The Chinese New Year's Eve has arrived in a blink of an eye.

In Liufu, a few small servants were busy hanging lanterns. Large and small red lanterns are hung on the lintels of each courtyard and house, adding warm joy to the always cold winter.

"Steward Zhong, is it hanging at the gate?" asked a small servant.

"No. Outside are troubled times. The little grandmother said that we only keep the door behind closed doors in our own house, and it is better not to let the outside see it. Old Uncle Zhong replied. He changed into a green cloth robe and wore a soft satin hat worn by housekeepers, and he looked more and more energetic, elegant and modest.

People are expensive, people step on people, he became the housekeeper and became the number one person in the Liufu people, which naturally showed a dignity.

"Steward Zhong, the little grandmother called you to pass on a message, tonight's reunion banquet, the old men are eating in the hall outside, and their ladies want to go to the second aunt's house to have a reunion dinner. Another guy hurried back and forth.

"Eat separately, and go to the second aunt's house?" Old Zhong was surprised, this is going to break the old rules of previous years.

The dumb aunt was also standing in Liu Dingmao's study at the moment, "The daughter-in-law has no other meaning, she just wants to sit down with a few aunts, and everyone is inevitably restrained when there is an old man, and I have seen the second aunt, although the room is smaller, it is enough to put two tables." It's better for us ladies to sit together, talking, laughing, and connecting with each other than to crowd the hall and make a lot of noise. ”

Liu Dingmao nodded: "Gathering in the hall for dinner in the Chinese New Year's Eve is an old tradition passed down from the ancestors, but if you want to change it, the ancestors were also people, and the rules of the ancestors may not be changed." It's just that the matter of worshipping the ancestral hall before the meal can't be changed in the slightest, otherwise it will make the whole clan laugh. ”

The dumb aunt hurriedly nodded: "My daughter-in-law doesn't want to change the rules of the house, it's just that the second aunt is too sick this year, and I can't bear to drag her sick body out to work hard. The second aunt is an honest person, we don't go, she can't get out of her illness, the yard is deserted, she will definitely be sad. ”

Liu Dingmao exclaimed: "It's still thoughtful that you think." Then it's up to you. We have an old bell in the front hall to cook. ”

The dumb aunt said goodbye, and Qian'er waited at the door, greeted and quietly asked: "Why do you have to change the old traditions in the mansion?" How good is the front hall, big and spacious, and the second aunt is too narrow, shabby and shabby, what's the good of having a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner there?"

The dumb aunt glanced at Qian'er, "Even you little girl knows that the second aunt is really shabby and shabby, so everyone should go and see it with their own eyes." Let them know what kind of life this second aunt has lived all these years, and the first person to be angry when the eldest lady is alive is this honest and childless. The second aunt who is not favored by the lord is too much, at that time she can swallow her anger and live, after the death of the eldest wife, Li Ma and others continue to step on her and bully, she can still bear it, and I also found that even if she is so short of food and clothing, she is still neat, simple and elegant, but the person in the disease has no messy hair, neat clothes, and can live quietly in such an environment, do not complain, do not give up, must be a strong woman.

Such a woman, if she stands up to take charge of this big family in the future, she is also capable of doing very well, and she has no children and cannot continue to give birth, and there are no relatives and family members of her in the house as servants, so she will not be partial and biased, harming people everywhere, and second, she will not collude with her subordinates to hide her own interests. ”

Asa'er was stupid to hear.

"Little grandma, I just went to the nameless courtyard, when did you know so much? Why didn't I see it at all?"

"It's enough to go once, see with your eyes, listen with your ears, and feel with your heart, isn't it enough?" the dumb girl chuckled, stretched out her hand and patted the little girl's shoulder, "You know in your heart that Brother Wan'er who is worried about you Don't think I don't know, I'm afraid that he won't cover the quilt at night and get cold, you are busy embroidering belly pockets day and night!"

Asa'er blushed.

"After all, you are still young, waiting for you to take charge of the family, it is estimated that it will take at least ten years, and during this period, I can't tie myself to this Liu family to do free hard labor for you, I have to free myself as soon as possible, so this second aunt is the person I am looking for." But don't let the wind blow out of this matter first. It's just that we will have a lot of respect for the second aunt in the future, as long as we take the lead in setting an example, those snobs who climb high and step on the low will not dare to despise this second aunt. When her prestige rises day by day, I will slowly hand over the power. ”

Qian'er blinked: "I understand, going to her house to eat tonight is the first step in your plan?"

"Shhhhhh

Qian'er nodded, "You know and I know." Don't worry, the slave will hang a lock on her mouth. ”

The master and servant walked to the nameless courtyard of the second aunt with a smile, but they were stunned when they arrived at the door.

