Magistrate Duan was overjoyed and quickly lifted the curtain to ask, "What's wrong? Just tell me what's on your mind!"
"It's almost 9 PM now. If Yaojie takes you back, it will probably be around midnight. It's dark and the roads are slippery, so could you let Yaojie stay at your place for the night? He can come back early the next morning!"
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Duan was somewhat disappointed, but he nodded as if nothing had happened and said, "Don't worry, I will take good care of Yaojie's safety!"
Jiang Ling was overjoyed upon hearing this. Her gaze fell on Jiang Yaojie, and she said, "Yaojie, you must be obedient and sensible tonight!"
"Understood, Mother! I'm off now!" With that, Jiang Yaojie whipped the horse and drove the carriage, carrying Magistrate Duan, toward the entrance of Lujia Village.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the sky was clear and the air was crisp.
Jiang Yaojie drove his carriage home early in the morning. Jiang Ling had just finished washing up and looked at the still tired Jiang Yaojie, saying with concern, "Yaojie, go and rest for a while longer, it's still early!"
He shook his head understandingly and said, "It's okay, Mom, I'm not tired. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and I still have a lot of things to do today!"
Hearing Jiang Yaojie's words, Jiang Ling didn't say anything more, and the mother and son went about their own business.
At Chenshi (7-9 AM), a group of workers gathered at the gate of Jiang Ling's house. Hu Yue'er was leading the way. She knocked on the door and called out, "Is Sister Jiang home? It's me, Yue'er!"
Upon hearing that it was Hu Yue'er, Jiang Ling quickly stepped forward and opened the door.
"Oh, everyone's here? That's great! Come on in!" Jiang Ling smiled and led the group to her house, then started handing out red envelopes to each of them.
Hu Yue'er helped Jiang Ling record the names of people who had been there.
It took the two of them a full half hour to see these people off.
Seeing Hu Yue'er sitting in the chair, panting, Jiang Ling reminded her, "You can't overexert yourself with that belly!"
Hu Yue'er smiled sincerely, looked down at her stomach, shook her head, and said, "It's nothing. I'm not a rich young lady, my body isn't that weak!"
"Come over for New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow. You're all on your own over there anyway!" Jiang Ling said with a smile.
Hu Yue'er was quite moved when she heard this, and she nodded vigorously and said "Yes".
"Aunt Yue'er, you're here?" Jiang Wenxi rubbed her sleepy eyes and came out from the next room.
Hu Yue'er was delighted to see Jiang Wenxi's appearance and quickly went over to hug her, giving her a kiss on the cheek and saying, "Yes, I'm here to help your mother!"
Wenxi smiled and started to act coquettishly, twisting her body and hugging Hu Yue'er's neck.
Jiang Ling was worried that Jiang Wenxi would tire Hu Yue'er out, so she quickly said, "Wenxi, get down! Your Aunt Yue'er is pregnant, don't tire her out!"
"It's alright, it's alright! I just love Wenxi! It's okay to hold her for a while!" Hu Yue'er quickly defended Jiang Wenxi, worried that Jiang Ling would scold her.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang Wenxi was very sensible. She quickly got off Hu Yue'er, reached out her chubby little hand and carefully touched Hu Yue'er's bulging belly, staring at her big, watery eyes and asking, "Aunt Yue'er, is there really a baby in here?"
Hu Yue'er was amused by Jiang Wenxi's actions. She stroked Jiang Wenxi's head and said, "That's right, the baby will be born in a few months. How about letting the little one recognize you as the older sister?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Wenxi immediately withdrew her hand from Hu Yue'er's stomach. This action puzzled Hu Yue'er, who asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'll hurt the baby!" Jiang Wenxi smiled at Hu Yue'er.
Hu Yue'er was even happier looking at Jiang Wenxi in front of her.
"Aunt Yue'er, wait for me!" Jiang Wenxi seemed to have thought of something and ran towards her room. After a while, she ran out again, this time with a shiny object in her hand.
Upon closer inspection, Hu Yue'er and Jiang Ling discovered that it was actually a pair of small silver bracelets.
"Aunt Yue'er, this is for you!" Jiang Wenxi said, placing the small silver bracelet in Hu Yue'er's hand.
Hu Yue'er and Jiang Ling were both somewhat surprised. Although the small silver bracelet was not a valuable item, it was not something that a child like Jiang Wenxi could afford.
Jiang Ling quickly asked, "Wenxi, where did these little silver bracelets come from?"
"My master gave them to me. I won first place in a competition, and he was so happy that he had a pair of silver bracelets made for me!" Jiang Wenxi said with a smile and a proud expression.
Hearing this, Jiang Ling and Hu Yue'er breathed a slight sigh of relief. Hu Yue'er refused, saying, "Wenxi, this was given to you by your master. How can I accept it? Besides, it's too precious!"
When Jiang Wenxi saw Hu Yue'er refuse, she immediately pouted and said unhappily, "It's okay, I have several more here! Master said I can give them away!"
"Keep it; it's the child's heartfelt gift!" Jiang Ling advised from the side.
Seeing that Jiang Ling had said the same thing, Hu Yue'er quickly nodded, took the silver bracelet from Jiang Wenxi's hand, and playfully scratched Jiang Wenxi's nose.
...
On New Year's Eve, Jiang Ling's family had a very lavish dinner, consisting of four meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and a soup: braised pork ribs, spicy chicken wings, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, steamed fish, stir-fried wild mushrooms, hot and sour shredded potatoes, stir-fried cabbage, and ginseng chicken soup.
The children kept wiping their drool as they saw the fragrant dishes on the table, especially Jiang Wenxi, who had been circling around the stove ever since Jiang Ling started cooking.
After Jiang Ling put a piece of braised pork rib into Jiang Wenxi's mouth, Jiang Wenxi stared wide-eyed and stood there speechless for a long time.
At first, Jiang Ling thought that Jiang Wenxi had burned herself on the ribs, but to her surprise, Jiang Wenxi swallowed the ribs in one gulp, then spat out the bones and screamed, "Mom! How can it be so delicious! I want more!"
"Little glutton, is it because the food in Shengjing isn't good?" Jiang Ling said with a smile.
Jiang Wenxi quickly shook her head and said, "No, it's just that Mother's cooking is the best! Mother, your skills seem to have improved even more. Wouldn't it be even better if you opened a restaurant?"
As she spoke, Jiang Wenxi began to daydream.
Jiang Ling scooped a few pieces of pork ribs into a bowl and placed them in Jiang Wenxi's hand, saying with a smile, "Little glutton, go and eat them! Remember to share some with your older brothers, sisters, and younger brothers! Don't eat alone!"
As soon as Jiang Wenxi saw that there were ribs, she immediately forgot everything else and ran outside as fast as she could, holding the bowl.
While everyone was busy, Jiang Ling specially bought some juice from the mall, threw away the packaging box, and put it in her water glass.
Dinner was lively, and everyone ate for a long time. Even Hu Yue'er, who usually doesn't eat much, ate heartily.
While eating, he gave Jiang Ling a thumbs-up.
With a "bang," the originally dark night sky was suddenly lit up.
Brilliant fireworks burst in the sky, making the originally dark sky even more colorful and beautiful, like a poem or a painting, with deafening sounds.
"Mother, what is this?" Everyone was drawn by the sound, and Jiang Suihe looked at the sky and asked.
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