Rong Zhaonan turned around and went out, lest he become a firecracker himself.
Watching Rong Zhaonan leave with a stern face, Grandpa Tang looked at Ning Yuan with some helplessness: "Are you deliberately trying to upset him? Did you two have a fight?"
Ning Yuan gave a slight smile: "No, and it's not."
She didn't want the old man and woman to worry.
That's why she and Rong Zhaonan only exchanged a few polite words when they were eating in the old man's thatched hut.
Seeing that Ning Yuan didn't want to talk, Old Master Tang could only sigh inwardly.
He and his wife have eaten more salt than the two children have eaten rice. Can't you tell?
However, considering Rong Zhaonan's truly unique background, if he is unwilling to bring Ning Yuan back to the capital, then divorce is only a matter of time.
Therefore, it might not be a bad thing for Xiaoyuan if the two of them distanced themselves from each other sooner, so neither he nor the old woman interfered with the matter.
Ning Yuan held Tang's hand earnestly and said, "Grandpa Tang, don't worry about these things anymore. Life is peaceful now, and our situation is getting better day by day. I will take care of you!"
Old Master Tang sighed, "We two old folks will only be a burden to you."
They had long been orphans, and their only son had gone abroad decades ago and had not been heard from since.
Even if they are exonerated one day, they will be plagued by illness and will barely be able to make ends meet.
Ning Yuan frowned and said firmly, "What nonsense are you talking about? You and Grandma are my mentors. As long as I have food to eat, I won't let you go hungry!"
Old Tang's reddened gaze swept over his thatched hut—
Just before the Lunar New Year, Nan Xiaozi replaced the thatched roof with a new one, rebuilt the half-collapsed wall, and installed new wooden windows.
At least inside the house, it won't drizzle or snow while it's windy, rainy, or snowy outside.
The little girl took old newspapers and re-covered the moldy, blackened walls, then sprinkled 666 powder to kill fleas.
They also hired a carpenter to make a new bed so that he and the old woman wouldn't have to sleep on the damp thatched floor anymore.
The room was filled with the smell of newspaper ink, and everything looked brand new.
She even picked a large bunch of wildflowers, trimmed them beautifully, and placed them in an old earthenware vase, creating a scene full of pastoral beauty.
Even in adversity, one can maintain this mindset of living a good life...
He looked down at Ning Yuan, pushed up his glasses, and smiled with satisfaction: "I believe our Xiao Yuan is a capable girl who can get into university and achieve great things!"
She doesn't need to have a man's surname in her name. Even without Xiao Nan, she will still grow like a sapling facing the sky—growing towards the sun.
As they were talking, Grandma Xia suddenly patted her on the shoulder.
Ning Yuan turned her head and saw a yellow bowl being stuffed into her hand.
"Do you know what this is? Which dynasty is it from?" Grandma Xia asked, hands on her hips.
Ning Yuan picked up the bowl and examined it carefully under the candlelight, following the points of knowledge that Grandma Xia had taught her—
Examine the glaze, observe the color, and look at the mark on the base!
Her fingertips traced the darkly carved dragon pattern on it, and the base had a six-character, three-line seal script mark in underglaze blue that read "Made in the Qianlong Reign of the Great Qing Dynasty".
She thought for a moment and said seriously, "The inner wall is decorated with white glaze, and the outer wall is fully covered with yellow glaze. Under the glaze, there is an incised double dragon chasing a pearl cloud dragon pattern and a river cliff and sea wave pattern - this is a yellow glaze incised dragon pattern bowl from the official kiln of the Qianlong period!"
Upon hearing this, Grandma Xia nodded in satisfaction: "You've made progress, all thanks to my excellent teaching!"
Ning Yuan's round face fell, and she put down her bowl: "Who did you go to steal chickens and dogs from again, and while you were at it, you stole their feed for chickens, ducks and geese!"
This old lady is such a worry; what if she gets hurt?
Grandma Xia's face fell: "Who told you I stole this!"
Ning Yuan then drawled, "Oh—could it be that you conjured up out of thin air?!"
When she and Rong Zhaonan helped renovate the dilapidated house before the Lunar New Year, they cleaned it up inside and out.
There's absolutely no way you could miss where that bowl was hidden.
Grandma Xia continued, hands on her hips, with a cold snort: "Yes, it was conjured by a ghost—Miss Xia found this treasure in the graveyard in the back mountain village!"
Ning Yuan's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the Qianlong-era bowl!
A grave...dug out of a grave? That old lady is really something!
"You...you've desecrated someone's ancestral grave! Isn't that a bit immoral?!" Ning Yuan's lips twitched.
I felt a chilling coldness emanating from the beautiful antique bowl in my hand!
The items in the grave—commonly known as funerary objects or spirit objects!
Grandma Xia sneered, snatching the bowl away. "Immoral? This was dug up from my family's ancestral grave by someone else to fill offerings for their ancestors. It's not unreasonable for me to go to their grave and get it back, is it?"
