20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 683 Jiang Family Adopted Son
After much persuasion, Hai Xinnian was finally persuaded, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The young man was too stupid and had to be persuaded. Otherwise, with the way he kowtowed, he would probably knock his head silly before he could even show his filial piety to his godmother.

At this time, Zhao Guoyan finally understood. No wonder Hai Xinnian always carried the bedding roll with him wherever he went, treating it like a treasure. It turned out that the bedding contained a gift for his godmother.

After spending a few days together, he gradually understood the boy's character.

Hai Xinnian is not only tongue-tied, but also unsophisticated. Those words he just said are definitely not something he could say. Perhaps Hai Chaoshan had given him some instructions when he was away from home, and he had secretly memorized them by heart, which allowed him to speak them so fluently and in a pleasing way.

However, the stubborn and hard aura he showed when he kowtowed, as well as his courage to risk his life, were not false; they were truly his nature.

If you think about it carefully, you will find that you have followed your roots and are still like the Hai family in your bones.

While everyone was amazed, Hai Xinnian had already picked out the gifts one by one and presented them to Hu Xiaoyan.

Fungus, pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. are all common mountain products. A small bag of each is not too much, nor too little, and it is always a token of the heart.

Finally, he took out a red cloth bag with extremely careful movements. Probably the finest of the items, he opened it carefully and found three items inside.

Hai Xinnian handed them over one by one and said, "Godmother, this is sable fur material. My family carefully selected it. I'm giving it to you."

Hu Xiaoyan took it in a daze, and touched it. The texture was thick and soft, and the color was moist and shiny. It was indeed the best leather. But there were too few of them. There were only five pieces in total. It was not enough to make a waistcoat for Jiang Ya. At most, she could only make a hat or a shawl.

The gift may be insignificant, but the sentiment is profound.

Hu Xiaoyan nodded with a smile and carefully placed the mink fur on the table.

When he was about to make some polite greetings, he looked up and only caught a glimpse of the back of Hai Xinnian's head.

Hu Xiaoyan couldn't help but burst out laughing. She said nothing more and just watched him busying himself.

"Godmother——"

Hai Xinnian suddenly turned around, holding two flat paper boxes in his hands, and handed them over one by one, saying, "This is the wild ginseng that my family happened to dig up when we were hunting in the autumn. They said it was the first-class seedling of the 'Dengtaizi' variety. I don't quite understand it, but it's a gift to you anyway."

Since ginseng is the "king of herbs", it is naturally divided into grades: from low to high, with sixth-grade leaves ranking the top.

The so-called thousand-year-old ginseng is probably only found in books.

Under normal circumstances, wild ginseng that can grow for twenty years is considered top quality and can only be purchased by wealthy people; ginseng that is over sixty years old is only available to the wealthy; and if there is really old ginseng that is over a hundred years old, it is extremely expensive and in short supply, and it is said that "all under heaven belongs to the king", and only royal relatives and nobles are worthy of enjoying it.

"Dengtaizi" refers to the third-grade leaves, which are four or five years old at most. The roots are only as thick as the wick, so it cannot be said to be very valuable.

Hu Xiaoyan is weak, so she always keeps wild ginseng as a medicinal herb at home.

In this way, the wild ginseng that Hai Xinnian gave was really not good enough. Even Jiang Ya couldn't help but muttered in a low voice when she saw it: "It's too small."

"Jiang Ya, you're so rude!" Hu Xiaoyan scolded softly.

Fortunately, Hai Xinnian didn't hear anything at all. He immediately handed the last gift box to his godmother and said, "This is a talisman made at home. I wish you a long life!"

"amulet?"

Everyone was stunned and looked down hurriedly, only to see a milky white animal tooth lying in the flat gift box. It was shaped like a sharp knife, with a layer of silver wrapped at the base. It was the size of a fingernail, with several fine patterns embossed on it, strung with a black rope, and dotted with several colored beads. Although it was not precious, it looked exceptionally delicate.

Hai Xinnian explained: "This is a tiger tooth. It can bring good luck and avoid bad luck. Wearing it usually will bring peace and safety."

"Tiger fangs?" Jiang Ya immediately became interested. "Tiger fangs?"

Hai Xinnian was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Zhao Guoyan. After learning that this person was the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, he nodded and said, "Yes, it's a tiger's tooth."

"Let me see, let me see!" Jiang Ya snatched it away, touched it carefully, and said in surprise, "You can kill a tiger?"

"Uh...I didn't kill him, it was my father."

"Is your dad so powerful?"

"He didn't go alone, he brought an armed team of more than a dozen people!" Hai Xinnian explained in a low voice, "I was still young at that time, and my eldest brother told me that one winter, a tiger came down the mountain and took away two children. My father led people to search the mountain and hunt, sold the tiger skin, plucked the tiger fangs, and gave the tiger penis to Master Shen to soak in wine!"

"What is a tiger whip?" Jiang Ya asked innocently.

"Oh, tiger whip is from a tiger..."

