Chapter 167
It snowed heavily that morning, but it finally stopped at noon. Every household went out with tools to sweep the snow. The children in the village took the opportunity to run out and play while their family members were busy.
"Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao!" Tiedan and others' voices came from outside the yard.
Jiaojiao, sitting on the kang, glanced at his father. Yin Zheng carried him off the kang, put on his cotton-padded jacket and hat, and poked his face: "Go."
Seeing that her father agreed, Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian held hands and went out to play together.
Tiedan and the others brought Jiaojiao and the others to a small dirt slope that was not very steep. They lined up and sat on the slope, sliding down with a "whoosh" sound.
Seeing this kind of play for the first time, Jiaojiao carefully took Qin Mianmian's hand and looked up to check the height. She quickly shook her head in a small arc: "No, it's too high. It will hurt if you fall."
"It won't fall." Tiedan wiped his nose and said, "We played like this in previous years and never fell. It was so much fun."
Jiaojiao looked over again and refused again: "It's high. It will hurt if I fall."
"Jiaojiao, you are so timid." Li Tieniu said from the side.
Jiaojiao tilted her head and thought for a moment before nodding her little head and admitting, "Jiaojiao is timid and doesn't want to play."
Seeing that he admitted that he was a coward, Li Tieniu didn't know what to say for a moment, so he turned around, sat on the ground and slid down.
Jiaojiao didn't dare to play, but she didn't leave either. She squatted aside with her hands in her pockets and watched them play curiously. As she watched, she saw a few aunts in the distance striding towards them with thin bamboo strips in their hands.
Jiaojiao, who didn't understand what this scene meant, didn't remind Tiedan and the others, and greeted the aunts obediently.
Qin Mianmian roughly knew what would happen next, but he was still thinking about what Li Tieniu had just said about Jiaojiao being timid, so he deliberately did not remind them.
The aunts who were greeted also smiled and said hello to Jiaojiao, then turned around, walked a few steps quickly, caught the little kids, and waved the bamboo strips in their hands.
The next moment, Tiedan and others covered their buttocks and jumped ten feet high. Their cries were so loud that they could be heard in most of Lijia Village. Jiaojiao, who was squatting on the side and witnessing them being beaten, was so scared that she opened her eyes wide and clenched her hands into a ball.
Seeing Jiaojiao was a little frightened, Qin Mianmian reached out and patted Jiaojiao's back soothingly: "Jiaojiao, don't be afraid, they won't hit you."
Jiaojiao turned her head and looked at Qin Mianmian: "I'm not really scared, just a little bit."
His words, with a slight tremor, were not very convincing, but Qin Mianmian nodded anyway: "Well, it's normal to be a little scared."
Yin Zheng came over at some point, leaned over and took Jiaojiao, who was squatting on the ground, into his arms.
Jiaojiao put her little hands around her father's neck, afraid that she would be beaten too. She quickly raised her fair and tender face and said seriously, "Jiaojiao is not playing, so I won't beat you."
Yin Zheng glanced at Tiedan and the others who were jumping up and down after being beaten, and replied in a low voice: "Well, no fighting."
Jiaojiao also did not forget to speak up for Qin Mianmian: "Mianmian didn't play, and didn't hit Mianmian either."
Hearing Jiaojiao speaking for her, Qin Mianmian couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth.
Yin Zheng was speechless: "Well, I won't hit Mianmian either."
Jiaojiao, feeling relieved, buried her head in her father's arms. She quietly peeked at Tiedan and the others who were being beaten by their aunts all the way home, and whispered in a low voice with lingering fear, "The aunts are so fierce."
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year and every household started to get busy. Yin Zheng, who was preparing for the New Year for the first time, followed the instructions of Old Wang very strictly. On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, he swept the house inside and out, stewed pork on the 26th, slaughtered the New Year chicken on the 27th, and made the noodles rise on the 28th.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, it started snowing again. The heavy snow fell like goose feathers, covering the whole day with a pure white.
In the kitchen, Yin Zheng was busy kneading dough and steaming buns.
Jiaojiao was also in the kitchen, standing on a stool with her sleeves rolled up. Her tender little white arms were using all her strength to help her father roll the dough into a long strip, and then cut it into small pieces with bamboo strips.
