Chapter 335 - 334 Before the New Year
Having received the ingredients sent by others, it was naturally necessary to prepare for the reception of His Highness and Magistrate Sir. Qi Younian asked, "May I ask the young man, has Sixth Master mentioned when he will come over? We should prepare in advance and must not delay in serving the two masters. The old man thinks that if there is nothing pressing in the county town, they could come over earlier and simply stay here. Daily living would be convenient, and with Master Guan here to accompany them, going out for diversions would be quite entertaining."
Hongzhi laughed and said, "That won’t be necessary. I’ve heard Sixth Master mention that during the New Year festivities, everyone should gather with their own families. On New Year’s Eve and the first day of the lunar year, Sixth Master and Lord Jiang plan to have drinks and casual chats at our mansion. They probably won’t come to bother Old Master until the second day."
"No need," Qi Younian waved his hand, "even if all the family gathers, it will be me, Ye Zi, and Brother Jia going to the old residence. Our house here with Master Guan, Wusi, and Ah Qiao has plenty of excitement already. Young man, when you go back, ask Sixth Master again. If he has handled the affairs of the county, he can come straight here. After all, the New Year is lively only when everyone gets together."
When Hongzhi left, he not only took the fermented coarse tea that Ye Xinyan had bought by chance but also some special local items from Yuyuan City that Qi Younian and Nanny Jin had brought.
The food delivery by Hongzhi was followed by his return with Shi Yu in just two days, bringing Jinrong and Jiang Yifan’s festival gifts for the Qi family. Jinrong’s gifts need not be discussed, as they were all the usual items such as clothes, wearables, decorations, utensils brought back from the capital by Wan Yan and even included an assortment of ice tops for Qi Jiaer.
The festival gifts from Jiang Yifan were not local items from Yuyuan Prefecture either, and were likely sent by the Jiang Family headquarters. Although the gifts were not many, each was rare and exquisite.
All those many items were taken out one by one by Hongzhi and Shi Yu, who then settled each one with Qi Younian and Nanny Jin. The garments and food were available for the entire Qi family, young and old, as well as for Cheung Wusi, Wong Qiao, and Guan He. However, the porcelain decorations and such were directly given to Nanny Jin and Nanny Liu, letting them arrange their use.
Nanny Jin arranged and placed each set of teapots, tea sets, and dinnerware, feeling indescribable emotions. Last year before the New Year, she and the young miss were trapped in Miyi County, barely managing to maintain their meals. It was only thanks to the young miss, who bought off-cuts and a few yards of red silk satin from a tailor shop to make some exquisite accessories, that they managed to earn some silver.
She could still recall the joy of putting several hundred large coins into the purse each day. Although the young miss was always reassuring her that they would get through the hard times and would surely live well in the future, she did not say it out loud, but she did not believe in her heart, nor did she dare to hope that they could live a life of affluence again.
But, in just a short year, their lives had indeed improved. Even someone like her, who had served others as a servant for most of her life, was now able to earn a handful of silver herself.
Those from Anshun’s Household were people close to the Duchess, and when she was at the Duke’s Mansion, she had to greet Nanny Qiao from Anshun’s Household with great respect and honor. Now, she still respected those from Anshun’s Household and would courteously call her Nanny Qiao, but the sentiment behind this respect was very different from the past. The respect wasn’t out of helplessness due to lower status but because of her own generosity and knowledge of courtesy.