Xiao Yunying applied paste to the wall and asked Duan Yingying to check if the position was suitable. If it was, she could paste it on.
"Sister Yunying, why did you put up so many upside-down 'Fu' characters?"
Xiao Yunying paused in her act of pasting the "Fu" character: "Don't you have this custom here?"
She hadn't really paid attention to the matter of pasting up the character "福" (fu, meaning good fortune). In the village, it was already considered good if people could paste up a couplet. Red paper was bought with copper coins, and very few families would buy extra red paper to paste up the character "福".
Duan Yingying was puzzled, unsure whether Xiao Yunying had misspoke or was asking about the customs of their family's former home.
"We? Sister Yunying, my mother and I only moved here a few years ago. The place we lived in before didn't have upside-down 'Fu' characters."
Xiao Yunying belatedly realized that she had said the wrong thing: "I saw this in a book. The character '福' (fortune) is pasted upside down because it sounds like '福到了' (fortune has arrived), so it's a good omen."
In her past life, she was from the North, and the custom of Northerners during the Lunar New Year is to paste upside down the "福" (Fu, meaning good fortune) character.
Duan Yingying repeated, "福倒了，福到了，果然同音。"
Xiao Yunying pasted the red paper up and moved to another spot: "Yingying, did you put up Spring Festival couplets at home?"
Duan Yingying followed her with the paste, saying, "My family only needs one sticker outside the front door. My mother can put it up herself."
Xiao Yunying mentally calculated the distance to the wall and walked a little further than expected:
"I had a lot of fun writing Spring Festival couplets and the character '福' (good fortune) with the children, so I wrote two extra couplets and a few extra '福' characters. You can take them home. It would be a waste to leave them until the red paper fades next year."
"Well... thank you, Sister Yunying."
After putting up the Spring Festival couplets and the character "福" (good fortune), Xiao Yunying asked Duan Yingying to go to the kitchen to wash the pot for making paste. She took two empty baskets and went to the living room to take out various vegetables and meats from the supermarket.
After hurriedly grabbing what she needed, Xiao Yunying glanced at the door leading to the kitchen.
"It was fine as soon as I took it out last night. I was so worried about Yang Tianyun that I forgot everything else."
Oh dear, I haven't even washed the cloak Yuan Cheng lent me.
I'll wash it tonight. The cloak is made of brocade, so it doesn't seem like it can be soaked in water for too long. I'll figure it out tonight.
"Sister Yunying."
"Why."
Xiao Yunying snapped out of her daze: "Have you finished washing the pot?"
"After washing, what else does Sister Yunying need to do?"
"Come on, help me carry these two baskets to the kitchen. I'm going to start cooking."
The two of them worked together to carry the heavy basket into the kitchen, and Xiao Yunying assigned Duan Yingying the task of washing vegetables.
Seeing that she was scooping water from the vat and then reaching directly into the basin, I quickly stopped her:
"Yingying, don't wash them directly. The water in the tub is cold, but there's hot water in the big pot. Warm it up before washing the vegetables. Don't let your hands get cold. You do embroidery, and if your hands get frostbite, it will recur every year, and your hands will become rougher and rougher."
Duan Yingying knew there was hot water boiling in the pot. She had thought that it wouldn't be appropriate for Xiao Yunying, a woman, to go up the mountain to collect firewood, so she should save some firewood. But after looking at her own hands, she realized that Xiao Yunying was right: "I understand, thank you, Sister Yunying."
Seeing that she had obediently scooped up hot water, Xiao Yunying scooped up two bowls of flour, kneaded them into dough, and set them aside to rise.
"Giggle."
Xiao Yunying closed the basin and asked, "What's all that noise?"
"Sister Yunying, it seems to be coming from those baskets."
Those baskets were New Year's gifts that Chen Yuancheng and Cheng Yue returned this morning and last night; she hadn't had a chance to see what was inside yet.
He wiped his hands and went over to lift the cloth covering the basket.
Duan Yingying asked in surprise, "Black chicken?"
Xiao Yunying was surprised that Duan Yingying could recognize the black chicken: "You know black chicken?"
Duan Yingying's expression turned dejected: "My family left our hometown because of a black-boned chicken."
"ah……"
Xiao Yunying opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.
Duan Yingying mechanically washed the radish: "Back when my grandma was seriously ill, my dad heard that there was a kind of black chicken sold in the city that was very nutritious, so he spent a lot of money to buy a black chicken to make soup for my grandma."
The next day, Grandma passed away. People in the village said that my father used a ghost chicken to steal Grandma's soul in order to get money from the old woman.
No matter how my father explained, the villagers, including my uncles, all said that my father had harmed my grandmother, and that the black chicken was a ghost chicken.
They all clearly saw my mother making chicken soup, but none of them stopped her. Only after my grandmother passed away did they start criticizing her, saying increasingly offensive things, without even giving my father a chance to explain.
Xiao Yunying silently closed the basket: "The villagers have never seen a black-boned chicken before, so they might be a little afraid, but we need to carefully consider the thoughts of your uncles."
If they truly had that kind of filial piety, why didn't they question and inquire when they saw the black-boned chicken, instead of remaining silent until the old man passed away before suddenly jumping out to criticize them?
Duan Yingying put the washed radish into another bowl:
“My father naturally knew what his brothers meant by treating him this way; they clearly knew that the black chicken was fine.”
My grandfather was a businessman who amassed a considerable fortune, which all fell into my grandmother's name before and after his death.
Later, my father passed the imperial examination and took over most of the family business. If my grandmother were to pass away, suspicion would fall on my father. It is self-evident who would benefit the most.
My father never intended to monopolize the family fortune, which completely chilled the hearts of his so-called blood brothers. After burying my grandmother, he took us away from our hometown and moved to Xiaqu Village. Who knew…
They had just settled down when an earthquake took their lives.
Xiao Yunying somewhat understood Duan Xiucai's thoughts.
The greatest sorrow is a broken heart. This saying perfectly explains why he didn't fight or grab, gave up his family property, and left his hometown with his wife and children, leaving the place where he grew up.
Otherwise, given his status as a scholar, if he were to appeal to the government, they wouldn't ignore it; they would surely be able to prove that the black chicken was innocent and he could win a considerable amount of family property.
Duan Yingying took a deep breath: "Look at me, why am I saying all this? Sister Yunying, the radishes are washed."
The radishes in the supermarket are not like those that have just been pulled from the ground; they are clean and free of mud, so you only need to wash them once.
Xiao Yunying moved the wooden basin to the long table where the vegetables were being prepared: "You wash all the vegetables in the basket, and I'll chop them."
"knew."
Xiao Yunying took out a wooden grater from the cupboard, washed her hands, and began grating radishes.
Duan Yingying asked curiously, "Sister Yunying, what is this?"
Everyone in the village knows that Xiao Yunying grows rare vegetables in her greenhouse using seeds bought from overseas merchants.
Therefore, Duan Yingying didn't find the unfamiliar dishes strange at all; instead, she was curious about the unfamiliar furniture and tools in her home.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
