At 11:00 PM on New Year's Eve, Xu Lanyin personally accompanied Xu Lanting and Zhao Xingchen to take Min Jia home, along with New Year's gifts for the Min family. These included two sets of clothes for the little girls, two pairs of shoes, two purses, a set of jade headpieces for children, and some snacks and candies from Xu's Bakery.
Min Jia's lips curled up as she said, "I don't want to go home. Aunt Xu chased me away. I'm sad."
Xu Lanyin was very helpless and hinted to Minjia many times that it was Chinese New Year and that no matter how busy her father was, he would always be home during New Year's Eve and the holidays, and that the little girl should go back home to spend the New Year with him. But the little girl refused to leave, even when Liu's mother asked her to, so she had to send her off herself.
Arriving at the Min Mansion, Butler Hao said with a smile, "Master just sent someone back to the mansion, saying he would be back for lunch. I was just about to go pick up my sister when you guys showed up."
After staying at the Min Mansion for more than two quarters of an hour, Xu Lanyin and the others stood up to say goodbye, saying that once Min Hu went to the yamen, she would invite Min Jia to stay at the Xu family's house. Although the little girl was tearful, she was sensible enough not to cry. She also knew that she should spend the New Year with her father.
Xu Lanyin and several others came to the outer courtyard, and Butler Hao gave the Xu family New Year gifts, including two pieces of satin, two fat sheep, twenty kilograms of rouge rice, and twenty kilograms of apples.
When we returned to Xu's house, the couplets and the word "Fu" were posted on the door, and two big red lanterns were hung in front of the door.
The courtyard was also filled with joy, and the aroma of food from the back room drifted into the inner courtyard.
Xu Lanyin thought of Zhao Wu again. Last year during the Spring Festival, they had made lanterns hanging together...
When Qin saw the rouge rice, her eyes turned red. She had only eaten this kind of rice when she was a child in Jiangnan, but she had never even seen it in all these years.
After a quick lunch at noon, at the end of the Shen period, Yang Zhong and a few boys set off a long string of firecrackers, and the New Year's Eve dinner officially began.
There was a table and a table in the living room. The master ate at the table, and several servants ate at the table. There was also a set of empty bowls and chopsticks on the table, which was for Xu Qingyan.
As she did in previous years, Qin first looked at the empty bowls and chopsticks and said a few words in remembrance of her husband. "Brother Yan, are you doing well over there? Don't worry too much about us. The children are all successful. Yin'er has made a lot of money, Zhou'er will be married next year, and Ting'er is in good health and very smart. Now our family has a house and a shop in the provincial capital, and we will move here to live in the future..." After she finished her words, she said to everyone, "Eat."
Ever since Xu Lanzhou decided to take the exam for the military scholar title, he'd become much more composed. He recounted the changes he'd experienced over the past year, drinking from his cup and thanking Qin for her guidance, Xu Lanyin for her significant contributions to the family, and for mentoring his two younger brothers. He also said that without Xu Lanyin, his eldest sister, the family wouldn't have been able to settle down in the provincial capital so quickly. As the eldest son, he felt truly ashamed, and so on...
Xu Lanyin was modest in her words, but she felt a great sense of accomplishment. She herself had never imagined that in just over a year, her family would have undergone such a magnificent transformation from a village to a county town, and then from a county town to a provincial capital.
Qin continued, "Everything is fine at home, except for one thing: Yin'er will be seventeen next year..."
She didn't feel comfortable saying anything more. She thought to herself, if Zhao Wu really couldn't come back, she'd spread the word and find a good marriage for her daughter. The provincial capital was far from Xiaozao Village, so her daughter's previous bad reputation wouldn't spread here.
She didn't say it explicitly, but everyone knew she wanted to talk about Xu Lanyin looking for a son-in-law.
Xu Lanzhou smiled and said, "I will definitely work hard, achieve fame, and improve my family's status. It will also be good for my sister in the future... hehe..."
