Spring comes to the desperate place

The birthdays of the Song family members are all concentrated in the second half of the year. Song Chunlin’s birthday is on the Chinese Valentine’s Day, Grandpa Song’s birthday comes in August, Grandma Song, Song Dazhuang, and Song Chunsheng are all in September, and Song Qinshi and Song Xiaobao are all in October.

There were no conditions last year, but now that life has settled down and things are getting better and better, Song Chunlin came up with the idea of celebrating everyone's birthday.

Grandpa Song was so annoyed by him that he had no choice but to agree, but he did not allow Song Chunlin to celebrate Song Xiaobao's birthday.

Song Chunlin didn't understand: "Everyone can celebrate their birthday, why can't Song Xiaobao?"

Grandpa Song said unhappily, "Don't you understand that children under three years old don't celebrate birthdays? Children can't suppress the blessing of birthdays, and it's easy to be taken away. Let alone Song Xiaobao, you and your brother and your parents, go ask them, who has celebrated a birthday before the age of three?"

This involved Song Chunlin's blind spot in knowledge, and he ran to ask Song A-mo in disbelief.

"Little Grandpa, I want to celebrate Xiaobao's birthday, but Grandpa won't allow it."

Aunt Song nodded in understanding: "That's definitely not right. Xiaobao is not even three years old yet. It's not good for him to have a birthday."

Song Chunlin: "Can you only celebrate your birthday when you are three years old?"

Song A-Mo raised a finger and shook it: "Three years old is not good either. A three-year-old child is only halfway to standing. A six-year-old child is completely standing. Our place is different from your world. There are many children who die before the age of three. Even those who are over three years old cannot be taken lightly. Just like the aunt you have never met, we took good care of her until she was three years old, but she died in one night."

Speaking of sad things, Song A'mo's voice was a little sentimental. In her life, she gave birth to a boy, a girl and two sons for the Song family, but in the end, the only one who stayed with her was Song Dazhuang.

Song Chunlin felt that he had done something wrong and pulled Song Amo's sleeve with some concern.

Amour Song came back to her senses and smiled at her grandson.

"In short, don't celebrate your child's birthday while he's still young. He's still young now, and he won't remember whether he's had a birthday or not, so it's easy to fool him."

Song Chunlin understood a little bit. Because the medical level in ancient times was relatively low, many children died before the age of three. The adults could not find out the cause of the disease, so they could only explain it with something as intangible as blessing. Those who survived were blessed, and those who did not survive were not blessed.

Although there is no scientific reason, Song Chunlin still decided to respect the old man's wishes. Even though he knew that with his current ability, Song Xiaobao would not die young, but the elders did not want to have a grandson, then so be it.

Originally, I didn't agree to celebrate Grandpa Song's birthday. He is already 56 years old this year. I feel it's embarrassing to celebrate his birthday at his age, so I refused to do it no matter what.

It was Song Chunlin who suggested that they celebrate his birthday one day in advance and have a good lunch together. Grandpa Song thought it was not a good day, so he agreed.

Early in the morning on the day before the birthday, the Song family started slaughtering chickens. Song Dazhuang specially picked a big fat chicken, which weighed more than ten pounds. When they opened its belly, they saw it was full of golden fat.

Song Dazhuang couldn't help but praise: "This chicken is well-fed, with so much oil, it must be delicious!"

Song A-mo was a little proud: "Of course not. Don't you even look at who raises the chickens?"

Song Dazhuang laughed loudly: "Yes, the chickens raised by my little dad are still the best. No one in the whole town can compare to them."

Aunt Song spat at him angrily, "Stop talking nonsense, clean up quickly, remove the meat, and give the bones to your wife to make soup."

Lunch was a simple meal of hand-rolled noodles. Amao Song was an expert at making noodles. He had strong hands and the noodles he rolled were chewy and smooth. They were paired with braised pork, finely chopped cucumber, and sour and spicy pickled radish. All mixed in a large bowl, Song Chunsheng could eat three bowls in one go.

Auntie Song also specially cooked two poached eggs for Grandpa Song, and Grandpa Song smiled and gave one to his wife.

In the evening, I had chicken soup cooked by Song Qin, which also contained bamboo fungus that Song Chunlin took out from the space. This thing was not grown by him. I don’t know how Dabao did it, but he gave birth to a bamboo forest in a corner of the space. This bamboo fungus grew in the bamboo forest.

The delicious chicken soup was served with cold shredded chicken and Kung Pao chicken. There was also a whole fat roasted chicken leg in the birthday boy's bowl. It was specially roasted for Grandpa Song by Auntie Song. It smelled so good that Song Xiaobao kept drooling at the big chicken leg.

