The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 784 - 773: Night Vigil

Chapter 784: Chapter 773: Night Vigil

Old Zhou’s expression paused for a moment as he touched the red bead on his belt and asked, "These are all fake? How can they look so nice even though they’re fake?"

"The craftsmanship is good," Manbao, afraid her dad might feel bad, hurriedly said, "They were really cheap when I bought them, so Dad, you can use them however you like."

Old Zhou touched his belt back and forth for quite a while, shaking his head and said, "Even though it’s fake, this thing makes me nervous, better not to take it out. Just enjoy it at home."

Manbao then took out a string of beads from her bundle and gave it to him, "It’s okay, I also think this belt is too eye-catching. You should wear this instead."

Old Zhou hadn’t expected to receive bead bracelets, and even though he had never seen men wearing such things, he was thrilled, for they were gifts from his daughter, weren’t they?

Little did he know that Manbao had given bead bracelets to her brothers as well, only the colors and styles of the beads varied.

Zhou Dalang and the others examined their colorful bead bracelets over and over but couldn’t figure out what they were made of. They asked, "These things, they look like iron but aren’t, they look like stone but aren’t, and the colors are so various, what are they made from?"

Manbao touched them and said, "I don’t know, but they should be stones, just not sure what kind. Anyway, as long as they look nice, that’s enough."

That was a good point, so Zhou Dalang and the others didn’t ponder it further, they put on the bead bracelets, and soon discovered there were quite a few more in the bundle. They asked, "These are for...?"

"For Datou and the others."

If she had prepared them for her mother and sisters-in-law, and Dad and her brothers became jealous, then if she prepared them for Daya and the others, wouldn’t Datou and his group become jealous too?

So it was better to simply buy a bunch all at once.

Manbao generously waved her hand and said, "I bought them in bulk, they were very cheap."

Old Zhou couldn’t help but exclaim, "It seems that people outside are very skilled, to be able to dye stones so beautifully. But why are these things for men to wear?"

Zhou Dalang also asked Zhou Silang, "Do men in Yizhou City like to wear bead bracelets?"

Zhou Silang himself was doubtful, "I’ve mostly seen laborers like us, how would they get any work done wearing these things? Maybe it’s something that rich families’ masters and young masters like to wear?"

"Haven’t seen Old Master Bai or Young Master Bai wearing them either, have we?"

"Oh, Old Master Bai’s sleeves are so wide, even if he wore them we wouldn’t be able to see. As for Young Master Bai, he’s still wading in the river catching loaches, how could he wear something like that?"

Thinking it over, they all agreed, and so they stopped fussing over it, slipping the bead bracelets onto their wrists and admiring them, chuckling, "You know, they actually do look quite nice."

Junior Ms. Qian and the others also thought they looked very nice.

As dusk approached and Datou and the others had had their fill of play and returned home for the New Year’s Eve vigil, they received a gift, which brought another flurry of excitement.

Daya and Erya dragged Manbao and Sanya into her room, carrying a bronze mirror to style each other’s hair.

Zhou Lijun said, "I’ve learned several hairstyles, I’ll do yours."

Daya, envious, said, "Teach me."

"Sure."

To teach hairstyling, someone needed to sit and serve as a model. Sanya was too young, her hair neither long nor lush enough, so Manbao was pulled to the chair to sit down.

Zhou Lijun combed Manbao’s hair and said, "Young mistress, your hair is truly lovely."

Glossy black, straight and smooth, it slipped through the fingers when cupped in the hand. Daya also enviously said, "My mother tells me to care for my hair, but how do you nurture it?"

After some thought, Manbao said, "Wait, I’ll look it up in the medical books later, and when I find out, I’ll tell you."

Daya smiled and pressed her lips together, "Okay."

The four young ladies discussed hairstyling together, inserting the hairpins and beads they had just obtained into their hair and putting on earrings. Then, they changed into new clothes and ran to the main hall to show everyone.

The room immediately filled with lively excitement.

Ms. Qian pulled Manbao in front of her, eyes brimming with satisfaction, "Our Manbao has grown up."

Old Zhou nodded in firm agreement, then after the vigil, he only slept for three hours before waking up. It was still dark outside, but the roosters had already crowed.

In past years, someone from Zhou’s family would also be up, but the first day of the new year was special, and nobody would usually get up so early.

So when Ms. Qian heard some noise, she looked up at him and saw he had taken out that shiny belt, she couldn’t help but sigh, "You still haven’t had enough of it last night, even though I told you it’s fake."

"If it weren’t fake, how much money would that have cost? The fake one is also Manbao’s filial piety."

Ms. Qian snorted and did not speak.

Old Zhou then took the belt to the bed’s edge, whispering, "I was thinking of putting this thing in a box, and we could bury it in Two’s grave, as a present from Manbao. How about that?"

Ms. Qian paused for a second before saying, "Can’t you bury something better? These things are all for show and no utility. You could at least give him a silver amulet instead of burying a broken belt."

"It’s not the same, this is a gift from Manbao, my own silver amulet isn’t her filial piety, and besides, who buries silver in a grave? Isn’t that..." profligate?

Money is useful for the living, what use is it to the dead?

As he spoke, Old Zhou had already taken out a box and gently folded the belt and placed it inside, saying, "Today, I will take Manbao to the gravesite, and she’ll give Two a few extra bows. I’ll also tell Two, Manbao is becoming more and more admirable, so he and his sister-in-law should watch over and bless Manbao from below."

Ms. Qian uttered a soft response and, unable to sleep any longer, got up and said, "We’re having a better year than before, so make sure to burn more paper money for Dad and Mom."

"Don’t worry, I’ve had Dalang buy it in advance, and I won’t shortchange what our parents need."

They didn’t have money when they were alive, but now that they had passed, it was possible to give a little more.

Due to the vigil, Manbao managed to sleep in, only to be awakened by knocking. She got up and saw that Datou and the others had been woken up as well.

All the men of the household must go for the ancestral rites on New Year’s Day.

As for the girls, it seems that only Manbao from the Zhou family usually accompanied them, as it had always been that way since she was young, Manbao had never found it odd. But after visiting Yizhou City this time and meeting more people, Manbao learned that in some places, girls weren’t allowed to go for ancestral rites on the first day of the new year.

While washing her face, she looked around and asked her sister-in-law who was busy at the stove, "Sister-in-law, where are Daya and the others?"

"They haven’t gotten up yet, they went to bed late last night, probably won’t get up until the sun is out."

Manbao couldn’t help but mutter, "Why don’t they go for the ancestral rites?"

Junior Ms. Qian paused for a moment before turning back to smile at her, "They are the younger generation; you’re an elder, that’s why you must go. When you’re there, bow a few extra times on their behalf, let the ancestors bless them with a good husband in the future, you understand?"

Manbao agreed and after wringing the towel said, "Better to pray for their health and safety, and a prosperous future, and to earn lots and lots of money later on."

Junior Ms. Qian’s face broke into a smile, "Okay."

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