The children in the household were not accustomed to staying up late; they generally went to bed quite early, around eight o'clock in the evening, they would be fast asleep. Therefore, the younger children were the first to feel the strain of staying awake. Xiao Yue, Lin Mai, and Hu Yuzhen had already taken the children back to the neighboring house.
Chunni, from Chen Lan's household, had also taken her three younger sisters back to their respective rooms to rest. Jia Yao and Jia Xing, leaning on Chen Lan's shoulders, their little heads nodding with sleepiness, were already dozing off. As for the youngest, Jia He, he had already fallen fast asleep and was carried back to his and Jia Xing's room by his father.
The mother-in-law, holding Jia Yao's hand, took him back to her room. The elder mother also quickly took the drowsy Jia Xing to his room to rest.
After eating the "New Year's Eve dumplings," Chen Lan went upstairs with her mother-in-law and elder mother to rest. San Mei's aunt and her two daughters also returned to the neighboring house to rest. Xu Mingxuan, along with his brother Xiang Dong and Er Hu's brothers, stayed up to see the New Year in.
Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Lan was awakened by the continuous sound of firecrackers from the valley. It truly was a grand opening to the New Year, a "full house of red," which also echoed the famous poet Wang Anshi's lines: "Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, the year departs; the spring breeze, warming, enters the Tusup wine. A thousand doors and ten thousand households, bathed in the dawn's glow, all exchange new peach wood charms for the old."
While Chen Lan was still lingering in bed, she heard bursts of laughter and playful noise from the living room downstairs. The children were paying their respects to the elders in the family, and the elders were giving them lucky money.
She didn't see Xu Mingxuan and wondered if he and the others who stayed up had managed to get even a moment's rest before dawn.
Chen Lan stopped lingering in bed and quickly got up to wash herself. She was afraid of waking up too late and being playfully cornered by the children in bed. Moreover, she also needed to get up quickly to pay her respects to the elders in the household; the children and adults from the valley would soon be coming to their home to pay their respects as well.
The gifts she had brought back for Qian Yingzi, Chen Dasao, Sun Xiaomei, Liu Man'er, and the group of good sisters from her trip to Suifenhe had not yet been given to them. Thus, Chen Lan dressed herself from head to toe in new clothes and went downstairs. It was the New Year, after all, and she wanted to present a fresh appearance.
As expected, as soon as Chen Lan went downstairs, she paid her respects to her mother-in-law, elder mother, Liu Mama, Cui Mama, and San Mei's aunt, and gave each of them a large red envelope.
Qian Yingzi, Sun Xiaomei, and a large group of Chen Lan's good sisters soon arrived at the house to pay their respects. After they had paid their respects to the elders and received their lucky money, Chen Lan led them to sit on the sofas by the window to choose from the purple gold jewelry and the "Lover's Eye" earrings designed by Peter Anchilov, which she had brought back from Vladivostok.
Chen Lan had expected that most of them would choose the "Lover's Eye" earrings designed by Peter Anchilov. However, most of them opted for the purple gold earrings or bracelets. Only Sun Hongmei and Liu Man'er chose the jewelry designed by Peter Anchilov. Sun Xiaomei selected a pendant in the shape of a Russian crown inlaid with pearls and emeralds, saying it would be a treasure for her daughter Bao Mei in the future.
Liu Man'er chose a pair of "Lover's Eye" earrings inlaid with sapphires for her daughter Hehua.
Chen Lan couldn't help but look upon Sun Xiaomei and Liu Man'er with even more admiration. She then praised them in a low voice, "Sister Xiaomei, Sister Man'er, you two have the best taste. These things might look beautiful now and aren't entirely pure gold, but once the person who designed these pendants and earrings is gone, your items will be worth a fortune. Keep them well for your Bao Mei and Hehua; they might be worth a large house in the future and can even be passed down as heirlooms."
As soon as Chen Lan finished speaking, Sun Xiaomei and Liu Man'er were stunned. They stammered, "Xiao Lan, this is too precious; we can't accept it."
Chen Lan immediately explained, "Don't be nervous, the two of you. I'm saying that in the future, decades from now, they might be worth a large house, not now. Why won't you accept them? Stop dawdling and take them and keep them safe."
Chen Lan noticed Qian Yingzi pick up a pair of purple gold earrings, look at them, and then put them down. She then picked up another pair, looked at them, and put them down again. Feeling curious, she pointed at the "Lover's Eye" earrings and asked Qian Yingzi, "Sister Yingzi, why don't you choose those earrings? Look, they're so beautiful!"
Qian Yingzi chuckled and replied, "We are simple country folk; we only know that gold and silver are valuable. These things are beautiful, yes, but in the future, for the wives of our Gangdan and Tiedan, I'm afraid they'll disdain them for not being real gold or silver."
Chen Lan's mouth fell open in astonishment. How had she not considered this? She immediately explained, "Sister Yingzi, don't look at it as not being real gold or silver. The money spent buying it was much more than for real gold or silver jewelry. Look, just the craftsmanship alone, it's not comparable to gold jewelry..."
At this moment, the elder mother came over and sat beside Chen Lan, patting her hand. Chen Lan immediately stopped talking and didn't try to persuade her further. In the end, Qian Yingzi still chose a pair of purple gold earrings inlaid with rubies.
The first day passed quickly amidst the liveliness. The second day was for Mingwei, the married daughter, to visit her maternal home. Although both families lived in the valley and the in-laws' and maternal families were not far apart, it was still inconvenient for Mingwei, as a married daughter, to return home frequently.
Early in the morning, the mother-in-law and Cui Mama were busy. The mother-in-law came to find Chen Lan to prepare the seafood from New Year's Eve again because her daughter hadn't had any. Chen Lan also understood the feelings of a mother. Although the valley allocated grain and ingredients per person, Mingwei's in-laws' conditions were still much worse than their own.
Chen Lan agreed to her mother-in-law's request without hesitation. She immediately went to the kitchen and ordered fresh prawns, abalone, oysters, and large crabs from the system. After all, the children and Xu Mingxuan loved to eat them. She also took out bags of Vika sausages and frozen fish that were stored in the system's warehouse.
The mother-in-law pointed at the pile of frozen fish and sausages in the kitchen and said, "Xiao Lan, you've bought too much this time. How can we finish all of this?"
Chen Lan knew her mother-in-law had misunderstood. She quickly explained, "Mother-in-law, these sausages and frozen fish were specifically brought back from the Soviet Union for everyone in the valley to try. I don't know what's been happening to me lately, my memory has become very bad. I left the items with Father and forgot about them. I just remembered now. Anyway, our boys are full of energy and feel restless at home. You can have them divide them according to the number of people in each family and then have them delivered to each household."
The mother-in-law smiled and said, "That would be wonderful. I'll go and call Mingzhe over to be in charge of this matter."