I served as Li Bai's page.

After visiting Meng Haoran's residence, I went to the kitchen and opened two earthenware jars placed against the corner of the wall. One jar was full of rice, and the other was half-filled with flour made from wheat. I scooped two large bowls of flour into a basin, poured some warm water over the flour, and started kneading it on the cutting board. After kneading for about twenty minutes, I set it aside.

I went to the vegetable garden, picked a large bunch of bok choy, and plucked a few scallions. I went to the well by the pond, drew water with a bucket to wash them clean, and took them back to the kitchen to make lunch. I made a local favorite: chicken head noodles. It's made by taking a small ball of kneaded and fermented dough, pressing it between my palms, and then stretching it with my fingers to form a very thin pancake shape. I boiled it in boiling water, then tossed it with soybean oil and chili oil, added cooked bok choy and chopped scallions, and it was ready to eat. It had the fresh aroma of bok choy and scallions, along with the savory fragrance of chili oil—it was absolutely delicious!

After I finished cooking the chicken head soup, I put it into large bowls, one for each person, and then carried them to the table on a plate. Young Master Meng, smelling the aroma, was the first to come out: "It smells so good! Yuehua, what did you cook?"

"Let's keep it simple for lunch today, we'll have chicken head soup. Everyone, come and eat, it'll get cold soon," I called out.

Meng Haoran led everyone to the restaurant. Li Bai sat down first, picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of food, and put it in his mouth: "Delicious, Yuehua, what's this dish called?"

"Chicken head." I repeated.

"If only we had some wine," Li Bai added.

Meng Haoran slapped his thigh: "Wine? I have some! Yuehua, go to my study and fetch the two jars of wine from the bookcase."

I turned and walked towards the study. When I brought the wine from the study to the dining room, everyone had only left half a bowl. I opened the jar, and a strong aroma of wine wafted out.

Li Bai stood up, took the wine jar, and poured a bowl for everyone. They all raised their cups and drank it all in one gulp. Drinking wine with noodles was something I'd never done in my hometown before, so I went to the kitchen and stir-fried a plate of peanuts.

After lunch, Meng Haoran, who had a habit of taking a nap, didn't want to say so directly in front of so many guests. He sat with everyone in the living room and soon began to snore. Li Bai and the others quietly left the living room and went to the pond in front of the door. Seeing the pond filled with spring water, blooming roses, and peach blossoms reflected in the flowing water, the scholars were inspired and started playing a game of "Flying Flowers" (a poetic game). The ultimate winner, of course, was Li Bai, and the young gentlemen admired him immensely.

As everyone was having a great time, Li Bai said, "Master Meng will definitely regret missing this part of our journey." Little did he know that Meng Haoran had unknowingly come up behind him.

"Qinglian Jushi, you call me Master Meng, I like it. I'll call you that from now on. You all continue, I'll join in too," Meng Haoran said.

A group of literati were playing their games. I sat under the peach tree by the pond, watching their behavior—some pedantic and dull, others clever and shrewd—and found it extremely amusing.

Time flies, and it was getting dark. The scholars were still enjoying their game of "Flying Flowers" (a traditional Chinese poetry game), but now they had added performances. Anyone who couldn't answer a question had to perform a short act. Among them, Young Master Meng probably performed the most.

"Ning'er, I always tell you to study, but you don't. Now you know, 'You only realize how little you know when you need it.'" Meng Haoran said to Young Master Meng. It was then that I learned Young Master Meng's name was Meng Ning.

"I will study hard in the future and catch up with you and Li Bai," Meng Ning said with a determined expression.

Perhaps they were too tired from playing in the afternoon, because after dinner, every young master clamored to go to sleep. Li Bai was so sleepy that he could barely walk straight, but Meng Haoran pulled him aside and said, "Why don't you sleep with me? Let's chat some more."

Li Bai shook off Meng Haoran's hand and said, "I'm so sleepy, I can't chat anymore, I want to sleep, I'll sleep with Yuehua."

Meng Haoran, however, held onto Li Bai's hand tightly and pulled him directly into his bedroom.

Meng Ning said to me, "Yuehua, you can sleep in the bedroom next to my uncle's."

After saying that, he led Wu Zhinan and his two friends into the two guest rooms opposite. I had no choice but to go to the room next to Meng Haoran's bedroom to find a place to sleep. Fortunately, everything was ready. I went into the room, locked the door, and fell asleep immediately.

Perhaps I was too tired yesterday, because I slept until dawn. If it weren't for Li Bai knocking on the door, I would have slept until noon.

"Yuehua, get up and cook! I'm starving and so sleepy!" I opened the door, and Li Bai walked in, still half asleep, and collapsed onto my bed, grabbing his pillow and snoring away.

I shook him: "Young Master, what's wrong? Didn't you say you were hungry? Why are you asleep again?"

Li Bai shifted in his seat: "Master Meng is so persistent. He insisted on talking to me about poetry, which kept me up all night. He even snores when he sleeps. I'm so sleepy." After saying that, he turned over and fell asleep again.

I covered Li Bai with a blanket and went out of the room. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the fragrance of peach blossoms and roses in the courtyard was intoxicating.

Everyone else was still asleep. I went to the courtyard, took a deep breath of the fragrant morning air of Lumen Mountain, stretched my limbs, and began practicing Tai Chi. I didn't even notice when Wu Zhinan arrived in the courtyard.

"Yuehua, do you know martial arts?" Wu Zhinan's sudden question startled me. I immediately stopped exercising, turned around to look at him, and found him somewhat listless.

"I only learned swordsmanship from the young master and know a set of Tai Chi. It can't be considered martial arts; I just practice it to strengthen my body," I replied.

"These past two days, I feel short of breath after even a little exercise, so I'd like to try some more exercise," Wu Zhinan said.

"Alright, don't you also know swordsmanship? Go get your sword and practice." As soon as I finished speaking, Wu Zhinan walked into the house.

Wu Zhinan and I exercised in the courtyard until it was broad daylight, and Wu Zhinan was covered in sweat.

"Young Master Wu, you don't need to exert yourself so much. Look how sweaty you are. Take a break first. I'll go to the kitchen to boil some water, and you can go to the bathhouse for a hot shower," I said to Wu Zhinan.

"I don't know what's wrong? I'm sweating as soon as I move. Thank you, Yuehua." Wu Zhinan said as he picked up a chair and sat down in the courtyard.

After taking a shower, Wu Zhinan looked much more refreshed and said, "That feels much better, Yuehua. I'll be exercising with you every morning."

"Then I'll wake you up every day and tell you to go for a walk around while I make breakfast," I said.

After making breakfast, I went to each room to wake them up. Young Master Meng and his two friends were quite obedient and got up as soon as they heard me calling them. But I couldn't wake Li Bai and Meng Haoran no matter what I did.

"Never mind them, let's eat." I said, and then I put the food on the table, and everyone started eating.

"Yuehua, I'm starving!" Li Bai ran out of the inner room while putting on his clothes and sat down at the dining table.

"Young master, please go wash up before you come up to eat. I've prepared water for you," I said to Li Bai.

Li Bai reluctantly stood up, quickly washed up, and then sat down at the table to wolf down his food.