Ginger's grocery store

In the corner of Li’s courtyard, the gong and drum team came to beat the drums, gongs, and suona, and an aunt wearing a flower stood behind the Limai and sang songs dancing, the tune was babbling, Jiang Yuan After distinguishing for a long time, I can barely hear what song it is.

"Only a mother is good in the world, and a child with a mother is like a treasure..." The normal speed of speech was slowed down by ten times, which is the effect of the scene.

The drum band worked very hard. Seeing that the cheeks playing the suona were so big, the eyes were bulging, and the veins on the cheeks were bouncing one by one, I know.But the hard-working performance did not achieve very good results. To be precise, the living people did not feel much joy after watching it, but they were crying like a female ghost, like a dead baby crying, very mournful.

"Filial sons and virtuous grandchildren." The master of ceremonies called out again, the voice was so sharp and sharp that it made people's eardrums bulge and hurt.

The guests present looked at the descendants of the two protagonists of the wedding banquet quietly, with dead white faces, dark and lifeless eyes, and red lips painted for joy, strange, fearful, and a step forward Aunt Li was so frightened that the hairs on her back exploded, and her forehead was sweating profusely.

She looked at Jiang Yuan helplessly, her aunt's lips trembled and she couldn't speak.

Jiang Yuan nodded encouragingly.

As if she had found the strength that passed away, the leg that my aunt left behind also stepped out.Taking a deep breath, he probably had the courage to go all out after taking a step forward. He looked at the guests invited by his father, and saw some kindness from those stiff faces.

Those who come to the wedding banquet, there are no guests who are rude to the host's house.

Aunt Li waved and said to the others, "Let's go, let's kowtow."

Zhou Zhengfu's man and woman are a pair of brothers and sisters, who are over fifty years old. Some time ago, they were suddenly entrusted with a dream. The mother who worked so hard to bring them up but died early because of poverty and illness told them shyly that she had found her old partner. Married, let the siblings get ready.

After waking up, Zhang Guangfu's face was full of tears. His mother was not easy, his father was a bad gambler, and he hooked up with a little widow on the front street and ran away. Working as a nanny for a long time, she sewed clothes with dim lights at night, and suffered from a whole body of diseases.

Zhang Guangfu called and told his younger sister, who also had the same dream. The brother and sister did not doubt that it was fake, even if it was fake, they were willing to believe it.According to the instructions of the mother in the dream, the brother and sister flew to Nanzhou City, put down their luggage and took a taxi to the old street, where they found the mysterious Kunwuju.

All the coincidences made the two of them a little scared, but also a little excited and looking forward to it.

With complicated emotions in mind, the two walked into Kunwuju, and asked for the pair of dragon and phoenix candles by name.They are in business. They are rich but not bad. When they heard that a pair of candles cost 30 yuan, their faces twisted for a moment. Didn't see it either.

After buying expensive dragon and phoenix candles, the brother and sister went out of the shop and looked at each other. Their mother didn't say who they married!

The old lady was patronizing and shy, and missed the most critical information.

Brother and sister Zhang Guangfu returned to the hotel with two headless flies, feeling irritable, and he fell asleep who had no intention of sleeping. The old lady dreamed again and told the address of the stepfather's house to the children.

Then there is this scene.

The stiff-faced brothers and sisters glanced at each other. After overcoming the fear in their hearts, their action efficiency was higher than that of the Li family—they wanted to support the old lady, so as not to be bullied by the old and new.

The brothers and sisters of the Zhang family had already walked in and saw two old people sitting in the hall. Their eyes fell on the old lady, who was also looking at them tenderly.

On the table between the two elderly people are lit dragon and phoenix wedding candles. The pair of candles are expensive, surrounded by the auspicious smoke of the dragon and phoenix amidst the crackling of the candles. They burn overnight until they go out automatically, symbolizing a long-lasting and happy marriage for a hundred years.Under the warm and festive candlelight, the two old people looked as if they were alive.

The fear in the hearts of the two brothers and sisters disappeared, and they knelt on the futon, tears falling down in big drops.

The old lady said in a faint voice, "Don't cry on the day of great joy."

"Yes, be good, don't cry." The old man of the Li family rubbed his hands, seeing the two older children at a loss, and said repeatedly, "I will treat your mother well, be good, don't cry, your mother It hurts to see it."

