Chapter 226: With heart
“Yan Qi, you haven’t told me what you’re doing yet?”
Squatting nearby, Fu Jiaming watched as he began picking through several boxes.
“Selecting a few suitable meeting gifts for Ning Ning.”
If it was really as he thought, he might even need to add engagement gifts.
The corners of his mouth curved up slightly. Yan Bei shook the mandarin duck jade pendant in his hand. “What’s this, reluctant?”
“Hey, what do I have to be reluctant about?”
In the end, this was still an unexpected fortune because of Su Ning.
Fu Jiaming waved his hand nonchalantly, indicating that even if he picked more, he wouldn’t feel heartbroken. Even if these were gone, there were still many boxes in Treasure Mountain Cave.
What left him frustrated and puzzled was that he and Shuang Shuang had confirmed their relationship first and met the parents first, so how could these two come from behind and most likely get engaged before them?
There were still more than two years until Shuang Shuang finished studies. Fine, he would just wait slowly.
“Thanks, brother. I’ll double these things back to you later.”
“Who are you pitying!”
Punching his chest, Fu Jiaming rolled his eyes in annoyance.
But knowing Yan Qi’s personality was just like that, he was too lazy to argue further with him. Whatever happened then could be dealt with then. Could he really force it on him?
Glancing at the items he had selected: a pair of verdant mandarin duck jade pendants, a pair of jadeite bracelets with floating flowers, a hair pin with a pink pearl pendant, and a bracelet of one hundred and eight tourmaline beads.
“Just these?”
“Enough.”
“That’s enough for meeting gifts, but if it’s for engagement, this isn’t nearly enough?”
The items were good ones.
But nowadays, these good things couldn’t be exchanged for much grain on the market, not as practical as small gold bars.
As he spoke, Fu Jiaming reached into the box holding the gold and unquestioningly pulled out ten or so gold bars that were easy to store.
Finally, he also dug out two boxes of prepared ones, like small peanuts and melon seeds made of gold.
“Enough, enough.”
Seeing him still preparing to rummage, Yan Bei hurriedly refused. “Quickly cover them up and hide them.”
“Alright, if you think of anything else missing later, come find me again.”
……
By the time Yan Bei returned to the foot of the mountain hugging a cloth bag full of things, the wet spots on his clothes from the snow water had frozen into hard edges.
Zhao Panpan felt sorry for him and hurriedly pulled him to sit by the fire basin, even using her own hands to warm his frozen purple palms.
Because of identity reasons, the clothes Su Ning prepared had new cotton padding inside, but the outside was deliberately worn and patched to conceal it.
So Yan Changrong could only change into clothes with fewer patches that looked slightly more presentable.
After tidying himself up and coming out of the inner room, he found his little grandson had returned. “How did it go?”
“Almost done. I still have some small wooden boxes I made myself. Just pack them separately.”
……
While the grandfather and grandson were still discussing, on the other side Su Ning was preparing to take her godfather and godmother to Old Master Su’s home.
The things she had prepared beforehand were all marked to avoid mix-ups, with small writing in brush on the outside of the hemp sack indicating which family they were for.
Zhang Qi found the one marked for Old Master Su and lifted it out. “Ning Ning, that’s it. Let’s go.”
The four adults and one child went out the door, and Su Ning held Xiao Qiu’s hand leading the way ahead.
The accumulated snow was already half a palm thick, and one step sank directly over the shoes.
Afraid Xiao Qiu’s shoes would get filled with snow and freeze her later, she bent down and picked her up.
“Ning Ning, how about I do it instead!”
“No need, Godfather. The road is rough, so you and Godmother be careful. I can still carry Xiao Qiu.”
These past few months, Hu Yingtao had been nourishing Xiao Qiu with good food and drink, so she had not only become fairer but also much plumper.
Far from the light, weightless feeling when they first met, after walking halfway, her arms felt sore and gradually powerless.
Just as she was considering switching from carrying to piggyback, a familiar shout rang out.
“Ning Ning!”
It turned out Su Jianqun, waiting not far away, saw their figures and called out loudly before quickly coming over.
“Young man, why are you standing here?”
“Grandparents are anxious, so they had me wait here to meet you. Come, give me the child!”
