Chapter 65: Copper Dumplings. Go down the mountain.
When Qiu Xuan woke up, Zong's mother had already returned to the courtyard and asked Zong Anji to bring two plates of freshly made dumplings.
It is said that there are copper coins stuffed in the dumplings, and whoever eats them will be blessed with good fortune in the new year.
Qiu Xuan didn't expect that her grandmother would also make this. She smiled, washed her hands, picked one up at random and put it in her mouth.
It's hard and hurts my teeth.
"This? You ate it already?" Qiu Yu was stunned and took the copper coin out of her mouth.
She just ate a dumpling! She was so lucky.
"Try it too." Qiu Xuan stuffed the bamboo chopsticks into Zong Xiao's palm and urged him.
Zong Xiao didn't think he would be so lucky, but he still picked up one symbolically, and he never thought that he would find a copper coin in the food.
Two dumplings for two copper coins, this probability is a bit too high.
Qiu Xuan was in high spirits. She said, "Mom must have given me a lot of coins. Let's see who gets the most in the end."
Qiu Xuan said this because she wanted Zong Xiao to eat more. He had only eaten three dumplings yesterday and his stomach was already empty.
"Okay." Zong Xiao brought out the vinegar jar, and the two of them sat at the table and started eating dumplings with vinegar.
After finishing the second one, they looked at the copper coins in their hands and became suspicious.
After eating the fourth one, they finally realized something was wrong.
These dumplings are filled with copper coins, every one of them is filled with them!
Next door, Zong Anji was sitting at the table choosing copper coins. Even though they all looked the same, his mother insisted that he pick out the cleanest, best-looking, and most flawless ones.
Zong Anji's waist ached and his eyes were tired. He stood up, stretched himself, and grumbled, "Mom, you're not going to make another pot of copper-coin dumplings, are you? This morning at dinner, I literally spat out a copper coin every time I took a bite."
The clan mother glared at him and said darkly, "If it weren't so troublesome to cook them separately, I should have let you eat the dough without the filling. How dare you hide your second brother's injury from me?"
"I...my second brother didn't let me tell you." Zong Anji never expected that the little girl Huaixue would let the cat out of the bag last night.
"Then you'll secretly tell Huaixue? You know how timid that child is. She was scared last night." The clan mother kneaded the dough and threw it in front of him, "Hurry up and choose. After you choose, you can roll out the dough. We have to make dumplings at noon."
Zong Anji looked at his wife for help, but was met with a cold stare.
Never mind, just do it.
At noon, Zong Anji brought over two more plates of dumplings.
Qiu Xuan opened the door for him. When she saw the newcomer, she was the first to speak, "Did Mom pack all the dumplings with copper coins?"
"That's right. I was the one who washed the copper coins. But don't worry, second sister-in-law, I washed them several times with hot water and they are very clean." Zong Anji didn't let her help and brought the steaming dumplings into the kitchen by himself.
Zong Anji was worried about Zong Xiao, and seeing that he was not in the yard, he asked, "Second sister-in-law, where is my second brother? Is he feeling better? Has his fever subsided?"
Qiu Xuan pointed to the door and said, "The fever has subsided, and he's fine. But we won't go to that courtyard for dinner these few days. Tell Mom not to send us anything, and we'll just make some ourselves."
Zong Anji nodded. Thinking about what he had let slip, he thought about it and decided not to go into the house to take a look, for fear that someone would walk in and be carried out.
After seeing Zong Anji off, Qiu Xuan locked the courtyard door from the inside.
She didn't plan to go out these few days. After all, Zong Xiao caught a cold when he went out for some fresh air. Although he recovered after a night's sleep, Qiu Xuan was still worried.
In order to prevent him from getting sick again, she turned away all those who came to pay New Year's greetings during the past few days.
It was not until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, when Qiu Xuan saw that his wound seemed to be scabbing, that she let him leave the house.
However, the two of them mainly wanted to go down the mountain to the clinic to have a look at the doctor and get some prescription medicine.
