Chapter 195: A House Full of Guests

 Chapter 195: A House Full of Guests

The day before Mid-Autumn Festival, Xiao Yeyang sent over five large bamboo baskets of hairy crabs.

Seeing the baskets brimming with crabs, Daohua was full of joy. She pulled Old Lady Yan aside and said that during the festival, they could indulge and eat their fill. 

Yan Zhiyuan looked through one of the main baskets and exclaimed in surprise, "As expected of a royal tribute, each of these crabs must weigh at least half a kilogram!" He laughed as he turned to Daohua. "Thanks to you, today our family has some good fortune." 

Madam Li estimated the weight of the crabs and said, "There must be over a hundred pounds of crabs here." She then looked at Daohua and added, "Don’t just stand there and be happy. Aren’t you supposed to send out your return gifts? Hurry up."

Daohua smiled and immediately went to get the gifts ready.

“These are for Xiao Yeyang!”

“These are for Brother Dong, Brother Su, and Brother Zhou.”

“These are for the three brothers at home.”

“These are for the three brothers as well.”

Since she had sent out separate gifts for Xiao Yeyang last time when she sent watermelons and grapes, Daohua had made sure to label each box of mooncakes this time. The last time she came, Su Hongxin had even stopped her and complained a little.

This time, she had learned her lesson, so each box had a label for the recipient.

“By the way, Man’er, go to the wine cellar and bring a jar of the yellow wine I brewed earlier. Xiao Yeyang and the others will definitely eat crabs, and yellow wine is a perfect match.”

Wang Man’er asked, “Should I bring a jar of osmanthus wine too?”

Daohua thought for a moment. “Yes, bring one too. It’s not too strong, so they shouldn’t get drunk from it.”

Mooncakes, yellow wine, osmanthus wine, osmanthus cakes, seasonal vegetables and fruits, several bamboo tubes of jasmine tea, and a bag of roasted five-spiced sunflower seeds were piled up in two carts until Daohua finally stopped.

Compared to the things Xiao Yeyang had sent, her gifts weren’t as valuable, but they were fresh and unique. Since she couldn’t compete on price, she made up for it in quantity.

The person who had delivered the crabs looked at the two carts filled with items and couldn’t help but twitch his mouth.

One cart on the way there, two carts on the way back.

From the quantity, it seemed the young prince had made the better deal.

Wangyue Academy.

After the items were delivered, Xiao Yeyang had Yan Wenkai and the others come to his courtyard to pick them up.

“Heh, this time, we even have our own mooncakes. No need to fight over the ones for Wenxiu,” Su Hongxin quickly grabbed the two boxes of mooncakes with his name on them and placed them to the side before moving to check everyone else’s.

Seeing that everyone else’s mooncakes looked similar, he turned back to his boxes, opened one, and took a bite. “Hmm, these mooncakes taste really good.”

Suddenly, a hand reached out. 

Slap!

Su Hongxin swatted Yan Wenkai’s hand away, clutching his mooncake box protectively and glaring at him. “What are you doing? These mooncakes are mine. If you want to eat, go eat your own.”

Yan Wenkai pouted. “It’s just one mooncake, why are you being so stingy?”

Su Hongxin quickly closed the box. “Fine, I’m stingy. But Sister Yan gave you so many, and you’re still thinking about mine? Don’t you feel guilty?”

Yan Wenkai retorted, “What ‘so many’? We only got one box to eat, and the rest are for the teachers and classmates. You guys each got two boxes. What’s wrong with me asking for one piece?”

Su Hongxin remained unmoved. “Then you could have kept yours, no need to give them away.”

Yan Wenkai was speechless. If he didn’t give them away, his big brother would definitely hammer him. He might even end up losing his own box.

“Hey, Xiao Yeyang, why are your mooncakes shaped differently from ours?” Su Hongxin, after handing his mooncake box to a servant, turned and noticed that Xiao Yeyang had opened his box. He immediately widened his eyes and rushed over.

“Our mooncakes are all flower-shaped. Why are yours in the shape of pig heads?” Su Hongxin asked, teasing.

Xiao Yeyang shot him a glance, and because his mood was good, he didn’t argue. Instead, he quickly closed his mooncake box and said, “What’s wrong with pig heads? I like them.”

Su Hongxin's eyes widened. “Oh, I get it. Xiao Yeyang, you’re born in the year of the pig, so Sister Yan made the mooncakes into pig heads for you, right?”

