Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 12047

Even Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan had to "work overtime" last night, each of them painting a picture to give to Yang Ruoqing.

Tuantuan's painting is already quite impressive; she even painted a lamb kneeling to suckle, which is very meaningful.

Yuanyuan's drawing was at the level of a preschool child, depicting two humanoid creatures, one large and one small, holding hands.

"The older one is Mom, the younger one is me, Mom holds my hand, and we laugh together!"

Fearing that Yang Ruoqing might not understand, Yuanyuan even added a helpful explanation.

Immediately, everyone in the room praised him and Tuantuan for being smart and sensible. Yang Ruoqing even stretched out her arms and hugged them, giving each of them a kiss on the head.

Xiao An jokingly remarked from the side, "These two paintings are fantastic, sis. We should frame them and hang them on the wall later."

Yang Ruoqing smiled and glanced at Xiao An, then nodded and said, "Absolutely! The paintings my sons make are priceless!"

"I'll keep them for you for now." Luo Fengtang stretched out his large hands and took the paintings of his two sons from Yang Ruoqing's hands.

Because there were other people who would be giving birthday gifts later, Yang Ruoqing only had two hands, which wasn't enough.

The birthday performance was very lively.

Old Sun took out another red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into Yang Ruoqing's hand, saying, "Take this, it's for your birthday. Buy whatever you want to eat. I don't know what you'd like to buy."

Yang Ruoqing knew that this was a kind gesture from the old man, so she did not refuse and happily accepted the red envelope.

Over here, Old Yang and Tan Shi exchanged a quick glance, and Old Yang secretly gave Tan Shi a meaningful look.

Tan wanted to pretend she couldn't see it, but Old Yang started coughing again.

Tan could no longer pretend to be blind, so she reluctantly took out a red envelope from her waist, coughed hard, and said, "Fatty, this is a small token of our appreciation from your grandfather and me. Please don't find it offensive."

Yang Ruoqing turned around, her gaze falling on the red envelope in Tan's hand, her pupils widening slightly.

Seriously? Grandpa and Grandma also prepared a gift? That's really taking a bite out of a tightwad.

Everyone else present also followed Yang Ruoqing's gaze to the red envelope that Tan Shi was extending.

Looking at the appearance of the red envelope, it is very thin, as if it only contains one or two copper coins.

But as everyone knows, on occasions like today, one cannot underestimate the thin red envelope. Those heavy, bulging red envelopes are most likely stuffed with copper coins.

And this thin thing is very likely filled with loose silver!

Because Yang Ruoqing often used a red-wrapped gold leaf as a gift.

"Qing'er, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and take it, or your grandma will have to pull her hand back!" Liu's eyes were burning with gossip, and she blurted out what was on her mind.

As a result, he naturally received a fierce glare from Madam Tan: "You're talking nonsense! Once we've given something away, there's absolutely no reason for us to go back on our word!"

Old Yang also pointed at Liu and shook his head helplessly.

Yang Huazhong and Yang Huaming both let out good-natured laughter to defuse the situation.

"Then I'll accept it. Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Grandma."

Yang Ruoqing accepted the red envelope, and Liu rushed to her side, patting her shoulder and urging, "Quick, open it and see what good stuff is inside!"

This?
Yang Ruoqing was a little troubled because the red envelope carried a certain degree of secrecy.

Unlike the gifts from Zuo Jinling, Luo Wuyou, and Tuantuan Yuanyuan, which were all very open and readily available, these gifts were much more transparent.

"Grandpa, Grandma, may I open it now?" Yang Ruoqing had to ask the gift giver's opinion first.

Mrs. Tan raised an eyebrow. "It's not like it's anything shameful. If you want to, just tear it down!"

Old Yang also cast a kind look at Yang Ruoqing: "It's just a little something, open it and take a look! It'll satisfy your fourth aunt and the others' curiosity."

Liu's eyes were practically glued to the red envelope.

Moreover, it wasn't just Liu Shi in the main room; the others were clearly also interested in the birthday red envelope given by the two elders. The only difference was that the others would hide their curiosity, unlike Liu Shi, whose curiosity was written all over her face.

"Okay, then I'll tear it down." To be honest, Yang Ruoqing was also very curious!

When she carefully opened the red envelope, she poured out a thin, almost translucent... amulet?

