Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 425 The Three Elders Meet

Yan Jiekuang had a certain understanding of Madam Wanzhi. This old lady was from the Nalan clan and was of the same origin and clan as Empress Dowager Cixi.

However, his grandfather's generation had a party called the Eight Princes. After being dealt with by Emperor Yongzheng, his grandfather learned from the painful experience and made a rule that future generations were not allowed to participate in political affairs and were required to engage in business exclusively. After that, over three generations, the business expanded all over the world and provided large amounts of gold and silver to the royal family until the decline of the Qing Dynasty.

Nalan Wanzhi followed her father to the United States and never came back until the 1980s, when she was the only one left in her family branch. She felt that she should return to her roots, so she sold all her businesses in the United States and returned directly to China. She took her ancestral house deeds and land deeds to the relevant departments, hoping to get her ancestral property back.

When people saw that this was not possible, they thought that her house was either a celebrity's former residence or a protected building, so they refused it outright. After discussion, only the yard was well preserved, so it was returned to her. Mrs. Wanzhi thought, okay, so many years have passed, times have changed, and she was not short of money, so she agreed.

But no one knew that there was a secret room in this courtyard. When the Qing Dynasty was about to fall, the Nalan family predicted the outcome and directly sealed all their family belongings in the secret room in this courtyard, and then went abroad to join Nalan Wanzhi's father.

Wanzhi's father was very generous and gave them property and a large amount of money. In order to repay Wanzhi's father, they directly gave all the property of Sijiu City to Wanzhi's father and told him the secret of Sijiu City until her return this time.

Mrs. Wanzhi never married in her life because she had a childhood sweetheart in the United States. Unfortunately, that person died of cancer, and Wanzhi remained faithful to him all her life.

The older she got, the more she felt that she should return to her roots. The person she admired most was her ancestor Nalan Xingde. She knew that some of the books in the secret room of her home were once collected by Nalan Xingde, so she resolutely chose to return to China.

After knowing all the stories of the old lady, Yan Jiekuang was in awe of her and asked, "Madam, why did you tell me all your secrets?"

Mrs. Wanzhi smiled and said mischievously, "What do you think?"

Yan Jiekuang shook his head in confusion. Mrs. Wanzhi said, "You look exactly like my boyfriend, and even your personality is somewhat similar."

Mrs. Wanzhi said this, stood up and walked into the room on the left. After a while, she came out with a photo album, turned to one of the pages, took out a photo and handed it to Yan Jiekuang.

Yan Jiekuang took a closer look and was shocked. If Mrs. Wanzhi hadn't told him that his boyfriend looked very much like him, he would have thought that this was a photo of himself. How could it be similar? They were exactly the same, except for the clothes they were wearing.

Mrs. Wanzhi continued, "There is another reason. I feel that you are someone I can trust for the rest of my life. You are considerate, warm-hearted, and loving. I wanted to stay with you for a few more days, but when you put the blanket over me, I felt that you were the one I was looking for."

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment, looked at Mrs. Wanzhi, and said, "Now I know that you are a legendary figure, but before, I just thought you were a person with a story. If you don't mind, I am willing to take care of you and accompany you, but don't rush to make any decisions. I am willing to take care of you, and I will treat you as my grandmother. Is that okay with you?"

Mrs. Wanzhi said, "Okay, I will treat you as my grandson. We have a long way to go. Go and cook me a delicious meal. The west wing in the front yard is the kitchen. You will be surprised."

Yan Jiekuang walked to the front yard and went to the west wing. As soon as he entered the kitchen, his eyes lit up. There was a full set of German McLeod kitchenware, an Italian refrigerator and freezer, and a sandalwood cabinet on the side of the door. When he opened it, he saw a full set of imperial porcelain tableware, silver knives and forks, and even the chopsticks were made of golden-capped rosewood.

Yan Jiekuang opened the refrigerator, looked at the ingredients, looked at the seasonings in the cupboard, and started cooking.

Yan Jiekuang prepared four dishes and one soup, including braised shark's fin, roasted deer tendon, pork tenderloin, cherry meat, and mussel and shrimp soup. The staple food was trough cake and red bean porridge.

Then he brought the food to the eight-immortal table in the main room of the front yard, and then he went to the backyard to call Madam Wanzhi. Madam Wanzhi had eaten imperial cuisine when she was a child, and when she saw the dishes, she nodded and said, "You know what, you have learned all the skills of Chef Yu. The presentation of the dishes is exactly the same as the imperial cuisine."

"Grandma, please try it and see if it tastes the same as the one you are familiar with." Yan Jiekuang said, and then he served a bowl of porridge to Mrs. Wanzhi and placed it in front of her.

Mrs. Wanzhi took a few bites and nodded, saying, "It tastes the same. You can try it too. We can talk while we eat."

Yan Jiekuang accompanied her for dinner. After they finished eating and cleaning up, he said goodbye to Mrs. Wanzhi and went home.

