This winter seems colder than usual. In addition, there is no kang (heated brick bed) at home, so it takes Yunling and Yunchu a long time to warm up the quilt when they squeeze into one bed. Therefore, Yunling always falls asleep in the middle of the night and naturally stays in bed longer.
Moreover, after the autumn harvest, more and more villagers went up the mountain. Mushrooms, pheasants, rabbits, wild vegetables, and even tree bark were all picked clean. The mountain peaks, which had been brought back to life by Yunling's special ability, were bare again, and Yunling had no interest in going up the mountain.
As the year draws to a close, Zhang was busy arranging household purchases and taking them to the county town. Since Yunling had earned money this year and didn't have any plans to move to the county town with limited funds, Zhang bought each of them a new set of clothes.
After buying those items, she went with Grandma Yun to buy peach wood charms, Spring Festival couplets, sour fruit candy, maltose, candied winter melon, walnuts, nuts, melon seeds, red dates, and other snacks needed for the New Year. They also picked out two fat chickens, a duck, a goose, two pieces of lean pork ribs, and two pieces of pork belly. Finally, they chose some cooking seasonings: salt was a must, a little sugar was fine, vinegar was also acceptable, but they were short of wine.
Yun Ruoxia also earned a considerable amount of copper coins from selling mushrooms. Encouraged by the atmosphere, she didn't hold back and took out about twenty coins to buy hair ties and silk flower ribbons for everyone.
The four of them chased after the peddler who was not far away. Yunling didn't quite understand how to wear the hair tie and silk flowers, or whether there were any taboos or omens, so she just watched Yunchu and followed whatever Yunchu chose.
Yun Ruochun had saved quite a bit from selling wild boar. After buying two pieces of candy for her younger sisters, she looked at firecrackers. She had set them off before, but when her great-grandfather was still alive, there weren't so many different kinds.
She asked the peddler about the price and effects of each item. The peddler patiently answered her questions while selling the toys. In the end, Yun Ruochun picked out a little of everything, planning to take her sisters to play with her on New Year's Eve.
When they returned to the village, Zhang hired a horse-drawn carriage. Although all the good things were loaded into the carriage, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that this family was going to have a good New Year. Many people were envious, while others couldn't help but grumble and say a few words.
Not to mention Liu, who was chatting with people at the village entrance. The moment she saw the carriage, she could almost smell the aroma of meat wafting out. Damn it, they were all about to go buy rice, and this little bitch Pan was able to eat meat. Was there no justice in the world?
Despite her complaints, after thinking it over, she still swayed her hips and went home to discuss it with Yun Da.
Passing the days,
Liu came to visit, unusually wanting to discuss the sacrificial ceremony with Granny Yun.
The two families had such a big fight last time that they didn't even exchange a word during the autumn harvest. Now, however, they've come to discuss the sacrificial ceremony. Yunling wanted to hear what Liu would say, so she went to her mother's side.
Old Lady Yun was already annoyed by Liu Shi, but Liu Shi kept calling her "sister-in-law" and using the names of the great-grandfather and ancestors to pressure her. She didn't want to pay attention to her, but just then Yun Ling came over, so she hugged Yun Ling and took out some sour fruit candy from her pocket to coax her.
Seeing this, Liu rolled her eyes inwardly. If she didn't need something from them, she wouldn't have bothered stepping into this house. But despite her annoyance, Liu still wore a weasel-like smile.
“Sister-in-law, look, our two families are close by, unlike the second branch which moved to the city. If we still hold separate ancestral rites, it will only cause gossip among the villagers about family discord, and I reckon the old man wouldn’t be happy to see that.”
Grandma Yun still didn't respond, and continued to tease Yun Ling with jokes.
Suppressing her rising anger, Liu continued, "For this sacrificial ceremony, our head of the household has said that we will prepare two chickens, ten eggs, a large sturgeon, two catties of meat, Laba tofu, and antidote pills. What do you say?"
"Antidote pills? Grandma, what are antidote pills?"
"It is made by mixing buckwheat flour, vegetable leaves, cinnabar, and rabbit blood, then cooking them into balls. Eating these on Laba Festival can detoxify the body."
Although Yunling wasn't picky about food, she still felt uneasy upon hearing this, as it seemed that the poison might not be something that absolutely needed to be cured.
Seeing that Liu had shown sincerity, Old Lady Yun stopped ignoring her and said, "We'll offer the same as you, but let's replace the Laba tofu and antidote pills with Laba noodles and Laba garlic."
“Laba garlic? I know that. Father asked Mother to make it a couple of days ago. He said Laba garlic is also called Laba calculation. He was going to help the landlord deliver it to those families who owed him money, implying that he was settling accounts. Didn’t Uncle and the others want to settle accounts before? Grandma said she wanted five taels of silver. If we deliver Laba garlic, will we get five taels of silver back?”
Upon hearing this, Liu felt as if she wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood. Of all things to bring up, this wild child had to bring this up. He was truly an annoying and troublesome person.
Liu pretended not to hear, saying that she had things to do at home, and disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if she were on wheels of fire.
Old Lady Yun hadn't forgotten how Liu had looked when she was humiliated, and happily hugged Yun Ling.
Yunling also liked to coax her, saying, "She bullied Grandma, I won't let her get away with it, I want to protect Grandma."
Grandma Yun smiled so much her face wrinkled up. She took out all the sour fruit candies from her pocket and gave them to Yun Ling, who then shared them equally with Yun Chu.
On the morning of the 28th of the lunar year, Yun Ling was still snuggled in bed to keep warm when she heard Yun Ruoxia exclaim "Ah!" She turned around and saw Yun Ruochun and Yun Ruoxia leaning against their window, with Yun Ruoxia holding a bowl of ice in her hand.
“Look, there are frozen lumps in this bowl. Next year will surely be a bumper harvest. Come on, let’s eat it.”
Seeing the cold air in the bowl, Yunling felt a chill run through her body and shook her head immediately, "Aunt, you eat it for me."
"Hey, look at you, you lazybones. Today is the 28th, a day for a big cleaning and getting rid of all the mess. Chu-jie has already helped her sister-in-law pick a lot of beans. You're still lying in bed. Get up quickly and move around so you won't be cold."
As Yun Ruoxia spoke, she arrived at Yun Ling's bedside and took out the smallest piece of ice. "Here, this ice can cure all diseases. You can eat as much as you want without having to go to the toilet."
Yunling took the ice, and just holding it in her hand, she felt the chill quickly spread through her body. She quickly snuggled back into the covers, only daring to nibble on the ice cubes lightly, before lying down and acting spoiled.
"Auntie, I'm freezing, so I'm not going to do any work."
Yun Ruoxia and Yun Ruochun exchanged a smile, then joined forces to tickle Yun Ling. Their hands were naturally icy cold, and when they landed on Yun Ling's armpits, they almost killed her.
Yunling's smile was sour, and she begged for mercy repeatedly. Of course, she couldn't stay in bed any longer. She quickly put on her coat, drank a cup of hot tea, and stomped her feet twice to warm up her whole body.
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