Chapter 291 Come to our house for the New Year
An Qinghe stared at Gu Xixi with a warm smile on his face and his blue eyes sparkling.
Although we hadn't seen each other for a long time, he was very excited when he came over.
But he still suppressed his emotions and did not open his arms for a hug like he did before.
An Qinghe looked at Gu Xixi and actually felt a little shy as if they were meeting again after a short separation. He didn't know what to say for a moment.
“I… that…”
"This fall, the Nursery Chamber of Commerce harvested its first batch of bagged Pinellia fruit. As you said, the fruit is much more beautiful than before."
"The number of fruits with spots and pits is 70% less than in previous years. Most of them are rosy, smooth and beautiful."
"There are also fruits of the worst quality that were almost unsaleable in previous years. In the past, we could only keep them for ourselves to eat or make them into dried fruits. This year, there are almost none."
"They have already seen with their own eyes the effect of bagging to prevent pests and hail, and now they are completely convinced. They all told me that they must beg you in the future and hope that you can teach them more."
An Qinghe said this in one breath, only to find that Gu Xixi was looking at him with a smile.
He rubbed his hands awkwardly, "Did I already tell you these words in the letter?"
Gu Xixi smiled and said, "Let's go inside. It's very cold standing here."
Aunt Zhang took a small broom specially used for sweeping kangs and swept the snow off Anqing and the cloak.
Then he was allowed into the house and the wet cloak was hung on the heated kang to dry.
Xiaohua was woken up and raised her little head from beside the furry belly.
It recognized An Qinghe, yawned lazily at him, and continued to lie down.
An Qinghe happily went over to tease the cat, "Xiaohua, Huahua, Huahuahua, it's me, why don't you say hello to me before going to sleep?"
"You've been lazy and stayed at home in the winter. Look at your fat belly."
I don’t know whether Xiaohua understood that Anqinghe said it was fat, or whether it thought Anqinghe was noisy and annoying.
Suddenly, without any warning, it turned its head, growled, and bit his hand with its big mouth.
Gu Xixi laughed out loud. "Good job, Xiaohua!"
Aunt Zhang tried to hold back her laughter and stepped forward to check An Qinghe's hand. "It's New Year's Day, don't bite it."
An Qinghe raised his bitten hand and shook it. There were only two deep teeth marks on his index finger, but no skin was broken or bleeding.
He stroked the cat's head with his other hand and said with a smile, "Xiaohua knew I was one of her own, so she showed some mercy when she attacked me."
Seeing him petting the cat seriously, Gu Xixi had no choice but to ask, "Why are you coming to see me at this time? Is there something urgent?"
Only then did An Qinghe remember that he had brought something with him.
He pulled out an envelope from his pocket and said, "It's not urgent, I just brought this to you."
Gu Xixi unfolded it and found that it was the contract she signed when she bought the Pinellia fruit trees from the Yunling Nursery Chamber of Commerce.
She saved a copy for herself, and the one in front of her was the one belonging to the Seedling Chamber of Commerce.
An Qinghe said, "This thing is important, it cannot be sent in a letter before."
"Because you not only helped the Seedling Chamber of Commerce achieve its goal, but also exceeded it."
"According to the agreement, the remaining half of the payment for the saplings has now been paid off."
Gu Xixi took out her own copy of the pledge, and after comparing the two to confirm, she burned them in front of An Qinghe.
The contract is over and the money and goods are settled.
Aunt Zhang asked curiously, "You just said you were going to deliver something, where are you going later?"
An Qinghe blinked and said as a matter of course, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm back home for the New Year. I just happened to bring the adopted child here and let Xixi deal with him in person."
Aunt Zhang and Gu Xixi were speechless.
It turns out that this is how he does it.
An Qinghe looked at the two men and said hesitantly, "My country doesn't celebrate New Year's Eve. When I was in Yunling County, I also celebrated it alone. I don't really understand your customs."
"Is it... inconvenient to take in a stranger like me?"
Aunt Zhang's heart softened when she heard this. She thought of how he had left his hometown at such a young age. During the New Year holidays, other families were bustling with activity, but he was all alone and couldn't go home. The contrast between the two made it even more desolate.
So Aunt Zhang waved her hands hurriedly, "No, no, it's not inconvenient."
"Other families may be more particular, but we don't have so many rules."
"You can stay for the New Year. It's just a matter of having more sets of bowls and chopsticks. It will be more lively with more people!"
An Qinghe was excited and touched, his eyes reddened, "Thank you, auntie."
"I heard that people in Daye are very busy before the New Year. They have to clean the house and prepare a lot of food."
"I can do it. Just give me any job you want!"
Aunt Zhang looked at An Qinghe's tall stature and smiled, "There is indeed a job that is most suitable for you to do."
Post Spring Festival couplets in the afternoon.
The upper and lower couplets have been pasted. With An Qinghe here, there is no need to move a ladder to paste the horizontal couplet. Just stand on a small stool.
Shitou was watching from behind and directing, "It's crooked, it's crooked, make the right side a little higher!"
Spring Festival couplets are written on stone, and he asked the supervisor to make sure they were pasted neatly.
Finally met the requirements and pasted it.
Gu Xixi came over and took a look. "Hmm! The handwriting is pretty good. You've made rapid progress."
The little guy was just waiting for someone to praise him. He smiled and said excitedly, "Sister Jinglan told me that although calligraphy may have different talents, as long as you work hard and practice diligently, you will get better and better."
Gu Xixi couldn't help but think of He Jinglan's childhood trauma.
She tried her best to practice calligraphy, but she could never catch up with Mu Nanzhao, so she said "although there is a difference in talent".
An Qinghe also came over and looked at the Spring Festival couplets with them.
"The Chinese characters are well written, and they are indeed pleasing to the eye. Seeing them makes me want to learn calligraphy."
Shitou became interested and said, "Practice, I can teach you!"
An Qinghe thought for a moment and said with a smile, "During these few days of the New Year holidays, I will learn calligraphy from you and practice it on my own when I get back."
I have to admit that among the three people present, Shi Tou is the youngest, but his handwriting is the best.
It was Shitou's first time to be a teacher, so it was inevitable that he was very emotional.
He turned to Gu Xixi and said, "Sister Xixi, don't you always say that your handwriting looks like a dog's crawling? Let's practice calligraphy together! I will set strict standards for you two, and I promise that your handwriting will get better and better!"
Gu Xixi was hit by an arrow in the chest and broke out in a cold sweat. The farmers finally had a few days off, but she still had to practice calligraphy at home. Isn't that asking for trouble?
So she immediately made up an excuse to shirk it, "Ah... my hands are afraid of cold, and I can't hold the brush in winter."
Shitou was in high spirits and didn't notice that Gu Xixi was expressing her rejection from head to toe.
He laughed cheerfully and said, "Don't worry, the main room is warm, I can sit on the kang and write, my hands won't be cold."
Gu Xixi looked at An Qinghe for help.
An Qinghe was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood.
"I almost forgot there's another important thing, Xixi. You mentioned to me before the method of grafting Pinellia fruit and the method of growing fruit tree seedlings quickly. The Seedling Chamber of Commerce wants to buy them. The price is negotiable."
Gu Xixi took a deep breath and said, "I need to think about it carefully."
"It's not easy to write a tutorial that you can understand and use easily..."
"Time is running out..."
She frowned and said this as she slipped back to her room.
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