Grandpa Song was old and didn't like eating such greasy food, so he simply pulled Song Xiaobao's chair next to him, tore off a small piece of chicken leg and put it in his own bowl, and gave the rest to Song Xiaobao.

Song Xiaobao held up the chicken leg excitedly, said a lot of gibberish, and then held the chicken leg and started to gnawing on it.

Auntie Song glared at Grandpa Song in disapproval: "Children don't know how to count when they eat. If you give him so much, he will definitely be full later."

Grandpa Song smiled awkwardly but did not take it back. Song Qin smiled and handed Song Xiaobao a glass of hawthorn water.

"Don't worry, little daddy. The hawthorn juice is ready. Xiaobao eats slowly, so he won't get too full."

Since her mother said so, Aunt Song shut up and started to concentrate on eating.

Because it was not a real birthday, Song Ammo did not make a cake. In addition, Song Chunlin had no more whipped cream in his space. Even if he had, Song Chunlin had no time to look for it because nine ears of corn had already grown in his cornfield.

It was Dabao who notified him. Song Chunlin flashed into the space and heard Dabao's excited voice: "Master, master, here, look, there is a nine-eared plant here!"

Song Chunlin walked in the cornfield and followed Dabao's guidance. He actually found a corn with nine ears. The corn was as big as his palm, and the whole plant was almost as tall as him. Song Chunlin touched the nine ears of corn with joy, thinking that it might not be long before he could grow corn exactly the same as in his previous life!

Dabao boasted to Song Chunlin: "I was right, wasn't I? Dabao is really useful!"

Song Chunlin nodded in agreement: "Yeah, Dabao is really amazing."

"That's it!" If Dabao had a physical body, he would definitely raise his chin with a proud look on his face.

Thinking about the recent joining of Dabao, the work in the space has become a lot easier. Dabao was particularly happy to tell himself that his merit and golden light had increased by tens of thousands points.

"Tens of thousands of points? Can't tens of thousands of points make you show up?" Song Chunlin asked puzzledly.

Dabao was silent this time. After a long while, he spoke aggrievedly, "It's still a lot short. Even if you don't let me work, I have to save it for a long, long time. Woo woo woo woo, it's too much. Dabao can't calculate it!"

Song Chunlin frowned. He wondered if this guy's IQ needed to be exchanged for the golden light of merit. Otherwise, why would he look so stupid?

Hearing that he was still crying, Song Chunlin quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, don't worry, you will have merits. After the sweet potatoes and potatoes bloom everywhere, are you still afraid that you won't have merits?"

Dabao barely stopped crying under his comfort, but there was still grievance in her voice: "Okay, although it's a little slow, it's better than nothing."

Song Chunlin thought, why did he choose this? It's not that he doesn't want to do good deeds, but the problem is that his current body is only nine years old, okay? How can you ask a nine-year-old child to go out and save people? That's too dangerous.

Song Chunlin is already very satisfied with this. He eats his meal bite by bite. He is afraid that the Song family will be envied if he eats too much all at once.

Song Chunlin just wanted to make a fortune quietly and didn't want to be the first to stick out. Now he could just develop slowly. He had already replaced all the corn outside with five-ear ones. Next year he would be able to switch to eight or nine-ear ones. Year after year, one day he would be able to grow corn like in his previous life.

And it's not just corn. After the production of potatoes and sweet potatoes increases, Song Chunlin also plans to let Song Dazhuang open a small workshop specializing in making potato flour and sweet potato flour. That's good stuff. In his previous life, when he had hot pot, he liked to add sweet potato flour at the end. He also liked to add potato flour when eating spicy hot pot. Now that he hasn't eaten it for a long time, he misses it.

Thinking of this, Song Chunlin's saliva began to flow. He rummaged through a pile of staple foods and found a handful of sweet potato noodles, a few casseroles, and some hot pot meatballs. He planned to ask Song Qinshi to make him casserole noodles.

As the autumn harvest approached and the time for the Third Prince to ascend the throne was getting closer, Gu Fengyun seemed a little busy these days. Gu Fengyue was not quite sure what his brother was busy with. It was only once in a while that Gu Fengyue would wait for Gu Fengyun, who was covered in blood, late at night.

At first he thought Gu Fengyun was injured, but when he smelled carefully, he found that Gu Fengyun not only smelled of blood, but also had a dark, damp and moldy smell.

This smell only appeared in the dungeon. Gu Fengyue instantly understood that her brother had gone to interrogate the prisoners.

