Chapter 39: Free Praise
The winter in Linyi County is colder than that in Yanjia Village. Ever since it started snowing, Old Mrs. Yan has been huddled in the house, unwilling to go out.
Daohua was afraid that the old lady would get sick from being cooped up in the house, so whenever they had a meal at Songheyuan, she would always take the old lady out for a few laps after the meal, both to exercise her body and to get some fresh air.
On Laba Festival, Daohua and her classmates did not have classes. After breakfast, she took Old Lady Yan out for a walk.
When Yan Zhigao came over, he just missed the grandparents and grandchildren.
"Where is the old lady?"
Yan Zhigao asked Sun Ma who was cleaning the house.
Grandma Sun smiled and said, "The eldest girl is going to help the old lady digest her food."
Yan Zhigao glanced at the snow on the ground outside the door and frowned, "Isn't this ridiculous? It's so cold, what if the old lady gets frozen?"
Seeing Yan Zhigao's face was not looking good, Sun Ma immediately explained: "Don't worry, Master. The old lady is in good health. Besides, going out for some fresh air will only make her feel better."
Yan Zhigao paused and asked, "Why, is the old lady not in good spirits?"
Grandma Sun: "It's not that it's bad, it's just that I'm not used to it. Master knows that the old lady can't sit still. When she was in her hometown, in the winter, the old lady could go out and chat with people, and she had some work to do. But here, the master and the mistress take such good care of her, the old lady can't find anything to do, so she's a little bored."
When people have nothing to do, won’t their spirits become depressed?
Yan Zhigao blamed himself: "I was not considerate enough and neglected my mother. From now on, I will leave the government office as soon as possible and spend more time with her."
Mother Sun immediately said, "Master, please don't be like this. If the old lady knew that you delayed your work to accompany her, she would definitely not be happy." Seeing that Yan Zhigao still looked remorseful, she smiled again.
"Master, there's no need to do this. It's the twelfth lunar month, and the eldest daughter has fewer lessons. She comes to accompany the old lady every day. With her around, the old lady won't be unhappy."
Yan Zhigao's expression shifted: "Does Daohua come here every day?"
Speaking of Daohua, Sun's mother's face suddenly became more smiling. "She comes every day. Whenever she sees the old lady cooped up in the house, she always tries to get her to go out for a walk. She says that if you stay indoors all the time, you'll get suffocated."
"The old lady couldn't resist her, so she would go out for a walk with her after every meal. Needless to say, since she started digesting food after meals, the old lady's spirits have been getting better day by day."
As she spoke, Mother Sun seemed to have thought of something and laughed a few more times.
"I don't know what the eldest girl was thinking a few days ago. She said she wanted to find a set of martial arts for the old lady so that she could practice martial arts in the house when she had nothing to do."
When these words came out, even Yan Zhigao laughed and shook his head, saying: "This child..."
Grandma Sun: "The eldest girl is worried that the old lady will be bored."
Yan Zhigao nodded and sighed in his heart. After all, she was raised by the old lady herself, so she was more careful than others. Even he didn't notice that the old lady would not adapt to the place, but Daohua noticed it. It was no wonder that the old lady favored her more.
At this time, a little maid walked into the room and said, "Mother Sun, someone from the kitchen came to ask when we can start cooking Laba porridge?"
Grandma Sun looked at the sky and said, "No rush. The eldest daughter hasn't come back yet. Go tell the kitchen to make other things first. The eldest daughter said she wants to make the Laba porridge herself."
After the maidservant left, Yan Zhigao smiled and said, "Is Daohua going to cook for us herself today?"
Grandma Sun smiled and nodded. "The eldest girl has been learning needlework recently, and her hands are pierced terribly. The old lady never lets her touch water when she sees this. Today is Laba Festival, and the old lady really wants to eat the Laba porridge that the eldest girl made in previous years, so she agreed to let her cook for once."
Yan Zhigao's expression changed. "How is Daohua doing in school?"
Grandma Sun: "That's great. The girl is very smart. She can understand everything in the book at a glance. There is nothing she can't learn."
For the next period of time, Yan Zhigao just silently watched Sun Ma praising Daohua eloquently. He never knew that Sun Ma was so eloquent. When she praised her eldest daughter, she never said anything twice.
"Well, you're smart, but you're not very good at needlework."
When Yan Zhigao heard this, he thought that Sun Ma was going to finish, but Sun Ma suddenly changed the subject and started talking again.
"The old lady said that the eldest girl has not yet developed her skills in needlework. Once she does, she will be able to embroider anything she wants."
Yan Zhigao felt a little embarrassed after hearing this, and couldn't help but put his hand to cover his forehead.
Seeing this, Sun Ma thought Yan Zhigao didn't believe her, so she immediately looked for evidence to prove it: "Master, the eldest girl has been dexterous since she was a child. You have eaten the food she cooked. I am not bragging, her cooking skills are better than even the old woman in the kitchen."
Yan Zhigao agreed with this: "But Daohua is good at cooking, but that doesn't mean she's also good at needlework, right?"
Sun's mother immediately retorted, "How could someone so skillful be bad at needlework? The old lady also said that the young lady has just started learning needlework and hasn't found the way yet. Once she does, she will definitely be able to embroider very well."
Sun Ma was someone close to the old lady, so Yan Zhigao couldn't argue with her, so he nodded against his conscience and quickly changed the subject: "Why haven't Mother and Daohua come back yet?"
