Chapter 379

The sound of firecrackers came from the end of the long street. Every household had long poles hanging firecrackers in front of their doors, and broken red paper flew on the ground.

Chishan shook its neck and stretched out its tongue to lick the paper scraps at the corner of its mouth.

The sulfur smell remaining in the air made it sneeze repeatedly. Without noticing, several Spring Festival flowers were pasted on its face.

At the gate of the Yang Mansion, Xu Zishuai kicked the paper scraps listlessly, occasionally looking at the long street, and shouted loudly when he saw Liang Qu riding a horse.

"A-Shui! We agreed to arrive at the You hour, why are you really stepping on the point?"

Liang Qu flipped off the horse: "Met something in the afternoon, delayed a little, is everyone here?"

"Isn't it, just waiting for you!" Xu Zishuai patted Chishan's butt, let this smart dragon-blood horse enter the stable by itself, and turned to look at the gatekeeper, "Uncle Fu, everyone is here, set off the closing firecrackers! Help me get rid of the bad luck! May next year be happy!"

"Prepared early! I guarantee to get rid of it cleanly for you, Fourth Young Master, and have a bright future!"

The gatekeeper, old man Uncle Fu, was full of smiles. He picked up three strings of firecrackers under the gate and lifted them high, lighting them one by one with long incense.

Crackle!

The explosion sounded, flowing out a strong sulfur smell.

The closing firecrackers before the meal, sending away all the unhappiness of the old year!

The gate closed with a bang in the enthusiasm, blocking the red paper scraps.

Liang Qu walked down the steps and asked with a smile: "Why did Cao Shixiong specifically stand at the door to wait for me today? Offering courtesy without reason."

"Who wants to wait for you? The cold wind is blowing outside. Mistress saw you hadn't arrived, so she asked me to come out and see, saying that if you didn't arrive, she would lock you outside the door and not let you in!"

"Really or fake? I believe the first half, the second half was made up by Cao Shixiong himself, right?"

The two chatted as they walked through the covered walkway and stepped into the livelier hall.

The Spring Festival couplets at the entrance of the entire hall were all replaced with new ones, pasted with red paper, and the floor was full of broken melon seed and peanut shells.

The heat from the warm stove made people feel relaxed.

Liang Qu took off his coat, and the maid serving nearby took it and hung it on the dragon gate frame on the side.

Everyone in the hall saw Liang Qu arrive, and there was a commotion.

"Liang Shidi, we've been waiting for you! You're so slow!"

"You said you'd arrive at the You hour, and you really arrived at the You hour, not a bit early!"

"Liang Shidi, the fourth-grade dragon-blood horse should be changed. It can't even catch up with a shadow, it's mostly bragging.

How about this, Cao Shixiong will take care of Liang Shidi, take a loss, and exchange my Red-Eyed Horse with you! How about it?"

"Mine, mine, didn't calculate the time well."

Liang Qu apologized repeatedly.

The two short spears sent by the toad were terrifyingly powerful, and he hadn't thought about where to put them for a while.

Put them at home, put them on the ship, if he wasn't careful, they would all explode to the sky, which was hard to build.

After thinking about it, Liang Qu personally placed them in the giant rock where he had found A-Wei and the Water Lingzhi.

Sending the ship in the afternoon was already tight, and after going back and forth, he was inevitably late.

Fortunately, it was not late, just on time. It was still early before the meal, so everyone sat in the hall and ate snacks together.

Liang Qu stepped forward to pay his respects to his master and mistress, and sat in his own seat.

"Just right, it's rare for everyone to be here." Yang Dongxiong put down the teacup, "There is something to tell you."

Hearing that Master had something to say, a group of disciples straightened their backs and sat upright.

Yu Dun asked: "Master, what is it?"

"It's not a big deal. This September, your mistress and I are planning to go to Huangzhou."

Sixth Cao Shixiong Cao Rang was stunned: "Huangzhou? What are Master and Mistress going to Huangzhou for?"

Xu Zishuai said keenly: "Is it because Mistress is going back to her maiden home?"

