Gu Qian smiled and waved his hand and said: "Yongzhi, can't I use my birthday to make money? Li Hui, you don't need to give gifts, just kowtow. Tell everyone, there is no need to give gifts."
Han Yong bowed and said: "Dong Weng, you are not afraid of a small gift, but you are afraid of not having the heart and sincerity to be grateful. Dong Weng takes good care of the young man of the Li family. If he refuses to even give him a birthday gift, wouldn't it mean that he has nothing to offer?"
Gratitude? Even if he is sending birthday cakes, it can be regarded as his intention. But I see that he is empty-handed and does not seem to have this intention at all."
Gu Qian stroked his long beard gently and looked at Li Hui thoughtfully. He agreed with Han Yong's statement in his heart. He didn't need him to spend any money to give him any expensive birthday gifts, but if he didn't even want to give him a pack of birthday cakes and a pack of noodles,
It is true that he is a little arrogant and does not take himself seriously.
Gu Qingning stood behind Gu Qian, looking at Li Hui, feeling anxious for him. This man actually stood there with nothing. Even if he didn't have any expensive gifts, he should have prepared some ordinary birthday gifts. Isn't this embarrassing?
If I had known this earlier, I would have prepared one for him.
Everyone looked at Li Hui, but Li Hui looked as usual. He stepped forward slowly and saluted Gu Qian, saying, "On Dong Weng's birthday, I would like to express my sincere wishes to you, Dong Weng, from Li Hui, who wishes the sun and moon to be prosperous, and the pine and crane to be everlasting."
Gu Qian nodded and said, "Thank you for your kind words."
Li Huidao said: "It's Dong Weng's birthday. I don't have any birthday gifts that I can offer, and I feel very ashamed."
Han Yong sneered from the side and said, "Are you really empty-handed?"
Gu Qian waved his hand and said, "Yongzhi, don't do this."
Li Hui said in a deep voice: "It's Dongweng's birthday, how could I come here empty-handed? It's just a small gift, so I'm a little embarrassed to take it out."
Gu Qian chuckled and said, "What's that? It's all about your heart. Even if it's a pack of birthday cakes, it's still a heartfelt gift. Don't mind it."
Li Hui nodded and said, "Thank you Dong Weng for your understanding. I'll go get it right now."
Everyone was astonished. After working for a long time, the birthday gift had not been received yet. Gu Chang, Han Yong and others looked sarcastic and disdainful, and everyone was talking about it.
The gift was in the corner of the yard. Li Hui had brought it over when he came in the morning. It was a tangerine object wrapped in a straw curtain. Li Hui carried the thing wrapped in a straw curtain to the entrance of the hall. Everyone was puzzled.
Everyone stretched their necks to look at it, wondering what Li Hui had given him, but it was quite big.
Li Hui pulled away the straw rope and pulled down the straw curtain to reveal the birthday gift. It was a large wooden chair with a high back and half a person's height. After being colored with tung oil, it turned purple-red. It was placed on the ground, horizontally and vertically.
Solemn and majestic.
"What is this...?" Everyone in the hall had never seen such a thing before, and looked at each other in confusion.
Gu Qian stood up and walked over and asked, "Li Hui, what kind of furniture is this?"
Li Huidao: "This is a chair that I specially built for Dong Weng. I saw that Dong Weng sat on a horse bed on a horse bed every day, and Dong Weng had a problem with his waist and was quite uncomfortable, so I designed this chair to make Dong Weng feel comfortable.
Weng can sit comfortably. Dong Weng can try to sit on it and have a look."
Gu Qian chuckled and said, "I see, I'll give it a try."
Gu Qian lifted up his robe and slowly sat down on the chair. His hands naturally rested on the armrests on both sides. His waist was naturally bent when it touched the backrest. He felt that his body was being supported. His posture was upright and extremely comfortable.
"Not bad, not bad. This chair is good. Did you make it yourself?" Gu Qian said with a smile.
