Annual Ceremony

Chapter 25 Xiaoman (Part )

The good news is that Wang Yuan finally got married, which put to rest the worries of Wang Xirui and his wife and the whole family.

The marriage that Wang Yuan had arranged earlier did not take place after all. To be exact, the woman unfortunately passed away due to illness last autumn.

The other party's family offered to cancel the engagement many times, but Wang Xirui refused. He sent a lot of medicinal herbs and money and also helped to hire a doctor, but in the end he failed to keep the other party.

The Wang family did an impeccable job in this matter, and there were many people who praised them. However, it was inevitable that some people would secretly make comments about the good and bad luck of the family. The Wang family's situation was not as good as before, so those families who were taboo about feng shui and luck were naturally unwilling to consider Wang Yuan as a son-in-law.

The first wife cried several times for this, and secretly blamed her husband, saying that she had asked him to break off the engagement early on, but he refused, and in the end, her son had a bad reputation... If it were someone else, it would be fine, but her son had a reputation as a playboy, and with so many layers of reputation, wouldn't he be dead? Who wouldn't want to kick him as far away as possible?

Wang Yuan still didn't care at all, with a casual attitude that if he could get married, he would get married, and if he couldn't, he would be single for the rest of his life, which made the first wife even more angry.

There is no need to consider family background of equal status. Asking would only bring humiliation upon oneself. One can only try to look for someone lower down.

In the end, it was the family of the widowed woman who had not been able to get married who helped to make the connection - although the marriage did not take place, this family praised the Wang family and also believed that they had brought shame to Wang Yuan's reputation. They determined that the Wang family would be a good home, so they tied the marriage knot to their cousin.

This cousin's surname is Zhu. She lost her father at an early age. Her father was an official during his lifetime. She and her mother have been living in her maternal grandparents' home outside the city of Jinling. Her poor background made it difficult for her to get married, but she was both good-looking and had a good character.

Because everyone felt sorry for Miss Zhu, she had been raised in love since she was young. Wang Yuan met her once and felt that her maternal family had indeed treated her well. She had a generous personality and round cheeks. When she talked about her hobbies, she told Wang Yuan frankly that she loved to think about food whenever she had time.

Then he talked about a lot of foods that he liked and was good at. Wang Yuan wanted to laugh at first, but then he just kept swallowing his saliva.

After the two decided on the marriage, Wang Xirui wrote to Jilin to ask his parents for permission. Wang Zhefu could not leave the place of exile. Old Mrs. Dong never interfered in the marriage of her grandchildren, so she told the couple in the first wife to let the family take care of it.

Wang Yuan, who was not young anymore, got married in August.

Juzi hopes that Wang Yuancheng can be more mature after marriage and stop being so annoying.

Wang Yuan's marriage is good news, but the bad news is -

Wang Xichen wrote in a letter with shame: "Both my son and I failed to pass the exam, which disappointed our parents."

As for disappointment in their son, the old couple did not feel that way, after all, they had never held out any hope in the first place.

Orange's view is even more cruel. It even thinks that this news can be clearly divided into good and bad. There will be one more good doctor in the world, which is a great thing.

Wang Zhefu sighed, "Jie'er is only sixteen, and this is his first time taking the imperial examination. It may not be a bad thing to give him some time... There's no rush."

As for my son, there is nothing much to comment on, so I will skip it.

In the evening, Zhenyi wrote a reply letter home on the orders of her grandparents.

Zhenyi greeted everyone in the family and the new sister-in-law, and comforted her father.

Afterwards, Zhenyi wrote another letter to comfort, enlighten and encourage her second brother, and told him about the scenery and interesting things in Jilin.

This year's New Year's Day is still celebrated in a lively manner.

The general's mansion sent someone to deliver half a lamb. The front legs of the lamb were stewed into a pot of lamb soup, the lamb chops were fried and grilled, and the remaining hind legs were pickled and dried by Zhuo's mother, who then strung them with a rope and hung them on the beam, reminding Juzi not to eat them secretly.

