The Tong family has been worried about the New Year's ceremony since before the lunar month. What is better than in previous years is that Zhang Bao has been promoted this year, and his income has increased a lot, which is 200 taels, plus various subsidies, as well as the fragmentary silver money of filial piety of the people below, as well as the income under the customary table in the yamen, this year's money has exceeded 1,000 taels for the first time. The degree of food and clothing on weekdays has been greatly improved, and the New Year's gift sent to Beijing can not be too thin, but the output of Fengtian's special fine wine, which was very popular with the Earl's Mansion in Beijing in previous years, has decreased this year, and Tong's finally got six jars, gritted his teeth, and left only two altars for his own New Year, and the remaining four altars were sent to Beijing, and the reason for the rarity of fine wine was explained in a letter sent.

It's just that if there is no good wine, other things will have to be more expensive. Although Zhang Baoyou proposed to send some corn and potatoes and other local products, he was afraid that such things would not be looked down upon by the people of the Earl's Court, so the Tong family had to find another way. In the end, she spent money to get a lot of sheep and pigs, as well as a pair of live sika deer, and bought many good sheepskins from the Mongolians, plus a good tiger skin for one hundred taels, which was to honor the old man.

This is already very rich, presumably Jingzhong should also be satisfied, but the things given to the mother-in-law have to think again. Seeing that it was still early, Tong put his mind at ease and concentrated on thinking about what to send to his daughter. Several nieces are older this year, but I'm afraid that their share will also be counted.

However, in addition to the New Year's gift sent back to Beijing, there are other things to be busy with. Tong also had to think about New Year's gifts for friends and husbands in Fengtian City, as well as making new clothes for the whole family. In the past, I was always short of money, so I could only take turns to make new clothes for my family for the New Year, Zhang Bao and Duanning were just down, and the big red clothes of myself and Shuning were still made the year before last.

Tong specially called Mrs. Liu, because she was old, and asked her to bring a helper to discuss making new clothes for her family. The styles of men's clothing are ready-made, and you only need to re-measure Duanning's figure. I have gained weight this year, the weather is cold, and my waist is relaxed. It's just that the daughter still has to ask her what style and color she likes, she has always had an idea.

When Shuning was called by the Tong family to ask, she had no idea. If it is the clothes of the eldest girl's family, she can also learn from the costume dramas she has watched before, of course, it is not so exaggerated, as long as she finds some realistic and stable styles such as "Young Son of Heaven" and "Kangxi Empire", and plagiarize the women's clothing styles in it. But now that I'm still a little girl, where can I find a reference? Fortunately, although the popular styles in Fengtian City look a little earthy in her eyes, they are still good-looking, so she proposed to do it, and the color was a delicate pine color. Unexpectedly, Tong's objected, she thought that she should wear red during the New Year's Festival, but Shuning couldn't screw her, so she had to agree to choose silver red, and ordered a purple vest. However, in the end, in order to appease his daughter, Tong agreed to make her a pine-colored spring dress in the future.

The formal clothes were decided, and a few cloaks and cloaks were made, because this year it was windy and snowy, and they would definitely be able to be used when going out, and this kind of clothing could be used for several years. Shuning had an idea at this time. She envied the winter cloaks worn by several heroines in "The Golden Branch" for more than a day or two, and even bought a small purple cape with a fluffy style that resembled it, a bargain of 29 yuan, but the design of the sleeved cloak was the same, and she wore it almost every winter before she came here. She can't remember the style of the cloak in "The Golden Branch", but she remembers that the neckline and cuffs have white fluffy trims, sleeves, satin surfaces, and a few fluffy balls hanging from them. But she remembered the small cloak she often wore at home, so she hurriedly found a pen and paper, drew a general style, explained it to Tong and Mrs. Liu, and proposed to make fluffy trim and balls.

After Tong Shi understood, he was also interested, and Mrs. Liu praised a few words of "good novelty style", and agreed to do it. Tong Shi stopped her, lowered his head and calculated for a long time, and ordered to make a few more pieces of rouge silk and a few pieces of red woven gold satin, and do it first. This year, the gifts to the concubines and nieces of the Earl's Mansion in the capital have been settled.

On the tenth day of the lunar month, three carts filled with wine, meat, live deer and several large bags of corn, potatoes, soybeans and peanuts, plus a large carriage loaded with sheepskin and tiger skins, new cloaks and twelve silk and two boxes of purses, the four carts were full of local camels and Changfu and his wife, plus Ma San'er and two hired coachmen, drove out of Fengtian City and headed in the direction of the capital.

Shuning's own new cloak didn't take until the eighteenth day of the lunar month. Touching the smooth red satin, as well as a few small fluffy white balls hanging from the chest, cuffs and hem, she happily thought about things for several years, and in modern times she didn't know where to go, so she could only wear a bargain for 29 yuan to get by, and now she finally wore the real thing!!

Xiao Tao touched the new cloak on the side, envious, and kept saying "It's so beautiful". Shuning ignored her, she was going to Zhou's house tomorrow as a guest, so she wore it to show off to her good friends!

As a result, the next day, it was a show-off, but the new cloak was almost stripped off. There were a few young ladies from other families in the Zhou family, all of whom were 8 to 13 or 4 years old, and it was the time to love beauty. Not only them, but even Mrs. Zhou and his family's two concubines were also hot. Shuning had no choice but to take off her cloak so that they could see it clearly, so that they could find someone to do it. She won't wear it out again before the New Year, otherwise her clothes will be robbed before the New Year.

