On the night of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the lights in the ancient mansion were bright, and the same was true on the Zhuangzi in the ancient mansion.

In the dining hall of the ancient kitchen, Qingshu adjusted the stuffing by himself, Xu Sanniang kneaded the noodles and saved it, and then sat and waited for Qingyang to come back. There was a fire in the dining room, and the wood-splitting wood in the stove made a soft crackling sound from time to time, and the whole dining room was baked warmly.

After a while, Xiaojuan talked back and forth, and the young master came back.

Qing Shu got up, put on his cloak and walked outside the door to wait.

Soon, Qingyang, who was tightly covered, appeared in the kitchen courtyard and walked up to Qingshu, "Sister, I'm back." ”

Qing Shu held his hand with cotton gloves and instructed the ingots who played the lantern, "Go to the next door to bake the fire and eat something, everyone is here." "Then there's the dining room.

Without waiting for Yuanbao to respond, Qingyang hurriedly spoke, "Sister, Xiaoyang wants to clean up the house with Yuanbao, and come back to make dumplings together later, okay?" ”

Qing Shu was puzzled, "What kind of house do you clean up?" ”

Qingyang hugged Qingshu's arm and shook it coquettishly, "Sister, Xiaoyang brought the guest back, sister is not allowed to be angry." ”

Guest? If the Chinese New Year's Eve is not at home for a family reunion, who will run to someone else's house as a guest? "Xiaoyang, what guests did you bring back?"

Qingyang God mysteriously motioned to Qing Shu to go down, Qing Shu felt funny and squatted down. Qingyang pushed the neck sleeve down, and whispered to his sister's ear, "Xiaoyang, Uncle Butler, and Mr. Lu all thought it was strange when they saw a horse tied to the tree pole under the slope. We climbed uphill and saw a man kneeling in front of my father's grave, who was burning paper money for my father. ”

Qing Shu was stunned when he heard this, "Huh? ”

"It's Brother Yan, and there is frost on his eyebrows."

Qing Shu didn't believe it, "How is it possible?" ”

"It's Brother Yan, he came from the capital, he didn't enter the town, and went directly to his father's grave to burn paper. Mr. Lu saw that it was Brother Yan and said that Brother Yan did not have to travel in the freezing weather every year. Uncle Butler also advised my brother, saying that my father knew his mind and would not let him come over such a long journey. Brother Yan didn't speak, shook his head and walked away silently. ”

Qing Shu heard this and felt a sudden burst in his heart, what does this mean? Could it be that Zhou Boyan comes to worship her father every year, why?

"Sister, Brother Yan said that he was going to rush back overnight, but I didn't let him, and I pulled Brother Yan to live at home, okay if my sister wasn't angry? Brother Yan is very cold, and he doesn't have anyone with him, so let's leave Brother Yan for the New Year together, okay? ”

Qing Shu choked up when he refused, "What did the housekeeper say?" ”

"Uncle Housekeeper and Mr. Lu helped Xiaoyang stay with Brother Yan and didn't let Brother Yan go, so Brother Yan agreed not to leave."

The expression on Qing Shu's face changed a few times, but because the light of the lantern in the courtyard was a little dim, others couldn't see it clearly. She stood up, "Let's arrange it next door to Mr. Lu, the room has a fire kang, and the inside has been cleaned up, the kang is burned, and the futon is laid out to accommodate people." ”

Qingyang immediately cheered happily, and no longer whispered, saying that he was going to the front to tell the housekeeper and run out.

The ingots with the lantern in their hands hurriedly caught up, saying slow down, be careful and so on.

Seeing that Qingyang's figure could no longer be seen, Qing Shu turned around and entered the dining room, and Xiaojuan untied the cloak she was draping on. After a moment of silence, she instructed Xiaoyu to help set up the house, and the futon was taken from the Qingyang house. There is a newly made and unused set of bedding in Qingyang, which can be taken out and used.

