In my father's generation, my uncle was the only one who got rich first. And he relied on gambling to dig the first pot of gold, and in the following decades of life, this matter was rendered by him in a high-sounding manner.
My uncle came from a family of blacksmiths in the town, and his ancestors had been blacksmiths for generations. In his generation, there were five brothers, and only his uncle inherited this ancestral craft. The other four people, who worked first and then businessmen, were unwilling to serve this "iron" job, one of the "three hardships of life".
My uncle is in his early sevens, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and brute force in his genes. He was used to talking and drank profusely. If he had been born in ancient times, he would have been a man of the rivers and lakes who was happy to take revenge.
At the age of fifteen, he didn't know what master he was learning from, and he learned a gambling skill, so he was famous far and wide.
There is a popular gambling in my hometown to guess odds and evens. Two copper coins, a wooden bowl, when the copper coin rotates on the table, cover the wooden bowl and knock lightly, and the answer will be fixed in the bowl. It is said that my uncle was able to distinguish the front and back of the copper coins in the wooden bowl with an accuracy rate of more than 80% based on the subtle differences in sound.
There is also a poker game similar to "fried golden flower" in the local area, which came in handy when my uncle learned from the masters.
My uncle was the same age as my aunt, and they were a year older than the Republic. When the two went on a blind date, at the request of the matchmaker and the parents of both parties, the uncle made a guarantee and promised to completely quit gambling addiction after marriage.
When my aunt first got married, my uncle kept his promise and became a traditional blacksmith at home. He pulls bellows in the corner of the yard every day, tinkling and pounding. My aunt worked odd jobs to support the family, most of them working on construction sites.
In the eyes of others, the aunt married into the town and got rid of the fate of mud legs. But in fact, at first, my aunt did not live the life of an imaginary city person.
In the 80s of the last century, my uncle and aunt began to set up a stall to sell ironware, and my aunt said goodbye to the days of working as a small worker on the construction site.
Maybe it was because she had been on the construction site for a long time and had inhaled too much dust, and my aunt had developed bronchitis, which is similar to asthma. For as long as she can remember, her voice has never been quiet. It was as if her throat was clogged with phlegm, and every once in a while, she would cough a few times and clear her throat.
Soon after he started setting up a stall, he returned to the ranks of professional gamblers after his uncle was stimulated by something. Since the gamblers in the town have long heard of his name, he hides far away, and his uncle can only go to the surrounding countryside to look for prey.
My house is about four kilometers from town. When I was in elementary school, my uncle, who rarely visited my house when he visited relatives, would often come to my house for a meal and borrow a bowl of water to drink.
I later learned that he had been setting up a gambling game near my house for two years. Usually, he can go home complacent after killing all sides, but occasionally he can't get out of it all.
An acquaintance in the same village once witnessed my uncle being beaten by three or four people in the grass by the river. The reason was that several people lost inexplicably, and they suspected that their uncle had done something to recover the lost money, and in addition to recovering the lost money, he also beat him with a blue nose and swollen face to show his anger.
My uncle was absent from home for three days, and his iron-making work was completely abandoned, but no one in the family could control him. Most of the time, my aunt insisted on going out to the stall and buying goods every day.
In 1990, the highlight moment that my uncle has repeatedly recalled. There is a store in the town facing the entrance of the farmers' market**, which is the most prosperous part of the town's main street. Although it is only two dilapidated timber-framed bungalows, it still attracts many buyers to inquire about it.
In the end, my uncle bought the house for 30,000 yuan, ending the days of setting up a stall. My uncle and aunt expanded from simply selling ironware to various items commonly used in farms and household hardware.
My uncle has since completely stayed away from gambling. Two years later, they built a three-story house on the street and moved from an old house in the alley.
After that, the uncle who became rich saved face and accumulated talking points for himself one by one.
First of all, the eldest cousin, who has been working in Beijing for many years, is about to get married, and because the object dislikes him as a rural hukou, his uncle spent 20,000 yuan to help him do the "agricultural to non-farming". In the second year, ** uncle spent another 30,000 yuan to open a "commercial grain account" for his aunt, little cousin and cousin.
Immediately afterwards, the little cousin took the college entrance examination and just passed the college score line. My uncle spent some money to let my little cousin study as a committee trainee in an undergraduate college in this province, and it is said that the cost was not less than 50,000 yuan.
Later, the two cousins bought a house, and the uncle supported them to help them start a family and gain a foothold in the big city.
Several children felt sorry for their aunt, and they would often quarrel with him because of his uncle's disregard for his family when he was young.
A few things without conscience, didn't you have no way back then? If it weren't for the money won in those years, where would the money come from to buy the store, and where would today's conditions be? The eldest has a hukou, a few of you have a hukou, and the second one goes to college, which one doesn't need money ......"Uncle is already sharp-tongued, and these things that are not necessarily related seem to be inextricably linked when they come out of his mouth.
In 2006, my aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer, which is not unrelated to her experience when she was younger. My uncle has a relative uncle in Beijing, who is an insider in the system, and his rank is not low. Through the relationship of relatives, my aunt spent a year and a half in Beijing, and because there was no medical insurance, it cost a lot of money.
In the winter of the following year, my aunt left Beijing and returned to her hometown to recuperate. I heard that in H Town, Linxian County, which is across the river from the town, there is an unusually "magical" goddess, and my uncle and aunt visit it two or three times a month. In the past few months, they have contributed more than 100,000 yuan to the goddess.
At that pass, no one can stop him.
Your mother has suffered enough with me when I was young, and as long as there is hope, even if my family is bankrupt, I will try my best to save her. In the face of the persuasion of several children, my uncle ignored it.
In Qingming in 2008, my aunt finally left.
After the aunt left, despite the repeated invitations of the two cousins, the uncle, who was used to being free-spirited, insisted on living alone in the town. He has a little wine for three meals a day, and when he is happy, he opens the door to do business, otherwise he will close the door and sleep.
In 2016, due to long-term excessive drinking, my uncle passed out at home due to a cerebral infarction. Fortunately, the door was open at the time, and a customer came in to buy something and found him in time. After being discharged from the hospital, his eldest cousin took him to his side and no longer dared to let him live alone in his hometown.
Two years ago, during the Qingming Festival, two cousins took their uncle back to their hometown. I haven't seen him for six years, my uncle is on crutches, but he doesn't have a crooked mouth and eyes after a stroke, but he speaks a little slurred. The elderly uncle is no different from an ordinary kind elder.
Since my uncle bought the two bungalows on the street, he walked around every time he saw relatives getting together to play mahjong. perhaps such a pleasant act was too pediatric in his eyes .
Scatter all the family wealth to treat your aunt, and my uncle is not a bad person. If I hadn't mentioned it here, no one would have remembered how he got his first pot of gold when he was young. Actually, no one cares.