Chapter 2: Children of the Chen Family ()

Since the locals of Chen Jiachong knew that the owner of the Yizhuang Manor liked tranquility, no one would come to disturb him if there was no major matter. And outsiders did not dare to go to the wilderness without any guidance, so Xu Changqing walked very quietly along the way. When Xu Changqing walked to the foot of Taohua Mountain, he suddenly stopped. The dark clouds in the sky covered the moonlight and starlight, making the surroundings dark. Despite this, Xu Changqing seemed to be able to see through the darkness, turned his head and looked at the peach forest beside him, with a smile on his face, and said, "Come out! He was so panting that even the deaf can hear it!"

The surroundings were silent, and only some southern insects were chirping in the cool air, as if telling Xu Changqing that there were only these little insects here. Xu Changqing smiled and shook his head, saying, "If I don't come out, I'll leave!"

As he said that, he was about to walk to Taohua Mountain. At this time, a sudden burst of rapid voice came from where Xu Changqing looked over, shouting: "Brother Xu, wait! Wait! Don't leave, we'll come out."

As the screams came out, five lanterns were lit under several peach trees, and followed three men and two women out from under the tree. Under the faint lights, the five were all wearing the most popular dresses nowadays, looking very energetic. The two led were Chen Deshang's youngest children, the man's name was Chen Tao and the woman's name was Chen Yu. They were sent to the UK by Chen Deshang when they were eleven or twelve years old. They studied Western culture at the University of Oxford, where Chen Deshang's eldest son Chen Jingguo studied, and only came back once every one or two years. When they were young, they had a good relationship with Xu Changqing, and always liked to follow Xu Changqing's butt, running around the mountains and fields, and were in love with brothers and sisters.

Among the three people behind the Chen brothers and sisters, only the blonde and blue-eyed foreigner Xu Changqing had heard of his identity from Chen Deshang. He was a British aristocrat named Sean Wilner. He is now a professor at Oxford University and teaches Eastern civilization. When Chen Jingguo, the eldest son of the Chen family, was a roommate and best friend with him. He once saved his life in an assassination incident. Therefore, the two became brothers of different surnames according to Chinese etiquette. When the Chen family was developing their careers abroad, he helped the Chen family very much. This time he went to China with the Chen brothers and sisters to see the Chinese culture that they had admired for a long time.

Although Xu Changqing did not know their identities, Xu Changqing was almost certain that these two people must be the children of some merchants who came from Shanghai this time, and had received very high education in China, based on their expressions, behaviors, appearances, temperaments, and clothing and hairstyles.

Xu Changqing looked at the people who were walking over, raised his hand and pointed at the two brothers and sisters of the Chen family, and said, "You two guys just came back, jumped up and down, and even ran to my place to make trouble. If your father knew about it, he would definitely need family law to serve you again!"

"Brother Xu, I love Xiao Yu the most!" Chen Yu hurriedly stepped forward and pulled Xu Changqing's sleeve, and said coquettishly: "I will definitely not tell my father about it, and Xiao Yu will be punished!"

"Okay! Stop pulling it anymore! I won't tell Chen Weng!" Xu Changqing was covered in goose bumps all over by Chen Yu's coquettish voice. He quickly pulled out his sleeve from Chen Yu's hand, took a step back, reached out to knock her forehead, and said, "You girl, it's nothing to pull and pull this way when she was a child. Now she has become a big girl, and she is still so unruly. If you see it by your future husband, you may be in a hurry to quit the kiss!"

Chen Yu rubbed his forehead, wrinkled his nose at Xu Changqing, and then turned back to the young man who was wearing a straight suit and had his hair neatly combed, waved his fists at him, raised his head and said arrogantly: "He dares! If he dares to withdraw from the kiss, I will beat him up and swallow his words."

The young man cooperated very well and shrank his neck, then walked to Xu Changqing, bent down respectfully and saluted: "Zhang Yuan has met Mr. Xu!"

