The owner of the house is kind-hearted.

　　In a large courtyard in Beijing, two families lived together. Mother Lan’s family of eight squeezed into three rooms, and they had to cook and make fire. Her husband died more than 20 years ago. Her life was so miserable. She had her father-in-law and mother-in-law above her, and hungry mouths crying for help below her. What else could she do if not serve them?

　　Fortunately, I managed to get through it.

　　The whole family was naturally happy to see the things they brought back. Lan’s mother-in-law was seventy years old and lived a frugal life. She even asked Lan’s mother if she wanted to sell the rice and meat for money.

　　Let’s have a prosperous New Year. Mother Lan said, “The lady I serve said that if you do poorly in the New Year, you will have to suffer in the next year.”

　　Mother Lan and her mother-in-law gave up.

　　The grandchildren were all happy to know they could eat meat.

　　After a happy and prosperous New Year, Mother Lan packed up and went back to the Li family on the afternoon of the second day of the New Year. Her mother-in-law said that the jar of pickles had not been opened yet, so she could take it back and thank her^[1]zhaozhao, but she didn’t know whether she would eat it or not.

　　Mother Lan had never thought of sending pickles to the official’s wife before, but this time she was shaken and decided to wrap the pickles in cloth and carry them away.

　　”Happy New Year, Mother Lan. You’re back so early?” Li Zhouzhou was busy in the kitchen. When he heard a knock on the door, he came out to open it and saw Mother Lan.

　　”Hello, Madam.” Mother Lan greeted with a smile and said, “There’s nothing to do at home, so I came here in no time. These are the pickles I made at home.” She didn’t know what to say.

　　Li Zhouzhou thought that Mother Lan was eating it herself, so he said, “I also pickled vegetables when I was in the village. My husband likes to eat pickled cucumbers, and the wild vegetables in the fields in autumn are also delicious when pickled.”

　　”If you don’t mind, I’ll give it to you. I haven’t opened this jar yet and no one has eaten from it.” Mother Lan said quickly.

　　Li Zhouzhou originally didn’t want to take away someone else’s favor, but when he saw how nervous Lan’s mother looked, it seemed, as if the gift was specially sent to his family?

　　”Sent it to me? Then give it a try. I just happened to have made some porridge.” After Li Zhouzhou said this, he noticed that Mother Lan was relieved, so it was sent to his family.

　　During the two days of the New Year, meat was eaten every day. For dinner, Li Zhouzhou cooked rice porridge and paired it with the pickled vegetables that Lan’s mother brought back. It was refreshing and went well with rice.

　　Li Da thought it was a good idea as it could help him get rid of the fat in his stomach.

　　Gu Zhao also liked it because the pickled vegetables were crispy and he liked to eat crispy things. Li Zhouzhou turned around and thanked Mother Lan, saying that everyone in the family loved it. Mother Lan was relieved when she heard this, and she couldn’t hide the smile on her face and eyes.

　　The next morning, Fang Liu also came back with two loads of firewood. If it wasn’t for Mother Lan mentioning it, Li Zhouzhou wouldn’t have known that Master Fang had given his family free firewood, so he naturally kept it in mind.

　　The father and son of the Li family were not born into a wealthy family, but came from a rural village. Now that Gu Zhao has become a minor official, the family’s officials no longer have any prestige. They appear to be arrogant in external social interactions, but in essence, the family lives a down-to-earth life.

　　Even though the social status and class have changed, the way we treat others has not changed.

　　It snowed in Beijing for half a day. It stopped for a while and then started again at night. It kept falling, but the amount of snow didn’t seem to be very heavy.

　　Gu Zhao asked Fang Liu, what’s going on in the village outside?

　　”Our village is okay, but a house in the neighboring village was crushed by the snow.” Fang Liu replied.

　　Gu Zhao nodded after hearing this. It hasn’t become a snowstorm yet, but if it continues like this, who knows what will happen.

　　On the sixth day of the New Year, the furniture shop opened its doors. Li Zhouzhou first ordered ten food boxes. He personally opened a duck and drew grids according to the length of the duck legs, duck neck, and duck offal. Liu Shu contributed a duck poem written by his husband.

　　When Gu Zhao came back and saw it, he didn’t know what to do. Li Zhouzhou was puzzled, “Is it because the writing is not good?”

　　”No, four-character poems are written in a concise manner, are easy to read and are very popular among the people.” Gu Zhao smiled at the fact that Second Brother Yan was willing to take such a risk. He must have done it for Mr. Liu’s sake. “Great.” Then he thought about it and designed a design for the lunch boxes at home.

　　The boxes came back on the tenth day. They were polished smooth and had no odor. Li Zhouzhou washed and scalded them, then soaked them overnight. The next day, he started to deliver the first batch of food boxes.

　　Gu Zhao wrote a New Year’s card, which means that he didn’t go in person, but sent a gift. Except for Lord Shi, it was naturally different for Lord Shi. He wrote a visiting card. This was a courtesy. Lord Shi was the head of the Hanlin Academy and was older. As a lower-level official, he should go to pay New Year’s greetings.

　　He had asked before, and everyone in their department wrote a self-criticism letter, but the reply they received was the same. Lord Shi didn’t like noise, so he just replied to the letters and never held a banquet to invite them.

