At that time, Chi Ge, Du Tonghe, and others were all at the Su family's home.
The few families living nearby decided to celebrate the New Year together cheerfully.
Seeing that the Su family had distinguished guests, they felt it would be inconvenient to stay and thought of leaving.
Li Jianhong and a few others were neither sitting nor standing comfortably.
As everyone was about to leave, they were stopped by Dong Yuanzhong.
Dong Yuanzhong insisted that they stay and chat together.
"Don't leave, everyone. It's rare to meet like this. Come, let's chat together. We're not strangers."
He said that he usually didn't have the chance to chat with so many people, and today was a rare opportunity.
Minister Wu and Minister Chang then asked Dong Yuanzhong to introduce these guests.
After hearing Dong Yuanzhong's introduction, Minister Chang stared at Grandpa Su in shock for a long time.
Finally, he said, "I now understand what 'no commoners among visitors' means. The Su family is not simple!"
Minister Wu laughed and said, "Yesterday, I invited Shen Zizhen to my home as a guest, and he said he was going to visit his father-in-law. I guessed he must have come here."
Shen Zizhen had become a rising star in the agricultural field in the past two years, and even leaders in the Ministry of Commerce had heard a lot about him.
Even though Minister Chang was not in charge of agricultural work, he had heard the great name of this person, who achieved something every now and then.
"Professor Shen is your son-in-law, Elder Brother Su?" Minister Chang asked in shock.
This question displeased Grandpa Su.
How should he answer this?
Say he was his son-in-law?
Clearly not!
Grandpa Su was also puzzled why Shen Zizhen would say he was visiting his father-in-law.
Although the two families had a good relationship, he was not his father-in-law!
"Professor Shen is my eldest brother's nephew-in-law, but the two families truly interact as close relatives."
At the critical moment, it was Dong Yuanzhong who stepped forward to explain.
His eldest brother was clearly still timid.
It was not surprising. The eldest brother had been an ordinary good person his whole life, and had limited experience with leaders. It was already quite good that he could sit here steadily.
To ease Grandpa Su's embarrassment, Dong Yuanzhong pointed at Chen Zi'an.
"This is my eldest brother's actual son-in-law. You might not be familiar with him, but you should have seen him."
As the top official in Licheng, and formerly the second-in-command, Chen Zi'an had been seen by many big shots from various ministries in the capital.
"I thought just now that this person resembled Secretary Chen of Licheng, but I didn't dare to think in that direction," Minister Chang said with a smile.
It was strange for the top official of Licheng to appear in the capital without reason, let alone at the Su family's home.
But since Dong Yuanzhong had explicitly stated that they should have seen him, it was undoubtedly the Secretary of Licheng.
Compared to Grandpa Su's timidity, Chen Zi'an was composed.
Although these people held much higher positions than him, Chen Zi'an was used to seeing Dong Yuanzhong, so why would he be afraid?
"Greetings, Minister Wu, Minister Chang! Good day to both ministers!"
Chen Zi'an, holding little Chen Xiuyuan in his arms, greeted them with a smile.
Minister Wu and Minister Chang were clearly even more surprised.
His nephew-in-law was a professor, a leading figure in the agricultural field.
His actual son-in-law was the young and promising top official of Licheng, a person with a great future!
What kind of family was this?
How could the daughters of the Su family be so blessed?
Did the Su family really come from the Northwest?
Several people looked at Grandpa Su in disbelief.
Grandpa Su felt a little embarrassed by their gazes.
But he managed to hold his ground.
"Old Dong, you're being unfair. Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Seeing Secretary Chen, who was holding a little one in his arms, their gifts were no longer sufficient.
Just then, Dong Yuanzhong, adding fuel to the fire, said.
"Xiuyuan, wish these two grandfathers a Happy New Year! It's New Year's Day, so don't forget the auspicious greetings."
Chen Xiuyuan didn't actually know Dong Yuanzhong, but he was quite good at wishing a Happy New Year.
As the youngest treasure in the family, he knew very well that as long as he said auspicious words, he would receive lucky money.
Upon hearing Dong Yuanzhong's words, the little fellow immediately climbed down from Chen Zi'an's arms and directly paid his respects to everyone.
Chen Zi'an, not paying attention, had the little one slip out of his arms.
He couldn't stop him in time.
"I wish all grandfathers a Happy New Year, great vigor, boundless fortune, overflowing joy, and success in all endeavors!"
The little fellow, not knowing who he learned it from, rattled off a string of auspicious phrases from his small mouth.
This made the elders find him even more endearing.
"Good boy, such a young age and already knows so many phrases."
Minister Wu praised him with a smile and even pulled little Xiuyuan into his arms.
His own sons were not promising, and had not yet given him a grandson to play with.
Seeing such a young child, he was delighted.
Minister Chang also smiled and said, "When he said 'boundless fortune,' I thought he was going to say 'longevity as the Southern Mountain' next."
Little Chen Xiuyuan was serious, and waved his small hands, saying, "Longevity as the Southern Mountain is for birthdays, not for New Year's."
Everyone was even more amused by his words.
"Indeed, the little fellow is so smart. Come, come, Grandpa will give you lucky money."
Although the gifts were not enough, they still had money on them when they came.
Minister Wu took out a "Da Tuanjie" (a 10-yuan banknote from the Mao era) and was about to give it to the little fellow.
Chen Zi'an quickly called out, "Xiuyuan!"
Chen Xiuyuan glanced at his father's expression, knowing that his father was displeased, and suppressed the urge to accept the lucky money.
"Zi'an, look at you, you've scared the little fellow." Dong Yuanzhong said with a stern face, blaming Chen Zi'an.
How old was he to scare a child? Truly useless.
Seeing his former superior like this, Chen Zi'an quickly said, "Children shouldn't be spoiled."
"Nonsense, what's wrong with spoiling a child this young? Besides, is giving lucky money considered spoiling? Who didn't look forward to receiving lucky money during New Year's when they were young?"
Minister Chang and Minister Wu also looked at Chen Zi'an with condemnation, their expressions as if Chen Zi'an had made a mistake.
Su Xiaotian couldn't help but chuckle at her uncle's predicament.
Little Chen Xiuyuan, after receiving a large sum of lucky money in a short time, happily ran to Su Xiaotian with his chubby legs to show off.
Su Xiaotian pinched the little fellow's nose.
This guy, being so fond of money from such a young age, would surely be like his fourth brother when he grew up.
Since the little fellow had lucky money, the other children naturally did too.
The big shots understood the art of balance best!
Grandpa Su became anxious. He had ten children, and giving each of them lucky money would cost a lot!
"How can we accept this? Just give it to Xiaotian. The others are all grown up," Grandpa Su said anxiously.
How were the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth brothers grown up?
Well, as elder brothers, they were grown up.
"They are not that grown up; they are still children," Fan Shufang said with a smile.
"Eldest Brother, Eldest Sister-in-law, if you feel it's inappropriate, we can return the favor when they have grandchildren later!" Dong Yuanzhong said cheerfully.
However, these words made everyone look at him with less than favorable expressions.