Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 467 Housewarming
After the food and wine were served, Li An stopped chatting with Gu Tingye. He could see that Gu Tingye was unhappy, so he just accompanied him to drink.

After drinking a lot, Gu Tingye even started crying.

Gu Tingye was still filled with sadness over Gu Yankai's death.

But he had suppressed this sadness in his heart, and now he vented it out through alcohol.

It is also possible that Gu Tingye was not drunk at all, but was just using alcohol to cover up his vulnerability.

"Zi Qian, you know, I hate him, I hate him very much. I hate that he didn't even let me see him for the last time. It is said that when a dying man is about to speak, his words are good. I just want to hear if he regrets what he did back then, but he didn't even give me this chance." Gu Tingye said, wiping away his tears.

Li An was silent for a while after hearing this, then raised his glass and said, "Come on, drink!"

He didn't know how to comfort Gu Tingye. Gu Tingye must have both love and hate for Gu Yankai, and his heart was very conflicted.

He said he wanted to hear whether Gu Yankai had any regrets before he died, and he just wanted to find an excuse to eliminate the hatred in his heart and keep only love.

But the person is dead, how could this be possible?

Gu Tingye didn't care that Li Ang didn't respond. He just drank and talked to himself.

He just needs someone to talk to, not someone to enlighten him.

He actually understands a lot of things.

But humans are strange animals. Even though they know everything, they keep finding excuses to deceive themselves.

The two of them drank until Gu Tingye was completely drunk before they said goodbye and left.

"Ugh."

On the way back, Li An felt a little dizzy and lay on Minglan's legs. Minglan held Li An's head and sighed softly.

"What's wrong?" Li An asked with some confusion.

"Gu Tingye has a knot in his heart because of his father, and Sister Yanran is unhappy seeing this. She thinks it's all her fault. If she had aborted the child, none of these things would have happened." Minglan said.

Li An comforted him, "Don't worry, Zhong Huai is very strong and won't be depressed because of this. He talked tonight and will cheer up soon."

"I hope so, otherwise Sister Yanran will also blame herself." Minglan said.

……

The next day, Li An was practicing martial arts in the courtyard when Desheng walked in and saluted, saying, "My Lord, Shitou, the follower of Second Master Gu, wants to see you."

"Come so early?"

Li An was a little surprised when he heard this. He went to the front yard and saw Shi Tou, who was as strong as an ox, waiting in the front yard with his luggage on his back.

"Mr. Li!" Shitou saluted.

Li An waved his hand and said with a smile: "Why are you here so early? Is Zhong Huai okay?"

"You're fine, sir. After getting drunk last night, he got up early today to practice martial arts. He looks very energetic." Shi Tou said.

When Li An heard this, he knew that Gu Tingye had cheered up, and he felt relieved.

"That's good. Desheng, take Shitou and settle him down, and then bring him to see me." Li An ordered.

"Yes!" Desheng responded and left with the stone.

Desheng had married Haitang some time ago, so Li An made him the housekeeper of the family.

Haitang manages the affairs of the middle courtyard, while Mother Cui assists Minglan in managing the backyard.

Li An went back to the courtyard to practice martial arts, and then returned to his room. He saw Minglan washing up with the help of a maid, and said, "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

"I've slept enough. It's not good to stay in bed all the time." Minglan said.

The reason why she got up so early was that some relatives came to visit these days, and without Li Ang to bother her, she naturally didn't need to rest for so long.

Secondly, Li An's parents were coming to Bian Jing soon, so she had to get up early to adapt herself.

It’s impossible for her to sleep until the sun comes out every day when her parents-in-law are at home.

Li An didn't think too much about it and said, "It's just right. Shitou is here. Let Xiaotao talk to him later."

"So...hiss..." Ming Lanhua hadn't finished speaking when she suddenly took a breath and said unhappily, "Xiao Tao, are you going to pull all my hair out?"

"what…"

Xiao Tao quickly let go of her hand and said in panic, "Madam, I didn't mean it."

Danju took the comb from Xiaotao and said with a smile, "Madam, Xiaotao is shy. Let me comb your hair for you."

"Who's shy!" Xiaotao retorted.

Minglan turned her head and saw Xiaotao's face flushed. She chuckled and said, "Men should get married when they are old enough and women should get married when they are old enough. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Miss, you are making fun of me too." In desperation, Xiao Tao called Miss Minglan again.

Li An shook his head slightly and said, "I'm going to have dinner first. It will be late soon."

"Well, sir, you go first, I'll be there soon." Minglan said.

Li An came to the outer room and sat down to have breakfast.

