CH 49

This chapter is twice as long as usual but I didn’t want to break it in parts, so enjoy the long chapter.

“Not bad, your qi and blood are abundant, and your complexion is rosy. It seems that you have been living well these past few months, Qiao Ge’er?” The old doctor Zhou from Baohe Hall teased Qiao Yuan after taking his pulse.

Qiao Yuan pursed his lips, thinking “let’s not pretend we don’t understand.” After all, he had seen the doctor frequent their Shi Li Xiang restaurant for the nourishing hotpot on numerous occasions!

Dr. Zhou stroked his beard and chuckled: “If you want to have a child, I can prescribe you two doses of medicine to regulate your body.”

Qiao Yuan quickly waved his hands in refusal. He was not in a hurry at all. He wished to spend a few more years alone with Yu Dameng!

This time, he only wanted to…

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Yu Laoda returned from the prefectural city.

Qiao Yuan saw Meng Qiu, who already was four months pregnant. Apart from a bit of roundness in his face, there was no noticeable change in his figure.

Meng Qiu is very grateful to Qiao Yuan. As soon as they met, he said, “Big brother and sister-in-law told me everything in their letter. Thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing, there was mutual benefit.” Qiao Yuan said lightly, but Meng Qiu knew that everything depended on them being family.

He noticed that Qiao Yuan always glanced at his belly secretly, so he pulled Qiao Yuan into the inner room and asked with a little shyness, “Do you want to touch it?”

What a beautiful and kind little angel with unparalleled beauty and a good heart!

Qiao Yuan’s hand gently rested on Meng Qiu’s slightly bulging belly, and the feeling was very wonderful. He couldn’t help but imagine what his and Yu Dameng’s child would look like.

“The doctor said he might start moving soon.”

Qiao Yuan heard this and dared not touch anymore, he hurriedly let Meng Qiu put on his clothes to avoid catching a cold.

Meng Qiu’s eyes curved slightly, and he seemed much bolder than before, now that he was about to become a father. He could even quietly ask Qiao Yuan, “When are you and your husband planning to have a child?”

Qiao Yuan: “!”

It seemed like recently, there had been far too many asking him this!

The next day was the New Year’s market fair. The Yu family woke up early. Old Man Yu and Lin Cuifen rushed off to the meat market to buy some quality meat. Yu Laoda took the twins to buy firecrackers, lanterns, candies, and other New Year goods. Yu Dameng accompanied Qiao Yuan to the shop.

With so many people going to the fair early, even Yu Qiao Ji opened earlier than usual.

As soon as Qiao Yuan entered the shop, he announced, “We will close the shop at noon and give out the festival gifts, so you can go to the fair and buy some things.”

Everyone’s faces showed joy, although they didn’t lack anything on ordinary days, but they had to go to the New Year’s market to truly feel the New Year’s atmosphere.

Shi Li Xiang had already closed for the holiday yesterday, and each person received ten jin of pork, three jin of mutton, and half a month’s extra salary. This festival gift bonus was very generous, and it should be the first in Yunshui County.

Ma Shun’er and Shi Li Xiang’s staff received equal bonuses. But it was different for Ming Xu, Ming Chen and the Zheng-Xing couple. After all, their relationships differed. Aside from the standard bonus, Qiao Yuan privately gave them each an additional tael of silver.

Ming Xu and Ming Chen would spend the New Year with Zheng Xin and Xing Wu. Qiao Yuan had nothing to worry about. He just gave them a few words of instructions and closed the shop as soon as noon arrived and went to the New Year’s market.

The sun had already come out at this time, and it was not as cold as in the morning. Qiao Yuan called Qiao Wangshi, Lin Cuifen, and Liu Ge’er to go and buy new clothes together.

There were many people at the market, and even if they rode in a cart, they were afraid of colliding. Since Meng Qiu’s pregnancy was not easy, he did not follow them.

However, he naturally wouldn’t miss his share.

In order to show fairness, Lin Cuifen also picked out an outfit for Qiao Yuan. Qiao Yuan didn’t really care about this, but he knew that Lin Cuifen wanted to treat everyone equally, so he accepted it. He then turned around and added a few pieces of jewelry for Qiao Wangshi and Lin Cuifen.

The group slowly purchased many things until the afternoon when they returned home with loaded carts.

Qiao Yuan was happy in his heart. He had been busy for so many days, and finally got a little holiday.

So, the next day he slept until the sun was high in the sky. If it wasn’t for Liu Ge’er calling him to go to the old house to eat the slaughtered pig dish, he wouldn’t even remember.

