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Humph, if it weren’t for Aunt Chun Mei’s warning that acting impulsively would make Second Aunt more maligned by those gossipy women in private, Xie Yuhua [Xiao Si’s formal name] wouldn’t have remained passive!
Seeing that Xiao Si, a child, had such heavy thoughts, Yan Jinsu gently pulled him over and earnestly persuaded him. Nothing else was effective, but when she said:
"If Xiao Si doesn’t eat, those delicious dishes and meat will all go to those aunts," only then did Xiao Si start eating voraciously with the other young ones.
Yan Jinsu looked on, without a trace of annoyance in her eyes. She felt too treasured and comfortable with the pampering from her husband and the Xie Family, and as for those insignificant remarks, she didn’t take them to heart anymore.
As long as her husband and her own family didn’t think so, what else did she need to care about?
Even her sisters-in-law didn’t think Yan Jinsu was lazy, but rather they were jealous that their mother-in-law pampered her too much. Jealousy indeed!
Speaking of diligence, no one had the energy that Yan Jinsu possessed. When it came to household chores, the two sisters-in-law couldn’t compete with her alone.
Thus, Xu Xiaofen and Lin Caixia truly held no such thoughts. If they had heard the gossiping women, they surely would have spoken up for Yan Jinsu.
Unfortunately, the lighter duties were taken by these co-sisters-in-law. As for the main family’s daughters-in-law, they could only busily chop and cut in the kitchen— the noise was loud and rhythmic. Without Yan Jinsu’s exceptional hearing, they simply didn’t hear anything at all.
The whole family was busy working, and only Yan Jinsu had free time to hear these old women’s chatter.
Wang Chun Mei, who took care of Yan Jinsu, would be called to help from time to time. Passing by, she heard a few words, and that’s why she knew the reason behind Yan Jinsu’s anger.
But she chose not to confront those gossipy women. Thinking like Xie Jingchen, beating them now is useless; they could just easily exacerbate their lies later. It was better to swallow this grievance.
In the worst case scenario, take revenge through their husbands! Xie Jingchen, squinting and listening, sneered with such thoughts.
Since it was a family celebration, those in the know suppressed their anger, so this casual meal was still quite enjoyable.
Tomorrow was the formal banquet, and Xie Jingchen certainly did not want to cause any unpleasantness at his eldest son’s wedding feast.
The sixth day of the new year
The next day, early in the morning, except for Yan Jinsu, the female relatives of the Xie family had mostly woken up before six.
Wang Chun Mei, living not far away and it being quite cold at six, still came early to the Xie house to help with her mother.
Since they had to perform ancestral rituals that morning, aside from needing to cook a large pot of pork porridge for the helping relatives, they also had to prepare the offerings for the ritual before eight o’clock.
For the ancestral rituals, raw chickens were generally used. These chickens, robust with brightly red combs, were bought by Xie Tiesheng from the eldest brother’s house in the clan.
After getting up and putting on a thick cotton jacket, she took out the baby potty to first tend to the babies’ needs, stored up from a full night with substantial quantity.
By the time they each cleaned themselves up, it was nearly half past eight. Yan Jinsu, pushing the stroller out, found that the front yard was already buzzing with activity.
The family’s ancestral worship table was already set with ’first offerings’, including chicken, fish, six dishes in total, squid, apples, oranges, sweet fruit cookies, and so on—everything one might eat for the New Year, presented depending on one’s financial ability.
Not to mention the past, the Xie Family nowadays is not short of disposable cash, with Xie Tiesheng and his wife earning quite a sum last year from selling marinated meat and making baby products.
Moreover, Yan Jinsu gave a monthly contribution for household expenses to her mother-in-law.
In the Xie Family, not to mention the assets of Xie Jingchen and his wife, the richest were definitely Mr. and Mrs. Xie.
Yan Jinsu came out just in time; Xie Jingchen had already prepared everything for the early part of the worship and was about to call his little wife and children over. Now with Yan Jinsu out, the timing was perfect.
At home, Yan Jinsu holding Xiao Shi, Xie Jingchen holding Xiaojiu, Lin Caixia holding Xiao Ba, and Xie Jinggang assisting, the group of four followed behind Xie Tiesheng, performing the rituals from bowing to placing incense and finally ending with offering wine and burning paper clothes, all completed within half an hour.
After the home worship was done and the paper thoroughly burned, they first set off a round of firecrackers. Then, Xie Jingchen and Xie Jinggang together arranged the offerings, soon heading to the village hall for another round of worship.
This time, Xiao Shi was held by Zhou Xiuhua, with Xiaoqi, Xiao Si keeping em company, and with Xiao Wu nearby, Xiao Shi wouldn’t be needing his parents or siblings for a short while.
Xie Jingchen and his brothers each carried a pair of baskets on their backs, as there were many items to prepare, with Xie Tiesheng also carrying a couple of large rolls of firecrackers.
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