In the days that followed, during the day, Mrs. Wanzhi would read in the cafe. At noon, she would eat with Yan Jiekuang in the cafe. In the evening, Yan Jiekuang would cook for Mrs. Wanzhi and stay with her until she finished eating before going home to cook for the children.

As the days passed, the cafe had more and more regular customers, and there were more and more bookmarks on the bookshelf. Mrs. Wanzhi and Yan Jiekuang also went for a walk around the area on their days off.

When Yan Jiekuang drove his Porsche to pick up Mrs. Wanzhi, Mrs. Wanzhi said jokingly, "I didn't expect you to be so rich, but you are definitely not as rich as me." "That's right, the things in your house contain much more than mine," said Yan Jiekuang.

Mrs. Wanzhi smiled but didn't say anything. Today, she had an appointment to take Mrs. Wanzhi to visit her parents.

Yan Jiekuang had already told his parents about Mrs. Wanzhi's affairs. Yang Ruiping had no objection, but Yan Bugui was a little unhappy. He said that Yan Jiekuang was looking for trouble. He couldn't even take care of his own parents, so he went to take care of others.

Yan Jiekuang had thought carefully before taking Mrs. Wanzhi to his parents' home today. First, Mrs. Wanzhi really didn't have many friends here. Her knowledge and experience made it difficult for her to make friends. Some of her habits were incompatible with the people of Old Sijiu City. Taking her there would also allow her to see more of the lives of the people of Old Sijiu City.

Secondly, I really have to let her meet her parents. This also shows my attitude that I am serious about my promise to take care of her for the rest of her life.

When they arrived at the entrance of the alley, Yan Jiekuang parked the car and Mrs. Wanzhi got out of the car. Yan Jiekuang then saw that she was holding a handbag in her hand. Yan Jiekuang took Mrs. Wanzhi to his father's home.

Yang Ruiping was picking vegetables in the front yard when Yan Jiekuang called out "Mom". Yang Ruiping looked up and saw an old lady dressed very elegantly. Yang Ruiping was shocked. Although his son had told him about this before, he was still shocked when he actually saw her.

Yang Ruiping stood up and came over, saying, "Old sister, you are here. Welcome, welcome. Come in and sit down."

As he spoke, Yang Ruiping led Madam Wanzhi to the central hall in the backyard. Yan Jiekuang went to the teahouse to call his father first, and then went to make tea. Yan Bugui also reluctantly returned to the yard and went to the central hall. When he saw Madam Wanzhi, he was also surprised. He immediately realized that this old lady was very unusual.

At this time, Yang Ruiping was chatting happily with Mrs. Wanzhi. When he saw Yan Bugui coming in, he introduced them, "This is the Mrs. Wanzhi that San'er mentioned. This is Yan Jiekuang's father, Yan Bugui."

Mrs. Wanzhi said, "This is my first time here, so I can't come empty-handed. I brought you gifts, and you can't refuse them. After all, Jie Kuang calls me grandma, so of course we have our own way."

As she spoke, Mrs. Wanzhi took out two boxes and handed the larger one to Yan Bugui. Yan Bugui took it with both hands and said, "You're too polite. How can you say that?"

Then, she handed a small box to Yang Ruiping, who took it and said, "You are so polite. Thank you."

The three of them started chatting again, and Yan Jiekuang brought tea into the hall on a tray.

After chatting with the three elders, Yang Ruiping took Madam Wanzhi to the teahouse. Yan Bugui opened the long box after they left. He was stunned for a moment. Yan Jiekuang also leaned over to take a look. It was a Dongzhu imperial court rosary. Yan Jiekuang said, "This old lady is too generous. She just gave away the emperor's imperial court rosary like that?"

When Yan Bugui heard this, he immediately closed the box, gave Yan Jiekuang a look, and walked towards his study.

During dinner in the evening, Yan Bugui was extremely enthusiastic towards Mrs. Wanzhi. Yang Ruiping was very confused, while Yan Jiekuang curled his lips but said nothing.

After dinner, Yan Jiekuang took Madam Wanzhi away. Yan Bugui pestered Yang Ruiping and insisted on seeing the gift Madam Wanzhi gave her. Yang Ruiping had no choice but to take out the box and open it. It turned out to be a jade pendant, but on the front of the jade pendant were four words: "Ten Perfect Old Man".

Yang Ruiping didn't know what Yan Bugui meant. He took the jade pendant in his hand and refused to let it go. Yang Ruiping said angrily, "This was given to me. Why are you trying to snatch it? How old are you?"

Yan Bugui said, "Do you know who this jade pendant belongs to?"

Yang Ruiping wondered who this perfect old man was. Yan Bugui said, "This is Emperor Qianlong's jade pendant. Give it to me. I will obey you in everything from now on."

"Bah, you are wishful thinking. Give it back to me, otherwise I will complain to you the next time Sister Wanzhi comes." Yang Ruiping said.

Yan Bugui didn't want to be embarrassed, so he handed it to Yang Ruiping reluctantly. Yang Ruiping put it in the box and put it away.

(End of this chapter)