Chapter 257 Visiting the Fair
It is cold in the north in winter. No one goes out in such a cold weather, and people stay at home during the winter.
Jiang Yuzhu's business in the north is all managed by Chongyang, and she only needs to take a look at the account books and reconcile the accounts.
Now that the family has hired new servants and handed over the trivial tasks to Manager Gong, Jiang Yuzhu is happy to have some free time.
Inside the room, a charcoal fire had been lit and a grill had been set up, with a large table filled with a variety of meat skewers.
Yan Lin followed them to eat and drink more than once and took the initiative to help.
After about half a quarter of an hour, the mutton, which was three lean and one fat, began to sizzle with oil, and the meat gradually turned into a light golden color.
Everyone sat around the fire, talking and laughing.
Gong Huai really didn't expect that he could find such a good master after being exiled to the north as a criminal slave.
"Then I will come to entertain the lady and sing a southern tune."
After Gong Huai started singing, the room fell into silence.
Hongli didn't understand the southern dialect, but that didn't stop her from appreciating it. She said affirmatively, "I didn't realize that Manager Gong's singing was so beautiful."
One of the maids, who was renamed Hongying, said, "That's right, Manager Gong learned it in the opera troupe before."
Gong Huai's family was poor, so his parents sent him to a drama troupe to learn art when he was a few years old. Unfortunately, the troupe owner died later and the troupe disbanded.
After many twists and turns, Gong Huai finally sold himself into the palace and worked his way up from a servant to a manager.
After the song was over, everyone was talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was lively.
Jiang Huaiqing ate the mutton skewers and drank a few sips of wine, and he just felt high.
"Second brother, what are your plans for marriage with the princess?"
Jiang Yuzhu had inquired and found out that the marriage customs in the north were different from those in the capital and there were not too many red tape.
Especially in the camp north of the city, everything is kept simple.
Nevertheless, the necessary pomp and circumstance must be maintained.
Holding the 200,000 taels of silver given by her father Jiang Fulu, Jiang Yuzhu suggested: "How about we arrange the New Year's Eve dinner for all the soldiers?"
"Then I'm afraid it's too late to write a letter to my parents now."
Jiang Huaiqing thought the proposal was good, but the problem was that he didn't have that much spare money.
There were hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the camp north of the city. The New Year's Eve dinner included fish and meat, and fine flour buns to fill them up. In addition, there were wine, cakes and fruits. A rough calculation showed that the cost would be at least tens of thousands of taels.
The Jiang family did not split up, so Jiang Huaiqing spent a large sum of money to at least inform his parents.
Jiang Yuzhu understood her second brother's concerns and winked mysteriously, "Don't worry about the money."
The soldiers are all under the princess' command, so it is not an exaggeration to say that they are her family.
The money that my father Jiang Fulu prepared was originally for military supplies for the soldiers. By spending the money wisely under the pretext of a wedding banquet, the soldiers will also appreciate the Jiang family's kindness.
"The princess is injured. Second brother, please take good care of her. Leave the shopping to me."
Jiang Yuzhu was given a huge responsibility. There was still more than a month left, and many things were not in sufficient supply in the border town, so they had to be transferred from surrounding cities.
It was already the twelfth lunar month and the water in the border town had turned into ice.
The servants had just changed their master for a few days, and with the daily eating and drinking, their originally dry and yellow cheeks became plump.
We happened to arrive at the border town fair, which was already packed with people at dawn.
Jiang Yuzhu walked in the middle, with Huang Dali and Huang Xiaomei as her right-hand men and women, helping her to block the flow of people, and the rest of the servants followed closely behind.
"I have never seen so many people in the border town!"
As soon as Hongli entered the crowd, she was bumped by a sturdy woman and staggered. Her body tilted and was straightened by an aunt next to her.
My aunt said, "There are so many people that there is no place to stand. We are not afraid of falling."
There were officials maintaining order and the team moved slowly.
