"Hey, um, Mu Yi, it's almost the New Year. You'd better come over and pay for the floor tiles. The workers are waiting until I take back these external accounts and pay them wages. Everyone is waiting to get the money and go back to celebrate the New Year...

"

"Hey, Mu Yi. Take the time to come over and pay for the wooden door..."

Entering the twelfth lunar month, Mu Yi began to receive calls one after another, urging people to pay for things they needed to renovate the house and buy things on credit.

The New Year's Eve has come. Without money, this "New Year's Eve" is really difficult!

The worried Mu Yi really couldn't think of a way to solve the current difficulties. Seeing her husband at a loss what to do, Jin Lily also looked sad. The Chinese New Year was about to come, what should she do?

Life is already very difficult. If we want to slowly change the predicament we face, we can only increase revenue and reduce expenditure. "In order to increase revenue", the salary of the two of them is basically fixed. News about salary increases can be seen on TV, in newspapers, and on the Internet.

Reports have been reported, but they have not yet been implemented at the grassroots level. The salary income of the couple has become the only source of income for their family. However, the gap in the "outflow" of expenses is huge. There are both loans and borrowings.

There are still debts owed, and then there are the basic living expenses of the family and the interpersonal relationships between relatives and friends. The pressure of life has almost overwhelmed the two of them. Fortunately, the family's health is still good.

Healthy, no one is sick, otherwise, we will really be in a desperate situation. Among all the "flows", the only thing that can be "spared" is the family's living expenses.

As a result, they almost no longer participated in gatherings among friends, and they did not buy any new clothes... In order to save electricity, they almost always covered themselves in bed, because turning on the electric stove to warm up would increase the electricity bill.

In order to save water, they only wash the dishes once a day. They wash the dishes together from morning to night. Even the water used for washing clothes is pooled to flush the toilet...

One weekend at noon, Mu Yi and Jin Lily were having lunch.

"Ding dong, ding dong." The doorbell rang.

"Who would come to my house in such a cold weather?" Muyi said with some confusion.

"Go and open the door and take a look." Jin Lily asked Mu Yi to open the door.

Mu Yi hurriedly opened the door and saw that her mother-in-law was here.

Jin Lily's mother-in-law said with a smile: "I'm here to see Xiao Lele." Mu Yi quickly invited her mother-in-law into the house.

As soon as the mother-in-law entered the house, she saw that the food the two of them had was really poor. There were only fried eggs and fried shredded potatoes. She was very distressed.

"Mu Yi, no matter how difficult it is for you, don't treat yourself badly! How much money can you save from this tooth gap? Sayuri is now breastfeeding your little Lele. Without nutrition, how can a child grow? A person's life span

We have to encounter a lot of obstacles and overcome a lot of difficulties. If your health is not good, how can you still go on?"

After the mother-in-law finished speaking, she turned to leave.

Mu Yi and Jin Lily quickly persuaded her to stay. "Mother-in-law, you just came, why are you leaving? Sit down and play for a while. We will go buy some food and have dinner before going back."

The mother-in-law waved her hands repeatedly. "No, no. I have something else to do." Then she left.

The mother-in-law left. Mu Yi and Jin Baihe stared blankly at Xiao Lele in their arms, with mixed feelings in their hearts. They didn't know why their mother-in-law left suddenly. Could it be that they disliked the lack of fire in the house?

Did she leave after she was roasted or cold? Probably not. Her mother-in-law felt sorry for Jin Lily the most. So what was the reason why her mother-in-law left suddenly just after she arrived? Jin Lily couldn't figure it out, and Mu Yi couldn't figure it out either.

Jin Lily is very clear about her family situation and understands her husband's difficulties. Although she knows that what her mother-in-law said is very reasonable, she has no way to change it at present. After all, it is difficult to live in debt, and she still owes so much.

Lots of debt.

Mu Yi also felt very uncomfortable. Although he had thought about the difficulties he would face in the future before getting married, he did not expect that the difficulties would be so many and so heavy. He felt that he was really sorry for his wife and his daughter.

. He needs to think of some ways to increase some income for his family. For example, he needs to do some temporary work after work.

Just when the couple was immersed in a sad and depressing atmosphere and couldn't extricate themselves, Xiao Lele cried. Maybe the little guy was hungry? Jin Lily quickly fed Xiao Lele. The little guy took a few mouthfuls of milk.

, and fell asleep obediently again. Suddenly Jin Lily felt a heat on her legs. She knew that it was Xiao Lele who had peed.

I quickly asked my husband to get the diaper. The husband quickly went to the balcony to get the diaper. Looking at the white area outside the balcony, the diaper in his hand was cold and cold. Such a cold diaper would touch my daughter’s butt.

Down there, how cold is it? Especially at night, how many times do you have to get up and change diapers, for fear of accidentally catching a cold on little Lele.

Mu Yi felt really uncomfortable in his heart. How he wished he could have some money to buy some "diapers" for his beloved daughter. In that case, he could greatly reduce the frequency of better diapers and minimize the need for little Lele.

How often your body is exposed to this cold air.

Mu Yi picked up the electric plug of the electric stove and plugged it into the power strip, and pressed the power switch. The electric stove wire made a "wow" sound when the power was turned on. The electric stove wire also slowly turned from black to red. Mu Yi quickly turned on the power switch.

