Chapter 3 Wilderness (Part 4) In the Xi tribe, the status of the patriarch is extremely respected, but the patriarch’s home is no more luxurious than the homes of ordinary tribesmen. The only sign that distinguishes the felt bags of the Su Chuixil family from those of other tribesmen is
, there is an unpainted wooden fence erected around the dozen felt bags in his home, while there is no fence outside the felt bags in other people's homes.
The felt bags belonging to the two girls of the Xi tribe and Aunt Qing are inside the fence, mixed with the felt bags belonging to the other minor children and wives of the clan leader Su Chuixil's family. All the felt bags are wrapped in white felt and inlaid on the top.
Just because of the wind and sun, the white felt and satin had long lost their original luster and turned white and yellowish, as if there was a layer of dust floating on them.
"The innermost felt bag is where Aunt Qing lives. If we sneak in, we will definitely scare her!" The girl in blue pointed at a relatively clean felt bag in the back of the courtyard surrounded by a fence, and pulled it
He picked up Li Xu's arm and pulled it inward.
The two teenagers said they refused to mess with her, so they stood outside the fence and asked the two sisters to go in first to report the girl's tugging several times. Seeing that Li Xu and Xu Dayan refused to give in no matter what, they could only pouted and said, "Woe!"
It's a disaster
After leaving, it took half a stick of incense to come back. The girl in blue felt that she had lost face in front of the guests, so she explained unhappily: "Aunt Qing is really wordy. She sent someone to report to her father, and she asked for orders.
She was washing the tea set and the copper pot that she usually used to make tea, but she washed it three times..."
The girl in yellow shirt was calmer than her younger sister. She first apologized to Xu and Li, then stopped her from chattering and invited the guests from far away to have tea on behalf of her master.
Although Aunt Qing is not the biological mother of the two girls, she is her mother's sister in terms of seniority. So Xu and Li entered the felt bag and greeted them with the courtesy of a Central Plains person meeting an elder. The woman in the room had already dressed up to treat her, and suddenly
Seeing the etiquette of my hometown, I quickly stood up to express my gratitude. My words and demeanor were polite, but my voice gradually became hoarse.
Xu Dayan secretly looked at each other and saw a woman wearing Han clothes standing in front of him and Li Xu. Judging from her skin color, the woman should be less than forty years old, but her temples had already been stained by frost.
Gray with a bit of haggardness
"Two distinguished guests, please take a seat. I rarely have guests here, so I have to spend some time preparing!" The woman adjusted her mood and said in Central Plains dialect with a slight Jiangnan accent.
"It's the juniors who came here in a hurry. Please forgive me, elders!" Li Xu and Xu Dayan handed over their hands to apologize again, and then took their seats in the order of guest and host. If they were in the Central Plains, they came so late to see a middle-aged woman,
The other party would definitely refuse to allow entry, so the trouble that the girl in blue said was a normal etiquette in the eyes of Xu and Li. Although it took some time, they felt more cordial in their hearts.
The young woman nodded slightly, praised the young man for his knowledgeable behavior, and then casually asked a few polite words about whether the journey was tiring and whether he was used to living in the Xi tribe. She stood up again and held out two exquisite azure porcelain cups with both hands.
Come in bottle
The two girls stopped talking after the guest checked in. They had never seen the etiquette of Han people meeting guests and host. At first glance, they were very curious when they saw the young woman take out the azure porcelain bottle that was never allowed to be touched.
, I was even more surprised in my heart, and stared at Liu Yuan with two pairs of big eyes.
At this moment, the copper pot that had been scrubbed by the young woman in advance was bright, and the copper pot filled with water and placed on the charcoal fire had a faint sound. The young woman walked over with the magnetic bottle in her arms, squatted down with half of her skirt, and then placed the magnetic bottle on the charcoal.
He straightened the basin a little further away and then slowly stood up. He took a very clean silver spoon from the cabinet, scooped out half a spoonful of snowflake-white refined salt from one of the two magnetic bottles, and opened the lid of the copper pot.
