On the first day of the Lunar New Year, every household visits relatives and friends to exchange New Year's greetings. People from the forest farm who have good relationships with each other also come out to visit.

The Sheng family had a constant stream of visitors throughout the morning, with friends of Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xiping coming one after another to offer their New Year's greetings.

Everyone knows that Sheng Xinhua is a month old, and almost every guest who comes wants to see what the little guy looks like.

Fortunately, Sheng Xinhua is quite easy to manage; he stops crying and fussing after he's eaten his fill.

He's not shy around people who tease him, and he can even laugh out loud when he's in a good mood. Everyone praises him for being a worry-free child.

After playing for more than two hours, the little one got sleepy and started fussing. Zhou Qinglan took the child back to the west room, fed him, and coaxed him to sleep.

Sheng Xiping finally had some time to take his younger siblings out to visit relatives and friends for the New Year.

The first day of the Lunar New Year is spent visiting relatives and friends and exchanging New Year's greetings.

Sheng Xinhua has finished her postpartum confinement period, and the one-month celebration is now on the agenda. After consulting with Zhou Qinglan and her family, the Sheng family decided to hold the celebration on the fifth day of the first lunar month.

On the second and third days of the Lunar New Year, most families visit relatives or go back to the wife's parents' home. By the fifth day, those who are supposed to return have all returned, and relatives and friends gather together for a lively celebration.

After the full-month celebration on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, on the sixth day, taking advantage of Wang Jiachuan's trip to Songjianghe for a wedding banquet, Sheng Xiping and his wife hitched a ride together to Songjianghe.

The winter vacation is still quite long, so Zhou Qinglan can stay at her parents' home for a few more days. Sheng Xiping will return before the eighth day of the new year to work on the mountain.

The Sheng family was well-liked in the forest farm, and after Sheng Xinhua was born, many people came to give gifts and celebrate the occasion.

Zhang Shuzhen and Sheng Xiping had discussed it and estimated that the full moon celebration would need to have at least four or five tables.

There was still a lot of meat in the Sheng family's storeroom, but it was all odds and ends, and it probably wouldn't be enough to fill four or five tables.

So, starting on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Sheng Xiping led his two younger brothers out to work.

In the morning, we went up the mountain to set traps, and in the afternoon, we went to the river bend at the fishing platform on the upper reaches of the river to find a place to chisel holes in the ice to catch fish.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the three brothers took their dog into the mountains to walk their trap and go hunting.

Sure enough, the three brothers were really lucky. As soon as they entered the mountains, they encountered a group of pigs, and the six dogs rushed over and surrounded a sow.

In the evening, the little tiger Hua Hua returned and brought a sika deer to the Sheng family.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the Sheng family was busy preparing various ingredients.

Since they didn't plan to invite Chef Li to help with the full moon celebration, Zhang Shuzhen stayed home with her daughter-in-law and daughter to take care of everything.

All the meat, whether it should be stewed or fried, should be prepared in advance. When the time comes, just reheat it, add some seasonings or thicken it with cornstarch, and it's ready to serve.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, around nine o'clock in the morning, Zhou Mingyuan and his wife, along with their youngest son, arrived at Qianchuan Forest Farm by car.

Having received a call beforehand, Sheng Xiping was waiting at the small train station early in the morning, where he met his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law.

"Happy Chinese New Year, Dad and Mom."

As soon as the three got out of the car, Sheng Xiping hurriedly stepped forward, greeted them, and then reached out to take the things that Zhou Mingyuan and Zhou Qingyue were carrying.

"Good, good, Happy New Year." Zhou Mingyuan and his wife were overjoyed to see their son-in-law and replied with beaming smiles.

"When did you get here to wait? Your scarf and hat are covered in frost."

"Oh dear, we know where we live, you don't need to come pick us up. What if we stand outside in this freezing weather and get cold?"

Wang Chunxiu was observant; she could tell from the frost on Sheng Xiping's hat and scarf that her son-in-law must have been waiting there for quite a while.

"Mom, I just got here a little while ago, I'm not cold," Sheng Xiping said with a smile, seemingly unconcerned.

"Brother-in-law, Happy New Year." Zhou Qingyue finally had a chance to speak and came forward to greet her brother-in-law.

"Happy New Year, Happy New Year. I think Qingyue has grown taller and stronger, he looks like a young man now."

Sheng Xiping nodded to Zhou Qingyue and smiled.

Sheng Xiping was mostly just being polite, after all, he had seen Zhou Qingyue a few days ago, and it couldn't have changed too much in just a few days.

"Hmph, during the winter break, he just ate at home all day and did nothing, and he gained twenty pounds. Of course he's gotten strong!"

Sheng Xiping was being polite, but Wang Chunxiu was anything but. She glanced at her youngest son and said in an annoyed tone.

“Next winter, when you have your winter break, I’ll send you to your brother-in-law’s work team so you can work up the mountain and save you from staying home all day eating, sleeping, and getting fat.”

Zhou Qingyue is sixteen years old this year, which is the time when boys can eat a lot and grow taller.

During winter break, there was no school, and the Zhou family didn't have much work to do.

In previous years, when there was no firewood at home, Zhou Qingyue had to go up the mountain with her older brother and sister to collect firewood, which was quite a long and tiring journey.

Ever since Sheng Xiping gave the logs to the Zhou family as firewood, Zhou Qingyue no longer needed to collect firewood, and there was even less to do in the winter.

This kid is lazy. He doesn't like to go out during holidays. He just eats his fill and lies around at home all day. How can he not gain weight?

"Not bad, not fat at all. I think it looks good, a bit sturdy and healthy."

"A young man who's so skinny he could be blown away by the wind wouldn't look good. He's just the way he is."

Sheng Xiping never expected that his words would cause his mother-in-law to dislike his brother-in-law so much, so he quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Come on, Dad, Mom, let's go home and see my son Xinhua."

That little one is so cute now, even cuter than when he was a newborn, and he's adorable.

Sheng Xiping, fearing that his mother-in-law would continue to scold his brother-in-law, quickly changed the subject.

Sure enough, upon hearing about her grandson, Wang Chunxiu immediately forgot to scold her son.

"Of course! Babies change every day during their first month. Oh, you named the baby Xinhua? That's a nice name."

"Come on, let's go see our grandson." Wang Chunxiu quickened her pace involuntarily at the mention of her grandson.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!