Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 396 Feng Ming, how much gift do you plan to ask for from her family?

In the afternoon, Xu Qing returned to the compound from the Fifth Factory and saw the third uncle, Yan Bugui, sweeping the snow in the front yard with a bamboo broom.

Yan Jiecheng, as the only one who didn't move out of the compound but stayed beside Yan Bugui, was also sweeping the snow with a cigarette in his mouth.

The father and son swept the snow from the front yard together and piled it under the wall on one side of the yard. Yan Bugui looked at Xu Qing, took off the white cotton gloves on his hands, took out a cigarette from his arms, and handed it to Xu Qing. Said to Xu Qing:
"Xiao Qing, I will return the camera to your house as soon as I come back in the afternoon. Remember to tell Feng Ming when he comes back later."

Xu Qing took the cigarette from Yan Bugui, said hello, stood in the front yard and greeted the third master for a while, then pushed the cart towards the crescent gate connecting the front yard and the middle yard.

Shazhu was the only one who swept the snow in the middle yard, but Jia Zhang swept the door of her own house clean, and also cleared a path to the public toilet.

In previous years, when it snowed in winter, Jia and Zhang would always be like this. She would not do anything to wait for Silly Zhu and Yi Zhonghai to sweep away the snow in the courtyard.

As for whether Qin Huairu helps sweep the courtyard, Jia Zhang doesn't care.

Anyway, it is impossible for her to sweep.

Silly Zhu was wearing a black and blue padded jacket. When he saw Xu Qing coming back, he stopped the broom in his hand and whispered to Xu Qing:

"Qingzi, have you heard that Liu Guangtian really left our courtyard with his wife last night?"

Xu Qing looked indifferent, but wondered if Liu Guangtian was really bloody?So he asked the fool:
"Who did you hear?"

"Hey, it's the first aunt and Aunt Zhang. As soon as I came back from get off work, I heard them nagging in the courtyard, saying that the second aunt has been out of her mind all day long."

Xu Qing said "oh" and didn't ask any more questions. He and Silly Zhu stood in the middle courtyard and chatted for a few words before continuing back to their backyard.

In the backyard, Xu Damao and Xu Aiguo were sweeping snow, while Liu Guangfu was holding the broom in his hand, but was lazy and smoking aside.

Although Liu Guangfu was sent to sweep snow by Liu Haizhong, Liu Guangfu saw that his old man did not come out by himself, so he ordered him around. Unhappy, he went around and swept the broom around, leaving only the doorway of his own house, even Liu Guangtian built None of the house doors were scanned.

Xu Qing glanced at Liu Guangfu, pushed the bicycle to his second brother and said:

"Patriot, Feng Ming hasn't come back yet?"

"No, it is estimated that something happened in his factory, so it was delayed."

Xu Qing hummed, parked his bicycle at the door of his house, stepped into the house, took off his scarf, then walked to the edge of the kang, bent over and looked at his son who was doing homework.

Seeing that he had a serious face, holding a pencil and writing well in the notebook, he ignored it, turned around and went out of the house, picked up the broom placed by the door of the house, and swept the snow in the yard with his second brother and Xu Damao.

The snow cannot be swept without sweeping. It often falls in winter. If you don’t sweep it this time, it will accumulate thickly and it will be difficult to sweep it again.

But it should snow in winter. If there is no snow in winter in the north, both urbanites and rural people will curse it.

People in the countryside are looking forward to the snow, waiting for the beginning of spring next year, and once the snow melts, the crops in the fields will grow well.

The city dwellers feel that winter without snow is like drinking wine mixed with water, which is tasteless and tasteless, more like not eating dumplings during the winter solstice, and feeling exhausted.

It's just that there is no need for snow in the city, and it is enough to add a little fun to the cold winter by occasionally dropping one or two games.

