Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Talking about Family Life Pei Lang's Heart Warms
It wasn't just A-Zhong who came back; Jiang Shi, who worked behind him, also came with him. A-Zhong's legs and feet weren't very good, and it was difficult for him to take care of hundreds of kilograms of fish by himself, so he brought Jiang Shi with him so that the two of them could have someone to look after them along the way.
The last time Ah Zhong came to Dou's house, his family specially provided him with a mule cart. It was cold and the river was frozen, so the boats could not move. The two of them drove back together.
After the frost, the fields were frozen solid and there was no work to do in the fields. This was just the right time to catch fish from the pond. Although some fish had escaped during the flood, there were still many in the pond. We would catch the big fish this year and release the fry next spring.
In addition to the fish caught, many eels and loaches were also dug out from the mud. These things are very durable. They were kept in buckets and traveled for several days, and the eels and loaches in the buckets were still alive.
Although Xuzhou is far away, it is cold now and there is crushed ice in the basket, so the fish is still fresh.
There are mostly silver carp and crucian carp in the pond, as well as some carp. There are still quite a few salted fish left from the last time I brought home. These fish are just for eating fresh and there is no need to keep them for pickling and drying. I kept some for myself and gave some to my aunt's family. I plan to pick out the rest and sell them street by street.
Fish is always used in ancestral worship banquets during the new year. The price of fish and meat has been rising in fish shops these days, and even salted fish has become a few cents more expensive.
When Ah Zhong brought back the fish, people in the alley saw it and came to ask about it. It was a few cents cheaper per pound than in the fish shop and looked fresh. The eldest brother weighed the fish and collected the money. When each family came to buy a few fish, the fish in the basket was almost sold out.
After all the neighbors in the alley had bought their goods, there were still four baskets left. The job fell to A Zhong and the eldest brother. They each carried two baskets and sold them along the streets. Jiang Shi, who had never been to Bian Jing, followed behind to watch the fun.
At noon, I made a pot of fish soup with crucian carp and left a bowl of fish soup for the whole afternoon. Now it has become fish jelly. The fish is fresh, and the fish jelly is not fishy but tender and smooth. Baozhu loves fish jelly, but no one else in the family eats it, so it's a good deal for her.
The pot was simmering a big pig's head that the eldest brother had bought early in the morning. Pork was extremely expensive at this time of year, and the pig's head meat was delicious, so he simply bought a big pig's head to roast. Baozhu added some fire to the stove.
Parents weren't home, and my eldest brother and Ah Zhong were out selling fish. Baorong and Ah Xiu were inside, one painting and the other mending shoes. She had opened the cupboard and was enjoying a meal with her plate when she heard a knock at the door.
Baozhu put the bowl down and asked who it was. When the person walked to the door, she heard that it was the tenant next door.
Pei Yanqing stood outside the door. After the summer was over, he came back with a little more youthful energy, and looked a little more scholarly.
I hadn't thought this gentleman was anything special before, but after visiting the tile house, I realized that many operas were based on him. I heard that he tried so many cases that killing people was as easy as killing chickens. The storytellers and opera singers in the tile house made up stories about this gentleman, and the plays were exaggerated, with even some intestinal ruptures.
I hadn't felt any fear before, but now I felt a sense of inexplicable guilt and fear. Even his eyes, which I had once thought beautiful, now seemed gloomy. This gentleman's gaze on people was like that of a hawk staring at its prey.
Baozhu shivered, not knowing whether it was because of the cold weather or because she was afraid of this man.
No one knew the twists and turns in Baozhu's heart. In Pei Yanqing's eyes, she thought she was cold. He was holding a basket of golden pomelo, and his face seemed to be trying hard to hold back a smile. When he spoke again, his voice was trembling.
"You... your mother gave me some fruit last time, and she's been very kind to me. The government office distributed some fruit this year, and I can't eat much of it living alone out there, so I gave this as a return gift."
When Baozhu saw the grapefruit, she immediately thought of honey grapefruit tea. This basket of grapefruit must be worth a lot of money. She was going to set up a stall at the beginning of next year and was worrying about what hot drinks to give away.
When he felt sleepy, someone offered him a pillow. Baozhu took it with great joy and invited him in to have a cup of hot tea.
There is a table in the yard with a simple bamboo shed on top, which can usually shelter from wind, frost, rain and snow. The family also eats here, and if neighbors come to chat, they can also have a place to sit.
I picked up a small plate of fried cherries that I had just made a few days ago, and brewed a cup of good Longjing tea and put it on the table.
Pei Yanqing sat down and took a look around. Although there were many things in the yard, they were all in order. Two small plots of land were planted with coriander and radishes. He didn't know what was stewing in the kitchen. The smell of the spice star anise made him feel empty in his stomach. This was the breath of life he had never felt before.
Baozhu poured tea for the guests, sat in the kitchen and added more fuel to the fire of the roasting pig's head.
After buying fish, the eldest brother and A Zhong returned home. Seeing that the door had no blade, they pushed it open and were about to ask when they saw the adult next door sitting in the yard.
Zhen Jia Dalang went to wash his hands immediately after saying hello. After walking around the streets all afternoon, he inevitably had a fishy smell on his body.
Baorong heard a commotion outside and stopped writing. He saw that it was Master Pei, his eyes shining.
In the plays performed in Wazi, apart from Bao Gong of the previous dynasty, the one that was talked about the most was this Lord Pei. There were cases like the arson case of the Taiwei Mansion and the corpse dumping case in the Bianliang River. He could make the criminals confess everything with just a few words without any torture.
