It was New Year's Eve, and every household was celebrating the Lunar New Year.
Firecracker sounds could be heard both inside and outside the courtyard, filling the entire Nanluogu Xiang with the festive atmosphere.
Zheng Ai Min also changed into a new outfit, while his adoptive parents were still wearing their old clothes.
Three years new, three years old, patch and mend for another three years, in this era, having a new outfit for the New Year was a great happiness.
Usually, new clothes were made for the children in the family, while adults wore their old ones.
Fortunately, they could buy fabric and make clothes, or they could alter the adults' clothes to fit the children.
For families with many children, the younger ones would wear the clothes passed down from the older ones.
Now, this family only had Zheng Ai Min, so he didn't need to wear hand-me-downs.
His adoptive parents both had jobs, making them a dual-income family with better conditions, so buying fabric to make new clothes for Zheng Ai Min was not difficult at all.
Although the conditions were not comparable to before his time travel, the sense of happiness was present.
...
No. 95 Courtyard, the Jia family.
Jia Zhang Shi, Jia Dong Xu, and Qin Huai Ru were all in a panic.
The reason was that Bang Geng had a high fever.
On this New Year's Eve, they had invited a doctor to their home, and it was confirmed that Bang Geng had a cold.
"It must be you who infected him," Jia Zhang Shi said, her triangular eyes fixed on Qin Huai Ru.
Jia Dong Xu didn't speak, but it was clear that he shared the same thought as Jia Zhang Shi.
Qin Huai Ru felt a little wronged.
Yi Zhong Hai had a cold, and Qin Huai Ru had taken care of him, but she didn't catch it. Now, Bang Geng had a cold, and they blamed her for spreading it.
After all, Bang Geng had no contact with Yi Zhong Hai.
"I told you not to take care of that widower, but you wouldn't listen. He must have passed the cold on to you, and you, being an adult, have a stronger immune system so you didn't get sick. But when you came back, you infected Bang Geng," Jia Zhang Shi argued with reason.
Qin Huai Ru had come home after taking care of Yi Zhong Hai, and without washing her hands, she had held Bang Geng, touched him, kissed him, and even fed him. If Qin Huai Ru had 'cold factors' on her, wouldn't it be passed on to Bang Geng?
Therefore, saying that Bang Geng caught a cold because of Qin Huai Ru seemed perfectly reasonable.
At this moment, Jia Zhang Shi was clearly displaying the face of a wicked mother-in-law.
Currently, there were only two people in the courtyard with colds, Yi Zhong Hai and Bang Geng.
And Bang Geng had no direct contact with Yi Zhong Hai.
So, what Jia Zhang Shi said was somewhat plausible.
Qin Huai Ru herself was also starting to doubt, wondering if it really was her fault.
Seeing Bang Geng with a high fever, Qin Huai Ru was heartbroken. If it really was because of her, she couldn't accept it and would feel deeply guilty.
"Yi Zhong Hai had a cold. Mom told you not to take care of him, all for Bang Geng's sake. You wouldn't listen, and now Bang Geng has a cold too," Jia Dong Xu also chimed in, blaming Qin Huai Ru.
Although Qin Huai Ru didn't completely break down, she still covered her face and squatted down to cry.
Seeing Qin Huai Ru crying, Jia Zhang Shi and Jia Dong Xu remained unmoved.
"Qin Jie, why are you crying?"
"What happened?"
Hearing Qin Huai Ru's crying, Sha Zhu and his sister ran over to ask.
On this New Year's Day, why was the Jia family crying?
Not long after, Yi Zhong Hai and the Deaf Old Lady also came over.
Yi Zhong Hai's cold hadn't completely gone away, and he still coughed occasionally.
This New Year, Yi Zhong Hai, the Old Lady, and Sha Zhu and his sister were spending it together.
As soon as she saw Yi Zhong Hai, Jia Zhang Shi immediately started to chase him away.
"Get out, get out, get out! Bang Geng catching a cold is all your fault."
"What? Bang Geng has a cold too?" Yi Zhong Hai was shocked.
He knew Bang Geng was still a baby.
A cold might be nothing to an adult, but it was different for a baby.
Just having a high fever could potentially damage Bang Geng's brain.
At this moment, Yi Zhong Hai was also worried.
When the Old Lady learned that Bang Geng had a cold, she was also worried.