After all, for people living in the city, there is no need to grow crops. Too much snow is a trouble and they have to be swept away. Children like it. As soon as winter comes, they look up to the sky and look forward to the snow. Snow How can you be dissatisfied when you can have a snowball fight and build a snowman all at once?

No matter how cold or freezing the weather is, no matter how much my parents persuade me, I will go home after having fun in the snow.

Of course, it was unavoidable to be scolded, and even the butt had to have intimate contact with the feather duster several times.

But I felt happy and didn't feel any pain when I was beaten.

As soon as Xu Qing and Aiguo walked around with Xu Damao in the courtyard for a while, Xu Hongzhi ran out of the house, grabbed his father's skirt, and yelled for him to build a snowman for him.

When Xu Qing saw this, he followed his son. When the snow was swept away, it had to be piled up. It was also a matter of course to help his son make a snowman.

When it got completely dark, Xu Qing piled up a snowman for his son. At this time, Xu Fengming came back pushing his bicycle. Ma Jinghong and Xiaoya had just finished cooking dinner in the house.

When the meal was over, Xu Fengming sat on the hot kang, didn't move his chopsticks in a hurry, but first returned the camera Yan Bugui gave him, checked it carefully, and carefully put it on after making sure that there was nothing wrong with it. On the side, he slipped off the kang, washed his hands and ate again.

However, Yan Bugui borrowed the camera and used it for a day without causing any bumps. On the contrary, Xu Fengming directly destroyed the camera within half a month of fiddling with it.

Xu Fengming was so distressed that he could almost squeeze out tears.

It cost hundreds of dollars, and it was imported. I wanted to find someone to repair it, so I ran all over Sijiu City before I found one.

Hearing that the damaged parts were not available in China, Xu Fengming held the broken camera with a frown on his face. He regretted that he was so careless. He just bought it not long ago and it didn't even last half a year. This would have been useless. If he had known it, he would be so careless. It’s better to buy domestically produced ones.

The domestic one is broken, and there are replacement parts in the country. Find someone to repair it and continue to use it.

Now it's good, I got a foreign product, but I was unlucky. When it came to this kind of thing, Xu Fengming sat sickly at the table, with a listless look on his face.

Xu Xiaoya sat on the edge of the Kang, holding the soles of her shoes, and couldn't help but said to her third brother:

"Third brother, whatever comes into your hands, it will last for half a year. When you were a child, you spent abacus, brushes, clothes. If your camera doesn't break down after three to five years of use, wouldn't it mean that the sun has to hit the west? come out."

"Xu Xiaoya, it's too much!" Xu Fengming pursed his lips, seeing his sister making fun of him, he felt even more upset.

But the truth is indeed the case, as far as Xu Fengming spent these years, he was only talking about school supplies.

Whether it's a brush, a pen, a pencil, an abacus, or ink, he can handle everything Aiguo and Xu Xiaoya do on his own.

Fortunately, in the past few years, every time Xu Qing bought learning things for his younger brothers and sisters, he would use his ability to secretly distribute them after buying them.

Otherwise, with the speed of Feng Ming's consumption of things, and the little salary Xu Qing earned from working alone, excluding the monthly living expenses of the family, there is no need to think about saving a penny.

Ma Jinghong stared at her son Hongzhi doing his homework and saw her sister-in-law and brother-in-law bickering. After listening, she smiled and did not interrupt.

Xu Fengming rolled his eyes at his sister. Although there was still an annoyed look on his face, he was actually not angry at all in his heart.

He and Xiaoya had been fighting since childhood, and every time until the end, he apologized to his sister under the witness of his elder brother.

Among the four brothers and sisters, the younger sister is the most favored, no matter whether it is the eldest brother or the second brother, or even himself, they are all sincerely good to her from the bottom of their hearts.

How can I be really angry, no matter what, he is also a brother.

There is just a younger sister who is smart, sensible, diligent, and virtuous. She can help him sew clothes when she just entered junior high school. How can she do it without pampering her?

