128 – A New Year

A month too early for that q(≧▽≦q)

As the new year approached, Lei Tie had not slackened the training for the armed servants. He got up very early. After completing the daily training tasks, Lei Tie took solid food and brought the armed servants to the back of the mountain for field training. Great snow fluttered about these days, but the training did not stop at all. Lei-Qin Shun’s group of nine did not understand why the Eldest Young Master trained them so strictly, yet no one asked questions. They all understood one truth: What they truly learned belonged to them.

The door of the house was tightly shut. Golden Fur lay beside the settee, sleeping in the dark. Qin Mian nestled in the settee with his back against Golden Fur and legs covered with woolen blankets serving as a table as he wrote on his notebook. A charcoal brazier was placed not far away. The charcoal was burning well and the flame was ablaze. The white residue of the burnt charcoal floated along with the flame and was blown away by the wind. The candles on the four corners were lit, setting off a warm and comfortable hue in the living room.

When there were too many things to do, Qin Mian used to write all the things on paper, which was more convenient to make the most reasonable arrangement. What he was arranging was the preparation before the New Year: who was responsible for the residence’s sanitation, who was responsible to decorate Leisurely Farmhouse, who was responsible for purchasing New Year’s goods, who was responsible for killing chickens and ducks, and so on. It was all clearly written. Last year, he and Lei Tie personally worked on all these things. This year, they just needed to be the Eldest Young Master and the Little Young Master.

The door of the central room was knocked before Aunt Fu’s voice sounded, “Little Young Master, this old woman has something to see you.”

“Come in.”

As soon as Aunt Fu opened the door, the cold wind carrying snowflakes poured in. Qin Mian tightened the woolen blanket around his body.

Aunt Fu lowered her eyes and did not look around. After she dropped a curtsy, she said, “Little Young Master, recently, many people are asking about Lei-Qin Le, both overtly and secretly. After thinking about it, this old woman thinks you should be told as soon as possible.”

“Lei-Qin Le?” Qin Mian’s eyes moved away from the notebook and looked at her in puzzlement, “What’s wrong with Lei-Qin Le?”

Aunt Fu discovered that the Little Young Master hadn’t realized it. “Little Young Master, this old woman guesses this is what happened. The New Year’s gifts for the workers in the winery and vermicelli workshop have been sent. Many villagers feel that our family is very generous to the employees and servants. That is, some families with the poor condition still have girls who haven’t been matched…”

Qin Mian suddenly realized. Although he was the “master’s wife”, he was not a woman after all. He never considered this aspect. He remembered that Lei-Qin Le was 20 years old and would be 21 after the New Year. In this era, he was considered as an unmarried older young man. He clicked his tongue inwardly. It was not easy to be a master and still had to be responsible for the servants’ marriages. Fortunately, Lei-Qin Le was the only one who had reached the age of marriage. Lei-Qin Shun and the others were still young; there were still a few years more for this talk.

“Did Lei-Qin Le ever mention it to you?”

“Never actually.”

Qin Mian nodded, “I’m well aware of the situation. If people ask you again, you can tell them that Lei-Qin Le’s wife must enter our family’s servant registry. Aunt Fu, you can also understand without me saying it. There are so many secret recipes in our family that not anyone can come in.”

Aunt Fu understood. “Little Young Master, please rest assured. This old woman knows how to say it.”

“En. Also, you can mention this matter with Lei-Qin Le to see if he has any thoughts on it. A-Tie and I are both adult men; it’s not good to directly take care of this. You and Aunt Quan pay more attention.”

“Yes,” replied Aunt Fu. “If there is nothing else, this old woman asks for leave.”

“En, go.”

The door was closed. A sense of loneliness suddenly surged into Qin Mian’s heart, and at the same time, he felt that his home was so terribly quiet. These days, Lei Tie had been going out in the morning and coming back when it was getting dark. As for him who was used to go in and out with Lei Tie, he was not used to this.

He simply put down his pen, put on warm rabbit furred boots, draped on a cloak, and called Golden Fur to follow him out. He did not forget to fasten the lock hoop above the door panel, lest the wind blew in and raised the flame in the charcoal brazier to cause a fire.

In Leisurely Farmhouse, aside from the cobblestone path that had been swept by the servants, everywhere was a vast expanse of white. On the ground, the white snow was like a white feather cushion, and the footprints left by chickens and ducks were like flowers embroidered on it – serene and elegant. On the fruit trees, the white snow wrapped like silk, just like locust trees blooming with silver flowers, piled up layer upon layer, beautiful like a scroll painting.

With a steady pace, Golden Fur walked forward, playfully hitting a peach tree. With a rustle, the snowflakes fell and covered its face. It discontentedly swayed its clumsy body; its posture was spoilt and naïve, yet amusing.

Qin Mian walked along the path to the gate. Golden Fur wobbly followed him, shaking the snowflakes on its head from time to time.

Qin Mian was amused. As far as he knew, some brown bears didn’t hibernate. Unexpectedly, Golden Fur was one of them. It stayed at home and only left when it was hungry to look for food.

Qin Mian believed that one of the important reasons was that Golden Fur hated to part with Lei Tie, because almost every few days, Golden Fur would challenge Lei Tie to fight with it. As a bystander, he couldn’t understand the significance of Golden Fur’s fighting with a human.

Uncle Quan was on duty in the gatekeeper’s room. He also lit up a charcoal brazier, but instead of charcoal, he burned firewood, which was very nice and warm.

