Chapter 5 Little Sand Fruit, the handwriting is so beautiful.
Xie Qi shook his head: "It is extremely impolite to inquire about a woman's home location when we have never met."
Yan Shu tilted his head and suddenly pointed at Xie Qi's shoes with the shoe print on them, laughing, "How can Ninth Brother say we've never met? That lady stepped on your foot this morning."
Xie Qi was stunned. So it was the young woman from the boiler room when he was getting water?
In the morning, he took Yanshu to the boiler room to fetch water. Because it was crowded and Yanshu was young and short, he told him to wait aside while he went to buy the water, so that he wouldn't be pushed and shoved and fall into the boiler. But then a woman behind him stepped on his foot.
Xie Qi then recalled the young woman's appearance. She was dressed as a married woman, and although she was dressed simply and looked somewhat sickly and haggard, she had a pair of peach blossom eyes that were clear and sparkling like autumn water. Even simple clothes and hairpins could not hide her beauty.
He glanced at it once and dared not look at it any longer.
What does it look like when a woman is out and about and he stares at her intently?
A woman's reputation is of utmost importance, especially since he is about to get married. He should be more mindful of his conduct for both himself and others. Therefore, he was even more unwilling to be impolite in order to satisfy his appetite, so he repeatedly told Yanshu, "Men and women are different. Don't ask too many questions. Just go and return the gifts and say thank you."
Yan Shu could only respond listlessly.
Yan Shu felt a pang in his heart that he would never be able to eat such good food again. So when Xie Qi went out to fetch hot water for washing up at night, Yan Shu's eyes and nose turned red with sadness. After washing the earthenware pot, bowls, and chopsticks and wiping the table and chairs, he almost cried when he knocked on Chen Miao's door while holding the pot.
Shen Miao couldn't help but laugh when she saw the child's expression of suppressing grief as if facing a life-or-death separation. After asking a few more questions, she learned the reason and was even more amused and exasperated.
"Ninth Brother said it's not easy for a woman to be out in the world, and that one's reputation should not be taken lightly. Gossip can be deadly. He forbade me to ask any more questions, but... but I really want to eat the soup dumplings that my wife makes again, and that Luosu rice. I've only smelled it, I haven't even tasted it yet... Waaah... Waaah..."
I couldn't hold back my tears after all.
Shen Miao suppressed a laugh and squatted down, wiping Yan Shu's tears with her own handkerchief. She smiled and said, "Your Ninth Brother is a gentleman, hence his concerns. But I am not from a wealthy family, so I don't have these kinds of concerns. If you want to eat my cooking, just come to Shen's Soup and Pancake Shop in Yangliu East Alley, Jinliang Bridge. I run a restaurant, and I'm open to business. There's nothing I can't ask you."
Yan Shu's tears stopped instantly, and her eyes lit up: "Really?"
“Of course it’s true. However, my shop was damaged by fire and hasn’t been fully repaired yet. Hmm… I might set up a small stall on Jinliang Bridge first. If you don’t mind my rough and simple skills, you and your Ninth Brother are welcome to come and support me.” Shen Miao’s eyes crinkled, and she changed her previous caution, generously revealing her address and plans.
If you're going to do business in the future, how can you hide it? If you can attract one or two customers before you even open for business, and have people promote it for you, that would be a great thing.
Moreover, after this incident, Shen Miao was already 80% certain that this "Ninth Brother" sounded no different from the clear-eyed college students of later generations. This was a high-quality customer, so there was no problem.
As the canal boat traveled into the middle of the night, its speed slowed down, and the noise outside became increasingly noticeable. With nothing else to do on the boat, she didn't want to go out for a stroll, so she went to bed early that night.
As I sat up from the bed, wrapped in my blankets, I discovered that what lay outside the small window of the cabin was no longer the vast, boundless river, but a bustling dock.
It must be Chenzhou, a major town for canal transport not far from Bianjing.
After passing Chenzhou, it takes another five or six days by boat to change to a horse-drawn carriage in Caizhou. After another two days of travel, you will be able to see the majestic and imposing south gate of Kaifeng Prefecture.
Just then, the boat reached the shore, and countless boatmen, half-submerged in the water, were pulling the bow of the boat, shouting and chanting as they hauled it along. Shen Miao watched and watched, unable to sleep any longer, so she simply got up.
In important canal towns like Chenzhou, the activity was almost non-stop, with countless lanterns hanging high on the docks even before dawn, and busy boats and people everywhere.
