Social Mixer

Liu Chang'an cleaned up the large stove and covered the unburnt charcoal with snakeskin bags so it could be used again next time.

I picked up a book, sat down under the sycamore tree, and started reading "The Elegance of Song Dynasty," a work on the social life of the Song Dynasty. The author's perspective is based on realistic Song paintings, examining the various aspects of society at that time and showcasing the avant-garde nature of the era and its enduring influence on later generations.

For Liu Chang'an, it is precisely because of his experience that it seems more interesting, like the complex feeling of carefully reading through a diary he wrote as a child in his old age.

Those eras were too long ago; only some people and events left a deep impression, or scenes that I vaguely remember but don't feel particularly important.

After reading for a while, Shangguan Dandan returned with a thermos, placed it in the storage room, and then went back to the grapevines.

Liu Chang'an knew she must have lost money, so she would come back to put away her precious thermos before going back to play for a while.

For some reason, Shangguan Dandan was only interested in tile games and had not yet tried playing mahjong.

After thinking it over, I figured it was probably because in mahjong, every round is settled, and she would feel like she was losing money too quickly, while in tile games, points are awarded, and only when you reach 100 points are you counted.

How peaceful!

She mentioned wanting to visit Liu Chang'an's university, but it's unclear whether she intends to enroll and experience modern campus life.

Judging from her daily routine of playing cards with the elderly, she doesn't seem interested in studying at all.

Is this how she'll live from now on?

They had nothing in common. Liu Chang'an had originally hoped that after she came out of the coffin, they could reminisce about the past together. But to his surprise, she was neither willing to talk to him about the past of the Han Dynasty nor to discuss the various ideological impacts of historical changes.

Perhaps because Zhou Dongdong entered the palace at such a young age to become a concubine prepared for the empress, and grew up in the relatively closed environment of the palace walls, she is more adapted to living in the current environment of an old residential area.

Liu Chang'an composed himself and read for a while longer. Shangguan Dandan, who had just lost money and was somewhat relieved and satisfied with her foresight, returned. Seeing Liu Chang'an lying under the sycamore tree, she tiptoed and jumped onto a branch of the sycamore tree that stretched towards the second-floor balcony.

"The first time Zhou Dongdong saw you, you were sitting in a tree, like a phoenix perched on a parasol tree, right?" Liu Chang'an looked up at her little feet swaying back and forth.

Shangguan Dandan nodded, that's exactly what she meant.

Her heel came off, leaving only her toes sticking out of the shoe. Her rounded heel was delicate and small, and as it swayed, it blurred the fine lines on her skin, making it look as white and tender as a peeled egg.

"Why aren't you wearing the clothes I bought for you?" Liu Chang'an noticed that she didn't object when he bought them, but he hadn't seen her wear them yet. Today she was wearing a tulip-white embroidered top, a Chang Le Moonlight brocade skirt, and a thin, misty gauze over it, since the weather was getting a bit chilly. However, this gauze was the kind of garment that could be stuffed into a matchbox, which had limited warmth.

"Because the clothes I'm wearing now can remind you not to forget the days we spent together as mother and son. Once you deeply understand this, I'll wear something else." Shangguan Dandan had a deeper meaning in her words.

Liu Chang'an lowered his head to read.

Shangguan Dandan then sat on the tree and watched him.

"I see that the furniture in Zhang Xunli's 'Gathering Around the Fire and Appreciating Antiques' and Qian Xuan's 'Appreciating Antiques' is the Nordic minimalist style that is very popular among some young middle-class families now." Liu Chang'an looked at it for a while, then turned the pages for Shangguan Dandan to see.

Shangguan Dandan's comparison of certain styles of Song Dynasty furniture and modern furniture did not demonstrate any knowledge or interest in keeping up with the conversation.

Liu Chang'an's phone rang; it was Yan Qingcheng reminding him of a party that evening.

Liu Chang'an didn't want to go at first, but Yan Qingcheng said that her mother had mailed her some sweet potato slices, which she would take with her, so Liu Chang'an thought he could go and take a look.

Sweet potato slicing is actually a specialty of South Hunan. People in other places rarely do it this way. Select the best sweet potatoes, steam them until cooked, then mash them into a paste. Then use a spatula to scrape the sweet potato paste onto a clean door panel or a cloth-lined panel. When scraping, apply even pressure to ensure that the sweet potato slices are of uniform thickness, preferably thin rather than thick.

Next, cut the sweet potato slices into individual squares, then place the door panel in the sun to dry completely before storing it.

In the past, there were few kinds of snacks, so farmers in the countryside would make these snacks after harvesting sweet potatoes using local materials. In winter, they would take them out and roast them over a fire, and they would be very fragrant, chewy and sweet.

This is much healthier than fried potato chips, and it's not as greasy.

"Come with me to the party, so you won't be bored at home, and neither will I," Liu Chang'an said, watching her dangling heels.

"I'm not bored, I can read novels." Shangguan Dandan simply meant that Liu Chang'an had misunderstood her feelings and state of mind.

Are you going or not?

"Go."

Shangguan Dandan jumped down from the sycamore tree, hugged Liu Chang'an's head, stroked his cheek, and said softly, "Mommy will go with you."

Liu Chang'an felt her soft belly and sighed, "Don't do this later when you're with everyone."

"Of course, a man shouldn't appear too nostalgic for his mother's embrace when he's out in public, otherwise people will think he lacks masculinity and is like a mama's boy." Shangguan Dandan could understand Liu Chang'an's mentality very well; it was a man's vanity and self-esteem.