, gently put into the water
"Want to make tea?" Li Xu was secretly surprised. Ever since he entered the felt tent, every move of the beautiful young woman gave him a very comfortable feeling. If the two girls were compared to the lake on the grassland, the beautiful young woman in front of him was
The bamboo poles and gestures of Jiangnan people can be summed up in eight words: "Elegant and elegant" (Note 1) *** turned around and smiled a little apologetically at the guest to show him to wait a moment.
Then he turned his attention to the copper pot. When the sound of water in the pot was a little louder, he opened the lid, used another silver spoon to skim off the fine foam on the water, and then covered the copper pot again.
A moment later, the water in the pot boiled with a sound like falling beads. He opened the lid again, but this time he did not skim the water. Instead, he used a large copper spoon to scoop out two tablespoons of boiling water and poured it into the prepared food.
In the magnetic bowl, he gently stirred the water with a bamboo tong. While stirring, he used a silver spoon to scoop out some tea powder as fine as broken rice from another azure porcelain bottle, and slowly poured it into the boiling water.
At this time, the aroma of tea was already overflowing in the felt bag, and they were already intoxicated without having to drink it. The two girls from the Xi tribe had never seen anyone deal with a pot of tea so patiently. Their eyes widened and their mouths opened into a semicircle.
shape
Astonished by the young girl's surprise, the beautiful woman was completely absorbed in stirring the tea. When the tea was "roaring", she stopped stirring, added the two tablespoons of water that she had scooped out earlier, and covered it.
The lid of the copper kettle will weaken the charcoal fire and enhance the flavor of the tea.
When the water in the pot made a faint sound of bubbles again, the young woman slowly stood up, picked up the copper pot, poured half of it into the thin porcelain cup in front of each guest, and then poured half of the cup for herself, and gently poured the copper pot into the pot.
Put down the pot and hold the cup between your eyebrows to invite
Needless to say a word, the four young men holding up their cups at the same time and making tea like this has no effect on quenching their thirst. Except for Xu Dayan, a young man from a wealthy family who has been cultivated by his family as a hope since childhood, the four young people in the seat just mechanically
He raised the cup as the woman tasted and asked for tea, and straightened his waist as the woman lowered the cup. I felt that every movement of the other party contained a rhythm, and her beauty was like expressing her arms in the wind. I completely forgot to taste it.
What a taste of tea in your mouth!
Fortunately for the girl in the blue shirt, she has always admired the young woman very much. No matter what noble and charming behavior the other party does, she feels that it is right. The girl in the yellow shirt feels both envy and admiration in her heart, and there is also a hint of jealousy.
He had been taken care of by her since he was a child. Two or three years ago, he also worshiped Aunt Qing as much as his younger sister. When he got older and understood some things in the world, he slowly began to feel resentful for his biological mother.
There are only a few men among the tribes of the Xi clan, so a man can marry several wives at the same time. As the head of a clan, his father could not have a group of wives and concubines like the Turkic prince. He once had more than ten wives behind him, including two.
Including the girl's mother, some are older or younger than Aunt Qing, but no one is as favored as Aunt Qing.
The woman in yellow shirt usually only thinks that Han women are different from grassland women. They bloom later, so their appearance is preserved for a long time. Today, I saw a tea art that I have never seen before. I just felt that if I were a man, I would definitely take Aunt Qing into my arms.
Protect her well in my arms, not daring to let her be wronged in the slightest. As a woman, I have this thought in my heart, not to mention my father, a hero on the grassland.
Therefore, the woman in yellow shirt secretly vowed to learn this tea-making technique from Aunt Qing in the future. This way, after she marries the chief of a nearby tribe, no matter how old she is in the future, no one can take her husband away from her.
"This woman will never come from a prostitute! No brothel can cultivate such a temperament!" Xu Dayan secretly lamented that after the two Jin Dynasties, the Han family traveled south and took away a lot of clothes.
The wealth of the north also swept the books, music, etiquette and customs accumulated over hundreds of years since the Qin and Han Dynasties to the south. The nobles of the Jin Dynasty were most particular about freedom and ease, and the way of drinking tea had long been formed as the families of the giants condensed it.
