[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

Bianjing was called the place of the Four Wars in later generations. The reason is that it is surrounded by plains on all sides. It can be attacked no matter where it is from, and it is extremely disadvantageous for defense.

The reason why the capital is here is not unrelated to Zhao Er, who served as the Governor of Kaifeng at that time.

Zhao Da once wanted to move the capital to Luoyang at that time. However, as the younger brother of the emperor, Zhao Er was seated in the traditional position of the prince of the Five Dynasties and Later Zhou Dynasty—the governor of Kaifeng. In order to prevent any accidents in his succession to the throne, Zhao Er said He said a harsh sentence, "The country is solid, but virtue is not in danger."

If this statement is interpreted in reverse—Your Majesty, you are in a hurry to move the capital to rely on the precipitous place, do you feel that you are not virtuous enough?Taizu naturally would not admit it, and all the ministers also opposed it, so he dismissed this idea.

In fact, Zhao Da had already realized the danger of redundant troops at that time, and said the words "within a hundred years, the people of the world will be exhausted". At this time, the army of the Song Dynasty was only 40.However, by the time of Zhao Er, the army had doubled and spread to Renzong, and the number of troops nationwide had reached nearly 130 million.Among them, the mercenaries of Song Dynasty are not included.

What Zhao Da said was soon realized, and the expenditure of the Song Dynasty on armaments in the later period became a huge burden for the country.

But leaving aside these undercurrents hidden under the surface, today's Kaifeng is a good autumn scene.

The sky is high and the air is clear. The river passing through Kaifeng Prefecture and its waterside pavilions and lakes reflect the skylight. The river fish fluttered away.

Vendors walk around the streets carrying bamboo baskets for sale, and every few steps you can see vendors driving donkey carts wandering between shops.

The place where Xia Anran stayed can see such a scenery as soon as he opened the window. Of course, the price is not a tael of silver.

This store is indeed not deceiving, at best it is false advertising.

The place where one tael of silver is located is on the ground floor, which is similar to a multi-person room in a youth hostel. The young people who were introduced by the attentive servant glanced around. The room is not narrow, and it can be seen that it is prepared for scholars. Separate desk.

However, Tokyo is a city that never sleeps. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was no curfew in Bianjing. That is to say, even in the middle of the night, you can hear the sound of donkey carts moving around, and the laughter of late drunks. It's too noisy to live on the first floor.

The bed is still a Datong shop... In fact, people in the Song Dynasty were very hygienic. After all, this is an era when all people love to take a bath, and Bianjing is rich in water resources and there are many bathhouses. It is also a good habit to soak your feet before going to bed. However, this does not mean that They do laundry.

Yes, as a consumable, clothes are easily damaged if washed too much, so many people in Song Dynasty try not to wash their clothes as much as possible, so what should they do if they are dirty and smelly?It's a big deal, just sprinkle with incense ash and let it dry in the sun for a while!

It was the first time I saw Xia Anran handling clothes like this, she was a little sluggish, and I was even more shocked when I saw that person walking out refreshed the next day.

Later, he studied this cleaning method carefully, and finally concluded that it was because the main component of incense ash was alkaline, and it did have the effect of decontamination when sprinkled on clothes.

Moreover, the incense ashes used by people in the Song Dynasty use special herbs, which have a scent of grass and trees, so that they can cover up the smell of sweat, and then dry it...then the scent is left.

Moreover, the clothes treated in this way can also be stained with a light color of incense ash, which is more resistant to dirt.

This is probably the wisdom of the working people.

Xia Anran was convinced, and never had the guts to live in the same room with others. Although the scholar who lived next door told him quietly that this method could only be used in spring, autumn and winter, if it really came to summer, the smell of sweat would still not be able to hide it. , but is it all about the smell?Xia Jingxi, who came from a rough understanding of biology in later generations, said - no, the smell has never been a problem, the problem is the microorganisms that are constantly multiplying on the clothes!

He thought about his family's family carefully, it looked quite rich... thinking that their family shouldn't need to deal with clothes like this, and he could smell the scent of incense when he approached that day.

