usatvline Chapter 151: Every Year Has This Day
Chapter 151: Every Year Has This Day
Half an hour later, Su Heting returned to his seat.
The night was long and everyone was eating and chatting, waiting for him.
After they had eaten their fill and cleared the table, Chenshan brought people to deliver a lot of fruits, candied fruits, melon seeds and other things.
According to the custom in northern Xinjiang, the more vigorously the fire burns on New Year's Eve, the better the family's fortune will be in the coming year.
Su Heting lit a fire directly in the middle of the house, using dried old tree stumps, which could burn for a long time.
The powerful people in the capital pride themselves on their respectability and use only the finest charcoal, so they would never cook in such a down-to-earth way.
But although the Qiao family is also a powerful and noble family, they have been in northern Xinjiang for almost a hundred years, and they celebrate with the military and civilians in northern Xinjiang every year.
This is also a precious memory for the Qiao brothers and sisters.
Qiao Xi took some sweet potatoes, taro, peanuts and other things and placed them next to Qiao Chengwang, "Brother, help me roast them."
Qiao Chengwang didn't remember what happened before, but he obediently picked up a sweet potato and buried it in the fire with an iron hook.
Qiao Xi brought a pot of scented tea and placed it by the fire to warm it, "Dad and my brothers used to bake it for mom and me.
My mother said that eating too much roasted food would cause sore throat, so we couldn’t eat properly during the first month of the lunar year. So every New Year’s Eve, she would make a pot of scented tea, add some honey, and let us drink it.
My eldest brother and daddy were the most obedient, but my second and third brothers didn’t like to drink, so mom asked daddy and eldest brother to catch them and feed them herself, and this happened every year…”
"Did they do this on purpose?"
Qiao Chengwang asked.
Qiao Xi looked at the firelight and recalled, "When I was little, I really didn't like it. When I grew up, I did it on purpose, deliberately wanting to be close to my mother.
The second and third brothers are twins. The second brother is quirky and comes up with ideas, while the third brother is honest and always listens to him.
We also like to listen to him because he is generous, like a child who gives away money. He uses all the red envelopes he gets as New Year gifts to buy us delicious food and fun things. He can't save money, so he spends it on us whenever he has it.
Qiao Chengwang tried hard to recall, but couldn't recall anything, so he asked, "Where's my eldest brother?"
"Brother, he always has a smile on his face, but you are all afraid of him, and the people in the barracks are also afraid of him. But I think he is the most gentle man in the world besides Daddy."
"That must be because he dotes on you. You are the youngest sister in the family, so we all dote on you."
Qiao Xi smiled, tears welling in her eyes, "Yes, everyone says that I was born into the Qiao family and fell into a blessed nest."
However, her happy home was later destroyed by the emperor.
Those family members who loved and cared about her all died miserably.
Qiao Chengwang looked up and stroked her head, wanting to comfort her, but he didn't know what words could soothe Qiao Xi's pain of losing her family.
Qiao Xi smiled again, "I still have my fourth brother, my husband, and my grandfather Su Que Changsheng Yongshou. I am indeed a blessed person."
During the years when the prince was alive, he gave her all his favor. After the prince got into trouble, although she was sent to a secret factory, she was blessed by God and was given eternal life. They treated her like their own sister.
Afterwards, she went to northern Xinjiang. Although the old man was confused, he always protected her.
Although Su Que had some opinions about her at first, he respected her as his sister-in-law and never made things difficult for her. Now he was even more close to her.
Now that she has found her fourth brother again, she should cherish the fact that she can spend the New Year's Eve with him around the bonfire.
"Here, a red envelope for the New Year, wishing you good health and happiness in the new year, and may your baby be happy and worry-free every year."
The old man's voice brought Qiao Xi back to her senses.
A bulging red envelope was handed to Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi suppressed her sorrow, frowned, and took the red envelope, "Thank you, Grandfather."
The old man also raised his hand and touched her head, "My dear child, your blessings are still to come."
He also heard clearly what was said just now.
Then, he took out a red envelope of the same thickness and handed it to Qiao Chengwang, followed by Su Que, Su Heting, and even Lai Chijiao.
