After the New Year's Eve, it's the first day of the first lunar month.
On the first day after the new year, the elders should take their juniors to visit relatives, but now the main house of the banker and the second and third houses are having an unpleasant quarrel, so they simply don't leave.
Anyway, I haven’t seen it in previous years.
But I have to go to the village chief's house, so I have to prepare some generous gifts.
Qin Manzhi got up early in the morning. She didn't go out much on weekdays, but today she was celebrating the New Year. As an elder, it was hard for her to hide at home and not see people, otherwise she would be said to be rude.
Zhuang Keqing got up a little late.
When she woke up, no one was around her. Only a corner of the quilt was lifted up, and it was neatly pressed down by folded clothes to prevent her from exposing her shoulders and getting cold.
She huddled in the quilt, not knowing whether to get up or continue to blush.
What happened last night was beyond her imagination.
Zhuang Keqing still seems unable to recall all the details. She only remembers the feeling of hot breath spraying on her neck, shoulders and collarbones, burning her skin.
She was like a boat that had strayed into a violent storm, being thrown up and down by the water waves wantonly. The waves wrapped around her body, sometimes gently soothing, sometimes violently hitting her, and her subtle resistance seemed to only let the waves surrounding her go.
The tide surged more intensely, and the moist and sticky scent of musk lingered in the mouth and nose until the wind lightened and the clouds calmed down, and everything subsided.
"Ke'er hasn't gotten up yet?"
In the kitchen, Qin Manzhi had already prepared breakfast.
The leftover bone soup from yesterday is added to rice to make a thick porridge, and sprinkled with some crisp vegetable leaves. The fragrance is full of fragrance. Add a bowl of freshly fried pickled cabbage and chicken offal, and eat it warm in the morning. It can make you feel better after yesterday's meal.
Give your fat belly a good rest.
"This girl has to go to the village chief's house to pay New Year's greetings today, so don't miss the time."
Qin Manzhi pretended to go into the house to wake up her daughter. Seeing this, Shen Ling pushed the stove door open and said, "Mom, let me go and wake her."
Qin Manzhi didn't think much, nodded in agreement, turned around and put the breakfast on the stove, scooped out two ladles of hot water and mixed it with potato starch and rice bran, and went out to feed the chickens in the stove.
After the Chinese New Year, the chickens at home still need to be fed.
Shen Ling came out of the kitchen, brushed the dust off himself with his hands outside, washed his hands again, and then entered the back room.
Zhuang Keqing was still lying on the bed in a daze. When he heard the sound of the door, he was startled and hurriedly shrank back into the quilt, only a few strands of hair were exposed.
Shen Ling walked in with a hint of the desolation of an early morning snowy day, and the vague musk smell in the room became lighter.
Zhuang Keqing was sullen in the quilt and didn't dare to show her head.
She knew this must be Aring. If it were her mother, she would have woken him up at the door long ago. She would never have gone so long without saying a word.
The door was gently closed, and a hint of coldness gradually disappeared. Zhuang Keqing raised his ears but heard nothing. He only felt the sound of blood beating in his ears, which matched with his violent heartbeat, "Dong dong, dong dong."
"
One hand tried to gently pull down the quilt, but Zhuang Keqing grabbed the edge of the quilt and pulled it tightly, only trembling and revealing his eyes.
"Ah, Aling."
The young man was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his back to the light, wearing a crow-green round-neck robe, his hair neatly tied behind his head, and the cool tip of his index finger touched her hot forehead.
Zhuang Keqing smiled when he saw him.
A smile appeared on his usually straight and calm face, his cold eyes were full of tenderness, and his eyes were moving.
"Ke'er."
The other party's voice was like the rising sun in winter, filled with warmth and the faint fragrance of red plum blossoms on the branches.
As if being comforted, Zhuang Keqing's chest, which was as excited as a drum, suddenly calmed down. The fingers holding the corner of the quilt gradually loosened, revealing the flushed cheeks underneath.
"Does it still hurt?"
"No, it doesn't hurt anymore..."
The girl's shy eyes were wandering, and Shen Ling felt inexplicably satisfied. He leaned down and pecked the top of her soft hair with his lips, then sat up and put on clothes for her.
…
"Brother Ling, today we just went to the village chief's house to pay New Year greetings, why did we lead a mule cart?"
Shen Ling took out a handful of beans from the bag and fed it to Dahei, while answering Qin Manzhi, "Mom, there is still snow on the ground. It's not safe for you to walk with Aman in your arms, so just sit in the car with Ke'er, so that you can give more New Year gifts. A few things.”
Qin Manzhi nodded and praised her son-in-law for his thoughtfulness.