Sun's mother: "Maybe it's a little far away."
Whenever they have time, Daohua and Old Lady Yan not only take a walk in the backyard of the county government office, but sometimes also go for a stroll on the street.
Yan Zhigao blamed himself for not paying attention to his old mother's feelings, so he stayed in Songheyuan and wanted to spend more time with the old lady.
After sitting for a full hour, I saw the old mother and Daohua coming back with smiles on their faces, each holding a potted plant.
"Mom, where have you been?"
Yan Zhigao quickly stood up and took the potted plant from Old Lady Yan's hand, then helped the old lady into the house.
Old Mrs. Yan was very happy: "I went for a walk on the street with Daohua and bought two potted plants."
Hearing this, Yan Zhigao's expression paused. He glanced at his eldest daughter who was laughing happily beside him, and then looked at his old mother with a rosy face. In the end, he didn't say anything to ask them to go out less in the future.
"Mom, if you go out next time, remember to bring more people with you."
Forget it. My mother and eldest daughter have been living in our hometown and are used to a comfortable life. It is understandable that they are not used to the rule that women in wealthy families cannot go out at will. Let's take it slow.
Old Lady Yan waved her hand nonchalantly: "We're not going far, we're just strolling around the county government office."
Daohua, who was still a little nervous, glanced at her cheap father. Seeing that he didn't stop them from going out, she smiled and said, "Grandma, Dad is really concerned about us."
Old Lady Yan smiled immediately and said, "Okay, bring more people with you next time." Then she waved to Yan Zhigao, "Zhigao, come over here and see. Daohua and I are really lucky today. As soon as we went out, we met a man selling red plum bonsai. We bought it for only ten taels of silver."
Yan Zhigao glanced at the bonsai, which didn't even have a bud, and wanted to say that the red plum blossom in the bonsai couldn't survive and that they might have been deceived. But seeing how happy the old lady was, he could only say, "When did mother learn to appreciate bonsai?"
Ten taels of silver were used to buy two bonsai trees. In his opinion, his old mother would never spend such a waste of money.
Old Lady Yan glanced at her eldest son and asked, "Do I need to learn to appreciate beautiful things?"
When he was at home, Daohua liked to tinker with flowers and plants in the yard when he had nothing to do. The old lady was forced to watch him. Don’t say it, she was used to seeing colorful flowers and green willows, and when she came to the north, she saw the vast expanse of white everywhere, and sometimes she really couldn’t get used to it.
Yan Zhigao: “Uh”
He was speechless.
Old Lady Yan was too lazy to care about him anymore and looked at Daohua: "Take good care of these two bonsai. Maybe we can enjoy the red plum blossoms during the Chinese New Year."
Daohua patted her chest confidently and said, "Grandma, just leave it to me."
Looking at the two people who were so excited, Yan Zhigao really wanted to give them a blow.
Where did the mother and the eldest daughter get the confidence to think they could keep these two pots of red plums alive?
Red plum blossoms are notoriously difficult to please.
One winter, he was angry with Aunt Lin. In order to make her calm down, he spent a hundred taels of silver to buy a pot of winter plum to cheer her up. Unfortunately, the winter plum died in less than a month.
At this time, Sun's mother came in and said, "Miss, it's almost noon. Do you think we should cook the Laba porridge?"
Daohua slapped her head suddenly and said, "I almost forgot about this. Are the red beans and lotus seeds soaked?"
Grandma Sun: "It's ready. Man'er is watching over it herself."
Daohua looked at Old Lady Yan and said, "Grandma, I'll go to the kitchen now."
Old Lady Yan hurriedly pulled her: "Your hand"
Only then did Yan Zhigao discover that his eldest daughter's fingers were wrapped in white cloth.
"It's okay!" Daohua took off the white cloth, revealing her fingers covered with needle prickles. "Grandma, look, the swelling is gone."
Old Mrs. Yan was still worried: "Don't touch the water. Just tell the people in the kitchen what to do."
"I see!"
After Daohua left, Yan Zhigao asked, "Daihua's needlework?"
Old Lady Yan glanced at him sideways. "My Daohua is very skillful, so needlework is no problem for her. But that Master Qin, I think her needlework isn't very good. She's been asking Daohua to embroider purses every day lately, and her hands are swollen from it. I don't know if she's bullying me or teaching me a lesson."
"I don't care. If Daohua's needlework skills still don't improve, find me a new teacher."
Yan Zhigao wanted to say something, but when he met his mother's stern gaze, he immediately backed down.
At the same time, he also felt that Master Qin was wrong.
The eldest daughter's hands are in such condition, why is she still asked to embroider purses?
Old Madam Yan snorted coldly, "Although the teacher at home is teaching a few girls, Daohua is the eldest daughter of the Yan family. Don't forget this. If she can't learn anything, I don't think there is any need to hire this teacher."
Yan Zhigao: "Mom, how could I forget this?"
Old Madam Yan said calmly, "Who knows if you have amnesia? Well, I won't say any more. Just go do what you need to do."
Yan Zhigao felt that his old mother disliked him: "Mom, your son is here to accompany you today."
Old Lady Yan looked as if she knew him clearly: "You want to eat Laba porridge made from rice flowers, right?"
Yan Zhigao: “.” He is Daohua’s father. Can she not show filial piety to him by making Laba porridge?
(End of this chapter)
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