Chapter 539 New Year’s Eve
The next morning, Gui Ge'er, Sun Dali, and Sun Dingnan prepared the New Year's Eve dinner.
The three of them were full of energy and were busy slaughtering chickens, ducks and fish in the yard, having a lot of fun.
After the ingredients are prepared, I start to prepare the Spring Festival couplets.
Gui Ge'er said regretfully, "It's a pity that Shan Ge's illness has not yet healed and his hands and feet are still numb. Otherwise, Shan Ge could just write the couplets and we wouldn't have to spend money to buy them."
Sun Dali held the ladder, nodded and said, "Yes, we have a scholar in our family, so we don't need to buy couplets, we can just write them directly. It's a pity that Ashan said that the current calligraphy is not good-looking, so we won't write it anymore."
Sun Dingnan recalled that Sun Shan seemed to have never written couplets for his family.
Uncle Min seemed to have been buying Spring Festival couplets all these years. He asked in confusion, "I don't think I've ever seen Ah Shan write couplets. I really want to see them."
Gui Ge'er looked at Sun Shan, who was doing nothing in the yard and lying on a recliner under the pretext of reading a book.
He whispered, "Don't be so loud. It's pitiful enough that Shan Ge can't write couplets. We can't mention it in front of him. I tell you, my Shan Ge's handwriting is very beautiful, and the couplets he writes must be very beautiful. Now Shan Ge dislikes his handwriting and doesn't write anymore. We can't mention the couplets, lest Shan Ge is sad."
My handwriting was originally good, but it became ugly because of illness. How sad it is.
Gui Ge'er considered himself to be a considerate and good servant, so he naturally had to take the young master's feelings into consideration.
Sun Dali and Sun Dingnan looked at each other, nodded, and decided not to mention couplets in the future. No, it should be said that they should not mention the words.
To be honest, we have to wait until Sun Shan’s illness is completely cured and his handwriting returns to its previous beauty.
Although Sun Dingnan had received education, his handwriting was ugly. Sun Shan was well-read, so his handwriting was certainly more beautiful than Sun Dingnan's.
Sun Dingnan believed that neatly written and clearly legible handwriting was beautiful, so Sun Shan's handwriting naturally caught his eye.
Sun Dali is illiterate, but he thinks everything looks good as long as one can write.
In his eyes, Sun Shan was like the Star of Literature, and Sun Shan's calligraphy was like heaven in his heart.
As for Gui Ge'er, love blinded his eyes and even his heart. Not to mention Sun Shan's calligraphy, even Sun Shan's shit smelled good.
Sun Shan had no idea that the three people could relate so much to the couplets they posted in the yard.
At this moment, the flavor of the New Year is becoming stronger and stronger. Whether you are rich or poor, you need to celebrate the New Year.
Besides, he is quite rich, so he can afford a good meal for four people.
Sun Shan put the book down, stood up, and first looked at the large vase of wintersweets in Guiyuan.
Gui Ge'er is also a talented person. Others buy them in small quantities, but Gui Ge'er buys them in large bundles.
Sun Shan took the scissors and trimmed it into a shape that looked particularly artistic.
People dress up for the New Year, and of course flowers need to dress up too.
He said to Gui Ge'er at the door, "Gui Ge'er, go get some red envelopes and hang them on the plum branches."
If there are no oranges to hang, then hang New Year flowers.
Gui Ge'er responded quickly, and after pasting the Spring Festival couplets, he happily went to hang the red paper.
He came out and asked, "Brother Shan, can I put a penny in it?"
Sun Shan nodded and said, "That's fine. Just a token of my appreciation."
So Gui Ge'er went to Sun Dingnan to ask for money.
Sun Shan didn't want to take care of trivial matters like three meals a day, so he delegated the housekeeping power to Sun Dingnan, asking him to pay the household expenses on a regular basis and monthly and keep the accounts, and that was it, even if he asked for money.
