All the Du family members were sitting in the room. The main seats were held by Grandpa Du and Grandma Du, followed by Du Ke and Madam Du. The first two seats below Du Ke were empty, followed by Du Ke's two sons-in-law. The two seats below Madam Du were also empty, followed by Du's two daughters, and then the children.
At this moment, everyone inside was looking at the door. They had thought about what Yang Haiyan was like, because they knew that Yang Haiyan was born as a maid, so even though she was now a second-rank lady, the eldest lady still had complicated thoughts about her. At least, she should not be as good as a rich daughter or a rich lady in every aspect, but in terms of rank, she was higher than the eldest lady.
After all, she had to come, and she was a maid with a second-rank title.
However, when they saw Yang Haiyan herself, they were really surprised. The woman in front of them was dressed in dazzling red, with a simple and luxurious hairstyle and a pearl hairpin in her hair. The woman's skin was very white, so the red dress made her more dazzling. Even though the hairpin was simple, it did not detract from her temperament. From her demeanor, she was definitely well-educated, as if she came from a noble family.
Yang Haiyan doesn't like to wear hairpins. Who among modern people likes to wear hairpins? You should know that hairpins in ancient times were not light, and it was very uncomfortable to wear a heavy hairpin on the head.
Compared with Yang Haiyan's red dress, Qin Fang was dressed in black. He always wore black. He just wore a thin red belt around his waist to avoid the black being too dull.
Look at the little boy on the side, he is also dressed in red, red clothes, red pants, the clothes and pants are separate, unlike the common robes, but this kind of dress makes the child more flexible. He has a small braid on his head, and the hairband on the braid is also red, which makes people feel festive.
In fact, Yang Haiyan chose red because she thought it would be better to wear something brighter since it was her first visit. She was young and was not suitable for wearing heavy or plain colors. Moreover, she did not know what color clothes Du's female relatives would wear today, so she chose red to avoid color clashes.
However, the way the three of them were dressed gave the impression of a son-in-law bringing his wife and son back to visit his parents-in-law.
Mrs. Du spoke first: "Finally, our distinguished guests have arrived. Since I learned yesterday that you were coming today, I have been looking forward to it."
Qu said, "That's right. Sister, this is grandma."
Yang Haiyan bowed and said, "Hello, old lady."
Du Ke said, "Why call me old lady? Just call me grandmother. You are Du's goddaughter, so naturally you are no different from my biological daughter."
Mrs. Du said, "That's right, my daughter. I am your godmother."
Sister Du: "Sister, I am the eldest sister."
Second Sister Du: "Sister, I am the second sister."
Since everyone knew Qin Fang, naturally no one introduced him to him.
Yang Haiyan called out one by one: "Grandma, Grandpa, Teacher, Godmother, Big Sister, Second Sister, Big Brother-in-law, Second Brother-in-law."
The people of Du Mansion are straightforward and not shy, which is related to the environment of Du Mansion. Du Ke is an official fanatic and not obsessed with the backyard, so his backyard is very clean. He has a wife and a concubine. The concubine is a maid beside Mrs. Du. When she was pregnant, she became Du Ke's concubine. After she became pregnant, her status was raised and she became Du Ke's concubine. The eldest son and daughter of Du Mansion were both born from Mrs. Du's belly, and the son and daughter were born from the concubine. Therefore, Du Ke's backyard is relatively peaceful, so that the children grow up very harmoniously, without fighting for each other, so they don't develop that kind of messy personality. The backyard is crucial to the growth of children.
Compared to the strictness towards the eldest son, the son Du Xingran had a much easier life, so his personality was more lively.
After the adults introduced themselves, it was the children's turn next.
All the Du brothers were not there. The children present were the children of Du's elder sister, Du's second sister, and Du Xingran. Du's elder sister had two children, one five years old and the other three years old. Du's second sister had a daughter, who was five years old this year. Du Xingran had two daughters, one six years old and the other three years old.
The children greeted Yang Haiyan, and of course, little Qin Linyang also greeted the elders Du Yu.
After the greeting, it was time to give gifts. The gifts that the Du family prepared for little Qin Linyang were relatively expensive. Old Mrs. Du gave Qin Linyang a collar with patterns and words on it. This kind of collar is mostly customized by elders for younger generations, also called a life-saving collar, to ward off evil spirits.
