"Forehead……"

Upon hearing this explanation, the rest of the villagers, who were initially excited, immediately fell silent.

"Well," Old Lady Du thought for a while before speaking, "Wanwan, I just hope that my Fanzi's body can be stronger, and that my grandson, and my useless daughter-in-law, can also get well as soon as possible."

"oh."

Lin Wanyue nodded and drew her a good luck charm that would benefit her health.

"Thank you, Wanwan!" Old Lady Du held the talisman in both hands and squeezed out with a beaming smile.

After thinking it over, everyone else also started wanting things like good health, family happiness, and the safety of their loved ones.

Lin Wanyue also selected suitable talismans for them and wrote them down one by one before giving them to them.

At that moment, they were unaware that, many years later, Ning'an Village would develop a custom unlike any other place.

They don't put up couplets during the Lunar New Year; instead, they like to paste wishing charms on their doors.

After Lin Wanyue finished writing these blessing runes for every household in the village, it was almost noon. She rubbed her slightly sore wrists.

The two brothers, Lin Zihan and Lin Ziqiu, happily told her, "Little sister, we're going fishing this afternoon! But Dad said he's taking Mom to the county town to buy things to prepare for the New Year. Do you want to come fishing with us or go to the county town to play?"

"..." Lin Wanyue frowned, looking troubled.

The fish in the village pond were all raised by her and her friends together; it was more fun to catch fish together.

But the county town has all sorts of delicious pastries, and maybe there's even a chance to make money...

After a difficult internal struggle, Lin Wanyue decided to stay and watch the villagers catch fish.

Going out in winter is nothing like it used to be in summer or autumn, when you had to wear thick clothes and buy things for the New Year, which was exhausting.

Lin Weiming hitched a cart to the ox and took his wife and several women from the village to the county town.

They weren't just buying things for their own families; many of them were also buying things for other people in the village.

Since it's inconvenient to travel back and forth, helping them buy more items at once can save time. Moreover, the merchants in the city are shrewd businessmen; they can get cheaper prices when they buy more at once.

The person who helps buy things also benefits themselves, so they are quite happy to do so.

...

On New Year's Eve, the village was already filled with the festive atmosphere, and families with a little means had already bought new clothes.

Women rarely dressed up anymore; a few even wore silver hairpins, but most women could only afford the cheaper copper hairpins.

Last year, Xuefu could only use a copper hairpin to tie her hair up, but this year she and her mother-in-law each wore a pure silver hairpin, which Lin Weiming insisted on buying with his own money, making all the women in the village extremely envious.

Lin Wanyue was wearing a bright red cotton-padded jacket with auspicious patterns, and the cuffs and collar were trimmed with a beautiful white rabbit fur trim.

Her skin was fair, with a soft, white complexion and a rosy glow, making it clear that she was very well cared for. Wearing such a beautiful bright red dress, her round little face smiled, making her look like a doll from a New Year's painting, radiating joy.

Xuefu and Liu Junlan were busy in the kitchen frying various foods such as fried dough sticks and crispy pork, all in preparation for the New Year's Eve dinner. There were also some special items that needed to be offered to the ancestral tablets and vegetarian hall according to custom.

However, their vegetarian hall doesn't enshrine any ancestors. Apart from Grandpa Lin, who can be considered Lin Wanyue's ancestor, the rest of Laifu and the others are just benefiting from it.

But Laifu and Xiaofendie were quite excited. They had been dead for so many years, and this was the first time they had celebrated the New Year in such a lively and festive way, instead of being a lonely ghost peeping at them from the sidelines.

Only Master Cui's face showed no joy, but rather a hint of worry.

In a corner unseen by others, the cigarette butts had piled up into a small mountain.

After the New Year, it was February, and time was getting shorter and shorter. Lin Zhongyuan had become very fond of studying and was also quick-witted and intelligent.

But he had never taken an exam before; he had only studied with the children in the village. He was afraid that he might make some mistakes during the exam.

Master Cui saw this and was anxious, but he dared not say anything, for fear of frightening Lin Zhongyuan, who was still a young child.

To everyone's surprise, in the afternoon, quite a few villagers came to the Lin family's door somewhat awkwardly.

Lin Wanyue and her three older brothers were playing with a small snowman in their yard. She was also holding a candied hawthorn stick that they had made themselves, licking it little by little, afraid of getting her face and clothes dirty.

"Wanwan, little sister!" Wang Hu's cheerful voice rang out.

The three Lin brothers immediately became alert, worried that Wang Hu was there to take their sister away.

The other day, their father gave them a long warning, telling them to be very careful and wary of that kid, Wang Hu.

Having witnessed Zhao Chunniang and Wang Dazhu's marriage proposal for Lin Wanyue, the three of them already knew in their hearts that they absolutely could not let this boy take their sister away!

However, when they looked over, they found that it wasn't just Wang Hu who had come; there were also Wang Hu's parents, Wang Dazhu and Zhao Chunniang, as well as many other people from the village.

"What are you doing here?" Lin Zheyun stood in front of his younger siblings, adopting the air of an older brother.

"Happy New Year, Lin's second son," Zhao Chunniang said with a smile. "Are your grandmother and mother home?"

Lin Zheyun was afraid that Wang Hu would take her sister away, so she also gave Wang Hu's mother, Zhao Chunniang, a cold look, still looking at her with a wary gaze: "What do you want with my mother?"

Fortunately, Liu Junlan and Xue Fu, who were in the kitchen, had heard the commotion and quickly came out.

When the others saw them, they quickly went over and put down what they were carrying.

Liu Junlan asked curiously, "What's wrong with you all now?"

"It's nothing, we just came to see you all since it's Chinese New Year," the others said awkwardly and embarrassedly.

“We’re from the same village, we see each other all the time, have we seen each other less often than we do? Why did you come all this way today? And if there’s nothing wrong, why are you bringing these things? If you don’t explain yourself, we can’t accept them,” Liu Junlan said frankly.

"Aunt Liu, please don't overthink it. We came here to thank your family. So many things have happened in the village this year, and we've really troubled your family."

“Especially my family, we encountered ghosts twice. If it weren’t for Wanwan, we might have lost our lives,” Zhao Chunniang said sincerely.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The other villagers echoed this sentiment, saying that even if they hadn't encountered a ghost, they were still grateful to Lin Wanyue for helping to capture the bandits; otherwise, if they had met with bandits, they would likely have met with dire consequences.