Chapter 72: Plans for the Coming Year
"No need to be polite. You’re my brother, after all," Zhu Shun Yao said with a grin. Though he often looked stubborn, he appeared quite simple and honest around those who truly cared for him. In front of Cheng Baokun, he seemed especially so.
The family stayed at the Chengs’ house until after dinner before saying their goodbyes.
Even after establishing the godparent relationship, Zhu Shun Yao did not become arrogant. After all, it was just a familial tie; daily interactions would remain as relatives, and for official matters, he would still handle his own duties. Instead of using Cheng Baokun’s influence to show off, Zhu Shun Yao worked even more diligently. Before he knew it, the Little New Year arrived. In Yaojiang City, the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month is the Little New Year. Once this day passed, the real countdown to the Spring Festival began.
On the day of the Little New Year, Zhu Shun Yao started delivering New Year gifts. Although he didn’t have many relatives, there were still seven or eight families to visit. It took him the whole day to finish the rounds. Fortunately, he had borrowed a bicycle; otherwise, he would have been exhausted.
"After the New Year, once we build the house, if there’s still money left, I’ll buy you a bicycle," Xie Xinlian said, feeling sorry for her husband.
Zhu Shun Yao waved his hand. "Wait until after you give birth. If we have money, we’ll save it to buy more brown sugar and dragon-whisker noodles for you to eat later."
"You don’t need dragon-whisker noodles. Handmade millet noodles are fine. The Old Hu family has them, and they’re cheaper," Xie Xinlian said directly. At least this would be much better than when she gave birth to their first two children.
Zhu Shun Yao shook her head. "Millet noodles aren’t smooth enough. Dragon-whisker noodles are better. We’ll also prepare some eggs. Your health is important too. You developed stomach issues when you gave birth to Ani. Although the Spirit Spring water Ani gave you healed it, you must be careful during confinement. We can’t let you develop chronic problems again."
Xie Xinlian sighed. "When I gave birth to An’er and Ani, no one cared for me except my mother. No one helped me wash diapers. Since you had to work, I had to wash them myself. I had nothing to eat, which is why I got sick. It’s much better now."
Zhu Shun Yao also sighed. He had to admit that his parents were unreliable and had been too harsh on his family. "It’s fine. Our family will get better and better from now on."
"I think so too. Especially now that Ani has become a Medical Buddha Girl, I feel our days will improve," Xie Xinlian said. She was not ignorant of the situation. As long as Zhu Yanyi was in their family, their life would not be poor.
Zhu Shun Yao nodded. "Don’t tell anyone about Ani’s matter for now. Wait until the nineteenth day of the second lunar month." Zhu Shun Yao and Xie Zhong had already discussed this. In the future, Zhu Yanyi would stay at the Xie house as much as possible to prevent anyone from targeting her.
Zhu Yanyi studied under Xie Zhong. Initially, Xie Zhong worried that Zhu Yanyi was too young and dared not teach her much. However, as days passed, she found that although Zhu Yanyi was not yet six years old, she was extremely smart. She could apply what she learned to new situations. She learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting well. She could play simple melodies on the zither, memorize over a hundred chess openings, and had a solid foundation in reading and painting. Xie Zhong could only marvel at Zhu Yanyi’s talent.
She did not know that Zhu Yanyi’s abilities came from studying in the Ruyi Space every night.
Zhu Yanyi had to learn not only these arts but also the medical knowledge left by the Azure Sovereign Qingdi in the space. As her basic medical knowledge accumulated, she gradually began to understand and study the many medical books in the space. With the nourishment of the Spirit Spring, Zhu Yanyi’s temperament was slowly changing, though the change was not very obvious.