Standing outside the Lin family's courtyard wall, Zi Qing found that the Lin family's house was significantly better than those of their neighbors. The yard had a large empty space, divided into sections, which appeared to be vegetable gardens. The main house had three rooms, the wing houses had two rooms each, and the east and west annexes each had three rooms.

  Lin Kangping pushed open the bamboo door and led Zi Qing in. The people inside heard the commotion outside, but only two small children with pigtails ran out, looking up at them and asking: "Who are you? Who are you looking for?"

  "We are your uncle and aunt, tell your grandparents that Third Uncle and Third Aunt have returned." Lin Kangping said to the children with a bow.

  The little kid ran in with a whoosh and shouted as he ran: "Grandpa, Grandma, Third Uncle and Third Aunt are back!"

  A group of people came out from the entrance, staring at Lin Kangping and Zi Qing with scrutinizing eyes. A man in his forties or fifties was particularly excited, probably Lin Kangping's uncle Lin Yaozu. Standing next to him was a woman in her forties, likely his aunt Yu Shi. There were also three young men with similar eyebrows and eyes, three young women, and a teenage girl with two braids. It seemed that the entire Lin family had come out.

  Lin Kangping pulled Zi Qing a few steps forward and shouted: "Grandpa, grandma, I'm back. This is my wife Zi Qing."

  Zi Qing walked up and bowed his knees, then called out: "Grandpa, Grandma."

  Yu's family swept a glance at Zi Qing, and said to Lin Kangping: "You've become so capable now, you got married outside and brought your wife back home, without even calling out to your parents. I thought you had forgotten about us and would never return to this house again."

  Lin Yaoyu gave Yu's family a sideways glance and said, "The child has just entered the house and hasn't even had a sip of hot water, yet you're saying all sorts of things. The child still calls you 'mother' after all these years. Come, Ping'er, quickly lead your wife inside, it's cold outside, icy and snowy. Be careful not to catch a chill."

  The family gathered around the house, Lin Yaozu ordered a daughter-in-law to make tea. Lin Kangping carried a cup of brewed tea and pulled Zi Qing down to offer tea. Lin Yaozu readily accepted it, but Yu Shi turned her head away, with both hands on her hips, looking very awkward. Seeing Lin Yaozu's displeasure, she hastily said: "I'll say something unpleasant first, the tea is drinkable. I don't have any gift for meeting you."

  Zi Qing smiled and said, "Mother is really joking. My brother Kangping and I have not returned home for a long time and have not shown any filial piety to Father and Mother. How dare we ask for a meeting gift?"

  Yu's expression softened a bit upon hearing this, and he took the tea, saying: "Lao San is a blockhead who can't even produce a decent fart, but unexpectedly he married a wife with a sharp tongue. Just one look and you can tell she's a sensible and reasonable person."

  Ziying hastily said, "This is the mistress being kind to me. I usually don't go out much and rarely see strangers. My mouth is clumsy and my tongue is awkward, so if I say something wrong, please don't laugh at me. This is the fabric that Kangping and I are presenting to you both as a sign of respect. We should have made clothes with it and sent them over, but since our niece-in-law has never met her elders before, we were afraid that the size might not be right or that they might not meet your expectations." After finishing speaking, Ziying quickly took out two pieces of fine cotton fabric from her package, one in blue and the other in plum red.

  Yu's family saw busy both hands took over, eyebrows open eyes smiled. Zi Qing only then had the opportunity to carefully measure her again. Hair combed very neatly, with silver hairpin bun a round bun, front still inserted a small wooden comb carved with orchids, all blue cloth cotton-padded jacket and pants, very clean and tidy, eyebrows and eyes slightly thick, and some upwards hook, looks like a capable and efficient person. Kangping's grandfather looked just like a loyal and honest face, typical old farmer appearance, waist slightly hunched, full of wrinkles on the face, small eyes, but the eyes were still clear.

  "Look at Third Brother and Sister, this little mouth of theirs is really pleasant to listen to. Just look at Mother's face, she's so delighted that her mouth can't close. We've been serving Father and Mother for a whole year, but I've never seen Mother as happy as she is today." A tall and thin woman said with a smile.

  Then they met Lin Kangping's elder brother Lin Kangjian, sister-in-law Hu, second brother Lin Kangxiang, second sister-in-law Ma, and then fourth brother Lin Kangyong brought his wife Jiang to meet Zi Qing and the others. It was only then that Zi Qing realized that the one who had spoken earlier was Hu.

  Ziying gave each of the five children in the family two silver coins, and the eldest and second eldest had two children each. The fourth child was still being held in someone's arms. So when Hu Shi and Ma Shi saw this, their faces immediately filled with smiles, and they were very enthusiastic. There was also a young girl named Lin Hongxia who was waiting to be married. Ziying saw that the little girl was 14 or 15 years old, wearing a red padded jacket made of silk, and she was slightly taller than Ziying. She came over and hurriedly called out to Kangping and Ziying: "Third Brother, Third Sister!" Then she didn't say anything else, but was still quite honest and steady. Ziying quickly took off a pair of silver bangles from her wrist and put them on the girl's hands. When Yu Shi saw this, she smiled even more, like a chrysanthemum flower. Of course, Ziying also noticed the envious glances from Hu Shi and Ma Shi, but it was just a fleeting moment.