Just as he finished his bowl of porridge, Minglan came out, took the bowl naturally, filled one for him, filled another bowl for herself, and sat down.

"Sir, I will arrange for people to move things to the new house slowly today." Minglan said.

Although the moving day has not arrived yet, you can move all your miscellaneous things there first, but you can't live there.

On the auspicious day, just take the last few belongings and move there.

The couple chatted while eating. Soon after Li An finished his meal, he changed into his official uniform and went out.

When I came to the yard, I saw Desheng and Shitou waiting there.

"Shi Tou, don't follow me today. The lady will tell you something later. You stay at home and listen to her." Li An said.

"Yes!" Stone replied.

After Li An left, Shi Tou just stood in the yard.

Minglan finished her breakfast in the house and walked out with Xiaotao and Danju.

"Shi Tou, have you had breakfast?" Minglan asked with a smile.

"Madam, not yet," said Shi Tou.

"The master has been negligent. Xiaotao, take Shitou to have some breakfast, and then show him around the house to familiarize himself with it." Minglan ordered.

"Yes!" Xiao Tao responded and said, "Come with me."

Shitou bowed to Minglan and followed Xiaotao.

Although Shitou was a little naive, he was not stupid. How could he let the maidservant beside the lady take him to have meals and get familiar with the house?

It was obvious that this was the daughter-in-law introduced to her.

As a normal man, Shitou naturally wanted to get married, but he just didn't like the ones that Gu Tingye had arranged for him before.

So he followed Xiaotao and looked at her with a silly smile on his face.

"What are you looking at!" Xiao Tao noticed his gaze and glared at him.

Minglan had told her about this matter privately before.

Xiaotao doesn't want to get married, she just wants to stay with Minglan.

She had no relatives since she was a child and had always been with Minglan, so naturally she was reluctant to leave.

But after Minglan's persuasion, she agreed to meet him.

She was reluctant in the first place, and she was also angry because Minglan and Danju had just teased her in the room. When she saw Shitou staring at her, she naturally wouldn't give him a good look.

Shitou was not angry when he heard this. He scratched his head and smiled at Xiaotao.

He felt that Xiaotao was different. Unlike the ones Gu Tingye had arranged for him before, she spoke in a soft and weak voice.

Xiao Tao had just left the yard when she scolded Shi Tou, and her voice was always very loud, so Minglan and Danju in the yard also heard it.

Danju was a little worried and asked, "Madam, Xiaotao won't scare people away like this, right?"

Minglan held her forehead with her hand and said speechlessly, "This Xiaotao."

…………

Xiaotao brought Shitou to the kitchen reserved for servants and asked someone to prepare some food for Shitou.

Looking at Shitou wolfing down the buns and drinking porridge, she suddenly felt hungry again.

So she took a bun from the plate of buns on the table in front of Shitou and took a bite. Shitou, who was drinking porridge, looked up at Xiaotao in surprise.

"What are you looking at? What's wrong with eating one of your buns? There are more in the kitchen. If you don't have enough, I'll ask someone to get you some."

Xiaotao swallowed the bun in her mouth and glared at him.

"It's okay, you can eat as many as you want." Shitou pushed the plate of buns forward.

Xiao Tao's expression softened a little after hearing this, but she ignored him and continued eating her buns.

Shitou chuckled and started eating, occasionally looking up at Xiaotao.

There is a saying that a cuckold sees green... bah... a lover sees beauty in everything.

Shitou was already eleven or twelve years old when he followed Gu Tingye. Before that, he had been working on a ship with his brother and sister-in-law.

Sailors travel all over the country, and sometimes when they meet a boat, they will shout a few times to say hello.

Normally at the dock, people say all kinds of obscene things.

Even women are as carefree as men.

There is no way. If a young wife speaks softly and follows her husband on a boat, she will probably be teased often.

Therefore, women who sail on ships have developed a hot-tempered temperament.

Many men who flirt with women will be retorted with red faces and will be no match for them at all.

It is precisely because of this environment that Shi Tou has no interest in such weak women.

Although Xiaotao seemed to have a bad temper and was not very pretty, he liked her no matter how he looked at her.

…………

During dinner in the evening, Minglan told Li An about this and felt that it was impossible for the two of them to be together.

"But I don't think so. I think they are pretty good." Li Ang said with a smile.

After listening to Minglan talk about how they got along, he became more confident.

"Impossible? Xiaotao always scolds Shitou, how can Shitou like it?" Minglan said in disbelief.

"How about we make a bet?" Li An asked with some ill intention.

It’s actually not wrong for Minglan to think this way. Even in later generations when men and women are equal, most men still like gentle women.