He held the diaper and heated it up, then quickly turned off the switch and put the slightly heated diaper on his daughter.

Little Lele had woken up. Her father put her in a dry and warm diaper, which made her feel very comfortable. Although she couldn't speak, she still gave her father a grateful look.

Seeing the comfortable expression on his daughter's little face, Mu Yi, as a father, felt really sad.

"Brother, you see little Lele is so sensible. She is thanking her father for changing her warm diaper."

With tears in his eyes, Mu Yi said with a smile: "Xiao Lele. When daddy makes money, he will buy you diapers."

The two of them changed Xiao Lele's diaper and then went back to bed to cover it. This way it would be warmer.

"Brother, the Chinese New Year is coming soon."

"Yeah. It's almost time."

"Otherwise, I won't buy any clothes. The clothes I bought when I was about to get married are still very new. Just buy one for you and your daughter."

"How can that be done? Just buy it for you and Xiao Lele. I don't need to buy it. I can just wear the suit I got married in."

The two were discussing buying clothes for the New Year.

"Ding dong, ding dong." The doorbell suddenly rang again.

"Brother, what happened today?" Jin Lily asked with some confusion.

"Yeah. Usually there aren't many people around. What's going on today?"

Mu Yi quickly got out of bed and opened the door.

"Mother-in-law, why is it you?"

It turns out that my mother-in-law is back again.

The mother-in-law walked in quickly.

Then he said with some vigilance: "Close the door quickly."

"Sayuri, it's my mother-in-law who's here." Mu called into the bedroom as he closed the door.

When Jin Lily heard this, she quickly got out of bed and carried Xiao Lele out of the bedroom.

"Mother-in-law, you're here. Xiao Lele, look, who's here to see you. It's the old lady who's here to see you."

Jin Lily was teasing Xiao Lele while greeting her mother-in-law. At this time, Mu Yi brought a bench for her mother-in-law to sit on and pressed the power switch. The electric stove was powered on and started to heat up slowly. Everyone sat around to warm up.

I saw my mother-in-law slowly taking out something from her pocket. It was a rolled-up plastic bag wrapped in a handkerchief. She slowly opened the handkerchief, and then slowly opened the plastic bag. Inside was a rolled-up plastic bag.

Money tied with a rubber band.

Seeing this, Mu Yi and Jin Lily asked almost at the same time: "Mother-in-law, what are you going to do?"

The mother-in-law stretched out her index finger and made a "shhh" gesture. Then she said: "This is the money your mother and the sisters have given me during festivals over the years. The total is 4,000 yuan. I have always been reluctant to use it. I see

It's really difficult for you. I'll give it to you."

The two quickly declined.

"Mother-in-law, they honor you with this money. Just take it and use it yourself. It's useful to us."

"I can't tell if you have any use for it yet. Take it quickly. Don't tell anyone, especially your little aunt. If she knows, she will definitely not be happy."

The two continued to refuse.

"Take it. Mu Yi, this money isn't much. Just think it was lent to you by your mother-in-law. You are in trouble now, so take the emergency first. When your life gets better one day, just give it to me.

.”

Mu Yi still wanted to refuse, but Jin Lily had already taken the money.

"Thank you, mother-in-law." Jin Lily knew that her husband would not accept the money. However, this money was undoubtedly "timely rain" and "carbon in the snow" for them to tide over the current difficulties.

The mother-in-law was very happy when she saw Jin Lily taking the money. She said some words of encouragement to the two of them and then went back.

After her mother-in-law left, Jin Lily turned off the electric stove and went back to the bedroom.

"Sayuri, how can you take over your mother-in-law's money? Her mother-in-law is already old, and she doesn't have a pension like her father-in-law. She just relies on everyone to give her a little money during the holidays. She is still reluctant to use it. How can we take it?

To use it?"

Mu Yi somewhat blamed Jin Lily.

"Brother, this money is just for use. My mother-in-law saw that we were pitiful and specially used it to help us. If we don't take it, we're afraid of hurting her. Besides, if I don't take the money, I'll owe it to you.

How to pay people for all the credit and arrears? On New Year's Eve, everyone is waiting to get money to go back and celebrate the New Year. Bosses also have difficulties as bosses, and workers also have difficulties as workers. We just need to remember the kindness of our mother-in-law, get out of the predicament as soon as possible, and respect her more in the future

The old man will be fine."

"But the money is not enough to pay?"

"I know it's not enough to pay, but it's better to pay a little than not to pay at all, right? Just discuss with the bosses and say that it's not enough to pay them all. Pay some first and wait for the rest.

Pay every year.”

"Just pay what you can, right?"

"You still have to keep some money in your hand. Otherwise, what will you do when the time comes to 'bless the New Year'?"

If Jin Lily hadn't said anything, Mu Yi would have almost forgotten about it. "New Year's greetings" is also a traditional custom in Xigui. It means that newlyweds should pay New Year's greetings to their immediate elders during the Spring Festival of the first year.

It is to pay New Year greetings to Mu Yi and Jin Lily’s immediate elders from their parents’ generation and above. The New Year’s gifts are also very particular. They should come in pairs of tobacco, wine and tea, and four handfuls of noodles. Now milk and fruit are also added.
To be continued...