8 A trip to Zui Liuxia
◎No matter how difficult the world is, there is always a place for us to call our own.◎
The Song family also sent someone to Zui Liu Xia to buy rice dumplings. Who was this person? Would they recognize her?
Song Jinyi's heart was suddenly like a kite without a string, hanging in the air, with a thin layer of sweat on her palms. She turned around and pretended to choose, but in fact she was paying attention to every move behind her.
Song Jinyi didn't feel relieved until she heard the waiter say that the Song family had ordered five boxes of Futai Ankang gift boxes and that no one from the Song family had come here.
The woman carefully instructed the waiter and explained the matters concerning the Song family.
After finishing his work, he remembered that there were two other guests here, so he turned to ask.
Song Jinyi only asked for two loose snacks. The woman frowned, but since she was a guest, she didn't say much. She just put away her smile and became a little more impatient. She packed the two snacks and handed them to Song Jinyi.
Song Jinyi was tactful and knew that people thought they bought too little, so she didn't stay any longer and just left.
They walked around to a quiet alley beside Zui Liuxia, and fearing that the food would get cold and not taste good, they took it out and tasted it immediately.
Song Jinyi bought a mugwort green rice dumpling, which was soft, glutinous and fragrant. Xu Ruolan bought a red bean paste rice dumpling, which was sweet but not greasy, with delicate bean paste.
After taking a bite, Song Jinyi's eyes lit up. No wonder Zui Xiang Lou became the number one teahouse.
She had never tried this tea, so it was hard for her to comment, but the snack was really good. If it weren't so expensive, she would have wanted another one.
Song Jinyi said to herself, "I wonder who this pastry chef is? If I have the chance to meet her, I will definitely learn from her." Her words revealed her excitement at meeting a worthy rival.
"I heard that although there are many pastry chefs in Zui Liu Xia, the most skilled one is a woman named Chun San Niang. These pastries are so exquisite, I think they must have been made by her."
As he was speaking, a "squeaking" sound suddenly rang out, like that of an erhu, slow and long. Then he saw a wooden door in the alley being slowly pushed open.
This wooden door should be the back door of Zui Liuxia. A woman of about thirteen or fourteen walked out. She was slightly plump, with a chubby face, and was wearing a gray-purple coarse linen dress.
The woman was holding a wooden basin in her hand and pouring water out. When she saw the other two people in the alley, she looked straight at them.
Song Jinyi followed the woman's gaze and her eyes fell on the green ball of mugwort in her hand.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of footsteps. A woman came towards them, not quite to their side, but three or four people away. She stared at the green rice dumpling with a burning gaze and whispered, "Is it delicious?"
Song Jinyi felt strange about the woman, but still answered frankly that it was delicious.
"That's good," the woman left contentedly.
Song Jinyi stared at her departing figure and said, "What a weird person."
******
The fourth day of May.
Early in the morning, the sky was dim and a thin mist like a cloud covered the streets. The uneven surfaces of the bluestone slabs were shining with water, and unknown birds were singing in bursts.
After a while, the deserted streets gradually became populated, and white smoke rose from the east kitchen of the small teahouse, extending and floating towards the sky.
The waiter yawned and asked, "Sister Jinyi, tomorrow is Dragon Boat Festival, why are we making zongzi today?"
"You don't understand. Holiday marketing requires at least three days of sales. Starting the day before the holiday is not too early. Some businesses can even sell products for seven days during the holiday."
"Why?"
"Because it's a holiday, I want to have fun."
There are two types of zongzi: sweet and salty.
Xu Ruolan knows how to make rice dumplings, so Song Jinyi told her the recipe for the sweet ones and asked her to be responsible for the sweet ones, while she was responsible for the salty ones, and the waiter was responsible for making the fire.
Sweet rice dumplings include candied date rice dumplings, red bean paste rice dumplings, red bean rice dumplings, and brown sugar rice dumplings; salty rice dumplings include mushroom and meat rice dumplings, chestnut and meat rice dumplings, and egg yolk and meat rice dumplings.
In addition to these, Song Jinyi also prepared some red bean paste green rice dumplings as snacks to go with the tea.
After working for several hours, the store opened an hour later than usual.
However, when the tea drinkers heard that there were rice dumplings today, and they were stuffed with fresh meat, many of them were curious. But there were also loyal lovers of sweet food who thought that these salty rice dumplings were "heretical."
