North and South groceries

In the fifth month of the lunar calendar, it is the season when cherries are ripe, and there is a craze for eating cherries in Chang'an City.

In fact, as early as April, some well-to-do households ate this year's new cherries. The so-called first fruit in early spring, many people are proud of being able to eat this year's new cherries early.

In mid-to-late May, the cherries outside Chang'an City matured on a large scale, and farmers would often carry a load of cherries to sell in the market. The price is not cheap, but there are many people who can afford it.

It is said that many people want to cut and peel the cherries, and then pour them with buttermilk, cane pulp and honey, which is not unreasonable.

To be able to be so particular, the economic conditions are naturally good. If you change to an ordinary family, let alone buttercane pulp, if you want to eat a cherry, you will only be willing to buy the cheapest one.

At noon of this day, they brought a load to sell in the streets and alleys of their area again. Qiniang's girl wanted to eat, but she had no money, so she had to stare at Si Niang, hoping that she would pay for it.

Siniang went out to stop the cherry seller, looked at his products, and thought they were not bad, so she asked him the price.

"This little lady is also very knowledgeable. The cherries in my house are all grown on old trees. They taste sweet and juicy, and the core is only a tiny bit." Sell ​​at a higher price.

"Just say how much it is." Si Niang is not short of money, she is just habitually frugal.

"Just use my water ladle to hold it, a scoop of cherries is twelve coins." The other party said.

"Why is it so expensive?" Before Si Niang could speak, Qiniang jumped out and thought it was expensive. Two days ago, my elder sister also bought cherries with her, and I bought half a catty for seven cents. Why is this person today? A scoop of cherries costs twelve cents?

"Little lady doesn't know, my cherries are different from other people's cherries." The man said, took out two cherries from the basket, handed one to Si Niang and the other to Qiniang, he could see it too Well, the two sisters should be really rich and can buy cherries by themselves.

Si Niang tasted a cherry, it was really different from the one she bought two days ago, today's cherry is thicker and sweeter, one bite, the mouth is full of sweet juice, it is really delicious.

After Qiniang tasted a cherry, she didn't think it was too expensive, so she just looked at Si Niang, hoping that sister wouldn't think it was too expensive.

"If I buy five ladles, it will be counted as fifty Wen, how about it?" Siniang countered.

"55 Wen, no less." The other party also took a step back.

"Okay, 55 Wen over there, you give me five ladles." Si Niang said, and asked Qiniang to go in to get the money and the wooden basin containing cherries.

The other party was also very happy when he saw that the little lady was so forthright, and when he took his water ladle made of gourd to fill the small wooden basin brought out by Qiniang to fill the cherries, he gave it very readily, every ladle Pretending to be sharp.

Not all the 55 Wen cherries were bought by Si Niang to eat by herself, there was a gentleman in the yard, and when he went back in the afternoon, he would definitely bring some back for him.

Their husband's surname is Zhao, and Mrs. Zhao was a bit out of step when he was young, and he has not been able to find an official position until now.

Now, he teaches these little ladies to read and write every day in the Luo family's courtyard, and their lives are quite stable. Apart from the treatment given by the Luo family, the family members of those little ladies who come to take classes, Every now and then, I have to send him some things, sometimes meat, vegetables and eggs, sometimes grains, rice and noodles. For people like Mr. Zhao, these are very practical.

After school that day, Mrs. Zhao went home slowly with a basket in hand.

The basket he held in his hand contained a dozen eggs, a strip of bacon, and a scoop of cherries bought by Siniang and the others.

When Master Zhao entered the yard, his old wife was cutting firewood outside the firewood shed.

Mrs. Zhao's wife is more than ten years younger than him. Now Mrs. Zhao looks like a little old man, but his wife is still very strong and has a lot of strength. She chops firewood and carries water every day. I never saw her yell tired.

"What did you get today?" Seeing that he came back with a basket, his old wife was a little happy, and even put down the hatchet, and went to Mrs. Zhao to have a look.

"There are cherries, you can wash them later, and let's eat together when everyone comes back tonight." Zhao father and son said and handed the basket of things to his wife.

