Grandma Yan completely ignored Cai Min's offer and simply picked up Nan Nan and kowtowed to the table together, thanking the ancestors for blessing the Yan family and for sending Nan Nan, this blessed treasure.
After Grandma Yan finished kowtowing, Xuemei quickly picked up Nannan, and Cuihua also helped her grandmother up. Cai Min was embarrassed. If she knelt down, Bei Nan's words were very harsh. If she didn't kneel down, she was indeed the second sister-in-law.
Cuihua was indeed a kind woman. She said to Cai Min, "You are your second uncle's wife, so you should kowtow first." Cai Min immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times to the ancestors. She couldn't help but feel proud. No matter what, I am still the second daughter-in-law of the Yan family.
After everyone in the family had finished kowtowing, Cuihua and Xuemei got busy again. They first changed out of their new clothes and put on their patched old clothes, as they were preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner. They couldn't bear to waste their new clothes like that.
Looking at their patched clothes, Cai Min finally felt a sense of balance. They couldn't even bear to throw away such tattered clothes; they were such poor people.
The days when the family is reunited are always happy. Although the eldest daughter-in-law did not come, she asked Yan Daqiang to bring red envelopes for the New Year. Each child received one cent, and Nannan received one yuan because she was the only girl in the Yan family and deserved special treatment.
Grandma also gave out New Year's money. Originally, everyone would get one cent, but since the eldest daughter-in-law got one cent, she had to get two cents. After all, she was an elder. So Nan Nan got two yuan from Grandma, which made three yuan in total.
After the eldest uncle had given out his New Year's money, it should be the second uncle's turn. Yan Erqiang still had ten yuan left in his pocket. With the train ticket home, food for the journey, and some stored grain at home, his wages would be just enough to cover the food. If he were to receive New Year's money, his third brother's family would have to spend one yuan and forty cents. With his two sons also involved, they wouldn't be able to make it back home.
Yan Ge promptly contributed his two cents. Although Yan Zheng was reluctant to part with it, he followed his brother's lead and took out his own. Yan Erqiang was somewhat moved and thought that he would make up for the loss to his children when he received his salary.
Yan Xiaoqiang spoke up: "Second brother, you don't need to give it, and I won't either. We're even." Yan Erqiang nodded to Yan Xiaoqiang, his younger brother was kind-hearted.
Grandma looked at the room full of her grandsons and felt incredibly content. It was a pity that her eldest son's family couldn't come; otherwise, the whole family would have been reunited today. What a wonderful day! But all these good days are thanks to her darling son. Without him, we would have been eating pickled wild boar with sweet potatoes today. No, we wouldn't have had wild boar at all.
Yan Xiaoqiang bought a lot of firecrackers this time. The elders all said that setting off firecrackers during the New Year can drive away the Nian monster. Southwest and Nannan stood at the door of the main room watching them set off firecrackers. Southeast picked up an incense stick and handed it to Nannan, asking her to light a small firecracker. Nannan was overjoyed. Setting off firecrackers! This was the first time in her life, no, the first time in two lifetimes.
Seeing the children's happy faces, Yan Daqiang began to miss his wife and children. It was a pity that they weren't there for such a lively occasion; they were too far away. He didn't know when he would be able to gather enough vacation time to go back. If only there were airplanes.
Yan Xiaonan happily set off firecrackers, but as she did so, a pang of sadness struck her. Two years had passed since she left the modern world, and she wondered how her parents and younger brother were doing. She missed them terribly and hoped they wouldn't be too heartbroken by her departure and would live their lives well.
The night was deep, and another year had passed. Yan Xiaonan lay quietly in bed, her consciousness drifting to the hot spring water. She had fallen asleep yesterday, so she would make up for it today. She enjoyed a wonderful hot spring bath and slept even more soundly.
Early on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xuemei had already cooked breakfast. This morning we're having dumplings. Ten of the dumplings contain a one-cent coin. Whoever finds it gets to keep it. Each adult gets ten dumplings, each woman and boy gets eight, and Nannan and Yanzheng get five. This is the rule, otherwise there won't be enough dumplings.
Grandma ate first, with a coin.
My uncle ate the second one, a coin.
My second uncle was the third to eat, and he didn't have any coins.
My father was the fourth to eat, and he didn't have any coins either.
Cuihua and Caimin ate together, but there were no coins.
Southeast and Xuemei ate together, one for each of them.
Southwest and North South ate together, no coins.
Yan Jian found a coin.
Yan Zheng has no coins.
Yan Xiaonan found five coins in her dumplings, making her miserable. She had to be extremely careful every time, and she even suspected that her mother was secretly playing tricks on her. In fact, the dumplings were frozen, and no one could possibly know which dumpling had the coins inside.
Seeing the little girl spit out a coin with a bitter and resentful expression, Yan Daqiang actually believed the theory that Yan Xiaonan was Fu Bao. How could she stand out among so many dumplings if she wasn't Fu Bao? Five in a row!
After breakfast, Yan Erqiang had to leave. Actually, neither he nor Cai Min wanted to leave. Their mother's house was warm and had plenty of food and drink. Most importantly, their eldest brother was back. There weren't many days left for them to be together.
But Grandma Yan now finds them too noisy. With them around, there's never any peace in the house. Xuemei hates Cai Min the most; she doesn't even want to eat when she sees her.
Today was better than last year; at least ten catties of flour were brought over. But it was only ten catties of flour. Grandma Yan decided to put the ten catties of flour into a basket untouched and asked Cuihua to get a few catties of marinated wild boar meat. There were still two pheasants left from the last hunt, so let's take one back to their family.
Yan Xiaonan also took out four jars of fruit and twenty White Rabbit milk candies from the house, and asked her two older brothers to take them home and eat them slowly. Yan Yan and Yan Zheng were so touched that they didn't want to go home. Yan Yan was too old to ask, but Yan Zheng ran up to Cuihua in a serious manner and asked, "Second Aunt, can you be my mother? I want to be your son, and I want Nannan to be my sister."
Cuihua was a little at a loss and looked at Yan Xiaoqiang. Yan Xiaoqiang was also a little embarrassed. How could he explain to a child? Bei Nan walked up and pushed Yan Zheng away: "Get out of here! My mother has three sons. Nan Nan has three older brothers. What business is it of yours?"
It seems they used a bit too much force, pushing Yan Zheng so hard he fell to the ground. The boy was stubborn, so he sat on the ground kicking his short legs and started crying, "I don't want to go back! I want to be Nan Nan's brother! It's freezing cold at home, and nobody gives me candy. I don't want to go back!"
Grandma Yan got a headache from Yan Zheng's crying and sighed deeply. She said to Yan Erqiang, "Erqiang, take your child home quickly. Be nicer to the child and don't be so stingy. Fruit candies aren't expensive. Buying some to sweeten the child's mouth won't cost much."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
