Chapter 232: Chinese New Year
Inspired by his grandfather and sister, Jin An was also full of energy: "What about me? What about me? What should I do?"
Grandpa patted him on the back of his head and said, "Study hard!"
Jin An touched his head and said, "But I heard that the Marquis cannot take the imperial examination. I don't want to study. I want to practice martial arts."
Grandpa Ling really didn't know, so he looked at Jin Sui and asked, "Your brother can't take the imperial examination?"
Jinsui nodded: "If I give birth to a child, Xiaoan will be the emperor's uncle. How can an emperor's uncle take the examination for a scholar or a juren?"
Grandpa Ling took a breath and said, "What should we do?"
Jin Sui found it funny: "What is the imperial examination for? To be conferred a title and appointed as a prime minister? Jin An already has a title!"
Jin'an has already achieved the goal that others have been working hard for for ten years, and his grandfather seems to be a little slow to react.
Grandpa Ling asked anxiously, "What are you going to do if you can't study? You can't just hang around like Eleven, right?"
Yan Shiyi would definitely cry if she heard this. It’s true that I used to idle around, but I’ve been very busy in the past year. How can I be idle?
Jin Sui smiled and said, "Of course not, you can still join the army. Doesn't Jin An want to learn martial arts? Then learn it. You have to study too. It's not like you won't study if you don't want to take the imperial examination.
Even if Xiao An doesn't become an official in the future, he can still work in my organization. I'm in need of science talents."
Jin An had an idea in his mind: "Then I will practice martial arts well, study mathematics and the study of things, and learn literature as well, including the art of war."
"I want to work as hard as my grandfather and sister and make a career."
Grandpa was very happy: "Yes! We must not be like those dandy young men like Yan Shiyi, who spend their days riding horses and playing with women, wasting their precious time without learning any skills."
The three generations of grandparents and grandchildren set new year goals and then had the New Year's Eve dinner. Grandpa rarely drank wine, so Jinsui accompanied him. They drank Lingnan lychee wine brought back by the ship. It had a strong fruity flavor but a long aftertaste.
Xiao An also wanted to try it, but Jin Sui refused, so Grandpa cooked rice wine for him.
The three of them stayed up together that night. This time they drank milk tea, ate melon seeds and peanuts. Grandpa has very good teeth and he especially likes to eat peanuts.
While eating peanuts, he said: "I heard that some people get rashes all over their body after eating peanuts. How unlucky! They can't eat such delicious food!"
Jin Sui said hurriedly: "Then I have to remind you, this is an allergy, it can be fatal if it's serious."
Grandpa didn't care: "If eating something so delicious costs your life, then it's worth it! It's really strange. In famine years, people chew on tree bark and grass roots, and eat Guanyin soil when they are extremely hungry. If they die from eating it, it means they have a bad fate.
How can you eat such good things and still die? Poor people still suffer from diseases of the rich, but only the spoiled daughters of rich families cannot eat this or that. "
Jinsui explained the allergies to Grandpa and Jin'an very seriously. Jin'an listened very attentively, but Grandpa didn't take it seriously at all.
His body itched when he ate seafood, but he never told Jinsui that the food was so delicious that it was worth the suffering.
Jinsui is increasingly determined to expand the medical and nursing school and to implement public hospitals at the town level. There are too many things that need popular science education.
But think about the fact that some elderly people in later generations may have allergies but still don’t understand it. The road to popularizing science is still long and arduous!
Jinan has been sitting next to Jinsui. The child now feels that he is an adult and doesn't like to get close to others. But he still wants to be closer to his sister. Jinsui wants to touch his head.
He said awkwardly, "Don't touch me." But you can still tell from his eyes that he likes this kind of closeness.
Being at an awkward age, Jin Sui certainly didn't bother with her little brat brother. She put her arm around his shoulders and asked with a smile, "I haven't given you a New Year's gift yet? Tell me what you want."
Jinan asked in a low voice: "Does it mean I can't celebrate the New Year with my sister anymore?"
Jin Sui smiled and said, "Not really. I can take you and Grandpa to the palace to celebrate the New Year."
Jinan shook his head: "I heard that there are a lot of rules in the palace. Grandpa will definitely not go."
That means he will go. Jin Sui felt happy. She was an orphan in her previous life, but in this life she realized that it is not bad to have a younger brother.
"Sister, I want to see you in the future. Is it troublesome?"
Jin Sui shook her head again: "No, I will give you a palace card, you can come to the palace to see me at any time. Besides, even if I marry into the palace, I will come to the academy often, we can meet here."
Grandpa Ling sat aside, drinking tea, saying nothing, quietly watching the two siblings snuggling together.
He thought of the time when he and Jinsui celebrated the New Year in the small town. Jinsui was weak and never managed to stay up until the end of the New Year's Eve party. He always fell asleep in the middle of it.
He carried little Jinsui to the bed, sat at the head of his granddaughter's bed, waited for the sound of the New Year's gong at midnight, and put a copper coin under his granddaughter's pillow as a token of respect.
