Chapter 85 Don’t want a cub? Really?
The cold wind wrapped snowflakes, flying all over the sky.
Qiu Xuan stood by the stove, warming herself by the fire. She waited until her hands were warm before going behind the screen.
Newborn babies are small and weak, and we are afraid that they will get sick in winter. When family members come to visit, they will warm themselves by the fire for a while, for fear that they will bring cold air in.
"The little guy slept so soundly today." Qiu Xuan handed Yueyang the amulet she had gotten from the temple early in the morning.
The clan mother asked me to ask for this thing, saying it would be good for the child.
Zong Anji was unable to leave home, so Qiu Xuan went there for him.
"Sorry to bother you, Second Sister-in-law." Yueyang pulled the child's hand out of the swaddling clothes and gently moved it. "Quick, thank you, Auntie."
The baby, who was only a few days old, did nothing but eat and sleep. After being tossed around like this, his little face wrinkled and he started crying.
"Hey...feed him something?"
"No need, just hold her and coax her. Second sister-in-law, do you want to try it?"
Qiu Xuan quickly waved her hands. She didn't dare touch such a small child. The child was too small and too soft. She was afraid that if she used too much force, she would hurt the child.
Yueyang smiled and picked up the child, rocking him gently, and soon the child stopped crying.
Qiu Xuan stayed in the room for about an incense stick of time before coming out.
In front of the courtyard gate, she saw Huaixue playing in the snow.
The little girl was not afraid of the cold and made a snowman with her bare hands.
The little hands were red from the cold, and the little nose was also a little red.
"Come into the house with your aunt to warm up." Qiu Xuan stepped forward and lifted the person up from the ground.
"Second Aunt!" Huaixue held up the little snowman in her hand high and handed it to Qiuyun to see.
"Let's go." Qiu Xuan took her snowman and the two went back to the house together.
Huaixue lived with her mother-in-law, separated from Qiuxuan by a door.
Qiu Xuan took her directly to her room.
She put the snowman on a plate on the table. It was warm in the room and it would melt into water in a short while.
"Aunt, do you like me or Xiaoyun?" Huaixue asked suddenly.
Qiu Xuan paused as she was trying to pull up her sleeves, then asked with a smile, "Then who do you think Auntie likes the most?"
"Like me!" Huaixue stared at Qiu Xuan with her pair of dark almond-shaped eyes.
"Auntie likes both of you. You two are equally important to me."
"Really? But they said that you don't like me anymore after Xiaoyun came into being. Grandma has been visiting Xiaoyun all the time these days." Huaixue pouted, looking a little unhappy.
Children generally don't ask such questions unless someone deliberately says something in front of them.
Qiu Xuan wiped her hands and took out a piece of her favorite almond cake.
"You are all the little treasures of the family. Whether you are Aunt or Grandma, we love every one of you." Qiu Xuan asked her coaxingly, "Come and tell Aunt, who said that I don't like you? Aunt has to ask her. She is not Aunt, how can she know what Aunt is thinking."
Huaixue: "It's Guoguo."
Huaixue was still young and couldn't stand the questioning, so Qiu Yun found out the truth in just a few words.
It turns out that the villagers have been gossiping about Yueyang since she gave birth to a child.
They said that the clan finally had a successor, a son.
They have been here for almost half a year and are familiar with the people around them.
Sometimes Huaixue would play with the children in the village, and Guoguo was one of them.
She is also a little girl, not much younger than Huaixue.
Qiu Xuan originally thought that it was gossip spread by adults, but she didn't expect it was said by a child.
"What else did Guoguo say?" Qiu Xuan coaxed her to continue eating snacks.
"Guoguo said that her family is like this. No one likes her anymore after she had a little brother."
Qiu Yu rubbed her little face and asked, "Do you think your aunt likes you now?"
"like."
"So, don't just listen to what others say, you have to feel it yourself. Grandma has really only been looking at Xiaoyun these days. Do you know why?"
Huaixue shook her head.
