The Gold is Yours, You Are Mine

New Year's Day.

The young people who have been busy all night are about to go home.

Jian Chang thought about it, and before leaving, she went to knock on the door of Xie Shi'an's dormitory.

"Shi'an, do you want to go back to the country to play with me?"

Qiao Yuchu was also packing her luggage.

"Go, Shi'an, training started on the fourth day anyway, my mother called several times in the morning, urging me to go home, you have no one to play with you here, it's better to be with Chang Nian. "

Xie Shi'an looked at her, then at the young man's earnest eyes, Zhou Mu ran in and pulled him away.

"Oh, just come with us. Let me tell you, our countryside is very fun. You can skate, fish, go to the market, and watch the fire."

"Hey, wait a minute, I got the racket, got the racket."

Xie Shi'an was dragged away for a few steps, then ran back and took his precious racket with him.

Qiao Yu first pursed her lips and smiled.

"Shi'an, stay safe and have fun."

"You too, send me a message when you get home."

"it is good."

＊＊＊

"Mom, I'm back."

Qiao Yuchu opened the door, and the room was deserted, without even a window grille.

My mother was sitting in the living room watching TV and eating melon seeds, and she didn't look very happy when she came back.

"You still know that when you come back, you go out to spend the time of family reunion on New Year's Eve with others. Do you still have this family in your eyes?"

Qiao Yuchu put the fruit milk and other New Year's goods bought for her on the table.

"Mom, don't say a few words, the team reunion, it's not just me who didn't go home, Cheng Zhen also went."

"How big is your life, how old are you, you just think about playing every day, and you don't care about your life's major events at all."

"Why should I worry about this kind of thing? You can't press your head if you don't drink water. I can't do anything if I don't meet the right person."

"Every day is either training or hanging out with the mourner next door. It's strange to meet the right person!"

Qiao Yuchu was about to pour water, when he heard this, he put the cup heavily on the table.

"Mom! Why are you always making trouble with Shi'an! Why are you talking about my own affairs!"

Mother Qiao threw the melon seeds into the fruit bowl.

"Well, I won't quarrel with you when it's Chinese New Year's Eve. You've been protecting her since you were a child. Hurry up and change your clothes and tidy up. Let's go to your Aunt Wang's dinner later."

It was a dinner party, but most likely it was a blind date party. Qiao Yuchu had attended no less than three such gatherings.

Qiao Yuchu shook her head helplessly, and went back to her room, knowing that if she didn't go, she would probably make a mess again.

For the Chinese New Year, she also wanted to rest for a while.

At the dinner party.

All of Qiao's mother's relatives and friends, seven aunts and eight aunts, all praised her for her beauty, good personality, and promise, and she will definitely be a good wife in the future.

Qiao Yuchu's ears were almost ringing with cocoons.

Qiao's mother was smiling from ear to ear.

"Oh, that's true. We won the championship this year. It's different now. Not everyone can marry my daughter. Let alone the dowry, we have to weigh whether we have the ability. .”

"I said old classmate, your life is getting better and better now, which is enviable. Husband and husband are so capable, architects, and earn a lot of money a year, and my daughter is also so competitive. Find a good husband's family, my little one." The two of you will be filial to you together, and will give birth to a little grandson for you in two years, the family will be harmonious and beautiful, it will be a happy family."

"Oh, that's a good thing. I love my wife. He is capable and capable. He sends a lot of money home every year, but he is busy. He travels all over the country, especially at the end of the year. Look, he is not busy decorating houses for clients. Didn’t you even go home? It’s not as good as you guys, when you’re young, you’re like glue, but when you’re old, it’s even more like honey.”

"Hey, I'm getting old, what are you talking about, come, come, drink."

Mother Qiao picked up the wine glass and clinked with a table of people.

"If you have a suitable young man, don't forget to introduce him to our family, Yuchu, it will be an introduction fee for you."

Qiao Yuchu sat here, watching them talking and laughing happily, like an outsider, until her mother pulled her sleeves a few times, and then she stood up and offered a toast to the elders.

"Happy new year to all uncles and aunts, I wish you a happy new year, good health, happy family and good luck in everything."

"Look, look, look, this kid can talk."

Qiao Yuchu sat down, only to realize that her father hadn't been home for the New Year in a few years. She took out her phone, and the chat history with her father was still on her birthday.

She thought about it, got up and walked outside the box, and called her father.

The phone rang a second time before being picked up.

"Hey?"

"dad."

The man smiled.

