Mrs. Zhang family silently sighed, it seemed their second son had decided to follow the path of commerce.
.........
As Mrs. Zhang had said, there was still half a month before the New Year, the sky was snowing heavily, and all the work on the construction site had stopped.
The old man has said that everyone should have a good New Year this year and the work on the construction site can be temporarily suspended. It is time to take a break after being tired for half a year.
The villagers did not dare to sleep deeply at night, for fear that heavy snow would fall in the middle of the night and collapse their houses.
The academy in the village has also started its vacation, which is a great joy for the children.
Early in the morning, the adults began to sweep the snow piled on the roof. The children also had new toys, so they rolled snowballs and had snowball fights, and had a lot of fun.
The elders didn't bother stopping them. It was a rare occasion for the children to be happy. They usually had no time to play in school. If their clothes got wet, they could just change into new ones. Anyway, two new cotton-padded jackets were made for the children this year.
Xu Wenwu and his brothers, however, who studied in town, weren't as fortunate. As usual, Little Wu was sent off to the academy by Kui Wu every day.
For this, Xiaowu complained a few words about how unfair it was.
Xiaowu complained bitterly about the unfairness of it all, but received a stern scolding from his father, forcing him to hunch his shoulders and keep his mouth shut.
Yaya and Zhi'er also wished to go outside and play, but their mother said they were still young, and catching a cold from getting wet would do them no good.
Standing now at the main gate, the two little fellows stared longingly at the children playing happily outside.
Qibao walked over and said: "You two little rascals, do you want to play?"
Yaya nodded with sparkling eyes and replied: "Yes."
Zhier was also nodding his head like a chick pecking at rice.
"But let's play something different from them. How about we make a snowman?" Qibao said.
"Miss, what does a snowman look like?" Yaya asked curiously.
"Come, I'll lead you to do it together." Qibao led the two little carrot-headed kids to the yard.
Looking at Uncle Fu who was shoveling snow, she exclaimed: "Uncle Fu, give me the shovel."
Uncle Fu handed the shovel in his hand to Qibao without hesitation and said: "Miss, whatever you want to do, I will help you."
Qibao asked: "Uncle Fu, have you ever built a snowman?"
Uncle Fu shook his head and said: "Why don't you teach me, Miss, and next time I'll make a pile."
So the old man and three children were busy in the yard having a lot of fun. Seeing this, the old man also wanted to play with his granddaughter, so another person joined in.
Mrs. Wang laughed mockingly: "That damned old man, always joining in even when it's just for the kids' sake. He knows no shame."
From time to time, the silver bell-like laughter of Zhi'er and Yaya echoed throughout the yard.
Qibao also found some things to replace the snowman's eyes, nose and mouth.
"Miss is so awesome!" Yaya clapped her hands and said with a red face.
The old man said: "I'll build one myself for you to see."
He took the shovel from Qibao and started piling.
"Grandpa Xu, yours is so ugly. Not as pretty as Sister Qibao's." Zhier said with his hand covering his mouth.
"Heh! You think it's ugly, just wait, I'm going to make a prettier one for you." the old man replied with enthusiasm.
Inside, the women were preparing for the New Year, and this year, the eldest brother would be writing the couplets, as long as they had red paper ready.
Pastries also needed to be prepared ahead of time.
The white wolf no longer roamed the mountains but stayed within the Xu family home, where it was warmer.
Two days ago, the old man ordered another large round table from town, since aside from the two families, there would also be He Jie and his mother along with several dozen people from the Twelve Guards attending their New Year's feast this year. Including all the servants, the two tables at home wouldn't be enough to seat everyone.
Just three days before New Year's Eve, Master Qian returned with Kui Wu's four brothers.
The old man was a little surprised and said with a smile: "Mr. Qian, you're finally back. You've been gone for three or four months and you didn't even write a letter. We all miss you!"
"Old Man, you don't know how many obstacles we faced on our journey!" Mr. Qian said with a smile.
"What happened? Come inside and warm up first, then tell us slowly."
After entering the house, Zhi'er called out with joy at the sight of his father and ran toward him on little legs.
Boss Qian also smiled and bent down to pick up his youngest son, saying with a smile: "Zhi'er, I haven't seen you for so long. You have gained a lot of weight. Do you miss father?"
"I did!"
Mrs. Qian also smiled upon seeing her husband return.
Mrs. Wang said: "It's good that you're back! We can all put our worries to rest now."
Lao'er happily greeted Kui Wu as well, exchanging greetings with his brother.
Once everyone had greeted one another, they finally sat before the stove.
The old man asked: "Mr. Qian, what do you mean by this? Did you run into trouble?"
Mr. Qian said: "We ran into trouble when we first arrived in Qingyun town. We weren't familiar with its terrain, so finding a suitable storefront wasn't easy. We consulted many people and found a single suitable location, which is quite large and has plenty of foot traffic, being situated right in the town center."
"That sounds perfect for business!" the old man agreed.
"Indeed, I immediately took a liking to this place, but prices are high where locations are prime, and the owner demanded almost twenty thousand taels of silver!"
"Ah! Why is this store so expensive? The biggest one in our town can be bought for just a few thousand taels!" Mrs. Wang was surprised.
"This town cannot be compared to our town, although the asking price is a bit higher, but I see that the area is not small, and there is no second suitable store, I was ready to bite the bullet and buy the store, but a man named Chen Hu intervened."
"Did you end up buying the shop?" Uncle Xu asked.
"Yes, we did, though at the cost of offending someone. This Chen Hu was the godson of the magistrate's advisor, well-known for being a petty thug. He even had a few lackeys under him. We were the first to find the owner and inquire about the property, but as soon as he arrived, he claimed he'd spotted the property first and demanded I withdraw if I knew what was good for me. Of course, I refused—so we ended up getting into an argument."
"Aiya! Mr. Qian, you knew he was the godson of the magistrate's advisor, how could you have argued with him? Your safety should always come first!" Mrs. Wang exclaimed anxiously.
"Madam, at the time, I didn't know he was the godson of the magistrate's secretary, I only found out later through inquiries!" Mr. Qian replied.
Old Fifth agreed: "At the time, I was so angry I wanted to give him a few punches. If it wasn't for Second Brother holding me back, I would've beaten that brat until even his mother wouldn't recognize him."
Lao'er rolled his eyes at this boasting: "You still have the nerve to say that! Big Brother told us not to act impulsively under any circumstances, but you tossed those words aside like they were nothing. No matter how strong you think yourself, you're no match for someone who knows the town's streets like the back of their hand!"
"What happened after?"
"After that, Chen Hu left without enough money, giving us the perfect opportunity to exact our revenge. Before he left, he threatened us with some harsh words, saying we'd see what happens next. When we found out he was the adopted son of the magistrate's advisor, we worried for days afterward. Afterward, the store underwent renovations and prepared to open, yet we never saw him come looking for trouble again, we thought the incident had finally passed."
The Xu family knew from these words that events must have taken a turn for the worse, and many more incidents must have followed.
"Did he go back to cause more trouble?" Xu Erbo asked anxiously.