Xu Shi nodded: "After this year, it will be my father's eighty-ninth birthday in November. As the saying goes, it's better to be early than late. The family is preparing to hold a birthday banquet this September."

Everyone suddenly realized.

As expected.

Huangzhou is west of Nanzhili. It's not far, but it's not close.

Unless it's a special situation, one wouldn't go there. Among those present, only Mistress has a relationship with Huangzhou.

As for the birthday banquet.

Yang Dongxiong rose from the humble beginnings, joined the army to seek a future, and when he achieved something, his parents had long passed the age of knowing destiny, passing away peacefully at the ages of seventy-three and eighty-two respectively.

Mistress Xu Shi is different. She was born in the Xu family of Huangzhou. Not to mention being among the three dukes or imperial relatives, at least it is a famous family.

Her parents and relatives lived in luxury, without much hard work, so they naturally had a long lifespan.

An old saying goes, seventy is 【Great Longevity】, eighty is 【Upper Longevity】, ninety is 【Old Longevity】, and one hundred is 【Qi-Yi】.

Liang Qu feels that it is mostly a saying like "Men celebrate the near, women celebrate the full" and "Meet nine, celebrate big."

Odd numbers are Yang, even numbers are Yin, and men are Yang, women are Yin.

So nine is the largest Yang number, and ten is the largest Yin number.

Therefore, when men have birthdays, they should be one year early.

This eighty-ninth birthday banquet is actually equivalent to a ninety-year-old grand banquet, which should be held big and happily.

But to be honest, there are too many similar rules, and he doesn't know the local customs of Huangzhou, so Liang Qu himself can't distinguish the reason, anyway, the final result is like this.

Xu Shi hasn't been back for four or five years. As a biological daughter, she must go back for the ninetieth birthday.

If you don't enter the Grandmaster realm, you don't have three hundred years of heavenly life, and you will see each other less and less in the future.

"Then is the Eldest Cao Shixiong going back too?"

A flash of inspiration flashed in Liang Qu's mind.

The Eldest Cao Shixiong is Yang Dongxiong's biological son. His grandfather is having a big birthday, so he should come back.

Yang Dongxiong affirmed: "Your Eldest Cao Shixiong will naturally go. He hasn't asked for leave to visit his relatives for five years. It's just a good opportunity to come out.

So I'm asking you if anyone wants to accompany him, just to see the young talents and the style of Huangzhou."

Hu Qi asked: "How do Master and Mistress plan to go to Huangzhou?"

"By boat, all the way west along the Jianghuai. It will take at least two months to go back and forth. The time is not short. If you don't have time, don't force it."

"Go, why not go? Just to see what the Central Plains are like. I haven't seen the Eldest Cao Shixiong for a long time."

Xu Zishuai responded first.

He is free and easy, not working in any place, and can leave whenever he wants.

Xiang Zhangsong and Hu Qi looked at each other and nodded as well.

"We'll go too, to see the Eldest Cao Shixiong."

Xiang Zhangsong, Hu Qi, and Liang Qu were the last to enter the school and had never seen the Eldest Cao Shixiong, so they should see him.

As for the martial arts hall, apprentices have a cycle for learning martial arts, and it is still early until September, so they can completely stop accepting apprentices temporarily and rest for a few months.

"What about you?" Yang Dongxiong looked at the other disciples.

Yu Dun was not very sure. He was the first to enter the school, unlike the group of junior brothers who hadn't seen the Eldest Cao Shixiong much: "There is still half a year, it's hard for the disciple to say. Before the summer plowing, Pingyang County will be abolished and changed to a prefecture. It's not certain that I will be free then."

Liang Qu himself naturally wants to go.

But like Yu Dun, he is not sure if he has time, so he will make other arrangements by then.

"Indeed, most of you have official duties. It's hard to be sure about things half a year later. Don't be in a hurry to give an answer. Let's talk about it in August. Let's eat first!"

"Good! Let's eat, let's eat!"

"What good dishes did Master prepare this year!"

"Naturally, you won't be hungry!"