Chapter 1003 - 427: Lunar New Year
Xiang Wei is back now, she must seize the chance to have a good meal while Yueyao doesn’t know what she should avoid eating.
Yueyao looked at Xiang Wei and said, "Patients should have dietary restrictions, you should tell the kitchen maid what you can’t eat."
Xiang Wei quickly said, "Just this once! I haven’t had a good meal in ages." According to that stinky fat man’s demands, she would starve to death sooner or later.
Yueyao was all too familiar with Xiang Wei and called over Nanny Hua to ask, "Did Doctor Li say that Xiang Wei should avoid certain foods?"
Yueyao heard Nanny Hua list a lot of restricted foods, and all the dishes Xiang Wei just ordered were taboo. Yueyao glared fiercely at Xiang Wei: "Do you prefer to risk your life just to eat? Are there people like you?!" Yueyao had never seen someone so gluttonous, anyone who didn’t know might think she was a starving ghost reincarnated!
Xiang Wei realized her wish for a good meal was dashed.
After dinner, Yueyao asked Xiang Wei how Doctor Li had been treating her during this period. Xiang Wei casually said a few words, knowing that saying more would only make Yueyao worry, without any practical benefit.
Xiang Wei’s health was not very good, so she went to bed relatively early every day. Before bedtime, she had not seen An Zhichen return and frowned, asking, "Is this how it is every day?"
Yueyao explained good-naturedly, "No, it’s just that it’s been busy recently, he used to come back on time."
Xiang Wei snorted coldly, "Tomorrow is the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, won’t he come back for the new year either? The worst thing about marrying a military official is that they can never be home on time. It’s better being married to a civil official because they basically come home every day. Especially someone like Niu Yanghui, his days are quite leisurely."
Yueyao didn’t mind: "This year is the first year, the superior will certainly let him come home for the new year." These things were already within Yueyao’s considerations. Since she married, she should not complain.
Xiang Wei went to sleep with dissatisfaction.
After finishing her calligraphy practice and preparing to go to bed, Yueyao heard the maid outside loudly say, "Madam, Master is back."
Yueyao exited the study and saw An Zhichen covered in snow. Yueyao helped An Zhichen remove his large cloak, handed it to Xi Yu, and said with a smile, "I didn’t even know it was snowing outside." It hadn’t been snowing when she entered the house earlier!
Xi Yu then said, "Madam, this snow started an hour ago, you didn’t know because you were inside."
Yueyao smiled and nodded, then instructed someone to serve the meal. Yueyao was inexperienced at first, and when An Zhichen returned late, there was nothing to eat. After learning from that experience, Yueyao had someone keep food warm in the pot every night so that when An Zhichen returned, he could have a hot meal.
Ah Kai and Da Tong ate the steaming, fragrant food, truly satisfied. As Ah Kai ate, he said, "The food at our residence is still the best, the food at the yamen is like pig food."
Da Tong nodded repeatedly.
Ah Kai had a thought and figured he should find a chance to mention it to Master. As the saying goes, one who is close to water gets the moon first so he should take the opportunity.
This year it happened to be a big month, with thirty days. An Zhichen was on holiday, and naturally, Yueyao let him handle all the affairs outside.
After taking care of the outside matters, An Zhichen returned to the inner courtyard with Tingzheng and saw Yueyao writing in the main hall, with the floor covered in red papers filled with writing.
Tingzheng tilted his head to look and then smiled, "Sis, are we writing spring couplets ourselves?" Generally, couplets are bought from outside.
Yueyao was tired from writing, and asked, "Who wants to write?" Naturally, Yueyao didn’t use the plum blossom calligraphy style for the couplets; she used the regular script.
An Zhichen was quite self-aware, knowing his handwriting was barely passable, incomparable to Yueyao’s. Tingzheng enthusiastically volunteered, "Sis, let me write." After all, he had practiced writing for ten years, and although he couldn’t match his sister, writing some couplets was not a problem.
Tingzheng had been back for six days and was extremely happy during these days. In previous years he spent the New Year with his sister at the Ma Family. Although his uncle was very good, there was always a sense of loss. No matter how good the uncle is, it doesn’t change the fact that he and his sister were living at the mercy of others. But now things were different, now they had their own home, a place where they could feel at ease.
After Tingzheng finished the couplets, Yueyao smiled and said, "Leave it there, have them send someone to paste them up."
An Zhichen glanced at Xi Yu and asked, "Do they know how to read?" Her demeanor clearly showed she did. It’s understandable why An Zhichen would ask since maids generally couldn’t read.
Yueyao nodded, "I taught them before, but they only recognize enough characters to understand accounting books." It’s not that Yueyao didn’t want to teach, but these few maids are not interested. The one who recognizes the most characters is Xi Yu, who stopped after learning a thousand characters. As for poetry, they don’t learn it at all.