Chapter 020: Stealing Thieves

The dumplings were wrapped in no time, half of them were boiled in the pot, and the rest were left for Feng Jian to have as a midnight snack later.

However, the next morning, something strange happened.

The half-covered dumplings frozen on the millstone in the courtyard were nowhere to be found. Lu Xiaomi circled around the millstone several times, unable to figure out whether it was the work of a yellow weasel or a thief in the house. Lu Er, once again, was wrongly accused, as his bed was filled with snowballs by his sister. He jumped up in protest, exclaiming his innocence.

"It wasn't me! I went to bed right after eating last night, I didn't sneak out to eat dumplings in the middle of the night!"

Lu Xiaomi clearly didn't believe him, and she threw the last snowball in her hand at him, saying, "If you didn't eat them, then you must have taken them to the mountain! If you want to take food to your master, just tell me openly. If you act like a thief again, I'll have father punish you!"

Lu Er was furious, but being thick-skinned, he shook off the snow in his bed after his sister left and continued to snuggle up to the warm kang.

After all, it was just a few dumplings, not worth much money, and Lu Xiaomi was more interested in teasing her older brother. At that moment, she was busy frying snacks in the kitchen, completely putting this matter out of her mind.

The long-awaited New Year finally arrived in the anticipation of mischievous children in the village. Lu Xiaomi gave the mischievous children a break on the day before the Lunar New Year, allowing them to play wildly for a few days before resuming classes after the fifteenth day of the first month.

The mischievous kids went home and performed some crooked calligraphy for their parents, wrote their names, recited the Three-Character Classic, and played with copper coins, making the whole family proud.

As a result, the New Year gifts sent to the Lu family became more generous. If your family sent three rabbits, my family would add a few more strings of dried mushrooms. In this way, the Lu family's storage room was filled to half capacity.

Lu Xiaomi was also generous. Whenever guests visited, she would return the favor with a box of twisted dough sticks and dried fruits. As for meatballs, it wasn't that she didn't want to give them, but there were too many foodies in the family. Gao Ren and Lu Er cherished the meatballs as if they were treasures, making it difficult for her to be generous.

Busy as she was, on the eve of the thirtieth day of the lunar month, Lu Xiaomi started her day early, hastily eating breakfast and lunch. By evening, the table was almost collapsing under the weight of the sumptuous dishes.

Spicy rabbit meat, chicken stewed with mushrooms, four happiness meatballs, braised pork ribs, steamed fish, stir-fried pig intestines, garlic pork, radish meatball soup...

The table was filled with meat, and the Lu family members were all happily wielding their chopsticks, not knowing where to start.

Lu Wu went to the mountain to deliver new clothes and food to his master. When he returned, the first thing he did was grab a chicken leg and start gnawing on it, only to be sternly reprimanded by Lu Lao, which also marked the beginning of the Lu family's New Year's Eve dinner.

Lu Xiaomi came out with a jar of strong liquor, and everyone, including Feng Jian, was served a bowl.

Lu Xiaomi wanted to join in the fun, but Gao Ren insisted on pouring her half a bowl.

Lu Xiaomi was delighted. This was her first New Year celebration here, with family by her side, so she didn't refuse.

As they ate, drank, and laughed, everyone was in high spirits. However, Feng Jian and Lu San, under the influence of alcohol, started a series of playful banter.

As they were about to recite poems and welcome the new year, Lu Xiaomi was already leaning against the kang, snoring softly.

Her fair and tender cheeks, now flushed with alcohol, looked healthy and lovely. In her dreams, she would pout her rosy lips from time to time, like a flower waiting to be picked.

Feng Jian lowered his eyes, discreetly blocking the glaring candlelight and then covering her with a cloak...

Under the night sky, as the New Year approached, families everywhere were reuniting to welcome the new year.

In a luxurious house in a distant city, a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair stared at a bowl of white dumplings.

He picked up an ivory chopstick and flipped over the dumplings with edges folded like wheat ears, muttering, "You rascal, you went out to study, didn't learn any skills, but learned these feminine tricks."

Despite his words, a faint smile gradually appeared on his lips, and warmth filled his eyes.

The ivory chopsticks moved up and down, and in no time, the dumplings were gone, revealing the exquisite branch-patterned plate underneath...

Firecrackers rang out at midnight, waking up Lu Xiaomi and reviving the sleepy mischievous children.

On the small Old Bear Ridge, children with small paper lanterns were running around, while men were lighting firecrackers. Surprisingly, there were no scoldings, only cheerful reminders to come inside after playing for a while, as their mothers were cooking dumplings, and they needed to pay respects to their elders in the morning.

