On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, Qi Beisong was lying on the sofa in the living room of Qi's house watching TV, with his daughter sleeping in his arms.
He held his daughter like he was holding a landmine, trembling with fear and treading on thin ice, afraid that any loud noise would wake her up and make her restless.
This year, his parents also rushed back from Lan Province to celebrate the New Year. Dozens of people gathered in the mansion, making it very lively. During peak times, there could be seven or eight mahjong tables.
He has always been the one who entertains guests. From the 29th day of the lunar year when some people return home, to the 5th day of the lunar year when the God of Wealth is invited, he has to show up every day, which is called "showing off" in the words of the Qi family.
Firstly, because he is the eldest grandson of the eldest son, he has no choice but to do so; secondly, because he is handsome, although it is not very festive, it is at least impressive.
He was still loyal and filial this year. He held his daughter in his arms and guarded the gate while repeating three sentences in a voice of no more than 30 decibels: "Are you back?" "Is everything fine?" "I'm in the living room."
When his sister Qi Beiling came by in a hurry for the eighth time, he complained in a low voice: "Can you be a little gentler? I finally managed to coax this little ancestor to sleep!"
Sister Qi yelled, "A whole family is celebrating the New Year! Everyone else is busy running around, but you're doing nothing but lying there eating sunflower seeds, and you're blaming others for making noise!"
Qi Beisong quickly covered his daughter's ears and warned in a low voice: "Don't wake up your niece. If she wakes up, I will be exhausted to death and I won't be able to eat melon seeds!"
"You're a waste." Sister Qi said in a low voice.
"You are a pigherd." Qi Beisong said.
Sister Qi was sent to the army by her grandfather for training. She originally wanted to be a female special forces soldier, but ended up raising pigs for two years. She loved her job and was dedicated to it. She got good at what she did and accumulated several books on sow and piglet care experience.
Sister Qi said: "Qi Beisong, if you can be half as considerate as a pig, I will be satisfied!"
“… Can you at least change your shoes at home?” Qi Beisong was helpless. He lay on his back and looked at her, holding his daughter close to his heart.
Sister Qi refused to do so. High heels were her equipment. The higher the heels, the higher the enchantment. Those above ten centimeters were considered orange weapons, and she could walk on them as if they were flat ground.
Of course, there is a more important reason: my cousin Qi Beidai, who came back to celebrate the New Year, for some reason brought two big dogs, saying that they were to entertain the old man.
Both dogs are German Shepherds, which are commonly known as German Shepherds. These dogs are smart and loyal, but they are very energetic and will tear up the house if they don't get enough exercise.
Both dogs were only half a year old. They became a little irritable after changing the environment. As soon as they entered the Qi family mansion, they started to tear each other apart. No one could stop them. The first to suffer was Sister Qi's furry slippers.
My cousin even praised the two dogs for their good eyesight, saying that they were worthy of being dogs trained by him personally, and that they could clearly distinguish between friend and foe, and between love and hate. Otherwise, why would they tear apart Qi Beilu instead of anyone else
Sister Qi was still busy, so she asked her brother, "Where's Cheng'er?"
"Why are you looking for him?" Qi Beisong asked.
"Go find him to work for you!" Sister Qi said, "If you can be half as useful as Cheng Er, I'll be satisfied!"
"I can't bear to send him out." Qi Beisong said angrily, "But you don't treat him as an outsider!"
Sister Qi said, "You are not an outsider in the first place! I often suspect that you and Cheng'er were taken by mistake in the delivery room that year. Cheng'er is the child of my Qi family."
"Bullshit!" Qi Beisong laughed in anger. "It's possible that they took the wrong child if they were born on the same day. I'm more than five years older than him. Have you ever seen a wrong child taken away after five years?"
Sister Qi yelled, "If you picked up the wrong person, it's the wrong person!"
Qi Beisong covered his daughter's ears.
"Where is Cheng'er?" Sister Qi was in need of help and had to find the person she thought was her real brother.
