Chapter 27 Chapter 27 It's hard to hold back your laughter Zhen Niang closes the window
After years of studying hard, I rarely had the chance to sit down and have a meal with my grandmother. Even when we did, we never chatted about family matters like this.
Needless to say, after entering the government office, he often had to sleep in the open air, whether chasing criminals or catching thieves, and he swallowed his meals in one gulp. Sitting down and chatting like this, with someone caring about him, was something he had not felt in the past twenty years.
Xu would tell some funny stories about the city from time to time, which made people laugh. Baorong became more and more anxious. He didn't even bother to eat, but put his ear to the door, wanting to hear whether Lord Pei was going to start talking about those murder and arson cases.
Last time, she didn't listen to many operas completely, and the half-hearted listening made her even more impatient. Today, the adult was sitting at home for dinner, and she didn't want to ask for details.
Baozhu put her hands into her sleeves and watched her little sister jumping up and down.
It was cold, so she stirred the charcoal brazier in the house, and sparks flickered. Baozhu added a few new pieces of charcoal and covered it with a wire mesh. The skin for making pork skin jelly had been sliced out, but the meat underneath was still fresh. Baozhu cut a few thick pieces of pork belly and threw them on the wire mesh. The wire mesh was already hot from the fire. As soon as the pork belly was put on it, the fat sizzled and occasionally a burst of smoke floated up. If the smoke was accidentally inhaled into the nose, it would choke and cause coughing.
While the meat was being grilled, the three of them started eating the dishes on the table. Baorong was not convinced and secretly went to the warehouse to get a small pot of bayberry wine. He poured a full cup for Baozhu and Axiu.
"It's more delicious to eat pig's head with wine."
The pig's head is sliced as thin as a cicada's wing, and the rice is soaked in the broth of the braised meat and served with a plate of shredded pickled cabbage. One bowl of rice is not enough.
But even if it wasn't enough, I wouldn't add more, because I was still waiting to eat the barbecue. After the meal was finished, the meat in the charcoal brazier began to sizzle with fat, and the fat dripped into the charcoal brazier, creating tiny sparks. The meat was sprinkled with homemade spices and fine salt, which mixed with the smoke and immediately emitted a unique burnt aroma.
The thick pork belly, which is 30% fat and 70% lean, is roasted until it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Baozhu cuts it into small pieces with scissors. When you take a piece, your mouth is full of the aroma of meat. Then take a sip of bayberry wine, the sweet taste is just right to relieve the greasiness and refresh you.
Maybe it was the smell of alcohol or the heat, but their faces started to turn red. Baozhu opened the window to let in some cool air, which made them feel better.
People were drunk outside. Pei Yanqing heard the noise and looked inside through the window. He immediately thought of the circle of sauce hanging on her mouth when the golden pomelo was delivered in the afternoon. While everyone was chatting and laughing at the table, he could no longer hold back and laughed out loud without restraint.
Baozhu thought of this, too, and guessed that this man was making fun of her, perhaps thinking she was a simpleton who only cared about eating. She gave him a barely perceptible glare and closed the window again, leaving only a crack for air to flow through.
Lord Pei outside found it even more amusing, and his mouth became stiff from laughing.
After a period of silence, everyone in the Zhen family laughed dryly. Was the joke just now so funny? If Bao Rong were asked to tell a joke, this Lord Pei would laugh so hard that he would fall under the table.
After this meal, the neighboring envoy Pei Xun had a much closer relationship with the Zhen family. He even went to the house to invite Zhen's father to prepare two banquets, which were used to entertain his superiors and subordinates.
The two banquets were very successful, and Zhen's father also got some private work, earning a lot of money. Zhen's father paid the money to Xu to use as the family's end-of-year expenses.
During the Chinese New Year, even the poorest families will try their best to live a glamorous life. Although families are not as well-off as before when they ran a restaurant, everyone is making money and money is not so tight.
The stalls at the dock were closed during the twelfth lunar month. Baozhu counted the money she had earned in the second half of the year. The capital she and her elder brother had invested had been returned long ago. She counted the copper coins one by one according to the recorded accounts, and there was no difference on either side. There were more than 80 strings of coins in the box, and in another smaller box, there were whole ingots of silver, totaling 30 taels.
She kept thirty strings of cash as a reserve, and locked up the other fifty strings to exchange for solid silver at the bank.
The stall was closed in December, and Sister Axiu had some free time. After finishing her housework, she bought some pearl and mother-of-pearl to make a knot. Baozhu followed her to learn it, but after spending a long time and with Axiu's hands-on teaching, her fingers were still tangled, and she could barely make a crooked heart-shaped knot.
I'm afraid this thing won't sell. I even feel it's shabby to carry it with me. After asking around, no one wanted it, so Baozhu put it at the bottom of the box.
While teaching Baozhu, she looked over at Ah Xiu, who had already made two plum blossom brocades in her basket. Baozhu hadn't asked her how much she could sell them for, but she figured the brocades were so delicate and inlaid with mother-of-pearl that they wouldn't be cheap.
During Laba Festival, many temples in the city are distributing porridge and blessing, and Daxiangguo Temple is no exception. Today happens to be the day when the temple market is open, so there are even more people.
Xiangguo Temple is the most famous. Not only high-ranking officials and wealthy families from outside, but even nobles in the palace often invite eminent monks to preach Buddhism. Therefore, except for those who are hungry and want to take this opportunity to ask for a bowl of porridge, most other people still rush here.
The two sisters had said they wanted to go and take a look.
