Wu Daozi casually pointed—not far from us, at the foot of the Yucai Memorial Monument, an old drunkard was leaning against the steps of the monument, a bottle of beer in his hand. I immediately found it amusing and pulled Baozi's hand to walk over. Suddenly, I felt Baozi's body stiffen, his expression becoming blank, and he murmured, "Teacher Zhang?"
Beside Li Bai, another old man with white hair and beard stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the statue of our first principal, Old Zhang, as if speaking to Li Bai or to himself: "Brother Taibai, this stone statue does look seven parts like me—'Even in death, the chivalrous spirit remains, worthy of being a hero in this world.' Isn't that a line from your poem 'Ode to the Knight-Errant'?"
The old man looked very familiar from behind. When he heard footsteps behind him and turned around, I was also shocked: this person was none other than the late Principal Zhang!
I instinctively took a step back and stammered, "Zhang...who are you?"
Baozi, however, disregarded everything and placed the child in my arms, taking two quick steps to grab the old man's shoulders and shake him violently. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Teacher Zhang, is that you?"
The old man asked blankly, "Teacher? Have I ever taken on female students?"
Li Bai squinted and said leisurely, "Zimei, this is the couple Xiaoqiang and his wife that I told you about." Then he turned to me and said, "Xiaoqiang, do you remember who I said your Principal Zhang resembled? I brought him along too."
I exclaimed in surprise, "Du Fu?"
Du Fu kindly took one of my hands and Baozi's hands, one on each side, and slowly nodded, saying with satisfaction, "Good! My dilemma of 'how can I have thousands of mansions' has finally been resolved by you. If Brother Zhang could know that he accepted you two as his students, he would be smiling in his grave."
Baozi exclaimed excitedly, "Teacher Zhang... oh no, Teacher Du, I am your student!"
Du Fu smiled and nodded, then suddenly grabbed my hand and said, "Even if I'm lucky enough to have a student like Baozi in my next life, I'm still her elder. You must treat her well, otherwise—" At this point, the gentle old man's expression suddenly changed, and he pinched my hand hard, making me gasp in pain. This made me even more convinced that poets must have been hooligans in the past...
After a busy morning, the sun was already high in the sky when we finally managed to serve most of the guests. Baozi glanced at his watch and said, "Oh dear, it's getting late. What about your dad and my dad? It'll be time for lunch soon."
Seeing that there were so many people, I knew I wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon, and I was getting anxious when a man walked right past me. I grabbed him and said, "Wang Yin!"
This man was none other than Wang Yin, the team leader of our Yucai vehicle crew. Wang Yin asked in surprise, "Xiao Qiang? What are you doing?"
I said, "You've gone to the trouble of driving to the place where I got married last time, and bring my and Baozi's parents here to Yucai."
Wang Yin said with distress, "I dare not say it's hard work, but I can't drive."
I jumped up and down, saying, "Damn it, if you don't want to go, just say you don't want to go. Can't you come up with a better excuse? You can't drive—how did you manage to run that transport business for all those years?"
Wang Yin exclaimed anxiously, "Who is it? It's just a jerk running a transport business!"
A bus pulled up beside us, and a man leaned out of a window and yelled angrily, "Who's insulting me?"
I was stunned when I saw it—another Wang Yin!
Upon recognizing Wang Yin, Wang Yin's anger turned to laughter as he said, "Brother, it's you?"
Wang Yin No. 1 shrugged and said to me, "Do you understand now?"
I scratched my head and said, "Hehe, sorry, Brother Wang, I thought you were him."
Wang Yin No. 2 asked, "Xiao Qiang, is there something you need from me?"
I explained the situation to the two families' elders, and Wang Yin readily agreed, "Alright, leave it to me." He immediately shifted into second gear, stepped on the gas, and sped off, leaving Wang Yin No. 1 watching with longing: "Driving this thing is harder than riding a horse, isn't it?"
I laughed and said, "You'd have to ask Xiang Yu; he knows best." Anyway, even a big guy like Xiang Yu, who didn't become famous for his intelligence, took two or three days to learn to drive, while I still can't ride a horse very well.
