Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

When I returned to Shigu Lane, I heard the housekeeper Dai Xing say that Yang Lin and his son had sent some green vegetables and leeks, and also brought a slaughtered rooster.

Just when Ye Changyan and his students were sitting together preparing to make dumplings, Sang Li came over with some local specialties brought to him from Youshui City.

"Sir, we in Youshui City don't celebrate the Spring Festival. I wonder if I can join you in the fun?"

"Welcome, welcome. It just so happens that there are only three of us here, master and apprentice. Your coming makes things even more lively."

Seeing Aunt Zhen rolling out the dumpling wrappers and Ye Changyan mixing the fillings, Sang Li asked if there was anything he could do to help.

Mr. Cai smiled and told Sang Li to do the same as him and just wait for the food.

Liang Jingcheng was helping Ye Changyan in the kitchen, and Xingwang was following behind Ye Changyan, being fed some food by Ye Changyan from time to time. His little mouth hardly stopped eating all afternoon.

As evening approached, Zhong Yunfeng also rushed over and saw the maids carrying dishes from the kitchen to the front hall.

"It seems I just arrived in time for dinner."

"Come, come, try the oranges that Sang Li's family brought him. Eat an orange during the New Year, and you will have good luck in the coming year!"

Mr. Cai handed Zhong Yunfeng a bright red orange, and asked Zhong Yunfeng some auspicious words.

"Sanlang and I thought you wouldn't come. Why is it that Yunfeng Tower is not busy today, on New Year's Eve?"

Zhong Yunfeng took the orange and thanked him, then answered while peeling the orange.

"Yunfeng Tower has been fully booked for the reunion dinner these past two days. Because everything was booked in advance, many things were prepared in advance, so it is not as busy as usual. I took the opportunity to come and reunite with you and Brother Sanlang."

"It's not easy for you to work hard outside. You don't have any relatives or friends in Shengjing. Just treat this place as your home. Whenever you miss it, you can come back."

"That's right. This is the first time in the past 20 years that I'm away from home for the New Year. In Shengjing, I only have a few relatives and friends like you, Master, and Brother Sanlang. That's why I came here. First, I want to have a New Year's Eve dinner, and second, I hope to have the company of my relatives and friends to stay up all night together."

Mr. Cai looked at Zhong Yunfeng with a kind face and nodded with a smile.

Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng were lucky enough to come out of the kitchen, and they saw Zhong Yunfeng, Sang Li and Cai Lao sitting together, eating oranges and talking and laughing.

"Why are you so happy? I thought you were too busy to come."

"I was just talking to my husband about the New Year's Eve dinner you prepared. Can everyone eat all the food?"

Zhong Yunfeng glanced at the table which was fully furnished with dishes. There were steamed mandarin fish, mapo tofu, shredded pork with fish flavor, twice-cooked pork, mouth-watering chicken, cured meat platter, deep-fried pork, braised pork with salted vegetables, stir-fried yam with black fungus, chicken soup with chrysanthemum, stir-fried vegetables and fried dumplings, a total of twelve dishes.

"You don't understand what 'good luck and prosperity every year' means. It means not only that there must be chicken and fish on the New Year's Eve dinner table, but also that there must be some leftovers from every dish, so that there will be plenty and prosperity in the coming year."

Ye Changyan raised an eyebrow at Zhong Yunfeng and spoke very logically, then looked at Xing Wang on the side and continued to add.

"I'm lucky enough to have forgotten that he is still growing. We must have a good New Year's Eve dinner so that he can be healthy in the coming year!"

Xing Wang looked at the table full of delicious food and nodded excitedly to Ye Changyan.

"Hahaha, it's getting dark, let's eat now."

Mr. Cai looked at Xingwang's cute appearance, laughed, and asked everyone to start eating.

"Sir, I brought some wine from Yunfeng Tower. It's the kind of fresh bamboo wine you like. Today is New Year's Eve, so we, the younger generation, will drink a few glasses with you."

As he spoke, Zhong Yunfeng took out two jugs of wine from the gift box he brought and placed them on the dining table.

The New Year's Eve dinner lasted a full hour. If Ye Changyan hadn't stopped him, Xing Wang would have licked the plate clean. With Ye Changyan's stop, Xing Wang obediently left a little bit of each dish.

"Hahaha, there really is some leftover from every bowl. It looks like there will be some leftover for next year, but not much!"

Originally, Mr. Cai liked drinking very much. Ever since he accepted Ye Changyan as his little disciple, Ye Changyan began to stop Mr. Cai from drinking too much. Even at the New Year's Eve dinner today, Mr. Cai only drank five small cups. Ye Changyan, Liang Jingcheng, Zhong Yunfeng and Sang Li each toasted Mr. Cai a cup, and he drank another cup when everyone raised their glasses together.

After five glasses of wine, Mr. Cai, who looked a little tipsy, saw that there was surprisingly little left on each plate, and he laughed and joked.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the housekeeper Dai Xing asked the servants to bring two stoves that had been lit long ago into the house.

After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, Sang Li said goodbye and went back to Gujing Lane. Seeing that Xingwang also went to the yard to practice martial arts to digest the food, Mr. Cai suggested that they play chess while staying up all night.

Except for Ye Changyan, all the other four people present knew how to play chess, so Ye Changyan watched and learned for a while before trying to get started.

Ye Changyan learned very quickly, although he was still far from being a match for the other three. By watching and learning from the side, and with the guidance of Mr. Cai, Ye Changyan had already mastered the basic principles of Go.

"Playing chess is like studying. You can't achieve success overnight. You need to watch and practice more. Jing Cheng grew up watching his senior brothers play chess. Now his chess skills are so good that you senior brothers are no match for him."

Liang Jingcheng gave Ye Changyan a somewhat smug expression. Ye Changyan glanced at him and gave him a somewhat provocative expression in return.

"He must have watched several of his senior brothers play chess so many times that he is familiar with their chess playing styles."

Ye Changyan's words made everyone at the scene burst into laughter.

The time spent playing chess passed quickly. After several rounds of games between the teacher and the students, the new year arrived quietly as Ye Changyan's chess skills improved rapidly.

The sound of firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, and the sound of firecrackers rang out one after another in the streets and alleys of Shengjing City. This is also the most tense and busiest time of the year for the Wucheng Bingmasi.

At this time in Shengjing City, runners from the Five Cities Army were patrolling the streets and alleys. Once a fire broke out anywhere, they would quickly gather and put out the fire.

However, there was a heavy snowfall a few days ago, and as the snow slowly melted, the humidity was quite high, so there were not many flammable items on the ground. This year's New Year's Eve was safe and smooth.

Early in the morning on New Year's Day, Ye Changyan just got out of bed and ran to pay New Year's greetings to Mr. Cai.

The auspicious words that came out of his mouth made Mr. Cai smile so much that his teeth were showing, and he took out the red envelope very generously.

As soon as the day broke, Zhong Yunfeng dressed neatly and headed straight for the Imperial College.

Liang Jingcheng was the last one to crawl out of bed, and he saw Ye Changyan showing off the red envelope he had received in front of him.