Chapter 129 Pasting Spring Festival Couplets
Mao Mao ran into her mother's arms, feeling wronged.
She clutched her mother's clothes with her little hands, buried her face in them, and turned the back of her head to her brother, stubbornly refusing to look at him.
The cat she painstakingly groomed was called a turtle. As a little girl who grew up hearing praise every day, Mao Mao had never suffered such an injustice! She almost burst into tears.
Lou Fengju wanted to comfort his sister but didn't know how to start. The renowned young marshal, who was always adept at handling matters in front of enemy subordinates, was now filled with panic.
"Mao Mao, brother didn't mean it. I really didn't know you cut it." Lou Fengju lowered his head and apologized: "No, it was just that brother's eyes were playing tricks on him. Now that I look closely, it really is a cat. Our Mao Mao cut it so realistically."
The big white cat crouched beside it: "Meow~"
Lou Fengju: "That's right, exactly the same as this cat!"
Xia Xiaoxiang patted her daughter, who was snuggling into her arms, comforting her, and coaxed, "Mao Mao, the young master didn't do it on purpose. He just... well, he accidentally misread it."
Lou Feng is an expert marksman; she can hit the bullseye every time she's on a target in the training field. Her eyesight is amazing; how could she not tell if it's a turtle or a cat?
It's just that Mao Mao's cooking skills are so bad that even if Xia Xiaoxiang goes against her conscience, she can't say anything wrong with the young master... no, she still has to say something.
Even if that paper-cut window decoration doesn't look like a cat, it shouldn't look like a turtle!
Mao Mao poked her face out from her mother's arms, her chubby cheeks pleading pitifully: "Really? Did brother see wrong?"
"Really!" Lou Fengju practically swore to the heavens, "Mao Mao, I'm so sorry, it really was an accident!"
Lou Hongjian watched the show from the sidelines, his peach blossom eyes filled with schadenfreude: "Haha, big brother, you've finally met your match."
Lou Fengju glanced at him coolly, then placed her hand on the pistol at her waist and said dangerously, "Ah Hong, if you can't shut up, I can help you."
"..."
Lou Hongjian manually zipped up his mouth.
Mao Mao is a very generous girl. Although she was a little sad, her brother had already apologized, so she generously forgave him.
"Then, then I'll forgive you, brother..." Mao Mao pouted her chubby little face and said earnestly, "Brother, you have to look carefully next time."
"Of course, I'll remember that, and I'll definitely pay close attention in the future."
Lou Fengju breathed a sigh of relief and reached out his hand to his younger sister: "Mao Mao, I..."
Just then, another jeep stopped outside.
Lou Dashuai's booming voice boomed from outside: "Damn it, who's putting up a turtle poster on my door?!"
Maomao: "..."
Lou Fengju: "..."
Xia Xiaoxiang: "..."
Mao Mao pouted, feeling wronged, and buried her face in her mother's arms sadly.
Looking at his sister, who had become withdrawn again, Lou Fengju rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply.
Half an hour later.
Lou Dashuai and Lou Fengju took scissors together and gestured with the paper.
Both men were tall and muscular, and at that moment they curled up their long legs in huddle in front of the table, looking aggrieved.
The hands that are so nimble with knives and guns are now completely helpless when faced with a small pair of scissors, and even more at a loss as to how to handle a thin piece of paper.
With just a little force, the piece of paper in your hand will be split in two.
"...What the hell?" Lou Dashuai put down the scissors and red paper, wiping the sweat from his forehead: "Why bother with paper-cutting? I'd rather go fight a tiger."
Lou Fengju squinted slightly, carefully cutting along the edge of the drawn line with scissors, and the pattern gradually took shape in his hands: "Dad, don't say anymore, I'm still being implicated by you."
He had already managed to appease Mao Mao.
Lou Dashuai couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.
Who would have thought that the weird thing pasted on the front door was Mao Mao's work?
And what a coincidence that Mao Mao overheard his casual comment?
In an effort to mend his relationship with his youngest daughter, he resigned himself to his fate, picked up the scissors again, and began cutting a new piece of paper.
After only a few snips, he became agitated again: "What kind of rubbish did the third brother draw for me? So many strokes, so complicated!"
With a sharp snip, Lou Feng raised the scissors too high and cut the red kitten in her hand without its tail.
