Chapter 279 New Year's Eve

After another heavy snowfall, New Year's Eve arrives.

All officials had three days off, and Shen Qingyuan also stopped what he was doing and concentrated on staying at home to spend the New Year with Chunxi.

This was the first New Year the two of them spent together. Chunxi's excitement overwhelmed her sleepiness, and she pulled Shen Qingyuan to build a snowman in the yard early in the morning.

Shen Qingyuan had never played these games before, and the snowman he made was very ugly. Chunxi was very experienced. He took a shovel and started to build a cute snowman.

"Although my husband is very good at everything, he is far inferior to me when it comes to making snowmen. Our children will definitely like me more in the future."

Chunxi held the shovel and admired his work, with pride in his eyes.

Shen Qingyuan didn't argue with her, but nodded in agreement: "Madam, you've been pregnant for ten months, and the child deserves to be closer to you. I just hope that Madam won't ignore you when you have a child."

Shen Qingyuan's tone was serious. Chunxi raised an eyebrow and said, "After giving birth, my figure will be out of shape, and I might even develop some underlying health problems. I should be hoping that my husband won't change his mind and ignore me."

"I won't change my mind," Shen Qingyuan said without hesitation, "No matter what my wife becomes, she will always be the best in my eyes."

After receiving the promise, Chunxi raised the corners of her lips and nodded, saying, "As long as my husband treats me consistently, I will always put him first. Even if we have a child, he will still be the most important person to me in this world."

Chunxi gave the servants in the mansion a holiday so that they could go back and reunite with their families. At noon, he prepared a soup pot and ate mutton hotpot with Uncle Tiger, Uncle Leopard and the guards in the mansion.

While they were eating, it started snowing again. The meat was bubbling in the pot, and the aroma filled the air. The food made them feel warm all over. Although they could not go home, they had double the monthly allowance, and their faces were filled with happy smiles.

After two glasses of wine, Uncle Bao couldn't help but sigh: "It's so comfortable to eat a hot pot of soup in the snow. I feel like I have lived in vain for so many years."

Chunxi added more mutton to the pot and said softly, "The soup pot is easy to prepare. If Uncle Bao wants to eat it in the future, you can ask the kitchen staff to prepare it, or you can make it yourself. I will also write down the recipe for the dipping sauce for you later."

After a period of peaceful life, Uncle Bao felt that the days of living on the edge of a knife were like a dream. Now when he looked at Chunxi again, he didn't feel like looking at an employer, but rather like looking at his own junior.

Uncle Bao scooped a piece of mutton into the bowl, his eyes stung by the heat. He choked up a little when he spoke again, "I, Lin Bao, never owe anyone anything. You gave me your special dipping sauce, and I'll teach you my special knife skills. Once you've learned it, show off your skills. I'm sure those ladies from the aristocratic families won't dare to look down on you anymore."

"OK!"

Chunxi's eyes lit up and he enthusiastically discussed Uncle Bao's unique knife skills.

Uncle Hu did not participate in the discussion. He just silently poured a glass of wine for Shen Qingyuan and asked in a low voice: "Master said before that he would help us find someone. Do you have any clues now?"

"He changed his name a long time ago, and after so many years, searching for him is like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are no clues at the moment, but I have found out one thing: when you got into trouble, you weren't robbed by bandits, but were deliberately hunted down."

As soon as these words came out, Uncle Hu's face changed slightly. He didn't want Lin Bao to know about this, so he got up and left under the pretext of getting some wine. After a while, Shen Qingyuan also came out.

Since there was no one around, Uncle Hu then asked, "Sir, have you found out who is behind this?"

“Not yet.”

Shen Qingyuan shook his head. Uncle Hu frowned, suspecting that he hadn't done his best to investigate. Then he heard Shen Qingyuan say, "One of the escorts who escorted you away was my father-in-law. If it weren't for him risking his life to protect you, you probably wouldn't have had a chance to escape alive. Even if it weren't for you, I would continue to investigate this matter."