"We went to Huang Village." Qi Beisong said, "In order to get the first prize on the first day of the new year, the custom in Huang Village is to light lanterns at the entrance of the village on the night of New Year's Eve. The two sky lanterns weigh several tons and have complex components. Even if a crane is used, it will take 20 to 30 people to install the lanterns. Cheng'er went to install the lanterns."
"Aren't you coming back for the New Year's Eve dinner?" asked Sister Qi.
"Come back." Qi Beisong said, "Wait until our parents get home. The New Year's Eve dinner will start at about eight o'clock. I will leave to pick him up in a while."
Before leaving, Sister Qi praised Cheng Ji and said, "Look, capable people are sought after everywhere, but you are the only one who stays at home eating feed all day!"
“…” Qi Beisong continued to eat melon seeds.
As soon as Sister Qi left, the cousin who was leading the dog came again.
"Where is Xiao Cheng?" asked my cousin.
Qi Beisong said sourly: "It's fine if the pig farmer went to him, but the dog farmer went to him again. She's my wife, did I agree with you looking for her?"
"Beisong, the camellia tree in front of your house needs to be replanted. My dog dug it up." said my cousin.
"Pay me money." Qi Beisong said simply, "That book is called 'Purple Robe', a rare species of camellia. If it grows this big, it must be worth tens of thousands. Do you plan to pay by credit card or in cash?"
"Can you give me a discount?" my cousin asked with a smile.
"This amount." Qi Beisong stretched out five fingers to indicate, "It's the New Year's money for my daughter."
His cousin gave him five dollars.
"..." Qi Beisong said, "You can really do it!"
My cousin said I have confidence in you!
"What confidence?"
My cousin said that I am in Licheng now, and I might be transferred to Hongcheng in two years. Even if I remain in my original position, your Xiao Cheng will be under my charge. Or if I am transferred to a provincial department, Xiao Cheng will be under my command. Do you think I have the confidence
My cousin is the director and deputy mayor, in charge of public security; Cheng Ji is a member of the public security department and is an ordinary soldier.
Qi Beisong respectfully placed the five dollars on the coffee table, hugged his daughter with one hand, and used the other hand to offer a cigarette to his cousin and light it.
He said humbly, "Brother Dai, please do me a favor. If you are transferred to Hongcheng, your first priority is to find an excuse to quickly remove Cheng'er from the front line. He runs around with a gun all day long, and I am so worried at home that I can't sleep or eat well!"
My cousin said, why do you have to come to me for such a trivial matter? What the hell do you do
Qi Beisong said I dare not, he was holding the gun with great interest, I can't force him to remove it! Anyway, thank you in advance!
My cousin said you are a loser and worse than my dog.
Qi Beisong said to let your dog use his paws to dig up the camellia. There is also a "hexagonal big red" next to the "purple robe". Dig! Do whatever makes you happy!
After his cousin left, Qi Beisong finally waited for his grandmother—the old lady came out of the kitchen wiping her hands. Although she was wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, she was in good spirits and exuded the radiance of saving people from danger.
The old lady of the Qi family suffered a lot when she was young, and she did not necessarily live a life of luxury even in her old age. She worked when she was required to work, and basically maintained a frugal and simple lifestyle.
Qi Beisong jumped off the sofa and handed over his daughter's swaddling clothes. The old lady took it with both hands. The two of them handed it over carefully as if defusing a bomb. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the thing in their arms was not awake.
"I went to Huang Village." Qi Beisong said in a low voice.
"Go ahead, go ahead. I'm here," said the old lady.
Qi Beisong asked: "What if she wakes up and makes a scene?"
The old lady pointed outside the door and said, "There are two dogs tied over there. I'll feed her first, and then let the dogs play with her. I'm sure she can hold on until Cheng'er comes back!"
Qi Beisong said that it was okay to play with the dog, but she had to be watched carefully and not be allowed to feed the dog.
The old lady waved her hand and said, "It's okay, Beidai is here. That guy is not good at anything else, but he is a first-rate dog breeder. His dog is more obedient than you!"
Qi Beisong got the guarantee and jumped into the car like a bird out of a cage.
