Chapter 118 I hope you get what you want on New Year’s Eve.
Song Jin left a math problem for Lu Junnian, along with a pot of casserole porridge.
Looking at the pot of porridge, Lu Junnian couldn't help but think of his trip to the toilet that day, and he became extremely angry.
"Minglu! Minglu! Take this out and throw it away!"
Ming Lu came in confused and saw the jar on the table. He discovered that it was the one Song Jin had just brought in. So he curiously opened the lid, and a rich fragrance hit him in the face.
"It smells so good, sir. You haven't had breakfast yet, right? This is perfect for you."
"I don't want to eat it!" Lu Junnian said stubbornly, but the aroma aroused the gluttony in his heart.
"If you don't want to eat it, my lord, then I can throw it away."
Throwing it away is fake, he can take it away and eat it himself, anyway he won’t be discovered.
However, Lu Junnian stopped him.
"Wait, well... it's a kind gesture after all. Go get two sets of bowls and chopsticks, and we can eat together."
Minglu went there happily. Lu Junnian asked him to eat a bowl first, and only asked him after he finished eating, "How was it?"
"It's delicious, sir, why don't you eat it?"
"Does your stomach hurt?"
"My stomach doesn't hurt, and my body is warm."
"Oh——" It was not poisonous. Lu Junnian started to eat it. It was indeed delicious. He left half a jar and asked Minglu to give it to his wife and children.
After this breakfast, Lu Junnian never had a proper meal since the New Year. It was all Song Jin’s fault.
He spent the whole morning working on the problem but couldn't figure it out. He had to admit that he was not good at arithmetic. However, he thought of someone, Ji Shubai.
Since they can chat about it, they must understand each other. Let’s try first to see if it was Ji Shubai who pointed it out.
So he went to Ji's house without having lunch that day.
There were guests at Ji Shubai's house. Fortunately, they were all colleagues. He didn't say that it was Song Jin who came up with the question. He just put the question out there and asked everyone to think about it together and observe Ji Shubai's expression.
There was no flaw at all, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"This is really not your suggestion?"
"What trick?"
"That girl from Lu's Food Store, if you hadn't given her the tip, how could she have done this?"
Ji Shubai was also stunned. Song Jin had taught him foreign languages and told him stories about foreign countries, but he had never mentioned arithmetic.
Seeing Ji Shubai's puzzled expression, Lu Junnian finally believed that this question had nothing to do with him.
This is even stranger.
Forget it, let’s not think about who gave me this advice. The important thing is to solve the problem and not embarrass myself in front of Song Jin.
So he became more enthusiastic and asked everyone to do a math problem together.
However, they stayed at Ji's house for a long time but still couldn't figure it out, so Lu Junnian had to go back with the problem.
From then on, I lost my appetite and sleep, and became extremely thin over the course of the year.
Song Jin, on the contrary, was fully engaged in preparations for the New Year.
They bought firecrackers, colorful lanterns, fresh meat, fish and shrimps. Dujuan helped to sew purses, Chunyun was busy pasting door gods, and the two shop assistants hung colorful lanterns. The shop was full of joy.
Even more joyful things are yet to come.
Business boomed two days before New Year’s Eve.
The Chai family sent someone to tell Song Jin that they would hold a New Year banquet on the third day of the Lunar New Year and would hire a few more cooks, and asked if Song Jin was available.
There was no reason for Song Jin not to have some free time, his mouth was almost crooked from smiling.
The time has come.
She has always wanted to have a chance to let other wealthy people taste the dishes, so that there will be more opportunities in the future, and the New Year's wine party is a great opportunity.
It is estimated that all the important people in Changzhou County will be invited by the Chai family. If two or three people like their dishes, then it would be an opportunity.
When Song Jin thought of this, she was so happy that she couldn't sleep. On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, she ran to a milk seller to order some milk, saying that she would need it after the New Year and shouldn't delay.
Ever since meeting Ji Shubai at Ji's house that day, Song Jin has never seen him again.
One reason is that Ji Shubai is very busy, and now he has to meet the guests who he had previously turned down due to his busy schedule.
The second reason is that Song Jin was busy with business and preparing New Year's goods, so he had no time to look for him. After taking over the business from the Chai family, he would probably have even less time to look for him.
By the time New Year's Eve comes, all shops are closed and everyone just prepares the New Year's Eve dinner for today.
Several assistants stayed in the shop. Song Jin agreed that they could each take a piece of bacon home after receiving the red envelopes after dinner, but she had to go to the Chai family on the third day of the New Year, and there were many people with her this time, so there was no way they could rest.
Being able to eat a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, receive a red envelope, and eat bacon, this is so much better than when they were slaves in the past. There is no reason to disagree, so everyone is looking forward to the New Year's Eve dinner in the evening.
That morning, Song Jin was busy in the kitchen with her people. She began to slowly teach some cooking skills to Du Juan and Chun Yun. Both of them could already cook some of her specialties.
Suddenly, a guy who was putting up door couplets came in and said that Qingshan had arrived. Song Jin hurriedly handed the spatula to Dujuan, saying that she had to go out.
Qingshan was holding a gold-painted gift box in his hand. He knew without thinking that Ji Shubai had sent him to deliver a letter.
"My master said that this thing is for Miss Lu, so you can accept it."
Song Jin took it as he was told. In the box there was a letter and a waist-length purse made of morning glory purple satin with a lotus pattern.
She took out the purse and could smell a faint fragrance. After sniffing it carefully, she realized that it was the bitter fragrance that she had mentioned that day and said she liked very much.
"My Lord said that if you are busy, you don't have to rush to reply. You will write again after you are done with your work."
