Chapter 73 Chapter 73 When the Moon Hides, Just a Little Bit
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, a long procession of people came to welcome the bride, with hired drums and music playing all the way to the Confucius Mansion. The second son of the Zhen family rode a white horse with a red silk hanging on it. He looked as handsome as when he rode a horse in the parade that day after winning the first place in the imperial examination.
This horse was the gift from Pei Yanqing to him. Because of the friendship with this horse, Zhen Jia Erlang now regards Pei Yanqing as his role model. He even bribed Baorong because he gave Baorong two calligraphy works by great masters of the previous dynasty.
The Zhen family didn't have many relatives, so happy events like this mostly relied on help from neighbors. A group of people were busy preparing food in the yard, and the chef who was invited to cook the banquet was busy in the kitchen.
After picking up the bride, the wedding procession will circle around and wait for an auspicious time.
The main hall was filled with second brother's colleagues and superiors, and two tables were reserved for the Kong family. Outside were Erlang's colleagues or classmates and friends. The rest were mostly friends that the Zhen family was familiar with in Bian Jing. Even though they didn't receive an invitation, many people came to join in the fun. If they were just joining in the fun, it would be fine, but I was afraid that some people would take advantage of the situation and make a profit by holding a banquet.
After all, the Zhen family dealt with many merchants, and many of them wanted to establish relationships with officials. If something happened on such a happy day, it would inevitably make people laugh. However, with Baozhu guarding them, nothing happened.
The Zhen family held a banquet today, but my cousin from the Dong family didn't come.
Seeing that Baozhu was acting more and more steadily, Aunt Zhen's eyes stayed on her for a long time. She had also heard about Baozhu's arranged marriage. All the ladies who had seen her act disliked her, but some of them disliked her background in the Zhen family. Some of the sons of that family were a bit too spoiled. Since Erlang of the Zhen family became an official, they had noticed Baozhu and wanted to go to the Zhen family to propose marriage, but were often turned away by Aunt Zhen.
Now that Baozhu is talking about marriage, the man is Lord Pei, the famous commander in the former Bianjing city. Even if Madam Xu doesn't specifically tell anyone, the Dong family knows that this is a good match.
Baozhu felt sad and could only sigh that they were not destined to be together. As for Hengzhi's marriage, it was time to find out.
The wedding procession took a detour. The sedan bearers picked up people from the Kong family and then went around a full circle in the other direction. Many people on both sides of the street extended their hands to congratulate them. Some people stopped the sedan chair. The people from the Zhen family who went to welcome the bride scattered some red dates, peanuts or copper coins. The procession approached the entrance of Zhenjia Lane in a lively manner.
The auspicious time has arrived and firecrackers and fireworks are set off.
Young Lady Kong was all smiles and conversation, and her narrow-sleeved, double-breasted jacket made her look more solemn than usual. Her attire was also very elaborate: a peony crown adorned with emerald green, gold bracelets with auspicious cloud patterns on her arms, and a gold necklace with kingfisher feathers around her neck. Eighteen bearers of the dowry entered through the main gate, followed by her two brothers and relatives who had come to see her off.
Pei Yanqing was also in the wedding procession today. He and his second brother were the most conspicuous among the group.
After paying respects to the parents and completing the formalities, the banquet began outside.
Baozhu brought some cakes and asked Miss Kong and the maidservant beside her to fill their stomachs first. Miss Kong only brought one maidservant and one old woman to the Zhen family. One of them was the one who often followed her and was the one she met when she disguised herself as a man to look for her second brother last time.
By the time all the guests had left, it was completely dark. The red candles were bright in the bridal chamber. My second brother had drunk a lot of wine today and talked much more than usual. Not only him came in, but also several aunts.
Baozhu took the maid and sent several aunts out, saying that there were a lot of wedding cakes left at home and asked the aunts to go and get them together.
This wedding cake is a crispy meat cake made by the Zhen family themselves. The crust is made of lard. The cake is crispy and the meat is fragrant when you bite it. There are two happiness characters printed on the crust with red yeast rice, which looks festive.