She was full of curiosity and wanted to ask him if he had any other strange cases to tell her about, but she was afraid that this gentleman would be cruel and ignore her.
The eldest son of the Zhen family went to the kitchen to wash his hands, then lifted the lid of the pot to look at the pig's head that was boiling inside. Baozhu poked her head out from under the stove and said, "Brother, wait until the pig's head is boiled, then make some pig skin jelly to make soup dumplings..."
Before he could finish his words, the eldest son of the Zhen family frowned in disdain, "What did you eat without wiping your mouth? What's that black circle around your mouth?"
Baozhu realized it belatedly and wiped her mouth. It turned out that the fish jelly she had just eaten was stuck on her mouth. Then she heard a knock on the door, and she forgot to wipe the fish jelly off her mouth. After it melted, it left a circle of sauce-colored marks.
No wonder the gentleman had such a strange expression on his face; it turned out he was just trying to hold back his laughter. Baozhu wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and asked her elder brother if he could make some pig skin jelly that evening.
The eldest brother walked out the door, leaving behind a "OK, OK, OK!"
Sometimes, when the eldest son of the Zhen family went out, he would bump into Mr. Pei and they would talk a few times. They were about the same age. When he saw Mr. Pei bringing him some fruit, he would strike up a conversation with him. They chatted happily and he would refill the tea when he saw it was finished. In the end, the eldest son of the Zhen family would invite him to dinner.
"I often see you living alone, with no one to take care of you. I got up early and bought a big pig's head, and boiled it all afternoon. It's time to eat it. Why don't you come over tonight and have dinner with us?"
Pei Yanqing did not refuse. He was lonely at home. When he came home from work at night, he often heard the hustle and bustle next door, which made his own home even more deserted. Sometimes he came home late and even the food vendors nearby had closed their stalls. He could only eat a bowl of noodles while enjoying the aroma of food from next door.
It was still early for dinner, so Zhen Dalang said he would call him at dinner time.
When Madam Xu returned that evening and learned about this, she actually praised Zhen Dalang for finally having a bright future. This Lord Pei was also extremely polite, bringing two jars of fine wine to dinner that evening. It was the Yuye wine that Yuxianlou had sold out of.
Zhen's father worked as a chef in Fanlou, and he knew a few famous wines on the market. These two jars of wine were probably only worth seven or eight strings of cash. His original intention was to treat people to a meal, but this time it seemed like he was taking advantage of them.
Zhen Dalang took the wine and carefully placed it on the table. "Come if you want, why bring anything with you——"
The table was set with sliced pork head, dried mutton, and fried peanuts. They drank, and Baozhu and the others, feeling cold and too lazy to go out to the courtyard, simply set up the table in the kitchen. Xu, however, sat outside and had two cups of wine. Baorong wanted to join them to taste such expensive wine, but before he could even open his mouth, he was sent back.
After drinking a glass of wine, Xu became more talkative. "Young Master, you are very capable despite your youth. You are already appreciated by the emperor at the same age as Dalang. You are quite famous in Bianjing City now."
Pei Yanqing smiled and drank a glass of wine, "It was just an accident."
He was a Jinshi in the 18th year of Jia'an, two years ago. He ranked eighth in the second class of the palace examination and was appointed by the emperor as the inspector of Bian Jing. He was really lucky. Except for those with powerful families, most of the people of the same age were still waiting for appointment, but he had been in office for more than two years.
After decades of studying and taking exams, it would be a lie to say that it is not for the purpose of making a name for oneself.
"I think your future is limitless. If you want to buy a house in Bianjing in the future, just come to me." Xu added more wine. "I don't know where your father-in-law is from. It's not easy to be an official in Bianjing. It's even harder without friends and relatives."
"Originally from the Hedong area."
Knowing that his surname was Pei and that he was from Hedong, all the Zhen family members looked up at him. The Hedong Pei family was a prestigious family with a history of hundreds of years.
Pei Yanqing smiled, "Not a direct descendant, but a side branch several generations ago, but he is just studying in the Pei family school."
The eldest son of the Zhen family has always been straightforward. He thinks that officials are capable people. Ordinary police officers who patrol the streets have hired people to do the work. But this Lord Pei always seems to go out alone. He asked curiously, "Since you are an official, why do you live alone and don't you hire someone? You can add some help at home and outside?"
Pei Yanqing shook his head. "I'm busy with official duties, and I don't have many things to do at home. Hiring someone is bound to be tedious, and I wouldn't feel comfortable with a stranger."
Mrs. Xu nodded. "It's inevitable that you'll be lonely by yourself. If you don't mind, come to our house for dinner more often. I may not be able to help with other things, but for dinner, I'm just adding a pair of chopsticks."
After a few rounds of drinks, the courtyard was cold, but his heart was warm. Pei Yanqing rarely felt so relaxed.
His father was originally the magistrate of Jia County. He had been in office for only two years when he fell into the river and died while on his way to the provincial capital for an assessment in winter. Within two years, his mother also died of illness. He was still young at the time and cried when his mother passed away. Now he can hardly remember what his father looked like.
Fortunately, his grandmother taught him carefully. Originally, the family hired a teacher, but because the teacher at the Pei Family School was a retired scholar, his grandmother asked someone to send him to the Pei Family School to study. Until now, he has passed the imperial examination and has been favored by the government to enter the officialdom.
He suffered a lot of grievances in school at that time, but his grandmother said that people should not only study, but the clan school is also a small officialdom, and one should learn some social skills. Now that he is an official in the court, he understands his grandmother's good intentions.
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