My courtyard shelter

After handing out the lucky money, everyone sat together and watched the Spring Festival Gala for a while, and then went to bed.

This year, fireworks are still banned in Yanjing, not because of concerns about air pollution, and no one cares about this now.

Speaking of which, it is still based on fire protection considerations. After all, the whole country has been dry for a whole year, and the weather is dry, which is very easy to cause fires.

Moreover, fresh water resources are very tight now, and it is better not to waste them. In addition, fire hydrants are also short of water, which undoubtedly greatly increases the difficulty of firefighting.

So in the final analysis, doing a good job of prevention is more important than anything else.

…

On the first day of the new year, early in the morning, Xu Dong drove out to pay New Year's greetings.

He must go to Chief Li's house and Director Cao's house, and he also has to go to Aunt Wang's house. He also needs to maintain a good relationship with Zhao Jian, and maybe he can use it someday.

As for himself, he had already greeted his subordinates, and he appreciated everyone's intentions, so he didn't care about the New Year's greetings.

On the street, there were groups of children everywhere, which made Xu Dong find a trace of childhood memories. He found that the New Year's atmosphere this year was particularly strong.

In fact, this is not difficult to understand.

Why was the New Year's atmosphere strong in the early years?

Mainly because the living conditions at that time were poor, and only during the New Year could everyone have a good meal, so everyone was full of expectations for the New Year.

Later, Daxia's economic development was advancing by leaps and bounds, and everyone's living conditions improved rapidly.

The big fish and meat that could only be eaten during the New Year have become sparse and common, and everyone's expectations for the New Year have certainly decreased.

Especially the young people nowadays, every time they go back for the New Year, they are either urged to get married by their parents or compared by their aunts and uncles. It's a pity that they can like the New Year.

And now everything seems to have changed again, and there is a shortage of materials in society, especially in terms of food.

This will greatly increase the expectations of ordinary people for the New Year invisibly.

It is not surprising that the New Year's atmosphere is strong.

Xu Dong first came to Section Chief Li's house. After all, he was his direct superior. Since he came early, Aunt Li hadn't gotten up yet!

"Your aunt slept late last night..."

Xu Dong interrupted: "It doesn't matter. Pregnant women are the biggest."

"Xiao Xu, you are so right." Section Chief Li laughed.

"Uncle Li, in that case, I won't stay any longer. I brought a bag of strawberries for Aunt. Remember to put it in the refrigerator later."

This time when he came to pay New Year's greetings, in addition to strawberries, Xu Dong also prepared two bottles of Maotai wine, a pack of Fuxing cigarettes, and a basket of tomatoes, which weighed about four or five kilograms.

"I know, but you should take the cigarettes and alcohol back. I have quit smoking and drinking now, so I don't need them." Section Chief Li waved his hand.

"No, there is no reason to take back what you have given away." Xu Dong hurriedly declined.

Section Chief Li was too lazy to talk nonsense, and directly stuffed the cigarettes and alcohol into Xu Dong's arms, and then pushed him out of the house.

Xu Dong touched his chin. This Section Chief Li seemed to really treat him as his own. He was not polite at all. It should be a good thing.

Next, Xu Dong came to Aunt Wang's son's house. Aunt Wang spent the New Year here.

"Ding Dong..."

It was Wang Xiujuan who opened the door. Xu Dong had called before coming.

"Happy New Year, Aunt Wang!"

"Come in quickly. Why are you being polite to Auntie?" Wang Xiujuan pulled Xu Dong into the living room.

"Uncle Xu, why are you here?" Zhang Yong was surprised. There was no one else in the living room, only the brother and sister.

Xu Dong stepped forward and touched the little guy's hair. "Haha, Keke and the others asked me to come over and ask when you will go back to play with them?"

"Grandma, when will we go back to your place?" Little Zhang Yong heard it and immediately asked Wang Xiujuan.

"I will go back tomorrow. I have never seen you so active before." Wang Xiujuan laughed and scolded.

Xu Dong took the opportunity to take out the strawberries, sent little Zhang Yong away, and then chatted with Wang Xiujuan about family matters.

"Auntie Wang, where are Brother Zhang and his wife?"

Speaking of which, Xu Dong had not met the deputy district chief yet. He thought this was a good opportunity, but he missed it.

"Your brother Zhang accompanied your wife to her parents' home. He left not long ago. If you had come half an hour earlier, you might have seen him."

Xu Dong asked curiously, "Where is your wife's home? Why don't you bring Zhang Yong with you?"

"In Heizhou, it's too cold there, and it's not convenient to bring children." Wang Xiujuan explained.

"That's true."

Heizhou is located at the northernmost end of Daxia. It's better in summer. In winter, it is said that the night temperature is at least minus 30 or 40 degrees.

If you encounter extreme weather, minus 50 degrees is commonplace.

This is also the fundamental reason why the bear clearly owns Lake Baikal but cannot develop it.

In the end, it can only watch this deepest and largest freshwater lake in the world gradually turn into a saltwater lake until it dries up completely.

"Xiao Xu, is your mother free recently? We haven't played cards together for a long time."

Xu Dong shook his head: "Auntie Wang, I'm afraid she won't be able to do it these days. My sister and my eldest brother's family are coming to visit my parents, but I guess they really can't spare the time."

After not seeing each other for more than a year, this time Xu Bin finally agreed to come together to pay New Year's greetings to the two elders, perhaps because Xu's mother often sent things to their family.

"Really... When will you come? I'll go and join in the fun when the time comes." Wang Xiujuan said in surprise.

"It should be this afternoon."

"That's perfect, I'll visit your house tomorrow."

After chatting for more than ten minutes, Xu Dong left, leaving behind a generous gift.

Including two bottles of Maotai wine, two packs of Fuxing cigarettes, two boxes of black tea, ten kilograms of salted fish, ten kilograms of dried seafood, a bag of strawberries, and finally four bottles of strawberry jam.

Xu Dong's gifts are of course different for different positions, but given Wang Xiujuan's personality, she will definitely bring a heavy gift to their home tomorrow to wish them a happy new year.

This is the so-called reciprocity.

In the middle, he went to Director Cao's home. Near noon, Xu Dong finally came to the last stop of the day, Zhao Jian's home.

"I was just about to go to your home to wish you a happy new year tomorrow, but I didn't expect you to go earlier than me." Zhao Jian smiled.

"How can you, a section chief, wish a happy new year to ordinary employees? Isn't this a mess?" Xu Dong took the opportunity to tease.

"Since you said so, I'll just take a day off at home tomorrow." Zhao Jian put on a proud look.

Xu Dong put away his smile and said solemnly:

"Old Zhao, I'm not kidding you. My elder brother and elder sister will come from my hometown this afternoon.

The house will be very messy tomorrow. You really don't need to come. What kind of relationship do we have? There's no need to be so polite."

"Really?"

"Why would you lie to me about this? You even saved the New Year gifts!" Xu Dong said with a wry smile.

Zhao Jian thought about it and felt that it was inappropriate for an outsider like him to go and pay New Year's greetings when the Xu family was reunited.

So he nodded and said, "Okay, you don't have to save money for me. I've prepared the New Year gifts. You can take them back later!"

"I'll listen to you!" Xu Dong simply agreed.

ps: Add another chapter.

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