The gifts brought by the Wen family were also two different items.
Wen He had his servant deliver the gift boxes to Cheng Ruyi, and then opened them one by one with utmost care.
"This painting is a bamboo painting in the snow that our master painted himself a month ago! And this white jade longevity lock is a gift from our madam. Regardless of its value, it is just a token of her affection."
Cheng Ruyi could easily sense the immense pride and self-satisfaction in Wen He's simple and understated introduction.
As a female engineering student majoring in computer science, she naturally didn't understand anything too profound about art, but that didn't stop her from feeling the vibrant vitality and the noble character of bamboo standing tall against the wind and snow from this ink bamboo painting; the white jade longevity lock was also very rare, being pure white and flawless. Although the entire longevity lock didn't seem to have any special decorations or patterns, it actually made it seem more Taoist, with a kind of artistic conception of returning to simplicity.
She knew that although Steward Wen said he didn't care about value, these two items were probably the most valuable in the entire room.
Moreover, since the beginning, the system notification sound has been ringing non-stop. She guessed that the most likely reason was that both of the gifts contained spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy value was definitely not low!
"We appreciate the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Wen, but these two gifts are far too valuable; we really cannot accept them!"
Although she was short of spiritual energy, she couldn't accept a gift without having done something right. She was also worried that accepting the gift might cause unnecessary trouble, since she had never had any dealings with the Wen family before. She was also quite certain that none of the children arrested in Huaishan County that night had the surname Wen.
"Madam Cheng, there's no need to be modest!" Wen He had successfully delivered the gifts, so his mission was complete. Even glancing at his mistress made his heart ache for her; he just wanted to leave immediately and avoid seeing her. "In that case, we won't disturb you any longer. Farewell!"
"Oh dear! Why doesn't this person listen to me?!" Cheng Ruyi hurriedly chased after him, calling out, "Manager Wen! Please wait! This congratulatory gift..."
However, before she could finish speaking, Wen He and his two servants had already gone downstairs and disappeared.
She didn't quite understand. If it was just a polite way of thanking her, the gift from the Wen family patriarch was already enough. Why did his wife send another one? And such a precious gift at that?
Unable to understand it, she asked Guo Qinglan the same question.
"Don't you know what Madam Wen's surname is?"
Cheng Ruyi was even more confused after hearing this. How could she know the name of the magistrate's wife for no reason? It was as if she hadn't known the name of the magistrate's wife at all if it weren't for this incident!
Guo Qinglan couldn't help but poke Ruyi's head. "You were so sharp when you were looking for the child and catching the criminal, why are you suddenly so slow now? Madam Wen's surname is Gu! That's right, the Gu family from the prefectural city!"
"Oh, I see!" Cheng Ruyi suddenly realized.
"The Gu family has made a move?"
"Well, I also came to tell you about the latest developments." Guo Qinglan looked around, then pulled Cheng Ruyi to a corner. "I heard the prefect's investigation has yielded results. The number of missing children in various parts of Chongzhou Prefecture... well, it's more serious than we imagined. And the final outcome will depend on the power struggle in the capital."
Just as she had guessed, the other party dared to make a move in Chongzhou, clearly intending to target the Gu family. She knew with her toes that it must be related to some palace intrigue or prince faction.
It seems I need to find an opportunity to understand the current situation in the capital. Before, she thought that the emperor was far away and that as an ordinary citizen, she had nothing to do with the intrigues in the capital. She was so naive!
The lives of ordinary people are not considered lives at all in their eyes; they are merely bargaining chips in a game!
After watching the excitement, Guo Qinglan left with Guo Xiaoyu. Cheng Mande's first birthday banquet, which had been interrupted by a series of super luxurious gift packages, could finally continue.
Finally, the chubby boy held a golden gourd in his left hand, a longevity lock in his right, and a heavy toy knife in his arms, his face beaming with joy.
How could he not be happy? Cheng Ruyi couldn't even imagine how much these things were worth! Unfortunately, he didn't even glance at the calligraphy from the magistrate who had passed the imperial examination and the painting by the former genius.
"It seems that Mande is not cut out for studying. How come he has no literary temperament or artistic appreciation at all..." Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.
"What nonsense are you spouting! How can you talk about your grandson like that on such a joyous occasion!" Xu Cui, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but glare at her, then turned around and immediately beamed, saying loudly, "Oh my! Our Mande is sure to be a wealthy, accomplished, and long-lived man! Hahaha!"
Looking at Cheng Mande, who was being pampered and adored by his family, Cheng Ruyi suddenly felt that she needed to be wary of their family spoiling their grandson too much, especially now that their material conditions had improved, it was easy for them to inadvertently raise a spoiled child.
She needs to talk to her family about it when she has time, but there's no rush. At least for now, the chubby boy seems a bit silly and endearing.
Is she too calm or even cold-blooded?
Cheng Ruyi sometimes doubts herself. In fact, she doesn't particularly like children and small animals. If she encounters a well-behaved, sensible, and intelligent one, she will certainly find it very cute. However, if she encounters a bad-tempered and ill-mannered one, she will definitely dislike it and will not give it a good look.
The lively first birthday banquet came to an end, and the family members, who had been busy all day, quickly went to sleep after returning to their hometown in the county town.
