little son-in-law

The banquet was held in the lobby on the first floor of Jiweixuan, with seven or eight tables set up spaciously, and a small local theater troupe was invited, all of them were thirteen or fourteen-year-old children, both male and female, with thin waists and limbs , like tender green onions, once the gate is closed, there is a lot of fun inside, and no one can see it outside. Most of the people who came here today are business friends of the Yun family, and there are also some important managers of the Yun family. Mo Nanjin didn't know most of them, but a few of them looked familiar, maybe they had met somewhere before, and the only ones who talked to them were the two shopkeepers of Yipinzhai and Jiweixuan, but they all helped Yun Sichuan to say hello Guests, so Mo Nanjin's surroundings are very quiet. There are a few people who have seen Mo Nanjin at the birthday banquet of the old lady of the Yun family in the summer. After asking about where to get a job, and what kind of business is there at home, Mo Nanjin answered one by one with a sincere expression and a down-to-earth attitude. There is farming at home, and there is a fish pond. When everyone heard this, it was obvious that He couldn't starve to death and couldn't hold on, so he retreated after a few words.

Ming Ting was on the side, tried to press the corners of his mouth several times, and managed to control himself not to laugh.

Yun Sichuan ignored the attitudes of others, came back after a round of greetings, and chose to sit next to Mo Nanjin alone. When it came to opening a store in the capital, Yun Sichuan was obviously very interested, "First open a silk and satin shop, The temporary preparations were a bit rushed, so the shop was simply rested for a while, and the supply was still distributed from various stores, but I really didn’t want to miss this good time. Whoever’s home celebrates the New Year, I don’t want to make two new clothes. Especially people in the capital are more particular. If you have good fabrics, you don’t have to worry about not being able to sell them.”

"It's true. Brother Yun is very thoughtful. If you open a shop in the capital, you can't go wrong with the business."

Yun Sichuan showed joy, and said: "That's what I said, but it's not so easy to do business in the capital city, a prosperous place under the emperor's feet. No one dares to provoke it. There are too many high-ranking and powerful families, so it doesn't matter at all Those in the backstage really dare not open, and those who come to the door one day if they are not guaranteed are the masters who dare not offend."

Seeing his appearance, Mo Nanjin didn't want to worry too much. He must have someone to rely on, so he said, "Brother Yun traveled all over the country, and this kind of battle shouldn't be a problem."

Yun Sichuan drank too much alcohol today, and the arrogance that is not easy to show on weekdays showed a little bit, and said with a smile: "Brother is ridiculously praised, it took a lot of trouble, but now it is basically done, and I plan to start it again after the new year. A restaurant, Qing Chuan is staying in Beijing to discuss this matter."

"No wonder I didn't see the second young master."

"Everywhere needs to be taken care of, and we can't do without people. By the way, I heard that brother also went to the capital a while ago?"

"Yeah, the old relatives I haven't seen for many years, the children are all grown up now, and I just took them to identify the door."

"That's how it should be. Relatives get close only after walking around more. If it is inconvenient for brothers to come to Beijing in the future, just say something. Now there are shops in the capital, and there are carriages for the carriages going to and from Yunzhou."

Although it was definitely not necessary, Mo Nanjin still happily agreed.

"Let's do business together now, brother, don't be polite to me." To be honest, he still doesn't know Mo Nanjin's identity at all, and he doesn't even have a basic investigation direction.The Yun family in Beijing should know about it, but he can't rush to inquire about such a family, but judging from the current situation, it's always right to have a good relationship, right?

Avoiding talking about the previous festival, the conversation between the two can be regarded as pleasant.

The table is quite rich, hot and cold dishes are served one after another, and there are also roast suckling pig and roast whole lamb made by a master chef specially invited from the north. Today, there are only men here, and men with some money in their hands , It’s impossible not to have fun. At the beginning, you can still restrain yourself a little bit. When the wine reaches halfway, many people let go of it because of the drunkenness. There are not a few people who hold the little opera singer and kiss them. Some are impatient. , and went directly into the backyard with their arms around people, and then some flower girls and young ladies came, singing and singing, with their waists and hips swaying, their shirts half-faded, and the scene became even more lively.

Because Mo Nanjin was pregnant, she hadn't touched a single drop of alcohol today, but she was a little dizzy after being smelled by the strong smell of powder on the Hua Niang who came up to her.If he stayed any longer, he didn't know what he would see. He found a reason and planned to leave first.

