"Mother, sigh," Qin's father sighed, his mother always acted like this whenever this topic was brought up.
"Mother, can we at least set up a memorial tablet at home, even if it's empty?"
Grandma Qin picked up the cloth in her hand and continued sewing, "What are outsiders saying now?"
"It's not much, yesterday someone mentioned Da Niu's marriage and asked about Da Niu's grandfather."
"Just say your father's name was Qin Laogou, and he died after Lao San was born, and his bones were never found in the deep mountains, not even a hair left behind."
Grandma Qin looked at her eldest son who was still standing there, and put down the cloth in her hand, "Is there anything else?"
"People here place great importance on genealogy," Qin's father meant that their family had no genealogy.
Grandma Qin looked around the kang, picked up a shoe sole, and threw it at Qin's father, "You talk rambling and don't get to the point. If you don't have a genealogy, write one yourself, and consider yourself the ancestor of your branch."
"What else is there to ask? A wife is only added to the genealogy after she's married into the family. I've never heard of the maiden family checking the groom's family genealogy first. Get out, don't ruin my New Year's mood."
Qin's father's inquiry about his birth father failed again, so he could only turn to leave.
"Wait," Grandma Qin called out to Qin's father, making his eyes light up.
"Go outside and call Yao Yao in."
Qin's father was happy for nothing.
Qin Junyao pushed open the door and entered Grandma Qin's room. She saw Grandma Qin trying on a new headscarf in front of the mirror, and she covered her mouth to giggle. Sudan Novel Network.
"What are you laughing at? Close the door and come in," Grandma Qin glanced at her granddaughter and took the headscarf off her head.
After Qin Junyao closed the door, she walked behind Grandma Qin and looked at the headscarf in her hands, "Grandma, this fabric was a gift from Grandpa Hou to you, right? It's light yellow, and it's beautiful."
"Hmph, you got wolf pelts from Little Hammer, can't I get fabric as a gift?"
Qin Junyao slumped her shoulders. Her grandma always got upset when she was touched in a sore spot, but Grandma herself was impervious to fire and water.
Zhao Liangcai found out that the wolf pelts he sent to Qin Junyao last time were used by Qin Sen. On the twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month, he sent three more wolf pelts, and he did it ostentatiously.
Now the whole village probably knew that General Zhao had sent wolf pelts to the granddaughter of the old lady with the red headscarf.
"Be happy in secret. You might not find such a handsome man in the entire Northwest who would fall for you."
Qin Junyao rolled her eyes on the spot and turned to sit on the kang, thinking that Grandma was in a bad mood.
Wait? That's not right.
Last time they went to the Zhao family, Grandma Qin said that Zhao Liangcai's beard was coming unglued. She wanted to ask, but the conversation was interrupted, and she forgot.
"Grandma, how did you know Zhao Liangcai was a handsome man?"
Grandma Qin, holding the light yellow headscarf, sat down next to Qin Junyao and picked up her needle to continue sewing the hem.
"I know a lot more than you think."
"I called you here to tell you to stop messing with trees. Your father and the others' shoulders are swollen. If you're really that idle, go into the mountains and pick ginseng, reishi mushrooms, or deer antlers."
"Grandma, didn't you tell me not to use the Bodhisattva's enlightenment too often?"
Grandma Qin raised her hand and flicked Qin Junyao's forehead heavily, "Are you listening to me?"
"You make yourself all confused and think you've found something good, a tree, a tree with a trunk as thick as two people hugging, with roots."
"Grandma, stop flicking, it hurts," Qin Junyao hugged her head and got off the kang to dodge Grandma Qin's fingers.
"It hurts, it hurts so you'll remember. You thought you'd play for a day and be done, but it's three trees every day, three trees every day. Even on New Year's Eve, you're not settling down," Grandma Qin's fingers could always accurately flick Qin Junyao.
She wouldn't bear to hit her, but she couldn't skip the lessons.
"Grandma, I won't do it anymore. It's just that I saw the family going to collect firewood every day."
"Are those firewood? Those are the beams for building houses..."
Amidst the bickering, the most important moment of the New Year arrived: the reunion dinner.
There were ten dishes, symbolizing completeness and perfection.
Qin's mother and Aunt Qin Er did their best to make the dishes look and smell appetizing with the limited ingredients.
This was the Qin family's first New Year in the Northwest.
Except for Qin Sen and the Qin Junyao sisters, everyone else in the family got drunk. Even Qin Sanniu was so drunk that he hugged the yellow dog and giggled foolishly.
The Qin family was truly happy. They had a house, a cart, two donkeys, two mu of land. Qin Sen's illness was getting better, and Qin Sanniu was talking more.
Six months ago, the Qin family were refugees with no food or drink. Now they had wine, meat, and grain, living a life they wouldn't have even dared to dream of.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, they wore new clothes and went to pay New Year's greetings.
This year, because the Northwest had collected a lot of grain, every household was restraining their children from going to others' homes to get food.
Relatives also visited each other with small gifts, and didn't stay for meals.
The Shehuo performances, which were held in every village every year, were all tacitly canceled this year.
The Shehuo procession would ignite firecrackers, beat gongs and drums, and give gifts along the way. This year, no village had the ability to do this, and those who could, didn't dare to show off.
Yan County did hold one on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, but it only included stilt walking, land boat dancing, and dragon and lion dances. The most anticipated part, the high platform, was not seen by Qin Junyao.
Fuzi had said that three children would stand on the high platform, and some children would even sleep on it.
The activities that were originally held during the New Year to ward off bad luck and pray for a year of good weather were all gone. This showed how difficult the New Year had been for the people of the Northwest this year.
Spring returned to the earth, and all things revived.
With the arrival of the solar term "Rain Water," farming families would begin preparing the land for the new year's planting.
On the mountaintop where Qin Junyao had played the zither before, there were now three people.
"Hold on, only one stick of incense left. Fuzi, keep your stance," Zhao Liangcai lay on a large rock, his eyes on Qin Junyao and Fuzi who were practicing horse stances below.
"Brother, I can't hold on anymore," Fuzi's legs trembled as he looked up at Zhao Liangcai.
"Your Qin sister can endure it, so why can't you? You've been practicing for two years, and your Qin sister has only been practicing for more than half a month."
Qin Junyao had indeed been practicing with Zhao Liangcai for twenty days openly, but she also practiced extra in the space every night.
Ever since her physical body could enter the space, Qin Junyao had been working there almost every day. Her sleep time was short, but she was very energetic.
Coupled with Zhao Liangcai's constant supply of meat, and Qin's mother's efforts to minimize the gamey smell of the lamb so that Qin Junyao could eat it.
Qin Junyao still looked thin, but her strength had increased considerably.
She had good resilience herself and gritted her teeth to persevere.
"Qin sister is an adult, I am a child," Fuzi really couldn't hold on anymore.
Martial arts training required perseverance; one day of not practicing set you back three days.
Fuzi practiced when his brother was home, and played when his brother was away. Holding a horse stance for a quarter of an hour was truly unbearable for his round body.
Zhao Liangcai jumped down from the big rock, a ruler appearing in his hand at some point.
"It was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year that you begged your Qin sister to teach you martial arts. How can you be the first to flinch now? Hold on, the time is almost up."
Fuzi pursed his small lips and looked at Zhao Liangcai with wronged eyes. He hadn't done this just to let his brother have more opportunities to meet Qin sister, by throwing a tantrum and begging Qin sister to spend time with him.
Every time his brother visited Qin sister's house, Qin sister either avoided him or fed the donkeys and rabbits, ignoring his brother.
If it weren't for his brother's pitiful state, he wouldn't have helped.
Hmph!