Transmigration: I Have Storage Space in the Apocalypse
Chapter 631 - 627 Little Ya Finds a Backer [Please Bookmark+]

Chapter 631: Chapter 627 Little Ya Finds a Backer [Please Bookmark+]

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Once all the preparations for the New Year were completed, Xie Jingchen then let the children go take their baths in preparation for the celebration.

The hot water had been ready since early, and the new clothes were given to each child a couple of days before; today, each of the Xie Family’s sons and nephews had two sets of clothes for the New Year.

One set was made early on by Xie Jingzi under the orders of her parents, and the other was prepared jointly by Yan Jinsu and Xie Jingzi, with Yan Jinsu providing the fabric and Xie Jingzi the labor.

Before making them, Yan Jinsu had even asked Xie Jingzi to write a letter to their hometown, requesting their eldest and fourth brothers to send the latest measurements of the children.

Since there was plenty of time at that moment—four months before the New Year—the clothes were made slightly larger. Now that they tried them on, the fit was just right.

The only exception was Xiao Ba’s clothes, which appeared a bit too large; this was because his measurements were based on Xiao Jiu’s. Zhou Xiuhua casually remarked that it’s better for them to be bigger than smaller. If they’re too small, you can’t wear them at all, while being too big, you can still make do.

Despite having many children, the older ones were able to help the younger ones bathe, and the boys bathed quickly. They lined up in turn to take their ’Lucky Bath’ with fresh mandarin peel and then showed off their new clothes to each other.

Xie Jinghong and Zhou Xiuhua only needed to help the youngest, Xiao Wu and Xiaoqi, with their baths.

As for Xiao Ba, Lin Caixia had taken him home for a bath before Yan Jinsu and the others returned. This child was so young that he wouldn’t be walking if it weren’t for Xiaojiu. Now that he could walk, he was still too shy to let go, being the most well-behaved among all the children.

With Xiaojiu and Xiao Shi, having Xie Jingchen, their own father, around, there was no need for others to trouble themselves; in less than half an hour, each was washed clean and out of the bath.

On New Year’s Eve, the Xie Family’s long-missed literary examination reappeared, with the main examiner, of course, being Uncle Xie Jingchen.

Starting with the oldest, Xiao Yi, they each presented a summary report of their learning over the past year, followed by social interactions, and in the end, even discussed future prospects.

Yan Jinsu had originally thought the Xie Family was quite ’forward-thinking,’ but now, seeing how her husband drilled their sons and nephews, she realized that it was precisely because of Xie Jingchen’s advanced approach to education that the children were more mature and sensible than their peers.

Oh boy, Xie Jingchen is just short of replacing the examination questions for his military subordinates with a rough outline and posing them to the sons and nephews!

From Xiao Yi to Xiaoqi, only Xiao Wu had stayed in the countryside without attending school. Xiao Liu and Xiao San followed Xie Jinggang and his wife to the town, Lin Caixia had to look after Xiao Ba, so Xiao Liu was also enrolled in the childcare center.

Of course, the childcare center that Xiao Liu attended was quite different from the formal kindergarten attended by Xiao Si and Xiaoqi.

The former only provided care, while the latter also included educational teachings.

Fortunately, having already developed good habits in the countryside, and with Xiao San’s guidance, Xiao Liu, although not as advanced as Xiao Si and Xiaoqi, was not far behind, and the whole family was harmoniously comparing literary skills.

By five-thirty in the afternoon, the Xie Family’s New Year’s Eve feast was ready.

It was really too cold outside; whether for the pregnant women or the children, eating outdoors would be a hardship and the food would cool down even faster. It was better to squeeze a bit and arrange both tables inside the main hall.

Thankfully, by moving the furniture to one side, there was enough space in the main hall.

After the meal, which wasn’t even past six o’clock, it was time for the eagerly-awaited fireworks display—this was what the children most looked forward to. Xie Jingchen had previously pulled some strings to get a lot of fireworks. Not only enough for New Year’s but also all that were needed for the sixth day of the new year.

He even specially detached several strings of firecrackers for Xiao Yi to supervise the younger ones playing.

As for those younger than Xiao Wu, they were not to join in. Xiao Liu was not pleased, and with eyes full of longing, he followed Xiao San, looking ready to cry if he wasn’t allowed to join.