Aunt Li was wronged: "..." Her father had never spoken to her so tenderly when he was alive. He was jealous, wronged, and wanted to cry.

"What are you doing standing up, the wooden pile will call you daddy!" No, the old man suddenly changed his face when he saw his own daughter, looking serious and rigid like a stepfather. You don’t actively cooperate, do you have children like you!? If you didn’t block the door quickly, did you deliberately not do it for us?”

"Father..." Aunt Li's eyes were red from crying, the curse was still familiar, and the feeling was still familiar, this was her father.

"Why are you crying? You will be crying for bad luck on the festive days." Although Lao Li scolded him, he himself became a man of tears. Hang in your mouth.

Aunt Li led the family to kowtow to the elders in the hall, and the elders also prepared gifts for the two grandchildren.

Because I am looking for old companions, there are not many particular rules. The ceremony is very simple. The filial sons and grandchildren kowtow, and it is considered a ceremony when they recognize their relatives. After the banquet is over, they find a master. Joint burial, that's more important.

After the ceremony is completed, the table can be opened.

Old Li dragged his daughter to the corner, and poked her forehead with rough and thick fingers, "Damn girl told you to prepare a wedding banquet, it's not petty to prepare a table, who do you want to eat it for! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Get mad for the second time."

Aunt Li muttered softly, "I didn't make you mad."

Old Li covered his heart with his head, as if he was angry with his daughter, very serious.

"Father, father." Aunt Li supported her father worriedly, her hands were cold and gloomy, her heart was panicked, her father and her were really separated.

"Damn girl, oh." Old Li didn't say anything, and patted the child's head, "Dad scared you."

Aunt Li said, "It's okay." She was just a little bit closer to death from fright.

"I didn't want to trouble you, but I finally found a caring person, and I can't bear to wrong her." Old Li is a responsible man, and he definitely doesn't want to owe her a new wife, but he is strict with his children. , "It's not exactly the Hungry Ghost Festival. Just hold it in Yangjian, and you won't have any regrets. Take this and go to Boss Huang's on the street to buy chicken. The more you buy, the better, and invite everyone to dinner."

As soon as Old Li made a big move, a bag of broken gold, Aunt Li's eyes straightened, "Father, you, this..."

"Father earns money by working for the grown-ups down there. It's real gold and silver, haha." Old Li told his daughter in a timely manner, "Don't even think about getting it down. It doesn't belong to you. If you take the ghost thing, it will be moldy." Luck. The boss of Kunwuju is a great person. If you can invite him, I will be honored. Well done, well done. I won’t bother you, so as not to get angry People, please treat me well."

"Hey." Aunt Li was a little embarrassed by her father's poking, but fortunately she was still obedient and did not dare to obey others.

There is a saying that it is easy to invite the gods to send the gods away, and the same is true for inviting ghosts. How can we send the guests away if we are not satisfied with the food, and the house will be restless in the future.Aunt Li came out with broken gold in her pocket. The old father said that he was looking for the boss surnamed Huang to buy chickens.Seeing Jiang Yuan standing in the courtyard, her eyes lit up, and Aunt Li walked over, "Xiao Jiang, do you know the owner who sells chickens? He said his surname is Huang."

Jiang Yuan really knew, "Just in front of the cross-bridge rice noodle shop, there is a group of weasels selling chickens. The authentic three-yellow chickens weigh about three catties each."

Aunt Li's face twisted for a moment, too many things tonight have crushed her three views, and she feels that her future world will not be better.She is pretty good, her husband is superstitious about science, and now he is a little dazed and staring, his eyes are always in a daze. "Okay, I'll go buy it now."

"Yeah, after buying it, I'll cook the whole chicken and eat it. Serve the whole head and tail on the table. It's decent."

Aunt Li suddenly became nervous, "I don't understand the rules inside." She said awkwardly, "Can you please help me, just teach me how to make the first pot."

Jiang Yuan thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Okay." To use a phrase that often pops up when you go to tourist attractions, if you come all the time, then just help to the end.

There are many monsters on the old street today, and the weasel family is just the most inconspicuous one, but because the chickens they raise are good, there are quite a lot of customers around the front of the stall.

