"Look at Xiaobaoâs eyes." As if wishing he could see through.
"This canât be given to the little baby to eat. Maybe around the same time next year."
If it werenât so hot, Mo Jingchun could finish the moderately sized roasted sweet potato in just a couple of bites, right in front of the little guy.
"Xiaochun, are you dating anyone at school? Still seeing your high school girlfriend?"
"Cough, cough, cough~"
Mo Jingchun almost choked on the sweet potato. Why does everyone keep saying he had a girlfriend in high school? Why doesnât he know about it?
Where is she? At least let me, the person involved, see if sheâs pretty or not.
"No, itâs not that easy to find one." Mo Jingchun didnât want to back down, so he casually asked Aunt Wang, "What about Fei? Is he planning to bring his wife home for the New Year this year?"
As soon as Mo Jingchun said this, everyone burst out laughing, except Aunt Wang, whose expression didnât look very good. But in the dim light, Mo Jingchun didnât notice.
A few days later, Mo Jingchun found out that Fei did have a girlfriend this year and was planning to bring her home for the New Year. But the girl ran away without a word, wasting a lot of money.
"Eh? Did you hear Old Liu from the village entrance passed away last night? How about we go give our respects together tomorrow?"
Mo Jingchun had learned his lesson and decided it was better to be a listener. If he said something wrong, it could become a big issue.
"How could you not hear? Itâs been spreading around. Every year, someone dies from carbon monoxide poisoning because they fall asleep with the stove burning and forget to ventilate. And yet, every year someone forgets."
"Everyone says Old Liu passed away last night. But I say, who knows when it really was. They said when they found Old Liu, his body was already stiff. It took over ten strong men and they almost couldnât manage to get him into the coffin."
"When Old Liuâs family got the news, they rushed back overnight from out of town. Itâs said Old Liuâs son was in such a hurry, he didnât even have time to change out of his cement-stained clothes."
The Old Liu everyone was talking about, Mo Jingchun knew of him, but wasnât very familiar. He didnât remember ever speaking to him.
Just then, Mo Jingchunâs uncle, Mo Changyou, spoke up.
"Xiaochun, tomorrow you come with me to Old Liuâs house to give a gift. When your parents passed, his family came to us as well. Go check the accounts."
Mo Changyou looked at the little one in Xiaochunâs arms and reminded him, "Tomorrow, let the gift master enter it into the accounts. Iâll hold your sister, and you go into the main hall to pay respects."
"Candy is too young to see the big red coffin."
(In the countryside, when an elder passes away, itâs a tradition for the younger generation to show respect by bowing. In return, the deceasedâs relatives will also kneel with them.)
"Alright." Mo Jingchun nodded in understanding.
"Letâs not talk about Old Liu. Havenât you noticed that around this time, and just after the New Year, someone almost always passes away? Itâs really strange."
Hearing Aunt Wang bring up this topic again, Mo Jingchun couldnât help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Elderly people passing away in winter, isnât that quite normal?
Older folks already have weaker resistance, and itâs even more so in the winter. Plus, their bones are more brittle. Many older people canât recover from a fall within a couple of months, and thatâs the reason.
Mo Jingchun let everyone indulge in their imaginations, with no intention of explaining anything.
Under the warm heater, Candy unknowingly fell asleep in Mo Jingchunâs arms, occasionally furrowing her brows adorably.
Once the little one fell asleep, Mo Jingchun wrapped her in his down jacket and said to the others, "Uncle, Candyâs asleep. Iâm going home first."
"Go on, donât let Xiaobao catch a chill on the way."
"Mm, alright."
Walking along the dark path, the sound of water flowing in the stream was loud, and Mo Jingchun occasionally turned to look back.
Although Mo Jingchun believes in science, every time he hears about someone nearby passing away, he canât help but feel thereâs something following him on the night road.
With his heartbeat growing louder, Mo Jingchun quickened his pace.
Only the big gate of his home could give Mo Jingchun a sense of security.
After turning on the air conditioning, Mo Jingchun removed the little oneâs coat and carefully tucked her into bed.
With the little one settled, Mo Jingchun then opened his suitcase, took out the account book, and began looking for Liu Taoâs name.
Just as his uncle said, when his father and mother passed away, Old Liuâs family came to give gifts, each time exactly 200 yuan.
Mo Jingchun thought about it a bit. Returning 500 tomorrow would certainly be enough. For the exact amount, heâd still consult his uncle, as he really didnât know the customs around these things.
Suddenly, Mo Jingchun froze completely. He discovered a shocking truth.
All the household cash was stored in a bank account before he went to school, and for the past half a year, heâd only been using mobile payments and hadnât had cash in hand.
Without cash, how could he give a gift tomorrow? Itâs not like he could tell the gift master, "Uncle, can I scan the QR code?"
It seemed he still needed to find his uncle.
Mo Jingchun thought to himself silently, when nothingâs wrong, find Uncle; when somethingâs wrong, find Uncle; anyway, finding Uncle is always right.
Without feeling sleepy, Mo Jingchun soaked his feet in warm water, comfortably climbed into bed, put on his headphones, and started watching short videos.
"Hey buddies, the second wave of the matchmaking army has gone home. The village belles from each place are also almost back. If you donât hurry, are you planning to stay single?"
Originally, Mo Jingchun was going to swipe to the next video, but he accidentally touched the comments section.
Seeing the comments from netizens, Mo Jingchun laughed.
Liangliang: "Itâs so fast, only ten days left until the New Year. Let me quietly ask, does everyone have money for the festivities?" Liked 13k.
And the replies to this comment were the reason Mo Jingchun laughed out loud.
Very Carved: "How can you say something so cold with a 36.5-degree body temperature??? " Liked 32k.
After laughing, Mo Jingchun had a bit of resentment towards the recommendation algorithm of short videos.
Whatever short videos you like, it will endlessly send you similar ones, yet those with millions of likes seem impossible to find.
Whatâs even more annoying is, whatever content you search for, in the days that follow, the short video platform will continuously push videos related to your search.
In the morning, Mo Jingchun was woken up by the little guy. After the little one woke up, regardless of whether youâre still sleeping or not, he would keep going "ah~" "ah~" "ah~" until Mo Jingchun was woken up.
Looking at the little guy with a tuft of unruly hair sticking up after sleeping, Mo Jingchun pinched the little oneâs cheek.
"Once youâre awake, all you know is drinking milk, you need it five times a day."
With the morning gift presentation still ahead, after making milk for the little one, Mo Jingchun got dressed, got up, washed, and even took extra care to wash his hair.
Half an hour later, looking at the cowlick that wouldnât go down no matter what method he used, and the little oneâs relentless laughter, Mo Jingchun fell into deep thought.
"Candy, itâs not that brother isnât strong enough, itâs just that your messy hair is beyond brotherâs capabilities."
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