These wedding cakes cannot be bought outside. When they heard that there were cakes available, several aunts who wanted to join in the fun decided not to and followed Baozhu to get the cakes.
Many people who saw the wedding cakes came to ask where they bought them. Baozhu never missed a chance to get a piece of the deal, and whenever someone asked, she would tell them that they ordered them from Zhen's Restaurant.
After dealing with these aunts, I came back to see Pei Yanqing was even more drunk. A Niang said it was not his fault today, as he had blocked a lot of wine for his second brother.
Zhen's father and Jiang Shi helped the man to the guest room to rest. Baozhu made some sobering soup for him. On the wedding day, the groom had to be decent, so he was teased and forced to drink a lot of wine.
"That's true. I drink whenever anyone offers me a toast."
Baozhu saw the man lying on the bed drunk and unconscious, so she brought him some soup and helped him drink it. After the man sobered up a little, she asked Jiang Shi and Liu Si to take the man back in a carriage.
Miss Kong has a carefree personality, and the Zhen family is not one to resort to tricky tactics. Although she is a new bride, there is no friction in their relationship.
When Sanchao returned home, Zhen Jia Erlang's vacation was over.
My second brother had rented a house last year, and Madam Xu also said that it was not easy for a newlywed couple to separate, so Mrs. Kong and Erlang of the Zhen family happily went to take up their posts together.
Many people got married during the year. Not to mention other things, there were many happy events in the alley. Many people who had tasted the Zhen family's wedding cakes also came to the Zhen family to place orders. The business of the store was handed over to Jiang Shi, and Baozhu baked wedding cakes at home every day.
Business was good during the year, so Jiang Shi gave away the food license worth five strings of cash. Most people who wanted to apply for food licenses wanted to apply for licenses worth ten or twenty strings of cash.
The shop was busy until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when the festive atmosphere gradually faded and business gradually slowed down. I had already informed all the customers that the shop was going to be renovated, and a red notice was posted at the door.
Those diners who bought food tickets learned that the restaurant was not running away, but was undergoing renovations and would offer them greater discounts when it reopened. They felt relieved and just waited for the restaurant to reopen.
There were still singing and dancing performances in front of Xuande Gate during the Lantern Festival this year. Baozhu didn't go herself, so she asked Liu Si'er to go and perform, which was also a source of income.
On the 18th day of the first lunar month, Zhen's Restaurant closed. Although they didn't accept dine-in customers, Baozhu continued to do business if people placed orders in advance. During the period of renovation, the waiters' wages were paid half. Since people had placed orders, Chen's wife in the kitchen continued to be paid as usual.
While the store was being renovated, Jiang Shi took a good stroll around the city of Bianjing. He took the gifts he had bought and went back to Xuzhou with A Zhong while there was nothing to do in the store.
The two shops were completely connected, and Baozhu went to the government office to get approval for the documents, intending to build a second floor above the shop.
Even if the two shops were connected, they were not very spacious. Now that a second floor has been added, the shop will be more spacious. Besides, Baozhu is thinking of building a kitchen. Without a second floor, the shop will seem even more cramped.
It cost a lot of money in the end. Although she had permission from the government, in order to avoid mistakes, Baozhu still found a skilled craftsman to draw a blueprint first. Only after she was sure that the second floor could be added did she start construction.
This major renovation took a lot of time and money, but if the two-story shop is built, business will be much easier in the future.
Diners no longer need to crowd on the first floor, and tables and chairs no longer need to be placed as densely as before.
We dare not delay this matter. There are countless food businesses in Bianjing City. If you take a few days off, someone else will take over immediately, not to mention that Zhen's Restaurant will have to close for at least half a month this time.
However, if we want to expand the business, renovation is inevitable, so it is better to do it during the off-season.
