preface
As I grew older, going home for Chinese New Year became a daunting thing. Although the distance is far away, when I was young, I could not see the family relationship clearly, but when I grew up, I gradually became clear. And the table of dinner of New Year’s Eve is “account” when: this year who home mix how, feeling how, have what trouble, 3 two lines saw clue. I do not want to drink bitter wine alone, this year and a few friends about, each about their own New Year’s Eve dinner table story.
Tian Shiyu family reunion dinner: should be 18 people, actually up to 17 people
Since 2009, there has always been one person missing from the family reunion table in Tian’s hometown: his second uncle. The reason for his absence was his flight from debt.
Second uncle should have been the best in this family: primary school culture, in Yangzhou to earn the first bucket of gold, after returning to his own construction team, bought blender, winch and other five equipment, became a little famous contractor, more than 20 people under his hand. The busiest one, at the same time to build a building of 5 households, the down payment received tens of thousands of. In those days in the countryside, this was no small sum.
However, this money has never been in the second uncle’s hands honestly stay.
Small uncle said that he did not understand the brother-in-law how so face-saving, good vanity. In order to show off, full of magnanimity, seldom careful calculation.
Because of this, the second uncle home surface flourishing, but behind has been in the deficit. Once, he was in charge of building a factory accident fire, all the glass shattered, the wall was burned many cracks, the loss was disastrous. Can at this time the house has been delivered, is the money has not been received, the construction party should not be responsible again, but the other side of a phone call, two uncle did not say anything immediately sent over to repair, also did not add money, is simply living Lei Feng.
What’s more, he doesn’t even keep accounts. Money is exchanged on the basis of human kindness and verbal promises. Two aunt feel so easy to suffer a disadvantage, to persuade, but was lambasted.
“What the hell do you know? Remember for yourself if you can.”
“I can’t read.” Two aunts said.
“Then what do you say to me?” Second uncle jilted over a cold face. “Ask your father why he didn’t pay for your education.”
The second aunt had nothing to say. Illiteracy has become a barrier, making it difficult for her to participate effectively in family governance. Even the second uncle’s daily life she can rarely interfere.
The second uncle often went out with the “customer” — the villager who commissioned him to build the house, frequented the entertainment places. To entertain friends, he used to buy cigarettes on credit for thousands of dollars at the supermarket, and sometimes he would bring the ladies from the bath center back to the city to rent a house…
In this way, before the Spring Festival in 2007, second uncle faced his first crisis: the end of the year, he could not afford to pay his wages. Angry workers came to collect his debts, and he ran away, missing the reunion dinner for the first time.
However, he was saved by several new projects at the beginning of the year. Even the construction of a high school dormitory in the county has been put into his hands. Just a project on, hand and have working capital, two uncle relapse: because always outside “communication”, he gave the project supervision power to others, the other side and the workers snouted together, let the workers lazy, delay the construction period, and even steal the building materials. Finally, two uncle this single not only did not earn, but lost money.
Finally, in 2009, his second uncle got his chance: a housing project he had taken over was nearing completion — a million-dollar project — and Tian’s second uncle had been there to help with the six-story building and was impressed.
“I’ll take more than half of what I owe if I just finish this vote.” There is no doubt about it.
There are only five people at qiu Shan’s family reunion dinner all the year round
At this juncture, however, something serious happened at another construction site: a worker fell off a scaffold and was in critical condition. After emergency treatment, he was diagnosed as a total paralysis. The worker’s family is very angry, waiting for the second uncle is a large compensation and even life threats.
“You go quickly, the family says they’re going to beat you.” Two aunt on the other end of the phone has almost cried out.
No one knows how uncle hid himself afterwards. By bus or by train? Sleep in a hotel or an overpass? Have you had any regrets on the way? In short, his resettlement housing project money will not be back – the court was forced to withdraw, deducting the treatment costs of the injured, a total of 600,000 yuan.
To make matters worse, all the building materials for the resettlement programme were bought on credit at a five-cent usurious rate, and a new breed of debt collectors has emerged: building builders. Dozens of creditors came with iOu. Home court summons have received six or seven, of course, are two aunt turned to throw.