Speaking of incense... Xia Anran also has a secret recipe for incense, which she learned from Xun Yu.

Xun Yu is known as the Fragrance Order in later generations, it is precisely because of his unique skills in dispensing fragrances, when they first met, Xia Anran was moved to learn from him about dispensing fragrances, but later both of them were busy, and it was a long time later , I have this teaching in my leisure time.

At the beginning, he thought that if he couldn't get along in the future, he could still live by selling incense, so he asked Xun Yu if he had any incense made from that cheap raw material. The fragrance pill made of mint as the main fragrance can refresh the mind and cool the body when the summer is heavy.

Xia Anran does have some talent in the way of incense, because his sense of smell is too good, although he doesn't like to smoke strong incense, but he is very good at tasting, which is especially useful in the purchase and processing of raw materials.

When Xun Yu discovered this, he often took Xia Jingxi to soak in the house for a whole day, during which the fragrance lingered for a long time.

Thinking about later, the two of them would attract a crowd of Hanchens to watch every time they fight incense, and they would beg for incense after the match, Xia Anran couldn't hide the smile on her lips.

He secretly wrote down this matter, and planned to go to the spice shop to check the prices of raw materials in a few days, and if it was not expensive, he would go to make some incense and dye clothes by himself.

Great Song Fengya, if he walks outside without fragrance, he will inevitably be despised by others.

He tidied up the cages, and went to a nearby bathhouse to take a bath. Now that there are few people, Xia Anran enjoyed the fun of renting out the room, and when he changed into a low-key scribe robe, he will owe After stuffing the manuscript in his sleeve pocket, he took the folding fan that is necessary for arty style, and stepped out of the hotel door like a tourist.

He first searched for the address of the Baijia shop that he had copied earlier, and planned to go there and send out the manuscript he owed.Unexpectedly, as soon as he explained why he came, he was grabbed tightly by someone. The counter boy of the Bai family pulled him and shouted into the room, "The shopkeeper! The shopkeeper! I caught him!!"

The shop of the Bai family is not a pawn shop, but a rather low-key shop and bookstore selling the four treasures of the study. Xia Anran was so dazed that someone pulled his sleeves, and greeted the suspicious eyes of scholars from all around. , and then it suddenly dawned on me that these people probably regarded him as a thief, right?

He smiled wryly and didn't struggle, but lightly touched the little brother's hand that was tightly clutching his clothes with the tip of his fan, "Although I don't know what the shopkeeper has to keep, but brother, please let go. Just leave."

The little brother glanced at him suspiciously, slowly let go of his hand, but moved his body to block the gap between him and the door, while he was calling for the shopkeeper inside, and after a while, he ran around with his head covered in sweat. The fat man ran out, and when he saw Xia Anran and the younger brother, he immediately understood what he was doing, and quickly slapped the second brother on the head with one hand, and reprimanded him, "What are you doing, what are you doing, this is not for distinguished guests manner."

The waiter in this shop was dazed, obviously he didn't expect the shopkeeper to react like this, seeing this, the shopkeeper pushed the waiter to entertain the guests, then he smiled compensatingly and led Xia Anran into the room.

After the shopkeeper's explanation, Xia Anran, who had been seasick for half a month, realized how much trouble she had brought to the Bai family's newspaper office. Apologize.

It was only because at that time the signing only mentioned serialization, but not the collection.What's more, Xia Anran did not provide less manuscripts, in fact, it was the temporary greed of the Bai family's newspaper that led to the current predicament.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper of the Bai family made a decisive decision, otherwise, if the popular column opened the skylight, I am afraid that the damage will not be a little bit.

After getting the news that Xia Anran had boarded the official ship, the experienced Bai Jintang immediately sent someone to send a letter to the shopkeeper of this book shop in Bianjing, asking him to forward the letter to Xia Anran. Amid the fragrance of ink, it was Bai Jintang's own handwriting.

