Chapter 46 (Selling Popcorn)

The 13th day of the first lunar month

It was just the evening before the 11am hour and the main streets of Kyoto were already bustling with activity.

They are packed shoulder to shoulder, and if you look from above, it's so dense that you can't even see the ground.

"The city... is so prosperous!" Zhao Qi was overwhelmed by the sight, his eyes full of infatuation.

A man passing by sneered, "Another bumpkin!"

"You——" Zhao Qi was extremely angry and was about to argue with the other party.

The young man beside Zhao Qi held him back and soothed him, "Let's not argue with them. The first place in the provincial examination is not something that everyone can get. Looking at the guy's appearance, we will definitely meet him in the examination hall in the future. Let's teach him a lesson."

Zhao Qi took two deep breaths with a bad look on his face, calmed down, and apologized: "Brother Jin Zhao (Zi) is right. I was impulsive, but it is true that this capital is really prosperous. Compared with my hometown, it is much more prosperous."

The young man, Xue Jiahe, looked around and said with a smile, "It's just that there are too many stalls."

Zhao Qi looked around, seeing stalls next to each other, and nodded: "There are really a lot."

There were many people selling lanterns, and even more selling food. The food in particular was so delicious that he had never tasted it before!

Fried chicken legs, fried chicken wings, fried chicken fillets, halved chicken feet...

I can't watch this anymore, my mouth is watering!

As the two were talking, a carriage slowly came over, attracting everyone's attention.

During the Lantern Festival, horse-drawn carriages are prohibited from approaching this street in Kyoto, except for those in official positions, so a horse-drawn carriage is particularly eye-catching!

The people around spontaneously gave way, and the carriage passed by them, leaving a pleasant sweet fragrance, and stopped at an empty space in the bustling area ahead. Dozens of guards were protecting the carriage tightly, looking quite imposing.

"Who is this?" Zhao Qi asked.

When he turned around, he saw the young man next to him staring at the carriage, as if he didn't hear his question.

Zhao Qi was silent and pushed his friend.

Xue Jiahe came back to his senses, coughed lightly, and said, "This is the Xiao family's carriage."

Speaking of the Xiao family of Kyoto, there is no need for further introduction, as everyone knows them.

As expected, Zhao Qi was immediately delighted: "The Xiao family? The Xiao family I know? I heard from my grandfather that decades ago, the Great Zhou was not as powerful as it is now. We were always bullied and the people were living in poverty. It was not until the Xiao family army defeated the enemy that we were able to live peacefully as farmers..."

"Of course." Xue Jiahe still stared at that place.

Zhao Qi was overjoyed: "Ah, my greatest wish in this life is to meet the Xiao family in the court. When that happens, I will definitely tell him that it is thanks to him that I am where I am today..."

As he spoke, he found that the person beside him was gone.

Xue Jiahe had already walked forward without even looking back.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Zhao Qi smiled helplessly and followed.

At this time, the carriage stopped and the guards stood one by one facing outwards, leaving only a space the size of a door. Then they took out a large table with several things in oil paper bags and a ceramic jar on it.

Finally, he took out a banner and hung it on the carriage so that everyone could see it - [Selling popcorn, give it away if you answer the riddle correctly]

This was the same situation as many stall owners around. People around were not surprised. The only thing that seemed strange was probably that this carriage was so luxurious, and yet it was doing business here?

And what is popcorn?

When everyone was wondering, a servant opened one of the oil paper bags, pulled open the bag and showed everyone what was inside. Zhao Qi stretched his neck to take a look and found that the thing was round, with an uneven surface, and it was orange in color. From a distance, it had a sweet smell.

At this time, the attendant said, "This is popcorn, specially provided for everyone to taste for free. One spoonful per person. If you answer the riddle correctly, you will get one free. If you answer incorrectly, you will have to buy it yourself. Ten cents per serving!"

As he said this, he scooped a spoonful of food with his spoon. The spoon was not particularly large, just an ordinary soup spoon, and there were only three or four on it. Then he raised it slightly and asked, "Who wants to try it?"

"I!"

“Me, me, me!”

The people who had been gathered around raised their hands one after another.

The attendants distributed it one by one, giving each person a spoonful. Zhao Qi was jealous and followed suit and reached out for his hand.

Just his last spoonful.

The people who had eaten it earlier were already chasing after it to buy it: "It's delicious! Is it really only ten cents? I want to buy it!"

"I want one too!"

It is still the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival, the final New Year celebration. Everyone has prepared a lot of money for new and delicious things. Most people are willing to spend money, and looking at the oil paper bags on the table, the quantity must be quite large.

But unfortunately, no one in the carriage was planning to make money, so someone immediately came to maintain order and tell them the rules.

Meanwhile, Zhao Qi excitedly shared with Xue Jiahe: "This is something I have never tasted before in Kyoto. It's worth it!"

"I haven't eaten it either..." Xue Jiahe smiled and picked up one to taste.

After eating one, he immediately understood. No wonder it is called popcorn. It is sweet and crispy with a crunching sound when you put it in your mouth, but there is nothing inside. It looks like you have eaten something, but you feel like you have eaten nothing.

But the delicious sweet taste was still in his mouth, making him want to eat more.

Zhao Qi also ate it at this time, but he was not too disappointed. Instead, his eyes sparkled: "Isn't this the corn in our village that explodes when it is dried in the sun? But it is quite sweet. People in Kyoto know how to enjoy it and are willing to add sugar. We can't. I don't know who came up with this idea. It's quite interesting."

