Outside the gate of Li’s courtyard.

　　The leader of the caravan straightened his clothes, raised his hand and knocked on the door. The four people who followed him looked at the door timidly and eagerly. This was the home of their cousin/uncle who they wanted to take refuge in.

　　The first time I knocked on the door, there was silence inside.

　　The four of them were terrified. What if there was no one inside or if the brother didn’t want them because they were too young? The way here was too far and they couldn’t remember the way clearly.

　　The incharge struck a second time, this time with a little more force.

　　After a while, a voice came from far away: “Coming.”

　　Mother Lan had just brought breakfast to the inner room with a lunch box. After walking a few steps, she heard the door open outside. She ran over quickly and opened the door halfway. She saw a man with a weather-beaten face, followed by four beggar-like children.

　　”This is the Li residence. Who are you looking for?” Mother Lan asked politely.

　　The manager replied, “Months ago, your old master Li asked me to run errands to Ningping Prefecture to deliver a letter. After the New Year, our caravan came back, and someone in Ningping Prefecture asked me to deliver these four children.”

　　When Mother Lan heard this, she immediately opened the door and asked the person in charge and the four people behind to come in and wait. She said, “Thank you for your hard work. I will go and inform the madam first. Please wait here.”

　　”good.”

　　The manager traveled far and wide to do business and purchase goods, and he had seen wealthy families, especially those who were doing business. The more remote the place was and the farther away from the capital, the more magnificent and beautiful their houses were, and there were groups of servants in front of and behind the houses. They were nothing like Master Gu from the Li family, who looked like there was only a laundry woman in his house.

　　Still poor.

　　But being poor is also due to the influence of officials. Those gentry who have the airs of a country gentleman have to bow their heads and smile in front of the officials.

　　The four half-grown children of the Su family did not dare to move. Why was the house so big and made entirely of blue bricks and tiles? They thought the yard rented by the Wang family in the prefecture and county was big enough, but they did not expect that the house in Beijing would be even bigger and more beautiful.

　　After a while, footsteps were heard from inside.

　　Li Da came out first and thanked the leader of the caravan. He looked at the four people coming from behind. They were all dirty and looked like half-grown children. They were hiding from each other and wanted to hide in the ground.

　　”We’re home.” Li Da said with a sad heart.

　　Li Zhouzhou came out a little later. He put Fubao in the crib. He met four children, the tallest of whom was as high as his ears, and the shorter ones as high as his chest. Their hair was messy and their clothes were covered in dust. They must have suffered a lot on the way here.

　　”Mother Lan, is there any hot water in the pot? Boil some more hot water so that they can wash their hands and face and eat.” Li Zhouzhou arranged for them to eat without asking whether the four had eaten or not.

　　Mother Lan responded and went to the front kitchen to work.

　　The head waited until the host had finished making arrangements before bowing and nodding his head, addressing them as Madam Gu and Old Master Li. Li Zhouzhou and Li Da’s nature were very polite, telling the head not to be polite and thanking them for traveling all the way to bring people to the capital.

　　The trouble of bringing goods to the capital is different from that of having people deliver them.

　　Li Da invited the manager to come in for a cup of tea and sit for a while. The manager was not polite. After all, the Li family had an official, and it was a good thing to have more dealings with him. He bent down a little and gestured, meaning that Li Da should go first, and he followed half a body behind and entered the main hall.

　　Gu Zhao arranged for the four people to go to the west wing room which had been cleaned up early. The east and west wing rooms were previously used as guest rooms by the owner of the house. The rooms were fully furnished. Li Zhouzhou had vacated a room in the east wing room as her husband’s study and moved all the beds in it to the west wing room.

　　Now that four of them have arrived, it’s just right.

　　There are two rooms in the west wing, each of which can sleep two people.

　　Li Zhouzhou was worried about Fubao in the crib, and didn’t have any polite conversation with the four people. He directly led them into a room on the west side. The four people were scared and shrank uneasy when they saw the stranger. They felt at ease when they were put together. He said, “Wash and have breakfast later. I’ll come over to talk to you about other things after you finish eating. You can rest first.”

　　The manager sat for less than a cup of tea before getting up and saying goodbye. When he left, he said that he would deliver goods at the end of every year, and he happened to be passing by Ningping Prefecture, so it was very convenient for him. If the Li family needed to deliver letters or run errands, they could just come and find him.

　　Li Da forced three taels of silver into the hands of the manager as a thank you.

　　They sent four people here along the way, and provided them with food, drinks and accommodation, so we had to pay them no matter what.

　　After everyone left, Li Da talked to Zhou Zhou about the money. Li Zhou Zhou said it was his duty. He showed Fu Bao to his father for a while and said, “I’ll go find some old clothes. I’ll wash them and change into them later.”

