In this freezing season, it's rare to see even a hint of green, so the sight of a plate of lettuce on the table made Xu Dongsheng extremely happy.
God knows how upsetting it is to eat dried vegetables every day.
Occasionally, the only improvement would be cabbage, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.
Watching Xu Dongsheng wrap a slice of meat in a lettuce leaf and eat it with relish, Zhao Qingyan felt sorry for him.
She could sense how much Xu Dongsheng liked that plate of lettuce.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Dongsheng had finished the plate of lettuce.
After quickly washing my hands, it was almost time to welcome the God of Wealth.
Zhao Qingyan, Xu Dongsheng, and Zhao Minggeng went out together to set off several strings of firecrackers.
Firecrackers went off in the county government office, and the neighbors nearby followed suit, setting off fireworks in every household.
Instantly, firecrackers went off throughout the county.
Because of her pregnancy, Zhao Qinglin was very sleepy, so she changed her position and continued to sleep.
Prince Rui tucked his wife in tightly with the blanket, then got up and went to the living room. He vaguely heard that it sounded like that kid Dong Sheng had arrived.
Zhao Qingbei and Zhao Qingyang also got up.
After exchanging greetings with Xu Dongsheng, they each took out the fireworks they had prepared.
Zhao Qingyan doesn't allow her two younger brothers to play with firecrackers, saying they are dangerous.
Then, the two little guys teamed up and made fireworks.
The whole family almost had a heart attack from the effort to study this thing.
It exploded on a whim, thankfully the explosion wasn't very powerful.
When the first firework exploded in the sky, its dazzling colors dazzled the eyes.
Immediately afterwards, fireworks soared into the sky above the backyard of the county government office.
The entire city's population came out to watch the fireworks.
This was the first time these ordinary people had ever seen anything like it.
Fireworks are expensive, so no one in Davar has ever set them off.
After setting off fireworks, do you want to tell others that your family is rich?
Daring to release them is tantamount to telling the county magistrate, "My family is rich, come and fleece us," and it also tells the northern Mongols outside the pass, "There are fat sheep in the city."
Nowadays, the fact that fireworks can be set off without restraint in the county government office shows what? It shows that the government office is wealthy and the world is stable.
The fireworks prepared by Zhao Qingbei and Zhao Qingyang lasted for a full quarter of an hour before they finally stopped.
Setting off fireworks kept everyone in the county government office extremely busy.
Especially the guards brought by Prince Rui.
They don't usually have the opportunity to play like this, so the job of changing the fireworks fell to them.
Prince Rui steeled his heart and finally dragged his wife out of bed.
He couldn't bear to see his wife work so hard, but he was also afraid she would regret it.
Zhao Qinglin was woken up in a daze.
Through the glass of the window, I saw the colorful fireworks being set off outside. I didn't need Prince Rui's help to get dressed.
She grabbed her clothes and quickly put them on herself, her movements startling Prince Rui, who repeatedly told her to stop.
"Stomach, stomach, slow down, ouch..."
"It's so beautiful! Why didn't you call me sooner?" Zhao Qinglin complained as she watched the fireworks.
Prince Rui remained silent, thinking to himself,
"It's not that I didn't call you; even if I did, you'd have to be able to get up."
However, he dared not say this. Besides being reasonable, his wife was also prone to crying, and he dared not offend her.
This New Year's Eve was different for Dawar and the people of Montreal outside the city; it will be remembered.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the gates of the county government office were opened very early.
Don't misunderstand, it's not about welcoming anyone to report to the authorities, but rather, it's customary to exchange New Year's greetings with each other on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The elders, including Zhao Qianci, naturally accepted the kowtows from their children and grandchildren.
However, when Prince Rui was about to kneel down and kowtow, he was stopped.
"No, Your Highness is the pride of heaven, you can't just kowtow to him casually. This old man and woman can't accept that."
Zhao Qianci dared not accept it; it was too frightening.
He's only managed to become a scholar through the imperial examinations, yet he expects a prince to kowtow to him? Does he have a death wish?
If that person in the palace found out, would they say...?
"According to seniority, I should call you Uncle. Shall I kowtow to you as well?"
Prince Rui knew the Zhao family's concerns, so he did not insist further.
However, he still helped his wife and kowtowed to his grandparents and third uncle.
Of course, red envelopes were a must. The elderly couple gave gold ingots, while Zhao Minggeng gave a "peace and safety" plaque.
One look at the jade and you know it must be very expensive.
Of all the people, Zhao Qingyang and Zhao Qingyi were the happiest.
Zhao Qingbei, who received the most red envelopes, was the biggest winner. He was the youngest, so everyone had to give him red envelopes, including Zhao Qingyang.
He gave his younger brother a five-tael gold ingot.
Zhao Qingbei was so happy that she kept spinning around, and then took a big bite of the gold ingot.
"I'm so happy! I declare this year my happiest year yet. Look at all the good stuff I've received!"
Prince Rui looked at his lively brother-in-law. He was just a child. It was hard to imagine that this was a scholar who had just missed becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).
After receiving New Year's greetings from his own children, Zhao Minggeng still had to go out to receive New Year's greetings from everyone in the yamen (government office).
I prepared a whole basket of red envelopes, which can be considered a disguised form of subsidy for my subordinates.
In the back office, Madam Huang was also extremely busy.
The group that came together from Zhao Family Village are now chatting with the old lady in the back office.
After greeting Zhao Qinglin, Zhao Qingyan felt there was nothing more to talk about, so she went back to her room.
There was no way around it; even though Zhao Qinglin was down-to-earth, others couldn't help but feel intimidated.
She's a princess now, things are different now.
Zhao Qingyan is a shoo-in for the county magistrate's wife; didn't you see her son-in-law is already here? Who would dare to be so tactless as to approach her?
Two groups of people, Zhao Qingyan and Xu Dongsheng, and Prince Rui and Zhao Qinglin, went out shopping hand in hand.
"Wasn't it very lively before the New Year? You didn't take me out at all. Now, during the New Year, do you want to show me something boring?"
Zhao Qinglin was somewhat puzzled.
Once outside the county government gate, Zhao Qinglin fell silent.
A long row of stalls was set up in front of the county government office.
Everything from vendors selling ice cream, wooden knives, swords, and lanterns to those selling candied hawthorns, wild chestnuts, and walnuts was cooked.
Some more resourceful and daring individuals even set up noodle stalls and barbecue stalls right in front of the county government office.
The first day of the Lunar New Year was turned into a bustling market by these ordinary people.
The stall fee is extremely cheap, only two coins per stall, first come, first served. No bullying or monopolistic practices, no malicious competition.
Under the protection of Prince Rui and his guards, Zhao Qinglin enjoyed the sightseeing to her heart's content and ate her fill.
Zhao Qingyan was just like Xu Dongsheng, except that these two had big appetites, and they visited every food stall.
I didn't buy the sugar figurine.
In Zhao Qingyan's words, that thing is blown out with your mouth; you can only look at it, not eat it, so buying it would be a waste.
Due to his position, Xu Dongsheng could not stay in Dawar for too long.
Therefore, before leaving, the young man proposed marriage to Zhao Qingyan.
Zhao Qingyan was stunned. "You, me, you, I'm only 16 years old, still a baby."
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