Chương 24: Gift Money

As the carriage approached, Huang Lingxiu was the first to jump down from it. Then she lifted the carriage curtain and supported an old woman.

"Grandmother, be careful." At the same time, the Huang brothers and the other burly figure also turned over and dismounted. Jiang Huanyu came forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Two elder brothers." Huang Qingzhou cupped his hands, helping Huang Lingxiu support the old woman as he said, "Virtuous Brother, this is my mother. This time, when she learned that we were coming to Golden Willow Village, she insisted on coming along to take a look." Huang Qingzhou's mother?

A trace of surprise flashed through Jiang Huanyu's heart. Then he quickly went forward and performed a great salute.

"This nephew, Jiang Huanyu, greets Aunt." The old woman was already past sixty, but her body was still fairly strong, and her complexion was rosy. Seeing Jiang Huanyu, she smiled and came forward to hold his hand.

"You are A-Huanyu, right? When you were little, this old woman even held you!"

"Unexpectedly, more than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye." Jiang Huanyu held her hand and said, "Has Aunt's health been well recently?" The old woman smiled and nodded.

"Good, good, good…" More than twenty years ago, his grandfather was still alive, and the Jiang and Huang families still had friendship. After his grandfather died, his father took over the Jiang family. Their noble rank was reduced until nothing remained, and the relationship between the two families gradually faded.

"Aunt, please come inside." The old woman nodded slightly.

"Lingxiu can take this old woman inside. You brothers should talk." Huang Lingxiu supported the old woman and walked toward the courtyard. Only then did Huang Yunxiao speak and introduce, "Virtuous Brother, this is Zhang Bin, Commandant Zhang, this foolish elder brother's sworn brother." Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu quickly cupped his hands.

"Greetings, Commandant Zhang." Zhang Bin was a straightforward person. He waved his hand and said, "I and Old Huang are brothers. Little Brother Jiang, don't treat me like an outsider."

"I still have to thank Little Brother Jiang for the matter last time." Hearing this, Jiang Huanyu looked at Huang Yunxiao in confusion.

"Virtuous Brother, you have misunderstood this foolish elder brother. Brother Zhang guessed this matter himself. This foolish elder brother absolutely did not reveal even a single word to him," Huang Yunxiao quickly explained. Jiang Huanyu thought about it and understood. That day, he and Huang Qingzhou had gone to the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp together. The soldiers guarding the gate had personally seen the two enter.

After that, the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp set out and surrounded and killed that barbarian squad. As long as one was not a fool, one would know the reason behind it. As one of the commandants of the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp, it should not have been difficult for Zhang Bin to learn about this matter.

"Commandant Zhang, please forgive me. The reason I concealed it was truly because…"

"I understand, I understand." Zhang Bin smiled and waved his hand. Seeing that he understood his worries, Jiang Huanyu did not say more and directly gestured with his hand.

"Three elder brothers, please come inside." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After inviting the three into the courtyard, the guests could be considered all present, and the banquet officially began. He specially arranged Huang Qingzhou's family and Lu Zhiyuan at the same table, accompanied by the village headman Yang Changlin and the physician Sun Fuchun.

After Jiang Huanyu introduced everyone's identities one by one, Huang Qingzhou was clearly somewhat surprised. As the village headman Yang Changlin had said before, Lu Zhiyuan, as a great scholar of the Imperial Academy, had considerable influence in the entire Cloudcenter Commandery, and even in the Nine Provinces Kingdom.

Huang Qingzhou had not specially paid attention to the Jiang family's affairs before, so he still did not know that the Jiang family's second son, Jiang Wenyan, had actually become the student of the great scholar Lu Zhiyuan. Huang Qingzhou knew very well that being able to become the disciple of a contemporary great scholar meant that the Jiang family's second son's future achievements would absolutely not be low. Thinking of this, he felt somewhat glad about his own decision.

If Jiang Wenfeng's martial arts talent had given him the thought of trying, then Jiang Wenyan, as the disciple of a great scholar, allowed him to see the future value of the Jiang family. During the banquet, Jiang Huanyu carried out his self-brewed fine wine. Huang Qingzhou had originally teased him, saying that if he had known Jiang Huanyu had not prepared good wine, he would have brought a few jars of top-quality Apricot Leaf Yellow from the Kang family wine shop in town.