"That's enough, that's enough!" Zhao Guoyan interrupted quickly, "Hainannian, please be more tactful when you speak. She's a little girl, stop talking nonsense!"

Hai Xinnian stopped talking, turned around and tied up his bedding, suddenly feeling a little bored.

Before leaving home, he had fulfilled all of his father's instructions. He didn't know what would happen next, but he just continued to put his father's admonitions into practice - talk less and do more.

Seeing that he hadn't said anything for a long time, Hu Xiaoyan smiled and asked, "Are you done with everything?"

"Ah, I'm done!" Hai Xinnian asked blankly, "What instructions does godmother have?"

Hu Xiaoyan shook her head and said, "Nothing special. Your name is Hai Xinnian?"

"Yes, my name is Hai Xinnian."

"how old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"How many people are in the family?"

"My father, my sister, and my three brothers make up six of us, including me," Hai Xinnian said. "My mother died early, so I never met her before, but I met her today."

Zhao Guoyan shook his head after hearing this and couldn't help but sigh: "What are you talking about, kid!"

Hai Xinnian was stunned, but he didn't realize there was anything wrong with what he said. He quickly emphasized, "What I mean is that my godmother will be my biological mother from now on, and I will be her biological son from now on. I will take care of her in her old age and obey her orders!"

Hearing this, Zhao Guoyan glared at him and signaled the boy to shut up.

There is a saying: Without the tempering of life, it is difficult to smooth out the edges of your body.

Obviously, these words were well-intentioned and expressed loyalty, but they still lacked consideration and were not quite appropriate.

Of course, there is no reason to argue with the first half of the sentence. Treating the godmother as the biological mother is the responsibility of the adopted son.

But the second half of the sentence, treating the adopted son as her own, could only be said by Hu Xiaoyan, and it was not Hai Xinnian's turn to speak.

When he said it out loud, it seemed like he was flattering himself, and it even seemed like he was forcing the Jiang family to promote him.

If it were any other combination of words, if he had talked about the rules and been serious about it, and had immediately retorted, calling him a "bastard who is taking advantage of others", how would the situation have ended?

The plan of visiting relatives and friends will probably fail on the spot.

If they met a difficult master, they would probably punish him and teach him a lesson before they would stop. Fortunately, Hu Xiaoyan was not Zhou Yunfu. After hearing this, she just waved her hand and said, "He is just a young boy. He has never practiced on the streets. Don't make a fuss. At his age, if he is too slick, he will not be welcomed."

Zhao Guoyan nodded and said, "It still needs some grinding."

Hu Xiaoyan smiled and didn't take it too seriously. Instead, she looked at Hai Xinnian carefully.

The boy looks quite thin but has strong arms. He is not short anymore and will probably grow taller in the future. He has a chubby appearance. His forehead is broad, his ears are big and his mouth is square. His nose is straight and his nose is full. He has a pair of tiger-like eyes, clearly black and white. His shoulders are flat and broad, as if he could carry the sun and the moon. His whole body, from the inside out, exudes a masculine and tough look.

Since ancient times, there has been no ugly appearance for men. It all depends on the spirit and energy in their bones.

No matter how good-looking a man is, once he behaves in a feminine manner and speaks and acts in a vulgar way, his masculinity will be gone. No matter how you look at it, he is just born in vain with a good-looking appearance.

Although Hai Xinnian is dull and naive, and far from being handsome, his words and actions fully reveal his masculine bearing and manly demeanor.

If you really want to find fault with him, it's probably because he's not that cunning. After all, he's just a teenager.

It was the first time Hu Xiaoyan saw this boy. Although she couldn't say that she liked him very much, she did have some attraction to him.

At first, she thought that Hai Xinnian was the bastard that Jiang Lianheng left behind. But when she saw him today, she realized that the ages didn't match, so she gradually relaxed and raised her hand to call him over.

The two became close, one was destined to be childless, the other had lost a mother since childhood, and that's how they came together.

"Very good. I won't be polite with you. I'll take all these things." Hu Xiaoyan said as she picked up the red envelope that had been prepared on the table. "This is your first time here. I can't let you call me 'godmother' for nothing. Take it!"

"Thank you godmother!"

Hai Xinnian did not hesitate and took the red envelope immediately. However, when he weighed it in his hand, he suddenly felt a little guilty. He opened it on the spot and took a look inside. Not only did he want to look at it, he also stood there and counted it. I don't know what he was planning.

Zhao Guoyan cleared his throat and reminded in a low voice: "Go back to the room and check it yourself."

Unexpectedly, halfway through the search, Hai Xinnian suddenly looked up, widened his eyes, and said, "Godmother, this is too much, I can't take it!"

Hu Xiaoyan waved her hand and said with a smile: "Just take it if it's given to you!"

"How can this be possible?" Hai Xinnian quickly shook his head and said, "It's too much, and I haven't done any work yet!"

"What kind of work?"

"I can do any job, godmother, just give orders. The Jiang family doesn't eat for free during the New Year. If my father knew about this, he would probably kill me."

