Not daring to see if the old man would joke around again or really come out to bust their hinds, the two men brought the children into the main hall. Li Fuji was quite stunned, the hall had a taurus totem made of starwood, with smaller pillars of such all around. At the center, there were chairs aligned on both sides with one big chair made of rosewood in the middle. The person sitting on it gave off a very strong presence.
But once the man saw his grandson walk in, that presence was soon replaced with love and a tinge of regret and sorrow. The overall atmosphere of the room was very warm and welcoming, despite its grand but simplistic decorations.
"Fuji'er, the old man there at the top is your grandfather." Li Wei introduced.
As Li Wei did so, the old man suddenly said, " Hmph, this old man here is enough to smack the silly out of you. But since this is the first time I have seen my grandson in a long time, I will not pick on the weak.
Now, let me have a look. Hmm, very good. Haha, you aren't any less of a looker than I was when I was younger. Though we could work on a few features, you shouldn't do too bad when wooing a girl. This old man will show the ropes later."
Those in the hall were dumbfounded. You haven't seen your grandson ever since his birth, and the first thing you say is this? Old man, are you sure you haven't taken the wrong medication today? Or did you accidentally drink milk, forgetting that you were lactose intolerant.
Li Fuji was also quite surprised, his grandfather gave off such a refined and warriorly aura, yet he was quite the jokester. Though as weird as he was, he seemed to be quite nice.
As the bickering between his father and grandfather slowed down, it was Li Fuji to speak up, "Hello grandfather, I am Li Fuji. Umm..."
'Dang it, I really didn't think things through. How can I just say hello, and what is with the umm and ughhs? Now I look like an idiot.'
But while he was cursing himself, the whole family was laughing joyfully. It seems like LI Fuji was really well received. His uncle he met outside said, " Haha, brother, your kid is quite funny. Why did he introduce himself? Did he think that the old man doesn't know who he is?"
As he said so, one of the females at the side spoke up, " Don't go making fun of him. he was just being courteous to father. You taught him well elder brother. And you, second brother, you could learn a thing or two from our young nephew."
But the one who laughed the most was probably the old man. Though he wasn't mocking Li Fuji, he was doing so out of extreme joy. He couldn't have imagined that this grandson of his actually still saw him as his grandfather. Usually, people would become estranged when they have not met a person for 2 or 3 years, and it may even be awkward.
Yet, it seems like 20 years was nothing to Li Fuji, family was still family. This made the old man very happy, and he could only laugh out of being unable to contain his joy. That was, until finally, a woman sitting at the top of the right row spoke up, " Old man, are you not going to stop laughing? He doesn't even know your name.
I bet you his father didn't even introduce any of his relatives to him yet, and you keep sitting there laughing. I also very much miss my grandson, but get the formalities over with, he is a stranger as he doesn't know who is who."
It seems like there still was someone who understood how society worked. What kind of person would just jump into laughing, bickering, and the laughing again. Especially when there was a person who doesn't even know what was going on.
Heck, he could only even introduce himself. It didn't matter how warm or welcoming the people or atmosphere was, Li Fuji still didn't even know the name of the uncle he met outside. And with the old man this, old man that, he didn't even know his grandfather's name.
Slowly getting his mind in order, he old man cleared his throat and said embarrassed, " Forgive me love, I forgot myself for a bit there. Ahem, you must forgive us Fuji'er. I became caught up in the happiness of seeing you again.
Let me do a brief introduction of everywhere here for you. My name is Li Tian, you can just call me grandfather like you did. The fool you met outside when you came in is your second uncle, Li Feng. The girl followed behind is his daughter, and your cousin, Li Yin. The younger woman who spoke up earlier is your third aunt, Li Jiao. Sitting next to her is your uncle Mo Ying and your cousin Li Lian.
Following that, on the other side, on your left is your fourth aunt Li Qing. Next to her, is your cousin Li Rong and your uncle Wang Feng. Next to them is your second uncle's wife, your aunt, Wei Fang. Finally, the most beautiful of them all, my wife. Your grandmother, Chen Song, sitting at the top right here.
(As they heard the butt kissing, they all couldn't help but think 'It seems mom/grandmother still has a firm grip over father/grandfather. But no one dared to laugh, especially the men...as after a while, they saw their wives giving them the look.)
Fuji'er, now that everyone is introduced, you can see now that you are very precious to our family. As the sole male heir to our clan, you are irreplaceable. I don't know how much your father has told you, or what you yourself know about our clan yet. But we will speak more about that tomorrow.
For now, get yourselves acquainted with your cousins. The adults need to speak for a while. Then we will have a little light snack before bed.
Yi'er, go take your cousins to the pavilion. Mingle with one another, I guess you girls have many questions for your cousin. Off you go."
With that, the girls bowed to leave and Li Fuji gave his dad a look. Seeing that his son was looking at him, wondering if he should go or not. He gave his son a little nod and sent him on his way with his cousins.