She was planning to build a small workshop next year, so she decided to build four more courtyards as well, including Lin Chaoxi, who was nowhere to be found. She was treating everyone equally.
Actually, she hadn't planned to arrange for the original owner's sons to leave so soon. After all, there hadn't been any conflicts during the year they lived together, and there were people who cooked and cleaned the house.
But why should she compromise herself when she can live a comfortable life on her own? She just doesn't want the whole family to live together in a cramped and uncomfortable situation!
Even with her fourth son, Lin Chaobei, who was full of affection for her, she was unwilling.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, August 15th, it was still raining, and the floodwaters had reached her doorstep. No one was in the mood to celebrate.
Therefore, on Laba Festival this winter, every household is willing to cook rice porridge in order to have a good New Year. They also want to make good offerings to the immortals and ancestors to thank them for their blessings over the past three years. Every household is more willing to spend money on shopping than in previous years.
Although Yue Jiuyue's family was not short of money, they did not go too far. They had enough meat at home, so they bought some pork and pork bones. The pork was for making steamed buns and dumplings, and the pork bones were for making soup. They also bought a pig's head to make meat jelly.
There are very few vegetable vendors in town, and even if they do, they only sell radishes and cabbages. Although many people's vegetables were unexpectedly damaged by the first snowfall of the year, it doesn't stop them from eating. Only discerning families would be willing to spend this unnecessary money.
Yue Jiuyue wasn't that particular, so she didn't buy any groceries. Her family mostly bought all sorts of delicious food because Lin Chaodong and the others would always bring Xiaoman'er with them whenever they went to town.
Yue Jiuyue didn't care about them. It wouldn't cost much anyway, and since she was planning to "separate the family" after the New Year, she felt a little guilty and wouldn't say anything.
On New Year's Eve, the family gets up early to cook porridge and then put up Spring Festival couplets. After the men return from paying respects at their ancestors' graves, they can sit together and eat their last meal of the year.
The food on the table was prepared by Yue Jiuyue this time. There were fried pork meatballs and chicken pieces from a few days ago, a plate of pan-fried tofu strips, a pot of radish and pork bone soup, a plate of stir-fried cabbage and pork, and a steamed grass carp. The pickled vegetables included mustard tubers, radishes, and ginger. You could eat as much as you wanted. The staple food was dumplings, which were plentiful and enough to last for several days.
The only downside was that Liu didn't come over for dinner again.
“Mother, Man’er’s mother is quite far along in her pregnancy now. Her belly looks even bigger than when she gave birth to Man’er. We all think it’s going to be a big, healthy boy, and Man’er says so too. So, she won’t be coming over tonight. It’s so dark, what if she bumps into something…?”
If Lin Chaodong's expression had been more natural, Yue Jiuyue might have believed him.
It's obvious without even guessing that Liu Shi didn't want to come, and Lin Chaodong couldn't persuade her otherwise. But it was New Year's Eve, and Lin Chaodong knew that Liu Shi was wrong to do so. So, while he was speaking up for Liu Shi, he also felt that he lacked confidence and was feeling guilty!
"Yes, it's always good to be careful. New Year's Eve happens every year, and we can have a reunion dinner together next year. When spring comes, you can borrow the oxcart from the village chief and take Liu to the town clinic to see a doctor. That way, we'll feel more at ease."
She couldn't bear to watch Liu Shi grow the baby in her belly too big, fearing that it might lead to a difficult childbirth...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
