Chapter 94: Spring Festival Approaches

In the afternoon.

Chen Shu put on a long-sleeved shirt and no longer felt cold.

Through the window, the outside was a vast expanse of blue sky with only a tiny wisp of white cloud drifting by. The sunlight was mild, and the crown of a tall tree reached up to the fourth floor, adding a touch of green to the monotonous sky outside the window. Such weather was the best.

Chen Shu was doing Qingqing's nails again.

Chen Banxia brought over a small stool and sat nearby, watching with rapt attention.

Compared to her, the little girl sitting on the sofa two meters away, earnestly watching television and completely unconcerned with the behavior of her older sister and brother-in-law, was undoubtedly much cuter.

Today, he was doing a sugar-finish mirror manicure.

Two coats of haze gray-blue number two.

Matte top coat.

Cure for one minute.

Mirror top coat.

Chen Shu held Qingqing's hand, working slowly and patiently while glancing out the window from time to time: "The weather in our Bai City is still the best."

Chen Banxia stared longingly: "Stop talking, hurry up and do it. Do one for your sister when you're done."

Chen Shu replied very calmly: "Ten yuan each."

"You heartless thing!"

"That's a bargain price!"

"Why don't you charge your little girlfriend when you do hers?"

"Can those be the same?"

"Why aren't they the same?"

"They are different." Chen Shu held Qingqing's hand, paused his movements, and patiently explained to Chen Banxia, "When I do yours, it's just doing yours. When I do Qingqing's, I'm actually doing it for myself. Do you see the difference?"

"Heartless!!"

"As you wish..."

Chen Shu finished this sugar-finish mirror manicure for Qingqing; it was a simple and exquisite style, light and delicate, very suitable for Qingqing.

The Mobile Phone vibrated twice.

He took it out to look.

Chen Banxia: 【Transfer】

It was one hundred yuan.

Chen Banxia leaned over with a grin and held out both hands: "Do all ten of my fingers, I want the same style as Qingqing's."

Do all ten fingers...

That would take until nightfall.

Qingqing had only had two nails done.

Chen Shu let go of Qingqing's hand and said to Chen Banxia: "One hundred yuan only covers two fingers."

"Isn't it ten yuan per finger?"

"That's right, ten yuan per finger, one hundred yuan for two." Chen Shu finished and said sincerely, "My fault for not being clear."

"Then refund my money."

"Go ask Feixin customer service for a refund."

"..."

As everyone knows, Feixin has no customer service.

Chen Banxia was a little angry, but since he was her own younger brother, she had no choice but to say: "Then do my two index fingers. I want the same style as Qingqing's. If it doesn't look as good as Qingqing's, I'll turn into an only child on the spot!"

"Let's do the same for the left hand, and I'll change the style for the right. I recently learned a method for drawing little flowers, the Five-Point Positioning Method; it's very pretty."

"Is it really pretty? You aren't lying to me?"

"It's pretty."

"It better be," Chen Banxia said. "Don't force me to become an only child."

"What's the point of being an only child? There's no subsidy."

"Only children get subsidies?" Chen Banxia heard this for the first time. "Isn't it that the more you give birth to, the more subsidies you get? Two children means tax cuts, three children means the state gives you money every month, four children means you get rich. The higher the parents' education and the higher their talent, the more money they receive."

"National conditions differ, some countries do."

"You're making that up! Which country?"

"Shut up! Don't move your hand!"

"Be gentle with your sister!!"

"..."

It didn't take Chen Shu long to finish.

One was the same sugar-finish mirror, the other had a black base with small white flowers; one was elegant and gentle, the other simple and high-end. They still looked very beautiful.

Chen Banxia was delighted and felt very satisfied, praising her brother for being multi-talented and feeling inferior by comparison.

Sometimes the things her brother knew made Chen Banxia doubt whether she was a woman, such as cooking or manicures, but then she thought, since she could enjoy them anyway, and at most spend a little bit of money, it was practically the same as her knowing how to do them herself.

Giving money to her brother was no big deal!

As a single-minded person who didn't date, marry, or have children, how lonely would she be if there wasn't someone she could be good to?

"Ah..."

Chen Shu stood up and stretched, moving around, then leaned close to the window to look out.

This place was very close to the Jinghai, but he couldn't see the Jinghai, only the Mirror Sea River, which was a river flowing into the Jinghai. There was a very beautiful Bai Bridge over the river, and both sides of the Bai Bridge were planted with all kinds of wildflowers, which were blooming beautifully in this neither-cold-nor-hot winter.

Many seagulls flapped their wings and took flight.

Tourists stand on the bridge tossing breadcrumbs, or hold large pieces of bread high up, and seagulls will hover overhead to take them away.

This is a peaceful afternoon.

Chen Shu returns and sits down, then calls out to the little girl who is still sitting cross-legged on the sofa, staring at the television without blinking:

"Xiaoxiao, come here."

The little girl slowly turns her head.

Chen Shu beckons to her, telling her to walk over, as he prepares to do her nails too.

Everyone must be treated equally.

The little girl's hands are a bit smaller than her sister's, her fingers are also very thin, very soft, her skin is very tender, and her touch is icy cold. Chen Shu looks down and knows she still keeps the habit of biting her nails; he has told her many times, but she just won't change, truly disobedient.