Baorong started packing early in the morning. She not only wanted to join in the fun, but also wanted to sell paintings.
Every household hung New Year pictures and door gods during the Lunar New Year. These paintings weren't intended to be sold to wealthy families; they were used by ordinary people to ward off evil or pray for good fortune, so the paintings were crude. Time was tight, so Baorong painted during the day and even painted by night with lanterns on.
In addition to auspicious paintings such as Fu Lu Shou, Qilin delivering children, etc., I also painted some door gods and the god of wealth. So far, I have painted more than 30 paintings.
Although it was rough, it was only her own idea of it. Baozhu thought it was lifelike when she saw it. She even wanted to buy the painting of the God of Wealth and hang it in her house to worship it every day.
Baozhu reminded Ah Xiu early on to make more auspicious gourds, bats and other kinds of strings, and go to sell them outside Xiangguo Temple on the right day. Therefore, Ah Xiu did not rush to sell the batch she had made earlier to the peddler, and she had also saved up quite a few pieces over the past few days.
Today, many monks and nuns came out to beg for alms, most of them were from unknown temples and monasteries. Some kind-hearted people would also donate a little money in return.
The Zhen family's door was knocked several times early in the morning. When they went out, they met several nuns who came to beg for alms. The nun who was begging for alms had a kind face. Baozhu gave her two bowls of rice. The nun recited a Buddhist mantra, said that they were destined to meet, and gave her a sachet embroidered with a swastika pattern, and praised her as a blessed person.
After the people left, he saw that the embroidery on the sachet was of quite superb skill. Baorong often dealt with the ladies in the embroidery workshop, and he could tell at a glance that this embroidery required some skill.
Baorong knows a little about everything.
"The nuns in the temples often have their own hardships. Apart from meditating and chanting, they can only make small things to pass the time and earn some money to supplement their income. The nuns are devoted to embroidery, and over time, they all become skilled embroiderers. I have never seen any bad embroidery work by these nuns in the temple. They even say that the embroidery sold by the nuns outside Xiangguo Temple is even more exquisite than that of ordinary embroiderers."
The three of them carried the baskets and talked all the way to the Daxiangguo Temple. They originally wanted to ask for a bowl of porridge. People in the city said that if they could drink the porridge donated by the Xiangguo Temple, they would be free from illness and disaster in the next year.
Since they couldn't squeeze through, they simply sat down here and set up a stall, spreading out a long piece of cloth that had been specially dyed in various colors. Baorong's paintings were all rolled up and placed upright in a basket, and only two of them were spread out on the colorful cloth for people to see.
Ah Xiu also took out the nets she had made and arranged them one by one. Not only the three of them couldn't squeeze in, many people couldn't squeeze in either, so they simply walked around outside.
The three of them arrived late, and the good seats inside had already been taken. There were many people asking for porridge today, and the stall was crowded. The stall was decorated in a fancy way, and soon people came to ask for food.
Baorong was unceremoniously asking for an exorbitant price. The cost of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone for a painting was about a hundred wen, but she immediately asked for six hundred and sixty-six wen. Perhaps because this number sounded pleasant, few people bargained. Not only did they rarely bargain, but some even bought two paintings outright.
If someone really bargained, she would waive the sixty-six cents. If anyone else wanted to bargain, Baorong would just say that the price was just right for New Year's Day and the buyer would not say anything else.
Baozhu watched in amazement, "The temple fair is only one day long. Can you sell all the paintings at this price?"
My younger sister has quite a bit of business sense. "If it doesn't sell by the afternoon, then lower the price a little bit. There are a lot of rich people in Bianjing City. If it's sold too cheaply, people won't want to look at it."
It does make sense. If she heard someone selling a painting at this price, she would stop and take a look at what was painted on it.
Ah Xiu was much more honest. She also took a tricky approach. The larger silk cords cost eighty-eight wen, and the smaller ones cost sixty-six wen. If anyone bargained, she would give them the change for free.
Both of them were selling things for good luck. Ah Xiu, who was asking about the brocade, asked if he wanted to buy a painting. Bao Rong, who wanted to buy a painting, also said that the brocade next to him was beautifully made. The two sides cooperated with each other and sold half of their goods in the morning.
Ah Xiu made a lot of beads, and she didn't count them all, but there were at least sixty or seventy of them, big and small.
After a morning of hawking, Baozhu was thirsty, dizzy, and had been grumbling for a long time. After all, it was outside the Buddhist temple, so it was rare to find meat-selling vendors. Baozhu ran around for a while before finally buying three bowls of vegetarian noodles and a plate of vegetarian buns.
After the three of them finished eating, Baozhu returned the dishes to the others. Baorong patted Baozhu's shoulder generously and said, "Sister, you have helped a lot today. If you like anything, just tell me and I will buy it for you."
By the afternoon, the place was still crowded and all the goods on the stalls had not been sold out. This temple fair only opens once in a long time and it would be a pity to miss it. The three of them took turns to go shopping for a while. Except for A Xiu who bought a few bundles of colored threads, Bao Zhu and Zhu Rong just joined in the fun and didn't buy anything.
At first he was worried that the paintings would not be sold, but in the afternoon a wealthy man bought all the remaining twelve paintings in one go. Baorong himself was stunned. The wealthy man did not bargain and directly gave him eight taels of silver.
Baorong did some calculations and was about to ask for change, but the man waved his hand and took the painting and the basket away.
All the paintings were sold out, and the remaining silk threads were also sold out quickly. When the stall was empty and there were not many people in the temple, the three of them thought that since they were already there, they might as well go in and see if there was any porridge left.
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