flstandardbreds Chapter 358 Coming to Pay New Year's Greetings to the Township Lord
Chapter 358 Coming to Pay New Year's Greetings to the Township Lord
In the end, Grand Tutor Li officially recognized Xia Yu as his granddaughter.
They couldn't sleep after dinner; they had to stay up all night to welcome the New Year. They moved from the garden to the flower hall, where the fire wall had been lit.
Xia Yu took out a deck of homemade playing cards, and the five of them played Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) with two decks of cards. The loser had lines drawn on their face with a charcoal pencil. At first, Li Taifu was unfamiliar with the rules and had two lines drawn on his face. After the third round, the old man seemed to enter a beginner's protection period and didn't lose a single game.
When the New Year's firecrackers sounded, Zhang Youtie's face had the most lines, followed by Xia Yu's, whose face had been painted with several cat whiskers by Chang Yun. Chang Yun and Liu Shi also had lines on their faces, but Li Taifu's face was the cleanest. The group exchanged glances, and bursts of laughter echoed from the flower hall.
The sound of firecrackers signifies the end of staying up all night, and it's time to eat and go to sleep.
The servants brought in several bowls of dumplings. They said several bowls, but each bowl only contained three dumplings. Everyone ate a little, then went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next day, New Year's Day, Xia Yu dressed up in new clothes and took Changyun to pay New Year's respects to Grand Tutor Li early in the morning.
As soon as Li Taifu opened the door, two big, smiling faces appeared before him.
When Xia Yu saw the person come out, she knelt down in front of Li Taifu with a "thump" and said, "Grandpa, may you reach new heights, have abundance every year, be safe and sound every year, have great fortune and prosperity, and have everything go as you wish. Congratulations on your fortune, give me a red envelope!" After reciting the auspicious words, Xia Yu kowtowed three more times.
"Haha, your auspicious words may sound a bit strange, but they're quite novel." As he spoke, he pulled out a pre-wrapped red envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Xia Yu.
“Thank you, Grandpa!”
Grand Tutor Li then looked at Changyun, waiting for him to say auspicious words.
Changyun blushed slightly, but still bowed deeply to Grand Tutor Li.
"May the teacher always smile in the spring breeze and live a long and healthy life in the human world."
"Good, good, good indeed! May he live a long and healthy life as an immortal in the mortal world." Grand Tutor Li exclaimed happily, then took out a red envelope and handed it to Changyun in the same manner.
Seeing that his brother had also received a red envelope, Xia Yu said to Grandfather Li, "Grandpa, please wash up first, let's go wish our parents a Happy New Year!"
After saying this, she grabbed Changyun and ran off without waiting for him to bow to the Grand Tutor.
Watching Changyun being dragged along by Xia Yu and staggering out of the courtyard, the Grand Tutor shook his head with a smile and sighed, "This girl..."
Breakfast consisted of four different kinds of dumplings: mushroom and pork, lamb and scallion, spinach, egg and dried shrimp, and a three-delicacy filling. They were all delicious; Xia Yu only regretted that her stomach was too small, as she could only eat three or four of each before feeling full.
As in previous years, after the meal, the servants took turns coming up to wish their masters a Happy New Year, and Madam Liu distributed red envelopes to everyone.
Before this was even over, the first group of children from the village arrived to offer New Year's greetings. Because the Liu family gave the children copper coins every year, these children loved visiting Xia Yu's house to wish them a Happy New Year.
Aunt Ma and a few other women first took out several plates of melon seeds, peanuts, and fruit, filling the little children's pockets, and then told them that their grandmother (mother) would be out in a little while, so they could eat the snacks and wait.
So when Liu finished handing out the red envelopes from the house, a bunch of little kids had already gathered outside the gate, waiting to offer their New Year's greetings.
When they saw the person who would give them New Year's money come out, they swarmed around her, calling her "Grandma" and "Empress." Liu Shi even heard someone call her "Auntie." Upon closer inspection, she realized it was none other than Chang Le from her second sister-in-law's family.
"Alright, everyone gets one. Line up and come one by one," Liu said gently to the group of little ones.
Upon hearing her words, some of the older people stepped forward to form a line. They put the younger people in front and the older people in the back.
Li stuffed five copper coins into the pockets of each child who came forward, and naturally did the same for Chang Le.
Chang Le obediently said to Madam Liu
"Thank you, Auntie," and then ran off with the other children. Nowadays, the villagers are better off, and many families will give a copper coin to the children who come to pay New Year's visits. As for whether their own family makes a profit or a loss, no one cares too much. It only happens once a year, and the goal is to make everyone happy.
Grand Tutor Li stood aside, hands tucked into his sleeves, watching this scene with great curiosity. He had never seen anything like it before.
"Did Changyun and Xiaxia also go out to pay New Year's visits like this when they were little?" Li Taifu asked Zhang Youtie beside him.
"Yes, they all ran like that when they were kids, but back then the village didn't have any money. At most, they could get a few pieces of malt sugar, a couple of handfuls of sesame seeds, or peanuts they roasted themselves."
After welcoming several groups of children offering New Year's greetings, and figuring they had all arrived, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi prepared to visit the old house. However, they hadn't gone far when they encountered several carriages heading in their direction.
As they approached, they saw the first carriage stop beside them. Just as they were wondering who had arrived, a plump figure leaned out of the carriage.
"Brother Jin." Zhang Youtie knew who it was as soon as he saw the chubby, golden figure. It was Jin Duoduo, the owner of the Good Luck Restaurant in town.
To everyone's surprise, after Jin Duoduo got out of the car, she didn't come over to exchange pleasantries with Zhang Youtie as usual. Instead, she bent over, lifted her clothes, and knelt down in front of Xia Yu.
"This humble citizen, Jin Duoduo, greets Lord Wenfu."
Following Jin Duoduo's kneeling, several other people knelt down before Xia Yu, chanting...
"This humble subject, xxx, pays his respects to Lord Wenfu."
Xia Yu, who hadn't reacted at first, finally came to her senses and hurriedly reached out to help the person on the ground, but her outstretched hand was pressed down by Li Taifu beside her.
Only then did Xia Yu vaguely remember some rules, and she quickly stood up straight, speaking solemnly to the person kneeling on the ground.
"Uncles and elders, please rise."
Upon hearing Xia Yu's words, the people on the ground gradually got up.
"Brother Jin, Brother Zhao, Brother Li, what brings you all here today?" Zhang Youtie only remembered that his daughter was now a village lady with a title when they knelt down.
"Several of us commoners made a special arrangement to come together today to pay our respects to our village head."
"You're too kind, uncles. Just call me Xiaxia as usual when you see me in the future. There's no need to be so polite." Xia Yu felt a little uncomfortable with this.
"Propriety must not be disregarded. It is already an honor for this humble person to meet the village head; I would never dare to ask for anything more," Jin Duoduo said.
The people following behind quickly echoed.
"Yes, etiquette must not be disregarded."
The other villagers standing on the road were also stunned by what they had just witnessed.
"Wenfu Township Lord? Was that Xiaxia they were calling just now?" Li Xiaomiao asked Tian Guihua beside her.
"I think so. Didn't they just kneel down in front of Xiaxia?" Tian Guihua said, but she still couldn't believe it.
"It's Xiaxia. They say Xiaxia is Lady Wenfu," Li Cuilan said with absolute certainty. But then she whispered, "..."
"What is a village head? Why are those landlords kneeling before Xiaxia? Are they officials?"
No one could answer her question, because they didn't know either.