New Year's Eve

Before even entering the courtyard gate, he saw an aunt also carrying a vegetable basket, preparing to go out and buy groceries.

"Oh my, did you rob a store? Buying so many things?" The aunt was quite humorous, saying with a laugh.

"Haha, it's New Year's, a festive occasion. Our Qin Family has suffered for so many years, we must have a good New Year. Plus, Dongchuan is back, so we bought a bit more!" Guo Ping responded with a laugh.

"Heh heh, I really envy your Qin Family, having such a promising son. I heard he's working in Huangyuan now?

That's great. Our boy is still in Xinjiang; forget about coming home for the New Year, we don't even see a letter from him normally!" The aunt first nodded, then shook her head with a touch of bitterness.

Guo Ping didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only say with a smile, "I heard many people have returned; your child should be back soon too!"

The aunt knew these were words of comfort; she just nodded, then bid farewell and left to buy groceries.

"In our courtyard, several families' children also went to the countryside to join the production teams and haven't returned since. I wonder how they're doing~~" Guo Ping was also a soft-hearted person and suddenly became melancholic.

"Mom, if you ask me, the day they return isn't far off. It's just that after all these years, many people probably can't come back even if they want to. Quite a few have married locally~~" Zhao Dongchuan said with a slight smile.

The two entered the courtyard and didn't discuss the topic further, walking all the way to the middle courtyard.

The people in the courtyard looked at Zhao Dongchuan carrying so many large and small bags with expressions of surprise and envy.

"Are they living or not? Buying so many things… If they have so much money, they could at least give me some to spend…" Old Lady Jia muttered in a low voice when she saw him from a distance.

Seeing her mother-in-law speak like this, Qin Huairu, who had taken leave from work early to come home, also looked speechless.

Who are you? Why would he give it to you to spend! If I weren't for the city household registration and the job at the Steel Rolling Mill, this old lady would have taken her children back to her maiden home in Qin Family Village long ago. Who would serve a troublesome old woman like you!

Although she was full of silent complaints, she ultimately just smiled on the surface and got by.

"You go again tonight. Their Qin Family bought so many good things today; they're definitely making a big feast tonight. Go get some food; don't let them get off easy!" Old Lady Jia's eyes darted around, then she turned to Qin Huairu and said.

"It's New Year's Eve tonight; you can't go knocking on people's doors!" Qin Huairu said, looking speechless.

"Uh… this… I don't care, you figure it out…" Old Lady Jia narrowed her eyes, then turned and went inside.

"…………"

"Mom, aren't we being too high-profile?" Zhao Dongchuan, carrying the large and small bags, saw the neighbors' gazes and asked with a bit of doubt once they were inside the house.

"I did it on purpose. Before, our Qin Family, because of my illness and your situation, was looked down upon by people in the courtyard. Now that my illness is better and you've become promising, we should be high-profile to vex them!" Guo Ping said with a laugh.

"We live our own lives; we're not afraid of them!"

Zhao Dongchuan nodded, indicating understanding.

Then the mother and son got busy, sorting the purchased items, washing and cutting the vegetables and pork, preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.

At noon, Zhao Dongchuan cooked a few home-style dishes that Guo Ping praised endlessly, commending her son's excellent cooking skills.

Thus, amidst various household chores, time quickly reached the afternoon, as the ringing bell sounded.

People in the courtyard continuously rode their bicycles home.

The workers at the Steel Rolling Mill all left work early today.

Zhao Zhengguo also pushed his bicycle into the courtyard, locked it, and entered the house.

"You're back!" Guo Ping smiled.

"Dad!" Zhao Dongchuan greeted him while preparing the pork in his hands.

Looking at the house full of things, Zhao Zhengguo also looked surprised.

However, he wasn't very surprised; he and Guo Ping had discussed this yesterday, and he hadn't expressed any objection.

If his wife wanted it, then let her do it.

"Did you take your medicine today?" Zhao Zhengguo asked Guo Ping.

"Oh dear, I forgot!" Saying this, Guo Ping took out a wooden box from a drawer in the inner room.

Opening the wooden box, inside was clearly a ginseng root.

Guo Ping took a small knife, cut some rootlets, put them into the ceramic pot for brewing medicine, then took out some other Chinese medicinal herbs, weighing and adding them one by one.

Then she added water and began to decoct it.

Guo Ping's movements were skillful, indicating that she often boiled and brewed medicine.

With his elementary Chinese medicine skills, he knew this was "Shen Ling Bai Zhu San" (Ginseng, Poria, and Atractylodes Macrocephala Powder).

It is composed of Chinese medicinal herbs such as ginseng, yam, poria, and lotus seeds, and has the effects of tonifying the spleen and stomach and benefiting lung qi.

For people with qi deficiency and physical weakness, it has a relatively good effect;

This was also why the Qin Family was relatively poor before; nothing else, these medicinal materials, especially ginseng, cost a lot of money.

However, fortunately, he was no longer the same as before; not only did he not need financial support from his Qin Family, but he could also subsidize his Qin Family. All in all, their Qin Family life would definitely be much better than before.

This was probably why Guo Ping bought so much today; after all, she must have been ridiculed a lot before and lost a lot of face. As for the relatives of the Qin Family? Not to exploit you is already good; lending a hand is a sign of kindness.

Before long, a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine filled the air.

"Don't just stand there, help me cut this meat!" Guo Ping, seeing Zhao Dongchuan just watching from the side, couldn't help but remind him.

"Oh, right away!" Zhao Dongchuan immediately got busy.

With Zhao Zhengguo joining in, soon, delicious dishes were continuously placed on the table, their aroma wafting everywhere.

Zhao Dongchuan also took some time to use paste to replace the old couplets on the door with new ones.

And because of the lesson from last time, this time they sealed the doors and windows, trying to minimize the spread of the aroma. In these times, everyone's life was difficult, and being too outstanding was not good; who knows what trouble it might cause.

This time, it was agreed that they wouldn't open the door for anyone who knocked; they would just lock the door and spend their own New Year's Eve, eating their own New Year's Eve dinner.

With the food and wine ready, the three sat down.

Zhao Zhengguo opened a bottle of xifeng liquor that Zhao Dongchuan had brought back and poured a glass for each of them.

"Tonight, it's New Year's Eve. The happiest thing for us this year is Dongchuan's change. We don't ask you to achieve great things, but at least be an upright person, do things well, don't be idle and wander around aimlessly. To the pride of our Qin Family, the great writer, cheers!" Zhao Zhengguo's expression became serious; he raised his glass and said solemnly.

"Mom doesn't ask you to achieve great things either; just find a partner soon!" Guo Ping said with a smile, also raising her glass.

"To Mom and Dad's good health and a Happy New Year!!!" Zhao Dongchuan didn't dare to respond to that, directly raising his glass and offering New Year's wishes.