Chapter 51 Chapter 51 A benefactor from Liangzhou on the eve of the Lantern Festival...
Before traveling through time, Duan Zhiwei always believed that the biggest and most lively festival of the year was of course the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival is the time for families to reunite in a year and it is also the longest holiday. The Spring Festival is all about staying by the fire, eating bacon, sausages and various snacks for a week and receiving red envelopes. No festival is more important than the Spring Festival.
I didn't expect that after traveling through time, people around me all agreed that the Lantern Festival was the most lively festival of the year.
Duan Zhiwei was very puzzled, how could it be Lantern Festival? There was no holiday for the Lantern Festival, and reality slapped her in the face again.
Now when she goes to the East and West Markets to buy things, the hawking sounds around her have changed from the single Chang'an accent to a variety of exotic accents. Merchants from Daqin, Loulan, India, Persia, the Caliphate, Goryeo, and Japan came either in long caravans of camels across the desert or in large ships, braving the risks of the raging seas, all in a rush to transport rare treasures to Chang'an.
After all, the dignitaries in Chang'an are the most willing to spend money on major festivals like the Lantern Festival.
Nowadays, Duan Zhiwei's restaurant is packed every day. In addition to local diners from Chang'an, many Hu merchants who can't find a place to eat also come here. The restaurant has only a few tables, which is not enough. It happened that the owner of the next door shop selling cosmetics and jewelry wanted to transfer the shop, and Duan Zhiwei immediately took it over.
Duan Zhiwei hired craftsmen and rushed to tear down the walls of the two shops to connect them into one. The shop next door also needed to be renovated. He was busy all day long and had a lot of fun.
However, as there were more diners, there were also more people causing trouble. A middle-aged man from the Caliphate had been drinking in Duan's restaurant for half a day and refused to pay. When asked for money, he even started to act crazy in the restaurant.
He also broke two plates and a cup in the restaurant, which made Aunt Duan so angry that she kept saying she would report to the police. Finally, two military marquises came from Chang'an County and dragged the crazy Hu man out of the restaurant.
Duan Zhiwei said, "Wait a minute, this foreign merchant ordered a plate of dried orchids and a pot of green ant wine without paying, and he also smashed the plates and cups in my shop."
Wu Hou was also in a dilemma. He knew that the Jinwu Guards were frequent visitors here and he dared not offend them easily, so he said in a negotiating tone: "Madam Duan, this poor Hu merchant doesn't have much money at first glance. What do you want him to compensate?"
Wu Hou looked around the drunken Hu merchant and said, "He has a Persian carpet in his bag. How about I use it as collateral for you?"
Persian carpets have always been expensive, but his carpet was dirty, torn, and covered in dust, so Duan Zhiwei didn't really want it.
But the barbarian cursed: "Damned Aladdin... If he hadn't ruined my plan and failed at the critical moment, I would have got the magic lamp, ruled the world, and had endless snow-white cakes and transparent wine. Why did I fall to such a state?"
Seeing that the man was extremely crazy, Duan Zhiwei was forced to take the carpet and let the two Wu Hou drag him away.
He just threw the torn blanket into the corner of the restaurant, and no thief would even look at it.
Next, she planned to make some delicious Yuanxiao food.
During the Lantern Festival, the market opens and lights are lit. The streets are bustling with people and the lanterns are lit all night long.
The food during the Lantern Festival is also rich and varied, such as silk cage, jiao zhui, and mian jian, all of which are yellow fried foods. Duan Zhiwei did not want to get himself covered in oil smoke during the three days of the Lantern Festival.
After all, the Lantern Festival lanterns are as bright as day. As a modern person, she naturally has to take time out to go to the market to enjoy the grand spectacle of lanterns.
Then you can only cook Gaomi and Yuanxiao. Gaomi is a porridge with meat. This kind of porridge is used by women to welcome Zigu on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Zi Gu is a deity who mainly protects women of the lower classes. She predicts the silkworm and mulberry harvests through divination. Aunt Duan respects this deity very much and has been nagging Duan Zhiwei for several days to cook the best paste.
