Cleanup

Qin Anming sent Zhuang Zhuang to secretly lift the curtain and look out for any movements in the kitchen. He sat on a chair and patted his heart.

Xiaoguo was really too scary just now. Even he was so frightened that he did not dare to speak loudly.

“Zhuang Zhuang, has your mother been so irritable recently?”

Qin Anming asked Zhuang Zhuang hesitantly. In his impression, Xiaoguo was always gentle and soft. Why was she suddenly so… aggressive today?

“Of course not!” When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he hurriedly tried to clear his mother’s name. “My mother is usually very gentle. She always speaks in a soft tone.”

At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang suddenly thought of Xiaoguo’s voice while waking him up in the mornings.

“Zhuang Zhuang! Get up!”

“Zhuang Zhuang! You can’t sleep in!”

“Zhuang Zhuang!!!”

He secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. His previous statement didn’t seem to hold water. He corrected himself and said, “As long as you don’t provoke her, she’s synonymous with tenderness.”

When Qin Anming heard this, he swallowed hard. He would make sure to listen to her words. Xiaoguo in a furious state was really quite intimidating…

“Uncle, Mother has come out with the glue starch.”

While Qin Anming was still in a daze, Zhuang Zhuang’s nervous voice pulled him back. He subconsciously picked up the couplets on the table, but for some reason, he only held onto them without doing anything else.

As soon as Xiaoguo entered the house, she saw that Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang were looking ready with couplets in their hands.

She looked satisfied. That was good. It saved her the trouble of calling out to them. “Go and paste the couplets.”

Xiaoguo walked in front with the glue. Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang followed behind with the couplets and stools.

She had planned to post the couplets in two days’ time, but she didn’t expect the other families in the village to start putting up couplets so early. For that reason, she decided to follow suit. She didn’t want to be different from everyone else.

Qin Anming stood on a stool and Xiaoguo used a broom to sweep away the dust on the door. Although the door wasn’t very dusty, the couplets should stick better to its surface after sweeping it.

She put down the broom and handed the glue to Qin Anming.

Qin Anming took the glue and dug out a large glob of it from the bowl. He brushed the paste on the door, spreading it to roughly the same size as the couplets. Then, he handed the paste to Xiaoguo and took one couplet from Zhuang Zhuang. He aimed it at the paste and stuck it onto the door seamlessly.

“How is it? Is it crooked?”

Xiaoguo stood a little further away and thought that it looked fine. “It’s not crooked. It’s okay.”

Hearing Xiaoguo’s answer, Qin Anming made sure the couplet was secure and smoothed it out from top to bottom. Then, he started to work on the next one.

Xiaoguo continued to stand at the back of the room, helping to check on the position of the couplet. Every time Qin Anming made some adjustments, he would check with Xiaoguo if it was level. After receiving her affirmation, he stuck the couplets onto the wall.

Qin Anming pasted the final horizontal couplet and jumped off the stool before walking to Xiaoguo’s side. Zhuang Zhuang followed closely behind him. The three of them looked at the couplets that had just been pasted onto the wall. It was hard to hide the joy in their eyes.

Once the couplets were up, the atmosphere of New Year seemed to have descended upon them.

“Let’s put up the ‘fortune’ characters.”

“Okay.”

The three of them walked into the house together. They would just stick the ‘fortune’ characters on the windows in the house. The front door would be left bare.

–

There were still two days until New Year’s Eve.

When she woke up in the morning, Xiaoguo began to make breakfast. There was a long day ahead of her. She planned to clean the house and courtyard thoroughly today. Please note that it was a thorough cleaning she was looking at.

Therefore, Zhuang Zhuang, who was reluctant to get out of bed, and Qin Anming had just woken, but was still very lazy in her eyes, joined in to help with the cleaning.

“I say, we still have to eat even if we are doing spring cleaning.”

Qin Anming sat in a chair and looked at the piping hot food on the table. He then looked at Xiaoguo, who was fully armed and raring to go.

