Empress Mountain

Liu Chang'an couldn't find a suitable large skyrocket, so he bought a lot more fireworks and cannons. The shopkeeper gave him a stick, tied all the cannons together, and let him carry them home.

Normal people would take a taxi. The shopkeeper walked out, his mouth slightly agape, and stood on tiptoe watching Liu Chang'an skillfully sling the cart over his shoulder and walk away.

He is a truly diligent, thrifty, and capable young man.

When Liu Chang'an returned home, he put down the firecrackers he had been carrying on his shoulder and saw that Zhou Dongdong's eyes were red and moist.

"You hit Zhou Dongdong?" Liu Chang'an shouted into the kitchen. "What happened? She looks so wronged. Did you not find out what happened?"

"She took an onion and peeled it herself!" Zhou Shuling replied from the kitchen. "Why are you blaming me?"

"I thought you were the one who hit her. I didn't even see it, so it wouldn't be fun." Liu Chang'an immediately laughed, then squatted down in front of Zhou Dongdong and laughed twice to mock her.

Zhou Dongdong took a candy out of her pocket and stuffed it into Liu Chang'an's mouth to shut him up, then took a candy for herself, unwrapped it, and ate it.

After finishing lunch, Shangguan Dandan sat down next to the electric heater, hugging the thermos and dozing off. Hearing Liu Chang'an's voice, she clenched her fist and poked her cheek, "You're back. Did you buy the cannon?"

"A salute, not a cannon." Liu Chang'an tore the plastic wrapper open with a clench of his teeth, then pressed his tongue against the candy in his mouth before spitting out the packaging. "I bought a lot; you and kids like Zhou Dongdong can play with them tonight."

Zhou Dongdong discovered the pile of fireworks and firecrackers that Liu Chang'an had brought back and happily went to find a lighter.

"I'm not a child, but you can still play with me." Shangguan Dandan took a sip of water first; after waking up from her nap, the first thing she wanted to do was drink water.

After finishing her water, Shangguan Dandan moved closer and saw a long string on a ceremonial cannon. She reached out and pulled it out, finding it surprisingly difficult, and then asked, "What's this for?"

"This is the fuse. Light it, and the cannons will fire." Liu Chang'an hadn't been paying attention to her. Sure enough, she was just like Zhou Dongdong; she could cause trouble if you weren't careful.

So Shangguan Dandan tried her best to push the wire back in.

Liu Chang'an ignored her, and Zhou Dongdong ran over again, holding a lighter, and said to Shangguan Dandan, "Sister Dandan, let's take one to the snow to blast snow!"

What does "blasting snow" mean?

"We'll pile up lots and lots of snow, then put firecrackers in, and they'll explode the snow with a whooshing sound, just like a heavy snowfall," Zhou Dongdong said expectantly.

"OK!"

Seeing their eager expressions, Liu Chang'an didn't explain that these weren't firecrackers and wouldn't explode. He simply tossed one to them and told them to play with it themselves.

Liu Chang'an disassembled several cannons, made a super large one, and went to the kitchen to help Zhou Shuling with her work.

"You go play, I'll take care of it." Zhou Shuling felt there wasn't much else to do.

"Your cooking skills are so-so. Do you even know how to fry this braised pork belly with tiger skin?"

"Isn't it just putting oil in and frying?"

"You need to boil it until it's cooked through and soft, but you can't get that right. Then poke holes in the skin. And this frying method makes it easy for oil to splatter. You should just go away. You're always yelling and shouting in the kitchen when you're just frying pig's feet."

Hearing Liu Chang'an's complicated explanation, Zhou Shuling felt a little guilty. But he usually seemed to enjoy the salt and pepper pig's feet she made, so why was he criticizing him now?

After preparing a sumptuous dinner, Liu Chang'an called the two children who had been busy downstairs trying to "blast snow" without success. Looking out the window, he saw that they had collected all the snow in the neighborhood and piled it up downstairs, almost two stories high.

Liu Chang'an frowned. Such a huge project was definitely not something Zhou Dongdong could complete. Shangguan Dandan usually did nothing but was full of energy when it came to causing destruction. Once the weather warmed up and all this snow melted, this place would be like a flood.