In the letter, he first apologized to Xia Anran for publishing the collection without authorization, and stated that all the income from the compilation will be given to Xia Anran, and the Bai family will not keep half of it. He also asked Xia Anran to forgive them for their overreaching.At the same time, he asked Xia Anran if he could provide more manuscripts, so that the Bai family's bookstore could have some manuscripts in case of accidents.

Xia Anran agreed to this request after thinking for a while.This time the Bai family gave him more compensation than he had expected. Bai Jintang seemed to know that the reason for his moving from Songjiang was because of his suspected financial disclosure, so this time he gave Xia Anran a handout.

Jiaozi is the first banknote in the history of the entire world. It can be seen that Xia Anran was a little surprised by the generosity of the Bai family, but his face only changed slightly, and he thanked him for taking Jiaozi, and folded the paper money. It was stuffed into the sleeve pocket.

Her attitude is unrestrained and generous, she doesn't pretend to be noble, and she doesn't appear to be greedy for money. She is calm and calm, which makes people look up to her.

The shopkeeper here can be assigned to Bianjing, where there are many shops. As the supervisor of the shop opened by the Bai family here, he has his own advantages.

What he is best at is knowing people.

There are countless high-ranking officials in Bianjing, Houlu, and Zanying aspiring to the top. To occupy a place here, it is his skill, not the bragging of the shopkeeper. Confidence, whoever pretends to be rich, whoever likes to be clean, whoever loves to listen and pursue can all be seen at a glance.

However, for this new golden doll of the Bai family, he is somewhat clueless.

When the shopkeeper saw him for the first time, the shopkeeper felt that this young man had the appearance of a gentleman. His standing posture and demeanor could be seen to have been guided by strict etiquette, and his every move had a graceful sense of beauty. A handover, but the face has changed.

But if it is greedy, it is not. Its demeanor is more like that of a child seeing something of interest, curious, but not greedy.

When he thought about the task given to him by his superiors, he couldn't help feeling a little bored, and felt that this task was really difficult.

Xia Anran didn't know that the shopkeeper was watching him secretly, so he handed over the manuscripts he brought this time to the shopkeeper here, and while the shopkeeper was counting chapters, he wandered around the shop and bought some ink for himself. and paper.

The paper of the Bai family seems to be specially made, especially the one with the highest price. A Buddhist scripture written in gold ink.

Gold characters on blue paper, with dark lines on the paper, has a quiet and holy state, very beautiful.

The shopkeeper counted the number and sealed it away. Seeing that Xia Anran was looking at this, he suddenly had an idea, "Your Majesty, I want to give it a try. This is the blue and blue paper of our Bai family. The color is only from my Bai family." The master can call it out, but because the output is too small, I can guarantee that, apart from the Jinhua main store, only my family sells it nationwide."

Seeing that Xia Anran was interested, and seeing how many spectators gathered around him, he became more interested. He took a piece of paper about a foot long and handed it to Xia Anran, "Look, sir, our family's The paper is stacked in layers, and there is a secret recipe for dyeing. The layers are colored, and the colors of each layer are different. If Mr. Lang uses ink to write on the paper, the rhyme of the ink is clear and the layers are clear. The most beautiful thing is..."

He made a fool of himself, and when he saw everyone staring at him, he smiled and said, "If you write on our blue paper, the color of the water pattern will be slightly different. As the ink seeps in, there will be a gradual change in color at the edge. The deeper the skill, the better the character will be." The more beautiful it is, but if it is written with the gold ink specially made by our shop, the words will float on the paper for a long time, and when it is completely dry, there will be obvious embossed patterns when touched, and it will be very atmospheric when it is mounted."

"The ink used is different, the author is different, and the effect is also different. This is the characteristic of my blue paper. These papers are the last batch brought in these days. The waterway will be closed soon. I want to wait until next year's spring to break the ice. It will be the last batch. No refills will be sold out”

The four words "sold out and no supplement" made all the readers very excited. Seeing this, the shopkeeper added a fire to them, "it will be the New Year's Eve, if you buy our family's cyan blue paper to copy scriptures and give them to the elders... it can be expressed Mind."