At 5pm on New Year's Eve, the sun was about to set, and the peak time for people to go home had passed. The traffic on the road was gradually decreasing, and the mountain road leading to Huangcun was almost empty. Qi Beisong was in a good mood as he drove fast but carefully.
He called Cheng Ji, who answered the phone, but was called away by Lao Geng before he could say a few words.
"Come find me at the village entrance!" Cheng Ji said before hanging up the phone.
“Hmmmm!”
So as soon as Qi Beisong's car entered the gate of Huang Village, he saw Cheng Ji, who was standing on a tall archway directing a crane.
The archway was three stories high, with flying eaves, carved beams and painted buildings, and vermilion lacquered columns. But it was just an archway after all. Although a person could stand on the top, the wooden beam was only thirty or forty centimeters wide.
"Fuck!" Qi Beisong got out of the car quickly, "How did he get up there?!"
He turned his sight and saw Old Geng holding the ladder under the archway. He cursed in a low voice: "I knew this old man was unreliable!"
He walked through the crowd and stood under the archway, looking up anxiously, but not daring to make a sound for fear of scaring Cheng Ji.
Cheng Ji was also very capable. He walked back and forth on the top beam very steadily.
According to the rules handed down from ancient times in Huang Village, two sky-high lanterns must be hung on the mountain roads on both sides of the archway in the first month of each year. The lamp base is made of stone and looks like a round mill. It is more than three meters in diameter and nearly two meters high. There is a round hole in the middle as thick as a wooden barrel for inserting the lamp post. It has not been moved for hundreds of years.
The terrain of Huang Village is strategically located and it was a military fortress for stationing troops in the early years. It has never fallen behind in any battle against the Jin, Japanese, Qing, and Japanese invaders. Therefore, the people there are tough and would rather break than bend. They have a strong sense of homeland and will always stick together when they go out.
It is said that these two sky-high lanterns were built during the Anti-Jin period. They were originally hung high every day as long as the lanterns were on. Later, they were changed to hang for the entire first month of the lunar calendar.
The lamps and lamp posts of the past had been destroyed countless times in wars and social unrest. The lamps used now were specially made by a southern woodcarving master ten years ago. They have intricate craftsmanship and lifelike paintings.
Three years ago, when Huang Village was preparing to develop tourism, someone suggested hanging sky lanterns to attract tourists. However, just after they were hung, a strong typhoon at the turn of summer and autumn nearly blew the lanterns and the lamp holders off the mountain! They had to take them down and hide them, and they were not taken out until New Year’s Eve.
Men, women, old and young all work together to hang the lights in Huang Village. Those who are able contribute their labor and those who have money contribute their money. Directing the crane was originally Lao Geng's job this year, but he suffered from periarthritis of the shoulder and could not lift his arm, so Cheng Ji was asked to do it.
The crane moved slightly on the mountain road, completely following Cheng Ji's orders.
In order to be able to move around more easily, Cheng Ji only wore a woolen sweater in the cold weather, which made his tight waist, narrow hips and thin figure look even thinner. But he didn't wear a hat, and although he was holding a loudspeaker in his hand, his voice had long been hoarse.
Qi Beisong was really angry when he saw this, and thought to himself, "Why don't you at least tie a safety rope around your waist?"
He ran towards Lao Geng and signaled that he would hold the ladder.
Old Geng said with a smile: "Oh, Master Qi is here, when will you come to wish me a happy new year?"
Qi Beisong said: "I will welcome guests at home on the first day of the new year, and accompany Cheng'er back on the second day."
"Remember to take my precious granddaughter with you." Old Geng said, "I have to send her to the Phoenix Mountain Temple to let the old monk touch her head and bless her to be healthy and grow up healthily in the coming year!"
He added, "Master Qi, you are marrying into my family, so at least come over on New Year's Day. The custom in our village is to go to the temple and burn incense on New Year's Day!"
Qi Beisong ignored him, waved his hand and said, "Brother Biao, please move aside. I want to go up to the archway too."
Lao Geng objected: "Why are you going up there? You can't help, and he has to distract himself to take care of you, so don't make things more complicated."
"I'm worried about him!" Qi Beisong growled.
