Old Yu is gone.
The bags and packages were filled with New Year's supplies, but only prescriptions remained.
Time flies, and the twelfth lunar month arrives as scheduled.
As soon as December arrived, my aunt began preparing supplies for the New Year.
Today they bought candy, tomorrow couplets, and the day after that the character "福" (fortune/blessing). Together with Jiang Wanying and their little star, they had a wonderful time shopping.
In just ten days, the mother and her two children explored the entire county, becoming intimately familiar with every alley and nook.
"Lingling, come quick! I bought some candied hawthorns, would you like to try some?" Auntie greeted Lingling as she came in.
Buling glanced at the bright red candied hawthorns and asked curiously, "Auntie, where did you buy these?"
Aunt lowered her voice and whispered, "Don't tell anyone, okay? I bought it from the last shop in Daqing Hutong. Their family has been making candied hawthorns for generations."
"The family is short of money, so let's make some money during these few days of the New Year to prepare for the holiday, shall we?" As she spoke, Aunt handed a candied hawthorn to Buling: "Try it, it's really authentic."
Buling took it, took a bite, chewed a few times, and gave a thumbs up: "You really weren't exaggerating!"
The outer sugar coating is both icy and sweet, and combined with the sourness of the hawthorn inside, it's just right—not too sweet, not too sour.
She ate several in a row, then asked, "Auntie, have you eaten?"
"We've eaten, we've eaten. Xiao Jiang and I shared a skewer." Auntie took Bu Ling's arm and led her into the house.
"Why are two people only sharing one skewer? How much is one skewer?" (Bu Ling)
"One cent a skewer is a bit expensive, but it's worth it," the aunt said. "I'm old, so I can't eat anything too sour; it makes my teeth ache!"
Buling ate another ball: "It's not expensive at all, how is it expensive!"
Aunt smiled but didn't say anything: "Xiao Jiang and I bought five skewers in total. We ate one skewer, she took one back to Dongzi, and the rest are here."
“Perfect, you and Xiao Qi can each have one skewer, and the rest can go to Xiao Si. It’s cold now, so it won’t be a problem to leave them overnight.” Aunt poured a glass of water for Bu Ling.
“My older brother said he’d be back for dinner tonight, and I ran into him at noon,” Bu Ling said.
"What a coincidence! I happen to need to see him about something," Auntie said with a smile.
"What's up?" Bu Ling asked with a gossipy expression.
Her aunt glanced at her sideways and said, "You'll find out tonight."
"All right!"
At the dinner table that evening, Sangzi had just taken a bite of rice when her aunt spoke up: "Xiao Si, your uncle's comrade-in-arms has a daughter who's coming to Gu County on business the day after tomorrow. Could you help entertain her?"
Sangzi: ...
"Aunt, I..." (I'm busy)
"Don't say you're too busy! You have to go!" Aunt Sang made the final decision.
Sang Zi choked, glanced at Sang Shen who was pretending to be dead, and kicked him.
The mulberry tree was kicked, but it still pretended to be dead.
Sangzi gritted her teeth, realizing she couldn't rely on him, and had to take matters into her own hands: "Aunt, I won't..."
"Nothing you need? No blind dates? Or no need for me to go through all this trouble?" Aunt interrupted.
"If you don't need me to worry about you, why don't you find someone yourself? You'll be twenty-nine after the New Year, almost thirty. Little Seven's daughter is already running around, and you're still single. Don't you need someone? I think you need someone the most!"
With her aunt going all out, the mulberry couple quietly tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.
Sang Zi adjusted her decorative glasses. "Big brother..."
"Don't mention your older brother to me, I can't reach him, but you're right in front of me. I'm talking about you, are you going or not?" Aunt stared intently at Sangzi, pressuring him with her eyes.
Sang Zi was speechless after being rebuked. He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes concealing his guilty look. "Xiao Qi, did you tell Grandpa that you're not going back to Kyoto for the New Year?"
Before Sang Shen could speak, Aunt Sang interrupted, "Don't try to change the subject! We'll talk about this later, now we're talking about your business!"
Sangzi: ...
He took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, and said helplessly, "Auntie, I've been really busy these last few days of the year, I just had time..."
Before he could finish speaking, his aunt snatched his chopsticks away and said expressionlessly, "Then don't eat. Go and do your work. Even if you have to work overtime without eating or drinking, you have to make time for the day after tomorrow."
"If one day isn't enough, an afternoon will do. You happen to have a car, so you can pick up the girl and bring her straight to my house, is that alright?" The aunt lowered her demands.
Sangzi glanced at the two people sitting on the table with quails: "Okay, I understand~"
Aunt chuckled: "That's more like it!"
"Can I eat now?" Sangzi asked, feigning a pitiful look.
"Here you go, here you go, how dare you eat without a wife!" Although his aunt handed the chopsticks back to him, she couldn't help but mutter a few words.
Sang Zi ate quietly, not daring to utter a single word.
After dinner, Sangzi dragged Sangshen to wash the dishes. Auntie watched the two brothers' backs and smiled meaningfully: "Lingling, what do you think they'll be saying in the kitchen?"
Bling fed Little Star some soft noodles, "What else can I say? It's just that Mulberry got a heart-to-heart talk from Big Brother, right?"
"Never mind them, let them do whatever they want!" Aunt took Little Star from Bu Ling's arms: "I'll hold her, you feed her."
Bu Ling nodded. "But Aunt, did Uncle's comrade's daughter really just come to Gu County on a whim?" It's almost Chinese New Year, what would she be doing in Gu County?
"What? They're just after Xiao Si." Auntie wiped Xiao Xingxing's mouth and said with a pout.
"Coming for the eldest brother?"
"That's right. The girl has always liked Xiao Si, so her father came to your uncle, hoping we could help them get together."
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