She thought that her little "traitor" would probably only revolve around that person at this time, and she would definitely not be able to come for a while, so she decided not to wait, beckoned Xiaojuan to start making dumplings, and instructed Xu Sanniang to quickly cook two appetizers and send them to Mr. Lu, so that Mr. Lu and Zhou Boyan could drink some wine and warm up.

Xu Sanniang hurriedly went to the kitchen to Zhang Luo.

Xiaojuan made the noodles and just rolled out a dumpling skin, Xu Wuniang came over with Maizi and Xiaoya.

Qing Shu smiled, "Hurry up and wash your hands, if you come late, you have to wrap an extra curtain." In fact, where to wrap dumplings with her, she just wants to take her younger brother to feel the flavor of the New Year, just to be a festive and lively.

Xiaoya and Maizi have always been well-behaved and do not disturb adults to do their work, so Xu Wuniang felt at ease that they played on the side, washed their hands and wrapped dumplings with Qingshu.

When Mr. Lu and Zhou Boyan drank wine, Qingyang left ingots to serve in front of them, and he came back with Xiaoyu. He quickly washed his hands and joined the ranks of making dumplings.

Qingyang's first dumpling came out, and the shape could only be described as miserable, which made Qingshu laugh out loud.

Qingyang pouted, gave up Qingshu, the master, and found Xu Wuniang for advice.

Xu Wuniang was very happy and taught it hand in hand. Looking at the dumplings that looked like them, Qingyang was happy, but Maizi was unhappy.

Maizi gave up the little girl, and squeezed into the arms of his own mother to make dumplings. Xu Wuniang was worried that her son would harm the white noodles and meat filling, so she coaxed her not to touch them. Maizi had red eyes, buried her little face in her mother's arms, grabbed her mother's clothes with her little hands, and refused to let go. Xu Wuniang smiled embarrassedly and helplessly, touched her son's head, and coaxed softly.

Qingyang was stunned for a moment, because he didn't know that there could be such a thing between a child and his mother.

Xu Sanniang was coming from the kitchen, and the little girl immediately ran forward, grabbed the corner of Xu Sanniang's skirt, and looked up at Xu Sanniang and grinned.

Xu Sanniang touched her daughter's little head and asked Qingshu if she wanted to cook two bowls of hot noodle soup and send them to Mr. Lu.

Qing Shu pinched the stunned Qingyang's nose with his flour-dipped hand, and told Xu Sanniang that they didn't need to cook noodles, and directly boiled their wrapped dumplings and sent them away.

Xu Sanniang agreed, told her daughter to coax Maizi to play, and then took the half-curtain dumplings to cook.

Qing Shu sprinkled some flour on the corner of the table, put two dumpling skins, and beckoned Xiaoya and Maizi, who was sticking to her mother, to go over and make dumplings to play. Xu Wuniang didn't let her, Qing Shu motioned her to leave it alone, and asked Xiaoyu to go to the kitchen to put some boiled bean paste stuffing in a wooden bowl, and gave a small wooden spoon.

Maizi saw the bean paste filling, so he gave up his mother and leaned over to fiddle with the bean paste filling and dumpling wrappers with the little girl.

While making dumplings, Xu Wuniang glanced at her cheerful son from time to time, squinting her eyes with a smile, "Miss, you are used to these little ones." Even the little star of Dr. Zhou's family is not afraid of you! ”

Qing Shu didn't want Dr. Zhou's family to feel like they were under the fence, and when the Zhao family wanted to buy a small yard to live in the town, Qing Shu agreed and didn't stop them from moving out. Now, the family of three has bought a three-room house in the town to live in, Dr. Zhou works as a sitting doctor at the Tzu Chi Pharmacy, the Zhao family does needlework at home, and their son Zhou Xing often comes over to play with Xiaoya and Maizi, and sometimes he is reluctant to leave when it gets dark.

Qingshu likes well-behaved children, and is not strict with these obedient little guys, letting them run around the house and play, and giving snacks from time to time. In this way, at present, the little ones are really not scared. Otherwise, how dare Maizi pester her mother in front of Qingshu just now, and the mother naturally didn't dare to coax her son softly in front of Qingshu.

