241, toast
241, toast
The sun has set in the west, and it is almost dark.
The carriage stopped in front of their braised food shop. Lu Mingfei got off the carriage himself, waved to the people sitting in the carriage, and signaled the coachman to leave.
Without waiting for orders from his master behind him, the driver drove away.
After watching the carriage leave, Lu Mingfei turned to face his own shop. Seeing the door closed, he knew that the shop must have been doing good business today and had sold out early.
Just as he was about to knock on the door, it was opened from the inside and a little head popped out.
The two brothers immediately looked at each other. When the little boy saw him, his eyes lit up and he shouted happily, "Brother!"
"Yeah." Lu Mingfei responded and walked forward.
Lu Mingrui opened the door and ran out. He ran over and hugged his brother's waist, calling him brother again. Then he tilted his head back and looked at his brother and asked, "Brother, where have you been?"
"I went out with my friends. Where are my father and mother?" Lu Mingfei walked into the store dragging the human-shaped pendant hanging on his waist. With a weight hanging on his waist, he walked much slower.
But the weight seemed to like hanging on him and refused to let go.
Before he even set foot into the store, he saw his mother coming out. When she saw him, she asked him where he had been.
He also replied that he had gone out with his friends and asked his mother, "Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet. I was thinking of waiting for you to come back and eat together. Did you have dinner outside with your friends just now?" Liu Sanniang saw that the youngest son was hanging on the eldest son's body, making it difficult for the eldest son to walk, so she hurriedly pulled the youngest son out.
"I ate a little outside, but I'm still not full. I can still eat a little more with you guys." Lu Mingfei said with a smile. In fact, his stomach was already very full, but he didn't want to disappoint his family's kindness, so he had to have another meal with them.
"That's good, that's good. We just sent away the people who came to our house to congratulate us, so we cooked dinner a little late today. We just started cooking the dishes and were waiting for you to come back for dinner. We were just wondering why you hadn't come back yet, and then you came back." Then Liu Sanniang told her eldest son about everyone who came to their house to congratulate them today.
As for those who wanted to arrange a marriage for their eldest son, Liu Sanniang didn't mention it at all.
Soon the other people in the house knew he was back and ran out one after another.
Lu Mingfei called everyone one by one, followed the adults into the backyard, and sat down in the seat reserved for him.
Those who were eating here in the backyard today were all their family and his adoptive father's family.
In addition to their two families, there were also servants bought by the family and helpers working in their store.
There were two large tables in the small courtyard, one for the two families and one for the servants and helpers. Brothers Zhang Qi and Zhang Xiaobao also sat at their main table, which was Lu Mingfei's request.
Perhaps to celebrate the fact that he had tried it, the family prepared two large tables of dishes, which was very sumptuous.
Lu Youtian was very happy today. He personally took the wine jar and poured wine for everyone, and also poured a glass for his eldest son. "We must have a good drink today to celebrate."
"Old Lu, don't pour wine for Mingfei. Mingfei still has to study when he goes back." Liu Sanniang stopped her husband from pouring wine for her eldest son. She was afraid that her eldest son was still young and had not drunk much, so he would not be able to hold his liquor and get drunk.
"It's okay, it's okay for me to have a small drink with everyone." Lu Mingfei said quickly.
"That's right, we won't drink too much, just a sip." Lu Youtian really poured a little bit for his eldest son, it was really not much.
Seeing this, Liu Sanniang couldn't stop them anymore and asked her husband to pour her a glass of wine as well, "I'll have a drink with you guys too."
"Give me a cup too." Xu Yue Niang said with a smile.
"Okay, okay, everyone has some." Lu Youtian dodged Lu Qingfeng's outstretched hand and asked Lu Qingfeng to sit down quickly. He actively came over to pour wine for everyone, "I'll do it, I'll just pour a glass of wine, you're not needed."
Seeing that Lu Youtian didn't let him help, Lu Qingfeng had no choice but to sit back in his seat and let his old friend Lu Youtian pour wine for them all.
After his father poured wine for everyone, Lu Mingfei picked up the glass, stood up and said to his parents, "Dad, Mom, I toast you with this glass of wine today. Thank you for raising me and paying for my education. That's why I am where I am today."
"It's your mother and I. Having you as our son is a blessing for us." Lu Youtian also stood up with his wine glass.
"Yes, Mingfei, you are the first child of your father and I. When you first came to us, our family's life... was still very hard. When you were over two years old and less than three years old, and could only walk steadily, you followed your father to the city to set up a stall."
"I know your father. He has a mouth but can't speak. In the past, he went to the city to sell things by himself, but he couldn't sell anything in a day. Ever since you followed him to the city to set up a stall, he only sold a few goods every day and earned money to go home..." Having said this, Liu Sanniang paused.
Obviously, she also remembered those years when her eldest son and her husband walked such a long way to the city and worked hard to sell goods all day, and all the money they earned was given to the public. The three of them had to look at the faces of the two elders at home to eat even a bite of meat.