Yun Sichuan saw that he really didn't like this way, so he didn't force it, and personally sent him to the door and gave him a red envelope. Shopkeeper Liu packed a little suckling pig from the kitchen early and put it on the carriage.

On the way back, Mo Nanjin opened the red envelope, and there was a bank note of 300 taels in it, which was a bit more than he expected. He looked at the accounts, and it seemed that the ones distributed to his family were only more than 230 taels.

In Nanshan Town, bank notes are not used, but there is no rush to spend money now, Mo Nanjin did not go to the bank to exchange silver, and returned home to Yuyang for safekeeping as usual.

Yuyang was picking up the steamed buns that had just been steamed in the pot, all of them were white and fat, and Mo Nanjin happened to be not full, so he tore off half of them.

Yuyang took the silver ticket, looked at it, and said with a smile, "I haven't seen this thing for many years." Seeing that Mo Nanjin wanted to eat, he said, "I'll serve you the pork head stewed in that pot." A bowl, how come there are still people who go to the banquet and come back with an empty stomach?"

"Things outside are always not as real as at home." That kind of occasion is not a place to eat with peace of mind.

The fire in the stove is still burning, the pork head meat inside, the soup is already very viscous, the meat is crispy, and it melts in the mouth. This is used for freezing, so the cooking time is extraordinarily long. , The Mo family cooks it every winter. There are few green vegetables in this season. It’s not easy to eat a refreshing cold dish. Boil a pot of pork head jelly, put it in the yard and freeze it in the middle of the night, and it will freeze for a long time. When you want to eat it, dig out a piece, cut it into slices, drizzle some garlic sesame sauce, or add some peanuts, mix it and eat it now, it is very convenient, but cleaning the pig's head and deboning is a small skill, and no one in the Mo family does it Come on, every time I buy a pig's head, I will paste two cents on it, and ask the old Uncle Li from the soy sauce stall to help me with it.

After preparing for so long, all I have to wait for is the day of New Year's Eve.

After breakfast, I boiled the paste first, and pasted the Spring Festival couplets and window grilles. Children love to join in the fun, so Mo Nanjin gave them a few blessings and asked them to paste rice vats, carriages and trees in the yard, high and low, crooked Yes, anyway, my family is watching, and no one cares about it.

The custom in Yunzhou is to enshrine the ancestral tablets in the morning, go to the grave in the afternoon, and welcome the gods in the evening, but the tablets of the ancestors of the Rong family are not here. This is a province for the offering.Rong Xi burned Prince Rong's mansion down with a fire back then, but he didn't dare to do anything about the ancestral hall of the Rong family. Now some collateral relatives are taking care of it. As for going to the grave, he can't do it. He just waits until nightfall. Go to the intersection of the town and burn some paper money, and it will be a new year.

Eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year is not like this everywhere. Nanshan Town is fine. If you go further south, most people are used to eating wontons and glutinous rice balls during the Chinese New Year. I heard that there are people who eat dumplings. I have prepared several kinds, pork and leek, with shrimps added to enhance freshness, celery, shiitake mushroom, radish, and a vegetarian one, radish, cabbage, fungus, vermicelli, and a little oily tofu.Made some extra vegetarian dumplings, Mo Nanjin packed a food box and gave it to Master Huiyan at Lihua Temple.

The New Year's Eve dinner was prepared by Mo Nanjin. The two big elbows were shaved and cleaned, boiled in blood, and ham, green onion and ginger were spread on the bottom, and a little honey was poured on them. They were stewed together. The harvest is thick.Duck the pork and deep-fry it again, cut it into slices, put some soy sauce to marinate it to taste, put the oil skin down neatly, put the chopped plum vegetables on it, steam it on high heat, after it comes out of the pan, buckle it over, soak the vegetables in the oil and water, and the meat There is a fragrance of vegetables in it, and it is not greasy at all.Fresh mandarin fish with slashes on both sides, deep-fried in hot oil, the fish meat is golden-yellow, pour a spoonful of sweet and sour sauce with green beans and pine nuts, the skin is crispy and the meat is tender, the mutton is stewed Radish with a handful of red peppers, fresh and spicy, pork ribs stewed with lotus root, roasted pork with winter bamboo shoots, rice cakes fried with bacon, various meatballs, eggplant box, cold pork head jelly, and fish head with a lighter taste Tofu Soup.

