I thought that in the first year of Jiang Qing's absence, the house would be desolate and deserted on New Year's Eve, but with Jiang Yingnian here, the atmosphere was not as gloomy as expected.
As he said, it is up to him to shoulder the burden of this family.
Even though Guan Jiyu wasn't good at cooking, he couldn't escape. Jiang Yingnian asked her to help him, and he started to hide in the back kitchen from early evening until dark, and finally served a decent meal.
New Year's Eve dinner.
Jiang Yingnian personally went to Qing'anju and called everyone in Qingziying out, saying that it was a rare opportunity throughout the year for everyone to sit together and eat and drink together.
Guan Jiyu saw all this in his eyes. When he came back this time, he never said that he wanted to take over the position of head of the family. He did not need to use any title to prove himself. With Jiang Xian here, he would never say this.
But everything he did began to deliberately imitate what Jiang Qing did when he was the head of the family.
When he was ignorant in the past, he believed that only those with the surname Jiang were his family members. Those in Qingziying could not be said to be servants, but in the end they were just martial arts disciples of the Jiang family and could not be considered family members.
Compared with the change in temperament and words, Jiang Yingnian's biggest change is that he truly accepts the people of Qingziying from the bottom of his heart. The fact that he can personally invite everyone to the New Year's Eve dinner proves that he truly wants to support this family.
Home.
Not only did he support Jiang Mansion, he also did not forget the group of people his brother valued most during his lifetime.
"To all the brothers, to this family, to everyone!" During the dinner, he raised his glass sincerely and clinked glasses with everyone.
The haze of pain has finally passed, and everyone in this house is no longer sad and full of hatred.
All the causes of suffering that kept people tossing and turning day and night, unable to sleep, finally came to an end.
This No. 1 mansion in Nanqin will not fall down because of the loss of its old main axis. It has been replaced with a young pillar to support the facade it deserves. It is still the No. 1 family in Nanqin!
There were loud sounds of firecrackers outside, and the family dinner was almost over.
Jiang Yingnian stopped Guan Jiyu who was about to leave the table and said softly: "There are stars tonight."
With a smile on his face, he touched his stomach and said, "You've eaten too much. Let's go and eat together?"
Guan Jiyu knew what he meant, and the two of them walked towards the wilderness together in a tacit understanding.
Jiang Yingnian didn't forget to bring two more bottles of wine, and he was ready to have another drink in another place.
"In previous years, when winter comes, it only snows in Beizhong and Beijing. When I was a child, I still looked forward to when it would snow in Nanqin." When he arrived at the place, he seemed to have shed all his fatigue and looked for it.
He sat down casually against a tree.
Guan Jiyu said in surprise: "Except when it snowed in Beizhong Concentration Camp, have you never seen snow before?"
"No. It never snows in Nanqin, at least I have never seen it. In the past, my eldest brother sometimes went to Beizhong to do business in winter. I would always beg him to take me with him, but he always refused." Jiang Yingnian laughed.
He smiled, looked up at the stars, and said: "He always felt that my second brother and I should live under his protection. Our parents died young, and he has always been accustomed to the life of an elder brother like a father."
Speaking of Jiang Qing, Guan Jiyu couldn't help but frown slightly. Although she was not a close relative of Jiang Qing, she had worked under Jiang Qing for many years, and no one knew him better than her. "In fact, many times, it is difficult for the eldest son...
…”
"I naturally know that my second brother and I have been able to be stable until now. Who has paid for all this? I naturally know. But he will not talk about any difficulties. The three of us brothers should discuss everything.
, it’s good to have someone to help with advice, he always takes everything on his own shoulders as a matter of course.”
After Jiang Yingnian finished speaking, he picked up the wine bottle and took a long sip.
"Do you know why?"
"Why?" Jiang Yingnian turned his head and looked at her intently.
"Because everyone has something they want to protect. Some people want to protect power and money, while some people just want to protect the most important people in their lives." Guan Jiyu looked at the starry sky and said: "That is a
If a person loses this concern and loses what he wants to protect, then he will be nothing more than a walking corpse."
"What about you? You lived your whole life for your eldest brother. After your eldest brother left, you lost the person you had been protecting. At that time, you... must have been very helpless and confused, right?"
Jiang Yingnian was able to say such delicate words, which really surprised her.
She did not evade, and answered his question naturally: "After the death of the eldest son, I really don't want to live anymore. He picked up my life. If he is gone, who else can I live for?"
?But I still want to avenge him, and now I...I have someone I want to protect, so I want to live, and I want to live well."
"Ayu..." He suddenly called her softly.
"Um?"
"I regret a lot. I regret a lot of things." Jiang Yingnian didn't know if it was because he drank some wine tonight, but he spoke more from the bottom of his heart. He put down the wine bottle, squinted his eyes, and said, "There are a lot of things."
Everything I missed because of my youth and ignorance has become a pity."
Guan Jiyu remained silent, assuming that he was still thinking about the passing of Jiang Qing.
Just today last year, Jiang Qing was still at home looking forward to his return for a reunion. On New Year's Eve, every household was having a reunion, but Jiang Yingnian was the only one who was still angry with Jiang Qing and refused to go home.
Who doesn't make mistakes when they are young? But Jiang Yingnian would not have thought that an unintentional tantrum would become an eternal regret and pain in his heart.
Jiang Yingnian took a deep breath and then said: "I couldn't forgive you for many things in the past. Actually, if you think about it, you did nothing wrong. My brother's death was not caused by you, but I..."
At this point, his voice became a little more choked up, "We've known each other since we were young, and I was supposed to be the one...but I was too willful, and that's why I pushed you further and further away."
