Chapter 179: Chapter 161, Lantern Festival_1
In the first month, the provincial capital was bustling with various kinds of street performances changing daily.
In these past few days, Li Xingnian often took the three from the Daohua and the Li siblings out for leisurely walks, shopping, or to eat and listen to storytelling, with the little ones enjoying themselves immensely every day.
In the blink of an eye, the Lantern Festival arrived.
“Sister Zixuan, do we need to leave so early?” Daohua opened her pocket watch and saw it was only the fourth quarter of the hour of Shen (6 PM), and it was still light outside.
As Li Zixuan was helping Daohua onto the horse, she said, “It’s not early. You don’t know because it’s your first time, but every year during the Lantern Festival, the streets are incredibly crowded. If we leave late, we will definitely get stuck.”
“We have to go early to see the float parade. Otherwise, when night falls, the entire main street will be packed with people, and we won’t be able to move through the crowd at all.”
Hearing this, Daohua stopped protesting and silently followed Sister Zixuan onto the carriage.
Concerned about safety, both uncles and aunts would be going this time. At the moment, they were already seated in the carriage up front. Once the young ones were seated, the carriage headed towards the main street.
When they were still two streets away from the main street, Daohua and the rest of the Li family got out of the carriage.
“We’ll have to walk the rest of the way; it’s too crowded here for carriages,” Li Zixuan explained softly to Daohua.
Daohua nodded. She didn’t need her cousin to explain; she could see the situation for herself.
It was just getting dark, and the streets were already teeming with people.
After Li Xingnian arranged for the carriages to be properly parked, the group made their way toward the main street.
“Chenyi, you boys shouldn’t just look out for yourselves when having fun. Make sure to take care of your three sisters!” Li Xingnian reminded them.
Li Chenyi immediately responded, “Don’t worry, Uncle, we’ll take good care of the girls.”
Afterward, Li Chenyi led the way, swiftly heading to the restaurant they had reserved with his younger brothers and sisters.
“Big cousin is so considerate!”
During the walk, Yan Wenxiu stayed by Daohua’s side, occasionally reaching out his hand to block the people jostling against the three siblings.
Hearing Li Zixuan’s comments, Daohua covered her mouth and giggled. “My eldest brother is naturally good, it’s just that if he didn’t always talk about rules and etiquette, it would be even better.”
Seeing Daohua’s playful demeanor, Li Zixuan laughed. “Be content. We would love to have such a gentle, erudite, and knowledgeable brother.”
Daohua: “All three cousins are great too. The eldest cousin is steady, the second cousin is hearty, and the third cousin is gentle and attentive. They always think about you when it comes to delicious or fun things; they really act like brothers!”
Li Zixin pouted, “That’s only because you’re here. Normally, they wouldn’t take us out to play at all.”
Daohua smiled, “Boys and girls like different things. I think as long as a brother can protect his sisters, he is a good brother.”
Suddenly, Li Zixuan pulled Daohua into a jog. “Stop talking, we’re almost at the restaurant we booked.”
The main street was decorated with lights and colors, and all the major restaurants were overflowing with people.
“My little treasures, slow down, don’t get lost,” the eldest aunt called out now and then as a reminder.
Even though Daohua and her party left quite early, by the time they reached the reserved restaurant, the sky had turned pitch black.
“My goodness, we finally made it, I feel like I’ve been squeezed flat!”
Upon entering the private dining room of the restaurant, Yan Wenkai exaggeratedly exclaimed, triggering laughter from everyone.
It was indeed like battling through a war.
Although it was still quite chilly on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, after such a trek, Daohua had worked up quite a sweat and had to use a handkerchief to wipe the perspiration from her forehead upon entering the room.
The sisters Li Zixuan and Li Zixin pulled Daohua to the window to look at the dense, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd outside.
Li Zixin: “Thank goodness father reserved a restaurant in advance, otherwise, we’d also be outside squeezing with everyone else.”
Glancing around, Li Zixuan expressed a hint of regret, “It would have been nice to book a spot upstairs, then we could see farther.”
The room Li Xingchang had reserved was on the first floor; even that was only possible because he called in some favors.
Li Zixin sighed, “On Lantern Festival day, it’s impossible to get a spot in any restaurant on the main street without a reservation. Dad had to reserve this room more than ten days in advance.”
Daohua was left tongue-tied.
“Isn’t that the young Miss Li?”
Suddenly, a flirtatious female voice came from outside the room.
The room was open, and when Daohua turned around, she saw several well-dressed young ladies looking their way.
Li Zixuan responded with a smile and a nod.
Turning her head away, Li Zixin muttered to Daohua in a low voice, “Those are the daughters of the head of the provincial commerce association, always strutting around full of pride because of their family’s standing. Normally, they barely acknowledge us with a nod.”
“Today, they’re greeting us just to show off that they’ve got connections and wealth enough to book a better room.”
As expected, the leading young lady asked loudly with a smile, “Miss Li, why are you sitting on the first floor instead of going up to the second?”
