Outside the window, the east wind blew thousands of flowers and trees into bloom at night, and the world was as bright as day.
Looking from a distance, both sides of the Suzhou River are full of people.
In the gaps between the ups and downs of the fireworks, there are faces with infinite joy under the light. It seems that everyone is immersed in it and unable to extricate themselves.
However, Li Zhigang, who was standing in the attic and looking at the beautiful scenery from a distance, had an uncertain expression on his face, full of worries.
"New Deal, Kaihai, Suzhou, Finance and Taxation..."
~
The food and wine on the table had gone cold, but he still didn't move at all.
Boom, boom, boom!
Someone knocked on the door behind me.
Li Zhigang frowned in displeasure and said softly, "Didn't I say that I don't need you to wait on me? You have been busy for a year, so go and enjoy the Chinese New Year!"
He thought it was someone close to him who came to greet him again. Unexpectedly, a hearty laugh came from outside the door the next second, "Yi Xing, you are so difficult to invite!"
In an instant, a smile appeared on Li Zhigang's face, and he turned around and said, "Shaoying? Please come in quickly!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhejiang Chief Secretary Liu Guan, who acted as the governor of Suzhou Prefecture, came in from outside carrying a food box.
"It's Chinese New Year, why are you coming to my place with your whole family if you're not at home?" Li Zhigang said with a smile, "Sit down quickly, it's cold outside, right?"
Liu glanced at the cold dishes and wine on the table, and sighed slightly, "You are so stubborn. I sent someone a few days ago to invite you to my house to celebrate the festival. It's best for you, just don't go!"
As he spoke, he glared and said, "Why are you looking down on me, Mr. Liu?"
"What the hell!" Li Zhigang laughed quickly, "Don't you know me yet? I just..."
"You want to save face, you are thin-skinned!" Liu Guan said rudely, "You can be thin-skinned with others, but why are you being polite to me?" He said, sighing, "Poor my old mother, I have been preparing since the 28th of the twelfth lunar month. , I’m just looking forward to you coming over!”
"This..." Li Zhigang's heart felt warm and sour, "It's my fault. Even if I don't go, I should go to visit my aunt in person!" He said, apologetically, "The reason why I didn't go is because I feel ....You and your family, if you don’t let me go if I go, I will cause trouble to you!”
"My mother, my wife and the children are all looking forward to your visit!" Liu Guan said, opening the food box in his hand, and then taking out a three-layer tray from it.
On the tray are all small dumplings in the shape of white ingots.
"I told my mother that you are from Songjiang and don't eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year. But my mother said that you don't eat dumplings because you have never eaten delicious dumplings!" Liu Guan said with a smile, "My mother made these with leeks. Pork stuffing. It came late this year, but just in time for the first cut of leeks, which are the most delicious!"
"Because I was afraid that the food would be cold and unpalatable on the way, my mother specifically asked me to bring the baby here!" After saying that, Liu Guan turned around and said, "Is there anyone here?"
"The villain is here!" Li Zhigang's personal entourage appeared at the door.
"Then let's cook it on the stove!" Liu Guan said with a smile, "Do you southerners know how to cook dumplings?"
"You can do it!" The attendant smiled and accepted it, then went out with a smile.
Liu Guan continued to work hard, "My mother also asked me to bring you some sauce meat from home. Here, smoked pig's trotters, which are known as money-making targets in our hometown. They are also freshly cooked and cool. It’s chewy to eat!”
He kept holding things and kept mumbling, "Mom knows that you are celebrating the New Year alone. She said that you can't be alone during the New Year, so she asked me to come over and accompany you! Oh! You!"
What he brought was nothing compared to the cold food and wine originally placed on the table in Li Zhigang's room.
Maybe a box of things is not as valuable as the Longjing in a plate of Longjing shrimps on the table.
But at this moment, the heat in Li Zhigang's heart was boiling like a fire.
"This makes me..." Li Zhigang said with emotion, "Shaoying, thank you very much!"
"If you want to thank me, just thank my mother. I don't care about such a stubborn person like you!" Liu Guan smiled and said, "I didn't bring the wine. I know you are a good artist, so bring it out!"
