On the New Year's Eve dinner table, in addition to pigs, sheep, beef, and chicken, there were also crabs and shrimps. Qingyan also asked Qiu Henian to order a large pot of their famous seabass from the Southern Restaurant in the county.
I have only heard people say that this thing is extremely delicious. Such a pot is worth a lot of money. I would be reluctant to eat it on weekdays, but only eat it once during the Chinese New Year.
Near midnight, the sound of firecrackers outside made Jin Dou wake up from his sleep and started crying loudly.
Qingyan held him in her arms and coaxed him for a long time before he stopped crying, but he couldn't let him go anymore. As long as his back touched the bed, he would deflate, even if he was put in his favorite cradle.
There were many people in the house, so he looked at each one curiously. When his father took him over, he stared at his father's face.
Qiu Henian held the child in his arms and asked Qingyan to have a good meal. He said that if he didn't drink too much, he really didn't drink much tonight, and he didn't let Sanyao pour the wine when it was measured.
Sanyao was in the mood for drinking and tried to persuade him to drink. Seeing that he really didn't want to drink, he stopped trying and sat down to drink slowly by himself.
Now that the three Lao Wang families are together, unlike the previous generation, it is his second brother who makes the final decision on everything, just like the elders, and the third brother does not dare to make trouble with him like he did with his brothers.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, everyone packed up, said auspicious words to each other, and then left.
Qing Yan and Qiu Henian did not rest. They put on Jin Dou in a thick cotton jacket and trousers, a tiger-head hat and tiger-head shoes. They also wrapped Jin Dou in two layers of blankets and covered her tightly. , only showing a small face.
The couple held the child and went outside to the river.
There were also people on the road in the latter half of the night, all of whom were families with children, either holding or holding their children as they went out.
The New Year tradition in Liuxi Village is to take the children to roll on the ice on the river after watching the New Year, and roll a few times on the ice to bring good health and safety for the next year.
The weather in the north is very cold in winter, and the river is not deep. It is really freezing at this time, so there is no need to worry about being unsafe.
On the thirtieth day of every year, the village chief will have people come over to clear the snow from the shallowest section of the river and expose the ice surface. The villagers do not need to notify them. They do this every year, one after another, naturally. knew.
When the couple arrived at the place, they saw clusters of oil lamps flickering on the river. There were already many children rolling on the ice, laughing while rolling. Some people were setting off fireworks, which lit up the sky from time to time. There is a faint smell of gunpowder in it.
Although the weather was very cold in the second half of the night, the lively scene seemed to make people forget about the cold.
The couple found an open space and put down the lantern. Qiu Henian put the golden beans in his arms on the ice. The child curiously kicked his legs in his swaddling clothes. His father's big hands supported his shoulders and back, protecting his little one. Face, let him roll around and around on the ice. Qingyan was beside him like other parents. As the child rolled, he muttered: "Get away from the bad ones, and come up from the good ones."
After rolling the ice, more and more fireworks were set off, and Qiu Henian also set off the two fireworks he had brought.
Fireworks soared into the sky and exploded in mid-air. The colorful colors instantly reflected on the ice, which was extremely beautiful.
After watching the fireworks with the child, Qiu Henian hugged the child and asked Qingyan to put the hand that was covered with gizzards in his arm to support. The family of three carefully left the ice and went home.
...
During the Lantern Festival on the eighth and fifteenth day of the new year, Qingyan went to the store and gave the golden beans to his father.
It was a good time again at the beginning of this year. People gradually had more money in their hands. All kinds of shops on the street were doing well, and the shopkeepers of each shop were all smiling.
Xiangyunfang's business was particularly good. When there were too many people, Qingyan had to ask Sanyao, who came to help, to organize a queue to limit the number of people entering for fear of accidents going up and downstairs.
After the fifteenth day, Qingyan stayed at home for another month. In January, Jindou turned three months old, and he went to the store every day with his child in his arms.
Jin Dou Hui turned over, her big head led the way, and her small body followed. With her head tilted, she turned over. Aunt Li laughed when she saw it.
At this time, as long as he is awake, someone has to watch. If Qingyan is busy, other people in the store will watch for him. The milk goats are raised in the back of the store, and each of them has become an expert at milking.
...
At the end of January, bad news came.
First, in a teahouse in the county, there was a storyteller from the Great North who said that years ago, there were wild wolf tribesmen on the border and plundered the cattle and sheep of some herdsmen on the border, and also robbed several women and brothers. Son.
The New Year was not celebrated over at Fengyuguan, and firecrackers were not set off. During the entire Spring Festival, people inside and outside the city walls were on guard.
At that time, everyone in the teahouse changed their expressions after hearing the news. Those two years of war were not a catastrophe for the people of Muling County and even the villages below, but they actually suffered from hunger for two years. No one wants to live a life of only one meal.
It doesn't matter that the older ones are suffering, but the children at home are also skinny and sallow, don't have enough food to eat, can't grow up, and are all short and small. How can parents not feel distressed.
But this is just a storyteller's statement and may not be credible.
The wealthy households in the county began to frequently go to the county government office to inquire, but the new county magistrate refused to say anything and was sent back.
The rich people were sensitive to the fact that something might really be wrong, and secretly made preparations in private.
Soon, even ordinary people realized something was wrong.
The price of grain and oil on the market has risen rapidly, and even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it. Before the grain and oil shop opened, people lined up at the door before dawn.
Although the county government posted several notices and government officials tried to convince them that there was no war at the border and they were just on alert as usual, it was useless.
When the news of this incident first spread, there were many visitors in Xiangyunfang, and Qingyan soon found out.
Aunt Li and the others were all worried, fearing that the days that had finally begun to get better would be over.
Qingyan had known that there would be such a trouble, and Yang Huai used this trouble as an excuse to wrongly accuse Qiu Henian.
There are things that happened before the Spring Festival on the other side of the border, and the storyteller did not lie or exaggerate.
When this happened, there was a huge quarrel among the officials in the court. Finally, the emperor made the decision and sent people to the border to mediate and asked the wild wolf to return the people and compensate for the cattle and sheep they had stolen.
The Wild Wolf tribe has always been fierce, and it is hard to say whether this matter can be discussed or not.
The emperor also made other preparations and hurriedly mobilized the imperial troops to act as a deterrent. Once the opponent came over, the war would officially begin.
However, according to the memory of the original owner, the battle did not happen in the end. The Wild Wolf tribe returned the people, and they did not pay for the cattle or sheep. When asked, they said they had no money to pay.
The official who made the decision at Fengyu Pass was an official sent by the imperial court. He hesitated for two days. In the end, the imperial court paid for the compensation for the loss of herdsmen. The families of the abducted women and brothers also paid compensation. .
Let this matter be over.
The emperor knew about it and didn't say anything. It would be a waste of money and people, and it would be hard for everyone. The wild wolf returned the man, which was already a sign of weakness, so let it go.
But in fact, the Wild Wolf has not yet returned the people, and the border is still tense.
Although Qingyan was aware of the subsequent development, he still could not calm Aunt Li's worries and could only try his best to persuade them.
After Qiu Henian learned the news, he frowned and remained silent for a long time.
Qingyan thought he was just like Aunt Li and others, worried about the future.
But a few days later, Qiu Henian received a letter that made Qingyan understand what his silence at that time meant.
The letter was sent by Lao Huang from Fengyu Pass. He reminded in the letter that the situation in Fengyu Pass was tense. Once the war broke out, the number of forbidden troops transferred by the court in a hurry was not enough, and the common people who had served as soldiers in the past might be recruited back to the army.