Chapter 30 Reunion: The Shop Won't Be Rented to Us Again
Lu Qiong pulled off the coarse cloth from her waist, wiped the water stains on the table, and then changed the words the matchmaker had told her earlier, smiling with her eyes crinkling: "Young Master Xie is already of marriageable age, who knows, he might be able to get married soon."
Xie Xun was easily embarrassed, and his ears turned red before he could even finish a few jokes, but he still managed to finish the sentence: "Thank you for your blessing, Madam Lu."
He suddenly got busy, and with the back of his hand he probed the outside of the teapot. He paused for a moment before pursing his lips and saying, "This tea seems to be cold. Manager Lu, could you please replace it with a new pot?"
The tea was just changed; it wasn't cold at all, it was still scalding hot.
Seeing that the back of his hand was red, Lu Qiong didn't point it out. She just smiled meaningfully, said "okay," and placed the teapot on the tray.
It's good that people are thin-skinned; they can be seen through at a glance, and it's not difficult to open up to them.
The shop was quiet afterwards, except for the clattering of bowls and chopsticks and the whispers of the two young ladies.
The young woman in the light pink dress covered her face and laughed, "It's a pity there aren't any extra 'corners,' otherwise I would have also tried to win the 'early marriage' coin."
The young woman next to her teased her: "You stay at home all day and look down on the young men introduced by the matchmaker. Even if you eat a hundred dumplings with red dates, it will be difficult to get married, let alone get married early."
Even if you see through it, you shouldn't reveal it.
They were supposed to be whispering, but Lu Ji was so quiet at the moment that even the slightest sound carried throughout the room, and the two remaining people heard every single word.
Lu Qiong rested her left hand on the wooden cabinet, waiting for the ink on the account book to dry completely before turning to the next page. These two young ladies were quite interesting. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that not only were the tips of someone's ears red, but the roots of their ears were also completely red. Perhaps they had been testing the temperature of the teapot with their ears.
Fortunately, the two young ladies were looking forward to releasing the lanterns. After finishing the soup dumplings and trying all the pastries, they held hands and went for a stroll along the Bian River.
Xie Xun finished the dumplings in his bowl, leaving only half a bowl of soup and a small piece of silver: "Thank you for your trouble, Madam Lu."
The people of Bianjing were still very polite, and Lu Qiong smiled as she cleared away the bowl and took the loose silver with her.
After seeing off the last customer, she quickly closed the wooden door, leaving only a narrow crack, returned to the stove, stacked the remaining bowls, held one bowl in one hand, and grabbed a handful of soap pods with the other.
The street behind the shop was quiet with few pedestrians, and only the moonlight shone faintly. Lu Qiong used the moonlight to scoop a spoonful of water from the water vat and rinse the foam off the bowl.
The wooden door next to her creaked open, and a figure emerged. It was Shi San Niang, who was also holding a basin. With a slight bend, the dirty water in the basin flowed away along the path.
The aroma of the soup dumplings filled the air, indicating that her soup dumpling shop was thriving.
Lu Qiong made a new batch of Qiaoguo (a type of fried dough) in the afternoon, but unexpectedly, there were still quite a few left by dusk. Since she couldn't leave them there overnight, Lu Qiong took out a bamboo food box and put them all in.
As she left, she casually took the wooden signboard from the door and placed it against the corner of the wall. Passing by San Niang Tangbing Shop, she saw that the signboard was shiny and the shop was full of customers.
Back in Tongji Lane, the alley was dark, and even Jinniang's house was dark; she must have gone out to see the lanterns.
It's rather deserted.
Lu Qiong sat in front of the main room admiring the moon and tasting a piece of Qiaoguo (a type of fried dough). The faint aroma of eggs wafted over. Lu Xuan was not there, and Xue'er was also dozing off. There was a sense of loneliness in her, like that of an elderly person left behind.
Lu Xuan returned with her newly bought Mohele after the moonlight faded away. She was wearing the same shoes she had bought that day, and the beads swayed with every step she took.
She ran excitedly to Lu Qiong and vividly recounted what she had seen and heard that day: "The Fragrant Bridge is made of paper-wrapped incense sticks, and it even has railings and is decorated with five-colored flowers, but you can't stand on it..."
"I even had a contest with Sister Li to see who could thread a seven-hole needle faster than her."
Hearing her say that, Lu Qiong found it interesting, but regretted not having gone to see it.
The last light in the Lu family home was not turned off until late at night.
*
Bianjing residents have a vibrant nightlife, and many eateries stay open until midnight, so people tend to get up late the next day. It was nearly halfway through the morning when customers started arriving at Lu Ji's.
Lu Qiong rolled up her sleeves, took out the dough from the basin, and started kneading. Sister Yang went to thread a needle last night, but it was dark and she couldn't see very well. She accidentally pricked her fingertip, and it hurt when she pressed hard, so she was asked to go and serve the guests.
Fortunately, Yu Niang came to help, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to manage on her own. Having gotten used to a leisurely life, she felt her back ache just from standing and kneading dough.
"Will Yu Niang return around noon?"
“It’s around 5-7 pm,” Yu Niang said, sitting on a low stool under the stove, picking vegetables by the light from outside. “It’s too hot in the sun.”
Before arriving, Yu Niang instructed her family to water the vegetables in the field at dawn, otherwise they would wilt. Fearing Lu Qiong wouldn't have fresh vegetables in Bianjing, she also picked quite a few from the field, including eggplants, cucumbers, and scallions...
Recalling what she had seen and heard over the past two days, Yu Niang couldn't help but sigh, "Bianjing has changed so much. There are shops everywhere. My legs were about to give out last night, but I still couldn't see all the shops along the Bian River."