"Because you were also born in winter, you were always sick then. Your grandma is worried that Xiaoyun will be like you when you were a child." Qiu Yun's words were not false. The clan mother had indeed been worried about this these days.
Xiaoyun is the second child of the Zong family's generation, so it is normal for the old man to like her.
Huaixue seemed to understand, she smiled and nodded, "Okay, I will like Xiaoyun in the future too."
Afraid that Huaixue was still thinking about this, Qiu Xuan told everyone in the family the news that night.
Everyone was very surprised.
Especially the grandmother, she was already old and her eyes turned red when she heard those words.
"Outsiders always like to gossip, and Huaixue naturally takes it to heart after hearing it so many times."
But it’s unrealistic to not let Huaixue play with other children.
She is still so young, it is the right time for her to have playmates.
"It's all mother's fault. I'll take Huaixue to the town for a walk tomorrow."
The one that the clan mother loves the most is Huaixue, because she raised that child herself.
Compared to her sons, Huaixue is more like her eldest daughter.
"Mom, this is also my fault as your uncle. Take this money and buy Huai Xueyuan whatever she wants tomorrow."
Zong Anji took out five cents of silver and stuffed it into Zong's mother's hand.
Now he is no longer Zong Anji who only has three taels of silver on him, he is rich now!
The clan mother didn't bother to be polite with him. The next day, she used the money to buy some cloth for Huaixue. The light pink cloth made Huaixue's face look white and clean.
They bought a lot of cloth, and there was a piece left over so the grandmother could make a purse for Huaixue.
The little girl shook her head and said she wanted to give the cloth to her younger brother.
Just like that, Zong Shuyun, who was just half a month old, got his first pink bellyband in his life.
-
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zong Shuyun's baby was one month old.
The Zong family finally gained some popularity, so the Zong mother wanted to hold a big party.
Because all the relatives and neighbors were in the mountains, the clan mother decided to hold the banquet back in the mountains.
But I won’t take the child back with me. It’s very cold outside in the dead of winter, and a child so young will get sick if the wind blows.
They won't stay overnight this time, it's just a lunch anyway.
The clan mother and her companions prepared the ingredients in advance and took them back to the mountain early in the morning in a mule cart.
The banquets in the village pay attention to the inclusion of both meat and vegetables. In the past, when life was hard, my grandmother would still prepare four meat dishes for the banquet.
Now that everyone in the village knows that they have opened a restaurant in town, they naturally have to prepare a beautiful banquet.
There were twelve dishes on the table, six meat dishes and six vegetable dishes, plus a bowl of egg soup.
This feast is one of the best in the village as well as in the town below.
"Aunt Zong, my goodness, this feast of yours is truly eye-opening."
"That's right, there's a whole chicken and fish for every table! That must be quite a lot of money."
Many people came to the Zong family today, and all those who had never had conflicts with the Zong family came.
Some people gave money as gifts, and some gave eggs.
Those who are better off will also be given a piece of brown sugar.
The clan mother accepted them one by one with a smile.
Her family was poor in those years and the villagers looked down on them.
Now the situation has changed and everyone is starting to envy her family again.
"Zong family, why didn't you invite your second and third brothers and their families to come over on this happy day?"
Where there are good people, there are also troublemakers.
The woman who was speaking was related to the second family of the Zong family by marriage, and she had long known that the Zong family had severed ties with her.
But she still wanted to say it, to choke them.
The clan mother looked unhappy and was about to explain when she saw Qiu Yun walking towards her with a proud and heroic look.
She first groaned, then feigned surprise, saying, "You didn't even know about such a big thing. Back then, my mother-in-law was the sole proprietor of the entire family, and those two brothers were actually planning to take over this house and yard."
"You can imagine how cruel this person must be. Fortunately, our family is blessed by God, and that's why we have the life we have today."
"Those two probably don't have the face to come."
Qiu Xuan did not mention the word "separation", but directed the criticism to the past.
What she said was not false, it was all told to her by Zong Xiao later.
Those in the village who knew about this naturally knew about it, but everyone else was just watching the fun and no one would step forward to help.
