EBE Chapter 60 Chinese New Year
Chapter 60 Chinese New Year
Early in the morning, Song Jiaojiao got up. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, she ate dumplings and glutinous rice balls. After breakfast, she opened the courtyard gate early and laid out the melon seeds and candies she had bought. She also prepared a lot of small red envelopes, which would be useful when the village children came to pay their respects.
There were still firecracker debris from last night in the yard. As the old saying goes, you shouldn't sweep the floor on the first day of the Lunar New Year, or you'll sweep away your wealth.
The little devils outside had been loitering around Song Jiaojiao's courtyard for a while. As soon as they saw Song Jiaojiao's door open, they all came over to wish her a Happy New Year.
"Happy New Year, Aunt Song (Grandma Song)! I wish you good health, great wealth, peace and happiness throughout the four seasons, and continued success in the coming year."
The children spoke auspicious words in their tender voices, and their faces beamed with smiles.
Song Jiaojiao was surprised to find herself already a grandmother. After regaining her senses, she repeatedly said "okay," grabbed a handful of candy from each of the little devils' pockets, and gave each of them a small red envelope.
After saying auspicious words and receiving the gifts, the children skipped and hopped off to visit the next household to offer New Year's greetings.
After the little devils left, Wang Hefan, along with Mu Qing and Mu Xue, came to kowtow to Song Jiaojiao to wish her a Happy New Year and ask for red envelopes.
"May Mother enjoy lasting happiness and health, be blessed with all fortunes, be surrounded by auspicious clouds, and be graced by auspicious stars and celebratory clouds," the three siblings knelt and kowtowed in unison.
Looking at the three siblings in front of her, Song Jiaojiao remembered that when she first arrived, apart from Wang Hefan, who looked like a normal 15-year-old, Mu Qing and Mu Xue were much shorter than their peers.
"Alright, alright, it's the New Year, and Muqing is almost fourteen now. She looks like she's fourteen now. Here, these are red envelopes for you."
"Thank you, Mother." The three siblings accepted their red envelopes with beaming smiles.
Mu Xue quickly opened the red envelope in her hand and saw that it contained one or two taels of silver. "Mother, so much! Is this for me?"
"Yes, this is your New Year's money. Keep it safe!" Song Jiaojiao said happily.
Song Jiaojiao looked at Mu Xue, who was waving her arms and legs in front of her. She looked much taller than before, and her face had become fuller. Now she looked like an eight-year-old child.
After the three siblings left, Xu Da and Xu Fang, along with their servants, came to wish Song Jiaojiao a Happy New Year. They said in unison, "May Madam have all her wishes fulfilled, and may she prosper in all four seasons."
Song Jiaojiao said with a smug look, "Okay, Happy New Year. I hope you will work even harder next year and make our family even better. Here is your red envelope."
Song Jiaojiao handed the red envelope to Xu Fang, instructing her to distribute it. "Yes, madam, I will follow your instructions."
Overjoyed to receive the red envelopes, Song Jiaojiao told everyone to go about their business.
Time quickly passed to the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Song Jiaojiao gathered everyone together, said some encouraging words, gave each worker a red envelope as a start to the workday, and then left the workshop.
Today was also the day the village chief brought people to build the workshop. Song Jiaojiao had already handed over the blueprints to the village chief. Looking at the workers working hard, with more than a month left before spring planting, the village chief had found a lot of people. On the first day, they dug one-third of the cellar. At this rate, as long as the weather is good, it can be completely finished.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Song Jiaojiao and Xu Da went to town. They had spent too much money recently and didn't have much savings left, so they had to take out half of the white fungus from their space to sell. Some of the white fungus was dried by Song Jiaojiao in the drying room.
Huichuntang did not close for the holiday. As a pharmacy, there are always staff on duty, even on the first day of the Lunar New Year, just in case patients are delayed.
"Happy New Year, Manager Liu," Song Jiaojiao greeted Manager Liu, who was standing behind the medicine cabinet.
"Oh my, what a rare guest, Madam Song! Let's have some fun together!" Manager Liu greeted Song Jiaojiao as he emerged from behind the medicine cabinet.
"It's perfect timing that Madam Song is here, so I don't need to go looking for you separately. The medicinal seeds that Madam Song asked me to bring last time have just arrived today. Come, let's go to the backyard to talk."
Song Jiaojiao followed Manager Liu to the backyard, where Manager Liu instructed the shop's apprentice to bring over the medicinal seeds.
"This is all we can collect for now. See if it's helpful to you, Madam Song. However, some of the seeds are not suitable for planting here."
Song Jiaojiao looked at the miscellaneous seeds inside, unable to distinguish one from another. With the space present, there were no unsuitable seeds.
"Thank you, Manager Liu. That's why I set up a greenhouse. I want to see if it will be successful. It's mainly an experiment," Song Jiaojiao said casually, making up an excuse.
"If Madam Song succeeds, you should think of me first. Madam Song, you must have come here today for something, right?"
"As expected, I couldn't hide it from Manager Liu. I did come here today because of something. This is some white fungus that I picked on the mountain a while ago. Do you need it, Manager Liu?"
Song Jiaojiao took out the dried white fungus. The white fungus grown in the space was of much better quality than the wild ones outside. The white fungus, which turned slightly yellow after being dried, was plump.
Shopkeeper Liu was overjoyed to see that the white fungus in front of him was much better than last time. If the last one was considered above average, this one was comparable to a top-quality product.
"Yes, yes, we need it anytime. The quality of the white fungus that Madam Song brought this time is much better. It's the best quality I've seen in years. Even the tribute items probably can't compare to this. Speaking of which, I've sent people into Qingshui Mountain before, and I've encountered quite a lot of white fungus, but I've never seen such good quality before."
"It was pure luck, but is this one more expensive than the last one?" Song Jiaojiao touched her head guiltily and quickly changed the subject.
"Of course, I'll contribute 40 taels and one mace this time." Manager Liu looked at the silver ear fungus in front of him, thinking that the Empress's birthday was approaching and the owner was worried about it. With this silver ear fungus, he could add it to the gift list.
“Alright, Manager Liu is a straightforward person, so I won’t beat around the bush.” Song Jiaojiao thought that it would be expensive by two taels at most, but she didn’t expect it to be five taels more expensive.
"Alright, I'll go get the scale. Madam Song, please wait a moment." After saying that, Manager Liu went into the shop.
Song Jiaojiao wondered if it was possible to cultivate white fungus artificially, given its high value. However, white fungus has very strict requirements for its growing environment, so it was probably not easy to cultivate.
Manager Liu carefully weighed the white fungus with a scale. "Madam Song, this totals one jin and three qian, which is 520 liang. Same as usual?"
Song Jiaojiao nodded after listening, "Okay, same as always, but give me some extra silver coins, it'll be useful for paying wages."
"Alright, I'll go prepare right away. Madam Song, please have some tea and wait a moment." With that, Manager Liu took the white fungus and hurried away.
Even the person delivering the money later wasn't Manager Liu; he must have been busy with something.
Song Jiaojiao left with the medicinal seeds and freshly minted silver coins, beaming with joy.
Now we don't have to worry about not having enough money. The greenhouse vegetables can probably be sold until early February. We're not harvesting many sweet potatoes each day right now, so we'll have to go to even farther places later.
Knowing that they would be going to the county after the fifteenth, and that their family still lacked transportation, they took Xu Da to the livestock trading center to buy a few oxcarts.