The complete procedures and actions of the beautiful young woman are based on the Han people's way of hospitality, and the gift of making tea with her own hands is shown to everyone. Only the last process is shown to everyone. There are four other processes of roasting, cooling, pounding, and sifting. If the whole set of skills is done, no one is shown.
That's enough. Then replace the copper pot with a thin white pottery pot. It is estimated that within half a month, no one will look at the crudely brewed milk tea in the big copper pot, even if the copper pot contains the most expensive tea cakes.
But the woman's demonstration of tea art in front of everyone was not to show off. It was purely because she had been influenced by it since she was a child and believed that these were the etiquette that should be used to entertain distinguished guests. Therefore, no matter what she did, bystanders such as Li Xu, E Ru, and Tao Kuo
The three people who took off the silk felt friendly and natural. Looking at Xu Dayan's eyes, they strengthened their assumptions.
The copper pot was not big to begin with, and in a moment, it was filled with water. The woman surnamed Chen said a few modest words, which meant that she was not well prepared and did not mean to neglect the distant guests. How could Xu, Li and the two of them be treated with such great courtesy?
If you feel half guilty, thank you again and again, until your arms start to feel sore, then you have finished thanking him.
The girl in the blue shirt changed her usual impatience and made an exception by not urging Aunt Qing to measure clothes for herself and her sister earlier. It was not until the beautiful woman removed the tea set and got a ruler and string that she stood up as if she had woken up from a dream and lowered her head.
Sheng asked Li Xu: "You, do you people in the Central Plains drink tea like this on weekdays? It's so beautiful, like dancing, making people intoxicated without even realizing it!"
"Ping, I rarely drink tea, I only like to drink!" Li Xu started to stutter again. He wanted to tell the truth that this was the first time he drank tea like this, but he was afraid that the beautiful lady would feel that her face was dull, so he had to give it to the girl.
A plausible answer
The behavior of the beautiful woman made Li Xu feel a little ashamed. He felt that he and the woman were both Han Chinese, just like iron and jade. Little did he know that the royal family of the Sui Dynasty carried Xianbei blood, from the king to the ministers.
Their behavior tends to be rough and bold, which is the style of tea drinking of Jiangnan wealthy families. Not only is it not common in ordinary people's homes in the north, but even in the homes of Yang Su, Yu Wenhua and other high officials, they may not be able to be so elegant and attractive.
"Yes, I forgot that you are an alcoholic!" the girl in blue shirt said loudly. Li Xu's feat of drinking several bags of horse wine in one night has long been spread throughout the tribe, and almost everyone knows that he has a wolf as his companion.
A boy from the Central Plains has a great drinking capacity. Even the strongest hunter in the tribe cannot beat him in terms of drinking.
Li Xu smiled and didn't dare to answer. Getting drunk after being so surprised that night was the most embarrassing thing in his life, especially the act of running away while a girl was sleeping. Every time he thought about it, he felt extremely ashamed.
It is a common psychology of girls to lose their limelight in front of others and find someone weaker than themselves to equalize. The girl in blue shirt did not realize that she was bullying others. She frowned slightly and continued to ridicule: "I haven't finished drinking yet."
He can walk, but his body is heavier than a dead camel!"
Li Xu's face turned red to his ears again. Only then did he realize that it was the girl who helped him back to the tent that day. In this way, wouldn't his behavior that night be even more excessive? According to the reports from Zhang San and others in the past few days,
The details I found out in this article are that if a barbarian woman sneaks into your tent at night and you don't do anything, they will not only not blame you, but they will also show respect to you. But can those who run away earn respect? No one has done this in the past.
Yes, so Zhang Laosan and others don’t know either
"Wine is the companion of a hero, and it is good to drink it. If the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove had no wine, they would not be able to write such wonderful articles!" The beautiful woman said with a smile, and came to Li Xu's rescue.
Who are the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest? The girl in blue shirt didn't know when she saw Aunt Qing speaking for Li Xu. She decided that the seven sages were all great heroes among the Han people and glared at him fiercely and stopped looking for trouble.