Orange had no interest in mutton, and even less interest in lamb bones. Seeing the yellow dog, which had become much thinner, peeking out of the yard gate but not daring to come in, Orange picked up a lamb hoof bone and ran out.

When the yellow dog saw Orange coming out, he immediately ran away with his tail between his legs.

Orange threw the bone outside the door, turned around and went back to the yard with his tail up.

Only when Orange was out of sight did the yellow dog tentatively come over, pick up the bone in its mouth and run away.

The yellow dog came to a haystack with a bone in its mouth, but did not start chewing it immediately. Instead, it picked up the bone and then threw it away, sometimes shaking its head excitedly, and sometimes lowering its upper body with its butt sticking up, staring at the bone, making low whining sounds from its mouth, and playing around the bone like a lion dance.

It’s a dog’s way of celebrating a tasty treat.

Orange squatted on the courtyard wall and looked down at the dog, thinking that the dog was not very smart.

That day, Orange took out all the bones in the house and fed them to the dog.

But when the yellow dog showed the idea of ​​wanting to enter the yard, Orange slapped him in the face - the rules cannot be broken!
After giving him a slap but lots of bones, the yellow dog gradually lost its hostility towards Orange and only felt fear of him. He often followed Orange happily.

The gift that Juzi gave to Zhenyi for her thirteenth birthday was still a sparrow, and the yellow dog also helped in catching the sparrow.

In addition, Zhenyi also received a very special gift from Baoyin and Mrs. Dolan. It was a chestnut pony, which Zhenyi loved very much.

In March of the spring, another letter came from home in Jinling. This time there were two good news, but one of them made Zhenyi hard to be happy. Instead, she felt more worried.

Yang Jinniang has been pregnant for four months. Considering the time when the letter was delivered, she should be five or six months pregnant now.

Juzi could sense that Zhenyi was very worried about Yang Jinniang's health, and sometimes she would call her mother in her dreams. The bloody scene of Yang Jinniang's last childbirth was also imprinted in Juzi's mind. That was the only time Juzi ran away from home.

Many nights, Orange comforted Zhenyi when she had nightmares.

Old Mrs. Dong wrote back to tell Wang Xichen that he didn't need to come to Jilin for the time being, and should take good care of Jinniang during her delivery and pay more attention to her.

After being comforted by her grandmother, Zhenyi felt a little relieved, but she still couldn't help secretly flipping through the medical books left by her father, and carefully calculated the day when her mother would give birth.

In this way, a month passes, and by April, when many wild vegetables in the fields can be dug and eaten, the Grain Full season has arrived again.

Zhenyi once again opened the "Collection of Explanations of the 72 Seasonal Changes in the Lunar Calendar" and found the chapter on the Grain Full season. She saw that it said - Grain Full, the first season, bitter herbs are in bloom.

Last year, Zhenyi asked Zhuo's mother what bitter vegetables are and whether they really taste bitter.
Mother Zhuo took it to heart, and when the Grain Full season came this year, she dug up a basket of bitter herbs, soaked them in cold water, blanched them to remove the bitterness, then mixed them with salt, and then mashed garlic and drizzled with sesame oil and mixed them in.

When Zhenyi returned from the general's mansion with her grandfather, she saw a dish of cold bitter vegetables on the dining table. Zhenyi took a bite, her eyes lit up, and she praised Mother Zhuo highly.

Wang Zhefu praised the bitter herb itself: "As the saying goes, when the spring breeze blows, the bitter herb grows, and the wasteland becomes a granary... In years of famine, bitter herb can be said to be a life-saving herb."

After hearing this, Orange couldn't help but feel awe for this bitter wild vegetable - what a sensible and useful grass, what a good grass.

Orange came to the bamboo basket filled with wild vegetables at the door and tasted a few bites with respect.

