Chapter 346: They gave Nannan a match

On the first day of the New Year, the laughter in the Lius’ compound continued for a long time, attracting neighbors to join in the hilarity through the walls. 

They were jealous and envious.

The groups of little kids were so discerning that they knew where to go.

The children of their Xinghua Village were fast becoming elite.

The festivity of the New Year here was rendered to the utmost.

It wasn’t until nearly nightfall that the hustle and bustle rested.

After dinner, snowflakes began to fall in the sky.

“It’s snowing! Grandpa, Grandma, it’s snowing!” Liu Yusheng was the first to notice.

Grandma Liu raised her eyes to look outside. Through the gray sky, goose feather-like gray shadows fell down, floating to the ground and piled up into a white snow.

Soon the ground in the courtyard was covered with white snow.

“Aiya, the snow came so late this year,” Grandma Liu sighed.

“It’s good that snow fell on this day of the New Year. A timely snowfall promises a fruitful year. We will certainly have favorable weather for the crops again this year.”

“Yes, yes, you are right. A timely snowfall promises a fruitful year. With favorable climatic weather, our village households can again have a bumper harvest.”

With two children at home who went to study, the more the grandparents listened, they increasingly became adept at quoting four-character idioms. It was quite fitting.

Chen Xiulan and Du Juan pulled the brazier together and stoked the charcoal fire. “Looking at how heavy the snow is, it is estimated that a thick layer will accumulate on the road tomorrow. I’m afraid it’s inconvenient for travel.”

They shouldn’t be blamed for their worries. On the second day of the New Year, if everything was fine at home, they had to rush back to their parents’ houses to see their parents.

It snowed just before the trip, so it was a question if it would stop tomorrow.

“It doesn’t matter if it snows. We have a carriage, so just drive the carriage slower. We can also arrive more than an hour later.” Liu Dalin answered, and then said, “I’ll go back with you. Zhixia and Nannan will stay at home. You don’t have to come along.”

“Okay.” Chen Xiulan nodded her head.

Liu Erlin looked at his wife and said, “Sister-in-laws maternal home is far away, so let them take the carriage. Let’s drive the ox cart. It’s just in the next village, so it does not take much effort to go back and forth.”

Du Juan nodded. During the New Year, she had to go home to give gifts and pay her respects, so it was no big deal. Her family was very close, so riding on an ox cart was enough for a round trip.

“Father, Mother, elder brother and Nannan do not need to go, so how about I also stay?” Liu Zhiqiu availed himself of the opportunity.

Du Juan scolded him, “Look at how lazy you are. Fine, stay behind. I’ll go back with your father, so have fun with your brother and Nannan at home. They will eventually return to the capital in spring, so it’s estimated that we’ll not see them for several months.”

After the adults agreed on the itinerary tomorrow, Fu Yuzheng vaguely saw a vague flash in Liu Dalin’s eyes when his in-laws were mentioned. He leaned closer to Liu Yusheng’s ear and asked, “Do you and your brother really not have to go along tomorrow? Won’t people gossip?””

Liu Yusheng has just been appointed as a County Lady. She should visit her grandparents’ house at this juncture. Otherwise, she would be regarded as arrogant.

This was detrimental to her reputation.

But Liu Dalin’s expression made her feel something more added to his worries.

Out of curiosity, she started to ask.

After asking, she raised her head and faced the smiling eyes of the man across from her.

Fu Yuzheng blushed and quickly explained herself, “I was just asking, nothing more.”

If it was any other time, she would not have cared about other people’s affairs at all.

This time was an exception because in her heart, Liu Yusheng and the Liu family’s existence was no longer within the scope of “others”.

“It’s snowing so suddenly, the vegetables in the vegetable garden outside may be crushed. Father, Mother, I’ll go and take care of it.” Liu Zhixia stood up and looked at Fu Yuzheng, “Come along and help me hold the light.”

Fu Yuzheng nodded gently.

She’d never been accustomed to man’s invitation to be alone. But that habit has improved gradually, and she could now face it openly.

After leaving the Liu family’s courtyard, she walked along the courtyard wall to the side, and there was the Liu family’s vegetable garden. It was a long strip of vegetable field with bamboo gabions surrounding the boundary.

The bamboo gabions weren’t too high, enough to see inside. In winter, the vegetable patch was green, with cabbage, radish, celery and parsley growing robustly.

The leaves were covered with crystal granular white frost, but it did not damage them a bit.

Against the wall, there stood a bamboo mat also made of bamboo. They just have to pull it over and fix it to help keep the wind and snow out of the vegetable patches, like a small shed.

Liu Zhixia walked over and pulled the bamboo mat. He fixed it on a small stake in the vegetable field and said, “Nn the past, Nannan and I would go to my grandparents’ house with my parents every year whenever we had time. Since the year before last, there has been a change, and my parents don’t like my sister to go there again. “

“Why?” Fu Yuzheng was curious. Before coming out, she also guessed that the reason Liu Zhixia asked her to go with him was because there were many people in the room, and some words were inconvenient to say.

“Because my grandparents asked Nannan to marry a relative over there.”

“…”

“My father has always been more considerate and tolerant of his in-laws. But that was the first time he flew into a rage and immediately took us back to Xinghua Village. My grandparents were also furious because of this incident. It was not until last year that my great-uncle intervened, so the two families reconciled and resumed contact.”

The man turned his back. Fu Yuzheng couldn’t see his expression, but from the faint tone in his tone, she knew that he had reservations against them.

“Nannan grew up well and is skilled in medicine. Many people must have come to ask for her hand in marriage in the past several years, right?” Fu Yuzheng guessed.

“It is true that many people came to my home to ask for her hand in marriage, but my family refused, not wanting to marry Nannan off too early. Those people couldn’t get through our front door, so they turned their thoughts to our in-laws and whispered to their ears there.”

Liu Zhixia did not directly evaluate his grandparents’ character. As a descendant, he could not utter those words.

But Fu Yuzheng could also roughly guess. Apart from other things, it was quite unprincipled of them to stretch their hands to this point and meddle in the marriage of the Lius’ youngest granddaughter. Not to mention insensible, they had shallow vision.

“My parents still go back to see the two elders, but only the two of them go. Nannan and I haven’t gone there.” After a pause, Liu Zhixia lightly laughed. “If we go, I’m afraid Grandpa and Grandma won’t be able to sleep peacefully at home.”

“Pfft!” Indeed they wouldn’t.

Grandpa and Grandma Liu simply considered Nannan as the apple of their eye. If she really were to go there again, they would probably worry about what tricks would arise there and make Nannan suffer.

There were thousands of people in the world, and not everyone could live as discerning and open-minded as the two elders of the Liu family. They were transparent and open-minded, rational.

She stared at the man’s back for a long time and said, “You just said that two elders would be worried if you went. Has something happened to you that worried them?”

Otherwise, Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu would not have prevented their grandchildren from going back to visit their maternal grandparents.