The New Year’s Eve stove sacrifice marked the official start of Qin Junyao’s second year after transmigration.
On Stove God Festival, Qin Junyao had sent two sheep to the Qin family, and Qin’s mother then told Qin Junyao not to return home until the second day of the new year.
It was considered improper for a new wife not to manage her husband’s household during the New Year and to wander about. If she had married into a family with a mother-in-law, she would have been beaten.
The New Year was essentially about eating and drinking, and in this regard, Qin Junyao was completely useless, not even as capable as Zhao Liangcai.
All New Year gifts for various families had been sent out before Stove God Festival. The received gifts had already been recorded by Liu Yu and Liu Rong and stored in the storeroom, so Qin Junyao didn’t need to worry about them.
Qin Junyao paced around the house, not knowing what to do.
She wanted to help Grandma Qin look after the children, but Grandma Qin found her clumsy and chased her away from the cave entrance.
With nothing to do, Qin Junyao could only lie on the kang and cultivate land within her space.
.
“Yaoyao, what’s wrong with you these past few days?” Zhao Liangcai touched Qin Junyao’s forehead, finding no fever.
“Nothing,” Qin Junyao replied, turning her head to answer Zhao Liangcai’s question.
“You’ve been lying down for five days and say it’s nothing? You sleep at night and lie down all day. Yaoyao, if you feel unwell, you can’t hide it.”
Qin Junyao rolled her eyes, sat up, and said, “I’m really fine. I practice martial arts with Fuzi in the morning and play the zither at night. I eat all three meals a day, so I don’t lie around all day.”
Mentioning practicing the zither made Zhao Liangcai feel a pang in his heart. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was sleep-deprived, but even though he slept well every night, he would immediately fall asleep upon hearing Qin Junyao’s zither music.
He was living a celibate life with his wife by his side; life was truly difficult.
“If you’re fine, then get up. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Distribute the bonuses to the servants today. Didn’t you want to promote Sun Si to house manager? Announce it today.”
Appointing a house manager for the household was Qin Junyao’s idea.
She had Granny Wang to handle matters. If she told Granny Wang something, she would directly arrange it.
For Zhao’s household, they relied on Granny Ma. Granny Ma also had to look after Fuzi’s meals and daily life, so there were times she couldn’t manage everything. Sudan Novel Network.
Qin Junyao thought about promoting a house manager. Furthermore, the servants that Sister Manshuang found for her would arrive after the New Year, so it would be good to let the capable Sun Si adapt to leading a team in advance.
On New Year’s Eve, they would paste the character Fu and Spring Festival couplets.
While Zhao Liangcai went to the salt lake to visit his soldiers, Qin Junyao took the key and went alone to the cave dwellings where she had previously sold grain to Zhao Liangcai.
This time, in addition to corn, she also stored millet.
After filling several cave dwellings, Qin Junyao locked the doors. She then piled large amounts of horse fodder and dry grass in front of the cave dwellings, stacking them almost as high as the cave roofs.
In the middle of the horse fodder, she also stuffed many black beans.
Grain and fodder; besides grain, she also needed grass for the horses to eat.
With Zhao Xiaofei, the black horse, at home, Qin Junyao knew quite a bit about feeding and raising horses.
Standing in front of the hay pile, Qin Junyao thought that regardless of whether Zhao Liangcai was going to war in the northwest, she, Qin Junyao, would support him with all her might if she had the means.
This grain might not solve Zhao Liangcai’s fundamental problems, but once she cultivated a large amount of saxaul and barley on the Gobi Desert, she would surely alleviate Zhao Liangcai’s worries.
“Yaoyao?” Zhao Liangcai’s voice rang out from behind Qin Junyao, nearly scaring her to death.
Her pupils trembled, and countless reasons to explain her inexplicable ability to produce things churned in her mind.
Zhao Liangcai dismounted and walked to Qin Junyao’s side. “Yaoyao, when did this get transported here? What kind of grass is this? Xiaofei seems to like it quite a bit.”
Qin Junyao composed her expression and turned to look at Zhao Liangcai. “When did you arrive?”
“Just now,” Zhao Liangcai pointed to the path he came from. “As soon as I rode Xiaofei to that spot, I saw you standing here.”
“Oh,” Qin Junyao nodded, secretly relieved. “I was so surprised that I just stood here.”
“Why did you return so quickly, and why are you here?”
Qin Junyao had previously told Zhao Liangcai that she had cleared out these cave dwellings, as the wealthy client might transport grain at any time.
There was no need for guards; they would be notified once the goods arrived.
Because of this, Qin Junyao dared to bring grain during the day.
Zhao Liangcai circled the hay pile. “This is the first New Year we’re spending together, so of course, I had to come back early.”
“I came here to store some things, so I wanted to check if there were any traces of outsiders looking around.”
“What is this?” Zhao Liangcai squatted by the hay pile, looking at a cloth bag peeking out.
He pinched it and found that it contained round things like beans.
He drew his dagger and made a small cut on the bag. The black beans inside spilled out.
Xiaofei trotted over, excitedly picking up and eating the black beans.
(End of chapter)