The dumplings were wrapped for a while, and Mother Su and Xu Sanniang, who had finished dealing with the matter at hand, also came over, so in the laughter and laughter, everyone spent nearly an hour unhurriedly wrapping the dumplings that the whole house was going to eat on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Qing Shu washed his hands, took Qingyang's little hand, and went back with the two maids beside him. According to the rules, tonight is to keep the New Year. The others have to guard, and Qingshu naturally lets them, but she must sleep, and her younger brother also has to sleep. Chinese New Year's Eve, how uncomfortable it was the next day, she had already learned it in her previous life, but she didn't want to embarrass herself.

After returning to the hospital, Qing Shu asked Qingyang to sit on the hot kang, and when Xiaojuan and Xiaoyu came out with melons and fruits, Qing Shu sent the two of them out to play, without them having to wait in front of them.

Qingyang took off his shoes and rolled on the kang. Now that he has a master, Su's mother is keeping an eye on her, and she can't go back to Qingshu's room every night. Although this is the rule, men and women are not at the same table at the age of seven, but he still wants to sleep next to his sister. Today, no one was staring, and when he had the opportunity, he was very happy and rolled to his heart's content.

Qing Shu also took off his shoes and put on the kang, pulled him up, and the two of them played rock-paper-scissors, and the winners pasted notes on the faces of the losers or flicked their heads. The rules are set like this, but every time the loser is unwilling to cooperate well, he will run away, and then the winner will chase after him and punish him. After playing for a long time, the two sisters and brothers were tired enough to choke, laughing and smiling on the kang, winning or losing was half and half, and the number of notes on their faces was about the same.

The laughter gradually stopped, and after a while, the little man who was pillowing Qingshu's arm did not move, quietly, breathing lightly and long. Qing Shu propped up his upper body and looked over, and saw his younger brother falling asleep with a smile on the corner of his mouth. She removed the note from their faces, leaned over and took the pillow, slowed her movements, and slowly lifted the arm that was being pillowed by him, then tucked the pillow under his head and removed the arm.

When he was playing just now, Qingyang was too hot, so he took off his coat and cotton clothes, and Qingshu also saved to help him undress, pulled the neatly folded quilt on the side, and covered him. Seeing that there were beads of sweat on his forehead, he lightly put on his shoes and went off the kang, took a face cloth and carefully wiped his sweat, sat quietly beside him, and watched his sleeping face in a daze.

It has been half a year since I came to Da'an, and in just half a year, a lot of things have happened. She raised her hand and touched her face, her face changed, the environment of her life changed, and even her temperament changed a lot. In her previous life, how could she have beaten someone? In her previous life, although she couldn't be called gentle like water, she was also a soft woman.

Are the parents okay? Are you still happy?

Is Mo Yunduo okay? Have you lost your temper again? Has he found the next bride, the one who is really suitable for him?

Is that cold, fussy, fault-finding boy who wants to be close to warmth okay? That belated "mother" is so distant and incredible to recall.

Half a year has passed, and she still remembers them who played an important role in her life, and in this Chinese New Year's Eve, she still remembers them, and she remembers their respective faces.

Next year, in the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, will she still remember them, will she still remember their respective appearances? Perhaps, she will forget about jì! Because they have become irrelevant people with her. Here, she found a sense of belonging, found the direction of her efforts, and was no longer the woman who cried for the man, and no longer the woman who was in a daze and desperate to escape in order to find herself.

She couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad at the moment, she yawned unconsciously, took off her coat and cotton clothes, lifted the quilt covering her younger brother, got in, and lay on her brother's side. Will her younger brother grow up to be as majestic as the general's father? With this thought, she fell asleep before she knew it.

"Miss, it's time for the young master to get up...... Miss, wake up, it's not too early......"

