Chapter 436 "My son, sister, Xia Tian, and mother all long for a reunion with their father!"
(Thanks to Fengwu Xuanhuo for casting a monthly vote.)
Li Shiyue and Manager Jin spent about half an hour alone together in a side hall of the council hall before Li Shiyue finally came out of the council hall.
As soon as she came out, she saw Li Qiutian, Yangzai, and Li Shiliang standing at the door.
Li Shiyue nodded to Li Qiutian, then instructed Yangzai and Li Shiliang: "Manager Jin came to our village as soon as the city gates opened, and hasn't had breakfast yet."
It's almost lunchtime now. Third Brother, why don't you ask Sister-in-law Min to make a few side dishes and send them to Manager Jin?
Lamb, go and prepare a set of our finest gifts, so that Manager Jin can take them with him when he leaves.
I'm going to write a letter.
As Li Shiyue walked to the side, she gestured to Li Qiutian to follow her.
Li Shiliang simply responded and then turned and left the council hall, heading towards the inn across the street.
Zhao Min was busy in the kitchen of the inn.
Since Li Shiyue specifically asked Zhao Min to prepare this meal, it proves that Manager Jin is a distinguished guest, so we must be careful.
The lamb, however, was faster and headed towards the barn at the back of the council chamber.
Because of the numerous industries in Lijiatun, the village has developed its own unique specialty products and gifts in recent years.
The gifts are divided into three grades: superior, middle, and inferior. The superior grade includes a ream of high-quality paper and several wolf hair and sheep hair brushes. If specifically requested, a complete set of sheep hair brushes will also be added.
This wool suit includes a wool sweater and pants, a pair of socks, a pair of gloves, and a hat.
All these things together are worth at least fifty taels of silver!
Isn't this a top-class gift?
As for a medium-sized gift?
That means replacing the paper with medium-sized paper and using a wolf hair brush or a sheep hair brush.
As for wool products, they are only available as single items, such as a pair of gloves or a pair of socks.
The inferior gift, of course, consisted of only a ream of the cheapest toilet paper and a wool brush made by an apprentice.
Wool sweaters are not included.
The best gifts are usually prepared specifically for families with close ties to Li Shiyue, such as Yan Jiuniang and Manager Jin, and naturally for the officers in the garrison who are close to Li Shiyue.
If you're going to give Liu Tan a gift, then you should naturally add things like charcoal from Lijiatun and dried rabbit meat.
The middle-level etiquette was reserved for shop managers, merchants, caravan leaders, and yamen runners and city gate guards from Qingsong Town and Sanshan County who had long-standing business dealings with Lijiatun.
This lower-class gift was mostly used by families whose daughters married into Lijiatun or who had kinship ties with people from Lijiatun, and was given as a gift occasionally.
Therefore, when Yangzai heard Li Shiyue mention preparing high-quality gifts, he knew that Manager Jin was a very important person and needed to be treated with care.
He had to personally and carefully select the paper, pens, and wool sweater before packing them up so that Manager Jin could take them with him when he left.
Human relationships and social interactions are nothing more than this.
While Zhao Min quickly prepared four side dishes, which Li Shiliang personally served to Manager Jin in the council hall, allowing him to finally have a hot meal, Li Shiyue also explained Yan Jiuniang's letter to Li Qiutian in a few words and showed the letter to Li Qiutian.
"Father...he's still alive!"
Li Shiyue, while laying out paper and grinding ink, responded to Li Qiutian's words after reading the letter.
"Yes! My uncle is still alive!"
According to the information provided by Jiu Niang, the caravans she manages have been heading towards the capital in recent years.
She had been asking the caravan to help her search for news of her uncle over there!
Persistence pays off, and after all these years, we finally received positive news from my uncle!
If the news is true, my uncle not only survived, but also became a brigade commander in the Youzhou army!
This brigade commander is at least an eighth-rank official!
According to Jiu Niang, her uncle must have risen through the ranks to become a brigade commander by a series of fortuitous events and meritorious service!
Li Shiyue excitedly dipped her brush in ink and picked up her pen to write a letter to Li Wangzheng. She had just written the four characters "To my uncle" when Li Qiutian, who had walked up to her, blocked her light.
"Sister?"
A drop of ink fell from the wolf-hair brush, which was soaked in ink, onto the paper. It spread and became a large black blot, making the words "uncle" completely illegible.
Li Shiyue looked at Li Qiutian with a puzzled expression, her eyes practically piercing with doubt.
"Even though Jiu Niang's letter said that this person's physical characteristics match Father's, it doesn't prove that this person is Father!"
"What does my sister mean?"
Li Qiutian put down Yan Jiuniang's letter and walked to the table. Upon seeing this, Li Shiyue moved aside to give way to her.
Then Li Qiutian laid out the paper again, picked up his pen and wrote "Father" at the beginning, but what followed was all questioning.
"She was born in the summer of the twelfth year of Changping. At the time of her birth, a great rain fell..."
Li Shiyue stood by and watched. When she saw Li Qiutian write it this way, she understood.
Li Qiutian was testing whether the recipient of the letter was really Li Wangzheng, the uncle of the Li family, or a bad person who had taken advantage of the Li family's search for someone and was pretending to be Li Wangzheng!
Because in Li Shiyue's memory, Li Xiatian was indeed born in the twelfth year of Changping, and was indeed born in the summer, which is also the origin of Li Xiatian's name;
However, Li Shiyue knew that Li Xiatian had always said that when Zheng Meiniang gave birth to her, the heat was extremely intense, and there hadn't been a single drop of rain for over a month, let alone heavy rain.
Therefore, Li Qiutian deliberately wrote the letter with a mix of truth and falsehood, wanting to see if the recipient was the real Li Wangzheng or an imposter.
Next, Li Qiutian wrote down a few more questions, all of which were family matters that only his real maternal uncle knew.
Talk like, "When my mother turned forty, we booked a banquet at a certain restaurant, and what kind of soup was served at the banquet."
Finally, Li Qiutian added a caring note at the end: "My sister Xia Tian and I, along with our mother, all long to reunite with our father!"
"If this person's reply can point out the mistakes I deliberately left out, it can prove that this person is really Father."
Then we can discuss the reunion later; a few months won't make a difference.
After all, we've waited all these years.
"Okay! I'll do whatever you say, elder sister!"
After drying the ink, Li Qiutian put the letter in an envelope and wrote "To Father" on it. The two sisters looked at each other and then went out the door side by side.
At the entrance of the council hall, Manager Jin was already standing there waiting.
The letter was handed to Manager Jin, who said, "If nothing goes wrong, we should receive a reply within three months."
Once I receive news, I will personally deliver it again!
Li Shiyue, Li Qiutian, and the others personally escorted Manager Jin onto the carriage, watching the lambs get on the carriage shafts and being seen off by Manager Jin's servant all the way to the village entrance.
The lamb got off the carriage just as they were about to get onto the official road.
Manager Jin, sitting inside the carriage, looked at the packed bundle beside him and asked a question.
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