Seeing fine sweat beading densely on her forehead in such cold weather, Su Jianqun immediately reached for Xiao Qiu in her arms. “Big brother carry you, okay?”
“Hehe, young man, according to my address, Xiao Qiu should call you uncle. How come you’re lowering your own seniority?”
“Hehehe, I forgot. Xiao Qiu, right? Come, uncle carry you!”
Knowing it was tiring for her aunt to hold her, Xiao Qiu had wanted to walk on her own several times.
Now with a silly-smiling uncle here, Xiao Qiu wasn’t shy and gave him a big smile, obediently stretching out her little hands to hug him.
Finally, no need to tire out her aunt~
“Uncle and aunt, brother, grandparents are all waiting at home. They’re really happy hearing you’re coming. Let’s hurry home!”
“Good, good, good.”
Zhang Fu smiled and agreed repeatedly, supporting his wife as he quickened his steps a bit.
In no time, the group arrived.
When the two sides met, there was inevitably some exchanging of greetings.
After politely entering the main hall, they discovered Su Qingshan and the others, worried about the cold, had lit two or three fire basins in the room.
In the middle of the room was the super large round table for New Year’s reunion dinner, with the meals on the table covered by clean spare bowls and plates to keep warm.
From the looks of it, Old Master probably started preparing the meal as soon as he knew they were coming back, just waiting for them to eat hot food right away.
With the large round table, everyone sat crowded around it like at a village banquet, extremely lively.
But with so many people, the women and children had a separate table set up in the kitchen.
Zhang Fu and Su Qingshan chatted happily, especially after a few cups of wine, calling each other brother and younger brother very affectionately.
“Older brother Su, it has to be you. Little brother here is truly envious!”
Su Qingshan had three sons and one daughter. After the three sons married one after another, they gave him eight grandsons and six granddaughters—truly children and grandchildren filling the hall.
Unlike him, who not only had only A Qi as a son but who, at his age, still refused to marry.
He was really afraid of waiting a few more years and having him stay single forever!
“Hahaha, Little Qi looks proper and promising—one of him is worth three! Brother Zhang, now with our Ning Ning such a good girl, what is there to envy!”
“Hahahaha, old brother is right, that’s the truth. With Ning Ning this girl, us two are happy even in our dreams.”
“It’s just that we’re far away, wanting to look after her but our hands can’t reach.”
“Hey, isn’t there still me here? Rest assured, no one here can bully her!”
“Then old brother, you’ll have to take extra care…”
Sitting nearby, Su Ning listened to their increasingly loud voices, finding it both amusing and heartwarming.
“Ning Ning, ignore those drunkards. Quick, eat more dishes while they’re hot.”
“Right, Ning Ning, this old hen soup is so fragrant. Have two more bowls!”
Unaware for a moment, her just-emptied bowl was piled into a little mountain again. She secretly touched her already bulging little belly.
Smiling and agreeing, she picked up the bowl, drank two sips of chicken soup, then quickly took her chopsticks to continue eating in joyful pain.
This meal lasted a full hour and more before ending.
After Zhang Fu and Zhang Qi, who had drunk quite a bit, sobered up a little, they bid farewell and left.
Seeing them off at the gate, Su Qingshan turned back into the room, rolled some tobacco shreds from his tobacco pouch, and smoked contentedly.
“Old man, come here quick!”
“What now? Really can’t let a person relax.”
Looking fierce, but his feet were honest. Knocking his pipe, Su Qingshan strode into the couple’s room.
“Ning Wa’s god in-laws gave such substantial gifts. What do we do!”
Accepting them made her uneasy. What to use for return gifts?
Inside the large hemp sack were several small cloth bags, besides snow-white fine rice, a whole pig leg, a lamb leg, and a fish weighing ten or so jin.
Taking a puff from the pipe, Su Qingshan thought and understood the intention behind Zhang Family’s generous gift.
Besides showing they valued their family, it was more to ask them, being close by, to look after Ning Ning more and provide reassurance.
It showed Ning Ning had chosen good godparents—they truly treated her like their own daughter from the heart.
Even without these, for Su Ting’s sake, he Su Qingshan would still look after her, not to mention he truly liked this child and was naturally willing to take more care.
“Keep them. In a few days when we slaughter the New Year pig, cure some good cured meat for them.”
“Alright, listen to you.”
