142 – One Year Old

“Gehgehgeh¹…” Manman clapped his small hands and laughed until his saliva flowed out. Yuanyuan suspiciously stared at his Old Dad on the ground, is it a new play?

Lei Tie calmly got up from the ground, let the two little ones lie down properly, and swayed the crib to coax them to sleep.

Qin Mian ran over and carried one baby in each hand. Then, he put the two little ones in the middle of the big bed and lay down on the left side of the bed.

Lei Tie stood still for a short period before shaking his head. He took out new nightclothes from the wardrobe to put on his wife but was robbed of that.

Lei Tie self-consciously lay on the right side of the bed. As he recollected the pleasant feeling of his wife’s new address for him, his eyes involuntarily fell on his wife’s face, making someplace on his body restless again.

Qin Mian unintentionally saw it. He lifted his leg to kick Lei Tie, but his foot was caught by Lei Tie’s big hand, who then pinched it gently. Feeling tickled, he shrunk away.

“Wife, stop making trouble. Sleep.”

Qin Mian used the back of his head to face the man and unknowingly entered dreamland.

Lei Tie patted the two little ones until they fell asleep and he took them back to the crib. He lay behind his wife and took the person into his arms, which only then he felt at ease. Contented, he closed his eyes.

It was unknown whether Qin Mian was aware of it, but the corners of his mouth curled up.

A few days later, in the early morning, the deafening sound of firecrackers woke up the small village. The sound of firecrackers lasted for half an hour. After stopping for about two breaths, it sounded again and mixed with the percussion sound of gongs, unceasing for a long time.

Lei Xiangzhi passed!

He obtained Yayuan² in the provincial examination, in other words, the second place.

The whole village was sensational. In private, the villagers said that Lei Daqiang and Du Shi had prayed to the Buddha a lot in their previous lives. Lei Xiangzhi had become the only Lord Juren³ in Green Mountain Village. Based on the current situation, he was very likely to get good results in the conference and palace examinations. At the thought of Lei Xiangzhi being able to obtain a Tanhua, Banyan, or Zhuangyuan⁴ in the future, the villagers could not contain their excitement. If outsiders were so excited, those in the old house were more so.

Three days later, Qin Mian and Lei Tie asked Uncle Fu to send Lei Xiangzhi six books and a red envelope with 10 silver taels in it – they did not attend the banquet.

The conference examination was also held every three years. This one would be held in the 4th lunar month two years later, also known as the spring examination. Lei Xiangzhi still had plenty of time to prepare.

After the excitement, Green Mountain Village ushered into the busy golden autumn season in the 10th lunar month.

When the servants brought back the harvested soybeans, Qin Mian inadvertently remembered the fermented tofu he had made before and forgotten. He quickly told Lei Tie to take the jar out and open it.

After two years of fermentation, the fermented tofu was still in a neat shape. It was bright red in color and smooth in texture, and had a slightly smelly aroma but tasted soft and delicious. Its spiciness satisfied a craving.

With only a piece of fermented tofu, Qin Mian ate three bowls of rice. His stomach was full but he wanted to eat it again. Lei Tie also liked the spicy flavor no less than his wife.

Qin Mian did not let go of any business opportunities. He asked Uncle Fu to order 1,000 white porcelain jars about the size of fermented tofu jars of later generations, which were also printed with their logo and trademarks. Then, he asked people to buy back a large number of fresh tofu and teach them how to make fermented tofu. The fermented tofu was put into beautiful white porcelain jars; each jar contained twelve pieces. After a year, they would be sold at the price of 1 tael per jar. When one had no appetite to eat, eating rice with fermented tofu was the best choice.

……

Winter gave place to spring, bringing along another year. In the twinkling of an eye, it was the 26th year of Emperor Xiaohui’s reign.⁵

Yuanyuan and Manman grew healthily and strongly like the small saplings sprouting; two days later would be their first birthday.

One-year-old was a small transition in the life of the two little ones; Qin Mian attached great importance to it. He started to prepare two days in advance and left the two little ones to their Old Dad. He and the steward led the servants to bustle about together.

Lei Tie sat on the soft rug in the living room with the two little ones. Yuanyuan was very athletic; his favorite thing to do was to climb up and down his Old Dad. Lei Tie supported him with a blank face, so as not to fall, and occasionally helped him climb up.

Manman was unwilling to be left out in the cold; he threw away his toys and crawled two steps toward his Old Dad before he halted as if thinking of something. It seemed that crawling was too slow, so with two hands laid on the ground, he propped himself up, and with exertion from his small buttocks, he stood up. He hobbled to Lei Tie with a happy smile on his small face as he called out, “Old Dad, Old Dad!”

Lei Tie hugged him in time and let him sit down. With a warm voice, he said, “Manman, your Dad doesn’t let you learn to walk too early.”

With his not-so-rich facial expression, bystanders might think he was angry. However, Manman was not afraid of him; he pounced forward and stood with the help of his Old Dad in a fit of giggles, climbing up his Old Dad like it was competition with his Gege⁶.

Lei Tie took the opportunity to lie down on the rug and let the two little ones crawl up and down on him and pull his hair and the front of his shirts.

He raised his head and looked out – it was almost noon. His wife hadn’t come back.

“Gege.” Manman grasped Yuanyuan’s clothes.

Yuanyuan threw a look at Manman over his shoulder and called out in deadpan, “Didi.”

“Gehgehgeh…” Manman climbed to Lei Tie’s chest, stretched out his chubby hands, and curiously poked his Old Dad’s face, pinched his nose, and then pulled his ears.

