NFBE Chapter 210 Silver Comb
Chapter 210 Silver Comb
After the family finished breakfast, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi, along with their two children and the New Year's gifts for the elders, headed towards the old house. In previous years, they had always eaten their New Year's Eve dinner here, but this year they had already decided to have lunch here and eat their New Year's Eve dinner at their own home.
With the Spring Festival approaching, everyone's face was beaming with joy. They gathered in twos and threes, discussing their New Year's preparations. Seeing Zhang Youtie's family carrying pork, baskets overflowing with food, and their two children carrying boxes of pastries, it was clear they were on their way to the old house to deliver New Year's gifts. Someone jokingly asked loudly...
"Third Brother, what good stuff did you bring? Let us see it for ourselves."
"I don't know what's in it either, it's all good stuff that your sister-in-law prepared."
"My mother specially bought soft pastries in the county town, and also bought silk fabric for my grandparents. My mother even bought silverware for my grandmother." How could Xia Yu not seize the opportunity to promote her mother's good reputation for filial piety?
Sure enough, everyone present praised Liu for her virtue and filial piety after hearing Xia Yu's long speech. They continued discussing it even after the family had walked away.
"Grandpa, Grandma, we're here!" Chang Yun's voice preceded their arrival, calling out from afar.
Upon hearing Changyun's voice, Changyuan was the first to run out of the house.
"Second brother, you're here! Come to my room, I have something good to show you." As she spoke, she pulled Changyun, wanting to bring him into their room.
"You child, you're so old and still so clumsy, you don't even know how to greet people. Don't you see your third uncle and aunt?" Wang's voice came from far behind.
"Third brother, third sister-in-law are here." He said, stepping forward to take the basket from Liu's hands.
At this moment, Zhang Youjin, Zhang Youyin, and Zhang Chengwen, who were chatting with their parents on the upper floor, also lifted the curtain and came out. Knowing that it was the third son's family who had come to deliver holiday gifts to their parents, they all stepped forward to help carry the things.
Upon entering the house, Grandpa Zhang was sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) smoking, while Grandma Zhang and Qinghe were tidying up the things in the kang cabinet.
"Third brother's here!" Old Master Zhang asked the same question he always asked when he saw the family enter the house. After speaking, he noticed the things the three brothers were carrying and couldn't help but say, "Why did you bring so much stuff? Although you've made some money this year, you still have dozens of people to support, so you need to be frugal with your daily expenses. Your mother and I don't need anything. We just came to see what was going on, that's enough. You didn't need to prepare so much."
Liu noticed the things the three brothers were carrying when they came in behind her. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the old man finish saying what she wanted to say, so she moved her lips a few times and then closed them again.
"Grandpa, please don't mention my father. These things were all carefully selected by my parents. My mother said that in previous years we were not well-off and didn't have enough money to properly take care of you and Grandma. This year we have some extra money, and we'd rather not use it ourselves than let you and Grandma suffer." Xia Yu stood beside his parents, expressing their unspoken filial piety. After speaking, he lifted the basket on the table, took out the two pieces of silk, and presented them to Liu Shi.
"Grandma, look, this is the fabric my mother specially picked out for you and Grandpa. Do you like the pattern?"
When Liu saw the fabric Xia Yu had placed in front of her, she reached out and touched it. The smooth, cool texture made her pick it up and examine it closely. It was satin. She liked it, but still couldn't help saying, "Your father and I are so old, we don't need such fine fabric. Isn't this a waste of money?"
Knowing her mother-in-law's temperament, Liu smiled and said, "Normally I wouldn't buy such expensive fabric. But I'm thinking that when my fourth brother passes the imperial examination next year, many of his classmates and friends will come to congratulate him. It's only right that we, as parents, should make nice clothes for our guests."
Liu's words were so sweet that Liu, who usually put on a stern face and acted authoritative in front of her daughter-in-law, couldn't help but grin. Liu, of course, noticed Liu's happiness and took out a brocade box from under the basket.
"Mother, this is something that You Tie and I specially picked out. Do you like it?" As she spoke, she opened the brocade box and presented it to Liu.
Looking down, Liu saw a gleaming silver comb with an openwork auspicious cloud pattern lying in a red brocade box. She couldn't resist taking it out and examining it closely. Actually, her family had given her a silver comb as part of her dowry when she married, but she had sold it to pay for it when she ran into financial difficulties. Since then, she had always used a peach wood comb. She never expected her third daughter-in-law to think of giving her this. She said she and her third son had chosen it together, but she didn't even know her own son; how could they possibly understand such things?
"Yes, I like it very much. It's kind of you to put in the effort." For the first time ever, Madam Liu stopped putting on airs and admitted that she liked the comb.
"I'm glad you like it, Mother. Let me put it in your hair." Madam Liu said with a smile.
"Can you help me plug it in?" Liu nodded in response.
Liu gently helped her mother-in-law remove the wooden comb from her hair, combed her hair back together, and then put on a silver comb.
"Old man, look at the new comb your daughter-in-law bought me." Liu touched the comb in her hair and then turned to her husband, who was talking to his sons.
Hearing his wife speak so kindly, which was rare for her, Old Master Zhang was very accommodating. He looked at it carefully for a couple of seconds before nodding and praising, "It's beautiful. Changyun's mother has good taste. This pattern suits your mother very well." After looking at it for a couple more seconds, he asked, "I remember you also had a silver comb when they were young. Why haven't I seen you use it all these years?"
“Dad, have you forgotten? One year during the conscription period, Mom traded that comb for silver to buy a head.” Zhang Youjin remembered this incident very clearly. That time, only his fourth brother was not on the conscription list; all four of them were.
"Oh, yes, that's right." Only after his son's reminder did the old man remember the incident. He was short of money at the time, and was even considering selling land. It was his wife who sold the silver comb to raise enough money for the four of them. Luckily, the soldiers who were conscripted didn't encounter any war and returned after two years of service. Many villagers laughed at them for wasting so much money. Perhaps deep down he felt a little regret, which is why he deliberately forgot about it.
Suddenly he felt a pang of guilt towards his wife; she had sold her dowry, and he had completely forgotten about it.
Xia Yu and Liu Shi didn't take out any more gifts. Except for the food, which was displayed, they left the other items in the baskets and crates to Liu Shi to put away herself.
The silver comb from Liu's family truly touched Liu's heart, and the atmosphere among them became very harmonious, with Liu's face beaming with smiles. Xia Yu couldn't help but give Liu a thumbs up in her heart; gift-giving is indeed an art. Her mother must have remembered the conscription, which was why she deliberately gave her grandmother a comb.