The firewood door of the small courtyard was closed, and there was no atmosphere of a festival at all, not even the red lanterns hanging in each courtyard.

"What's the matter? Didn't Steward Zhong send someone to inform?" Qian'er was surprised, and was about to call someone to ask.

The dumb aunt raised her hand to stop it, and stepped forward to check, the door was closed from the inside, and she pushed it, and cracked a little diagonally, "Who-" A woman heard a voice and walked out.

"Little grandma. Qian'er replied on his behalf, "Why are you still so deserted here, and there is no smell of the year at all?"

The dumb aunt didn't talk to the maid, and went straight into the house.

The second aunt in the house was sitting at the window, and she stood up when the dumb aunt entered, with a light smile on her face, "I took the medicine you sent, and I was thinking of sending someone to thank you, but you came in person." ”

The dumb aunt looked at it with a flash, the second aunt was still dressed in coarse cloth, it seemed to be sewn by herself, cut and fitted, the buckle was plain and elegant, and the black hair on her head was in a simple bun, but there was no jewelry, only a plain silver hairpin pinned to the back of her head.

The dumb aunt was in a trance for a while, stunned. I can't help but sigh in my heart, such a woman, if she is placed in the society she left, should be the embodiment of a typical high degree of integration of green tea and Buddhism, quiet, elegant, simple, and calm, there is a natural breath on the body that naturally flows, in front of such a woman, people can't help but feel ashamed of themselves. Such a woman naturally wins the admiration of men wherever she goes.

It's a pity that she was born in the wrong era, the second aunt is too a pearl, but she was buried in the dust and couldn't shine as she should be.

Seeing the little daughter-in-law looking at herself so intently, the second aunt's eyes flashed with a hint of embarrassment, and she smiled: "What, I don't know each other?"

The dumb aunt nodded, and Yingying gave her a salute, "Last time I came to my aunt I was sick, and this time I will see you again, and my aunt looks better." ”

As he spoke, he turned around and looked at the house, which was as clear as water, and there was no New Year's atmosphere at all.

"Could it be that the second aunt is not old?"

"Yes. It's just silently in my heart, and it's the same. In previous years, I didn't dare to publicize it, but this year, if you look outside, every household is closed, and I am afraid that there will be thieves and gangsters who are worried about the New Year, so I think that this year's year, no matter what, can not be publicized. ”

The dumb aunt couldn't help but admire in her heart, sure enough, she didn't see the wrong person, the second aunt was in such an environment, and she could still consider the problem from the overall situation, she was really a rare person with brains in the boudoir.

"Thank you, second aunt, for the reminder. "I'm young and careless, so I didn't think much about it before I hung the lantern, or I would have called someone to take it off at once." ”

"That's not necessary. The second aunt shook her head too, "There should still be some festivity." It's just that I'm not down-to-earth, although our house is only the most ordinary gateway to Lingzhou Mansion, the lord has done a dull job in recent years, and the family income is small, but as the saying goes, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, in the eyes of the outside, we are a big family, so if those bad people are concerned, if we don't have a plan in our hearts, we are afraid that the time will ...... I took a look around this morning, the walls on all sides were still repaired in the early years, the walls of the wall were slippery and damaged in a few places, the bricks were missing, if they were not repaired in time, then people would dig up with a big shovel and hoe outside, and the soil of the wall was soft and rotten, and it did not work at all. And in the garden at the back, there are a few trees that have grown taller, and they are connected to the wall, which is a great ladder for the villains——"

The dumb aunt took a breath of cold air and shouted in her heart, "Good my mother!"

Sure enough, I didn't lose my eyes, this second aunt is too a senior talent!

It is worthy of Jiang or the old spicy, I thought that I had thought about the security issue well, the son of the old Uncle Zhong is highly skilled, and yesterday he carefully selected a few young people to be a housekeeper, and quietly learned martial arts in the backyard every day, and it was expected that the average little thief would not dare to harass. That's why I closed the door and spent the New Year steadily. The second aunt said this, she panicked, and people hit the nail on the head.

"Then according to the second aunt's idea, what should we do?" the dumb aunt humbly asked.

"Everything else can be slowed down, but those few gaps, as well as the trees in the backyard, must be remedied immediately, otherwise we may not be able to survive this Chinese New Year's Eve tonight." I heard that you tried to get rid of Steward Liu and Mama Li in front of the master, sold Lanmei, and also got a lot of manpower. Lan Mei and Mama Li are women's families, and they can't set off big storms, but Steward Liu is different, he is an old man in this mansion, in case he makes something bad-"

The dumb aunt suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, "Then I'll deal with it first." It's just that you'd better prepare a little here, at least don't close the door when people come, tonight our girls will welcome the New Year in this nameless courtyard. ”

The man has already run out.

The second aunt looked at the suddenly stormy figure and smiled.