Xu Fengming propped his head on his left hand, put his elbows on the table, lowered his head and looked at the broken camera in front of him, then looked at the rudimentary house in the courtyard outside the house, put down his raised Erlang legs, and secretly pondered When I got up, I thought about whether I would take advantage of this weekend, just after noon, to go to the house of my partner, Xiujuan, and ask her to ask someone to bring back the parts for repairing the camera from abroad.

Anyway, I can't just leave it like this, it's a valuable thing, if it isn't repaired or thrown away, I really don't want to give it up.

Xu Fengming is not a nostalgic person, unlike Xu Qinghe who is patriotic.

It's just that the camera is really too expensive.

He can buy things that others cannot afford or cannot buy.

It was useless even to have a photo ticket, and the object was easily brought back from abroad for him.

Speaking of which, Xu Fengming's current ability is not small at all.

The object is to work in the "Overseas Chinese Affairs Office", and he was promoted to section chief in the hardware factory where he works. It is the most outstanding little sucker.

And in the compound, he is even better than the two brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, as well as Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang who do not live in the compound.

This is not bragging, it is the truth.

When Xu Fengming was young, Xu Damao said that he had a good brain. Now Fengming listened to his elder brother, graduated from university, and was assigned to a hardware factory by the state. In just over three years, he took the lead in front of his second brother's patriotism. Became section chief.

One person compared all three sons of the second uncle Liu Haizhong who lived in the backyard.

Even Jiefang, the second son of the Third Master in the front yard, and Xie Kuang, the third son, came back to the compound today. When they saw Xu Fengming, they wanted to cling to him, but they just stared at Xu Fengming, not daring to move forward.

Shame.

Feng Ming is a little younger than both of them, and his working experience is not as high as theirs, but his achievements are beyond the reach of the two of them combined.

Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang are still ordinary workers even though they got married early and started working early.

But I have no ability. When I was in my early twenties, I refused to listen to Yan Bugui and go to university for further study.

As for Feng Ming, he listened to his elder brother Xu Qing when he went to the countryside to jump in the queue. As a worker, peasant and soldier, he not only left the countryside, but also entered university.

In a few years, Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang were left behind.Every time Xu Fengming thinks about it, he feels that it was his elder brother who had the foresight.

The third master in the front yard is also shrewd, but unfortunately, none of his three sons are obedient.

"Sister-in-law, is my elder brother coming back soon?"

Xu Fengming turned to look at his sister-in-law Jing Hong who was sitting on the kang and asked.

Ma Jinghong stopped her sewing and said: "When your eldest brother went out, he didn't say when he would be back. He went to entertain the deputy directors of his factory today. Your second brother went with him. I'm afraid they both have to go. I won’t be back until this afternoon.”

Xu Fengming said oh, and changed the left hand holding his chin to his right hand, with a bored look on his face.

There are many things in my heart.

Today he wanted to get engaged, the place was at Lao Mo, and the time was chosen at night.

He didn't go home last night, he slept in the guest room of the object Xiujuan's house all night, and he just came back early this morning.

The engagement was also discussed with the partner's family last night.

But when Feng Ming came back in the morning, Xu Qing and Aiguo had already gone out.

He had no choice but to wait for his eldest brother and second brother at home.

There is no way, communication is not convenient these days. There is a telephone at home, but I don’t know where my eldest brother is?Feng Ming didn't know where to fight.

I had to sit at home and wait, but I waited and waited. Feng Ming didn't wait for his elder brother to come back, but he waited for the silly Zhu from the middle courtyard.

Shazhu went to his sister Yushui's place in the morning to visit his little nephew.

I just came back and heard the third uncle Yan Bugui say in the front yard that Feng Ming was going to get engaged today, so he hurriedly ran into the backyard. Before he could enter Xu Qing's house, he shouted to Xu Fengming:

"Boy, the third master said you are engaged today, right?"

