February 2nd.

Yu Qiutang woke up early in the morning and didn't see Mi Yali. He touched the quilt beside him and it was cold.

It looks like she's grown up.

I carried the washbasin to the kitchen and heard some crackling sounds and an enticing aroma.

When I went in, I saw that it was Miyali frying beans.

February 2nd is a good festival for adults, and it also plays a certain role in the solar term for crop planting.

But for the children, apart from going to Yaowang Temple to watch the temple fair, what they look forward to most is eating fried beans.

Almost all the children who go to the temple fair have fried beans in their pockets. They eat them while walking. If they meet friends on the road, they will share them with each other.

Although the beans are all similar, the taste of each household's fried beans seems to be different. Anyway, everyone's food is more delicious and everyone's wife is more beautiful.

Specifically, there are three basic types of beans here.

The most common is fried corn, followed by cowpeas, and soybeans are relatively less common.

It’s not that I don’t like eating soybeans, but they are relatively expensive.

These days, a pound of wheat costs only 4 cents, but a pound of soybeans costs more than one yuan. And because there is little arable land, people seldom plant soybeans on useful arable land except for cropping.

If they do plant crops, they just plant a little in the fields or at the foot of the mountain, so the harvest won't be very good.

Therefore, if a family dares to fry soybeans for their children, then their life will definitely be quite good. It will also be very face-saving for the children to share them with their friends.

Mi Yali bought ten kilograms of soybeans at the market yesterday, intending to fry them for the children. In the past, they lived in poverty and the children had never eaten them. Even corn kernels were not often fried.

We have a good life this year.

Soybeans are fried with saccharinized water until they are crispy and delicious, and you can eat a lot of them in one go.

As for the fact that your stomach releases bad odor all day long after eating, that’s another matter.

Yu Qiutang walked over and gently hugged his wife from behind. Miyali knew it was him and said with a smile, "You're up. I was thinking you could sleep a little longer."

"How can I sleep here? Once you're not here, the kang becomes freezing cold and I can't stand it at all."

Miali shook her head helplessly.

Yu Qiutang always made such jokes. When she first came, she felt embarrassed and blushed. But after a long time, she found that this was Yu Qiutang's habit and he couldn't get rid of it at all, so she had no choice but to let him go.

As long as no one else sees it.

Fortunately, Yu Qiutang did not go too far. He just hugged her and scooped some water for her to wash.

"Are you really going to let the two children sell paper for burning today?"

“Let exercise be exercise.”

"They are still young, so there is no rush to let them do these things now. It won't be too late to wait a few years."

"Not really. When I was Xiaowei's age, I did everything. Children from poor families should have the awareness of poor families."

"But he is not your child after all. Aren't you afraid that others will see you and accuse you of not taking care of your nephew and letting him go out to make money at such a young age, and poke you in the back?"

"What am I afraid of?" Yu Qiutang said with a smile, "My brother and sister-in-law died early, and these two children grew up with me, so what is there to be afraid of?

Didn’t I say yesterday that of course they can live with me, have no worries about food and clothing, and take care of their two nephews? I am fully capable of doing so.

But that's boring.

I just want my two children to be able to live independently and freely when they grow up.

Instead of no matter what they do, there are always people in front of them saying that you are where you are today because of your uncle’s care, and you have done these things on your own.

This will make people very unhappy.

It will erase what it means for children to be human.

Of course I know that many people who come from a better family will always live under the wings of their family. When they grow up, their parents arrange for them to find a partner and even do what their parents ask them to do.

In a few years, according to the wishes of their parents, they will have several children, and then when the children grow up, they will ask them to get married and have children...

What's the point of this cycle going on for generations? Each generation is bound while growing up, and then they bind the next generation.

It seems that not restraining oneself means being irresponsible to the child. The child didn't say anything, but I felt insecure.

In that way, it seems to be for the children, but in fact it ultimately satisfies one's own sense of security, right?

What is truly good for children is to enable them to have the ability to survive, let them experience all kinds of life, and then find the life direction that suits them among many choices.

