After dinner, Zifu suddenly asked Shen Shi, "Mother, are there any pine branches at home?"

  "Oh no, I forgot about this. Hurry up and go to your third uncle's house to borrow some, and also tell your third uncle that we have guests coming home tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we'll go find the Osmanthus tree."

  Zifujin and Zilu left, and Ziqing didn't dare ask them what they wanted the pine oil branches for, fearing that he would reveal his ignorance. After a while, the two of them carried back a basket of pine branches, and only then did Ziqing realize that the so-called "pine oil branches" referred to the kind of pine branches with a large piece of dark-colored pine resin on them.

  As soon as the sky turned dark, Zifujun used a flint to ignite a pine torch, and then he and Zilu surrounded their new house's outer wall. They placed one torch every two meters or so, each about a foot long, all of which were lit up, forming a circle of bright flames. Ziqing was a bit nervous, what if the house caught fire? Ah, shut your beak, Ziqing slapped himself.

  No wonder Zi Qing saw that the corners of some houses were always black when she went out, and they were very regular, with a section of black every now and then. It seemed that people here didn't have money to make lanterns, so they burned fires to play. Shen said that on the 30th night, there would be fire, and on the 15th night, there would be lights, all of which had to be bright.

  "Daughter, this isn't a lamp, it's fire!" Zi Qing asked.

  "It's so bright, why isn't it a lamp? Do you think it's the kind of flower lantern from the city? Country people don't all do that, go outside and take a look, it's shining brightly." said Shen Shi.

  It's bright enough, Zifubao took Ziqing, Zilu and Zishou out to the village for a walk. They found that every household had lanterns lit at the corner of their walls. Ziqing asked: "Big brother, why don't we make flower lanterns? Can't we just use thin bamboo strips to shape it, paste paper on it, and light candles?"

  "Zi Fu stroked Zi Qing's head and said, "Qing Er is talking about the kind of flower lanterns in the city, it's very lively. We don't have that here in the countryside, next year big brother will definitely make a flower lantern for Qing Er." Zi Fu promised."

  Zi Qing thought that next year they could sell red lanterns, and hanging a big red lantern at the door would be very festive.

  Back home, the fire was still burning strongly. Several people were gathered around the fireplace, and it was unclear what time it was. Zeng Rui Xiang said to Zi Fu: "Let's set off the fireworks."

  In the empty space of the hall, Zifeng had prepared a small string of firecrackers. Zeng Rui Xiang had placed a wooden basin beside him and was standing by, waiting for Zifeng to light them off. As soon as he did, he would cover the basin with the lid, saying this was called "muffled firecracker", used to drive away ghosts. Ziqing thought it was fun, and they went on to muffle the firecrackers in the east and west wings of the house, as well as the gatehouse. Ziqing followed along, and if there was one that didn't go off well and didn't make a sound, not only would Zeng Rui Xiang have to relight it, but he would also have to kowtow in the four corners of the house, muttering something like "Sorry, sorry, I don't know which god I've disturbed. The year is over now, and I'm sending off all the gods on their way home. You must find your way back..." and so on. This time Ziqing didn't dare laugh, but was secretly hurt.

  Today was really hilarious, Zi Qing secretly enjoyed herself for half a day, thinking that if she went to worship her ancestors, there would definitely be something funny. "Ah, no, honorable ancestors, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have made fun of you." Zi Qing muttered to herself, afraid that the ancestors would blame her. Suddenly, she burst out laughing again, and only became embarrassed when she saw a room full of suspicious eyes staring at her.

  Ziying didn't know that she was smiling in her sleep, which made Zifu feel a bit uneasy.

  The next day, not long after breakfast, He's family came with Shen Jianren's family. Shen Jianren was quite discerning and at a glance saw that the furniture in the hall was of good quality. He smiled and said: "Little sister is now more prosperous than me, actually using such good furniture, it's been a year, I have to look at you with new eyes."

  Everyone visited the house, some for the first time, and were amazed. The kitchen and living room received the most votes. Shen said that many pieces of furniture had not been completed yet, and the carpenter was supposed to come today but will now come tomorrow. Even Xiao said she wanted to go back and renovate her own house.

