Continuation 5: The Smart, Brave Dragon and the Stupid Child Outfit Set

After buying the large grass carp and bringing it home, Zhou Shuling first put on gloves and an apron, then cleanly and efficiently killed the fish, salted it, and marinated it before setting off with everyone to buy New Year's goods.

Zhou Dongdong changed into a black down jacket with a hood that covered her entire head, leaving only her small face showing, and two cat ears sticking up on it.

She couldn't wait any longer, grabbing the doorknob and making several attempts to rush out. Shangguan Dandan and hopped around beside her in small movements. When Liu Chang'an and Zhou Shuling were about to leave, Shangguan Dandan took Zhou Dongdong's hand and went downstairs first.

"If you get your clothes dirty again today, you won't have any new clothes to wear tomorrow!" Zhou Shuling called out to Zhou Dongdong from behind.

"If you don't have new clothes to wear, you don't have to!"

"She's even learned to talk back!" If it weren't for the fact that they had to take the stairs, Zhou Shuling would have hit her.

"You have to tell her that there won't be any good food tomorrow." Liu Chang'an realized that Zhou Shuling, despite being a mother for so long, still wasn't good at dealing with Zhou Dongdong.

"If you get your clothes dirty today, you won't get anything good to eat tomorrow!" Zhou Shuling shouted as she saw Zhou Dongdong running onto the snow, looking eager to do something silly.

Zhou Dongdong paused for a moment, then immediately said, "Understood!"

"My hands are cold." Shangguan Dandan took off a small red glove and placed her hand in Liu Chang'an's hand for him to hold.

Shangguan Dandan's gloves were knitted by Zhou Shuling; two bright red gloves were tied together with red yarn and then hung around her neck.

Zhou Dongdong had a pair, but her palms were always warm, so she took them off a long time ago.

"Dongdong's Mom..." Shangguan Dandan waved to Zhou Shuling, indicating that Zhou Shuling should also give her her hand.

Holding the hands of her two younger relatives on either side, Shangguan Dandan watched Zhou Dongdong running and jumping ahead, stomping on every snowdrift they encountered, and Lu Si'en shaking his head, feeling completely satisfied.

"Last time I walked to Juzhou by myself, but I didn't know whether to go to the River God Temple or the big statue, so I came back," Shangguan Dandan said with some pride.

"Impressive, daring to travel so far alone, truly worthy of the Empress Dowager." Liu Chang'an offered a sincere compliment.

The Shangguan Dandan left in this city was the top of Mount Lu on the opposite bank, but it was basically carried up there by Liu Chang'an and then driven back by Qin Yanan. Liu Chang'an suspected that the distance she walked on her own was less than the distance he sometimes covered in a day of leisurely strolling.

"I was the same when I was a kid!" Zhou Shuling agreed with heartfelt agreement. "The first time I went to Juzhou, I stood under the bridge, unsure whether to look to the left or the right, so I had to go back. But there weren't any big statues back then."

"You guys are really amazing." Liu Chang'an didn't try to understand them; perhaps this similarity was why Shangguan Dandan especially liked Zhou Shuling.

"Let's buy matching outfits for us today," Shangguan Dandan said to Zhou Shuling.

"Okay!" Zhou Shuling nodded happily, even though she felt that if she were a mother, it wouldn't look like she had a daughter as big as Shangguan Dandan... Matching outfits would be even better, but as long as Shangguan Dandan was happy, matching outfits would be fine.

"You guys wear yours, and Zhou Dongdong and I will wear... well, our outfits are called... the Clever and Brave Dragon and the Silly Kid Set." Liu Chang'an originally wanted to call it the "Clever and Brave Set," but after glancing at Zhou Dongdong shaking the tree, he still felt that "Clever and Brave" didn't suit Zhou Dongdong.

"Zhou Dongdong!" Zhou Shuling noticed in time and quickly shouted.

Zhou Dongdong finally gave up trying to shake the snow off the tree. She looked up and saw a clump of snow fall and hit her in the face. She opened her mouth and spat out the snowflakes. Why doesn't snow taste as good as ice cream?

Today's New Year's goods mainly consisted of all kinds of candy and a wide variety of fruits. Zhou Shuling and Shangguan Dandan bought matching outfits, Liu Chang'an and Zhou Dongdong bought a set featuring a clever and brave dragon and a silly child.

Apart from Zhou Dongdong, Shangguan Dandan and Zhou Shuling had no objection to the name of the outfit chosen by Liu Chang'an.

"It's the 'Clever and Brave Brother Chang'an' and 'Clever and Brave Kid' set," Zhou Dongdong muttered as she peeled off the chocolate foil wrapper.

"Think about your final exams! See how clever and brave you are?" Zhou Shuling said. Like any child, a major failure in the final exams would lead to being nagged for the entire vacation.

"If I'm not clever and brave, are you?" Zhou Dongdong while eating chocolate. She had long forgotten about the final exams; winter vacation was a time completely unrelated to studying.

