Because of Hong Xiaoduo's chatter, the meal dragged on for almost half an hour. However, as more and more diners arrived, Hong Xiaoduo didn't have a chance to wait for the waiter to continue gossiping about the Pang family.
Tian Shu looked at the empty plate of food, with only fish bones and fish spines left of the braised fish. He let out a burp and looked at Hong Xiaoduo, wondering if she would order another dish to continue eating, while waiting for that gossipy waiter.
"We've eaten, let's take a stroll around the streets and see what good food this place has, so we can buy some to take back with us." Hong Xiaoduo called to Tian Shu and they stood up together.
Lanterns were hung outside the shops on the street, and there were many pedestrians, most of whom were strolling around.
"Tian Shu, do you want some candied hawthorns?" Hong Xiaoduo asked when she saw a candied hawthorn vendor nearby.
"After this New Year, I'll be eleven years old." Tian Shu neither said he would eat nor he wouldn't eat, emphasizing just how old he was.
Hong Xiaoduo understood what he meant and laughed, "So what if it's Eleven? He's still a child. Besides, no one says that only children can eat candied hawthorns."
"Just tell me, do you want some? Do you want some? If you don't, I'll just buy my own skewer, okay?"
"I want it," Tian Shu said decisively.
He knew her personality all too well; if you said no, she really would only buy what she wanted.
"That's more like it. If we want to eat, we should eat. We don't need to care what others think of us." Hong Xiaoduo was very satisfied. She stepped forward and picked out two strings of candied hawthorns. Just as she was about to reach for her purse, Tian Shu had already taken out a handful of copper coins, counted them, and handed them to the vendor.
After taking the candied hawthorn from Hong Xiaoduo, Tian Shu regretted it a little. He had eaten too much for dinner, so why did he have to be greedy and ask for more?
"The person making these candied hawthorns is too inflexible. They only know how to use hawthorn berries. They could use other fruits too." Hong Xiaoduo didn't actually want to eat any, but she wanted to buy some after seeing them.
"Isn't candied hawthorn always made with hawthorn berries from the mountains? I've never seen it made with anything else," Tian Shu said after thinking about it very seriously.
"Red dates, apples, pears, oranges, strawberries, grapes, all are fine," Hong Xiaoduo told her after a quick selection. She didn't mention that in modern times, some candied hawthorn stalls also sell chicken feet, cucumbers, peppers, and other things.
Strawberries existed in this dynasty, but they weren't grown by farmers; they grew wild in the mountains. The fruits weren't very big, but they were very fragrant.
I stumbled upon one during the summer and had a really satisfying time eating it.
Thinking about eating strawberries, Hong Xiaoduo regretted not thinking to look up how to make strawberry jam and strawberry juice in her space and let Tianxuan figure it out!
Hong Xiaoduo and Tian Shu each held a candied hawthorn stick, strolling around and eating as they went. Whenever they came across a shop that they wanted to visit, they would go in and take a look.
Tian Shu wondered to herself, "Is she here to run errands? She doesn't seem like it." Suddenly, Tian Shu wondered if it was possible that the thing she was here to do was the kind that needed to be done secretly by herself late at night.
However, this time it's just the two of them. Judging from how she usually treats the seven of them, she would never feel comfortable leaving him alone at the inn. So no matter what she plans to do or how she plans to do it, she will definitely take him with her.
After strolling around the main street of the town, Hong Xiaoduo led him toward the inn. Just as they were about to step into the inn, she stopped.
"Let's go buy some melon seeds and dried fruit." Hong Xiaoduo said as she turned around, looking for the dried fruit and pastry shop they were passing by.
"It's this late, why are you still buying melon seeds and dried fruit?" Tian Shu hesitated for a moment, then quickly followed.
After leaving the shop, Hong Xiaoduo was carrying sunflower seeds, peanuts, and fried dough sticks.
Stepping through the inn's doors, Hong Xiaoduo looked at the several old women sitting in the lobby. These were the inn's odd jobs, waiting to earn a little money by washing clothes for the guests.
"The aunties haven't rested yet, come and have some melon seeds." Hong Xiaoduo greeted them with a smile as she walked over. Without waiting for their response, she opened the paper bag containing the melon seeds and other items she had just bought and offered them some.
"How can you eat such delicious food, young lady?" An old woman recognized the inn where Hong Xiaoduo and her companion had stayed that evening.
"Hey, it's just some peanuts and melon seeds, not worth much. I can't sleep anyway, so I'll just chat with the aunties to pass the time."
"Tian Shu, go ask the shopkeeper for a pot of tea." Hong Xiaoduo said, pushing the paper bag she was holding toward the center of the table.
Peanuts, melon seeds, and fried dough sticks are indeed not valuable items, but for ordinary people, they are not things they would normally be willing to buy.
Now that the Lunar New Year is approaching, every household has bought some, but they all put them in jars and cover them, waiting to take them out to eat on New Year's Eve, or to keep them to serve guests when they come to visit.
Since Hong Xiaoduo had said so, the women took turns grabbing some and eating.
"We were having dinner at an eatery when something interesting happened. Someone in your town actually traded firewood for a whole steamer of steamed buns and vegetables to feed a supposedly crazy scholar." Tian Shu overheard Hong Xiaoduo telling this story as he came over with a pot of tea.
“The young lady must be referring to that wretched boy from the Pang family, Pang Yong,” a woman immediately said upon hearing this.
"Huh, judging from the reactions of these aunties, you all know?" Hong Xiaoduo asked curiously.
“Most people in this town know about Pang Yong’s affair,” another old woman said, peeling a peanut and popping it into her mouth.
"If he can be so good to a madman, he must be very filial to his own parents, right?" Hong Xiaoduo asked curiously.
After hearing Hong Xiaoduo's words, the old women all had similar expressions, shaking their heads and smiling helplessly.
"Young lady, you don't know, her biological father is said to be a good-for-nothing scoundrel who would beat or scold her mother. Then one time, her mother was beaten and ran away, where she met a benefactor. This benefactor paid money and found someone to help her divorce her father. Her mother then married that benefactor and went to enjoy wealth and luxury."
Pang Yong was left at his mother's house. Over the years, his maternal grandfather's family used the money his mother had helped them to build a new house and buy shops and land, but they didn't care about him at all. He's already in his mid-twenties and still hasn't found a wife. " An old woman said this and sighed.
"I know more about Dayong than you do. He had a girl he liked, but he couldn't afford the dowry her family was asking for. Guess what happened in the end?"
"That girl has already agreed to be the concubine of her uncle's second son, and the date seems to have been chosen—the sixteenth of the first lunar month." A woman said, sounding quite helpless.
"You just agreed, but they haven't even carried the person inside yet, right?" Hong Xiaoduo blurted out...
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