"Here, there," the waiter said with a cheerful smile, "My boss is teaching the young master how to read upstairs. It doesn't matter that you are a regular visitor. Please talk upstairs."
"Okay, I know the way anyway, you can go and do your work." Li Dan waved his hand and asked the waiter to bring tea and snacks to Li Qin, and asked him to wait below while he "kicked" upstairs.
Previously, an edict had been issued in front of the county government. According to the regulations when the late emperor passed away, officials and nobles were not allowed to feast or have fun during the 100 days of national mourning. Folks were not allowed to have sex with prostitutes, silk and bamboo (music), or drink alcohol for 30 days. The five-day ban People attend banquets and weddings.
It was now approaching the 100th day, but because of the Yingtian Mansion case, everyone knew that the emperor was in mourning, so he would rather endure it for a few more days and not risk this bad luck.
Li Dan saw that the restaurant, not to mention officials, was only half full of people who came to have a drink and meet friends. It was quite light for a restaurant as famous as Hongyan Tower in the county.
No wonder the waiter and the accountant burst into smiles when they heard that Li Mansion held a family banquet. This must be considered a big deal that fell from the sky, right?
He was familiar with the business, so he went in and found Shopkeeper Gu, who agreed wholeheartedly.
The two of them agreed on the details and time. Shopkeeper Gu wanted to send Li Dan off, but he waved his hand and declined, and staggered out on his own. Passing by an elegant room, he suddenly heard someone talking inside, which caught Li Dan's attention.
A dry voice said: "Who should avoid hiding something like Chen Shi'an? Then the second wife of the Li family was smart enough to break off the engagement immediately.
Otherwise, hey, I'm afraid I'll have sued him to Lord Xuezheng by now! "
"However, I heard that Li Wulang was extremely reluctant and had a big quarrel with his mother at home!" another person said.
"That's right. The youngest scholar in our house is contradicting his widowed mother for marriage. This sounds like... tsk tsk, that's not very good either."
Another voice said: "I didn't expect him to do such a thing at such a young age."
"Hmph, what do you want him to do?"
He said with a dry voice: "If he is not like this, his classmates and pen pals will criticize him for being shameless. Even if he has fame and honor, in the future, if the examiner of the provincial examination says that this person has bad character, he will be dismissed in just one sentence.
It's better to make such a fuss now, at least people don't take it as a despicable virtue.
Alas, the late Mr. Li probably didn't expect such subversion in the Chen family.
In fact, if Li Gong thought about it carefully, he would know that the two families are not right, and this marriage will not end well! "
"Oh? Please tell me, Mr. Tie, how to say this?"
"Look, the Chen family is run-down. If Chen Shi'an doesn't marry a girl from the Wei family, then Chen Shi'an can't even afford pens, ink, paper and inkstones, so how can he be considered a Jinshi?
Even if he won the prize later, the officials thought he was dull and had no money to contribute, so he ordered him to go to Lujiang to become a scholar.
Coincidentally, he met Duke Li Wencheng (Li Mu). Due to his hometown relationship, the two families were married. Li Wencheng helped him find a relationship to be appointed as a scholar in Huai'an Prefecture, and then he had the opportunity to be promoted to Yingtian.
What is the lintel of Li Mansion? The late emperor established Fang Jingbiao, a family of poets and calligraphers, and was a Jinshi for three generations. Chen Shian married his daughter, which is considered a high achievement!
That’s why I said that the two families are actually from the wrong family, and Li Wencheng is really not good at understanding people! "
This man was eloquent inside, but he unexpectedly made Xiao Yuanba furious outside. I thought that this guy was gossiping about my deceased father behind his back. It made no sense!
Just as he was about to open the door and go in to argue, he suddenly saw the waiter holding a tray to serve food, so he waved him over and asked softly: "Who is there? I heard a man named Tie, and his voice seemed familiar."
The waiter smiled and replied: "Don't you remember Sanlang? He is the Tie Jiaoyu of the county school! He is the only one with the surname Tie in our county."
"Oh! I remembered my husband who was in ethnic studies when I was a kid. I kicked out his desk because of him!" Li Dan thought about it, and an image of a goatee with a pointed face appeared in front of him.
He motioned to the waiter to bring the food in and not to mention that he was outside, but he stood in the corridor and continued to listen to see if they had anything to say.
The three people inside waited for the waiter to go out and then returned the wine. The dry voice of the iron teaching sounded again.
"Alas! Chen Shi'an never expected that Li Wencheng, the prefect, had a prominent political reputation and was about to be transferred to Beijing to serve as Jing Zhaocheng. Who would have expected that Huang Shuiyan came and lost his life.