"Yuchu, what's the matter, what's the matter with calling Dad?"

"I can't call you if I have nothing to do." There was a smile on the corner of Qiao Yuchu's lips, and the ending sound rose slightly.

"Aren't you coming back this year for the New Year?"

There was a hint of apology in the man's tone.

"I'm sorry, Yuchu, this client is pressing hard. The house will be closed in the next year, and the project is at a critical moment. Dad really can't get away."

"Is that so..." Qiao Yuchu was a little disappointed, but after thinking about it, she said on a whim.

"Then you can't come back. I will go to the provincial capital with my mother to see if you are okay. Anyway, I am on vacation until the fourth day of junior high school. I am free. How about our family spending this Spring Festival in the provincial capital?"

Joe's father hesitated, as if he had something to hide.

"No, Yuchu, Dad also wants you to come, but Dad still lives in the company dormitory, and there is no place to live when you come, it's inconvenient, and the hotel is so expensive during the Chinese New Year, forget it, or wait until the New Year is over, and Dad will go back Look at you."

Although Qiao Yuchu felt disappointed, she was used to him getting together less and leaving more over the years, so she didn't think deeply about it.

"Alright then, take care of your health in the provincial capital, and remember to eat no matter how busy you are at work."

Papa Joe smiled gratifiedly.

"Hey, okay, it's rare for you to go home and spend time with your mother, she is very lonely at home alone."

"Got it, Dad."

"When Dad saves more money, sell that old house, and change to a bigger house in the provincial capital, I'll take you all over. Our family will be reunited, and we can spend as many Spring Festivals as we want."

Qiao Yuchu pursed her lips and smiled.

"Okay Dad, you're already getting old, and you have to take it easy to make money. I won't tell you anymore. Let's go to dinner."

"Hey, okay, hang up."

After Qiao Yuchu hung up the phone, she took a deep breath, opened the door again, and walked into the group of seven aunts and eight aunts.

＊＊＊

I haven't been home for several months, the door lock is covered with dust, Jian Changnian gently pushed the door open, and the courtyard is also covered with dead leaves.

She was afraid that Xie Shi'an would be disgusted, so she hurriedly brought a broom and swept the floor.

"Don't mind me. I haven't been back for a while. The house is clean. Newspapers were spread before I left."

Grandma tremblingly took the broom in her hand and drove people out.

"Go, go, take Shi'an out to play, and don't forget to come back for dinner in the evening."

Jian Changnian was afraid that she would be tired, so she refused.

"grandmother…"

"Oh, go ahead, I've been lying down for several months, and I'm still not allowed to move around."

Zhou Mu also called outside the courtyard.

"Let's go, Chang Nian, Shi An, go skating."

Although Jian Changnian had lingering fears about this event, Xie Shi'an was a city resident and couldn't stand the novelty.

The three of them walked to the small river. It was the time when the sun was at its best in the afternoon. The children in the village ran out to play after lunch, and they could hear laughter from a distance. When they got closer, they found a group of children pulling running across the ice with a wooden plow.

Zhou Mu pulled Xie Shi'an and ran over.

"Shi'an, let's go play too."

Xie Shi'an looked at the ice under his feet, and could vaguely see the aquatic plants at the bottom of the river, he hesitated.

"Will this...will it break?"

Zhou Mu picked up a big rock and smashed it vigorously, only a few shallow white scratches appeared on the ice.

"Oh, don't worry, it's very frozen. We come to play every year, and we haven't fallen into it a few times."

Only then did Xie Shi'an step on it with confidence. The children in the countryside blinked at the stranger and accepted her after a while.

A group of people frolicked on the ice, took turns sitting on the wooden plow, and were dragged away by the rest of the people.

In the ice and snow, Xie Shi'an opened his arms, with a smile on his lips, embracing the freedom and the wind to his heart's content.

After playing for a while, she realized that Jian Changnian had been squatting on the bank and watching them silently.

Xie Shi'an broke away from the crowd and walked over.

"Are you not playing?"

Jian Changnian shook her head and moved a little further away from the ice.

"No, you can just play."

Zhou Mu came over to pull her.

"Chang Nian fell into the water when she was young, so she has a psychological shadow on the ice surface of these ponds and rivers, so don't persuade her."

Xie Shi'an nodded, remembering what she told herself about being rescued after falling into the water when she was young.

Seeing that other friends can skate, but she dare not go down because of fear, this is the only time in her childhood when she felt isolated.

