Putting aside Second Sister's matter, everyone still had a wonderful Chinese New Year.
This year, San Wa got a new pair of socks. His mood was so close to soaring to the sky. He had been longing for it for a long time, but his mother wasn't willing to make it.
Unexpectedly, she had long made it and just stored it away for him.
Lin Qing He took the opportunity to teach this little brat again and let him know that things won't be given because he threw a tantrum. They will be given when they should.
The second was left for Second Sister's return. The family had their day out on the third.
This year, Da Wa's height piled up a bit fast, so Lin Qing He went to the old Lin Zhou's house to borrow another bike. Zhou Qing Bai took Da Wa and Er Wa, while Lin Qing He took San Wa.
The whole family came to the city to have fun on two bikes.
Regarding her family's tradition of a day trip to the city every year during the New Year, the villagers used to shake their heads and remarked how Lin Qing He didn't know how to live.
But after upgrading from Lin Qing He to Teacher Lin, everyone had a different opinion.
Men envy Zhou Qing Bai. Children envy Da Wa and his brothers.
This was called life. This was how the days should be!
They had fun for one whole day. They had taken photos that should be taken and entered the restaurants that should be visited. They had also been to the movies. Then they went back home.
"Mother, where are the previous photos? Can you take them out for me? I want to see them." Er Wa said as soon as he got home.
After the New Year, this kid was eight years old. (T/N: this reminds me of one thing. I met a Korean guy at work. He told me that they were one when they were born. And once it was New Year, their age increase. Their age doesn't increase on their birthday. It was eye-opening. In my family (of Chinese origin), my age increase on my birthday but sometimes, my parents say my age was my age+1. I don't get why they increase my real age by one even til now. It was like this way back at their hometown.)
Lin Qing He still remembers when she first came, Er Wa was only three years old. Just a little one.
Not only him. Even Da Wa was the same. He was much smaller than the current San Wa back then.
Even though San Wa was only six years old after the new year, he was a bit taller than his eldest brother when he was this age.
It can't be helped that she transmigrated over when San Wa was still young. The nourishment could catch up from then on, so he naturally developed faster.
Of course, Da Wa wasn't short at all now.
She grabbed the previous photos for them. The brothers gathered around and began to look through them.
"Did I look like this before?" The youngest picture of San Wa was when he was two years old. It was Lin Qing He's first year here. He had been to the city, so there was naturally a photo of him.
It wasn't their first time seeing the old photos. But still, the brothers looked at them curiously together. Each time they saw it, they have to say it once- 'Did I look like this before?'.
When Zhou Xiao Mei and Su Da Lin came over, they too gathered around to look at the photos.
Zhou Xiao Mei can't believe it. An annual must-have photography session was really luxurious.
At this time, taking pictures wasn't cheap at all. It must cost a least a few tenner worths of yuan for so many photos in one go.
This was almost one month's worth of Su Da Lin's salary.
Lin Qing He didn't care about the worship. It was only once a year. Just for a few tenners, so why won't she spend it?
Life didn't completely revolve around firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea. Sometimes it takes a sense of tradition to increase happiness at home.
In a blink of an eye, the Spring Festival of 1974 was over.
The time between winter wheat and the spring plowing was the idlest time for farmers throughout the year. Many people choose a date to get married.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Lin Qing He cooked a pot of glutinous rice balls for breakfast.
The sesame and peanut stuffed glutinous rice balls left the boys content. Lin Qing He was bored to death. She had no choice. She couldn't get herself to read books all day long. She treated making delicious stuff to eat as a mediation.
Zhou Xi came over on the sixteenth.
Although a little embarrassed, Zhou Xi still briefly talked about her elder brother, Zhou Dong's marriage.
After some counting, her elder brother, Zhou Dong was twenty years old this year.
In the countryside, people usually were married at this age. Zhou Dong hadn't yet.
There was no rush for Zhou Xi. After the New Year this year, she was only fifteen years old. However, it was urgent for her brother. He was already twenty.
"Go back first. Later my mother will come over and I will tell her. We will definitely pick a suitable and pleasant one for your elder brother." Lin Qing He assured Zhou Xi.
Zhou Xi's lips curled into a smile, "Thank you, Auntie."
Zhou Dong and Zhou Xi siblings have a good relationship with their family. Even though Zhou Dong's conditions were actually quite good, they had no adult to help them.
The only weakness was that they were short on the population at home.
Although there were other uncles and so on in the clan, they were a bit distant. So they counted as a sole family.
The most avoided thing in the countryside was the sole family. If something were to happen, they were all alone and helpless. There was no one to call for help.
Generally, girls with good conditions disdained this point. As for those with bad conditions, Zhou Dong won't fancy them.
It was normal for Zhou Dong to.
He had good looks and was hardworking and diligent. He didn't have to wrong himself too much.
When Mother Zhou came over for dinner, Lin Qing He told her about it.
Mother Zhou grinned when she heard: "Actually, I do have a good candidate."
"Which family's?" Lin Qing He asked.
Mother Zhou replied: "Old Cai's. The old Cai Family next to our old Zhou's."
"Old Cai family's condition is quite good. Even though Mrs. Cai gave birth to five daughters, she also has three sons. It's a big family. Would they take a shine on Zhou Dong?" Lin Qing He thought for a while and said.
It was really common for families to give birth a lot at this time. She wasn't belittling Zhou Dong. The conditions in old Cai family were indeed very good. Even in the famine a few years ago, none of the old Cai’s children met with a mishap. They had survived.
After going through the difficult years, old Cai family was particularly united.
What's more, they had so many brothers and sisters. Have to say, even though they were a foreign surname in Zhoujia Village, no one dared to bully them.
At this moment, there was only one daughter in old Cai family left. She was called Cai Ba Mei.
The few sisters in front were all married. The three elder brothers were also married. There was only one unmarried left in the family.
Seeing that she knew, Mother Zhou chuckled and said, "Zhou Dong looks upright. He is also willing to work, so why won’t they like him? Although he is a sole family, the ancestors of the old Zhou family belong to the same family line. No matter what, he is surnamed Zhou. What's more, Cai Ba Mei is honest. Her mother is afraid that she will be bullied when marrying her far away."
Lin Qing He understood it, and grinned: "That means, this isn't a bad choice?"
This side feared that Cai Ba Mei would get bullied. With Zhou Dong, he would definitely not bully her.
The seven siblings in front already got married. So how many in-laws did they have here? They really didn't need Cai Ba Mei to marry another big family.
If she marries Zhou Dong, then she can be the head as the eldest sister-in-law. Which was a good thing.
"I'll talk about it to Mrs. Cai later." Mother Zhou happily settled.
Ba Mei Cai and Zhou Dong were both nice people. If not, Mother Zhou won't show any interest in matchmaking. She just heard Mrs. Cai mentioned it before. So, this can be discussed.
Cai Ba Mei was nineteen years old. It can be said that she have to get married now.
So after dinner, Mother Zhou went over to chat with Mrs. Cai. Then she brought up Zhou Dong's age.
This can be counted as sending a signal to Mrs. Cai.