Chapter 701: Chapter 604: Home for the New Year

Chapter 604

As the New Year festival drew near, Grandpa, Uncle Jiaobao, and Jiang Junlin stopped going up the mountain. They stayed home to do chores and organize the herb storeroom in the small mountain garden.

Xiao Man, Gu Shaoqin, Da Zhi, and the others went up the mountain to see Zheng Shaolian’s mountainside villa. They discovered the plantation had been expanded quite a bit. The herb seedlings had all been transplanted from the small mountain garden and were irrigated with spring water from the mountain. They were growing exceptionally well. Whether looking up from the foot of the mountain or down from halfway up, the view was a magnificent and delightful sea of lush green. The workers’ dormitories and garage were built at the foot of the mountain, while a watchtower stood higher up. Guards were posted there with four wolfhounds, each as tall and strong as a calf—vigorous, alert, and fierce. An ordinary person would never dare to steal the herbs, and even an extraordinary one would have to think twice before taking the risk.

They grew vegetables and raised chickens on the mountain. Once the New Year pigs were slaughtered, sending some fresh pork, mutton, duck, and goose up would be enough for them to celebrate the festival.

Now that he had a bit of free time, Grandpa started muttering again, wondering if anyone else was coming home for the festival. If Grandma hadn’t stopped him from making calls, worried he’d disturb their work, he probably would have phoned every single one of them to ask.

Xiao Man also really wanted to call Gu Shaojun, but she held back. Gu Shaojun knew she was on break and had returned to the South for the festival. At the time, he had said on the phone that he was too busy to get away, but he also seemed to hint at something. So, Xiao Man calmed herself and waited in quiet anticipation, hoping her wish wouldn’t be in vain.

From the twenty-sixth to the twenty-ninth of the last lunar month, the festive atmosphere was especially thick. Almost every household in the village slaughtered a New Year pig. Relatives and neighbors invited each other over for meals and exchanged gifts, filling the air with boisterous cheer and endless laughter.

On days like these, the men had a rare break. Besides drinking, they gathered to chat about everything from national affairs on the TV news to neighborhood gossip, or they would discuss the past and present and tell all sorts of jokes. The women, however, were incredibly busy. The pork from the New Year pig that couldn’t be eaten right away had to be smoked into cured meat. They also had to steam glutinous rice to pound into sticky rice cakes, wrap zongzi, boil red eggs, fry tea cakes, fry pork belly for kou rou and meatballs, and slaughter chickens and ducks to prepare offerings for the ancestors... There were countless things to do. Chores like cleaning the house, inviting the door gods, pasting couplets, and buying firecrackers were left to the children.

Xiao Man and Xinghua also busied themselves for two days, making all sorts of delicious food. Eventually, Grandma and Yu Wumei shooed them out of the kitchen, saying that during the New Year, young ladies shouldn’t be cooped up in the kitchen all day. They should dress up nicely and go have fun.

Sure enough, Xinghua changed into her new clothes and happily went out to have fun. She and Jiang Junlin were a pair, so of course, Xiao Man couldn’t tag along and be a third wheel. Gu Shaoqin had been led astray by Da Zhi, Mo Zhiyuan, and the others these past few days, running wild and disappearing into some mountain cave. So, Xiao Man had no choice but to resume her role as the queen of the kids, leading a pack of girls like Qiuyan and Jiang Xuehua as they roamed around the village to see the sights.

And they could only walk and watch, because no one had time to entertain her or hang out. Guan Ailan and Mo Shuixia were the eldest daughters in their families and had to help in the kitchen, too busy to stop. Mo Linghui, on the other hand, didn’t have to do chores. She was completely focused on knitting a sweater for her sweetheart. She had promised he’d have a new vest to wear when school started, so she couldn’t waste time having fun!

Watching Mo Linghui meticulously knit, stitch by stitch, Xiao Man was struck by a thought: ’I have a boyfriend too. Shouldn’t I be knitting something for him?’