The beautiful young woman had gone through many hardships and smiled kindly at these young people's thoughts. She asked Li Xu and Xu Dayan to sit quietly for a while and then took the two girls to another tent nearby to measure the clothes size for a while.
The three women came back talking and laughing, as close as sisters to each other.
Xu Dayan and Li Xu went out to carry the Sichuan brocade into a felt bag, and cut six pieces according to the young woman's instructions. Each of the three girls had two pieces, and no one waited less than the others. When the two girls started to pay the bill with silver bells, Aunt Qing
His eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn't help but ask: "Is Sichuan brocade very expensive in the Central Plains? Is it so exhausted under the Sui Dynasty?"
"No, it's not very expensive!" Li Xu was as ashamed as if he was caught on the spot as a thief. His original intention was to give the three women half the price. Before he could say anything, he was blocked by two girls and went back. Now he took the money.
I've already got the bell, and it's too late to change the price.
"Ha, it turns out you live in a rare place!" The girl in blue shirt finally used a Central Plains idiom correctly and shouted to Li Xu with wide eyes: "Aunt Qing also said that you are a gentleman, but it turns out that you are just being honest on the surface. You have made us both money."
Double or triple the benefits? Do you always plan to make money like this?"
Not only Li Xu, but also Xu Dayan's face turned red to the point of heel. He took advantage of Xiren's ignorance of the price of Shu Brocade to exchange for money. This idea came entirely from his own hand. Li Xu acted purely according to his plan and should not bear any responsibility at all.
According to the ratio of silver and copper coins in the Central Plains, the profit of the Shu brocade he and Li Xu sold was more than ten times. The girl regarded the person who tripled the price as a villain. If she knew that the two people in front of her had made so much, wouldn't she have pinched Li Xu on the spot?
die?
Xu Da took a step forward with a red face. He was about to stand up and blame all the mistakes on one person, but he saw Aunt Qing gently tap the forehead of the girl in blue shirt, and said with a smile: "They came all the way here.
The journey was extremely difficult and dangerous. Not to mention making twice as much, even ten times as much, it is a well-earned profit. If we don’t make money by doing business, why would people come to our tribe?”
Hearing this, the two teenagers breathed a sigh of relief as if they had been pardoned, and cast their grateful eyes on Aunt Qing, a beautiful young woman, but she smiled apologetically at them, as if admitting that her talk had caused them trouble, and then opened the felt bag.
From a small cabinet inside, he unlocked several silver bells one by one and paid the Shu brocade fee at the same price as the girl.
"No, not so much?" Li Xu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said sincerely that the most valuable thing in life is contentment. It was his first time to go out. Although he suffered some hardships on the way, his harvest was more than ten times what he expected.
It already made him very satisfied, and he didn't want to leave the impression of being greedy to the women in front of him.
"Here, if you don't need money, who would travel such a long way when winter comes?" Aunt Qing said very reasonably, looked at Li Xu's red face, smiled, and began to comfort him in a low voice.
Lai: "Doing business is not as good as studying. I have to be hard-hearted to see you like this. It must be your first time doing business and you will get used to it slowly. Once you get used to it, you will be fine!"
"Yes!" Li Xu nodded lightly. Although he had not had much contact with her, the woman in front of him was like an elder in the family, which made him feel very cordial. Thinking that he would stay in Xibu for a while, there would be many opportunities to repay this favor, so he gratefully said to her.
The man smiled and carefully put the silver bell into the money bag around his waist.
With the Shu brocade in hand, the girl's mind immediately focused on her clothes. Seeing that it was already dark, Xu and Li quickly stood up to say goodbye. The beautiful young woman didn't stay seated for long. They held a girl in one arm and got up to send them out.
"It's rare for people from the Central Plains to come to our tribe. I spoke my hometown dialect for a long time today, and I feel very comfortable!" Before leaving, the young woman looked at the dome-like sky above her head and said softly.
"If Aunt Qing likes it, how about I bring them to drink tea tomorrow after they close the stall?" The girl in yellow shirt asked in a pleading tone as she understood the taste of the marrow.
"They will close the stall tomorrow and should organize their business back to the Central Plains.