In 2009, the family reunion dinner, the atmosphere was heavy, grandpa’s face as a cloud.
Everyone knew that the second uncle was completely lost this time. Two aunt secretly wiped tears. Before long, the woman in her 40s chose to leave her hometown and work to earn money. Without long skills, she can only work as a cleaner in a factory in other provinces, including the night processing toys, a monthly income of 2,000 yuan.
After my cousin graduated from the technical school, he also went out to work. Although he worked hard to reach the middle level of a factory, he still couldn’t save enough money for a down payment before the property market in Suzhou skyrocketed. I heard that the family of my cousin’s girlfriend had set out the conditions for marriage. The high gift money made the whole family worried. My aunt wants to borrow some money, but can I borrow more?
This has been on everyone’s mind at the Tian Family reunion dinner table this Spring Festival.
Cheng Yu family reunion dinner: should be 11 people, actually up to 10 people
Cheng Yu family reunion dinner table, every year “more” a person – her “former aunt.”
In fact, Cheng yu’s uncle and aunt divorced more than 20 years ago, but the two in order to take care of the mood of the elderly at home, they have been hiding. Her uncle would take her home to have dinner with his aunt during holidays. Cheng’s grandparents still treated her as their daughter-in-law and even treated her as their own child.
And uncle and aunt divorced after not completely out of each other’s life — at the beginning is because of small divorce, love is still in fact, really want to separate, more or less not put. Not to mention two people have no children, Cheng Yu’s uncle did not have the heart to leave his ex-wife a person alone.
Cheng Yu aunt is a simple and honest good kind of woman, but uncle is a successful businessman, in order to be able to let his ex-wife had a happier, would also pay to let her to learn a musical instrument, traveling, two people have done even ivf experiment (though failed), but haven’t been to remarry, so many years, until the whole family all know the truth, feel that they don’t have a divorce it doesn’t matter.
Until this year, the “bad woman” appeared.
She is another woman who loves Uncle Cheng Yu deeply and also knows about uncle Cheng’s troubles with his ex-wife. In order to become a wife, she also used a lot of “tricks”. At one point, Cheng was disgusted, while the rest of the family were unsure about the situation. To make matters worse, the former aunt doesn’t seem to know he’s remarried.
Grandma’s attitude is very firm: never allow “new daughter-in-law” into the house one step, cheng only recognize the original daughter-in-law. The grandfather knew that he could not persuade his wife. He could only say, “From the perspective of the law, there is nothing wrong with my son.”
So this Spring Festival, Cheng’s family reunion dinner was a little awkward: “My former aunt” was still there, but my uncle was with his current wife for Spring Festival.
“Your uncle just went on a business trip today.” The simple and honest aunt thought that Cheng Yu did not know about their divorce, comfort Cheng Yu way: “He said to go to the United States.”
But everyone knew that she was the one who was really caught in the trap.
Qiu Shan family reunion dinner: should be up to 7, actually up to 5 people
There are only five people at qiu Shan’s family reunion dinner all year round: his grandparents gave birth to only two sons and a daughter, and his daughter never returned home for the Chinese New Year after she got married, while his eldest son’s family is already in a mess, so there are only Qiu Shan’s father with his wife and daughter to accompany the old man to have the reunion dinner every year.
The reason for qiu Shan’s uncle’s downfall is very strange: in 2002, his uncle suddenly got mental illness and divorced his wife after 3 years. His daughter Tong Tong also gave her ex-wife to support.
In Qiu shan’s memory, the last Spring Festival the family spent together was 2011.
At five o ‘clock in the evening of that New Year’s Eve, uncle was sitting on the single sofa in the living room, staring at the game of fighting the landlord in the TV, with his daughter and children peeling the oranges in his hand. Before the TV broadcast is the Spring Festival Gala countdown, but uncle came in and took the remote control to change the channel, tuned for a long time to choose this fight the landlord channel, no one raised any objection.
Qiu Shan’s parents brought chopped mutton and prepared dumplings in the kitchen. Their jokes often floated to the living room. And grandma also not idle, the sitting room kitchen two run, then leave Qiu Shan and cousin tong Tong in the sitting room with uncle and grandpa.