As expected, he was discovered by Cheng Ji halfway up the ladder, who quickly said, "Don't come up!"
Qi Beisong never gave up and forced himself to climb to the highest point.
Cheng Ji smiled and asked, "Aren't you a little afraid of heights?"
Qi Beisong avoided looking down and said with a stiff upper lip: "This height is nothing, I dare to jump directly down!"
Cheng Ji reached out and pulled him closer, and asked, "Where's the child?"
Qi Beisong took off his scarf and wrapped it around his neck, saying, "The old lady and the dog are watching her."
"Where did the dog come from?"
"Brother Beidai brought them back. They are both big and nice dogs, and they are the black backs that you like the most."
Cheng Ji was delighted when he heard this: "Great! Go back and take care of the kids while the old lady and I play with the dog!"
Qi Beisong whispered in his ear: "Can we change it?"
"How do I change it?"
"The old lady is looking after the child, the child is playing with the dog, and I'm playing with you." Qi Beisong grinned.
Cheng Ji raised his eyebrows, put his palm on his chest and said, "Be careful or I'll push you down. Your balance is not as good as mine."
"Just push me." Qi Beisong didn't care. "Even if you push me, I still have to play with you."
Old Geng shouted from under the memorial archway: "Hey! Young Master Qi, can you talk to me later? We are installing the lights here!"
Cheng Ji also advised: "Old Qi, you should go down first. I am the only one standing here."
Qi Beisong retreated to the bamboo ladder angrily, craning his neck to watch Cheng Ji's every move.
In order to prevent him from worrying, Cheng Ji tied the safety rope around his waist and handed the other end to him. He held the rope tightly, not daring to let go for a moment.
The two lamp poles for the skylights have been erected, and the next task is to hang the main lights.
The main lamp is made of wood and weighs over 100 pounds each. It has to be lifted up by a crane. After it is hung up, the remaining 18 long prayer banners and countless small lamps have to be hung entirely by manpower.
The men, women, young and old in Huang Village became increasingly busy, with people moving back and forth, following the unified orders of the village party secretary. Young men climbed lamp posts, mountain walls, and ladders to hang lanterns and banners, with the old and young helping below.
Cheng Ji's task was completed, but he felt that this scene was not easy to see once a year, so he sat on the top of the archway to watch the fun.
Qi Beisong climbed up the archway, came to him, unbuttoned his coat and wrapped him in it.
As dusk fell, everyone's attention was focused on the group of sky lanterns, and the two people on the archway were not eye-catching.
Cheng Ji reached into Qi Beisong's chest pocket for a cigarette.
Qi Beisong frowned and said, "Don't smoke. Smoking is harmful to your health. You have finally quit smoking for more than a year!" After saying that, he lit a cigarette for himself.
Cheng Ji glanced at him sideways, put the cigarette between his lips, leaned close to his cigarette butt, lit it, and turned his face away.
"What's wrong?" Qi Beisong pulled his wife and softened his tone, "Are you angry about such a small thing?"
"Silly." Cheng Ji turned his face and smiled, "Why should I be angry with you? Look over there, the view is great."
Qi Beisong looked in the direction of his finger, and saw street lights lighting up one after another on the originally dark mountain road. The paths were crisscrossed and dotted all the way to the plains in the distance. The villages and towns were like chess pieces on a chessboard, shining brightly.
"Thousands of lights are on." Qi Beisong sighed, "It's time for us to go home."
"Wait until the sky lanterns are lit before you leave." Cheng Ji said, "You didn't see it last year, did you?"
Last year during the Spring Festival, Cheng Ji had some minor health problems, but he insisted on not telling anyone. Qi Beisong was frightened by him and looked like he could faint at any time, which made the whole family tremble with fear. Fortunately, everything was fine in the end, and the child was also fine. Of course, Vice Dean Zhang helped a lot.
As the mountain breeze blew, Qi Beisong wrapped his wife tighter in his arms and whispered in her ear, "Let me kiss you."
"Stop making trouble." Cheng Ji said, "There are so many people watching below."
"When will you be able to change your shy habit?" Qi Beisong asked.
