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墨書 Inktalez
"Uncle, it's snowing."
She shouted with all her might, the howling wind swirling countless snowflakes around her. In the distance, her voice echoed with a mix of anticipation and joy.
However, after waiting for a long time—long enough for her body to feel almost frozen—there was still no sign of him.
"Come on, just admit it; you're just a desperate woman longing for a man."
As soon as she spoke, You Shi and Zhou Cailian were taken aback for a moment. After a while, You Shi scoffed sarcastically.
Then she grabbed Zhou Cailian and headed toward their Vegetable Garden.
Due to the family's previous struggles without oil to cook with, You Shi had finally decided to be diligent and planted a small patch of vegetables in their Vegetable Garden. It was just one variety: Napa Cabbage.
Unfortunately, they weren't growing well. From a distance, one could see a patch of rotten yellow leaves on the ground. After finishing her sentence, You Shi walked over, placed the basket she was holding aside, and disdainfully stepped into the vegetable patch. She looked around but ended up not pulling out even one cabbage after quite some time.
"Mother, let's just go to Three Bowls Sister's or Aunt Hu's house and get some from them. They've told me several times that this year's vegetables are thriving and they can't eat them all. They even said that since I'm carrying the future Top Scholar's child, eating their vegetables would bring them good fortune."
Zhou Cailian placed her hands on her slightly rounded belly and looked at the pile of yellow leaves on the ground, speaking proudly.
It must be said that the You Family's vegetable patch was truly pitiful. It seemed that since the seeds were sown, she had never tended to them. Although they were Napa Cabbage, they were neither large nor white; they looked wilted and sparse, with leaves full of insect bites. Not only would people refuse to eat them, but even pigs would turn their noses up at them.
"That's right; my Cai'er is indeed remarkable."
You Shi showed no signs of guilt at all. She clapped her hands and took a few proud steps away from the vegetable patch.
"Mother, my elder sister sent over some glutinous rice cakes yesterday. Did you eat any?"
Zhou Cailian glanced at Xia Muxin, who looked stunned, then smirked as she wrapped her arm around You Shi's and said softly.
"Your elder sister is just someone who forgets her roots. Now that she sees Liulang is about to succeed, she remembers her family. Where was she months ago? Your grandmother doesn't buy into that; she's still upset about it."
You Shi picked up the basket from the ground with one hand and snorted through her nose before continuing to complain resentfully.
Xia Muxin's head buzzed, and she could no longer hear what the mother and daughter were saying. With her eyes half-closed, she stood there like a statue.
Ming Yi, on the other hand, was anxious. Miss Muxin had been overworked lately, eating less than a chicken and waking up earlier than dawn. She wasn't dressed warmly enough, and if this continued, she would surely wear herself out.
But the words were his to say, and now he didn't know how to face her or how to persuade her.
Time passed, and suddenly Xia Muxin turned around. Her face was pale as she walked heavily towards him, step by step.
"Miss Muxin..."
As she drew closer, Ming Yi lowered his head in guilt, unable to meet her gaze. He hesitated to speak.
"Let's go, Ming Yi. We have a lot to do for the housewarming today."
Xia Muxin's voice was hoarse, and he could faintly hear her sniffing. When Ming Yi looked up, he saw that she no longer wore the sadness from before; instead, she seemed as if nothing had happened. Without waiting for his response, she stepped away.
Inside the house were several large round tables, along with stools and chairs, not to mention plenty of furniture—all piled up in the yard of Thatched Cottage after being hurriedly prepared by Summer Forest and Xia Tieshu over the past three months.
Today was the moving day, and all the villagers who were supposed to come would be there. Counting them up, there would easily be over thirty tables. A few days ago, Summer Forest had borrowed tables and stools from some close neighbors, and now everyone was busy helping with the move.
Seeing everyone working hard, Xia Muxin wiped her eyes with her sleeve and joined their ranks with a faint smile.
"Brother Ming Yi, will Brother Shen really not come back?"
Songzi had grown half a head taller in just a few months; he had just celebrated his eighth birthday and was now nine. During this time, he had been diligently practicing alongside Ming Yi. Not only had he become stronger physically, but he had also managed to take down his older brother in a few friendly contests.
He missed Shen Muhan quite a bit these past few months. Perhaps it was because he was mature for his age; he never asked Xia Muxin about him. When people in the village gossiped, he would stand up for her and even got into fights a couple of times.