"Come here!" Li Zhigang shouted to the outside, "Shaoxing yellow that has lasted for thirty years! Add some hot dishes."
When he shouted, the faces of the Li family's followers outside the door finally showed a bit of New Year's joy, and they all started to get busy.
After a while, the cold food and wine were removed and replaced with new ones.
Red dates and shredded ginger are added to the rice wine and blanched in hot water.
"This is the first glass of wine!" Liu Guan filled the glasses for the two of them and raised the glasses, "I don't respect the future, I don't respect you and me. I only respect my mother at home, may she live a long and healthy life!"
"Okay, okay!" Li Zhigang smiled and clinked glasses with Liu Guan, and downed the drink in one gulp.
"Second cup!" Liu Guan filled it for him again and said, "I will continue to pay tribute to you, and I will be healthy and blessed!"
"Thank you Shaoying!" Li Zhigang was moved and raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
"One cup of love, two cups of love, three cups of wine, true brothers!" Liu Guan laughed again.
"Haha!" Li Zhigang laughed, "Okay, although this statement is straightforward, it should be too obvious, so let's do it!"
After three glasses of wine, the attendants outside were already cooking the dumplings.
"Hurry, while it's hot! Eat the dumplings hot!" Liu Guan said with a smile.
Li Zhigang picked one up and put it into his mouth. He just chewed it and suddenly frowned.
Because his teeth hit something hard, it hurt his teeth a little. And because of his upbringing, he couldn't spit it out directly at the dinner table, so he froze a little.
"What?" Liu Guan asked hurriedly, "But you ate something? Spit it out!"
Li Zhigang slowly spat it out, but it turned out to be a delicate piece of lottery money that was only as big as a pinky nail.
"Hey, you are so lucky!" Liu Guan laughed, "I put this one dollar in a hundred dumplings, and you got to eat them!" After saying that, he clapped his hands and said, "Yi Xing, you are so lucky.
It’s so prosperous!”
Although Li Zhigang is from the south, he also knows the custom in the north, which is to put coins in the dumplings during the Spring Festival to show good omens for the next year.
But at this moment, when he looked at the coin, there was no expression of joy on his face. Instead, he seemed to be touched by something on his mind.
"What's wrong? You're looking sad during the Chinese New Year!" Liu Guan asked, "But it's about the New Deal? Or is it that the wealthy families in Suzhou are hard to deal with?"
Ever since Li Zhi first came to Suzhou, he felt like he had no place to use his energy.
No matter what Li Zhigang wanted to investigate, the officials and gentry in Suzhou were extremely cooperative. They even took the initiative to pay back the shortfall in taxation and food supplies over the years.
Not only did they take the initiative to make up payments, but they also exceeded the amount.
This made Li Zhigang want to catch someone's pigtails, but he couldn't.
What troubled him even more was the tricks those people used to send him money.
He doesn't like money. To be precise, he doesn't like to make money when his family has money.
But every morning when his servant opened the door of the imperial envoy's residence, he could always see valuable gifts outside, and no one knew who sent them.
Moreover, in the past few days, officials who have reached the third or fourth rank official positions have been sending greetings to him, and famous teachers and scholars all over the world have also sent letters.
Without saying anything, they just invited you to drink tea and discuss the saint's articles.
From this we can see the difference between the wealthy families in Suzhou and other places.
Officials and gentry in other places, whenever their interests are touched, are like stepping on a rat's tail, jumping up and shouting. But here in Suzhou, if you want others, you can give them. Not only do you give them, but you give them happily.
.
As the saying goes, problems that can be solved with money are not problems.
However, this is not where Li Zhigang's heart lies.
But....
"Hey!" Li Zhigang sighed, put down his glass, shook his head and said, "What's so difficult about the New Deal? That's not what I'm worried about!" Then he picked up the glass and drank it all in one gulp.
"Drink slowly, drinking in a hurry will make you intoxicated!" Liu Guandao, "If it's not the New Deal, then what is it? Opening up the sea?"
Li Zhigang shook his head again, then pondered for a long time, stood up, walked to the desk, took out a booklet, and placed it gently on the table, "Read it yourself!"