The Cycle of Reincarnation in the Four-Courtyard House: A Journey Through the Heavens

He Daqing was obviously aware that his wife had a deep connection with the Li family, so he now treated Li Xiao as one of his own.

"It's alright, Uncle He. I can hold my liquor pretty well. My whole family moved here today, and we hope everyone will continue to support us. I'll drink this bowl in advance as a sign of respect!"

After he finished speaking, he drank the bowl of liquor, which contained at least half a jin (250ml), clean in one gulp. Then he turned the bowl upside down without spilling a single drop.

"Okay, Li, you're really generous!"

"Little Li is really great!"

In China, the drinking culture has always been about judging a person's character by how they drink.

Li Xiao's hearty drinking manners immediately won the favor of the men at the table, who all picked up their wine bowls and took a big gulp.

Although the weather was cold, the courtyard was bustling with activity.

By the time the banquet ended, it was already dark.

Almost all the men sitting at the same table with Li Xiao were completely drunk, while Li Xiao still looked like he hadn't had enough.

Just kidding, with his current metabolic rate, he could drink ten kilograms of this strong liquor without even getting dizzy.

When Li Xiao returned home, he saw his mother still packing some clothes and bedding.

At this moment, in the east bedroom of the main house, the coal stove that Lu Yuan had brought had been lit. The long chimney and stove body emitted scorching heat, making the entire bedroom very warm.

"Big brother, you're back!"

"Big Brother...Brother Xiao..."

Inside the room, Li Feng and two little girls were sitting on a warm kang (heated brick bed), each holding a picture book.

Li Xiao smiled and patted the heads of the three little ones.

"You guys have fun!"

"Xiao'er, are you alright?"

Wang Xia witnessed Li Xiao drinking with that group of men today, and she looked at her son with some worry.

"Mom, I'm fine, I'm perfectly healthy!"

After he finished speaking, he jumped up and down on the spot.

Wang Xia wrung out a hot towel from the basin and handed it to Li Xiao.

"Hurry up and wipe yourself off. Mom made you a strong cup of tea to help you sober up!"

"Okay!"

Li Xiao washed his face with the hot water in the basin, and the disguise on his face was wiped away, revealing a fair and clean face.

Wang Xia already knew her son was wearing makeup, so she wasn't surprised.

Just then, there was a knock on the gate of their east courtyard.

Wang Xia quickly went over and opened the door. Standing outside were He Daqing and his family.

"Mingzhi, Daqing, you've arrived! Please come inside!"

"Okay, sure!"

The couple led He Yuzhu into the east courtyard, where Li Xiao also came out from the main house.

"Uncle He, Auntie, Zhuzi, you've arrived!"

Li Xiao lifted the cotton curtain at the door and welcomed He Daqing and his family into the east bedroom.

"Wow, it's so warm in here!"

He Daqing smiled and put down the pastries wrapped in oil paper.

"I don't have anything special here. These are some Beijing delicacies that the host gave me as a gift when I prepared a banquet for a wealthy family a few days ago!"

"Great Qing, you've come, so what are you bringing?"

Li Xiao took out a few pieces of candy and stuffed them into He Yuzhu's hand.

"Zhu Zi, go play with your cousins, they have comic books to read!"

He Yuzhu was born in 1935 and is seven years old this year. He is two years younger than Li Feng and one year older than Li Qian.

He was her cousin's son, so they were cousins.

He Yuzhu chuckled, wiped the snot that was about to drip into his mouth, and then took off his shoes and got on the kang (a heated brick bed). The children quickly became friends.

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Xiao picked up the white porcelain teapot on the kang table and poured everyone a cup of hot tea.

Wang Xia couldn't wait to ask, "Mingzhi, where did your father go back then? I heard from Xiao'er's father that in order to find Xiao'er's second grandfather, the old master sold all the land in the family and searched for five whole years without any news."

Upon hearing this, Li Mingzhi's eyes also filled with tears.

"I heard about this from my dad when I was a child."

He said that he was taken away by a man named Ma Ergou, who was an outsider to the village, and was eventually sold to a family surnamed Li in Tianjin.

Through Li Mingzhi's account, Li Xiao and Wang Xia finally understood the reasons behind Li Zhankui's disappearance years ago.

When Li Zhankui was just over three years old, he was taken away from his home by Ma Ergou, a son-in-law from out of town.

This Ma Ergou's real name is Ma Younian. He usually idles away his time.

His wife's family was quite well-known in the area. Her father-in-law, Li Defang, was a scholar from the late Qing Dynasty who ran a private school in the town.

Ma Ergou's mother-in-law had given birth to five daughters in a row, but no sons. After the first four daughters got married, Li Defang wanted to find a son-in-law to live with her youngest daughter.

In the end, Ma Younian, who was handsome but whose parents had passed away and who was destitute, was taken in by the Li family as a son-in-law.

This guy, now that he has enough to eat and wear, gradually started to develop some bad habits.

After being taken to a gambling den in town by some local thugs, he became completely addicted.

After Ma Ergou became addicted to gambling, he would steal his wife's jewelry to sell after losing money. After selling all of his wife's jewelry, he would steal his mother-in-law's gold and silver jewelry.

As time went on, Li Defang naturally found out about it.

At first, Scholar Li tried his best to persuade him to turn back from the wrong path, but the boy only became more and more reckless.

Finally, Li Xiucai could no longer tolerate it and prepared to take him and his daughter to get a divorce.

When Ma Ergou was driven to desperation, he stole most of Li Xiucai's money and then disappeared.

Li Xiucai was so angered by this incident that he fell ill and died six months later.

Later, after Ma Ergou spent all the stolen money, he joined a group of human traffickers in the business of selling children.

Once, he learned that there was a scholar named Li in Tianjin who had no heir, so he wanted to buy a boy as a son to carry on the Li family line.

Then Ma Ergou remembered that Li Wentang, the big landlord of Lijiazhuang, had a three-year-old son named Li Zhankui.

Thanks to the excellent genes inherited from the Li family, Li Zhankui has an extremely handsome appearance. Coupled with his good living conditions, he looks like a lovely porcelain doll.

During the late Qing Dynasty, most families lived in poverty. Even if a family had a boy, he would be dark-skinned and thin, and would not meet the physical requirements.

Since the goal is to find a successor for that scholar, these poor, thin children from ordinary families are definitely not suitable.

That's why Ma Ergou set his sights on Li Zhankui.

After Li Zhankui was taken away by him, he was sent to Tianjin overnight.

When the scholar named Li Jinsong first saw Li Zhankui, he took a liking to the boy and bought him for two hundred taels of silver.

From then on, Li Zhankui became the adopted son of Li Juren.

Ma Ergou told Li Juren that the child also had the surname Li and was named Li Zhankui. The family had too many children and simply couldn't afford to raise them all.

When the Li family learned that the person who wanted to adopt Li Zhankui was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, they were very pleased, and that's when he brought the child over.

Li, the scholar, was very satisfied with this, and he didn't change the child's name, simply using the name Li Zhankui.