When Zong's mother heard that they were going down the mountain, she insisted that Zong Anji come with them, because someone had to drive the mule cart. Zong Xiao's right shoulder had not yet healed, so he was not fit to drive.
Once Anji followed, Huaixue also wanted to follow. After a final discussion, everyone except the clan mother went down the mountain.
Afraid that they would not be comfortable sitting, the grandmother also put an old mattress on the mule cart.
The clan mother said: "This mountain road is not easy to walk on. Go slowly. Don't play around when you get to town. Go early and come back early."
Everyone waved their hands: "Got it, Mom."
The road down the mountain is still the same one. It hasn't snowed in recent days, so the road is not muddy and is very easy to walk on.
The group was talking and laughing, discussing what they were going to do when they got to the town today.
Of course, they wouldn't just take the medicine, they also had to take a good look around. After all, it had been quite some time since Zong Anji last went down the mountain.
"I want to buy some jujube paste pastry!" Huaixue likes to eat this. Qiuxuan and her friends bought some before the New Year. She was frugal and only ate one piece a day. Who would have thought that the last piece would fall to the ground.
Huaixue had been thinking about it all the time and did not forget it when she went down the mountain this time.
Zong Anji teased her: "You need money to buy jujube paste cakes."
Huaixue pointed to the small purse she was carrying and said angrily, "I have money! Grandma gave it to me!"
Zong Anji continued to tease her: "Those few copper coins are not enough. Jujube paste cakes are very valuable. We need silver."
Huaixue had never bought anything by herself. In her impression, she could buy whatever she wanted with copper coins. Now when she heard that she had to use silver, her face drooped and she almost cried.
"You just want to bully kids and get a beating, don't you?" Liu Yueyang's fist fell on Zong Anji's head, but she held back. "How dare you tease her? Didn't Huaixue drop the last piece of jujube paste pastry because you scared her?"
Qiu Xuan leaned over, looking like she was watching a show, "Is there something else?"
Yue Yang seemed to have found an ally. She said, "That's right. That day, Huai Xue was eating cakes in the yard. He kept telling her about his second brother's injury. It scared Huai Xue so much that she had a nightmare that night."
Qiu Xuan and Zong Xiao didn't know about this. After all, they never went to that hospital again after having breakfast together that day.
They both thought that Zong Anji couldn't help but secretly told his mother, but they didn't expect that there would be such a thing in between.
The couple looked at Zong Anji and clicked their tongues in unison.
Zong Xiao said, "You should go and pay back the debt you owe. Remember to buy two bags of jujube paste cakes for Huaixue."
Zong Anji had a lot of grievances, but he couldn't afford to offend a whole car of people. What else could he do? He could only do as he was told.
When the mule cart entered Yuanxiang Town, we thought there wouldn't be many people on the street, but when we arrived, we found that both sides of the street were already filled with stalls.
There are all kinds of things for sale, it's very lively.
Qiu Xuan glanced at the place where they used to set up their stall and found that there were already people there.
She originally planned to go down the mountain to set up the stall after the 15th, but she didn't expect everyone to come so early and all the space was taken.
"It seems we have to find another stall." Qiu Xuan said with a hint of regret.
"Is there no place left for us to set up our stall?" Zong Anji realized that the mule cart had already left the area. He was shocked and said, "Then what should we do? I don't think there's any better place on this street. How about we set up a stall in front of the braised meat shop?"
Zong Xiao frowned slightly. He really didn't understand why his third brother was so clueless.
I even dreamed of setting up a stall in front of someone else's shop. Although the owner was a nice guy and had always bought their buns, this was a business, not a stall.
"That's not right." Qiu Xuan shook her head. "Let's wait and see. We won't be setting up our stall down the mountain until a few days later anyway."
Qiu Xuan knew in her heart that there was no point in being anxious now. They couldn't come early tomorrow morning for that place.
