In early May, it was the season when locust trees were in full bloom. Li Yan opened the car window and breathed in the air of his hometown. The fragrance of locust trees on the roadside was refreshing.

This is the first time I have been back since I left my hometown of Shitou Village in Ancheng County after the Spring Festival.

It was already dark, and when he saw his mother still waiting at the gate, he quickly parked the car on the side of the road and got out of the car in a hurry.

The mother smiled: "The silly boy is back!"

Seeing his mother's kind face, his eyes were a little moist: "Mom!"

Mother took Li Yan's hand: "Your aunt said that the second daughter of Tiezhu's family in the east of the village is also divorced. She is raising a boy, who is five or six years old. Do you think you are willing to do so?"

"Why don't you go into the house to talk? What are you talking about there?" Father's voice came from the north room.

Li Yan turned off the door light and helped his mother into the north room.

The father is in his sixties, with a dark face and a serious expression, sitting on the bench next to the dinner table.

The rice in northern rural areas is millet porridge, and the staple food is steamed buns, a home-cooked dish. There is a bowl of fried tofu and a plate of purchased meatloaf on the table.

"Actually, you shouldn't leave the house cleanly. My folks all say so. It's because she has someone outside, not you." My father brought up this topic again.

"What do the folks say? Everyone knows it?" Li Yan asked weakly.

My mother said, "Eat quickly, it's getting cold. It's been almost a year since your divorce. Besides, our place is only forty miles away from the county seat. It turns out that your wife doesn't come back very often, but good things don't go out, and bad things spread thousands of miles away."

Li Yan took a piece of tofu and stuffed it into his mouth: "It's not easy for her either. She has been suffering with me for so many years. I thought about going to the south to work and earn more money, but I didn't expect this to happen. The word "cleanse and leave the house" sounds like

She's very generous, but actually she doesn't have much property. She still has a loan on the house in the county town. She will pay the loan when she lives there. Aren't we, Niuniu, following her? I don't want Niuniu to rent a house with her."

"When Niuniu goes on vacation someday, pick her up and stay for a day." When it came to his granddaughter, his father didn't complain anymore.

"Okay, I have time. I went to Chuncheng to work, not in the county."

"Why did you go to Spring City again?"

"I don't want to go to the south anymore. It's too far away from home. You are getting older and need someone to take care of you, but I don't want to go back to the county. It is a sad place. It is more suitable to go to Chuncheng. My classmate's factory is in

He works at an electric power company, and his father is our boss, so I want to work there first."

After dinner, my mother asked again: "Would you like that girl from Tiezhu's family? If so, I'll let your aunt talk to her."

"I don't want to get married yet, I'm fine being alone."

"Silly boy, you have to hurry up on this matter. You are already 35. It will be even worse when you get older."

"Mom, I'm going to the west entrance of the village to play with Dawei for a while. I'll leave at six o'clock tomorrow morning. I can just make a bag of instant noodles."

"Don't go out after getting up so early." Mother shouted from behind.

Dawei is Li Yan's childhood friend. He is tall and dark-skinned. He owns a shop that repairs farm machinery at the west entrance of the village. He is divorced and is currently single.

My parents live in an old house at the south end of the village, and Dawei is the only one in the agricultural machinery store.

Next to the road at the west entrance of the village, two people chatted on the steps in front of the store.

"Your mother is always worried. In the clothing factory, are you still worried about finding a wife among the women?" Dawei said.

"Girls are all realistic now. If you don't have a house, no one will marry you."

"The second daughter of the Tiezhu family does not want a house, but the bride price cannot be less. If she marries a matchmaker, it will be the same as marrying a new wife."

Li Yan asked: "Why don't you just go and propose? Isn't she bringing a boy? He can become a father just in time. It's just one step."

Dawei quickly waved his hand: "Don't talk nonsense, we are still related, don't you know? My grandma's relative, in terms of seniority, I have to call that girl the second aunt. It's not appropriate, but you can."

"Then if I marry her, do you have to call me second uncle?"

"What second uncle? They say they are relatives, but in fact they can't be beaten." Dawei punched Li Yan, "Go inside and rest for a while!"

Dawei is a very smart person. He has liked to make some objects since he was a child. When he was in the fifth grade of elementary school, he made a pencil sharpener, which attracted the admiration of all the teachers and classmates in the school.

The teacher put the pencil into the pencil sharpener. He made this one that can hold several pencils at once. He turned it around and watched the pencil sharpener scrape the sawdust in circles. The teacher looked at Dawei with approval and really scraped.

Look at the wood.

Dawei also invented a dumpling machine two years ago. It is electric. You can put the top and stuffing on it, turn on the machine, and the dumplings will come out immediately.

At that time, he was obsessed with applying for a patent and was looking for connections everywhere. To apply for a patent, he needed to prepare a lot of information. Just drawing the drawings stumped him, and in the end the matter fell through.

Li Yan sat in Dawei's room for a long time, "Dawei, what are you doing? Don't repair the tractor secretly. I finally came back. Can't you work again during the day tomorrow?"

"There is no job of repairing tractors. This industry is not good now. There is nothing to do every day." David walked in with a bright sword, "Yanzi, look at what I spent two months building. I just finished it."

The last step is just to open your eyes."

"Oh my god, how can you open my eyes? You are clearly asking me to start killing." Li Yan held the sword in his hands, "It's really heavy. What material is it made of?"

"Made of imported bearings."

"You can't sell this!"

"I understand. If I don't sell it, I just play it myself."

"Give it to me!" Li Yan couldn't put it down holding the sword, "defend yourself when I go back later."

Dawei was anxious: "That's not possible! If you don't sell it, you won't give it away."

"How about making a deal? How about I find a professional engineer for you and help you draw a picture and apply for a patent for the dumpling machine?"

Dawei shook his head like a rattle: "Why did you go there earlier? I don't want to think about it anymore. I'm afraid they will steal my invention!"

"Otherwise, you told me that you wanted to learn to repair cars. I will find you a car repair shop in Spring City. I guarantee that you can learn it in one year. Then you can come back, change the sign and repair cars. That's better than repairing cars."

Tractors make money.”

"Okay, I'll give you the sword, but don't do bad things." Dawei said helplessly.

"Thank you, I promise!" Li Yan picked up the sword, "Do you have a bag? It's so late at night, I might scare others on the road."

Dawei found a piece of cloth and wrapped the sword tightly.

Li Yan walked home with the sword, put it in the trunk of the car outside the door, gently opened the courtyard door, and returned to his room.

Turning on the light and lying on the bed, he saw that the happy words from his wedding ten years ago were still posted on the wall. The color was no longer bright red, but the wedding scene that year was still fresh in his memory.
Chapter completed!