Qiu Shan remembers uncle swallowed half an orange at that time, suddenly burst out a shrill smile, orange juice in his throat quickly trembling, he coughed to curse two “fuck”, and then swallowed the other half. Grandpa frowned at him and said, “If you go to another house, what are you doing during the Spring Festival?” Uncle said nothing, got up to turn off the TV, took an orange into the bedroom.
That year, the grandparents were happy today, not only for New Year’s Eve, but more importantly for Tong Tong, who had hardly ever returned to the house since his uncle divorced his aunt. The old man looked forward to his granddaughter for six years. This pity is not only due to the elder’s love for the child, but also probably due to her debt: when uncle was mentally ill, the child was only in the second grade, but now she has been admitted to the university.
People speculated that his illness might have come from the college entrance examination: after his failure, he was arranged by his grandfather to study in a vocational and technical college, and after graduation, he was assigned to work in the factory where his grandfather worked, and he was always somewhat gloomy in spirit.
Later, grandpa sent him out on a business trip, his bag containing 50,000 yuan of public funds, was robbed at the Beijing railway station, lost a dime. Found that the money was lost, he did not howl, just in the railway station to see people can not help but say the parcel to find the money, after someone called the police, he was taken to the police station. After his brother rushed to Beijing from Xuchang to take him home, he began to go a little abnormal.
Uncle’s life is able to take care of themselves, can also talk to people, but is to spend money – money when he went out to eat buffet, no money when he stood at the door of the old unit shouted for money. Once, when he couldn’t afford the 2-kilometer fare in a taxi, he gave a camera to the driver.
In the words of his hometown, uncle this is the brain was “bar”, not cure, also die. He went back and forth to the hospital and then voluntarily asked his wife for a divorce.
Tong tong never came to see his uncle again after the divorce.
His family also worried about his illness. Since then, he never went to the family dinner table again. Every New Year’s Eve, he would go to his parents’ home to pack a bag of raw dumplings and then go back to his place of residence.
In the living room, grandpa happily gave two granddaughters New Year’s money: “New Year out, safe and happy.” Tong Tong refused two times, to see the sister to take over. Qiu Shan looked at Tong’s red envelope and felt it was thicker than his own — presumably as a reward for his sister’s admission to a university that gave his grandparents a lot of face in the family and helped to silence relatives’ talk of “mental illness”.
As a child, Qiu had a good relationship with his children, but after his uncle divorced his aunt, the two children became estranged.
Qiu Shan has the contact information of tong Tong, although hardly speak, but also probably know, aunt remarried in these two years. The new father takes the mother and daughter on holiday trips during the summer and winter vacations. Tong posted a photo of the three of them on weibo, but did not call them “Dad”.
Later, tong tong’s mother gave birth to a boy. Tong Tong likes to take photos of his brother when he comes back home for vacation, and then post them on Weibo, and set up an album for his brother.
But she seems to have forgotten her old home, and hardly ever communicates with anyone in her family — which is why her arrival this Spring Festival is so grand.
New Year’s Eve dumplings into the pot, grandpa this just found that before the New Year’s Eve dinner to set off firecrackers forgot to buy. Children volunteered to go downstairs with Qiu Shan to buy.
Qiu Shan later listened to the family said, they just went out of the front foot, put on a good raw dumplings uncle on the coat ready to leave, at this time, the eagle-eyed grandmother suddenly asked: “You just put in the pockets of a few red tickets is where?”
Uncle shake long wear leather shoes: “just now I ask tong Tong to want.”
Always good temper of the grandmother suddenly furious, scold a way: “you two pole, that is you kiss your daughter you bashful to want!”
Uncle didn’t answer, but opened the door.
What happened on that New Year’s Eve made Qiu Shan feel very sorry for herself. After buying firecrackers, the boy handed her the bag and told her to hurry back. Qiu Shan looked at her sister, but did not realize the meaning of the words.
The boy paused and said: “You go home, I also want to go home to eat.” Qiu Shan this just turned the corner son, begged sister to stay. The boy turned his head and looked at the light behind him, tore the dry skin from his lips, and repeated the words.
Before she left, she put qiu Shan’s hat on, brushed the snowflakes from her sister’s collar that had not yet melted, and walked into the storm without looking back.
