The road in Xujia Village had been under construction for a month and a half, and the road construction team had already left Xujia Village in the direction of the town.
Standing at the entrance of the village, the villagers were very happy to see that the half-built stone road was clean and spacious. There were even old people in the village walking up and down the stone road every day when they had nothing to do.
Today the cold wind is quite strong, the village has been wrapped in a thick layer of cotton jacket, this year the villagers have better days, some children had new cotton-padded clothes to wear, and they all cherished them very much.
Except for those who work in the greenhouse, everyone else keeps warm at home. However, it is not cold when the workers work in the greenhouse, and they will take off their cotton-padded jackets because the temperature inside is warmer than outside...
The old man would order Uncle Xu to drive a carriage to deliver hot tea to the road construction workers every day. It was really not easy for them to work outside.
While Mrs. Wang was sweeping the floor in the main room with a broom, she was talking to the old man sitting on the imperial couch: "I don't know how Wenwu and the others are doing in the town..."
Since the weather was getting colder day by day, Xu Wenwu proposed to take his brothers to live in a barbecue restaurant at night, so that his father would not have to get up early every day to send them to school in the cold wind.
The old man said: "It won't be long before they come back. It's not the first time they've stayed overnight in the town. Moreover, clothes and other things have been prepared for them, so they won't be kept cold."
Mrs. Wang sighed and said, "That kid Xiaowu is not a good sleeper and loves to kick the quilt. What if he freezes out!"
"Didn't the eldest daughter-in-law let Wenwu take Xiaowu to bed? Wenwu always takes care of his younger siblings, so don't worry!"
When Qibao had nothing to do these days, she took her eldest uncle, second uncle, and grandma to the kitchen to make some delicious food, including flower cakes and various fruit jams. She had inexhaustible materials for these things.
Everyone in the family likes it very much, they made a lot of it, wrapped it in a small jar and oil paper, waiting for New Year's Eve as a New Year's gift, it's perfect, and it will keep for a long time in this weather.
......
Just half a month before the Chinese New Year, shopkeepers Hong and Tong arrived in a carriage.
Everyone in the Xu family was very surprised.
The old man asked: "Why are you two here together today? Come in quickly, it's windy outside!"
Shopkeeper Hong replied: "Today we are here to deliver the New Year's gift in advance for our master."
Shopkeeper Tong also nodded, it seemed that he had the same purpose.
Mr. Xu was not surprised that they would send New Year gifts, but he did not expect that they would give them so many days in advance, so he asked: "Why did Mr. Su and Mr. Jing ask you to come over so early to bring New Year's gifts?"
Shopkeeper Hong replied: "It's like this, Old Tong and I just received the New Year's gift that our master sent over to your family from the capital today, and we immediately hoofed it over to your Xu Village without stopping!"
The old man remarked: "Mr. Jing and Mr. Su have a good heart, still thinking of our Xu family far away from the capital, why don't the two shopkeepers stay and eat before leaving today!"
Shopkeeper Hong said: "Thank you for your kindness, old man, but I'm afraid we won't be able to do it today. We have to rush to the capital before the end of the year to report this year's income accounts to the master. We will set off when we get back."
The old man said: "Then since the two of you have something to do, I'm not in a position to dwell on it, but the two of you wait for a moment, as a courtesy, let's also prepare some small gifts, I'll ask the shopkeeper to help me bring them to Mr. Su and Mr. Jing."
Shopkeeper Tong nodded and said: "Okay, I will definitely deliver the things to the master for you."
Mrs. Wang quickly took her daughter-in-law to take the prepared New Year gifts to the front hall, and said with a smile: "What we are giving you is some food that we made ourselves, and there is nothing expensive. Please don't dislike it."
Shopkeeper Tong looked at the two identical New Year gifts. Among them were several wooden boxes containing several small jars of different colors. There were labels on them that said various fruit jams. They looked particularly delicate. There were also Some white noodle-like things wrapped in oil paper.
So he asked curiously: "Old man, why have I never seen these things in your house?"
The old man smiled and said: "These are all foods developed by my family. They are definitely not available outside, and they are not expensive."
Qibao said: "Yes, Grandpa Hong, Grandpa Tong, this jam can be made into tea or made into snacks. They are both very delicious. And the flower cake is made of plum blossoms. It tastes delicious too. They are all made at home. Yes, there are also these vermicelli, boiled in broth for a while, they are also delicious, my grandpa especially likes to eat vermicelli!"
Shopkeeper Hong joked: "Hey, girl, I can't even taste what you said. How can I know if it tastes good or not? This is all the master's and it's not my share!"
"Yes!" Shopkeeper Tong also agreed.
Qibao said with a smile: "When the two grandpas come back, you can come to my house and eat as much as you want!"
"Okay, that's what you said, so we won't be polite!"
Shopkeeper Hong and Shopkeeper Tong had the driving boys carry the Xu family's annual gifts into the carriage.
Although they are all food, they are not available outside, and there are several portions of each item.
Shopkeeper Hong was actually very curious about the fruit jams sent by the Xu family. Where did the fruits come from this season? But before leaving, the master specifically told him that he was not allowed to inquire about the Xu family's affairs. Even if he knew something, he could not say a word to anyone. Therefore, he would rather not know than ask too much. He would give Old Hong a heads up later.
Sending away the two shopkeepers, Mrs. Wang opened the New Year's gift sent by Su Chenyu, and was instantly a bit surprised: "This is a pair of golden turban, this, this is too expensive!"
Others gathered around and were very surprised when they saw the dazzling gold jewelry.
Opening the other boxes, they all contained some relatively expensive and exquisite jewelry. Judging from the quantity, one was prepared for each woman in the family. There was also a jade ring, which seemed to be given to the old man.
The old man sighed: "It cost Chen Yu so much, and what we gave him is not worth mentioning!"
Qibao said: "Grandpa don't be presumptuous, although the things we sent are made by our own family, they are all made with the spirit fruits from my master's place, eating them is good for one's body! No amount of money can buy it!"
The old man thought about it and felt relieved.
Mrs. Zhang spoke: "I don't know what Jing Chen sent, but just don't be so expensive."
Opening up several long ropes wrapped in brocade, you can see that they are made of silk, which is used to make clothes. It feels smooth and very comfortable, and it doesn't look cheap at first glance.
Among them, there was a piece of lotus root pink material with dark lines that caught Wang's attention and said: "This color is not suitable for women like us. It should be for Qibao, right? It's really beautiful. When it is made into clothes, Qibao will definitely be no worse than a lady from a wealthy family!"
Others touched the material and smiled: "Yes, it is just right for Qibao. When we have time, we will use this material to make two sets of clothes for Qibao to wear."
Wang carefully wrapped these materials and opened other boxes. There were also a lot of gold, silver and jade articles, as well as good rice paper for her brother and the others, a few Wolf Howling brushes, tea leaves for the old man, and some The exquisite pastries are not found in town.
Xu Dabo exclaimed: "I'm afraid all these things cost a lot of money, it seems like they're up to their eyeballs in our family!"
The others nodded, thinking that these two children were so honest!