Now that the eldest branch of the Zong family is living better and better, it is inevitable that some people in the village want to curry favor with them.
Sure enough, someone responded the next moment.
"That's right, those two brothers were not good people back then, and I heard they are not doing any serious work now."
"I heard that Zong Lao San also followed others and set up a stall in the town. I don't know if he made any money."
"If they had made money, they would have said it long ago. Look, they haven't come down the mountain since winter. They definitely didn't make any money."
The villagers talked one after another and soon let go of what had just happened.
Seeing that no one responded to her, the woman turned her gaze to Qiu Yun.
She remembered that the second wife of the Zong family had said that Qiu Xuan was a powerful person.
Today I saw that it was indeed so.
But no matter how powerful he is, it doesn't matter what she says, just one word.
"Oh, you must be Erlang's wife, look at how pretty you are. When you first got married, I thought you were infertile."
"By the way, I forgot to ask you, how old is your child? Is it a boy or a girl?"
The people around couldn't help but frown.
Although they sometimes talk about others behind their backs, they never bring up the issue of fertility openly.
Besides, today is the full moon celebration of the eldest son of the main family, Saburo. Isn't it like deliberately stabbing people in the heart by saying such things?
"I can tell that you don't know anything about my family. Look at the two questions you asked me today." Qiu Xuan still had a smile on her face.
"Auntie has also been to my house for a feast. If I had a child, my mother-in-law would still be able to skip that feast." Qiu Xuan knew her family's situation, so she deliberately said, "My mother-in-law likes both boys and girls. She won't refuse a feast just because it's a girl."
The woman felt a heavy slap on her face.
It hurts so much.
The people around her tried to hold back their laughter when they saw how frustrated she looked.
We are all from the same village, so how could we not know each other's family affairs?
This woman had a granddaughter a few days ago, but she disliked her very much and has never held her in her arms.
As for a banquet, that is even more impossible.
Qiu Xuan smiled at her, turned around and left.
It's so boring to have such a person who has no fighting power.
Apart from this little incident, the full moon banquet was very well organized.
The remaining dishes were also taken away by the villagers who came to help.
Before dusk, the family took a mule cart back to their home at the foot of the mountain.
On the way, the clan mother secretly glanced at Qiu Yun several times. She had something to say, but didn't know how to start.
In the end, he could only secretly call Zong Xiao and tell him those words.
"Erlang, mother has no intention of having a child. You should have a good talk with Qiu Xuan today. Don't trust what outsiders say."
Zong Xiao thought his mother called him over because she had something important to say.
I didn't expect that this is what he said.
He nodded in response.
That night, Qiu Xuan washed up and went to bed.
She also cooked today, and her arms were sore from cooking in the big pot.
She lay on the quilt, waiting for Zong Xiao to come in.
When she heard the door open, she asked without even looking up, "Mom is looking for you?"
"Well, I can't hide anything from you." Zong Xiao went behind the screen and wiped it briefly.
"Mom can't hide anything from me. I found out on the way back today." Qiu Xuan changed to a comfortable position.
Zong Xiao climbed onto the wooden bed and pinched her arm with his big hand.
"Hiss, be gentle!"
"Okay." Zong Xiao massaged her for a long time. Seeing that she felt comfortable, they both got into the quilt.
It's cold today, so the two of them share one quilt at night.
Qiu Xuan put her arms around his waist and began to touch the warm part of his chest.
Before I could touch it, a pair of big hands grabbed it.
"Huh? Don't want a cub anymore?"
"Well, no." Zong Xiao was afraid that she would listen to what those people said, but he didn't expect that she actually listened to it.
He was a little annoyed. "Don't worry about what others say. Mother didn't mean that."
Of course Qiu Xuan knew that her mother didn't mean that.
She poked Zong Xiao's chest lightly with her fingertips and said with a smile, "In order to avoid having a baby, you won't do it anymore?"
Zong Xiao: ...
The candlelight went out, leaving only bursts of rapid breathing coming from the bed in the darkness.
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