Cheng Ji turned his dark eyes, blew a puff of smoke on his face, and said, "Wait until you come home to play with me."
“Fuck…” Qi Beisong pulled up his coat to cover the two men’s heads. He stroked Cheng Ji’s short hair on the back of his head and rubbed his ears with his lips. He slowly moved forward until he blocked his mouth, but he let go as soon as he touched. He had no interest in performing this for the people of Huang Village.
Cheng Ji chuckled: "Don't flirt with anyone randomly, don't forget that you still have to drink with the old man tonight!"
"You have to accompany me too." Qi Beisong whispered.
Cheng Ji knocked off the ash from his cigarette without a care: "I can't drink much, and the old man has always only let me drink beer, but you have to drink Maotai. Don't get drunk and let me play with you."
"You wish." Qi Beisong laughed, "You've shouted so many times, but you haven't succeeded once. I'm still more experienced in this matter."
"I'm giving in to you." Cheng Ji said.
"I know." Qi Beisong ruffled his hair and smiled indulgently, "But I will never let you."
Cheng Ji gave him an elbow strike, and Qi Beisong was caught off guard and was nearly knocked down. Cheng Ji grabbed him, and the two of them swayed for a few times before finally stabilizing themselves.
Cheng Ji was frightened and asked angrily, "Why don't you sit still?"
Qi Beisong was just pretending. He wanted this kind of reaction from his wife, to show that she loved him.
He said shamelessly: "Don't I have you to protect me?"
"If something really happens, I won't be able to pull you away!" Cheng Ji blamed.
"Yeah, we're basically evenly matched now." Qi Beisong was proud.
"You?" Cheng Ji expressed disdain, "Stop bragging, you are as hard as a piece of iron!"
Qi Beisong whispered in her ear: "Baby, are you praising me?"
Cheng Ji narrowed his eyes and smiled.
The skylights and the lamp curtains on the two sides of the mountain walls had been hung up, and the village party secretary gave a loud command: "Turn on the lights!!"
Someone turned on the power switch, and in an instant tens of thousands of LED lights lit up at the same time, shining brightly, golden snakes dancing wildly, like boiling and splashing molten steel!
The village party secretary was so excited that he put his hands on his hips and laughed, saying, "We have upgraded again this year! The number of bulbs has increased by one third, and the brightness has also increased by one third. Maybe even Hongcheng can see these two sky lanterns!"
The people of Huang Village applauded enthusiastically and praised him. Some said Secretary Wang was wise! Some said Secretary Wang was awesome! Some said Secretary Wang, you are really our leader in forging ahead!
Cheng Ji and Qi Beisong were too close to the main light, and it seemed as if there were two suns hanging in front of their eyes. They were so blinded that they could not open their eyes, and they huddled together, laughing.
"Go down quickly, I'm going blind!" Cheng Ji urged.
Qi Beisong used his hand to block some of the light for him and said, "Wait a minute, I can't see the ladder now."
After they finally got used to it, they looked down and found that the ladder was missing. It turned out that someone had taken the ladder to hang the curtain and didn't return it in time.
The two men had no choice but to turn their backs to the sky lantern and slide down carefully, sitting on the eaves that was slightly lower than the archway, with Qi Beisong's coat on their heads.
Cheng Ji thought it was extremely funny that he couldn't get down from the archway, and he couldn't stop laughing until Qi Beisong kissed and licked him on the face, making him feel hot all over.
"There are people down there..."
"We are in the dark under the lamp, no one can see us." Qi Beisong took his hand and kissed his palm gently. His voice was so magnetic that it made people's ears itch.
The two looked at each other, and Cheng Ji suddenly put his arms around his neck and kissed him back, a little savagely and violently. Behind them was the dark night, with overlapping mountains and bright lights.
After a long while, Qi Beisong deliberately asked, "What do you want to do?"
"Do you still dare?" Cheng Ji's dark eyes sparkled with stars, and he raised his chin, "You're already at the edge of the eaves, if you kiss me again you might fall off."
Qi Beisong's feet were dangling in the air, his hands still around his wife's waist.
"This height..." He looked down and said with his neck stiff, "I dare to jump down!"
