you have to go. Hey, let me ask you, will Niu Xingsheng from Niujia Village go?”
Knowing his father’s thoughts, Feng Yimin said with a little gloating: “When I went to the commune for a meeting a few days ago, the secretary ordered me and Guangming. I saw that Niu Xingsheng’s nose was crooked.”
The old man Feng was relieved, and he snorted and said, “That guy Niu Xingsheng has a bad heart. He doesn’t do serious things all day long and thinks about some crooked ways. I think Niujia Village will sooner or later. If I’m going to be dragged down by him, why did I choose such a thing to be the village head.”
Feng Yimin didn’t care much about Niu Xingsheng’s relationship with him. He also advised his father to say, “Dad, what do you care about Niu Xingsheng? I guess it’s because our village has built this mountain road, and the secretary has his eyes on it. Li Na, that’s when I ordered me and Guangming to go together.”
The old man Feng felt very relieved. He just felt that he had not chosen the wrong person when he made the eldest brother the village head. He patted him on the shoulder and said, “You work hard, go outside and do more, see more, and talk less, don’t give Taoyuan Village. Shame.”
“What Dad said is, I remember it all.” Feng Yimin was looked at with such trust by his dad, but he felt heavy in his heart and a little more sense of responsibility.
Feng Yimin finished spring ploughing at home, and he was about to leave. His daughter-in-law hurriedly packed his luggage for him. In fact, there was nothing to pack, so he just wrapped two sets of clothes in a package, and at most one or two meals of dry food. This time it was an inspection by cadres organized by the province, so there was no need to worry about food and drink.
Madam Feng lingered outside their house and listened carefully to the sound. Seeing that there was no movement inside, she slammed on the door and said, “Mother’s, mom is coming in.”
As soon as she entered, she saw her eldest daughter-in-law sitting on the edge of the bed packing packages, and she couldn’t help but said happily: “Fortunately, I made an extra set of clothes for Yimin this year, otherwise I would not even have a change of clothes when I went out this time. Shame.”
“Mom, we can do as many things as we have. Hard work and simplicity are the style of our party members. We don’t do that kind of comparison.” Feng Yimin’s consciousness is quite high. He often has to go to the county town to attend meetings. How close is the provincial capital? Compared with Taoyuan Village, it is the difference between heaven and earth. There are many rich people in the provincial capital. If he had the mind to compare, he would have been depressed to death.
Madam Feng didn’t care what he was thinking, she just took out a thick envelope from her bosom and handed it over and said, “Here, it’s better to go out than at home, you need money everywhere, don’t save it where it should be spent.”
Feng Yimin was very moved, but he didn’t take the envelope, he pushed it back and said, “Mom, how can I take your money? I don’t need to spend money when I go out this time.”
“Isn’t all the money at home in my hands? How much private money do you have?” The boss crawled out of her stomach. Of course, she knew about this son. As soon as he spoke, she knew what he was thinking. In the past, the family used to live a hard life. He, the eldest brother, suffered the most and was the most simple man. He would rather be hungry and frozen than let his family eat and drink better, Mrs. Feng I also feel sorry for him the most.
Although the child is sensible, she still knows the truth of how a poor family can get rich, so she shoved the money into his arms and said, “Most of the money was obtained from selling Mengmeng’s gold, and the rest is what I saved. Yes, that’s all the money you have at home, you have to hide it and don’t lose it, and if you see anything interesting in the south, remember to bring it back to Mengmeng, don’t forget.”
Feng Yimin knew his **** temperament, so he no longer shied away. He just nodded vigorously and said, “Mom, I remember, you don’t say that I will bring it to Mengmeng, so don’t worry.”
“Okay, let’s rest early tonight and get up early tomorrow. I’ll go back to the house first.” Before leaving, Madam Feng glanced at them, her eyes were full of hints, and Su Wan’s face lit up. It turned red at once.
Before dawn the next day, the Feng family all woke up, and Mengmeng was also awakened by the movement outside. She seemed to know that her father was going on a business trip today, so she clinged to her father after breakfast and waited until the family left. At the mountain intersection, she was tired of her father’s refusal to come down.
People from the old Zhang family also came to see Zhang Guangming. He was wearing a blue homecloth liberation suit, dressed in a particularly spirited manner, with a blue package on his back, and Brother Rui was standing beside his legs.
The old man Feng said to the two of them: “The secretary looks down on you, so he asked you to study together, learn more about the benefits of others, and build our Taoyuan Village a little better, do you know?”
Seeing that they both nodded obediently, the old man Feng was satisfied. He put on a smile and said to Mengmeng: “Mengmeng is good, your father is going to the south. Grandpa will hug you, okay?”
“I want Dad.” Mengmeng held Feng Yimin tightly with her small mouth flat. Her big eyes were full of water, and she looked like she wanted to cry or not. She was so grown up and had never left her father.
“Oh, look at this poor one, your dad will be back in a few days, grandma will take you home, let’s go eat something delicious, shall we?” Madam Feng coaxed her softly, and finally hugged Mengmeng over , hurriedly winked at the eldest son and told him to leave quickly.
Feng Yimin only remembered after going out for a while, turned around and shouted, “Mengmeng, what gift do you want? I’ll bring it to you when Dad comes back.”
Mengmeng was held in her arms by her milk, and the little hand was still stretched out. When she heard this, she remembered the Shanghai Biscuits she saw last time, and suddenly shouted to her father in a loud voice: “Biscuits.”
“Is it ice? Dad knows, and will bring it back for you.” Feng Yimin stood at the corner of the mountain road and waved, and he and Zhang Guangming slowly disappeared behind the corner.