Chapter 204: Spending New Year’s Eve with a Beautiful Companion

From the 30th day of the 12th lunar month to the 3rd day of the 1st lunar month is the first holiday of the New Year. The government offices are sealed off starting from the 30th, with no documents accepted, and work resumes only on the 4th. Thus, for local officials of all ranks, this New Year is not only a rare festival but also a rare time for relaxation. Those who appreciate elegance can sit by the fire, wrapped in furs, enjoying plum blossoms, snow, and beautiful women—a truly heavenly pleasure. Yet, given the meager salaries of officials these days, it’s already difficult for an honest official to afford necessities for the whole year, let alone indulge in such luxuries.

New Year’s Eve has always been a day for family reunions. Although light snow was falling in the evening, scattered bursts of firecracker sounds could still be heard throughout Qingzhou City, along with the occasional laughter of children. The clerks of the Qingzhou government office had long gone home for the holiday, but at this moment, a large open area behind the building was crowded with people.

On the ground nearby, two long strings of firecrackers were already laid out. A young servant used flint to ignite the fuse, bent down to light it, then quickly jumped back. In an instant, the crackling sound erupted.

Although Qiu Hen liked excitement, she feared loud noises the most and covered her ears early on. Even so, watching the sparks fly in the snow, she couldn’t help hiding behind Zhang Yue until the firecrackers ran out. Only then, when several servants brought in fireworks, did she forget her fear and stare intently. In an instant, colorful flames danced in the air, filling her eyes with wonder. If someone didn’t know her background, they might think she was from the countryside, seeing such things for the first time.

Du Wan, dressed in a dark blue woolen jacket with a padded sleeveless cloak over it, also forgot her usual reserve. She held Chun Ying’s hand, chatting and laughing, her face illuminated by the colors of the fireworks and the whiteness of the snow.

Accustomed to the firecrackers and fireworks on New Year’s Eve at home, she didn’t find them special. But now, with everyone gathered to set off fireworks, Zhang Yue found it uniquely delightful. Glancing at Du Wan and Chun Ying not far away, he remembered a letter Du Zhen had sent a few days ago. Leaving Du Wan in Qingzhou during the New Year and asking him to bring his junior sister from the Meng family to celebrate together—did his teacher really think he was a man who could stay faithful?

Both sides of the back door alley had long been guarded to prevent unauthorized people from entering. Those gathered there included Zhang Yue’s personal maids and wives, as well as people from the newly appointed prefect’s household who had come to watch the spectacle. Amidst the chaos, Lingxi squeezed out through the back door. Seeing Zhang Yue standing there with a smile, she handed her oil-paper umbrella to Liansheng and gave Du Wan a nod.

“Sister Lingxi, it’s only a light snowfall. Look—who here is even using an umbrella? It seems a bit pointless, doesn’t it?” Back at home, Liansheng had been most afraid of Lingxi, but now that they were outside, he found her quite easy to talk to, so he spoke more freely. “Miss Du is wearing a cloak and a snow hat—so don’t worry!”

While everyone else was watching the fireworks, Zhang Yue kept an eye on his surroundings and thus noticed Lingxi early on. Seeing her talking to Liansheng, he walked over. Upon seeing the oil-paper umbrella, he laughed and said, “You’re so careful with others but careless with yourself. It’s freezing cold out here, and you’re just wearing a light jacket—no coat at all! Amber has barely started to recover; you better not get sick!”

“Look what the young master says. Sister Lingxi isn’t that delicate!” Qiuhen had somehow returned unnoticed. Seeing that Lingxi was only wearing a light brocade jacket in pine-flower pattern, she quickly pulled her toward the courtyard, saying with a smile, “It’s so cold, and there’s already a sick person at home. We really can’t afford any more trouble. It’s better if I accompany you inside to put on more clothes!”

Watching Lingxi being dragged away helplessly by Qiuhen, Zhang Yue stood there for a while before walking over to Du Wan. After watching together for a while as the “silver snakes emerging from their holes” scurried around, he said, “Although it’s only right for the government to provide relief in times of disaster, someone still needs to initiate it. If it weren’t for our teacher’s insistence on relief efforts, just in Shouguang, Anqiu, and Zhucheng, who knows how many people would have died of cold and hunger. Shouguang and Anqiu are fine, but the roads in Zhucheng are almost cut off, and food could hardly be delivered.”

“Food prices soar in snowy weather, not because there’s a shortage of grain in the stores, but first because merchants seek profit, and second because the cost of labor is too high. This time, the people of Zhucheng stepped forward to transport grain on their own, which helped resolve the crisis. Still, those two major merchants in Zhucheng also played a significant role.”

On such a spectacular New Year’s Eve, bringing up such a dampening topic felt somewhat inappropriate to Zhang Yue as well. But Du Wan answered naturally, which relieved him. He glanced sideways at Chun Ying, who had quietly stepped back two steps, and couldn’t help but think of the chatterbox Xiao Wu; he suddenly felt that if that noisy girl were here, things would surely be even livelier.

After setting off firecrackers and fireworks, it was time for the reunion dinner. When leaving the capital, Zhang Yue had brought twenty attendants, including two chefs who were skilled at preparing familiar dishes. Upon arriving at their new home, they learned a few new recipes, and now it was time to show off their skills.

Since they were outside and didn’t need to follow as many household rules, Zhang Yue ordered four tables set up in the first two rooms of the banquet hall. The servants from the Zhang and Du families gathered together to eat, while a small table was set aside in the hall for the maids and domestic helpers. In the main room, a rosewood round table was placed on the kang, and everyone, regardless of status, sat around it together—warm and lively.

