Chapter 53 Chapter 53 Where did you come from when you were wandering around the Lantern Festival?
On the morning of the second day of the Lantern Festival, the entire city of Chang'an was silent.
After all, everyone was exhausted after the night of dancing. No one could get up to have breakfast. They slept until the sun was high above their heads. Only then did some pedestrians gradually appear on the road in Xuanyang.
Everyone in the restaurant had dark circles under their eyes, especially Pu Tao. She had saved up several months' wages and spent almost all of it on snacks on the first night of the Lantern Festival. She also played and ran around with her good friend in the flower market which was as bright as day. Now she was slumped on her side on the food table, looking listless, like a ball of cotton.
Aunt Duan was generous and bought several boxes of cosmetics, hairpins and jewelry. She shopped all night and kept complaining about back pain.
Only Duan Zhiwei could still hold on a little. After meeting Yuexia Laoren last night, she did not go to the West Market to hang out, but went straight back to the restaurant to sleep.
The sun was shining brightly at the moment, and a customer had placed an order for noodles two days ago, so she had to make them right away.
The so-called dough cocoons are made by kneading the dough into a cocoon shape and then baking it. Some restaurants make dough cocoons without even adding sugar, and just put the dry, tasteless dough there, but diners still buy it.
This is because the purpose of making the dough cocoon is not to eat it, but just to stuff a small piece of paper with a blessing on it, just to celebrate the Lantern Festival and bring good luck.
In modern terms, it's a bit like the fortune cookies you get after a meal.
Therefore, Duan Zhiwei also prepared to make cookies from the cocoon. He ordered a lantern-shaped wooden mold early on and added eggs, milk and sugar to the batter.
It still required some careful thought as to what to write on the prayer note. Zhen Hui was the first to raise his hand, suggesting writing a note implying "passed the imperial examination".
The spring examination in March was approaching, and he seemed very anxious. Every day, apart from hiding in a small storeroom to study, he would go around all the Confucius Temples in Chang'an City to worship.
Duan Zhiwei felt that Zhen Hui's recent behavior was too exaggerated, but he also felt that his suggestion made some sense. After all, many scholars were frequent customers of restaurants.
So he really wrote "Xingyuan High School", and then wrote "Wealth and Honor", "Eternal Youth", "The Most Beautiful Among All Women", and "Surely Find a Good Husband" and wrapped them in the dough.
At noon, a few scattered diners sat inside, most of them were students waiting for the spring examination. On the one hand, they disliked the "wealth and glory" as being too vulgar and not in line with the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and on the other hand, they carefully selected, overtly and covertly, trying to get both "Xingyuan High School" and "wealth and glory".
Duan Zhiwei secretly gave Zhen Hui a certificate from Xingyuan High School, and the latter immediately went out to offer the cocoon to Confucius.
The noodle cocoons at Duan's Restaurant are made into the shape of lanterns. They are small and exquisite, with a full and solid taste. When you chew them carefully, the rich aroma of milk and the light aroma of wheat spread between your lips and teeth. In addition, the small words on the prayer stickers, although not elegant enough, are really popular. Therefore, these noodle cocoons are very popular and sold out in one afternoon.
It is the second day of the Lantern Festival, and the flower market will certainly be more lively tonight. Duan Zhiwei made some more dough cocoons and prepared to distribute them in the West Market as an advertisement for his own restaurant.
Unexpectedly, Aunt Duan smiled in an ambiguous way and said, "I know you have an appointment with 'The Moon Rises over the Willows' today. I'm here, you go quickly."
Duan Zhiwei: “No…it’s not like that.”
On the other side, inside the Yuan Mansion, Lin dragged the shy Shentu Yuerong to Yuan Shenji. She was also dressed up today, wearing an expensive black and blue skirt with ten-color flower patterns and a golden sparrow hairpin on her head, which was also bright and beautiful.
Yuan Shenji stood tall. He usually had a gloomy look on his face in this mansion, as if others owed him tens of thousands of strings of cash. But today he seemed a little more approachable.
He looked at Shentu Yuerong, and then said gently: "Let's go."
Lin smiled as she sent them to the door. When she saw them walking away, she stopped smiling. Fengxian's carefully dyed long nails dug into the flesh and said in a cold voice, "Hasn't he always resisted associating with that Shentu lady? Why did he suddenly change his temper today?"
The maidservant who was serving her begged: "My lady, please don't let anyone see it..."
Lin seemed to wake up from a dream, and put on her gentle and soft expression again: "My son, have you woken up from your nap? I'll go check on you..."
Duan Zhiwei stood at the entrance of the West Market for half a day holding a hot water bottle. It was cold in the first month of the lunar year and she jumped a few times out of the cold. Finally, she heard a familiar voice.
Yuan Shenji was sitting in the carriage, preparing to "encounter" Duan Zhiwei as agreed, but suddenly got stuck.
She had her hair done in a relatively high lacquered bun today, and wore a rare pomegranate red brocade skirt with pearls, and a white imitation fox fur cape. Aunt Duan also put on some rouge and lip balm on her. She had a fair complexion to begin with, and with this attire, she looked even more beautiful.
From Yuan Shenji's perspective, it looked like a fairy statue carved out of jade, and he was so moved that he was speechless.
Duan Zhiwei was still waiting for his turn. Seeing that he didn't say anything, he was so anxious that he had to bite the bullet and act on his own: "It's Captain Yuan. Long time no see. Are you going to the West Market to see the lanterns?"
Yuan Shenji finally came back to his senses, and then nodded and said, "This place is far from the West Market, Madam Duan, why don't you take my carriage?"
