Chapter 148 147. Being trapped in a corner and kissed until I sulked...
The end of the year is approaching.
We closed the Sichuan restaurant and picked up my grandmother and her family. The whole family went out together to buy New Year's goods, make bacon and sausages, make lanterns, and put up Spring Festival couplets and window decorations.
Mr. Miao also closed the herbal tea shop and brought Xiaobao and Zhang Daqiang to visit. He talked with Liu Ye'er's grandmother while she was embroidering handkerchiefs, and watched a few children and maids making snowmen and throwing snowballs in the yard.
Lei Li is a boisterous person and he is not very steady even after becoming a father. He is not polite when playing snowball fights with children. He beats several children by himself. Lei Jingsheng ran so hard that his hairpin fell off, but he still laughed out loud.
Sometimes the family would go out to watch plays or listen to music, or divide the work of cooking together. Every day was lively and bustling, and before we knew it, it was the end of December.
There is really heavy snow this year.
It snowed in the winter of last year and the year before last, so we didn’t have to clean the house much.
This year we have to remove the snow from the trees to prevent it from breaking the branches, and we also have to sweep the snow from the eaves to remove the icicles, otherwise when the weather gets warmer the icicles will melt and fall down and hit someone.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi were concerned about the refugees in Nanjiang. After learning from Xu Xingzhe where they lived, they wanted to use some money to buy rice, flour, and ginger and have them delivered door to door.
It was freezing and snowy. If they set up a tent to distribute hot porridge, people would still get cold and sick if they had to queue up outside. The refugees and the people living there were short of money and probably wouldn't be willing to spend money on medicine or medical treatment.
Xu Xingzhe knew what they were up to, and after a moment's thought, he said, "Take half from the public account and say it's a New Year's gift from the county government to the people. Give a portion to every household in that area. I'll also send more people to patrol and monitor it to make sure no thieves steal the newly distributed rice and flour."
At the end of the year, the constables in the county government also had to work, and no one had a break, because this was the time when there were the most thieves. Knowing that the New Year was approaching, everyone had prepared rice and meat for the New Year, and had a lot of surplus at home, so they committed crimes against the wind.
There are the most thieves in the county town around the New Year, while in the countryside there are the most thieves during the summer and autumn harvests. The new rice has just been harvested and the rice granaries are full. People can steal rice to eat at home or sell it for meat.
Every year, the village would catch people stealing rice. If they were from the village, their legs would be broken; if they were from other villages or other places, their legs would be broken first and then they would be taken to see the officials.
The county government also imposes severe penalties on thieves. Those who commit a large amount of crime can be imprisoned for several years. If you steal valuable items such as gold, silver, and jade pendants, you will have to spend half your life in prison if you are caught.
Xu Xingzhe would not let them eat empty meals in prison. Every spring, he would force these people to open up wasteland and cultivate the land. The grain they grew would be sold and the money would be used as welfare for the county government. If they did not sell it, the money would be distributed as welfare to those on the county government payroll. Sometimes, when they needed to dig canals or repair rivers, he would also let them do the free labor.
Prisoners with good behavior can be released early with reduced sentences. They eat better during the summer and autumn harvests than usual. Some people are alone at home and don't know what to do, so they go to jail to be the head of the family.
But this is a very small number of people.
The people who received rice, flour and ginger knew that these were New Year gifts jointly sent by the county government and "a Sichuan restaurant". They were very surprised and grateful, and even the crime rate during the New Year period dropped a little.
—
The sound of murmuring bells.
It's New Year's Day again.
The heavy snow wet half of the fireworks. There weren't many fireworks set off at Lei's house this year, but the number of people setting off fireworks in the county town remained the same. The fireworks were crackling and colorful and lively.
After watching the fireworks for a while, the children played with firecrackers and fireworks in the corridor, which were placed in the house and did not get wet.
"Ginger, come here!"
Xiaobao waved.
When Little Ginger heard this, he stopped looking at the firecrackers Sister Hua had placed on the ground. He ran over and threw himself into Xiaobao's arms. He raised his little head, his black eyes were moist and curved, and he called out in a baby voice,
"Brother! Brother!"
"Why!"
Xiaobao smiled and covered the little ginger's ears, leaning closer to him and saying, "Sister Hua'er is going to set off firecrackers, ginger, don't get so close, be careful not to get hurt."
"Uh-huh!"
Little Ginger responded sweetly, nodded heavily, turned his head to look at the firecrackers, but still held Xiaobao's waist.
He is now over one year and three months old, and is only as tall as Xiaobao's chest. He wears clothes with a red background embroidered with a little tiger, a plush tiger hat, and a circle of white rabbit fur on the collar and cuffs of his clothes, making him look so cute that he is as delicate as a piece of jade.
He could walk a long time ago.
He walks steadily, but likes to stick to Xiaobao, holding Xiaobao's arms or legs. He usually likes to follow Xiaobao like a little follower, calling him brother in a baby voice.
Whenever he heard Xiaobao calling him or talking to him, he would smile sweetly with his eyes curved.
Lei Li pinched Xiao Sheng Jiang's cheeks and teased him with a smile, "At such a young age, you only know how to cling to Brother Xiao Bao and play? You don't pay more attention to your father. Do you really want to marry Brother Xiao Bao when you grow up?"
"Um?"
Little Jiang didn't know what "marry" meant yet, and he tilted his head in confusion. He felt a little pain when his father pinched his face, so he pulled his hand away.
After thinking about it, she stuffed the hem of her clothes into her father's hands. Maybe she thought her father liked to grab something, so she often pinched and touched his face.