"Tsk, these cherries are so sweet, and there are bacon and eggs." His old wife pinched a cherry and put it in her mouth, then turned it over in the basket again, and saw that there was a piece of bacon and a dozen eggs, and she was heartbroken. Then very happy.

"Teaching female students is also good. If I knew this, you should have started doing this early in the morning." Mrs. Zhao's old wife tidied up her things happily, and went into the house with a basket.

"Don't talk about this again, I need face." The old man begged for mercy, being invited by Luo Yong to teach in Luo's yard, and they openly recruiting female students in their own yard are two different things.

At this time, his old wife had already walked to the porch and almost entered the house, upon hearing what he said, she immediately lost her temper.

"You old bastard, when you asked your teenage son to work with others, but when you turned around to support you, I didn't see what kind of face you wanted. Why did you just teach people how to learn a few big characters today, and suddenly you want face again? Woke up?"

"..." Mrs. Zhao was speechless by her.

I think back when the Tang Dynasty was just founded, all walks of life across the country were left to waste, and there were many vacancies for officials. Mr. Zhao spent all those years moving around, hoping that he would be valued by the people above. If there is one deficiency, the ambitions of this body can have room to play. Once they gain power, they will become rich and prosperous. At that time, many people got up like this.

It's a pity that Mr. Zhao has never met his own Bole, and he is a little too high and too low. He doesn't like the status of an ordinary official at all. Still a white body.

It doesn't matter whether the talent is not met or the family background is not strong enough, in short, Master Zhao has given up.

He taught those little ladies in Naluo's house, earned some money, food and cloth, and brought back some rice and noodles to eat from time to time, and also made the grandchildren in the family happy, which should be regarded as compensation for his sons.

"Ah Weng, did you bring food back today?" When the sky was getting dark, the little dolls who were playing wildly outside also returned home. As soon as they saw their own A Weng, they sat in the yard, one by one. They all came together to beg for food.

When Master Zhao's wife came out with the washed cherries, the children were so happy that they almost jumped up.

Cherries are so expensive, it is not easy for people like them to earn money, so naturally they are reluctant to buy them. The little lady of the Luo family is generous, and she gave so much at once. The cherries are so sweet, the flesh is so thick, and the core is so small. The price is definitely not cheap.

"Grandma! I want more, give me one!" Such big little dolls are like little swallows in a swallow's nest, opening their mouths wide and begging for food every day. The parents who can afford it are delighted, Parents who can't afford it are anxious.

If their family hadn't found a good job recently, Mrs. Zhao, how could these little dolls in the family eat such good cherries.

"Grandma, I want more!"

"Have you got it? You have eaten a few of these."

"What else do I want..."

"You, Ye Niang, work hard outside all day to earn money, so you should leave some for them."

To these children, Ye Niang is an adult, so she should not be greedy, but to the elderly, their children are their children, no matter how old they are, they are still their own children.

If there is something delicious, I always want to keep it for them. If there is a piece of good fabric, I think about making clothes for them. Just like when they were young, the mind of being a parent is probably like this.

Although there are often rumors recently that so-and-so was forced into marriage by her parents and they are going to push her into the fire pit, but there are so many parents in the world who can do this kind of thing, relatively few.

Like those little ladies who were taking classes at Luo’s house, the reason why their parents gave Mrs. Zhao things was to show respect and gratitude, and secondly, they naturally hoped that Mrs. Zhao could take care of these things. Don't let your daughter suffer any grievances during the class rubbing.

In the courtyard of the Luo family, everyone was also eating cherries at this time, but Luo Yong and Hou Lin were not the only ones who ate with them. They put the cherries in porcelain bowls and put them on the low table on the wooden couch. The little ladies correcting homework around the table take it by themselves.

Some time ago, Si Niang just complained to others, saying that Luo Yong has to teach so many students by himself, and it takes a lot of time to correct homework every day, and then these little ladies who come to class every day volunteered Said to help.

Then Luo Yong gave them an answer and a stack of papers, and asked them to correct the papers against the answers. This correction lasted for a long time. I took out my homework for correction, day after day, without any sense of boredom.

Luo Yong is much more relaxed now. Someone has engraved the engraving block, and someone has helped to correct the papers. Now he can finally assign homework with confidence.