As soon as this remark came out, people who were interested in Benyin took action one after another. There are really not many blue papers, only about two hundred copies, but you have to prepare a piece of paper to prevent the writing from being damaged. Want to buy another gold ink?

Calculated in this way, the transaction volume has been rising steadily. Coupled with the inexplicable rush for goods and impulsive consumption, this stack of expensive blue paper was sold out quickly and was used as a sales prop Xia Anran looked at the blue paper that was stuffed into his hand by the shopkeeper, but he was speechless.

This... how should I put it, he used to be the only one who sold goods to others, but he was suddenly reversed, and his heart was really a little complicated. Seeing his slightly weird expression, the shopkeeper held Xia Anran's hands with enthusiasm, very sincere You have to say to him, "Lang Jun, can you leave a signature for the shop?"

Xia Anran's almond eyes suddenly widened. He tried to shrink his hands, but failed. The shopkeeper's hands were dry and warm, but his attitude was extremely firm. Invisibly, Xia Anran suddenly remembered that he was killed by Liu Xie and Liu Bei back then. The scene where Qiqi held hands, and then he was put on the position of a big man as a farmer, and worked hard for decades.

Besides, if this continues, he will really have a psychological shadow on shaking hands.

"Signature?" Seeing that he couldn't break free, he simply stopped moving and let the shopkeeper hold his hand. Xia Anran looked suspicious and puzzled, then he followed the shopkeeper's gaze and landed on a stack of tabloids. On top of that, it is the entire storybook printed by the Bai family in an emergency.

Xia Anran: "..."

Oh, why don't you sign to sell newspapers?

In the end, Xia Anran wrote ten pen names in gold ink on the expensive blue paper and left them to the shopkeeper. He also purchased some ordinary pens, inks and rice papers sold here. I gave the address to the shopkeeper and asked him to deliver it when the time came, but I walked out with a little vain footsteps.

He glanced at it just now when he took over the handover. The amount of the handout that Bai Jintang gave him was [-] guan. He wasn't sure if this was real income or if Bai Jintang added more to please him, but Yu Xia As far as An Ran is concerned, there is not much difference.

This windfall should be enough for him to have a small place to stay in Bianjing. The facts proved that he was too naive. Knowing this money, let alone in the city, even if it is outside the city, he has no way to settle it down.

Frankly speaking, he never expected that the money would buy him a room, but it wasn't even a long-term lease.

This situation is entirely because Kaifeng City does not occupy a large area. Even so, the city is still occupied by a large number of waterways, and the actual livable area is divided into the average population here. Straightforward.

Here, let alone buying a house, even long-term renting is a luxury.

Most of the officials either live in the government office, or they can only live outside the third ring road. It is said that Bao Zheng, the governor of Kaifeng, is still renting a house outside!

In fact, there is another reason for the skyrocketing housing prices in Kaifeng, which is because the transition of the Song Dynasty was quite smooth.In other words, the Song Dynasty was one of the few countries that did not undergo a large-scale cleansing of the previous dynasty when the dynasty changed.

Usually when the new dynasty is established, the rich and powerful families of the old dynasty will become a thing of the past, and the land and real estate they occupy will naturally become the spoils of the new dynasty and return to the state.

But precisely because Song Taizu abdicated the throne for Emperor Zhou, and after assuming the throne, he also worked hard to promote the rule of benevolence. In this Bianjing city, in addition to the aristocratic families of the Song Dynasty, there are also several clans from the previous dynasty. Of course, These wealthy families had obediently surrendered to the Song Dynasty during the period of Song Renzong.

In this way, it is conceivable that there are two sub-power groups and two groups of aristocratic families in a city, how can it not be crowded.Therefore, Xia Anran came to a conclusion - Kaifeng Mansion in Song Dynasty can be used as a tourist city, but it must not be used as a living city, because if you buy a house here, you may become a house slave for life.

Xia Anran didn't become a house slave in modern times, he didn't want to become a house slave here.

At this time, the sun had already set, but the bustling Bianjing City did not enter the depression of twilight. Instead, it was lit up with bright lamps one by one, and it had the taste of the fire trees and silver flowers of later generations.