In this way, Xiaowei and Xiaoyun will be very confident when they grow up. When others question their past, they can proudly tell each other that they were able to succeed and make a career not by relying on anyone but on themselves. All the paths they have taken are their own choices and they live a free life. "

Yu Qiutang said this and suddenly smiled. This was actually what he thought when he got old in his previous life.

When he was young, he was actually very strict with his children. He always felt that without his advice and education, his children would not go their own way.

But in fact, most of the time, he has fallen behind.

During the country's rapid development period, his thinking could not keep up at all and he was left behind. Influenced by him, his children also slowed down their pace and wasted a lot of time.

The influence of the original family on children is often fatal, and those negative traumas require children to spend their entire lives to heal.

It would be fine if the disease can be cured, but if it cannot be cured, the child will be shrouded in pain for the rest of his life, which will cause the child to either have no self-confidence or be overly conceited.

Various internal frictions consume most of the children's energy, making it difficult for them to achieve any good results.

As he was speaking, he heard a noise in the yard.

Yu Qiutang went out and found Yu Xiaowei wiping the basket with a dry cloth.

This place is about four or five kilometers away from Shenxianma, not too far or too close, and you can also ride a bike there, but there are a lot of people at this time, so it is difficult to push the car in. Secondly, if you are busy selling things, no one will pay attention to the car.

Moreover, the Yaowang Temple is located at the bottom of a valley, with a winding mountain road more than 100 meters above the ground. It is easy to go down, but it takes some effort to push a cart up.

Therefore, when people go shopping here, they basically walk.

Yu Xiaowei wiped the basket clean and put all the folded and printed money into his basket. Xiaoyun came over with a small basket, wanting to help him share some of the weight, but he refused.

As an older brother, you will feel sorry for your younger sister.

Soon, the yard became lively.

Dadong and Xiaodong were both wearing new clothes and new shoes, and were running around in the yard, looking very happy.

These were all bought by Yu Qiutang for them to wear during the New Year, but they were reluctant to wear them. Now the season is almost over, and if they don’t wear them now, they will have to wear them in winter. The new clothes have become old clothes.

That would be bad.

Yu Chunxing was willing to take it out and change it for the children.

It is said that clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha. The children looked like two tigers in their shabby clothes. But today, they washed their faces, put on new clothes and shoes, and their temperaments immediately changed. The eldest sister was the best looking among the three sisters. Although Wang Youcai, that bastard, had a bad character, he looked OK, so the two children had fair skin and were very delicate and good-looking.

Miali came out with beans and filled everyone's pockets.

Even Yu Xiaowei and Yu Xiaoyun are the same.

After packing, there was still more than half left, which was given to Yu Qiutang, who was told to take it to the temple fair. Anyone who had finished eating could come to Yu Qiutang to get some.

After discussion, today Yu Qiutang and his wife, the eldest sister brought their two children, Yu Xiaowei and Yu Xiaoyun all went to the temple fair, while the third sister stayed at home to look after the house.

There are a lot of things going on at home right now.

When raising musk deer, dogs, and the roosters and hens that you buy at high prices, you must take good care of them, otherwise if one dies, it will be a huge loss.

Yu Qiutang had to go over there to secretly watch the two kids selling things.

The eldest sister is going with the two boys.

Mi Yali couldn't bear to leave Yu Chunmei and Yu Chunju at home and planned to stay with them, but was "driven away" by Yu Chunmei.

It is said that the temple fair is now open, so hurry up and steal a doll. The marriage is already done, and the next step is definitely to have a child. If you don't bring one back from the Goddess of Fertility, you won't feel at ease.

Miali didn't insist.

Of course, she also wanted to get pregnant quickly and give birth to Yu Qiutang's first child.

Women of this era all have a simple view of marriage. Once they marry a man, as long as the man is not particularly bad, they will do everything they can to fulfill their duties as a wife.

Things like cooking and washing clothes for a man are trivial matters. The most important thing is to give birth to a child for him, the best big fat boy.

Although Yu Qiutang always said that he liked girls more, Mia believed that her husband was just doing that to comfort her and not let her have too much psychological burden.

To carry on the family line, which man doesn't want to have a son?

If she was like someone in their village who gave birth to six daughters in one go, she would have received countless ridicule from her neighbors. If the seventh daughter had not finally given birth to a son, she probably would not have survived.