Besides, if they can occupy it for one day, who can guarantee that they can still grab it the next day? They are on the mountain and it will take more than half an hour to go down the mountain.
Zong Anji sighed and said regretfully, "Oh, it would be better if we lived in the town. I would come and occupy the land at night."
The mule cart quickly stopped in front of the clinic, and Qiu Xuan helped the person get off the cart.
Since it was a follow-up visit, Qiu Xuan didn't let them come in with her.
There were quite a few people in the clinic, and they waited for a long time before it was their turn.
The doctor first took Zong Xiao's pulse, then asked him to take off his clothes to look at his wound.
When Qiu Xuan saw the doctor's serious expression, her heart was in her throat, fearing that she would hear something bad.
"This wound looks like it's about to scab over, but it's actually not fully healed yet. Don't rub it." The doctor wiped his hands with a cloth and continued, "You still have to apply the medicine for at least another month."
Qiu Xuan also thought so. It would take a hundred days to heal a broken bone, let alone being bitten by a wolf.
"Doctor, please prescribe some medicine for me."
The doctor was afraid that they would be reluctant to spend the money, so he did not mention it just now. But now that she brought it up on her own initiative, the doctor prescribed her half-month supply of medicine.
"This medicine only needs to be taken once a day. Go get some."
Qiu Xuan took the prescription and went out to get the medicine.
The medicine was cheaper than she thought, but it still cost five taels and six cents.
Money was spent like water, and Qiu Xuan's purse was immediately half empty. She felt it and thought that she had to hurry up and make money.
Zong Xiao came out of the house after applying the medicine and saw her sitting on a wooden bench with a frown on her face, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Did it cost a lot of money?" Zong Xiao knew that so much medicine was necessary.
"Not much." Qiu Xuan immediately put on a smile. She took Zong Xiao's left arm and said with a smile, "Healing your injuries is more important than anything else. Let's go to the restaurant to find them."
When they separated, they agreed to meet at the Jinwei Restaurant later.
Yueyang said that it was a small restaurant that mostly served stir-fried dishes, but also noodles.
Qiu Xuan knew this place but had never been there.
"Have you been there? How is the food in that restaurant?" Qiu Yu chatted with him.
Zong Xiao shook his head. He had only eaten a few bites at small stalls before, and had never been to a restaurant that served stir-fried dishes.
The food there is not cheap. A plate of vegetables costs more than ten copper coins. It's not cost-effective.
“I haven’t been there, but I heard it’s very popular.”
"Then let's go and try out some of the food at other restaurants today."
They walked along the street for about an incense stick's time and finally saw the restaurant.
But this place has nothing to do with prosperity. There are very few people inside, only two tables including them.
If Zong Anji and the others had not been sitting inside, Qiu Xuan would have suspected that she had come to the wrong place.
"Waiter, what's going on today? It's dinner time and there are so few people here." Zong Anji poured tea and chatted with the waiter beside him.
Seeing that he didn't understand, the clerk said a few more words to him.
The owner of this shop passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, leaving behind only his son and his widow. Neither of them was cut out for business, and within two days the chef was snatched away by another restaurant.
Now that the chef has left, the food doesn't taste as good as before, and fewer customers come. This shop is not making money and I heard it's going to be sold soon.
Qiu Xuan raised her eyebrows slightly: "Selling the shop?"
The waiter said: "That's right. Business is not good, so why not just sell it for some money? I heard they're looking for someone to look after it recently, but they haven't decided yet."
Qiu Xuan naturally couldn't afford such a good piece of land and such a good shop.
But she was also curious about the price of the shop as they had not yet reached an agreement.
"Why can't you decide? Is the price too high?"
"Not really. A relative of the main family heard they were selling and insisted they could take it over. The young master has been keeping quiet, so who knows if they'll rent it out or sell it in the end."
Qiu Xuan wanted to ask a few more questions, but before she could open her mouth, there was a noise outside the door, and then several strong men walked in.
The leader glanced around and shouted to the waiter, "Where is your young master? Call him out."
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