CHAPTER 70: CHAPTER 70: SPOILS OF WAR

"Mom! There are still candies here. It’s New Year’s, and having so many people come to wish us well is a good thing! Don’t be stingy with the candies; we have plenty here!" Bai Ruxue said with a smile, handing her mom another kilogram of old-fashioned fruit candies!

Her supermarket space was filled with all kinds of candies, hard ones, soft ones, fruit-flavored, milk-flavored, caramel, jelly, and even these old-fashioned paper-wrapped candies were in dozens of kilograms.

"Okay! Mom’s not stingy!" As she finished speaking, another wave of children came, eight in total, entering and kneeling to wish a happy new year.

Wang Cuihua had given out all the peanuts, so she switched to sunflower seeds, still giving each child two candies.

The children left happily, laughing and giggling.

Soon, the three from Third Uncle’s family came over. As they entered, Bai Ruyu, with her two younger brothers, kowtowed to Bai Daliang and his wife, saying, "Big Uncle, Big Aunt, Happy New Year!"

Afterward, they stood aside, waiting.

Wang Cuihua handed each one a handful of sunflower seeds and a handful of candies, about six or seven pieces each.

But Bai Ruyu frowned, putting the candies into her pocket and stretching her hand out again, "Big Aunt, we’re family, can we be treated the same as the village kids? Give me a little more!"

"Exactly, Big Aunt! I want some too!"

"Me too!" Bai Ruying and Bai Rusheng also copied their sister, putting candies into their pockets and holding their hands out, looking as if it was unacceptable for them not to get more.

Wang Cuihua had no choice and was about to turn around to get the cloth bag on the kang, when Bai Ruying swiftly stepped forward and grabbed the bag, proudly saying, "Hand it over!"

Bai Ruxue was infuriated, stepping forward to snatch it back. "Who taught you this behavior? Are you going to snatch things from the hands of your elders?"

"Give me back my candies, give me back my candies! I’m going to tell Grandma that you took my candies!" Bai Ruying jumped twice, unable to grab the bag, and was about to cry while heading out!

"Fine! Go tell Grandma! But first, give back the candies you just received! How else can you say I took your candies?" Bai Ruxue reached forward, trying to take the candies from Bai Ruying’s pocket.

At this moment, Bai Ruyu, who was also thinking of leaving with her brother, quickly spoke up, "Big Sis, I won’t tell Grandma, just don’t take away the candies you just gave me! I don’t want anything else!"

"Alright! Obey, and I won’t take it back! What I’ve given you is yours!" Bai Ruxue agreed.

"Let go of me! Let go of me!" Bai Ruying struggled.

"Xiao Xue, let Xiao Ying go! She’s still a child!" Bai Daliang weakly advised.

After all, no one dared to argue against the eldest daughter’s words, not even him as the father. If he made a mistake, she wouldn’t spare him any dignity.

"Learning to snatch things at a young age, what will become of you when you grow up? Can’t snatch then tattle? Who taught you that?" Bai Ruxue ignored Bai Daliang’s words, continued to dig, taking all the candies out of Bai Ruying’s pocket before letting her go.

"Alright, now go tell Grandma I took your candies! Let’s see what she does to me. But before that, you won’t have any candies to eat!"

Bai Ruying looked at her siblings’ bulging pockets and then at her own, where Bai Ruxue had taken all the candies. She immediately pursed her lips and began to cry.

"Big Sis, I won’t snatch or tell Grandma, just give me back my candies! Give them back!"

Bai Ruxue chuckled, just like that? Already chickening out?

"Big Sis, I really won’t snatch anymore... wah wah wah..."

"Xiao Xue, give it to him! It’s not good to cry on New Year’s!" Wang Cuihua stood helpless on the ground, not knowing what to do.

"Remember! The other kids in the village only get two candies each! One must learn to be content! Greed will only make you lose more!" Bai Ruxue waved Bai Ruying’s handful of candies in front of him, making him want to grab but also afraid that his big sister might not give them back, looking at her longingly with a gulp.

"You’ve all remembered?" Bai Ruxue asked sternly.

"Remember, Big Sis! I don’t want the candies from Big Aunt, and I won’t tell Grandma either!" Bai Ruyu quickly added.

Six-year-old Bai Rusheng earnestly nodded his head.

"And you? Do you remember?" Bai Ruxue pointed at Bai Ruying and asked again.

"Remembered!" Bai Ruying nodded obediently.

"Here! Take it! Remember, if you dare to come over and bully us again, I won’t be kind!" Bai Ruxue warned sternly again.

As soon as Bai Ruying got the candies, she turned and ran, followed by the other two.

"Xiao Xue, this..." Wang Cuihua looked at the three disappearing children at the door and hesitated.

"It’s alright, Mom! Here!" Bai Ruxue handed the cloth bag back to Wang Cuihua, still containing more than a kilogram of candies.

Throughout the morning, kids kept coming until a little past ten, when Bai Daliang went to the old house to pay New Year’s respects to Grandpa Bai and Grandma Bai.

Bai Ruxue also went out, first visiting Third Granny’s house and then Grandma Zhao’s house eastward.

When she returned, the little ones, having paid all their New Year visits, were back.

"Xiao Shan, go call your brother-in-law! It’s time for lunch!" Bai Ruxue was organizing lunch since no one had eaten after the midnight meal.

"Big Sis, first find me a bag, I need to hide my spoils; Little Chuan keeps trying to snatch mine!" Bai Rushan said, pointing to the north kang.

Bai Ruxue looked over and saw that Bai Ruxia and Bai Ruyun had piles of popcorn mixed with sunflower seeds and even a few candies on top.

Bai Ruchuan had the most, while Bai Ruyun had Bai Rushan’s spoils next to her, about the same as the two sisters, desperately protecting it.

Bai Ruxue shook her head with a smile, bringing out a cloth bag for each person.

"Quick, pack them up!"

The little ones happily accepted and carefully stowed away their morning’s New Year’s loot.

Every household would pop popcorn, but don’t mistake it for the later kind that’s milky or chocolate-flavored and pops like flowers. The popcorn of this era was made by mixing corn kernels with clean soil and frying it in a big iron pot, with only a few actually popping, but they were crunchy and fragrant. Families with better conditions would sprinkle a bit of saccharin on top, making them sweet and quite tasty.

For families that couldn’t afford sunflower seeds or candies, kids visiting for New Year’s were given a handful of popcorn on the first day of the year.

Just before the year-end, relief grain, which was corn kernels, was distributed, so many households were popping popcorn.

"Big Sis, keep an eye on it for me! I’m off to call Brother-in-law!" Bai Rushan hurriedly handed his bag of goodies to Bai Ruxue and dashed out.

Bai Ruxue felt a bit rueful, no matter how mature and steady, he was still a child, revealing his true nature.

She put the things away, went out to heat the dumplings, reheated the leftover dishes from midnight, and brought them to the table just as Zhang Yuan and Bai Rushan came over.

Everyone was eating when Bai Dajiang and Wu Zhaodi arrived.

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt, hurry, hurry, come to the table and eat something!" Bai Ruxue busily greeted them.

"Don’t trouble yourself, Xiao Xue, just go ahead and eat! We had lunch already!" Wu Zhaodi waved her hand.

"Exactly, Second Uncle just came to pay your parents New Year’s regards! Don’t bother with us, hurriedly eat!" Bai Dajiang also quickly spoke to stop Bai Ruxue.

"Come, come! Since you’re here, have a drink with Big Brother!" Bai Daliang beckoned.

Wang Cuihua quickly pulled Wu Zhaodi to sit down.