Zhenwei Garden and Daoxiang Garden closed temporarily, and the craftsn at the new ho site were given ti off for the New Year. As Chinese New Year’s Eve approached, there were hardly any farrs left working in the fields of Fire Knife Village.
Apart from the rainy season, this was the most rightful ti of the year to rest to one’s heart’s content. There was no need to worry about making money, and the delectable food usually too precious to buy could now be enjoyed without restraint. The rich Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner embodied hopes for a bountiful harvest in the coming year, and every household was imrsed in a joyful and festive atmosphere.
Making new clothes, doing a massive clean-up, washing the fortune and prosperity figurines... Although Hua Xiaomai no longer had to busy herself daily at Daoxiang Garden, she still hadn’t had a mont’s rest. Every day, Old Lady ng hustled her from one task to another without pause. She couldn’t even take a leisurely stroll into the village with ng Yuhuai. The mont she dared to step out the door, Old Lady ng’s roar would be on her heels imdiately.
"With that spare ti, don’t you know to go back to your room and get so proper rest? Look at your belly. It’s hard even to walk a few steps now, and you still can’t settle down. Why go through the trouble? Don’t make smack you!"
Hua Xiaomai couldn’t win against her. Lowering her head to glance at her own round belly, she felt an inexplicable helplessness. Forbidden from entering the kitchen and not allowed out of the front door, she simply stayed at ho, doing what little she could, or consud all the nutritious items Old Lady ng made, watching herself grow even plumper.
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, it was Old Lady ng who took charge of the feast. She had been busy in the kitchen for most of the day and took a mont to subrge a silk pouch filled with nutg, platycodon, Sichuan pepper, aconite, and other dicinal herbs into the well.
Since Hua Xiaomai was pregnant and close to giving birth, this year, the family of three didn’t stay up late to usher in the new year. They enjoyed their al happily, chatted for a while around the brazier, set off a string of firecrackers, and then retired to their rooms, sleeping until the sky was bright.
Whether it was because winter was too cold or the baby inside her was too fond of sleeping, Hua Xiaomai had beco increasingly lazy. Getting up each morning had beco the most painful ordeal. Even if ng Yuhuai wasn’t at ho, she could still linger in bed for a good long while. These days, with both having nothing to do, she was even more insistent, relentlessly clinging to him, demanding he stay with her a little longer.
Old Lady ng had a fierce facade but was not a bad person. Had it been any other day, she might have let it go, but the morning of the lunar New Year’s Day was absolutely a ti when she could not yield. Anxious and infuriated, she hamred at the door until she finally managed to rouse the two of them.
"Look at the day it is! You’re one thing, but do you really want your husband to lay about with you? Being lazy together?"
As she was mixing sothing on a table in the courtyard, she scolded without a shred of pleasantness, "You’re looking for a scolding on the first day of the New Year—don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you get scolded today, you won’t have an easy ti the rest of the year!"
"Can’t you just have a bit of sympathy for , hold it in for today, and not scold soone for a change?" Hua Xiaomai cheekily moved closer, glancing at the item in her hand. With a lifted brow, she asked, "What are you doing, Mother... what is this?"
Old Lady ng had gotten up early to retrieve the silk pouch from the well. At the mont, she was soaking the dicinal herbs from it into a jar of wine, giving it a vigorous shake.
"Tusu Wine, don’t you have this in your hotown?" she cast Hua Xiaomai a sidelong glance. "The first day of the New Year is the right ti to drink Tusu Wine—to dispel bad qi and cure disease; it’s genuinely beneficial! Last year, with Yuhuai away, I didn’t bother with this. This year, with our family all together, you’ll have to drink a couple of sips too. It’s good for you!"
While she spoke, she prepared three cups and poured the first one for Hua Xiaomai.
In the era where Hua Xiaomai had previously lived, her family did not have the custom of drinking Tusu Wine, but she vaguely knew that this wine was different from the rest—it was to be drunk starting with the youngest mber of the household. Thus, she didn’t refuse it. Taking the cup, she sipped a little; beyond the faint dicinal taste, there was a spicy sensation.
"Drink another sip," Old Lady ng urged, pushing her hand. "It’s to dispel the illness for both you and the baby in your belly, to ensure that you are healthy all year round."
Hua Xiaomai indeed took another sip. Then Old Lady ng let ng Yuhuai drink so, while she downed two big bowls herself. Just as she was about to say sothing more, she heard the courtyard door being pounded so loudly that, even through the wooden barrier, she could faintly hear the giddy laughter and talk.
"What’s going on..." Hua Xiaomai imdiately looked at ng Yuhuai.
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