The market is on a street which is narrow at both ends and wide in the middle. When a large number of people enter the shops on both sides, the stalls will not be so crowded.
"Freshly baked sesame cakes, scallion pancakes, and salt and pepper pancakes, only one penny each!"
"Big steamed buns made of fine white flour, three for two cents!"
"Big meat buns, full of meat filling, two cents each!"
The group passed by a stall selling staple food. The stall owner opened the big steamer and immediately hot steam mixed with the aroma of meat wafted out, causing many people to sniff at the same time.
In the north, the New Year begins in the twelfth lunar month.
Peddler carrying loads on their shoulders walked around the market, most of them selling popular goods from the south.
There were bath beans for washing face and mouth, ointment for women to apply to prevent frostbite, red hairbands, silk flowers, scented powder, purses, sachets and handkerchiefs, and dozens of other items.
The little kid rode on his parents' necks, looking around with curiosity.
When I saw the man selling candied haws, I immediately swallowed excitedly.
Throughout the year, ordinary people tighten their belts to make ends meet. Even the poorest families have to spend money to make dumplings during the New Year.
There are some foods that we are reluctant to buy on normal days. Even the stingy person will become generous at the end of the year just to have a prosperous year.
"Ma'am, do you like to eat candied haws?"
Huang Xiaomei touched the copper coins given by the lady and always wanted to give something back.
Under the sun, the red hawthorns wrapped in icing sugar are crystal clear and sprinkled with sesame seeds, which makes them appetizing.
The vendor made several styles, including candied haws with red bean paste in the middle, which was sweet and sour and delicious.
"My candied haws are the most expensive, three cents a string!"
A snotty kid riding on a man's shoulders showed off a candied haws to Jiang Yuzhu. He licked it, squinted his eyes and looked satisfied, "It's delicious, so sweet!"
Jiang Yuzhu was embarrassed and wanted to refuse Huang Xiaomei, but she immediately changed her mind and said, "Eat, let's all eat! I'll have two skewers, you guys can help yourself, all you can eat!"
Hongli handed the purse to Huang Xiaomei, and Huang Xiaomei bought more than twenty skewers at once.
The peddler smiled when he saw it was a big deal.
Jiang Yuzhu took a bite of the candied haws and found that the core had been removed. She ate the candied haws with a glutinous rice ball-like filling in the middle, which tasted sticky.
She was holding a candied haws and made a gesture to the kid.
Unexpectedly, the snotty kid stared blankly at the string in Jiang Yuzhu's hand, then grinned and burst into tears!
"Dad, I want that too!"
The kid looked at what he had in his hand and immediately felt that it didn't smell good anymore.
The man slapped the kid on the butt and scolded him, "A string of candied haws can buy several rough-flour steamed buns, and you haven't finished eating yet. Are you looking at the pot while you eat?"
"Woo woo, I'll eat it, I'll eat it, that weird aunt took two skewers!"
The kid was beaten, but instead of calming down, he started throwing tantrums and rolling on the man's shoulders.
Jiang Yuzhu wanted to tease the kid and give him another string of candied haws as a good deed, but when she heard the other party calling her, she made a face at the kid and said, "Little brat!"
Call her a strange aunt and she definitely won’t be given the candied haws!
Jiang Yuzhu couldn't finish the food herself, so she found a well-behaved little girl with a red hairband to give it to her.
The little girl was flattered and said sweetly, "Thank you, beautiful aunt!"
Look, the little brat calls her weird aunt, while the little girl calls her pretty aunt, the difference is obvious.
Seeing the little girl taking the candied haws, the little kid pouted and cried loudly, attracting the attention of people around him.
Jiang Yuzhu rubbed her aching forehead and finally surrendered reluctantly. She confiscated Hong Jin's candied haws and sent them over.
She was afraid of the crying naughty child. Jiang Yuzhu couldn't help but wonder, if she had children in the future, would her children not be like this?
At this moment, Jiang Yuzhu suddenly felt that it would be a good idea to give birth to a smaller version of Xie Zhao.
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