Chapter 714: The Bear Brothers

"What are you doing going out in the snow? Just stay home. Howard, go wake up Patrick and Jim so they can play with Tang Xiao Nan. What time is it? They’re still sleeping..."

Of course, Raina wouldn’t allow it. The snow outside was falling thicker and faster. She wanted Howard Thorne to take Tang Xiao Nan out to play so they wouldn’t be underfoot, making her dizzy.

Before Howard could go get them, Patrick and Jim Thorne showed up on their own. The moment they stepped inside, they crowded around Tang Xiao Nan to warm themselves by the fire, then touched her face with their ice-cold hands.

Tang Xiao Nan shivered and cried out in annoyance. The two boys just grinned until Howard gave each of them a slap, which finally made them behave.

Breakfast was steaming hot dumplings. The Thorne family had more money to spare this year, so they’d made several large baskets full of them. They were all filled with shepherd’s purse and pork. Wild vegetables were already sprouting on the mountain, and the shepherd’s purse was perfectly fresh and tender, as was the kalimeris. Shepherd’s purse dumplings were the family’s absolute favorite; everyone loved them. Raina, for a change, wasn’t stingy and had added plenty of meat. Each of the three brothers devoured a huge bowl containing over thirty dumplings, drinking even the broth until they were warm all over.

"Goldie, hurry up and deliver these. Go quickly, the dumplings won’t taste good if they get cold."

Raina had cooked several aluminum lunch boxes full of dumplings and wrapped them in an old padded cotton jacket to keep them warm. Goldie Thorne put on a coir raincoat, a bamboo hat, and a pair of rain boots, then headed out with the dumplings in his arms. He was also eager to find out if his nephew had been born yet; he already had the gift money prepared.

(PS: In the past, people in rural areas rarely wore modern raincoats. They used coir raincoats and bamboo hats for both rain and snow, which were very convenient.)

Jim Thorne, who had a severe case of hyperactivity, was even more restless after a full meal. He went with Patrick Thorne to set off firecrackers, with Gentry Chapman tagging along behind them. Jim could never just set off firecrackers normally; he always had to try some new trick. Stuffing them in tree hollows and cracks in the wall was no longer enough to satisfy his boundless curiosity. Patrick was just as bad, and it wasn’t long before the two brothers came up with a brilliant idea.

After a while, the sound of firecrackers from outside stopped. Curious, Tang Xiao Nan went out to look, only to see the two brothers squatting furtively by a row of pickle jars along the courtyard wall, up to who-knows-what.

Tang Xiao Nan found out soon enough. Before she could stop them, the firecrackers went off with a deafening BOOM. The blast was immense because the brothers had twisted the fuses of a dozen or so firecrackers together. With that many exploding at once, the force was naturally incredible.

Tang Xiao Nan quickly covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to witness the impending disaster. And sure enough, Raina came running out at the sound of the explosion. When she saw that her precious pickle jar had a huge hole blasted in it by her two rotten grandsons, its contents—potherb mustard—flung all across the snow, she was practically spitting fire.

She snatched a stick of firewood from against the wall and chased after the two boys, shouting, "You little disasters! Itching for a beating, are you? Get back here! If I don’t thrash you for one day, you get too big for your britches..." (Five hundred words of colorful curses omitted here.)

Of course, Patrick and Jim Thorne weren’t about to stop and take their punishment. They vanished in a flash. Raina chased them for a while, cursing nonstop, before returning in a huff. Byron Thorne had come out to watch the commotion and was chuckling to himself, earning him a fierce glare from Raina. "Laugh, laugh, laugh! You’re the one who spoils them! They’re completely out of control. All that good potherb mustard, ruined by those two!"

"We can just put it in a new jar," Byron Thorne said calmly. ’It’s not a big deal. The New Year is supposed to be lively. What’s the New Year without kids causing a ruckus?’

Raina shot him another glare and began scooping the potherb mustard out of the broken container. Thankfully, they had already eaten most of it, with only a little left. She couldn’t be bothered to find a new jar now. Instead, she decided she’d just use the rest to make some steamed buns with potherb mustard and pork. It was the jar she was really upset about. When those two little hellions got back, she was going to skin them alive.