Chapter 174 The snow at the end of the year is like plum blossoms, and plum blossoms are like snow.
When Song Jin woke up, his head was still buried in Ji Shubai's chest.
Nothing is more attractive than yesterday's smoked bedding and a warm chest on a winter day.
She noticed that the chest she was pressed against moved, so she moved her head and rubbed it against the chest.
"It's bright outside."
Ji Shubai lifted the curtain and looked out. Song Jin groaned and buried his head even deeper.
“It looks like it’s snowing.”
After hearing this, Song Jin looked up, his face dazed for a moment.
"Want to get up and have a snowball fight?"
Song Jin felt that he was coaxing a child, but at the same time he was ready to do something.
While she was in a daze, a warm hand came out from under the quilt and pinched her face: "I'll get up first and take a look. If the snow is heavy, you can get up later."
Song Jin nodded.
Caitang and Luzhu came in to help her get dressed. Song Jin curled up in bed with the quilt wrapped around him, and felt the cold wind rushing in the moment he opened the door.
"I want to have chestnut roast chicken for lunch today."
Caitang smiled and said, "Mother Chen said this morning that it would be best to eat something sweet in this weather. The chestnuts have already been peeled."
Song Jin lay on the bed and smiled with satisfaction.
The snowflakes were bigger than expected. After Ji Shubai dressed up, he went out to take a look and then shouted excitedly outside the door: "Ajin, it's snowing so heavily."
Song Jin couldn't sit still any longer, he jumped up, hurriedly grabbed a pair of socks and put them on, shouting, "I want to see it too."
Without even the time to put on clothes, he grabbed a coat and slipped out of bed, stepping on the plush carpet where the long-haired puppy was rolling snowballs.
"Hurry up, warm your shoes."
Song Jin stomped his feet anxiously, causing Ji Shubai to turn back with a smile.
"The snow is here to stay, and if I don't wear warm clothes, I'll get cold. What should I do?"
Song Jin stretched out his arms to hug her: "No, I have to see it right away."
"I just called you but you refused to get up."
Ji Shubai complained, but his hands were honest. He took his newly made lambskin cloak from the hanger and wrapped Song Jin from head to toe.
He was tall and Song Jin was shorter, so he wrapped her up just right. Then he picked up the cocoon-like Song Jin and walked out.
Song Jin was wrapped in a cloak. Although she couldn't move, she couldn't stop laughing, especially when she found that Ji Shubai was going to use her head to open the door curtain.
"My head, my head, hehe——"
Ji Shubai also laughed: "Will you stay in bed again in the future?"
Song Jin was laughing so hard that he couldn't say anything. He just lay in Ji Shubai's arms, letting him use his head to push open the door curtain. Then he saw the sky with red clouds and flying snowflakes, and the ground covered with white snow and white snow.
"Wow--"
Song Jin only knows this sentence.
Ji Shubai's cold nose touched her cheek: "I have read so many poems, written so many poems, and at the end I can only say one sentence. My wife is really extraordinary."
Song Jin chuckled.
"What have you been learning these days? I'll have to interrogate you about it later."
Song Jin asked back: "What else can you do?"
Ji Shu rolled his eyes and said, "Snow is like plum blossoms, and plum blossoms are like snow."
Song Jin burst into laughter, and after a long while he panted and said, "My husband, a Jinshi, is really amazing."
After I finished laughing, I remembered to look at the flowers in the yard and exclaimed: "The camellia is blooming."
There were several red camellia trees planted in the yard. Coincidentally, they bloomed on the day when the sky was full of auspiciousness.
The crystal white snow covered the red pistil, and Song Jin leaned in Ji Shubai's arms, stunned by the sight.
"The plum tree outside the corridor should be in bloom too."
"Get dressed. I'm going to look at the flowers."
Ji Shubai then carried the person back to the bedroom and put him on the bed. Song Jin rolled over like a silkworm cocoon and rolled out from his cloak.
"Hurry up and get dressed, be careful not to catch a cold."
Caitang took out a hot water bottle from under the quilt. It was still warm, just right for washing.
Ji Shubai finished washing up early, ordered someone to light the fire pot, and sat in the room waiting for Song Jin to finish dressing up before having dinner together.
"It's the New Year, how are we going to spend it this year?"
Song Jin wiped his face and answered him, "It's a lively celebration. I've put a lot of effort into it, and I've prepared more firecrackers than in previous years. In two days, you have to accompany me to choose and hang lanterns. Also, you have to write the couplets this year, so don't be lazy."
“Who’s the lazy one?”
Song Jin chuckled.
Breakfast is simple. Song Jin is afraid of the cold, so Mother Chen prepares ginger milk for them every day. Song Jin likes to eat hot food.
The two of them talked as they ate. On a day like this, it seemed a bit of a waste to boil tea on a non-combustible stove.
However, as luck would have it, the two had just finished their meal and had not yet started to sweep the snow and make tea when Qingshan asked Luzhu to come in and tell them that Lord Lu and Lord Zhang were coming to visit with their wives. Now neither of them had time to make tea, so Ji Shubai went to the front to greet the guests, while Caitang went to lead the ladies into the inner courtyard.
Soon after Ji Shubai returned from Nanjing, turmoil broke out in the capital, and people were in a panic for a time. However, Ji Shubai managed to escape and was not hurt at all.
Song Jin's identity as a prophet has not yet been spread, but his reputation as a lucky star has spread first.
Song Jin thought this was a good idea. As a prophet, you had to tell the truth, which could easily cause trouble. But it was different with the lucky star. It was a happy omen, so you didn't have to say anything, which saved a lot of trouble.