The little girl glances at him, knowing what he is thinking, but pretends not to know, only saying earnestly: "I don't want to do a cute style this time!"

"Why? Cartoon patterns are so nice!"

"I want to do the kind my sister has!" The little girl's tone is firm, "I have already grown up!"

"Is that so?" Chen Shu raises a question.

"M-maybe not yet..." The little girl instantly loses her confidence, her tone weakening, "Then draw a little flower for me too."

"Alright!"

A little flower of the same style as Chen Banxia's but in a different color, with a powder-blue base and a red flower, still in the cute style of a little girl. Then Chen Shu pretends not to see the little girl's somewhat dissatisfied expression, and draws a SpongeBob and a simple little white rabbit on two other nails respectively.

The SpongeBob is not drawn very well, but who cares, this world doesn't have this cartoon anyway.

"Perfect!"

Chen Shu is very satisfied, then looks at the little girl again:

"Isn't it very pretty?"

"..."

"Hmm?"

"P-pretty."

"Haha..."

You see, everyone is happy.

The next morning.

Chen Shu wakes Chen Banxia up and leads her out to stroll through the vegetable market to purchase the materials needed for making Sausage and Cured Meat.

It is also popular to stuff Sausage in this world, also called Chinese sausage, and it is popular in many countries. But I don't know what Shengzu did, or if later generations modified it, in short, the mainstream flavor of Sausage in Yiguo now is very strange, generally leaning towards sweet and spicy; it is neither like the Sichuan style nor the Cantonese style from his past life, and he doesn't know how to describe it, with some spices added that Chen Shu had never seen in his past life.

In all fairness, the taste is still acceptable.

Chen Shu usually does half and half, making half with the mainstream flavor of Sausage, and half with the spicy flavor popular in his past life.

The conventional method for Cured Meat is about the same as in his past life.

He also gets some pork rib Sausage, which Chen Banxia loves to eat. He makes some soy-sauce beef and air-dried chicken, which Chen Banxia also likes to eat, and they are great for drinking with. As for heresies like peanut Sausage or tofu Sausage, Chen Banxia doesn't like them, and Chen Shu doesn't like them either, so he doesn't make them.

Chen Banxia thinks her younger brother is just too great!

Another happy day.

Time passes day by day just like this.

Seeing that the Spring Festival is approaching, there are many children on the street holding toy Sword, knives, and firearms, running and shouting wildly. Then, as lanterns are hung on every lamppost and people sell kites in every open space near the seaside, it seems everyone has become leisurely, and the festive atmosphere of the New Year grows stronger.

The New Year atmosphere in Yiguo is better preserved than in his past life.

The Spring Festival holiday starts from the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month and lasts until the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Yujing is also full of red lanterns throughout the city, decorated with lights and festoons.

The weather is nice today, and Meng Chunqiu and his two cousins are riding bicycles on the ancient city wall, the kind that can seat four people.

He and one cousin are only responsible for pedaling, and the two of them each hold a Sugar-coated Haws, eating while pedaling, looking just like ordinary tourists. But the other cousin cannot be as leisurely and carefree as them; she must wear a duckbill cap and a mask, so she has to sit in the driver's seat and control the direction.

This is a city wall built by the previous dynasty; besides facilitating the mobilization of ordinary soldiers, its defensive effect is also very powerful.

The previous dynasty carved the city wall full of Defense Array, which could prop up a huge Defense Barrier, and it also possessed an anti-air effect even when the Defense Barrier was not activated. Various parts of the city wall were also built with powerful Formation attack towers, making Yujing as solid as a rock.

Even in modern times, it has not been completely abandoned, but has been updated—

Yiguo replaced the relevant materials inside the city wall, the Defense Array was also updated, and there are supporting facilities in the city that echo it, forming a modernized Defense Barrier system. Once needed, as long as all the people of Yujing are concentrated within the ancient city wall and the modern Defense Barrier is activated, it is said that it can even withstand many waves of strikes from Zhan Lue Wu Qi.

However, when it is necessary to use this layer of barrier to resist an attack, it must be a critical moment of life and death, and all other defense systems have failed.

The last time it was activated was the last time.

Now, the main function of the ancient city wall is to serve as a tourist attraction to increase tourism revenue for the Yujing Government. Because of its legendary attributes, almost everyone who comes to Yujing for tourism will walk around on it, look at the gaps personally cut by the Grand Ancestor, the towers knocked down by the Heavenly Human, stand in the positions where the military poets of the previous dynasty wrote eternal masterpieces, and touch the bloodstains left by the Wuzong Emperor that are impervious to wind and rain and unworn by time. Combined with the historical scenes playing in their minds, not everyone from every country can experience this wonderful feeling.

But a slightly annoying point is that shared bicycles are not allowed up here; one must rent bicycles on the city wall, and the price of a single-person bike is also much more expensive than a shared bicycle.

Meng Chunqiu and the three of them encounter young male tourists they don't know greeting them from time to time.

In the eyes of these young men, Meng Chunqiu and one cousin are both great beauties, and the remaining one, although wearing a mask and unable to see her face clearly, has good skin, and just looking at her figure is enough to fascinate people; it is a feast for the eyes.

For those who are relatively friendly, they usually respond, but for those who whistle or flirt, they can only ignore them.

There is no way, the times have changed.

They can only calm their minds and focus on their tour.