"Okay, Dad," the children replied, but their feet were reluctant to leave. Only after playing enough did the mother who made the dumplings call them back inside.

The remnants of the New Year's Eve dinner in the east wing of the Lu family had long been cleared away. Lu Er and Gao Ren were drunk and stumbling, while Lu Lao was escorted back by Lu Da.

It was Lu Xiaomi who suddenly woke up, realizing she was sleeping next to Feng Jian, covered with his cloak, feeling a bit disoriented. Rubbing her groggy head, she finally remembered a bit.

She raised her hand and pinched Gao Ren's fair face, blushing, before hurriedly going to the kitchen to cook dumplings.

Beside her, Feng Jian slowly opened his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

The dumplings from the Lu family were filled with pickled cabbage and pork, as well as tofu, egg, and vermicelli.

Before, they were focused only on drinking, and not many people ate too many dishes. Now, holding a hot bowl of dumplings, they ate eagerly, even more than usual.

Luo Laoda took his bowl back to eat with Luo Lao, and Luo Xiao-Mi remembered sleeping with Feng Jian earlier, feeling too shy to lift her head. She quickly ate a few dumplings, instructed Luo Laoer to clean the table, and then went back to her room to sleep.

As the day broke, the children in the village came to bow and wish a Happy New Year, accompanied by their father Luo Laoda.

Luo Xiao-Mi had prepared small red envelopes with ten pennies inside, causing the children to nearly jump with joy. They were usually only given a few pennies as pocket money, and now they received ten, so how could they not be delighted?

The men were already planning to take over the farming tasks at Luo’s home, so they didn’t refuse, which naturally surprised the children even more. They quietly left to hide the coins, preparing to buy snacks when the peddler came to their village in a few days.

On the mountain, Luo Xiao-Mi saw Luo Laoda greeting everyone and prepared to go and wish Uncle Bi San and Old Feng a Happy New Year. These two had been looking after the Luo family, and it was only right to visit them at the beginning of the New Year.

However, before she could leave, the agile women came to her door, eating snacks and drinking tea while chatting, much to Luo Xiao-Mi's annoyance. She called her older and younger brothers to go out first.

Feng Jian, who was in the side room, also instructed Lao Yang to thank them, especially Uncle Bi San. He had thought that the village doctor's medical skills were not good, but he turned out to be a miraculous healer. Although he could now move around on his own, he still couldn't walk too far and had to let Lao Yang thank them on his behalf.

The first day to wish a Happy New Year, and the fifth day to send New Year's greetings.

The lively and leisurely days passed by quickly, and it seemed that the New Year disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The mischievous children were locked at home and had to practice calligraphy and drawing in the sand, trying to retain what they had learned from their studies and eating dumplings.

The fathers wandered around the village and the mountains with their hands behind their backs, facing the lingering cold northern wind.

It did not snow much this year, so the wild animals had a good winter. With more young offspring in the spring, it would be a good time for these hunters.

If they were lucky enough to catch a black bear or a tiger, they would finally have something for their children to use for painting and writing.

After all, learning and writing could not always be done with branches and sand trays.

In the large courtyard of the Luo family, Luo Xiao-Mi also felt impatient. After breakfast, she took Luo Laoda to the dry field at the foot of the hill.

Lao Yang followed behind them as usual.

As the saying goes, a year's plan starts with spring. This year, Xiao-Mi decided to work hard on their family's thirty acres of dry land. This was Da Yuan; it was not a modern society with extreme material wealth.

At crucial moments, gold and silver would not suffice; they needed their own grains.

Especially for the Luo family, as Luo San was on the path of imperial examinations, the family could only engage in small-scale business or borrow others' identities. They absolutely couldn't carry the title of a merchant.

It was not easy to collaborate with outsiders, and even if they found a trustworthy person, it would still require effort.

As for making a living as a hunter in the village, it was simply impossible. Even if Luo Wu had great hunting skills, he couldn't always bring back tigers and bears. When the time came to support Luo San's studies, send him to the capital for exams, take care of Luo Lao, and marry off the three brothers, including Xiao-Mi herself…

After considering all these aspects thoroughly, it was a heavy burden.

Countless sleepless nights, Luo Xiao-Mi calculated that most of their hopes to become wealthy would rest on these thirty acres of dry land.

In the long winter of Anzhou, spring plowing would begin in February, one month later than in other places.

Frost often arrived early in the autumn, so if the growing period was not enough, the yield would decrease or even fail altogether.

In the end, shortening the growing period and considering early maturing breeds was the fundamental solution.