"It took me four nights to make it. My carpenter's skills are not good, so this chair is rough and somewhat difficult to handle. Originally, the back of the chair, the lower rails, and the armrests on both sides could have been made into carved wood carvings, but
I really don't have the skills, so I can only make it horizontally and vertically. If Dong Weng needs to change it, he can ask a craftsman to modify it," Li Hui said.
Since Li Hui traveled here, he discovered one thing. People in the Jin Dynasty were still used to sitting cross-legged. There were only some rough wooden stools in his home, and not even a decent chair could be found in the Gu family.
Gu Qian usually sits on something called a bed, which is similar to a horse. It has a cross structure, can be folded and carried, and has a rope net in the middle. During banquets, he either sits on the couch or cross-legged
Kneel down and sit on the futon.
Li Hui realized that the Jin Dynasty did not seem to have the various seats of later generations. Gu Qian had a back problem and was often sore. A chair with a backrest would be practical. In addition, since there were no chairs in the Jin Dynasty,
, making a chair by yourself is considered a rarity. Wouldn’t it be a cheap and practical birthday gift? So he took it upon himself and made one according to his memory.
Gu Qian said in surprise: "You did it yourself and spent four nights building it yourself?"
Li Hui nodded and said: "Originally, I could have asked a craftsman to build it, but I thought that since it was a birthday gift for Dong Weng, it would be more thoughtful if I built it myself. So I drew the drawings and built it myself. I borrowed the Nan
They know how the craftsmen use their axes and chisels."
Gu Qian was greatly impressed. This young man was indeed very thoughtful and actually made a chair for himself to sit on. To be honest, this chair was indeed a bit rough, obviously due to poor craftsmanship. But this chair was dignified and dignified.
It's quite impressive. It stretches your back when you sit on it, making it very comfortable. The young man made it himself considering his back discomfort. Gu Qian was very satisfied with this thought alone.
"Okay, okay. I am very satisfied with this birthday gift. This chair is very good, you are very considerate, and I am very happy." Gu Qian nodded repeatedly.
Li Hui breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands and said, "Dong Weng likes it, so I can rest assured."
Gu Chang, who was standing aside, was very surprised and frowned: "Li Hui, you said you made this thing yourself? I don't believe it. When did you know this? Maybe someone else made it and you used it to please the good guy.
"
Gu Yundao said: "That's right, I seem to have seen this kind of chair in Health City. He must have bought it. He deliberately said that it was made by himself to deceive and flatter my uncle. He wanted to get some benefits and had evil intentions."
Gu Qian frowned. Li Hui did not argue, reached out and took out a stack of yellow paper from his sleeve and handed it to Gu Qian.
"Dong Weng, this is the drawing I drew when I was making this chair. I drew the style first, determined the size, and then started. All the drawings, the length of the wood, and the location of the mortise and tenon joints are all marked." Li Huidao
.
Gu Qian took it and looked through it one by one. Sure enough, the yellow paper contained a sketch of the chair. The length and dimensions of each piece of wood and how to connect the mortise and tenon joints were clearly marked on the front and back. On the last one,
The shape of the chair on the paper was exactly the same as the actual thing in front of him. Gu Qian also saw the words 'Shou Gong Chair' on the picture.
Gu Qian nodded slightly, raised his head and looked at Li Hui in surprise: "So you gave this chair a name, Shougong Chair... Is this the word you wrote?"
Li Huidao: "Yes. It was a random name. I thought it was given to Dong Weng as a birthday gift, so I gave it this name."
Gu Qian nodded and said: "The calligraphy is very good. But the calligraphy taught in the private school is Wang Youjun's calligraphy. The calligraphy you write seems to be different. Why is this?"
Li Huidao: "I wrote this randomly by myself. There is no order. It is not written according to Wang Youjun's book."
Gu Qian thought for a while and said: "Since you have given a name, why not write it on the chair? Come and write ink and ask Li Hui to write the name of the chair on the back of the chair, so that everyone will know that this chair is called 'Shou Gong'
The chair is gone.”
