My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Chang An looked in the direction that Gu Li pointed. Gao Shi was standing at the door of his house, also wearing new clothes. After hearing Gu Li's voice, he turned around and saluted to Chang An and the others:

"Brother Chang, Brother Wang, Madam Gu, Madam Cui."

"Brother Gao."

Chang An walked over, smiled and patted Gao Shi on the shoulder, and said, "Last year it was Brother Mo Jie who stood at my door, this year it's you who's standing at my door, didn't you two agree on that?"

"That's not the case. Gao Shi just arrived as well." Gao Shi took out a piece of letter paper from his pocket. "After receiving Brother Chang's letter, Madam Su Meng took a day off. I came here only when her Xinluan Restaurant opened."

"It's okay, it's okay. It's only a little time now. Come in and sit down for a while." Chang An smiled and patted Gao Shi again, saying.

"I thought Brother Chang was going to have the New Year's Eve dinner at Marquis Dingkang's Mansion, but I didn't expect he was planning to come back for it." Gao Shi said.

"Why? It doesn't matter where you eat." Chang An said with a smile, "Could it be that you are afraid of being noticed by others by holding the biggest bowl like last year?"

When Gao Shi heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then said, "A little bit."

Chang An and Wang Wei couldn't help but smile at each other when they saw Gao Shi's simple and honest appearance, and then said, "Okay, okay, there's nothing to be afraid of. We are all family, there's no need to be afraid."

After saying that, Chang An helped Gu Li walk in.

Chang Wenmeng had just finished his work and when he saw Wang Wei and Gao Shi, he greeted them, "Cheng Wang Le, Mr. Gao, you are here?"

"Dr. Chang."

"It's good that you're here. It makes things more lively." Chang Wenmeng said with a smile.

Gao Shi asked a little embarrassedly at this time: "Dr. Chang, who will come to the New Year's Eve dinner later?"

Chang Wenmeng was stunned for a moment, not knowing why, and replied: "It's still the same as last year, the Gu family, a merchant from Guangdefang, and the Zhou family of the Censorate."

"Is there no one else?" Gao Shi still asked worriedly.

"No more, what's wrong?" Chang Wenmeng asked back.

"Nothing, nothing. Thank you Dr. Chang for clearing up my confusion."

So Chang Wenmeng asked someone to bring Gao Shi and Wang Wei into the main hall. At this time, the front yard was very busy inside and outside. There were already a lot of tables and chairs in the front yard, which seemed to be about 30% to 40% more than last year.

Maids and servants were moving plate after plate of things into the main hall. It seemed that there were a lot of things. Chang An and Gu Li could recognize that a large number of people among them were from Marquis Dingkang's Mansion.

Not only did they move things in, but they also moved things out. Some unnecessary things were moved out, and the big table from last year was placed in the middle of the main hall. All the extra tables, chairs, and tables were moved out.

Gu Li had been the mistress of the house for a long time. When she saw this kind of scene, she habitually stood at the door and watched the servants of Chang's house busying themselves. When Chang An saw her like this, he asked, "What's wrong, Madam Gu?"

"They are a bit disorganized, not as good as those in our Dingkang Marquis Mansion." Gu Li seemed to feel that his words would hurt the feelings of the servants in his family, so he answered in a low voice.

Chang An smiled and replied, "Because there is no mistress in the Chang Mansion, only in the Dingkang Marquis Mansion."

When Gu Li heard this, he thought of Chang An again and said, "I'm sorry, Chang Lang, I didn't mean it. I shouldn't have said anything about our mother."

Chang An patted Gu Li's head gently and said, "It's okay. Gu Niang is the lady of the family. If you feel it's messy, you can tell them to do it."

"really?"

"Of course it's true." Chang An nodded.

So, Gu Li took a step forward and began to give orders: "Fuer! Move the table a little further over there."

"Okay, Sanniang."

The maid who was called nodded, and then she and another maid beside her set the table in the direction Gu Li said. Then Gu Li pointed to the servant on the other side and began to give orders:

"Ami, over there..."

Seeing Gu Li's instructions, the originally messy front yard immediately became tidy. Chang Wenmeng looked at Gu Li's operation with satisfaction and nodded with a smile.

After the front yard was decorated, Gu Li let out a long sigh of relief, took the cup of water handed to him by Chang An and took a sip.

"Li'er, I didn't expect that you are so good at managing household affairs." Chang Wenmeng walked up to him with a smile and said.

"Father, you are too serious."

Chang An gently touched the top of her head, and then said, "Okay, take a rest, your father-in-law and mother-in-law will be here soon."

"it is good."

Chang Wenmeng was in the main hall, quietly looking towards the door, when suddenly -

"Brother!"