Xu Lanyin was deeply saddened. In this day and age, a seventeen-year-old girl who wasn't engaged was considered a leftover woman. She was also frustrated. After all this time traveling, it seemed only Min Hu and Zhu Zhuang were interested in her. One of these men was powerful, the other wealthy, but neither was her type.
During the meal, Xu Lanting and Zhao Xingchen would occasionally pull Yang Zhong to the yard to set off fireworks.
The New Year’s Eve dinner lasted until the hour of Xu. After we finished eating the dumplings, the dinner was over.
Xu Lanzhou and two male servants went to the front yard to watch the New Year's Eve, while the others went to sleep. Even if Xu Lanyin didn't want to sleep, there was no one at home to play with her.
Xu Lanyin lay in bed, listening to the intermittent sound of firecrackers outside. She thought about her parents in her previous life and wondered if they had gotten over the grief of losing their only child. And Zhao Wu, did he find the old demon? When would he come back? At this moment, she felt no joy at all for the New Year...
When they woke up on the first day of the new year, the masters and servants all put on new clothes. Xu Lanzhou, the eldest son of the second branch of the Xu family, led Qin, Xu Lanyin and Xu Lanting to kowtow and burn incense to the tablets of Xu Qingyan and the elders of the Xu family.
Zhao Xingchen also wanted to kowtow, but was stopped by Zhangqi. He was so angry that his mouth turned up high.
After paying respects to their ancestors, they began to pay New Year's greetings. The younger generation paid respects to their elders and received red envelopes, and the servants paid respects to their masters and received red envelopes, before breakfast began. After breakfast, Xu Lanzhou, on behalf of the Xu family, visited the homes of the Deputy Envoy of Fujian, the Prefect of Fujian, the Hu family, his husband's family, Wang Jincai's family, and several neighbors to pay New Year's greetings.
Wang Jincai, the son of the shopkeeper Wu, and several of the neighbors' sons came to the Xu family to pay New Year's greetings. Unexpectedly, even Min Rong, the illegitimate son of the Min Tongpan, came to pay New Year's greetings.
Xu Lanyin was very surprised. Why would the Fujian Tongpan be so humble?
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the family spent a quiet day.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, after breakfast, Xu Lanzhou went to her teacher's house for class.
Not long after he left, Ding Gu came to report that the girl from the Min family had come again, and the person accompanying her was actually a Min household.
Min Hu was a distinguished guest, so Xu Lanyin, Qin, Xu Lanting and Zhao Xingchen all went out to greet him.
Minhu was walking in front holding Minjia's hand, while Liu Mama and others followed behind with bags. It seemed that the little girl was going to live with the Xu family again.
Minhu's mental state is still okay. Although he is still so thin and has dark circles under his eyes, they are not very obvious. He should be able to get two hours of sleep every day.
Min Jia smiled brightly, shook off Min Hu's hand and ran towards Xu Lanyin, saying, "Aunt Xu, Daddy is busy, so I'm staying here again. Are you happy?"
Speak more fluently.
Xu Lanting and Zhao Xingchen laughed and shouted, "Happy!"
Xu Lanyin hugged Min Jia who ran over and said with a smile, "Yeah, I'm happy."
Min Jia added, "My father wants to have lunch here."
Min Hu blushed slightly, clasped his fists and bowed to Xu Lanyin and Qin Shi, smiling, "Thank you, Miss Xu. Jia'er's progress is so rapid. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."
Two women were living in the upper room, so it was not convenient to invite male guests in. Xu Lanyin invited Minhu to the east wing.
Qin spoke to Minhu for a few words, then asked Xu Lanyin and a few children to talk to him while she went to the kitchen to take a look.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Let's make mutton hotpot for lunch. I'll mix the dipping sauce later."
Qin nodded and personally took Aunt Yang and a maid from the Min Mansion to prepare the ingredients.
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