"Oh, you're quite stubborn!" Cheng Ji kissed him again, and then asked, "Do you dare?"
"dare!"
"Do you still dare?"
"dare!"
Cheng Ji smiled and said, "Forget it, I won't play with you anymore. If you break your leg, I will be the one to suffer."
He climbed to the top of the archway, found the loudspeaker, raised it and shouted: "Who took my ladder? Give it back now!!!"
Secretary Wang was the first to hear it and raised his megaphone: "Who took Chunhong's ladder?!"
More people started asking each other, but the bamboo ladders were all the same, and no one could remember who took whose. So many people came to the archway carrying long and short ladders, and shouted in unison: "Chunhong, and Master Qi! Come down quickly!"
Cheng Ji signaled Qi Beisong: "You go first."
"I dare to do anything!" When Qi Beisong passed by him, he gave him a quick kiss on the face.
"Fuck!" Cheng Ji cursed with a smile, "You are so brave!"
Except for Lao Geng, no one in Huang Village knew the relationship between Cheng Ji and Qi Beisong, except that these two were very close.
Qi Beisong winked at him and went down the ladder.
Cheng Ji followed closely behind, and after landing, he and Qi Beisong walked towards the car arm in arm.
Lao Geng called out to them from behind and threw Cheng Ji's coat over to them: "I'll be waiting at home on the second morning of the New Year!"
"Okay!" Cheng Ji took the coat, made a heart sign to Brother Biao, and jumped into the car.
Halfway down the mountain, Qi Beisong suddenly turned off the engine. The two sat in the darkness for a while. This time, Cheng Ji deliberately asked, "What do you want to do?"
Qi Beisong unbuckled his seat belt and leaned closer to him, pressing him against the back of the passenger seat and biting him wildly, reaching his palm into his clothes and pressing his back against his flesh with rough force.
"Damn it, you knew I was afraid of heights... but you still dared to play tricks on me!" Qi Beisong came for revenge.
Cheng Ji finally broke free from his lips and laughed in a trembling voice, "Alright, alright, it's already fucking late, the old man should be asking, and I'm also in a hurry to go home and take care of the kids!"
When the little ancestor was mentioned, Qi Beisong sobered up a little. He retracted his hand, sat back in his original seat with heavy breathing, and started the car.
"You have to compensate me!" He glared at Cheng Ji fiercely.
"Okay." Cheng Dian smoked a cigarette, lowered the window to let the smoke out, and said slowly, "Let's do it."
Qi Beisong got the promise and his face turned red with excitement.
However, at the New Year's Eve dinner table that day, Qi Beisong was forced to drink Maotai by Qi Beidai, Qi Beilu, his brother-in-law, and a group of Qi people. It was useless for the old lady to stop him. Thanks to his good alcohol tolerance, he was able to sing with a lisp in the end.
As expected, Cheng Ji was let go after drinking only one glass of beer. The old man even shouted that no one was allowed to touch Xiao Cheng, as he had a long way to go!
Cheng Ji's task is to take care of his eldest daughter - the little thing has just learned to sit, can't crawl yet, is white and fat, grabs people and bites things, and is not necessarily pretty, but in the eyes of the elders, she is like a sweet treasure. Although Cheng Ji is the biological father, he is also puzzled by the charm of the eldest daughter.
Cheng Ji held the older girl in his arms to play with the dog, and put her on the dog's back for a walk together. They were all very happy.
Qi Beisong was drunk until noon on the first day of the new year. Fortunately, his cousin Qi Beidai and a group of people had gone home, some were on duty, and some had other social engagements, otherwise they would have had to drink again.
He originally wanted to go home with his family of three to have some quiet time, but suddenly he remembered the appointment he had made with his wife, so he quickly entrusted the eldest daughter to the care of the old lady. On the first night of the New Year, she suddenly exerted her strength and tossed Cheng Ji so hard that he almost couldn't get out of bed!
Cheng Ji growled softly in the second half of the night: "You fucking... you're going to Huang Village at dawn... um..."
Qi Beisong confessed his love to him in his ear, passionately and lingeringly, and then he loved him.