Chapter 61 New Year
The old lady recuperated for a few months, and her body recovered. She was tired of chanting the Buddha's name, and her children and grandchildren came to greet her morning and evening, chatted with her when they met, and occasionally left some food for her. Thinking of her little great-grandchildren, they asked them to bring more of them to her. Jinhua Hall gradually returned to its former bustle.
During the year, the preparations for New Year's goods, welcoming and seeing off guests, and all kinds of etiquette were arranged in an orderly manner. Even though they were separated, the old lady was there, so the two families still celebrated New Year together, with sacrifices, reunion dinners, New Year's Eve, and firecrackers. They spent a festive year happily and lively. It was a little different from previous years, but this year's aspirations were much better than last year. Everyone had smiling faces and was full of joy. Looking at the red embroidered purses of different sizes hanging on Heng'er's body and in his hands, each of them was bulging with either gold or silver coins. Meimei couldn't help laughing: this kid takes after his mother, no matter who gives him gold or silver, he can't refuse it, so he grabs it first.
He hurriedly called Cuisi and Xia Lian to take it away for him. Cuisi and Xia Lian were also wearing new clothes, light red embroidered silk skirts with pink and green padded jackets. Because they had to look after Heng'er, they often ran to the yard to watch the firecrackers. It was snowing outside, so each of them tied a small pink cloak that was short to the waist and made of soft satin and decorated with rabbit fur edges. It was light and warm, and the whole person looked even more delicate and beautiful, as pleasing to the eye as a peach blossom in early spring.
Before the New Year's Eve vigil was halfway through and some people were dozing off, Xu Junqiao clamored to take Shen Ge'er, Heng Ge'er and Wei Ge'er out of the warm house to the snowy courtyard to light firecrackers and play. The men followed them. Heng'er walked to the door and ran back, pulling Xu Junying to go together. Xu Junying stood up and carried him on her shoulders, looking back at Meimei. Meimei nodded and smiled at them, thinking that they would have to go there later too. The room became less crowded and only the women were talking. There was still an awkward atmosphere between her and the old lady.
Bai Jingyu seemed to know what she was thinking, and said with a smile: "Why don't you all go out and take a look? The rooster has already crowed twice. After this round of firecrackers, the children will probably be too sleepy to sleep. If they are not around to make things lively, we adults will be very bored."
Fang and the girls hurriedly responded, and the old lady smiled and said, "You are a bunch of playful monkeys. Go away. It's cold outside. I won't go. Just leave your parents by my side to talk to me."
All the wives and girls stood up and walked out with a smile. Bai Jingyu took Meimei with him, and the eldest sister went out with Xu Junlang. Wei Ge'er went with Shen Ge'er and was taken away by Xu Junqiao. The father and daughter were afraid that something might happen to him, so they followed him early in the morning.
Ning Rulan held her baby, who was less than two months old, and leaned on the soft couch that the old lady had specially asked Mother Ji to prepare for her and her child. She smiled and said, "Go ahead, and come back and tell me if it looks good."
Meimei said, "Bring back a firecracker for Huai'er and let him see what's going on outside."
Ning Rulan smiled and shook her head: "He doesn't care about the noise, he's asleep. This time next year, I'll be able to take him out to see it."
The old lady said, "Hurry up and lie down. The maids have covered your grandma. Just don't listen to them. We don't want to be so busy. It's so warm in the room. Why do we have to run out?"
The wives and girls went out for a while, and Xu Junya came in rubbing his hands. Ruihong and Jinshu hurried over to brush the snow off his clothes. Xu Junya said with a smile on her face: "Grandpa, it's really fun outside. The snow is heavy, and the children are not afraid. They stick the firecracker tubes all over the snow and light them. There are sparkling fireworks everywhere... Even Weier dares to take the incense to light them."
He walked over to Ning Rulan and sat down, patting Huai Ge'er and saying, "Grow up quickly. Next year, your father will take you out to play."
The old lady smiled at them, and the second wife sighed, "It's so hard to have another prosperous New Year. Last year was so miserable that we were not even allowed to set off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits. As a result..."
The old lady waved her hands and said, "Let's not talk about it. This year, things are getting better. "
Under the corridor, Meimei and Bai Jingyu stood behind a thin bamboo curtain and looked out into the yard. Several grandfathers were enjoying themselves and were running around in the snow with their children, lighting firecrackers and flower tubes. The crisp sounds of firecrackers rang out one after another, red confetti danced in the air, and silver sparks splashed everywhere, illuminating the children's rosy little faces. Against the backdrop of their embroidered new clothes, each of them looked as pretty as New Year dolls. After Xu Junying held Heng'er's hand and taught him how to light two firecrackers, he stuffed incense sticks into his hand and encouraged him to light them himself. Heng'er finally lit a large firecracker. Looking at the fireworks that splashed out higher than his head, Heng'er was stunned at first, and then he danced with joy. In the way that only little boys can, he boasted in front of his brothers. He also disdainfully pushed away Wei'er, who, perhaps because she admired him too much, reached out to touch his belly. If Xu Junxuan hadn't held her, he would have fallen. Xu Junying hurriedly stopped Heng'er and taught him to shake hands with Wei'er. Heng'er looked up and said something to him, and Xu Junying took him up and left. Cuisi and Xia Lian, who followed behind, hurried to meet Heng'er and walked down the corridor, presumably wanting to go to the purification room.
Walking into the bamboo curtain, Heng'er saw Meimei, who asked him, "Why did you push your brother?"
Heng'er lowered his head: "The water is coming out"
Bai Jingyu chuckled: "Silly boy, you are holding your pee for fun, go quickly, what are you waiting for?"