When Chang Wenmeng heard these words, a smile immediately burst out on his face - Chang Wenqing and Zhou Kuangping appeared at the door of Chang's house at this time and bowed slightly to Chang Wenmeng.

"Sister!"

At this time, Chang Wenqing was followed by a young man who seemed to be the same age as Li Ying. When he saw Chang An, he raised his hand and saluted in a serious manner, saying, "Hello, cousin, sister-in-law."

Gu Li had never seen this young man before, so he asked, "Chang Lang, who is this?"

"Zhou Fang, our cousin." Although Chang An had never seen Zhou Fang, "Chang An" knew him. After all, he was his cousin, and there was no reason not to know him. And Chang An just recounted the story according to his memory.

"But why didn't he come to our house for dinner last year?"

"You must be sick."

"Cousin." Zhou Fang spoke again, then took out a scroll from his sleeve, walked forward, handed it to Chang An respectfully, and said:

"This is a gift from me to my cousin and sister-in-law. I hope they don't mind."

Chang An took the scroll with a smile and said, "Thank you, cousin."

"Cousin, why don't you open it and take a look, so you can give me some advice." Zhou Fang said.

"I don't deserve it." Chang An opened the scroll and placed it in the middle of his carp to read it. This is a horizontal painting, which depicts five noble women in gorgeous clothes and their maids enjoying flowers and strolling in the garden. There is no background in the painting, and the five ladies and one maid are painted with fine brushwork and heavy colors.

Chang An felt that the painting was familiar at first glance, so he approached Wang Wei, who was more knowledgeable about painting, and asked, "Brother Mo Jie, what is this painting..."

"This is a painting of ladies," Wang Wei explained. "These are five noble ladies and a maid. It probably tells the story of them having fun."

Chang An frowned slightly, and suddenly he was stunned. He quickly took the painting, pulled Zhou Fang aside, and asked, "Cousin, did you draw this?"

Zhou Fang nodded and said, "That's exactly what I drew. I was unable to attend your New Year's Eve dinner last year, so I drew this. I wanted to find a time to send it to you, but then I went to the Imperial College and forgot about it."

"Have you named this painting?" Chang An's breathing became heavy.

"get up."

"what is it call?"

"It's called 'Lady with Flowers in Her Hair'," Zhou Fang replied.

Chang An was stunned at this moment, as if he had been struck by thunder. He stood there for a long time before he said, "It's a good painting. It will definitely be passed down through the ages. I said so."

Zhou Fang laughed and said, "My cousin is an unparalleled poet. How can my painting be so good?"

"Don't be modest, this painting is really good." Chang An said, "Okay, since you are here, what gifts do you bring?"

"Isn't this a gift for my sister-in-law?"

Chang An smiled and patted him, then said, "Okay, then your cousin will take you to eat hot pot."

"Okay."

After returning to Gu Li, Chang An handed the painting to Gu Li and said, "Mother Gu, you must keep this painting well. After all, it is a gift from our cousin to you."

After listening to this, Gu Li smiled at Zhou Fang and said, "Thank you, cousin."

"Father-in-law! Are we not late?"

At this time, Gu Ke's voice came from outside the door. At this time, Gu Ke's family came. Then Chang Wenmeng smiled and waved at them, saying, "Father-in-law, mother-in-law."

"Mr. Gao is here too." When Gu Su saw Gao Shi, she smiled.

When Gao Shi saw Gu Su's smile, he felt a little uncomfortable - it's not that Gu Su's smile contained any malice, but Gao Shi felt that it seemed a little too gentle, as if there was some strange meaning in it.

Gao Shi then asked: "Brother Chang, what is Guici doing..."

"It's nothing, I just have something to tell you." Chang An patted him gently and said.

At this time, Chang Wenmeng said: "Now that all the family members are here, it's time to start eating the New Year's Eve dinner."

So, everyone came to the main hall and sat down in order according to the order of importance. In the middle of the table was a hot pot, surrounded by raw ingredients and some must-eat dishes for the New Year.

Gu Li glanced around, then quietly pointed at the braised fish and said, "Chang Lang, that fish looks so big and fat, I'm sure we can eat enough of it."

"Mrs. Gu, look at that spare rib. I asked the purchasing servant to pick it out in large chunks." Chang An also said, pointing at the large spare rib.

While they were talking, Huaiqin and Zhen'er came in with two pots of Tusu wine. After putting the wine on the table, they sat at the end. Chang Wenmeng picked up the wine and poured it for Zhou Kuangping and Gu Ke, who were closest to him. After the latter was poured the wine, he also took the pot and poured a glass for himself.

The two pregnant ladies were not allowed to drink alcohol and could only drink tea instead, so they naturally skipped the Tu Su wine that was offered to them.

After everyone had their turn to drink the Tu Su wine, everyone raised their glasses, came together, and drank together.