"I say Jia Da Ma, that's not fair. How is Bang Geng catching a cold related to Yi Zhong Hai? He hasn't even touched Bang Geng after he got sick," Sha Zhu frowned, objecting.
Qin Huai Ru's son had a cold, and Sha Zhu was also worried, but when Jia Zhang Shi blamed Yi Zhong Hai, Sha Zhu disagreed.
"How is it not him? If Qin Huai Ru hadn't gone to take care of him, how would she have brought the cold home? Poor my grandson!" Jia Zhang Shi slapped her thigh.
"This..." Sha Zhu was speechless.
Yi Zhong Hai was also stunned. He looked at Qin Huai Ru and then at Bang Geng, whose fever hadn't subsided.
"It's my fault. It's my fault," Yi Zhong Hai said in regret.
"Little Yi, don't blame yourself too much," the Old Lady said.
However, Yi Zhong Hai still blamed himself.
"Let's find a way to get Bang Geng's fever down first," Sha Zhu said, remaining rational.
As long as Bang Geng's fever went down, everything would be alright.
But it wasn't good if he kept having a high fever.
Finally, by morning, Bang Geng's fever broke.
"It looks like he might have been burned silly," Xu Da Mao muttered as he walked to the door of the Jia family early in the morning, looking at Bang Geng.
Although Xu Da Mao's voice wasn't loud, Sha Zhu still heard him.
"You bastard, what are you saying?" Sha Zhu immediately became angry.
Xu Da Mao was startled.
However, Xu Da Mao wouldn't back down when facing Sha Zhu.
"I said Bang Geng's fever went down, what's wrong with that?" Xu Da Mao said, a little guilty.
"Crap, you were clearly saying that Bang Geng was burned silly, and you won't admit it," Sha Zhu said.
Immediately, Yi Zhong Hai, who was standing in front of Sha Zhu, his expression turned dark. He hadn't heard Xu Da Mao's mutter, but since Sha Zhu had heard it, it couldn't be wrong.
And Xu Da Mao had actually said that Bang Geng had been burned silly, which made Yi Zhong Hai unhappy.
Yi Zhong Hai turned to look at Xu Da Mao, his face cold as he asked.
"Yi Da Ye, don't listen to Sha Zhu's nonsense. He's a fool, a fool's words can't be..." Xu Da Mao hurriedly said.
"Looking for a beating." Sha Zhu directly swung his fist at Xu Da Mao.
Xu Da Mao kept calling Sha Zhu a fool, of course, Sha Zhu was angry.
Who would like to be called a fool?
But Xu Fu Gui and his wife appeared and stopped Sha Zhu.
Xu Da Mao also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that he couldn't beat Sha Zhu, but he had his parents, while Sha Zhu had no father or mother.
Protecting his parents, Xu Da Mao remained calm.
Sha Zhu didn't dare to hit Xu Fu Gui and his wife.
After all, Sha Zhu still had to call them Uncle Xu and Aunt Xu.
Moreover, the courtyard valued the traditional virtue of respecting the elderly and loving the young.
If Sha Zhu really hit Xu Fu Gui and his wife, the consequences would be serious.
Even if Xu Fu Gui and his wife hit Sha Zhu, Sha Zhu wouldn't be able to fight back.
He could only wait until Xu Da Mao was alone so that he could beat him up.
Next, Yi Zhong Hai criticized Xu Fu Gui.
While Jia Zhang Shi started arguing with Xu's mother.
On this New Year's Day, the courtyard was quite lively.
People outside the courtyard were peeking in.
"Alright, alright, it's the New Year, don't be afraid of people seeing a joke," the Old Lady couldn't stand it anymore and tapped her cane on the ground.
When the Old Lady spoke, no one dared to make a fuss.
But the relationship between the Xu family and the Jia family became even worse, and the relationship between the Xu family and Sha Zhu's family had always been bad.
Xu Fu Gui and his wife took their son and daughter to visit relatives.
The Xu family still had some relatives in Si Jiu Cheng.
Besides the Xu family, there were also some other families in the courtyard who had relatives in Si Jiu Cheng.
They could also see some people from the countryside entering the factory to visit relatives.
On the next day, the second day of the New Year, more people from the countryside would come to the factory to visit relatives.
The city also had lanterns and other decorations.
In short, the days after the New Year were lively.
In the entire Nanluogu Xiang, many people were visiting relatives, and neighbors also visited each other for New Year greetings.