Chapter 21 Chapter 21 The popular Qiqiao fruit...
By the time they ran to the backyard, Aunt Duan was already leaning against the well, stroking her chest and gasping for breath, still in fear.
Duan Zhiwei and A Pan each pulled her up with one arm and asked Pu Tao who was standing beside her what had happened.
Pu Tao looked very anxious: "Auntie wanted to go to the well to get some water, but she slipped and almost fell in."
Duan Zhiwei looked around. This shop in Xuanyangfang was just rented. There was no moss or weeds growing around the well. How could someone slip suddenly? She thought of the doll with a slightly weird smile and asked, "Where is that Mohele?"
Pu Tao pointed at the well and looked a little sad: "Fell in."
Aunt Duan was holding the doll to wash her, but she slipped and almost fell. The doll in her hands also fell into the well with a loud splash as her body center of gravity shifted forward.
Duan Zhiwei looked into the well and fortunately it was a wooden doll. It did not sink but floated on the surface of the well.
According to Duan Zhiwei's idea, the doll had a weird smile no matter how he looked at it, and it didn't seem like an object that would bring good luck, so it would be best if it got rid of it. But Pu Tao liked it, and if it fell into the well, it would affect the water supply, so he could only find a way to fish it out.
Duan Zhiwei sighed and looked at the Jinhua cat basking in the sun on the eaves.
Jinhua Cat: “?”
Ah Pan brought some soft cloth strips and tied the cat up. Then Duan Zhiwei carefully lowered the cat into the well and said, "Come on, if you succeed, I'll roast some dried fish for you tonight."
Looking at the dried fish, the Jinhua cat had no choice but to go down into the well and fish the doll out with its claws.
The baby looked much more unlucky than Aunt Duan who fell and had her skirt stained with blue mud. Her face was already dirty, and the well water stain added a large spot, making her look both miserable and funny.
From this perspective, the doll's eyes narrowed into slits when smiling don't seem so weird. Besides, if it was really a cursed doll, why would it fall into the water?
After comforting himself, Duan Zhiwei wiped the doll and returned it to Pu Tao. He turned around and helped A Pan to help the still crying Aunt Duan back into the house.
After the little incident was resolved, Duan Zhiwei continued to lie on the edge of the couch thinking about the menu for the Qiqiao Festival.
Various fresh fruits and vegetables have been prepared in the fire room, and citrons and papayas have been added with well water, waiting to be carved into the shapes of exotic flowers and birds on the day of the Qiqiao Festival.
Duan Zhiwei opened the box of Qiaoguo that he bought from the West Market. A long time had passed, and the Qiaoguo had become dry, with a layer of cracks on the surface. The red beans inside had also started to become crumbly, and the taste was really not good.
So Duan Zhiwei decided to give up on the printing and planned to make a two-color cake. After all, it was a prayer for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet, so good things should come in pairs.
After strolling around the West Market for half a day, Duan Zhiwei discovered that there were all kinds of clever boxes sold on the market, including lacquerware with gold painting, and silver filigree with gems. Although Duan Zhiwei secretly felt that it was a waste to use such a box to hold a spider, it was really beautiful nonetheless. The stalls selling these clever boxes were basically surrounded by colorful ladies.
In comparison, the box containing the snacks is too plain, and it is not decent to give it as a gift. So I prepared to buy some light and beautiful bamboo baskets to store the snacks.
After buying a bunch of bamboo baskets, five-colored threads and colored paper, Duan Zhiwei called all the female employees to sit together and use the five-colored threads to wind some tassels to decorate the bamboo baskets.
She took a piece of colored paper and picked up a pen to write some poems with the atmosphere of begging for cleverness. The ink had been ground and the pen was already in her hand. She thought for a while and put the pen down again.
The green moss paper is dyed with water moss, and its color is light green, mixed with mica powder mud. The Huanhua paper is dyed with red dye, and its color is vermilion, mixed with peach blossom fragments, and the paper surface is dipped in gold mud.
Very nice looking, but the price is not cheap.