Uncle Hu was shocked. Thinking of Chunxi's always bright and enthusiastic face, his heart sank. After a moment, he asked, "May I ask what is the name of your father-in-law?"

"My father-in-law is Cao Renfeng, the deputy head of the Tianxia Escort Agency."

After lunch, Chunxi couldn't resist the sleepiness after digesting the food and fell into a deep sleep. She didn't get up until the evening. She changed her clothes and went back to the Marquis' Mansion with Shen Qingyuan to have the New Year's Eve dinner.

Chunxi just slept in the afternoon and was not very hungry. She returned to the Marquis' Mansion purely to watch the fun.

With Shen Qingyuan around, everyone in the Shen family was very polite to her. They even asked her to help with the wedding after the New Year. Marquis Qingyuan didn't act like a father-in-law and criticize her. During the meal, he only expressed disappointment with the academic decline of Shen Qingyue and Shen Qingyu.

In order to please Chunxi, all the Shen family members followed suit and asked Shen Qingyue and Shen Qingyu to learn more from Shen Qingyuan. The two of them were so embarrassed that their faces turned pale and blue.

After dinner, the younger generations of the Shen family lined up to ask for New Year’s money.

Although Mrs. Wu and Marquis Qingyuan did not give much, they were prepared. When it was Chunxi's turn, everyone in the Shen family sang in unison to praise Chunxi, implying that her status was different now and she should be more generous and not be too petty.

Before Chunxi could speak, Shen Qingyuan spoke first, "I've never received any New Year's money from you uncles and aunts since I was little. Now that Ah Xi is pregnant, and it's rare for our Shen family to get together, shouldn't you uncles and aunts also express your gratitude to my unborn child?"

Everyone: “…”

No, you really don't want to suffer any loss at all. We just want to take advantage of you, but you want us to bleed heavily.

Everyone was afraid that Shen Qingyuan would get serious, so they could only vaguely avoid the topic, but they couldn't help but complain a few times, saying that they were stingy and wouldn't spend a penny.

Shen Qingyuan didn't like to hear this, so he pulled Chunxi up and said, "Ah Xi is pregnant and shouldn't sit for long. I'll take her home to rest first."

Shen Qingyuan wasn't discussing this, so no one dared to stop him. After the two left, the second oldest son of the Shen family spoke angrily, "Mother, big brother, look at what he's become now. He has no respect for his elders at all."

Wu couldn't even control Chunxi, her granddaughter-in-law, so how could she control Shen Qingyuan? She kept her eyelids drooping and said nothing. Qingyuan Hou had long been accustomed to Shen Qingyuan's attitude. He rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "You can say this to his face in the future. If you can teach him to respect his elders, I can let him call you dad."

Shen Lao Er: "..."

Big brother, you might as well ask Shen Qingyuan to beat me to death.

Chunxi prepared fireworks at home. After returning home, the two of them had fun for a long time, and then lay comfortably on the bed to chat and stay up late.

The Xiao family is also very lively tonight.

In order to celebrate Xiao Qinghe's return home, the Xiao family prepared a lot of fireworks. The people nearby were attracted to watch the fun, and the women of the Xiao family surrounded Xiao Qinghe to comfort and console him. Xiao Qinghe responded with a faint smile, and his heart softened.

In comparison, the Wei family’s New Year’s Eve dinner this year was a bit depressing.

Because Wei Lingze made mistakes and embarrassed himself many times, the reputation of the Wei family's men was more or less affected. When the families sat together, they couldn't help but complain.

Wei Lingze got up and left before finishing the New Year’s Eve dinner.

He had a gloomy face and stayed in Lingfeng Courtyard for a while before leaving the house and going to Wuyou Pavilion.

Lan Shu was very surprised: "Master Wei, today is New Year's Eve, why are you here?"

Wei Lingze didn't even look at Lan Shu, and threw a stack of banknotes in Lan Shu's face: "Stop talking nonsense, let Xiao Yechen come to see me."