The other kind is Yuanxiao, which people at that time called Yuanxiao "Floating Yuanzi" and "Lactose Yuanzi". Duan Zhiwei went for a walk in the street market and tasted several bowls of Yuanzi. At that time, the Yuanzi was still solid, without fillings, and it tasted like glutinous rice flour when you took a bite. Those who were particular would at most add some sugar or candied osmanthus to the soup.
Isn't the opportunity here? After experiencing the setback of hot pot, Duan Zhiwei finally had a delicacy that the ancients had not thought of but she had come up with.
That's the stuffed dumpling.
Duan Zhiwei prepared three flavors of filling: black sesame, date paste and nut, and hawthorn. While the weather is still cold, she also froze some in the backyard. Diners can also buy those frozen hard dumplings and cook them at home.
Bring a large pot of hot water to a boil and then put the dumplings into the pot. The round dumplings will keep colliding and tumbling in the water, then expand and grow larger, and float up when cooked.
Duan Zhiwei specially chose a small imitation white jade bowl. The glutinous rice balls clustered inside seemed to be more transparent. Duan Zhiwei also put a spoonful of osmanthus honey in it.
Enduring the heat, Rambutan bites open the soft and sticky glutinous rice skin. The black sesame candy filling drips into the soup like smooth silk. The jujube paste and nuts are chewier, and the aroma of the nuts spreads in the mouth as you chew.
Finally, she took a bite of the one stuffed with hawthorn. The red filling and the glutinous rice skin complemented each other, and it was sweet and sour. It not only made the glutinous skin less greasy, but also enriched the taste. Pu Tao swallowed the glutinous rice balls in a few bites, and then held the bowl to Duan Zhiwei and said coquettishly, "Another bowl, please."
She ate three bowls in a row, and when she couldn't eat any more, she lay down on the sheepskin mattress, touched her round belly and said, "Why are you offering porridge to Zi Gu? Yuanxiao is obviously more delicious."
Aunt Duan stopped him: "Don't talk nonsense. How can you be rude to Zi Gu?"
Seeing that the glutinous rice balls were a success, Duan Zhiwei felt relieved and found a wooden board, painted a bowl of hot rice dumplings on it, and then added a poem "Ode to Rice Dumplings": "Six streets are decorated with lanterns, and people compete for small and round dumplings, and serve them in jade bowls. The fragrance floats in the air like orchids and musk, and the cold dissipates on teeth and cheeks, and the pretty face turns red." He hung it at the door of the restaurant.
After doing all this, she was taken by Aunt Duan to the backyard, where the dirty Persian carpet was placed on the ground.
Aunt Duan's embroidery work is quite good. After all, this blanket is an imported product, so she thought of starching and washing it several times, then mending it, and selling it for whatever price she could get.
That's fine. Duan Zhiwei went to the well to fetch a bucket of water, poured it on the blanket, then took a horsehair brush and started to wash it.
After washing it three times, I didn't know how many bath beads I used. Black water flowed out with foam again and again, and finally the exquisite plant and flower embroidery and geometric patterns on it reappeared.
Aunt Duan was overjoyed and said, "This carpet is really good. If it is repaired properly, it will surely sell for a good price." It was as if she was the one who was shouting about who wanted this broken blanket and wanted the foreign merchant to pay for it.
"Forget it, aunt. We still have work to do in the front hall." The two of them moved the carpet to an open space with plenty of sunlight to dry it, and then Duan Zhiwei pulled Aunt Duan away.
The carpet lay quietly in the backyard for a while, then stood up by itself, shaking off the water frantically, scaring away nearby birds.
Then it lay back down again.
Yuan Shenji has been living in the government office since the Spring Festival and has not returned to the Yuan Mansion for a single day. He has made up his mind that as long as that group of people stay in the Yuan Mansion for one day, he will not go back, no matter how many times the old housekeeper and maid of the Yuan Mansion come to the government office to invite him.
He had just returned from the training ground that day and was about to get a bucket of hot water to wash himself when the old housekeeper came to him tremblingly and said that there was a beautiful young girl in the house.
