Chapter 105: The Child No One Came to Pick Up for the New Year
Early morning.
The courtyard had frozen over.
After seeing her husband off to work, Qin Luoxia practiced martial arts diligently at home.
She always felt that her husband was too kind and gentle, and since the county office was full of cunning people, he would surely be bullied.
She trained even harder; she needed to become stronger.
The snow in the courtyard had been turned to ice by the thrusts of her spear.
The Green Dragon danced with the staff, a dazzling blur amidst the swirling mist.
At such times, the house was usually deathly quiet.
Even Ant, the Jiang Family’s little one, dared not come out to wander.
Young Master Zi, who was staying with the Jiang Family, and his Black Tower guard, watched and lowered their heads in shame.
After a bout of exercise, Qin Luoxia put on her apron and began to cook.
She hung two red lanterns on the lintel.
Today was New Year’s Eve, and tomorrow was the New Year.
Jiang Mianmian woke up from sleeping in, and Mother changed her into a floral padded jacket; the flowers were red and very festive.
Even more festive was the fact that Young Master Zi was also wearing a floral padded jacket, and the flowers were red too.
Gong Qichi, this teacher to the young master of the Rebels, was truly carefree; he had abandoned the young master to go plant flags in other nearby counties. (Gong Qichi: “What can I do? If he refuses to leave, can I hit him? He is the young master, and the Father I personally acknowledged.”)
Qin Luoxia had always wanted to have another child. She wanted another boy, thinking that more boys in the family meant a flourishing household, so that if her daughter were ever wronged after marriage, her maternal family would have someone to stand up for her.
However, there had been no news.
Therefore, seeing Young Master Zi, this unsmiling little boy, Qin Luoxia’s maternal instincts overflowed.
Others were somewhat respectful toward Young Master Zi; after all, he was the only legitimate son of the Rebels, and everywhere he went, he was followed by a Black Tower guard. Yet, Qin Luoxia couldn’t help but treat him like a little baby; whenever she saw him, she would reach out and rub and squeeze him.
Seeing that Mr. Gang had actually abandoned such a small child, she felt heartbroken and arranged for him to live in their home.
If anyone else approached the young master, Black Tower could kick them eight zhang away.
But when this woman held and rubbed the young master, Black Tower usually pretended to be looking at the white clouds, Ants, trees, or the wind.
Qin Luoxia did not realize it herself, but she was one of the few people who could get close to Young Master Zi.
Young Master Zi was a bit depressed about being put in a floral padded jacket.
The jacket was asymmetrical, and the flowers on it were asymmetrical.
However, his dejected expression was misunderstood by the Jiang Family.
They all thought that because it was New Year’s, he missed home, and since his family hadn’t come to pick him up, he was quite pitiful.
It was said that outside, there was chaos, death, and war everywhere.
Recently, Kaner Village had taken in many people.
Father had returned to his daily routine of going to work. He was still a temporary worker, but he had changed bosses, becoming a temporary worker within the Rebels’ system, helping to manage all of Ming County.
Jiang Mianmian opened her mouth and let out a big yawn.
She revealed three little teeth; she was teething again, but fortunately, she didn’t have a fever.
Children were prone to fevers when teething, and in ancient times, a fever could be considered a serious illness.
Jiang Mianmian felt that her journey of growth had been relatively smooth.
She saw the little brat standing in front of her, looking so pitiful and world-weary, and felt a bit of sympathy.
That night, lying on her small bed, she listened to Mother and Father chatting. Mother asked Father: “What is the deal with Young Master Zi?”
Father said that he had lost his Mother at birth; she had died of dystocia. Great Marshal Zi, the leader of the Rebels, had not remarried afterward, but there were other women in his backyard, and he had also adopted many foster sons.
It sounded like he had no Mother, and his Father didn’t seem to love him very much—though he probably did, but he was too busy. After all, being a Rebel and seizing the world sounded very busy; he was a founding generation leader.
He likely lacked love growing up, which was no wonder he didn’t like to talk, or when he did, it wasn’t very pleasant.
Seeing his pained expression, Jiang Mianmian prepared to comfort him.
However, before she could wobble her way over to him, she slipped with a “whoosh” and fell.
And she slid quite far.
The courtyard was covered in ice, and she slid from one end to the other in an instant.
Jiang Mianmian: “…”
Well, it was like ice skating, and it was actually quite fun, though others used their feet to skate, while she used her bottom. “Whoosh,” it was quite fun.
Jiang Mianmian wanted to get up, tried it, but it was too slippery, and she didn’t succeed. Mostly because she was dressed too round and festively.
She simply propped herself up with her hands, let her body “whoosh,” and slid out again. She stopped in front of Zi Congheng.
“Brother Chong,” Jiang Mianmian reached out her hand and called out in her milky voice.
Zi Congheng looked at her, then looked back at Black Tower.
Black Tower tilted his head back and stared at the sky.
Zi Congheng reluctantly reached out his hand. He thought to himself that he just happened to like that auntie, and was only begrudgingly taking care of the auntie’s cub.
He reached out, grabbed her soft, chubby hand, and pulled her up.
It felt like grabbing a little weight; she was so heavy.
Then, his hand couldn’t be shaken off; it was held tightly.
The cub had so much strength…
“Brother Chong, go, go out.” Jiang Mianmian wanted to go out of the courtyard and play under the big tree.
Zi Congheng resignedly held her hand and walked out slowly, step by step.
He was also worried about falling and losing face.
Jiang Mianmian wanted to go out and see if the New Year in the village would be different, and if it would look all red.
She always felt that celebrating the New Year in the village was fun and had that festive atmosphere.
Young Master Zi reluctantly held a small hand and walked out slowly.
All the foster sons his Father had adopted were elder brothers; there was no one in the family younger than him.
He felt that his Father’s brain wasn’t working quite right; assuming he could live as long as his longevity turtle, then having to attend the funerals of so many elder brothers would be very exhausting.
The elder brothers: “…”
The two of them walked out of the courtyard hand in hand, shuffling slowly step by step.
Black Tower stood behind them, a faint smile appearing on his dark, rough face.
Jiang Mianmian dragged the little brat to the gate, and the two stood under the tree, looking toward the village.
Sure enough, they could see patches of red here and there.
Not many people hung lanterns at their doors; after all, lanterns were expensive.
But sticking up a red character or tying a red string was something they could do.
Because tomorrow was the New Year, everyone wasn’t working or training today.
The village was very lively, with many people walking about, and it sounded bustling.
Jiang Mianmian loved this scene and couldn’t stop swaying while holding the little brat’s hand.
Under the big tree.
Small hand holding small hand.
Swaying, swaying.
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