Cui Si and Xia Lian hurriedly pulled him away, and Mei Mei shouted at his back: "Don't do this again - don't hold your urine, don't push your brothers down."
Heng Er answered while walking quickly: "Yes"
"Heng'er isn't even two years old yet, can't we just hold the two girls in our arms? If we force them to walk, they'll poop in their pants and get a cold."
Bai Jingyu looked at their backs thoughtfully, and said to Meimei: "Look at these girls in your yard, each one is more gorgeously dressed than the other. At first glance, they are dressed almost the same as the girls. If they put on more jewelry, people who don't know them will just think they are girls from the mansion. Are you afraid that the masters can't see them or what? Be careful that they become demons and seduce the soul of the marquis, and you will regret it too late."
Meimei smiled, "What are you talking about? Do you think my maids are as good as yours? They spend all day thinking about how to become the maids in the room. My maids are still strong-willed. Maybe the Marquis is not so lucky. The maids see him as a master and no one wants to do that to him. Besides, my wife and I have betrothed the older maids to people. They will be married off in a year. They are very stable and are preparing their dowries. Today is the New Year, so I asked them to dress up beautifully to add some joy. Not only them, but also the maids in other courtyards of the Marquis's mansion each have two sets of brightly colored clothes. This is because I listened to the second wife and took a lucky start. Isn't it the same in your West Mansion? No skipping words.
Bai Jingyu sighed and said, "Ordinarily, we can't blame the maids for this kind of thing. If the man's heart is not right, he will easily make mistakes... Oh, forget it, I have to learn from you and match those who are old enough as soon as possible to avoid trouble. The maids in the West Mansion originally had two sets of brightly colored silk clothes each, but later they changed to only one set. Mother Zhao in the eldest lady's room took it away. I can't control it. I just heard that the old lady in the Gui Mansion is going to celebrate her birthday in the spring. The eldest lady not only has to raise a birthday gift in public, but also has to pay a tribute in private..."
"Isn't he going to find you again?"
"If you find it, you have to give it to me. I have some property outside and everyone is looking at it and is jealous. I don't give her much, just a little at a time. According to convention, I have to give some of the silver for kilometers. After all, she is the wife of the mansion. If she uses her power to pressure my father and my sons, they can get some. I guess this time when my grandmother is celebrating her birthday, my wife will also take the opportunity to make a fortune."
As they were talking, Heng'er came out after peeing and ran out happily again. Seeing them having a great time outside, Meimei also wanted to run out and light a firecracker herself, but several sisters-in-law went out to play on their own, so she had to accompany Bai Jingyu. Bai Jingyu saw Xu Junlang taking his two younger sisters and the eldest sister to light firecrackers on one side. Before Xu Xiaomin's incense touched the ignition, Xu Xiaowan covered her ears and shouted beside her, scaring Xu Xiaomin so much that the incense stick fell to the ground, causing everyone to laugh. The eldest sister plucked up the courage to pick up the incense stick on the ground, leaned forward a little, and actually lit it. There was a loud bang, drowning out the laughter. Everyone was startled, and then they praised the eldest sister for her courage. The eldest sister was frightened and shrank into Xu Junlang's arms. It took a while for her to come out, smiling like a blooming sunflower.
Bai Jingyu smiled with satisfaction: "She should be braver. When I was her age, I dared to break the legs of a hen that was protecting her chicks, and then I took the chicks I liked back to my room to raise them."
Meimei sighed and said, "What the hell are you doing? And you're a lady from a rich family, this is outrageous."
The two of them were laughing. Huang Mama brought Xiang Yunzeng over with a thick velvet cape, wanting to replace Bai Jingyu's interlayered one, saying that standing in the corridor for too long would be cold. Bai Jingyu smiled and shook his head, lifted the bamboo curtain a little, and shouted to the outside:
"Lian'er, light another flower tube and let's take a look."
The eldest sister happily wanted to light the flower tube again. Xu Junlang held Weier and followed beside her, instructing her. With a "bang" sound, the eldest sister lit the flower tube accurately again, sparks flew, and there was cheering.
Henger ran in with an incense stick and handed it to Meimei: "Father, please light the firecrackers for mother."
Meimei took the incense stick and said to Bai Jingyu excitedly: "I'll be back soon. It's cold outside. You just stay here and watch."
Bai Jingyu smiled and nodded. Cuixi came over quickly and tied Meimei's cloak again. The master and servant walked out of the bamboo curtain. Meimei held Heng'er's hand and walked to Xu Junying on the snow. Xu Junying smiled and said:
"See you guys standing there, you must be bored, right? Come and play, this is prepared for you, I've ordered it all."
Meimei took a deep breath with excitement. The feeling was really different between watching other people light firecrackers and lighting them with her own hands. In her previous life, she could accept fireworks, but she was definitely not interested in the firecrackers that made a series of crackling noises and then sent up a large cloud of smoke. But for some reason, the firecrackers in this life looked very familiar and festive, and much more environmentally friendly than those in her previous life, so she was willing to light a few for fun.
Heng'er was jumping up and down and shouting, "Click, click, mother, hurry up!"
Xu Junying hugged Heng'er and said, "I'll ask mother to order two more for you later. If you can bring mother out to play, it'll be a reward for you."
Henger smiled happily and nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, father."
There were sounds of firecrackers, laughter and joy, and red confetti flying all over the yard. Everyone was having a great time, and the children were all sleepy. When they went into the second hall, the kitchen had already served sweet dumplings, and everyone ate a bowl. The old lady told them to go back and rest for a while, and when the time came to wash and change clothes, they could go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors.
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