Joy of Life: The Mei Family's Son Grows Up

Chapter 14 Name Change
The day after Wang Qinian's wedding, Wang Qinian asked for leave.

On the third day, take a day off.

On the fourth day, take a day off.

On the fifth day, take a day off.

...

It was not until the eighth day that Wang Qinian appeared in Mei Cheng'an's courtyard.

Mei Cheng'an received Wang Qinian very warmly and looked at him carefully.

"Old Wang, are you well?"

Wang Qinian glanced at him.

"Wang has always been in good health and does not need any care."

"Oh, yes, yes, I made a mistake."

Wang Qinian took out a stack of banknotes with a painful look on his face.

"Bill, please."

Mei Cheng'an took it and handed it to Xiaolan. Xiaolan counted it and said there was no problem with the number.

"Take it back to the counter and enter it into the account."

"Old Wang, getting married has drained all your family's wealth."

Wang Qinian sighed.

"I didn't empty my pocket, but the remaining money was taken away by my wife. Wang is now penniless and penniless."

"Is it really that serious? I think my sister-in-law is quite considerate. Didn't she leave you some pocket money?"

Wang Qinian opened his mouth to ask him how he knew that, but after opening his mouth for a long time, he closed it again.

"Hey!"

"You are newlyweds, why are you sighing? Your sister-in-law is so beautiful, just be happy. As the saying goes, there is gain and loss, you can't let you take all the advantages."

Wang Qinian thought about it and realized that this was indeed the truth.

Thinking of the gentleness on his wife's face when she was not angry, Wang Qinian chuckled with a shy look on his face, which made Mei Chengan almost burst out laughing.

This couple is a match made in heaven, and Lao Wang has them under his control.

Wang Qinian left after staying for a short while. He had to go buy meat and pastries, a task assigned to him by his wife.

What? How can I buy it without money? I'll buy it on credit. Mrs. Wang will pay the bill herself and won't give Wang Qinian any chance to take kickbacks.

What? What if Wang Qinian colluded with the vendors to ask for more money? This operation is possible, but Wang Qinian didn't dare to do it. Once discovered, it would cost lives.

The lady is Wang Qinian’s heaven.

……

In the following days, life became much more dull and Mei Cheng'an became increasingly busier. In addition to reading, practicing calligraphy, and cultivating true qi, he also had to instruct the maids in swordsmanship, light skills, and internal energy training. He occasionally inspected stores, acted as a waiter on the street, looked for delicious food everywhere, and also found time to improve beer. He was extremely busy.

Although his days were fulfilling, he felt unbalanced when he suddenly found that he was busier than the maids.

He immediately hired several teachers to teach the maids music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Of course, this arrangement was not purely because he couldn't bear to see them being too idle, but simply because it was related to several dreams of his previous life.

In his previous life, when he watched costume dramas, he always couldn't help fantasizing that one day he would be able to dance with a sword to the murderous sound of the maid's piano, drink tea and play chess with others under a thousand-year-old tree, climb walls and run across eaves in a nightgown in the dark night, hold his beautiful wife and concubines in his arms and paint together with their smooth little hands in a place where mountain flowers are in full bloom, write beautiful calligraphy in public and attract everyone's admiration, and so on.

Hey, it seems like there's something strange mixed in.

But it doesn’t matter. Since he has come to this world, he must work hard to realize his dreams, otherwise his trip would be in vain.

As for the maids rolling their eyes at him, he couldn't see them at all.

The days passed quietly in the busyness, and three months passed in a flash.
On this day, Mei Chengan and four maids were grilling something in their own yard. What were they grilling?

Beggar's chicken, and sweet potatoes.

Mei Cheng'an suddenly wanted to eat, so he immediately asked the maids to start preparing. The maids were already accustomed to the young master's sudden whims and were not surprised.

There are chickens in the kitchen, lotus leaves in the lotus pond in Mei Mansion, and no shortage of seasonings. All the ingredients for beggar's chicken are complete, but sweet potatoes are also easy to come by. In Nanqing, which is located in the south, sweet potatoes are harvested in April. If it were in Northern Qi, farmers would just start sowing at this time of year, and the harvest would have to wait until autumn.

Now that all the ingredients are ready, let's get started. Xiaoju prepares the food, Xiaolan goes to cut lotus leaves, Xiaomei brings firewood to start a fire, and Xiaozhu goes to dig mud. Everyone does their job.

Mei Cheng'an sat in the shade, drinking iced sour plum soup, watching everyone busy, and giving instructions from time to time.

The summer in Kyoto is not as hot as in the previous life. The highest temperature is around 27 or 28 degrees, which is relatively cool.

Mei Cheng'an had already changed into light clothes, and the maids' clothes were even thinner, with almost transparent gauze from the chest upwards, but it didn't make people feel pornographic. This is how the maids of Qing Kingdom dressed, and Mei Cheng'an liked it very much.

If you want to roast the beggar's chicken until it is well-seasoned, it will take at least an hour, or two hours. Roasting sweet potatoes is much quicker, and it only takes about half an hour, the time it takes to stick an incense stick.

Xiaomei used a wooden stick to pull the sweet potatoes out of the fire. After letting them dry for a while, she picked up the roasted sweet potatoes, broke them apart, and handed them to Mei Chengan.

Mei Cheng'an took it. The place where the sweet potato was broken open was still steaming. The aroma of the roasted sweet potato was already filling his nose, tempting him to salivate.

I blew hard and felt it was about done, so I quickly took a bite of the sweet potato.

The sweet potato tastes hot, smooth, tender and sweet.

good to eat.

