The Era of Hard Work

Many places have the custom of night vigil, and Lujia Village is no exception. However, with the development of the times, fewer and fewer people insist on vigil. Lu Dong went to bed after letting go of the firecrackers at midnight. open.

After three o'clock in the morning, someone started to set off firecrackers, and there were constant crackling noises.

Lu Dong stayed up until four o'clock, it was freezing cold, and he really didn't want to leave the bed.

The firecrackers at Uncle Jianshe's house across the door rang out, and Hu Chunlan yelled from the yard: "Dongzi, wake up!"

On the first day of the new year, there will be five shifts.

Lu Dong got up, washed up, set off firecrackers, changed into new clothes, and went out to pay New Year's greetings in the morning.

Hu Chunlan saw Lu Dong coming out wearing new clothes, and nodded: "When you grow up, when will you bring a daughter-in-law back?"

Lu Dong's outfit looked mature, with a thick jacket, a round-neck sweater inside, a pair of well-fitting slacks, and black leather shoes on his feet.

In the first Chinese New Year, he bought several clothes, and as long as he was able to bargain and dare to bargain at the big fair, things were generally not expensive.

Considering that after the Chinese New Year, there may be many formal occasions, the clothes Lu Dong bought are all on the prudent side.

Hu Chunlan put on a brand-new woolen coat. Although it was a product from the big market, it was specially selected by Lu Dong, and the quality was not bad.

Lu Dong said: "Mom, I'm only 19, what's the rush? We have to respond to the country's call."

Now that the family conditions are good, Hu Chunlan has confidence, and no longer worries about not being able to find a wife, she said, "Okay, it's up to you."

Lu Dong didn't think about it at all, after all, there were a lot of things to do at hand.

Hu Chunlan checked the time and said, "Go to your uncle's place."

"I know." Lu Dong replied.

There are no brothers and sisters with five blessings in the village, and they all visit each other on the first day of the new year.

Before going to the uncle's house, Lu Dong specially spread two red carpets on the ground at the gate. After the sound of crackling firecrackers, there was an extra layer of red carpet in front of the gate.

After setting off the firecrackers, Lu Dong saw Lu Jianshe going out, and said with a smile, "Uncle Jianshe, happy Chinese New Year, did you get up early?"

"Good! Good!" Lu Jianshe smiled: "It starts at four o'clock."

After saying a few auspicious words for the New Year, Lu Dong went south, and there were firecracker skins in front of many people's houses, and the finished fireworks tubes were piled crookedly in the middle of the road.

According to the old custom, the skins of firecrackers and fireworks cannot be cleaned before the fifth day.

Turning onto Ji Street, several five or six-year-old children ran past in new clothes, chanting nursery rhymes.

"On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the fat man and I went to buy cigarettes. The fat man smoked and I lit it. Don't blame me if you burn your beard."

There were many people on the street, and Lu Dong kept saying hello to people all the way, saying happy new year.

Lu Dong met Lu Chun and Lu Xia at his uncle's house, and started wandering around the village to pay New Year's greetings.

Walk on the street on New Year's Day.

Uncles and grandparents have to go.

Fortunately, Lujia Village is not a very big village, with more than 3,000 people, it is normal to run for a day on the first day of the new year.

Even so, it would take five kilometers in one morning.

Those who are close to each other have to go in and sit down, say a few auspicious words for the New Year, and drink a glass of water to make a few words.

The older generation in the village, such as the second grandfather, wandered around the street when they had nothing to do, looking at the couplets posted by various houses, and mentioning people they met on the street to say a few words from time to time.

Mainly, there are too many upside-down links.

This kind of situation is becoming more and more common, and the younger generation is sullenly posting up, regardless of the upper and lower lines.

The older generation is very particular about these things, such as New Year's greetings, whoever comes may not remember, and whoever does not remember clearly.

During the Chinese New Year this year, besides auspicious words, the food company in the village talked the most about New Year greetings.

Start a new business, start steadily, and villagers enjoy benefits.

There is much more to discuss than the unzipped president of the United States.

Therefore, Lu Dong, the person who proposed to do braised cooking and came up with a series of practical suggestions, has also become the focus of praise from the older generation.

Lu Dong observed silently, and it was not difficult to draw a conclusion through his eyes and ears. The Lu family village, which was already relatively united, became more cohesive after the village collective became rich.

No one can deny that money can lead to various problems.

But it cannot be denied that money can bring many positive factors.

A weak and impoverished village like Lujia Village can't do anything without money.

The children have to endure the cold in classrooms in dilapidated buildings.

After going around the village and returning, before eleven o'clock, Lu Dong went to the brigade to make calls, mainly to those with mobile phones.

First, Yang Wenlie and Director Zhao from the Management Committee of the University City, Lu Suo and Team Zhang from the public security system, Lao Wei from the business department, Wang Zheng from the County Youth League Committee, and so on.

There are also big Yiwan, Du Xiaobing, Zhao Juanjuan, Qian Rui, Qin Ya, Niu Ge, Tang Wei and so on.

Having had a lot of interpersonal communication and having a mobile phone, Lu Dong all called each other to celebrate the New Year.

It is not surprising that there are many people, let alone a New Year greeting full of auspicious words.

After making the phone call, Lu Dong walked out of the brigade's office, thinking that the next thing he would personally spend money on was his mobile phone and driver's license.

With more and more people to meet and busier business contacts, mobile phones are becoming a necessity for him.

It's 1999, and it is estimated that the mobile phone network access fee should be lowered.

In terms of driver's license, it's not that driving schools will bloom everywhere in the future. There are only two places where Quanqingzhao can learn a driver's license. One of them is the traffic technical school, which has been moved to the south of the University City, not far from the central intersection.