As these words were spoken, the other young ladies began to exchange smiles and giggle among themselves.
Li Zixin immediately said, “We like sitting on the first floor.”
The president family’s young miss covered her mouth and chuckled, “What can you see from the first floor, a sea of heads, or their backs?”
Li Zixin huffed, “We just like watching the heads and backs. This restaurant only has two floors anyway. You’re just a bit higher than us, what’s there to be so smug about?”
The smile on the president family’s young miss’ face paused for a moment, and she glared at Li Zixin. Her gaze suddenly fell upon Daohua, sizing her up from head to toe. Seeing her dressed impressively, she smiled and asked, “I don’t think I’ve seen this younger sister before. Which family is she from?”
Li Zixin: “Of course you haven’t seen her before. She’s my aunt’s cousin.”
On hearing this, the president family’s young miss’ eyes lit up. Weren’t Li Zixin’s aunts married to officials?
She smiled and said, “Our family has a private room upstairs. You three probably can’t even see the framework of the lantern floats from the first floor. Why don’t you join us?” Her tone carried an air of condescending charity.
Li Zixuan and Li Zixin did not speak but instead looked towards Daohua.
Daohua, seeing both of them looking at her and noticing that the uncles and aunts in the private room seemed unaware of their conversation, gave a smile, “I think the first floor is quite nice, and it seems like this young lady’s family has plenty of members. We won’t disturb you then.”
Li Zixin immediately nodded her head, “Right, we won’t disturb you.”
The president family’s young miss frowned but quickly masked it with a smile and continued, “The Lantern Festival only happens once a year. How could watching a sea of heads from the first floor be enjoyable? But since we’ve met, I’ll ask my sisters to make some space, and you can come up with us.”
At this, Daohua was somewhat taken aback.
Was there something wrong with this young miss’ head from the president family? Didn’t she hear them saying they didn’t want to go up?
Li Zixin snorted coldly, “If you’re talking about the best view of the lantern parade, you’d have to be at Chong Building. What’s so great about a restaurant’s second floor? You’d only get a glimpse of the float frames, not much different from the first floor.”
The president family’s young miss was left speechless, a hint of anger passing over her face.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Li family had relatives who were officials, she wouldn’t have bothered wasting her breath here.
To the side, the four adults from the Li family did not intervene in the children’s affairs and were chatting and laughing among themselves.
Just then, more people entered the restaurant.
This time, adults came in, notably the respected head of the Chamber of Commerce along with members from several mercantile families.
Seeing Li Xingchang and Li Xingnian, the head of the Chamber of Commerce immediately said with a smile, “Why did you Li bosses reserve only a private room on the first floor? Come on, we have space upstairs, the view is better from there.”
Li Xingchang smilingly declined, “Thank you for the kind offer but it’s not very convenient with the women we brought along this time. Maybe next time.”
A merchant stepped forward with a sycophantic smile, “Has Li boss made such a big fortune that you look down on us now?”
Li Xingchang did not respond. Selling watermelons last year had brought the Li family quite a bit of attention, and many were jealous.
The head of the Chamber of Commerce glanced over the people in the room, his gaze lingering on the three siblings from the Yan family, “How about letting some of the young ones come up?”
Li Xingnian laughed, “My children are too boisterous, we won’t bother you.”
The head of the Chamber of Commerce smiled at the Li brothers without further persuasion. After chatting for a few sentences and standing for a short while, he turned and left with his daughters and the others.
“This Li family really doesn’t know how to appreciate generosity!”
An ambiguous snicker floated into the private room.
Daohua glanced at her uncles and aunts, noting their lack of reaction and thus let go of the matter.
Afterwards, more people gradually entered the restaurant, many of whom knew the Li family.
Seeing the Li family members sitting on the first floor, they all showed smug, patronizing expressions, feigning invitations to satisfy their comparative egos, then strutted away.
Daohua admired how the Li uncles and aunts remained unfazed, always smiling, and she felt deeply impressed. At the same time, she couldn’t help but reflect.
Indeed, wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and there are sharp edges.
The restaurant that the Li family had reserved wasn’t located in the best position on the main street. The prime spots were mostly taken by the aristocratic families and officials.
The lantern parade would start from the tail of the main street and move towards the head, ending at Chong Building where the lanterns would be lit and sent soaring all at once.
Therefore, all they could do was join in the bustle.
They didn’t have to wait long before the streets began to come alive.
The lantern parade was about to start.
Even if she could only see the crowd and heads, Daohua was brimming with excitement. Being a part of this communal joy and feeling the lively atmosphere was thrilling.
At that moment, a squad of bodyguards briskly entered the restaurant, heading straight for Daohua’s private room.
“Young Miss Yan, Young Master Yan, we’ve finally found you.”
Seeing Zhao Ergou, Daohua was surprised, “How did you get here?”
Zhao Ergou smiled, “The master is at Chong Building watching the lanterns and is waiting for you all to join him there.”