My age...
Grandpa Ling wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and continued to drink tea with a smile, as if nothing had happened.
The bell of midnight rang, and soon the fireworks began to be set off. Jin Sui took Jin An to the window and watched the fireworks in the sky amidst the falling snow.
They both turned around at the same time to help him up: "Grandpa, look, the fireworks this year are so beautiful!"
That is, gunpowder research is difficult, but it is much easier to make fireworks. The fireworks workshop at the base received a lot of orders.
Jin Sui once joked that using the failed gunpowder materials to make fireworks, and using the money from selling fireworks to make gunpowder, just saved a lot of money.
Grandpa and Jin'an went to the yard to set off firecrackers to welcome the new year and lit the last incense. Jinsui went to cook dumplings because she was afraid that she would get indigestion if she ate too much.
The dumplings are specially wrapped very small, and there are several more flavors, including the radish and pork commonly eaten in the Central Plains, the mutton and green onions eaten in the North, and the shrimp and three-fresh dumplings. When they are mixed together, the taste is surprising.
Of course, she did not forget to pack one with a copper coin in it, and she put it specially in grandpa's bowl.
Just as the dumplings were cooked, one of Grandpa's apprentices came to report, "Miss, your guard wants to see you."
Jin Sui was startled. Which guard wanted to see him at this time? "Who?"
"Well, he said they were your old guards." He added, "Your old guards when you were the King of Li."
Jin Sui thought for a second before she burst into laughter. She went to take the people to the warm room herself. Seeing Gu Changxiao dressed as a guard, she smiled and asked, "Didn't you meet the new year in the palace?"
Gu Changxiao said hurriedly: "After the sacrifice, there will be a family banquet, and I didn't hold a family banquet."
Jin Sui stroked his chin and smiled, "Yes, logically speaking, you should be drinking and having fun with a group of concubines now."
Gu Changxiao reached out and hugged her: "So I came to accompany the Queen."
"Hey, didn't we agree not to see each other before the wedding?"
"It's not the Emperor who is here to see the Queen, but Guard Gu Changxiao who is here to see His Royal Highness Prince Li."
Jinsui originally wanted to say a few words to him and let him go, but when he saw that he was soaked in the snow and had obviously come on a fast horse, he felt reluctant.
He was given clean clothes to change into, and a bowl of dumplings was brought to him. Gu Changxiao seemed to be hungry from the New Year's Eve dinner. The dumplings were a little small, but he ate one bowl after another, a total of thirty.
"Sui Sui's dumplings are still the best! The dumplings in the palace look good, but they have no taste."
Jin Sui asked him speechlessly: "Why did you have to rush over? You will have to go back in the snow later, how unsafe it is."
Gu Changxiao fished out a sachet from his bosom, took out two purple jade bracelets, held Sui Sui's hand, and put them on gently: "Here is a New Year's gift for Sui Sui."
Jin Sui played with the bracelet and said with emotion: "It was given as a gift. In the past few days before the New Year, people came to give gifts every day."
Gu Changxiao looked at her jade-like wrist and whispered, "It's different. The New Year gift has to be delivered personally by me to make it meaningful. Does Sui Sui like it?"
Jin Sui nodded: "Of course I like it! It's just that I didn't prepare any New Year gifts for you!"
Gu Changxiao held her and sat beside him, then took out a bag of clay from his arms: "This is the best New Year gift! No, I should say that having Sui Sui by my side is the best gift.
You are a gift from the gods to me."
Jin Sui felt it was very corny: "I am a living person, not a gift from the gods! Go back when you are full! Otherwise, you will be discovered."
Gu Changxiao rested his head on her neck and rubbed it like a clingy cat: "I don't want to leave! Why didn't we get married earlier?"
Jin Sui held his face and said, "I'll give you a gift, and you'll go back, okay?"
"That depends on what the gift is."
Jin Sui turned around and went back to her room, actually she went to her space and took out the selfie she took with Gu Changxiao last time while he was sleeping.
Gu Changxiao fell asleep in the carriage, with his head resting on her shoulder. She took a picture with her mobile phone and developed it in the space.
I put it in a wooden carved photo frame. I had originally planned to take it out after the wedding. It seems that if I want to drive away the clingy big cat, I have to use this as a cat strip.
Gu Changxiao was indeed very satisfied and surprised: "Sui Sui's painting skills are really lifelike! How can he paint so like?"
This time, Jin Sui couldn't say that he had asked an artist to paint it, because there were only the two of them in the carriage, and no artist would dare to peek. He could only lie and say:
"My painting skills are random. Sometimes I can draw so well when I'm in the mood. Normally, I can only draw a design."
"Okay, can we go back now? I'm afraid if you don't go back, the palace will panic."
Gu Changxiao looked outside the door and said, "I want to say hello to Taoist Ling."
Jin Sui was startled: "Don't do that, Grandpa will scold us!"
