Chapter 52 Advanced Leaf Play
In the blink of an eye, ten days have passed.

I just finished class this morning.

After Master Zhuang left, Yang Wenyuan found Wang Ruofu and said that his aunt, Mrs. Chen, would come to visit their home the next day, and he and Yang Ruijin would be accompanying her.

Yang Yuqing would naturally not come, as such social interactions were the responsibility of the ladies of each family.

Mahjong was prepared a few days ago.

But mahjong requires four people to play together.

Being responsible for explaining the rules yourself definitely counts as one of them.

Mrs. Chen is one of them.

As for Yang Rujin, she is still young, so let her watch from the side first, and then practice after she has learned it. Let her spend time with Minglan, Rulan and other friends.

Yang Wenyuan thought about it and felt that the Yang family was still short of people.

It just so happens that my family hasn’t formally visited the Sheng family yet.

I had never made a formal visit to request admission to the cram school before, so now is the perfect time for us to come together.

She came to visit the Sheng family and invited Madam Wang and Old Lady Sheng to the mahjong table, directly following the route of the female elders of the Yue family.

When Wang Ruofu heard Yang Wenyuan say that Madam Chen and her family were coming to visit, she was overjoyed and agreed without any hesitation. She also kindly reminded him that it was freezing cold outside and it would be inconvenient to travel, so she might as well go out later and travel slower, and it would not be too late to come near noon.

Yang Wenyuan smiled and nodded, but he knew in his heart that it was just a polite remark and it was impossible for him to come so late.

the next day.

Although they didn't have to get up in the dark, Mrs. Chen and Yang Ruijin still got up quite early, only making Yang Wenyuan, who had been waiting in the front hall, wait for half a quarter of an hour.

Seeing that Madam Chen and Yang Ruijin were dressed up, each holding a delicate and exquisite hand warmer in their hands, Yang Wenyuan immediately took the handkerchief handed to him by the maid next to him, wiped his hands after eating the cakes, and got up to leave the house.

In the Yang family carriage.

"You've hidden it for so long, and you're finally willing to take it out?"

Madam Chen glanced at the sandalwood box at Yang Wenyuan's feet and said teasingly, "But you are really a traitor. The product has just been made and we haven't even seen what it looks like yet, but you want to send it to the Sheng family."

"That's right, that's right!" Yang Ruijin nodded in agreement with a stern face.

Yang Wenyuan smiled helplessly and said, "Aunt, please don't tease me. This game really requires a lot of people to play together. If there are not enough people, we can't get a table together. My uncle has to take part in the game, and Rujin is too young to play with her. That's why I thought that Madam Wang and Old Lady Sheng from the Sheng family could make up the number of people."

Mrs. Chen nodded slightly.

"Then I want to see what this thing of yours is that requires four people to figure it out together. If it's not fun, you won't be able to pass my test!"

"Yes! I can't get through!"

Yang Rujin agreed again, but when she heard Yang Wenyuan say that she was too young to play with Mrs. Chen, she immediately became unhappy and said, "Why don't you count me in just because I'm young? This is not fair!

Cousin, don't forget that you promised me at the beginning that I should be the first one!"

"I didn't forget. I just told you not to play with your aunt. I didn't say you couldn't play with your classmates."

Who says there is only one way to play mahjong?

There is a game called "drawing cards", which is very suitable for young people like Yang Ruijin.

All the mahjong tiles are shuffled and then placed face down in rows. A pair of dice is then used to decide the order. Each person flips over the tiles in turn. If they get the same tile, they can take it away and it will serve as their points. The person with the highest number of points wins.

If we add a little bit of extra bonus, this way of playing will be more interesting, and Yang Ruijin will definitely like it.

Drawing cards was Yang Wenyuan's favorite way to play mahjong when he was a child. He and his friends could play for an entire afternoon. Yang Rujin was still unwilling to give in, but was suppressed by the vested interest, Mrs. Chen.

Ten days ago, there was the first snowfall of this year, which didn’t last long, with only a few snowflakes falling in between.

Today was a sunny day. The remaining snow on the road had just started to melt, so the road was a bit slippery. The carriage dared not go too fast, and it took twice as much effort as usual to reach Jiying Lane.

"This house of the Sheng family is quite nice!"

Madam Chen got off the carriage, looked up at the Sheng family's mansion, and nodded approvingly.

She had known where the Sheng family lived before, and was a little surprised to learn that it was Jiying Lane. After all, this was considered a wealthy area.

Inwards are the markets where the nobles live, while outwards are where famous scholars gather.

Officials of the same age as Sheng Hong probably couldn't afford to live in such a house.

I thought it was a simple yard, but looking at the shape, it must be quite large.

The house is of a decent size and in a good location, so it is considered a respectable family among the civil servants.

Yang Wenyuan listened and explained:

"This is the old house of the Sheng family. When the old master of the Sheng family passed the imperial examination and was most proud of himself, he bought a house with four or five entrances here based on his reputation as a third place winner."

Mrs. Chen nodded.

A house in the city of Bianjing would easily cost hundreds of thousands of strings of cash. It was unlikely that the Sheng family could afford such a large house. More importantly, there were many powerful people in the capital, and not everyone could afford such a house. There was also an invisible qualification for purchasing a house.

Many people cannot buy houses here even if they have money, and can only go to the markets outside to buy houses.

When she was learning about the Sheng family, Mrs. Chen also briefly learned about the living standards of officials of the same level as Sheng Hong.

Colleagues of similar level to Sheng Hong could at most buy houses in remote alleys.

The Sheng family actually owns a house in Jiying Lane. Madam Chen originally thought it was Old Lady Sheng’s dowry, but now it seems that it was not, but the Sheng family’s own work.

Yang Wenyuan continued:
"After the old man of the Sheng family married the old lady, the Sheng family took the opportunity to buy a garden at the back and connected the inside and outside, which made the Sheng family mansion look like it is now."

Sheng family.

Early in the morning, before it was fully light, Wang Ruofu got up early.

With mist puffing out of his mouth, he told Mama Liu to gather the maids in the house together, then he called out their names one by one and asked the ladies to start cleaning different areas.

Even the snow and dead leaves on the corridor were not spared, and they were cleaned up and sent out of the mansion, in an effort to leave a good impression on Madam Chen.

After a busy morning, the Sheng family's home, which had just been cleaned not long ago, looked even more refreshed, which made Wang Ruofu, who was inspecting everywhere, nod in approval.

After I finish cleaning the house, I think it’s about time.

Wang Ruofu immediately instructed Mother Liu to take people to open the door of the mansion and wait there. As soon as the Yang family arrived, she should be notified and go out to greet them immediately.

He was sitting in the front hall, talking to Hualan, who had just dressed up. His conversation was incoherent and he was obviously absent-minded.

He would stand up from time to time, walk to the door and look outside, which made Hualan laugh.

　Thanks to Banxia Fuling for the 500 reward!

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(End of this chapter)