Firecrackers are going off continuously and the lights are like dragons. According to the custom of the Wu Dynasty, lanterns will be lit in the city on the 13th day of the first lunar month. On the 17th day of the first lunar month, lanterns will be lit for a total of five days. The city will dance with dragons and lions and stay up all night, but naturally it is the fifteenth day of the Lantern Festival.
It is the most lively place, the snow has not yet melted, and various lantern festivals and poetry gatherings have begun to take place again, which is even larger than the Mid-Autumn Festival night.
The liveliness of this night is not as lively as the fireworks of the Poetry Competition on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but more of the atmosphere of the unfinished party since the end of the year. If it is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people prefer to appreciate the atmosphere of the books of the literati, and are more happy
It can be seen in the style of many idol competitions. On the night of the Lantern Festival, people focus more on celebrating themselves and their families, relatives and friends, eating Lantern Festival, guessing lantern riddles, and visiting the night market, and then they pay attention to the misty towers where the literary talents are.
The reasons for this situation are complicated. Roads are blocked by heavy snow, fewer merchants and travelers pass by, and some students who studied abroad returned to their hometowns years ago... There are still various gatherings about poetry, but they are not as distinct as every Mid-Autumn Festival.
, Puyuan Poetry Club, Zhishui Poetry Club were not officially held in Shangyuan. This night is usually dominated by performances by students from Lichuan Academy. Lichuan is actually the official school in Jiangning. If it were not for the influence of the Zhishui Poetry Club held by Pan Mansion during the Mid-Autumn Festival,
, the quality of their students should be the highest.
Of course, even if many formal poetry gatherings are not held, there are still a large number of banquets for literati and talented people to go to and exchange the best works of the year. Some students from Lichuan will also disperse to participate in these banquets, and then use their own
The poems competed with the classmates to steal the limelight. In short, this night was more about the festive atmosphere since the New Year.
After nightfall, everything was bustling. When the bell rang at Haishi (9 p.m.), Ning Yi and Xiaochan were eating glutinous rice balls at a food stall near Zhuque Street. They were surrounded by lanterns with various lantern riddles, illuminating the entire market.
Just like daytime.
In the evening, Ning Yi and Su Tan'er followed Su Boyong to a banquet at the home of a family friend in the Su Mansion. After completing the basic etiquette, Su Tan'er said goodbye to Ning Yi and went out, saying that the young couple went to Zhuque Street for a stroll. In fact,
Nature is not all about this.
Several shopkeepers under Su Tan'er were discussing business at the nearby Mingxiu Building this evening. Su Tan'er was concerned about the outcome, so after having a little fun on the road, she found a table in a small teahouse opposite Mingxiu Building and sat down.
Listening to the opera singing in the teahouse while waiting for the results. Ning Yi listened to the opera with her for a while. When the young shopkeeper named Xi Junyu came over to report the preliminary results, he also got up and prepared to walk around for a while.
"Wander around Zhuque Street to see what delicious food there is and try a little of everything."
"Remember to bring some back for me."
Su Tan'er smiled sweetly and said to him, and then Xiao Chan followed. When she went downstairs, she looked back and saw that Su Tan'er's eyes had turned into a calm one, and she was talking to the young shopkeeper.
Talking about it. Since Su Tan'er took him around various shops in the Su family before and after the Chinese New Year, Ning Yi, the shopkeeper, had also met him a few times. He was ambitious and capable, but he was sharp and not restrained enough.
But it was quite outstanding. This reminded Ning Yi that when he was young many years ago, he had met many such young people, with friends and rivals. But in the end, what surprised him the most was the one who had always been indecisive and followed him.
Tang Mingyuan, who was behind him, thought it was ironic to think so.
Soon after, he and Xiaochan were near Zhuque Street, following the route of food stalls. There was still unmelted snow on both sides of the road, and there was wind blowing near the Qinhuai River, but it was not cold. The whole street was full of delicious food.
It was all in full swing, with dragon and lion dances, lantern show acrobatics, and the heat rising from the stoves of various vendors. Xiaochan couldn't eat much, so she bought a small lantern and held it in her hand. There was a cat pattern on the lantern.
Of course, since this cat has the character "王" painted on its forehead, we assume it is a tiger.
"Uncle, how do you solve the lantern riddle about candied coptis?"
"Will we share joys and sorrows together?"
"My aunt, my aunt, my young wife Huang Juan, and my grandson Junjiu, who are they?"
"Oh, it's difficult if you don't know this. Cao Cao asked Yang Xiu, and the answer is a wonderful word."
"Uncle, there is a very difficult thing here, one shape and one body, four branches and eight heads. 1858, flying spring flowing upward... what is this..."
"……how could I know."
"It turns out that my uncle doesn't know either..."
"Have you asked if the first two guesses were correct?"
"My uncle is right as he said."
"...Come here and eat glutinous rice balls...After finishing the glutinous rice balls, I will tell you that it is a tic-tac-toe."
"Oh, it turns out to be Tic Tac Toe."
