Lantern Festival

As Mr. Kong’s legs were weak, Shao Zhan specially allowed him to enter and exit the palace in a sedan chair. However, it was not convenient to park the sedan chair outside the hall of the upper study, so it could only be placed at another entrance.

Jiang Danhe helped Teacher Kong along at a slow pace. “Grand Tutor, I heard that you’re returning to your hometown after spring. If you need any help, just let me know.”

“That’s great. With the General’s words, I feel very at ease.”

Mr. Kong laughed out loud. Jiang Danhe’s heart sank. Why did he feel that there was a hidden meaning behind his words?

“General, I’m going to get into the sedan chair if you don’t start talking.”

Mr. Kong stopped and smiled at Jiang Danhe.

Jiang Danhe did not feel awkward about being seen through. He just smiled. “Actually, I do have a question that I want to ask you.”

“Oh? Go ahead.”

Mr. Kong looked surprised. There was actually something the general needed him to explain. That was odd.

“I heard that you’re returning to Yonghai County. My family is also in Yonghai County.”

“Oh, what a coincidence.”

Jiang Danhe smiled. “To be honest with you, Grand Tutor, I have a wife and a son at home. My son has just reached schooling age. My wife is worried about this matter and has not been able to find a suitable teacher.”

Jiang Danhe stopped when he was done. He didn’t say anything more. When he got to this point, the rest should be obvious.

Mr. Kong stroked his beard and lowered his eyes. “On the first of next month, I will officially resign and leave the capital.”

With that, before Jiang Danhe could react, he waved at the servant beside the sedan chair and helped himself into it.

Watching the sedan chair leave, Jiang Danhe smiled. At this point, things are looking promising. But what did he mean by the date of departure?

Jiang Danhe was confused and walked towards Shao Zhan’s palace. Since he couldn’t figure it out by himself, maybe two heads might help to solve the mystery.

Unexpectedly, Shao Zhan laughed out loud.

Jiang Danhe stood further away from him and rubbed his ears. He looked speechlessly at the man who was gloating.

“You, haha…” Shao Zhan slammed the table without caring about his image. “You’re dead!”

“Why do you say that?”

Jiang Danhe looked at him in confusion. What did he mean?

“You’ll know when the time comes.” Shao Zhan was trying to keep him in suspense. He suddenly thought of something. “By the way, keep that day free. Put on some comfortable clothes and eat more on that day.”

Shao Zhan’s words kept echoing in Jiang Danhe’s mind. He stopped in his tracks and looked back in the direction of the hall. The confusion in his eyes deepened. What did he mean?

The first thing he did when he returned to the residence was to write a letter to Xiaoguo. In any case, he didn’t understand what Mr. Kong and Shao Zhan were saying. However, he did know one thing. Xiaoguo had asked him to confirm if Mr. Kong was going back to Yonghai County. Now he had an answer.

Moreover, he had brought up the matter about Zhuang Zhuang today. As smart as Mr. Kong was, it was impossible for him not to understand the meaning behind his words. Since Mr. Kong did not give a direct reply, there could be a chance that he was agreeable to it.

However, they were indeed troubling Mr. Kong with this matter. He should be enjoying his retirement at this age, but they were now seeking his help to teach a child. Any normal person would not agree to this.

“Li Shouji.”

In the backyard, Jiang Danhe found the man who had dark circles under his eyes, and he called out to him. Unexpectedly, he didn’t budge at all.

After a while, when he saw that Li Shouji was still not moving, Jiang Danhe lost his patience. He picked him up and only put him down after the other party begged for mercy.

“What were you doing earlier?”

Jiang Danhe glanced at the cowardly man.

Li Shouji patted his clothes and reached out his hand. “Give it to me.”

Jiang Danhe frowned and slapped his hand away. “What?”

“Ah!” Li Shouji covered his right hand and said aggrievedly, “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll help you send the letter!”