"Why didn't Yu Niang ever think about opening a shop too?"
Yu Niang shook her head: "It's easy for you to ask me to slaughter pigs, but it's not enough to ask me to manage a shop. Besides, there's still a lot of land in Shangyuan Village. If we leave, who knows who will benefit? Nowadays, everyone in the village is eyeing the land."
Seeing her say that, Lu Qiong stopped trying to persuade her, but she still felt sorry for Yu Niang. She had been wielding a knife for many years and looked strong, but she had also developed many health problems. If she didn't slaughter pigs and only sold meat, she might be able to earn more.
Around noon, Lu Qiong wanted to take the person to a restaurant, but Yu Niang stopped her, not wanting her to spend too much money. So they compromised and bought a lot of vegetables to cook at home.
Yu Niang stepped onto the steps and looked around: "Bianjing is great. Apart from being small and not suitable for growing vegetables, this courtyard is quite clean. You can't even see chicken droppings."
Lu Qiong thought to herself, "Is it that she doesn't want to? It's just that she doesn't have a place to raise chickens. Otherwise, she could raise a whole flock, and after the chicks hatch, she could raise another batch. But all things considered, it won't be long before she can move to a bigger yard."
Hearing the noise, Xue'er ran out of the main room and circled around their legs. Li Jie'er was startled and waved her hands to tell it to leave.
Lu Xuan squatted down, pulled Xue'er close, and stroked her back, saying, "Don't be afraid, Li'er, it's very well-behaved and won't bite."
Seeing that the dog really didn't bite, Li Jie'er breathed a sigh of relief, but she still avoided it; she had been chased by dogs quite a few times when she was a child...
Before long, Jinniang arrived with Shuangjie. The girls played in the courtyard, teasing the dog and eating the leftover pastries from yesterday. They quickly became friends.
Yu Niang carried her bundle and followed them into the main room. The eight-immortal table was spotless, and there were long wooden benches on both sides, which was no worse than the place she lived in Shangyuan Village.
“You’re doing really well here. I wasn’t optimistic when you first said you wanted to move to Bianjing, thinking you’d be back soon. But the wheat is tall and you still haven’t come back. I was worried you were just putting on a brave face. It’s good that things are this way now, your parents can finally relax.”
Otherwise, she would be struggling financially and wouldn't be able to support herself.
Lu Qiong knew that Yu Niang had worried a lot about her, so she didn't dare to say anything and just stood aside smiling. She took out new teacups from the cabinet, washed them in the yard, and poured water for them all, since they had been traveling all day and chatting.
After a short rest, they got busy again, starting a fire in the kitchen to cook.
Jinniang cut the eggplant that Yu Niang had brought into pieces, hollowed out the middle, stuffed it with a lot of minced meat, and fried it in the pan for a while. It sizzled and released oil, and smelled delicious!
Yu Niang's cooking skills were not very good, so she assisted from the side, picking vegetables, washing dishes, and helping to hand over various seasonings.
One after another, fresh and fragrant dishes were served, their aroma permeating the entire alley.
Before leaving, Lu Qiong helped them load their things into the car and bought a lot of food for them to eat on the way.
The car gradually disappeared from sight, and I don't know when I'll see it again.
After seeing off Yu Niang and Li Jie'er, Lu Qiong went directly to Lu Ji's place, only to find Yang Jie'er standing outside, her hands clasped tightly together, looking somewhat anxious.
Seeing Lu Qiong approaching, Sister Yang immediately grabbed her hand, leaving marks on her sleeve: "Young lady, something bad has happened."
"Don't panic, what happened?"
Lu Ji had not officially opened yet, and there were no customers in the shop. Lu Qiong led the person into the room to talk and asked her to sit down.
Yang Jie'er finally calmed down and said, "I just met Yun Jie'er. She said she was going to pawn Lu Ji's shop, so she couldn't rent it to us anymore, and Lu Ji would have to close down."
How could it be so sudden, without any prior warning?
Lu Qiong's mind went blank for a moment, but she still wanted to ask more clearly: "Did you hear me wrong? She didn't come to ask for rent?"
“You heard me right. Yun’er said her mother’s illness has worsened, and they’ve spent all their savings. Now all they have left is the shop, and they said we can only rent it until this month.”
That means there are still twenty days left... Twenty days... Lu Qiong will find it difficult to find a suitable shop in a short time.
Not knowing if there was any way to salvage the situation, Lu Qiong decided to go find Yun Jie'er: "Xuan'er will be here soon, you can watch the shop for now."
"Alright, young lady, please be careful too."
Yun'er's house was near the Zhou Bridge, not far from the shop. Lu Qiong found out the location by asking around and then found her house.
The houses were closer together, being near the imperial city. Yun Jie'er's house was deserted, with only the steps still bearing the moss that had grown last month.
She stood outside the door and heard faint noises inside, accompanied by the woman's hoarse cough.
"Mom, drink some water first, drink slowly, don't choke."
Lu Qiong recognized Yun Jie'er's voice.
Someone patted the woman on the back, and after she caught her breath, she said, "How's business at the shop? You've been here taking care of me every day. What if something goes wrong?"
After a moment of silence, Yun-jie's voice rang out: "It's alright, I've hired a cook, they're all managing, but it just can't taste as good as yours."
The woman smiled faintly: "Don't worry, when I was your age, I couldn't do it either. My mother watched me do it and I learned slowly until one day, I suddenly knew how to do it."
Yun Jie gently hummed in agreement.
Lu Qiong didn't listen to the rest of the conversation and left.
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