Inside the main room, the village chief, Uncle Zhao, and the doctor Zhang had all changed into new clothes, trousers, shoes, and socks from head to toe.
They were talking with Lord Hou, Li Yong, Chief Escort Liu, Mr. Wen, Mr. Jiang, and the Li Zhensheng brothers, and it was quite a lively conversation.
Li Yong and Hui Niang considered the Li family as their husband's family, so naturally they would come over for a reunion dinner during the Spring Festival.
In this way, the village elders would inevitably be left alone.
So, Old Lady Li went over herself and invited them over.
Mr. and Mrs. Wen were just the two of them, and Mrs. Wen was pregnant. Old Mrs. Li couldn't bear to see her work so hard, so she insisted on inviting her to eat together.
Mr. Jiang was all alone at the school with his young page, Gu Li, and the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) and his wife also didn't have their eldest son with them...
In short, the Li family's dinner parties kept getting bigger and bigger, and more and more lively.
So, we set up three tables and got everyone together to reward ourselves for a year of hard work.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they went home, waiting for the midnight feast of dumplings to be made to welcome the gods.
Li Lao Er and Lord Wen were still going to the palace for a banquet, so they reluctantly got into the carriage.
Jiayin and the old lady both took sick leave, thus avoiding the hardship of braving the wind and snow.
The Marquis, wearing a cloak, was also going to ride back to the dockside military camp.
As the commander-in-chief of the army, it was his duty to have New Year's Eve dinner with his soldiers.
As for the Marquis's residence, Jiayin had already gone there in the morning and distributed reward money to everyone in the residence.
The Li family has many children; apart from Jiayi who lives outside, the rest of them stay at home.
You won't get sleepy while keeping watch!
Jiaxi and Jia'an were already quite mischievous, and with Cat Brother joining them, they were practically ready to tear the roof off.
Grandma Li, accompanied by her son and daughter-in-law, talked about the family's income for the year, including both major and minor events.
Li Zhensheng and his brothers felt somewhat ashamed, as their mother was getting old and still had to take care of everything at home.
But Old Lady Li was happy with it.
A thriving family business and healthy, safe children and grandchildren are more important than anything else!
Around midnight, Li Lao Er and Steward Wen returned.
The family cooked dumplings, and after eating them, the boys, unable to resist their sleepiness, lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and dozed off.
Jiayin also fell asleep hugging her grandmother's leg...
In her drowsy state, she heard the sound of firecrackers outside. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Seeing the hazy dawn outside the window, she couldn't help but smile.
The new year is here!
Hearing the noise, Grandma Li opened the door and saw her granddaughter sitting by the window. She hugged her and said with a smile, "My little darling, it's a new year! I'm sure my precious granddaughter will grow up safe and sound, strong and healthy!"
Jiayin hugged her grandmother's neck, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and replied in a clear voice, "Grandma, live to be a hundred years old and stay with Fu Niu'er for the rest of your life."
"Good, good!" Grandma Li hugged her chubby granddaughter with a beaming smile!
Just then, Jia'an and Jiaxi ran in from outside. Jiaxi shouted, "Little sister, let's go set off firecrackers!"
After saying that, the two of them hastily put shoes on their sister, wrapped her in a cloak, and left, which angered Old Lady Li so much that she gave each of them a hard flick on the forehead.
A thin layer of snow had fallen in the yard, leaving behind a messy yet lively array of footprints!
Inside the kitchen, steam was rising, and Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru were busy at work. Occasionally, they would peek out to look at the laughing and playing children and couldn't help but laugh along.
After breakfast, before the villagers who came to pay their New Year's visits arrived, Old Lady Li gave red envelopes to her children and grandchildren.
The boys knelt down in a row, smiling broadly as they kowtowed to their grandmother, then beamed with joy as they held up the big red envelope.
This year, the family had a lot of income, and Old Lady Li thought that her grandsons had grown up and had many places to spend money, so she gave each of them, from Jiaren to Maoge'er, fifty taels of silver notes.
When it was Jiayin's turn, Old Lady Li gave her one hundred taels of silver directly.
The boys weren't jealous.
Because the money my sister secretly slips them on a regular basis is probably much more than that...
After a while, the village chief, Doctor Zhang, Uncle Zhao, and several others arrived.
When the elderly gather together, it makes it easier for villagers to exchange New Year's greetings, saving them the trouble of running around.
Sure enough, the villagers arrived shortly after they did.
The women gathered around the old lady to talk, while the men led the boys and girls to kneel down and kowtow to their elders.
Li Laosi brought up a large wooden box filled with copper coins.
Grandma Li grabbed a handful of food and handed them to the boys and girls one by one, making them extremely happy.
Jiayin also took out two boxes of exquisite palace flowers and distributed them to the little maids as an extra supplement.
The little girls wore their hairpins in their braids, their pretty faces flushed red.
After a lively morning, the Xing family of four, along with Baozhu, came to offer New Year's greetings.
Seeing that the Li family was as lively and simple as his wife had described, Lord Xing was also pleased.
He insisted on kneeling down and kowtowing to Dr. Zhang to thank the old man for saving his wife's life.
Doctor Zhang helped Lord Xing up, stroked his beard with an air of pride, and said, "It is the duty of us doctors to heal the sick and save people from suffering."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh, but they didn't expose the old man's unreliable nature.
Lord Xing was genuinely grateful and presented him with a rare, out-of-print medical book.
His daily job was editing books, and with the mountain of books in the royal collection, finding a rare medical book wasn't too difficult.
But this made Dr. Zhang extremely happy.
Perhaps hoping for such good fortune in the future, he immediately took Lord Xing's pulse again and prescribed a remedy to nourish his body, ensuring he would regain his virility and have another child.
Lord Xing blushed deeply after being teased, but he still put the prescription away.
Before long, Liu's Zhimin and Xiujie also came to offer their New Year's greetings.
Their house was also overcrowded, and Liu Zhiheng couldn't get out, so the two boys took on the responsibility.
With a wave of her little hand, Jiayin led her older brothers and sisters to the greenhouse.
Inside the greenhouse, you can eat as much fruit as you want, and it's warm and cozy, much more comfortable than being with adults.
Jiaren wanted to say a few words to Wan'er, but as the eldest grandson, he could only stay in front to receive guests.
Baozhu was a regular at the greenhouse, but she was never polite. She pulled her cousin Wan'er along, picking grapes, petting the little fox, and laughing heartily.
Anyone who didn't know better would think she was at home!
Jiayin munched on some fruit, watching her older siblings playing happily, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
It's unlikely we'll see such a lively scene again...
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Jia Huan took a bus to Luo'an to visit his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
Wenjuan's belly is getting big; she'll give birth in another month.
Not only was it inconvenient to move around at this time, but Peng's new wife, who had married into the family later, was no pushover either.
Grandma Li was worried that if her granddaughter-in-law went back home and caused some trouble, it might harm her unborn great-grandson.
Wenjuan was happy with this arrangement. She now belonged entirely to her husband's family, and her own family was more like a dispensable relative to her.
Mrs. Wen and Mr. Wen packed their things and stayed at the Liu family's house for the night.
So busy, and before we knew it, it was already the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, we send off the gods by eating dumplings!
After the dumplings are eaten, for ordinary people, the New Year is over, and they go back to work and make a living.
After dinner, Li Lao Er also talked to his mother about Jia Xi and Jia An going to sea.
Surprisingly, Grandma Li didn't get angry. Instead, she took her two grandsons, Jiaxi and Jia'an, to stay the night, carefully asked them about their thoughts, and listened to them excitedly talk about their longing and curiosity about overseas...
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