Xiao Yeyang didn’t respond but thought to himself that this was probably the case. However, he had never told Daohua that he was born in the year of the pig. Did Yan Wenkai and the others tell her? The thought that Daohua had specially made the mooncakes in his zodiac’s shape made his heart flutter. If Daohua knew, she would probably explain that she didn’t know and had just made them that way to mock him.

Su Hongxin clapped his hands. “I’m also born in the year of the pig! Why didn’t Sister Yan make mine into a pig head too? But I have to admit, the pig head mooncake is kind of cute.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yeyang shot him a cold look. “You talk too much.”

Su Hongxin was taken aback. What had he said that was so wrong?

At this moment, Yan Wenkai walked over and patted Su Hongxin on the shoulder. “You’re really talking too much. What’s the big deal with pig heads? Aren’t they all going to be eaten? Why care what shape they are? Just enjoy the taste.”

Su Hongxin was speechless.

Why was he being the troublemaker? Xiao Yeyang’s mooncake could be in the shape of a pig head, but his couldn’t? Daohua was so unfair, treating everyone differently. He’d have to talk to her the next time they met.

On Mid-Autumn Festival day, Zhou Jingwan arrived early at the Yan residence.

Daohua saw her maid carrying something and immediately smiled. “You’re here, but why bring gifts?”

Zhou Jingwan froze for a moment, then awkwardly smiled. “It’s not a gift, just some tools for eating crabs.”

Daohua quickly stopped smiling and pretended to be angry. “You’re visiting my home and still bringing tools? Aren’t you being a little too much?”

Zhou Jingwan came closer and grabbed Daohua’s arm, shaking it. “Oh, Daohua, don’t be like that. You know how familiar we are. I wasn’t treating you like an outsider!”

Daohua rolled her eyes. “You should still treat me like an outsider.” Then she looked at the tools in the maid's hand. “What’s all this? It looks so complicated.”

Zhou Jingwan immediately sat Daohua down and began explaining, “Don’t worry, when it’s time to eat the crabs, I’ll handle it for you.”

Wang Man’er also leaned in to look at the tools and then said, “Miss, you have crab tools too.”

Daohua was surprised and asked, “Did Mother prepare them for me?”

Wang Man’er shook her head. “No, they came with the crabs. I checked, and they’re similar to Miss Zhou’s. I’ll go pick them up from Madam.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingwan felt sour. “The Young Prince really plays favorites. Not only did he send you the Yanghu hairy crabs, but he also sent the full set of crab tools.”

Daohua smiled wide. “This guy is quite thoughtful.” Then she pretended to be indifferent and pouted, “He must think I’m unsophisticated, that I’ve never eaten crabs before, so he went through the trouble of sending me tools as well.”

Seeing this, Zhou Jingwan felt a pang of annoyance. “Enough of the act, stop pretending to be modest. Go check if the crabs are ready yet.”

Daohua nodded and sent Lixia to the kitchen. “Let’s go wait in my grandmother’s courtyard.”

In the Front Yard

On Mid-Autumn Festival, most people were off, but many had come to visit Yan Zhigao. They sat idly, chatting about various things.

Around noon, Zhou Jingwan’s father, Zhou Guangyi, also arrived, carrying a jar of yellow wine.

“Ah, everyone’s here! Why isn’t anyone home for the Mid-Autumn Festival?” he greeted, raising the jar of wine.

The others exchanged glances, silently thinking, Aren’t you here visiting too?

Zhou Guangyi laughed and lifted the jar. “This wine has been aged for decades. I couldn’t drink it alone, so I brought it over to share with Lord Yan.”

Yan Zhigao smiled. “Perfect timing, Brother Zhou. We were just in need of some good wine.”

On this Mid-Autumn Festival, with friends and guests filling the house, Yan Zhigao felt very pleased. The arrival of Zhou Guangyi made him feel even more proud.

However, if the visit could have come at another time, he would have been even happier.

The people sitting in his study right now were all here to eat the hairy crabs.

Thinking about how the crabs had come, Yan Zhigao once again thought of what his mother had said—his eldest daughter was indeed a blessing for the Yan family.

Meanwhile, Zhu Jiaoyu, sitting below, couldn’t help but feel emotional at the sight of Zhou Guangyi visiting the Yan residence.

The Yan family had truly risen in status.

(End of Chapter)