New Year After the Laba Festival

Time passed quickly.

Chinese New Year was a festival that was celebrated annually in Shao Nation. Every family was looking forward to this day. In order to welcome this day, people would make many preparations. For example, shopping for new year goods, pasting couplets in the house, hanging lanterns, buying firecrackers, and making dumplings. Also there were new clothes that all children looked forward to the most. Of course, for the new year, there had to be a reunion dinner.

There was a folk saying that goes like this, “Children, children, don’t be greedy. After the Laba Festival1, it will be the New Year.”

After the Laba Festival, the villagers in Peach Blossom Village slowly got busy. Even those who hardly stepped out of their houses, were headed out to the county city to shop for New Year goods.

Xiaoguo was no exception. But before she went to the county, she had to go somewhere else first.

“Zhuang Zhuang, are you coming with me, or are you going to play with Xiaohu?” Xiaoguo asked as she got dressed.

“I’ll go with you.”

Zhuang Zhuang answered without thinking. Xiaoguo got dressed and turned to look behind her. “Then you have to get dressed quickly.”

As soon as she turned around, she realized that Zhuang Zhuang had already put on his clothes and was waiting for her.

Seeing that Xiaoguo was looking at him, Zhuang Zhuang immediately picked up the sling bag on the bed and nimbly carried it on his back. Then, he looked at her and said, “I’m ready. Let’s go!”

With that, he led the way out.

Xiaoguo was stunned on the spot. While she was still asking him to hurry up, Zhuang Zhuang had already gotten ready. Turned out that she was the one who was slow.

Xiaoguo looked outside and saw that Zhuang Zhuang had already climbed onto the donkey cart. She immediately shouted, “Wait for me.”

Xiaoguo ran out and locked the door. Then, she set off for the post station with Zhuang Zhuang.

She had gone there at least four or five times. Once she entered the courtyard, she knew exactly where to go.

She had already communicated with Jiang Danhe by letter a few times. Although the wait was quite long each time, it was at least something that she could look forward to every day. Every morning when she woke up, she would wonder if his letter would come. If there weren’t any letters, she wouldn’t feel disappointed either. She knew that she would eventually receive a reply. He never missed out on writing back to her.

Since she had to get stuff for the New Year, Xiaoguo made sure to go out early so that she would arrive early at the station. As soon as she entered the building, she did not see anyone manning the counter. Zhuang Zhuang volunteered to go and look for someone. Xiaoguo nodded and let him go.

After getting her permission, Zhuang Zhuang went straight to the backyard. From his experience, most of the people in the hall would be feeding the horses at this hour.

As expected, as soon as he entered the backyard, he saw the man standing in front of the horses.

Zhuang Zhuang chuckled and ran forward happily to greet him.

“Hello!”

The man jumped at the sudden voice and turned. “Oh, it’s the boy.”

“You’re here.” The person in charge of registration was an old man. The people here called him Uncle.

When Uncle saw Zhuang Zhuang, he narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Let’s go. I’ll get you registered.”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded and followed him with a smile. He chatted with the man along the way.

Xiaoguo was getting bored in the lobby. Not long after, she heard laughter coming from afar.

The old man and the boy seemed to have a lot in common. Even when they were about to leave the station, the pair kept discussing something. If not for the fact that the mother and son were leaving, Uncle would have chatted with the boy for a longer time.

This made Xiaoguo admire Zhuang Zhuang very much. It was always easy for him to strike up a conversation with people of different ages and backgrounds—he gets along well with everybody.

When they returned to the county city, Xiaoguo stroked Zhuang Zhuang affectionately. He was clearly very excited. She uttered the words, “Little social butterfly.”

Zhuang Zhuang, who was watching the crowd, looked at Xiaoguo in confusion. “A social butterfly? What is that?”

Hearing his innocent words, Xiaoguo covered her mouth and laughed. “It’s an omnipotent flower.”

