Generally speaking, New Year’s Eve is spent at home.
Fu Xiaoguan is a little special. Although he has a home in Shangjing, he has not yet started a family, so he still shamelessly ran to Dong's house.
As for Su Jue, Su Rou and Su Su who had just arrived at the Fu Mansion, they were orphans. They had always celebrated the New Year in the temple before and had not felt anything special. But now they were in the Fu Mansion. The only difference was that there were many lanterns in the mansion and the streets outside were very lively. As for other things... there didn't seem to be anything special.
Mrs. Dong had no objection to Fu Xiaoguan coming to her house to celebrate the New Year, because the boxes that Fu Xiaoguan sent had already been opened and there were five large boxes of silver inside!
After Mrs. Dong counted the silver, she discovered it amounted to a whopping thirty thousand taels! This was undoubtedly a massive fortune for the Dong family. The last time he came to the capital, when Fu Xiaoguan had sent Su Mo to steal Dong Shulan's property, he'd overheard the conversation between Mrs. Dong and Dong Xiujin. Knowing the Dong family wasn't wealthy, he ignored Dong Shulan's objections and gave her the extra thirty thousand taels, hoping that the extra money would please his mother-in-law.
Obviously, this goal has been achieved. Now when Mrs. Dong looks at Fu Xiaoguan again, she feels that this young man is indeed good, and Shulan's vision is indeed good. Fortunately, the master insisted, otherwise it would be a pity to lose such a good son-in-law.
She would occasionally compare him with Yan Xiwen. Of course, Fu Xiaoguan could not be compared with the Yan family, but now it seemed that Fu Xiaoguan's brain was much more flexible than Yan Xiwen. She heard that he was deeply loved by the emperor. If he had the master's secret help, he would probably be able to thrive in the court.
That's it!
Oh, I seem to remember that he has a brain disease, which is not good. His advantage is his brain. If his brain is sick, it will be troublesome. So Dong Yuan went to the kitchen and made a bowl of Gastrodia elata and pigeon soup herself. When Fu Xiaoguan and Dong Shulan came to Dong's Mansion and walked into the front hall, the old nanny held a bowl of Gastrodia elata and pigeon soup and placed it in front of Fu Xiaoguan.
"This is made by my mother. It's made with the Sichuanese Gastrodia elata that Your Majesty gifted you. It's simmered for two hours with three-month-old pigeons. It's a great brain tonic. Please eat it while it's hot."
Dong Shulan had a smile on her face, and Dong Xiude suddenly felt unwell again.
Fu Xiaoguan was so happy that he picked up the spoon and drank without hesitation, praising it endlessly: "Auntie's cooking skills are unparalleled in the world. I feel the warmth of home deeply."
Dong Xiude glared at Fu Xiaoguan and said, "Brother-in-law, what kind of magic potion did you give my mother?"
Fu Xiaoguan chuckled, "Second uncle, my aunt has a keen eye. Why would I need to use any magic potion? Let me tell you, this soup tastes really good. Do you want to try it?"
"roll!"
Dong Xiu De suddenly felt that his brother-in-law was not so good. It had only been two days since he came to the Dong Mansion, and his mother had completely sided with him. It seemed that his own son had no sense of existence at all - why the hell, did it feel like he was inviting a wolf into the house?
Of course, Fu Xiaoguan ignored Dong Xiude's feelings. Well, the feelings of this second uncle are not important.
Then Dong Kangping came out, and the four of them sat around the tea table, roasting fire, brewing tea, and chatting about family matters.
Fu Xiaoguan talked about Linjiang's family affairs, his first meeting with Dong Shulan, and how he had indeed changed because of Dong Shulan, etc.
He was chatting comfortably and peacefully, and his senior brother and sister were also chatting happily in Taoranting in Fu Mansion in Xuanwu Lake.
Su Su sat on the stool, her smooth feet swaying, and her big eyes twinkling as she looked at her senior brother Su Jue.
"So, this Fu guy really has some talent?"
Su Jue nodded. "Brother, I have read his A Dream of Red Mansions and the poem inscribed on the Thousand Stele Stone. He is a man of talent and learning, but strangely, he doesn't seem to pay much attention to this."
"What do you mean, brother?"
"I've never seen him read the Four Books and Five Classics. When I first met him, he had already become a minor official. However, he didn't pass the imperial examination. Instead, he took a shortcut and wrote a policy paper on disaster relief. You should know that policy paper. Master asked us to leave the temple to protect him because of that policy paper sent by my junior brother."
Su Su tilted her neck and thought for a while, then shook her head. "I don't know. I don't like reading, especially policy papers. They're too tiring. And then?"
"And then? Then he became an official, and then he was kidnapped and almost killed. But this kid is lucky. My junior brother said that when he found him, he was covered in blood, which scared him. But this kid is also very brave. He actually killed the two bandits who kidnapped him!"
Su Su pursed her lips and said, "It's just killing two bandits, isn't it? Didn't Junior Brother teach him the Nine Yang Heart Sutra and the Quanzhen Thirteen Swords? It would be strange if he couldn't win!"
