jdhmnovel Chapter 164 Kittens and Red Envelopes
Chapter 164 Kittens and Red Envelopes
Lin Qinglan secretly brought back a box of "good stuff" in the morning. It was a surprise she prepared for Aunt Xie, and she planned to keep it for the evening of New Year's Eve.
The square dance and folk dance classes will record the Spring Festival Gala on TV on the evening of the first day of the Lunar New Year, so the uncles and aunts will not miss the reunion with their families.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, Lin Qinglan prepared to put up the Spring Festival couplets with Aunt Xie.
There is no need to buy Spring Festival couplets, as her calligraphy teacher Luo Qi had already prepared them for her before the holiday.
Aunt Xie originally wanted to stir the paste, but Lin Qinglan persuaded her: "Just use tape, so you can tear it off next year."
"You can't say that. You want to tear them down before you even put them up. The purpose of putting up Spring Festival couplets is to create a festive atmosphere. The New Year hasn't even ended yet, so how can you tear them down?" Aunt Xie knew that Principal Xiao Lin was afraid that she would be tired. To be honest, Aunt Xie felt that she was in good health.
Since they didn't buy large-sized Spring Festival couplets, they only pasted them on the small door for entering and leaving, and also on the door of her and Aunt Xie's room. The campus suddenly became "red", which was very festive.
After pasting all the Spring Festival couplets, Aunt Xie wanted to make dumplings, but Lin Qinglan stopped her mysteriously, saying that there was still one place left to paste.
She took out a palm-sized mini Spring Festival couplet like a magician, and Aunt Xie immediately understood, "Yes, I forgot, the kittens also want to celebrate the New Year."
This pair of mini Spring Festival couplets is specially designed for the cat's nest in the backyard.
The few cats that often visit the school are all stray cats. They are very well behaved and only move around in a small area behind the warehouse, waiting to be fed by Aunt Gao and others.
When they are full, they climb over the wall and leave, treating this place as a free "restaurant".
Until one day it suddenly started to hail, with hailstones as big as rice grains falling down densely, and the aunts thought the kittens would not come.
But I found a few kittens huddled together in the crack, and it seemed they had been there for a long time.
After that day, the aunts wanted to build a temporary shelter for the kittens so that they could use it when it rained or snowed.
Uncle Wang, who is passionate about everything other than studying, brought a "professional team" from the physics class to build a cat house with bricks and cement, and reinforced it with wooden boards on the outside. He then asked the "artist" Uncle Zou to paint decorations on the outside with colorful paints, making it look warm and cute.
The cat's nest was filled with old clothes that the uncles and aunts brought from home and no longer wore. It looked very warm.
The kittens have a temporary shelter in the cold winter, but they still like the free wind outside, so they don’t often stay in the cat bed.
Lin Qinglan posted couplets on the cat house with the idea that everyone should celebrate the New Year together on her territory.
First couplet: "One meow brings good luck"
Second line: "The cat is fat and the school is healthy"
Banner: "People and cats prosper together"
All the kittens were rarely seen, lying quietly in their nest, waiting for Lin Qinglan to finish pasting the couplets. A brave little orange kitten stretched out its little paw to fiddle with the couplets.
……
At noon, Lin Qinglan ate dumplings made by Aunt Xie, and at night, she also ate dumplings. If nothing unexpected happened, there would be no shortage of dumplings in the next few days. Aunt Xie saw that she loved eating leeks and eggs, so she made a lot of them and froze them in the refrigerator.
As night fell, she could see colorful lights and lanterns hanging on the streets outside through the school gate. From time to time, she could hear the sound of firecrackers and noisy voices. The bustle of the street also infected her.
"Aunt Xie, let's go set off fireworks together!" Lin Qinglan took out the fairy wand she bought and stuffed it into Aunt Xie's hand. "Let's go, New Year's Eve is all about setting off fireworks!"
"I've never played this before. Go by yourself. I'll watch you." Aunt Xie declined.
"I'll teach you." Lin Qinglan lit one, and the flame exploded in the dark night, shining on her face. She handed the fairy wand to Aunt Xie, "Don't worry, it's not dangerous. You can try it too, it's fun, just hold it in your hand and raise it."
Aunt Xie's eyes lit up, and she held the fairy wand tightly in her hand, shaking it like Lin Qinglan, her face full of surprise, "How magical! It won't explode, so beautiful, like fireworks in the sky."
A fairy wand burned out quickly. Aunt Xie felt a little embarrassed and hesitated to speak: "Principal Xiaolin, this one is finished. Can I light another one? This thing called a fairy wand is quite interesting."
After the fireworks, the two of them leaned together to watch the Spring Festival Gala.
After Lin Qinglan finished eating the melon seeds, she felt a little thirsty. There happened to be a cup of chrysanthemum tea brewed by Aunt Xie at hand. It was at the perfect temperature and had rock sugar in it.
Aunt Xie always secretly prepares surprises for her in corners where she can't see.
For example, a peeled orange.
Cut apples into pieces.
And red envelopes?
Lin Qinglan held up the red envelope that suddenly appeared in her pocket and asked in surprise: "Aunt Xie, why are you giving me a red envelope all of a sudden? I don't want it."
She returned the red envelope and insisted on not accepting it.
Aunt Xie, who was caught, forcefully stuffed the red envelope back to her and held Lin Qinglan's hand tightly to prevent her from pushing it back. "Giving red envelopes to children during the Chinese New Year is for good luck. This is what I gave you, so just take it. Just think of it as a blessing from your auntie, and have a prosperous new year."
Lin Qinglan is already past the age of receiving red envelopes, but some people still treat her like a child and want to give her some good wishes.
The room was air-conditioned.
Two lonely people warm each other.
"Aunt Xie, I'll give you a red envelope too. Let's have a prosperous new year together."
"I don't want it. Only elders and younger generations give out red envelopes. How can I accept your red envelope?"
"No one said no. I've already sent it. It's on your WeChat. Remember to receive it. You can't refuse it."
Aunt Xie smiled and blamed her for being "disobedient" and used the screenshot method she had just learned to capture this beautiful moment.
……
As soon as midnight passed, Lin Qinglan closed her eyes devoutly and made a wish:
"In the new year, I wish my uncles and aunts and I good health."
“Secondly, I hope the evergreen tree can continue to be green for decades.”
"Finally, I also want to meet Xiao De."
Her sound system was audible, and Xiao De was unusually quiet and did not reply.
Lin Qinglan was a little disappointed. The usually noisy system suddenly became so quiet, which made her feel very uncomfortable. She felt empty inside, and when she looked down, she found a "ball of fur" stretching out its claws, struggling to pull at her trouser legs.
It’s the little orange cat in the backyard. It’s small, furry and very cute.
The kitten was anxious to climb up, its round eyes were watery, it looked at her pitifully, and made a weak meowing sound.
Lin Qinglan squatted down and stroked the kitten's fur: "Kitten, why are you here? Do you want someone to spend the New Year with you too?"
The kitten gently placed its warm paw pad on Lin Qinglan's hand. It seemed to nod. Lin Qinglan thought she had seen it wrongly, but then she heard the little orange cat speak in human language:
"Host, your Tongzi is here!"