Someone in his ear repeated softly and tirelessly, and Qingshu, who was sleeping sweetly, half-opened his eyes in a daze, "What time is it?" ”

"It's two o'clock, miss, it's too late if you don't get up, today is the first day of the new year." Xiao Yu held the peach-colored women's dress that Qingshu was going to wear today, and stood under the kang to remind. There is a folk saying that the first day of the Lunar New Year is the beginning of the year, and people want to get up in the dark, they must get up before the sun rises, kneel down and worship the gods of all walks of life, and ask the gods to bless the family with good health and smooth affairs. If you get up at night and are driven by the sun, the gods will not hear your prayers, and it means that you are lazy and not diligent, and the gods will not favor you.

The four words on the first day of the Lunar New Year reminded Qing Shu and made her sober immediately and no longer confused. She sat up and patted Zhengxiang's younger brother who was sleeping next to her, "Xiaoyang, wake up, it's time to get up, don't be lazy, Mr. Lu is going to hit the palm of his hand." ”

I don't know if the word lazy played a role, or if Mr. Lu's threat of beating the palm of his hand worked, Qingyang sat up in a daze, but the person leaned lazily on Qingshu's body, muttering sleepy.

Qingshu put on a cotton coat, asked Xiaoyu to take the clothes that Qingyang was going to wear today, and worked with Xiaoyu for a while, dressing Qingyang who was sleepy, and then patted his face to make him open his eyes, and then pinched his nose, "Go, Xiaojuan brought hot water, you go outside to wash your face." ”

Qingyang shook his little head, sat on the edge of the kang, and waited for Xiaoyu to put on his shoes before going down to the outside world.

Qing Shu asked Xiaoyu to tidy up the bedding, and stood behind the screen to put on the clothes properly before turning them out. The clothes she wore today were exactly the same as the one she gave to Bu Yuyan.

When Qingshu washed, Xiaoyu had already tidied up the kang and combed Qingshu and Qingyang's hair.

After a while, Su's mother came to urge, saying that the front was ready.

Because it was still dark outside, the lights in the house were still on. Xiao Yu carried a lantern to illuminate in front, and the Qingshu sisters and brothers followed, and when they arrived at the open space in the front yard, Gu Qiang had already led people to prepare to stop. On the offering table, two kinds of fruit and two kinds of snacks were placed, and a fire was lit on the ground, and next to them were two cedars full of grains.

Someone next to him handed the incense, Qingyang took it, lit three incense sticks, respectfully inserted it into the incense burner, and then knelt on the blanket spread on the ground. Gu Ye Clan knelt down a few steps behind him, followed by Qing Shu, who knelt a few steps behind. Then, the people in the house, led by Gu Qiang, knelt down separately for men and women.

This so-called kneeling and worshipping the gods of all walks of life refers to worshipping the eight directions of heaven and earth. This head is swallowed, which is a circle.

At the end of this matter, everyone went to the front of the house where the imperial two guns were enshrined, only Qingyang, Gu Ye and Qing Shu entered the house and snorted, and the others knelt outside the house and snorted.

Again, everyone was in the courtyard, kowtowing to their ancestors in the direction where the general's tomb was located. There are the grandparents of the Qingshu sisters and brothers, as well as the general's father, which naturally became the place where their ancestors were. Because their general father is the second son, only Gu Yunfu, who is the eldest son, can enshrine the tablets of the two old men after the death of the grandparents, so the ancient mansion can only take this way, and cannot set up another ancestral hall for the two old people in the mansion. There is only the tablet of the general's father in the house.

At the end of this process, the important ceremony of the morning ended. The next thing is to cook dumplings in the kitchen, and everyone eats dumplings.

The pork stew in the pot is ready; Meatballs and vegetarian meatballs are ready-made, already steamed, and served on the table with the prepared soup; The braised pork is also ready, sitting on the drawer, ready to be served at any time; Chicken stew with mushrooms is also good; The skin jelly is cut and only waiting for the juice to be drizzled; Xu Sanniang is busy making braised fish, as soon as this dish is good, the dish on the first day of the new year will be complete.

