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Upon hearing Chu Hanyan’s words, Dabao blushed slightly and hurriedly replied, “It’s not just me feeding them, Uncle, Grandmother, and Auntie Mu all helped too.”
Admiringly, Chu Hanyan looked at him and asked, “But you fed them the most, right?”
Caught in a dilemma and under his sister’s adoring gaze, Dabao hesitated, twisted his chubby finger, and eventually nodded.
Chu Hanyan beamed with pride, thinking that the pigs were fed by Dabao, which meant indirectly by her.
In the evening, Chen Feng prepared a variety of meat dishes. Perhaps due to psychological factors, Chu Hanyan ate so much that both Chen Feng and old Marquis Chu had to intervene before she stopped. Chen Feng also promised to set aside some of the meat for her father, ensuring he got the best cuts.
As the twelfth month approached, old Marquis Chu started preparing to return to the capital. His trip back wasn’t just for the New Year, he intended to stay until February after Chu Lingxuan and Chen Feng’s wedding in the capital. Chu Lingzhi would accompany him back.
Not only Chu Hanyan was reluctant to see them go, but even Dabao, Chen Feng, and Chen Luu were also saddened by the departure.
Unlike the children’s overt display of emotions, Chen Feng expressed her sentiments through preparing dishes that old Marquis Chu and Chu Lingzhi enjoyed.
On the tenth day, old Marquis Chu departed with Chu Lingzhi, accompanied by Steward Luo who brought along several carts of Tangyuan’s New Year gifts. Chu Hanyan moved into Fengyuan, while Dabao and Lu continued attending classes with Mr. Liao at Tangyuan.
Subsequently, Fengyuan celebrated another joyous event – Sasa’s pregnancy. The excitement was palpable throughout Fengyuan and Luyuan. Chen Feng even designed a special nutritious diet for Sasa during her pregnancy. Qiqi and Gray also stopped competing for attention with Sasa, recognizing that she was expecting a baby, which was indeed a bigger deal.
Chu Hanyan was overjoyed and made it a daily routine to check on Sasa’s growing belly. She requested the housekeeper to make crib, bedding, and blankets for the baby. Encouraged, she even visited Wu the Carpenter in the backyard of Luyuan, bearing gifts and asking him to craft the most beautiful crib for the baby.
Accompanied by Dabao and Lu, she presented a box of candies and described in detail, “The crib should be this big, this low, cherry blossom color, able to hang a canopy, with little rabbits eating carrots on top, and adorned with small flowers and grass…”
The little girl described her vision slowly and clearly, illustrating the most beautiful dog kennel in her mind to Wu the Carpenter.
Witnessing the trust the Chu family’s young miss had in his craftsmanship, Wu the Carpenter felt honored and promised to create the requested crib.
Later that night, Chen Feng visited the space to inform the Golden Swallow about the joyful news. The Golden Swallow already knew about it and chuckled, “This is truly a joyous occasion. When the little one is born, I’ll bring it into the space so they can see it right away, soaking in the spiritual energy for health and longevity.”
Calculating the timing, Chen Feng remarked, “When Sasa gives birth, I might already be in the capital.”
Upon hearing this, the Golden Swallow expressed regret.
On the twentieth day of the twelfth month, Dabao and Lu finally began their long holiday break. Despite the break, they rose early and accompanied Chen Ming to deliver a cart of gifts to the entrance of Tangyuan as a respectful gesture for Mr. Liao. Mr. Liao would be returning to his hometown in Shandong that day and would come back to Tangyuan on the nineteenth day of the first month.
Just past the hour of the Snake, several village children, including Shitou, Sizixi, and Chen Dahua, arrived at Fengyuan. Dabao and Lu joined them, frolicking in the open space beside Fengyuan. Soon after, Luo Ming Cheng and the children from Tangyuan also joined in, turning the once peaceful area into a bustling playground.
Seeing Chu Hanyan’s envious gaze, Chen Feng led her outside to watch the commotion from a distance. Meanwhile, Dabao was the busiest, playing with the children, then coming over to chat with his mother and sister before darting off to play again.
In the afternoon, Steward Luo returned from the capital. He brought back a large cart of gifts for both Luyuan and Fengyuan as part of the Chu Mansion’s New Year’s gifts.
At that moment, grandma Chen, Chen Ye, and Mrs. Hu were all in Luyuan. Envious of the colorful gifts, they were delighted to see the abundance. Chen Ming jokingly gave the main branch quite a few gifts.
On the twenty-sixth of the twelfth month, Wu the Carpenter and his son stopped working to celebrate the New Year at home. With most of the work complete, they only had a few finishing touches to attend to, which they would finish in the first month of the new year. Chen Ming also sent them some preserved meat, snacks from the capital, and two pieces of cloth.
The crib that Chu Hanyan wanted was also completed, and Wu the Carpenter personally delivered it to Fengyuan. The little girl was thrilled to see the crib matching her vision and expressed her gratitude. Chen Feng also sent some New Year goods to the Wu family as a token of appreciation.
Later that afternoon, Chen Shi’s family returned. Along with many gifts, they brought back the earnings from the restaurant for the past year. The restaurant had made a net profit of 1160 taels of silver in nearly ten months, with 200 taels set aside as working capital, bonuses distributed to employees, leaving 900 taels to be divided among the shareholders.
Chen Shi instructed Chen Dahua to invite the second and third branch along with Steward Luo to the main branch for dinner. After some drinks, they discussed next year’s marketing strategies for the restaurant, reviewed the year’s business performance, and concluded with profit distribution.
The second and third branch each received 360 taels of silver, while the main branch and Steward Luo received 90 taels each.
Seeing such a significant disparity, not only Chen Ye and Mrs. Hu felt disheartened, but even the old lady couldn’t help but look at Chen Ye with sympathy. Her son had contributed the most to the family, yet both his younger brothers had surpassed him by a considerable margin.
Steward Luo graciously accepted the silver and expressed his gratitude before taking his leave. Chen Feng, sensing the tension in Chen Ye and the others, decided to leave as well, accompanied by Dabao and Lu, following Steward Luo back home.
The next day, news arrived that Chen Ming and Chen Shi each gave the old lady 20 taels of silver and presented Chen Ye with 20 taels as well.
“Mrs. Wang mentioned that the mother-in-law and eldest brother-in-law were satisfied, but Mrs. Hu is still unhappy, frowning all the way to her ears…” Mrs. Wang narrated.
Chen Feng remained silent, questioning her decisions regarding involving Chen Ye in the restaurant shareholders initially.
On that day, Chen Shi’s family visited Luyuan, first inspecting the dowry and bridal accessories prepared for Chen Feng, followed by Mrs. Zhang and Chen Aman visiting to admire the bridal attire made by Chen Feng.
Mrs. Zhang quietly complained to Chen Feng, “We’ve shown them plenty of respect, but according to Mrs. Hu, they want to split everything equally among our families…”
On the 29th of the Lunar New Year, Chu Lingxuan finally returned.
As the night grew darker with howling winds and snow outside, inside the warm dining room, Chen Feng was enjoying lamb soup hotpot with Dabao and Chu Hanyan.
Upon hearing the howling winds outside, Chen Feng’s heart raced with unease.
Suddenly, Old Zeng’s booming voice echoed, “Oh, the master has returned. Young miss, young miss Chu, young master, all were worried about him.”