Xia Anran walked all the way and inquired all the way, his destination was near Daxiangguo Temple.There is the most famous commercial night market in Bianjing, which is the top ten recommended places for foreigners to visit Bianjing. If you have not visited the Daxiangguo Temple Night Market, it is like you have never been to Bianjing.

Because the price of the site fee is relatively low, the price of things here is much lower than that of the store, and there is a great possibility that you can find all kinds of novel things, and it is said that you can also buy various rare animals and plants.

Yes, Xia Anran came here for this.

There is a jade pendant hanging on his fan, which swayed slightly as he walked. The quality of jade is ordinary, but the carving is exquisite, and there is a vivid puffer fish carved on it, which is very bulging and cute. At this time, the jade pendant Following the master's movements, Xia Anran used a fan to cover the slight smile on her lips, so as not to let her excited and expectant expression destroy her image.

He is not very demanding, heck, bamboo bears, he definitely can’t afford them, but it’s enough to let him touch and hug them. After all, bamboo bears eat bamboo, and Bianjing doesn’t produce bamboo locally. If you buy it A bamboo bear has the burden of being locked up. As for keeping pets...

He wants to raise a black monkey.

This kind of animal has become a rumor in modern times. It is said that they are small enough to fit into a pen holder. The pen holder is its nest, and it can also be called to grind ink. , mainly to catch flies and mosquitoes.

In addition to being able to grind ink, it can also understand human speech, and can understand instructions to hand the pen, how interesting it is.

And Xia Anran is not sure what will happen in the future, whether he can really settle down in this Kaifeng mansion, I am afraid that he will still have to run around in the future, it is much more convenient to bring a small pet than to buy a big one.

——He thought so before arriving at Daxiangguo Temple.

But when he got here...

Xiao Long Bao, Shrimp Wonton, and Sesame Oil Sprinkle, which are rare in modern times.

Xia Anran couldn't hold back and ran to ask how to sell this. In the end, he bought a penny of Sazi, and after listening to the seller's recommendation, he ran to buy a cup of brown sugar water, and then soaked the Sazi in the brown sugar water, and waited until When it is still soft, it is picked up and eaten like noodles.

The brown sugar water only costs one penny, and this brown sugar water stall was opened by someone who sells Sazi. Seeing that Xia Anran bought Sazi, he specially brought him a bigger bowl.

Xia Anran's eyes narrowed.

He has never tasted the method of soaking saffron in brown sugar water, but the taste is a bit...well, like the taste of fried dough sticks soaked in soy milk. Brown sugar water, Xia Anran didn't know, this way of eating is actually eaten by girls, and they are basically eaten with lochia during confinement. He is sitting here alone, although it is a bit abrupt, it is even more fascinating. Few people come to watch after time.

It’s just that Xia Anran concentrates on eating, he moves his mouth elegantly, and he never stains his lips. Although he is dressed in ordinary clothes, there is an intangible aura of wealth and nobility, which makes people unable to laugh at him for a while. I was a little curious about the taste, but since the stall is always surrounded by girls, I don't feel like coming here. Seeing that there was a man here today, I came over with a blushing face and asked for a bowl to try.

Gradually, this small stall, which was usually full of women, was soon surrounded by Kaifeng men who had been curious for a long time, which made the women who were greedy and wanted to come to eat at a loss.

The "culprit" Xia Anran didn't know it, he continued to move forward after eating this slightly strange but not unpalatable snack.

Along the way, he bought another mutton bun, Xia Anran reminded himself to eat less, the purpose of his coming here was to buy pets, but after just a cup of tea, he had stewed liver and crystal soap in his hand again.

Xia Anran is very curious about the crystal soap. I heard from the introduction that this thing is the kernel of saponins, and saponins are used for cleaning, so they can still be eaten?

Xia Anran couldn't suppress his curiosity, he ran over to buy one.

The seller was an old lady who looked very kind. Although the old lady was old, her movements were very flexible. She scooped up a cup of sugar water for Xia Anran in two or three strokes.

