Chapter 91: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 91: New Year's Greetings
The New Year's Eve dinner at the Mo family was very sumptuous, with twelve dishes of meat and vegetables. Both families sat around the table, enjoying the food and chatting happily for nearly an hour before putting down their chopsticks to continue the vigil.
At midnight, the Mo family lit incense in the courtyard, offered fish as a sacrifice, and set off a long string of firecrackers. After everyone had eaten dumplings, the vigil was considered over.
Listening to the continuous sound of firecrackers outside, everyone yawned contentedly and returned to their rooms to sleep.
On the morning of the first day of the new year, Mo Yan and the younger generation got up early, dressed in new clothes, and went to pay New Year's respects to Mo Qingze and Li Zhong, the elders of the family.
Mo Qingze and Li Zhong were already prepared and happily took out a few red envelopes from their sleeves, giving one to each person.
Mo Yan graciously accepted the envelopes and tucked them into her waist pouch. The three youngsters couldn't wait to open theirs and found that each envelope contained half a tael of silver. They were delighted and quickly held onto them, fearing they might lose them.
After freshening up, Mo Yan cooked a pot of longevity noodles with old chicken soup for breakfast, symbolizing peace and prosperity in the new year for the family.
After finishing the delicious noodles, the six of them, carrying the New Year's gifts prepared the night before, planned to go to Liuyang Village to pay New Year's visits.
However, before they could leave, there was a knock on the courtyard gate. Mo Yan opened it and was surprised to see Lin Yong, Lin Da, and more than ten others coming to pay their respects.
"Ah, Brother Lin Da, Happy New Year to you all!"
After a moment of surprise, Mo Yan quickly welcomed them in.
Lin Yong's stern face softened slightly as he handed over two rabbits that had been cleaned already to Mo Yan. "We caught these yesterday afternoon and already marinated them."
Mo Yan accepted them with a smile and thanked him. Mo Qingze quickly invited them into the house, where they were served with snacks and tea.
Mo Yan took the rabbits into the kitchen and started making dumplings. With seventeen extra guests, they needed at least two hundred dumplings to satisfy everyone. She put two pots of water on the stove to boil and cooked four pots of dumplings before they were done.
When the steaming dumplings were served on the table, the delicious aroma aroused everyone's appetite. Lin Yong and the others, feeling famished, knew they couldn't refuse the courtesy and eagerly grabbed their chopsticks to enjoy the feast.
Having dined at the Mo family's house before, they knew the food was delicious, but they didn't expect even the ordinary dumplings to be better than those made at home. The ample fillings and rich flavor made them wish they could swallow their tongues.
Each person filled a large bowl with dumplings and soup and drank everything clean. Seeing the empty bowls on the table, they felt a bit embarrassed. After calculating how many dumplings they had eaten, they felt even more embarrassed.
Seeing that it was almost time for the hour of the snake, and knowing that the Mo family had to rush to Liuyang Village to pay respects and return in the afternoon, Lin Yong and the others didn't delay and prepared to leave after a short rest.
Mo Yan and the others quickly packed up the cured meats, sausages, and other New Year's gifts and went with them. Lin Da and the others kindly helped carry the items.
It was the first day of the new year, and there were no ox carts available on the street. They had to rely on their legs to walk to Liuyang Village. Lin Yong and the others had gotten up at the hour of the tiger, and it took them two hours to reach the Mo family's house.
Adults didn't feel tired walking with their hands empty, Mo Yan and the three older children could barely keep up, but Zhen'er, being young with short legs, couldn't hold on for more than half an hour. Mo Qingze stopped and carried him on his back, but he insisted on walking, feeling like a man and refusing to be carried.
Mo Qingze didn't care and lifted him onto his shoulders anyway. However, in the past few months, with the Mo family's good food, Zhen'er had gained quite a bit of weight. Mo Qingze, a scholar, didn't have the strength of a farmer, and carrying him for a while made him very tired.
Seeing this, Lin Yong immediately took Zhen'er and put him on his back, but his pace didn't slow down at all.
Watching from behind, Mo Yan envied them and rubbed her slightly sore legs. She decided to buy a cart after the New Year. She had been so busy before that she had forgotten about such an important matter.
They rested twice along the way and finally arrived at Liuyang Village at noon.
Li Zhong and his granddaughter, in addition to paying New Year's respects to familiar acquaintances like Lin Meng, also planned to visit the village head's house. After all, since they would be living in Liuyang Village in the future, it was necessary to have a good relationship with the village head.
Mo Yan and the others also intended to visit the village head's house, but the first place they had to pay respects to was the old Mo family's house.
Regardless of their relationship, the old head of the Mo family was Mo Qingze's second uncle by blood and an elder with close blood ties. The old head of the Mo family could close the door and refuse to let Mo Yan and the others in, but they couldn't skip paying respects to their elders.
From a distance, they saw smoke rising from the chimney of the old Mo family's house, indicating that they were cooking lunch. As the Mo family approached with their New Year's gifts, they saw the younger generation playing at the door.
Little Shi Tou was the first to notice them. He dropped the stone in his hand and ran towards them. When he reached Mo Yan, he hugged her leg and looked at Mo Qingze and the others, calling them cousin and uncle affectionately.
Mo Yan pinched his cheek, bent down, and lifted him up. Seeing that he was wearing an old, faded shirt outside and the new cotton jacket she had made for him not long ago underneath, it was clear that his family hadn't made him new clothes. Looking at Goudan and Ni'er glaring at them, also in old clothes, she knew that the old Mo family hadn't had a good New Year.
Not only had the old Mo family not had a good New Year, but ever since Mo Yongshou and Mo Yonglu were imprisoned, one of them to be exiled three thousand miles away and never return, the old Mo family hadn't had a peaceful day.
Just last night, during the New Year's Eve dinner, Hong Shi looked at the empty seats of her second and third sons and couldn't help but cry bitterly, cursing Mo Yan and her family with venomous words.
The old head of the Mo family had fallen seriously ill, and it wasn't until the past few days that he had recovered somewhat. After Hong Shi's outburst and thinking about his two sons suffering, he fainted again from the shock, luckily without vomiting blood.
"Who let you into my house? You bunch of despicable scoundrels, I'll kill you!"
At this moment, a harsh shout rang out, frightening little Shi Tou to tremble all over. Mo Yan looked up and saw Mo Yongxi, her face contorted, rushing towards them and raising her hand to strike Xin'er, who was in the front...
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