Chapter 566: Chapter 552: The Generous Gift Unique to Huang Family Village

In the afternoon, Huang Tao accompanied Xuanxuan to play heartily in a nearby small park for nearly two hours before bringing her back to Huang Family Village.

During this park visit, Xuanxuan played on her favorite slide, swung on the swings, and even tried the water boat ride, having so much fun that she didn’t want to go home!

Of course.

She also took a lot of playful and childlike photos this time.

"Grandpa, Grandma, we’re back!"

By the time they returned home at Huang Family Village, it was around 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Xuanxuan rushed ahead of Huang Tao, immediately pushed open the gate of their little courtyard, and loudly announced their return.

"Meow~"

As soon as Xuanxuan stepped into the courtyard, Mimi, who had been dozing under the eaves basking in the twilight, jumped up at the sound and then showed a face of "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"

After a moment, it finally came to its senses and, seeing that its little owner was back, gave her a resentful look before turning its cat head aside.

Humph~

You all went out to play and didn’t take this cat. This cat is angry, and no one can coax it out of its mood!

"Oh my!"

Xuanxuan ran up and hugged Mimi, laughing, "Mimi, did you miss me?"

Mimi said nothing, desperately trying to escape from Xuanxuan’s hold.

Didn’t want to!

This cat doesn’t want to see someone who forgets friends when they’re playing!

Feeling Mimi’s struggle, Xuanxuan: ???

Seeing Mimi looking so wronged and disdainful, Xuanxuan blinked and thought for a moment. When she realized it, she quickly patted Mimi’s head to soothe it, "Alright, alright, don’t be mad. We’ll take you out to play next time."

Humph~

Too late!

Mimi still wore an unhappy expression, turning its head away.

Xuanxuan: "..."

Xuanxuan felt exhausted!

But it was her pet, and she had to keep pampering it even with tears in her eyes.

She looked pleadingly at her father behind her, hoping he could help her cheer up Mimi.

Huang Tao, understandingly, couldn’t help but sigh to himself: Ah, raising a temperamental cat feels just like having another girlfriend.

Of course.

He didn’t want to indulge Mimi’s bad temper.

But his precious daughter cherished it!

For the sake of his precious daughter, he could only say, "Mimi, don’t fuss, be good. I’ll make you something tasty tonight."

Something tasty?!

Mimi seemed to understand, immediately curbing its temper, then stuck out its tongue to lick Xuanxuan’s face.

It was only for the sake of something tasty that it decided to forgive!

Xuanxuan giggled and dodged its wet tongue, feeling that her dad was amazing!

With just a word, he managed to cheer up Mimi!

"Ah, you’re back!"

Song Cailian poked her head out of the kitchen, wearing an apron, and asked with a smile, "Xuanxuan, did you have fun?"

Song Cailian hadn’t seen Xuanxuan the whole day, and she was delighted to see her back now.

Xuanxuan put down Mimi and nodded vigorously, "I did!"

"By the way..."

Xuanxuan hurried to take a tote bag from her father’s hand and handed it to Song Cailian, saying, "Grandma, Daddy and I bought you a gift!"

She had spotted it when she went shopping with her dad after dinner and thought it would suit her grandma, so she bought it.

Song Cailian was pleasantly surprised, "Really? Oh my, Xuanxuan is so sweet!"

The gift Xuanxuan gave her grandma was a scarf, knitted from maroon-colored wool, with flowers in the same color scheme decorating it, looking very pretty.

She picked out two different styles and colors of scarves, the other one naturally meant for grandpa.

Song Cailian was very happy to receive the gift and gave Xuanxuan a big smacking kiss.

"Xuanxuan..."

Huang Yide wore the scarf and, while loving it, asked Xuanxuan with a smile, "Was the movie good?"

"It was great!"

Xuanxuan answered without hesitation, "I watched the animated movie ’Boonie Bears: The Big Top Secret’. The movie starts in a mountain forest, where Bear Mother told Xiong Da and Xiong Er, ’Xiong Da is the star, Xiong Er is the moon, and Mom is this rock, always protecting the star and moon.’ Then, on an ordinary forest night, Bear Mother, who dotes on Xiong Da and Xiong Er, leaves them after a great fire, leaving the two bears heartbroken, shivering with cold as they sleep, and forced to huddle together for warmth while being bullied by wolf cubs..."

She chattered like a little sparrow, recounting the movie plot to Huang Yide.

Just then.

The sound of cheerful gongs and drums reached the ears of Huang Tao and the others.

Curiously, Xuanxuan asked, "Huh? What’s that sound?"

Song Cailian replied with a smile, "Oh, that’s the dragon dance team here to perform in our village."

The dragon dance in celebration of the New Year is one of the most traditional folk cultural activities, with thousands of years of history. Today, during the Spring Festival, performing dragon dances to pray for peace and abundance has become a custom throughout Huaxia, symbolizing prosperity and conveying wishes for national peace, timely wind and rain, and a good harvest, with the essence of warding off evil and inviting good fortune, signifying auspiciousness.

This particular dragon dance team is composed of older folks from other villages, with relatively traditional attire and using traditional musical instruments for accompaniment. The forward section comprises a small drum mounted on the chest, along with a gong and a team of four cymbals. They usually perform from late afternoon to night, visiting each household with their dragon dance.

Of course.

If you don’t want the dragon dance team to perform at your doorstep, you only need to close the main door.

This happens quite often.

Last year, due to a bereavement in the family, Huang Tao didn’t have the dragon dance team perform at their home, but this year was different, so he opened the door to welcome them.

The sound of gongs and cymbals resonated as a dragon dance team, consisting of elderly people dressed in various coarse cloth garments, arrived in the courtyard, led by a singer chanting self-composed blessings to the household: "The grass dragon enters, the whole family enjoys blessings, incense is lit on the dragon’s head, scholars join the court, the dragon’s tail flicks, bringing wealth to the family, congratulations and best wishes, prosperity forever, abundant harvests and thriving people, peace and safety year-round..."

Then the dragon dance began.

With sticks in hand, the elders quickly moved to an open area. The dragon’s head stood in the center while the tail rotated around it, spinning faster and faster, sometimes running, sometimes dancing, sometimes rolling, sometimes jumping, with everyone in perfect sync, their movements swift and agile...

Representing the host family, Huang Tao and Huang Yide smiled and brought out the prepared cigarettes, liquor, and money as gifts to the dragon dance team spreading blessings.

The cigarettes were Huaxia cigarettes, one pack for each person, and the red envelopes were quite generous, totaling 3888 yuan, a uniquely lavish gift in Huang Family Village. The leader smiled broadly, reciting three congratulatory dragon dance chants with the team.

After all, this was the largest red envelope and best cigarettes they had ever received since the formation of their dragon dance team.

In other homes, the most was a 580 yuan red envelope, while the least was a 120 yuan red envelope.

As for the cigarettes!

Even if Huaxia cigarettes were given, the standard was still a single stick for each person.

A whole pack of Huaxia cigarettes for each person was unheard of before!

One couldn’t deny that this family was indeed generous!

The leader recited with enthusiasm, and the dragon dance team performed with vigorous energy.

Xuanxuan watched excitedly, cheering and clapping her hands in delight.

Of course, she didn’t sit idle either.

She helped her grandma distribute candies to the brothers and sisters, and younger kids who came to watch the excitement from the village.

In no time...

Joyful laughter, lively excitement, bright and prosperous~

Indeed, this is what the taste of New Year should be like...