"Of course I am," Zhou Shuling said with certainty.

"Why would such a clever and brave mother give birth to a stupid child?" Zhou Dongdong objected loudly. "Then why didn't you give birth to someone clever and brave?"

Zhou Shuling was speechless for a moment. This little rascal, he's already a year older after the New Year, but his grades haven't improved, though his ability to talk back has grown.

"If you like clever and brave children, why don't you have another one with the clever and brave Chang'an brother? If both of you are clever and brave, how could you possibly have a stupid child?" Zhou Dongdong raised her hand and touched Zhou Shuling's belly.

Zhou Shuling's cheeks flushed, and she stole a glance at Liu Chang'an. He was actually smiling, as if what Zhou Dongdong said had nothing to do with him.

"You... you didn't give you lunch." Zhou Dongdong Zhou Shuling was too embarrassed to lecture Zhou Dongdong openly about this topic, so she simply brushed it off.

"Dongdong is so cute." Shangguan Dandan giggled.

Liu Chang'an gently tapped Shangguan Dandan. This little old lady loved to gloat, and whenever she saw Zhou Dongdong's innocent remarks leaving the adults helpless, she would be very happy.

Back home, Shangguan Dandan and Zhou Dongdong sat down at the electric radiator table again. Zhou Shuling tidied up the things, putting things in the refrigerator, upstairs, downstairs, and then washed a large basin of fruit and put it on the radiator table... There was no way around it; the people here could eat a lot, and the fruit platters that other people used to arrange for their homes to look pretty and delicate didn't work.

Zhou Shuling saw Shangguan Dandan picking up a paper-cut window decoration and examining it closely. The craftsmanship was superb; the delicate, exquisite, and flawless patterns were comparable to those of traditional craft masters featured on television. Zhou Shuling opened her mouth, staring blankly at Liu Chang'an, "Did you cut this?"

It couldn't have been Shangguan Dandan who cut it. Shangguan Dandan does nothing but boil water; Zhou Shuling has already discovered this.

"Yes, when I came back last night, I saw you had left a lot of paper cuttings here, so I just cut some out." Liu Chang'an looked at her, puzzled. "Why are you looking at me like that? Am I bullying you for cutting some paper snowflakes?"

Zhou Shuling pouted and wiped her nose. Of course she felt wronged. She had spent a long time cutting paper-cuts, and she had cut so many. The ones he casually cut when he came back were much prettier than hers. Compared to him, her paper-cuts looked like Zhou Dongdong's craft homework. How could she possibly put up her paper-cuts?

Seeing her expression, Liu Chang'an roughly understood and couldn't help but laugh out loud, "It's nothing, I've been cutting paper snowflakes for so many years, how can you compare to me? Go, chop the meat and prepare to make egg dumplings."

"Silly mom." Zhou Dongdong giggled.

Zhou Shuling snapped out of her daze and smacked Zhou Dongdong, glaring at the foolish child. "You might not be as good as Liu Chang'an, but you think you can handle me?"

After lunch, Liu Chang'an remembered that he hadn't bought fireworks and firecrackers yet. He planned to buy some really powerful ones. Zhou Dongdong wanted to go with him, but she had offended Zhou Shuling too many times today, so she was forced by Zhou Shuling to do her winter vacation homework next to the electric heater table.

Shangguan Dandan volunteered to tutor Zhou Dongdong with her homework, believing that she was now capable of doing so.

The upcoming Spring Festival in Junsha does not mean a complete ban on fireworks and firecrackers as commonly believed.

After all, it's located in Juzhou in the heart of the city. Every Saturday and Sunday, and on holidays, whether there's a reason or not, the authorities set off fireworks endlessly, creating a spectacular fireworks extravaganza that fills the entire city sky.

Fireworks and firecrackers are only prohibited in government agencies, public institutions, transportation hubs, and densely populated areas. Most other areas are only partially restricted. In these partially restricted areas, fireworks and firecrackers can often be set off from the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month until the 15th day of the first lunar month.

Liu Chang'an decided to buy a powerful type of fireworks that wasn't available in shops in the bustling city center. It was only sold in the larger fireworks shops along the traditional "superstition street," which is usually the street where funeral supplies are sold.

Needs for activities like "dancing on the grave" can also be found in this area... In many funeral activities, if the deceased elderly person is over eighty years old, it is often treated as a happy occasion, and it is normal to hire female groups to perform various programs.

Liu Chang'an planned to buy a rocket that was at least as thick as an arm, intending to perform a "spiral ascent" show for Zhou Dongdong that evening.

It's actually very simple. He holds the giant rocket, Zhou Dongdong lights the fuse, and then he pushes off with his feet, as if he's being spiraled into the sky by the rocket.

After wandering around for a while, he couldn't find the large rocket that met his needs, but he did see four big Bear Bear.