New Year's Eve.
On New Year's Eve, Wang Chen sent Chen Yijian, who had wanted to stay and keep his teacher company, back home. Then he set up a table and chairs in the courtyard, laying out a copper hotpot along with sliced beef, mutton, and other ingredients.
He warmed a pot of yellow wine over a small red-clay stove, and that made for a lavish New Year's Eve dinner.
Sipping the piping-hot yellow wine and swishing fresh beef in the pot, Wang Chen tilted his head to look at the fireworks blooming across the night sky.
He did not feel lonely.
But before he had finished even one pot of wine, his heart suddenly stirred.
The next moment, a figure soundlessly swept over the courtyard wall and landed steadily in the small yard.
This uninvited guest wore a green robe and carried an imposing air. His eyes, fixed on Wang Chen, held an inscrutable meaning.
Wang Chen set down his wine cup, rose, and bowed. "Wang Chen greets you, sir."
"Sir?"
The newcomer's gaze turned slightly strange. "Shouldn't you call me something else?"
Wang Chen readily went along with it. "This son-in-law pays his respects to Father-in-law!"
This middle-aged man in green robes was Ye Dai's biological father, Ye Xiangming, the assistant magistrate of Qing'an County.
Though Wang Chen and Ye Dai had already set a wedding date, this was still his first time meeting this father-in-law of his.
"No need for such formality."
Ye Xiangming waved a hand. "I only came to have a look at my new son-in-law."
Because the principal wife of his household stood in the way, he could not openly arrange Ye Dai's marriage for her. He could not help feeling somewhat stifled over it.
Wang Chen brought over a chair and chopsticks, inviting