Chapter 60: A Lively Courtyard

What the Yan Clan’s pair of father and son least expected was that Butcher Liu and his son would be the first ones to arrive at the Yan Residence today .

Just when Yan Liqiang, Yan Dechang, Steward Lu, and Zhou Tiezhu were chatting in the room after their breakfast, there was the sound of someone knocking on the door . A guard from the Lu Clan who was outside the courtyard opened the door . That guard from the Lu Clan didn’t know who Butcher Liu and his son were . Butcher Liu and his son were driving a bullock cart and the cart was loaded with something at the back . Butcher Liu explained with a smile on his face that they were neighbors from Liuhe Town and were here to congratulate the Yan Clan . Hence, the guard from the Lu Clan allowed Butcher Liu and his son to enter and even led both of them into the room .

"It’s you?" When Yan Liqiang saw Butcher Liu and his son walk in, he thought the both of them had come to the wrong place . The smile on Yan Dechang’s face, who was initially in a great mood, slowly faded .

The smile on Butcher Liu’s face was so sweet that it could even trick the housefly that was flying outside the courtyard to come in . Together with his son, he nodded and bowed to greet everyone in the room, "I heard that Liqiang had been honored as first place among the top three in the Martial Arts County Trial Examination yesterday . I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep the whole night so I brought my son along with me to choose a good pig first thing in the morning and slaughtered it as soon as I could and washed it clean before sending it over here as a small congratulatory gift . Both my son and I had consumed too much lard back then that our hearts had been clouded [1] and even our eyes were blind . If we have offended Brother Yan and Liqiang before, please do not take it to heart . We are neighbors on this street . If Brother Yan needs help in the future, don’t hesitate to let me know!"

There was a saying that went: "One should be forgiving towards people who are willing to apologize for their crimes by kneeling and pressing their foreheads against the ground, even if their crime is murder . " Yan Dechang was not a petty person to begin with . However, at this very moment, when he saw Butcher Liu and his son acknowledging their mistakes and delivering their gifts, he couldn’t help but feel extremely delighted in his heart . With this, half of the conflicts he had with Butcher Liu in the past were instantly dissolved . Yan Dechang’s expression had also softened . Although the resentment he had for him had dissolved considerably, he couldn’t immediately change his expression and face Butcher Liu with a smile right then with his straightforward personality .

Yan Liqiang glanced at Yan Dechang who was at a loss for words . He knew his father wasn’t used to dealing with such a situation so he smiled and spoke to Butcher Liu, "That’s very kind of you, Uncle Liu! Dafu and I have been playmates since young . Who in the world would still take those little disputes that happened we were younger and those little conflicts between neighbors to heart after all these years . I don’t even remember any of it! Isn’t that right, Dafu?"

Butcher Liu’s son, Liu Dafu, had been hanging his head since he entered the room and was timidly looking at other people in the room . He didn’t expect that Yan Liqiang would take the initiative to talk to him . So all he could manage was nervous stammering while he nodded his head violently, "Oh yes… Yes… . Yes… . no one took it to heart, no one took it to heart… . "

"Uncle Liu! Come, have a seat . "

If Yan Liqiang had held his head high right now or had even given him two slaps across his face, Butcher Liu would have felt more at ease . But instead, the more polite Yan Liqiang was, the more nervous Butcher Liu became . He had no idea why the smile he saw on Yan Liqiang’s face right now that was as refreshing as the spring breeze was even more fearsome and frightening than Old Master Hong who had glared at him when he delivered the meat to the Hong Residence back then .

Although Yan Liqiang called him Uncle Liu, Butcher Liu didn’t dare to really consider himself Yan Liqiang’s uncle . He still understood such propriety . He was also aware of the saying that went: "A biting dog doesn’t bark, and a man-eating tiger doesn’t look any fiercer than a cat before it consumes . "

"It’s alright, I’m fine . The gifts I brought here are still outside on the bullock cart . Let me move them inside… . " Butcher Liu pulled his son along and left the room to move the gifts right away .

Yan Liqiang, Yan Dechang, and the others also exited the room .

The main entrance of the Yan Clan’s courtyard was opened and Butcher Liu immediately drove the bullock cart in . On the bullock cart was a whole fat pig and some bottles . It certainly looked like they had been prepared by Butcher Liu early in the morning .

"A whole pig is too much . We won’t be able to finish it either . As long as Uncle Liu is sincere, just a pork leg will do!"

"It’s not a lot, not at all . You can leave some of the meat to enjoy them fresh and marinate the rest for later . I also specially went out to buy some salt, wine, spicy noodles, pepper, as well as spice powder this morning . It only took Dafu and I a little while to get all this done . My culinary skill only goes this far!" Butcher Liu said while he promptly unloaded the gifts from the cart . Zhou Hongda and his wife hurried over to help at once .

Aside from slaughtering pigs, Butcher Liu was also very famous for his marinated meat in Liuhe Town . It could be preserved for a longer time and furthermore, the texture was also pretty good to chew . In this era, the common folks didn’t necessarily get to eat fresh meat every day at home . Some marinated meat and dried food could always be seen hanging in the kitchens of most homes .

Yan Liqiang didn’t say much and let Butcher Liu and his son deal with the things they had to do when he saw that Butcher Liu had indeed prepared everything as there was even a newly-bought hook for them to hang the marinated meat .

Seeing that Yan Liqiang no longer declined his offer, Butcher Liu and his son raised their spirits . After they carried the pork into the kitchen, they started to put in their utmost effort in preparing it .