　　”They should be able to wear your old clothes. I see some of them are about eleven or twelve years old. They are too young. Can they work?” Li Da thought he was just a child.

　　Li Zhouzhou: “Maybe he looks young, but he is old enough.”

　　He went into the house to look for clothes. The only clothes that could be kept now were good ones. Those patched clothes had long been taken apart to make curtains. There were many clothes in the house, so it would be no problem to pick up four sets.

　　Li Zhouzhou found his clothes and watched Mother Lan bringing hot water in a bucket.

　　”Let them wash their hands and faces first, and have a meal. If the leftover steamed buns and porridge from the morning are not enough, then make a pot of noodles and cut some braised meat and duck into it. It doesn’t have to be too fine, just eat until they are 80% full.” Li Zhouzhou remembered that he had come back from the Su family with lice all over his body, so he had to wash them clean. “Once we’re done, boil more hot water and wash them all clean.”

　　Mother Lan responded and went to work.

　　Fortunately, Fang Liu came back soon and helped Mother Lan add water and boil water.

　　Even though the four members of the Su family were staying in the same room, they didn’t dare to speak loudly. They stood cautiously in the middle of the room and didn’t dare to touch the furniture with their hands for fear of getting it dirty.

　　”Please sit down.” Li Zhouzhou brought in clothes and put them on the bed. He looked at the four standing children and said, “Did Xingge have any letter?”

　　The four members of the Su family finally found their tongues, but they didn’t dare to speak. The older ones quickly took out a few letters from the bag in front of their chests and handed them over.

　　Li Zhouzhou took the letter but didn’t read it. He said, “Wash your hands and face and eat first. You all came here in a hurry and ate whatever you could. Don’t eat too much when eating. Get used to the size of a bowl. After eating, take a shower and change into clean clothes. I’ll talk to you.”

　　The four of them nodded hurriedly, and none of them dared to speak like a dumb person.

　　Li Zhouzhou didn’t force him to speak, there was no rush, he took the letter back to the main room, he saw the message on the envelope was from Master Zhao, so he put it aside and said, “This is for my husband, please read it when he comes back.”

　　The letter from the Gu family was also placed aside.

　　”A letter from my second uncle?”

　　Li Da asked Zhou Zhou to open the letter and take a look. Li Zhou Zhou opened the letter, which was five pages thick. He knew at a glance that it was definitely not written by the teacher. Li Zhou Zhou read the letter, and at the beginning he said that it was written by Xiao Tian.

　　”This is written by Xiaotian, read it quickly.” Li Da held Fubao higher so that Fubao in his arms could also see it.

　　Li Zhouzhou then read the letter.

　　Tian used colloquial language, and was rambling. Li Er first talked about the harvest this year, the house was renovated and replaced with a blue brick and tile house, and Guangzong’s wife gave birth to a girl in September this year –

　　When the letter was written, it should have been before the New Year, which means the baby was born last year.

　　”Originally, Huaxiang named her Guihua, but I thought it was not a good idea because it was the same name as the family of Gu Zhao. Guangzong’s wife also thought it was not a good idea. Guangzong’s wife is a virtuous and capable woman. She knew that she couldn’t say it openly, otherwise Huaxiang would be angry. So she said that Guihua had the same character as her mother-in-law’s name, and how could a young child like her have the same character as her grandmother, which was disrespectful. Huaxiang then changed her mind and asked Guangzong’s wife to name the child herself. You also know that Guangzong can’t read, and so can his wife. The two of them worked together for a few days and came up with the name Jiuyue…”

　　”Brother, I am a grandfather now. If I have the chance in the future, I will take Jiuyue to kowtow to her uncle and wish him a happy new year. I don’t know when that will be.”

　　”Everything is fine with Guangzong. His wife said we should work harder to have a son next year.”

　　”It snowed for a few days. I saw that the snow was so thick that I was afraid that the roof would collapse, so I went over to sweep the snow off the roof. Don’t worry, brother, the house is fine. I’m watching over it.”

　　”Jian’an is four years old this year, and will be five after the Chinese New Year. Huaxiang urged me to send Jian’an to school, but I thought I’d better wait for two years. I can’t compete with Gu Chen from the Gu family. Gu Chen is already eight years old. Besides, my family has just renovated their house, so I need to save up for a few more years before I can start to have a solid financial foundation. Not everyone can be—”

　　This is a moldy spot, and then add: “Lord Gu Zhao.”

　　At first, the tone was that of the second uncle, but later it changed to Liu Huaxiang’s tone, saying some nice and auspicious words, such as Happy New Year, and asking how the Li family was doing in Beijing. Maybe there wasn’t much to say, so the man finished the first part, and Liu Huaxiang squeezed in half a page of auspicious words and ended.