lcionline Chapter 356 Giving Gifts to Daya and Erya
Chapter 356 Giving Gifts to Daya and Erya
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Chengwen, who was far away at his post, sent holiday gifts home. There were no valuable items, mostly local specialties; one for the old family home and another for Zhang Youtie's family. Of course, Liu had also sent many things to Zhang Chengwen long ago.
Zhang Chengwen, as a county magistrate, did not receive a high salary. Zhang Youtie felt sorry for his younger brother, who was serving as an official so far from home and had no one to take care of him. During festivals, he would send people to deliver food, supplies, and banknotes to him, trying his best to ensure that his brother would not make mistakes due to a lack of money while in office.
Ever since Xia Yu learned that her father was sending silver notes to her fourth uncle, she felt that her family had embarked on the path of collusion between officials and businessmen.
Fortunately, her fourth uncle had done a good job in recent years, receiving excellent ratings from his superiors for several consecutive years. If nothing unexpected happened, his position might be promoted next year. Thinking of this, Xia Yu realized that her fourth uncle would be going to Beijing next year to report on his work, and perhaps she could meet him then. The prophecy of the knife-selling man hung like a stone in her heart.
Time always flies when you're busy, and before you know it, it's Lunar New Year's Eve.
In recent years, the Zhang family has established a tradition: on New Year's Eve, they return to their old house at noon to have a reunion dinner with Old Master Zhang and Madam Liu, and then spend the evening at their own home.
On the 30th, the whole family dressed up early in the morning and went to the old house with gifts to deliver holiday presents.
As Zhang Youtie's business grew, the gifts he sent to the old house each year became more and more abundant.
This year alone, they sent five bolts of fine cotton fabric of various colors, five bolts of silk fabric, half a pig's carcass, a sheep's trotter, five chickens and five ducks, and fifty taels of silver. In addition, Changyong also sent a new cloak made for the old lady from fox fur.
The servants carried the gifts, following behind their masters in a grand procession towards the old house, drawing envy from the villagers. However, the conversation remained polite and courteous towards Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi; no one dared utter a single sarcastic remark to their faces. Most of the people in Zhangjia Village relied on Zhang Youtie's family for sustenance; who would be so foolish as to offend their benefactors?
Er Ya stared enviously at Xia Yu's fox fur cloak. Xia Yu, who was talking to Chang Yun, noticed Er Ya at the back of the crowd.
Er Ya is now a grown woman, and I heard that her mother is already looking for a husband for her.
"Er Ya" Xia Yu ran over and took her hand. Over the years, she had a lot to learn and had less time to play with Er Ya, but Xia Yu still cherished this friendship.
"Xiaxia, your clothes are so pretty. They make your face look as soft as tofu." Er Ya felt like she was holding a soft ball of cotton in her hand.
"Er Ya, it's been half a year since we last met. You're getting more and more beautiful." Xia Yu reached out and touched Er Ya's face.
Er Ya isn't a beauty in the traditional sense; everyone says she's dark-skinned, but in Xia Yu's eyes, she has a healthy wheat-colored complexion.
"You're making fun of me again. I'm so dark-skinned, how am I pretty?" Er Ya touched her face and lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Er Ya, believe me. Your skin tone is the healthiest color." As she spoke, she took out two small brocade boxes from her sleeve.
"I bought this when I went up north a while ago. It's for you and Daya. I was originally planning to bring it to you after dinner, but since we met here, I'll give it to you first. I'll come visit you when I have time. I'm off now." Xia Yu saw his parents waiting for him a dozen meters ahead, hurriedly said a few words to Er Ya, stuffed the gift into her hand, and ran off.
Only after they had walked away did Er Ya finally turn her gaze away from Xia Yu.
"Er Ya, what did Xia Xia give you?" Xiao Feng, who was about the same age as Er Ya, asked.
"I don't know, I'll take it back to my sister first." Er Ya knew that Xiao Feng was a bit too quick to talk, and didn't want to open the gift Xia Yu gave her in front of her, so she made an excuse to go home to find her sister and left first.
Watching Er Ya run off into the distance, Xiao Feng stomped her foot in displeasure.
"What's wrong with you? It's just a look, why are you being so stingy? Humph!"
Er Ya ran all the way home with the box in her hand. When she got home, she felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She didn't know if it was from running or from excitement.
"Big sister, big sister!" Er Ya shouted as soon as she entered the courtyard.
"What kind of careless and unruly girl are you? You're about to become a member of your husband's family. Are you still going to be shouting and behaving like this when you're at your husband's house?" Er Ya's mother couldn't help but scold her daughter when she heard her loud voice.
Er Ya ignored her mother and, carrying the box, went into the room where the sisters lived.
Daya has already been engaged and will get married after the New Year. She is currently at home making shoes for her fiancé.
"Er Ya, why are you so excited?" Daya asked while sewing shoe soles.
"Sister, these are gifts Xiaxia brought for us." Er Ya took out the two boxes and presented them to Daya like treasures.
Hearing her sister's words, Daya became interested and quickly put down what she was doing and picked up one of the boxes.
The two sisters opened the boxes at the same time and found a pair of earrings and a ring in each box.
Da Ya held a pair of pink crystal earrings and a pink crystal gold ring. Er Ya held a box containing a large red crystal gold earring and a red crystal gold ring.
"So beautiful!" the two sisters exclaimed at the same time.
"What a treasure! It's as clear as water, so beautiful!"
"Sister, this bright red one must be for you, right?" Er Ya only noticed the color of the jewelry in the two brocade boxes after admiring the beauty of the crystal.
Upon hearing her sister's words, Daya's face instantly turned red, like a ripe tomato.
Er Ya swapped her bright red jewelry with her sister's and carefully admired the beauty of the crystal.