Baozhu was anxious to finish the work, so naturally, the wages she offered were much higher than usual. The workers toiled day and night, and within ten days, the second floor was finished. Baozhu went up the stairs and saw that the second floor had tortoise-back windows that opened outwards. Once opened, the windows allowed light from north to south, making the whole place bright during the day.
Zhen's restaurant is becoming more and more famous. Many people entertain colleagues, relatives and friends in the shop. It is inevitable that it will seem stingy if they always squeeze on the first floor, so the second floor is intended to be used as a private room.
There was no need to separate them with walls, only partitions and screens, dividing them into four elegant rooms: plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Baozhu measured the space and found that four large tables were just right. If two tables were to be entertained at the same time, the partition in the middle could be removed. This plan was more organized than the previous one.
But now the room is still empty, and we have to wait until the room is dry before we can move the tables, chairs and screens in. I went out and walked down the stairs. There was a square window at the corner of the stairs. It was bright enough during the day, and there were lights on both sides of the window, so it was bright enough at night.
The wooden stairs are engraved with patterns, and the handrails are also engraved with corresponding flowers, plants, fish and birds.
The two shops unified their styles, with new walls painted, the warehouse converted into a kitchen, and connected chimneys and sewers.
The windows on the first floor were also large, with three stoves built and six small stoves for stewing soup. Only a few large tables were added on the second floor, and there were no additional tables. When the tables were built before, they were all of the same style, so there was no need to spend a lot of money to change them now.
Only a half-height fence remained on the first floor, and two small tables and two square tables were removed. This made the tables, chairs and benches more spacious than before, and it looked more pleasing to the eye when one came in.
Ever since Pei Yanqing came to the Zhen family to propose marriage, Madam Xu had begun preparing Baozhu's dowry. Not to mention the money she had saved for her since she was a child, they had already agreed to divide the land in Xuzhou into two parts, one for Baozhu and one for Baorong. The shop deed had already been given to Baozhu, and the rest consisted of headgear, silk, and wedding clothes.
Pei Yanqing was also about to take up his post, and before leaving, Madam Xu invited him to dinner.
After the meal, Baozhu sent the person out. She had gotten used to seeing him from time to time these days.
"If you need anything, just write me. It only takes half a day to go back and forth on a fast horse." Pei Yanqing slowed down his pace. "There's a lot of work in the shop. I'll come back to help on my day off."
Baozhu nodded, and the two of them walked to the small door that the Zhen family had originally opened. When they rented out the house, they left the main door to the tenant and used the small door themselves. Now that the house was back, the central partition had been knocked down, so there was no need to use the small door anymore, and it had been solidified with bricks.
The moon was above the willows, and the two men were counting outside the wall how many bricks the small door was made of.
Baozhu looked up at him chattering and couldn't help interrupting him.
"Lower your head, I have something to tell you—"
Pei Yanqing had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and he looked very decent. He was always serious in front of Baozhu. Seeing his serious expression and the look of listening attentively, Baozhu couldn't help but want to tease him.
Thinking this in my heart, I put my arm around his shoulders and stood on tiptoe to stare at his eyebrows. The cool fragrance of plum blossoms still lingered on my breath. The fragrance of the two people was exactly the same, adding a bit of ambiguity to this boring night.
The half moon is hidden in the clouds, and the night is getting darker.
Pei Yanqing felt the pearl drawing closer and closer, and then something pressed against his lips, soft as silk and water. Before he could react, the fragrance faded, leaving him stunned, his face ablaze.
Although his mind was numb, he grabbed the person who was about to leave in the next moment, and hugged Baozhu with his stiff body. Seeing Baozhu's smile, Pei Yanqing felt a burning sensation in his heart.
Lower your head deeply and taste only a little.
Baozhu breathed lightly, and her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist.
The half moon was tactful and only then climbed back up to the treetops, casting bright moonlight all around.
Baozhu patted Pei Yanqing lightly, and saw that he was in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking. She laughed out loud, and when she saw that he had reacted, she immediately turned around and went back, leaving Pei Yanqing standing there, catching the gust of wind she created.
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