“The sun is shining on your butt, Brother Yuan.” Liu Ge’er wrapped himself in a white cloak, wearing a tiger-head hat on his head, looking so cute that Qiao Yuan pulled him into bed to hug him and smothered him in kisses and tickles.

Then Qiao Yuan sprawled again, “It’s too cold outside, brother doesn’t want to get up!”

“Get up, get up.” Liu Ge’er was making a fuss with Qiao Yuan when Yu Dameng came back.

He went to the old house early in the morning to help kill the pig, and only had time to come back now. Seeing Qiao Yuan’s lazy appearance, he couldn’t help but smile: “If you don’t want to get up, I’ll bring the food over when it’s ready.”

Qiao Yuan looked at him with longing eyes and hummed a few times, wanting to act coquettishly, but Liu Ge’er was there.

Yu Dameng cleaned his hands and arranged all of Qiao Yuan’s clothes from inside out, placing them neatly at the head of the bed.

Yu Dameng washed his hands then picked out clothes for Qiao Yuan, laying them at the bedside.

Wrapped in blankets, Qiao Yuan sat up and let Yu Dameng dress him.

Liu Ge’er covered his mouth in surprise, “Brother, I don’t even let my mother help me dress.”

Qiao Yuan’s face turned red as he pushed away Yu Dameng, and quickly and neatly put on his clothes by himself.

When he went out with Liu Ge’er in his arms, he said, “Don’t talk nonsense when you go out!”

The Yu family had a good life this year, and there were more people. Yesterday, Lin Cuifen asked Old Man Yu to buy a pig of more than two hundred jin from the New Year’s market and kept it for the New Year.

The pig was also well chosen, with thick buttocks and plenty of fat.

Nowadays, the status of the Yu family in the village is extraordinary. Many of the raw materials for Yu Qiao Ji and Shi Li Xiang are purchased first in the village. The iron shop also brought income to many families in the village by making honeycomb coal. Qiao Yuan also funded the construction of a school in the village. Therefore, when the Yu family needs to slaughter pigs, many families come to help.

When Qiao Yuan arrived, the courtyard was unusually lively.

Those women and gers praised him when they saw him, “Yuan Ge’er, you are really capable.”

“You are the most promising ger in our village!”

“What ger, I think he is better than any man!”

Qiao Yuan felt his scalp tingle from embarrassment as he forced out laughs.

Lin Cuifen saw this, and sent him away, “Why don’t you go inside and check on your brother Qiu to see if he’s feeling better?”

It turned out that Meng Qiu still wanted to eat sour cabbage stewed with pork and blood sausage yesterday, but today he couldn’t stand the smell of pig blood, so he hid in the house all the time.

When Qiao Yuan entered the house, he was making little clothes by the stove. Qiao Yuan asked him, “Are you feeling better?”

Meng Qiu blinked his eyes, and whispered to him embarrassedly, “Actually, I… I got hungry a while ago. It’s just going outside…”

“I understand!” Qiao Yuan immediately interrupted him, he also couldn’t handle the enthusiasm of those aunties!

Two large pots were set up in the yard, and they were filled with sour cabbage, white meat and blood sausage. The aroma of sour cabbage and meat had already drifted into the house, and Qiao Yuan also felt a bit hungry. Nothing beats the taste of big pot stew!

The first pot of slaughtered pig dish had the thickest soup and the best flavor.

As soon as it came out of the pot, Lin Cuifen picked a full large bowl of the best parts and let Yu Dameng send it to the house. The meat was fragrant and steaming, and the sour cabbage was melted soft.

Qiao Yuan, Meng Qiu and Xiao Liu, the three gers, paired it with freshly steamed hot buns that Lin Cuifen had just made and ate until their stomachs were full.

“The slaughtered pig dish is so delicious.” Liu Ge’er burped and sighed contentedly, making Qiao Yuan and Meng Qiu laugh.

The other people in the house hadn’t had time to eat yet, and Qiao Yuan went out to help distribute the slaughtered pig dish. He scooped two big spoons down, and whatever he got was what he got. As long as it had some meat flavor, anyone who wanted it could bring their own bowl to get it.

Naturally, Qiao Guangzhi and Zhang Wensheng’s families would never come to the door.

Not only because they had no face, but also because they were quarreling at the moment.

“Your family’s reputation is like this, and you still want to match with my son? Look at yourself in the mirror before you speak!”