"It's a girl." Xue Jiahe said with a smile.

"Hmm?" Zhao Qi looked strange: "Do you know him?"

Xue Jiahe nodded modestly: "She is a girl from the Xiao family. Unfortunately, I don't know her name. I only know that her name has the character 'Shu' in it. She is very skillful. The halogen sauce and fried chicken just now were all made by her, as well as many other foods..."

Zhao Qi envied: "If I can marry this girl, it will be worth it even if I become a fat man in the future!"

Suddenly he felt a little cold around him. He turned his head and saw that Xue Jiahe had stopped talking.

He reacted quickly: "I made a mistake, Brother Jinzhao, the question-answering session over there seems to be quite lively, why don't we join in the fun? I wonder if Miss Xiao is here..."

On the other side of the carriage.

The booth owner draws the questions for the quiz, reads them out loud, and asks the person taking the quiz to answer them. This is to increase the interaction between the children and others.

At this time, it happened to be Ah Heng's turn to draw the topic. He reached into the jar and took out a small piece of paper. He unfolded it and said in his tender little voice: "Topic: Extending in all directions."

The guest thought for a moment and said, "That makes perfect sense!"

Ah Heng smiled and nodded: "That's right, here you go." He took an oil-paper bag from the carriage and handed it over.

It is handed over to the guest by the waiter.

The guest was obviously very happy. Getting something for free always makes people happy. He said, "Thank you very much, young master. I hope to see you again in the future."

Ah Heng had never communicated with strangers before, and yet she was treated so kindly. Her face turned red after hearing these words, and she smiled shyly.

When they gave way to Wan'er to draw, they were all reluctant to leave.

So fun!

Yan Qiushu watched from the side and thought that what she did was really great. She didn't like doing business, but she still liked this way of playing that increased fun by losing money. However, she didn't have the capital before and had played less.

Now I can let loose a little.

Most of the riddles were not complicated, and there were only a few that were really complicated. Wan'er happened to be unlucky and drew one: "The deceased admires Zhuang Zhou, and can dream of butterflies when he falls asleep." After reading it, the little girl said, "Please answer the second line!"

The person answering the question stared at it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. He took out ten cents helplessly and said, "I'll pay."

Wan'er was very disappointed and looked at the person behind him.

But the man avoided her gaze.

This question is quite difficult.

At this moment, a young voice appeared: "Learning poetry is like Gao Shi, and in old age, he still has the voice of a phoenix."

Wan'er's eyes lit up and she looked at Yan Qiushu, as if asking a question.

Yan Qiushu was still hesitating at first. She didn't know whether this line of poetry was a good match or not. She was about to ask Xiao Pingsong, but she found that the person who matched this line was an acquaintance, so she nodded decisively.

Wan'er took a portion of popcorn and said with a smile, "Here you go."

"Thank you." Xue Jiahe took it with a smile, and without waiting any longer, he took it and moved away.

This made Zhao Qi wonder: "Why don't you say a few more words?"

The young man blushed slightly and shook his head, saying, "Miss Xiao and I are not familiar with each other. Besides, what else can we talk about at this time?"

Zhao Qi nodded: "That's right..."

The two watched for a while, and figuring that these people wouldn't go out to play for a while, they left.

Yan Qiushu didn't notice, she was enjoying this game.

The children took turns changing the popcorns and gave them out one by one until they were all sold out, and they made a hundred cents!

Children have limited energy. Although they have plenty of energy, they will get tired after using it. When the last popcorn was given out, Wan'er fell asleep leaning on Yan Qiushu. Dongdong and Ah Heng were also very tired and listless. Xiao Pingsong was better. As an older brother, he still remembered to support his two younger brothers.

Yan Qiushu whispered, "Shall we go back first?"

"Well, let's go back." Xiao Pingsong nodded.

With an order, the carriage left.

The two people who had walked far away vaguely saw the carriage leaving here, their faces changed slightly, and they walked towards this side anxiously, as if they wanted to catch up with the carriage.

But there were too many people and they walked slowly. Before they could catch up, they turned the corner and suddenly someone patted Xue Jiahe on the shoulder.

The two of them were startled and came back to their senses. Xue Jiahe said, "Mu Sheng, it's you. Didn't I tell you to go and play by yourself?"

Mu Sheng was his personal servant, but he had given him a holiday. Unexpectedly, the boy came to see him again.

But Mu Sheng's expression was not right: "Sir, something has happened, you should go back quickly."

Xue Jiahe was startled, and a cold wind blew over him. He also calmed down completely and looked at the person next to him.

Zhao Qi said, "We have been walking around for so long, I am tired, I will go back and rest first, brother Jin Zhao can go home."

Xue Jiahe nodded, apologized, and left quickly.

At the same time, Yan Qiushu also took a carriage and returned to the Xiao family.

As soon as they entered the Xiao family's house, a group of people came to greet them.

Mainly to pick up Ah Heng.

When they arrived at Mrs. Xiao's yard, Xiao Huaiqi and his wife were also there. The three people in charge had serious expressions on their faces, but when they saw Ah Heng, their expressions all improved a little.

Xiao Huaiqi waved his hand and called Ah Heng to his side, then looked at Yan Qiushu and asked, "Did anything special happen during this stall setting up?"

"No." Yan Qiushu shook her head. Seeing that their complexion had not completely improved, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Xie Qingyun whispered: "Something happened in the palace!"