"Even the mama's boy knows." Liu Chang'an shook his head. "Let's go."

Shangguan Dandan followed Liu Chang'an out of the residential area.

Once they reached a point beyond the vegetable market, Shangguan Dandan tugged at Liu Chang'an's sleeve and gently hooked her other hand around Liu Chang'an's little finger.

Liu Chang'an glanced down at Shangguan Dandan's eyes, which were like those of a small animal peeking out from the forest, then looked up again and silently stared ahead.

After all, she was just a little girl who had come to a strange world. All her habits and composure were just on the surface, and her anxiety did not dissipate so easily.

The place they were going to was quite far for Shangguan Dandan. Although the event was organized by Yan Qingcheng and Wei Xuanyi, Liu Chang'an felt that Shangguan Dandan because the event was a social gathering.

Since it's a social gathering, isn't the purpose to meet new friends? There shouldn't be any problem with Liu Chang'an bringing a beautiful young woman to introduce to everyone.

This time it wasn't a social event with a class from our own school, but with a class from the neighboring Normal University, also freshmen, who are enthusiastic about these kinds of social events. It just so happens that their class has more girls than boys, while the class from the School of Biology has more boys than girls.

The gathering was held by Yan'gui Lake, the very place where Liu Chang'an had selflessly saved someone during high school. It was also a class reunion, but only for people from Liu Chang'an's own class.

Although Yan Qingcheng had reminded Liu Chang'an early on, since Liu Chang'an and Shangguan Dandan had walked there, they were naturally the last to arrive.

"You're so slow." Yan Qingcheng and Liu Chang'an were quite familiar with each other, so she naturally complained to Liu Chang'an, and then her gaze fell on Shangguan Dandan was hooking her little finger with Liu Chang'an's.

"We walked here," Liu Chang'an said.

Yan Qingcheng understood that starting from the westernmost part of the university town and walking to Yan'gui Lake was not too exaggerated, since many people start their morning run from the university town, run to Yan'gui Lake and back... But if it was from Liu Chang'an's house, that would be too exaggerated, since that's all in River East.

"This is your... sister?" Yan Qingcheng had heard Liu Chang'an say that he was an orphan, but she had never heard him mention whether he had any brothers or sisters.

"Relative."

Shangguan Dandan glanced at Yan Qingcheng, an ordinary woman who, apart from being tall, seemed to have no hope of becoming her daughter-in-law.

Even with women like that, men still have to maintain a masculine image in front of them. Bringing one's mother to a gathering is probably a blow to one's self-esteem, so Shangguan Dandan didn't want to tell the truth.

The Empress Dowager did her best in being considerate of her son.

"I didn't expect you to bring people, but it's okay, let's all have fun together... Little sister, how old are you? Are you in junior high or high school?" Yan Qingcheng asked enthusiastically. This little girl's gaze was really interesting; there was always a sense that there were many meanings in her eyes, but she didn't want to tell you.

Shangguan Dandan didn't want to say she was fifteen, much less that she was over two thousand years old, so she slightly opened her mouth and said, "I'm very, very old."

Yan Qingcheng chuckled and lightly nudged Liu Chang'an. This little girl is so interesting. Sure enough, everyone around Liu Chang'an is extraordinary and attracts attention.

Of course, what attracted the most attention was Shangguan Dandan's beautiful appearance and luxurious clothes. Several girls from the Normal University also gathered around, looking at Shangguan Dandan with curiosity and envy. She was an absolutely enchanting beauty.

"This is Liu Chang'an from our class, and this is his sister," Yan Qingcheng introduced them. She didn't go into much detail about Liu Chang'an because these girls had already asked her about Liu Chang'an before... It wasn't surprising at all; students have the most time to browse social media, just like most people in their thirties and forties, they have the time and leisure to pay attention to and dig up gossip.

"So you're Liu Chang'an... Someone in our class knows Minister Yuan from your school. He keeps coming to our school looking for one of our seniors, and you beat him up, and some people even cheered." A girl said to Liu Chang'an with a grin, her eyes full of enthusiasm, clearly showing her fondness for him.

"He also wants to find me a girlfriend." Liu Chang'an nodded.

Since their gossip collection was related to Minister Yuan, it wasn't surprising that they knew Liu Chang'an had a girlfriend. However, upon hearing his words, the goodwill in their eyes subtly disappeared, and they stopped looking at Liu Chang'an, focusing their attention on Shangguan Dandan.

"Let's go over there first and get to know the other classmates," Yan Qingcheng tugged at Liu Chang'an.

"How about slicing the sweet potatoes?" Liu Chang'an got down to business.

Yan Qingcheng pointed to the pile of snacks. There weren't many sweet potato slices, and Yan Qingcheng couldn't possibly take out all the ones her mother had sent. These things were good for breakfast in winter or to fill her stomach when she was hungry but didn't want to go to the cafeteria. She just took a little to let some of her classmates from the city try something new.

Liu Chang'an walked over and sat down with Shangguan Dandan, each taking a piece to eat.

"Not bad?" Liu Chang'an said to Shangguan Dandan.

"Oh, right." Shangguan Dandan lowered her head and gnawed, then nudged Liu Chang'an, gesturing for him to look across the room.

Su Nanxiu was sitting opposite them, holding a slice of sweet potato the size of her face in both hands, taking small bites as well.