  Yu's family then asked Lin Kangping and Zi Qing if they had eaten, and learned that the two were back for the New Year. They hastily arranged for the two to stay in the east-facing wing room. Kangping was chatting with several men in the main hall.

  The child saw that there was nothing to do, and thought about going back to the house to take a look at the place where she lived. As soon as she entered the room with her luggage, several of Lin's wives came over to help clean up. The house originally had a large kang, but it looked like no one had lived here for a long time, with a layer of dust visible to the naked eye and a lot of miscellaneous items piled up. Lin Hongxia also brought a basin of water to wipe down, not saying much, seeing that the little girl was very efficient at work, Lin's family really didn't spoil her. It seems that this gift wasn't given in vain, at least it was better than her own family's big sister's family, knowing how to be grateful.

  Today is the Little New Year, after worshiping the Stove King, the children each held a small piece of hard sugar cane, excited and cheerful. Zi Qing noticed that they used wheat straw to tie up the stove horse and chicken for offering, Lin Yaozu led a group of men kneeling in front of the Stove King's statue, kowtowing while burning the old Stove King's statue, muttering to himself, it was very different from his own family's customs, Zi Qing looked on curiously.

  The main course for dinner was big bok choy dumplings with meat filling, of course mainly big bok choy, could smell a bit of meat flavor. Zi Qing saw that everyone else was eating quite fragrantly, northerners are used to eating flour food, Zi Qing has lived in the south for two lifetimes, noodles are barely passable, mantou and dumplings can't fill her up at all, let alone coarse grain flour food which is even harder to swallow. She randomly ate three or two dumplings just to get by.

  Lin Kangping felt a pang in his heart, and returned to the ear room. The house was clean, but it was cold and cheerless. Zi Qing had remembered to bring the fire basket and hand warmer, but it seemed that there was no charcoal at home, and they had used up most of what they brought along the way. Zi Qing quickly got onto the kang and sat down, Lin Kangping hugged her and fed her a few pieces of pastries, then went out to scoop a basin of hot water, Zi Qing's body had just started her period, she felt uncomfortable, after wiping herself clean, she hurriedly snuggled into the quilt.

  The next day, Lin Kangping went out early and returned in a hurry at noon. He bought two bags of rice, a large piece of pork, a pile of pig bones, some snacks, and two baskets of charcoal. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Zi Qing holding a large basin of washed clothes. Lin Kangping took it from her, held her hand, blew two mouthfuls of hot air, and asked: "On such a cold day, did you use hot water? Be careful not to catch a chill."

  "Third brother, don't worry, I'll get hot water for third sister-in-law. What are you doing going out so early without even having breakfast?" Lin Hongxia asked as she came out.

  "Oh, call your fourth brother out to help move things. Your third aunt can't eat noodles, I bought some rice back."

  As soon as Lin Kangping's voice fell, Yu Shi rushed out and looked at the rice and meat that Lin Kangping was unloading. The corners of her mouth curled up to her ears, and she quickly called out to her youngest son to carry the things in.

  Lin Yaoyu saw so many things and said, "This child, just going home for the New Year, why spend so much? Your wife can't eat noodles, just buy some for her. You're also a family man now, you need to save money."

  Yu said: "Ping'er is filial, letting everyone follow her example and gain some benefit. Even if it's just a little bit, they can also have a good meal of fine grains or rice."

  "Hu and Ma hastily chimed in, 'Exactly! We're just borrowing the glory of Third Brother and Sister. Just look at how beautiful Third Sister is, with those delicate features and smooth skin that shines like water. Even I want to reach out and touch her - she's clearly a lucky person. If she were dressed in silk and satin, she wouldn't be any worse than the wife of a wealthy landowner. No wonder Third Brother dotes on her.'"

  Lin Kangping furrowed his brow, just about to say something, when Lin Yaogu spoke up: "Your third brother has been busy all morning, he must still be hungry, why don't you hurry up and get him some food instead of chattering nonsense?"

  "What's the point of cooking now, it'll be time for dinner soon anyway. And then there's another hassle to deal with, let's just wait a bit longer. I think he bought some pastries, didn't he? In my opinion, we should have those first." said Yu Shi.

  Ziying only then realized that they only ate two meals a day. This really shows the difference between near and far, if it were his own mother, no matter what, when the child comes home, she would quickly cook a meal for him to eat, let alone Lin Kangping had bought these things back. Ziying could somewhat imagine Lin Kangping's treatment as a child and couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.

  The children heard that there was a little food left, and they quickly gathered over. Lin Kangping left two packages for them, then grabbed Zi Qing's hand, using the excuse of drying clothes to slip away.

  Lin Kangping lit the fire basket and adjusted the hand warmer, while Zi Qing hung her clothes on a hemp rope and said: "You go help me cook, I'm not familiar with your kitchen stove, I'll make you some food to eat, this cold day, hungry belly, feels even cooler. I'll simply make you a hot porridge."

  Lin Kangping took over Zi Qing, carried her to the kang, and said: "Don't bother with that, I had something hot in town early on, you're not used to eating two meals either, I bought some snacks."

  Then the couple sat on the kang and chatted, Zi Qing put the hand warmer by her feet and held a piece of clothing in her hands to dry it over the brazier. Lin Kangping sat behind Zi Qing, occasionally feeding her snacks.

  At this time, Hu shouted at the door: "Third brother and sister, can I come in?" Lin Kangping hurriedly opened the door and saw that his two elder sisters-in-law were standing at the door. He invited him in and went out himself.