How can there be eggs under the cover of the nest? It is extremely sad that this big temple of the Chen family fell down as soon as it was completed! "
"Mr. Tie, does he mean that Chen Shi'an is unlucky, or is he making careless friends?"
"What do you think? I didn't say anything, hahaha!"
Li Dan was so angry that he gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart: "Does this old man really not know how to live or die?"
Then I thought about the good news for my eldest brother today. It was not a good time to get into trouble. The whole family was waiting for him to go back and organize the night banquet, so I had to endure it again and again.
"Come on, come on, this guy is lucky today, I'll let him go and settle the score later!"
Just as I was thinking this, I heard the iron edict confessing to the two of them that they needed to relieve themselves.
Li Dan hurriedly pushed his hands and feet to both sides, and climbed up to the beam. He saw the edict humming a tune as he staggered past his crotch, and turned to go to the toilet.
Li Dan came down from the top and followed him on tiptoe, thinking: "Although this teaching is not popular, it can be regarded as an official.
It would be bad if I hurt him, but it is obviously okay to teach him a lesson! "Thinking of this, I turned around to identify the retreat path, and then waited by the outer wall of the toilet.
The Tie Jiao Yu was having a great time drinking and chatting with his friends. After finishing his meal, he cheered up and headed back.
Li Dan heard footsteps approaching from the corner and suddenly stepped out.
When the Tie Jiaoyu saw the shadow flashing past, he was so frightened that he opened his mouth to shout.
Before the word "who" could be uttered, Li Dan's old fist had arrived. The first blow sealed his eyes. A blacksmith shop opened in Tie Jiaoyu's head, making jingling noises and stars bursting out in front of his eyes. The second punch came again, but It hit his jaw, and blood suddenly came out of his mouth, and a certain tooth was swallowed.
Tie Jiaoyu fell backward and hit his head on the ground with a loud "dong" sound.
When he realized what he was doing and howled, and someone came over to check on him, the attacker had already disappeared, and the whole Hongyan Tower was in chaos.
At this time, the two Li brothers had already arrived on the street. Li Qin looked back and tugged on his brother's sleeve: "Third brother, something seems to have happened in their restaurant."
"It's nothing. It's common for drunken men to yell in restaurants." Li Dan responded easily. Li Qin believed it honestly and followed him staggering home.
Although Hongyan Tower was in chaos for a long time, they still sent a cook and a helper to the scene at the appointed time.
Li Dan also sent Daniel over to help, and assigned him to cook three dishes: spicy and sour sweet potato shreds, bacon with wild rice (wild rice) white and sauce-flavored eggplant. This is the skill that Li Dan taught Daniel.
But the important thing is not to cook a few dishes, but to let him take the opportunity to bring some food back to his aunt and little girls, otherwise no one will think of them.
I was very busy when I suddenly heard someone say that Zhou Dutou came to congratulate me and asked if Sanlang was there. Li Pu sent someone to look for him.
Li Dan was a little scared when he heard that there was a ghost in his family. If you don't go, what will you do if you can't avoid the first and fifteenth day of the new year? I had no choice but to be heartbroken and come out to meet him with a smile.
After saying the polite words, Zhou Du pulled him aside and asked, "Did Sanlang go to Hongyan Tower today?"
"Ah? Yes, I'm going to call the cook!"
"Something happened in Hongyan Tower today. Tie Jiaoyu from the county school invited someone to have a drink and was beaten when he came out for a convenience."
"Oh, is there such a thing?" Li Dan pretended to be surprised: "Oh, that old guy keeps talking without warning all day long. If the parents of the East and the West are in disarray, it will be a matter of time before they get beaten!"
Zhou Du stared at him for a few times and said, "These two punches were so hard that he couldn't see the criminal clearly and couldn't cry out for a while, so the perpetrator slipped away with plenty of room."
"Oh, that, that's just bad luck for this guy. Who told him to talk about someone's late father behind his back, and yet people heard him!" Li Dan replied while suppressing a smile.
"Alas!" Zhou Dutou sighed and put his hand on Li Dan's shoulder: "Sanlang, I know you are good at martial arts and strong, but if you only use these things to show off your speed and bravery for a lifetime, they will be useless at most. He's just a vulgar martial artist.
King Xiang is powerful, Lu Bu is brave, so what? If you are really capable, then help yourself to help more people, instead of just a few beggars or seven or eight homeless people.
Anyone knows how to do this kind of thing, and anyone can do it. Isn’t it interesting? "
"Old Zhou, you think highly of me." Li Dan took a step back and left his hand and sneered: "Li Sanlang is just an ordinary person, I don't have the ability to save the common people.
