On New Year's Eve, early in the morning, I could hear children chirping in the yard to post Spring Festival couplets and set off firecrackers.
There were a lot of things to do on New Year's Eve, but because there were so many people at home, it was all done in a short time.
Zhou Yunshu agreed before Shopkeeper Liang, Uncle He and the others left last night that they would all have dinner together at noon on New Year's Eve.
So after Chen Shizheng had breakfast at home, it wasn't long before Shopkeeper Liang and his family came to the house to prepare for a family dinner at noon.
All applications at home are managed by Li Jialan and Wu Yue.
The two had ordered three pigs and four sheep, plus dozens of chickens, ducks and geese half a month ago.
In one morning, the Liang family's women, the Liao family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, plus Dongge, under the command of Li Jialan and Wu Yue, prepared six tables for the banquet.
Dongpo pork, wine-steamed lamb, five-spice mutton, braised trotters, stir-fried chicken with winter bamboo shoots, eight-treasure duck, pickled plum goose, steamed fish, all kinds of meat are enough to satisfy your appetite.
Fried tofu, vegetarian bamboo shoot tips, cold lotus root slices, vegetarian yam, fresh winter melon and other vegetarian dishes can be eaten cold and paired with plum soup, pomegranate wine, and Zhuangyuanhong to stimulate body fluids and relieve fatigue.
There are two simple staple foods, dumplings and rice, and the dumplings are filled with peanuts and candies. Both adults and children who eat them are rewarded with gifts.
The guests had a great time having lunch, and it was not until Shen Shizheng in the afternoon that the yard was cleaned up, and they played in the house until early in the morning.
Shopkeeper Liang and his family had gone home in the evening, and Zhanchuan and others, who had nowhere else to go, naturally had another meal at the house.
It's just that we ate too much at noon, and everyone's appetite was not that big in the evening.
The front yard cooks a little more, including braised pork, pickled fish, winter melon braised pork ribs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, a large plate of chicken, roasted lamb, tofu mixed with spring onions, plus three pastries and countless dried fruits to make two tables. It’s simple New Year's Eve dinner.
Eating in the backyard was simpler. The children ran to the front yard to play before the table was removed, leaving only Zhou Yunshu and the others chatting with Ji Mingzhu in the main room.
The New Year's Eve was supposed to be a night vigil, but Ji Mingzhu was not in good spirits. The others were busy working and playing all day, and fell asleep before the end of the year, and Zhou Yunshu was no exception.
Zhou Yunshu was woken up by the sound of firecrackers in the morning. Xixi was beside her, her red face was so warm that Zhou Yunshu couldn't help but kiss her.
After both mothers woke up, they rubbed themselves in bed for a while. When they tidied up and went out, Zhou Yunjia and Yuan Li Yuan Yizheng clumsily supported Zhou Yunzhi to kowtow to Ji Mingzhu.
Zhou Yunshu and others have kowtowed to the end of their lives, and it is Yuan Li, Yuanyi and others who are the younger ones.
Zhou Yunshu looked across at Wu Yue, who had red eyes and was trying not to let tears fall. She wanted to sigh, but she felt that it was not good to sigh on the first day of the new year.
Ji Mingzhu looked at the children surrounding her with loving eyes, and only when she saw them did she feel alive in herself.
"When the house in Dongchuan is completed, we can spend this year in our new home."
Ji Mingzhu said, looking at Zhou Yunshu's belly, "I think this year will be the year for the introduction of new children."
Everyone looked at Zhou Yunshu's belly with smiles. Only Xixi frowned and didn't know what she was thinking.
"Mom." Wu Yue looked at Ji Mingzhu and said, "Yunjia is not young anymore. Are we going to marry him this year?"
It is common to get married at the age of sixteen these days, but before Zhou Yunjia was the youngest in the family, everyone felt that he could choose his wife slowly and not in a hurry.
It’s not too late to finish your studies first or get a degree first and then get married.
But now that the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion has been confiscated and the Zhou family is incognito, Zhou Yunjia's identity is no longer suitable for taking the imperial examination.
Unable to pass the imperial examination and the situation at home was like this, Wu Yue thought about whether to arrange Zhou Yunjia's marriage first.
In this way, after Zhou Yunjia gets married, she will give birth to several grandchildren, and the second room will be more lively.
Ji Mingzhu did not directly answer Wu Yue's words, but smiled and looked at Zhou Yunjia, who was looking at her mother and hesitated to speak, "Yunjia, what do you mean?"
Zhou Yunjia glanced at his mother and hesitated for a moment before speaking out what was in his heart.
"I think I'm still young, so I can take my time."
Although everyone thinks that his role in the Zhou family is more to carry on the family line, he now feels that in addition to carrying on the family line, he can also help his eldest brother and third sister in other ways, and can also help them support the Zhou family.
He doesn't want to worry about his lifelong affairs for the time being.
And then...
"I feel that the current situation in our family is not suitable for a new person to join."
When Zhou Yunshu and Zhou Yunzhi heard Zhou Yunjia say these words, they looked at each other in surprise and then looked at Zhou Yunjia.
Their little brother, who had never worried about family matters before, could actually think of this.
Indeed, now is the time when the Zhou family needs to keep a low profile, especially now that they have not really established a foothold in Haizhou. It is not the most appropriate time to marry Zhou Yunjia at this time.
"Grandma, mother."
Zhou Yunjia stood in the middle of the main room, looked at the elders and his brothers and sisters in the room, and said seriously: "I know my contribution to the family is limited, but I still want to do something."
"I don't have any ideas about my future wife. As long as she can help our family, I'll do it."
In the past, the Zhenbei Prince's Palace was so powerful that their daughters could marry into high-ranking families, but the daughters-in-law who married into the family only wanted to be clean.
For example, Li Jialan's natal family had little power; Wu Yue's father was just a clean official.
When it comes to Zhou Yunzhi's generation, whether it's Fang Huiwen or Wu Gui, their family status is still not high.
The purpose of the Zhou family's doing this was to tell the emperor that they had no intention of taking a further step in the high-ranking family through marriage.
But obviously, regardless of whether they have this intention or not, if the emperor doesn't like you, he can still find a hundred reasons to kill you.
Zhou Yunjia didn't care about such things, but family marriages around him were normal.
Therefore, he is willing to hand over his marriage to his grandmother, or to be more precise, to Zhou Yunshu. After all, Zhou Yunshu is now the head of the Zhou family.
"Jia'er, you have grown up." Ji Mingzhu looked at Zhou Yunjia happily.
You know, among these grandchildren, Ji Mingzhu has the least requirements for this young man, but she did not expect that one day he would start to have requirements for herself.
Wu Yue, who was standing aside, looked at her sensible little son and could no longer control the tears in her eyes.
How dare I think that this fool would understand this before.
"However, after all, your wife is the one who wants to be with you for the rest of your life. If you really choose someone in the future, you still have to nod."
Don't be like the marriage between Yun Hai and Wu Gui, which caused a disagreement between father and son.