After ten days of rest, Cheng Ruyi has fully recovered. In fact, because she took too many pills and drank too much spiritual spring water a few days ago, her injuries healed too quickly, so much so that she doesn't dare to go for a follow-up visit now.
It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone or tendon, but who can recover from a wrist fracture in ten days?
She couldn't think of a reason to explain, so she had no choice but to continue acting and dragging things out.
It was getting late, but Cheng Ruyi, who had rested for so many days, really didn't want to lie down anymore. So she went to the storeroom alone to count the gifts she had received that day and to register them one by one so that she could give them back in the future.
There are twelve private rooms on the second floor of Zhiweiguan. The so-called grand banquet hall is actually just three rooms connected on one side, which are opened up to form a long private room. This will cost more than just renting three rooms.
Since they had booked the highest-level banquet, the total cost was close to sixty taels. Of course, Huang Youcai gave them a discount in the end, and the bill came to less than fifty taels. Cheng Ruyi knew that this was a congratulatory gift from him on behalf of Zhiwei Restaurant, which was a normal business exchange, so she accepted it without hesitation.
Spending fifty taels to hold a first birthday banquet was something the Cheng family would have never dared to dream of six months ago.
However, her family now has a regular income of 30 to 50 taels per month, plus her occasional extra income, which adds up to a considerable sum. So even though they spent more than 700 taels to buy land and build a house, they still have more than 300 taels left in their account.
This amount of money would be a considerable fortune for an ordinary family, but Cheng Ruyi felt it was far from enough to survive in a chaotic world.
She never had high expectations for Da Yue to begin with. In the year since she transmigrated, all the big and small things that have happened have made her more and more convinced that Da Yue will definitely experience a huge upheaval in the near future, and may even be destroyed.
An uneasy premonition kept urging her to accumulate as much as possible to save her life, and now she just hoped for a little more time to prepare.
As Cheng Ruyi pondered the future, she quietly organized the gifts.
"Ding-dong, a jade stone containing trace amounts of spiritual energy has been detected. Would you like to exchange it?"
"Ding-dong, a painting or calligraphy piece containing a trace of spiritual energy has been detected. Would you like to redeem it?"
The system's familiar notification sounded again. Cheng Ruyi quickly opened it and saw that exchanging the White Jade Longevity Lock cost six points of spiritual power, while the Ink Bamboo and Snow Painting actually cost nine points of spiritual power!
She only received ten points of spiritual power as a reward for completing a main quest that was certain to result in death, and the quest to defeat the thief only gave her three points!
The white jade longevity lock must contain spiritual energy because of the excellent quality of the jade. But the ink bamboo painting was clearly painted by a mortal, so why does it also have spiritual energy? Could it be that the genius of the Wen family also has a cheat system? Or does he himself know how to cultivate immortality?
But if that were the case, he wouldn't be in such a miserable state now, right? So what is the reason? Is it the drawing paper? The paintbrush? Or the ink?
Cheng Ruyi was completely baffled; this question was far beyond her comprehension. She could only give up for the time being and continue organizing the other congratulatory gifts.
This banquet only invited people who were closest to the Cheng family, about thirty people in total, which is not a large number.
The Sun family sent the Four Treasures of the Study, which were displayed during the baby's first birthday celebration, and they were all of the finest quality. The Yang family, on the other hand, sent a suckling pig directly to Zhiwei Restaurant, where it was eaten that very day.
These two families had the closest relationship with Ruyi. Sun Wensui was her late husband's old friend, Yang Liuer was her best friend, and the elderly couple in the Yang family had watched her grow up since she was a child, so the gifts they gave were all very valuable.
The Zhang family gifted a piece of soft red silk, which meant that Cheng Mande's clothes would be taken care of for the next few years. To Cheng Ruyi's surprise, Zhang Yumian gave her a small bib with a lifelike koi leaping out of a lotus pond, causing water to splash.
Both the composition and the embroidery techniques are extremely exquisite. The key point is that it even uses a bit of perspective. I wonder if Zhang Yumian figured it out herself. It seems that she is not only skillful but also very intelligent!
The other gifts from relatives and friends were mostly auspicious gifts, which, although not very valuable, far exceeded Ruyi's expectations.
All things considered, this first birthday party not only didn't lose money, but it seems like we actually made a profit!
Besides the Lin family...
Indeed, as the only relative of the Cheng family at present, and also the maternal family of the protagonist Cheng Mande, Cheng Ruyi still politely handed them an invitation.
Picking up the pastry gift box from the Lin family, it wasn't hard to recognize that it was from the pastry shop nearby. Moreover, it wasn't an expensive one; it was all ordinary pastries, probably costing no more than a hundred coins in total.
She wasn't saying she had to accept expensive gifts, but the Lin family's gift was clearly made without any thought or effort, and as Cheng Mande's maternal grandparents' family, it was indeed rather unworthy of respect.
In her memory, the two families had not met since Cheng Yunping and Lin Xiaoman's wedding, so this was actually the first time she had met the Lin family since she came into this world.
She was very busy at the banquet, so she didn't pay much attention to the Lin family. She only glanced at them a few times. It seemed that she was always talking to Xiaoman about something, worried that the other party might be up to something. She originally wanted to check on them when she had time, but so many things happened afterward that she forgot to ask Xiaoman.
Cheng Ruyi was squatting on the ground, sorting through the gifts while pondering the problem, when suddenly footsteps came from outside the door...
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