The night is divided into five watches, one watch enters the night, and the end of the fifth watch gradually dawns. The fifth watch is the darkest time of the night, which is usually referred to as the darkest hour before dawn. According to local customs, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, you should get up at the beginning of the fifth watch, eat on the fifth watch, and go out to pay New Year's greetings before dawn.

Qin estimated that the hour was almost up, so he lightly put on his clothes and went to the hall to light the oil lamp, and saw that the hourglass was really about to reach the fifth watch, so he carried it and waited to go out.

Only then did she find that Sister-in-law Ling had already gotten up to sweep the snow in the courtyard, and Qin was quite surprised, she didn't hear any sound at all.

After saying that it was hard work, he went into the kitchen to light a fire, and saw Green Butterfly come in with a basket of frozen dumplings, and immediately asked, "Are there enough dumplings?" ”

Green Butterfly immediately handed over the dumplings, "One is a lot, please look at it." ”

Qin counted it carefully, and his heart calmed down.

Sister-in-law Ling smiled, "This girl watched her eyes all night without blinking, and the slave said that she would not do anything for her." ”

Qin Shi was full of apologies, "I forgot to let the two of you replace me, thank you for your hard work." ”

Green Butterfly immediately stood up straight, and said to the ground, "It's not hard, Green Butterfly should do it!" ”

"I have made you new clothes, and I will bring a basin of water from the pot into the house, and we will put on new clothes." Qin looked at the green butterfly and smiled kindly. She has never seen Green Butterfly as a slave, but she just thinks that she has another girl who can eat and work.

"Yes!" The green butterfly happily responded.

There were already crackling guns, and Xiao Nuan in the house also woke up, and after the lamp was dressed, he began to put on new clothes for Xiaocao. The two of them are new from head to toe, either made by their mother or their second aunt, and even the red head rope and silk flowers on their heads are also new, and they are festive when they look at it.

After washing her face and hands in the copper basin, Sister-in-law Ling went out to cook dumplings, and Qin took out a full set of new clothes and shoes made for Green Butterfly and asked her to change them.

Green Butterfly has been doing things in the cloth village with the girl for so long, and she can see at a glance that the fabric used by the lady for her is no worse than that of the two girls, and she is moved and frightened.

If she wears this clothes, there is no distinction between respect and inferiority in the Third Master's Mansion, but in this family, she does not pay attention to these rules, which is a part of the Qin family's heart.

Green Butterfly thanked her, went back to the house to change it, and when she came out again, Xiao Nuan had already set off the door cannon, and Qin and Ling's sister-in-law cooked dumplings and put them on the table.

Of course, the first dumplings out of the pot are dedicated to the ancestors of the Qin family, four small plates of dumplings and chopsticks, neatly placed on the offering table. Headed by the Qin family, after taking the whole family to kowtow to thank the ancestors, Xiao Nuan helped the Qin family to sit down, and then she and Xiao Nuan knelt on the ground in a regular manner, and kowtowed to their mother three times to greet the New Year.

This is the number of New Year's gifts, and it is also one of the reasons why Xiao Nuan did not go to Chen's house for the New Year - let her kowtow to the Chen family to greet the New Year, don't think about it!

Qin handed over the New Year's silver, "I am one year older, and I will be sensible this year, and there will be no illness and no disaster." ”

"Yes!" Xiao Nuan and Xiaocao happily took the silver and stood up, and Sister-in-law Ling and Green Butterfly came over and knelt on the ground to pay New Year's greetings to the Qin family.

The Qin family is the main family, and according to the rules, he took out the happy money and handed it over, "You must also be smooth and safe this year, thanks to your blessing, our family will be safe and sound this year." ”

Sister-in-law Ling and Green Butterfly kowtowed and thanked them, and stood up to eat.

Green Butterfly stuffed the purse into her arms with a big smile, but Sister-in-law Ling secretly checked the purse in her hand and couldn't help but be overjoyed - there are at least six taels of silver here!

As a first-class dart master, she only has four times of money for a month of hard work in the dart game, and less than two times when she doesn't dart. This is already quite high in the dart master business, and she was originally very satisfied, but she came to Mrs. Qin's house for less than two months, and she took more money than she took in the dart game for half a year, and every payment was given by the master clearly, so that she knew what she had done.

