On New Year's Eve, everyone started to get busy early in the morning.
Xu Daniu took the couplet in his hand and asked Xu Wu, "Leader, what does this say?" The characters were written in dragons flying and phoenixes dancing style, truly beautiful. But Xu Daniu couldn't read, so he didn't know what it said.
Xu Wu couldn't read it either, but he wouldn't let that out. Otherwise, he would have lost his leader's reputation. "Hurry up and put it up! What's the point of talking so much? Stick these couplets. You still have to help me put up the door gods!"
Xu Daniu honestly put up the couplets, and after he had finished, he picked up the door gods and put them up again. He had something else to ask, "Leader, I heard that Madam painted the door gods herself?" At first, Yuxi didn't intend to paint the door gods, so she asked someone to buy them. But the ones that were purchased were not to her satisfaction. It wasn't that they weren't painted well, but Yuxi was too demanding. It just so happened that she could draw herself. It was difficult for her to paint a landscape, but she could draw door gods. Yun Qing did not allow her to overwork herself, so she only painted the two door gods for the main entrance.
Xu Wu nodded. "Yes, Madam painted them."
After Xu Daniu had put the door gods up, he asked, "What else do you think Madam can't do?" It seemed that there was nothing she could not do; she could do anything.
Xu Wu didn't know either, so he said with a smile, "I heard from the old woman servant in the residence that Madam started studying with a teacher at the age of four! It was said that she studied very hard, got up before dawn every day and went to bed only at the end of haishi."
Xu Daniu said, "My goodness, those who didn't know would have thought Madam was aiming to win the zhuangyuan title!" This desperate effort was probably more severe than those genuinely fighting for the zhuangyuan.
Xu Wu swept Xu Daniu a glance and asked, "Do you think you can get this skill out of thin air? Just like you. Did requesting you to read a few words feel like asking you to die?" Yuxi had also wanted to ask the guards in residence to recognise words before, but unfortunately, there was a lot of resistance from these people. Xu Daniu even said it would be better to kill him if he was asked to read. When Yuxi heard this, she did not force them to do so and adopted the principle of voluntariness. As a result, none of the twenty or so guards held out. For this reason, Xu Wu felt humiliated. So he was very annoyed with Xu Daniu, the culprit. [T/C]
Xu Daniu was not ashamed as he countered, "Leader, it's not that I don't want to learn; it's just that I can't! Even when I learned this thing for a long time, I still couldn't recognise it!" When he thought he had remembered it firmly, he would forget it in the blink of an eye. It was like a donkey pulling a mill that kept spinning around. It was unbearable.
Xu Wu was too lazy to say anything anymore.
On New Year's Eve, the focus was on the evening meal. The dumplings were essential for the evening New Year's Eve dinner. There were too many people in the mansion; thus, the dumplings had to be enough for everyone. So after lunch, they started to wrap dumplings.
Zijin watched as Yuxi put the dumplings inserted with copper coins with the other dumplings that were cured being steamed and asked with a smile, "Madam, don't you need to mark it?" If you don't mark the dumplings, you won't know which one had been placed on the plate.
Yuxi said, "What's there to mark?" They could not eat all the dumplings in one go. They had to save some for tomorrow. This was to imply that they would have abundance year after year. The dumplings she had made were for them, husband and wife, to eat anyway. Therefore, it would either Yun Qing or her would get them.
After wrapping the dumplings, Zijin suddenly asked, "Madam, do you think we should send some dumplings over to that child, Jing Bai?" Zijin was quite fond of Jing Bai.
Yuxi shook her head. "No, Jing Bai will definitely prefer her mother's dumplings." Even if the ingredients were not as good as theirs, the dumplings made by her own mother meant something different.
When Zijin heard this, she also thought it was reasonable. "Madam, that child is pretty good, brilliant and capable of bearing hardship. Madam, what do you think of me taking her as my apprentice?"
Hearing this, Mama Qu asked, "That Jing Bai is a girl?" Seeing Zijin nodding her head, Mama Qu muttered, "When I first heard that name, I thought that child was a boy."
Zijin laughed. "The name sounds like a boy's name, but that child is nice, and I quite like her."
Yuxi said, "Let's wait for a while." She would observe the children's character first, and if they had good nature, she would not object to Zijin taking on apprentices.
Zijin nodded her head.
Yuxi's hand movements paused as she turned her head and said to Zijin, "I remember a child called Lu Bai in the third class. Both of this child's parents are dead, and he has only one brother left at home who is two years older than him. Those two still-growing children don't know how to make dumplings yet. So, you can send two jin of dumplings over there later!" The children were divided according to age and arranged into first, second, third and fourth classes.
Hao Dazhuang had sent over the list of children who had performed well in the school as per Yuxi's request. Since Hao Dazhuang had worked under Yuxi for so long, he knew her temper. So on the list, he had also written down each of the children's background information. And Yuxi was particularly impressed with the child called Lu Bai because it was written on the list that he lived in a shack. Yuxi had died inside the same thing in her previous life, so she was sensitive to this.
Zijin nodded. "Okay, I'll go there later." After a pause, Zijin complained, "The General can't even be free on New Year's Eve." Yun Qing had gone to the military camp after breakfast and had not returned.
