Since arriving in this strange world, all sorts of emotions that had been building up inside me have burst forth with this feeling of longing, and I can't suppress them at all.
Xiao Yunying hugged her legs and couldn't help but cry.
She tried her best to suppress her sobs, afraid that the children would hear her, and it took her a long time to control her emotions.
Is this what they mean by "missing loved ones even more during festivals"?
Xiao Yunying murmured to herself, now she completely understood the poem.
He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down, wiped his face casually with his sleeve, added a few pieces of charcoal, put the table and chairs in order, and went to the kitchen to wash his face before going back inside.
She didn't see that the moment she stood up, two figures outside the door quickly hid to the side and stood against the corner of the wall.
Luo Chen and Luo Yang exchanged a glance, both of them having the same thought echoing in their minds.
Is this what they mean by missing one's loved ones even more during festivals?
Is Mother... missing her home...?
When Xiao Yunying returned to the room, the two brothers had already left. She took off her outer clothes and cotton trousers, got onto the kang (a heated brick bed), tucked Xin'er in, and then fell asleep peacefully.
I don't know if it was because I didn't sleep well last night, or because I was exhausted from crying and venting my emotions just now, but I slept very soundly this time.
I was woken up by Luo Xin early the next morning.
"Mom, it's time to get up. My brother says the dumplings will be ready soon."
Xiao Yunying sat up abruptly: "Oh dear, it's New Year's Day today! I overslept!"
Luo Xin helped her take the new cotton-padded coat that had been placed by the kang (a heated brick bed) last night: "Mother, you've worked hard these past few days. Don't worry, brother is already cooking dumplings."
Xiao Yunying rubbed her hair: "That's right, we don't need to go out to visit relatives for the New Year, and we don't need to get up so early."
The custom here is that on the first day of the Lunar New Year, men go out to visit relatives and elders, while women stay at home and leave the door open.
Not to mention that the scoundrel is an outsider and has no relatives here.
As a woman, she has no right to go out and offer New Year's greetings.
After Luo Xin finished carrying the cotton-padded coat, she came over, hugged Xiao Yunying's neck, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Happy New Year, Mom! I wish you become more and more beautiful, earn more money, and make a fortune in the new year!"
Xiao Yunying was completely charmed by the little girl's adorable appearance and scooped her up in her arms.
"Who taught you such auspicious phrases? They're so cute."
Luo Xin's eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled: "Third brother taught me this. Eldest and second brothers taught me four-character phrases, but I didn't remember them. So third brother taught me this one, saying that Mother would definitely like to hear it."
"Mother likes it very much."
Xiao Yunying took the little girl's new cotton-padded jacket and trousers and said, "Come on, put on your new clothes. I'll give you lucky money later."
Luo Xin obediently stretched out her arms and legs, asking, "What is New Year's money?"
While explaining the meaning of New Year's money, Xiao Yunying dressed the little girl and combed her hair before going to the kitchen to wash up.
The children wished her a Happy New Year right away. Xiao Yunying didn't even wait until after the meal; after washing up, she gave each of them a purse.
Her purse contained the same things. According to local custom, it should contain dried fruits such as walnuts and pine nuts. She also put in a few pieces of milk candy and a small silver ingot weighing two ounces.
Luo Li couldn't think straight, and as soon as he got the purse, he tried to open it, but Luo Chen gently patted his hand.
Xiao Yunying, holding a bowl of dumplings, smiled and said, "It's alright, open it if you want. All of you siblings have the same amount of money."
"Big brother, did you hear that? Mother said it can be opened."
After saying that, he opened his purse.
Dried fruits and such can be eaten freely, but Luo Li doesn't care much for them. What he likes is the milk candy inside.
He likes to eat milk candy, but his mother doesn't let him eat too much, afraid that it will ruin his teeth.
"One, two, three...wait? This is...silver?"
Luo Chen was taken aback, then opened his purse, inside which was also a small silver ingot.
Luo Chen hesitated and said, "Mother, this silver..."
"Here's your New Year's money. Okay, stop standing there, come and get your chopsticks and eat dumplings."
Luo Li placed the bowl on the table. He was a little flustered, having never handled so much silver before, and said uncertainly:
"Mother, isn't this too much?"
Xiao Yunying lifted Luo Xin onto a stool and put a few dumplings in her bowl:
"It's not much, just consider it as making up for the New Year's money you received before. After the New Year, you'll start going to school. You can use the New Year's money to buy anything you need. You can also buy anything you want to eat or use on a daily basis. Don't feel bad about spending it. Just tell me when you've used it up. You can also save it and take it out when you need it later."
"But..." he said, holding the empty shell.
"No buts. What's given to you is yours. You can buy whatever you want. Just be careful not to lose or misplace anything. Okay, let's eat quickly."
Luo Xin took out a small silver ingot with her little hand: "Xin'er hasn't wanted to buy anything yet. Can Mother hold it for Xin'er first? Xin'er is afraid of losing it."
"Okay, Mom will put it in a small wooden box and lock it in the cabinet for you in a bit."
After the meal, Xiao Yunying opened the door wide, so that passersby would know that the family had been renovated and could come in to offer their New Year's greetings.
This isn't the scoundrel's hometown, so normally no one would come to pay New Year's visits. Leaving the door open is just a token gesture.
Eight plates were placed on the table in the reception area, filled with various dried fruits, candies, and homemade snacks to welcome guests.
Xiao Yunying guessed that no adults would come, but there should be quite a few children.
Children who are related to relatives like to visit each other's homes to exchange New Year's greetings on this day. They usually receive one or two copper coins as lucky money, or at least some food that they don't usually see.
Sure enough, not long after the door was opened, several of my nephews from my maternal family ran over together, and as soon as they entered, they all shouted auspicious words such as "Happy New Year, Auntie" and "May you make a fortune in the New Year".
It's easy to understand; you can tell it was taught by her two older brothers.
Xiao Yunying happily agreed and gave each person a purse.
"Good boy/girl, here's your New Year's money."
"Thank you, Auntie."
The children shouted in unison. The Xiao family's upbringing was quite good; they didn't untie their purses in front of her, so they didn't see the small silver lock weighing two ounces inside.
After playing around for a while and having eaten their fill of snacks, the little nephews were going to visit other people's homes for the New Year. They told her they were going and ran off noisily.
The second group to arrive were the Yang twins. Xiao Yunying gave them purses containing the same snacks, and ten copper coins as New Year's money.
This is already quite a lot among farmers.
After seeing the two groups of children off, Xiao Yunying left the door open at home and let the children visit her parents' home, the Yang family, the village chief, and several close relatives to offer New Year's greetings.
The rest are left to their own devices; they can visit whichever family they want to pay New Year's greetings to, or come back if they don't.
He can't even recognize everyone in the village, let alone these few children.
Besides, their surname is Luo, not Xiao. Because of her connection, they only need to visit one of Xiao's relatives' homes and make sure they don't break the rules. They can't say anything if they don't visit other people's homes.
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