Silly Zhu walked into Xu Qing's house, greeted Jinghong and Xiaoya, raised his hand to pick up a stool and sat down.

Xu Fengming was bored with nothing to do, when he saw Shazhu coming, he cheered up, smiled and said:

"Brother Yuzhu, you are the intelligence agent in our courtyard. You know everything. Yes, I am going to Lao Mo tonight to get engaged to my partner."

Hearing this, Silly Zhu was immediately startled. He took out his economic cigarettes and threw one to Xu Fengming. He also held one in the corner of his mouth. He twisted around to pick up the kettle on the stove next to him and bent down to pick up the cigarette butt. He stood close to the stove cavity, lit it and took a sip. He suppressed the surprise in his heart, put the kettle back on the stove, turned back to look at Xu Fengming and said:

"Boy, Old Mona is a place to eat foreign food. A meal costs dozens of dollars. Your monthly salary probably isn't enough to eat a meal. How can you choose to get engaged there? It's really not as good as staying at your partner's house."

Xu Fengming said helplessly:

"Brother Yuzhu, do you think I don't want to? This is the place I chose for my partner and her parents. What can I do?"

Hearing what Feng Ming said, Silly Zhu took two puffs of the cigarette and said, "That's true, you old man is really outrageous. If it were me, I would do it at home to save more money."

Xu Fengming said: "Brother Yuzhu, don't take advantage of me. My future father-in-law is a returned overseas Chinese, so he wants to eat foreign food."

Silly Zhu stretched out his hand to unbutton the collar of his thick cotton-padded jacket and said, "That's true. Who told you to have high standards? If we don't look for wandering girls in China, we have to find a girl from an overseas Chinese family. Do you regret it now?"

Silly Zhu was smoking a cigarette with a look of gloating on his face.

Xu Fengming shook his head and said:

"Brother Yuzhu, my date is not a foreigner, nor are her parents. I have no regrets."

Silly Zhu raised his legs and said leisurely: "Then you go to Lao Mo to have a meal today, plus the bride price, and the camera you bought before, don't you have to spend more than half of the money you saved in the past few years, kid? Well, you have to borrow some from your elder brother."

Xu Fengming snorted, looked at Sha Zhu, thought, and said with a smile on his face:
"Brother Yuzhu, I don't have the nerve to ask my eldest brother. My nephew has to spend money to go to school, and my sister-in-law is just pregnant again. Brother Yuzhu, I think it is best for me to borrow money from you. You can feed one person and the whole family will not be hungry." .”

Silly Zhu was immediately taken aback, and hurriedly said: "Boy, don't try to get my idea of ​​brother, my money is reserved for you to marry your sister-in-law, don't even think about it!"

Xu Fengming leaned back, frowned and looked at Silly Zhu.

"Brother Yuzhu, are you still the brother Yuzhu I know? My younger brother is engaged to me, but you actually stand by and don't borrow a single penny. How dare you?"

Sha Zhu was overwhelmed by Xu Fengming's words, stretched out his hand and scratched his head, showing embarrassment, struggled for a while, threw away the cigarette butt and said:

"Okay, brother, I will lend you, but today I can only lend you fifty, no more will be gone."

Xu Fengming immediately pretended to be disgusted and said, "Brother Yuzhu, you have been working for more than ten years, and you are only willing to lend me 50 yuan, my brother. If you tell me this, let the people in our hospital listen, and they won't laugh at you."

Xu Fengming deliberately teased Silly Zhu, he was not short of money, so he didn't need to ask someone to borrow it, and besides, he still had his elder brother and second brother, so he didn't need to ask outsiders to borrow money.

Besides, 50 yuan is a lot of money.

But Silly Zhu became serious, smoked a cigarette, remained silent, and after a while he said slowly:
"Well, brother, I'll lend you one hundred, but let me agree first. When brother and I need the money urgently, you have to pay me back."