Qingshu arranged four tables, one table was on Mr. Lu's side, and Mr. Lu, Zhou Boyan and Qingyang ate together. The second table is in the Wenlan Courtyard of the Gu Ye Clan; The third table is the dining hall where they made dumplings last night in the kitchen, which is where Xu Sanniang and her women and children eat on weekdays, and Qingshu is going to bring her female relatives to eat here today. The fourth table is next door, and it is where the strong men eat on weekdays.

Today, whether it is the master or the servant, Qingshu has arranged the same meal. Six dishes with meat-filled dumplings. Not only that, but also generously contributed fruit wine, Mr. Lu's table sent a small altar, the women's table two small altars, and the strong men's side also two small altars.

When the dishes were put on the table and the fruit wine was poured, Mr. Lu immediately laughed out loud, saying that Qing Shu was generous, and he was willing to take the fruit wine out. At the beginning, he was so worried that Qing Shu only gave him a small altar, and then he never gave it to him again on the grounds that there was not much left.

Qingyang knew his sister's arrangement, so he sent a letter to Mr. Lu in advance, "Sir, my sister has always refused to give you more, just to make you happy and happy during the New Year." My sister said, I will give you the last two small altars at night, it doesn't matter if you save them or drink them all at once, anyway, they are the last two small altars, no matter how much you think about it, my sister can't change it. ”

Mr. Lu was happy at first, and when he thought of the eight small altars that Zhou Dachang took away, he immediately deliberately straightened his face, "Your sister is stingy." Pointing at Zhou Boyan, "I am willing to give this kid eight altars, why am you not willing to give Mr. a few more altars?" ”

Qingyang was asked now, with a bitter little face, and it took a long time to find an excuse, "Brother Yan exchanged good things with my sister." ”

"What's good? Sue Mr. Sù, and Mr. will also exchange it with your sister for fruit wine. ”

Zhou Boyan sandwiched the meatballs to Qingyang, "Eat them while they're hot, it's not delicious when they're cold." In a word, it diverted Qingyang's attention and prevented Mr. Lu from teasing Qingyang anymore.

Mr. Lu knew that Zhou Boyan was protecting Qingyang and didn't let him tease, so he smiled and moved the small jar of fruit wine to himself, taking it for himself, not wanting to cheapen Zhou Boyan.

Zhou Boyan couldn't see it, and while eating vegetables, he took care of Qingyang from time to time.

Mr. Lu drank red wine, ate delicious food, and looked at the two disciples in front of him from time to time. Disciple, yes, Zhou Boyan is his disciple, although Zhou Boyan never admits it, but he was indeed Zhou Boyan's Mr. and Zhou Boyan's enlightenment.

If it hadn't been for the accident five years ago, if he had been more careful, if he hadn't trusted her so much and given her too much freedom at that time, that accident would not have happened, and everything would have been different, and the life of his life one after another would not have died or been injured, or left for a long time, or died in a foreign land, and ended in such a sad way.

He thought of the woman he loved, and remembered the way his beloved woman finally looked at him with such desolate eyes, and suddenly felt a pain in his heart and lowered his eyes. Until she turned to leave, he didn't sue her, he didn't complain that she loved others in her heart, he only blamed her for killing so many innocent people for her own selfishness. And among these innocent people are his beloved brothers, his good brothers, and men he admires.

Mr. Lu, who fell into memory, came back to his senses in Qingyang's cheers, quickly packed up his feelings, and looked up with a smile, but saw Qingyang holding a handful of golden peanuts and goldfish in his hand, and he smiled and bent his eyebrows and said thank you, Brother Yan.

Zhou Boyan smiled rarely, saying that there will be better ones next year.

When Mr. Lu saw it, he was stunned for a moment because of his similar face. Only then did he realize that this disciple of his was actually such a smiling and talented woman in Xiao Wei's memory. I ignored it before, maybe because this disciple didn't laugh. He sighed low in his heart, that accident not only took the lives of many people, but also made many people lose their smiles.

As soon as Zhou Boyan looked up, he found that Mr. Lu was staring at him in a daze, with nostalgia and sadness in his eyes. His eyes flashed, and he stretched out his arm and snatched the jar of fruit wine, "The rest is mine." ”

Mr. Lu immediately came back to his senses, "Stinky boy, dare to grab wine from Mr. and beg for a beating." The sadness in his heart immediately dissipated, and he was still the unruly Lu Xuanfang.