Eventually, Xiao Si, unable to watch anymore, took Xiao Liu aside, made sure he promised to behave, and received an obedient nod from him. Only then could he join a few older cousins and a group of village children. They took advantage of the remaining daylight to set off a clamor of firecrackers together.

Seeing Xiao Si and the others had run off, Xiaojiu and Xiao Shi were no longer merry. Fortunately, Xiao Wu and Xiaoqi were still there, sparing them from actually bursting into tears.

Once the children left, the Xie Family’s home became much quieter.

The remaining women, led by Zhou Xiuhua, took out the card game Six Tigers. Forming mother-daughter teams, they faced off against the daughters-in-law of varying ages, and a spirited game ensued.

Yan Jinsu lacked energy, just sitting to the side watching the children, occasionally glancing over at the ongoing battle on the in-laws’ side.

As for the men, Mr. Xie wasn’t fond of card games, and since he rarely enjoyed liquor, he was content with sipping his drink and nibbling on the crispy, salted peanuts by the table, casually watching his sons play the local card game ’Fighting the Landlord’ [The author knew this game since childhood, unsure if it’s local, and can’t verify].

The Xie brothers were particularly keen on this game; it could be played with three or four people.

Xie Jingchen, seeing his little wife with several children and feeling worried, didn’t join in the fun. Instead, he sat beside her, occasionally using toys to entertain the children and casually wrapping his big hand around his wife’s slender waist, allowing her weight to rest on him.

As for whether his actions were too inappropriate... The Xie Family members felt that Xie Jingchen had fed them too much ’dog food’ regularly, and they were used to it.

Perhaps because of Xie Jingchen’s upright and natural demeanor, the Xie men had a reputation for spoiling their wives... Of course, the best example was set by Xie Tiesheng and his wife!

This was something Xie Jingchen insisted on.

Yan Jinsu, having walked around all day, came back trying to keep her spirits up, but fortunately, her husband cherished her, and being held by him was as good as resting.

The children managed to return home before 7:30 PM; by the time they arrived, the sky was pitch black.

Now was the time for the items Yan Jinsu bought during the day to come in handy, with each child having something to their liking: toys, learning materials, snacks, all distributed to each of the seven children.

As for the youngest, Xiao Ba to Xiao Shi, they could only get toys.

Xiao Shi, noticing the beautiful hair flower bought by mommy and pointing at the little red flower on Sister Xiaoqi’s head, kept pouting her lips and demanding one.

Yan Jinsu couldn’t help laughing, the drowsiness that had crept upon her instantly swept away, happily teasing her daughter with the bead flower causing more bouncing around, making everyone in the room laugh non-stop.

Xiao Shi wasn’t scared; she was just stubborn, not getting angry but actually enjoying the teasing by mommy.

Yan Jinsu kept dangling the pretty bead flower before her, and Xiao Shi would reach out as if trying to pick it, until after about ten minutes, once she was sure she really couldn’t have it, her cute face drooped down.

Xiao Shi’s dark eyes looked around, catching sight of her beloved daddy smiling at her, she immediately pointed to the bead flower, excitedly shouted clearly:

"Daddy, Xiao Shi wants it!"

"Well, you little rascal, you know how to find support!" Yan Jinsu’s face flushed red, stuffing the bead flower into Little Baobao’s hands and the mother and daughter goofed around, head to head.

Seeing her sweetly smiling mother, Xiao Shi thought she was fooling with her, and "giggled" laughingly, filling the room with cheerful laughter.

Having received little gifts, it was time to play with the red envelopes. The red envelope bags that Xie Jingchen had prepared in advance immediately came into use.

Playing with red envelopes was an annual big event, even Xiao Yi, who was halfway between a child and an adult, seeing a row of large red envelopes in hand, couldn’t stop smiling with joy.

New Year’s to children was the happiest time: not only did they have new clothes to wear, but also candy, cookies, and other treats that were hard to come by, with several days of meals during the year that were exceptionally lavish.

Aside from homework assigned during school holidays, New Year’s was the festival all children looked forward to the most. The main reason was that they would receive red envelopes - which child could be unhappy about that...