But when the mud seal on the wine jar was opened, he instantly stopped speaking. When the mellow rice wine entered the mouth, Zhang Bin could not help saying, "Only after drinking Younger Brother's wine do I know that the Kang family's Apricot Leaf Yellow is just cat piss!" These words made Huang Yunxiao unable to help laughing and scolding him, "Brother Zhang, Teacher Lu is here. Pay attention." Lu Zhiyuan only smiled slightly, tasting the wine on his own without speaking. The banquet soon ended.

When it was time to leave, Zhang Bin still thickened his face and asked Jiang Huanyu for a jar of rice wine. In order not to favor one over another, Jiang Huanyu also gave Teacher Lu and the Huang brothers one jar each. As for the others, they clearly did not have that much face.

"Brother Jiang, if you take this wine to town and sell it, it will definitely be more popular than the Kang family wine shop's Apricot Leaf Yellow." At the entrance of the small courtyard, Zhang Bin was somewhat tipsy as he wrapped an arm around Jiang Huanyu's shoulder and smiled. Huang Yunxiao directly pulled him away.

"Brother Zhang, what nonsense are you saying?"

"Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. If Virtuous Brother wants to sell wine, he will have to give up his status as a farmer. After becoming a merchant household, his descendants will be unable to take the imperial examinations or join the army."

"Don't harm him."

"All right, we will return first." After cupping his hands toward Jiang Huanyu, the group turned over and mounted their horses.

"Stone, why don't you come back with us? That way, Uncle Jiang won't have to send you tomorrow." On the carriage, Huang Lingxiu looked at Jiang Wenfeng and called out. Jiang Wenfeng did not immediately answer. He turned and looked at Jiang Huanyu.

"Go." The fact that Huang Qingzhou had come to attend the full-month banquet this time proved that the friendship between the two families had been renewed. Since that was so, if the two juniors could come together, it seemed quite good too.

"Then I'll go tell Mother." Jiang Wenfeng smiled and ran back into the courtyard. Before long, he brought his bundle and followed them onto the carriage. After seeing off Huang Qingzhou and the others, Jiang Huanyu also escorted Teacher Lu to the outside of the village. Only then did he return home. Inside the courtyard, Zhao Shuan and his wife were helping clean up the aftermath. Seeing this, Jiang Huanyu felt warmth in his heart and quickly helped them tidy everything properly.

"Brother Shuan, you didn't drink enough today, right?"

"Wait!" Jiang Huanyu said this, then carried out an unopened wine jar from the kitchen house. Seeing this, Zhao Shuan's eyes instantly went straight. Last night, his wife Wang Ying had especially instructed him that the two families had a good relationship, so he could not drink too much at today's banquet. After the banquet ended, he had to help Jiang Huanyu and his wife clean up. Because of this, during the banquet, Zhao Shuan could only watch helplessly as the fine wine was drunk by others.

Who would have thought that Jiang Huanyu had specially left him one jar?

"Hehe… A-Huanyu still understands his elder brother!" Zhao Shuan carefully received the wine jar and said, "I'll send it home first. Later, I'll come back and see if there is anything else to help with." … Night fell. The husband and wife changed the diapers for the two little fellows and coaxed them to sleep.

"Husband, guess how much gift money we received today?" Hu Yufen asked with a smile. Jiang Huanyu washed his hands and replied, "It shouldn't be much, right?"

"Three hundred and forty taels," Hu Yufen said a number that surprised him.

"How is it that much?" For today's banquet, even counting everything fully, there were only three tables of guests. Among them, two tables were all neighbors from the village with whom they had good relationships. They had either already sent congratulatory gifts before or, according to custom, sent eggs and sugar. If speaking of receiving gifts, at most, it would only be Teacher Lu, the Huang family, and the Mountain Patrol Commandant Camp's Commandant Zhang Bin.

"Commandant Zhang, Master Huang, and Teacher Lu each gave one hundred taels of gift money."

"The old madam gave thirty taels, and the remaining ten taels were given by Village Headman Yang and Uncle Sun."

"In total, three hundred and forty taels." After hearing his wife's words, Jiang Huanyu smiled bitterly and shook his head. Worldly relationships involved giving and receiving. The three of them giving such enormous gift money might not necessarily be a good thing.