  Dinner was eaten early, and the He family stayed for a few days. The Shen Jianren family went to the Xiao family's place, and Xiao Shi, the younger sister-in-law, wanted to go back to accompany her elderly aunt. It seemed that the Xiao family was going to move away, but it wasn't clear if it was true. Everyone else returned home, with He Shi and Zi Qing staying in the west wing, and Zi Fu taking his two younger brothers to stay in the north room of the east wing, which was Shen Shi's old bed, newly repainted. Shen Shi specially heated water for He Shi to take a bath, and the mother-daughter pair talked quietly for a long time inside.

  Next, Shen began to pack the things that Zifu would take with him when he went out, clothes, books, shoes and socks. Shen also specially bought a piece of sheepskin to make two pairs of boots for her husband and eldest son, and made a pair for Zilu with the leftover material. The pair belonging to Ziqing was one that Ziqing had strongly requested Shen to buy after earning money, which was ready-made. The camphor wood box that had been made before the New Year was packed full, and when it was time to leave, Shen was reluctant to part with her son, holding onto her eldest son's hand and not letting go. Zifu also leaned against Shen's body, after all, he was leaving his mother and his home for the first time, and he was not even eleven years old yet.

  When Zǐ Fú left, he patted Zǐ Lù's shoulder and said: "Big brother is leaving, you must take good care of your younger siblings. Don't dawdle on the way home from school, come back early and help mother with some chores." Zǐ Lù's eyes turned red, and he could only nod in agreement.

  See off Zifuxi, Zilu is also going to private school. Ziqing made a backpack for him, just to practice his hands. Originally wanted to make a double-shoulder bag, but the technology was not good enough, so he made a simpler one, using the coarsest fabric woven by himself in the market.

  "Second brother, how is it? Do you like it? You know, I spent a whole day making this."

  "I like it, as long as it's done by Qing'er, I like it." Zi Lu is usually not talkative, but Zi Qing can tell that he's excited, putting on his backpack to go to school. In front of Zi Qing and Zi Shou, he spun around several times before leaving the gate, then ran back out and said: "Qing'er, save some chores for me to do when I get back from school." After saying that, he took off again.

  Zi Qing started to busy herself with growing watermelon seedlings. The last batch of cucumber seedlings had already grown two small leaves. This time, there was Master Xu at home, and Master Li would also be coming in a few days. Zi Qing didn't want to be discovered, so she found a few containers and soaked the seeds inside the wooden house. At night, she used straw to keep them warm. She secretly did this for two days without being discovered. This time, she couldn't bury them in the small courtyard, so she could only bury them in the old vegetable field. That place was currently empty land, and outsiders usually didn't go there, making it unlikely that they would be found out. Zi Qing waited until her brother Zi Lu came home from school to secretly carry a few bundles of straw to cover them up. Early the next morning, she went to uncover them.

  The rape in the yard is almost gone, and it has been sold for eight or nine taels of silver. Ziqing asked her mother if she could extract more oil from it? The key is that Ziqing doesn't know how long it takes for the rape to ferment into fertilizer after being turned over on the ground. Lately, because He Shi is here, Old Master hasn't come over much either.

  Zi Qing was worried about who to ask, and Zeng Ruiyu came. He said it would be fine in about ten days. After looking at the rape in the field, he said that a few more batches could be harvested. This time, Zeng Ruiyu came to fertilize the rape and wheat in the field, and it took six or seven days to finish.

  The chicken manure that Ziqing had collected was all poured into the empty vegetable field, and the bloody water from washing chickens, fish, and meat during the New Year's period was also poured in to make fertilizer. After another seven or eight days, when Ziqing saw that no more vegetables could be picked from the oilseed rape field, she asked her third uncle to plow the field, and he also leveled the empty land on the other side, giving him ten days of work. Her third uncle took three strings of money and left with a smile, leaving Ziqing feeling somewhat sour in her heart. It seemed that having land and brains was still important; buying this piece of barren land had been a great value. Others thought it was too sandy and infertile, but for Ziqing, planting watermelons and potatoes was just right. Fifteen taels of silver had increased by more than ten times in one year.