002, Father and son set up a stall

002, Father and son set up a stall

Dayan established its capital in Hanzhong, which was called Kyoto Prefecture.

Every day at the hour of Mao, Kyoto's four main gates would be opened simultaneously from the inside. Once the gates were open, the defending generals would lead their soldiers to line up on either side of the gates, conducting routine inspections of all teams and individuals entering and leaving the city, as well as collecting lijin (lijin) taxes.

These teams entering the city, whether they are caravans or individuals, as long as they are carrying goods to sell, must pay lijin when passing through the city gate before they can enter the city.

The amount of lijin paid depended on the quantity of goods carried. Generally speaking, caravans carrying large quantities of goods paid more lijin. Individuals, such as women carrying a basket, did not have to pay lijin. However, those carrying a load on their shoulders would pay at most three or five copper coins, or at least one or two. However, if one was lucky enough to encounter a soldier in a good mood, they would be allowed in with a simple gesture, and thus would not have to pay.

Kyoto Prefecture's four main gates—the east, west, south, and north—were established. Which gate each person should use was also determined by etiquette. The East Gate was reserved for high-ranking officials, while merchants and commoners generally used the South Gate. Funeral processions and incense-carrying vehicles would exit the city through the West and North Gates. To avoid encountering these vehicles early in the morning, most people avoided the West and North Gates.

This led to a situation where when the city gates opened early in the morning every day, the queue outside the South Gate to enter the city was the longest.

By the time Lu Youtian and his son arrived at the South City Gate, the gate had already been opened. Most of the people queuing to enter the city had already gone in, leaving only a small number of people queuing at the back.

The father and son quickly stood at the back of the team.

It didn't take long before it was their turn to come forward for inspection.

When it was the father and son's turn, Lu Youtian hurriedly put down the load on his shoulders, removed the bamboo lid on the basket, and let the officer see what was inside his load.

Generally speaking, civilians are very afraid of officials. However, Lu Mingfei was not afraid of these people at all. When the general guarding the city looked at him, he even smiled brightly at the general.

After more than half a year, the commander of the city still recognized the smiling child at a glance and smiled back. Seeing that the man's burden contained only some worthless trinkets, he allowed the father and son to pass and said, "Go in."

"Thank you, officer." Lu Youtian understood that the officer wanted him to go in without paying, so he nodded and bowed to thank the officer, and at the same time, he mustered up his courage and went into the city with his son, fearing that if he walked too slowly, the officer would call him back to pay.

When Lu Mingfei followed his father, he smiled and waved to the elder general and said, "Goodbye, brother."

As they stepped through the city gate, a completely different scene appeared before them.

On the bluestone-paved avenue, carriages and pedestrians ply. On both sides of the road are rows of small shops and stores, as well as teahouses and inns. Many of the shops have signs in front of them with words like "Tea," "Wine," "Cloth," or "Restaurant," telling passersby what kind of business they run.

There is an automatic morning market at the South City Gate every day.

Therefore, many small stalls selling things are set up on both sides of the road. Some of these stalls sell steamed buns and snacks, some sell fish, vegetables, chickens and ducks, and some sell various small items. At a glance, it is a dazzling array of goods.

Large livestock such as cattle, sheep, and horses are not sold here at this morning market, but are traded at another cattle market.

These roadside stalls are not fixed. Whoever arrives early gets the best spot first. Those who arrive late can only set up stalls in less crowded areas. However, in business, everyone wants to get a good spot because a good spot brings good business and more money.

Lu Mingfei and his father arrived in the city a little late that day, so when they arrived here, the good seats were basically occupied by people who arrived early, and the father and son could only find a seat further inside.

As he followed his father inside, his eyes were always searching for a place where they could fit in, and for someone who looked easier to negotiate with.

At this moment, he saw two women who looked familiar. He pulled his father and told him to wait for him here. Then he walked over to the two women. Relying on his youthful face, Lu Mingfei smiled shamelessly at the two women and waved to them, "Auntie Li, Auntie Chen, how are you?"

"Is that Qillang? Are you here with your father?" The speaker was the older Aunt Li. She recognized the cute little kid, but she didn't expect that the little kid still remembered them after not seeing them for several months.

"Yes, my father is there." Lu Mingfei pointed to his father who was waiting for him behind him.

"You haven't found a place yet, right? Come set up your business here, we'll make room for you." Aunt Li had already seen the man not far away who was carrying a load and looking at them with an embarrassed look on his face.