When Li Hui heard this, he felt bright in his heart. Gu Qian wanted to check his handwriting. He might not believe the words he wrote on the yellow paper. Or maybe he wanted to give himself a chance to prove it in public. When he was a child, he learned calligraphy from Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy.
, what is admired here is Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, and the two are quite different. So Gu Qian has to check the handwriting.
When the pen and ink were delivered, Li Hui did not refuse, dipped in ink and wrote the words "Shou Gong Chair" on the back of the chair. Gu Qian studied the handwriting for a long time, nodded slightly, and seemed to express soft admiration.
Soon after, he burst out laughing and said: "Very good, very good. I am very satisfied with this longevity chair. It's getting late, so I'll tell people to prepare for the banquet. Please take your seats."
Gu Chang and others also understood in their hearts that Li Hui had proved that the longevity chair was indeed made by him, and there was no reason to question it, so they gave up.
It was already noon, and a banquet was set up in the front hall of the courtyard. Everyone took their seats, exchanged glasses and started eating and drinking.
Li Hui was sitting at the banquet in the courtyard outside the hall, at the same table with a group of military nurses. While drinking and eating, he occasionally turned his head and saw Gu Qingning looking at the host table in the hall with a pair of big bright eyes.
Looking at himself, there is a smile in his eyebrows.
Li Hui remembered that her silk handkerchief was still in his arms, and he was afraid that he would not have the chance to return it to her today.
…
At noon there is a banquet for guests, and in the evening it is a family banquet within the Gu family.
In the evening, a banquet was set up on the grass in the back garden of the south house. Although the head of the Gu family, Gu Chun, did not attend, Gu Chang, Gu Yun and others came.
Gu Qingning started to build momentum in the afternoon and announced that he would add splendor to Ah Weng's birthday party tonight and give him a surprise.
Gu Qian expressed that he was looking forward to it. Although he knew Gu Qingning's abilities, he estimated that he would probably sing a song for himself or play a flute song. Others also estimated that this was the case, but everyone did not reveal it, saying that they did not know what the surprise was.
What.
After the sun set, the lights were lit. Everyone in the Gu family sat down at the table. Gu Qian had the longevity chair brought over, sat on it comfortably, and drank and laughed with everyone.
A group of people came forward to toast Gu Qian and say some auspicious words. Gu Qian had a good drinking capacity and would not refuse anyone who came. He drank until the glass was dry and drank to his heart's content.
Halfway through the banquet, the new moon hung in the sky. Gu Qian smiled and said to him: "Qingning, what's the surprise you want to give me? Why don't you give it to me? Can't you wait until Ah Weng gets drunk?"
Gu Chang chuckled and said: "Yes, my little sister disappeared and reappeared at the banquet for many times. Are you too tired to wait for uncle to say something? Why don't you take out your Xiang Fei flute and play it for uncle?
A song?"
Gu Qingning was really waiting for Gu Qian to ask, and she was anxious and uneasy. But when Gu Chang pointed it out, she was still unhappy.
She rolled her eyes at Gu Chang and said, "Cousin, don't be so smart. You guessed wrong. You all thought Qing Ning was going to play a song for Aweng, right? But that's not the case."
Gu Qian stroked his beard and smiled: "Oh? In that case, Aweng also guessed wrong. I thought you were going to play a song for Aweng that you just learned, 'Xiaoya'. That song is good, 'Zhizhi'
Sigan, the secluded Nanshan Mountain is as lush as bamboo buds and luxuriant as pine trees.'"
Gu Qian shook his head and closed his eyes and began to chant.
Gu Qingning smiled and said: "If I want to hear it, I can just sing it to you another day. But today I won't sing or play the flute. It's a different kind of surprise."
Gu Qian said: "Then what are you waiting for? I can't wait any longer."
Gu Qingning said: "Let's start now. Let's put out the lantern first."
Gu Qian smiled and said, "So many gimmicks? I'll just rely on you."