Lu Wenbin was a wise person who handled matters maturely . He had more or less guessed the relationship between Butcher Liu and the Yan Clan’s father and son from that brief conversation from before . When Butcher Liu and his son were marinating the pork in the kitchen, he had even lingered in the kitchen for a while on purpose . Soon after that, he exited the kitchen, came before Yan Liqiang, and then whispered in his ear, "I have examined the meat and the ingredients and have also tasted them . There is nothing wrong with them . I’ve already asked Zhou Hongda to watch them in the kitchen!"

Yan Liqiang smiled, "Steward Lu, except for a pork leg, estimate the cost of everything including the labor and pay them later when they leave…"

"How thoughtful of Young Master Yan!" Steward Lu smiled too . The current Yan Clan indeed didn’t need to leave any topics for others to gossip about over such petty matters, "I have already sent someone to inform the Lu Clan when I found out that Young Master Yan had placed first among the top three in the Martial Arts Examination yesterday . Sixth Master will personally bring a congratulatory gift over to congratulate Young Master Yan soon!"

"That’s too kind of Old Master Lu and Sixth Master!"

"That’s the least we can do . Old Master Lu might have been even more ecstatic than Young Master Yan when he knew that you placed first yesterday . Since Young Master Yan’s reputation was suddenly spread around in Qinghe County yesterday, I presume that the matchmakers will be banging on your door in these few days time if they find out that Young Master Yan is still a bachelor!" Steward Lu appeared to be joking but there was actually some sort of hint in his words .

"Just send those matchmakers and whatnot away if they come, Steward Lu . I feel that marriage should still depend on fate . Matchmaking is a little too much for my taste . . . " Yan Liqiang smiled and exchanged a glance with Steward Lu . Both of them had a tacit mutual understanding . Yan Liqiang would be too dense if he still didn’t understand Lu Clan’s intention at this point . Steward Lu was also extremely pleased with Yan Liqiang’s response . This was the attitude that a potential son-in-law of the Lu Clan should have .

While Butcher Liu and his son were still busy in the kitchen, the other neighbors had already arrived . The great clans in Liuhe Town as well as those with high reputation from the neighboring town came in waves .

The Yan Clan’s father and son knew most of these neighbors, but there were also some whom they weren’t familiar with . Nevertheless, they still brought their gifts for the Yan Clan at this time .

Some of the neighbors brought fresh vegetables from the fields and their own courtyards . Some brought a bottle of well-aged wine . Some also brought few feet of long fabric, live chickens and duck, and even a basketful of chicken eggs and some dried fruits . A few of the villagers brought few auspicious calligraphy scrolls such as ‘First Among Top Three’, ‘Pride of the Town’, and others .

As for those great, generous and wealthy clans, they directly gifted quite a generous amount of either money, silver, or gold .

The people who came to give the gifts did not stop coming . In the end, the crowd which had gathered at the Yan Residence had gotten so large that even the living room wasn’t able to accomodate the guests anymore . Everyone instead moved to the courtyard and the entire courtyard was extremely lively .

Yan Liqiang wasn’t able to cultivate in such a situation . All he could do was accompany Yan Dechang to entertain the neighbors in the courtyard .

Surprisingly, the Shen Clan from Qinghe County had also ordered a steward to send fifty taels of gold and two different colored silks of the finest quality to Yan Liqiang as congratulatory gifts before noon .

When the neighbors who had gathered in Yan Liqiang’s courtyard found out that those gifts were from the Shen Clan of Qinghe County, they couldn’t help but gasp in surprise . Every single one of them gazed at the beautiful rolls of silk and the red packets delivered to the Yan Clan by the Shen Clan’s guard with envy .

But that was not the end of everyone’s gasps of surprise . By noon, Lu Peien from the Lu Clan of Huanglong County arrived along with Qian Su . The Lu Clan’s gifts were even more generous . There were a hundred taels of gold, a sword of the finest quality along with ten different colored rolls of silk .

Qian Su brought Yan Liqiang’s gift which was was an exquisite spear that was more than three meters long and made out of a variety of ashwoods by the blacksmiths in the Weaponsmiths Quarter .

With all these people around, the place had obviously become even more lively . And as expected . . .

A bunch of matchmakers also hurried here in the afternoon . Yan Liqiang directly let Steward Lu send those matchmakers away instead of doing it himself .

Yan Clan practically had a bustling courtyard in this entire day . The horse carriages and the different types of people that came and went from the Yan Residence had heavily congested the road outside the Yan Residence . Yan Liqiang felt like he was an usher and his whole face was sore from smiling .

After a hectic day, everything came to an end at night . Yan Liqiang could also finally catch his breath . He felt that dealing with all this for the entire day was even more tiring than participating in the Martial Arts Examination .

Inside one of the side rooms in the residence, Yan Dechang finally saw all sorts of congratulatory gifts piled up as high as a hill . He was dumbstruck by the sight of it .

Before he had fully came back to his senses, Yan Dechang asked, "How could it be this much?"

"There are still a lot of poultries and food that have not been placed in here!" Yan Liqiang passed a guest list to Yan Dechang, "The congratulatory gifts we received today were recorded by Steward Lu in here . Putting aside gifts like fabrics, silks, weapons, and armor, the money we received today alone was a grand total of 1,800 taels of silver and 220 taels of gold…"

"How can we fit all these things in our house? I’m too worried to keep all of this here too as they look inviting to thieves! Looks like I’ll need to get someone to build a few cabinets tomorrow…" Yan Dechang said while feeling both happy and worried at the same time .

When Yan Liqiang heard that Yan Dechang wanted to look for someone to build some cabinets, he finally voiced out the words he had been holding in for a long time, "I suppose we don’t only need to get a few cabinets . The rooms and the courtyard in the residence need renovation as well . It wouldn’t be safe to stash away all this money at home either since Steward Lu and the others are leaving in a few days and it’ll be a very easy target . It would be best to buy a land in town and two stores in the county . That way, no one would be able take them away… . . "