It turned out that Qiao Yingying saw Zhang Wensheng finally came back from the academy, and was afraid that things would change over time, so she urged Xu Xiuhua to go to Zhang’s family and propose to have the two of them married after the New Year.

Zhang’s family felt ashamed because of the troubles that Qiao’s family had caused several times, and then they saw that Qiao Guangzhi had lost his job and had the idea of breaking off the engagement.

But back when they agreed to the betrothal replacement making Qiao Yingying the bride, Qiao Guangzhi offered to pay silver to support Zhang Wensheng’s studies. Zhang’s family was overjoyed, and they made a marriage contract with Qiao’s family on the spot.

According to the laws and regulations of Dachu, if both parties agree to cancel the marriage contract, they can negotiate and do so themselves. However, if one party wants to cancel the marriage but the other does not agree, the party who wants to cancel will be punished with a beating or even imprisonment.

The people in the Zhang family did not dare to make any decisions hastily, so they kept waiting patiently for Zhang Wensheng to return.

After returning from the academy, Zhang Wensheng heard about the situation with the Qiao family and became extremely angry. He immediately said, “This marriage must be called off!”

Before the Zhang family had a chance to approach the Qiao family, the Qiao family unexpectedly came to their door first.

Zhang Wensheng’s mother, Yang Guizhi, became angry on the spot and spoke the words mentioned earlier, scolding them harshly.

Xu Xiuhua immediately jumped three feet high when she heard it, “How dare you!”

Her only chance to turn things around at home now is to cling tightly to this future son-in-law. If she loses him too, won’t she be stepped on by that little bitch Qiao Yuan for the rest of her life?

Qiao Guangzhi gave Xu Xiuhua a fierce glare, then turned to the Zhang family and said in a gentle voice, “In-laws, let’s have a good talk.”

Yang Guizhi had a stern face and was very arrogant, “There is nothing to talk about!”

Qiao Guangzhi’s face changed several times, and finally he looked at Zhang Wensheng with a mock smile, “Does Scholar Zhang also think there is nothing to talk about?”

Although his face still appeared gentle and his tone was not raised, Zhang Wensheng keenly sensed a hint of threat. He was greatly alarmed and quickly grabbed his mother, who was about to argue with Xu Xiuhua, and stepped forward, bowing and saying, “Uncle Qiao, please lead the way inside. Let’s discuss things indoors.”

When Qiao Yuan heard that Zhang Wensheng and Qiao Yingying were going to get married after the New Year, he was making lard, and was surprised for a moment, “Zhang’s family didn’t break off the engagement?”

The women who stayed in the Yu family’s courtyard nodded their heads in agreement. Several people were talking at once, and they even praised the Zhang family for being a reputable family of scholars. They lamented that Zhang Wensheng was pitiful.

For a while, Qiao Yuan was speechless and felt that the Zhang family was not as noble as they had thought. However, he strongly agreed with the two of them getting married, as they were a perfect match, and it would prevent them from causing trouble for others again!

The lard was fragrant and sizzling, and sitting in the yard, they could hear the dogs barking outside. Seeing that it was about to come out of the pot, the women sitting in the yard felt embarrassed to stay any longer and went back to their homes.

Qiao Yuan instructed Yu Dameng to bring a sieve. He held the sieve while Yu Dameng used a ladle to scoop the cooked lard into a pottery jar, filtering out any impurities.

This pig had a lot of fat on its body, and it boiled two large jars of lard, which was just right for their small home and the old house to get one jar each.

The filtered-out cracklings were the essence. Sweetened with sugar, they made for extremely tasty snacks!

Qiao Yuan took advantage of the oil pot, and also fried sesame leaves, meatballs, small yellow croakers and sesame balls. The Yu family had a lot of people, and their appetites were generally large, so he fried these things by the basin.

Lin Cuifen knew how to be courteous and gave gifts to her close acquaintances. Naturally, these people reciprocated, which made the snacks at the Yu family’s home even more abundant.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, they made dumpling wrappers. Qiao Yuan steamed buns and made sweet bean buns.

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Qiao Yuan prepared various sacrificial items, and went up the mountain with Yu Dameng to pay respects to the original self and his parents.

On the thirtieth day, Qiao Yuan finally got up early instead of sleeping in.

The thirtieth day was to be spent at the old house, and the two of them packed up early and took Qiao Wangshi to the old house.

Today the Yu family was exceptionally lively, with villagers constantly coming over with red paper to respectfully ask Yu Laoda to compose poetic couplets. Old Man Yu simply set up a table in the middle of the hall.