In her past life, she had only known manual labor when she was young and was clueless about any handicrafts. Later, after moving to the city, machine-knitted sweaters became incredibly common after the 90s. They were beautiful and sturdy, making time-consuming, slow-to-produce handmade knitwear basically obsolete. But this was still the 1980s. A hand-knitted sweater was hailed as a "brand of warmth." For a man in a relationship to receive a sweater or scarf meticulously knitted by his girlfriend was something truly worth showing off!

’Looks like I’ll have to learn,’ Xiao Man thought to herself. ’I should knit a sweater or a vest for Gu Shaojun. Even a scarf would be good.’

On the evening of New Year’s Eve, after Grandpa led Mo Jiabao and the children in making offerings to the ancestors in the incense hall, Dapeng lit two of the countless long strings of firecrackers that hung down from the upper floor. As for the rest, they followed Gu Shaoqin’s suggestion to save them for midnight. Xiao Man watched the boys, who had nothing better to do, run up and down the stairs fiddling with the firecrackers, thinking they were being silly. ’If the firecrackers are exposed to the air for too long, they’ll get damp, and the sound and force will be greatly diminished. And what if it starts to snow or rain...’

However, the strings of crimson firecrackers cascading down from the roof did look quite pretty and festive, so Xiao Man couldn’t be bothered to say anything. Let them do as they please. It would be a good show for everyone.

A little after seven, a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner was laid out in the main hall. Everyone gathered around the table, their faces beaming with festive joy, ready to share the feast. The large color TV was on, and although it wasn’t time for the Spring Festival Gala yet, the program was already a joyous and peaceful scene of singing and dancing.

Grandpa had Dapeng and Qiuyan fill all the cups on the table with wine and drinks. Imitating Grandpa Gu and Grandpa Tang from Beijing, he gave a pre-dinner speech. When he finished, Jiang Junlin very seriously led everyone in applause. It all seemed quite proper. Grandpa and Grandma were blooming with joy, and Xiao Man’s eyes crinkled with laughter.

After the first toast, everyone raised their chopsticks and began to eat. Xiao Man picked up a piece of chicken and placed it in her bowl, then paused. She once again released her Divine Sense, scanning in all directions. Suddenly, she threw down her chopsticks and exclaimed joyfully to Grandpa, "Grandpa, someone’s back! Listen, a car is coming!"

With that, she jumped up and ran outside. Gu Shaoqin followed close behind, and everyone else left their seats to run out the door too. Grandma said to Yu Wumei, "It’s probably Shaojun. Coming all the way from the provincial city in this bitter cold... young people are impatient, he must have been speeding the whole way. He’ll be frozen stiff. See if there’s any hot water. If not, hurry and boil some!"

"Yes, yes! The big stove for heating water hasn’t been out all day! Everyone used it to wash their hair and bathe, and Xinghua even used hot water for laundry. I just added another big pot, it’s probably about to boil!" Yu Wumei replied as she rushed to the kitchen. She had to get the hot water ready so it could be used the moment he walked in.

Grandma’s guess was right. It was indeed Gu Shaojun in the approaching car.

Xiao Man opened the iron gate and ran to the entrance, jumping up and down with joy. The sky was clear, but the wind was bitingly cold, blowing with a WHOOSH. The large group of people who had followed her out hadn’t bothered to grab their coats and were all hunching their shoulders. Jiang Junlin pulled Xinghua into his arms. She craned her neck to peer down the road, toward the approaching headlights, and marveled to herself: ’Grandpa wasn’t lying. The longer you practice kung fu, the better your hearing gets! It seems little sister Xiao Man has really mastered her skills. The car was so far away, yet she could hear it from inside the house!’

The car quickly drew near. The door opened, and surprisingly, the first person to get out was Gu Shaozhen. Xiao Man knew who he was, but everyone else was a bit surprised. Grandpa beamed as he went forward to clap Gu Shaozhen on the shoulder. He had thought only Gu Shaojun was coming; having one more person return made him ecstatic.

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