Chapter 184 Celebrating the New Year
"Well, grandma, I took note of it."
Chu Jingqi nodded her little head obediently. She was sensible and polite. When Mrs. Zeng saw it, she was very heartwarming and smiled lovingly, "Be filial and obedient to your mother. It's not easy for your mother now."
"Well, I know that the boss of Juxianglou will also send ten days' worth of food to my father and mother. I have some of my mother's favorite desserts."
Duke Anguo's Mansion is a first-class noble family, like a top sign among the nobles. The waiter of Juxiang House delivers food every day, which is an opportunity for Juxiang House to spread its reputation.
The boss of Juxianglou is smart and will not suffer any loss.
In the blink of an eye, the new year is here.
On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year's gift from the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion was delivered early.
The whole cart was full of all kinds of snacks, dried fruits, preserved fruits, several large boxes of fresh fruits and three large boxes of fresh vegetables, as well as more than 20 types of astragalus, wolfberry, polygonatum, yam, etc. that can nourish the body. Among the medicinal materials, there is actually a 200-year-old red ginseng, which is very valuable.
The market price of two-hundred-year-old white ginseng is three hundred taels of silver each. This red ginseng is even more expensive, worth at least eight hundred taels of silver.
In addition, there are more than a dozen pieces of skins, including fox skins, wolf skins, bear skins, rat skins, etc., which are said to be reserved for Zeng and Xia Zihan to make cloaks, jackets and scarves.
Mrs. Zeng was wrapped in a dark red bear fur cloak and in the yard directed Butler Lu to register all the medicinal materials, skins and other items and send them to the warehouse.
Snacks, dried fruits, fruits, etc. are divided into portions, and some are kept in the small warehouses in the front yard and inner yard, so you can take them as you like.
Fresh vegetables are delivered directly to the kitchen.
After arranging everything, Mrs. Zeng and Xia Zihan went back to the house. An old man and a young man gathered around the kang table to discuss the return gift to Anguo Gongfu.
Xia Zihan said, "Grandma, I raise a lot of game in my farm, as well as pheasants and wild duck eggs. I have asked the farm owner to send some over, and they will probably arrive the day after tomorrow."
Hearing this, Mrs. Zeng felt very good, "Well, let's send some game to your aunt and uncle. Your uncle is from the army and likes to eat those things. I think Aqi also likes to eat them on weekdays, so let's send more." In the past, you sent someone to tell the head of the farm and ask him to send more.”
"Well, there are also pheasants and wild duck eggs. Let's send a basket of them to my aunt."
After doing the math, plus some snacks made in the kitchen, this New Year gift is almost enough.
Zeng added another set of rouge and gouache, and told Xia Zihan, "I ordered Hongmei to buy this in Yi'an City. The powder there is tender and fragrant, and the price is cheap. The powder in the shop in the capital is also from Jiangnan." Shipped here.”
"I specially asked Hongmei to prepare a few more sets as New Year gifts." Zeng said.
Finally, Zeng made some calculations and realized that this gift was still a bit lacking.
Xia Zihan added six more brocades that are popular this year, and that's it.
Although it is not as valuable as the red ginseng sent by Mrs. Zhuo, Mrs. Zhuo is a junior, so she sent it as a New Year's gift to honor her elders.
As an elder, Mrs. Zeng only needs to give half the value of the New Year's gift from Mrs. Zhuo.
On the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month, early in the morning, the game sent by Gianzhuangtou arrived. There were more than a hundred game animals of more than a dozen kinds, as well as five baskets of wild eggs, three baskets of wild duck eggs, and five boxes of Gianzhuangtou’s own brew. The fruit wine was piled high and delivered in four large trucks.
Zeng told Butler Cui to pick two of each game, a basket each of wild duck eggs, and a box of fruit wine, load them into the car with the things prepared before, and send them to Duke Anguo's Mansion.
Xia Zihan came forward to meet with the head of the farm and a dozen farmers who were driving the trucks to guarantee the goods.
A group of farm men were in the side hall, their faces full of constraint and discomfort, trembling and uneasy. Some people were so nervous that they had a layer of hot sweat on their foreheads.
They have been dealing with soil all their lives, and this is the first time they have entered a wealthy family.
Previously, Xia Zihan and his grandson had been in Jiangnan for three years, and there was no serious master in the Chu house, so there was no need for the head of the farm to prepare game and send it over.
This was also the first time that the head of the farm had sent Xia Zihan the game he needed for the Chinese New Year, so he also gave it to him. Xia Zihan was very happy and rewarded him with a seat. He also ordered the little maid to make a few pots of hot tea to keep them warm. body.
Before they left, Xia Zihan specially prepared a cart full of snacks, dried fruits, preserved fruits, fresh vegetables, fish and shrimp and other New Year items as New Year gifts for them.
And no matter how big or small, each person in Zhuangzi was rewarded with five taels of silver.
The head of the farm held a large bag of silver, his eyes flushed with emotion, and he knelt down excitedly with more than a dozen farm men and kowtowed to Xia Zihan three times.
This is the first time Gianzhuangtou has encountered and heard of a boss who prepares New Year gifts for farmers and rewards them with silver.
As a village head, a farm head knows a lot of other farm heads. If you can meet a good boss, at most it will be during the Chinese New Year. The boss will reward the farm head with some benefits. As for the farmers, there is no such thing.
