"My lady, it's settled then. This year our two families will go to the old house to celebrate the New Year together?" Liu Ji flirted with his lady in anticipation.
Qin Yao stretched out two fingers and pushed open the corners of his eyes in an eight-shaped pattern, fixing someone's wildly blinking eyes.
Considering his filial piety, she nodded slightly, "Okay."
"But I have to be frank with you. I only care about eating and drinking. Don't expect me to do anything for you."
Liu Ji agreed immediately: "Of course! Our whole family is busy serving you, how dare we trouble you."
Habit becomes nature. Liu Ji bent down to help her brush off the coldness on her clothes, pushed open the door and let her in.
He turned around and shouted to the kitchen: "Serve the food, let's eat!"
Awang and Li brought the whole pot over, and Yin Le then brought the rice and placed the chopsticks on it.
When the lid of the pot was opened, the aroma wafted into the air. The eyes of the mother and her two children lit up and they all looked into the pot. It was a pot of pickled cabbage, tofu and fish, topped with green onions and coriander leaves, which made them drool.
"Did you go fishing?" Qin Yao looked at the children at home in surprise.
Dalang nodded, "The weather has cleared up in the past two days, and many fish have emerged from the mountain streams looking for food. They have just been hungry all winter, so they are a little thinner."
The aroma was too strong. Qin Yao was already hungry, so when she saw everyone sitting down, she immediately picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
The dishes were monotonous throughout the winter, either smoked meats or pickled vegetables. The only fresh vegetables were the frost-resistant radishes and the greens and pumpkins that had been stored since early winter.
All the wild vegetables were frozen to death after the snow. Occasionally, you could dig out a few clumps of them hidden under the straw in the fields, but they were not enough to satisfy your hunger.
You have to go into the city to buy fresh meat. The roads are frozen and the butchers can't bring in many pigs. It's not easy to eat fresh pork once every five days.
In comparison, the delicious fish in today's pot is simply a delicacy.
At the dinner table, everyone was busy eating fish. No one was talking, and there was only the sound of chewing.
After dinner, Liu Ji asked Dalang and Erlang to bring paper and pen to write a purchase list for New Year's goods.
Qin Yao hugged Si Niang to keep warm, leaned back in a chair, squinted her eyes lazily to digest the food, and calculated the distance in her mind. Gong Liangliao and his group should have arrived in the capital.
The three brothers of Dalang clamored that they wanted to go to the city with Liu Ji to do the shopping tomorrow. Liu Ji thought they were in the way and didn't want to take them with him. The father and sons argued for a long time. Finally, Awang said that they should drive both cars at home, and the father and sons stopped talking.
Qin Yao could no longer hear what was said afterwards and fell asleep leaning back in the chair.
She had been too tired these past few days, and today she had finally arranged everything properly. She completely relaxed and slept soundly until dawn.
It seemed that Liu Ji helped her back to the room, wiped her face and feet, and stuffed a hot pack into her. She rolled herself up in the quilt and slept until dawn.
When I woke up, the house was very quiet. The four of them, including the father and his two sons, as well as Yin Le and Awang, had all gone to the city. The only sound that could be heard from the backyard was the childish talking of little Lai Fu playing with the chickens.
The stationery factory started its annual holiday on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. Now everything in the factory has been arranged and Song Yu is in charge of everything. Qin Yao was really lazy at home for two days, feeling the lively atmosphere of the New Year.
The villagers were rich this year, and five families bought pigs to slaughter. The sound of slaughtering pigs never stopped from the 24th until New Year's Eve.
Every household slaughtered a pig and invited the village chief to eat the meat, but Qin Yao refused and didn't want to go out at all. However, Liu Ji took his four children and went around to get food, and if they couldn't finish the meat, he would bring some back for Qin Yao.
Today it’s braised pork with preserved vegetables, tomorrow it’s stewed pork with sauerkraut, the day after tomorrow it’s steamed pork with rice flour, and the day after that it’s braised pork in brown sauce.
In short, the villagers of Liujia Village are living a visibly prosperous life this year.
When New Year's Eve comes, there is still no need to cook at home - the whole family, young and old, all go to the old house to eat and drink!
Dalang said that this was the first time that the two families had celebrated the New Year together as far as he could remember, and the atmosphere seemed so good that it didn’t seem real, like a dream.
Qin Yao glanced at the man who was surrounded by children writing couplets, lowered her head and said to the boy, "Da Lang, you may not believe me, but this year it was your father who suggested that the two families celebrate the New Year together."
What? Dalang's eyes were full of disbelief. He thought it was his stepmother's suggestion.
Qin Yao shrugged. After all, she was also surprised.
So, a great Confucian scholar is a great Confucian scholar. Gong Liangliao taught his disciple, who was not a human being, to become more and more like a human being.
"Mother." Dalang looked up at Qin Yao and said uncertainly, "Father seems to have changed a lot."
As he spoke, he raised the toe of his shoe, which had a conspicuous patch on it.
"I don't know when my father sewed it for me." Dalang said. It was three days ago, but he still feels it's unreal.
As for why the boy was so sure that this must have been sewn by his father and not by Senior Sister Yue, Uncle Awang or Aunt Li, it had to do with the shoddy craftsmanship on the shoes that looked like centipede legs.
"And this." Erlang came closer and took out a hairband from his arms. It was a little old, but the big words "Wenquxing protect me" were clearly visible on it.
Qin Yao recognized it at a glance. This was the one Liu Jichen wore on his head when he was studying.
Erlang said with mixed feelings: "My father actually gave me his hairband, saying that this hairband is blessed by Wenquxing and will ensure that I will pass the imperial examination in the future."
Before the mother and her two children could discuss Liu Ji's changes in detail, the twins, the boy and girl, and Da Mao, who could now run very fast, ran over.
"Aunt San, please put up the couplets!" Damao grabbed Qin Yao's skirt and pulled her away.
Qin Yao was helpless. She waved her hand to signal Dalang and Erlang to leave first, and followed the three youngest ones to the table.
Liu Ji blew the ink dry and handed over the two couplets he had written. "One is posted on the front door, and the other is posted on the main hall. Oh, it's my lady, please come in and take a seat. I won't bother you with such trivial matters."
He had not forgotten what they had agreed upon before, that she would not do any work, and he glanced at the three younger ones unhappily and said, "I told you to find someone to put up the couplets, why did you bring this big Buddha here!"
The three kids blinked their eyes innocently, huh?
Qin Yao curled her lips and smiled, reaching out to take the couplet, "Give it to me, it's boring anyway."
With a wave of her big hand, a group of children followed her out of the yard, some carrying paste, some carrying stools, and some carrying brushes.
Qin Yao only needed to wait for the kids to tear down the old couplets, apply paste, put stools in place, and step on them to stick the couplets flatly.
The door to the main room is lower, and Dalang has grown a lot taller this year. He can even serve A-niang by standing on a stool.
The handsome young man took the couplet and pasted it directly. Qin Yao stood on the ground with her hands on her hips to help check the smoothness.
The aroma of rice wafted in the air, and the chefs Awang and He shouted that it was time to eat. Qin Yao and a group of children quickly rushed to the water tank to wash their hands, then swarmed into the main room, grabbed seats first, and sat in rows waiting for the New Year's Eve dinner to be served.
The two families together set up three tables. The eight children sat at one table, the women at one table, and the men at another, filling up the small main room of the old house.
Although it was a bit crowded, the atmosphere was lively and people seemed closer to each other. (End of this chapter)
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