When the dishes are served, in the middle is a big carp that is deep-fried until golden and has a complete whisker and tail.Then the dumplings, a small plate of green and sour Laba garlic per person, the wine is homemade sweet-scented osmanthus rice wine, and there are sweet wine glutinous rice balls after the meal.

The palace has always paid attention to health preservation. Nangong Ningge seldom ate so full in the past. Today, his stomach is full. He drank some sweet wine and said with a smile: "I want to stay here and never leave." He suddenly understood. Yang, after all, wealth is as big as the sky, and it can't compare to the peace and ease at this moment.

After the meal, the table was cleared, and various dried fruits such as melon seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, and almonds were placed on a large plate. Oranges, pears, and apples were washed and placed in a large bowl. There were also sweets and snacks. Hot water was warmed on the brazier. In the main room, talk about the after-dinner conversation in the town, and start to watch the year.

At this time, every family was having a reunion, the wind was blowing on the street, and it was so cold that no one could be seen. Mo Nanjin and Rong Xi went out, brought some incense sticks, paper money and ingots, turned right when they went out, and burned them at the west intersection. Yes, I kowtowed twice to the south to comfort the ancestors in the south. At first, Nangong Qiuhu only squatted on one side and was in charge of burning paper money. Hu stared back at him, but obediently knelt down and kowtowed twice.

Shou Sui, the little ones are the happiest at the beginning of jumping, and they are also the ones who can't stand it first. Sitting in the arms of the adults, their heads are like chickens pecking at rice. Mo Nanjin also feels a little tired after going up and down, okay? It is easy to support until midnight, the new year is here, everything is about to start again, every family comes out to set off firecrackers, the town is full of crackling noises, and there are fireworks, which explode in mid-air with a bang, and it is gorgeous. Nan Jin also ran out to light the firecrackers that had been hung on the tree for a long time. The little guys got up and put on hats and covered their ears and ran out to watch the fireworks. In the house, do not want to go out.

Xiao Mo and Ming Ting went to the kitchen to order warm vegetarian dumplings. Yuyang and Mingyue set up an incense table in the yard, lit high incense, offered three bowls of dumplings, and burned some paper money and ingots.Everyone was not very hungry at this point, and there were not many dumplings cooked, so everyone ate two of them intentionally, and everyone said goodbye to each other for the new year.The three children kowtowed respectfully to the two grandfathers, and got a big red envelope. They happily went back to the house with the adults in their arms and went to sleep. They will get up tomorrow and go out to pay New Year's greetings.

Nanshan town pays New Year's greetings early, and people come to the door before dawn, but the New Year's greetings usually go to their parents first. Mo Nanjin moved here later, and has no direct relationship with the people of Nanshan Town. Low, it’s too early and no one will come to the door. They can just sleep a little longer and eat dumplings for breakfast. The saying here is that there is no knife or broom on the first day of the new year. The former is afraid of bad luck, and the latter said it will The fortune of the family is swept away.

After breakfast, they packed up and everyone dressed up. Mo Nanjin and Yuyang led the three children and went out to pay New Year's greetings. They first went to the neighbors in the town who were familiar with each other, and then went to Yun's house. The old lady of the Yun family was not there. , I heard that they just fell asleep, so they didn't go in to disturb them, they just talked with the brothers of the Yun family in the front hall, the children are fine, and they say happy new year with their mouths sweetly, and the adults will give a red envelope, how many Any amount is fine, what you want is joy, when you go home, Da Zhuang Susu and Ye Qing's family came over, it's all right on the first day of the new year, it's just that every family visits to pay New Year's greetings, as long as you have children, don't worry. Nan Jin also gave red envelopes.

Da Zhuang's family has no relatives, Mo Nanjin originally wanted to keep their lunch, but the roast suckling pig was not eaten, so it was good for entertaining guests, but when Da Zhuang saw Rongxi, Nangong Qiuhu and the others were there, his expression was very reserved, and he said Nothing stays.

There was still sun in the morning, and the wind picked up in the afternoon, blowing the fallen leaves on the ground rustling. Mo Nanjin stayed up all night and was already sleepy at this time, but people still came to the door one after another. He had to cheer up and continue to deal with it , The peanut and fruit plate on the table has been changed several times, a group of people came in, and it was soon emptied. In the middle of the afternoon, Yun Sichuan and his wife and Yun Luochuan came over with their two children.