At the end of breakfast, the red sun was halfway above the horizon. Everyone quickly cleaned up, and the men were divided into men and women, the men gathered in the east hall, and the women and children gathered in the west hall.

Qing Shu sat in the west hall, with a box in front of him. She opened the box with a smile and stared at the account book in her hand, "Mother Su." ”

Su's mother stepped forward, Qingshu took out a bulging purse from the box and handed it to her, Su's mother was stunned.

Qing Shu smiled: "What? Don't want a New Year's purse? Well, I'll give your share to the others. ”

Su's mother immediately smiled, "This can't be done, but it can't be cheap." Then he took the purse with both hands, "Miss Xie." ”

Qing Shu shook his head and smiled, and called the next one, "Xu Sanniang, little girl." ”

Everyone has already understood that Miss recruited them to give the New Year a red seal. Xu Sanniang smiled and pulled her daughter forward to salute.

Qingshu took out two purses, handed them to Xu Sanniang bulgingly, and gave the slightly deflated one to Xiaoya. Xiaoya was overjoyed.

In this way, Qingshu sent the New Year's purse one by one. On the other side, Qingyang is also doing the same thing as Qingshu, handing out New Year's purses according to the account book.

On Qingshu's side, Su Ma wrapped five taels of silver, Xu Sanniang and Xu Wuniang wrapped three taels of silver, three maids were two taels of silver, and Xiaoya and Maizi each had fifty copper plates.

On Qingyang's side, the ten taels of silver that Gu Qiang packed, and the others were three taels of silver. Those who work in the flavor snack shop have been issued before the closure of the business a year ago.

When the sun rises, the gates of the ancient mansion are wide open. Zhao took Zhou Xing, and Cheng Niangzi brought her youngest son over to visit the door. Qingshu wrapped fifty copper plates for Zhou Xing, and fifty copper plates for Cheng Niangzi's youngest son. After sending them away, Qingshu told Qingyang to accompany Mr. Lu and Zhou Boyan well, and took a carriage out of town and went to Zhuangzi.

She deliberately took this trip not for anything else, but to send out a New Year's purse. The five taels of silver for the steward of Wu, one and a half taels of silver for the women, fifty copper plates for the children, and three taels of silver for the men.

After the hair, Qingshu told Wu that from the first day of the new year to the eighth day of the new year, there must be meat in the daily dishes, and the house pulled the meat of four pigs, and the meat of two pigs was frozen here, just to let the people on the Zhuangzi eat. She explained again that the frozen pig's head and pig blood sausage did not feel distressed, and let the kitchen arrange to eat it. If you want to drink, you can, but you should drink less, you can't make mistakes because of wine, and you must guard the Zhuangzi.

Qing Shu carefully explained everything he thought of, and then left Zhuangzi and walked back. When I entered the town, I happened to meet a group of people who were dusty, and in this group, there were also their acquaintances, Gu Shishi.

When Gu Shishi saw the carriage of the ancient mansion, he came over and talked to Ding Jiabao, "I don't know if you have seen my son-in-law?" ”

Ding Jiabao didn't give him a positive reply, only said to help him ask, and walked to the other side of the carriage and waited for the master to signal.

Qing Shu whispered to Xiao Juan, and asked Xiao Juan to tell Ding Jiabao, saying that let Gu Shi come to the ancient mansion to listen to the news in half an hour, and they would send someone to help inquire. Qing Shu wasn't sure if Zhou Boyan's arrival was a secret, so he didn't directly tell Gu Shi the fact that Zhou Boyan was a guest at the mansion. After half an hour, looking at the stone over, seeing it or not, let Zhou Boyan make his own decision.

Ding Jiabao hurriedly told Gu Shishi what he said. Gu Shishi didn't ask much and returned to his companions.

------Off topic------

I couldn't make it more and cried