Ed's vision of a banquet was one of dazzling lights, clinking glasses, and soothing music:
A beautiful woman in a white evening gown is arm in arm with a man in a sharp suit.
Amber-colored liquid swirls in the man's stemmed glass.
In reality, the banquet at Ender's banquet was bathed in bright sunlight, with interplay of light and shadow, amidst a continuous cacophony of noise:
Adelaide, wearing a linen dress, and Ed, also wearing a linen robe, arrived in the village.
The gleaming silver dagger in Ed's hand was probably his only symbol of identity.
In the open space in the middle of the village, a large fish hung on a wooden pole. Next to it were a lot of smoked venison, some black bread, and ale.
The makeshift stoves on the side had already been set up, and many women were busy working on them.
Shan Shu and the others were also there, watching as the lords distributed food to everyone for free.
The cedar tree unconsciously rubbed its eyes, unsure whether it was lamenting the former lord's greed or the current lord's generosity.
They were envious of the busy crowd. They wanted to help, but the villagers wouldn't let them.
They were outsiders, and some villagers worried that they were there to steal food.
"Shushu, we must do our best to serve our lord," one of them said to Shushu.
"Hmm," the cedar tree silently hummed in its heart.
When he arrived, he heard many villagers say that the lord was very kind. He wanted to try his best to integrate and become a member of the village.
In contrast to the desolation of the fir trees, the men, women, and children in the village were overjoyed.
Everyone was thanking the lord for his kindness, their faces beaming with happy smiles.
The children ran around, enjoying their own happiness.
"Martha, I heard your husband is very brave in the guard and has excellent archery skills. He's always the first to hit the prey," a woman who was preparing food said to Eric's wife, Martha.
Martha's smile widened upon hearing this; her husband Eric had always been her pride.
Seeing Martha's expression, the woman who had asked the question regretted it.
"Oh! I shouldn't have asked," she thought to herself.
Actually, she was thinking of her husband, who wasn't selected for the guard and ended up following Roderick around cutting down trees and building houses.
(Hahaha, her husband is the unfathomable villager Ding.)
"Ellie, Eric was just lucky to catch the prey. It was all thanks to everyone's hard work." Martha didn't lavish praise on her husband, but was very modest.
"Martha, I know, Eric was just lucky." Ellie winked at Martha after saying that.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Ed walking towards them.
Ed could see the bustling scene in the countryside from afar.
The scene is beautiful, with the scent of children returning early from school, taking advantage of the east wind to fly kites.
Unfortunately, the children don't have kites, and they can't go to school now.
"Maybe I'll have to wait a long time before I can go back to school!" Ed thought to himself.
"My lord, good afternoon. Thank you for your kindness."
"My lord, thank you for your kindness."
"My lord, may * bless you."
Upon arriving at the village open space, everyone greeted Ed and expressed their gratitude.
Everyone had a smile on their face, and their eyes seemed to be expecting something.
Perhaps they hoped Ed would give a passionate speech, or perhaps they hoped Ed would announce the start of the banquet sooner.
Ed looked at everyone:
"Fill the cups, let's drink until we're drunk!"