But Xia Zihan rewarded everyone in the village, including the children and the elderly. Why did the farm head and the farm men dare not move?
Xia Zihan's village only has 800 acres of land. Thanks to the diligent and diligent work of the farm owner and farmers, the annual income is only about 1,670 taels of silver.
Xia Zihan spent about 500 taels of silver on these two rewards, a third of which was lost in one go.
Let me ask, which owner would be so generous?
It is not enough for other owners to peel off a layer of skin from the farmers. They all want to eat the farmers' meat and drink the farmers' blood. No matter how much profit they make in the village, they always feel that there can be more.
Xia Zihan was rich and didn't care about the income, so she was generous. She also felt sorry for the farmers who were suffering all year round. What Xia Zihan didn't expect was that because of her philanthropic deeds, she won the support of the farm head and farmers. In the future, they would work even harder for Xia Zihan, and as a result, Zhuangzili's income was higher than in the second year. A quarter.
When the head of the farm showed the account book to Xia Zihan, his face turned red with excitement.
Xia Zihan happily took out the quarter and rewarded everyone in Zhuangzi with eight taels of silver.
A group of honest and honest farmers were overjoyed. When they received the money, they said that they had met a living Bodhisattva boss. They knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of Chu House.
What surprised Xia Zihan even more was that Zhuangzi also erected a longevity monument for her. During the New Year and festivals, people in Zhuangzi would burn incense and kowtow, worshiping her like a living Bodhisattva.
Of course, this is all for later.
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is a small year and a disaster relief day.
Early in the morning, everyone in Chu's house began cleaning inside and outside.
Clean the dust from boxes, wardrobes, wooden shelves, and Kang mats, repaint the pillars, scrub the windowsills, paper the windows, put up red happy characters, hang red lanterns, etc.
Everyone had been busy all day, and in the evening, they were finally done. The Chu house, which had been calm for three years, took on a new look in one day.
Xia Zihan also took the opportunity to replace the curtains, bedding, large pillows, chair cushions, etc. with new ones. She also hung more than 20 red lanterns in her yard. At night, the yard was bright red and bright. Very New Year atmosphere.
In the evening, when Chu Jingqi sneaked over to her place to play, he told her with a smile, "When I go back, I will also hang my yard full of red lanterns."
When Chu Jingqi left, Xia Zihan gave him two packs of sesame candy.
Eating sesame candy during the Lunar New Year has been a custom in the Dasheng Dynasty for many years. Everyone in the Chu house was given a pack of sesame candy.
When Chu Jingqi came, he also brought two bags of sesame candy to Xia Zihan. He said that they were made by the chef of Juxianglou.
The twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when Dasheng worships the Kitchen God.
In the evening of this day, the Chu family finished dinner early, and the cook led everyone in the kitchen to clean the kitchen inside and out, making it spotless.
Finally, a large portrait of the Kitchen God was posted at the front of the stove.
Mrs. Zeng directed her servants to place the desk in front of the Kitchen God, place fragrant fruits, fish, and fine wine. Then she led Xia Zihan to kneel on the mat in front of the desk, burn incense and kowtow.
After worshiping the Kitchen God, everyone exited the kitchen
According to rural legend, the Kitchen God will come to the world on this day to eat fruits and drink fine wine, so no one can disturb the Kitchen God.
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Xia family's annual gift was finally delivered.
The Xia family lives in Jiangning City, which is about ten days away from the capital. Every year, the New Year's gift is delivered last.
As for the Xia family's annual gift, Mrs. Zeng was not in the mood to watch it, so she directly ordered Manager Lu to take care of it.
What made Xia Zihan angry was that the Song family's annual gift was delivered on the 26th.
The Xia family is far away, so it's okay to deliver the New Year's gift so late. After all, it's winter and the road is difficult. It usually takes more than ten days to travel, but it takes double the time to get there now.
But the Song family in the capital sent New Year's gifts so late. This is because Hong Guoguo didn't take the Chu family seriously.
Not only was Xia Zihan angry, Zeng, who had always been good-tempered, was also unhappy.
Especially when I saw that the things sent by the Song family were more than half the difference compared to when Mr. Chu Ge was alive.
It's not as generous as the Xia family's annual gift.
More than ten kilograms of snacks that were almost dry. There was no sweetness in your mouth, they were dry and stale.
Twenty kilograms of dried fruits were all defective. The dried fruits sent by the Chu family were large and clean, while the dried fruits sent by the Song family were small and shriveled. They were not of the same grade at first glance.
In addition, the Song family also sent ten game animals, but they were all ordinary pheasants and hares, as well as thirty kilograms of wild boar meat and twenty carp.
The things are ordinary and not worth a few silver coins. If we calculate them according to their value, the total value is less than 200 taels of silver.
It's less than half the value of the Chu family's annual gift.
This is too disrespectful. If you don't want to give it away, just don't give it away. Since you have given it away, give a few better ones. What does it mean to give a bunch of things that even Zeng doesn't like?
After all, the Chu family can be regarded as Song Huai's fiancée's maternal family. This year's gift is too thin.
After Mrs. Zeng took one look at the New Year's gift, she lamented and frowned.
(End of chapter)