Chapter Fifty-Four: Showing Up

  Several brothers of the courtyard have gone to the front door.

  "...you just moved in?"

  "Ah ah, yes... take good care of yourself from now on..."

  "...is that a Northwestern accent?"

  "...fellow villager, good hearing..."

  The neighbors in front of the door also came out, although they were not familiar with each other, but they exchanged New Year's greetings and chatted with each other.

  Xu Maoshou withdrew his gaze and looked at Cheng Jiaoniang sitting across from him.

  "What's on your mind, little sister? Go ahead and say it." he said.

  Jiang Nang nodded.

  "These days, you go for a walk outside the city, there is a restaurant called Shénxiān Jū." she said.

  Xu Maoshou's expression was serious and focused, nodding slightly.

  "They might have to sell out." said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Xu Maoshou was taken aback.

  "Brother will take care of buying it," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Xu Maoshou looked at Cheng Jiaoniang in surprise, wanting to see some hidden information on her face. Unfortunately, this woman's expression was always wooden, except for the curved corners of her mouth that could express a smile, all other expressions were absent.

  "Good." Xu Maosheng said.

  Seven brothers kept watching Chunjiao's carriage until it disappeared from view on the street before turning back into the house.

  The sun sets in the west, and the first day of the new year has passed just like this.

  Several brothers went to cook in a hurry, and Fan Jianglin and Xu Maoshou sat down in the house.

  "Shall we buy a restaurant?" asked Fan Jianglin, apparently also surprised.

  Xu Maoshou nodded.

  "Let us go out and buy a restaurant." He corrected himself saying.

  "What does this mean?" Fan Jianglin asked in confusion.

  "Maybe she is. Want to buy a restaurant?" Xu Maoshou thought for a moment and said, speaking with a smile on his face.

  Fan Jianglin touched his head and smiled wryly.

  Really, is it that simple?

  The first month is idle, and time flies quickly. Before you know it, the seventh day of the first month has arrived. The capital city is bustling with noise and excitement. After visiting relatives, most of those coming and going now are good friends.

  Compared with the warmth of other people's homes, the students living in the hostel seem a bit lonely.

  "Why don't we go out for a walk?" one of his companions said. He put down the book in his hand, rubbed his hands together, and stomped his feet to relieve the numbness.

  Behind him, Han Yuan Chao and another companion also put down their books.

  "It's been a whole day since yesterday, and it's just going back and forth with the same old things. What's there to change?" Han Yuanchao said, shaking his head.

  "Are you still waiting for your beauty to come and invite you?" a companion laughed.

  Han Yuanchao smiled and shook his head.

  "But it's really strange, how did that beauty just disappear?" said the companion beside him.

  "Don't talk nonsense, what beauty or not. It should be an old man." Han Yuanchao said, "The maid has a Jiangzhou accent, but is very familiar with the capital, and when asked if she will stay in the capital or return to Jiangzhou, it's uncertain, clearly this is an old person who misses their hometown."

  Companions have already stopped talking about the Korean won and nodded in agreement.

  "But of course, Old Zhang naturally has a daughter or granddaughter." another one laughed and said.

  The atmosphere in the house became a bit more lively with these few words, as if they had driven away some of the loneliness.

  "But honestly, how did it suddenly stop coming?" Another cosmetic said, "Could it be that it really only visited the woman's family and did some good deeds?"

  "See, I told you so. As expected, it's someone like me." Han Won-jo smiled and said, "You're just being paranoid."

  As they spoke, the sound of laughter and conversation came from outside the door.

  "Let's go for a walk and stop by the temple to admire the calligraphy."

  It turned out that other students from the same dormitory came to invite them, and it was always boring to study hard. At this time, the three of them accepted the invitation and put on their clothes to go out.

  "Isn't it supposed to be admiring plum blossoms and poetry? How did it become admiring calligraphy?"

  "Haven't you heard? In the past year, someone at the temple proposed a good character and created five new forms. I heard that even Master Jiang from Jiangzhou went to see it personally."

  "So it was like that, Brother Jin is going to look for words or waiting to meet Mr. Jiangzhou?"