Not to mention the ancient times when male supremacy was supreme.

"No bet." When Minglan saw Li An's expression, she knew he had no good intentions, so she shook her head without thinking.

Li An looked regretful, but didn't say anything else.

Betting and the like are just to add some romance between couples.

"Sir, do you really think they can succeed?" Minglan asked uncertainly.

"Yeah." Li An smiled and said, "You don't have to rush. Just wait for a while and see."

……

In a blink of an eye, it was May 18th, the day of moving.

During this period, Minglan arranged people one after another and almost all the things have been moved.

It is worth mentioning that the security guard that Master Shi Lin found for him has arrived.

Shi Lin helped him find sixteen people who came from humble backgrounds and had pretty good martial arts skills.

It's just that he has too much of a rough and unruly vibe and is a bit undisciplined.

As a result, he was beaten up by the stone and became obedient instantly.

Ang Lee simply threw all these people to Shi Tou for training.

That morning, at daybreak, Li An and Minglan got up, packed up, took the remaining things, and drove to the new house.

The new house has been almost decorated. After moving in, Minglan led people to decorate the bedroom for the two of them.

Li An wandered around.

He had been to the house given as a reward several times, but had never visited it carefully.

This house covers an area of ​​more than 30 acres. In addition to the main courtyard, there is a courtyard slightly smaller than the main courtyard and seven or eight small courtyards on the east side of the backyard.

These courtyards are for concubines to live in. The central courtyard and the left and right side courtyards are guest rooms.

In addition, there is a garden covering an area of ​​seven or eight acres, with a pond of three or four acres in the garden.

The pond is connected to the Bian River and is full of living water.

This house alone is worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Of course, Ang Lee definitely can't sell it.

It was a reward from the emperor. If you sell it, you're asking for death.

Li An was strolling around when Minglan sent someone to inform him that it was almost time and he needed to go to the front hall to wait for guests to arrive.

This time, Ang Lee did not invite any outsiders. In Bian Jing, besides Gu Tingye and a few of his friends, there were only his teacher Liu Xuewen and his master Shi Lin and his family.

However, he went to invite Shi Lin in person, but Shi Lin was unwilling to come. Liu Xuewen said that they were all young people and they would not come to join in the fun.

The guests finally invited were Minglan's brothers and sisters.

At first glance, Ang Lee looks like a live-in son-in-law.

"Sir, when my parents-in-law come, will we let them live in the East Courtyard?" Minglan said.

"Well, I've seen it over there, it's quite big, let them live in the east courtyard." Li An nodded.

"I plan to have the three courtyards on the west side connected. When Princess Anyang moves in, I'll let her live there," Minglan said.

"No need for that. I don't think my parents will stay in Bianjing for long. Just let her stay in the west for a while. After my parents leave, let her move to the east courtyard." Li An said.

But it is inevitable that it will look a bit weird when it is connected.

This time, Li An did not plan to persuade his parents to stay in Bian Jing. After all, he would most likely be sent out to work next year, so it would be better for him to let his parents return to Yangzhou.

The two chatted for a while, and then a servant came to report that a guest had arrived, so the two hurried towards the gate.

When I arrived at the door, I saw Sheng Changbai helping Hai get off the carriage.

"Zhecheng!" Li An bowed with a smile.

Sheng Changbai said with a straight face: "Did you call him Zecheng?"

Li An didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he still changed his words and said, "Second brother!"

"Haha~" Sheng Changbai laughed when he heard that.

Hai came forward, took Minglan's hand and said, "Don't worry about them. Take me around the new house. By the way, are my elder sister and the others here?"

"No, my second brother and sister-in-law were the first to arrive." Minglan said with a smile.

Watching the two people enter the house, Li An also invited Sheng Changbai to go in.

"This house is really nice." Sheng Changbai looked around and praised.

"This was originally a marquis' mansion, so of course it's not bad." Li An said with a smile.

Around noon, the rest of the families had also arrived.

When they saw Li Ang’s house, they all felt complicated.

I knew it a long time ago, but after actually seeing it, the feeling was very different.

The one who felt the most unhappy was Molan. She had put a lot of effort into marrying into the Earl's mansion and originally thought that she had married the best among her sisters.

Although Hualan also married into the Earl's Mansion, how could the Earl's Mansion of Zhongqin be compared with the Earl's Mansion of Yongchang?

However, who would have thought that Li An would be awarded a mansion by the government for his meritorious service.

Although there is no title and it is just a mansion, this mansion is much better than the Earl of Yongchang's mansion.

But she comforted herself in her heart that the house was just a little bigger.

And no title.

(End of this chapter)