Jiaojiao cut the pieces very carefully. She would compare each one with her little hand to make sure it was the same size as her own hand before she used the bamboo stick to cut.
Because of the disaster this year, most villagers steamed buns made of black flour. The buns made of black flour were not as soft as those made of white flour, and they were also very choking. However, considering that it was the New Year and the children at home were looking forward to eating something good, most families gritted their teeth and scooped two scoops of white flour into the black flour.
Yin Zheng has always taken good care of Jiaojiao. The family only buys white flour, and they used all white flour when making the dough yesterday.
"Dad." Jiaojiao looked up at her father with bright eyes: "It's done!"
Yin Zheng looked at the dough pieces that were all cut into the same size and neatly arranged. He reached out and wiped the flour off Jiaojiao's little face and praised, "Well, very well done."
Jiaojiao, who was praised, bent her eyes and said, "Dad did a good job too."
Yin Zheng raised the corner of his mouth, put the dough into the steamer, took Jiaojiao to wash his hands, helped him put down his sleeves, and carried him out of the kitchen and into the house.
Qin Mianmian was writing couplets in the room. When Jiaojiao and Yin Zheng came in, he had just finished writing the last one and was putting it on the kang table waiting for the ink to dry.
Jiaojiao looked at the couplets he wrote and found that there was no couplet for Yoyo's hut, so she took a pen and wrote a couplet for Yoyo's hut. However, he wrote the words and the couplet was thought up by Qin Mianmian.
Since the weather has gradually turned colder, Yin Zheng has also built a small wooden house for Jiaojiao's pet Yoyo, and Jiaojiao plans to post the Spring Festival couplets she wrote on this house.
Jiaojiao is small and the handwriting is soft and weak, but she likes writing very much. Every day she sits at the table on the kang and practices writing big characters very seriously.
Qin Mianmian thought of this when she was writing the couplet, and deliberately left Yoyo's little house for Jiaojiao to write. Anyway, it didn't need to be seen by outsiders, so the softer the characters, the better.
On New Year's Eve, Jiaojiao, her father, Mianmian and Youyou glued the Spring Festival couplets together with paste, then covered their ears and watched Yin Zheng light the firecrackers. With a burst of crackling firecrackers, the New Year's Eve dinner on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month was served on the table to the anticipation of Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian.
Steamed fish, pork stewed with cabbage, braised rabbit meat, roast chicken, steamed eggs, wild vegetable soup. There are no vegetables in winter, and the table is full of meat dishes with only wild vegetable soup as a vegetarian dish.
Jiaojiao didn't know how to use chopsticks very well, so Yin Zheng picked up some food and fed it to him. He then used a spoon to scoop a full spoonful of rice into his mouth, and his cheeks were bulging with food like a little squirrel hoarding food.
After eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, we stay up all night to celebrate the New Year.
Qin Mianmian and Youyou stayed in Jiaojiao and Yin Zheng's room to celebrate the New Year. Youyou was not allowed to go on the kang, but it had an exclusive little nest next to the kang, which was made for it by Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian.
The weather was very cold. After Yin Zheng carried Jiaojiao onto the kang, he went to the kitchen and brought over a charcoal basin.
It was boring to stay up all night to celebrate the New Year, so Qin Mianmian simply taught Jiaojiao how to play Go.
Some time ago, after seeing him draw a chessboard with straw paper and play chess with himself, Yin Zheng started to make a chessboard and chess pieces for him out of wood according to the chessboard he drew.
Although it is very rough, Qin Mianmian cherishes it very much and takes it out to look at it every night before going to bed.
Qin Mianmian loves playing chess. When he drew lots when he was one year old, he got a chess book. He started learning chess at the age of three, and was invincible among his peers at the age of four and a half. Before he was abducted, even Mrs. Qin could not beat him.
This was Jiaojiao's first time playing Go, and it was also Qin Mianmian's first time teaching someone how to play Go. Not knowing what to do, he taught in a way he thought was simple. As a result, Jiaojiao was confused the whole time and didn't understand anything.
Seeing the confusion in Jiaojiao's eyes, Qin Mianmian sighed. It seemed that Jiaojiao was not very talented in Go.