The weather during Grain Full season is exceptionally pleasant, especially in Jilin. The sky and earth are full of vitality, yet there is not a trace of dryness. It is very suitable for galloping on the grassland. As the riding clothes become lighter, Zhenyi's riding skills have improved further.

On this day, after class in the private school, Zhenyi and Chen Ningtian were going to follow Baoyin to the horse farm as usual. However, as soon as they left the study, Zhenyi heard that someone was looking for her.

Zhenyi walked over curiously and saw a young man in a long gown standing in front of her.

The young man was already tall, with a handsome and fair face, and was gentle and elegant, attracting the attention of many girls who were having their classes.

Zhenyi was stunned for a moment, until the young man showed her a friendly smile, Zhenyi was suddenly sure, her eyes lit up: "...Second brother!"

The young man who came with Taoer and Juzi to pick up Zhenyi from school was Wang Jie.

In early March, I received a letter from my family in Nanjing. The letter mentioned two good news, the other of which was that Wang Jie had come to Jilin.

Last year, Zhenyi wrote back to comfort her second brother. The beautiful scenery of Jilin's mountains, rivers and grasslands mentioned by her attracted Wang Jie. In addition, Wang Jie had already planned to study abroad. After discussing with his parents, he decided to go all the way to Jilin to visit his eldest grandparents and second sister.

Wang Jie set out in early February. When the letter reached Jilin, he was already on the way. He walked slowly along the way because he was seeking to gain knowledge and experience.

After not seeing each other for more than two years, Wang Jie felt that his second sister had changed a lot. Needless to say, she had grown up and taller, and her temperament had become brighter and more relaxed.

People say Jilin is cold, poor and barren, but Wang Jie now thinks that the local climate and soil are also good for nourishing people in a different way.

The girls raised here are all very bold... Wang Jie felt a little embarrassed as he was surrounded by more and more girls.

However, his embarrassed face made those eyes brighter, and the laughter and discussion became louder.

Now that the second brother is here, Zhenyi can't go to the horse farm today.

Zhenyi didn't go to the horse farm, and Chen Ningtian didn't go either, but she still followed Zhenyi and wanted to go home with her.

Zhenyi explained her identity as the elder sister of the Chen family, and Wang Jie and Chen Ningtian exchanged greetings. Chen Ningtian quickly returned the greeting, her movements somewhat hurriedly. When she looked up again, she saw that Wang Jie had taken Zhenyi's bookcase, put it on one shoulder, lowered his eyes and smiled at his sister Zhenyi: "Let's go."

At this time, the group of people came to a halt. Ertu, the leader, had just returned from the army and wanted to pick up Baoyin and Zhenyi. But when he saw Zhenyi returning home with a strange young man beside her, he frowned and asked, "Baoyin, who is he?"

Baoyin, who had just climbed onto the horse's back, followed his gaze and said, "Brother Zhenyi, just came from Jinling!"

Ertu's brows relaxed, and he said "Oh" as if he didn't care, then rode away on his horse, and Baoyin hurriedly followed.

From then on, Zhenyi's time at the horse farm was reduced by half. Wang Jie often went to pick up Zhenyi after school, and the brother and sister would return home together to study and do homework.

After two months, Ertu, who had barely seen Zhenyi, suggested to Baoyin casually, "Why don't we let the Wang family brother come to the horse farm to play together? Why do we have to stay at home together?"

Baoyin sighed: "I told you, but Brother Wang doesn't like riding and shooting, he only likes reading."

Zhenyi liked riding and shooting, and she liked reading even more. With her second brother, who was very knowledgeable, as her companion, she discussed poetry and articles, and her life was particularly fulfilling.

There was just one thing that Zhenyi was always worried about. After calculating, she knew that her mother should be giving birth soon.

　Good morning, thank you all for your monthly tickets, rewards, and messages~

　　
　
(End of this chapter)