Lei Li was so happy when he saw this that he bared his teeth and deliberately asked, "Little Jiang, do you like Brother Xiaobao? Do you want to play with Brother Xiaobao every day?"
"Uh-huh!"
After hearing this, Little Ginger's eyes lit up and he nodded heavily, looking so happy that Lei Li laughed even more.
"You like Brother Xiaobao so much?"
"joyous!"
“I like it…”
Lei Li lifted up his little clothes and poked his soft, bulging little belly, which was even bulgier after eating. Heisha and Baisha, the two puppies, ate a lot when they were young and became fat, so their little bellies were like ginger.
Little Ginger's soft spot was poked by his father, and he couldn't help laughing. He dodged and pushed his father's hand away, but in the end, his father tickled his spot and held him in his arms.
"When little Jiang grows up, let your father go to Brother Xiaobao's house to propose marriage, okay?"
"Uh-huh!"
Seeing how serious, happy and cheerful he was, he didn't even know what proposing marriage was. He just liked the person because he thought she was pretty, and he wanted to be with her eagerly.
But Xiaobao may not be happy about it.
Lei Li laughed out loud when he thought about how this little one with a big nose would hide in the quilt and cry if Xiaobao married someone else in the future.
He even gloated over the misfortune, "Then little ginger must protect brother Xiaobao and treat him well, otherwise he will like someone else and marry someone else."
"relative!"
Little Ginger couldn't understand long sentences, but when he heard his father's smiling tone, he also smiled with his eyes curved, and the few little teeth in his little mouth were all visible.
This little fellow with eight small teeth only leaves eight small marks when eating sesame banana, which is really funny to see.
"Go play with your brother."
Lei Li looked at the happy little guy, who was as sweet and obedient as a little candy cake, not making any noise or disturbance at all, and then glanced at Zhou Yi.
Suddenly, she pulled Zhou Yi and whispered in his ear, "Do you want to have another baby?"
“?!”
Zhou Yi's ears turned red, and he subconsciously looked at the elders in the main hall. Seeing that they didn't hear him, he turned around and looked at Lei Li with a bit of embarrassment.
He lowered his voice and said, "Everyone in the family is here, what are you talking about?"
"What can I say?"
Lei Li smiled and reached out to pinch Zhou Yi's hot ears, which became even redder but he didn't try to avoid her. The curve of his lips became even bigger.
"Isn't this what couples often say? We only have one child, but other families want four, five, and even more. A house is more lively when there are more people."
"It's lively enough already."
Zhou Yi really thinks that one child is enough. If he has so many, what if he can't treat them equally? It will be bad for both children if one loses out. It's not like taking mock exams where there is a chance to make mistakes. If he doesn't raise the child well, it will ruin a child's life.
Moreover, there are Xiaosheng Jiang, Xiaobao, Huaerjie, Xiaomu and Jingsheng in the family. Jingsheng is only seventeen years old after the new year. He is not an adult yet since he is eighteen, so he is still a child. Five children are already lively enough.
If Liu Xiaocao brings Tao Ge'er to play, the noisy kids will be enough to make a swarm of them.
"When little Jiang goes to school, we'll be so bored at home. Who knows, when he grows up, he might want to go out and try his luck, like those businessmen who don't come back for half a year or a year. Don't you miss your child?"
Lei Li snorted, "It would be great to have a little one at home to keep you company. He can play with us when he's bored. His older brother will raise him and provide for us in our old age. You can teach him how to cook, and then you can enjoy life in your seventies or eighties."
“…”
Zhou Yi's silence was deafening.
"...Children aren't for you to play with. We have enough money now to support ourselves in our old age. Besides, if both of them go out and make their own way, wouldn't it be even more annoying to have neither of them around?"
"You're right."
Lei Li said with a playful smile, "Then let's have three, so there will always be one to stay home with us."
“…”
"Three is not enough, how about four?"
“…”
"The five?"
“…”
Lei Li smiled and held up four fingers, pretending to be surprised and saying loudly, attracting the attention of the elders chatting in the main hall, "What? You said you wanted six children, and six is a good omen?"
“!”
Zhou Yi quickly covered his mouth, his face flushed and his ears flushed, a little annoyed and complaining, "Keep your voice down... When did I say I wanted to have six children? And you think six is a good omen? Even the pigs at home can't give birth that many times."
"Why not?"
Lei Li tilted her head to avoid his hand and laughed teasingly, "The wild boar we caught earlier gave birth to seven piglets, one more than our six. And we can only conceive and give birth to them one by one. My husband must have worked so hard."
"What kind of cultivation..."
Zhou Yi felt the gazes from the main room, and his face became hotter. He even pulled Lei Li away so that the main room could neither see nor hear him before he said,
"You talk as if you've already had six. Are you crazy to have so many? Pregnancy is harmful to your health, and childbirth is also harmful to your health."
"Didn't you take good care of me? I feel better than before after giving birth to little ginger."
"You can't have so many children."
Zhou Yi knew that Lei Li was teasing him, but he was afraid that he would go crazy and have so many children, so he said earnestly, "Even if the food is delicious, you can't eat too much. No matter how well-behaved the child is, you can't have too many children. After the child is born, you won't care about it and I will take care of it. You play with little ginger like a puppy. You don't act like a father at all."
"What's Daddy like?"
Lei Li pushed Zhou Yi against the door, pinched the back of his neck and kissed him until his face turned red, smiling frivolously, "Are you like this, being cornered and kissed until you sulked and glared at me?"
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