“What’s the old manager up to?”

“Hey, why is Miss covering her face again? She hasn’t been out for so long, and when she does, we barely get a glimpse…”

“She smells so good, hehe, she just walked past me…”

Seeing the old manager and Wu He leave, the workers felt a little strange, especially those who regretted not seeing Wu He's beautiful face. Of course, some were more sensitive and felt something was off.

The manager used to live in the inner courtyard. Although he rarely showed his face, everyone felt secure knowing that such a capable person was around. His sudden departure, especially at night, made them feel strangely uneasy.

“Alright, stop spacing out.”

Hu Ma said, “No night patrols tonight, but the lanterns still need to be lit.”

With the manager gone, Hu Ma was in charge of the estate, and the workers didn't dare to be careless, hurrying to take down the lanterns.

There were three such lanterns in the estate, one large and two small. The small ones were usually carried during night patrols, while the large one was hung at the entrance of the estate.

They seemed to be made of some kind of leather, extremely tough yet as thin as cicada wings, and as red as blood. Inside, there was an oil lamp filled with a specially made oil paste, which could burn for a long time after each refill.

The oil in the lamps was running low, so Hu Ma immediately ordered people to add more.

Soon, the lanterns were lit, but Hu Ma didn't let them hang the lanterns back. Instead, he took them into the inner courtyard, chose a high pole, and hung the large lantern inside the outer courtyard, bathing everything in a reddish glow.

Looking up at the red lantern hanging overhead, the workers exchanged uneasy glances, feeling a slight chill in their hearts.

Although they didn't know anything, seeing the old manager leave and Hu Ma ordering the lantern to be hung in the courtyard made them feel that the atmosphere was strange.

“H… Hu Warden…”

Someone mustered the courage to ask in a low voice, “Is something going on today?”

As soon as he spoke, everyone else turned to look, their eyes filled with frightened flickering.

“No…”

Hu Ma turned to them with a smile, saying, “It’s just that the end of the year is approaching, and the manager has made some arrangements. The rules are naturally a little different from before.”

“Oh yes, I also asked about the things you were concerned about.”

His expression seemed very happy as he said, “Although we’re all new here, we can still go home for the New Year this year. Not only that, but we’ll also get money and grain, so everyone can return home in style.”

“Ah?”

The workers had been worried about this all along, and this sudden news was a pleasant surprise.

Just being able to go home for a New Year's Eve dinner was already amazing, but they could actually take money and grain back with them?

For a moment, they thought they were dreaming. After confirming the surprise on each other's faces, their excitement almost burst through the sky.

Hu Ma was very satisfied with their reaction.

He couldn't help it. If he had really told them in advance what was going to happen later, these workers would have been overthinking things, scaring themselves, and their courage would have weakened, making the furnace fire burn less strongly, allowing evil spirits to take advantage.

Even the brave ones could be frightened by others, because fear is contagious.

But if he told them something happy, their vitality would increase, and the furnace fire would burn brightly, which was the best way to ward off evil spirits.

People are in good spirits when happy events occur, that's the reason.

For a moment, everyone forgot about the lantern overhead and surrounded Hu Ma, asking questions about when they could return and how much money and grain they could take.

Hu Ma answered them one by one, making the workers beam with joy.

But just as this excitement infected everyone, suddenly, they heard a clapper sound from outside the courtyard wall.

In this night that had already fallen, with all sounds quiet, the clapper sound was particularly clear. At the same time, a faint light suddenly appeared from where the sound came, which was extremely strange.

The workers quickly stepped on stools and looked outside the estate, and were immediately shocked.

They saw that in this small town where they were located, everyone would have been asleep by now.

But now, several lanterns were lit on the town's dirt road. From a distance, they could see that under the lanterns, there seemed to be an old man playing with puppets, using the light of the lanterns to perform a shadow play.

And it wasn't just him. Further away, there was someone performing with jars, someone else performing with monkeys, and someone selling candied hawthorns.

This small town didn't have many people to begin with, only a hundred or so households, mostly doing business with merchants traveling to and from Mingzhou Prefecture. Now that there were fewer merchants coming and going, and it wasn't a city, how could so many performers suddenly come?

The lively performances had no audience. Who were they performing for?

Especially, they were performing so lively, but there wasn't a single person watching around them. Every household had closed their doors and windows tightly.

This strong contrast made people feel instinctively uneasy. The worker who had climbed the wall to look outside had a pale face when he came down, wanting to say something but unable to.

Hu Ma didn't even need to look. Just hearing the clapper sound, he understood what was happening.

Seeing the hesitant expressions on the workers' faces, he deliberately laughed and said, "Performing also requires brains. The people in this town are very stingy and don't give any tips. Aren't they performing for ghosts?"