Duan Zhiwei felt that his handwriting was ugly and did not deserve such a colorful paper, so he decided to go find Zhen Hui. This scholar would spend all his time in the storeroom reciting his poems except when he was eating and working in the hall.
Both parties are very satisfied with each other.
Zhen Hui came out with two dark circles under his eyes. He sat down and touched the expensive colored paper with great care. Then he picked up the pen and said, "What do you want to write, my lady?"
"On a beautiful night with two stars, I am lazy in farming and weaving, and I should be envied by all the fairies."
"May heaven and earth enjoy this night every year."
"The sky is cool as water at night, I lie down and watch the stars Altair and Vega."
They were all popular Chinese Valentine's Day poems, and Duan Zhiwei recited them without thinking.
Zhen Hui's perception of Duan Zhiwei's talent was originally at the level of "I get up in the morning and eat two bowls of rice, and I'm full, so don't worry about me." Suddenly, a few amazing and brilliant poems about begging for skills came out of her mouth, and he felt ashamed and frustrated.
Zhen Hui held back her tears for a while, then wiped them away and said with emotion: "I really underestimated you. I never thought that you are such a great poet. I have studied hard for many years and have written hundreds of poems, but none of them can compare to this line, 'The night sky is as cool as water, I lie down and watch the Altair and Vega stars.'"
"It's not me you can't compare with. Isn't it normal that you can't compare with Fan Chengda, Liu Yong and Du Mu?" Duan Zhiwei thought to herself, feeling helpless when she saw that he was about to wipe his tears again.
At one point, A Pan and the others had finished weaving their tassel strings. They pinned the tassel strings and the colorful papers with begging words on them on the sides of the bamboo baskets, which looked very chic and elegant.
"It will definitely sell well." Aunt Duan said with a smile.
On the eve of the Qiqiao Festival, Duan Zhiwei got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. He walked out yawning and suddenly noticed a black shadow in the distance. He walked over with an old tile lamp in his hand, but bumped into Aunt Duan who was also coming out of the bedroom.
Duan Zhiwei rubbed his forehead and complained, "Aunt, I've told you so many times to turn on the light when you go to the toilet in the middle of the night."
Aunt Duan's voice was also muffled: "Save some money for the oil lamp... I think I stepped on something just now... Forget it."
Let's put this matter aside. Early the next morning, Duan Zhiwei started busying himself with kneading dough and making two-color Qiqiao fruits. Duan Zhiwei molded the fruit into the shape of a flower, dyed half of it light green with tea powder, and the other side red with red yeast rice. The fruit was also filled with two kinds of fillings, one half with black sesame and peanuts, and the other half with tangerine peel and red bean paste.
Use chopsticks to poke a hole in the middle of the flower, which is a bit similar to modern red bean bread. Half a star of red bean paste stuffing emerges from the center of the flower, which looks very beautiful.
This one was inevitably a bit monotonous, so Duan Zhiwei hesitated for a while and then tried making honey frosted hawthorn cake, milk skin cake, flower cake and jujube paste yam cake.
Various cakes were neatly arranged on a high-legged table outside the restaurant, and gift boxes in bamboo baskets were placed beside them. Next to them, a long pole was used to hang a striking calligraphy that read: "Tonight on the seventh night of the seventh month, look at the blue sky. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will cross the river bridge."
The poem "Begging for Skill" written by Tang Dynasty poet Lin Jie helped a lot in advertising the restaurant. Many passers-by saw this well-written poem as soon as they passed by, and then their eyes moved to the various sweet and tempting-looking fruits on the food table.
Pu Tao stood at the door holding a filigree plate. On the plate were several cakes cut into pieces as big as elephant eyes. A bamboo stick was inserted on each of them for diners to try.
It is very reliable to assign Pu Tao to do this. She is young and looks as cute as Fuwa. She holds the plate and lets diners try the food. The diners are embarrassed to refuse.
All other food for the day was discontinued. Ah Pan could remember the recipe of pastries after being taught once, but it was harder than climbing Mount Everest for her to deal with diners, so he let her stay in the fire room and make pastries.