At the beginning, Xu Ruolan’s sweet rice dumplings sold well. Some people ate them in the store, and some took them home to eat during the holidays. In a blink of an eye, she sold seven or eight trays.
When someone tries the salty taste, they will be impressed by the delicious taste. The rice dumpling has a yellow exterior and rich fillings. The combination of pork belly, mushrooms, chestnuts, egg yolks, etc., weaves together into a delicious delicacy with rich taste.
Salty rice dumpling lovers enjoyed the delicious taste and recommended it to the guests.
More and more people are buying salty rice dumplings, and some people even pack several bundles to take home and share with their families.
Although the packaging is not as exquisite as Zui Liuxia’s, it has a novel taste and you can’t find such salty rice dumplings anywhere else.
As the saying goes - scarcity makes things valuable.
Once the reputation of these salty rice dumplings spread, word spread quickly. The shop opened at 9:00 a.m. and all the rice dumplings were sold out as soon as 5:00 p.m. arrived.
There were also diners who came later, empty-handed, and asked with regret: "Will there be any more rice dumplings tomorrow?"
Song Jinyi smiled and replied, "Of course we have some, but we don't have much. If you want it, you'd better come earlier tomorrow."
The next day is Dragon Boat Festival.
The neighbors heard that the tea shop made delicious rice dumplings and green rice balls, so as soon as it opened, many people came and even started queuing up.
Before noon, all the rice dumplings for the day were sold out.
In the afternoon, there was a dragon boat race at Luoyan Lake in the south of the city. Many people went to watch the fun, but there were almost no tea drinkers, so the boss simply gave half a day off.
Song Jinyi packed up and took a rare leisure time to go out for a walk with Xu Ruolan.
******
Luoyan Lake.
The usually calm lake surface was turned upside down by the dragon boats. The helmsman sitting at the bow gave loud commands, accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums.
People on the lakeside formed layer upon layer, forming a human fence, blocking Luoyan Lake completely. As different dragon boats leaped forward, there were bursts of cheers.
This lively scene made the slightly cool breeze in the air become extremely hot.
Song Jinyi and Xu Ruolan climbed to the middle of the small hill next to Luoyan Lake. There was a pavilion on the top of the hill, which was crowded with people. They went to the side facing away from the pavilion.
There are willow trees shading the hillside, which is a good place to cool off. There are not many people there, so you don’t have to squeeze in. However, the slope is a bit steep, so you have to move carefully.
Song Jinyi took a large cattail leaf fan and fanned herself and Xu Ruolan, saying, "When I came here, I took a look. I don't know how the business of the small stalls around Luoyan Lake is usually, but today they must be making a lot of money. If I have the chance in the future, I will also set up a stall by the lake."
After saying that, he turned sideways and his eyes met Xu Ruolan's. She said bluntly, "I plan to save some money and open a small shop of my own."
Xu Ruolan's expression was calm, not showing any surprise. It seemed as if she had known this for a long time. She said softly, "With your skills, you will definitely have a great future if you don't leave."
"But I need a helper. Is Sister Ruolan willing?"
Xu Ruolan was used to a simple and stable life and politely declined.
Song Jinyi naturally didn't want to force anyone.
"I hope Sister Ruolan won't tell the shopkeeper what I said today."
"Of course." Xu Ruolan nodded and agreed, "Given your skills, it would be a waste to stay here. If one day you decide to leave, it would be natural.
But you are still young, and there are many things you have not experienced yet. Let me ask you, before you came to the tea shop, did you ever look for a job elsewhere?
Song Jinyi said no.
"You rarely talk about your origins, so I don't want to ask too much. But since you know very little about Yunzhou, I guess you're from somewhere else. Now you're going out to live on your own, and I can't help you much. I can only give you a few words of advice. Have you ever thought about the many difficulties women face in finding a living abroad?"
Song Jinyi also struggled alone in society in her previous life, so of course she had thought about it.
Seeing that she was silent, Xu Ruolan thought that she was just a child, having a sudden idea without thinking it through carefully.
She sighed and said softly, "It's not easy for women to find work because of their physical differences. Menstruation and pregnancy can affect their health. That's why shops rarely hire women to work. If a woman wants to start her own business, it's even more difficult."
