The two were talking when they suddenly saw Wang Zhanrui hastily running out of the garden and dashing into the main hall.
"Has brother Yuhuai co back? Just now, I was so busy in the garden, I thought that the Escort Agency of Lianshun would be very busy on the last day before the New Year too. I feared you might trip and not make it back in ti; now I can rest easy!"
"What’s the matter? You’re not trying to find my Yuhuai to drink again, are you?"
Hua Xiaomai looked up at him and said with a half-serious, half-joking smile.
"Not at all, my capacity for drinking is really not enough," Wang Zhanrui said, a bit embarrassed, waving his hands, and then hesitantly continued, "I’m looking for brother Yuhuai because of the matter of sacrificing to Lord Stove. That... as the owner, you should know that the sacrifice to Stove God needs to be done by a man, right? Just now, I was discussing it with Master Tan, and I was quite worried, but since brother Yuhuai is here, it will be easier to handle."
Last year, Hua Xiaomai had not formally carried out the sacrifice to Stove God, and hearing such a rule for the first ti in her life, she was sowhat stunned, biting her lip: "I... can’t do it?"
"This..." Wang Zhanrui beca more embarrassed, "according to the old ancestral rules, in the sacrifice to Stove God, won cannot be involved; at most, they can only clean up in the kitchen, uh..."
In those tis, won could not participate in ancestor worship, visiting graves, or making complaints at the Governnt Office, and now unexpectedly, even Lord Stove was such a picky deity...
Hua Xiaomai quietly curled her lip, not feeling downhearted, but instead stealthily muttered a complaint in her heart, then turned her head to ng Yuhuai with a sly smile: "Well, this turns out great, I get to relax, so I’ll trouble you to properly do the sacrifice for old Stove God and ask him to bless Daoxiang Garden with booming business next year, ah?"
ng Yuhuai promised with a smile and went into the garden with Wang Zhanrui, while on this side, Chun Xi, La i, and Zhou Yunyun quickly ca out of the garden, tidied up the main hall neatly, and chatted idly with Hua Xiaomai to relieve boredom.
...
Stacking pine branches, reciting blessings, saring Lord Stove’s mouth with lted syrup, burning paper horses, grass fodder, and images of Lord Stove... Everything in the garden carried on in an orderly manner. Close to midnight, firecrackers began to explode in every household in the village, the popping and crackling sounds easily rging into one, spreading to every corner of Fire Knife Village, and "the New Year atmosphere," erged at this mont.
The remaining pork head and fruit offered to Lord Stove, after being sent off, were divided and eaten by everyone in Daoxiang Garden, making rry until late into the night before they happily dispersed to rest.
Wen Huaren was so drunk that Qing You, Ji Xiang, and the others had to help him stagger towards the river, mumbling along the way that he would write a few spring couplets tomorrow to paste around the garden for good fortune.
Hua Xiaomai was actually very tired; her feet swollen like buns, every step she took felt like treading on soft cotton, unable to find solid ground. Even so, seeing Scholar Wen’s topsy-turvy state, she couldn’t help but hold her stomach and laugh non-stop, and ng Yuhuai, full of helplessness, had to firmly support her arm, repeatedly reminding her to be careful where she stepped.
The two turned onto the small dirt road leading to the ng family’s courtyard, with red firecracker scraps covering the ground.
The hubbub had died down, every household had blown out their lights, and all around was silent.
Hua Xiaomai was both sleepy and weary, having forced herself to walk all the way back, but at this point, she really couldn’t keep going—naturally, she couldn’t help being a bit coquettish, and she squatted down, shaking her head: "I can’t walk anymore..."
As she spoke, she looked up at ng Yuhuai with eyes that were half playful, half pitiable.
"What are you trying to do?" ng Yuhuai couldn’t help but laugh, "Your belly is so big now, and you really shouldn’t be carried, what if it presses on the baby?"
"Hmm..." Hua Xiaomai looked down and pondered for a mont, then stuck out her tongue at him, "Then you can carry back. Anyway, everyone in the village is asleep by now, and Mother has probably gone to rest too, no one will see us, it just depends on whether you’re willing to or not."
ng Yuhuai had guessed that this was what she ant, he looked down at her with a smile and said, "So you really can’t take another step? We’re almost ho, you can’t make it these few steps?"
"Can’t do it." The young wife imdiately shook her head without a second thought, "If you don’t believe it, you can go ho and see, my feet must be making indents with every step."
Without a word, ng Yuhuai stepped forward, bent over, and scooped her up in a horizontal carry as if it was nothing, striding towards the ng Family’s courtyard.
"Slow down!" Hua Xiaomai cried out in alarm, quickly giving him a good thump, "It’s not easy to sneak a bit of laziness, can’t you let enjoy it a little longer?"
"Why do you have so many complaints?" Although ng Yuhuai said this, his pace actually slowed down, stopping twice after each step, and leisurely moved towards the entrance of the courtyard.
"Are you dancing?" Hua Xiaomai snorted with laughter, looped her arm around his neck, "Tonight is really lively. Even though I can’t personally offer sacrifices to the Stove God, I’m still pretty happy. Escort Master ng, it seems like this is our first ti celebrating the New Year together, isn’t it?"
Wasn’t it just?
Let’s not ntion before they were married; last year she had just joined the ng Family for less than a month when ng Yuhuai went out as an Escort Master and missed the New Year during the first month of the year.
The first ti she celebrated the New Year at the ng Family was with Mother ng; it was awkward for both of them. But this year, the situation was completely different.
"Hmm." ng Yuhuai glanced at her belly, "You should say, it’s the first ti the three of us are celebrating the New Year together."
As he spoke, he tightened his arms and lifted her up a bit, then leaned over to kiss her cheek.
Hua Xiaomai nestled obediently against his neck. A path that was no more than a few dozen feet took them almost as long as it would take to drink a cup of tea to traverse, but eventually, they arrived at the entrance of the ng Family’s courtyard. ng Yuhuai stretched out his leg to push open the courtyard door and was imdiately t with the sight of Mother ng looking up in their direction.
"Tsk, you two really are..."
She seed startled, her eyes imdiately widened, then she hurriedly went into the room and slamd the door shut with a bang.
"Can you be a little more careful?"
A loud scolding buzzed out from the house. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to cast your recomndation ticket or monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian to read.)
Reviews
All reviews (0)