Let you be a great man, not a scumbag

Chapter 1335 Peace and Happiness

It was around 3:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve when Jiang Cheng's car started to drive into the courtyard of his grandfather's house.

At this time of year in previous years, some places in Chengdu would already be filled with the smell of sulfur from firecrackers.

However, it is explicitly forbidden to set off firecrackers within the Fifth Ring Road of Kyoto.

And because of holidays.

It even felt a bit deserted along the way.

After all, most of the people who moved to Beijing have already returned to their hometowns.

When Jiang Cheng's special car passed through the third checkpoint.

In the pine forest outside the car window, four guards in plain clothes stood at attention and saluted, the miniature communicators pinned to their collars glowing coldly.

The alleys have long been filled with red lanterns. Although there are no sounds of firecrackers, the spring couplets and blessing characters on the doors of every household still exude a strong sense of the New Year.

The guard at the gate saw the license plate, nodded slightly, and then stepped aside.

The newly posted Spring Festival couplets at the gate of the courtyard convey the New Year's

"As the years go by, people grow older, and the world is filled with spring and blessings."

The handwriting is powerful and it was written by my grandfather himself.

Walk into the courtyard of the Siheyuan.

The snow in the yard was cleaned just right.

It retains a thin layer to symbolize auspiciousness, but does not hinder walking.

My mother, Li Yan, was standing under the hanging flower gate, leading people to decorate the house with lights and decorations.

The crimson purple cheongsam she was wearing looked plain, but when she walked, dark patterns could be seen flowing on the cuffs.

This cheongsam seems low-key, but take a closer look.

It was made with the same silk thread used in the 08 Olympic dresses.

The dark pattern embroidered is the starry sky pattern on the dome of the Great Hall.

Jiang Cheng knew that this dress was made by a time-honored brand that his grandfather had ordered from the State Guest Concierge Department a while ago.

"Mom."

Li Yan smiled and responded: "Hey, you're finally back! Your grandfather has been talking about it for a long time."

Seeing Li Yan spread out her hands and looked at herself.

Jiang Cheng smiled and praised: "Wow, Mom, this dress makes you look very young."

Hearing this, Li Yan gritted her teeth and reached out to pat Jiang Cheng's arm: "You little bastard, your mother is young anyway."

Jiang Cheng dodged with a smile, his eyes sweeping across the yard.

The courtyard is decorated with lights, red silk lanterns are hung under the eaves, and exquisite paper-cuts are pasted on the window frames, giving it a strong festive atmosphere.

"Would you like some help?"

Li Yan shook her head: "No need, just hang these up."

"Where's Dad?"

"Playing chess with your grandfather." Li Yanqin lowered her voice, "Your father has already lost the third game. When I came out, he was cheating and wanted to regret his move."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng laughed immediately.

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng walked towards the lobby.

Pushing open the mahogany carved door, the aroma of tea mixed with a hint of sandalwood wafts in.

Grandpa was sitting on an armchair, holding an old-fashioned enamel cup in his hand.

Sitting opposite was my second grandfather, staring at the chessboard with a frown on his face.

Jiang Jianming stood aside and shook his head helplessly: "Dad, your move...isn't it against the rules?"

"Grandpa, second grandpa, dad."

After Jiang Cheng shouted, the three of them turned around at the same time.

My grandfather looked up with a smile.

Seeing Jiang Cheng, his eyes lit up: "Oh, my dear grandson is back! Come on, come on, take a look at this chess game for me. Your second grandfather is about to lose, just like your father just now, he is about to shirk his debt."

The second grandfather snorted: "Brother, your chess character is so bad. When you were in that club, you never played so badly."

The old man laughed: "How can it be the same? When we receive foreign friends, it is a serious matter, and playing chess is a family matter. It's family matter, so it doesn't matter if we shirk it."

Jiang Cheng smiled and shook his head, then walked to the chessboard and took a look: "Second Grandfather, if your horse jumps here, my chariot will be in danger."

Second Grandfather's eyes lit up, and he immediately made a move: "Check!"

The old man glared and said, "Hey, kid, why are you leaning so far outward?"

Jiang Cheng spread his hands innocently: "Grandpa, it's not right for a gentleman to watch a game of chess without saying a word, but you just asked me to watch it."

The whole room burst into laughter.

The old man shook his head and put down the chess piece: "That's enough. Cheng'er, go change your clothes. We will worship our ancestors later and take a family reunion photo."

After changing into a Chinese suit embroidered with dark patterns, Jiang Cheng walked into the ancestral hall.

In front of the ancestral hall, there are four characters "Loyalty to the Country" on the golden nanmu plaque.

According to my grandfather, these four words were written by his previous boss himself.

Seeing Jiang Cheng coming over, the eight plainclothes guards guarding the door retreated silently.

Grandpa, second grandfather and my dad were standing in front of the seats and talking.

"Your grandparents and your older brothers are all here. It won't be long before I get to see them, too."

"Dad, what are you talking about? You are in such good health."

"When I was young, I was not afraid of life and death. When I reached middle age, there was a period of time when I started to worry. This worry was nothing more than worrying about what would happen to you kids if I died. But every time I see your brother and the others in the rankings, I feel a little more fearless about life and death..."

In the ancestral hall, there were eight hot dishes on the altar.

Seeing Jiang Cheng coming in, Grandpa walked to the altar and whispered something to the ancestral tablet.

"Grandpa." Jiang Cheng called softly.

Grandpa turned around with a gentle smile on his face: "Come, burn some incense for our ancestors."

Jiang Cheng knelt down respectfully, kowtowed three times, and then stood up.

Grandpa looked at him with a kind look and said, "If your grandma were still alive, she would be very happy to see you like this."

The second grandfather stood aside and patted the old man on the shoulder: "Sister-in-law loves Jianmin the most. When he stole candy as a child, she never scolded him. Now that Jianmin's children are taller than us, she must be very happy."

Jiang Jianming smiled and said, "That's right. Mom said at that time that the boy I gave birth to would definitely have a bright future."

Grandpa smiled and shook his head: "Whether you are successful or not, as long as you are safe and happy, that's all."

At six o'clock sharp, the family dinner officially began.

Uncle Lin, the housekeeper, asked people to serve the dishes and introduced them as he served them.

"Today's dishes were arranged by the old man. There are four cold dishes: Zhenjiang braised pork, Shaoxing drunken chicken, honey sauce fire square, and Old Beijing mustard dumplings."

"The eight hot dishes in the middle are braised Yellow River carp. According to the rules, the fish head cannot be touched for this dish. There are also fresh boiled shrimp, crab meat and pork belly, steamed preserved meat, braised winter bamboo shoots, family-made sauce, eight-treasure duck, and stewed matsutake mushrooms. There is also boiled Chinese cabbage (this dish is made for state banquets), and of course, dumplings, which are a must-have for the New Year's Eve dinner."

"And these two are two dim sum dishes: jujube paste yam cake and three fresh dumplings."

After Uncle Lin finished his introduction, he asked, "Grandpa, the TV station requests to film the New Year greetings..."

The grandfather waved his hand and said, "Tell them that the Spring Festival of retired old men will not take up national resources."