Fortunately, they separated from the old house that year and moved to the city, which led to their current life.
Especially the eldest son, who helped the family a lot. Liu Sanniang felt very guilty towards the eldest son. She felt guilty that they were incompetent as adults, so they forced the eldest son to follow them to set up stalls and sell things at a young age to help make money to support the family.
"You have made great efforts to help our family get what it has today. Otherwise, if it were just your father and I, it would be difficult for us to survive in the city." So in Liu Sanniang's heart, the life their family has today is all thanks to the eldest son.
"Mom, don't say that. If it weren't for you, there wouldn't be me, right?" Lu Mingfei raised the wine glass in his hand again and toasted his parents, "This glass of wine is for Dad and Mom."
Lu Youtian and Liu Sanniang looked at each other, then raised their glasses and clinked them with their eldest son's.
After Lu Mingfei drank the entire glass of wine, he picked up the wine jar on the table, poured some wine for his father and mother, and then poured himself half a glass. He toasted his adoptive father and mother who were also here today, "This second glass of wine is for you two, adoptive father and adoptive mother."
Lu Qingfeng and Xu Yueniang were both very surprised. When their adopted son toasted them with the second glass of wine, they both raised their glasses and stood up.
"Thank you, adoptive father and adoptive mother, for taking care of our family and me over the years." Lu Mingfei never forgot that his adoptive father and adoptive mother helped his family when they were in the most difficult times.
There are many people who are willing to add icing on the cake, but few who are willing to help in times of need.
Their family and their adoptive father's family met when they were still poor, and have worked their way up from the bottom to their current position. This bond is unique.
Hearing his adopted son's words, Lu Qingfeng waved his hands, raised his wine glass, and said to his adopted son with a grateful look: "Your adopted mother and I are blessed by you to have a child like Mingcong."
"After Mingcong was born, we were busy with the business in the store and didn't take much care of him. When he was little, you helped us take care of him. When he grew up, you taught him to read and write, and taught him the principles of life. Your stepmother and I didn't put much effort into taking care of him, but he has grown up to this size and is so healthy."
"That's because you had the child late, not my fault." Lu Mingfei said with a smile.
"No, no, it must be your blessing." Xu Yue Niang firmly believed that this adopted son was the lucky star of the couple.
"Let's not talk about anything else. Let's drink this." Lu Qingfeng clinked the glass in his hand with his adopted son's, raised his head and drank the wine in the glass. "I'll drink it, you guys can do whatever you want."
Xu Yueniang also did it all.
Lu Mingfei knew the rules of drinking. After clinking glasses with others, there was no reason to drink half and leave the other half, so he drank it all.
"Hurry up and sit down to eat, don't just drink." Liu Sanniang waved her hand and asked everyone to sit down and eat.
Lu Mingfei made a gesture of invitation to his adoptive father and mother.
After everyone sat down together, he said to the two fathers, "My drinking capacity is almost here. Dad, godfather, you two can drink slowly."
"Okay, then don't drink anymore. Eat more vegetables, eat more vegetables." Lu Youtian knew his eldest son's alcohol tolerance, so he didn't dare let his eldest son continue drinking. He pulled his old friend Lu Qingfeng to drink with him.
Seeing that his younger brothers were all looking at him, Lu Mingfei signaled them to eat quickly and stop staring at him.
After two drinks, Lu Youtian remembered something and said to his eldest son, "Your uncle Chunping is here today. I asked him to bring a message back to the clan and tell the clan leaders that you have passed the imperial examination."
"We won't be going back to the village this time. The palace exam is coming soon. We'll see what to do after you finish it."
"Okay, Dad and Mom, you just take care of these things at home. Just tell me in advance if you need me to do anything." Lu Mingfei was not very good at handling these things, so he left it to his parents to arrange and handle. He had to cooperate and just show up.
"Okay, just concentrate on your studies. You don't have to worry about these things at home." Lu Youtian said.
…
That day, after finishing the meal, it was already dark outside.
After saying goodbye to his family, Lu Mingfei took a carriage back to the courtyard on Chunxi Road alone.
Sitting in his study room, he recalled the official's visit to the store today to deliver the good news, and he finally felt a sense of reality that he had truly passed the imperial examination. However, he also knew that the ranking in the imperial examination was not the final ranking, and there was still a final palace examination to come.
However, he has already taken ninety steps on this scientific expedition, and only the last ten steps are left to reach the end.
I just don’t know whether his destination will be standing on the top of the mountain, or being knocked down to the foot of the mountain, or standing halfway up the mountain and watching others reach the top.
However, since he had come this far, he naturally would not be willing to be thrown down to the foot of the mountain, or stand halfway up the mountain and watch others reach the top.
Note: "Zi Jin" in the previous chapter is a poem from the Book of Songs.
Green Grass by the River is a song written by Aunt Qiong Yao, composed by Zuo Hongyuan, and sung by Gao Shengmei.
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