He stared at the red tail, sighed, resignedly picked up a new piece of red paper, and started cutting again from scratch.
Lou Fengju stretched out his long legs, changed his posture, and continued his arduous struggle with paper cutting.
He and Mao Mao were finally on the same wavelength.
He put so much effort into editing, only to have it criticized as "cheap" in the end. If it were him, he would really want to shoot that person!
But, in order to get his sister to forgive him... he cut it!
"Ah Hong, you really didn't do it on purpose?" Lou Fengju looked at the kitten's head that had just been cut off. "It's just a cat, why did you have to cut it so complicated?"
The first wife smiled as she watched the father and son cut paper snowflakes for them, saying, "You've wronged him. He cut them himself, and they're much more intricate than the ones I drew for you. Paper snowflakes are meant to be beautiful with more patterns."
As she spoke, the First Madam shook off the scraps of paper and unfolded the paper-cut window decoration she had just made. It was a pattern of magpies announcing spring: "Look, Ah Hong taught me this. It's so beautiful."
Lou Dashuai snorted, "So his damn art wasn't all for nothing."
First wife: "Ah Hong came home with a lot of New Year's goods, and he even bought you some old-fashioned liquor."
"Hmm." Commander Lou's stern expression softened somewhat: "He does have filial piety."
During holidays and festivals, many people would come to give gifts, among which the alcoholic beverages were especially high-end. But Lou Dashuai didn't like foreign liquor, nor was he used to drinking expensive and fine wines. He preferred cheap, large bowls of old-fashioned liquor, and he would take a sip and enjoy it immensely.
Lou Dashuai cares about his image in public, but only his family knows his preferences.
With a favorite drink, even the paper-cutting in front of me doesn't seem so unpleasant anymore.
Once he cuts out a cat, he'll be Mao Mao's favorite dad again!
Mao Mao has been coaxed back to her senses and is eating candied hawthorns with her fourth brother.
Her third brother gave it to her. The red hawthorn was wrapped in a sweet sugar shell. The hawthorn was so big that she couldn't bite it off, so she could only lick the sugar shell. She ate it very carefully.
While eating, Mao Mao indistinctly directed the ladies to paste paper-cut window decorations: "A little higher... to the left... chew chew chew... mmm, a little higher."
"I made this." The third concubine enthusiastically pasted it on the window: "Mine looks nice, I'll put it on the outside."
The second concubine was holding another paper-cut window decoration in line: "The old lady's is beautiful, I'll help her put it up."
"What about your own?"
"Oh dear, my skills aren't good enough. I'll stick it on the back door later."
The windows of the mansion, large and small, were cleaned and gleamed by the servants. Red paper-cut window decorations were pasted on them, and red lanterns were hung under the eaves, instantly creating a festive atmosphere for the New Year.
The snow in the courtyard hadn't completely melted, but it had already been transformed. People were busy going in and out, putting up paper-cut window decorations and then pasting Spring Festival couplets and the character "福" (good fortune) on the main gate. Although there were servants, everyone did the work themselves, working together as a team.
Looking back over the years, the Lou family's New Year celebrations never seemed to be this lively.
Lou Hongjian climbed the ladder and pasted the Spring Festival couplets on it.
Others were directing from the sidelines: "Left, down, down, down, down, down... Oops, it's gone too far!"
The Spring Festival couplets were written by Lou Yansui, and each pair had different content, all of which were festive and lively.
The Lou family had many windows and doors, and everyone was busy putting up the couplets. As they were doing this, the eldest concubine counted the couplets, but the number was wrong no matter how she counted: "Why is there one less couplet?"
"It's alright," Lou Yansui said. "I'll go and write a few more."
Upon hearing this, Mao Mao stopped eating the candied hawthorn and immediately raised her little hand: "Brother, I'll help you!"
Lou Yansui: "Okay, Mao Mao, help me, let's write it together."
Mao Mao held her fourth brother's hand and happily went with him to write Spring Festival couplets.
Looking at the empty door panel, Old Madam Lou also spoke up: "Ah Hong, go and paint a few door gods."
Lou Hongjian thought to himself, "He's an artist who paints Western paintings, and a single painting can be worth hundreds or thousands of silver dollars. How did he end up painting door gods at home?"
He answered quickly, "Okay, Grandma!"
Art knows no borders; Western painting and Eastern painting are both paintings!
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