You are my golden finger

Chapter 122 Birthday Banquet

The snowflakes stopped their dance across the sky and instead covered the earth with a snow-white robe. They then called in the warm winter sun, adding a layer of blush to the snow, decorating the peace and tranquility of winter.

Lin Xijin brought her three children and drove a horse-drawn carriage along the clean streets of Kyoto. Although the weather was a bit cold, there were many pedestrians, and one horse-drawn carriage after another was galloping towards the Taifu Mansion.

When Madam Wu invited her, she just said that the old lady of the Imperial Tutor was not having a birthday party this year, but only a family banquet, and asked her to bring all the children along, and she believed it. But now seeing all these carriages and horses gathered, she felt deeply naive.

Yes, Lin Taifu is one of the Three Dukes, a first-rank official in the imperial court, and his family has the only imperial concubine in the harem, and now the imperial concubine's mother is celebrating her birthday. Who wouldn't want to find an opportunity to curry favor with him?

However, since they were already here, it would be a bad idea to send the children back, lest they be sad. Fortunately, Xihui and Xinfeng went to the Ministry of Industry. Mujin was a studious child. Yesterday, she was praised by Cheng Taiyi, and today she insisted on going to the medicine shop to help, so she did not go to the banquet.

Mrs. Lin was waiting for them at the door. When she saw them arrive, she personally led them into a quiet guest room. Mrs. Wu had already arrived and was playing with Mrs. Lin's son on the heated kang.

The one-year-old child was adorable, with crystal clear skin that glowed a healthy pink, and thick black hair. He was also a gifted child, and when he saw the few people coming in, he started dancing and chirping, speaking in a baby language that no one could understand, as if greeting them.

"Brother, are you calling me sister?" Xin Lan, who has a wild imagination and is a social geek, ran up and asked as if she saw some new toy.

"Brother, what's your name? Call me sister! Sister!" Xijia also loved this child very much and was not willing to be left behind.

"Call me brother!" An An always loves to join in the fun, so it's inevitable that she would also get involved.

"Chirp, chirp." The child was indeed obedient and spoke in cooperation.

The two little girls were so happy: "Ah! He called us!"

But An An refused to give in. She pushed the two apart, stubbornly held the child's hand, and shouted, "Call me brother! Brother!"

Yujia and Xinlan also followed suit, and the three of them looked at the child with eager eyes.

Madam Wu, Madam Lin, and Lin Xijin thought it was ridiculous and let them do it themselves. But after a while, the child suddenly said, "Giggle, giggle..."

Everyone was stunned for a while, then Xijia, Xinlan, and Anan reacted instantly and clapped their hands, saying, "Brother can talk! He can call us!"

"Brother, what's your name?" A few little brats took advantage of the situation and treated the kid as a genius.

"My brother's full name is Lin Huaijin, and his nickname is Yanyan!"

"Yanyan! It sounds nice." The three children said happily.

Lin Xijin was stunned for a moment. Was it what she thought it meant?

Madam Lin glanced at her and explained, "This name was given by my father-in-law. Firstly, it is inspired by the poetry in Chu Ci, and secondly, it is to thank you, sister Jin, for helping when Yan Yan was born."

Lin Xijin felt a little embarrassed. How could she deserve to have someone remember her name for the rest of their life?

However, it was not a good idea to ask the tutor to change his grandson's name, so he had to pretend that he didn't know.

"You are too polite." Lin Xijin said perfunctorily.

Everyone prepared gifts for Yanyan. Lin Xijin gave Yanyan a gold collar; Xijia gave a set of building blocks; Xinlan gave a set of mermaid dolls; and Anan gave a set of Monkey King components.

Yanyan’s little hands couldn’t hold the things, so everyone put them on the kang mat and let Yanyan play with them.

Unexpectedly, Yanyan was a greedy person. He put things into his arms one by one, and then stretched out his arms to hug them, but he couldn't hug them all. It was like a real-life commentary of picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, which made everyone laugh again.

Lin Xijin smiled and said that this child would definitely be a man of both literary and martial talents, and would be blessed with both fortune and luck.

Mrs. Lin was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling when her son was praised.

After a while, the maidservant beside Mrs. Lin came to report that the birthday banquet was about to begin, and asked Mrs. Lin to bring Yanyan with her.

The birthday banquet was held in the banquet hall on the second floor. The whole living room was covered with red carpet and decorated in a simple and elegant style. When they arrived, the seats around were already full of people.

The old lady of the Imperial Tutor was dressed elegantly. She wore the attire of a lady of the first rank, and sat at the main seat at the head of the hall with a kind face. On the table next to her were various gifts from the guests, and guests kept adding more.

Lin Xijin brought a few children to celebrate the old lady's birthday and presented her with carefully prepared gifts.

But no one noticed in the excitement that when the old lady Taifu, who was sitting in the middle, saw Xin Lan coming to pay her respects, her expression suddenly changed. For a moment, her smile disappeared, and no one knew what she was thinking about.

After the birthday greetings, the banquet began. Lin Xijin and the others were arranged to sit with the Lin family, which was obviously to include her in the ranks of their own family.

At the banquet, Madam Taifu frequently turned her attention to Xin Lan, and even Lin Xijin noticed it.

After the meal, the guests left one after another. Lin Xijin also planned to leave, but was kept.

The old lady of the Imperial Tutor gave Madam Wu a look, and Madam Wu took the children away, using the excuse of taking them to see Yanyan.

"Jin'er, grandma asked you to stay here today because I want to ask you something. I hope you don't mind." The old lady Taifu dismissed her attendants and said to her hesitantly.

"Grandma, it's okay. Just tell me if you have anything to say." Lin Xijin is a generous person who doesn't care about anything.

"I want to ask, is that little girl Xinlan your biological sister?"

"Oh, Xinlan is not my biological sister. I picked her up from outside and raised her by my side." Lin Xijin told the old lady frankly.

"Can you tell me in detail how you picked her up?"

Although Lin Xijin didn't know why Madam Taifu asked this, she still carefully described to Madam Taifu how she picked up Xinfeng and Xinlan. The old lady kept wiping away tears.

"Jin'er, I don't know why, but when I saw this child today, his little appearance was exactly like the imperial concubine in the palace when she was a child. I couldn't help but think more about it." The old lady explained the reason for her reaction.

Lin Xijin raised her eyes and took a closer look at the old lady. She felt that Xin Lan's eyes and eyebrows were indeed somewhat similar to hers. Recalling that Xin Lan also had the shadow of Master Lin, she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious for a moment.

Lin Xijin couldn't help but secretly complain.

Oh my god! What kind of luck do I have? Every time I make a move, I either pick up a prince or a princess.