Du Wan originally felt awkward celebrating the festival just the two of them with Zhang Yue, so when he suggested bringing a few girls to ease the tension, she was happy to agree. The food was light and simple, so Zhang Yue instructed the chefs to prepare carefully. He also brought Hu Bo, who had recovered somewhat, and had her sit with a backrest against the wall, covered with blankets to keep her warm. Soon, the people from the Cui and Li families arrived with food boxes, arranging the dishes on the kang table.

There were six cold dishes such as fermented goose feet, mixed winter bamboo shoots, and tofu skin, along with eight hot dishes like three-flavor deer tendon, peppered mutton, stir-fried pig’s trotters and stomach, grilled fresh fish, and mushroom soup. Additionally, there were four kinds of desserts: red bean paste steamed buns, steamed flower rolls, jujube and yam cakes, and crystal dumplings, all neatly arranged on the kang table. After the Cui and Li families finished setting everything up, Zhang Yue asked them to stay, and they gladly agreed. They even took on the task of serving hot wine, setting up two chairs by the kang.

Qiu Hen was naturally fond of joking. Initially, she held back out of respect for Du Wan and didn’t speak loudly, but after a couple of drinks, she became more unrestrained. Seizing the opportunity, she suggested that everyone play a guessing game for fun. Although Ling Xi was reserved, Zhang Yue insisted she drink three cups, and her face turned red with embarrassment. Still, she mumbled her agreement, and the two of them sat across from each other, making fists to guess. Seeing that Hu Bo remained smiling and in high spirits, and Chun Ying staring at Qiu Hen and Ling Xi with envy, Zhang Yue asked the people from the Cui family to bring a quoit game.

The house was already filled with laughter and merriment. Once the target game was set up, after just two or three rounds, it became even noisier. When Du Wan was at home, she had only seen relatives who came to take advantage of her situation; she had no siblings, and even distant cousins rarely visited. This was her first time experiencing the fun of such a game. Her initial gentle smiles gradually turned into joyful ones, which then turned into loud laughter. In the end, unable to resist Lingxi and Qiuhen’s persuasion to drink a few more cups, her cheeks took on a particularly delicate glow.

“It turns out the young lady can laugh like this too…”

Hearing this, Chunying, who was already a bit drunk, blurted out these words. Zhang Yue couldn’t help but glance at Du Wan again. At that moment, he saw her smiling as she accurately threw an arrow into the target, then clapping her hands in amazement. He couldn’t help but smile. Unexpectedly, Qiuhen suddenly turned around and waved her hand in front of his face.

“Young master!” Qiuhen had a high tolerance for alcohol. Although she had drunk the most and her face was red, she was still somewhat sober. “Looking at Mr. Du, I thought Miss Du was always so reserved. I never expected she wasn’t so aloof at all—her smile is even very friendly. It’s strange—when she doesn’t speak, she resembles Huobo a bit!”

Although she couldn’t drink alcohol or eat greasy food due to her illness, it didn’t stop Zhang Yue from serving Huobo most of a bowl of fresh fish soup. After she managed to eat a little, he gave her a cup of hot tea to hold. Hearing Qiuhen’s words, Huobo, who had just swallowed half a sip of tea, choked slightly. After coughing a few times, she angrily set down the cup on the table and glared at Qiuhen.

“Sister, you need to know your limits. If Miss Du hears this, it’ll be embarrassing.”

“Qiuhen is right. You do indeed resemble her when you’re quiet and reserved.” Zhang Yue casually pulled the blanket back over Huobo’s legs and said with a smile, “Winter is coming to an end, and your health seems to be improving day by day. If we have time during the Dragon Boat Festival, we can take Wanmei with us to Mount Tai to enjoy the view of ‘standing at the summit, overlooking all the other mountains’—so it won’t be a waste of coming to Shandong.”

“What could possibly make a trip to Shandong pointless?” Du Wan won the quoit game against Qiu Hen and only heard the latter part of her words. Sitting on the edge of the kang, he asked and then laughed. “Mount Tai is indeed one of the famous mountains in the world and is well worth visiting. But your senior brother spoke too early—by then, Hu Bo’s illness will surely be cured. Yet you only took over as the deputy magistrate on the 30th day of the 12th lunar month. Right now, only you and the prefect are in charge of Qingzhou Prefecture; there are vacancies for both the assistant magistrate and other officials. Even if there’s a holiday during the Dragon Boat Festival, it’s unlikely you’ll have time off. This is still the best-case scenario; if a few more problems arise, things will get worse!”
“So the young master is just saying nice things to flatter people!”
Qiu Hen curled her lips in annoyance. Seeing that Hu Bo didn’t seem upset either, she found it rather boring. Just as she angrily jumped out of bed, picked up the arrows, and prepared to play quoit again, there was suddenly a lot of shouting from outside. It sounded like one of the maids working in the old government office, who should have been drinking in the banquet hall.
“Sister Cui, go see what’s going on.”
Although the Cui family members were already half-drunk, they still got up and staggered outside. Before long, one of them came back, lifting the curtain with a letter in hand and a smile on her face. “Young master, this is a letter sent from the third master and his wife from Nanjing. They’ve also sent four more people to serve you. They’re waiting outside in the banquet hall.”
It wasn’t unusual for his father to send letters, but sending people was confusing to Zhang Yue. He left the women behind and went into the next room, quickly scanning the letter. He was momentarily stunned.