Chapter 354 - 63_3

Words : 1231 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 354: Chapter 63_3At this moment, Ding Laoer hurried over with his eldest son from the side corridor. Ding Laoer knelt on the straw mat, ready to return the courtesy, with his eldest son personally bringing incense to offer. Combining the reactions of the elders during the previous ritual, Li Zhiyuan guessed that the Ding family must have been servants of the Qin family in the early years. Liu Yumei staying at the Ding family meant she was entering a servant’s household, and as servants, they naturally had to kneel before their masters. Though it was an old custom, there were still elders who respected it. Of course, the reason they upheld it was certainly not because they respected "traditional customs". Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but wonder, with the current state of decline in the Qin Liu family’s population, what could still compel these elders to willingly bow their heads and uphold the old ways? Liu Yumei lit the incense and inserted it into the incense burner. She stepped back twice and looked at the straw mat in front of her. Ding Laoer immediately kowtowed, "Young Madam, it’s not proper, my brother cannot bear your courtesy." Many elders behind him also spoke out to dissuade her, saying it was against the rules. Liu Yumei did not insist on performing the ritual, instead she looked towards Li Zhiyuan: "Xiao Yuan, it should have been Alii standing in for me, so would you please make the effort and stand in for Alii. Boss Ding was a real man back in the day; even I would have to look up to him." "Okay." Li Zhiyuan stepped forward and began the sacrificial ritual. To be honest, this process, even if someone as unversed in rituals as Li Sanjiang were to come, wouldn’t be nearly as proficient as the boy. No way around it, one was a local customs enthusiast, the other was a seasoned researcher, and those books the boy read were not in vain. After the sacrificial ceremony was completed, Ding Laoer began to return the courtesy; his left thumb stood erect, while he clenched his right hand and raised it upwards, then crossed them in front of him, and finally swung both arms downward. This was the door ritual. Liu Yumei was about to say that Xiao Yuan didn’t understand these things, but then she saw the boy extend his right little finger downwards, clutch it with his left hand, make an upward leaping motion, then bring his curved arms in front of his chest, and nod his head thrice as he returned the courtesy. All the elders around showed looks of appreciation and nostalgia. Liu Yumei immediately showed a puzzled look, who taught him that? In fact, it is recorded at the beginning of "Qin’s Jiao Observation Method" that this set of movements is an internal ritual of the Qin family, but it originated from the earliest movements of observing feng shui and weather patterns, and similar operations of measuring distance and direction using only hand gestures without tools could also be found in other industries. Ding Laoer performed the lower ritual, like a python on the prowl; Li Zhiyuan performed the upper ritual, like a jiao guarding the gate. The boy naturally knew that after performing it, he would be suspected by Liu Yumei, and he did it deliberately. He had already been pre-admitted to Haihe University, and Alii was recovering better and better, and some things would eventually be laid out on the table. He would definitely tell Liu Yumei about the advanced understanding and recognition methods of "Qin’s Jiao Observation Method" and "Liu’s Qi Observation Technique" in the future. Ding Laoer had tears streaming down his face, at least in this moment, it wasn’t feigned, it was indeed a genuine outpouring of emotion. Because this scene reminded him of the days when he followed his elder brother to pay respects to several masters of the Qin family, when he was still young, and his brother was in his prime. A Family Head who was not adept at managing the household and was easily swayed by the affection of his youngest son was a bit muddled, and such people tended to be emotional and sensitive at heart. At this time, Zhen Mubai and Su Wenluo, who were standing behind, looked towards another elder named Sheng, who was previously seated at the end and was originally a servant of the Liu family. Elder Sheng unconsciously wiped the sweat from his forehead, then turned his head to his son and gestured, "Go on." His son, now with half-white hair, stepped out of the crowd and began to perform the Liu family’s door ritual towards Li Zhiyuan. Li Zhiyuan noticed that Liu Yumei’s eyes were already slightly narrowed; clearly, the old lady was angry. When a lion is tested, no matter how it reacts, in the eyes of others, the lion has already shown weakness. This is jianghu, where big fish eat little fish, and little fish eat shrimp, even if outwardly they pay respectful courtesies, but underneath the surface, undercurrents are still surging. Those two elders were trying to test what position Liu Yumei had arranged for the boy, which forced the Sheng family to take action. Liu Yumei turned her anger into a smile, "Xiao Yuan, what are you dawdling for, return the courtesy." Although she didn’t know where the boy learned the Qin family’s door ritual, Liu Yumei believed that since he knew the Qin’s, there was no reason he couldn’t do the Liu’s. Seeing Grandma Liu speak, Li Zhiyuan also returned the higher-status ritual to the white-haired man. At the moment the ritual was completed, Zhen Mubai and Su Wenluo unconsciously straightened their backs, the rest of the elders behind them also silently focused their attention, re-evaluating the boy. That’s right, being able to perform the door rituals of both the Qin and Liu families in public meant that the Young Madam (young lady) intended to let him inherit the threshold of the Qin Liu family in the future. At this time, Ding Laoer bowed and came over to softly ask, "Young Madam, may we be seated now?" Liu Yumei nodded. Everyone took their seats, with the seat of honor naturally belonging to Liu Yumei. The older generation sat at two tables, while the younger generation took another two tables. Li Zhiyuan originally wanted to have a separate meal with Alii, but was signaled by Aunt Liu to join the table; she then took Alii away. For the sake of Alii’s face, Li Zhiyuan had no choice but to sit honorably in her place; he was also at the head of the table, flanked by peers surnamed Zhen and Su, while everyone else was much older than the three of them. S~eaʀᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The table was lively, with the tables so close that they could talk and listen to each other. The older generation really knew how to speak artistically, while the youngsters here were imitating art. Li Zhiyuan could tell that they were indirectly trying to pry information from him, aiming to find out more about him; the man and woman sitting by his side kept calling him "Brother Yuan" affectionately, but they were the ones probing most meticulously.

Chapter 354 - 63_3

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