The reunion dinner for Lao Rao’s family should be up to 18 people, but actually up to 10 people
This year, the New Year in my family is a little dull: my grandmother, 80-year-old Rao, has only her little son by her side on New Year’s Eve.
With firecrackers exploding all over the sky, she asked her younger son to make a video call to her eldest daughter in Beijing. When she caught sight of her eldest daughter’s face on the screen, the old woman felt distressed: “She is so thin, she is so pathetic.”
For a moment she forgot to complain that she had been hemiplegic for a year and a half. Her eldest son, her youngest daughter and even her younger son, who had never made a proper living, tried to come back to take care of her. Only the eldest daughter, who was in faraway Beijing with her grandson, did not come back once a year.
The grandchild is more important to the eldest daughter than the mother. The old lady Rao is understandable, but still a little difficult to accept. Four children are put up with all kinds of their own, when she was young malnutrition sickly, often tired to want to die: “so many children, which is not to get up in the middle of the night to pee several times, to eat the mother chief (milk), tired. But she could not bear to blame the child — she had, after all, the burden of her illness.
Lao Lao was suddenly ill on the night of the winter before last.
At first, I had a stomachache, which made me roll about on the bed. Later, I became “big tongue” and couldn’t speak clearly. The family did not dare to move her, until dawn to let a neighbor found a car to pull her to the county hospital for a check, is a brain stem.
“A little late.” The doctor said.
It was too late for her to be sent to the hospital. Lao Rao lost control of her left side of her body and was unable to take care of herself from then on. You have to get up and defecate five or six times during the night, and you need to be supported; Usually to rehabilitation exercise, standing in the walker, with the right side of the body dragging the left side of the body forward……
And around the question of how to take care of the old mother, the four children began an endless negotiation, the solution to discuss is nothing more than pay no effort, pay no effort. But only the eldest daughter, people and money are reluctant to pay, causing several family quarrel round after round.
Since 2009, there has always been one person missing from the family reunion dinner table in Tian’s hometown
In the final analysis is the four children mixed are not very good, Rao old too in the mind like a mirror.
When she was just sick, she knew she was a drag, and she had been crying and looking for life, but she dared not after being scolded by her children and grandchildren.
Now, she turns her mind to her “sense of being,” hoping that her grandchildren will think of her often, call her, and better yet, give her some money to “keep her waist down.” For this reason his wife often laugh at her: “you a sick old lady, do not buy food do not buy drink, want money stem what?”
“I just put it in my hand.” Gran Rao grumbled — she’s got a little money on her side, she’s got a little more on her back.
Rao used to have gold earrings as well as rings, but she was taken in by a swindler last year. Along with the loss of 4,000 yuan from his children for living expenses.
At that time the cheater told her that she was working in a certain city of a child is difficult to donate property to eliminate the disaster. Hearing this, the old lady was anxious, but she did not know that the swindler stared at her for a long time. She had several children, where they worked, and she had done her homework before she came. Cheated this time, she lost more than 10,000 yuan of property, almost handed over to the family, very upset, often secretly cry, but did not dare to say to their children.
Doctors have also said that chronic depression may have contributed to her sudden brain attack.
And this year’s New Year, she is most dissatisfied with no one to see her. Even his wife is not true, New Year’s Eve did not give her a little money “pressure waist.”
“Lao Chen is very bad.” “She muttered.
Fortunately, the first son came back and his granddaughter gave him a red envelope. The old lady held it in her hand and said, “My granddaughter is good to me, better than my daughter.”
Otherwise, she could only lie in a dark bed, under colorful quilts and coats, listen to the news around her, and care about the fate of distant relatives and neighbors. After the second day of the New Year, one after another of her relatives came to visit her. In her bedroom, just across the street, The old lady Rao felt a headache with all the noise and “very upset”.
She began to hope that the Spring Festival would soon be over.
(All names in this article are pseudonyms. The main writer is Chen Qiuxin. The author participated in the writing: Chen Yufei, He Siyao, Qiu Shan, Feng Chenqi, Liu Chengshuo. Broken Wall Group: A small henchman who loves to write)
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