Song Jin thanked Qingshan and took out two or three silver coins from his bosom and gave them to him, saying that it was for good luck on New Year's Eve. Qingshan thanked him and left.
Song Jin did not read the letter, but looked at his purse first.
There were several decorations on the mouth of the purse, a few jade beads strung on a purple satin ribbon, like the bamboo leaf hairpin she wore that day, she liked it very much.
She placed the letter and the purse under her pillow in her bedroom, planning to take a closer look after she was done with her work for the day.
The meal that night was particularly sumptuous. The dishes that Song Jin was reluctant to cook in the past were all cooked for everyone today. For example, steamed sea bass, braised pork, glutinous rice, spare ribs and boiled shrimps. Even the rice was cooked with diced bacon, which was salty and fragrant.
As usual, firecrackers should be lit before eating.
The waiter had prepared a long bamboo pole and asked Chunyun to hold one end and stand in the house. He hung a long firecracker on the other end and stretched it out to the street. As soon as the fuse was lit, the waiter jumped in, and with a crackling sound, scarlet firecracker scraps exploded all over the ground.
On this day, the streets of Suzhou were filled with red and joy.
Before the meal, Lao Lu distributed red envelopes to everyone. There wasn't much in them, and the important thing was to bring good luck.
A group of people sat around the table, everyone had a smile on their face. Song Jin had not felt such pure happiness for a long time.
Everyone raised their glasses. Song Jin drank tea instead of wine and said that her wish for next year was to make a lot of money, buy more land, buy a house, move to a new home, and open a big store.
Everyone laughed at her, saying that she made too many wishes at once and the Bodhisattva would not be able to remember them all.
Everyone enjoyed the meal that night, and the waiters did not go home, but stayed in the shop chatting around a charcoal fire.
Meng Qi said he wanted to marry a woman, so that he could live a fulfilling life with someone to warm the bed like Arong.
Zhang Hongan rushed to say that he felt the same way.
Arong wanted to have a child and be a father, but Dujuan stopped him from saying anything more because she thought it was embarrassing.
Chunyun said she wanted to go see the lanterns and walk across the bridge during the Lantern Festival, and this time everyone said it would be possible.
As it was approaching midnight, everyone was tired of chatting, and Song Jin pulled Chunyun back to the bedroom.
As soon as Chunyun returned to her bedroom, she opened the purse that Lao Lu had given her. She said it was given by Lao Lu, but it was actually copper coins that Song Jin had exchanged at the money exchange shop, all with gold backs. Du Juan was very skillful, and she strung the copper coins together with red silk thread to make a swimming fish shape, which meant that there would be surpluses every year. Even the purse was sewn by her.
She used a few copper coins to exchange the leftover fabrics from the tailor shop for a few large pieces, and pieced them together to make several purses.
Compared to the red envelope given by Lao Lu, Song Jin cared more about the letter under her pillow.
She moved a stool to the head of the bed and lay down in the quilt, Chunyun's warm body pressed against her. In the warmth, Song Jin took out the purse and letter under the pillow, opened them and read them carefully in the dim candlelight.
"It has been several days since we last met. I wanted to go to your store to listen to your storytelling, but Qingshan told me that you were busy these days and no longer tell stories. I am also entangled with my friends and cannot get away. I am exhausted every day dealing with them and saying the same old things. Therefore, I miss the days when you said strange things to me and I wish I could meet you. The first month of the year is so busy and there are constant invitations to New Year's wine. I don't know when I can meet you again. Brother Lu has scratched a lot of his hair because of your topic. I hope you will show some mercy when we meet next time. He is old and middle-aged. Please forgive him this time. Last time you said that the sachet was very good. This time I will give you one. I hope you are satisfied."
After reading the letter, Song Jin held it to his chest. The laughter that he had been suppressing suddenly burst out, and he even laughed until tears came out.
"Sister, what's wrong with you? What did Master Ji write?"
"He said he missed me, hahahaha——"
Chunyun also laughed when she heard this, and leaned on Song Jin's chest and asked, "Then will you marry Master Ji?"
Song Jin thought for a moment and said, "Who knows what will happen in the future? Let's just be happy now."
"I think Master Ji likes you. Eyes can't deceive people. I think Arong treated Dujuan the same way before."
"Really?" Song Jin thought, he must like her. This unspoken but secretly connected relationship made her extremely happy, and she only wanted to maintain it.
Song Jin carefully refolded the letter, put it under the pillow, blew out the candle, and whispered to Chunyun:
"Go to bed. You have to get up early tomorrow."
Song Jin was in a very good mood that night, but Lu Junnian came into the study after the New Year's Eve dinner. Seeing the large stack of drafts on the desk, he became furious and tore the topics to pieces.
On the first day of the first lunar month, every household rushed to light firecrackers early in the morning. It didn't seem like they were rushing to light firecrackers, but rather like they were rushing to get blessings. The noise woke Song Jin up early, but he couldn't stay in bed, so he got up in a daze.
The guys have already taken down the door panels facing the street and hung the firecrackers on a pole. Old Lu and Mrs. Chen are watching the guys light them, and there is another burst of crackling sounds.
You can't sweep the floor on the first day of the New Year, so there were a lot of red paper scraps at the door. After everyone greeted each other, the two servants and Arong Dujuan went home with the bacon and agreed to return in the afternoon.
Song Jin was free at this time, so she could go to Ji's house, but she knew that Ji Shubai would be busy today, so she didn't go to join in the fun. So after the waiter left, she went into the kitchen and re-fried the rice that she hadn't finished last night and ate it as breakfast.
I don’t know where this custom came from, but it means that there should be surplus every year, so the first meal of the New Year has to be the leftovers from last year. This is surplus and a symbol of wealth.
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