Yuxi replied with a smile as she continued wrapping the dumplings, "He'll be back later." While they were having a grand New Year celebration, they couldn't leave the soldiers in the barracks unattended. So when Yun Qing left, he told her that he would eat at the barracks at noon, and Yuxi had no problem with that as long as he returned for the New Year's Eve dinner in the evening.
Zijin bristled and said nothing more.
Half a shichen later, Zijin found the place where Lu Bai lived. Looking at the low shed built with branches and rice straw in front of her, Zijin's nose got slightly sour. Looking at this shack reminded her of when she was at her family home. But the one she lived in was built with wooden beams and forced with mud, which was much better than this place Lu Bai lived in. Taking a breath, Zijin called out inside, "Lu Bai? Is Lu Bai here?"
Lu Bai came out from inside and was overjoyed to see Zijin. "Zijin Jiejie, what brings you here?" After saying this, he called out towards the house, "Ge, Zijin Jiejie has come over to see us."
When Lu Zhu heard this inside, he rolled his eyes. What do you mean she came to see us? She is coming to see you, okay? But with this shout, he had no choice but to go out, and when he saw Zijin, he said with a smile, "Our house is rather simple and crude. If you don't mind, please come in and sit down."
Zijin smilingly replied, "What's there to mind about?" She immediately walked inside afterwards.
As soon as they walked in, Zijin looked at a simple bed built with wooden boards, and there was a quilt covered with patches on the bed. At the end of the bed lay some cabbages inside a dusty sack. A small stove was set up against the door, with a large pot on the stove's hole and two wooden bowls and chopsticks next to it.
Lu Bai was a little embarrassed and ushered, "Zijin Jiejie, why don't you sit on the bed?"
Zijin smiled and said, "I won't sit down since I have other work. Madam knows that only the two of you are in your family, so she asked me to bring you dumplings because you are still young and don't know how to make them." Compared to Jing Bai, these two children had it even harder. They were really living on the edge of life and death as they struggled to stay alive.
Hearing this, Lu Bai was stunned and said, "Ge, tonight we will be able to eat pork meat-filled dumplings." Lu Bai said this because, just now, Lu Zhu had told him that when he made enough money, the two brothers would have a good meal of dumplings filled with meat.
Lu Zhu blushed and said towards Zijin, "We just made a fool of ourselves."
Zijin smiled. "What's wrong with that? When I was little, I also craved pork meat dumplings. However, these dumplings are not stuffed with pork but with mutton and taste delicious. You, brothers, can have a huge meal tonight."
Lu Zhu stopped Lu Bai from getting too excited and spoke towards Zijin, "Tell Madam for us that we two brothers thank her for her kindness. We'll......"
Zijin waved her hand to interrupt Lu Zhu, stopping him from continuing. "When Madam helped you, it did not mean she wanted anything in return. Madam often tells us that she does so only to help those in need. So, these polite words should not be said in the future."
After saying these words, Zijin put her things down and said, "If you guys have any difficulties in the future, you can come to me at the Yun Residence. If I am not there, you can also look for a man called Yu Zhi."
After the two brothers sent Zijin away, they returned to their shack and opened the bag to take a look. Lu Bai was delighted. Apart from the dumplings, there were also melon seeds and peanuts inside, along with sweets, pastries and other things.
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Lu Bai took one of the candies, ate it and nodded. "It's very sweet."
Lu Zhu divided the stuff from Zijin into three parts, keeping one for his own family and giving the other two away. These two families had helped them a lot. If it hadn't been for their help, the brothers would probably have starved and frozen to death.
Halfway down the street, Zijin suddenly remembered how she had forgotten to give the two children their red envelopes! If Madam knew that she was giving the children some money, she would definitely scold her, but she would not say anything to her about giving the two children their New Year's money. So Zijin turned back around. At this time, she knew that the two children had given away most of the things she had delivered to them.
When Zijin returned to the Yun Residence, she told Yuxi, "They are too poor to have regular meals. But when they got something from us, they gave away half of it in a flash. Even when I gave them new year's money, they didn't want it, saying they didn't want to accept undeserved rewards. They were already grateful for what they had received and that they couldn't ask for my money. They were so sensible enough to make me almost in tears." She was pretty touched, anyway.
Yuxi nodded at her words. "Knowing how to be grateful and putting it into action. Despite having a hard time, they still have their own principles in dealing with things. Both brothers are very good." Lu Bai was already on Yuxi's list of priorities to be further trained. As for Lu Zhu, Yuxi put him on hold for now.
When Mama Qu discovered what had happened to the two children, she felt compassionate towards them. "I have seen many cruel people in this world, but this is the first time I have seen such a heartless woman." There are plenty of people who leave their children and remarry. But this was the first time she had heard of a woman who had taken all her money and remarried, leaving her children behind without concern for their life and death. This woman was even worse than an animal.
Yuxi had met a scum father herself, so she was very calm when hearing such things. "There are all kinds of people in this world. It can only be said that they are down on their luck for having such a ruthless mother." She was also unlucky to have met a heartless father.
Zijin suggested, "Madam, let's take better care of them in the future!"
Yuxi shook her head. "No need. Lu Bai has entered the school without expenses, and Lu Zhu can care for himself. It won't be good for the two children if we look after them too much." It was better to rely on themselves rather than others, and it was important for the two children to learn the earn a living by themselves. Moreover, Yuxi felt that only amid trials and tribulations could people grow up quickly.
Zijin didn't say anything more after hearing Yuxi's words.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi