Chapter 115: Dragon Boat Festival (Part 1)

  Before she knew it, the Dragon Boat Festival had arrived. This was Zhen's first festival after waking up, and also their first festival after settling in Yushu Village and starting a new life, so both she and Hu Zi had been looking forward to it for a long time.

  After breakfast, Zhen'er brought two cups of Huangjiu wine. She and Hu'zi each took a cup, giggling as they drank it down. It was customary to do so, regardless of whether the drink tasted good or not. The two scrunched up their noses and gulped it down like medicine.

  After drinking the realgar wine, Zhen'er took out sachets again, as usual one for her and one for Hu Zi. On Dragon Boat Festival, children wear sachets not only to ward off evil spirits but also as a decorative accessory. The sachets contain cinnabar, realgar, fragrant medicine, wrapped in silk cloth, emitting a refreshing fragrance: then tied with five-color silk thread into a string, made into various shapes, forming a colorful and dazzling array.

  This sachet was given to her by Sun Shi yesterday. She had never learned women's work and found it difficult to sew a dress, let alone embroider a sachet. Sun Shi knew she had a few kilograms and told her early on that she didn't need to prepare for this year. Sun Shi's embroidery is good, and the sachet is well-embroidered. Hers is a picture of five blessings, while Tiger's is a picture of a child sending blessings. Both pictures are embroidered vividly and lifelike. The two sachets use the best silk threads and the best cloud brocade. Zhen Er looked at the sachet and could imagine that this sachet would definitely win first prize today.

  Peel the bamboo leaves, wrap the zongzi, cook the zongzi. After a busy while, Zhen'er finally cooked out a basket of zongzi. Hu'er didn't care about the heat and picked up several, shouting as he ran out.

  Zhen'er knew he must have been sent to Ye Chunshui. To think about it, she had always been curious about how Ye Chunshui's personality was formed, until two days ago when Ye Chunshui came back from the holiday, she vaguely guessed a bit.

  According to legend, there was a talented poet who advocated for the promotion of virtuous and capable individuals, enriching the country and strengthening its military, and strongly supported the alliance against Qin. However, he faced strong opposition from aristocrats like Zi Lan, was stripped of his official position, and exiled to a remote area.

  Despite being in such a predicament, he remained unrepentant and continued to work tirelessly for the people, writing many excellent poems that were widely circulated. Later, when his country's capital was breached by an enemy nation, he witnessed the destruction of his homeland and, with a heart full of sorrow, drowned himself in a river on Dragon Boat Festival.

  To commemorate him, people began celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival, engaging in various activities to ward off fish and shrimp from the river, and throwing zongzi into the water to feed them, thereby protecting the poet's remains. However, as people's lives became increasingly difficult, they eventually stopped throwing zongzi into the river, while activities like dragon boat racing continued to develop and flourish.

  What does Ye Chunshui's personality have to do with the Dragon Boat Festival? It has to start from his identity as a poet. Ye Chunshui's teacher was also a talented but unfortunate, idealistic poet. In his youth, he had participated in the imperial examination many times, but ended up failing and only got the title of "Xiucai". Later, when he grew older, he traveled extensively, broadened his horizons, put aside his obsession with taking the imperial examination, opened a private school, took in thirty or forty students, and lived a leisurely and carefree life.

  His greatest interest in life was writing poetry, and he revered the poet who drowned himself on Dragon Boat Festival as his role model. Every year during the festival, while other private schools would have a one- or two-day break, he would give himself a seven-day holiday, saying that he wanted to fast for three days before writing poems to pay tribute to the poet.

  Zhen'er thought, with such a carefree poet like this, Ye Chunshui wouldn't be a rigid person.

  Since Ye Chunshui returned from the south yesterday, Hu Zi has been staying at his house and didn't want to come back. However, today is a festival, so he took some zongzi and went there again early in the morning. But since it's a festival today, there will be guests coming to the village chief's house, so Hu Zi must have had a keen sense of smell and came back earlier.

  Yesterday's holiday wasn't just Ye Chunshui, Zhen'er was packing zongzi in a basket while thinking that Ye Luyuan also came back yesterday. Due to the tight schedule, they only exchanged two sentences before he was called back home by Seventh Aunt, and it's unknown how his apprenticeship is going.

  Zhen'er fed the chickens and pigs, and soon saw Hu Zi coming back, with a little tail behind him. The little tail was Er Niu's younger sister Si Ni, who was one year younger than Hu Zi, but looked a bit bigger than him. Every time Zhen'er saw her, she felt emotional, saying that Er Niu's father was not good to them, but this "not good" had not shortened their food and clothing, unlike Hu Zi, who was clearly over five years old, but looked only three years old.

  "Fourth sister is here, have a zongzi." Zhen'er handed Fourth Sister a steamed zongzi and said with a smile.

  Si Nai saw the zongzi and immediately smiled, her slightly raised eyebrows carried a hint of meaning, and she thanked with a smile, "Thank you, Zhen Er sister."