Jian Changnian was playing with piles of stones on the bank, halfway through the pile, a shadow was cast in front of her.

She raised her head and saw that Xie Shi'an was back again.

"Come on, let's go play something else."

A smile appeared on the corner of the boy's lips, he clapped his hands and stood up.

"Then I'll take you up the mountain to pick up pine nuts."

"it is good."

Although there is no scenery in the mountain in winter, it is interesting. Half way up the mountain, there is a pine forest. Jian Changnian and his group walked while picking up fallen pine cones, picking ripe wild fruits, and digging to lure them. People's winter bamboo shoots until the sun goes down.

Smoke rises from the foot of the mountain.

Jian Changnian wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Let's go home and eat."

The three walked home along the ridge.

As far as the eye can see are endless fields, and occasionally a group of wild geese flies by.

Xie Shi'an was walking when he suddenly heard something.

She paused.

"Listen, is there some small animal calling?"

Zhou Mu said: "Impossible, this season is hibernating."

Jian Changnian also listened attentively for a moment, the intermittent whimpering of animals seemed to be coming from under the ridge of the field.

The young man jumped off the ridge of the field, pulled the weeds, and finally made a new discovery in a pile of straw.

"Come here, there is a litter of puppies."

Xie Shi'an jumped down too, and saw a litter of puppies curled up together, the bigger spotted dog was their mother, motionless and frozen.

Jian Changnian gently flicked the branch in his hand, and the only surviving little puppy was dying, trembling non-stop.

Zhou Mu: "What to do, it is still so small, it will freeze to death if placed here."

Xie Shi'an took off the scarf around his neck, gently hugged the puppy, and looked at Jian Changnian with a hint of pleading in his eyes.

"Can you take it back first?"

Jian Changnian nodded, got up and ran ahead to lead the way.

"Okay, go back and let grandma see if she can be saved."

＊＊＊

"Grandma, we're back!" Jian Chang rushed into the gate of her courtyard shouting all the way, thinking that she would arrive first.

"It's just in time to come back. I'm about to ask you to eat." Grandma also felt a little pitiful when she saw the puppy in Xie Shi'an's arms.

"Oh, it's such a small one. It's so cold in this cold weather. Chang Nian, go find a cardboard box and get some hay."

Jian Changnian quickly ran into the back room, and pulled out some hay from the firewood pile behind the room.

Grandma mixed the freshly boiled water with cold water, tried it with her hands, and found that the temperature was right, so she poured it into a plastic bottle, wrapped it with a layer of cloth, and made a simple thermos bottle.

A thick layer of hay was spread in the cardboard box, and grandma put a few pieces of cotton wool on it, and put the thermos bottle down.

Xie Shi'an gently put the puppy in.

"Put it in the stove, it's warm in there." Grandma said.

Xie Shi'an nodded, carried the cardboard box into the warm and dry kitchen, and put it next to the stove to keep warm.

Zhou Mu also ran in, panting.

"Here, the clean syringe I asked for from the clinic, and my goat milk powder, let's mix some for the dog."

Just as Xie Shi'an brought the needle to the puppy, the puppy that smelled the food came up with its eyes closed.

She pushed gently bit by bit, the puppy drank happily, and tears welled up from the corners of his eyes.

The hearts of the teenagers were soft.

"Wow, it's so cute, let's give it a name."

Jane often patted her thigh.

"Just call Wangfu!"

Xie Shi'an pouted.

"It's too earthy."

"Oh, it's a native dog, and the name has such a good meaning, it's prosperous and blessed!"

"Wangfu, Wangfu, Wangfu..."

Jian Changnian tried to call her a few more times. After drinking the milk, the dying puppy looked much better than before. Although she still didn't open her eyes, she tentatively licked her finger.

Jian Changnian was overjoyed.

"Look, it likes the name too!"

Xie Shi'an: "..."

It's strange that a dog can talk, it doesn't matter what you call it.

Grandma put the food on the table and said with a smile.

"Children, it's time to wash your hands and eat. Mumu is also eating here. Grandma has already told your mother."

Zhou Mu sat down loudly and picked up his chopsticks.

"Then I won't be polite, the big goose stew made by grandma is delicious!"

Hearing this, Jian Changnian and Xie Shi'an looked at each other after washing their hands, and ran to the table without thinking about wiping their hands.

Grandma laughed from ear to ear.

"Oh, slow down, eat slowly, there is still in the pot."

Jian Changnian was the first to raise the empty bowl.

"Grandma, I want more."

