Chapter 3320 Returning Home in Glory Part 4
"Yes, but Grandpa Jin is treating us to dinner today, so we don't have to work in the afternoon and we can go out and play."
Today the whole village is as festive and lively as during the Chinese New Year. Not only chickens and ducks are slaughtered, but also pigs and sheep.
At this time, the sun was already at its zenith, and the people who had been working in the fields had returned. Knowing that the Zhou family was going to have a dinner party in the evening and that it was bustling over there, many of them washed their faces and came over to help.
Zhou Man and his friends came back with the remaining fruits, and in the end only a few were left in their hands.
"This is my home," Zhou Man took Mingda's hand and led them inside. They walked around to the north courtyard and pointed at a door. "That was my room before, but now..."
"It's yours now," Feng said as she passed by. "You still have a lot of books and other things in there. We didn't know if we could move them, so we just cleaned it and didn't touch anything."
She glanced at the princess and couldn't help but smile ingratiatingly. She leaned close to Zhou Man and whispered, "There are too many people outside and it's noisy. Why don't you take the princess to your room and sit down? The pig-killing dish will be served soon. Do you want to eat in the yard over here?"
Zhou Man nodded in agreement and said to the Bai family's servants, "Go back and tell the old lady that we also had lunch here."
"yes."
Zhou Man happily pulled them into his room.
The room hadn't been occupied for a long time, but fortunately it had been exposed to wind for a long time and was probably smoked, so there was only a slight smell of dampness.
Bai Shan asked his servant to go home and get an incense burner to burn incense, and the group sat down in the outer room.
There are some books on the bookshelf next to the screen, and more bamboo utensils. There is a lotus-shaped shallow basket that is particularly beautiful and contains some small things.
Yin Huo looked at it curiously and said, "I've heard before that your second brother is good at bamboo weaving. Did he weave this for you?"
Zhou Man nodded, "Yes, all the bamboo woven things in this room were woven by my second brother."
Bai Shan took a ball from the top of the bookshelf and handed it to him, "Here, this is also made by Zhou Er brother."
"You guys also know how to play Cuju?" Yin Huo took it, looked at it, raised an eyebrow, and looked at the three people suspiciously, "I've only seen you watching, I don't think I've seen you play it."
Bai Erlang said, "When we were little, we were the bullies of the village. We were the best at kicking football."
Bai Shan nodded, "But you can't compare with those who really know how to do it."
Mingda couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "No wonder you never played in the capital."
"Princess, Your Majesty," the Bai family's servant came over and reported from outside the door, "The Luojiang County Magistrate has sent a visiting card and wants to pay his respects to the princess."
As soon as the voice fell, Jiulan also reported: "Master, my lady, our house has also received the visiting card."
The people in the room looked at each other. Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "Please ask the county magistrate to come tomorrow."
"yes."
Bai Erlang: "He is well-informed. We just got home yesterday afternoon."
Bai Shan: "Luojiang County is not big, and there are so many of us. It's impossible for him not to know."
He paused and said, "Call the head of the village and the village chief, and come to see me together when the time comes."
Suddenly, there was a bustle outside. There were not only loud voices but also the crackling of firecrackers. Zhou Man stood up as soon as he heard it. "It must be my uncle and his friends. You guys sit and have fun. I'll go meet them."
Bai Shan raised his son and asked, "Do you want to take care of the child?"
"No need," Zhou Man said, "There are too many people and it's noisy. It's better for the children not to join in the fun. I'll go and see them and come back soon. You take them with you."
Uncle Qian and his friends set off three firecrackers and were happily welcomed in.
Among the Zhou family's relatives, only the Qian family has been invited to visit today. As for the rest, they will have to wait until tomorrow before letting their sons and daughters-in-law return to visit their parents' home.
As soon as Aunt Qian arrived, she took Little Qian to see her. Seeing that she looked more energetic than when she left a few years ago and didn't look any older, she knew that she was doing well. Her smile widened, "Where are your two nephews?"
Five years ago, two children from the Qian family joined Zhou Silang's caravan and began their work of returning home once a year.
Xiao Qian said, "They are in Qingzhou. The fourth brother told them to look after the shop and business over there, so he didn't bring them with him this time."
Aunt Qian had heard them talk about it several times, but she still didn't know where Qingzhou was. She only knew it was near the sea. "How are they doing?"
"That's good. Li Wei is there too, so he can take care of us," said Xiao Qian. "Besides, the fourth brother passes through Qingzhou on his way back and forth now."
"What about Li Zhong and Li Xue? How high are their official positions now?"
Xiao Qian said, "Li Xue is serving as a county magistrate outside and can't come back. But this time Li Zhong and his wife are back. My father-in-law said he wants to open the ancestral hall and record his wife and children. We haven't been back in the past few years, and the children we had haven't had time to be included in the family tree."
"Li Zhong is back. The fourth brother didn't tell me who his wife is." Aunt Qian turned her head excitedly to look outside and asked in a low voice, "Is his wife also an official like Man Bao?"
"Yes, her current official rank is the same as Li Zhong's, and she can be promoted in the future. She is definitely more promising than Li Zhong." Xiao Qian looked outside and pointed at a young woman who was carrying a basket of vegetables. "That's her," she said. "Her maiden name is Liu, and her name is Sanniang."
After she finished speaking, she walked out of the kitchen door and called out loudly, "Sanniang, come quickly to see your grandmother."
Liu Sanniang immediately stepped forward to greet her, but was pulled back by Aunt Qian. "Great, great, great, you're so pretty! Our family is so blessed."
Liu Sanniang lowered her head and smiled embarrassedly.
Zhou Man came hurriedly from the next yard and called out to her when he saw her, "Aunt!"
Aunt Qian was also very surprised to see Zhou Man. She immediately let go of Liu Sanniang and went to Zhou Man's hand, "Manbao has grown so big? Oh, he is so handsome, but a little thin. Is it because he didn't eat well? Is your cook's cooking not to your liking?"
"I've grown up, not lost weight." Zhou Man refused to admit that he had lost weight. After looking around, he asked, "Where are my uncles?"
"I just walked around inside and was dragged out. They said there were too many people in the yard and they couldn't sit down, which would interfere with the kitchen work." Aunt Qian glanced outside and said, "They're either in the open space at the door or under the banyan tree at the entrance of your village. Your father is outside too."
Old Zhou was indeed outside. He was surrounded by three circles of people, all of whom were old men and women of about his age.
Relying on their seniority and age, they occupied the best open space in the village - under the banyan tree.
The children who liked to run around the tree were driven away by them. A group of old men and women sat under the tree and talked in the shade. It was mainly them who asked questions, said Old Zhou.
"Have you met the Emperor?"
"Yes, I have seen him. I see him every year." Every New Year's Day, the emperor would go up to the city wall of the imperial city to celebrate with the people. As an official's wife, he could grab a good position to kowtow to him and see his holy face, so he could see him every year.
(End of this chapter)
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