Starting a new chapter in life

Grandma watched the two of them interact and smiled, saying, "Jingyan, come here, help me get a small basket. Put these red envelopes in and set them aside. We'll distribute them tonight."

Jingyan obediently went to find a very delicate little bamboo basket, with lace trim on the handle. She happily took it, neatly folded the red envelopes, and put them inside. She looked around the living room and saw a display shelf against the wall. Of course, there wasn't much on it, so she put the bamboo basket on it. Just as she put it down, Zhou Jie came out and said, "Get ready to eat."

It was almost noon, and everyone had missed breakfast due to their busy schedules. However, since they didn't have to go to work, they weren't particularly hungry, making it a good time to eat. Jingyan was trying eight-treasure rice for the first time; she had never known that rice could be made sweet. However, it tasted good, and she adapted well. The stir-fried bean sprouts and stir-fried celery were also quite delicious, although they were a bit bland. Jingyan really liked the braised lion's head meatballs because she loves meat. She thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

After the meal, Jingyan and Zhou Jie cleared the table, while He Zhicheng helped his grandmother to the study to unpack the red paper they had bought earlier. He Zhijun ground ink at the desk, while his grandmother sat upright in the study chair, waiting for her two grandsons to prepare.

Jingyan didn't know what they were doing in the study. The two sisters-in-law were quick and efficient. After clearing the dishes into the kitchen, Zhou Jie said, "Jingyan, take a rag and wipe the dining table clean, then sweep the floor. I'll do the dishes here."

Jingyan obediently went to the living room to tidy up. Cui Hongru was in the kitchen at the same time, making flour paste. "Do you want Jingyan to go to the study after she finishes her work?"

Zhou Jie smiled and nodded: "Yes, Dad used to write the Spring Festival couplets every year. This year, Grandma is back and will be writing them. Jingyan will definitely be very curious. Let her join in the fun. Mom, shouldn't we make some snacks? Should we make hawthorn candied hawthorns or apple candied hawthorns this year?"

"Make some of everything. There are more people in the family this year, so let's make some candied hawthorn skewers with yam beans. Grandma is getting old, and other fruits can easily damage her teeth. Yam beans are good; they won't hurt her teeth and are also healthy." Cui Hongru said, taking the cooked batter off the stove and setting it aside, and began preparing the ingredients for making candied hawthorn skewers.

Jingyan found tidying up the living room easy. After finishing, she went to the study to join in the fun. She watched He Zhijun gently grind ink with water using an ink stick, and soon the ink began to spread. She found it amazing. When He Zhijun saw her come in, he didn't stop what he was doing and smiled at her, saying, "Have you finished your work with your sister-in-law? Don't be lazy."

Jingyan approached him with a curious look on her face and replied, "My sister-in-law said she would do the dishes. I just need to wipe the dining table in the living room and sweep the living room floor. I've done all those chores and haven't been lazy."

Grandma looked at her and said with a smile, "It's done. There are more people in the family this year, so there's less to do. Except for the kitchen, which is the busiest, everyone else is quite relaxed. By the way, where's Xiaoli? I haven't heard his voice."

He Zhicheng said with a smile, "Dad took him out for a walk. He said he's too noisy at home. Mom and Xiaojie are making food, and if he's at home he'll cause trouble in the kitchen. It's better to take him out to run around."

“Going out is fine too. There are many children of the same age in our compound, and it’s good for them to play together.” Grandma responded, then looked at Jingyan and said, “Zhijun is grinding ink. He’ll be writing Spring Festival couplets with a brush in a little while. If the ink is ground well, the ink will be even and rich, and the couplets will not fade for a year. Don’t you write Spring Festival couplets in your hometown?”

"Yes, they write them, but the village chief always helps us write them. In fact, the village chief writes all the couplets. On the 29th of the lunar year, we would take two eggs or a handful of candy to the village chief's house to ask for a couplet and a few 'Fu' characters to take home and paste. But I remember our village chief used a brush dipped in fountain pen ink to write them; he didn't grind ink himself." This scene of a scholarly family was indeed the first time Jingyan had ever seen it in person.

"Yes, in the past ten years or so, very few families have writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones. When they don't have any, fountain pen ink can indeed be used as a substitute, but the ink doesn't last as long," Grandma said earnestly.

“Where we live, there’s no lintel above the door to keep out the rain. Generally, the red paper on the door will be torn after about six months, not to mention the words on it, so nobody really cares whether the color fades or not,” Jing Yan grinned.