Song Jinyi confidently replied to Xu Ruolan, "Don't worry, Sister Ruolan, no matter how difficult the world is, there will always be a place for us to call our own."
******
The fierce dragon boat race ended before sunset.
After the dragon boat racers left, many of the people watching the excitement by the lake dispersed and the sky darkened.
Song Jinyi and Xu Ruolan walked down the hillside slowly hand in hand, shook off the weeds on their skirts, tidied their clothes, and prepared to leave.
The road they came from was crowded with people, and it was difficult for the two of them to squeeze through.
Xu Ruolan suggested taking a detour through Chong'anfang in the east.
Song Jinyi agreed.
Chong'anfang is mostly home to the residences of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. There are no shops, only vendors carrying shoulder poles to buy bulk goods. On weekdays, apart from the carriages and sedan chairs of dignitaries, there are basically no people on the streets.
I didn't expect that when I passed by here today, it was crowded with people.
Song Jinyi was pushed around by the crowd and lost her original direction. When she came to her senses, she found that the crowd was all pushing in one direction. Song Jinyi looked in the direction of the crowd.
She didn't know whose mansion it was, but there was a piece of white paper pasted on a high wall outside. It was too far away, so she could only see the eye-catching words "Notice" written on the paper.
Then I heard a commotion coming from the front, near the notice: "Thirty taels of silver..."
"It seems to be a distinguished person from Shengjing..."
The crowd was bustling and jostling each other, like the rising tide, with waves surging up one after another. Song Jinyi, with a slender figure, was tossed to and fro by the waves, and soon she and Xu Ruolan were separated by the crowd.
She tried to stand firm and looked up for Xu Ruolan, but she was nowhere to be found in the vast sea of people.
There are a lot of people here. If Sister Ruolan can get out of the crowd, she probably won't stop here to wait for her, but will go to Qiaoge Street.
She also wanted to find a way to get out, so she lowered her head, careful not to be stepped on, and moved slowly to the north.
Suddenly, she stopped moving, frowned, and her face became extremely ugly. She felt a sinking sensation at her waist, and quickly reached out to catch the thief.
The man moved very quickly and was a habitual offender. Song Jinyi only felt her empty waist!
"Catch the thief!"
Unfortunately, in the vast sea of people, her voice was like a stone thrown into the water, instantly swallowed by the several-foot-high waves.
When she thought about her wallet being lost, she didn't care about anything else and just used her elbows to push forward and forcefully opened a way out for herself.
After several attempts, she finally squeezed out of the crowd. She wiped the sweat from both sides of her cheeks and caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of her eye. He was hunched over, holding a handful of purses in his hands.
Song Jinyi recognized at a glance that the purse on the edge of the pile was hers. It was embroidered with gold ingots, and she had specially asked Xu Ruolan to embroider it for her to pray for wealth.
She didn't expect that before she could make a fortune, he would spend it first. She didn't make a sound to alert the enemy, but ran towards the man.
The little thief seemed to sense something and suddenly raised his head. Seeing Song Jinyi running towards him, he immediately tied the bag and ran forward without looking back.
Song Jinyi shouted as she ran, "Catch the thief, catch the thief!"
It’s a pity that she is a delicate girl and can’t escape from the thieves.
She chased the man's afterimage to an alley. She didn't know how long she had been running. All her strength was exhausted and she could not run anymore.
She leaned against the dark wall without feeling disgusted, breathing heavily.
After calming her breathing, she looked up at the place, her eyes froze and she stayed where she was.
Where did she run off to?!
The sky gradually changed from sky blue to orange-yellow, and the brightness gradually decreased, as if a dyed silk cloth was covering the sky. The warm sun hid in the uneven eaves, and the light and shadow flickered.
Song Jinyi stood at the entrance of an unknown alley. The wet floor stuck to her feet like glue, making her unable to move at all.
It was an alley as narrow and long as a goat intestine, with high walls on both sides. There was a ray of light at the entrance, but the further you looked in, the darker it became, like night, and you had no idea how long it was inside.
Because the light was dim, a few steps inside from where Song Jinyi was, there were several people who were doing unknown things, with pipes in their mouths, puffing out smoke. Their faces were hidden in the darkness and exposed in the smoke, looking a bit hideous and scary, like a pack of wolves in the dark night.
She realized belatedly that she seemed to have entered a place where she shouldn't have been.
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