Old Mrs. Mu stamred for quite a while, but she still couldn’t bring herself to ntion Mu Xiangxiang coming out for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Mr. Mu was getting impatient, "Xiangxiang’s mother, if you have sothing to say, just say it directly. Speaking half and leaving half unsaid isn’t your usual style!"
Old Mrs. Mu decided to get straight to the point: "Old man, that matter with Xiangxiang happened so long ago, and no one in the village talks about it anymore. Why don’t we let Xiangxiang join us for the New Year’s Eve dinner tomorrow?"
Regarding Mu Xiangxiang’s situation, Old Mrs. Mu felt guilty, so she didn’t dare to be too brazen, speaking in a negotiating tone.
Mr. Mu furrowed his brows and thought for a mont, saying, "Xiangxiang is crazy. If we let her out and she cuts soone’s hair again like last ti, what are we going to do?"
Mrs. Lin’s head was bald, and it had only just started to grow so hair.
If Mu Xiangxiang has another episode, she might shave soone’s head entirely.
"She won’t. Xiangxiang listens to . I spoke to her and told her not to cause trouble! Old man, she’s the only unmarried daughter we have left now.
Xianxian doesn’t care about us, and Zhenzhen has disappeared. If you don’t treat this last daughter well, the two of us will really have nothing left."
Old Mrs. Mu clutched Mr. Mu’s sleeve and cried to him.
Mr. Mu pulled his sleeve free with a look of displeasure.
"It’s not that I don’t want her to co out; you know how serious the ridiculous things Xiangxiang did are."
Mr. Mu turned away, ignoring Old Mrs. Mu’s words.
"Old man, if you don’t agree to let Xiangxiang out, I won’t eat the New Year’s Eve dinner either."
"Are you threatening ?"
Old Mrs. Mu shook her head: "I’m not threatening you. If our daughter can’t have one comfortable day, then why should I, as her mother, have good days?
Xiangxiang is my precious, and if she’s not well, neither am I."
Old Mrs. Mu was unreasonable.
Mr. Mu had no choice with her, and besides, he hadn’t seen Mu Xiangxiang in a long ti, so he relented.
After thinking for a while, he said, "How about this, Matchmaker Sun ntioned to yesterday that his nephew is about the sa age as Xiangxiang. He’s from our village, do you know Sun Dali? If Xiangxiang wants to co out, she has to marry Sun Dali."
To Mr. Mu, Mu Xiangxiang already seed insane, and as long as there’s a family willing to take her, it doesn’t matter who the person is or their status; he wouldn’t consider those aspects.
"You’re crazy! How much does Sun Dali weigh? How much does our Xiangxiang weigh?" Old Mrs. Mu scread sharply.
In farming families, the children are either extrely thin or as fat as a mountain. Few have a proportionate build, especially in the past few years when the Da Ning Dynasty was at war and everyone ate and drank less, making the situation even more evident.
That Sun Dali is indeed the fattest in the village, probably around two hundred pounds. When he walks, his arm fat jiggles, which makes Old Mrs. Mu shudder.
Moreover, Mu Xiangxiang is a frail and weak young girl.
"Why is Sun Dali bad? He’s willing to work, and he manages four or five acres of paddy fields and three acres of dry land all by himself. Xiangxiang just needs to give him children! No need to think about anything else.
If he weren’t so fat and no other girls wanted him, do you think he’d choose your daughter? A girl who was jilted and nearly killed soone?"
Mr. Mu was still angry about the things Mu Xiangxiang did, so he spoke harshly.
"Old man, how can you say such unpleasant things? What’s ’my daughter,’ isn’t she your daughter too?" Old Mrs. Mu retorted.
"Fine, don’t shout in front of . These days are big days for New Year, I don’t want to argue with you and risk bad luck for the Old Mu Family.
If you don’t want to marry Xiangxiang to the Sun Family, then lock her in the room, don’t let her out where people can see. The Old Mu Family’s face won’t have a place to hide!"
After saying this, Mr. Mu ignored Old Mrs. Mu.
No matter what Old Mrs. Mu said, he wouldn’t budge, determined to use these two things as a trade-off.
If Mu Xiangxiang wants to co out, Old Mrs. Mu must agree to the marriage with the Sun Family; otherwise, there’s no point discussing her coming out.
Seeing Mr. Mu so steadfast, Old Mrs. Mu temporarily forgot to argue back. By the ti she found the excuse she wanted to use to discuss with Mr. Mu, he was already gone.
*
At night, Yu Si Niang finished tidying up the kitchen and burned two red candles and so yellow paper on the stove.
Mu Shuangshuang stood beside her, waiting for Yu Si Niang to return to sleep so she could go to bed.
After offering incense, Yu Si Niang asked Mu Shuangshuang to worship the Kitchen God and reminded her not to kick the blanket during the night, to soak her feet before bed, and not to co out if she heard anything during the night.
These were Yu Si Niang’s experiences during past New Years.
In previous years, around New Year, thieves would be especially rampant, especially in the days leading up to the new year, dog thieves and chicken thieves would be everywhere.
The third branch was only keeping an old hen for the ti being; the rest of the dicinal chickens raised in the mountains were at Lu Yuanfeng’s place.
Lu Yuanfeng was the local hunter, a genuine man. Even though he raised a lot of chickens, no one would dare to steal from his ho.
Because it would an delivering one’s head on a platter.
As for the dog, the family only had the pig-fat Little Black Dog, who spent all day inseparably with Little Black in Mu Shuangshuang’s room. During cold weather, it hardly went outside, so there was zero chance of it being stolen.
"Mom, I know all that you’ve said. It’s so late, you should go to bed early, we have to get up early tomorrow."
Mu Shuangshuang replied cheerfully to Yu Si Niang, also reminding Yu Si Niang to be careful herself.
Yu Si Niang prepared a basin of hot water for Mu Dashan before leaving the kitchen.
Once Yu Si Niang left, Mu Shuangshuang didn’t leave imdiately.
She rembered Yu Si Niang’s reminder that many materials needed for the New Year’s Eve dinner were left in the kitchen earlier.
Initially, she thought they could just stay there for one night, no big deal.
Now it seed they needed to be moved to her room.
Even the old hen shouldn’t be left in the chicken coop.
Mu Shuangshuang moved everything into her room, breaking into a thin layer of sweat.
After a quick wash, Mu Shuangshuang climbed into her bed.
From under the bed, the warmth of the fire basin spread, and inside the blanket, it felt cozy.
Mu Shuangshuang squinted her eyes and could faintly hear sounds coming from Mu Dashan’s room next door.
In the room, as usual, Yu Si Niang would prepare for Mu Dashan to soak his feet. Just as Yu Si Niang crouched down with the wooden basin, Mu Dashan stood up, supporting Yu Si Niang onto the bed.
"Si Niang, before you would wash my feet, but tonight I’ll wash yours," Mu Dashan said.
Mu Dashan wasn’t washing Yu Si Niang’s feet for the first ti, she was surprised but didn’t refuse.
Her daughter had advised her to learn to rest occasionally, not to be like a donkey always working. So today she’s trying to enjoy the comfort given by her husband, exactly as her daughter suggested.
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