Yes, Xia Anran thinks this thing is sugar water.

After careful observation, he judged that the main raw material in this crystal soap should be saponin rice.That's right, he used to think of saponin rice as a kind of food, but he really didn't connect the word saponin with the saponin used for cleaning.

Saponin rice is a very expensive grain sold in modern times. Because it is rich in dietary fiber, it is easy to fill the stomach, but the starch content is not much. It is used by many girls as a meal replacement food for weight loss.

In the crystal soap made by the old lady, the liquid is a bit viscous, and it looks a bit like tremella soup, and the saponin rice is suspended in the soup, and some sweet-scented osmanthus seeds are sprinkled on the water surface, which is not dried. Osmanthus, it should be the sweet-scented osmanthus sauce made by the old man.

Xia Anran took a spoon to spread the sweet-scented osmanthus sauce, then scooped up the saponin rice and tasted it.

The feeling in the mouth was a bit unexpected. He thought it was a dessert, but in fact, the taste was a bit sour, it should be the taste of sour plum, but there were no plum grains in the soup. It must have been pulled out, or already It was boiled and melted inside, so it couldn't be seen.

This dessert should be soaked in well water, the cold touch can dissolve the sweetness, after the mouth, it feels very refreshing.

It is indeed very suitable to eat in summer. It can be used as an appetizer before meals. After he put down this soap, Xia Anran felt that he was not so full anymore.

But his rationality reminded himself that he came to buy pets, what if he found that there was not enough money when he got to the place where he bought pets.It's better to go to the professional snack street after buying pets, and now it is more important to concentrate on shopping.

What's more, the vendors here don't have fixed stalls, and good stalls are first come, first served, which means that it is very likely that the stalls that can be found yesterday will not be in this seat after two days.Naturally, the reservation system does not exist in the night market of Daxiangguo Temple.

Xia Anran couldn't help sighing how much people in the Song Dynasty loved food. You must know that the night market in Daxiangguo Temple is not famous for its food, and the food street should be Zhouqiao Night Market.

The positioning here is more inclined to a street of juggling, performances, entertainment, and groceries, but even so, in the places Xia Anran can see, basically the proportion of food shops is still about [-]%.

In addition, it is a foreign shop.

In the world that Xia Anran experienced, the world of Red Mansions has implemented a sea ban, not to mention the world of the Three Kingdoms. It was not until the later period of the little emperor's administration that some foreign trade was barely opened up, but it was completely official trade between countries.

These are completely different from Bianjing in the Song Dynasty, where foreigners are very common.

The Song Dynasty inherited many systems from the Tang and Zhou dynasties, and basically maintained the same attitude towards foreign trade and foreigners. This also made Bianjing in the Song Dynasty an international metropolis just like Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty.

Here, guests from other countries can also live very comfortably.

Xia Anran even saw many foreign traditional delicacies here, such as pizza.

The tall-nosed and deep-eyed brother guarding the pizza stand saw Xia Anran looking here, and immediately greeted Xia Anran enthusiastically in standard Bianjing dialect.

He stretched out a plate and told Xia Anran that he could try it, but Xia Ran declined it with a smile and pointed at his belly. Along the way, his lower abdomen seemed to have protruded slightly.

As the saying goes, dinner is [-]% full, and he has eaten almost [-]% now, so he can't eat more.

What's more, Xia Anran didn't dare to try the pizza without tomato sauce and pineapple.

As he walked forward, the folding fan in his hand swayed slightly, and there were bustling people watching from both sides. There were many handicrafts and ethnic handicrafts, and he felt like walking in a modern night market commercial street in a trance.

Suddenly, he faintly heard the sound of a dog barking.

Xia Anran's eyes lit up, and he walked forward quickly, but the crowd was crowded and he walked slowly. He walked for about ten minutes before he saw the Bianjing Pet Market, which was rumored to sell everything.

Obviously people in the capital are very enthusiastic about the pet market, the crowd around this side is much more than the other places, Xia Anran squeezed herself into the crowd.