Relying on the vicious vigor of a supermarket snatching discounted goods, Aunt Li bit the bullet and squeezed into the crowd of guests. Some of the guests had long tails, some had pointed ears on their heads, and some wore human clothes but had pig heads on their heads. Yes, very unusual.Aunt Li squeezed to the front of the booth, panting and shouting, "I want two hundred chickens."

The owner of the stall, Rhubarb, is a thin and small man with yellow hair on his face, a long beard around his mouth, and black bean eyes. He glanced at Aunt Li and stretched out three long and thin fingers, meaning Say 31 only.Aunt Li didn't understand, and dryly spread out her sweaty palms. Inside lay a pile of broken gold, shining brightly under the candlelight of the booth lighting.

Rhubarb's eyes lit up, and he pinched a piece of gold from Aunt Li's hand with his sharp fingers and walked away. After squinting for a while, he put it into his mouth and bit it. The color was good, and he nodded silently. He accepted the deal.

With a few strange clicks from his mouth, Rhubarb bent down and began to clean up the stalls. All the tables and benches were stuffed into the car. Several weasels that could not be transformed nimbly jumped up, and a very fat weasel was lying on his stomach. Sleeping soundly on the ground, Rhubarb kicked him in disgust and yelled twice.

Only then did the fat guy lazily get up, holding on to the handle and walking with the car, yawning while walking, tears from lack of sleep oozing from the corners of his eyes.

Aunt Li didn't expect to buy a chicken and bought the whole store, and led it home with a heavy foot.This family of weasels is also interesting, and they simply work hard, directly occupying a corner of the Li family's yard and starting to work.Their methods of killing chickens are very primitive and full of racial advantages. They capture the trembling chickens out of the cages, bite their necks vigorously, roll their throats, and pour blood into their mouths.

After a few dying clucks, there was no breath, and the paws didn't even have time to kick a few times.

Afterwards, without boiling the water, the weasel's sharp claws raised and lowered a few times, and the fur was plucked clean.

Finally, the slender claws reached into the hole in the neck and stirred a few times, and the internal organs came out.

Chickens are good chickens. When Jiang Yuan saw it, he wanted to buy a few, but weasels don't sell live chickens. If they want to buy chickens, they have to kill them.Seeing the way their chickens were handled, Jiang Yuan felt that it was too bloody and couldn't stand it, so he didn't buy it.

Jiang Yuan felt the blood was bloody, but the onlookers were applauding, stretching their necks and looking at it with burning eyes, and they looked a little like the fighting cocks with their necks raised in the cockfighting arena.

On the other side of the yard, a simple pot and stove was directly built with bricks and stones. Aunt Li's husband had recovered a little, and buried his head in dull work, chopping wood and lighting the fire.

Jiang Yuan said to Aunt Li who was waiting on the side: "There is no trouble. It is the same as making ordinary white-cut chicken. The whole chicken is cooked and served on the table. It is good to sprinkle a pinch of salt during the cooking process. The only thing to pay attention to is Yes, the chicken must be cold before it can be served, if you can’t wait, prepare a basin of ice water, stuff the chicken into it when it’s out of the pan, and serve it chilled.”

"Yeah." Aunt Li nodded hurriedly. Jiang Yuan said simply, but she didn't dare to be careless. As the heat in the pot surged up, her whole body became hot, and the clothes on her back were soaked.

Jiang Yuan didn't do anything practically, this is the Li family's family business, they should be responsible for their own good and bad, and it's not easy for him as an outsider to intervene.

Cooking chicken is a big science.

Don't think about it, it's a serious chicken, you must kill it alive, put the whole chicken in the pot, and serve the whole chicken on the table.In ancient times, materials were underdeveloped, and if ordinary people could not get the three animal sacrifices, the chicken was the best sacrifice to find, and gradually became a very important dish in the sacrifice.The host can't prepare a whole table of good noodles, and each guest will be very satisfied with a whole chicken, which can be regarded as the host's return gift to the guests.

When cooking, the heat must be strictly controlled, and the chicken must be cooked, but there are still bloodshots in the gaps between the bones.It's not easy to master, and even grown-up veterans will make mistakes, but Jiang Yuan is like a cheater, he can judge the degree of cooking by just pinching the chicken wings.

