The night before, Mother ng had specially boiled a pot of thick soup with brown sugar, sliced ginger, and dates, instructing her to drink a bowl heartily, then to wrap herself in her quilt and sleep until daylight. Co morning, she arose drenched in sweat, headed to the bathhouse for a thorough wash from head to toe, and imdiately felt refreshed and invigorated.
On the day before the full month celebration, there were two important tasks that had to be done—taking the baby outside and shaving his head.
The so-called "taking outside" ant carrying the one-month-old baby out for a stroll to bask in the spring sunshine. It didn’t need to take long; the objective was simply to let the little one see the sun and for the mother, who had just finished her postpartum recovery, to breathe so fresh air. Thus, Mother ng would have the house to herself, to ticulously clean and tidy up the rooms that had been stuffy for a month.
Having not visited Daoxiang Garden for two whole months, Hua Xiaomai, once she gained her freedom, wrapped her little walnut up without hesitation, and headed to the eastern part of the village. She picked a ti in the morning when the shop was not busy, and as soon as she stepped through the door, Chun Xi and La i greeted her with beaming smiles.
"Look, what did I tell you? Little Mai has been cooped up at ho for so long, I knew she’d make a beeline for our shop the mont she was out of confinent. And what did I say? Was I right?"
As Chun Xi spoke, she turned to point at Qing You and half-jokingly said, "You rascals, taking every chance to slack off when the boss isn’t around—don’t say I didn’t warn you. It won’t be long before she’s back managing the shop, and your easy days will be over. You’d better straighten up, or when she starts tallying up new and old accounts, you’ll have it tough!"
After finishing, she laughed, lowered her head to look at the little walnut, pursed her lips to make him laugh, and muttered, "You’ve raised this little walnut so well, he looks so bright and clever, one can’t help wanting to kiss him. But a month-old baby is still very delicate, and we’re covered in grease and smoke all day long; I wouldn’t dare hold him. It’s best just to look. I’m a mother too, I understand!"
Wen Huaren also nodded in agreent, saying, "My hands are covered in ink; it’s best if I don’t touch him either," then smiled at Hua Xiaomai, "Little Mai, if you want to start educating the little walnut later on, I could teach him to recognize words."
Hua Xiaomai had this in mind and didn’t hesitate to thank him, and then turned to give Qing You a half-smiling, half-mocking glance, which made the young man shrink his shoulders and run towards the backyard.
Zhou Yunyun and Master Tan heard the commotion and ca running out of the kitchen, joining in the laughter, but Wang Zhanrui was nowhere to be seen.
"Him?" Chun Xi arched her eyebrows, "Did I not tell you earlier? He’s gone back to Lingquan Prefecture to get so new tea before the Grain Rain festival to restock the shop. He left half a month ago and should be back around the mid-month."
Hua Xiaomai wasn’t surprised and instead looked at Master Tan, "Does that an the kitchen affairs are now being taken care of solely by Master Tan and Yun’er? Can you manage?"
Master Tan chuckled, rubbing his hands together, "It’s been alright. Things have been quite busy lately, but Yun’er is quick and helpful, and we can cope. But with just the two of us, we inevitably end up doing extra work, so there’s no ti to go ho—I haven’t seen my kids in a while, I... I really miss them."
Hua Xiaomai had thought about inviting him to bring his family to Fire Knife Village a few months ago, but with so much going on, it had been tough to find the ti. Now reminded by him, an idea suddenly ford in her mind.
After Hua Erniang and Jing Taihe went to the city, the blacksmith shop in the village had been left vacant. They had built the small shop when they first moved out on their own, and since there hadn’t been any rush to sell it, perhaps she could rent it to provide a temporary ho for Master Tan’s family. The space wasn’t large, but it was more than enough for a few people, certainly better than the constant separation.
She hadn’t discussed the matter with Hua Erniang and didn’t plan on ntioning it now, only pondering it in her mind. Then turning to look at Zhou Yunyun, she noticed the girl looking unwell, as if she had sothing to say but hesitated.
"You..." just as Hua Xiaomai was about to ask, Chun Xi intercepted the conversation.
"Oh, that’s right, today should be the day for little walnut to have his head shaved, Little Mai. Have you decided who to ask for help?"
This was an important matter, and so Hua Xiaomai swallowed the words she had been about to say, smiled, and replied, "Yuhuai told last night that according to Fire Knife Village tradition, we need to find soone the child hasn’t seen before to shave his head; that way, he won’t be shy of strangers. We thought about it and decided to ask Great Saint to lend a hand. I’ll go to Zhenwei Garden to find him later; I reckon he won’t refuse."
"Hmm, Great Saint is indeed a good choice, familiar with both of you and a sincere man," Chun Xi nodded vigorously, "I’d say go and find him now. It’s best to deal with these things sooner rather than later. And, little walnut shouldn’t stay out too long on his first trip outside—the weather might be warming, but there’s still a bit of wind. Be careful it doesn’t bother him."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yunyun grew anxious, squeezing past to take Hua Xiaomai’s arm and hurriedly saying, "Master, there’s still so ti before we get busy at noon; how about... I accompany you to find Great Saint? I..."
Hua Xiaomai anticipated that she must have sothing to tell her, and imdiately nodded, leading her out the door.
As they walked along the village’s narrow path, little walnut in her arms chuckled from ti to ti, but Zhou Yunyun remained silent, head bowed as if burdened with heavy thoughts.
Feeling puzzled, Hua Xiaomai couldn’t hold back any longer and turned to her, "What’s the matter? Is it too tiring working in the kitchen recently?"
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yunyun burst into tears at the question.
"Master, my father... my father wants to sell !" (To be continued. If you like this work, your support on Qidian (qidian) via recomndation tickets, monthly tickets, will be my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to continue reading.)
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