Although Zhuang Zhuang didn’t say anything, he rubbed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

Xiaoguo’s enthusiasm was instantly dampened. Her shoulders slumped and she pursed her lips. She looked at them and sat back down helplessly.

“Fine.”

As she spoke, she took the lead and started eating.

Why was she so excited? This was her first new year in ancient times!

Speaking of which, the last time she celebrated Chinese New Year was four years ago. Over the span of three years during the apocalypse, no one had the time and mood to celebrate the new year.

The Spring Festival that she had been looking forward to, had finally arrived. For this year, she had to have a lively new year and prepare a table full of food to make up for her previous regrets.

“OK! Let’s begin!”

Xiaoguo took the lead and rushed into the back room with a rag.

Zhuang Zhuang and Qin Anming were so frightened by her enthusiasm that they couldn’t close their mouths. They stood rooted to the ground and looked at each other in confusion.

What did “OK” mean?

While the two of them were still thinking about what Xiaoguo meant, Xiaoguo had already finished cleaning a table. When she turned around, she realized that the two of them were still not moving. She said unhappily, “Can you guys hurry up?”

“Oh, oh, We’re coming, we’re coming!”

The two of them scrambled to get busy. Although they didn’t understand what “OK” meant, it should mean something like working quickly.

They understood now!

Zhuang Zhuang was wiping the table top seriously, while Qin Anming cleaned the table legs.

“Two people cleaning a table?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhuang Zhuang quickly went to wipe the chairs beside him. The two of them did not speak. They were trying hard to look busy.

Xiaoguo couldn’t help but laugh. The two of them looked pretty amusing. “Haha.”

Soon, the three of them had wiped all the furniture in the three rooms. Even the corners that had not been wiped for many years looked clean and bright.

Xiaoguo put down the cloth and stood in the middle. She looked around the house in satisfaction. Then, she clapped her hands and said energetically, “Let’s start working on the next place, the kitchen!”

“Mother… it’s time for lunch.”

Zhuang Zhuang said listlessly as he leaned against Qin Anming, who was as exhausted as him.

“Nonsense. It’s still early.”

With that, Xiaoguo sighed and went to the kitchen alone. She knew that men were unreliable. It looked like little boys were also the same.

Qin Anming sat up straight with Zhuang Zhuang in his arms and stole a glance at the kitchen before saying to Zhuang Zhuang quietly, “Take a break first. Uncle will help to divert your mother’s attention. Rest well.”

With that, he patted Zhuang Zhuang’s stomach and winked at him. Then, he dragged his aged body to the kitchen.

Zhuang Zhuang looked at the departing figure in admiration and couldn’t help but think to himself, “Is this the prince that Mother had mentioned previously…”

He lay back comfortably and leaned against the back of a chair. Since the prince had gone to fight, he would accept his kindness in peace and rest like a good princess.

On the other side, Qin Anming glanced at the back view of Xiaoguo, who was cleaning diligently. Keeping his movements light, he quietly floated towards the stove and was about to squat down to clear the dust when Xiaoguo stopped him.

“Brother.”

“Huh?”

Qin Anming was suddenly shocked and looked at her in confusion.

“Haha, it’s nothing.” Xiaoguo smiled in embarrassment.

“?” Qin Anming glanced at her in confusion. Something was up.

With that, Xiaoguo turned around and continued with the work in her hands. She wiped left and right with a rag, but her mind was elsewhere.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything, Qin Anming didn’t probe. Although he was puzzled, he wasn’t going to make her tell.

After a long while, Xiaoguo slowed down and turned her back to him. She tried to ask him in a casual tone.

“Brother, do you still remember what Father and Mother looked like?”

“Of course.” Qin Anming nodded vigorously. How could he forget what his parents looked like?

“Then…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Qin Anming walked over and squatted beside her. He asked gently, “What’s wrong?”

“…” After a while, Xiaoguo shook her head and smiled bitterly. “Nothing.”