Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 1229 - 387: Joy Pulse, The Bloody Incident Caused by Stinky Tofu_2

Chapter 1229: Chapter 387: Joy Pulse, The Bloody Incident Caused by Stinky Tofu_2

The excitement lasted until evening. Just as everyone was getting ready to go home, Mo Yan had prepared a big pot of osmanthus-flavored sweet dumplings in wine sauce. The dumplings, infused with the fragrance of osmanthus and the aroma of wine, were soft, smooth, and pleasantly sweet; not only did the children enjoy them, but even Xiao Ruiyuan, who wasn’t fond of sweets, ate two large bowls.

After the big pot of osmanthus-flavored sweet dumplings was finished, Mo Yan took out the mooncake gift boxes she had brought, distributing five boxes to each family, while the remaining four were kept for her own family.

Encouraged by Mo Yan and the others, Shengsheng mustered the courage to present the little mooncake box she had made and wrapped herself. She called out crisply, "Stepmother," and carefully offered the small mooncake box to Cui Qingrou.

Cui Qingrou was initially flushed with embarrassment from the crisp call of "Stepmother," but when she saw the hope and admiration in Shengsheng’s eyes, her eyes welled up with warmth. She solemnly accepted the gift, hugged Shengsheng into her embrace, and couldn’t help giving two kisses on her little cheek.

Shengsheng touched her kissed cheek, burying her head in the fragrant and soft embrace of Cui Qingrou, smiling blissfully. She was finally certain that her stepmother liked her because her sisters would also kiss her face when they were happy, saying they would only kiss her if they liked her.

This scene moved not only the stepmother and daughter in their embrace but also everyone who witnessed it.

Cradling the Mo Family’s mooncake gift boxes, the Liu Family, Han Family, and Cui Family took their leave one after another, agreeing to regather at the Scholar Mansion after praying to the Moon God, and then to go admire the lanterns together on the Qu Shui Riverside.

However, the lantern festival was crowded and bustling, and since Fangcao was now pregnant, it was certain she couldn’t go. If Fangcao couldn’t attend, Cui Pingan would also choose not to go. The couple apologized to the father and daughter of the Mo Family with embarrassment, but the father and daughter naturally didn’t mind; even if the couple hadn’t mentioned it, they had planned to remind them.

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, Xiao Ruiyuan stayed with the Mo Family as usual. When the moon emerged over the horizon, the family took turns worshiping the Moon God and shared the seven evenly cut pieces of the large mooncakes before swiftly readying two horse-drawn carriages, waiting for everyone to gather to head straight for the Qu River.

At two moments of the Dog Hour, five carriages lined up one after the other, heading toward the Qu River.

The Mid-Autumn Festival’s temperature was more agreeable compared to the freezing Lantern Festival, making it ideal for outings. Thus, the riverside attracted an especially large crowd. The carriages had not yet approached the Qu Shui Riverside when they got stuck and couldn’t move forward.

Everyone had no choice but to dismount in a secluded area, instructing the coachmen from the Han and Cui families to watch the carriages, then struggled step by step to the teahouse that the Mo Family had reserved days ago.

"There are just too many people. How about we just stay here and not go down to watch?" Han Zhiyun, sitting by the window, looked at the dense crowd below and immediately lost all desire to stroll and enjoy the lanterns.

The Han Family children had been looking forward to this day, eager for unrestrained fun outdoors. How could they be content sitting there idly? Elder Sister Han, the eldest, was pushed forward by her siblings to plead slowly with their father, saying, "We came here specially to enjoy the lanterns. What pleasure is there in sitting here idly?"

Han Zhiyun didn’t think his daughter was being unreasonable and explained kindly, "Crowds can easily lead to chaos. Your younger siblings are still little and can’t handle being frightened. Sitting here, we can enjoy the lanterns just the same. See, the teahouse owner has even set up a stage to solve lantern riddles. Isn’t it nice to sit and watch and guess?"

Upon hearing this, Elder Sister Han looked at the almost within-reach lanterns below, glanced at her younger siblings, nodded in tacit agreement to her father’s words, and turned a blind eye to her siblings’ pleading looks.

The little ones then turned their pitiful eyes to their mother, hoping she would decide in their favor and allow them to go down and play.

Lady Han was even more concerned than her husband and would not allow them to go down. She soothed them softly, "There are too many people below, and you’re just children. It’s easy to face danger amongst the pushing and shoving. Isn’t it always like this when we go out to enjoy the lanterns?"

In the past, during lantern festivals, the couple would bring the children out to play, but just like today, they wouldn’t let them push through the crowds for fear of incidents and because it seemed undignified. They would usually have them just sit and watch the flow of people below, or at worst, let the servants go out to buy some fresh treats to keep the children content.

The Han Family’s fiesty five-year-old son spoke up in a babyish voice, "Before, we were little, and it was fine for you not to let us go. Now we’ve grown up, and you’re still treating us the same way! Brother Zhenzhen once told me that children who are overprotected are like birds without wings, and they will never fly. You’re overprotecting us, and that will prevent us from growing wings."