In this era and place where there was little entertainment in the boudoir, a fresh and beautiful style of clothing soon spread. When you go to the street during the Chinese New Year, almost all the streets are covered with sleeved cloaks with fluffy balls, and there are various colors and fabrics.

The second sister-in-law came back early this year, and arrived home on the 28th of the lunar month. She talked about the Earl's Mansion in Beijing, the tiger skin was so big that the old man was pleased, and several grandmothers and young ladies who got the new-style cloak were also very happy, and the new cloak embroidered with gold on the brown background made for her wife made her stand out in the gathering of the ladies in Beijing.

The second sister-in-law brought other news. Tong's uncle Tong Guowei entered the upper study, her father had to be appointed as a waiter in the Ministry of Works, and her brother Wen'an was also awarded the Hubu Langzhong, and her mother's family finally returned to the court. In the Earl's Palace, Zhang Bao's second brother Xingbao fell down and was injured while arguing with people on horseback, and had to retire from the army, and because the backstage of the person who was arguing with him was obstructed, he didn't even turn into a civilian job, and he had been idle at home for more than half a year, but he didn't tell Zhang Bao in the letter.

A month ago, in order to fight for his breath, the old man raised 1,200 taels of silver, and entrusted the relationship between the army and the army. It's just that this position is an idle job, and it's just good-looking, so he only helps with family affairs on weekdays, and is planning to find a way to add a channel for making a fortune to his family, so he is asking for guests everywhere.

There is also a gossip that is circulated among the people of the Earl's Mansion, that is, Shuning's eldest brother and her eldest son Qingning, the eldest son of her uncle Jinbao, has turned 15 years old, and the family is looking at a suitable marriage partner for him, Niu Hulu and Zhaojia each have a young lady of the right age, one is a famous family for generations, and the other is a high-ranking official's relatives, the eldest uncle and his wife are still hesitating, I don't know which one to choose, and Qingning himself has taken a fancy to the sister-in-law of Concubine Min Zhang Jia, but this girl has an extraordinary family background, and there is a noble sister who is rightly favored in the palace, I'm afraid that Qingning won't be able to climb high, but he just doesn't give up, but the girl doesn't take him to heart.

The family spent the New Year in the midst of discussions about all this gossip. This year is better than before, not only the conditions in Shuning's family have improved, but even the faces of the poor people walking on the road have also looked better, and many people have taken advantage of the New Year to go out shopping in neat and clean clothes. After the success of the trial planting of potatoes, corn and peanuts in the past two years, Zhou Fucheng took the lead, on the one hand, to promote the planting method to some farmers, on the other hand, to teach people to make a lot of food snacks with these crops as raw materials, so there are many stalls selling snacks on the street, some selling peanut candy, some selling vermicelli soup, some selling boiled corn, some selling potato cakes, many people buy to eat, and even the poor will spend one or two dollars to buy some sugar cubes for their children to enjoy.

On the tenth day of the new year, Shuning wore new clothes and took Xiao Tao to the gate of the Zhou family. She and Zhou Yinlan had already made an appointment to go to the street today to buy various colors of paper and pigments for the Lantern Festival lanterns. Zhou Yinlan also wore a red cloak and brought Yahuan Ying'er and two family members with her. The two little girls were wearing bright red cloaks, combing neat braids, wearing beautiful silk flowers, lined with untidy lines, and both raised cute smiling faces, and even the shopkeeper laughed softly when they saw it, for fear of abruptly abrupt the two little ladies.

The two had just come out of the pen and paper shop, and a few maiden family members followed behind with a few large bundles of things. At that moment, a fiery figure floated past them, and with the neighing of horses, the man stopped in front of them. The two girls looked at each other, and it turned out to be the beautiful Miss Su, and they hurriedly greeted her.

Miss Su was arrogant when she first met, but she was actually a very straightforward person when she got along. She jumped off her horse and walked over, saying, "Where's shopping?" Just like that, the two streets are still eye-catching, and I'm tired of strolling around. He turned to Shu Ning and said, "It's not common for the young lady of Lord Zhang Bao's family to come to my house to play more on weekdays." She pointed to the big red cloak on her body, "I heard that it is a new style that you have come up with, I like it when I see it, it is much more convenient than the old style, and when riding a horse, it will not be blown up by the wind, and it will make people's necks hurt, and it is as cold as not tying it." Shuning smiled and smiled with her, and then she greeted her, turned around and rode away.

Zhou Yinlan looked at her distant figure and said enviously: "Sometimes I really admire this Sister Su, I heard that her work is no worse than that of a man, although she looks like she is not easy to get along with, she is actually a straightforward and kind person." Shuning nodded: "That's right, last time I saw her meet a able-bodied beggar, so I stepped forward to scold him for wanting to get something for nothing, and scolded the man so much that he was ashamed and cried, and then I heard the person on the side say that the man went to the street to ask for money because his mother was seriously ill and had no money for treatment, so he immediately took out ten taels of silver and gave him a doctor. Although she has a bad temper, she is a good person. ”

As he was talking, another ride came from behind, chasing after Miss Su's back. Someone next to him privately discussed: "Look, it's the brother-in-law of Prince Xian's son, and he is pestering the young lady again." "Isn't it? He can't be literate, and he also has the face to climb our Fengtian flowers? "Why can't it be? He still has Prince Xian as a backer, how can he be like you, the ordinary people, just take a look at the flowers of Fengtian. "So what? Don't you just take a look? Do you dare to pick it? "Stop arguing, what's there to be noisy about? I heard that Miss Su has promised the nobles of the capital, and the brother-in-law of Prince Xian's son can only watch it. ”

……