Li Guaizi shook his head. "I didn't have a name before. People called me Li Gou Dan'er. Later, when I became lame, everyone started calling me Li Guaizi. Hehe, it sounds better than Gou Dan'er."

"Why don't you have a name? Didn't your parents give you one?" Song Xiaowen regretted asking as soon as she finished. What kind of parents don't give their children names? There must be some hidden reason why they didn't.

Sure enough, Li Guaizi immediately said, "I have no parents, I'm an orphan."

"This, oh, this... I'm so sorry, Aunt Song didn't mean to ask about this, don't be sad." Song Xiaowen felt extremely guilty, secretly blaming herself for being so clueless.

With a grin, Li Guaizi said, "Aunt Song, I'm not sad. I've grown up even without my parents, and besides, I think I'm doing pretty well now... hehe..." Li Guaizi couldn't help but laugh as he said this, "Not bad."

Song Xiaowen looked at Li Guaizi with admiration, "You have such a good attitude, kid. Optimism is good."

"Aunt Song, you look so young." Li Guaizi didn't know Chen Ke's past and thought that Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo were Song Xiaowen's biological children. When she opened the door for him just now, he thought she was Chen Ke's sister or something.

Song Xiaowen knew that Li Guaizi probably didn't know that Chen Ke was their adopted child, so he just took it as a compliment, smiled and said thank you without explaining further.

Just then, Chen Ke poked his head out of the kitchen after washing the vegetables. "Master Li, it's time for you to show off your skills."

Li Guaizi was just waiting for Chen Ke to call him. Although Song Xiaowen was warm and friendly to him, he felt inexplicably uneasy. Now he could finally get rid of this predicament.

He quickly got up and took off his coat. "Aunt Song, I'll go help out first."

"That's really too much trouble for you, Guai Zi. I saw you came to visit, but now I'm asking you for help."

"It's not troublesome at all, not troublesome at all."

With everything nearly ready, Zhou Shanhuai stepped out of the kitchen and left the three young men to do the work.

Chen Zhuo sneered as he looked at Li Guaizi who came in, "I thought my brother was talking about someone else, but it's you. You can even cook?"

Li Guaizi, with an air of "Don't underestimate me," arrogantly picked up a spoon and said, "Young Master, do you know what I used to do... what I did before?"

Chen Zhuo: "What do you do? Are you a chef?"

Li Guaizi tossed the wok and drawled, “Hey, it really is. I’ve been lame since I was a kid, and I’ve learned a lot of jobs that I can do with my hands to earn a living.”

"Hmph, you're good at a little bit but not at anything, what's there to be proud of?"

Li Guaizi: "...You're just jealous!"

"Ha, I'm jealous of you? I have a big mirror in my house, do you want to look in it and see what I'm jealous of?"

Chen Ke originally thought the two would stop after a few words, but seeing that they not only didn't stop but were becoming more and more childish, he quickly stopped them from talking, "Alright, Mom and Dad are waiting for dinner, let's get to work."

As soon as Chen Ke mentioned work, Li Guaizi reflexively replied, "Then you keep watch."

——

Chen Ke: ······

Li Guaizi: It’s over...

Chen Zhuo paused for a moment, then looked at Li Guaizi with a meaningful gaze, "You need someone to keep watch while you cook?"

Li Guaizi's mind raced, and a sudden inspiration struck him: "Do you think cooking is as convenient as it is here? We burn firewood, so we have to keep the wind blowing and make the fire as big as possible."

I feel like I used up all my intelligence and wit in this one moment!

Chen Zhuo's expression was ambiguous, and Li Guaizi couldn't tell whether he believed it or not. He glanced at Chen Ke, but Chen Ke remained calm.

Li Guaizi was instantly confused. If he wasn't afraid of Chen Zhuo finding out, then why was he hiding what Chen Zhuo and the others were doing in Shaanxi from them?

Besides, they didn't do anything heinous, and they even preserved a large number of Song Dynasty antiques for the country. If word gets out, who will remember that they did such a great thing?

"What are you standing there for? What should we cook first?" Chen Zhuo asked Li Guaizi, holding a plate of cabbage.

Li Guaizi came to his senses and glanced at the prepared side dishes. "Tsk tsk, as expected of the New Year, there are all kinds of things that fly in the sky, crawl on the ground, and swim in the water!" This table of food is something that even the officials of the Qing Dynasty could not have eaten during the New Year.

"Just have a quick lunch, but we need to start preparing the main dishes now, otherwise we won't have time for dinner. Give me the ribs first, fry them and then steam them..." Li Guaizi, as expected of someone who had worked as a chef, could at least make the dishes logically and in the right order, even though they didn't know anything about cooking.

The afternoon flew by, and the dishes served at the end were indeed plentiful, a whole table full.

The sky outside the window had darkened, and the sound of firecrackers echoed through the falling snow.

Zhou Shanhuai couldn't wait to take out the firecrackers he had prepared beforehand.

"Chen Zhuo, hurry up and get the matches, let's set off firecrackers!" Song Xiaowen's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy.

Setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is a tradition that seems to be ingrained in everyone's bones. At this time, both adults and children start to get excited and look forward to it.

Finally, Zhou Shanhuai set off firecrackers in the courtyard. Song Xiaowen was surrounded by Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo. The three of them stood on the steps at the door with smiles on their faces. Li Guaizi wasn't even wearing a coat and kept sniffling because of the cold, but he couldn't stop smiling.

"I ordered."

"Hey, hurry up, the children are watching."

Urged by Song Xiaowen, Zhou Shanhuai struck a match in the snow and lit the fuse.

The crackling sound of firecrackers immediately rang out, and a flash of light illuminated everyone's smiling faces. With each crisp crack, the red firecracker paper bloomed like plum blossoms on the snow.

After setting off the firecrackers, the family quickly returned to their warm house.

Looking at the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, everyone's eyes were filled with happiness and satisfaction. After the five people sat down, without any polite formalities, they raised their glasses to celebrate the moment and then began to eat.

Chen Ke truly experienced a New Year with a strong festive atmosphere. The whole family worked together to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, watched the firecrackers being set off, and Song Xiaowen gave all three of them lucky money after dinner. Even without any entertainment, they simply chatted and stayed up all night to welcome the New Year.

This New Year's Eve also made Zhou Shanhuai and Song Xiaowen very happy. The two brothers, Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo, reconciled as before, and a new member was about to be added to the family, which made them look forward to next year's New Year's Eve.

Needless to say, Li Guaizi had never experienced such a lively and warm New Year's Eve. In the past, he would just make himself some food and that would be it. This was the first time he felt that having family was really great.

For Chen Zhuo, the New Year's Eve of 1919 was particularly unforgettable, because they always thought it was just the beginning and that they would spend every year like this. But they never expected that it would be the last New Year's Eve they would spend together.