  A group of people walked out of the door, chatting and laughing, amidst the bustling crowd on the street, with occasional firecracker sounds.

  Han Yuan wrapped his cloak tightly and looked at the street on the east side.

  Is that all?

  "Hey, big brother." someone called out to him.

  Han Yuanchao responded and followed his companions westward.

  At the same time, Jingniang walked out of the Chen's house.

  "It's already New Year's Day, why don't you eat some more and then leave?" Madam Chen personally saw them out and once again tried to persuade them to stay.

  Jiangniang did not speak and politely declined with a bow.

  Zhou Lang hurried over in his horse-drawn carriage, attracting the curious gazes and whispers of the Chen sisters nearby.

  The Chen family women didn't turn back until they saw the carriage disappear from the alley.

  "Mother, mother, is the dress sister is wearing the one you gave her?" Chen Dan Niang asked excitedly.

  They almost didn't recognize her when she stepped inside the door.

  The greatest return gift is when someone wears the gift you gave them on their body.

  Mrs. Chen couldn't help but smile on her face.

  "Yes," she said, "Doesn't the dress fit Madam Cheng well?"

  Chen Dan Niang nodded her head slightly.

  "Look at her, she looks good in anything." She said, thinking of something and looking back at her sisters, "Eighteen's clothes are not as good-looking as hers."

  The sisters behind her burst out laughing.

  "Shi Jiu Niang, you say it again, the new clothes are not as good as yours." Chen Shi Ba Niang said with feigned annoyance.

  Chen Dan Niang was not afraid of her sister, she made a face at her and pulled on her mother's hand.

  "Mother, mother, mother make for me." she said.

  The children laughed and played happily together, Mrs. Chen smiled warmly.

  Husband's official career is smooth and prosperous, father-in-law's illness has been eliminated, this year's passing is truly comfortable.

  The horse carriage drove into the courtyard, Zhou Liu Lang jumped down from the carriage, threw away the whip in his hand and turned to leave.

  Jiang Jiangniang got off the carriage with the help of her maid.

  "Today there are quite a few guests." The maid said, looking at the horse carriage over there.

  "It's like this every day during the New Year." The servant's wife said with a smile, with a hint of pride, "There are many people walking around."

  Jiangniang glanced at the fallen woman and turned her head to look at the maid.

  "So, we're back, let's go see the lady," she said.

  The maid responded, but...

  "Trouble you, sister-in-law, to show me the way." She said with a smile to the servant girl.

  See the mistress? The children go out and come back, naturally they all want to see the mistress and ask for peace, it's just that this lady has never had this habit before, suddenly she wants to go, the servant woman thought she heard wrong.

  But this is a good thing, the servant's wife was overjoyed, so it's said that family members are all one family, there's no distinction between true and false, the young lady has arrived unfamiliar, once familiar everything will be fine.

  "Come this way, miss," she said happily.

  Unlike previous years, this year's Zhou family is more lively and has many more visitors. The servants and lower-ranking staff don't know the reason, but Master and Mistress Zhou are well aware of it.

  "Aunt, I heard you have a new little sister at home, why haven't I seen her?"

  After a lot of beating around the bush, a young woman said with a smile.

  "Yes indeed." A woman beside her also said, "It's New Year's Day, why are sisters making a lively scene together?"

  These days, Mrs. Zhou has already heard this sentence so many times that her ears have grown calluses.

  "She's not at home, she went out." She said with a smile.

  "Are there still relatives here?" the woman asked, with a hint of doubt.

  "It's just the Chen family." Madam Zhou said with a hint of a smile, although her smiling face was slightly stiff.

  Last time it was said that the body was unwell after sleeping, this time it was said to have gone to Chen's house, what about next time? Pushing and pulling, which of these ladies is easy to get along with? Nothing can be heard as a matter of fact.

  As expected, the woman's face was smiling but not quite smiling.

  "You'd better just keep your treasure at home," she said. "We can't compare to the Chen family, and we're not worthy of seeing your treasure."

  "Or else, we can't afford to offend the Chen family, right?" Another person laughed and said.