　　After Gu Zhao finished writing the post, Li Zhouzhou and Liu Shu sorted the braised ducks in the kitchen. These things didn’t have much soup, and the weather was cold, so there was no need to worry about spilling them.

　　A box of braised duck includes classic items such as duck offal, duck wings, duck necks, and duck clavicles.

　　An extra piece of jelly was packed for Lord Liang, all of which were cut up, and Lord Liang needed to make his own cold dish. Gu Zhao wrote a note and said that Lord Liang was curious, so he would send an extra portion if his family made it.

　　The driver of the Yan family waited outside. When the food was ready, he took the food box and got on the car. He took the visiting card and set off. Fang Liu did the same. There were five families in total, but they were all in different directions. It would take a whole day to drive.

　　Shi Mansion.

　　The concierge took the card and Fang Liu replied, “This is a card and New Year gift from the Imperial Academy Reviewer Gu Zhao.”

　　”Thank you for your trouble.” The doorman of Shi’s house politely took the thing from Fang Liu’s hand and saw that it looked strange.

　　Fang Liu said, “It’s a food box, don’t spill it if you’re tired.”

　　”good.”

　　The concierge took the things and entered the house through the main gate. He walked them all the way to the second gate and said to the maid, “Mother, this is for the master, the reviewer Gu from the Hanlin Academy. It contains food. Please be careful with it.”

　　”Got it, you monkey.”

　　The Shi Mansion is a four-courtyard house, beautifully built. There are winter plum trees planted in the side yard. Now the plum blossoms are in bud and covered with a layer of snow. In the house, the bamboo curtain is half-drawn, and Shi Mingwen is sitting in it drinking tea with an old friend.

　　The maid brought the box of food and wondered which family had sent snacks this year. She couldn’t help but curl her lips, feeling shabby, and guessed that it was from one of the two adults who had entered the Hanlin Academy last year.

　　I heard that they all came from farming families.

　　How expensive can this box of snacks be?

　　Although she thought this in her heart, the servant still behaved properly and did not dare to show it on her face. She went all the way to the door of the room where the lady lived in the third entrance, explained her purpose in a low voice, and handed it to the maid who served the lady.

　　The maid thanked them and carried the things inside. The servant girl could only take a look, smiled awkwardly and went back to the front. She had rough hands and feet and was responsible for cooking for the servants and doing some rough housework in the kitchen in the outer courtyard.

　　She is not as good as the maids serving in other people’s houses.

　　After hearing the maid’s reply, Mrs. Shi was no longer surprised by these visiting cards and New Year gifts. There were the same ones every year and she was the one who replied to the master. She would go through the New Year gifts first. If they were valuable, such as gold or silver mixed in, she would wait for the master to reply and then return them in the same way they came. Her family would not accept these because the master disliked them.

　　As for other things, such as calligraphy and paintings, and writing brushes and ink, they might be a little expensive, but Mrs. Shi knew that the master liked them, so she would keep them, but the gift in reply should be of similar value.

　　This is all a matter of give and take.

　　Mrs. Shi could read. When she opened the visiting card, she saw that it was signed by Gu Zhao, the reviewer of the Imperial Academy. How could there not be a single word? She guessed that it was the third place winner mentioned by the master. I heard that he was from a poor family. No wonder he didn’t even have a proper teacher.

　　”What are you holding? It looks like a snack box.”

　　The maid came forward with the bowl in her hand. Madam Shi took a look and read out, “Li Ji Lu Zhu.” She then saw the poem next to it and laughed out loud, saying, “Show it to the master later.”

　　”Where’s the master?”

　　The maid replied, “Madam, master is drinking tea with Mr. Sun in the teahouse.”

　　In the tea room.

　　Shi Mingwen said: “…I have watched Yan Jinxin, the top scorer of last year, for a while. He is a solemn and upright person, and he also writes well. He has quite a bit of your style. How could I not accept him as my apprentice?”

　　”I have an apprentice.”

　　Shi Mingwen frowned when he mentioned it, “You said Liang Zizhi, it’s been more than ten years, and he wasted all his skills by sitting in the review without doing anything. All your skills were wasted if you gave them to him.”

　　”If you say something bad about Zizhi again, I will leave and not drink tea anymore.”

　　”What’s wrong with your temper–” Shi Mingwen was so angry that he couldn’t speak. He was just like Liang Zizhi, with a stubborn temper. No wonder they were master and apprentice.

　　Mr. Sun poured tea and happily watched his friend fuming with anger. He said with a smile, “Okay, okay, I have a bad temper and I am stubborn. For so many years, every time we meet, you have to complain about this. Aren’t you annoyed?”

　　”If you were an ordinary peddler with no special skills, and you wanted to live a carefree life, then go ahead and I wouldn’t even look at you or do anything about it. But you are from the Sun family of Chuzhou, so are you willing to have no one to inherit your family?”

　　”I have an heir—”

　　Shi Mingwen was getting angry again and slammed the table, “Liang Zizhi!” It looked like he was not willing to give up.

　　”Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I know what you said is strict and I believe it. It’s not that I don’t want to meet him to test him. You may not know that Master Chu also wants to accept him…”