This is not a skill he acquired after he took over Kunwuju. He has been like this since he was a child. As long as it is something in the water, he can easily make judgments and guarantee the correctness, such as weight, size, and maturity.

There is no explanation for the cheating life.

"This pot is ready. According to the judgment method I taught you, lightly pinch the root of the wing, and you can see a slight bloodshot. After cooking for 2 minutes, you can take it out of the pot and let it cool." Jiang Yuan wiped his hands with a wet paper towel.

Aunt Li is still not sure, but she has already troubled Jiang Yuan to guide him for three pots, and it will be dawn after teaching him. I am really sorry to delay his time, so I gritted my molars to cheer myself up, "Auntie remember It’s really troublesome for Xiao Jiang today.”

"It's okay, we are all neighbors, we should help each other."

Jiang Yuan waved his hand, and he turned to look for Fang Chengyan, feeling a little depressed because the date of the beautiful scenery was delayed.

The yard of the Li family is not big, but under the skillful arrangement of the hostess, it is not stuffy, and a grape trellis was built in a small and elegant place near the door. on top.

Jiang Yuan doesn't like grape trellises. When he was a child, he was at his grandmother's house. Grape vines were easy to attract insects and birds. Grapes that fall to the ground will shatter. If they are not cleaned up in time, sticky lumps will be left on the ground. , attracting a large number of ants.

The reality is not as beautiful as imagined.

But today, the person sitting under the grape trellis made him feel the urge to set up a shelf when he went home.

The curly grape leaves fall silently from the shelf, and under the vine, the man who pours and drinks by himself is handsome and extraordinary, just like a person in a painting.The cold moonlight was not disturbed by the pale lights in the courtyard, it spread softly on the man's body, faintly outlining the lingering indifference and boredom between the man's brows.

There was a moment of trance in Jiang Yuan's mind, as if Fang Chengyan had been so lonely and alone for hundreds of thousands of years, and the frost on his shoulders had accumulated years called loneliness.

He doesn't like it.

Stubbornly dispelling the coldness from Fang Chengyan's body in his own way, he pounced on him, hugged Fang Chengyan from behind, put his arms around his neck and said, "I'm hungry again, go eat claypot rice."

Jiang Yuan's enthusiastic thumping did not save energy, but Fang Chengyan did not move at all. With a wave of his hand, the jug and wine cup on the small table disappeared.

Infected by Jiang Yuan's vitality, his eyes warmed up, "Let's go, maybe it's gone if we go late."

Having said that, Jiang Yuan became a little anxious. That claypot rice is absolutely authentic. He knew the place he came to was right after hearing the boss’s vernacular. It would be a pity if he missed it.He hurriedly urged Fang Chengyan to move faster.The old man was not screaming for nothing. Jiang Yuan still walked slowly after several reminders. He stomped his feet anxiously, grabbed the man's warm palm, and dragged him forward, "Let's go, let's not eat too much, we two Eat a bowl, eat the signature claypot rice with spicy chicken and sausage. I remember that there is freshly made hot and sour noodles on the side, so I just want a bowl."

Fang Chengyan's eyes fell on Jiang Yuan's hand holding him, his heart was throbbing, he didn't want to admit some emotions, he was just deceiving himself and others.

···

The old street is still very lively, Xiao Ma took this opportunity to distribute a lot of small cards with 24 characters on guarding against telecom fraud, illegal fundraising and public welfare, even during the break, he still loves his job and works hard.But standing in the middle of the Qingshiban Road, he who was distributing small cards looked stupidly as if he had been tricked into distributing bad advertisements.

"I saw it on vbo, he is the little policeman feeding the pigeons in the photo, right?"

"It looks delicious. It looks like a young child, exuding the fragrance of a virgin."

"Yeah~ I'm full of justice, so delicious."

"Hiss." Zhuyeqing, who was hanging around the pony's neck, spat at the monster who dared to covet the little policeman's body, and her slender green body moved, wrapping the pony even tighter.

"Tighten it up, let it go, don't make trouble." Little Ma didn't notice, patted Zhuyeqing's cold body to let him relax a bit.The small cards he brought were not many, and they were distributed quickly. He was quite satisfied in his heart. Although he is not a human being, everyone's attitude towards building a harmonious society is still very positive. Completed the thought report for this quarter.

