Granny Lu couldn't bear it any longer. On New Year's Eve at noon, when she handed over the account book to Zhang Zhaoci, she expressed her confusion and worries.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaoci smiled and said, "Granny, it's alright. We've learned to make these things not to support our families, but just to satisfy our own appetites, don't you think?"
Granny Lu said, "That makes sense, Third Madam. You can't let our eldest brother continue like this. He's going to take the imperial examinations and become an official. If people find out that he's just hanging around the stove, won't they laugh at us?"
Zhang Zhaoci still didn't care much, but seeing how much Granny Lu was thinking of her child, she was very grateful and said, "Granny, how about we don't do this anymore? I'll take good care of our eldest brother and make sure he studies and practices martial arts properly. I won't do these things anymore, what do you think?"
Granny Lu sighed and said, "Third Grandmother, if you ask me, both of our children are good children. They are sensible and obedient. I have lived in so many families, and I have never seen children as good as our brother and sister. But we still have to pay attention to the children's upbringing. If we raise them well, it will be fine if they become successful in the future. But if they have some hobbies of their own and others criticize them, it will be bad if they blame us."
Zhang Zhaoci kept thanking Granny Lu, her attitude was very serious and sincere, which made Granny Lu a little embarrassed.
Zhang Zhaoci gave the servants in his household large red envelopes and some New Year's goods. He gave them a holiday at noon on New Year's Eve. However, Granny Zhao still had to stay at the gatehouse. Her husband cooked at the county government office. Every year, the closer it got to this time, the more things there were to do. It wasn't just about three meals a day; sometimes, he even had to make midnight snacks.
The New Year's Eve dinner that Zhang Zhaoci, along with Granny Lu and Xu Di, prepared was actually just frying some of the already prepared New Year's goods again and stewing some of the stews, filling the octagonal table in the main room to the brim.
Xu Rao hurriedly returned and then went back to the county government office. News had already come that a town about a hundred miles from Hexi County had been attacked by grassland cavalry, suffering heavy casualties. After burning, killing, and looting, the grassland cavalry fled. Because of this, the atmosphere on the border was even more tense. Even Xu Zhi, sitting on the kang in the main room, felt a little scared.
Zhang Zhaoci instructed Qingmiao and Qingsui to divide most of the prepared New Year's Eve dinner and send it to the county government office in a large food box. After a year of hard work, shouldn't we be able to have a good meal on New Year's Eve?
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