I really couldn't lose my temper with Xiao Chan, so I ate a few glutinous rice balls and moved to the next stall. The five-spice beans in this stall were Xiao Chan's favorite. I bought half a porcelain cup and ate slowly. The little lantern was shaking. After a while,
, said without thinking: "Miss, you are actually very tired."
"Um?"
"Just now... Just now the lady was in the teahouse, and my uncle was about to leave. In fact, my uncle knows many things, right?"
That little face looked a little serious. Ning Yi thought about it and nodded with a smile: "If the discussion over there is inappropriate, your lady will still have to make the final decision. It's actually useless for me to be over there. Sometimes it's counterproductive."
"Sure enough, my uncle knows..." Xiao Chan nodded, looked at Ning Yi a few times, hesitated a little, but finally said, "Why don't you help me?"
"Your lady is very powerful, don't worry."
Xiaochan thought about it and then laughed again: "Miss is very happy recently."
"Um?"
"Because of my uncle, I rarely talked to others so much in the past... Well, I did, but I couldn't talk about business or anything, but I still talked happily, and my uncle told stories and played chess... so little
Chan thought, if my uncle is willing to help the young lady, the young lady will definitely be happier. The uncle also knows that the young lady... After all, the young lady, like Xiao Chan, is a girl. When she goes out to do things, there are always people gossiping, but the young lady keeps silent.
, I must have a lot of worries in my heart..."
Xiaochan really thought about Su Tan'er and mustered up a lot of courage to say this. She was also afraid that she would go too far and go beyond her duties as a maid, which would make Ning Yi a little unhappy. She looked at Ning Yi in embarrassment from time to time, and then got the reaction.
, but Ning Yi stretched out his hand and pinched his whole face into a big pie.
"How old was Chan'er when she entered Su Mansion?"
"The world is broken." Chan'er hesitated for a moment, then muttered and gestured. When Ning Yi let go of her cheek and turned to walk forward, she ran after her and added, "Chan'er was sold into the house at the age of four.
of."
"Four years old, so young..."
"Juan'er is the same. Sister Xing'er is one year older than us, she was five years old at the time. Miss was eight years old at the time." Xiao Chan didn't shy away from this, and her smile was actually a little sweet, "Originally, she was really too young at that time, and she didn't have any teeth.
Yes, but it happened that the Su family wanted some little girls, so Xiaochan chose them. The family originally wanted to sell her brother."
"I don't usually hear you mention your family."
"Xiao Chan was sold to the Su Mansion, so she is a member of the Su Mansion. How can I talk about them all day long?" Xiao Chan lowered his head and thought for a moment, "Actually, Xiao Chan can't remember much about what happened when he was a child. He was just hungry.
.I heard that I had a younger brother who starved to death soon after he was born. At that time, the family originally wanted to sell his older brother, but he was finally able to do something. Later, he sold Xiaochan. After selling it for 25 years, the family
After receiving thirty-five taels of silver, she is actually a married girl with the young lady. This is a blessing. It doesn’t matter how many years it takes. Now Xiaochan sends ten taels of silver to her family every year. Her brother got married last year and even wrote a letter to her.
Xiaochan, she said she married the most beautiful girl in the neighboring village, but her word is Chou... Well, Xiaochan went back the year before last, and she will be able to go home to see her sister-in-law in March this year..."
Many things are normal in today's society. Xiaochan didn't feel too sad when talking about it. After talking about it, she became happy, and then she felt a little guilty and pursed her lips: "Uncle..."
Ning Yi smiled and said: "So Tan'er is just like your sister, right?"
"Yes." The little girl nodded quickly, then shook her head, "Xiaochan is just a maid, I don't dare to think like this."
"Then she often talks to you about business matters, and she often tells the shopkeepers that even if I help her, why is it different if there is me?"
"But, but...my uncle is different..."
"Oh, don't think about it too much. The reason why your lady can tell me that is because I don't understand and I don't do business. If I can really help, it will really become a business negotiation.
"Although she behaves innocently in front of Su Tan'er, Xiaochan is not stupid, on the contrary, she is very smart. Ning Yi doesn't care about her scheming for Su Tan'er. It's human nature. At this time, the two of them
People walked forward in the crowd, Ning Yi smiled: "Your lady is much more powerful than you think. If she is not so powerful, it is useless whether or not you help her. It is best for her to stop as soon as possible. Although you
I'm happy when I'm awesome, but don't... uh..."
Ning Yi's words stopped, and Xiao Chan's voice came from behind: "My uncle is really awesome." Under the bright lantern light, Ning Yi frowned slightly and looked at his left hand in confusion, with a bright red color on the outside of his thumb.
The color is sticky and not yet dry, this is... blood.
Where did it get...
I glanced back in confusion. The streets were brightly lit, people were coming and going, and there were all kinds of noisy sounds. At the other end of Zhuque Street, a yellow dragon flew in with the sound of gongs and drums. Shangyuan was bustling as usual.
In the scenery, several government officials were mixed in, as if they were looking for something.