The better Yu Qiutang treated Mi Yali, the more Mi Yali felt she should treat him better.

After finishing their meal in the morning, several people went out in a mighty manner.

Before leaving, Yu Qiutang turned back to greet his third sister, but inadvertently saw Yu Chunju leaning against her door, looking at them enviously.

He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

In fact, Yu Chunju is only one year older than Xiaowei and is still a teenager.

And because he has been protected at home by Yu Qiujiang for a long time, he seems more naive and simple than ordinary children.

But given her physical condition, Yu Qiutang couldn't do anything.

Yu Qiujiang had originally planned to take her to a big city after he made some money in the spring, but the store had just started and there was no immediate profit. If the medical treatment cost a large sum of money, he really couldn't afford it.

As for Yu Qiutang, he told Yu Qiujiang that if he wanted to see a doctor first, he could lend him some money and then pay it back slowly later.

But Yu Qiujiang refused.

Yu Qiujiang felt that Yu Qiutang had taken good care of them. If he continued to owe him favors, he might never be able to repay them in his lifetime.

He respected Yu Qiujiang's ideas.

You can't help people forever.

Ultimately they still need to live their own lives.

It's still the same reason. Treating his sister is the belief that supports Yu Qiujiang's struggle and life. For this goal, he will live a more fulfilling life.

If you help him complete it, he might suddenly lose his direction and become discouraged.

As for whether Yu Chunju's condition will be delayed because of this, it is really hard to say...

Maybe this is also a kind of fate.
.
When I went out, there were many people on the road.

Men and women of all ages.

The old people were the most interesting. Almost every one of them was holding a teacup and carrying a stool.

The elderly people go to temple fairs not to worship gods or burn incense, their purpose has always been simple, which is to watch the show.

When we got to the foot of the stage, we put down our stools and watched the show while drinking tea. It was truly a joy and much more comfortable than sitting around playing chess as usual.

In fact, the plays here are all Long Opera and Qinqiang, and the repertoire is relatively stable. There are only a few plays, and I have watched them countless times on stages big and small.

But the old people still never get tired of watching it.

At their age, having seen the colorful world, joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, they can have a clearer understanding and appreciate the charm of the operas on the stage.

Women are much more complicated.

They often carry a cloth bag on one shoulder, which may be filled with wool or unfinished kimonos, and in the other hand they either hold or hold the youngest child.

The fate of rural women is bound by these things.

Even when visiting a temple fair, you can't get away from it.

But just being able to go to the temple fair is considered quite prestigious for women with good skills. There are even more women who always want to go, but after seven days, they are still too busy to get away. This is the real majority.

In comparison, the most constrained are men who are adults but not yet old.

These people often hold a cigarette in their mouths and a rolled up piece of burning paper in their armpits. They walk together in groups of three or two, chatting and laughing, looking quite comfortable.

Yu Qiutang's team quickly integrated into the group.

Although Miali has just gotten married, she has quickly become popular in the neighborhood. She already knows many of the neighbors and has good relationships with them.

In response to this, Mi Yali laughed while chatting with Yu Qiutang and said, "It's actually quite normal. It's not because I'm such a likable person, but it's more because of you.

If you live a good life, others will see that our family is well-off and will not look down on me. If I am willing to get along with everyone at this time, I will be liked by others.

On the contrary, if our family lived in poverty and had no food to eat, who would look up to us? I am afraid that even if I smiled stiffly at others, there would not be much return. "

Yu Qiutang liked her clarity.

Tell her that it’s okay to think this way, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that this relationship is purely utilitarian.

Two people of the same status or family background can become good friends, but it is difficult for a rich person and a poor person to become friends. This does not mean that two rich people are utilitarian.

It’s just that people of different levels will have more common language when they get together.

When they walked from the small path to the intersection with the main road, they happened to see Chen Meidi bringing Yu Qiushi and Wang Chunhua over. Yu Qiushi was very curious about the basket on Yu Xiaowei's back and hurried over to see what was on it.

After listening to Yu Xiaowei, he became even more interested and hurriedly said that he wanted to try it too. (End of this chapter)