She spoke unintentionally, but her grandmother took it to heart and sighed deeply: "That movement did a lot of harm. So many good things passed down from our ancestors were destroyed. Originally, every place would have one or two families who understood these things, but now, how many places have no one who knows them anymore? It's such a pity."

The other three young people in the room felt saddened by their grandmother's sigh. Jingyan, though lacking in experience, also felt a pang of sympathy. Unfortunately, she was just an ordinary person and couldn't do anything for these treasures. At most, she could only take a few more glances at them. The future of our country's cultural treasures should be left to the next generation.

Thinking of this, Jingyan said, "Grandma, please take good care of yourself. When I have children in the future, whether they are boys or girls, could you start teaching them these skills from childhood? I don't have the desire or ability to learn these things, but I think my children can be trained."

grandmother……

He Zhicheng...

He Zhijun... "Jingyan, aren't your expectations for our children too high? They'll have a hard time if they do that."

“How do you know she won’t enjoy it? Look at Grandma, she knows so much, and her whole demeanor is extraordinary. Even if you don’t look at her face, just her temperament alone makes her a beauty. As long as our children love beauty, they will be motivated to learn. Grandma is a positive example, and I am a negative example of encouragement. Believe me, we can definitely do it.” Jingyan was full of confidence.

The slightly heavy atmosphere in the study was immediately broken. Grandma hadn't laughed like this several times in a long time. She wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes and promised, "Okay, when your child grows up, I will teach him myself."

Carrying a plate of fruit, He Jiaoxu silently turned and left the study, placing the fruit plate on the living room table before heading to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were busy at work. He Jiaoxu skillfully helped by taking out the steamed yam beans from the pot in the corner and setting them aside to cool.

Cui Hongru turned to look at him: "What's wrong with you? Didn't you just say you were going to bring some fruit to Mom? You've already brought it over? You don't seem to be in a good mood."

"Xiaoru, have I disappointed Mom?" He Jiaoxu blurted out this question out of the blue.

"What's wrong with you?" Cui Hongru didn't tolerate him at all.

"Mom, Zhicheng, Zhijun, and Jingyan are in the study. When I went to deliver the fruit platter earlier, I overheard Jingyan telling Mom that she should let Mom teach her future children what Mom is good at. I think Jingyan must have sensed Mom's emotions to make that suggestion."

"Thankfully, Mom's mood has improved a lot, and she's promised to teach me in the future. Looking at it now, Zhijun has made a good husband; at least she gets along with Mom, unlike the other women you looked for before, whom Mom didn't care about or approve of." He Jiaoxu said, feeling quite relieved.

The old lady had been staying in a nursing home, and no matter how many methods they tried, they couldn't get her out. Now, she is finally willing to come back, even if she lives with her youngest son and his wife. At least she can experience family affection and warmth, instead of spending her days in a cold and desolate nursing home forever.

“Isn’t that great? We were worried that Mom would become less sociable after staying in the nursing home for a long time. Now that Jingyan is keeping her entertained with the children, we feel more at ease. We’ll pay for the house in Haishi this time and renovate it according to Xiaojun and his wife’s preferences. Once it’s done, we can bring Mom from the nursing home. With someone to keep her company, Mom won’t be lonely in her later years.”

As Cui Hongru spoke, she finished making the skewered apple candied hawthorns and handed the glass plate to He Jiaoxu: "Take it outside to freeze. When you come back, skewer these yam beans on top. We're going to make hawthorn candied hawthorns."

He Jiaoxu obediently took the candied hawthorns and went out to put them away. Zhou Jie hesitated for a moment and said, "Mom, are you really going to let Grandma live with my sister-in-law? Or should we bring her back? She's not familiar with my sister-in-law in Shanghai, and I'm worried she won't be able to take good care of Grandma."

Cui Hongru shook her head helplessly: "If Jingyan hadn't said that she needed someone to accompany her during childbirth and wanted the old lady to help teach the child in the future, do you think your grandmother would have come back from the nursing home? We've been trying to persuade her for three or four years. We've gone to pick her up several times since the criticism and struggle sessions stopped, but your grandmother still refused to come back. Fortunately, Jingyan can persuade her, and she really likes that child. Since it's fate, let's go along with them. However, Jingyan is taking care of the old lady in our place, and we will help her more in the future. Xiaojie, I hope you can understand."

Zhou Jie smiled and nodded, handing over the already skewered hawthorns. "It's only right. Even if we don't take care of Grandma, we, as the eldest brother and sister-in-law, still have to take care of our younger brothers and sisters-in-law. I understand these principles and won't overthink it."

