Chapter 34
Zhong Ming slept until dark, got up, ate a bite of food in a daze and went back to sleep.
Pei Ze wanted to check his father-in-law's wound, but his father-in-law said that he was fine and that he had just fought with an old man, so the damage was limited.
When Zhong Miao and Pei Ze saw how tired he was, they didn't disturb him and let him get some sleep first.
In order not to disturb Zhong Ming, they decided to sleep in the main house.
The rooms in the main house are large, and the kang is four and a half meters long, so six or seven people can sleep there without feeling crowded.
After the kang was made, Zhong Miao originally wanted to hug An An and sleep with him. The little ball was soft and chubby, and it felt so good to hold it in his hand, which was better than any other plush toy.
But Pei Ze refused to do anything and even separated An An and Zhong Miao's bedding far apart. The mother-in-law just watched them quarreling with a smile, which made Zhong Miao blush. She hit Pei Ze several times and kicked him twice.
Zhong Miao also has a little temper. This temper was really developed from the influence of her father since she was a child. In addition, she was spoiled by her old father, so she has a bit of toughness, but there are few places for her to show it.
Except for those she cannot beat, she has always been a player who would fight without saying anything, and she dares to go up and fight even if the opponent is evenly matched.
Pei Ze didn't feel any pain after being hit a few times. His wife was so small, how much strength could she have? He was so muscular that he was afraid that his wife would feel pain from hitting him.
As long as Zhong Miao doesn't bite him, it's fine. His wife has a good set of teeth and it really hurts when she bites someone.
Now Pei Ze and Zhong Miao sleep on the left, and An An and mother-in-law sleep on the right.
"Dad, what are you doing? My mom wants to hold me to sleep."
"No, your mom has to hold you, uh, I can't hold you to sleep. From now on, you will be a big kid, you have to sleep by yourself."
Pei Ze changed his words under Zhong Miao's fierce gaze. He also realized that it was a bit inappropriate to say so, after all, his old mother and child were there.
An An couldn't persuade his father, so he could only give up with a pout.
With her mother-in-law and An An around, Zhong Miao didn't want to hug Pei Ze anymore, so she prepared an extra soft pillow.
Pei Ze was in a good mood the whole time, and he didn't stop even when she was hugging a pillow. This was the first time he realized that his wife was shy, and it would be bad if she made someone angry.
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It was a little after eight in the morning when the sun had already fully appeared. The sunlight in the north is already strong, and when it shines on the ice and snow, it creates a strong reflection that is so bright that it is a little dazzling.
Zhong Ming had a good sleep and felt refreshed. He felt a lot more relaxed.
The family finished their busy morning meal and cleaned up. Zhang Weilan excitedly took out an inkstone and half a piece of ink from the cabinet.
The brush that had been used for many years had lost its cap. A piece of paper was folded into a pointed cone, wrapping the old brush with its edges protruding in all directions. The brush could no longer be described as forked.
The simple tools could not stop Zhang Weilan's enthusiasm. She took out a dozen red papers and cut them into the size of couplets with scissors.
There is a pair of couplets for the front door, one for the main house, and one for the new house. A few more characters of "Fu" (blessings) should also be written and posted early tomorrow morning.
Pei Ze also took out the Kitchen God and the God of Wealth that Zhong Miao bought, and was thinking about where to put them.
"Dad, your daughter said that the Kitchen God can ensure that she has enough to eat and the God of Wealth can ensure that she has money to spend."
"Hahaha, my daughter is right. Uncle, where do you think I should put it?"
After the father-in-law and son-in-law discussed it for a while, they put the Kitchen God on the stove in the kitchen of the main house, and the God of Wealth on the outer room of the couple's new house.
The whole family was in high spirits, even Zhong Ming was particularly happy.
In their previous life, only the father and daughter and Zhong Miao’s grandmother celebrated the New Year and other festivals. After their grandmother passed away, only the father and daughter were left.
Every Chinese New Year, the family would buy a lot of New Year's goods, and the housekeeper and maids would also have holidays. Only the father and daughter would depend on each other, and it was a lonely life.
As time went by, it no longer mattered to the father and daughter whether they celebrated the New Year or not.
After cutting the paper, Zhong Miao helped her mother-in-law grind the ink. Her mother-in-law dipped the brush in water and smoothed the bristles. If it was too difficult to smooth them, she would cut them off with scissors.
It seems that this brush loses a few bristles every year.
An An asked his father to carry him on his back. Pei Ze carried his son on his back and coaxed An An.
The whole family had smiles on their faces, looked refreshed, and were full of hope for the new year.
Zhang Weilan thought for a while, took the red paper for writing large couplets, and started writing.
My mother-in-law's handwriting was completely different from her usual gentle and kind demeanor. It was full of flying dragons and phoenixes, and was free and elegant.
The first line of her couplet is "A happy life with laughter and joy, a good family", and the second line is "Successful in studies and career, reaching new heights", and the horizontal banner reads "Joy is coming".
"Sister-in-law, your handwriting is beautiful, and this couple is also good. Our children will surely be well in the new year."
Zhang Weilan's couplets are simple and beautiful without any fancy words. They contain New Year's blessings to her son and daughter-in-law, which is very appropriate.
"My dear, you should also buy one."
"Okay, I'll write one too." Zhong Ming picked up the pen after thinking for a while.
The father’s couplets are interesting. There are old, young and children, you and I are having fun, and the horizontal banner reads "Family Happiness".
Zhong Miao and Pei Ze burst out laughing.
"Dad, you are so awesome." Pei Ze joked.
"Son-in-law, you are fooling me. My couplets and calligraphy are not as good as yours. I will post them on the door for you two young people."