After Silly Zhu finished speaking, he stretched out his hand and took out the money from his cotton trousers pocket. Xu Fengming took a look and stopped quickly:

"Brother Yuzhu, forget it, how can I let you touch your wife's book? I am engaged today, but I don't want a bride price from her family, so today my family and her family will go to Lao Mo for a meal."

Silly Zhu instantly understood that he had been tricked by Feng Ming, and he suddenly realized: "Boy, just act cunning in front of me, brother!"

Silly Zhu was not angry, although he said some reproaches, but he liked to tease Feng Ming when he was young, so he couldn't really care about Feng Ming.

But for someone else, it's different.

Silly Zhu remembered Feng Ming's words just now, pondered the taste, and suddenly grinned and said: "Feng Ming, your future father-in-law is fine, it's different for those who have drank foreign ink and eaten foreign food, and their ideological consciousness is high, so don't even want a bride price , By the way, if your partner has a sister or something, introduce one to your brother, and I’ll also find someone who doesn’t require any gifts.”

"Brother Yuzhu, my partner doesn't have an older sister, but my cousin does, but they are all married."

Xu Fengming said with a smile.

Silly Zhu took a look, hey, dare to love this good thing, he is useless.

…………

At around five o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Qing came back pushing his bicycle and Aiguo.

The two of them drank a lot today, and Sun Deyou and Wang Minsheng, the deputy factory directors, were even more drunk.

When Xu Qing and Aiguo left, Sun Deyou was still lying under the table.

Xu Qing has always been good at drinking, especially this year, even though he has turned down a lot of entertainment, there are still many things he can't turn down. In addition, as the end of the year is approaching, he, the director of the fifth branch factory, has to attend some wine and dinner parties , so the amount of alcohol has gradually increased a lot after continuous honing in the wine field.

And Aiguo has worked in the main factory for three years, and now he is the secretary next to the big boss. Naturally, he participates in the drinking party, and ordinary people can't drink at all.

Therefore, when Xu Qing and Aiguo came back all the way, they were almost sobered up by the biting cold wind.

As soon as the two brothers entered the front yard, Yan Bugui said with a smile:

"Xiaoqing, why did you and Aiguo just come back? Your third brother Fengming is getting engaged today, do you know? Silly Zhu yelled in our courtyard at noon that Fengming was getting engaged for dinner at Lao Mo. Oh, you three Brother, you are so awesome, I want to invite you, the eldest brother, and Patriot to have a foreign meal."

When Xu Qing heard the third uncle's words, he completely sobered up and was a little surprised for a moment.

He knew that the third brother stayed at Tang Xiujuan's house last night, but in the past two days, he hadn't heard the third brother say that he wanted to get engaged.

After hurriedly thanking Yan Bugui, Xu Qing hurried back to the backyard with his second brother who also looked confused.

As soon as he returned to the backyard, Xu Qing saw his third brother, Feng Ming, standing neatly at the door of the house waiting for him.

"Brother, why did you and I just come back? Hurry up and change your clothes. In 15 minutes, we will go to Lao Mo. My partner just called and said that she and her parents are leaving soon."

Xu Qing handed the bicycle to his second brother, looked at his third brother and asked:
"Feng Ming, you want to get engaged, why didn't you tell me and your sister-in-law earlier?"

Xu Fengming smiled and said: "Brother, didn't this happen out of the blue? In the middle of last night, my partner's parents also told me about this matter for some reason, saying that it would be better to choose a day than to hit it, so I decided to fix it today. I rushed home, but it turned out that you and my second brother had already gone out."

Hearing this, Xu Qing said thoughtfully: "Since you have decided, let your second brother and I change clothes and we'll leave now."

When Xu Qing entered the house, he saw that his wife had put the clean clothes on the kang for him. He reached out and grabbed them. While untying the coat on his cotton-padded jacket, he asked his third brother:

"Feng Ming, how much dowry do you plan to ask for?"

(End of this chapter)