Su Jue straightened his posture, looked at Sixth Junior Sister seriously, and said, "Do you think everyone in this world can be like you? He hasn't cultivated any internal energy, and he doesn't even have a sword. He's just a little more energetic and stronger than ordinary people. But those two bandits, according to Junior Brother, are at least third-rate masters. If it were anyone else, how could they have escaped or even fought back?"
Su Su was a little surprised. Oh, yes, the master said that a monster like me is unparalleled in the world, and he definitely can't compare with me. It is indeed dangerous, but it also shows that this person is brave and resourceful.
"Did your master ask you to bring us any message when you left the temple this time?"
Su Su spread her hands, "No, it's just that the temple is too quiet and lonely, and the world is more lively. She told me to travel around the world this time to learn more about human relationships and social customs. Then, around the Cold Food Festival, I'll go to Wu Dynasty and talk to Yan Guilai, the disciple of Beiwangchuan. During the Zhongyuan Festival, I'll go to Fan Kingdom and talk to Ku Chan, the disciple of the Buddha Sect leader. That's it."
Su Jue frowned. Wu Dynasty, Cold Food Festival, didn't Fu Xiaoguan also go to Wu Dynasty to attend the literary gathering during the Cold Food Festival? The meaning of Master's move... is quite interesting.
I recall the night of April 28th this year, a moonless and sparsely starry night. My master was fishing by the Xixing Lake in the temple, and I was cleaning a sea bass that my master had just caught. My second junior brother was making a fire, my third junior sister was embroidering, and my fourth junior brother was catching fish in the lake - after catching the fish, he would hang it on my master's hook, that's how my master fished - my fifth junior brother was flying around the mountains and fields looking for wild onions, my sixth junior sister was playing the piano, my seventh junior brother was hitting a flying bird with a stick, and my youngest junior brother was plucking the bird's feathers.
The master suddenly looked up at the sky, and then a word came out of his mouth inexplicably: "Ah..."
This word "ah" was very strange. The master seemed very surprised. Then he went to the fifth floor and got a compass and returned to the Xixing Lake. He placed the compass on the ground and counted with his fingers for a whole incense stick of practice. Then he was silent for another incense stick of practice and finally asked the junior brother to leave the temple.
No one knew why until October, when the master said that it was time for you and the third brother to come out of seclusion, and to protect the person your junior brother was protecting, and don't let him die.
Now it is December, and the Sixth Junior Sister has also come out of the monastery.
So...what did the master calculate that night?
Now it seems that Fu Xiaoguan is indeed different from others, including what he did in Xishan and the team he trained, which are all different from this world.
Could it be that this Fu Xiaoguan is really the man of destiny?
"What are you thinking about?"
Su Jue withdrew his thoughts and said, "I was thinking, this is actually Master's arrangement, because Fu Xiaoguan also needs to rush to Wu Dynasty before the Cold Food Festival."
"He's going too? What for?"
"He's going to a literary gathering."
"Oh, Brother, I'm hungry. Do you have any silver?"
Su Jue was very embarrassed. This Fu Xiaoguan really didn't give them any red envelopes. They didn't need any money when they lived in the temple before, and now they don't need money even if they have food and drink with Fu Xiaoguan, so... he really didn't have any.
Su Su smiled slyly, "Hehe, I knew you didn't."
"Could it be that you have one?"
Su Su nodded and stood on the ground, "Let's go, since Third Senior Sister is not here, Junior Sister, I will take you to eat delicious food!"
Su Jue thought that since the mansion was closed for the day, there was really no food to eat, so why not go out with Sixth Junior Sister to eat something.
"Okay, Junior Sister, please forgive me for the expense. I'll treat you next time."
Su Su jumped out of the Fu Mansion barefoot on the snow with her hands behind her back. She took Su Jue through the busy streets, looking left and right, occasionally stopping at a stall to look at the rag dolls being sold, and occasionally stopping in front of a candy stall to watch the master skillfully making the candy, and then left and came to a small wine shop at the bridge head.
Today is New Year's Eve, and many shops are closed. The streets are filled with mobile vendors, and this small wine shop is no exception.
A simple cloth tent blocked the sparse snowflakes, and there were only two tables of people inside.
The four people at one table looked like outlaws, as they had swords on their backs or knives at their sides, while the six people at another table looked like traveling merchants, with cloth bags slung over their bodies and smiling as they drank tea.
Su Su brought Su Jue in and sat at the table, shouting, "Boss, order!"
The four people at the warrior table nearby turned around and looked at Su Su. Their eyes lit up, and the middle-aged man at the head of the table was delighted. "Oh, there's such a pretty girl? Come on, girl, have a drink with us!"
Su Jue was about to get angry, but Su Su held him down. She looked at the man and smiled. It was not easy. Finally, the money for the meal was earned.
"Hey, sir, how about... a few of you come have a drink with me?"
"That's a great feeling, haha, I'm going to go have a drink with this little beauty!"
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