Hai Xinnian insisted on not accepting it, and said: "If my godmother loves me, she can just give me a few cents. If she gives too much, I will feel uneasy."

"Then I'll keep it for you!" Jiang Ya walked over with a smile.

Hu Xiaoyan hurriedly pulled her daughter back and gently scolded her, "Tsk, you're everywhere!"

Unexpectedly, Hai Xinnian actually pretended to hand the red envelope to Jiang Ya.

Now, even Zhang Zhengdong advised him, "Just take it if it's given to you, don't tear it apart."

Hai Xinnian was still a little embarrassed. He held the red envelope, hesitant, and finally pointed at Zhao Guoyan and said, "He told me that the Jiang family doesn't support idle people. How can I accept this money?"

Zhao Guoyan shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Boy, these are two different things."

Seeing this, Hu Xiaoyan couldn't help but think of Hai Chaoshan mentioned by Jiang Lianheng. It seemed that he also had the same straightforward personality. It's not that he didn't know how to adapt, but that he was unwilling to adapt.

After thinking carefully, he said, "New Year, Guo Yan is right, the Jiang family really doesn't support idle people, come and pour me a cup of tea!"

"That's no problem!" Hai Xinnian readily agreed, put the red envelope on the table, immediately poured a cup of new tea for Hu Xiaoyan, knelt down and offered it to her, "Godmother, have some tea!"

Hu Xiaoyan took the tea bowl, took a sip, and then stuffed the red envelope into Hai Xinnian's hand.

"Now that the work is done, you can keep the money!"

Hai Xinnian was stunned and said in confusion: "This... I just poured a cup of tea, it's nothing."

Hu Xiaoyan put away her smile and changed her tone to one that could not be refused. She said, "Xinnian, I heard from your godfather that your Hai family is principled and responsible. That's good, otherwise your godfather would not recognize you. But everything is too much, too rigid, and it is inhumane. Don't forget, when I asked you to accept it, it was also an order, and you can't refuse it."

Hai Xinnian seemed to have an epiphany. After thinking for a while, he finally nodded and said, "Godmother, I understand. From now on, no matter what you say, Xinnian will do it without hesitation!"

"That's good!" Hu Xiaoyan smiled again, turned around and asked Zhao Guoyan, "Have you taught him all the rules of the family?"

Zhao Guoyan said: "I have probably taught them all, but some of the rules are not very memorable. I will have to practice them in real life in the future."

Hu Xiaoyan responded, "You've been working hard recently. Take a good rest these few days. If anything goes wrong in the sand and gravel plant, you'll be there to help."

"of course."

"Let's have a simple meal today, and then when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, everyone will be together and we can have a good gathering."

Hu Xiaoyan continued to instruct, "By the way, tomorrow you should go to Fengji with Xinnian and buy a few outfits, a long gown, a short jacket, and a western suit. Since the Jiang family has adopted him as their adopted son, he can't be shabby when he goes out. Take him around the city more often to get familiar with him first."

Zhao Guoyan nodded without any hesitation.

Hai Xinnian followed suit and didn't dare to make any excuses anymore.

"Okay, I have a headache today, you all go down first!" Hu Xiaoyan said lazily, "Dongfeng, you take Xinnian to meet Dagu and Xiaohua, and we'll talk about the two in the outer house when we have a chance. By the way, let Song Ma come up and put away the things."

"Sister-in-law, which house will we live in after the New Year?" Zhang Zhengdong asked.

"Let him live in Xifeng's room first!" Hu Xiaoyan waved her hand, "Also, take him to get familiar with the rules of the house."

Zhao Guoyan and Zhang Zhengdong did not dare to delay and immediately led Hai Xinnian out of the study and took him to see the eldest aunt and Aunt Hua.

Hai Xinnian met the Jiang family, young and old, one by one. Wherever he went, there were clanging noises. After he recognized everyone, Dongfeng led him to the room where Xifeng used to live and carefully emphasized the rules of the Jiang family to him again.

All in all, you can learn other rules slowly, but there are only two iron laws that must be followed:
First, you cannot talk about Jiang family mistress Hu Xiaoyan with outsiders; second, no matter what troubles there are at home, you must avoid the old and two children, and only report good news but not bad news.

Hai Xinnian engraved these two iron rules into his bones, constantly reflected on himself, and dared not make the slightest mistake.

As they were talking, the aroma of food gradually wafted from the corridor.

Before long, a lively conversation could be heard in the living room.

"Is my godfather back?" Hai Xinnian asked subconsciously.

Zhang Zhengdong shook his head, stood up and said, "It should be your fourth uncle who has returned. Let's go out and meet him!"

Hai Xinnian did not dare to delay and hurriedly followed Dongfeng out of the room. He looked towards the entrance and saw Zhao Zhengbei, wearing a neat military uniform, striding into the room.

"Hey, Brother Dong!" Bei Feng laughed loudly, "Is this kid our brother's godson?"

(End of this chapter)