Yun seldom went out on weekdays, and this was the first time she came to Mo's house in so many years. The main room was reserved for the men to talk, so Yuyang took her and Brother Qi to the room in the inner courtyard to talk about women's private affairs.

Seeing the clean and tidy courtyard, Mrs. Yun held Yuyang's hand and said with a smile, "Sister is really a lucky person. Look at how comfortable the little life is, with both sons and daughters. My brother is also smart and capable. It’s a day that many people can’t envy.”

"Sister-in-law loves to joke with me. We don't dare to compare with sister-in-law's family with our little possessions. It's cold outside, so sister-in-law and Brother Qi come in and sit down."

Nangong Ningge felt that the people coming and going in front of him were too noisy, so he stayed in the room to coax Yunzhi. After these two days of getting along, Yunzhi was no longer afraid of him, and when she was happy, he was allowed to hug him.Hearing the movement at this time, Yun Zhi pushed open the window and poked his head out, and saw Brother Qi who hadn't entered the house at the end, "Uncle Ning, it's Sister Qi."

Brother Qi was already a half-grown girl, and when he saw that there was a man behind Yun Zhi, he nodded and walked in without saying a word.

"There's nothing to entertain, my sister-in-law can use whatever you want." Yuyang brought tea over.

"These are all good. What else do you want to entertain, sister? Don't worry about it." Yun hurriedly pulled her back and smiled.

"It's rare for my sister-in-law to come here once."

"I think about coming and going every day, but I don't always have time. People outside only say that our family is bigger, but my sister should know that each family has its own difficulties, and there are many things to worry about. I can't compare with my sister." Here, close the door, live your own little life, be free."

"Look at what my sister-in-law said." Yuyang knew that what she said was probably true, but it's hard to say something for the New Year's Eve, seeing Brother Qi in a daze, a piece of silk handkerchief was exposed from his sleeve, and the color of it was immature. Taking advantage of the opportunity to change the subject, I asked with a smile, "Did Brother Qi embroider this silk handkerchief?"

Brother Qi came back to his senses for a while, and replied softly: "This is me embroidering for fun. I embroider poorly and let my aunt see a joke." She kept thinking, who was that person just now, a young man, why? Will you live next to Aunt Yuyang's bedroom?Seems to be unreasonable, right?

In the front yard, Jing Zhi and Xing Zhi were holding Yun Sichuan's youngest son Ying Qi to release the whip outside. At the beginning, Ying Qi obviously didn't dare to do it. When he saw it was lit, he hurriedly threw it on the ground and ran away with his head in his arms. Jing Zhi and Xing Zhi insisted on dragging him back, but Ying Qi saw that there was no sound, so he dared to approach slowly.

Yingqi's child looked like he was raised by Jiao Didi. Mo Nanjin was worried, fearing that the two little guys would play inappropriately, so he opened the door and said, "Jingzhi, Xingzhi, don't scare Yingqi brother."

Yun Sichuan got up and came over, said with a smile: "Kids, don't worry about them, Ying Qi usually doesn't have a playmate at home, he's too spoiled."

"Yingqi is still sensible, the two of my family are just too naughty." The two came back to sit down again, and Mo Nanjin asked again: "I just heard from the third young master that you should leave on the tenth day? Why don't you stay for two more days? It’s hard to come back this time.”

"Brother Mo is the same as me. You can just call him Luo Chuan. How can you call him the third young master? He is going to take the provincial examination this year, so he needs to focus more on his studies."

"What my elder brother said is that it is enough for elder brother Mo to call me Luo Chuan. In the year of the provincial examination, everything has to be prepared early. After returning to Beijing, I have to visit all my mentors."

Yunzhi wanted to eat pine nuts. Nangong Ningge saw that it was too cold outside, so he didn't want her to come out, so he went to get it in the main room by himself. When he entered the room, he found that there were still guests. He said hello briefly, poured some hot water, and asked Mo Nan Jin was about to leave the place where the pine nuts were placed, when he noticed that a person present was staring at him, his eyes were very wrong, he looked intently, he really didn't recognize him, but why did this person look like a ghost?Does he look that scary?

Mo Nanjin also found out that when Nangong Ningge entered, Yun Luochuan was obviously shocked, then he was a little confused, and finally seemed to confirm that his whole face changed, and he didn't speak as freely as before, until he said goodbye and left, His face didn't recover.