Seeing Qin Mian approaching, he ran out of the room, “Little Young Master, are you going out?”

“Taking a walk.”

“Your servant will open the gate for you.”

With Golden Fur following him, Uncle Quan had nothing to worry about. After Qin Mian went out, he closed the gate.

Qin Mian walked forward, aimlessly. The sky was boundless and the ground was also boundless. It was actually interesting to enjoy the snow scenery the whole journey. When he regained his senses, he found himself standing at the foot of the mountain, and spontaneously broke into laughter.

Golden Fur rolled several times on the ground and stood up, finding joy in its own way.

The cold wind was howling in the ears. Qin Mian suddenly felt that his behavior today was somewhat silly. He raised his voice and called Golden Fur, “Golden Fur, go home.”

As soon as he turned around, a brief howl of a wolf sounded behind him. He looked back and saw a black figure leaping on the snowfield as fast as lightning, and soon came to him.

“Awoo.” White Spot put its forepaws on Qin Mian’s shoulder, and its warm tongue licked his face.

Lei Tie, who came out of the forest, happened to see this scene and quickened his pace.

Lei-Qin Shun and others amazedly watched him seemingly floating on the snowfield where not even a footprint was left. Their veneration for him went to even a higher degree.

“Wife, waiting for me?” Lei Tie stood in front of Qin Mian, pushed White Spot away, and gained ground to brush away the snowflakes on Qin Mian’s cloak. His black as ink eyes smeared with a smiling expression of joy and contentment; his voice was deep and gentle.

The joy in the man’s eyes made Qin Mian feel even more that he did a foolish thing. He was unaware that the corner of his lips was tilted, “No, I was strolling.”

“En.” Lei Tie took his hand.

In the distance, Zhao Sifa’s eyes full of disdain and resentment fell on the two people. For fear that he attracted the other party’s attention, he quickly moved away and his figure soon disappeared.

Qin Mian looked at Lei-Qin Zhong and the others. The originally slender poplars had now grown into upright China-firs.¹

With bows and arrows on their backs and prey in their hands, Lei-Qin Zhong’s group of people stepped forward and saluted together. The orderly voices were powerful and resounding with high momentum as if it could run through the rainbow. “Greeting to Little Young Master!”

Qin Mian was worried that due to Lei Tie’s taciturn personality, he didn’t say what he should have said. Therefore, he spoke words of encouragement, “It’s a great honor for your Eldest Young Master to lead you all to the mountain for training in the snowy weather. You must not let down the cultivation and trust that your Eldest Young Master and I have given you.”

The nine armed servants looked serious as they said in unison, “Your servant dares not!”

Qin Mian smiled and nodded, “Very good. You all go back first.”

“Yes.”

When they had gone far away, Qin Mian and Lei Tie also slowly walked home.

“A-Tie, you have been in contact with them for a long time. What do you think of their characters?”

Lei Tie said, “Wife, don’t worry. All nine of them are good.”

“That’s good.” Qin Mian hesitated for a moment, “Still going up the mountain tomorrow?”

Lei Tie, who had originally scheduled the training period for 10 days, immediately changed his mind, “There will be training for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but I don’t need to personally lead the team.”

Only then Qin Mian’s expression looked a bit better.

Lei Tie held his face and gently kissed him on the lips, “Go home.”

Four days later was New Year’s Eve.

Lei Daqiang wanted to have Lei Tie, Lei Xiangren, and Lei Xiangyi come to the old house for the family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve. As if they had discussed in advance, they all refused.

Lei Daqiang and Du Shi quickly realized that their control over the three sons was getting weaker and weaker.

Inside Leisurely Farmhouse, colored festoons and red lanterns were hung, and red Spring Festival couplets were also pasted. The New Year’s Eve dinner was still prepared by Qin Mian himself. The table was full of dishes. The New Year’s Eve dinner for White Spot and Golden Fur was also very sumptuous. White Spot had a whole wild goat, while Golden Fur had a large basin of fish, sweet potatoes, and honey.

Two people, a wolf, and a bear spent a lively New Year’s Eve.

On the first day of the first month, Qin Mian and Lei Tie put on new clothes and went to the old house to pay the New Year’s greetings.

Very surprisingly, they were the first to arrive. After paying the New Year’s greetings, the two men sat together with Lei Xiangli, Lei Xiangzhi, and Lei Chuntao and chatted while eating melon seeds.

“Eh? Are we late?” Zhao Shi pulled Lei Dabao in her left hand and Lei Erbao in her right hand, as she stepped into the room with her chin slightly raised and her mouth delicately opened with a smile.

As soon as the three people entered the door, Qin Mian thought a bright light flashed in front of him – so dazzling!

Zhao Shi was dressed in bright red nichang². The clothes were embroidered with hidden silver threads, which glittered when shone under the light. She had a gold dangling ornament in her cloud bun, a silver headband on her forehead, pearls hanging from her earlobes, a silver necklace around her neck, and a silver dangling ornament on her waist. Both Lei Dabao and Lei Erbao were dressed in red cotton-padded jackets with silver long-life locks on their necks. They were as proud as their mother at a young age.

Lei Xiangren walked at very back with a straightened waist. He wore a winter hat with a curved brim, a tailored cloud brocade beizi³ sewn with tiger hide, and a piece of blue jade on his waist.

Du Shi touched the silver earrings she had worn for several years as her eyes wandered to the accessories on Zhao Shi’s body, not knowing what she felt inside, and regretted that they had separated too soon.

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