Lu Dong specifically asked Lu Chun: "I heard that you can buy a driver's license?"

"Yes, you can buy it." Strictly speaking, it is also a system. Lu Chun understands: "There are always people who do things irregularly."

Lu Xia said: "It's dangerous to drive randomly without systematic study."

Lu Dong joked: "Second brother, I won't fly the plane again."

Lu Chun understood the meaning of Lu Dong's question, and emphasized: "Don't buy it, just learn to drive seriously, and there is no trivial matter on the road! If you don't take the test, you will get a driver's license. If the final account is settled one day in the future, you will be banned for life. Come on, you have nowhere to cry."

Lu Dong said: "I will take the exam safely."

He can drive, and he has never bumped into it with others. He has bumped into it a few times during his novice period, such as rubbing against the wall when turning in a small alley, knocking off the rearview mirror when reversing into the garage, and so on.

But after the novice period, the technology is okay.

However, being able to drive and taking a driving test are two different things. An old driver who has run 100,000 kilometers without accidents may not be able to pass the driving test.

It is necessary to sign up at that time to familiarize yourself with the driving test this year.

Lu Lanlan jumped over from the south, called Lu Chun and Lu Xia, and jumped in front of Lu Dong: "Brother Dong, Happy Chinese New Year!"

Compared with Lu Chun and Lu Xia, she is much more familiar with Lu Dong, and she extended a hand while greeting the New Year.

Lu Dong took out his pocket, took out a piece of chocolate, and put it in Lu Lanlan's hand: "I knew you would be like this, so I'm ready."

Seeing the rectangle of chocolate, Lu Lanlan's eyebrows curled into a smile: "Thank you Brother Dong, Brother Dong is the best."

At noon, we have to go to the old house on the old street to eat, and the three of us go to the old house together to help.

The food and wine are all ready-made, and they are made quickly.

The three brothers opened the Eight Immortals table, wiped the table and moved the stools, and chatted.

Basically, Lu Dong and Lu Chun were talking, and Lu Xia was listening.

The topic quickly turned to Lu Chun's personal problems, and Lu Dong asked, "Brother, when will you go to Sister Fang's place after the Chinese New Year?"

Lu Chun said: "After the fifteenth day. I haven't left yet. The first fifteenth day is not easy."

Lu Dong thought about what he saw and heard at the Baiyun Daji, and asked, "What does Sister Fang do at home? Do you have a younger brother? A younger sister?"

Lu Chun said casually: "The conditions are similar to ours. Her father is a teacher in a middle school, her mother works as a farmer at home, and a younger sister is in high school."

"After you've been there, do you want to find a middleman?" Lu Dong said again: "I heard that there are self-talkers over there, so I'd like to find a matchmaker."

Some things are best discussed with an intermediary, and face-to-face talks between the parents of both parties are often the worst.

Lu Chun set up the chair and said, "We'll talk about it after the first trip."

Lu Dong felt that a teacher's family should be better off. Although arrears of teachers' wages is a common phenomenon these days, the conditions of a teacher's family are generally not bad.

The family conditions are not bad, especially if there is a younger sister instead of a younger brother, it will save a lot of trouble.

Many families in the north of Beihe and Qingzhao are not completely unreasonable, but are forced by the so-called customs. There is a younger brother in the family. When the older sister gets married, she doesn't ask for more things. What should the younger brother do when he gets married?

I guess many parents feel the same way.

In the end, it turned into a vicious circle. The more places you want, the more places you want, and it becomes more and more difficult for men to find wives.

After Lu Jianguo arrived, the whole family began to eat at the table. Although many people were drunk from the first day to the fifteenth day of the lunar new year, Lu Xia did not drink. Lu Dong and Lu Jianguo were going to the village committee meeting in the afternoon and did not drink. When I went to work, I didn't drink at all.

After dinner, Lu Xia went to his classmates, Lu Chun returned to the university town, and Lu Jianguo went to the village committee compound first.

Lu Dong helped Hu Chunlan and the eldest aunt clean up before leaving the house.

As soon as they arrived at the street, Seventh Aunt came from the north, followed by Nail, holding a long tube of Tianlei that had been discharged as a big sword in front of her.

Lu Dong asked, "Where is Seventh Uncle?"

Seventh Aunt sighed: "I've been drinking since last night, and I've had four consecutive drinks at noon today. I'm so drunk, I'll lock him up at home..."

"My dad is here!" The long barrel in Nail's hand pointed to the north.

Lu Dong and Seventh Aunt turned their heads to see that Lu Jianren was wearing new clothes, walking unsteadily from the north.

Seventh Aunt was so angry that her teeth hurt: "I jumped over the wall again!"

Lu Dong knew that an ordinary courtyard wall would not be able to block Uncle Qi.

Lu Jianren has a lot of alcohol, he doesn't know how much he drank, and he can't walk steadily. It's time to thaw at noon, and the cement road in the old street is not easy to walk.

He slipped under his feet and fell to the ground with a thud, still falling in the middle of the road.

The old-fashioned cement roads on the streets of the village have shallow drainage ditches in the middle, and when the midday thaw occurred, the ditches were full of mud.

Lu Dong didn't bother, Seventh Aunt stood still, and Nail watched the show with great interest.

Lu Jianren got up, his face, hands and clothes were covered with black mud.

Seventh Aunt was really helpless: "It's like this on the first day of the new year, when will this year be the end."

"Seventh Uncle is much better." Lu Dong helped Lu Jianren speak well: "There is always a process for people to change."

Seventh Aunt looked back and thought about it. She worked hard for half a year, was commended by the county, and earned tens of thousands of dollars, which was much better than in previous years.

"Dongzi, thanks to you." Seventh Aunt was not confused.

Lu Dong said: "Let's send Uncle Qi back first, wandering back and forth is not an option."