Yu Laoda joked, “I really benefited from my brother-in-law’s fame.”

Although there had been people coming to ask for calligraphy in previous years, there were not as many as this year. It was just because they saw that the Yu family was doing well this year and wanted to share in the good fortune.

Qiao Yuan smiled and replied, “Big brother is too modest.”

The family was harmonious and happy. Yu Laoda wrote couplets, while Old Man Yu and Yu Dameng were outside preparing meat and vegetables. Meng Qiu was cutting paper-cut decorations, Qiao Wangshi and Lin Cuifen were kneading dough, and Qiao Yuan was preparing three different fillings for dumplings: one with pork and scallions, one with pork and sour cabbage, and one with cabbage and egg.

Qiao Yuan also asked Yu Shanwen to wash a lot of copper coins, “We’ll wrap them inside, and whoever eats the most will make a fortune.”

Before the adults could say anything, Liu Ge’er, who was playing with the dough at the side cried out, “Then it must be you, Brother Yuan!”

The whole room laughed, and Qiao Yuan rubbed some flour on Liu Ge’er’s nose, “You little rascal!”

This was Qiao Yuan’s first New Year in this world, and also the happiest one. He valued it very much so he prepared an exceptionally abundant New Year’s Eve dinner.

The hot dishes included chestnut stewed chicken, soy sauce pork knuckle, dry-fried lamb, shredded pork with sweet bean sauce, sweet and sour carp, four-joy meatballs, fried cabbage and pork cracklings, braised eggplant, and Mapo tofu. The cold dishes included sauce-flavored beef, garlic white meat, meat jelly, and cold mixed shredded vegetables. There was also a steaming hot pot in the middle, with a variety of ingredients that made people wonder which one to eat first.

Before starting the meal, Qiao Yuan urged Old Man Yu to give an important speech.

Old Man Yu had always been a man of few words and stuttered, so Lin Cuifen simply snatched the wine cup and said boldly, “I’ll say it!”

Qiao Yuan and the twin brothers applauded and cheered.

“This year, Yuan Ge’er entered our family’s door, and our family’s life has been getting better and thriving. Yuan Ge’er opened a shop, our iron shop made new things, earned silver, and Qiu Ge’er got pregnant. Next year, I hope Qiu Ge’er’s child will be born safely, eldest son will pass the exam and become a scholar, Yuan Ge’er will earn more money, and also give us a little baby!”

Yu Laoda and Meng Qiu laughed and looked at Qiao Yuan. Qiao Yuan’s face turned red, and he kicked Yu Dameng under the table.

Yu Shanwu and Liu Ge’er eagerly asked Lin Cuifen, “Mother, what about me, what about me?”

Lin Cuifen gently touched Liu Ge’er’s head and coaxed him, “Liu Ge’er just needs to grow up healthy and plump.”

Then, she turned to Yu Shanwu and said, “Just make sure that you and your fourth brother would stop causing trouble for me!”

Yu Shanwu: “!!!”

With the warm stove in the room, the food cooled slowly, so they were not in a hurry to eat, and chatted and drank while eating leisurely.

After the meal, it was time to stay up late to welcome the new year. Qiao Wangshi, who was getting older and had poor energy, went home early and went to bed.

Lin Cuifen and Meng Qiu made clothes for the little baby who was about to be born in their family, and Qiao Yuan started a card game, playing four-player Fight the Landlord with Yu Laoda and the twin brothers!

This deck of cards was previously drawn by Qiao Yuan and painted on bamboo slips by Qian Yun. After being waxed, its practical effect is no different from modern playing cards.

Yu Dameng and Liu Ge’er watched the game, which was really exciting. In the end, Old Man Yu couldn’t resist joining in and played cards for Yu Shanwu, who lost the most.

As soon as midnight arrived, every household set off firecrackers, and Qiao Yuan even tried to set off a “two kicks” firecracker1二踢脚 (èr tī jiǎo) – “two kicks” firecracker, a type of firecracker that produces two loud bangs..

As the sound of firecrackers faded away, it became a silent and peaceful night. Yu Dameng carried Qiao Yuan on his back and headed home.

The moonlight was bright and clear, and Qiao Yuan suddenly said, “Yu Dameng, I’m eighteen now, and the doctor said my body is also well-nourished.”

Yu Dameng’s hand on Qiao Yuan’s thigh tightened briefly before he quickened his pace home.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you want to show your support, you can buy me a coffee. It would make my day! For every five coffees I get, I will release a bonus chapter.