As for the wages of Sun Dingnan and the other two, Sun Bomin had said he would pay them back, but the village chief directly refused.
How can a village and a surname pay you any wages? Food and lodging are provided, and you can also learn more. Why would you still need money for such a good job?
So Sun Dingnan and the other two went to work for free.
Gui Ge'er and the other two were busy again, and they felt at ease only after they had made the house look beautiful.
In fact, four grown men don't need any decorations at all, but Sun Shan is a rich and prestigious person, and Gui Ge'er thinks that he must make it look like Chinese New Year, so that others won't come to pay New Year's greetings and it won't be a cold and deserted place, which would be unworthy of his status as a juren.
After decorating the house, Gui Ge'er went out to take out the trash and came back with a pile of garbage.
The corners of Sun Shan's mouth twitched, and he looked at Gui Ge'er speechlessly.
Gui Ge'er said excitedly: "Brother Shan, the family next door threw away a lot of flowers. Haha, I picked some up. Look, is this Chunlan?"
Sun Shan's family planted New Year flowers, then gradually they also planted New Year oranges, and finally they developed into growing orchids.
Sun Boming said that because scholars love orchids the most, even wealthy people who are a little pretentious also like orchids, so orchids have a very large market.
So the Sun family also planted a lot of orchids.
As Sun Shan's servant and servant in the Sun family's old house, Gui Ge'er naturally knew about orchids.
Out of instinct, I picked up the orchid that the neighbor didn't want.
Sun Shan knew at a glance that these pots were orchids, and they were the Songmei orchids among the spring orchids, the best among all orchids.
Songmei belongs to the spring orchid among orchids, and is an aristocrat among orchids, with a strong fragrance.
However, Song Mei, who was thrown away, was sick and looked like she had a terminal illness.
Sun Dingnan asked in confusion: "Gui Ge'er, why are you picking up dead flowers that others don't want?"
The flowers looked like dead branches and withered willows. Besides, it would be a shame to bring back dead flowers during the New Year.
Gui Ge'er scratched his head and said with a silly smile, "I think this flowerpot is good. I wondered if I could use it. I went up to check and found that the flowers were not completely dead, so I came back to ask Brother Shan if I could save them. Haha, Brother Nan, you know that our old man grows flowers, and he feels the most pain when the flowers die."
He turned around and looked at Sun Shan expectantly: "Brother Shan, can this orchid be saved?"
Sun Shan walked over, dug out the soil, looked at the roots, looked at the heads, and said uncertainly: "I don't know if they can be saved, but these pots of flowers are not dead yet. Put them in a sunny and ventilated place, and keep them warm and cold-proof."
Sun Shan thought that since he was free anyway, he might as well save these pots of orchids.
After all, his family grows flowers, and he can't just watch the flowers die.
Gui Ge'er obeyed the order and put the orchid away.
Sun Dali laughed and said, "Haha, I don't know anything about orchids. These are only liked by scholars. Haha, we country folk like rice flowers the most."
Sun Shan smiled and responded, "Uncle Dali, I like rice flowers too, but I like rice ears even more."
Sun Dali's eyes lit up and he said happily, "Ashan, I like rice ears too."
They thought that even if Shanzi from their family became a juren, he would still be of the same mind as them and they all liked the heavy ears of rice.
The New Year’s Eve dinner should be eaten early, so Sun Shan acted like the boss, lying on a recliner and watching Sun Dali, Sun Dingnan, and Gui Ge’er cook.
Although they didn't know how to cook, they just followed the instructions and remembered how the women in Sunjia Village cooked.
No feast is complete without chicken, and no New Year is celebrated without boiled chicken.
Sun Dali made a white-cut chicken. The method is very simple. Simmer the chicken, chop the ginger and scallion, and dip the simmered chicken in ginger and scallion.
As for whether it tastes good or not, that depends on personal opinion.
Sun Shan took a bite and to be honest, it didn't taste good at all.
Form is more important than content, as long as it looks good, it's fine.