By the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Second Master hurried back home in a flurry, and the Second Miss seemed intent on making up for the seventeen years of estrangement previously endured, fretting over the Second Master's well-being with an overwhelming enthusiasm.
This made the Second Master feel quite unsettled, though he dared not dampen his daughter's enthusiasm—a bittersweet pleasure indeed!
Though the Third Master and Third Madam had not arrived, their gifts were never lacking. For the first time, they were separated from their children for such an extended period, not celebrating the New Year together.
Afraid their daughter and son would suffer grievances, they sent all kinds of fine items to the Capital, smoothing things over with such thoroughness that upon visiting the Sixth Miss, Fifth Young Master, and Sixth Young Master, one would have thought they were encountering the Money Boy.