But it doesn't matter, he will teach Jiaojiao very patiently. In the future, he will be the best chess player and Jiaojiao will be the second best.
Thinking of this, Qin Mianmian instantly became as excited as if she had been injected with chicken blood, and her eyes brightened up when she looked at Jiaojiao.
The two of them were playing chess with their heads touching, while Yin Zheng was reading a book beside them, occasionally looking up from the book to glance at Jiaojiao.
Yin Zheng planned to take part in the county examination in February, and planned to go to the village chief after the New Year to ask him to help arrange a guarantor and a student to act as a guarantor.
After what happened in Jiayang County, Yin Zheng began to think about taking Jiaojiao away from Lijia Village and Xingzhou Prefecture. It was too close to the border and felt unsafe, and he wanted Jiaojiao to grow up peacefully, preferably without any disturbances.
If you want to leave Xingzhou Prefecture, passing the imperial examination is the best and safest way.
Since he made this plan, Yin Zheng read the book whenever he had free time. He even read the past exam questions sent by Xie Shuyu over and over again.
Although Yin Zheng was reading a book, half of his attention was still on Jiaojiao, and he found that Jiaojiao was coming towards him.
He looked up from the book and saw Jiaojiao was obviously so sleepy that she could not open her eyes, but she was still crawling towards him in a daze. After crawling to his side, she nestled into his arms very skillfully, yawned, buried her little face in his arms, rubbed it, and then closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Yin Zheng adjusted his posture to make him sleep more comfortably. He turned his head and found that Qin Mianmian was also asleep beside him. He pulled the quilt over them and continued to look down at the book in his hand.
The next morning, Qin Mianmian woke up and found himself sleeping with Jiaojiao. He was stunned for a moment. Then he remembered that he had fallen asleep during the New Year's Eve. He pursed his lips embarrassedly. The dimples on his face were faintly visible, and it was obvious that he was hiding his happiness under embarrassment.
In fact, Qin Mianmian was very happy to be able to sleep with Jiaojiao and Uncle Yin.
Jiaojiao woke up and saw Mianmian lying in the quilt with him. He blinked and then curved his eyes happily. It was obvious that Jiaojiao was very happy to sleep with his little friend.
Guessing that they were awake, Yin Zheng brought in hot water for them to wash up, and also brought Qin Mianmian new clothes to wear for the New Year.
After washing and getting dressed, Qin Mianmian and Jiaojiao looked at each other when Yin Zheng went out to pour water, and then they ran out hand in hand with their short legs.
When Yin Zheng came back after pouring the water, he saw Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian, who were dressed plumply, holding hands, running to him and kneeling down, then raising their two little hands to bow down. However, Jiaojiao, who was dressed too tightly and looked small, lost control and fell forward as soon as she bowed down.
Yin Zheng quickly picked him up. Jiaojiao, feeling a little dizzy, held her head in her hands and said softly, "Jiaojiao wishes Dad a happy new year. Dad, please be happy, joyful, and well."
Seeing that Jiaojiao was fine, Qin Mianmian knelt down and said with relief: "Qin Zhiyi will give Uncle Yin half a year. May Uncle Yin have a long life and a long life without end."
Yin Zheng was stunned for a moment before he took out two red paper packages from his arms, one for Jiaojiao and one for Qin Mianmian.
Yoyo, who was standing by, saw this and also ran up, bent his front legs and knelt down, looking up at Yin Zheng and calling out a few times.
Yin Zheng did not prepare any money for Youyou in advance, but seeing Youyou's deer eyes looking at him, as clear and clean as Jiaojiao's, he turned around to cut a piece of red paper, wrapped two copper coins in it and handed it to Youyou.
Yoyo took the red paper and ran happily to Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian, as if to say that it also had money to ward off evil spirits.
Originally, Jiaojiao was going to visit Yin Dazhu and Yin Erzhu's house to pay New Year's greetings, but Yin Zheng thought about it and decided not to take Jiaojiao with him. He just brought some food and went to Yin Dazhu and Yin Erzhu's house by himself.
Yin Zheng, who didn't plan to stay any longer, went to put his things down and came back to make dumplings with Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian.
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