Xu Changqing now knows Zhang Yuan's identity. He is the second son of the Zhang family, a famous family in Suzhou. His father is a famous businessman in Shanghai and has close ties with the consul general of the French Concession. Their Zhang family and the Chen family have some commercial exchanges and their relationship is extraordinary. Zhang Yuan lived in the Chen family for two years when he was a child. It was at that time that the parents of both sides decided to marry him and Chen Yu. The Zhang family's career was suppressed by Hu Xueyan, and later he was guided by Master Xu Changqing to preserve the family business and later expanded. Therefore, their Zhang family was very clear about the skills of the descendants of the master of the Yizhuang. When they met Xu Changqing, they also performed the same teacher's courtesy as Chen Deshang.

"Get up! Everyone is young, so there is no need to perform this customary ritual!" Xu Changqing reached out and helped Zhang Yuan up, then turned to look at Chen Tao who had been standing next to the woman in dress, and asked, "Xiao Tao, aren't you going to introduce this lady?"

"No, no!" Chen Tao quickly shook his head and denied it, then his face turned slightly red, and he gave his body to introduce the woman, "This is the daughter of Mr. Xie Zhengjun, a tycoon in Shanghai weaving industry. Miss Xie Ling, once attended the Chinese and Western Women's School. She is one of the few Western-style women in China!"

"I'm not as good as you said!" Xie Ling smiled at Chen Tao, turned around and performed a Western etiquette towards Xu Changqing, and said, "Xie Ling has met Mr. Xu!"

Xu Changqing also nodded slightly. At this time, Chen Tao was about to introduce Shawn who was standing at the end, while Xu Changqing raised his hand to interrupt. He stepped forward, raised his hand to Shawn, and said in very pure English: "I have heard of Mr. Shawn's name for a long time. It is really my blessing to have a taste of it in the near future!"

The English that Xu Changqing blurted out not only stunned the young people in China, but also made Sean stunned for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses and immediately reached out and shook Xu Changqing's hand hard. He was surprised to use not-so-pure Chinese, saying: "I have learned some things about Mr. Xu from Jingguo. Although I have never seen it with my own eyes, Mr. Xu's displaced English has made me feel that I don't need this trip!"

Xu Changqing was obviously used to hearing these compliments, with a calm expression, smiled indifferently, and then turned to Chen Tao and asked, "Now it is the time to go to the river to turn on the lights. Why are you two coming to me for?

Chen Tao seemed embarrassed to say, lowered his head and said, "Brother Sean wants to see the mysterious culture of ancient China. Brother Xu, you have it..., so..."

Xu Changqing seemed to notice Chen Tao’s thoughts and frowned slightly. Chen Yu saw that the opportunity was wrong and quickly took the conversation and said, "Brother Xu, look, you are the most knowledgeable in the Chen family. We can only..."

"To be honest!" Xu Changqing looked at the Chen brothers coldly and said.

The Chen brothers and sisters felt that Xu Changqing was a little angry, and felt like they were facing their father, lowering their heads and not daring to speak. Sean also noticed the embarrassment of the brothers and sisters, and hurried forward to rescue them and said, "Mr. Xu, don't blame me! This is mainly my idea, because I have heard that Mr. Xu is proficient in Chinese magical magic, so he encouraged Xiao Tao and the others to come and see it."

"We have a share too! I hope Mr. Xu doesn't blame me!" Zhang Yuan and Xie Ling also stepped forward to share the responsibility for the Chen brothers and sisters.

"You are really messing around!" Xu Changqing frowned, his face turned pale, and said angrily to the Chen brothers: "Did you two forget that when you were young, you secretly ran to the charity village to peek at the master casting spells, and then they became seriously ill and almost lost their lives! Now that the scar has healed, it's okay to have a naughty heart, but now they dare to bring people here. This time I will tell your father to let you have a long memory!"

"No! No!" When the Chen brothers and sisters heard that Xu Changqing was going to tell Chen Deshang about what happened today, they immediately became anxious. While winking at Sean and others, they stepped forward and admitted their mistakes: "We are wrong! Brother Xu, we are wrong, isn't it okay? Don't tell my father, please!"

Seeing that the Chen brothers and sisters looked so anxious, they also realized that the matter might be a bit serious. They hurriedly stepped forward and pleaded for the Chen brothers and sisters. However, Xu Changqing did not seem to have heard what they said, but instead looked at the dark fork in the southeast. His face turned from tiny to shock, and then said to himself: "Damn it, why did you come here at this time? Was that old man crazy?"