"Okay, I'll put it up tomorrow." Zhong Miao happily took his father's calligraphy and put it aside to wait for it to dry.
Zhang Weilan also cheered, and then she wrote a few more "Fu" characters. Her old father also wrote two. Zhong Ming was particularly interested today.
The simple couplets carried the most sincere expectations and blessings of parents for their children. Zhong Miao was somewhat moved. At this moment, she finally felt at home.
After dinner, Zhong Ming thought it was not good to always live in his daughter's in-laws' house. Just as he said he wanted to leave, Zhong Miao pulled him into the house.
"Dad, I think you should stay here for the New Year. Don't leave."
"What's wrong, dear?" Zhong Ming knew something was wrong as soon as he saw his daughter.
"You've been out for so long, and your face is still scarred. I don't want to be separated from you. Also, there's a plot during the New Year, and it's not a very good one. I always feel that the influence of this plot is still there. Although it's of no use to me, the important plot points that need to be left are still there."
"Tell me what's going on?" The old father became worried when he heard this.
"Alas, it's been almost four years since Pei Ze's brother and sister-in-law passed away. In the original text, his father's relatives didn't come to visit in the past few years because they thought it was unlucky. This year, after the three-year mourning period, they came."
"Pei Ze's father's brothers all live in the next village. They used to come every year to visit, and this year they came again. The original text said that this made the mother-in-law very unhappy."
"These two families just want to get some food and drinks and their children's lucky money, but they eat yours, take yours, and look down on you, which makes my mother-in-law very angry. You should stay. If you run into some top-notch people, you can help them, right?"
Zhong Miao brought out the original plot in just a few words. She now realized that the important plot points in the book would happen as they should, and she couldn't avoid it whether she followed the progress in the original text or not.
"Then can you stay together tonight?"
Zhong Ming felt a little embarrassed. He lived alone in a room, and the four of them were squeezed into one room, which didn't look good no matter how you looked at it.
"It's OK. The main house is big and not crowded at all. Don't go back these days. Just recuperate here. Besides, what will you eat when you go back? My mother-in-law will still have to bring you food, which is so inconvenient."
"Okay, then I'll stay here. We'll deal with the rest after this is over. My dear daughter, tell Daddy, does this plot affect you?"
"It doesn't have much of an impact. I'll just encounter some important milestones, but I'm not the original owner, and of course I'm not following the plot in the book. I just don't know when I'll be completely unaffected."
"That's good, that's good." The old father was worried. This crappy plot was not a good thing. It would be troublesome if his daughter got entangled in it and couldn't change.
"Dad, don't worry. This plot doesn't have that much power to control me. Even Pei Ze and Mother-in-law are different from what they were in the plot, and I haven't seen any side effects. I always feel that this plot has limited power. If the character's consciousness changes, it can't control it. It should focus on controlling the development of events."
At first, Zhong Miao felt that the plot was unreliable, mainly because the characters in the book were different from the real ones. But later, every time an important time point came, she would encounter it.
"Well, then you should be more careful. Tell me immediately if you feel something is wrong."
"OK."
The night before New Year’s Eve is particularly busy. The whole family has to take a bath and celebrate the New Year cleanly.
Zhong Miao and her mother-in-law took out the new clothes that everyone needed to change into, and also went back to her parents' home to get some clean clothes for her father.
-
On New Year's Eve, the mother-in-law started preparing the New Year's Eve dinner early in the morning. The old father took his daughter and son-in-law to paste couplets. An An followed behind them like a little tail, making things worse.
"Dad, I want to set off firecrackers." An An couldn't wait any longer.
"You can't see anything during the day, wait until night."
Pei Ze took the rice paste in his hand and smeared it on the back of the couplet. His father-in-law was responsible for pasting it. Zhong Miao helped his old father to check the position of the couplet, sometimes higher and sometimes lower.
"If I set it off like this now, it's impossible not to see it." An An still doesn't understand this common sense.
"Then wait until I'm done." It's New Year's Day, and An An doesn't want to see bright lights at night, he only wants to see smoke during the day, and he will satisfy him.
"Well, Dad, hurry up."
Is this kid complaining that he's too old and slow? Pei Ze...
This kid needs to be taught a lesson. He needs to be taught a lesson later.
Before Pei Ze could give the boy a lesson, Erwa and Li Guodong came to wish Pei Ze a happy new year.
Erwa drove over a bullock cart with some things on it.
After paying New Year's greetings to Zhang Weilan, they returned to the couple's new home with Pei Ze.
Seeing the adults exchanging pleasantries and talking endlessly, An An couldn't stand it anymore and insisted on setting off firecrackers.
"An An, come on, grandpa will take you there."
"Yeah." An An immediately stretched out his little hands for grandpa to hold him.
Zhong Ming said hello and took the children out to play, leaving space for the young people to talk.
In the new house, several people sat cross-legged around the kang, chatting.
After laughing for a while, Li Guodong felt a little choked up, as if he wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to say it.
"Dongzi, just say what you want to say." Pei Ze couldn't bear it anymore.
"Hey, Brother Ze, Hongmei went home and told you that she wants to work at your factory. But she's still young and hasn't gotten married yet. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for her to be so public?"
Li Guodong has never done business and still has old-fashioned ideas. Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants are the most looked down upon and are not as good as a farmer like him.
Besides, Li Hongmei is not young anymore. The marriage age has been changed to 20 in recent years. In the past, girls of this age would have had children.
"It's New Year's Day, let's talk about this later. It doesn't matter if you don't want to. I can't force your sister to go to work. It's just that Zhong Miao has a good relationship with her and is close to her, and Li Hongmei is smart, so I thought of asking."
Pei Ze smiled, obviously not taking it seriously.
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