Chapter 16: Small Things
"Come in and sit down. I'll ask your sister-in-law to make you some noodles later." Senior Brother Chen stepped over the threshold and walked into the house, followed closely by Li Daoxuan.

He looked around the room and found that Brother Chen's home was quite simple. There was a desk in the hall, and a portrait of Taishang Laojun hung on the wall. Several plates of fruit were placed near the incense burner, and three wine glasses were evenly placed. On the other side of the desk were two spirit tablets, which read "Grievance to Mr. Chen and Mrs. Jiang", which were obviously Brother Chen's deceased parents.

As for the rest of the room, besides the table, there were only a few chairs with paddles protruding from their seats. There was a teacup on the table, but there was no tea in it.

Li Daoxuan sat on a chair, looking at this ancient building with curiosity. The floor of the house was full of potholes, which were caused by rainwater dripping from the roof into the house when it rained.

There are chickens and ducks outside the yard, and you can hear the clucking sounds from time to time. There are toilets and vegetable plots on both sides. It is a classic farmhouse.

The senior brother asked him to sit for a while, and he went to the kitchen to bring in hot water. He sprinkled tea leaves on it and made tea, then handed a cup of tea to Li Daoxuan: "Junior brother, drink some tea. You must be tired from traveling these two days."

Li Daoxuan took the teacup and just after taking a sip, he saw his senior brother's child looking at him curiously. The two children looked not much different in age, but they had round faces and looked like they were eating well.

They stared at Li Daoxuan, blinking their eyes without saying anything, as if they were interested in this stranger and were curious about who he was.

"This is your uncle. You have to call him uncle from now on." Senior Brother Chen introduced Li Daoxuan's origins to the two children in a gentle voice.

After hearing what their father said, the children nodded obediently, and smiles appeared on their faces. They called out to Li Daoxuan sweetly, "Uncle."

The voice was so tender and sweet that Li Daoxuan felt a little embarrassed. He looked around and distributed the local specialties that his senior brothers had given him when he came back to the children. The children cheered with joy while holding the gifts, not caring what they got. For them, being able to receive gifts was the happiest thing.

"Uncle, my name is Chen Cancan!"

"Uncle, uncle. My name is Chen Mengmeng!"

After the two children said their names, they held up their gifts and talked excitedly when they saw Senior Brother Chen coming in. Senior Brother Chen was quite helpless when he saw this, and said with a somewhat reproachful tone: "Junior brother, those are things given to you by the senior brothers, how can you give them away casually."

Li Daoxuan smiled nonchalantly, looked at the two children and said, "They are all Brother Chen's children, so they are also my nephews. Anyway, I can't finish the things the brothers gave me, so I might as well give them to the children as New Year gifts."

"Okay." Senior Brother Chen didn't say anything else.

At this time, the sound of the door being pushed open came from the courtyard, and a woman with her hair tied up and carrying a basket came in. When she saw Brother Chen sitting in the hall, a look of joy appeared on her face.

"Ms. sir, you are back."

"Thank you for your hard work these days." Senior Brother Chen walked up to take the basket and squeezed the woman's hand. The two walked in affectionately, and the woman showed a surprised expression when she saw Li Daoxuan.

"This is my junior fellow apprentice, Li Daoxuan." Senior Brother Chen pointed at Li Daoxuan and introduced him, then pointed at the woman. "This is my wife, Zhang."

"Sister-in-law." Li Daoxuan quickly stood up and greeted her, then welcomed Zhang's warm hospitality.

"Since you are Chang Yuan's junior fellow apprentice, you are a family. It's rare for my uncle to come here, so you have to stay for two days." Zhang is very good at dealing with people, and her words are elegant, unlike ordinary farm ladies. She has a pretty face, and although her fingers and palms are a little rough, it can be seen that she takes good care of them on weekdays. In addition, her eyes are quite spiritual, and Li Daoxuan thinks that this sister-in-law should be a girl from a scholar's family. As expected, Senior Brother Chen also said that Zhang's father was a scholar, but later he gave up the idea of ​​becoming an official because he failed the imperial examination many times. Now he works as an accountant in a restaurant, and his life is quite comfortable.

Zhang had been well-versed in poetry and literature since she was young, and she married Senior Brother Chen because he was handsome and honest. In addition, he was a Taoist priest from Mount Mao, so she was naturally willing.

The two have been married for more than ten years and still respect each other and live in love. This is a strange story in the eyes of later generations, and it can be included in the philosophy of life. However, in this era, information was not so developed, transportation was slow, letters were also slow, and people only loved one person in their lifetime.

Zhang went to the kitchen and made a bowl of noodles for the two of them. She cut a few pieces of bacon, and the aroma filled the kitchen.

Adding onions and garlic to the bowl, the fragrant aroma made the two greedy children drool. They stared at the noodles in the bowl with their eyes wide open, looking as pitiful as they could be.

Li Daoxuan felt pity for them and wanted to share some of the noodles with the children. But his senior brother stopped him: "Their mother can cook, don't spoil them anymore. If they spoil their tempers in the future, it will not be good."

Hearing what his senior brother said, Li Daoxuan had no choice but to give up. Soon, Zhang also prepared noodles for the children. When they were served, there was very little bacon in them. Looking at the almost full bacon in his bowl, and the children eating with big mouthfuls, he picked a few pieces of bacon and put them in the children's bowls.

“Alas, junior brother, you…” The senior brother shook his head and sighed.

"It's just a few pieces of meat, what's so bad about it?" Li Daoxuan said with a smile, and drank the noodle soup in the bowl amid the children's laughter.

After chatting for a while in the courtyard, Li Daoxuan decided to go back home. He packed up his things and prepared to leave.

Zhang persuaded him to stay for two more days, saying that there was a spare room in the house. His senior brother told him to be careful on the road, not to trust others, especially to watch out for thieves, and not to show his money. The two children pulled his sleeves dryly, hoping that this kind-hearted new uncle could stay for a few more days, so that they could eat meat every day.

Li Daoxuan could only refuse them one by one. After all, it was already the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, and there were only a few days left before the Chinese New Year. After patting the heads of the two children, he left his brother's house carrying his parcel and some things.

Senior Brother Chen and his wife stood at the door, watching Li Daoxuan go away.

"You really don't want to let your uncle stay for two days?" Zhang complained.

"Junior brother has his own things to do, and I can't force him to stay. There is still a lot of time to come." Senior Brother Chen smiled, then he hugged his wife's waist tightly and whispered in her ear. "It's getting late. I haven't been home for several months. Do you miss me?"

"What are you doing in broad daylight?" Zhang's face turned slightly red, and the two of them slowly returned to the house.

"Oh, sir, a scholar came to ask you something earlier. He wants you to help him hold a ritual at home. What do you think?"

"Tell him to come again another day and tell me what the ritual is." The voices of the two people gradually faded away in the house, and the sun was slowly setting in the sky outside.

Li Daoxuan got on the carriage alone, listening to the ringing of the bells on the carriage, and slowly headed towards Jinling.

(End of this chapter)