As for the number of three to five, seven or eight, I can still help and take care of it. If it is more, I will have to apologize and it will be embarrassing for me! "
"Hmph! You kid, just be tough!" Zhou Du turned his head and took two steps in displeasure, then stopped and looked back: "Sooner or later you will understand that what I said is good for you. Really!
Remember, one man cannot stop a thousand troops, but a thousand troops can defeat ten thousand men!
Whether you want to be a common man or a general leading thousands of armies, the road is at your feet, you choose it yourself. If you don’t choose, God will choose for you!
Don't do stupid things like today. It will neither increase your talents nor benefit your reputation, Saburo. "
"I can understand the ability, but why should I honor such a vain thing?" Li Dan asked loudly.
“With a good reputation, people know that you have friends in the world and that you have learned the rules of the world and can use them well.
It shows that you are worthy of being approached and respected by others, and it also shows that even strangers can trust and follow you! "
Zhou Dutou replied: "I used to be like you and didn't care about the rules of this world. It was my general who taught me to do my duty in battle, to help my comrades, and to take care of their life and death.
One day you will understand, Li Sanlang! You can do better than me, far more than a petty official like Dutou. Since you have such a talent, why waste it on useless things?
Just like today, what's the point of spending all your energy and time on a talkative villain? Think about it! "
Li Dan looked at Zhou Dutou's generous back and remained silent. It was not until Song Xiaoniu pulled his sleeves that he came to his senses.
He muttered something in his mouth and cursed: "It's disappointing. After all, I'm so happy that he made it sound like I was wrong. It's so boring!"
After beating Li Dan, Zhou Du went to the front hall to greet the grinning Third Master Li Yan and said some compliments. Then, after pulling him away from others, he whispered about the beating of Tie Jiaoyu.
Li Yan was dumbfounded when he heard this, and stamped his feet fiercely: "This troublesome hozen will not stop for a day! He is so stupid that I will have someone tie him up and give him a good beating!"
"No, no need." Zhou Dutou quickly grabbed him and said, "The reason why I said this in your Third Master's ears is because I don't want anyone to know about it.
If you were tied up and beaten, wouldn’t everyone in the house see it?
I had already reprimanded him for a long time outside, but fortunately, the Iron Sect's eyes were swollen and his nose was crooked, so he couldn't figure out who did it, so we can just reprimand him in private.
If you want to spread the word, the edict is also a county official after all. Brother, am I going to catch the master or not? Don't give me such a question! "
Li Yan knew this, and since it was the wedding day of his eldest son Li Zhu, he had no choice but to thank him with many gifts and hold back his anger and not mention it for the time being.
After the guests have left, return to your own room at the back. Mrs. Shu welcomed him with a smile on her face, and arranged for the maids to help him wash up and make a bed for him to rest.
But she heard her husband sigh and asked hurriedly: "Husband, are you tired, or are you worried? I saw that you looked hesitant when you entered the door. Is there anything inappropriate at the banquet in front of you?"
"No." Li Yan shook his head: "There is nothing wrong with the banquet. It's just..." He hesitated for a moment and finally told Li Dan about the iron teaching.
"Ah?" Shu Shi was startled when he heard this: "He, he beat that old master? How serious was the injury?"
Li Yan waved his hand and signaled to Shu to order all the maids to go out. Then he softly told her that Zhou Dutou had suppressed the matter and that Tie Jiaoyu did not know who the attacker was.
"Hey, you scared me to death!" Mrs. Shu patted her chest: "What if someone gets killed during Da Lang's good days?
This Sanlang is the same. He drinks too much and why do you care about his business? "
"You still don't know about this kid? He's just a hozen. How can he care so much about his temper?" Li Yan sneered.
"Fortunately, his aunt is very knowledgeable." Speaking of this, Mr. Shu took out a few things from under the pillow: "Look, these are the congratulatory gifts that little Qian gave me today. They are great things!"
Li Yan stood up and took it, and took a quick look: "Money? Is it pure gold?"
"Ahem, how can this thing be pure gold?"
When Li Yan heard this, he threw his hands away: "It's a gold-covered thing, what's so rare about it?"
"Idiot! What an ignorant person!" Shu was furious and slapped him on the shoulder, telling him that this was an antique from the previous dynasty.
"It's rare to find one on the market these days. This one can be sold in an antique shop for a tael of gold!"
"What? Is this thing worth gold?" Li Yan picked up another one and weighed it: "It's quite heavy, isn't it?"
