I wrote some trivial things about the forced march. I haven’t caught up with my uncle’s Zhennan Army yet, but we expect to meet on New Year’s Eve.
Gu Xinran pointed to the writing on the table and told them that she would prepare a New Year's Eve dinner for them.
Although we can't celebrate the New Year together, being able to eat the same meal is a great comfort.
After leaving a bowl of freshly fried meatballs in the kitchen, he returned to his study to get down to work and continued writing "Journey to the West".
Time passed peacefully until New Year's Eve.
After breakfast, everyone got busy.
Grandpa took Xuanxuan to set up the ancestral worship site, and Mancang served as an assistant, helping to move the tables and place the offerings.
Grandma Gu, along with Gu's mother Tingting and Gu Xinran, prepared lucky money for everyone. The small sachets contained small coins, silver ingots or silver bills, which were both rewards and blessings.
Twelve new people were bought. Except for Yu Zhuangtou who received one tael, the others received five hundred wen each; Mancang and Man Niang received two taels each; Zhao the housekeeper received five taels, Wang the accountant received two taels; Xiaomei and Xiaolan received ten taels each.
Everyone prepared red envelopes for the eight people in the village, called Lingyun, and asked him to take them together when delivering the New Year's goods.
After preparing the New Year's money, several people went to the kitchen. Man Niang and Chunhua Qiuyue were busy preparing delicious food.
Grandma Gu took her hand and quietly led her to the small warehouse next to the kitchen.
After closing the door, he whispered, "Your mother said you could deliver the New Year's Eve dinner to Yuchen and the others, so see if you can deliver these as well."
Gu Xinran looked in the direction her grandmother pointed. There were five large basins of meatballs, and more than a dozen baskets of meat buns, fried cakes, and steamed buns...
It was really a lot. I couldn't help but say, "Grandma, how can my brother and the others eat so much?"
Grandma Gu squinted her eyes and said with a smile, "You silly child, let them distribute these to the soldiers who have a good relationship with them.
I heard the food in the barracks is bad and they can't even get enough to eat. They're just poor strong young men. Let them eat something good during the New Year to improve their situation."
The old lady was as kind as ever, and Gu Xinran was a little touched. "Grandma, you are so kind. I'll keep these for now and pass them over when the New Year's Eve dinner is ready."
After saying that, he waved his hand and put all the things into the space.
It wasn't the first time Grandma Gu saw her granddaughter collecting things, but she still found it incredibly magical. Her eyes were filled with amazement, awe, admiration, and pride...
"My Ranran is truly blessed. The gods are blessing you and granting you magical abilities. However, you must keep this secret well and never let anyone else know."
Gu Xinran looked at her caring grandmother and felt warm in her heart. She was so glad to have been born into such a loving family.
She nodded obediently, and the two of them left the small warehouse arm in arm.
As soon as I walked out of the warehouse door, I saw Xiaomei waiting outside and told her a great news.
My third uncle Duan Qingxiang, whose name I had heard of for a long time, has come to visit and is now recognizing relatives in the middle hall.
Gu Xinran was overjoyed and pulled her grandmother to the central hall. She was really curious about how much she resembled her third uncle.
She was very much looking forward to meeting her third uncle, who had the best relationship with her mother and even used her mother's courtesy name in the name of his business. Such a relative might be able to awaken her mother's memory.
By the time Gu Xinran and Grandma Gu stepped into the central hall, all the family members were already there.
Her third uncle, whom she had never met, was holding Gu's mother's hand, tears streaming down his face, sobbing and calling softly, "Little sister, Yuanyuan..."
Mother Gu had a strange look on her face. She stood there blankly, motionless, as if she was in a trance.
Gu Xinran walked over worriedly, held her arm, and handed a clean handkerchief to her crying uncle.
He thought to himself that this crying and snotty third uncle was nothing like him.
At this moment, Gu's mother's mind was in chaos, filled with all kinds of disorganized images. As the images became more and more, her head began to hurt more and more severely.
Seeing her mother's face gradually turning pale and beads of sweat starting to appear on her forehead, Gu Xinran was frightened and hurriedly took out Lingquan water and ginseng and antler pills from her sleeve pocket.
Just as she was ready, Mother Gu could no longer bear it. She took out her hands to cover her head and squatted on the ground, groaning in pain.
The third uncle was so scared that tears came back. He felt terrified, anxious and heartbroken. Could it be that his appearance awakened his sister's memory?
If the process of awakening memory is so painful, he would rather his sister never remember him.
Blaming himself, he slowly backed away reluctantly, fearing that if he continued to stay, he would only increase his sister's pain.
Everyone gathered around her. Tingting was so scared that she kept crying and shouting, "Mom, Mom..."
Gu Xinran squatted down, hugged her mother tightly, and gently comforted her in her ear, "Mom, let's not think about it for now, just drink some water first."
Mother Gu's mind was in a mess, but her daughter's soft voice brought her back to her senses.
She suppressed the pain in her head that was about to explode, and drank a small bottle of spiritual spring water from Gu Xinran's hand, and also took a super-quality ginseng and antler pill.
The effect was as good as ever. After a while, the confused fragments in Gu's mother's mind gradually formed a coherent picture.
They were all interesting stories about her time with her third brother when she was young. Those memories were very warm and made her laugh and cry.
The headache soon got better, and with the help of Gu Xinran and Duan Yunchi, he sat on the chair.
After recovering, Mother Gu looked up to find the mischievous third brother in her mind, but she didn't see him.
The name he hadn't called in eighteen years came out of his mouth, "Third Brother, Xiang San Ge, Xiang Nidan?"
Duan Qingxiang, who had been hiding behind others and not daring to show up for fear of upsetting his sister again, was so excited that his hands and feet were shaking when he heard the familiar name.
That’s great! His well-behaved and lovely sister remembered him. Even his nickname, Xiang Pi Dan, which sounded like a reverse scale, became extremely pleasant to the ear.
He scrambled to the side of Gu's mother and kept responding, "Here, here, I'm here..."
Gu Xinran felt an inexplicable sense of joy when she saw him, and she consciously moved to the side to give him the best position next to Gu's mother.
Xiang Nidan grabbed Gu's mother's hand again, his eyes red and his voice trembling, "My dear sister, my dear Yuanyuan, do you remember me?"
Mother Gu smiled, "Well, I remember you killed grandma's favorite chicks, ten of them, and stewed them into chicken soup with the feathers, and forced me to drink it even though I was sick. Dad beat me so hard that my butt was bruised, haha..."
Oh, this recognition scene is interesting. It starts with eating watermelon, which is much better than crying bitterly.
Duan Yunchi couldn't help but burst out laughing after hearing this. His father had done countless embarrassing things, but this was the first time he heard of such a thing.
Now, with his son taking the lead, everyone started laughing.
My third uncle was both annoyed and embarrassed, but he couldn't get angry. Instead, he suppressed his excitement.
Looking at Mother Gu with resentment, she said, "Yuanyuan, you are so heartless. Who did I kill the chicken for? Who was it that wanted to drink chicken soup?
There was no one in the village, so I had to do it myself. I didn't expect it to be such a thankless task.
"It's fine that I was beaten before, but now you are laughing at me in front of so many elders and juniors. Ah! I have lost all my face. You must make it up to me."
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