  The little girl spoke in a soft and gentle voice, her words making people's hearts tremble. With her delicate face, one couldn't help but want to hold her in their arms and give her two kisses. It's really unknown what kind of good fortune this family has, as all the girls are unusually beautiful. The eldest is elegant, the second is clever, the third is diligent, and the fourth is charming, each with their own unique qualities, making them a famous group of sisters in the village.

  Zhen'er gradually became familiar with the sisters because she got along well with Er Niu and San Niu. However, she still preferred Er Niu and San Niu, firstly because she liked their personalities, and secondly, perhaps due to the first impression, she also liked them more.

  She went to give Er Niu the money for selling herbs last time, and Er Niu was playing with Si Ni at the door. She chatted with Er Niu, and somehow Si Ni started talking to Hu Zi. Later, she came to play with Hu Zi without any reason. Hu Zi didn't have many good friends before, but after moving to Yu Shu Village, he didn't know if it was because of the unfamiliar environment or what, he didn't like playing with other kids either. It wasn't until a few days ago when he went fishing and met several young boys who took the initiative to talk to him that he would ask one question and answer another, but wouldn't speak unless asked. Those young boys might have heard their parents' advice and knew they were people with background, so they showed respect but not enough closeness. Children can feel very keenly whether you are really close to them or have ulterior motives, and Hu Zi wanted to have friends, but not that kind of friend, so he kept his distance from them. It's just that Si Ni was a little girl, and Hu Zi didn't want to play with her, but it wasn't good to say no, because as soon as he opened his mouth, Si Ni would cry, and Hu Zi didn't know how to deal with the little girl who loved to cry, so every time he had no choice. From then on, whenever he saw Si Ni's shadow or heard her voice, he would hide far away.

  Ye Baiji found out about this and told Zhen'er, but didn't let her intervene. Every day, she would just watch from the side like a cat watching mice, and as long as Hu Zi was with Si Niu, she would be very interested in joining them. Ye Baiji said that only when Hu Zi was with Si Niu did he look like a 4 or 5 year old child. Zhen'er also felt that only at this time did he not understand things and make people feel distressed, so she didn't bother them.

  The little girl peeled the zongzi, took two bowls from the cabinet, divided the zongzi into two portions, and compared them again and again, feeling that the zongzi in both bowls was equally abundant. Only then did she hand one of the bowls to Hu Zi. Xiangxiang said: "Brother Hu Zi, here, eat zongzi."

  Hutou entered the door with a pout on his face, he was already very careful, how did he still run into Siniang when he went to the village chief's house? Why couldn't she see the stiff expression on his face and still followed him back to his own home, eating the zongzi from his own home. She even wanted to share some with him.

  "My family still has some, you eat." Hu Zi said in a deep and calm tone.

  The fourth girl stretched out her hand and handed the bowl to Hu Zi, saying sweetly: "Hu Zi brother, zongzi is delicious, try some."

  The tiger cub was getting impatient. Just as he was about to roar, he looked up and saw his sister shaking her head in disapproval, so he had no choice but to take the bowl and say thank you.

  Fourth girl felt that Hu Zi had accepted the bowl, she was happier than eating zongzi, and her smile was more charming. Zhen Er looked at it and felt unbearable, really didn't know whether this rural family was lucky or unlucky to have such an outstanding person.

  She added some sugar to their bowls, and the four girls and Hu Zi happily lay on the table eating.

  "Zhen'er. Zhen'er. Where are you?" Before Zhen'er could put the sugar jar away, she heard Ye Baiji's shouting voice coming from the courtyard. She hastily came out of the kitchen.

  Ye Baiji was holding some zongzi at the door, with Ye Luyuan following behind her carrying a basket. Zhen'er quickly invited them into the house.

  Ye Baiji entered the house, put the basket on the table, took a nearby fan and fanned herself while complaining, "What kind of day is this? It's so hot."

  Zhen'er poured two cups of water for them and said, "The sky is still the same, it's normal to be hot." She brought over a plate of osmanthus cake and let them eat, "Luoyuan Ge, Baiju Jie, have some refreshments quickly."

  Ye Baiji vigorously fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan, irritably saying: "This heat is making me lose my appetite completely, I won't eat, let Luoyan Ge eat instead."

  Ye Luoyu also shook his head and said, "I came here just after my family had finished cooking zongzi. My mother forced me to eat two of them, and I'm still feeling bloated now." As he spoke, he rubbed his round belly.

  Zhen Er smiled and looked at them, but didn't force them to eat. Instead, she asked about Ye Luyu's experience as an apprentice in Jing Chun Tang.

  “……Mr. Yang is very good to me, and the servants are also very considerate of me. It's just that Mo, the accountant, has a bit of a strange temper, never showing a smile on his face all day long, only exchanging a couple of words with Mr. Yang. However, he really has skills,” said Ye Luyuan, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Mr. Yang told me that Mo is an accountant brought by Young Master Yang, and he's very skilled. This time, he came to help with the audit. Young Master Yang had some business in Jiangnan and temporarily left him here. Mr. Yang entrusted him to take care of me and especially reminded me to learn from Mo.”

