Chapter 72 Suppressing Evil Money

Chapter 72 Suppressing Evil Money

After finishing the dumplings, everyone ladled out a bowl of dumpling soup to drink.

After enjoying a bowl of hot dumpling soup, the four people, in high spirits, began to clean up the mess.

There were still two large plates of cooked dumplings left. Xie Wanniang brought over a clean cloth, covered them up, and put them in the cupboard.

Hao Yu took over the task of washing dishes this time. Jiang Yuan and Xiao Yang couldn't compete with him, so one of them wiped the table and moved the snacks from the cabinet, while the other scooped up warm water and started brushing their teeth and washing their faces seriously.

After Xiaoyang finished washing up, the new year officially began. Hao Yu, who had washed her hands, smiled and closed the kitchen door before entering the main room. The three younger members of the family stepped forward one by one and began to wish Hao Yu a Happy New Year in loud voices.

Hao Yu took out the red envelopes she had prepared beforehand and smiled as she handed one to each of Jiang Yuan and the others, saying, "Money to ward off evil spirits."

The three of them happily accepted the gift and thanked Hao Yu in unison. Then Xiao Yang wished Xie Wan Niang and Jiang Yuan a Happy New Year.

Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan also prepared money to ward off evil spirits, and they prepared not only money for Xiao Yang, but also for the other party.

The two people, who had been saying "Happy New Year" to each other without prior arrangement, were stunned the next second.

This scene made Hao Yu laugh. Although the two children had given him the red envelopes they wanted to give him that morning, showing that they had taken care of both the old and the young, he really didn't expect that the two children would also prepare one for the other.

Jiang Yuan was a little embarrassed by his laughter, but Xie Wanniang was very poised and didn't even blush.

She handed the red envelope in her hand to Jiang Yuan, saying, "Take it."

Then she reached out and took the red envelope Jiang Yuan had prepared for her, winking playfully at him, "This is money to ward off evil spirits, how can I refuse it?"

Jiang Yuan smiled slightly. "Mm."

Hao Yu couldn't help but shake her head. With Jiang Yuan's taciturn and sparing nature, it was really difficult for him to win a girl's heart.

What he didn't know was that Xie Wanniang disliked the kind of man who was glib and could charm people with sweet words.

Having experienced too many harsh realities, she understood in her teens that no matter how nice the words were, nothing was more effective than taking action to do something that truly benefited her.

Why is Jiang Yuan so taciturn?

He knew that saving her would offend the Wang family, but he still took the initiative to pull her out of the water so that she wouldn't be schemed against by that bastard from the Wang family.

He knew she was penniless, yet he still called a doctor for her, bought her things, cooked for her, provided her with lodging and armed protection.

Because she disliked the taste of the herbal medicine, Jiang Yuan also bought her fruit, snacks, and candy.

Once she recovered, he tirelessly took her into the mountains to help her avoid danger, allowing her to dig for medicinal herbs and earn money without worry.

Later, when she wanted to help Xiaoyang, Jiang Yuan didn't look down on her for meddling just because she was living under someone else's roof. Instead, he offered her advice and helped her resolve her worries.

Jiang Yuan would accompany her every time she went to town or county seat, so she didn't have to worry about encountering danger or trouble.

Jiang Yuan would buy her favorite snacks whenever they were still running low, and then replenish them.

She frankly told him that her background might cause trouble for Jiang Yuan. Instead of distancing himself from her, Jiang Yuan was willing to take the risk and take her to Yi County, where the chances of his identity being exposed were lower.

Not to mention, Jiang Yuan could keenly sense whether she was happy or unhappy, healthy or unwell. Whenever she was unhappy or unwell, Jiang Yuan would come over without hesitation and try his best to help her.

What a handsome young man! Xie Wanniang truly felt she had struck gold.

After midnight, Xie Wanniang washed up and took Xiao Yang back to her room to sleep. Only Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan remained in the main room, still sitting there, eating, drinking and chatting, and staying up all night according to custom.

Xie Wanniang was very happy that they didn't require her to stay up all night with them on New Year's Eve. When she was in the Xie family, what she hated most was having to stay up all night with the adults in her family every New Year's Eve after she turned twelve.

While others only felt slightly sleepy and tired while staying up late on New Year's Eve, she was always so sleepy that she yawned constantly and had a splitting headache.

However, her own mother and some members of the Xie family had no awareness of the differences in individual constitutions and habits. Every time she yawned and said she had a headache, they would insist that she was being delicate and pretentious.

This infuriated her, but it was during the Lunar New Year, so she couldn't just confront them directly and give others the opportunity to criticize her adoptive parents for not raising her well.

Now that no one is forcing her to live according to their wishes, Xie Wanniang feels as if she has been freed from some shackles, and is extremely happy and carefree.

Xie Wanniang slept until the sun came out the next day before stretching her limbs and getting out of bed.

Of the four people in her family, she and Hao Yu had no relatives in Mingfu Village, Jiang Yuan had an older sister, and Xiao Yang had a large family, but because her parents always secretly coerced her to save up her food and clothing to give to them, she didn't really want to see them.

This is why, during special times like Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year, she did not go back to reunite with her family as her parents had requested, but instead stayed with Xie Wanniang and the others.

She thought Xie Wanniang was unaware of what her parents had done, but in fact, Xie Wanniang had already bumped into her parents sneaking around looking for Xiaoyang to talk to several times.

After all, Xiao Yang was very dependent on Xie Wan Niang, who had saved her life. She was either busy doing housework or obediently staying by Xie Wan Niang's side.

This caused a lot of trouble for Xiaoyang's parents when they tried to find her in private. They wanted to avoid Xie Wanniang and try to coerce and entice Xiaoyang alone, but each time they pretended to care and were about to get to the point, they were "unintentionally" interrupted by Xie Wanniang.

Seeing that Xiao Yang was eating well, dressing well, and not only had a rosy complexion and gained weight, but was also smiling every day, clever and lively, Xiao Yang's parents felt like they were being scratched by a cat, extremely distressed.

It's not that they can't stand to see Xiaoyang doing well; they just don't want Xiaoyang to enjoy all the good things alone.

They are family with Xiaoyang. Now that Xiaoyang is living a good life, how can he not think about helping his parents and brothers in return?

Even if she's timid and doesn't dare to swindle anything from the formidable Hao Yu, Jiang Yuan, and Xie Wanniang, she can still save her own food rations and send them home so that her parents and brothers don't eat so badly, right?

And her new clothes? She's just a little kid, she's growing so fast, why waste fabric on new clothes?

Rather than letting her wear the new clothes for a while until they become too small and unwearable, it would be better to send the fabric home so that her parents could take it to town and exchange it for some copper coins to save up for building a house.

As for what Xiao Yang would wear, since he hadn't taken anything from home except his tattered clothes, the two instinctively refused to think about it.