Gu Changxiao laughed and took out another jade pendant: "Give this to Jinan."
"No need. Jin'an will go to the palace to wish you a happy new year tomorrow morning, and you can give it to me later. Do it quietly, don't let anyone know you're here. I don't want to be scolded by the Ministry of Rites!"
Gu Changxiao looked at her strangely: "That's not right. I used to be the one who advised Sui Sui to stay calm and not act recklessly. Why is it that now Sui Sui is the one advising me?"
"It's different! I used to use a vest, but my current identity will last for many years, so I have to be careful about my reputation."
Gu Changxiao burst into laughter at her words, and then he thought of something and tapped her nose: "Did Sui Sui prepare for this? He actually said something like the King of Li is inhumane, and it spread all over the world. Now I have a reasonable reason to refuse to select a concubine."
Jin Sui felt his face burning, and he covered his ears and said, "Please don't mention this again! Who hasn't been young and ignorant? Once we get married, the rumors will be broken."
Gu Changxiao said jokingly in her ear: "How come it collapsed without any attack? Did the maids in the palace come to teach Sui Sui?"
Jin Sui took a deep breath and glared at him fiercely: "If you don't leave, I will be really angry."
Gu Changxiao came here on horseback and returned to the city in Jinsui's four-wheeled carriage. Fortunately, the snow had stopped, otherwise he would have to stay in the Taoist temple.
When they saw him off, fireworks were being set off in the distance. They both looked up at the same time, looking at the dazzling fireworks. Under the white snow and red plum blossoms, they looked at each other and said at the same time, "Happy New Year."
Gu Changxiao said with expectation: "Next year, let's stay up together, watch fireworks, drink fruit wine, pick red plums to put in vases, and make ice lanterns, okay?"
How childish! Looking forward to the New Year so much.
But Jin Sui still answered him seriously: "Okay! But what you said is too ordinary. We will celebrate the New Year together next year, and I will take you to have more fun."
Gu Changxiao actually laughed like a child: "Well, I'll wait."
After returning to the room, Jinsui felt like it was a dream. Was it because he stayed by the fire with Grandpa and Jinan for too long and had a mild case of carbon monoxide poisoning?
It wasn't until she touched the bracelet on her wrist that she confirmed that it was not a dream. Did Gu Changxiao really run away from the palace and run so far just to eat three bowls of dumplings and give her a bracelet?
How willful!
Jin Sui suddenly felt a little sympathetic towards Han Xing. She remembered that when she first arrived at the border town, she used her identity as the King of Li to do a lot of ridiculous things. Was Han Xing in this state of mind at that time? Too willful. So worried! Maybe it was because she drank too much tea, or because Gu Changxiao's arrival made her feel too good. Anyway, she didn't fall asleep for a moment in the middle of the night.
I might as well get up and not sleep. She won’t go out before the 15th anyway, so I can just make up for the sleep during the day.
She went into the space to continue the experiment. In order to give the experiment of using cowpox to prevent smallpox to her grandfather, she had to prepare the tools in the space in advance.
There are also good varieties of vegetables and grains that she cultivated in the space. She found that the seeds harvested from the space were much better than those grown in the greenhouse.
The fruits and vegetables of this era were not grafted and improved, so they were not very delicious. For example, watermelons had little red soil, many seeds, and were not sweet enough. Eggplants also had many seeds, thick skin, and little meat. Purple-skinned eggplants also had a nice name, Kunlun purple melon.
Celery has a lot of tendons, and if you want to make dumpling fillings, you have to peel the tendons for a long time. She took the fruits and vegetables she often ate to the space and planted some of them, then used the nutrients prepared in the space, and improved them through hybridization and grafting, with very good results.
There are not many seeds, so they are currently only planted in my grandfather’s Taoist temple.
She was busy until dawn, then she came out of the space to prepare clothes for Grandpa and Jin'an to wear today. Grandpa was going to the refugee camp to distribute porridge and medicine, so he wore a Taoist robe with a Taoist look.
Jin'an was going to the palace to pay New Year's greetings. On the first day of the new year, all nobles had to pay New Year's greetings to the emperor. Jin'an was wearing the clothes of nobility issued by the court. Jinsui personally altered them to fit him. In order to prevent him from getting cold because they were too thin, he also wore a coat and a cape inside.
She didn't need to worry about Grandpa's affairs. She just moved a few large boxes of candy from the space to Grandpa. They were New Year's gifts for the children in the refugee camp.
Jin'an had to give her many instructions. She was not afraid of getting lost in the palace, but she was afraid of being cheated by the nobles: "Don't talk to them about other things. If they ask about trade, just say you don't understand."
Jinan said seriously: "Sister, I am not a child anymore, don't worry! Those people can't deceive me."
Jin Sui teased him deliberately: "What if you use the honey trap?"
Grandpa Ling laughed and said, "That's right, you have to be on guard against this. Look at how handsome our little An is. If someone says they want to marry their daughter or granddaughter to you, you have to refuse!"
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