For this reason, the ladies were more willing to interact with her. Among them, the closest ones were naturally the wives of Lu Junnian and Zhang Hanchi.
In early autumn this year, Zhao Yiliu married Zhang Hanchi. After that, Song Jin met Zhang Hanchi once, and his face was visibly radiant, and he even felt a little emotional for a moment.
Some people still need a warm partner to care about, otherwise life will be a chore.
Song Jin was wearing a short mink coat with a snow-blue satin surface and was standing in the corridor waiting for the two ladies to come in. Soon he saw Cai Tang leading people over.
"Sisters, you're here so early." Song Jin bowed and greeted the two of them with a smile.
"I'm afraid it's too early and I'm sorry to bother you." Mrs. Lu's voice was clear and distinct, and she hadn't changed at all in the few years they had known each other.
"How could that be? I look forward to my sisters coming to visit me every day."
The three of them entered the house together and stood around the fire pot to keep warm.
"Is the government office busy these days?"
Song Jin asked casually, and Mrs. Lu said, "It's the end of the year. It will be time to rest in a few days. We will have to wait until next year to be busy."
Song Jin asked Zhao Yiliu again: "Madam, have you prepared the New Year's goods at home?"
Zhao Yiliu said: "We have prepared everything. Although we are not a wealthy family, we still have what we need."
Song Jin smiled and said yes, thinking silently in his heart that the official positions and salaries in the Ming Dynasty were quite low, no wonder it became a trend to abandon Confucianism and go into business.
After Ji Shubai lost his official position, she was able to free herself up and her life became richer and more comfortable than before.
"After the New Year, I'm afraid that all husbands will be away from home. Let's visit each other more often."
Mrs. Lu was the first to say yes, as she was a person who loved lively occasions.
After everyone warmed themselves by the fire for a while, Zhao Yilu was the first one who wanted to go sweep the snow and make tea. Song Jin thought about it, asked Luzhu to get out two jars, and the two of them went together.
Mrs. Lu stood at the door and said, "You two can sweep the snow and make tea. I'll eat the ready-made food. We can play mahjong while we eat."
Song Jin laughed when he heard this, it turned out that she came here for mahjong, so he asked Caitang to get the mahjong and set it up, and then they would go to the table to play mahjong together.
Zhao Yiliu was specifically sweeping the snow off the red camellia flowers, while Song Jin was a little lazier and swept a large piece of snow off the Taihu stone. When the piece was full, he gave it to Luzhu.
"Take it to the front and make tea for my husband. All the masters will have dinner at home today. Go to the kitchen and ask Madam Chen. If she is too busy, ask Hongan to go to the shop and call two shop assistants to help. Also make two more desserts and send them over immediately."
Luzhu agreed and went.
Zhao Yiliu listened on the side and said, "I'm sorry to cause you trouble."
Song Jin smiled and said, "People always have troubles coming and going. Today you come, tomorrow I go. Don't expect me to deny my debt after you finish eating."
Zhao Yiliu pushed her and said, "You are still like this, you are so harsh with your mouth."
Song Jin smiled, helped her back to the house to make tea, and chatted while playing mahjong.
"I see that your life is more comfortable than before. Unlike me, I stay in the government office all day and suffer."
Song Jin laughed at Madam Lu: "From what I hear, you want Lord Lu to resign as well before you'll give up."
Madam Lu sighed and said, "What you said is true. I am more greedy. I want both."
Song Jin smiled and roughly understood what Mrs. Lu meant. She wanted to find another way to make some money. But before he could respond, Mrs. Lu had already opened her mouth.
"You said that it's inconvenient for my old Lu to buy a property in Suzhou, so I have to help him. There are old people and young children at home, so I can't help but worry about him."
Song Jin smiled and said, "If you want to buy land, as long as it's not thousands of acres, it's fine. If Lord Lu is reluctant to ask, I will go and talk to my husband."
"I've been waiting for you to say this." Madam Lu was extremely happy. "My husband is just like yours, very rigid, hard to reason with, and afraid of being disliked, so it makes me, a woman, worry so much."
Before he finished speaking, someone said, “Hu lao, ha ha.”
Being very good at multitasking, Song Jin obediently handed over the double chips.
After playing cards for a few rounds, Zhao Yilu finally found a chance to slowly tell the purpose of his visit today.
"You say, Fourth Lady of the Bai Family, should we find someone for her to marry? Otherwise, she will be lonely as a girl."
Song Jin thought, this man is truly a living Bodhisattva, she is far from that.
"Madam, have you chosen someone?"
Zhao Yiliu shook her head: "I wanted to discuss this with you. After all, it was you who helped me remarry. Before I got married, Si Niang held me and cried. Now I think about it and she is pitiful."
Song Jin thought, the reason you two didn't fight later was entirely because the man died. If the man hadn't died, do you think she would have been happy with you?
"For a family like ours, we don't seek to be rich, we just want to live in peace. Now that I'm gone, she'll be tortured to death by the grandmother alone. If we can help her find a good family, it will be considered a good deed."
Song Jin suppressed his urge to complain and said gently, "If that's the case, then we can ask a matchmaker to go to the Bai family to talk about it. However, she has a boisterous personality and I'm afraid she won't be able to adapt to life in the government office. It would be good for her to find a merchant with some roots."
Song Jin was unwilling to let Ye Wenfu take care of it personally. Not to mention the past grudges, just looking at her personality, if he was unhappy after marriage, wouldn't he blame her?
She would not get involved in that matter, and asked Zhao Yilu to stop getting close to him. It was enough as long as the intention was there.
"You have a point."
"What are you talking about? I'm being ridiculous again, haha."
Mrs. Lu was very happy to win that day.
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