Ning Yuan: "Uh...not immoral, not excessive."
This can be considered a return to its rightful owner. If you're not satisfied, let the ancestors of both families have a fight in the underworld. Whoever wins gets to keep it.
Grandma Xia glanced at Ning Yuan with drooping eyelids and handed her a yellow-glazed bowl with an incised dragon design: "Here, this bowl is for you!"
Ning Yuan hesitated to accept it: "I can only make a move on this after the New Year. Please keep it for now."
"Tch, coward! What I mean is that this bowl is my New Year's gift to you. We don't owe anyone any favors!" Grandma Xia impatiently shoved the bowl into her hands.
Ning Yuan's hands went weak: "No, no... this thing is too valuable."
Grandma Xia sat down with an air of nonchalance: "It's alright, I'll go digging for treasures in the graveyard behind the mountain often from now on, there'll be plenty of good stuff! Anyway, it's all my family's stuff!"
Ning Yuan choked on her own saliva: "Cough cough cough cough... No, I'm afraid you'll get beaten up by the villagers, and besides, this is a funerary object!"
She just wanted to collect things from people in the countryside, but she never intended to become a tomb raider!
Although she was born under the red flag and grew up in the spring breeze, she was still a little superstitious and afraid of bad luck.
She herself can be reborn. Doesn't this strange and mysterious phenomenon mean that there must be another world?
Grandma Xia glanced at her sideways: "Are you afraid I'll get beaten up, or are you afraid this is a funerary object? You've already decided to deal in antiques, why are you afraid of this?"
Ning Yuan muttered softly, "I didn't have any talismans for touching the gold, of course I'd be scared!"
In her past life, after finishing her housework, she liked to read novels, including romance novels, domineering CEO novels, and tomb raiding novels.
Grandma Xia poked her forehead with a look of exasperation: "Are you stupid? These days, what antique wasn't passed down from the dead? What's there to be afraid of in the dead? It's the living who are scary!"
Grandma Xia sneered, "Besides, these are all things from my family's past. I didn't steal anything from anyone!"
Ning Yuan fell silent. Yes, what's there to be afraid of about dead people?
The human heart is the most terrifying thing.
"Alright, I, Miss Xia, never owe anyone favors. If you don't want it, just give it to Old Liu's family as a pig feeder!" Grandma Xia made the final decision.
Ning Yuan immediately and readily replied, "Thank you, Grandma! I'll take it!"
She couldn't bear to let pigs ruin good things, so she quickly transformed into a staunch atheist, advocating that one shouldn't turn down money!
Afterwards, Ning Yuan searched everywhere for straw to wrap the antique bowl, which was in excellent condition and dated back to the Qianlong period.
Old Master Tang found Ning Yuan's greedy behavior amusing, but since he couldn't get a word in edgewise, he simply went out to see Rong Zhaonan.
Rong Zhaonan was preparing firecrackers when Old Tang watched for a while, then suddenly coughed and started a conversation—
"Xiao Nan, you're back to work now. How about we find some time to have your grandma give you a buzz cut? She's pretty good at it."
Although Nan Xiaozi had trimmed his hair and looked much more energetic with his forehead showing, his bangs were still too long, making him look a bit roguish.
He doesn't seem like he should be back in the team. Does he have other plans?
Rong Zhaonan set off the firecrackers and replied, "Well, I originally wanted to get a buzz cut, but I won't be back in the capital so soon, so I'll leave it for now."
Remembering the way Ning Yuan looked at his scar, he decided to keep some of his bangs to cover it up.
Trim it to expose part of your forehead so you don't look as tired as before.
Old Master Tang's eyes lit up. "Wow, this kid really isn't going back to the capital for the time being?"
He was about to ask something else when Ning Yuan came out and said, "Grandpa Tang, Grandma said she's going to make vegetarian dumplings."
Old Master Tang, being sensible, immediately turned around and walked into the room: "I'll go help my wife, you help Xiao Nan prepare the firecrackers."
Ning Yuan stood in the courtyard, and the cold winter wind blew by, making her shiver involuntarily.
The sound of firecrackers echoed from the village not far away, along with children's laughter and play, and occasionally, women's grumbling and cursing.
"Which bastard stole my ducks? Don't let me catch him!"
Ning Yuan raised her large, dark eyes to look at the sky, breathed warm air into her palms, smelled the cold air carrying the scent of firecrackers, and smiled softly.
This is her first New Year since her rebirth, and it's much better than the cold steamed buns and sticky rice cakes left over by Tang Zhenzhen in her previous life.
Things will get better in the future...
"Move aside, you're blocking the way." Rong Zhaonan's cold voice rang out behind her.
Ning Yuan was taken aback, then turned to look at him holding a string of firecrackers, staring at her expressionlessly.
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