Zhen Hui was collecting money while Aunt Duan was stuffing various cakes into the bamboo basket. Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to face the diners in person.
"You can take everything, you don't have to take just one."
"Today is the day for Qiqiao. The most recommended item is definitely Qiqiao fruit, but this honey frost hawthorn cake is also delicious. It is made from ordinary hawthorn cake coated with sweet batter and fried. It is drizzled with honey and sprinkled with white sugar. The skin is crispy and the inside is soft. It is sweet on the outside and sour on the inside. It has a unique flavor."
We were busy until the afternoon and the number of diners gradually decreased. Of course, today is the Qiqiao Festival and everyone is in a hurry to go home.
Yuan Shenji rode his horse slowly in, and Duan Zhiwei smiled when he saw him: "There are only cakes and desserts in the store today, would you like some, Captain?"
He was wearing a black suit today, and he looked neat and tidy, but it didn't match the sweet atmosphere of the restaurant today, especially the rich sweet smell in the air.
Yuan Shenji did feel uncomfortable with the sweet smell, but he calmed himself down and looked at Duan Zhiwei's smiling face: "The old servant in Yuan's family likes sweets, so please give me some Qiqiao fruit today."
"Okay." Duan Zhiwei turned around and went to get the bamboo basket. "Captain, pick one?"
Today's bamboo baskets are also very popular, but only those who buy eight cakes are eligible to purchase an additional bamboo basket. Some people have even bought today's Qiqiao fruits in other shops, and for the sake of this unique little bamboo basket, they bite the bullet and buy eight Qiao fruits from Duan Zhiwei.
Yuan Shenji looked down twice, then looked into Duan Zhiwei's eyes and said, "Then it should be 'May heaven and earth enjoy happiness every year tonight.'"
The atmosphere suddenly became ambiguous. Duan Zhiwei felt quite uncomfortable being stared at by him, so he had to lower his head and collect eight cakes and put them into the bamboo box.
"Have fun begging for skills," said Yuan Shenji.
"Have fun begging for skills," Duan Zhiwei replied.
Then he took the box of chocolates and left.
Tonight the stars are as bright as an imaginary Milky Way. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are separated on both sides by the water of the Milky Way, waiting for the Magpie Bridge to be built to welcome their annual meeting.
A food table had been set up in the yard, on which were placed various sweet cakes, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fragrant magnolia flowers in an earthenware vase. Pu Tao had already cleaned the doll she had picked up, changed it into a green gauze dress she had sewed herself, and also strung a white magnolia around the doll's neck.
At this moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard is not as cheerful as usual, because Pu Tao needs to test her dexterity by throwing a needle into the water. If the shadow is a thin line or a cloud or flower shape, it means "begging for skill", which means the girl throwing the needle is very dexterous. If the shadow is like a thick mallet, it means "begging for clumsiness".
A bowl of clean mandarin duck water was placed on the dining table. Pu Tao nervously bowed three times to the moon, then threw the embroidery needle in her hand into the water. Duan Zhiwei immediately picked up the oil lamp and shone it on.
Pu Tao asked nervously, "How is it?"
Duan Zhiwei pondered for a long time, but couldn't figure out what the shadow looked like. Ah Pan said calmly, "It looks like a knife. You're lucky to beg for it."
Pu Tao cheered.
Although Duan Zhiwei didn't understand it, seeing how happy she was, it didn't matter.
"Come, come, it's time for dinner!" Aunt Duan made a lot of money today. Copper coins flowed into the shop, and even several BMWs were parked in front of the restaurant. She was so honored that Aunt Duan went to the kitchen herself today and cooked a pot of sweet and refreshing lotus leaf porridge.
The porridge is light green in color, looks very refreshing, and is cooked to be soft, sticky and thick. It contains some chopped hawthorn and lotus seeds, and looks delicious.
After a busy day, everyone felt their appetites flare up and quickly picked up a spoon to scoop up the food, only to hear a childish voice saying, "You can't eat this."
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