Duan Zhiwei wanted to laugh so much that his eyes turned red. He lowered his head and climbed into the carriage.
Shentu Yuerong was already feeling uneasy when she heard him talking with a young lady in the carriage. Duan Zhiwei opened the curtain and sat inside without any hesitation. The two of them met each other and looked at each other curiously.
Shen Tu saw that Duan Zhiwei was also pretty and beautiful, and felt even more uneasy, so he asked, "Who is this lady?"
Yuan Shenji interrupted through the curtain and said, "He is an old friend of Yuan."
He was a cold and hard person in dealing with people, and he never approached women. How could he have such an old friend? Shen Tu wanted to ask in detail, but he knew it was inappropriate. Finally, he opened his mouth and said, "My name is Shen Tu Yuerong. May I ask your name?"
Duan Zhiwei smiled calmly and happily: "Madam, your surname is Shentu? Xiping Shentu clan? That's great. My name is Zhiwei, from Xiping Duan clan. It seems that Madam Shentu and I are half old friends."
An old friend of Yuan Shenji, from the Xiping Duan family of Liangzhou, Shentu Yuerong's face changed several times, and finally she forced a smile: "That's really fate."
The lights in the West Market have just come on, and colorful lanterns have been hung on both sides, illuminating the night market. The blacksmiths are making thousands of colorful fireworks, like stars falling to the earth like rain.
The crowds were huge, and there were sounds of surprise, joy, and laughter everywhere. Although Duan Zhiwei had also experienced the prosperity of Qujiang and Zhongnan Mountain, she was also frightened by the crowded crowd. Fortunately, there was Yuan Shenji, the cold-faced devil who exuded a murderous aura. He was also tall and stood like a wall between her and the crowd. Duan Zhiwei felt a little relieved.
She glanced at the livid Shentu Yuerong behind her, then smiled and said to Yuan Shenji, "Captain, shall we go and guess a lantern riddle together?"
When they arrived at the riddle stall, Duan Zhiwei picked a riddle at random and read out: "Curved vines climb up the trellis, strings of pearls hang on the edge."
Then she blurted out, "It's grapes. That's a little too simple."
He picked up a small mountain-shaped lantern and said, "A solitary mountain with overlapping peaks and scattered clouds... What is this?"
"This is a word puzzle, the answer is 'jue'" Yuan Shenji guessed it quickly.
Duan Zhiwei looked at Yuan Shenji with suspicion and then said with a smile: "The commander is really a man of both civil and military talents. If he participates in the imperial examination this year, there will be no place for other students."
She was very fast at guessing object riddles, while Yuan Shenji was very good at word riddles. The two of them worked together and actually guessed all the riddles on the stall.
The stall owner took Yuan Shenji's money, pointed at the top lantern and said with a smile: "If you two can guess the answer to this riddle, I will give you this lantern."
It was a lifelike lantern with a magpie on a branch, very cute. It's just quite hard to guess.
The riddle is "The Milky Way meets two stars". Guess an idiom. Duan Zhiwei tried to guess the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl but none of them worked out. Finally, he looked at Yuan Shenji for help. He also looked over and thought for a moment before his eyes dimmed. "The answer should be... a match made in heaven."
Duan Zhiwei knew that they were just acting as a couple in love, but at this moment she was also infected by the subtle sadness in his voice, and her face turned red from her neck to her ears.
Yuan Shenji took down the magpie lantern for her. The dim light shone on her face, flickering and making him very moved.
Duan Zhiwei also felt a little uncomfortable, and walked around and said, "I'm a little tired after standing for half a day. Why don't we go sit in the tavern?"
The three of them arrived at Yunlai Tavern, the largest tavern in West City. It was already crowded with people. The wine doctor chose a seat in a corner for them. Today the owner of the tavern had invited a troupe of opera performers, and the troupe also performed a play called "Poems on Red Leaves" in the middle of the tavern. The hero and heroine were brought together by a red leaf, which was very suitable for the Lantern Festival with its Valentine's Day atmosphere.
Duan Zhi smiled and pulled Shentu Yuerong, saying, "This play does have a flavor of destiny. I heard that my wife saved Captain Yuan outside Liangzhou City. I think this play troupe can also write about it and pass on this good story..."
"It's just..." She changed her tone: "This drama has been spread all over the world. If someone wants to steal the position of Madam Shentu's benefactor, it will be bad."
Shentu Yuerong's face turned pale and she said, "I feel a little unwell today, so I'm leaving first." Then she left in a hurry alone.
The two people behind looked at each other and hurriedly followed.
There were too many people in Xishi, so Yuan Shenji grabbed her wrist and led her to him. Duan Zhiwei looked at him worriedly: "I don't know if this trick will work."
Shentu Yuerong walked quickly and soon walked out of the prosperous West Market and continued walking towards a dark path. Duan Zhiwei seldom walked on such a remote path and felt dizzy. Fortunately, Yuan Shenji held her wrist and led her.
Shentu Yuerong soon arrived at an abandoned Yue Lao temple, then picked up three incense sticks and bowed three times to the moonlight. Duan Zhiwei thought that this was also a way to summon Yue Lao, but he didn't expect that Yue Lao, who was carrying a bag and holding a marriage certificate, did not appear. Instead, an old woman appeared. She had sparse silver hair and wore a coarse linen dress. Only a delicate flower ornament between her eyebrows was incompatible with her old face.
Duan Zhiwei knew who she was. She was the wife of Wei Gu, who was not cared about by anyone and did not even have her own name in the legendary story "The Engagement Shop" that was popular in Chang'an. She existed only as a mascot.
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