During the meal, Zhou Shuling brought over three red envelopes and gave one to Liu Chang'an, Shangguan Dandan, and Zhou Dongdong.

"I have one too." Liu Chang'an smiled and accepted it. Usually, it's the older people who give red envelopes to the younger ones.

"I have five yuan." Zhou Dongdong opened the red envelope, took out the money to look at it, put it back in, patted the red envelope in her pocket, and then went to the convenience store.

"I have so much money... hehe..." Shangguan Dandan took out all the red RMB notes and counted them three times, unable to stop laughing. Recently, she had more money than she could spend and had even saved some.

Liu Chang'an and Shangguan Dandan both received one thousand yuan.

Liu Chang'an also took out three red envelopes and gave them to them.

"I have five yuan." Zhou Dongdong opened the red envelope, took out the money to look at it, put it back in, patted the red envelope in her pocket, and thought, "I can go to the convenience store now +1."

"I have so much..." Shangguan Dandan took it and was about to say that she had a lot of money, but she felt that the weight was wrong. She frowned and opened it, and it turned out to be the same as Zhou Dongdong's, five yuan!

Without saying a word, Shangguan Dandan stuffed the red envelope into her pocket, then touched the thermos, took out another red envelope from her other pocket, took out the original hundred yuan, put in only five yuan, and handed it to Liu Chang'an.

"Thank you." Liu Chang'an smiled and accepted it.

Shangguan Dandan didn't want to pay attention to him.

"This is for you." In addition to giving Zhou Shuling a red envelope, Liu Chang'an also gave her a small glass bottle.

"What is this? Cosmetics?" Zhou Shuling was unexpectedly happy. She hadn't expected to receive so much more than she thought. Besides the red envelope, there was also a gift, and a small glass bottle filled with a clear liquid.

"It's for drinking. One drop a day, mixed into milk or other tea. It's good for longevity and beauty," Liu Chang'an said.

Zhou Shuling happily wiggled her waist, touched the small bottle and looked at it, pursed her lips, feeling a sweet feeling in her heart for some reason, not entirely because Liu Chang'an said that this thing could prolong life and beautify the skin.

Shangguan Dandan gave Zhou Dongdong a bracelet to wear. Liu Chang'an noticed that the bracelet's material seemed similar to that of the Eternal Cabinet, and figured that Shangguan Dandan wouldn't harm Zhou Dongdong, so he didn't ask any further questions.

Shangguan Dandan gave Zhou Shuling a jade seal. It looked like a very fine piece of mutton fat jade, with a pure and flawless color and a crystal-clear luster. The seal knob was a relief carving of a crouching dragon-tiger, with a fierce image and a lifelike posture, reflecting an extremely high level of carving craftsmanship.

"What do these four characters mean...? I recognize three: Emperor... Empress... Mountain... but I don't recognize the last one." Zhou Shuling showed it to Liu Chang'an and asked, puzzled.

It turned out to be a seal that could be called a seal. Liu Changan glanced at Shangguan Dandan first. Shangguan Dandan had already begun to have a serious meal with Zhou Dongdong. Liu Changan explained, "You overestimate yourself. You only know two words, that is not a mountain, but a zigzag. The Queen's Seal is a good handicraft. It is worth at least several thousand dollars."

Zhou Shuling didn't bother to be polite about such an expensive little stone; she could simply reciprocate by buying Shangguan Dandan more delicious food, cosmetics, and clothes later.

Zhou Shuling quickly went to collect the small stones worth several thousand yuan before returning to eat.

Liu Chang'an recalled that, to date, only Empress's Seal from the Han Dynasty has survived to this day, and it is a national treasure that is prohibited from being exhibited abroad.

This old lady is really... Oh well, whatever. Let's eat. Aside from teasing Zhou Shuling and Zhou Dongdong, Liu Chang'an didn't say much while eating.

Well, when Shangguan Dandan and Qin Yanan get together again and cause trouble for Liu Chang'an, he will tell Qin Yanan that Shangguan Dandan gave the Empress's Seal to Zhou Shuling.