Mrs. Du gave Qin Linyang a jade Guanyin that had Buddha's light opened, which was also very thoughtful. Sister Du gave Qin Linyang a longevity silver lock, and Sister Du gave Qin Linyang a pair of silver bracelets that matched the longevity lock. The two sisters also discussed it.
Qu made a set of clothes for Qin Linyang, which she made by herself. It may not be as valuable as his gift, but the things she made by herself are more thoughtful. For people like them who are not short of money, some thoughtfulness cannot be measured by money.
Yang Haiyan did not refuse and accepted the gifts one by one: "Son, after receiving the gifts from the elders, what do you want to do?"
Qin Linyang made a childish gesture of congratulating his parents, bowed his hands and said, "Thank you, great-grandfather, great-grandma, auntie, grandma." He followed suit because everyone in the family called them great-grandfather, great-grandma, grandpa and grandma. As for this gesture, he was very familiar with it. During the Chinese New Year, he would do it when he met each elder and then take the New Year's money. The boy was very smart.
At this moment, he was wearing the collar given by Mrs. Du, but when he bent down with his hands clasped, he was really cute. Moreover, the child could not stand steadily, and staggered when he bent down, which made a group of people laugh.
Mrs. Du said, "Okay, you are such a good kid. Come and have some cakes. Do you like them?"
Little Qin Linyang is never vague about eating: "Eat so you can grow taller." Then he went to get some snacks from old lady Du.
The elderly like such lively and courageous children the most. If the children are older, they may not be polite, but children of these two or three years old are really innocent.
Little Qin Linyang took a piece of dessert, took another bite, then returned to Yang Haiyan and said, "Mom, it's delicious."
Yang Haiyan said: "If it tastes good, you can eat a few more pieces later, okay?"
Qin Linyang said happily: "Okay."
Yang Haiyan joked: "But this is Grandma Zeng's snack. If you want to eat a few more pieces, you have to ask Grandma Zeng if she agrees."
As soon as Qin Linyang saw it, he turned to ask Grandma Du: "Grandma Zeng, can I still eat?"
This question made Mrs. Du's heart melt. She quickly said, "They are all yours."
The little boy smiled, and his eyebrows and eyes curved.
Yang Haiyan smiled and shook her head, then said, "Grandma, godmother, two sisters, second sister-in-law, I have prepared gifts for you as well, please don't hesitate to do so."
At this moment, Du Ke had already taken his students, son and son-in-law to the bedroom, and only women and children were left in the hall.
Old Madam Du smiled and said, "Child, why are you so polite? Treat this place as your mother's home. Your daughter is going back to her mother's home, so why should she prepare anything?" They all knew Yang Haiyan's identity. She was sold by her parents, so it was the same as if she had no parents. Old Madam Du asked her to treat the Du Mansion as her mother's home, which was obviously an honor for her. It was politeness and well-intentioned.
Yang Haiyan said, "That's not true. In the past, when your family sent us gifts in Yunxiang County, we were not polite at all. Today, you are being polite to me. Besides, this is not a valuable gift."
Sister Du said, "Grandmother, since Sister Bingyun is like this, we can't be polite to her. Sister Bingyun is a very thoughtful person. I am also curious about what Sister Bingyun brought us. Is there anything better than watermelon?"
Yang Haiyan couldn't help but smile.
That's right. For a lady like Sister Du, what else has she not seen? Perhaps it is really not as attractive as watermelon. "The watermelons have been planted in the manor on the outskirts of Beijing this year. When August comes, I will send them to you."
Then, Yang Haiyan asked Aunt Lian to bring up the gifts. She first took out five jars of wine: "This is medicinal wine, used to strengthen the body. It is most suitable for Grandpa, Teacher, Second Brother Du and the two brothers-in-law. But before drinking, you have to ask the doctor to take a look." This is wine soaked with Cordyceps sinensis. Cordyceps sinensis is mild and can be consumed by most people. It is mainly for men, which is not easy to give. Giving this is more risk-averse and will not cause unnecessary gossip.
When it came to wine, Mrs. Du remembered the fermented rice wine Yang Haiyan had given her before, which was also delicious. "If the old man knew there was wine to drink, he would definitely be happy." Medicinal wine is different from ordinary wine. If it suits the old man, Mrs. Du will naturally not stop him from drinking it.
