Everyone in Taoyedu went to Qionghua Lane every morning to pick up goods. Huo Xi and Yang Yang Fu were busy every day until the day before New Year's Eve.
Huo Erhuai also stopped going to the villages along the river to collect vegetables and firewood on this day.
After a year of busy work, no matter how much money is in my eyes, I have to stop and take a rest.
The family was warming up around the stove in the small courtyard on Qionghua Lane. It was warm and gentle, without the biting river breeze, and there was no need to worry about poisoning from burning charcoal in the cabin. The straw curtains had to be raised from time to time.
"The New Year we celebrate this year is called the New Year." Yang looked happy and kept peeling chestnuts, feeding one to Huo Xi and others' mouths from time to time.
Huo Erhuai chewed happily and teased Nian'er from time to time. When Nian'er reached out to ask for it, he coaxed him: "Nian'er can't eat this yet. Daddy will feed him fruit puree later."
Huo Xi glanced at Nian'er. Nian'er was almost seven months old. Now he could sit firmly on the bed. His eyes were even more lively. He had been covered in the yard all winter and his whole body was white and fat.
After a while, everyone loved him.
I carried him around Qionghua Lane, and everyone wanted to pinch him and tease him. He loved it so much. Mr. Guan even liked to run into the yard.
"We don't want to eat. Mom will cook some delicious custard later."
Nian'er couldn't help but dance, drooling and competing with the adults for food, which amused everyone.
"When your grandma Zou left, she hugged him and couldn't bear to let go. This little thing will cause pain wherever he goes."
Yang rubbed his little face, tickled him, making him twist left and right and laugh.
Huo Erhuai almost couldn't hold him anymore, so he wiped his saliva with a smile: "We still have a room in the courtyard, but they are still not happy to ask my uncle and aunt to celebrate the New Year with us."
"Afraid of trying to win over us."
Yang stuffed a chestnut into Huo Xi's mouth and said, "Let's hand over the boat to them for guarding. Our boat is big, so it will be the same if they get on our boat."
"Yeah." Huo Erhuai responded.
"This year they helped us sell vegetables and firewood, and they got several taels of silver. Uncle Zou and his grandson also made a lot of money these days in the inner city. This year is much better."
"No, it's not just Uncle Zou. Everyone in Taoyedu also made a lot of money. They bought a lot of things from us and took them back to the countryside. This year has been a good one."
The couple was very happy talking about these things. They gave away a lot of fish and shrimps when they got the goods. The family did not lack food even if they were not fishing.
Nowadays, most of Taoyedu people have gone back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year. It was Yu Jiang who brought his wife and daughter out. But his parents are in the countryside, so even if they separate, they still take his wife and daughter back to the countryside.
Yang Fu raised his head and glanced at Huo Erhuai: "Brother-in-law, when are we going back to Huojiaba?"
Ms. Yang wanted to say that she would not go back this year. Nian'er was still young, but as a daughter-in-law, it was difficult for her to say such words.
Huo Erhuai glanced at her, then at Nian'er, who was smiling at him so hard that he was drooling, and said, "How about I go back alone."
Yang Fu immediately sat up straight, his eyes brightened, and he glanced at Huo Xi. Huo Xi's heart was also clenching.
It stands to reason that she was adopted by Huo Erhuai, and his family was also her family, but her adoptive grandmother gave her a really bad impression.
Moreover, it was easy to say that Nian'er was born by Yang, and no one would doubt her. But when she went back, there would be a lot of people asking questions, which would be very annoying.
It would be very annoying to catch Huo Erhuai scolding him for raising a brother-in-law who has to raise other people's children for nothing, and has no money to raise his parents, so that he can have a verbal lawsuit. Besides, her Nian'er doesn't want to run around now.
Once you make a mistake, you will regret it.
Huo Xi lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Huo Erhuai glanced at her and said to Ms. Yang: "Nian'er is still young. If something happens to you when you go back with Nian'er, you won't feel bad. Besides, we don't even have a place to live at home, so Xi'er wants to live there."
Where? In previous years, we made do in the kitchen, how can we make do with several children this year?"
"Then you can go back alone, okay?"
"Why not? I won't row the boat back. I will hire an oxcart to go back this year. It will be more relaxed."
Mrs. Yang smiled and patted him: "We are short of money from you? It's so cold that we can hire an ox-cart or a horse-drawn carriage."
Yang Fu jumped for joy: "Hire a carriage for my brother-in-law! It's so cold today, and the ox-cart is swaying, which makes people sick from the cold. It's not cost-effective to spend money to buy soup and medicine when you have no choice."
Huo Xi let out a long breath. If Huo Erhuai said he wanted to take her back, she really couldn't refuse.
"Dad, I will prepare a gift for you to return home."
"I'm going to help too." Yang Fu got up and ran into the warehouse with Huo Xi.
Yang looked at the background of the two children, shook her head and laughed: "Look, if your family is good, I will take the children back with you and make you feel proud."
"I know. I wouldn't want to go back if I could. But they raised me..."
"I understand. We have earned a lot this year, and we still have about two hundred taels in hand. I will give ten taels to your parents. The rest will be given to Xi'er. The child wants to hire a big shopkeeper, and I don't know what big shopkeeper he is holding in his heart.
It’s an idea. It’s probably going to cost a lot of money.”
Huo Erhuai nodded: "Just give them five taels. Feeding them too much will increase their appetite. Several brothers can't support the family alone. We will collect the rent in the spring next year, and the days will be better and better."
.”
Yang nodded happily: "No, I never thought that one day I would have two hundred taels of silver in my hand. I never dare to dream."
"No. You didn't expect that there are not only silver bracelets and silver hairpins but also gold bracelets, right?" Huo Erhuai teased her.
Not to mention Yang, he also forgot: "I wear them to show off during the New Year. I am also a person who has gold jewelry."
"Wear it. We wore it when we bought it. It won't give birth to babies if we leave it alone."
The couple thought about this year as if they were dreaming.
In the past, when winter came, I would sit in the cabin and be blown by the wind as the ship swayed from side to side, shivering with cold. How could I sit in a warm yard wearing a thin shirt and warm myself by the fire like now?
"Then when will you go back?"
"Why don't I go back after spending New Year's Eve with you? The first day of the Lunar New Year is Xi'er's birthday, so we just have to celebrate her birthday. I will go back early in the morning of the Second Lunar New Year and stay at home for one night."
"Don't go back to the second grade of junior high school. The daughter of a married woman only returns to her parents' home in the second grade of junior high school. You are really returning to the second grade of junior high school."
"I was originally..."
"That's what it is!" Yang interrupted him, "My family is blessed, so you don't need to come to the door."
Huo Erhuai was silent.
He is not afraid of other people's criticisms. His family originally sent him to the Yang family as their son-in-law.
Huo Erhuai could accept his identity, but Mr. Yang felt sorry for him, "How about you go back tomorrow and spend New Year's Eve at home. We will go back after lunch on the first day of the Lunar New Year and let's celebrate Xi'er's birthday together in the evening."
Huo Erhuai nodded: "Okay."
Huo Xi was lying at the door, listening to the conversation between the couple in the main hall, with the corners of her mouth raised, and her heart felt warm and scalding.
I turned around to pick out gifts, thinking about preparing more gifts for my dad to take home so that no one would look down on him.