I asked, "By the way, where are Brother Yu and the others?"
Wu Sangui, who had been silently following behind us, said, "I just heard someone say that they have arrived."
Baozi said to me, "When the elders arrive, let's arrange for them to sit in the private rooms—" Baozi said in a low voice, "That way, no one will ask me if I have milk or not."
Liu Bang had vanished without a trace, and Wu Sangui had been looking around constantly ever since he entered the school. I said, "Third Brother, what are you looking for? Is there a pretty girl?"
Before I could finish my sentence, three stunningly beautiful women appeared directly in front of me at the 12 o'clock position. I recognized two of them: Empress Lü, Liu Bang's first wife, and Empress Wu Zetian. Both possessed an air of elegance, and their luxurious fur coats were either newly purchased or worn by them. I didn't recognize the third; she appeared to be around forty years old, with fair skin, long flowing hair, and a blend of alluring charm and innocent beauty. Though no longer young, she remained captivating. The three women, all in flowing dresses, walked with curious expressions, attracting numerous admiring glances as they strolled through the campus. I exclaimed, "Wow, there really are beauties! Who's that long-haired one?"
Without a word, Wu Sangui stepped forward and took the hand of the long-haired beauty. I exclaimed, "Brother San, hold on! You can't just abduct a woman like that!"
Wu Sangui glared at me, then pulled the beautiful woman over to us and said, "Xiaoqiang, let me introduce you. This is your sister-in-law, Chen Yuanyuan."
Baozi and I exchanged a glance, and I quickly called out, "Sister-in-law!"
Chen Yuanyuan gave us a shy and timid bow, her breath sweet as orchids, and said, "Greetings to the two noble ladies. I have often heard His Majesty mention you two recently; it is truly an honor." Empress Lü and Wu Zetian were already quite familiar with us, and casually waved to me and Baozi, chuckling to themselves.
Wu Sangui said, "Yuanyuan, Xiaoqiang is one of us, so there's no need to be polite in the future." He pointed to the steamed bun and said, "This is the steamed bun I often tell you about. Xiaoqiang once risked everything for a woman and recruited more than 3 million troops from eight countries to besiege Jin Wuzhu. That was all to save you, his sister."
Chen Yuanyuan looked at me with wide eyes, then took Baozi's hand and examined it closely for a while, and exclaimed, "My sister is so lucky to have such a generous and affectionate husband."
Although Baozi wasn't very cultured, she was Du Fu's only female student. Knowing that she was far from being a "beauty," she said embarrassedly, "Look at what you're saying."
us:"……"
I chatted with Chen Yuanyuan and her husband for a while, while the two mature women from imperial families teased me. Empress Lü sighed and said, "Giving birth to this little guy was quite a hassle. I also worried a lot about him. In the blink of an eye, a month has passed."
Baozi said, "That's right, I haven't properly thanked Sister Lü yet."
Empress Lü said, "No need to thank me, I'm this child's godmother—by the way, Baozi, do you have milk?"
steamed stuffed bun:"……"
To change the subject, I quickly said, "Third Brother, your wife just arrived, why don't you show her around?" Then I glared at Empress Lü and deliberately raised my voice, "Where's your man?"
Empress Lü, hands on her hips, said, "I should be asking you that! I've heard he has a concubine with you, haven't I?"
I asked, puzzled, "Didn't you say you didn't object?"
Empress Lü smiled and said, "Did I say that?"
...Liu Bang was absolutely right; women can never tell you the truth about this.
If I can't afford to offend them, I'll just run away with Baozi. Empress Lü grabbed me and said, "Don't go! Li's sister and I are completely clueless here. At least Chen Yuanyuan knows about glass. What if we get sold off if you leave?"
I thought to myself, if you let someone sell Liu Bang, he'd probably thank me for it. But there was nothing I could do. After spending some time with her, I felt that Empress Lü was actually a decent person. Maybe it was because Baozi and I had no vested interest in her, but she was quite honest with us. I couldn't just leave her to be taken advantage of by human traffickers. I looked around and saw Tong Yuan just getting out of class. I called out, "Zhenjiang, come and serve the servants."