There were five jars of wine, one for each person, but because Du's eldest son was not at home, their family did not prepare any.
Then, Yang Haiyan took out five sets of cosmetics, which only contained face cream and lipstick, all in wooden boxes. The box of the face cream was square, and the box of the lipstick was round: "These are things we women use, and we apply them on the face and lips." Yang Haiyan felt that no woman would dislike cosmetics, especially worldly women, who paid more attention to this image.
When it came to Yang Haiyan's question, the two Du sisters and Mrs. Qu were the most interested. The eldest sister Du asked first: "I wanted to ask when my sister came just now. My sister not only has fair skin, but also good skin, especially the lip balm she used today, which is particularly beautiful." The lip balm she used on weekdays was a bit dry, unlike the lip balm my sister used, which was relatively shiny.
Second Sister Du also said, "Indeed, I think the color of your lip balm is pretty, too."
Yang Haiyan said: "I usually make this myself, it's the same as the ones here, you can try it out, if you like it, you can ask me for it."
Qu was curious and had already opened the cream: "What a nice smell, it smells like flowers, is it for your face?"
Yang Haiyan said, "Yes, apply it after washing your face to make your skin smooth." Then, Yang Haiyan said to her son, "Linyang, give these dolls made by mother to your sister, and give the cars to your brother."
Little Qin Linyang said in a baby voice: "Okay, brothers and sisters, come here quickly."
The children looked at their mothers, and when they nodded, they surrounded Qin Linyang. Qin Linyang began to distribute gifts to his brothers and sisters. His sisters received rabbit-shaped backpacks made by Yang Haiyan, and his brothers received toy cars made by the woodworking workshop.
No matter it is the elder sister or the elder brother, they all like the gifts they received very much. The little girl likes the dolls as much as the little boy likes the water gun and toy car.
Little Qin Linyang even pulled Sister Du's child and said, "We have a big car at home, a car this big."
The little boy blinked his eyes when he heard Qin Linyang's words: "I also have a carriage, which is also this big."
Qin Linyang already knew what a carriage was. He explained: "It's not a carriage, it's this car... This big..."
The little boy looked at the small car in his hand, and thought about the big car that the little boy opposite him was holding. He was very curious and said, "Let's go and see."
Little Qin Linyang said cheerfully: "Let's go and see." And indeed, the two of them walked towards the front, hand in hand.
Seeing this, Yang Haiyan couldn't help but ask, "Do you know how to respond?"
Little Qin Linyang said, "Mom knows." What he meant was, Mom, aren't you going back
Mrs. Du said, "Linyang, you haven't finished your cake yet? Don't you want to eat anymore?"
Qin Linyang looked at Gaogao, then at the little boy: "Let's go back home and eat." There was also Gaogao in the house, and between eating and playing with friends, playing with friends was definitely more important. Mainly because when he was in Yunxiang County, he didn't have any friends of the same age, and now he finally met one, he was very happy.
Mrs. Du has a grandson, but he lives with his parents, so when she sees little Qin Linyang, she likes him as if he were her own grandson. Moreover, this child is smart and really likable, so she also wants to tease him. "Then you can eat your cake and go home to play with the car."
Qin Linyang thought it made sense, "Okay." He walked to Mrs. Du's side, picked up the bowl, and walked to the other children, distributing the cakes to the adults, "Eat well and we can go play with the big cart. Eat well and we can grow taller."
He really wasn't shy at all, as if he was the little master, which caused loud cheers from the audience.
However, after the children finished their cakes, Du Xingran's daughter took them to the yard to play.
Yang Haiyan had just arrived in the capital. Even though she grew up in the capital, she was a maid at that time and didn't understand many things. And Nanny Lian had been away from the capital for a long time, so she naturally didn't understand the current situation in the capital. So Yang Haiyan had to ask Mrs. Du about some things.
After the children went out, Yang Haiyan asked without hesitation: "Godmother, we are going to the capital, but is there anything we need to be careful about?" In order to avoid bumping into some people who might not be offended.
Qin Fang and Du Ke were teacher and student, so Qin Fang had to pay attention to any conflicts with Du Ke. In addition, Yang Haiyan had to consult Mrs. Du one by one about some matters between women.