After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1061 Little New Year’s Eve

Ma cares so much about her son and daughter-in-law, how could Haitang let her grandmother down?

She immediately promised Ma that she would assist Hu during the New Year and ensure that Second Aunt could manage the household smoothly without any mistakes. She would also master all the tricks of being a housekeeper as soon as possible.

Mrs. Hu had always been Mrs. Ma's assistant and already had some management experience. Even if she had to take charge of things on her own now, she would be able to adapt quickly. Haitang was confident that she could teach her all the skills that a competent housewife should master in a short period of time.

Ma had great confidence in her granddaughter. After getting Haitang's assurance, she could finally calm down and concentrate on packing her and her husband's luggage.

Haitang assisted her second aunt, Mrs. Hu, in handling household affairs and dealing with social interactions before the New Year, while helping her grandmother pack her luggage. After two days of busy work, the New Year holiday for the three generations of men in the family finally began.

Hai Xiya had already told his superiors and colleagues that he would not stay in the capital during the New Year holiday until the Ministry of Revenue started working after the Lantern Festival, so he should not be considered for duty during the New Year. His superiors and colleagues knew that he was about to become the in-law of the empress dowager, and he had a good relationship with the chief minister Tao, so they would naturally give him this face and friendly said that these were all trivial matters and wished him a happy New Year.

However, Hai Chang'an and Hai Jiao were not as lucky as Hai Xiya. They both had to serve in the palace during the New Year, and it was impossible for them to leave the capital without permission before or after the New Year. They had to report in advance even to leave the city. It was probably because Hai Xiya had anticipated this in advance that he did not plan to bring his adopted son or eldest grandson back to his hometown to worship his ancestors.

The second branch of the Hai family celebrated this New Year's Eve in a very lively manner. In addition to the second branch's own people, the first branch and several elders of the clan who were stranded in the capital all came to the second branch's house to participate in this New Year's Eve family dinner. Everyone gathered together, laughing and talking happily, as if everyone had never had any unpleasant conflicts, and everyone had always been a loving family.

Fang just had a smile on her face as she chatted in a friendly manner with the wives of the clan elders. When she turned her back, the smile on her face disappeared.

She knew very well why the clansmen had changed their attitude towards her, and she would no longer have any extravagant hopes for them, thinking that she could return to the eldest branch of the Hai family and be the head of the family as before. She just didn't want to see the efforts of her second uncle and second aunt go to waste, so she pretended to be nice to the Hai clan members for their sake. When she returns to her hometown to pay homage to her relatives in the past life, she will take her daughter and leave Jianghaitun again, and she doesn't plan to go back in this life. Although her second uncle talked to her about buying land, she really doesn't want to have any financial or interest relationship with the Hai family. If her second uncle and second aunt are worried about her future livelihood, she will find a way to plan for herself. Even if it's just two shops in the streets of Beijing, the income she can bring is better than the land in the countryside hundreds of miles away!

She had already asked her son-in-law Qiao Fu to inquire for her. With the private property she still had, she could fully afford the expense. With the dowry that Baozhu had fought for for her daughter Baozhu in the clan, she could reduce some of the expenses she had originally planned to spend on her daughter's dowry and buy a shop instead. After all, the rent she could earn from the shop would be spent on her daughter, son-in-law, and future grandchildren in the future.

Fang attended the second house's family dinner in a peaceful mood, and even had the leisure to persuade her second aunt, cousin's wife, niece, and several aunts in the family to eat more food and drink more wine. After the family dinner, she said goodbye to everyone with a smile, and led her children and Aunt Qiu back to her own residence.

The New Year's Eve family dinner went smoothly and the atmosphere was very good. Several of the troublemakers did not make any noise from beginning to end, and they behaved very well and honestly. Hai Xiya was relieved and felt that his plan was more certain.

After the family dinner, the relatives went home. Hai Xiya and the Ma couple returned to the upper room in the main courtyard. Xie Wenzai and Lu Bainian, the two elder guests, also returned to their rooms to rest early. Tomorrow, Xie Wenzai will go on a long journey with his cousin and his wife. Hu took people to clean up the mess, and Haitang helped her. Any omissions were solved without leaving a trace. Hu felt that everything went well today. The dishes were good, the seats were not wrong, and the servants performed perfectly. She had more confidence in herself, and even if she was tired and her back ached, she always had a smile on her face.

When everything was over, she returned to the west wing where she lived. She saw that the light in her son's room was off, but there was still movement in her room. She pushed the door open and found that her husband was still awake. When he saw her coming back, he quickly scooped the hot water from the stove into the basin, wet the cloth, and called her over to wipe her face and hands.

Seeing her husband personally helping her wash her face and hands, Mrs. Hu was touched: "Why don't you go to bed earlier? It's already the second watch. You have to get up early to practice tomorrow. If you don't go to bed now, how can you have energy by then?"

Hai Changan didn't care: "I'm used to going to bed late and getting up early on weekdays, so it won't delay anything if I wait a little longer. How can I be at ease if you haven't come back by the second watch?" He washed the cloth his wife had used, hung it on the rack, and brought her a bowl of hot milk, "I asked the kitchen to prepare this, drink some to warm you up."

Hu had the habit of drinking milk before going to bed when she was in Chang'an. She took the milk and drank it, then persuaded her husband to go to bed quickly: "You are so tired from working every day. You finally have a day off. Of course, you should rest more."

Hai Chang'an let his wife push him onto the kang, but he did not close his eyes and fall asleep. Instead, he watched her rinse her mouth and change her clothes, and asked her how she felt tonight.

Hu Shi didn't feel anything. The clan members didn't smile sincerely, but they were truly respectful of the Second Branch. They didn't harbor evil intentions. That was enough. The three of them were not really descendants of the Hai family. As long as everyone could maintain peace on the surface, there was no need for them to meddle in other matters.

She just felt that everything went smoothly at tonight's banquet, and that her years of experience as a housekeeper was still quite reliable. Even though her parents-in-law were going away for a long journey tomorrow and she had to take care of such a big home on her own, she was confident that she would not mess it up.

But she secretly felt that it would be better not to have too many such experiences: "With mom in charge at home, we don't have to worry about anything, how comfortable is that? Even when Tangtang took over, nothing went wrong. I would rather continue to help mom than be like this, worried every day, afraid that something would go wrong."

Hai Changan could guess why his stepmother had let his wife take charge of the household while he was away: "You have to learn how to be the head of the household. You can still rely on mother when you are at home, but if you separate from the family in the future, do you still expect mother to continue to help you manage the household?"

"Divide the family?" Mrs. Hu was a little panicked. "Divide what family?! Husband, are you really going back to the Chang family?!"

"Of course not." Hai Chang'an rested his head on his arm and looked up at the ceiling. "What's the point of going back? Isn't the Tuchang family in enough trouble now? I said I want to split up because I am the youngest son after all. I will not inherit the family business. One day in the future... I will split up and start my own business."

Hu was silent for a moment.