After eating two pieces in a row, Mei Cheng'an stopped eating and asked Mei, Lan, Zhu and Ju to share the rest. He had to save some food for the beggar's chicken.

The four maids each took a sweet potato and began to eat it, while Mei Chengan watched with relish.

Xiaomei had the most expressive expression, and ate the most carelessly, with sweet potatoes even on the tip of her nose.

Xiaolan became much more bored and ate in small bites with an expressionless face.

Xiaoju is the best at eating. She takes a spoon and scoops out the food.

Xiao Zhu is the most elegant of the four. He has the leisure to peel sweet potatoes, eating a little at a time, without any rush.

Just by eating a sweet potato, the personalities of the four people were revealed.

Xiaomei is the most lively and lovely, but a little impulsive. Xiaolan is the most calm and reliable. Xiaozhu is elegant and calm, and the most patient. As for Xiaoju, she is very smart and knows how to use her brain.

As he thought about it, Mei Cheng'an somehow thought of Xue Zhong and several of Xu Fengnian's maids, each of whom had her own unique qualities.

An idea suddenly occurred to me: do I want to link it to an IP?

Once this idea came to my mind, it couldn't be stopped. It began to spread wildly and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea.

Very interesting isn't it?

You have to change your name, no one can stop you.

Having made up his mind, Mei Cheng'an looked back and forth among the four maids and finally locked on Xiaomei.

"Sister Xiaomei."

"Huh? What's wrong with the young master?" Xiaomei lifted her face up from the sweet potato, with a lot of sweet potato puree on her face and nose.

Mei Cheng'an's mouth twitched. He felt around his body, took out a handkerchief and handed it over.

"Wipe your face first."

Xiaomei was stunned for a moment, a trace of shyness appeared on her face, and then she wiped it with a handkerchief.

"Sister Xiaomei, who gave you your names?"

"Master, you got it. Have you forgotten?"

Mei Cheng'an searched his memory and had no recollection of this incident.

"When we first entered the mansion, the steward named us Xiaohong, Xiaoqing, Xiaohuang, and Xiaolu. After we were taught, we were assigned to take care of the young master. The young master was only four years old at the time, and he thought our names were too vulgar and ugly, so he changed them to Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju. At that time, the mistress also said that we couldn't be called Xiaomei because it conflicted with the master's name, but the young master insisted, so the mistress didn't say anything."

Mei Cheng frowned, not expecting that she had something to do with this.

"I was young and ignorant at the time, so I changed your names randomly. Please don't mind me, sisters, but I will change my name when I know I'm wrong. I have decided to change your names back."

Upon hearing this, Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum looked at each other and saw confusion in each other's eyes.

Young Master, what's wrong with you all of a sudden?

Mei Chengan continued, "But Xiaohong and Xiaolv don't sound good either. Let's improve it. Does Sister Xiaomei like sweet potatoes?"

Xiaomei was confused as to why the topic suddenly came up again: sweet potatoes.

"I like it."

"Then you will be called Sweet Potato from now on."

"what?"

"Sister Xiaolan, let's call her Bluebird. Xiaoju and Huang don't sound good. Since you like to study food, let's call her Cucumber. As for Sister Xiaozhu, red clay stove and green ant new wine, let's call her Green Ant. What do you think, sisters? Are you satisfied with the new names?"

Xiaolan thinks it's okay. Bluebird sounds much better than Xiaolan.

Xiao Zhu was particularly satisfied because the young master had specially attached a poem for her name. Although it was only half a poem, she was still very happy and felt like she had found a treasure. She kept reciting the sentence in her heart: "Red clay stove, green ants, new wine, what should the second half be?" I like it very much.

Xiaomei and Xiaoju were not very happy. They were bluebirds and green ants, at least they were animals, which sounded elegant. Not to mention, the young master even wrote a poem about it. What about them? They were just ordinary food that could be found everywhere in daily life. The difference was obvious when the two were compared.

"Master, you are biased. Why should I be called Sweet Potato?" Xiaomei was not convinced.

"That's right! You are so biased! Why am I called Cucumber? Cucumbers are green, not yellow." Xiaoju was also dissatisfied.

"Come here, I'll explain it to you two in secret."

Xiaomei and Xiaoju stepped forward reluctantly.

Mei Cheng'an first pulled Xiaomei aside, and the two of them squatted on the ground. Mei Cheng'an looked at Xiaomei and whispered, "What are the characteristics of sweet potatoes? They are sweet, smooth and tender. I named you Sweet Potato because you are beautiful, with a sweet smile, and your skin is smooth and tender, which is similar to sweet potatoes. The other names are not as good as mine. They were all randomly chosen. Only your name has a hidden meaning. You should taste it carefully."

As Xiaomei listened, the dissatisfaction in her heart gradually disappeared, leaving only shyness and joy.

"I'm not as good as you say, young master. I'm so embarrassed."

"Do you still think sweet potatoes don't sound good now?"

"That sounds good. I like sweet potatoes the most. From now on, I will be called Sweet Potato."

"I knew you would like it. Remember to keep what I told you a secret to avoid making them jealous. Remember?"

"Remember, remember, Master, don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut."

"Okay, go ahead and call Cucumber over."

"it is good!"

Hongshu left happily, and a few seconds later Xiaoju came over with a gloomy face.

"Sister Xiaoju, your piano teacher said that you are the most talented in piano and your progress is the fastest. I know that you are the smartest among you. The snacks you make are also the most delicious. They are my favorite. That's why I named you Cucumber. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Xiaoju, whose anger had mostly dissipated after being flattered by Mei Cheng'an, turned into a qualified supporting actor.

(End of this chapter)