Gu Fengyun put a finger to his lips, asking Gu Fengyue to suppress all the doubts in his heart.

Gu Fengyun said, "When you have time, go to the palace and spend more time with the Ninth Prince. The child has lived with you for a few months and seems to have developed feelings for you. He has been depressed since returning to the palace. Maybe you can go and see him and he will feel better."

Gu Fengyue: "I'm afraid he doesn't have feelings for me, he has feelings for the Song family."

Now Gu Fengyun was silent. The time had not come yet, and the Ninth Prince could not disappear before the Third Prince ascended the throne. This would be bad for the new emperor's future reputation.

Gu Fengyue also knew this, so the next day he handed his brother's name card and entered the palace. Perhaps the Third Prince had given instructions early in the morning, and he came to the Ninth Prince's bedroom without any obstruction. All the palace servants inside had been replaced by the Third Prince's confidants. Now no one dared to abuse the Ninth Prince, and the Ninth Prince's life was almost the same as when the previous emperor was alive.

It’s just that the child’s expression is listless, without any of the vitality that a child of his age should have.

When Gu Fengyue arrived, the Ninth Prince was studying with his teacher. He was reading the Three Character Classic. He recited a short passage of the Three Character Classic over and over again. Gu Fengyue did not say a word, but sat quietly in the yard, waiting for the Ninth Prince to finish school.

Fortunately, the Ninth Prince was still young, and the teacher did not intend to teach him any profound knowledge. He read a passage of the Three Character Classic with him, taught him to write a few words, and after giving him homework, he leisurely left.

Gu Fengyue and the others entered the study room only after they left. They saw the Ninth Prince sitting obediently on the chair, writing big characters in a very serious manner, like a little old-fashioned person.

"Xiaojiu." Gu Fengyue called him.

The Ninth Prince was slightly stunned when he heard Gu Fengyue's voice. He raised his head and looked towards the door, and found that it was really Gu Fengyue. After being stunned for a while, he smiled, excitedly threw down the brush, and ran towards Gu Fengyue.

Gu Fengyue opened his arms to catch the little ball, and seeing his eyes curved with joy, he felt that this was what a four-year-old child should look like.

"Second brother Gu, are you here to take me out?" The ninth prince blinked and looked at Gu Fengyue expectantly.

Gu Fengyue was speechless for a moment. Why did his tone make it sound like he was visiting someone in prison?

His silence disappointed the Ninth Prince. He put away his smile, sullenly stepped out of Gu Fengyue's arms, and returned to the desk with his head hung.

"I knew that you adults all like to lie. Second Brother Gu is the same. You all like to lie to me."

After going through so many things, even the most naive child should grow up. The Ninth Prince knows that his current identity is not pleasing, otherwise he would not be kicked around like a ball by his brothers.

Thinking of the grievances and sorrows he had suffered these days, the Ninth Prince was so sad that he shed tears. He missed his mother and Song Xiaobao so much. These people said that his mother was dead and would never come back. The Ninth Prince secretly hid in his bed and cried many times because of this.

And there is Song Xiaobao. He really misses Song Xiaobao, the Song family, his sweet and soft big bed, all the delicious food Song Qin made for him, and those ugly toys made by Song Dazhuang. Well, they are just a little bit ugly.

Will he never have the chance to go to the Song family? Will he be locked up in this yard forever, never able to leave?

Thinking of this, the Ninth Prince felt even sadder. He didn't like this place anymore. His loving mother was no longer in this courtyard, and even his father was gone. His Third Brother never came to see him, and he had to study with a fierce teacher every day. His life was so miserable.

Seeing that he had made the person cry, Gu Fengyue felt a headache. He was not good at coaxing young children, so he could only hold the child in his arms and pat his back gently.

Perhaps he was too sad, and he fell asleep crying soon after. Gu Fengyue was worried about his health and ordered the palace servants to invite the imperial physician.

The imperial physician felt the pulse of the Ninth Prince and said that he was young and worried too much after going through so many things. No one was there to counsel him, and a child's mind was very fragile. The imperial physician suggested that people spend more time with the Ninth Prince.

"A four-year-old child needs the company of his family. No medicine can be better than the company and guidance of his parents and siblings. If that doesn't work, you can find someone the child wants to be close to to accompany him."

After listening to the words of the imperial physician, Gu Fengyue thought about when he was as old as the Ninth Prince, his brother had always been with him day and night, never getting tired of it. Unfortunately, his brother at that time was only as old as he is now. After experiencing the death of his parents, he still had to find ways to comfort his younger brother. From that time on, his body was worn down step by step.