The first thing he saw was a Papillon.The puppy's eyes are dark, the long hair on its ears is sticking out, and its big tail is long and curly, wagging happily at the onlookers.It will also follow the instructions of the stall owner who sells pets, stand upright, and make a gesture of goodbye. Xia Anran only glanced at it lightly, and then continued to walk forward.

His Bai Yueguang is a panda and a black monkey. Creatures like Wang Xingren can't make him stop.

But after he had only walked a few steps, he heard the noise from the guests in front of him again. It was a noise full of admiration.

Out of curiosity, Xia Anran went over to look again. It turned out that this shop was selling peacocks, and the noise was caused by the fact that a white peacock was stimulated after a woman opened her colorful fan. , slowly unfolded his tail feathers, and proudly walked left and right, showing off his gorgeous tail feathers at different angles, and even deliberately walked up to the woman to try to compare her beauty with her fan.

The ones provoked by it were the other peacocks sold in this shop, and they also spread their tail feathers one after another, shining brightly under the lights for a moment, very beautiful.

In addition to selling live peacocks, this stall also sells some common decorative feathers. According to the stall owner, the peacocks he raises usually fall off when they moult or because of fighting. Looks great in a vase for home decoration.

Xia Anran's eyes drifted involuntarily to those peacock tail feathers trembling slightly in the wind. He tilted his head and smiled slightly, closed his folding fan, tapped the tail feathers lightly with the head of the fan, and shook the quivering feathers from the breeze. The pointed point was steady, and then he retracted the folding fan in satisfaction, and unfolded it in front of himself, only showing a pair of smiling almond eyes.

After huddling among the poultry for a while, he probably had a good idea of ​​the value of pets in this market, so he withdrew carefully and continued forward.

It has been more than half an hour since the night market started, Xia Anran was afraid that his black monkey would be bought away, so after leaving the peacock stand, he did not dawdle any longer. When he was sure, he went over to take a look, and left quickly when he saw that it wasn't what he wanted.

He was lucky, but after walking a few steps, he came to a stall selling primates.

This store's main specialty is macaques, but Xia Anran also saw a few golden monkeys locked in cages.He felt his soul tremble at this moment, it was the golden monkey.

He and the golden snub-nosed monkey's dark eyes met... After a while, he was so dazed that he thought it would be nice to keep a golden snub-nosed monkey as a pet...

cough.

It's just that Xia Anran's desire for black monkeys made him give up this tempting idea. He looked around, but he didn't see black monkeys for sale in this shop, so he asked the shopkeeper.

At this time, Xia Anran's clothes were bought in Songjiang Mansion, and he chose the material himself. Out of comfort, Xia Anran chose a relatively common linen material. Now it seems that the clothes on his body are somewhat ordinary.

But the shopkeeper of the shop didn't underestimate him because of this. After hearing that what he wanted to buy was a black monkey, the shopkeeper showed a bit of distress

It turns out that it's not that they don't want to sell black monkeys, which are very popular among literati and poets, but the problem is that this kind of monkeys are too timid, and they are worse than rabbits when they are startled, and they will be scared when they are startled. It is easy to go on a hunger strike, and its personality is even more sensitive. If one goes on a hunger strike, it will drive one.

However, it is a long way to transport them from their origin to Bianjing. It is basically impossible to say that they will not be frightened during the whole process.

In this way, either raise the price to make up for the cost, or don’t sell it at all. After several attempts to raise the price, the price of the black monkey has exceeded the psychological price of the literati in Bianjing, and these shops have no choice but to give up selling this object. The shopkeeper also suggested that Xia Anran, if she absolutely wanted to buy a black monkey, it would be better to go to the place where it was produced, buy it there, and then come with her own company.

With the owner around, the black monkey will not be easily frightened, and even if it is frightened, it can recover easily.

This news made Xia Anran feel a little regretful, but fortunately he got the good news that the Great Song Dynasty still had the Black Monkey.

After thanking the shopkeeper, Xia Anran continued to walk forward, he wanted to see if there was any substitute pet that could keep him company.In this world, there is only him alone, so it is really lonely...

"Gah-"