Everyone looked at Xu Changqing in confusion, then turned their heads and looked at the fork in the fork in Xu Changqing's eyes. However, what they saw was only darkness, and nothing else.

Xu Changqing ignored the five people with a confused look on his face, with his fingers back, and calculated as if he had calculated something. He frowned and pondered for a moment, then said to Chen Tao and the others: "You guys follow me up the mountain immediately. No matter what happens, don't speak out, don't ask too much, do you understand?"

When everyone heard that things had turned around, they all gave a sigh of surprise, and Chen Tao was still a little worried and asked timidly: "Brother Xu, will you still tell your father about what happened tonight?"

Xu Changqing's expression was relaxed, and he knocked Chen Tao's head hard, turned around and walked towards the mountain. The tall and thin figure quickly disappeared into the darkness, and a sentence came from the darkness, saying: "Forget it this time, if there is a next time, even if Chen Weng spares you, I won't spare you!"

After hearing Xu Changqing's words, everyone felt relieved. Under the leadership of the Chen brothers and sisters, they quickly chased the charity village on the mountain with lanterns.

Although Peach Blossom Mountain is called a mountain, it is actually just a small hill. When it was originally bought by the Chen family, it was just a deserted hill. Later, the first Yi Manor owner planted peach trees on the mountain. However, it is strange that since the peach trees were planted, even wild grasses did not grow on the mountain. In less than a year, the peach trees on the mountain grew and ripened and blossomed and bear fruit. The peaches were very red, but unfortunately they tasted very bitter. However, there is a kind of white-headed crow who likes to eat this kind of peach. Whenever the peaches mature, the white-headed crow will fly over to peck at the peaches, and they will fly away immediately after eating them.

At the beginning, some villagers in Chenjiachong felt that Taohua Mountain was very strange and wanted to go up the mountain to find out. However, because there were people from the Chen family heads at the intersection of Shangshan Road, they could only go up the mountain through the Taohua Forest. However, no matter how they walked, they would eventually walk back to the intersection. It was not until this time that the villagers of Chenjiachong were respectful and afraid of the owner of the Yizhuang Manor. Word of mouth, and coupled with the strict orders of the Chen family heads, this place became a forbidden place.

Because the mountain is not high, everyone soon came to the front of the Yizhuang. In addition to the plaque on the main entrance, there was a couplet written on the two large pillars on both sides of the main entrance, "I am alone in the world, and I am alone in the world!" The signature is a idler, and the lines reveal a sense of arrogance of being alone in the turbid world.

The Yizhuang was built very simple, just an ordinary courtyard. You can see it clearly when standing at the door. There are only a few simple stone tables and benches in the inner courtyard paved with bluestone bricks, and a few bamboos were planted in the southeast corner. Such a simple scene made Sean, who was originally full of hope, feel a little disappointed after seeing it. In his influence, this place should be like the water and land Dharma assembly in the mountain city, build a high platform, and then use cinnabar to draw those strange talismans on yellow cloth and hang them around the yard, and the scene in front of him is really very contrasting.

At this time, Xu Changqing walked out of the main hall in the backyard, carrying two bags of glutinous rice in his hand. Seeing that the five people had arrived, he called them to sit down on the stone stool in the yard, then carried the glutinous rice to the room on the left that looked like a bathhouse, poured all the glutinous rice into the large wooden basin filled with water. After everything was ready, he tried the water temperature, nodded, turned around and returned to the main hall, took out two bags of jixiang from it, put them together, and walked to the room on the right. After he walked into the room, the hand holding the glutinous rice shook. Jixiang seemed to be ignited by some invisible flame, and sparked a little on the top. A strange fragrance spread out instantly, covering the entire yard.

Xu Changqing looked solemn and behaved respectfully. He walked to the word Tao written on the wall on the front of the room, held the incense in both hands and raised it to the top of his head, lowered his head slightly, and then bowed. After three bows, he inserted the incense into the copper furnace in front of the word Tao, and looked up inexplicably and said, "Everyone should use it slowly, don't rob it. I'll send you on the road in a few days. I hope everything goes well by then!"
Chapter completed!