Chapter 1343

Chapter 1343: Wind and Clouds Rise on the Third Day of the First Lunar Month

Yan Aohan did not refuse this task. He stood by, helping to count the paper flowers.

Once Zhu Yanyi finished cutting all the paper flowers, Xie Xinlian and Zhu Shunyao sent her back to her room to sleep. Zhu Yanli received the same privilege. The rest of the family stayed downstairs to keep the night watch.

Taishu Yuanxiang and Yan Aohan were not troubled by their inability to stay with their beloved ones. Instead, they happily accompanied Zhu Shunyao. They even called Luo Gang over, and the four of them played Dou Dizhu (Fight the Landlord). Zhu Shunyao won the most money. There was no other reason; his two sons-in-law were secretly letting him win.

When Zhu Shunyao was the Landlord, they would not play their bomb cards even if they had them. When Zhu Shunyao was a farmer, if Taishu Yuanxiang or Yan Aohan was the Landlord, they would quietly let Zhu Shunyao win. Thus, Zhu Shunyao’s chances of winning naturally increased.

Zhu Shunyao noticed this, of course, but he pretended not to. Since his sons-in-law were showing filial piety, he accepted it gladly.

After midnight, they set off firecrackers, ate some snacks, and returned to their rooms to sleep. Zhu Shunyao mentioned the card game to Xie Xinlian, smiling and scolding, "These two boys have so many tricks."

"You’re unhappy because they let you win?" Xie Xinlian did not understand Zhu Shunyao’s mindset.

"If they win my precious daughters, why can’t I win a little money from them?" Zhu Shunyao’s standard was to dislike this behavior. Although he appreciated Taishu Yuanxiang and Yan Aohan in his heart, the thought of his two precious daughters being taken away by them made him feel uneasy.

Seeing this, Xie Xinlian knew her fatherly mindset was acting up again. She smiled and said, "You should be grateful. The sons-in-law An’er and Ani found are so good. Their hearts are set on them. Otherwise, tell me, who else besides them is worthy of your two daughters? Are you expecting me to find husbands for them in Sicheng Town?"

"Nonsense. It’s not that I look down on the young men here. There are good young men here, of course, but our An’er and Ani are even better," Zhu Shunyao said directly. Then he sighed, "Isn’t it because I can’t bear to part with them?"

"Daughters grow up and must marry. This is the rule. When I married you, I didn’t see you telling my father that he couldn’t bear to let me go, so you wouldn’t marry me," Xie Xinlian teased Zhu Shunyao.

Zhu Shunyao coughed twice, looking a bit embarrassed. "Alright, alright. It’s late. Let’s sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow."

On the first day of the first lunar month, Zhu Shunyao, as usual, took Zhu Zhibin and Xie Xinlian to the Qi family to pay New Year’s greetings to Qi Jizong. They returned only after lunch at noon.

Since it was the first day of the first lunar month, Zhu Yanyi spent her time leisurely weaving joy knots.

The weather on this first day was not very good. It had been overcast for the past few days, so the elders predicted a snowstorm around the New Year. Unexpectedly, after noon, around one o’clock in the afternoon, light snow began to fall.

"Hurry back to your room. The room has air conditioning. Don’t stand by the window anymore," Yan Aohan said, worried about Zhu Yanyi. He would prevent anything that might be bad for her.

Zhu Yanyi was actually in good health. She turned and smiled at Yan Aohan. "I’m wearing plenty of clothes. It’s quite warm now, not cold at all. If you don’t believe me, touch my hand. It’s hot."

Yan Aohan really touched Zhu Yanyi’s hand. Confirming it was warm, he felt relieved.

"I wonder if the snow will get heavy," Zhu Yanyi said casually, looking at the gray sky outside.

"Anyway, we are indoors and warm. Even if it gets heavier, it doesn’t matter," Yan Aohan said seriously. "It’s the New Year, so we won’t go out. It won’t cause us any loss."

"Fortunately, the Beginning of Spring is the day after tomorrow. At least now it is still winter snow. Otherwise, spring snow is bad for crops," Zhu Shunyao came over, stood by, and also watched the snow.

Although both are snow, winter snow and spring snow are different. Not only for crops, but their status is like heaven and earth. Even in traditional Chinese medicine, winter snow can be used as medicine, while spring snow has little effect.

Zhu Yanyi nodded. "I hope tomorrow is a sunny day."

The snow fell heavily on the night of the first day of the first lunar month. Everyone stayed indoors and went to bed early. On the morning of the second day, when they woke up, the snow had stopped, and the sun came out. Although the sunlight was not brilliant, it proved that it would not snow that day.

Cheng Baokun and Chen Ailian came to help. Xie Zhong also brought the Xie family members over. They began to get busy again.

Although there were still several days until the tenth day of the first lunar month, time passed very quickly during busy periods for happy events.

The third day of the first lunar month arrived. On this day, Zhu Shunyao took the Zhu family to burn incense at the Zhu family ancestral hall. On the same day, people from the Zhu family in Zhushi City came. Five people arrived, three of whom Zhu Yanyi knew.

These three were Zhu Jinfu, Zhu Jianyao, and Zhu Linyao. The other two were young men, whom Zhu Yanyi suspected belonged to the Zhi generation.

Of course, the matter of hosting guests was not officially the responsibility of the third branch. The Zhu Enfu family handled it.

Zhu Jianyao came over and greeted Zhu Shunyao. "Shunyao, we meet again."

Zhu Shunyao frowned slightly. "Actually, I don’t want to meet you."

It had to be said that Zhu Shunyao was sometimes charmingly willful. Listen to these words; they were quite direct. However, Zhu Jianyao and the others heard a different tone. Zhu Shunyao’s meaning was clear: he did not want to associate with the Zhu family from Zhushi City.

"After all, our ancestors are the same. It is appropriate to come here to burn a stick of incense," Zhu Jianyao said, not angry, but smiling.

"This ancestral hall has been built for nearly three years. During these years, you did not come. Now you come just to burn a stick of incense. I don’t know what you are thinking. Perhaps the minds of you city people are different from ours, so you think differently."

Generally, for most families, relatives would come to burn incense when the ancestral hall was first built, not wait nearly three years to do so.

Before Zhu Jianyao could speak, the young man behind him said, "It’s good enough that we came."

"Zhishang, be polite," Zhu Jianyao reprimanded softly.

"Dad, I didn’t say anything wrong. Our coming is already giving face. We are very busy ourselves, especially during the first lunar month," Zhu Zhishang said stubbornly, clearly not sensing his father’s goodwill.

"Your name is Zhishang? Your full name isn’t Zhu Zhishang, is it?" Zhu Zhibin, standing nearby, held back a laugh upon hearing the name.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Zhu Zhishang asked directly.

"No problem. Your name is Zhu Zhishang. Indeed, your IQ is only pig-level IQ," Zhu Zhibin said, struggling hard to keep a straight face, but the name was just too funny.