Zhou Mu burped.

"Grandma, I want too."

Xie Shi'an put the chopsticks on the empty bowl.

"And I."

After eating and drinking, it was already late at night, Zhou Mu said goodbye to them and went home, while grandma was cleaning up pots and bowls in the kitchen, Jian Changnian and Xie Shi'an moved a small chair and sat beside her peeling pine nuts.

This was the first time Xie Shi'an saw wild pine nuts, and he broke the pine nuts curiously, but his hands turned red, but he still couldn't peel it off.

Jian Changnian smiled and threw the hammer at her to her.

"Like this, hit the pine cone hard to break the pine scales, and then break it hard from the top, and the pine nut will fall out."

Xie Shi'an followed her example and did the same, and the pine nuts fell down one after another.

"Hey, come on, don't spill it."

They were peeling it here, while grandma was frying it, and the strong aroma of pine nuts soon came out.

Looking at the freshly baked fried pine nuts, Xie Shi'an couldn't help it, and while shrinking his hands, feeling hot, he peeled one of his ears and stuffed it into his mouth.

A smile appeared on the corner of the teenager's lips.

Sweet and delicious.

She seems to have a little understanding of what the joy of a good harvest is.

When she was going to bed at night, she realized that Jane often misses her family.

The doors and windows are ventilated, the paper is pasted when the glass is broken, and it rattles when the wind blows. There is not much furniture, not even a TV. The most valuable thing is the old wardrobe against the wall.

The only electric lamp in the room was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the light was very dim.

She and her grandmother live in such an environment, year after year.

Grandma walked in with a new quilt in her arms, her face a little embarrassed.

"The bed sheets and pillowcases have been changed during the day. This quilt is the dowry I sewed for Chang Nian. Every stitch and thread is made of good cotton. It's clean and warm. Don't dislike it."

Hearing the word "dowry", the quilt is still a dragon and phoenix pattern, and the red quilt is red, Jian Changnian blushed, somewhat unnaturally.

"How old am I? You already prepared a dowry for me."

"This is something that the elders have to worry about since they were young. If we prepare for it later, it will be too late."

Xie Shi'an shook his head and took the quilt over.

"I don't mind it, thank you."

She carried the quilt onto the bed, reached out to touch it, and found that the bed was warm, Xie Shi'an turned her head.

"you…"

Jian Changnian also realized something was wrong and touched the bed sheet.

"Grandma, you gave us the electric blanket, what do you do, the side room is so cold."

Grandma's face is full of wrinkles and gullies, but her smile is so heartwarming.

"Grandma is not cold, there is a thermos, the temperature in the mountains is low, Shi'an come to play, don't catch a cold."

Xie Shi'an pursed his lips, unplugged the plug, and took off the electric blanket and returned it to her before grandma stopped.

"Grandma, I'm in good health and I'm not afraid of the cold. You can use it. If you don't agree, then I won't come here in the future."

Grandma had no choice but to accept it.

"Hey, kid, go to bed early and remember to have breakfast tomorrow morning."

The light was turned off, and Xie Shi'an was lying on the bed, looking at the wooden, dilapidated ceiling with cobwebs wrapped around it by the moonlight.

"As for your parents, they seem to have never heard you mention it."

"I left home when I was very young. I didn't mention it because I didn't remember it."

"Then you don't want them?"

"I think, sometimes I think about what they look like, where they are now, and why they don't want me, but when it comes to getting along with them, I can't remember at all."

Jian Changnian moved and looked at her sideways.

"That's why I sometimes envy you a little bit."

Xie Shi'an curled the corner of his lips mockingly.

"My house looks like that, what's there to envy."

Jian Changnian's eyes were shining brightly in the darkness.

"No, at least there was a happy time, and my memory about my parents is blank."

Xie Shi'an was silent for a while.

"You have a grandmother."

I don't know why, every time I hear her speak in such a tone, Jian Changnian's heart will be tightened, so he said without thinking.

"You also have Sister Yuchu, Coach Yan, and... me."

As soon as the words fell, Xie Shi'an looked over with a sudden look.

Her eyes were like deep swirls, looked at by her like this, the boy seemed to be drowning again.

She turned away in a panic.

"Ah, I mean, if... if you want, you can come to my house every year to celebrate the New Year. Anyway, there are only me and grandma at home."

Xie Shi'an withdrew his gaze and rested his hands under his head.

"Come to the city with me tomorrow."

"what?"

"Go to see a doctor with Wangfu."