As she combed her hair, she continued to gaze at the diverse crowds passing by outside. Under the flickering lamplight, the flow of people was endless. There were porters carrying bags, peddlers selling their goods along the road, and many donkey carts selling charcoal and firewood. These charcoal sellers lined up in long queues in front of every boat captain, and ships hoping to dock for supplies could only buy their charcoal.
After watching for a while, the lingering melancholy in Shen Miao's heart dissipated. Having transmigrated from an era far more civilized than ancient times, how could she not feel longing, fear, and resentment? However, like these laborers, she still wanted to live, and she wanted to survive no matter what.
Shen Miao rummaged through the box and took out a boar bristle toothbrush and bamboo salt toothpaste, preparing to wash up.
When she first arrived in the Song Dynasty, she was quite surprised. It turned out that TV dramas were all lies, saying that ancient people chewed willow twigs and used toothpaste to clean their teeth. But in the Song Dynasty, toothbrush shops and toothpaste shops were extremely common. Moreover, the toothbrushes here were very similar in shape to modern toothbrushes! They had long wooden handles and two rows of bristles, although the bristles felt a bit rough and stiff.
Of course, better toothbrushes will have handles made of jade or ivory, or even be inlaid with gemstones and carved with patterns. The bristles will also be made of higher quality materials, but they all look very similar, only the materials are different.
Thinking about it, it makes sense. The ancients weren't primitive people; they could make much more sophisticated things, so what's so difficult about a toothbrush? And the cost isn't high either.
Shen Miao first used a small spoon to scoop a spoonful of tooth powder and applied it to her teeth before brushing them. The tooth powder she used was the cheapest type, made by drying and crushing bamboo salt, pine resin, and poria cocos, then sifting through a sieve to remove impurities before storing it in a jar, hence it was in powder form.
It is said that the tooth fragrance used by nobles at that time was made by grinding precious medicinal materials such as ambergris, frankincense, sandalwood, and spikenard into powder, then mixing it with honey to form a paste, which was stored in a porcelain jar. It was as convenient to use as toothpaste in later times, but it was also very expensive.
Chen Miao wasn't picky; cheap toothpaste worked just fine. She brushed her teeth twice, inside and out, very carefully. In ancient times, teeth and eyesight had to be well protected. If she became nearsighted, she probably couldn't afford the ancient handmade glasses, "Aida," made with crystal, and cavities would be even worse—she didn't want to have root canals under the medical conditions of ancient times.
After washing up, Chen Miao prepared to go out to empty the dirty water. But when she opened the door, she found a cloth bag lying on the ground, containing several half-green and half-red crabapples, and a piece of paper with writing on it.
Shen Miao took out the paper from inside and looked at it. On the paper was a hand that was graceful, neat and smooth in Zhong Yao's style of calligraphy—the writing was really beautiful!
The original owner of this body was actually illiterate; it was Shen Miao who could read. Although the characters are now written in traditional Chinese characters in vertical format, Shen Miao had studied calligraphy with her maternal grandfather for a while when she was young. Her favorite calligraphers were Zhong Yao and Zhao Mengfu, but unfortunately, she was not very good at it.
But it's not too difficult to identify them now.
The words on it were written in a gentle tone:
Respectfully addressed by Lady Shen:
Yesterday's evening meal was indescribably delicious; every bite was delightful. However, my child's words were rude and offensive, for which I feel deeply ashamed. I offer this crabapple as a token of my apology. Though it is a small gift, I hope you will accept it to ease my guilt.
—Respectfully submitted by Xie Qi
On the ninth day of the fourth month of the third year of Baoyuan (620 AD), on a boat.
The passageway outside the cabin was pitch black, with many servants lying asleep fully clothed in front of the doors, their snores rising and falling. No one was getting up for the night. Only the door to the room next door where Yan Shu lived was open. Chen Miao peeked in and saw that the room had been cleaned up and was empty.
Presumably in time for their journey, Yan Shu and his servant had already disembarked and set off.
The boat swayed gently with the river current beneath her feet. All around was quiet. Fortunately, Chen Miao had gotten up early; otherwise, if she had left the bag of crabapples outside the door, it would probably have been stolen long ago.
Shen Miao shrank back, and by the swaying, indistinct light of the dock, leaned against the door and read it again. She found the whole book to be elegant and refined, so she smiled, picked up the bag of fruit, closed the door, and went back inside.
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