I thought it was a gold leaf, but it turned out to be a thin amulet.

"Huh? What is this?" Liu had been racking her brains, but she never expected it to be a talisman. She let out a disappointed "hmm," shook her head, and went back to the table to continue eating her snacks.

Liu's exclamation revealed the disappointment felt by most of those present, stemming from the vast gap between their expectations and reality.

Many people looked away, and Yang Yongqing even covered his mouth and chuckled, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

Clearly, this person thinks the elderly couple is stingy and miserly for not spending their coins.

Old Yang and Madam Tan also sensed the attitude of the crowd from their reactions.

It was a look of disdain and contempt, a look that suggested the two elders were stingy and couldn't offer any decent gifts.

Immediately, both Old Yang and Madam Tan's faces turned red, and Madam Tan even glared at Old Yang with a reproachful look.

His eyes clearly said: "You old fool, thinking you're so clever. I told you to give me some money, but you wouldn't listen. You insisted on making me die. How about that? You've been looked down upon, haven't you?"
Faced with Tan's accusing gaze, Old Yang could only smile awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

This amulet, although made of paper, was obtained by Tan and Sister Hua from a temple in Qingshui Town where they prayed for peace.

Although this amulet wasn't originally obtained specifically for Qing'er, after their "processing," it's no longer an ordinary amulet...

Old Yang wasn't going to keep them in suspense any longer and was about to explain when Yang Ruoqing suddenly spoke up.

"Grandpa, Grandma, thank you so much for the special talisman you gave me. You're so kind!"

Yang Ruoqing's words surprised both Old Yang and Madam Tan, who thought they had misheard.

Even the others around them stopped their whispers and all eyes turned to Yang Ruoqing again.

Yang Ruoqing raised the amulet in her hand, looked around, her voice was a little excited, and her face was filled with emotion.

“I really love this amulet. My grandparents gave it to me, and it’s worth more than a thousand taels of gold!” she said again.

Old Yang's face turned even redder, but this time it wasn't an embarrassed flush; rather, it was a flush of emotion, a rush of blood to his head, and an excited blush. The resentment in Tan's eyes vanished, and she looked at Yang Ruoqing with suspicion, as if trying to discern the truth in Yang Ruoqing's words.

This Qing girl, having received so many expensive gifts before, would she really be interested in this amulet?
You might not have said that on purpose, right?

"Qing'er, this is just an ordinary amulet, not even worth a copper coin. Why do you care about it?" Liu said, then covered her mouth and laughed.

On the one hand, she is the kind of person who says whatever comes to mind without considering the consequences.

Secondly, she was harassed by Madam Tan on New Year's Eve, and she was also harassed by Madam Tan when Zhao Liuer gave birth last time. Madam Tan made her lose face several times in a row. Madam Liu remembered these two scores very clearly, and today was the perfect time to settle accounts and collect interest.

Moreover, judging from Yang Huaming's reaction, he seemed to tacitly acknowledge that she had triumphed, which gave Liu even more confidence to continue mocking Tan and Old Yang.

Old Yang was secondary; the main focus was on the Tan family.

“Tsk tsk, I’m not trying to be mean, but you’re really stingy, old lady!” Liu stepped forward and continued, “Don’t you think about how much money and gifts Qing’er and the others have to give to you two during the year and holidays?”

"It's not just a regular birthday, it's her 36th! You only turn 36 once in a lifetime. You're just giving her some cheap amulet that you can find everywhere in temples. That's so perfunctory!"

"If all else fails, at least slip a couple of coins into the red envelope. How can someone be so stingy, only taking and never giving? What do you all think?"

If this had happened under other circumstances, many people would have stood up to dissuade her from speaking, telling her to stop.

Those who tried to dissuade him were usually Yang Huazhong and Sun, or Yang Huazhou and Bao Suyun, among others.

Because of their personality, they are the kind of people who are specifically used to smooth things over.

Others, however, adopted a "not my problem" attitude, wanting to get themselves involved in the mess, since neither the Tan family nor the Liu family were people they wanted to provoke.

Even if I try to smooth things over with good intentions, Tan might not appreciate my kindness, and I might even offend Liu and get myself into trouble.

The third type of people are those who privately dislike the Tan or Liu families, but don't want to lash out.

