Chapter 282 Arrival
Aunt Niu finally couldn't resist Sheng An's soft pleas and agreed to stay and take care of her until she finished her postpartum period.
With fewer people in the mansion, and the few servants they bought being obedient and hardworking, Aunt Niu didn't have much to worry about, making it much more leisurely than staying at the Jiang residence.
It was precisely because she had too much free time that Aunt Niu felt uncomfortable and started thinking about returning to the Jiang residence.
Having probed Aunt Niu's thoughts, Sheng An decisively assigned her a task—to make diapers for the unborn baby.
Diapers don't need to be sewn as finely as clothes, but they do need to be softer than clothes, otherwise they can easily irritate a baby's delicate bottom and cause various skin problems.
Therefore, families who are particular about hygiene will repeatedly wash and air-dry the diapers to make them soft and gentle on the skin.
Aunt Niu took on the task without complaint and personally went to the shop to select several bolts of fine cotton cloth suitable for making diapers.
It's only because Sheng'an has plenty of money and wants to give her baby the best that she's willing to spend money to buy bolts of fine cotton cloth to make diapers.
Such behavior would be considered "spendthrift" in any family that can afford to eat and drink.
Aunt Niu didn't think Sheng An was wasteful at all. In just one day, he cut all the fine cotton cloth into diapers and repeatedly soaked and washed them without asking anyone else for help.
Before she knew it, it was late April, and Sheng An's belly had grown even bigger, so much so that her toes were almost invisible when she walked.
With Aunt Niu's occasional reminders, Sheng An carefully controlled her diet every day, eating only until she was 70% full at each meal and giving up all snacks and treats, for fear of making the baby in her belly too big and making it difficult to give birth.
That day, the couple were playing chess under the eaves when Aunt Niu came over with a strong and muscular man.
Sheng An looked closely and recognized the man as a guard from the Fang family. He was one of the guards who escorted Fang Qingzhou to the capital to participate in the imperial examinations last year.
Before the couple could speak, the guard respectfully said:
"Lord Xu, Madam Xu, the ship carrying the old master and madam will arrive at the dock tomorrow morning. I came to inform them in advance."
The guards accompanied Grandpa Sheng and his party on the ship all the way. Last night, the ship arrived at a small town not far from the capital. After docking, he disembarked and rode quickly to the capital overnight.
The guards went to the Jiang residence to inquire about the couple's new address, and were personally led there by Uncle Fu.
Upon hearing the good news that her grandparents would be arriving in Beijing the next day, Sheng An's eyes welled up with tears, and she instinctively grabbed Xu Jinnian's hand:
"Great! Great! Grandpa and the others are here!"
Sheng An really didn't expect that Grandpa Sheng and the others would arrive so quickly. After calculating the time in his mind, he realized that the letter had only arrived a few days ago, and they had already packed their things and set off.
Her voice choked with emotion as she hurriedly asked, "Besides my grandparents, is there anyone else?"
The guard replied, "Master Xu, his wife, his husband, and their eldest son and daughter-in-law have also arrived."
Sheng An was so moved that she couldn't speak.
Father-in-law, aunt, uncle, Zhaodi and Da Kui, they all came!
Xu Jinnian was also very excited and thanked the guards gently, saying, "You must be tired from the journey."
The guard hurriedly replied, "It's our duty, Lord Xu, you don't need to be so polite."
There were more than twenty guards who came with us this time, and each of them received a reward of twenty taels of silver before setting off.
If you successfully escort the person to the capital, you will receive a reward of twenty taels of silver.
With so much money to be made, all this hard work is worthwhile.
Fortunately, the journey was smooth, and they only encountered a few insignificant bandits who were scared away as soon as they appeared.
Sheng An was so excited about seeing her family and friends whom she hadn't seen for more than half a year that she couldn't sleep well all night. Even the baby in her womb was restless until the middle of the night before finally calming down.
The next morning, Sheng An got up early to personally go to the dock to pick up the person.
Xu Jinnian did not agree: "The dock is chaotic and noisy. You are heavy and you are likely to bump into something. I will go and pick you up."
Sheng An touched her big belly, hesitated for a moment, and then gave up the idea of going to the dock: "Well, I'll wait for you to come back at home."
Xu Jinnian breathed a sigh of relief, kissed her forehead, and then took Li Tian to the dock.
Sheng An couldn't sit still in the hall for long, so Hong Liu helped him to the guest rooms that had been cleaned up the day before. He carefully checked them inside and out, and only felt at ease after confirming that there were no problems.
She stood at the gate for a while, but didn't see anyone return. So she went to the kitchen to prepare some hometown dishes to welcome her relatives who were about to arrive home.
At the dock, boats of all sizes came and went in an endless stream, vehicles shuttled back and forth transporting goods, and countless porters toiled for their livelihoods, getting on and off ships without a moment's rest.
Not far away, on a passenger ship that was about to dock, Grandpa Sheng and his group came out of the cabin early and stood on the deck, looking at the bustling dock with amazement.
"As expected of the capital's dock, it's even bigger and has more ships than Qingzhou dock—so many that I can't even count them all!"
"Nonsense, the capital is even more prosperous than Nanjing, so of course the docks are bigger and there are more ships."
"I wonder how many people are in the city, and whether Jin Nian and An An have bought a new house yet."
"They should have bought it by now, given how long it's been. The young couple isn't short of money."
"It's hard to say. Houses in Jinling are more expensive than those in Qingzhou, and houses in the capital will only be more expensive."
"The more prosperous the place, the higher the price. I heard that some minor officials in the capital who have no family wealth have to borrow money to get by at the end of the month."
"He has to borrow money to make ends meet even after becoming an official? Luckily, Jin Nian married An An back then, otherwise he probably would have been in the same situation."
"..."
Everyone stood at the bow of the boat, engaged in a lively discussion. Their faces showed no signs of fatigue or exhaustion from days of travel, only excitement and joy at the prospect of disembarking.
A moment later, the passenger ship sailed into the dock and came to a smooth stop.
Before the group even disembarked, Xu Jinnian, who had been waiting for them, spotted them and quickened his pace to walk through the crowd.
Xu Chenglin was the first to spot him and excitedly shouted, "Jin Nian!"
Upon hearing his shout, everyone looked over, their faces immediately showing surprise, and some even had tears in their eyes.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Da Kui, and Sister-in-law, you've finally arrived."
Xu Jinnian did not hide her joy at seeing her relatives. She smiled and went forward to greet them one by one. She reached out and carefully helped Grandpa Sheng, who was getting off the boat, saying, "Please be careful not to fall."
"Okay, okay, haha."
As soon as Grandpa Sheng's feet touched the ground, he squinted and looked his grandson-in-law up and down.
Seeing that he was in excellent spirits, I knew that the couple had been doing well lately, and the worries and anxieties of the past few months had vanished without a trace.
Grandma Sheng also came downstairs. Looking around but not seeing her granddaughter, she asked anxiously, "Jin Nian, where's An An?"
Xu Jinnian said gently, "An'an is pregnant, so I didn't let her come."
Grandma Sheng was relieved and extremely satisfied with her grandson-in-law's actions.
After a long separation, everyone had so much to say to each other.
However, the dockside wasn't the place to talk, so after exchanging a few simple words, they couldn't wait to get into the carriage and head home.
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