Grandma Lin's voice was loud, so everyone in the yard heard it.
"What? Qingqing is pregnant? That's great." Aunt Lin was very happy. "It would be great if Qingqing could give birth to a daughter."
"That's right. A bunch of boys in the family are annoying to look at." Aunt Lin also said.
"Qingqing is pregnant?" Lin's mother also ran out in surprise, "Mom, I don't know. Qingqing didn't say it in the letter."
Lin Qingqing only wrote about her pregnancy in one of the letters, forgetting to write it in both letters. So the letter that the second wife received happened to not have it, and therefore, Lin's mother did not know that Lin Qingqing was pregnant.
"That may be because Qingqing forgot. She wrote in her letter to us that she is pregnant for two months and will give birth in September or October next year. This season is really good. The weather is neither hot nor cold, and it is comfortable to stay in confinement." Grandma Lin calculated the days and it was indeed good. "Second son's wife, Qingqing will not have a mother-in-law. You can go to the army to take care of Qingqing at the beginning of the year. Second son and Lu Ming will eat with us for the time being."
"Oh, listen to mom." Since her daughter doesn't have a mother-in-law, of course she needs her mother to take care of her during pregnancy and confinement. If it was before, when she didn't have a hukou in the county, she might not have asked the team leader for a long vacation. Now that she is not registered in the brigade, it is very convenient for her to live in the army and take care of her daughter.
"That's great. I'll make a few pairs of shoes for the children," said Aunt Lin.
"Then I'll make some soft, close-fitting clothes for the child." Aunt Lin San said. If it was her own child, the younger brother would definitely wear the older brother's clothes, but if it was given to her niece's child, the old clothes would not be acceptable.
Mother Lin said, "Let me thank my sister-in-law and my younger sister-in-law on behalf of Qingqing." She was also happy to prepare things for the army.
The Lin family was in great joy, and so was the Lu family in the army.
The Chinese New Year is coming soon, the troops have already had their holiday, and today the Lu family is putting up couplets.
There was a table, brushes, ink and red paper in the yard.
The Lu family didn’t have this kind of thing during the Chinese New Year in the past three years. It only started this year.
"Mom, what should we write?" Lu Haici asked curiously, staring at the paper and pen on the table.
Lin Qingqing said: "You and Qin Ming write the word "Fu" and let your father write the couplet."
Qin Ming's eyes lit up: "Aunt, should I write too?"
Teacher Qin and his wife haven't come back yet, but they called me. They plan to come back after the New Year. They also learned from the phone that Qin Ming lives in Lu's house. To be honest, Zhang Hongping is still very relieved that Qin Ming lives in Lu's house. She is not at ease to leave her grandson to the Qian family and daughter-in-law.
"Yes, you are celebrating the New Year with us this year, so now we are a family, doing things together as a family. Of course, it's okay if you don't want to write." Lin Qingqing originally wanted Qin Ming to participate so that he would feel included, but if he didn't want to write, she certainly didn't mind.
"I'm willing to write. I'm willing to write." Qin Ming said happily.
"Lu Haici, Qin Ming, what are you doing?" Ji Yang came back from lunch and saw Qin Ming and Lu Haici sitting around the table, and asked curiously.
Lu Haici said: "We need to write couplets."
Qin Ming: "Post it after you write it."
"Wow, you guys are so fun." Ji Yang looked curiously at the red papers cut into squares, and then at the brushes and ink.
Lin Qingqing said: "Qin Ming, you are older than Hai Ci, you write three "Fu" characters first, and after you finish, Hai Ci will write three "Fu" characters." The two of them were ranked according to their age.
Qin Ming said: "Aunt, I have never written calligraphy before. What should I do if I can't write well?"
Lin Qingqing said: "It doesn't matter. You can't write well with a brush. You can write with a pencil on red paper first, and then trace it with a brush. Come, I'll write it for you to see."
Lin Qingqing wrote a relatively large word "Fu" on the red paper with a pencil, and then traced it with a brush dipped in ink. "That's it, do you understand?"
Qin Ming and Lu Haici nodded: "Aunt (Mom), we understand." This was easy to understand, so the two boys understood it at once.
The two of them picked up pencils and began to write the word "Fu" on red paper. Because the word "Fu" was to be pasted on the door, the two children wrote it very carefully, using erasers to write and erase, trying to write the best.
Ji Yang found it interesting and was somewhat tempted, but he didn't say anything.
Lin Qingqing asked, "Ji Yang, did your family prepare red paper couplets?" The two families have been neighbors for three years. The Ji family did not prepare any in the past few years, so Lin Qingqing guessed that they should not prepare any this year. In fact, many families in the family compound would not prepare any, thinking it was unnecessary and wasteful. But Lin Qingqing did prepare them, first to create an atmosphere, and second because this was their first year as a family, so she prepared something for the ceremony.
Ji Yang said: "Aunt, our family has not prepared anything. Our family does not prepare this."