  That was the steward brought by Young Master Yang, he should be a capable person, how could he come to teach Rong Er who doesn't even have any foundation? Zhen'er couldn't figure it out no matter how she thought about it.

  What virtue or ability does she have to make Yang Zhuang remember her, the store is short of hands, and specially let someone convey a message to her, to see if she wants to go or recommend someone to go, she's so young that she can't go, Yang Zhuang must have inquired about her affairs first, and let her recommend someone to go, so as to make people owe her a favor.

  Ye Lu Yan saw Zhen Er being silent for a long time and felt somewhat anxious, uneasily opening his mouth to ask, "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

  Ye Baiji also stared at Zhen'er with concern, Zhen'er smiled and shook her head, "Lu Yuange is serious and diligent in doing things, Yang Zhanggui has even praised him before, how could he do something wrong? Or, did you do something wrong and are afraid of being scolded by Seventh Uncle and Seventh Aunt, so you didn't dare to say?"

  Ye Luyu hastily shook his head and clarified, "Not at all, I don't know how well I do things, but even Mo Accountant, who is notoriously difficult to serve, praises me for having some talent." Mo Accountant's praise was the thing that made him most proud.

  "Lu Yuange is really clever!" Zhen'er and Ye Baiji praised in unison, their facial expressions seeming to smile yet not quite smiling.

  "Lu Yuange, do you know the name of Master Yang's eldest son?" asked Zhen'er.

  Ye Luoyu thought for a moment, uncertainly saying: "The people in the store are very respectful to Young Master, usually just mentioning it vaguely, no one has ever said it directly, I've only heard someone mention it once, seems like his name is Yang Xuanclear."

  Yang Xuanqing, the Yang family's ancestral home is in Xinyang. Xinyang Yang Xuanqing, Xinyang Yang Xuanqing, Zhen'er muttered twice, only to feel that this name was very familiar, but suddenly couldn't remember who this person was.

  "Hey, didn't Zhen'er say that the maid beside Miss Zhou was going to get married ahead of time? When is it? Are you going to give a gift?" Ye Baiji asked, knowing that the Yang family and the Zhou family were relatives by marriage, and had also heard Zhen'er mention Xiang'er's situation.

  Mentioning this, Zhen'er became even more puzzled. Recently, she was at her poorest, but everywhere she went, people were asking for gifts, and it was driving her crazy.

  "It's soon, next month on the sixteenth." Zhen'er said weakly.

  Ye Baiji recently understood her troubles, giggling, "This is also an unavoidable thing, others can't wait for you to save up enough gifts before getting married." She said, leaning in close to Zhen'er: "I still have some spare money on hand, if you're really short of money, I'll lend it to you."

  Zhen'er waved her hand and said, "No need for that. I plan to go see Grandpa tomorrow, borrow some medical books from him, and then go up the mountain to pick herbs to sell." She had already made up her mind. Lately, people in the village saw her cutting grass, but they were all common weeds that grew everywhere, and everyone was cutting them too. The price of medicinal herbs had been driven down too low, and there wasn't much profit to be made. It would be better for her to find another way out.

  "You take care of it then, if you really lack money just tell me. That little girl has some connection with you, and Grandfather also said to not be stingy with the gift." Ye Baiji said.

  Zhen'er nodded understandingly. After Huzi and Sini finished eating zongzi, Ye Baiju suddenly found something novel and immediately shifted her attention, quickly moving to their side and teasing them.

  Hu Zi was a bit annoyed at this moment. Zhen Er feared that he would be rude, and hastily said: "Lu Yuan Ge, Bai Zhu Jie, today is the festival, you are not busy?"

  Ye Luoyu shook his head and said, "There are few people in our family, and only my sister has returned. She's been coming back often lately, and as soon as she comes back, she drags me around to scold this and that. I'm tired of listening, so let's go back a bit later."

  Ye Baiji heard this and leaned over to whisper to Zhen'er: "Sister Ye and Seventh Aunt remind Lu Yuang every day to do a good job, and are even planning to find him a wife."

  Ye Baiji's voice was not low, and Ye Luyuan also heard it. His dark face turned red, and he pretended to want to hit her.

  "You didn't even go back, I saw it myself, Second Uncle and Third Uncle's family rode in a big horse carriage, all the way into the village, and the village gossips had already started talking." Ye Luyuan said.

  Ye Shixie and Ye Shiyan are back! This is indeed a piece of news that's hard to say whether it's good or bad, but looking at Ye Baiju's gloomy face, who doesn't even want to go home, it should be bad news.

  My little niece is sick, time is limited, there will only be one update today, sorry~~~

  Also want to thank Xi Ru Choked, Blue Core 5 classmates for their pink votes~~~(。)