Chapter 411: The New Year's Eve
Chapter 411: The New Year's Eve
Shen Yi felt guilty when he thought about how busy he was and couldn't take care of the children. "If I had known you were waiting for me, I would have come back overnight and bought you some snacks. Where's your mother?"
Shen Yi entered the main room and saw that there were only four children in the house, but no sign of Su Tai.
Shen Yuezhang sighed like a little adult, "Three days ago, my grandfather sent a letter to ask my father to get some more seafood to send to the imperial capital. When my mother received the news, she went to Dahe Town to get busy.
It's Chinese New Year, and every household is busy! Mother has no choice but to recruit people to work everywhere. Now the wages have risen to 150 coins a day. I think it would be great if Mother could come back tonight to have a reunion dinner! "
"So our family hasn't prepared the reunion dinner yet?" Shen Yi walked towards the kitchen.
The four children shook their heads.
Following behind Shen Yi, Shen Congrong said, "Dad, my grandfather sent over a roasted whole lamb early in the morning, and my aunt said she would send over a pot of freshly cooked meat buns later."
The twins climbed onto the shelf and were quickly picked up by Shen Yi.
Shen Congyu struggled and pointed at the pottery jar on the shelf, "Mom has something delicious in it. She said we can eat it after we put the jar in the big pot and steam it."
Shen Yuean agreed vigorously, "There are so many delicious foods, I saw them all!"
Shen Yi opened the pottery jars one by one and found that they contained either soup or porridge. There were also two jars of sweets that the children liked. Together with the roasted whole lamb and big meat buns, tonight's dinner was ready.
When he thought about how busy Su Tai was and still had to take care of the family, he couldn't stay there for a moment. He turned around, gave the four children a few words, and rode away in a hurry.
Ye was wearing a big cotton-padded jacket and carrying a basket. Halfway through her walk, she saw Shen Yi coming on horseback and subconsciously moved to the side.
After the horse passed, she walked to Shen Yi's house and pulled the wooden stake.
Shen Yuezhang thought that Shen Yi had left something behind and had returned. He was about to speak when he unexpectedly saw Ye.
"Auntie, why are you here?"
Ye hurriedly handed over the basket. "Today is New Year's Eve. I prepared some food myself. It is a famous dish in the city called braised pork. It is made with the best pork belly. I'll give it to you to try."
"I don't feel comfortable doing this..." Shen Yuezhang declined in panic.
Ye insisted, "Thanks to your family's care this year, we were able to have a good New Year. Our family really can't give us anything good, I hope Mr. Shen and Mrs. Shen won't despise it."
"No, no..." Shen Yuezhang could only continue to explain, "My father went to see my mother and is not at home. I will tell them when they come back later."
"There's nothing much to say. Since your parents are not here, I'll go back first."
When Ye saw Shen Yuezhang put away the things, she was in a good mood and trotted back to the backyard of the village school with the empty basket.
When Zhou's mother saw her coming back, she hurried forward to ask, "What did Madam Shen say? Will she dislike the things we gave her?"
Ye brushed off the snow on her coat, took it off and held it by the stove to dry, and said with a smile: "Mrs. Shen is not that kind of person, how could she dislike it? But she seems to be busy in Dahe Town. Mr. Shen did come back, but then left again, saying that he was going to look for Mrs. Shen."
Zhou's mother couldn't help but sigh, "You said he is so rich, and he is an official, but he works so hard during the New Year. He deserves to be rich."
"That's right! Mrs. Shen's children are all excellent. The eldest daughter speaks and acts promptly and thoughtfully, and treats people with grace and generosity. I like her. The eldest son is gentle and polite, and is also very well-mannered. The second son is smart and clever, and the second daughter is lively and cute. How wonderful!"
When Ye talked about Shen Yi's family, she was generous with her praises.
Zhou Ran raised his eyebrows and said, "I agree with what you said about Yue Zhang and Cong Rong, but Cong Yu and Yue An...are still too lively!"
When Su Tai first came, she sent the children to the village school and reminded him that the two children were naughty and needed more discipline. He didn't take it seriously until the two children led the other children to climb up the roof and rip off the tiles, and built seven or eight snowmen as tall as humans in the backyard, and even put clothes on the snowmen.
He got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and was almost scared crazy by the snowmen. Only then did he realize how stupid he was for thinking that Su Tai was exaggerating.
Ye bumped Zhou Ran's arm in a reproachful manner, "What's wrong with the child being a little naughty? Look at our child. He has become much stronger since playing with the second young master and the second young lady."
Zhou Ran also noticed this and could only show weakness and shut up.
At the same time, Shen Yi rode his horse across the Daxun River and saw from afar a long string of sheds built outside his own villa. The tenant farmers on the farm and the villagers of Zhangjia Village were all working outside.
Fang Wei and his men were in charge of patrolling. As soon as they finished looking around, they saw Shen Yi and hurried over to him, "Boss, you're here!"
Shen Yi dismounted, tied the reins, and asked, "What's the situation now?"
Fang Wei frowned, "There are too many goods. There is no place to step in the yard. We can only clean them out step by step. You see, we dug a big hole in the ice surface to get water for processing sashimi.
Here, we have prepared fifty large pots, but it is still not enough. Madam said we will have to be busy for a while, as everyone is preparing to celebrate the New Year here."
As he was talking, Shen Yi had already walked to the gate of the yard. Just as Fang Wei had said, the seafood inside was piled up like a mountain, leaving only a small path leading to the warehouse for people to walk on.
He waved his hand, asking Fang Wei to continue with his work, and went in to look for Su Tai. Finally, he found Su Tai's figure at the end of the yard.
"Xiaotai, what are you doing?"
Su Tai glanced at him in her busy schedule and continued to work, "Help me quickly, I'll explain to you after we finish work!"
Shen Yi took the tools from her without saying a word and started working.
The couple worked until it was almost dark before letting those people leave.
A firework bloomed in the sky, reminding the two what day it was tonight.
Shen Yi closed the gate and carried Su Tai onto the horse. "There is always work to do. The children are still waiting for us to reunite with them!"
Su Tai huddled in his arms, pressed tightly against his back, and nodded heavily.
Fireworks bloomed along the road they walked.
As soon as the couple arrived at the entrance of the village, they found many red lanterns hanging in the village.
Those lanterns were all fixed with wood and would not sway even in the wind.
Under the light of the lanterns, the village was as bright as day.
Many children wearing thick coats ran to the yard to set off firecrackers. Almost every household bought fireworks, and everyone took turns setting them off until dawn.
Shen Yi slowed down, and the couple walked quickly to look at the lights, and unknowingly arrived at the door of their home.
His four children were also playing in the yard. The gate was open and three black dogs were standing there like door gods. Most people would not dare to step in when they saw it.
"We're back, kids!"
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