Seeing that the father and son were still walking on the street at this time, obviously they were looking for a seat because they arrived late, Aunt Li discussed with her good sister, and the two of them moved their seats closer to make some room for the father and son.

"Thank you, Auntie." After finding the seat, Lu Mingfei thanked the two aunties and then hurriedly turned around to pull his father over.

Lu Youtian, who was pulled over by his son, thanked his two aunts embarrassedly.

In this way, thanks to his son's cleverness and thick skin, the father and son found a place to set up their stall. The location was not bad either, as there was a teahouse across the street and the street was bustling with people.

Lu Youtian put down the burden, placed the two baskets side by side, then took out a small folding stool for his son to sit on. Then he began to take out the things in the baskets one by one and put them in the lids. Then he placed a board horizontally in front of the two baskets and placed the small things one by one on the board.

These small items include wooden carved hairpins and wooden bead bracelets, wooden carved animals and some straw-woven animals, as well as straw-woven baskets, straw hats, and so on.

Lu Youtian made all these things himself in his spare time, and his wife and children at home also helped.

After his father had put the things in place, Lu Mingfei opened another folding stool for his father to sit on: "Dad, you should sit down and rest for a while."

"Okay." After walking such a long way to get here, Lu Mingfei was a little tired. He glanced back and sat down on the stool.

Aunt Li, who was selling vegetables nearby, had been keeping an eye on the father and son. When she saw the child take something from a wooden shelf and open it, revealing a stool, she looked at him curiously and asked, "What are you sitting on?"

Lu Mingfei understood that Aunt Li was asking how the stool was made, so he stood up and showed his stool to the two aunts who were looking at them. "We are sitting on folding stools. We open them when we sit on them and fold them up when we don't. Don't you think it's very convenient?" As he spoke, he also showed the stool made by his father.

In fact, this stool was his idea, and his father built it. In the past two years, he has taken advantage of his young age to occasionally come up with some "naive and creative" ideas to his father.

"This stool is made with such a coincidence." Aunt Li took the stool and tried it out with her hands. She found that the stool could be folded and carried in her hands, and turned over to be a stool. She looked very surprised.

However, Aunt Li didn't ask how much it cost. She just took a look and returned the stool to the owner.

Lu Mingfei didn't mind. He took the stool back and sat down.

After his father sat down next to him, he just stared at the passers-by on the street, too embarrassed to shout his hawker. Lu Mingfei also knew his father's temper, so he had no choice but to take over his father's stall and help him to attract business.

He also stared at the pedestrians coming and going on the street, but he was looking for people with purpose and selectivity. He was looking for target customers who looked like they would buy things from them.

When he saw a young woman carrying a basket passing by their stall, Lu Mingfei shouted, "Sister, do you want to buy a hairpin? Take a look at our hairpins." While speaking, he picked up the flower hairpins on their stall and showed them to the other party.

The hairpins sold in their family have flowers on them. These wooden hairpins are carved and polished by his father, and a hole is left at one end of the hairpin. Then his mother would sew flowers on them with cloth, and it became a flower hairpin.

The wooden hairpins they originally sold were just plain wooden hairpins, and it was he who came up with the idea of ​​sewing fabric flowers on them. With the addition of this flower, their wooden hairpins instantly transformed from plain wooden hairpins into floral hairpins.

Of course, the price can also be doubled.

A young lady passing by heard the little boy calling her. She was about to refuse, but when she saw the smile on the little boy's face, she took back her words, looked at the hairpin in the little boy's hand, took it and took a look at it.

"Sister, we have a lot of hairpins here. You can try them on and buy more if you like them." Lu Mingfei showed the young lady a few hairpins of different patterns. He was right to call her sister, because women in this era married early, and many young women with their hair tied up looked only in their teens or twenties.

Although he has a young face of four or five years old, his mental age is that of an adult after all. He cannot bring himself to call a girl of this age "Auntie" or "Auntie".

The young woman glanced at the man sitting in front of the stall. She felt a little embarrassed to try on a hairpin on the street, as there were so many people coming and going. However, she saw one with a pattern she liked, so after asking the price and finding it wasn't expensive, she bought one.

"Thank you, sister. I wish you happiness every day." After successfully opening the first order, Lu Mingfei gave the young lady a bright smile.

I bought my favorite hairpin and received a happy blessing from a young lady. I left the stall with a smile.