But only Zhuang Keqing guessed that perhaps A Ling also considered himself unwell.
Thinking of this, she felt her cheeks warm again. She quickly shook her head and took all the New Year gifts prepared in the main room to the car.
There was a handful of sausages in the left hand and a package of braised pork in the right hand. They didn't weigh much in total, but before they even stepped out of the house, Shen Ling reached out to take them.
"I'll do it."
The young man said, with a hint of concern in his eyes, "Go put your hat on, and don't forget your scarf."
"Ah. Well."
Zhuang Keqing responded indifferently, and saw Shen Ling walking around, gathering all the things together and stacking them layer by layer, leaving two spacious seats open for him and his mother to sit.
After Qin Manzhi got on the cart and patted her side to call her daughter over, Zhuang Keqing silently stepped forward and sat behind Shen Ling.
Sure enough, it was the first day of the first lunar month.
As soon as I left my house and turned off the path, I met a villager who was paying New Year's greetings.
The other party was obviously very puzzled by their behavior of visiting New Year's greetings in a car, but he greeted them politely and said hello with a smile.
Zhuang Keqing felt that throughout the year, he had never encountered so many villagers.
In rural areas, most families come together to pay New Year greetings, especially in this village.
Along the way, we met people from the Liu family, the Zhang family, and the Tian family. Regardless of whether they were called out or not, and regardless of whether there had been some friction in the past, everyone was beaming with joy and saying auspicious words to each other. A harmonious one.
After all, it’s the Chinese New Year!
The mule cart clattered forward and when it arrived at the village chief's house, Qin Manzhi hugged Aman and said hello to the village chief who came out.
Several people were invited into the house in a lively manner, and the wives and aunts walked around Aman. One squeezed his little hand, the other touched his little face, and they all said that the child was well-raised.
Indeed, Aman was wearing a bright red double-breasted coat today, a tiger-head hat on his head, and tiger-head shoes on his feet. His face was white and tender, and his little fists were fleshy. His eyes were big and black, and he looked at the room full of people curiously, not afraid of anything at all.
"This is grandpa's house."
Zhuang Keqing lifted Aman's chin, turned the younger brother's face toward the village chief, and introduced each of them, "This is the eldest aunt."
The village chief's family also has grandchildren, but they are all grown up and have reached the age to get married, far past the time when they are cute.
At this time, the old man saw the young one, and his heart softened. He took out a red envelope from his arms and stuffed it into Aman's hand.
"Aman grew up healthy and healthy."
Aman grabbed the red envelope out of curiosity, held it in his hand and waved it.
Zhuang Keqing smiled and thanked the village chief, saying again and again that you would be happy and healthy in old age and have a prosperous new year.
Shen Ling and Li You moved the New Year gifts to the car outside.
Potato wine, braised food, sausages, and candied dried fruits. Li You looked at it and said that the gift was too heavy and too heavy, making it difficult for them to return.
"Grandpa, the village chief, and we are one family, what else do we need in return?"
Zhuang Keqing spoke in the main room, and the coaxing village chief blushed and urged her to eat some snacks and fruits and drink tea to moisten her mouth.
The women were talking to Qin Manzhi and Aman.
Zhuang Keqing and Shen Ling were chatting with the village chief.
"After the snow melts after the new year, we will have to take care of the wheat. I don't know when the owner of Wufuji will come to build a brewery."
In short, the contract has been signed, and now the village chief is just looking for something to talk about.
During the heavy snowfall a few years ago, the sweet potato workshop did not start working again, but shopkeeper Hu, after receiving instructions from his boss, came over again and gave some money, saying that part of it would be given to everyone in the sweet potato workshop for the New Year, and the other part would be kept. Buy some sweet potatoes for next year.
This was done properly, and the villagers were looking forward to them building a workshop.
"There's no rush. Anyway, we'll harvest some sweet potatoes after the new year."
Zhuang Keqing took a peanut peeled by Shen Ling and ate it, then took a sip of tea and said, "If the nearby villages are not enough, we can go to Beipo Village to harvest. There is a lot of dry land there, and the villagers grow many sweet potatoes."
"Well, that's also a way."
In the two to three months before the new year, the sweet potatoes stored by each household in the village were almost used up. After the new year, they really had to rely on harvesting from other villages to maintain operations.
The village chief nodded and had a plan in mind.
Although he has nothing to do with Beipo Village, he can still say a few words in front of the old guys in Daxing Village and Sanlin Village. At worst, he and the elders will make a trip next year and they will definitely be able to acquire this property. The matter is settled.
All in all, the price is still six cents per catty, so the villagers will not lose money.