After He Jiaoxu finished selling the candied hawthorns, he rushed back to skewer the yam beans. Seeing him so flustered, Zhou Jie couldn't bear it any longer. She placed the skewer of hawthorns that was to be coated with syrup where Cui Hongru could easily reach them, and then came over to help him skewer them. "Dad, didn't you take Xiaoli out to play? You're back, where's the child?"

“He’s playing with his grandson at your Uncle Wang’s house next door. I’ll go pick him up when we’re all done, and I’ll bring him a few skewers of candied hawthorns. Your Uncle Wang probably didn’t make any this year.” He Jiaoxu said, looking at the yam and bean skewers in his hand. “These things are so small, and I’ve only managed to make a few skewers after all this time. What’s the point of making these? They’re not as good as the hawthorn ones anyway.”

"Is your brain just for show? Our mother is over seventy years old, can she even chew on hawthorn? Yam beans are soft and tender, coated in syrup, you can bite into them or suck on them, and they're good for the stomach, suitable for the elderly. As her son, why can't you care about your mother? No wonder the old lady doesn't want to come and live with us, she probably just doesn't want to see you." Cui Hongru was getting angry.

He Jiaoxu hung his head, not daring to refute, and only dared to mutter to himself, "I just didn't think of that. It makes me sound like I'm some kind of unfilial son."

The Spring Festival couplets were written, and He Zhicheng and He Zhijun were about to put them up when Jing Yan volunteered to fetch the paste: "Sister-in-law, Mom, is the paste for the Spring Festival couplets ready?" When she got to the door, she saw He Jiaoxu inside and smiled a little embarrassedly: "Dad."

He Jiaoxu responded and brought over the paste with a smile. Jingyan saw them skewering yams and asked, "Dad, why don't you help them put up the Spring Festival couplets and I'll skewer them? I used to skewer meat in the Great Northern Wilderness, so I have some experience."

He Jiaoxu was finally relieved of this task, and immediately smiled and nodded: "That's great, I'll go and see the Spring Festival couplets that the old lady wrote. I haven't seen her write anything for more than ten years." With that, he took the paste and headed straight for the door.

Cui Hongru glanced at his somewhat hurried footsteps and pouted, "Always lazy."

The two sisters-in-law exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly. Jingyan washed her hands and came over to help skewer the food. With her help, the speed was indeed much faster. While skewering, Jingyan asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, what is this?"

"Yam beans are the seeds of yams. Haven't you ever eaten them?"

Jingyan shook her head: "We don't have this where we're from. Yam, isn't that a Chinese medicinal herb?"

Cui Hongru chimed in, "Maybe they don't have it in the North. You've never had it before. I'll make some for you later. Yam can be used in pork rib soup, stir-fried, or made into desserts. There are quite a few proper ways to eat it. But these are all made with fresh yams. The kind from the pharmacy can't be used for food because they're dried and don't taste good."

Jing Yan smiled and said, "Thank you, Mom."

The candied hawthorns were coated in syrup and taken out to freeze. Jingyan said to Zhou Jie, "Sister-in-law, it doesn't seem as cold here as where we are, but it still makes people shiver. It's completely different from where we are."

“I’ve heard my parents say that the heated brick beds in your homes are really warm. They were quite impressed when they came back. But nobody here knows how to build heated walls, and the apartment buildings can’t be modified,” Zhou Jie said. She added that she had only heard about it and hadn’t experienced it firsthand, so she wasn’t particularly looking forward to it.

Jingyan also misses it a lot. Winters back home are so much more comfortable than here. *crying emoji*

After finishing the candied hawthorns, they started preparing dinner. Everyone valued auspicious meanings, so dinner consisted of ten dishes: steamed egg dumplings, cold jellyfish salad, braised lion's head meatballs, braised fish, braised pork, stir-fried shrimp, fried spring rolls, braised dried bean curd strips, a mixed vegetable dish, and stir-fried vegetables with tofu. Steamed white rice was also served. The three men drank some baijiu (Chinese liquor), while the women drank huangjiu (yellow wine). Only Xiaoli, the only child, could only have sweet soup. In short, Jingyan's first family reunion was quite lively, and she wasn't picky about food, so she ate what she liked.

After dinner, everyone said they should stay up late to welcome the New Year. Grandma suggested playing cards, specifically mahjong. Although Jingyan knew how to play, it was the northern style, completely different from what she was used to. He Zhijun explained the rules to her, but she was completely confused. Since it was for real money, Jingyan was tempted to back out.