Chapter 828 Five Years Later (Seventeen) Jiang Shengnan (Happy New Year's Eve~)
The 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Minor Snow.
The city of Chang'an was filled with festive decorations, especially the streets with shops. Each shop not only decorated its own storefront and entrance with colorful and beautiful decorations, but also hung lanterns on both sides of the street.
That's not all; the trees are covered with colorful ribbons.
If you come to stroll around at night, the bustling scene of Chang'an will be so dazzling that you won't be able to take it all in.
Jiang Shengnan got off the carriage on the highway, carrying a basket. The reason she had braved the wind and snow to go out today was to prepare for the Li family's New Year's Eve dinner.
Upon entering the West Market, one can see many people from the Western Regions: merchants leading camels laden with goods, women dressed in brightly colored traditional clothing walking together, and tall, strong men wearing only sleeveless vests on their upper bodies in this light snowy weather.
The air was filled with the stench of livestock, and occasionally the delicious aroma of mutton soup sprinkled with pepper wafted on the wind. The various smells intertwined to create a unique and flavorful scene in the West Market.
Jiang Shengnan withdrew her gaze from the burly Hu Han, and instead went to buy mutton from a familiar Hu merchant's stall.
Although she had already looked away, Jiang Shengnan was still thinking to herself, compared to her husband Li Dalang, whose arm was stronger?
"My husband is much stronger, and he's much better looking than that barbarian!"
Jiang Shengnan only dared to say these words to herself; she would be too embarrassed to say them aloud in front of Li Dalang.
Even though Li Dalang left home on a mission just over a month after their marriage, it took them more than half a year to see each other again. Now, more than a year later, Jiang Shengnan has not seen Li Dalang.
Although she still missed Li Dalang, she didn't feel that there was anything wrong with her life alone in the Li family.
In Jiang Shengnan's eyes, being able to marry into Chang'an from the border town was the luckiest thing that ever happened to her.
Although her husband wasn't home every day, her mother-in-law, Sister-in-law Li, was a really good-natured person. In Jiang Shengnan's words, "My mother-in-law treats me even better than my own mother!"
If the old women continued to ask questions, Jiang Shengnan would reach up and touch her hair bun, saying, "Look, this is a hair ornament my mother-in-law gave me. And look, this bracelet on my wrist was also given to me by my mother-in-law."
At home, my mother-in-law doesn't let me cook; all I have to do is light the fire.
"I'm much better off than when I was in the border town, what do I have to be unhappy about?"
Even though more than a year or two has passed and Jiang Shengnan has tried her best to change her accent to be similar to that of Chang'an Mandarin, she still prefers to speak her hometown dialect to express her emotions when she is in a high mood.
When Jiang Shengnan arrived at the meat stall, although she wasn't late, there were still several people ahead of her in line.
Once she got to Jiang Shengnan, she quickly pointed to the piece of lamb leg she had already picked out: "Yes, this is it, cut it for me."
Jiang Shengnan bought some lamb spine bones from the meat stall, and in the end, she also got a large bone with the meat cleaned off as a bonus from the vendor.
After buying several kinds of stewing seasonings at the West Market, spending quite a bit of money, Jiang Shengnan finally left the West Market with her basket and waited by the roadside to take a horse-drawn carriage home.
After getting off the bus at Changshoufang, Jiang Shengnan thought that Li Sanniang should be able to bring Luzhu'er home today, so she bought some fried dough sticks from Hehua Niangzi at the street corner, thinking of giving them to the Li family's children as snacks.
Thus, Jiang Shengnan gradually made her way back to the Li family.
As soon as she entered the Li family clinic, she first called out "Grandpa" to Li's father, then called out "Uncle" to Li's second brother on the medicine cabinet, and then bowed before entering the courtyard.
The first to greet Jiang Shengnan was the family's old dog, Dahuang, who stood up from its kennel and wagged its tail at her.
Dahuang just gave birth to puppies two days ago and is currently in her postpartum period. The big bone that Jiang Shengnan bought at the butcher's stall was for making soup to nourish Dahuang.
"Shengnan is back?"
Jiang Shengnan smiled happily at Sister-in-law Li, who was still wearing an apron and had wet hands as she came out of the kitchen: "Mom, I'm back!"
No, I'm back.
"Mother, I bought lamb leg meat as you said. I also saw that lamb spine looked good, so I bought some too."
After wiping her hands on her apron, Sister-in-law Li reached out to take Jiang Shengnan's basket. "Good child, go into the kitchen first to warm up and have a hot drink before we talk."
If I had known it was going to snow today, I shouldn't have asked you to come out. Are you cold?
"Come inside quickly, I've made some red bean soup, I'll add extra sugar for you."
Jiang Shengnan didn't need Li Dasao to take the basket; she simply carried the basket herself and pulled Li Dasao towards the kitchen.
Jiang Shengnan was incredibly strong, far stronger than the average woman.
In the past two years, perhaps because she ate well at the Li family's house and because Jiang Shengnan was still growing, Sister-in-law Li felt that Jiang Shengnan's strength in pulling her was much greater than when she first married into the Li family.
Although when Sister-in-law Li first learned that Li Dalang had taken a fancy to a girl from a military household in the border town, she couldn't help but think that this girl must be quite different from the delicate young ladies in Chang'an.
However, when she first saw Jiang Shengnan wearing a red jacket, sitting on horseback, hugging Li Dalang's waist, and following Li Dalang to the Li family, Li Dasao's first reaction was that this young lady was indeed very strong.
When Li Dalang came of age, he was about an inch taller than his elder brother Li Daxiong, who was six feet tall (184cm) (around 188cm).
In particular, Li Dalang's physique, honed since childhood and honed through years of continuous martial arts training, makes him appear even more robust and heroic.
If an ordinary young lady saw Li Dalang like this, she would be frightened. You should know that none of the top ten beauties on the Chang'an Beauty List are martial artists. Xu Jingzhen, who has been ranked third for many years, also practices Taoist techniques. When she is dressed, she just looks handsome.
But when Li Dalang stood next to Jiang Shengnan, the Li family did not find it incongruous at all.
This was because Jiang Shengnan truly lived up to her name; she was taller and stronger than the average man in Chang'an. She was only a head and a half shorter than Li Dalang, a height that was quite rare for a woman.
This doesn't mean that Jiang Shengnan looks like a man, but rather that her appearance simply doesn't conform to the aesthetic standards of the young women in Chang'an.
In Li San Niang's opinion, Jiang Shengnan was blessed with a great physique, a gift from heaven. "She is full of vitality, isn't that wonderful?"
Brother Li and Sister-in-law Li were somewhat at a loss when they met Jiang Shengnan, who became their daughter-in-law on their first meeting. But Jiang Shengnan was very outgoing and friendly.
She said this in front of the Li family: "My mother said that since I married Dalang, I am now a member of the Li family."
If I do anything wrong in the future, feel free to tell me, and I will correct it.
But you can't bully me. I'm Dalang's wife, and we'll have children together in the future. When we die, we'll be buried together.
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