"The master and the lady have already got each other's engagement letters, and they need to be combined with the captain's, and then..." There is no need to say more about the rest. The man is unmarried and the woman is unmarried, so what can the engagement letter do?
Yuan Shenji sneered and stretched out his hand quite long. How could he be controlled by them? He then put on his Ming Guang armor again and went back home to argue with him.
In just half a month, the Yuan Mansion has changed beyond recognition. The weathered stone lions on both sides of the door have been repainted. Although they look more majestic after being waxed, they lack some of their frost-resistant character.
Walking across the corridor, he saw a garden planted with various flowers and trees. It was the coldest time of winter, and the fragrance of large patches of goose-yellow wintersweets filled his nose, but it only made him restless.
Finally they reached the waterside pavilion. Lin was looking down at her clothes. Seeing him, she happily came over to greet him: "Da Lang is back."
Yuan Shenji did not hide the disgust in his eyes and took two steps back: "Who allowed you to allow an outsider to live in my mansion?"
Lin stood still and looked at him: "An outsider? Hasn't Dalang been looking for the person who saved you outside Liangzhou City and at the foot of Guzang Mountain? We found him for you."
Someone walked in quietly from outside the waterside pavilion. The person was wearing a plain yellow jacket, with a small red willow branch used as a hairpin to hold her hair up. She was elegant, looking up at him expectantly and shyly, "Don't mind my kindness, it's just that we haven't seen each other outside Liangzhou City for nearly a year. My name is Shentu Yuerong, nice to meet the commander."
Shentu, Duan and Chi are the three largest surnames in Xiping County of Liangzhou.
Yuan Shenji recalled the woman in his dream. It was a very snowy day. She bent down and untied the Mo Dao from Yuan Shenji's waist. She chopped down two small trees in a very funny posture, put the trees under him with difficulty, and then took the reins and dragged him in the heavy snow.
Yuan Shenji only remembered that she was wearing a very thick yellow jacket that day, and her hair was casually tied into a small bun with a piece of red willow.
Cheer yourself up as you walk.
Later, she found a small cave, made a fire, and sat there muttering to herself, complaining that he was so heavy and so tall, and she might as well just throw him away.
Although she said so, she did not have the heart to abandon him in the end. She melted a handful of snow water and fed it to him to drink. While he was drinking, she asked him for 100 taels of gold as a reward for saving him.
Then he added: "No, saving my life is a great favor. Seeing that you hold a high position, I will give you three or six thousand strings of cash to buy a house and some servants."
Yuan Shenji listened to her muttering in a daze. He wanted to say sorry to her, saying that it was indeed too much. He also wanted to say that he could not afford 36,000 strings of cash for the time being, and asked if it could be cheaper, or ask her to wait a little longer. He would go to Chang'an to take up the post soon, and his salary would be higher, and he would definitely be able to raise the full 36,000 strings of cash for her.
Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep.
He had saved many people, including civilians in the desolate border areas and captives abducted by enemy countries. After taking his turn at the Jinwu Guard in Chang'an, he had saved many more people. Only that one person had saved himself.
He always remembered the strong, brave, bright and kind girl.
He had searched for Liangzhou many times, but the city was too big. Yuan Shenji rode his horse around in circles in Liangzhou. The bartender, a Hu girl, smiled seductively and invited him to watch a Zhezhi dance, but he ignored her. The young lady in the fruit shop blushed and gave him a bowl of picked red pomegranates, but he refused.
He just wanted to find the woman who saved him.
Unfortunately, he didn't find anyone until he took office in Chang'an. In the end, he could only make a wish to Changshengtian in the endless desert outside Liangzhou.
Changshengtian also took into consideration the hardships he had experienced in his life, so he sent the bright girl from Liangzhou to Chang'an, where he met her again in May when the locust blossoms were in full bloom.
Thinking of this, Yuan Shenji lowered his head and looked at Shentu Yuerong, who gave him a gentle and beautiful smile in return.
Yuan Shenji also laughed.
I was so angry that I laughed.
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