Lin Qingqing: "Do you want to write? If you want, you can write with Haici and the others."
When Ji Yang heard this, he said happily, "Then I'll go get a pencil." Then he ran towards home.
After a while, the number of people writing the word "Fu" increased from two to three. Among the three children, Qin Ming's handwriting was as bad as a dog's. There was nothing he could do. As a naughty child and the leader of the children, Teacher Qin and Zhang Hongping could not control him, so no one cared if his handwriting was not good.
Ji Yang's handwriting is good. As the male protagonist, he has a good personality. Although he is spoiled by Xu Huijuan, he is kind-hearted by nature and listens to Xu Huijuan. Therefore, he goes to school seriously and does his homework seriously after school, so his handwriting is naturally good.
Among the three, Lu Haici wrote the best. Lu Haici listened to his mother and was accompanied by her. He studied and wrote seriously. Especially since Lin Qingqing bought him a copybook to learn calligraphy, Lu Haici wrote the best.
However, the three children used to write on notebooks, so their handwriting was small. Now they write on red paper, which is large, and they can’t control the size well for a while.
But soon, the three children also finished writing three pieces of pencil words.
"Aunt, I've finished writing." Qin Ming finished the fastest.
Lu Haici: "Mom, I've finished writing it too."
Ji Yang: "Aunt, I've finished writing it too."
Lin Qingqing glanced at the three people's handwriting, and then said, "Okay, then you can trace the words with a brush." According to the age, starting from Qin Ming, Ji Yang and then Lu Haici, the three people traced the word "Fu" with a brush, three copies each. Because it was the first time to use a brush, the hands were a little bent, but because it was a traced word, it looked okay.
After writing, Lin Qingqing said: "Ji Yang, the words you write can be posted on the door of your house. Qin Ming, Hai Ci, you post the words on the six doors of the kitchen, hall, utility room and bedroom respectively." The hall has two doors, so there are exactly six doors in total.
"knew."
Next, the children all started to paste the Chinese character "Fu". Lu Cheng, who had nothing to do, started to write couplets. Compared with the children, Lu Cheng wrote very fast. Especially Lu Cheng was very good at writing calligraphy. Before the children had finished pasting the Chinese character "Fu", Lu Cheng had already finished writing the couplets.
Then, under Lin Qingqing's instruction, Lu Cheng pasted the couplet on the door of the hall.
"Too low, a little higher... Yes, yes, that's it, a little more in the middle... That's it."
"This side is not aligned with the side, the height is different... This is fine now."
After Lu Cheng put up the couplet, he saw Qin Ming and Lu Haici also put up the word "Fu" and were standing in the yard looking at him.
"Okay, the next thing is to buy New Year's goods. Let's go to the township market tomorrow to buy New Year's goods." Lin Qingqing said. At the end of each year, the township market is the busiest and has the most things. Lin Qingqing has participated in it for three years, so she is very experienced.
"You're going to the market tomorrow?" Lu Cheng frowned when he heard it. "There are a lot of people at the market, so you'd better not go. Tell me what you want, and I'll go."
Lin Qingqing thought about it and realized that there would be a lot of people there, and she didn't dare to joke with her child. "Okay, I'll write down a list of things I need, and you can see what you can buy when the time comes."
Lu Cheng: "Yeah."
"Aunt, can I go to the market with Uncle Lu?" Qin Ming had been there with his grandmother before. There were lots of food to eat and it was very lively at the market, so he wanted to go and see.
"Sure, but you and Haici must follow your Uncle Lu closely. Although the market is lively, there are bad people and you may run into human traffickers." Lin Qingqing said. Since Lu Haici went to school in the commune, Lin Qingqing has been telling him about human traffickers every few days, fearing that something might happen to Lu Haici. Therefore, Qin Ming and Ji Yang, who are good friends of Lu Haici, are also very familiar with human traffickers and are very wary of strangers.
Qin Ming: "Don't worry, aunt, we know."
However, Lu Haici said, "I won't go to the market. Dad goes to the market and Mom is alone at home. I have to take care of her at home." Mom is pregnant and she is alone at home. Lu Haici is worried.
Lu Cheng: "Okay, you stay at home and take care of mom."
Qin Ming: "Then I won't go either." He didn't dare to go to the market with Lu Cheng alone.
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "How about this, we all go to the market, and I'll wait for you at the less crowded entrance." That way she wouldn't be squeezed in, and the children could have some fun. A market of this size only happens once a year, and the children love to go.
Lu Cheng frowned and was about to say something when Lu Haici said, "Then I'll stay with mom at the market too. Qin Ming, you and dad can go shopping."
Lu Cheng said: "That's fine."
The next day, the four members of the Lu family set out for the market. Because the market was in the town and not far away, they went there early in the morning. There were also many military wives from the family compound with them, and everyone was going to the market.
"Comrade Lin, are you going to the market too?"
"Comrade Lin, has Qin Ming been living in your house?"
"Comrade Lin..."