She also calculates darts when she does things here, and with the four monthly money of the dart bureau plus the money given by the main family, Sister-in-law Ling found that if she can work here for a few years, she will be able to return to her hometown to buy dozens of acres of land, and be a local housewife in peace.

This errand must not be lost, nor can it be robbed! The energetic sister-in-law Ling's eyes became brighter and brighter, and she ate half a bowl of dumplings, and secretly decided that after eating, she would go out and clean the snow in the yard, and then accompany Rhubarb to throw stones to please Rhubarb, which is urgent!

Amid the sound of firecrackers, Aoyagi was in a hurry in the house. Ma Detong sat cross-legged on the kang without care, "If you can't get out, you won't go out, I'll sleep here for a day." ”

It was only like this, Aoyagi opened the cabinet against the wall in the dark, "You go in and sleep, no matter what movement is outside, don't make a sound." ”

There will be no one in this room, why should he hide in the cabinet in a suffocation!

"Hurry up!" Aoyagi raised his eyebrows, and Ma Detong, who couldn't see anyone, hugged Aoyagi and kissed him a few times before obediently getting in.

Aoyagi closed the cabinet door and blocked it with a stool, so he lowered his heart slightly, lit the lamp to look at the dumplings on the table, and was shocked into a cold sweat when he saw it.

The half-curtain dumplings are gone! If the New Year's dumplings wrapped on Chinese New Year's Eve are gone or ruined in the middle of the night, it indicates that the family will suffer a major disaster this year, and even the family will worry about their lives.

If people know that there are so many fewer dumplings, Aoyagi can't afford this crime. scolded Mrs. Liu for bullying people again, and she thought about how to hide this matter.

Aoyagi's eyes rolled and he had an idea.

Before Mrs. Liu got up, she braved the cold to go to the kitchen to light a fire and cook dumplings, and after cooking, she first went to the hall according to the old lady's instructions, and then sent a bowl of soup and water back to the bedroom for Ma Detong to eat, she only ate and drank a big bowl of dumpling soup herself, and then went to the window of the east wing to ask Mrs. Liu to get up and eat.

Mrs. Liu, who had long been woken up by the sound of firecrackers, was very satisfied with Aoyagi being so sensible, and when she entered the kitchen and saw a plate of dumplings on the table, Mrs. Liu immediately sank her face.

Aoyagi immediately explained, "Aoyagi was really cold and hungry, so he ate first, and these are all yours." ”

Both sets are your own? Mrs. Liu smiled, "There are no fewer dumplings, right?" ”

Aoyagi pointed to the dumplings on the kitchen board and said, "Aoyagi has counted them, and there are a lot of them." Cook a curtain and leave a curtain, you see. ”

Xiao Nuan's family cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, and Xiao Nuan went out of the house, only to find that the snow last night was more than two inches thick! It was so strange and creaking that she had itchy hands and wanted to build a snowman immediately.

When Sister-in-law Ling opened the door, she saw that the Zheng family had already taken Cui Qiao and Yu Xiaohuan to wait outside the door. As soon as the main house opened, Cui Qiao and Yu Xiaohuan entered the house to kowtow to the Qin family and received a red envelope, and the second uncle Li next door came over.

Xiao Nuan and Xiao Cao said a good New Year to their aunt, and Qin told Xiao Nuan to take care of the house, and she wanted to go out with her younger siblings to pay New Year's greetings.

When he said this, Qin's face was happy. If it weren't for the genealogy, their family would have to stay at home in the cold at this time, and there would be no place to pay New Year's greetings and no one would come to pay New Year's greetings, but now it's different, she can go out!

According to the rules, the men, boys and women in the family need to go out to pay New Year's greetings after the fifth watch, and the unmarried girls don't have to go, so Xiao Nuan can't follow, but it is really uneasy to let the mother go to Xiao Nuan alone.

So, the Qin family and the Li family went out with the green butterfly and went straight to the first stop of the New Year's greetings, Qin Sanhao's house.