After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 411 The Festive Atmosphere of New Year's Eve

Shen Yi felt guilty for being too busy to take care of the children. "If I had known you would wait for me, I would have come back last night and bought you some snacks. Where is your mother?"

Shen Yi entered the main room and found only four children in the house, but Su Tai was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Yuezhang sighed like a little adult, "Three days ago, my godfather sent someone to deliver a letter, asking my father to get some more seafood to send to the capital. My mother received the message and went to Dahe Town to get busy."

It's the Lunar New Year, and everyone's busy! Mother has no choice but to look for help everywhere. The wages have gone up to 150 coins a day now. I'm thinking it'll be good enough if Mother can come home for a family reunion dinner tonight!

"So, our family hasn't prepared a reunion dinner yet?" Shen Yi asked as he walked towards the kitchen.

All four children shook their heads.

Following behind Shen Yi, Shen Congrong said, "Dad, my maternal grandfather sent over a whole roasted lamb early this morning. My aunt said she'll send over a pot of freshly steamed meat buns later."

The twins climbed onto the shelf, but Shen Yi quickly scooped them down.

Shen Congyu struggled to point to the earthenware pot on the shelf, "Mother stewed something delicious in there. She said that once the pot is heated up in the big pot, it's ready to eat."

Shen Yue'an chimed in enthusiastically, "There's so much delicious food! I can see it all!"

Shen Yi opened the earthenware jars one by one and found that they contained either stewed soup or stewed porridge, as well as two jars of sweets that the children liked. With the addition of a whole roasted lamb and large meat buns, dinner was ready for tonight.

The thought that Su Tai was already so busy and still had to take care of the family made him unable to stay a moment longer. He turned around, gave his four children a few words of advice, and hurriedly rode off on his horse.

Wearing a thick cotton-padded coat and carrying a basket, Ye was halfway there when she saw Shen Yi riding a horse and instinctively moved to the side.

She waited until the horse had passed before walking to Shen Yi's house and pulling the wooden stake.

Shen Yuezhang thought that Shen Yi had left something behind and returned. Just as he was about to speak, he unexpectedly saw Ye Shi.

"Auntie, what brings you here?"

Madam Ye hurriedly handed over the basket, "Today is New Year's Eve, and I prepared some food myself. It's a famous dish from the prefectural city called braised pork, made with the best pork belly. I'll let you try it."

"I can't accept this," Shen Yuezhang said, flustered.

Madam Ye insisted, "Thanks to your family's care this year, we have been able to have a good New Year. We really don't have anything good to offer, so we hope that Lord Shen and Madam Shen won't find it offensive."

"No, no." Since things had come to this point, Shen Yuezhang had no choice but to accept it and explained, "My father went to find my mother and isn't home. I'll tell them when they come back later."

"There's nothing much to say. Since your parents aren't here, I'll head back now."

Seeing that Shen Yuezhang had accepted the gifts, Ye was in a great mood and ran back to the backyard of the village school with the empty basket in her hand.

When Zhou's mother saw her return, she hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "What did Madam Shen say? Will she dislike what we gave her?"

Ye brushed the snow off her coat, took it off, and held it by the stove to dry. She said with a smile, "Madam Shen isn't that kind of person. How could she find it disgusting? But she seems to still be busy in Dahe Town. Lord Shen came back, then left again, saying he went to see Madam Shen."

Hearing this, Zhou's mother couldn't help but sigh, "You know, they're already so rich, and they're even officials, yet they're working so hard during the New Year. No wonder they're successful."

"Indeed! Even Madam Shen's children are all excellent. The eldest daughter is efficient and thoughtful in her speech and actions, and she is graceful and poised in her interactions with others. I like them all. The eldest son is refined and courteous, and he is also very well-mannered. The second son is clever and quick-witted, and the second daughter is lively and lovely. Aren't they wonderful!"

When Ye talked about Shen Yi's family, he was generous with his praise.

Zhou Ran raised an eyebrow. "I agree with what you said about Yue Zhang and Cong Rong, but Cong Yu and Yue An are a bit too lively!" When Su Tai first brought the children to the village school, she reminded him that the two children were naughty and needed to be disciplined. He didn't take it seriously until the two children led the other children to climb onto the roof and remove the tiles, and built seven or eight snowmen as tall as people in the backyard, and even dressed the snowmen in clothes.

He got up to use the restroom in the middle of the night and was almost scared crazy by the snowmen. That's when he realized how stupid he was to think Su Tai was exaggerating.

Madam Ye playfully nudged Zhou Ran's arm, "What's wrong with the child being a little naughty? Look at our child, ever since he started playing with the Second Young Master and Second Miss, he's become much stronger."

Zhou Ran also noticed this, and could only show weakness and shut up.

At the same time, Shen Yi rode his horse across the Daxun River and saw in the distance a long string of sheds erected outside his villa, where the tenant farmers of the estate and the villagers of Zhangjia Village were all working.

Fang and his men were on patrol when they spotted Shen Yi. They rushed over to greet him, "Boss, you've arrived!"

Shen Yi dismounted, tied the reins, and asked, "What's the situation now?"

Fang Wei frowned. "There's too much stuff. There's not even a place to put your feet in the yard. We can only clear it out step by step. Look at that ice surface. We've chiseled a big hole in it specifically to draw water to process the raw fish slices."

And over here, we've prepared fifty large pots, but it's still not enough. The lady says we'll have to keep busy for a while; everyone's getting ready to celebrate the New Year here.

As they were talking, Shen Yi had already reached the gate of the courtyard. Just as Fang Wei had said, the seafood was piled up like a mountain, leaving only a narrow path leading to the warehouse for people to walk on.

He waved his hand, telling Fang Wei to continue his work, and went inside to find Su Tai. He finally spotted Su Tai at the very back of the courtyard.

"Xiao Tai, what's wrong?"

Su Tai glanced at him amidst her busy work, then continued working, saying, "Hurry up and help, I'll explain to you after we finish!"

Without saying a word, Shen Yi took the tools from her hands and got to work.

The couple worked until it was almost dark before they finally got those people to leave.

A firework bursts in the sky, reminding the two of what day it is tonight.

Shen Yi closed the courtyard gate, carried Su Tai onto the horse, and said, "There's never enough work to do, and the children are waiting for us to reunite!"

Su Tai nestled in his arms, pressed tightly against his back, and nodded emphatically.

Fireworks bloomed one by one along the path they walked.

As soon as the couple arrived at the village entrance, they noticed that many red lanterns were hung up throughout the village.

All the lanterns were fixed in place with wood, so they wouldn't sway or swing even in the wind.

The village was as bright as day under the lanterns.

Many children, bundled up in thick coats, ran out into the yard to set off firecrackers. Almost every household had bought fireworks, and everyone took turns setting them off until dawn.

Shen Yi slowed down, and the couple strolled around, admiring the lanterns, until they unknowingly arrived at their doorstep.

His four children were playing in the yard. The gate was open, and three black dogs stood guard like door gods. Most people wouldn't dare to step in if they saw them.

"Children, we're back!"