Once, he knocked out a tooth from Liu Mazi's Tiger during one of those scuffles. Tang Sanwan brought dozens of villagers to settle the matter and insisted that Songzi pay for it. Although he was indeed at fault, the village chief ended up compensating twenty coins for him. He cried as he apologized to Xia Muxin, but she didn't blame him at all; instead, she patted his head and shared many comforting words.
Though his sister greeted everyone with a smile every day, her spirit was far from what it used to be. He knew she worried about Brother Shen and missed him deeply. Today, while his sister wasn't around, he decided to ask Ming Yi about it.
Ming Yi and the others really liked Songzi; he was much more entertaining than the wooden Xia Tieshu. Not only was he sensible but also adept at reading people's expressions. He often said things that were beyond his years and did things that didn't quite match his age but never gave anyone a chance to clean up after him.
The master must have seen early on that this child was talented, which is why he allowed him to learn various martial arts.
At this moment, there was a faint sadness in his clear eyes, and he looked gloomy as he stared intently at him.
"Songzi, what are you standing there for? Hurry to the back room and take apart the bed frame. Your aunt will be coming over later, and we need to prepare more beds."
Before Ming Yi could respond to Songzi, the voice of Summer Forest echoed from afar, revealing his excitement and enthusiasm.
A few days ago, his brother had crossed mountains and valleys to reach Dabai Village, where he inquired several times before finding their aunt, Xia Jihua, and invited her to come participate in the family's joyous occasion today.
Aunt Xia had been married for nearly six years now and was already twenty-seven this year. However, during these years, she had not given birth to a single child for the Liu Family. The Liu Family had many brothers—two daughters and six sons. The village was quite impoverished, and with a preference for sons over daughters, they had married off their daughters early or sold them to noble families as maids or concubines. Over time, the men of Dabai Village found themselves having to pay for brides.
Songzi didn't know much about it; he only had a vague understanding that his aunt had married the eldest son of the Liu Family. In truth, it was more like selling than marrying because when their grandfather was not home, the Wu Family took it upon themselves to accept two taels of silver from the Liu Family. In the dead of night, his aunt was taken away with her mouth covered by cloth and bound. That man was twelve years older than her and was said to be an alcoholic who would hit people. At that time, Songzi had only been born a few months earlier; most of what he knew came from women washing clothes by the river.
Although Dabai Village was a neighboring village, it was separated by a large mountain. He only remembered following his parents on a two-day journey through the mountains when he was four years old, asking around until they finally found his aunt in a rather sorry state.
Every year, his parents or grandfather would take advantage of any opportunity to visit her, but they always returned nearly fainting from hunger. Since Aunt Xia went there, she had never returned. Hearing that she would be coming over now made Songzi's brows lift with joy as he dashed toward the courtyard and quickly entered the Thatched Cottage.
Being country folk, they were frugal. After Xia Muxin prepared things for Golden Python, they couldn't bear to throw anything away. At this moment, Xia Muxin was moving a large wooden box and sorting through items that could still be used inside the house.
She not only prepared a small room for Golden Python but also set up a storage room. Some items were so old they could hardly be used anymore, but they were witnesses to the years of hardship shared with her parents. Instead of discarding them, she carefully picked them up one by one and neatly placed them into the wooden box.
She had asked the family to make several large wooden boxes specifically for storing these miscellaneous items.
After all, this place held countless memories for her...
Before long, noon arrived.
In the countryside, there were customs surrounding feasts that needed to be followed step by step.
Due to the large number of people attending the feast, they divided it into two batches.
The first batch consisted of about twenty tables. Everyone gathered just for the occasion; some would give one or two coins as gifts while others brought items from their homes. The side dishes were provided by the villagers.
The village chief's family is now considered the Esteemed Guest of the Xia Family, sitting at a table with some of the elders in the village. Outside, heavy snow is falling, and by this morning, the Daimiao Mountain is already dressed in white.
Fortunately, the house is large enough, with more than ten tables set up inside. Due to the snow, a temporary shelter has been erected outside, topped with oiled paper.
As the first group of guests settles in, the sound of firecrackers and drums can be heard from outside.
The villagers look at each other in confusion; in Daimiao Village, there has never been a custom of celebrating a move with such fanfare. Hearing this commotion, everyone stands up to look outside.
"Ah, congratulations!"
In the distance, Zhao Qiushui arrives with members of the Wang family, accompanied by a drum and gong team.
Wang Shoucai greets them with cupped fists, continuously smiling and being courteous.
Next to Zhao Qiushui stands a man dressed in official robes, who bows and shows great respect towards Zhao Qiushui.
Behind them are four guards carrying swords.
"Lord He has arrived; please forgive The Little Ones for not welcoming you properly."
- End of Chapter -
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