Chapter 186: Go See the Lanterns?

The moment he heard "lucky money," Bao’er ran over, still holding his bowl.

Gu Zhang took a stack of red envelopes from his robes and handed them out one by one.

Every junior member of the family got one.

Er Lang and Sanlang, who weren’t married yet, both got one, as did Lan Zhi and Lian’er.

Bao’er eagerly opened his red envelope and saw twenty Copper Coins inside.

Just as he was about to stuff the envelope into his shirt, Ms. Qian’s hand shot out and snatched it away. "I’ll save this for you. We can use it to find you a wife when you’re older."

Bao’er’s lip trembled. "I don’t want a wife, I want my Copper Coins! I want to go to the city and buy tanghulu—"

The old madam quickly put down her chopsticks and beckoned to him. "Bao’er, come here. Grandma has another one for you."

Bao’er ran to his grandmother, took the red envelope without even looking at it, and stuffed it into his shirt before bolting, afraid Ms. Qian would snatch this one away too.

Ms. Qian then turned to stare at Xing’er. Xing’er’s hand reluctantly caressed her red envelope for a long moment before she slowly handed it to her mother.

Gu Fei was also lucky enough to receive a red envelope from her grandmother, which contained two Copper Coins.

The meal lasted for a full hour before everyone dispersed.

After the house was cleaned up and two braziers of charcoal were lit, the family closed the doors to see in the New Year together.

With no entertainment, they just sat around eating snacks. Gu Fei soon grew drowsy and couldn’t stop yawning. Mrs. Chen felt sorry for her and told her to go to bed.

After the New Year, the Start of Spring fell on the second day of the first lunar month.

The weather in East Sea County was warm this year.

On the third day, Mrs. Chen took the able-bodied members of the family to plant the chili seeds.

When her paternal aunt’s family heard about it, they hurried over with her younger uncle to get chili seeds from Gu Fei to plant as well.

Another ten days or so passed in the blink of an eye. During dinner one evening, after shoveling a few mouthfuls of rice into his mouth, Gu Sanlang suddenly spoke. "Dad, I ran into Big Brother Zhang Ze when I was driving the cart in the city today. He asked if I was going into the city tomorrow night to see the lanterns. He said there’s a lantern fair for the Yuanxi Festival with dragon and lion dances. It’s supposed to be incredibly lively."

Gu Qing nodded. "I’ve heard about that too. I heard that during the lantern fairs in previous years, the lights from the flower boats lit up the entire Jinshui River."

Gu Erlang glanced at Lan Zhi, then looked at Gu Zhang with pleading eyes. "Dad, can we go see the lanterns, then?"

Gu Zhang mulled it over for a moment. "The city gates close at night. How would we get back?"

Gu Fei’s heart leaped with anticipation. Although Lin City also held lantern fairs, she had always been cooped up in the Marquis Mansion and had never seen one. She wanted to see for herself if it was truly like the poem "Yuanxi" described: *A night of east wind unfurls a thousand trees of light... fine horses and carved carriages fill the fragrant road.*

’It wouldn’t feel like a proper trip to ancient times without experiencing a real Lantern Festival.’

She wheedled her father, "Dad, please? Let’s all go as a family. If we can’t come back, we can just stay in the city for one night."

Seeing that his daughter wanted to go, Gu Zhang agreed without a second thought. "Alright, let’s go. We’ll head into the city tomorrow afternoon, find an inn to stay at first, and then we can enjoy the lantern show without any worries."

Lan Zhi looked at Gu Fei with hopeful eyes. ’She wanted to go too, but did "the whole family" include her?’

Gu Fei winked at her. Lan Zhi was instantly relieved, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile.

She said happily, "The peach-pink jacket of embroidery silk I’m making for Little Fei is almost finished. I’ll work a little extra tonight, and she’ll be able to wear it to see the lanterns tomorrow."

Mrs. Chen gave Lan Zhi an approving look, then smiled at Gu Fei. "Tomorrow, you should also wear that pearl flower I bought for you."

Her daughter was reaching the hairpin-pinning age this year. Once a girl reached that age, it was time to start looking for a potential husband.

She wanted her daughter to be dressed up beautifully. If she could meet a fine young man at the lantern festival, that would be even better.