The seventh uncle and the third uncle

The gap between people sometimes appears inexplicably and cannot be crossed.

——Inscription

My seventh uncle and third uncle were friends of Guangxi when he was growing up. In our country parlance, the two of them are just as good as each other.

Neither the seventh uncle nor the third uncle are my direct relatives. There is a saying in our countryside that three miles and five villages dare not spread their roots. This means that neighboring villages cannot be counted in detail, and relatives can be counted in one calculation. With these layers of intricate relationships, it is indeed inconvenient to call them names. If we talk about it here, your seniority is higher, but if we talk about it elsewhere, you will be a few generations younger. So, when encountering such a situation, everyone calls him by his own name. Anyway, few people really mind what you call him.

The seventh uncle is probably closer to my dad’s side. Needless to say, the third uncle is a relative from my mom’s side.

The seventh uncle and the third uncle are similar in age, and their families are separated by a small river. Often the person on the other side of the river shouts hello, and the other person responds immediately. The adults of the two families sometimes joke about it, but it's a pity that they are two young boys. If it was a boy and a girl, they would have made a baby kiss and saved some dowry money. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the seventh uncle and the third uncle said in unison, "The dowry money must not be less."

Everyone who heard this laughed and said, "These two children will definitely be a good couple in the future." "Soft ears."

What we say here is that a man has soft ears, which means he is afraid of his wife. The two of them were not angry after hearing this. They twisted their necks and had veins popping up. They did not argue with the people who laughed at them.

Unexpectedly, the deep friendship between the two gradually fell apart after they got married.

Uncle Qi came from a well-to-do family and married a local girl from a neighboring village. Aunt Qi’s long, shiny black braids disturbed the dreams of many young people.

The third uncle lost his father in his early years, and there was only one sick old woman in the family. If the person you say you're interested in asks around, there's a 10-100 chance he'll be a loser. However, the third uncle was very talented and eloquent, and he really captured the heart of a girl.

The second girl of the Dong family in our village stayed at his house and refused to leave. It is useless for the adults of the Dong family to use both soft and hard tactics. The second girl is like a bastard who eats weights - she is determined to follow her third uncle. They had no choice but to reluctantly pick a day, make a few simple dowries, collect a small amount of betrothal gift, and let the second girl pass.

When the seventh aunt and the third aunt didn't have children, the seventh uncle and the third uncle still wished they could wear the same pair of pants. They learned from drama. If both families have boys, they will become brothers with different surnames. If both families have girls, they will become Jinlan sisters. If a boy and a girl are born, they will be married.

Pregnancy lasts ten months and gives birth once. Both of them are happy to be fathers.

Uncle Qi’s family has a big fat boy.

The third aunt gave birth to a daughter.

Uncle Qi immediately became swollen, bragging to everyone he met that his daughter-in-law had a prosperous husband, and that their family was prosperous in both people and wealth.

The third uncle didn't say anything. He held his little cotton-padded jacket in his hand and was afraid of dropping it. He held it in his mouth and his worry subsided.

However, in the dead of night, the third uncle would sigh quietly. The third aunt saw it all, and she secretly made up her mind to give birth to a "big boy" for her third uncle.

In the next few years, the seventh aunt and the third aunt seemed to be competing to have children with all their strength. Your baby’s second child is born in July, while my baby’s baby is in August.

Strangely enough, the seventh aunt gave the seventh uncle five golden flowers in one breath, and the third aunt gave the third uncle five golden flowers.

The third uncle likes playing with the seventh uncle less and less. Sometimes the seventh uncle would roar on this side of the river, and the third uncle would respond faintly, or be silent at all.

The relationship between the seventh uncle and the third uncle dropped to zero because the seventh uncle got drunk and bragged to others. Even though he has five children in his family, he doesn't have to worry about his daughter-in-law at all. When people asked why, the seventh uncle said incoherently, "My daughters-in-law are all being raised at the third uncle's house across the street."

These words were added to the third uncle's ears, and the third uncle was so angry. Yeah, aren't you being a taunt? Even if my daughter, He Laosan, never marries, she will never marry into your family. Just wait and see!

I heard the adults murmuring that the third aunt had been working for a few more months, but we did not see any new members of her family. The third aunt's health was getting worse and worse. After smoking all night, the third uncle sighed and gave up. Who dares to say that the girls' surnames are not He?

Here the third aunt has died down, but over there the seventh aunt has given the seventh uncle two more boys. Uncle Qi didn't even drink anymore. Looking at the seven monkeys jumping up and down in the house, the sense of superiority of having many children and being blessed had long since disappeared.

Many years later, five golden phoenixes flew out of the three tile-roofed houses of my third uncle's house. Uncle Qi, on the other hand, is either on the way to apply for homestead land or on the site of building a house year after year.

After building a house, the skin was peeling off, which made Uncle Qi, who was born in the year of the Ox, feel that he was born in the year of the Snake.

The population of Uncle Qi’s family is getting bigger and bigger, and there are bound to be a lot of quarrels over the separation of the family. The seventh uncle's voice, like Hong Zhong's, could not suppress their quarrel.

The third uncle's family also renovated their house. His daughters repeatedly asked him to go to a big city to enjoy a happy life, but the third uncle refused to go. He just liked to make a pot of tea, sit under the honey locust tree in the yard, and look at the old house of Uncle Qi's family on the other side of the river.

Uncle Qi’s waist became more and more bent, and he would occasionally look at Uncle Qi, who was holding a teapot on the other side of the river.

However, they never crossed the river again.