Several people expressed their gratitude and prepared red envelopes for the old man. The old man happily accepted them, along with the children's blessings.
Then Su Heting sent red envelopes to Qiao Xi and his sister, as well as Su Que.
Su Heting took out two more and handed them to Qiao Xi, "Keep the immortal ones for them. When you see them again, give them to them for me."
After the suggestion on the road last time that the two brothers join the Xinjiang Northern Army, they became interested.
After arriving in the capital, if she had nothing to do, she would follow the Xinjiang Northern Army for training every day. Yanran had already considered herself a member of the Xinjiang Northern Army.
Even though it was New Year's Eve today, they still followed military regulations and stayed in the camp to celebrate the New Year with the Xinjiang Northern Army.
After distributing the red envelopes in the house, Su Heting went to give New Year's money to the servants and the Xinjiang Northern Army who came to the Qiao family.
On the surface, Qiao Xi was still arguing with Su Heting, so she did not appear with him.
The old man couldn't sit still, so he poke the fire and said to Qiao Xi, "Xi Baoer, do you want to play mahjong?"
Su Que glanced at the old man's bulging chest and responded before Qiao Xi could do anything, "Hit him."
Lai Chijiao knew what his daughter was thinking and swiftly moved a square table to the fire.
Qiao Chengwang didn't know how to do it, but Qiao Xi didn't want him to be idle alone, so she said, "Fourth brother and I will share one."
She wanted her fourth brother to join in the fun.
The other three had no objection.
Qiao Chengwang didn't want to spoil everyone's fun. Such a New Year's Eve was extremely rare for him. With his sister teaching him, he was confident that he would not lose too badly.
Sure enough, he lost the first two rounds, but started winning money in the third round.
Poor Su Que wanted to win the old man's money, but ended up losing all his lucky money.
It was so much so that Lai Chijiao was obviously giving her a break. The old man couldn't stand it, so after Su Heting came back, he directly kicked Lai Chijiao off the table and let Su Heting take his place.
This time, it was the old man's turn to lose.
He made a bitter face and said, "It's New Year's Eve tonight, and you three shouldn't bully an old man like this."
Three of them won, but he was the only one who lost. He saw the red envelope in his arms deflated.
His brows turned, "I hope you can do it now. Xibao'er, help grandfather bake some food. Grandson, help your wife and let the leper come up."
If he drives the two smart ones away, he won’t be the loser.
It can also allow the young couple to develop feelings for each other, and maybe they will have a great-grandson next year. The old man felt that this arrangement was very good and couldn't help but praise himself for being so smart.
Su Heting saw through his thoughts, but did not expose him. He smiled at Qiao Xi.
The two of them held hands and sat beside the fire. They dug out the food that had just been buried in the fire bit by bit, poured some scented tea, and served it to the four people.
Su Que probably used all her cleverness in her medical skills. After her brother and sister-in-law withdrew, she became the loser again.
She could only cheat and kick her father's foot, asking him to let her go, but she felt guilty and didn't dare to look under the table, not knowing that she had kicked the wrong person.
Qiao Chengwang lowered his eyes and glanced under the table at the embroidered shoe that kept rubbing against his right leg. He paused and changed the card in his hand that was about to be played.
Then came Su Que's joyful voice, "Hu, hahahaha."
The girl's cheerful laughter added a bit of joy to the New Year's Eve atmosphere, and Qiao Chengwang curled his lips slightly.
Winning money is not his goal. If it can make everyone happy, he is happy to do it.
In the following time, the four people at the table won evenly.
The two people sitting by the fire saw clearly what Qiao Chengwang was doing.
Su Heting's admiration for Qiao Chengwang's intelligence reached a new level. This guy, who had just started playing Mahjong, was able to control the wins and losses of the other three people by himself.
Qiao Xiyu was proud of it. She put her head on her man's shoulder and said with a raised lip, "That's great."
Days like this are great.
Su Heting handed the peeled peanuts to her and said, "May this day come with every passing year. Xibaoer, Happy New Year!"