The workers wanted to smile along with him, but they couldn't quite manage it.

Hu Ma seemed to ignore this altogether, waving his hand and saying, "We should have given them some tips, but the manager said we're not allowed to go out. Then we'll just have to listen to their free show today."

"Wa Zi, Hu Zi, how's the food coming along?"

As he spoke, he looked towards the kitchen and shouted, "Today the manager isn't here, so I'm in charge."

"You two don't bother with pickled vegetables, tofu, and corn porridge. Slaughter a sheep, cut some meat. There are a few jars of wine in the manager's room, I'll bring them back too. Let's celebrate the New Year early today."

“…”

“What?”

The workers were stunned when they heard this, thinking they were dreaming.

Most of those who came to this estate were from poor families. Even those with some family property rarely ate meat throughout the year.

Even after coming to this estate, although they were told that there would be blood food provided, it was only a tiny bit each day, not enough to satisfy their cravings. Besides, the taste of blood food was still different from the pork, beef, and mutton they craved.

Simply put, they were used to eating vegetarian food all year round, and rarely saw meat in a month. The last time Hu Ma exchanged a few sheep from the village, they were meant to be looked at, not eaten.

But now, Hu Ma had suddenly made this decision, surprising them so much that they doubted its reality.

When they saw Hu Ma's smiling face and confirmed that he wasn't joking, they were overjoyed, cheering and busying themselves.

Getting basins, sharpening knives, boiling water, coaxing the sheep to the basin.

Even Li Wa Zi and the others who were busy in the kitchen were stunned. They never expected that they could prepare such a feast today.

Since it was all going into their stomachs anyway, they perked up and prepared everything they were usually reluctant to use, filling the pot with it. Hu Ma also really brought out a few jars of wine from the inner courtyard, and even had them boil a pot of brown sugar water to help with the hangover later.

Not only that, Hu Ma also specially went into the kitchen to check. He saw that there were still about two or three pounds of frozen meat in a crock, which was usually used to feed the workers Qing Tai Sui (a type of fungus).

It looked like a lot, but it was actually about a month's worth of food for everyone. So he waved his hand and told Li Wa Zi to cook it all, and promised the workers that they could eat and drink as much as they wanted today, and he would tell the manager tomorrow to get another piece.

With sheep to eat, and such a large piece of Qing Tai Sui, the workers were even more excited than during the New Year, happily working together.

In the midst of the excitement, Zhou Datong's eyes looked a little strange. He didn't ask, but secretly glanced at Hu Ma, hinting at something.

Hu Ma didn't explain, but nodded at him. Zhou Datong immediately understood, stepped forward and kicked a worker, scolding, "I can tell you've never had good food."

"What do you mean cut it into small pieces and stew it?"

"Today, Brother Ma Zi is treating us to a feast, we have to roast the whole sheep and cut it with a knife, it's so delicious!"

“…”

“Who’s so rich that they can eat sheep like that?”

Hearing this way of eating, the workers' mouths watered just thinking about it.

Hu Ma, hearing this, confirmed one thing in his heart. Zhou Datong's grandfather must have embezzled a lot in the village, being able to afford to eat a whole sheep.

But Zhou Datong's suggestion was immediately agreed upon by everyone. They directly built a stone stove in the courtyard, chopped enough firewood, lit the fire, and put the sheep on the frame.

The workers who had knives even brought them over, eager to cut the mutton. Those who didn't have knives grabbed kitchen knives. Zhao Zhu even brought over a dung fork, but was forced to throw it aside.

"Alright, open the wine, let's eat!"

Two tables were set up in the courtyard, with delicacies that were rarely seen in the estate on the tables. A pile of fire was burning next to them, with the sheep roasting on top.

Hu Ma silently calculated the time in his heart. Seeing that it was almost right, he laughed, picked up a wine bowl, led the workers to drink a big gulp, and then began to eat meat with great joy.

Now the night was getting darker, everything was quiet, and there was such a red lantern hanging overhead, making the atmosphere strange no matter how you looked at it.

But the workers were genuinely happy, shouting and laughing, fighting over each other, directly diluting any gloomy atmosphere.

When the atmosphere reached its most intense, and they were eating so much that they forgot everything, including the performers outside, suddenly, there was a creaking sound at the gate. The tightly fastened gate was blown open by the wind.

A pale face suddenly peeked out from the dark doorway, glanced inside, and then retreated.

The workers were startled, and the hands holding their wine cups froze.

Hu Ma sensed the change in everyone's mood, and suddenly laughed, "Hey, whose young lady is that? Is she missing her man and wants to go home with us for the New Year?"

The workers were stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing again.