Omnipotent? How strange. He had never heard of such a flower. Looks like he should spend some time studying the flower species from various countries.

“Mother, can I go to the bookstore later?”

“Of course.” Xiaoguo nodded without thinking. As long as Zhuang Zhuang wanted a book, she would pay for it no matter how expensive it was.

“That’s great! Thank you, Mother! Muacks…” As he spoke, Zhuang Zhuang held Xiaoguo’s face and kissed her hard on the cheek.

Xiaoguo enjoyed Zhuang Zhuang’s acts of affection very much. For now, she should enjoy it while she can. When he gets older, she wouldn’t be able to kiss him whenever she liked anymore.

As it was the new year’s market, the roads in the county city were very crowded. The marketplace and the roads were filled with people, making it difficult for the donkey cart to move. Xiaoguo had no choice. For the sake of others and herself, it was better to walk.

She parked the donkey cart at the entrance of the noodle shop. Feeling worried about the crowds, Xiaoguo wanted to leave Zhuang Zhuang at the shop. However, Zhuang Zhuang refused and said that he wanted to witness the glory of the new year market. Xiaoguo had no choice but to bring him along.

“You have to hold on to me tightly. Do you understand? If you encounter anything interesting, you have to remember to call me. Even if I can’t hear you, you have to think of a way to call me. You can’t leave me to check things out. Can you remember my words?”

Xiaoguo was still worried, so she reminded him again and again.

She had heard from her mother since she was young about her childhood. In her mother’s era, Chinese New Year fairs and temple fairs were places where children got lost easily. This was because people came from all over the world to visit these places. If anyone lost sight of their children, it would be hard to find them again.

It was the same for the new year fair here. Mrs. Yang had told her that many of the merchants and visitors here were foreigners. Mrs. Yang reminded her to keep a close eye on her money bag and Zhuang Zhuang.

That was why she reminded Zhuang Zhuang again and again. She even told him about the hypothetical scenarios repeatedly. Zhuang Zhuang was a very sensible boy. Every time Xiaoguo said something, he would remember the words carefully. No matter how many times she repeated it, Zhuang Zhuang would memorize her words and nod while she spoke.

Feeling assured that he understood her words, Xiaoguo led Zhuang Zhuang into the crowd.

Amidst the crowd, Xiaoguo grabbed Zhuang Zhuang’s hand tightly. The two of them walked along the entrance and ventured into the market.

According to Mrs. Yang, there should be less people going to the market in the coming two days. Most people were done with their new year shopping. That was why Xiaoguo had specially chosen to come today.

But who could tell her what was going on with the crowd in front of her? If this wasn’t crowded enough, what was the crowd like two days ago…?

It was most likely that she would be spending the new year alone with Zhuang Zhuang. This was because Qin Anming might not be joining them. With Ruyi and the others, he could be spending the New Year with them. It seemed that she should ask him about it later.

Xiaoguo tightened her grip on Zhuang Zhuang and felt the weight of the basket on her back. She had specially brought out a medium-sized basket today. In any case, she still had a lot of meat at home. The purpose of her coming out today was to buy some vegetables and decorations for the new year. So the weight in the basket was still quite manageable.

Xiaoguo drifted along with the crowd, stopping every now and then. When she saw fresh vegetables, she would buy some. When she passed by one particular stall, Xiaoguo suddenly stopped. The person behind her did not react in time and almost bumped into her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

After apologizing with a smile, Xiaoguo grabbed Zhuang Zhuang and walked back towards the stall.

She had thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She didn’t expect to see it, really. What she thought about had really appeared in front of her!

Xiaoguo swallowed and looked at the items displayed at the stall. She had been craving seafood recently. She didn’t expect to find them here.

The idle girl at the stall was pretending to be busy tidying up the seafood. Although no one was buying, she had to act busy. Her father had told her that this was the way of running a business.

When she suddenly saw someone patronizing her stall, she was stunned and forgot about doing business.