"Ah Yu..." He called her again, "You have to remember that Jiang Mansion is your home. If one day, Xiang Lincheng fails you, just come back to Jiang Mansion and I will settle the accounts with him!
"
Jiang Yingnian was already slightly tipsy, but he still didn't stop and murmured softly: "Eldest brother is gone, this family still has me... and second brother, you are not without a family, who dares to bully you, I, Jiang Yingnian,
The first one won’t spare him!”
Guan Jiyu couldn't tell how she felt in her heart. She didn't expect to hear such words from Jiang Yingnian tonight. At this moment, the relationship between the two of them was no longer tense. Xu had experienced the war together, and each of them had grown up. During those teenage years,
The prejudices and misunderstandings turned into friendship due to hatred for Jiang Qingxue and the passion for the same enemy. Now they are more like a pair of close friends.
"Second Young Master Xiang is very good, but we are not in that relationship yet..." She looked shy, picked up the wine bottle uncomfortably, and took a few sips. "It's you, the first Young Master worried about you the most during his lifetime. If you have a crush on him,
You should also consider starting a family."
"I'm not in a hurry." Jiang Yingnian stretched out and leaned lazily against the big tree beside him. "I have to say that my eldest brother valued you the most when he was alive. I have to see that you live well, so I don't
Live up to big brother’s expectations.”
He seemed to be thinking of something, Feng Qingyun said calmly: "If you still think of me as a friend, don't always call me Jiang Yingnian, Jiang Yingnian, it's so strange. My brothers all call me 'Aying', you can too
Call me that..."
"Let's change the name." He raised his head and looked at the sky carefully, his face rarely calm.
"Good. Yingnian." Guan Jiyu didn't shirk the blame, but he didn't say the word "Aying" as he meant.
This year's friendship with Jiang Yingnian fighting side by side has made them understand each other better, but if such an intimate name is called from her mouth, it must be over the rules.
She has her own sense of proportion in her heart.
Jiang Yingnian said nothing, and the two of them looked at the moon in the sky quietly, enjoying the tranquility and peace under the stars and moon.
On New Year's Eve, everyone clinked glasses several times in a lively manner. After Jiang Xian drank those two glasses of wine, he returned to the room and realized that he was slowly getting drunk.
He had no choice but to walk to Zhongsi Hall and make a cup of tea. He wanted to take advantage of the last day of the old year to tidy up the study and sober up.
There were many old books in the bookcase that he had to read every day when he was at Mo Yun Academy. Jiang Xian took them out and gently dusted them off.
There was a gust of wind at night, and he, who was still a little tipsy, felt a little sober after being blown by the cool breeze. He got up and was about to close the doors and windows, but saw a person standing at the door.
Jiang Xian stopped closing the door and held the door tightly with his fingers. His face, which had been flushed just now due to drinking, was now pale again.
"How did you get in?" Jiang Xian lowered his eyes and asked coldly, then turned and returned to the desk.
When people outside saw that he had not closed the door, they followed him in.
"You know, these high walls cannot trap me."
Jiang Xian sneered coldly and said: "Yes, Mr. Xia is extremely skilled in martial arts. Is there any high-walled courtyard that the princes, generals and ministers have not passed through? The thin walls of my small door in Jiang Mansion are indeed not enough to stop you."
His tone was gentle and slow, but Xia Mingzhong frowned when he heard it.
He still had the same humble tone, but his words were like a knife, making Xia Mingzhong extremely uncomfortable.
Xia Mingzhong looked at him and didn't refute. He just said helplessly: "I heard that your health has not been good. I just wanted to come and see you."
"Don't worry about it, Lord Xia."
Jiang Xian knelt down and continued to pick up the books piled under the cabinet, and said calmly: "I know my body well, how can I dare to trouble you to come here in person?"
Xia Mingzhong gently placed the knife in his hand on Jiang Xian's desk, sighed slightly, and said, "It's been so long, and you're still blaming me."
Hearing the sound, Jiang Xian turned to look at the knife on the table and said expressionlessly: "The nullah knife never leaves the owner's hand."
While he was talking, he accidentally touched the cabinet door, and all the books that were messed up above the cabinet fell down in an instant. Xia Mingzhong, with quick eyes and quick hands, rushed up and caught most of the books with his hands, but a few of them were still smashed.
On Jiang Xian's shoulder.
Those books were extremely thickly bound and would weigh a lot when dropped.
Jiang Xian's body was thin, and being hit like this made him look even more frail. He covered his mouth and coughed a few times, then lowered his head and slowly picked up each piece.
Xia Mingzhong also hurriedly knelt down and helped him pick up the books scattered on the floor.
What a familiar scene.
The bright young man who once bent down to pick up a book on the street is now stooped and sickly, and even the simple action of lowering his head to pick up something seems particularly difficult.
Xia Mingzhong looked at him and frowned even more. "Okay, don't pick it up!" He looked at Jiang Xian with complicated eyes and stopped him coldly, but Jiang Xian turned a deaf ear and coughed while trying to clean it up.
Seeing him pretending to be deaf and dumb like this, Xia Mingzhong could no longer hold back the anger in his heart. He snatched the books from Jiang Xian's hand, carefully sorted them and put them all back in the bookcase.
Every movement was filled with venting. After doing this, Xia Mingzhong suppressed the anger in his heart.
There was no hint of gratitude in Jiang Xian's eyes. His pale lips moved and he said, "You said you came to see me, and now you see it too."
He gave a hint of a sneer, slowly stood up holding the corner of the table, and said: "Xia Mingzhong, oh no, Mr.