So when they saw Liu jump out to confront Tan, these kinds of people were secretly pleased; they were the kind of people who loved watching the drama unfold.

Having analyzed the three types of people present, here comes today's question.

The only ones willing to step in and smooth things over were the couple from the third and fifth wives' households.

But today, even both of them have surprisingly remained silent.

why?
Yang Huazhong and Madam Sun are Yang Ruoqing's biological parents. Although they are timid, they are generous and wouldn't be stingy with money.

However, that applies to themselves. They can suffer losses and be neglected by the Tan family, but Yang Ruoqing is their most beloved daughter.

It was their daughter's thirty-sixth birthday, such an important moment in her life. The old man and woman could be stingy and calculating in other matters, but they were still like this on this occasion. Yang Huazhong and Sun Shi had their opinions.

They were able to hold back their outburst, which shows great composure.

As for why Yang Huazhou and Bao Suyun from the fifth branch of the family didn't step forward to smooth things over, the main reasons are similar.

On New Year's Eve, Jiang Guiling was severely humiliated by Tan Shi... which caused Jiang Guiling to quarrel with Da Bao as soon as she returned home.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I took the children to Jiangjia Village to pay New Year's visits, and we only returned this morning.

Originally, she wasn't planning to come back, but she heard that today was Yang Ruoqing's 36th birthday, so Jiang Guiling came back specifically.

Look, even when Jiang Guiling is angry, she is still clear-headed, but the old man and woman keep taking advantage of their age and seniority to do whatever they want, which makes Yang Huazhou and Bao Suyun somewhat dissatisfied.

Besides, Jiang Guiling was watching from the side. If the couple were to rashly step forward to stop Liu and smooth things over for Tan, wouldn't they offend their daughter-in-law Jiang Guiling terribly?

This is unacceptable!

And so, this somewhat strange scene came about.

"Qing'er, I think you should return this mysterious amulet to your grandmother. Your fourth aunt will go to the Taoist temple to get you a peach pit and red string amulet, which is much better than the one you have!" Liu Shi glanced at the reactions of everyone in the main room, straightened her back, and spoke with more confidence.

Liu originally thought that by doing this today, she could kill two birds with one stone and achieve two goals at once.

Not only did he get his revenge, but he also managed to win over Yang Ruoqing.

However, Yang Ruoqing turned to Liu Shi and said very seriously, "Fourth Aunt, you misunderstood my grandparents today."

"This amulet in my hand is indeed extraordinary, because it contains something very important!"

Something important?
Everyone's attention was once again drawn to Yang Ruoqing's words.

Madam Tan sat there, her body tense. This chubby girl…did she discover something? She's truly meticulous and intelligent…

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Yang Ruoqing took out a thin strand of hair from her amulet. The hair was tied with a red string, and she showed it to everyone in her hand.

Madam Sun was the first to react, her pupils dilating in shock: "This is... Qing'er's?"

Yang Ruoqing nodded: "That's right, this is my baby hair!"

She then looked at Madam Tan: "Grandma, am I right?"

Tan's tense face relaxed a little, and she nodded: "Yes, it's yours. I was cleaning out a box a few days ago and accidentally found your and your cousin Lan'er's birth date and time book, as well as your baby hair."

"I'm returning this lock of your baby hair to you. You can keep it yourself from now on!"

Yang Ruoqing nodded with a smile.

Sun and Yang Huazhong were deeply moved. They gathered around Yang Ruoqing, carefully took the strand of baby hair and examined it closely, marveling at it repeatedly.

"This is the rarest and most precious thing! It's Qing'er's baby hair!" Sun said excitedly to Yang Huazhong.

Yang Huazhong nodded repeatedly.

Baby hair is of great significance to everyone.

In addition, there is the placenta.

In the area around Mianniu Mountain, there is a custom that newborns' hair must be preserved, and the placenta cannot be discarded casually. It must be put in an earthenware jar and buried in a good place so that the child can be connected to the earth and be blessed by the local soil and water.

The placenta had already been properly placed by Sun and Yang Huazhong, but they hadn't taken the time to preserve the baby hairs, not even those of Da'an and Xiao'an.

The couple were overjoyed to see Qing'er again, as if they had found a lost treasure.

"Mother, thank you so much, thank you for keeping this!" Yang Huazhong thanked her repeatedly.