After Jiang Lan's engagement ceremony, the Jiang family's old house fell silent.
Jiang's mother found a daughter-in-law from the Jiang family to help with cooking, but she was only responsible for lunch; Jiang's sister-in-law was responsible for breakfast and dinner.
In the village, there's no such thing as a woman not working after getting pregnant; she'd be laughed at for being a lazy woman.
The Jiang family's old house now only has five members left: Jiang's eldest brother's family, Jiang's father, Jiang's mother, and Jiang Lan, making a total of eight people.
Although Li Qiuniang also lived in the old house, she cooked for herself and did not eat with the eldest son's family.
Jiang's mother is only in her early forties now. In her previous life, she would have just entered middle age and was in her prime. Here, she would already be considered elderly, someone of grandmother's generation.
Although Jiang's mother no longer does housework, she and Jiang's father wash their own clothes and tidy their own rooms, and Jiang Lan does the same.
Jiang's wife mainly needs to take care of her family of five, plus cooking breakfast and dinner. Now, she's busy every day, and she feels that Mu Yi'an is lucky to have free labor to help with the work.
Jiang Qi, who was doing free labor, was looking at the herbal medicine encyclopedia that her second sister-in-law had found for her, and occasionally she would say a few words to Shao Yun and Chu Yue.
Mu Yi'an is currently researching New Year's gifts.
It was easy to prepare for both sets of parents, each of them getting a new set of clothes. The families of the eldest and third grandfathers, Uncle Wang, and Aunt Jiang also made preparations, providing each family with a jar of wine, a bag of pastries, a bag of candy, and a piece of cloth.
Mu Yi'an has already sorted everything out. There are ready-made fabrics at home, and the wine she bought when she moved is still there. She just needs to buy some snacks and candies later.
The most difficult thing now is the New Year's gifts for the county school teacher and Manager He. They don't lack ordinary things.
"Yi'an, you haven't decided yet?"
Jiang Shuyun had just finished writing an article and came out to stretch her muscles and look at the green plants to relieve her eye strain.
"We've got everything sorted out, but we don't know what to send to the county school teacher and the bookstore owner, Mr. He. Ordinary pastries aren't suitable either."
"That's true. They have plenty of snacks and fabrics, so what should they give as gifts? Sigh, I never imagined that gift-giving was such an art."
Jiang Shuyun rubbed his forehead; this really wasn't his area of expertise.
"Yi'an, why don't you pack your kimchi into jars and send it over?"
"Kimchi? Now that you mention it, I think it's a good idea. Although I'm not good at making fancy dishes, I'm quite good at making pickled vegetables and side dishes. When I was a kid in the mountains, there was never a shortage of all kinds of pickled vegetables all year round."
Mu Yi'an thought about the kimchi she had made before. Jiang Shuyun and Jiang Qi both said it was delicious, which meant it tasted really good. This was a dish that didn't exist in this dynasty, making it quite unique.
The mushrooms and chestnuts we picked earlier, along with the chrysanthemum tea we made in the fall and the pickled bamboo shoots we made before, make a more than enough four-item gift.
Mu Yi'an had already made a plan in her mind, and after discussing it with Jiang Shuyun, she finally made a decision, and that's how the New Year's gift was decided.
There's still some time before the Lunar New Year, so I'll start by making clothes for both sets of parents, as well as clothes for the whole family of six. Everyone needs new clothes for the New Year, and no one can be left out.
The next day, after Mu Yi'an and Jiang Qi finished getting ready, they started making new clothes. They had enough fabric at home—some given by Madam Wei, some by Mu Yi'an's family, and some that Mu Yi'an had saved up.
"Second sister-in-law, eldest sister, I'm here."
Li Qiuniang's voice arrived before she did, and Mu Yi'an came out to greet her.
"Sister-in-law, come in quickly."
"Here you are. Where is Shao Yun? My Shao Kun has been talking about finding his brother every day these past few days. He can't stay at my parents' house and keeps clamoring to go home."
While Li Qiuniang was speaking, Shao Kun had already toddled into the house with his short legs, calling out, "Brother, brother, sister..."
“Shao Kun is all grown up now and recognizes people. These past few days, the siblings have been together every day, so it's normal for them to feel uneasy about being separated all of a sudden. Now that you're back, you won't be going back to your parents' home before the New Year, right?”
“I’m not going back. It’s almost Chinese New Year, and we’ve separated the family this year, so we have to prepare our own New Year’s gifts. I haven’t prepared any before, so I came here to ask my second sister-in-law for advice.”
Li Qiuniang is only eighteen or nineteen years old this year. She has been married for more than three years and this is the first time she has been in charge of her own household. She has not yet figured out her thoughts and is a little confused.
"You've come at the right time. My sister-in-law and I are preparing New Year's gifts."
Mu Yi'an led Li Qiuniang into the living room, where the three children were sitting on the floor playing games.
Mu Yi'an laid out a large bamboo mat on the ground, on which were Chu Yue's cloth tiger, Shao Yun's rattan ball, and Jiang Shuyun's homemade wooden horse. Although it was not clearly a horse, it did not stop them from playing.
"Qiu Niang is here. My second sister-in-law and I are making clothes."
"Big sister, is this for Mom and Dad?"
“There are our parents’ children, and there are also the Mu family’s uncles and aunts’ children.”
Jiang Qi was sewing her father's long gown, while her second sister-in-law was sewing her uncle's.
"Second sister-in-law, I'm completely confused about whose family you're preparing New Year's gifts for. I only know to prepare gifts for my parents-in-law and my own parents, but what about the others?"
“We have prepared gifts from my great-grandfather’s family, my third great-grandfather’s family, my aunt’s family, my maternal uncle’s family, my paternal uncle’s family, as well as the teachers from Xiang Gong Academy and the bookstore owner. You also need to prepare gifts from your relatives, as well as your close relatives from your maternal family, and some colleagues from the Book and Literature Trading Company whom you get along well with.”
Mu Yi'an thought about it and realized that was all. They had just separated their households, so they had limited contact with relatives and friends.
"I don't know when Shuwen will be back, and I don't even have anyone to talk to. Second sister-in-law, you prepared clothes for Father and Mother, so I'll change to something else. My needlework is really no good."
Li Qiuniang was very self-aware; the clothes she made were only for her own family to wear, and were not presentable as gifts.
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