After the wedding, life passed uneventfully until the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Wang Yucheng got up early, put on her clothes and wore a sachet. Wearing a sachet is a traditional custom of the Dragon Boat Festival. It usually contains cinnabar, realgar, fragrant medicine and other ingredients to ward off evil spirits and avoid plague.
Yesterday, Wang Yu made an appointment with Chen Yanwen and Song Boyan to go to the county to watch the dragon boat race during the Dragon Boat Festival, so he took Cheng Chen to visit the county.
A few of them first met up in the town. Chen Yanwen and Song Boyan were both there, and they got on a horse-drawn carriage to go to the county together. The carriage belonged to Chen Yanwen's family.
Nanyang Town is close to the county, and the carriage arrived in one hour. The streets of the county were bustling with people. Wang Yu looked at the pedestrians outside and saw that most of them were walking towards the river. There were many people and many carriages on the road, all moving slowly.
It was really too slow, so Chen Yanwen and the others got off the carriage and asked the servant to drive slowly from behind. They walked over first. There were many people on the road, and Wang Yu held Cheng Chen's hand tightly, fearing that he would get lost.
By the time Wang Yu and his companions arrived, the bridge on the shore was full of people. There were already five dragon boats on standby in the river, with five red, yellow, blue, green and purple flags inserted at the stern, and a person beating a drum at the bow to control the rhythm.
"Hurry, the dragon boat race is about to start. My father asked someone to reserve a seat for us at the teahouse two days ago. Let's go there now." Chen Yanwen said as he walked towards the teahouse. The teahouse was right by the river. This area was already bustling, and now it was even more crowded.
Wang Yu lamented that it was easier to get things done with more people. When they arrived at the teahouse, there was someone at the door pleading with the waiter to let them go up. The waiter was also helpless and kept telling them that there were no seats left. These people could only leave with regret.
Chen Yanwen went to the counter and informed them that a private room had been booked in advance. After checking, the shopkeeper asked the waiter to take them up. The location of this private room was very good. Standing by the window, one could overlook the entire river and clearly see the five dragon boats.
Cheers came from the crowd and the dragon boats began to row. Wang Yu had never seen such an ancient dragon boat race before, so he pulled Cheng Chen to watch it attentively.
Cheng Chen had never been to the county town or seen a dragon boat race. He had only heard people talk about how lively and exciting the dragon boat race was. Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he realized that what he had heard before was not even one tenth of it.
Several people were watching intently and didn't even notice the waiter bringing tea. At this time, voices were heard from next door.
"Who do you think will take first place this year? Last year, the Sun family from Buzhuang took first place. It's said that the county magistrate exempted their family from taxes for three months."
"It's hard to say. This year, the Zhou family specially invited a master to compete. He's bound to take first place."
"The Zhou family? The grain merchant Zhou family?"
"Yes, and the Zhou family."
After listening for a while, Wang Yu felt that the county magistrate was very good and knew how to use rewards to motivate merchants.
The development of the commodity economy and the increase in social material needs reflect the continuous improvement of people's living standards and the improvement of the status of merchants. The faster the circulation of goods, the more tax revenue the country will earn.
The dragon boat race is now halfway through. The yellow team is currently in the lead, followed closely by the red team, and the blue team is slightly behind. I don’t know which team the Zhou family is they are talking about?
At this time, another voice came from next door: "Team Huang, is it the Zhang family of Baiweilou?"
"Yes, I heard his family is also participating this year."
"Could it be that the Zhang family is number one this year?"
"Hey, I bet one or two taels of silver on the Zhou family to win, but I'm afraid it's gone forever. What a bad decision."
Wang Yu's eyes flashed when he heard this. Baiweilou should be referring to the same restaurant in the town, but can you still bet on the outcome of this dragon boat race?
Chen Yanwen also said mysteriously at this moment: "I heard that the owner of Baiweilou is related to the royal family and has a very powerful backstage."
Wang Yu was very surprised. He didn't expect that the restaurant he was cooperating with was so powerful. If what Chen Yanwen said was true, this Baiweilou might not only be in the capital, but also in the whole Dali.
They could consider expanding the scale of their winery, but Wang Yu didn't expect that while he was still considering expanding the scale, someone would come to him specifically after a while.
The result of the dragon boat race was no surprise, the yellow team came in first. The dragon boat race ended at noon, and the people watching the race by the river had slowly dispersed.
Chen Yanwen suggested, "Let's go to Baiweilou for dinner."
When the four of them arrived at the restaurant, it was packed with people and very lively. They all came to share in the joy of being the first.
The waiter led the four people to the table and said, "Dear guests, our restaurant won the dragon boat race today. The owner said that all dishes today are half price, and an additional portion of rice dumplings will be given."
Chen Yanwen smiled and praised, "We watched the game, it was amazing!"
The waiter was also proud after hearing this. After ordering the dishes, he went to the kitchen to prepare the dishes. The rice dumplings served were sweet dumplings with red bean paste filling. Wang Yu peeled one and handed it to Cheng Chen. Seeing that Cheng Chen liked it very much, he gave his own to Cheng Chen as well.
Wang Yu suddenly remembered the online debate on whether rice dumplings should be sweet or salty in his previous life, and couldn't help but smile. Cheng Chen looked at Wang Yu and laughed suddenly, not knowing why, so he handed him the rice dumpling that he hadn't had time to eat.
Wang Yu shook his head and said, "Achen, eat it. I don't like sweet rice dumplings."
Seeing that her husband didn't seem to be lying, Cheng Chen ate it herself. How could anyone not like sweet rice dumplings? However, it seemed that her husband really didn't like sweets.
After dinner, Song Boyan and Chen Yanwen planned to go to the bookstore. Wang Yu looked at Cheng Chen and thought of taking her around first. Cheng Chen had never been to the county town.
Then he said, "I'll take Cheng Chen for a walk first, and we'll meet at the bookstore later."
The streets in the county are much larger than those in the town, and there are more markets. The things sold are even more dazzling. Cheng Chen couldn't even see them all. After the two of them walked down a street, Chen Chen had a lot of things in his hands. When they passed by a cloth shop, Cheng Chen planned to go in to see if there were any nice-looking fabrics.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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