Chapter 291: Come to Our House for the New Year

An Qinghe gazed at Gu Xixi, his face full of an enthusiastic smile, his blue eyes sparkling.

Although they hadn't seen each other for a long time, he was very excited as he approached.

But he still restrained his emotions, not opening his arms for a hug as he used to.

An Qinghe looked at Gu Xixi and found himself somewhat shy from their brief reunion, momentarily at a loss for words.

"I… uh…"

"This autumn, the Seedling Merchants Association's bagged pingpo fruit had its first harvest, and indeed, as you said, the fruit is much more beautiful than before."

"Fruits with spots and depressions are down seventy percent compared to previous years; most are now reddish, smooth, and beautiful."

"Moreover, the fruit that used to be of the worst quality, almost unsellable in the past—previously only kept for personal consumption or made into dried fruit—is now almost nonexistent."

"They had already seen the effect of the bags in preventing pests and hail; now they are completely convinced. They all told me that from now on they must earnestly ask you, hoping you will teach them more."

An Qinghe said all this in one breath, only then noticing Gu Xixi looking at him with a half-smile.

He awkwardly rubbed his hands and said, "Did I already say these things in the letter?"

Gu Xixi chuckled, "Let's go inside; it's weirdly cold out here."

Zhang Shen took the small broom used for sweeping the kang and vigorously swept the snow off An Qinghe's cloak.

Then she let him inside, hanging his damp cloak beside the heated kang to dry.

Little Flower was awakened by the noise, lifting her small head from beside her fluffy belly.

Recognizing An Qinghe, it yawned lazily at him and lay back down.

An Qinghe happily went over to tease the cat, "Little Flower, Hua Hua, Hua Hua Hua, it's me—why did you go to sleep without greeting me?"

"You've been lazy all winter, not going out—look at how plump your belly is."

It's unclear whether Little Flower understood An Qinghe's comment about her being fat, or if she just found his chatter annoying.

Suddenly, without warning, she turned her head and gave a loud "ah-woo," biting down hard on his hand.

Gu Xixi burst out laughing, "Good job, Little Flower, nicely done!"

Zhang Shen, suppressing a smile, stepped forward to examine An Qinghe's hand, "It's the New Year; try not to get bitten."

An Qinghe raised the bitten hand and shook it; only two deep tooth marks were on his index finger, with no broken skin or blood.

With his other hand he stroked the cat's head and said, "Little Flower knows I'm one of her own, so she held back when she bit."

Seeing him seriously petting the cat, Gu Xixi could only ask, "You came to see me at this time—is there something urgent?"

An Qinghe then remembered he was carrying something.

He pulled out an envelope from his pocket and said, "It's not urgent; I just happened to bring this for you."

Gu Xixi unfolded it and saw it was the contract she signed when purchasing pingpo fruit trees from the Yunling Seedling Merchants Association.

She had kept a copy herself; the one before her was the association's copy.

An Qinghe said, "This is important; I couldn't have mailed it in a letter before."

"Since you not only helped the Seedling Merchants Association meet its target, but exceeded it."

"According to the agreement in the contract, the remaining half of the sapling payment is now settled in full."

Gu Xixi brought out her copy, and after verifying the two against each other, they burned both in front of An Qinghe.

The contract ended; money and goods were both settled.

Zhang Shen curiously asked, "You just said you were bringing this along; where else do you need to go later?"

An Qinghe blinked and said matter-of-factly, "I'm not going anywhere—I'm returning home to celebrate the New Year, and I just happened to bring the contract over to hand it to you personally."

Both Zhang Shen and Gu Xixi were speechless.

So that's what he meant by "just happening to bring it."

An Qinghe sized up their expressions and hesitated, "In my homeland we only observe New Year's Eve; when I was in Yunling County I always spent it alone, so I'm not familiar with your customs."

"Is it… inconvenient to take in this outsider?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shen's heart softened; she thought of how he, young and far from home, spent the holidays alone while others were lively, unable to return home despite having one—the contrast made her feel even more sorrowful.

Thus, Zhang Shen quickly waved her hands, "No, no, there's nothing inconvenient about it."

"Other families may be particular, but we don't have so many rules."

"Just stay for the New Year; it's only a matter of extra bowls and chopsticks—more people make it livelier!"

An Qinghe felt moved and excited, his eyes reddening, "Thank you, aunt."

"I've heard that the Daye people get very busy before the New Year, having to clean the house and prepare lots of food."

"I can work; give me any task!"

Zhang Shen sized up An Qinghe's tall stature and laughed, "There really is a job that's perfect for you."

"This afternoon we'll put up the spring couplets."

"The upper and lower couplets are already up; with An Qinghe here, putting up the horizontal scroll doesn't require a ladder—just step on a small stool."

Shitou watched from behind and directed, "It's crooked, crooked—raise the right side a bit!"

The spring couplets were written by Shitou; he demanded that the work be supervised, insisting they be posted straight and proper.

Finally meeting the requirement, they were posted.

Gu Xixi came over to look and said, "Hmm! The characters are good. Your progress is rapid."

The little guy, eager for praise, broke into a grin and exclaimed, "Jing Lan sister told me that although calligraphy has a talent gap, as long as you work hard and practice diligently, you'll surely keep improving."

Gu Xixi couldn't help but think of He Jinglan's childhood shadow.

She practiced calligraphy desperately, yet always fell behind Mu Nan Zhao, which is why she would say "although there is a talent difference."

An Qinghe also walked over to look at the spring couplets with them.

"Well-written Chinese characters are indeed pleasing to the eye; looking at them makes me want to learn calligraphy too."

Shitou became enthusiastic, "Practice! I can teach you!"

An Qinghe thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Taking advantage of these few days of the holiday, I'll learn to write characters with you, and when we go back you can practice on your own."

I have to admit, among the three people present, Shitou is the youngest in age, yet his writing is the best.

It was Shitou's first time acting as a teacher, so it was natural for his emotions to run high.

He turned to Gu Xixi, "Xixi-jie, you always say your writing looks like dog crawls, let's practice writing together! With my strict demands, I guarantee the two of you will keep getting better."

Gu Xixi felt an arrow pierce her chest, and she broke out in a cold sweat; a farmer finally gets a few days off, yet she still has to practice writing at home— isn't that just asking for trouble?

So she quickly found an excuse to get out of it, "Ah... my hands fear the cold; in winter I can't hold a brush."

Shitou was enthusiastic and didn't notice that Gu Xixi was refusing with her whole being.

He laughed heartily, "Don't worry, the main room is warm; sit on the kang to write, and your hands won't be cold."

Gu Xixi looked pleadingly at An Qinghe.

An Qinghe blinked in surprise, then quickly understood.

"I almost forgot there's still an important matter, Xixi— earlier you told me about the method for grafting pinpo fruit and the method for fast-growing fruit tree seedlings; the Seedling Merchants Association wants to buy them, and the price is negotiable."

Gu Xixi took a deep breath solemnly, "Then I need to think carefully about it,"

"Writing a tutorial that you can understand and that's easy to operate is no easy task……"

"Time is pressing……"

She frowned as she spoke, then slipped back to her own room.