Luo Yong smiled and said, "My wife has always been a kind-hearted girl. She's tough on the outside but soft on the inside. I know that."
Xiao Yunying glared at him: "I hold grudges too. If someone who bullied me comes to me for help, I won't help them. I'd rather they starve to death."
Luo Sheng didn't speak, but his eyes conveyed four words: I don't believe it.
Xiao Yunying felt her face flush from his gaze and pushed his face away, saying, "Don't look at me like that. Go out and sprinkle salt on the snow on the road."
Luo Sheng asked curiously, "Why does the snow melt faster where salt has been sprinkled?"
Xiao Yunying was too lazy to explain: "You wouldn't understand even if I explained, and you wouldn't understand the technical terms either. Just know that this method works."
Luo Sheng said helplessly, "Alright."
He resignedly carried the bag of salt out of the house, while Xiao Yunying began to think about how to spend this year's New Year.
Many things happened this year, roughly half good and half bad, but overall, the good things outnumbered the bad.
There will be many more people at home, making it much more lively than last year.
A few days later, the snow on the mountain road melted and people could walk on it. Many villagers came to borrow oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages to go to the town to inquire about the situation at the grain store.
Not only is the price of grain much higher than before the snow, but it has also been rationed. Only five jin can be bought at a time, and only two or three hundred jin are sold each day. Once sold out, a sign is put up saying no more will be sold.
Those with impatient tempers will only shout and yell because of their dissatisfaction and anxiety, while those with quick minds will immediately understand that the grain store probably doesn't have much grain left, which is why they've started limiting the quantity. Otherwise, if it were all sold out at once, it might cause panic.
Many people are not well-off and don't have much food stored, so they only buy more when they are almost out of food.
Because of the snowstorm that caused grain prices to soar, people are now desperate to buy grain even if they have the money. They are all rushing to Xiao Shanhai and Xiao Yunying's homes to inquire if there is any grain left to sell.
After learning about the situation in the city, Xiao Yunying did not answer immediately, saying that she would first discuss it with her parents.
After she went back to her parents' home and discussed it with her father, she announced that she would sell some of the family's stored grain the next day, mostly sweet potatoes, potatoes, and taro.
Rice and wheat flour are relatively scarce because most people can't afford much refined grain these days; for them, being able to fill their stomachs is already a good thing.
That evening, she asked her two older brothers to come to her backyard and fetch sweet potatoes and potatoes that she had taken from the cellar.
During the snowy period, she would put some into the cellar every day from the supermarket, just in case, and gradually the cellar was filled up.
In any case, she has a lot of land, so having this many potatoes and sweet potatoes won't arouse suspicion from others.
The academy sent a letter directly, telling the students to go home for the New Year. Not counting the nearly one month lost due to the heavy snow, their holiday was a full month and a half.
The academy explained that the leave was originally only for one month, but due to the special circumstances this year and unusual celestial phenomena, the students living on campus were asked to go home early to visit their families, spend more time with them, and avoid being stranded by heavy snow on their way to and from school if another blizzard were to occur later.
(In ancient times, there were no summer or winter vacations in the modern sense. Instead, study time was arranged according to the solar terms of the lunar calendar and agricultural activities.)
The weather in the north is not as mild as in the south. There is a winter clothing allowance, which gives students time to go home and get their winter clothes. It usually starts in early September when the weather turns cool. Because of the long distance and inconvenient transportation, the duration of the holiday depends on the students' circumstances.
School will be closed for major holidays, with the Lunar New Year holiday typically lasting about a month. Under normal circumstances, school will resume on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Upon hearing about such a long holiday, Luo Li was overjoyed.
When he saw the thick stack of papers that came with the letter, all of which were homework assignments given by the teacher, his face immediately wrinkled up, looking utterly hopeless.
Xiao Yunying didn't care how he completed his homework; his two older brothers would supervise him, so she didn't need to worry about it.
Her current task is to prepare for the Chinese New Year.
First, she worked with Zheng Yunwan and Granny Chang to marinate meat, stuff sausages, and make cured pork ribs. Then, in the days leading up to the end of the year, she started frying meatballs and steaming sugar buns.
She packed the New Year's goods she had prepared for each family and had the driver deliver them to them. When the carriage returned from the city, it was to bring back their return gifts and Duan Yingying, who was on holiday.
Duan Yingying had already heard from the farmhands about her house collapsing on the way. When she arrived at the farm and saw Xiao Yunying busy in the kitchen, she didn't care about the stares of the people around her and immediately knelt down and kowtowed to her.
"Sister Yunying, thank you for taking in my mother and my sister."
Xiao Yunying, who was making steamed buns, was startled: "Oh my god, you two are just like that! Stop kowtowing and get up! Mengxia, help me help Yingying up."
With her hands covered in oil and flour, she simply couldn't free up any hands to help someone.
When Duan Yingying's mother, who was helping to tend the fire, saw her eldest daughter return, she felt a sense of relief and went over to hug her.
"Yingying is back. Did she ask your employer for leave?"
"Sister Cheng Yue gave us a holiday, saying that we will reopen on the eighth day of the new year, and that I can go back on the seventh day. Mother, are you and my sister alright? Are you hurt?"
"Mom is fine, and your sister is fine too. She's playing with Xin'er. It's just that our house has completely collapsed and is uninhabitable."
Duan Yingying was also very worried, but she didn't show it on her face: "It's okay, we can rebuild the house if it collapses. As long as Mom and my sister are alright, that's all that matters."
Xiao Yunying continued wrapping buns with her head down: "Your mother reacted very quickly. She sensed something was wrong and knew she couldn't escape, so she grabbed your sister and hid under the table. Xiaoxiao told us that your mother was practically flying with her."
Her words were so vivid and interesting that they made everyone laugh and dispelled the gloom in the hearts of the mother and daughter.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