Yuanyuan looked at his Old Dad and then looked at Manman; he frowned. As if he wanted to stop his Didi from bullying his Old Dad but also didn’t want to let his Didi down, he leaned down and hugged his Old Dad’s head. His small soft lips gently kissed his Old Dad on the cheek.

Lei Tie’s eyes were filled with warmth as he reached out to rub his son’s small head.

Qin Mian leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded across the chest and an emotional smile hung on his face. Yuanyuan talked less and Lei Tie also talked less. He had been worried that Yuanyuan and Lei Tie would have less communication with each other. Yet, it seemed that he thought too much. The little one, Yuanyuan, is smart!

Noticing the light at the door was partly blocked, Lei Tie raised his head to look over; his deep eyes were dyed with tenderness. His 17-year-old youngster had already grown tall, only half a head shorter than him. The moon-white robe appropriately outlined his slender and straight body shape, perfectly set off the temperament of delicate beauty. His face and neck were browned due to sun exposure for several days, making his whole person looked healthier and more seductive, which made Lei Tie practically unable to shift his gaze.

“Yuanyuan and Manman, Dad is back.” Qin Mian walked over a few steps and sat on the rug. He leaned over Yuanyuan’s face to kiss him on the cheek and then kissed Manman on the cheek, too. Seeing a certain someone’s eager eyes, his lips curled into a grin. With his back to Yuanyuan and Manman, he gave a certain someone a hard kiss.

“Dad!”

“Dad.”

Delighted, Manman crawled toward Qin Mian. Yuanyuan, who had shown a dignified bearing at a young age, followed after Manman to crawl at a steady speed.

“Dad, fruity.”

Qin Mian understood that the two little ones wanted to eat fruits. He picked two peaches from the space, giving one to Lei Tie. After peeling the skin, they scraped the flesh with a spoon and fed it to the babies.

“Wife, how is the preparation?”

Qin Mian was about to speak when Yuanyuan, with no expression, uttered a word, “Wife.”

The spoon in Lei Tie’s hand shook and the fruit flesh on the spoon fell on the rug.

After Qin Mian was taken aback, he rolled with laughter while hammering his fist on the rug, “HAHAHA…”

Lei Tie silently looked at Yuanyuan for a good while, and then pointed to Qin Mian as he said, “He is my wife, you can’t call [him that].”

Yuanyuan blinked his eyes as he looked at his Old Dad for a long time before he uttered, “Oh.” It was unknown whether he really understood it or not.

Qin Mian then laughed so much that he lost breath and even tears burst out of his eyes.

Lei Tie dotingly looked at him, wiped his tears with his thumb, and patted his back.

Grinning broadly, Manman also stretched out a small hand to pat Qin Mian’s back, “Dad, silly!”

Qin Mian stiffened, promptly stopped his laughter. He lightly coughed and continued to feed him with a deadpan face.

“Son, [we] can’t say Dad is silly. Dad is the smartest in our family.”

Lei Tie shook his head and fed Yuanyuan.

Qin Mian wiped the fruit flesh spread on the rug with a handkerchief and answered Lei Tie’s previous question, “Everything is properly arranged. The steward will take others to deal with the rest.”

Two days later, Yuanyuan and Manman’s one-year-old birthday arrived.

The two little ones wore new clothes and looked even cuter and smarter. On their heads were baby hats in the shape of a yellow duckling; on their upper bodies were blue shirts and yellow sleeveless pullover jackets with a large blue pocket on the chest embroidered with big apple; on their lower bodies were a pair of blue closed-hem trousers and tiger-head shoes on their feet.

Qin Mian fetched two similar boxes from the wardrobe; one of which was inscribed with Yuanyuan’s name, Qin Ruiqi, and the other box was inscribed with Manman’s name, Lei Ruilin. Then, he took out two 10-tael silver ingots and put them into the two boxes before locking the boxes.

Lei Tie was puzzled.

Qin Mian patted the boxes and explained with a smile, “We’ll save a sum of money for our sons every time they celebrate their birthday. When they are ten years old, [we’ll] give them these savings and let them learn how to manage money.”

Lei Tie nodded with understanding. His wife always had a lot of extraordinary ideas.

Nowadays, there were more servants in Leisurely Farmhouse to manage and care in all aspects. Qin Mian arranged the place for the banquet in Leisurely Farmhouse. The grove in Leisurely Farmhouse was restructured a year ago; a large area of open space was planted with green grass, just perfect to arrange the banquet here.

Close to noon, guests came one after another.

Before eating longevity noodles, the grabbing ceremony⁷ should be carried out first.

The living room was covered with a rug. Qin Mian and Lei Tie each held Yuanyuan and Manman on the rug. Placed on the ground were a book, a brush, an ink stick, a paper, an inkstone, a stamp, an abacus, a copper coin, a silver, a scallion, a wooden sword, and more than twenty kinds of items.

The guests all gathered around in curiosity.

Qin Mian squatted on one side and said to Yuanyuan and Manman, “Yuanyuan, Manman, choose the one you like best and give it to your Old Dad and Dad.”

Yuanyuan picked up the inkstone nearest to him, turned it over, and put it down. He looked around and was attracted by the circular stamp, but he didn’t take it after looking at it for a while. His eyes rested on the wooden sword for a time before he curiously picked it up to play with.

At first, Manman crawled behind his Gege. When he saw the stamp, his eyes brightened and he quickly crawled over to pick it up. Holding it tightly, he raised his small head toward Qin Mian and laughed, “Dad, gehgeh…”

The guests laughed as they congratulated.

“Two sons; one literary and the other martial. Ah, masters of brush and sword. Congratulations, congratulations!”

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