As soon as he saw the letter, he knew that he had to run this errand for him. To think that he still got hit by Jiang Danhe. “What an ingrate. How sad!”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I can do it myself.” Jiang Danhe waved the letter and stuffed it into his arms. “I came here for another reason.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a drill on the first of next month. Attend it on my behalf.”

“Then where are you going?”

Li Shouji’s eyes widened. “That is odd. When had he ever been absent from such a military exercise? To think that he was excusing himself from such an important event. This is really unusual.”

“Something came up.”

Jiang Danhe patted him and turned to leave. On the way out, he said without looking back, “I’ll buy you a drink tonight.”

With that, he strode away.

Looking at the departing figure, Li Shouji smiled. “Tsk, I’ll make sure to drink my fill tonight!”

—-

Xiaoguo looked at the homemade calendar and turned to the page that was marked. She counted the days and realized that it was almost too late. She had to get it sent out by tomorrow.

“Zhuang Zhuang, quick, we have to hurry up with our plans. Otherwise, we won’t make it in time.”

Zhuang Zhuang poked his head out and looked at Xiaoguo. “I thought we still had time?”

“That was three days ago.”

Xiaoguo frantically packed up the needles and threads in her hands. She was still missing a seam. Earlier on she was still saying that there was no hurry. If she had not checked the calendar, they would have been late.

Zhuang Zhuang panicked when he heard that. He ran over to look at the calendar and counted with his fingers. He realized that it was really too late.

“Can Xiaoyi celebrate his birthday two days later?”

In his anxiety, Zhuang Zhuang started to cry.

“Don’t spout nonsense.” Xiaoguo put down her needlework and comforted him. Then, she said jokingly, “I thought you were not anxious earlier on? I heard you saying… oh, there is still time.”

Xiaoguo imitated Zhuang Zhuang’s tone. Zhuang Zhuang felt embarrassed when he heard that. He said shyly, “I must have counted wrongly, just like Mother.”

In the end, Xiaoguo was implicated as well. She was speechless. Actually, he was right. She did make a mistake.

The two of them chatted for a while more. Towards the end, they started rushing each other to finish up. Finally, the gift was completed the next morning. After wrapping it up, they brought it to the post station.

On the way back.

“Mother, when are we eating glutinous rice balls?”

“It’s still early. We’ll eat in three days.”

Xiaoguo flicked his forehead. This kid only thinks about eating every day. It was still early to think about the Lantern Festival.

Zhuang Zhuang lowered his head. “Come on, Lantern Festival, please arrive soon.” He was craving glutinous rice balls.

Xiaoguo looked at him and smiled. If Zhuang Zhuang hadn’t mentioned glutinous rice balls, she would have completely forgotten about it. Not to mention about eating glutinous rice balls, she hadn’t even bought anything yet. They had run of glutinous rice flour at home.

Xiaoguo made a trip to the market in her donkey cart. When she saw that there were people selling glutinous rice balls, she bought some ready-made ones. Although she could make them herself, it was much more convenient to cook ready-made balls. They taste almost the same.

For convenience’s sake, Xiaoguo bought a lot of them. She could eat them during the Lantern Festival and save the rest for next time.

On the street, there were already many stalls selling lanterns. There were also lion and dragon dance troupes wandering on the streets, seemingly waiting for night to arrive.

With such a bustling scene during the day, the night is bound to be awesome.

Xiaoguo drove the donkey cart away from the bustling atmosphere of the market. Although it was lively and good, she didn’t like unfamiliar crowds. It was the same when she was in school. She only turned up for compulsory activities and absent herself from other events that were not so important.

Not to mention that time during the apocalypse. At that time, most people were in hiding. All crowded places were avoided by people like the plague. Furthermore, people at that time were not regarded as humans anymore—their basic moral values and conscience were non-existent. They were just a group of living dead.

Now that she was here, she felt a little better. Be it psychologically or in terms of the environment, this place had left a deep impact on her. She liked the simple people here. Everyone had a pure place in their hearts, unlike the place where she used to live. That place was filled with too much hostility.