Feeling a little hungry, after consulting Zhuyeqing and learning that he can eat the food here, Xiao Ma happily went straight to a rice ball shop and ordered the most traditional taste—sweet rice balls with meat floss.While walking and biting, he was dazzled by the weird things on the stalls.

"Hey, those people over there are so strange." Xiao Ma stopped at the entrance of an alley. There were a few sneaky figures at the other end of the dark alley. Out of the police's keen sense, he felt that something was wrong.Stuffing the unfinished rice balls into the bag, Pony walked in quietly.

At the other end, several men in jumpers were walking along the base of the wall. One of them was holding a five-month-old baby in his arms. The baby was sleeping drowsily, apparently being given medicine.

"Selling melons, big and round cantaloupe, delicious and free." The crunchy voice gradually approached with the creaking sound of the cart.

Several people retreated into the alley, not knowing who broke the dullness.

"The night market on that street is too lively. It's not suitable to start with the good idea. Let's talk about it today."

"Boss, what about the child?" asked the man holding the doll.

"Whoever told you to hold the child with your hands, do it early. If you don't want to be smashed to death, you put it in a bag and sink it in the river." The man called the boss is in control of life and death at will.

"It's a shame, it's so beautiful."

"Then change melons with me." A crunchy voice suddenly sounded from the side, and the few people who were huddled in the alley almost screamed in fright.

Living the days of licking blood with a knife and turning their heads to their waists, they quickly calmed down and found a child holding a melon squatting obediently on the ground looking at them.On a summer night, the child strangely wears many layers of clothes, wrapped into a ball, with a white and tender face, a small mouth that is particularly red, and other facial features that are inconsistent and awkward. Where it should be, the eyes are like the eyeballs of a dead fish.

The little mouth opened and closed, and the child said obediently: "The melon is big and sweet, and it doesn't cost money."

Several men looked at each other in blank dismay. The boss stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lips. With even more malicious intent, he slowly stretched out his hand to the child.

Outside the alley, a thick voice called, "Baby, baby..."

It turned out that there were adults outside, and regrets arose in their minds.

"Father, wait a minute, and the baby will come when the melon is changed." The child asked obediently again, "Shall I change it, should I change it, the melon is sweet and round."

The leader squinted his eyes, and said with a smile: "Okay, I'll change it to you." He stretched out his hand and pinched the child's face, with uncontrollable force, the child's face turned red instantly, and he didn't I found that the awkward facial features on the child's face almost fell off.

"It hurts." The child cried pitifully.

The leader's heart trembled, but unfortunately he couldn't move his hands.Standing up, he snatched the baby from his companion and threw it to the child. The child caught the baby, and the melon let go and rolled to the man's feet. The boss bent down and picked it up, weighing the size of the head I flicked the melon twice with my fingers, and the melon made a crisp crunching sound, "My child, the melon is so round, like your butt balls, haha."

The others laughed and looked at the child with malicious intent.

"Baby, baby..." The child's father yelled outside again, and the child shouted loudly, "Come on, come on." As if he didn't know the malevolence of the men, he rushed to the alley with the baby in his arms, and followed the running. The weird facial features on his face fell off, leaving behind a small bright red mouth, and the paper stained with saliva was not secure.

The child jumped on the cart and happily said to his father, "Daddy, now that we have the fertilizer for growing melons, we can grow more round and big cantaloupe."

The strong man said cheerfully, "Okay, okay."

The cart continued to creak and creak, and the wheels ran over something. The piaji sounded like stepping on a big lump of slime. The person who was run over by the wheels was a boneless three or four-year-old child.

The ferryman's son looked down at the tattered little doll that had lost half of its head and had its bones removed, ignored the black wheel marks on the little doll, and educated him, "You can't eat melons, the little poor devil keeps them." Let’s take the boat with money, I don’t want you to grow melons.”

The little doll crawling on the ground pouted, wriggling unhappily on the ground, struggling to find its companion.And his companions, a group of weird-looking, mutilated children were lying at the entrance of the alley, looking at the group of men in the alley, chattering about something.

The small rustling sound was like the wind blowing through the leaves.

The cart was moving, and the business was very good tonight. There were only two or three melons piled up in the hills, and the children sang the song when they started again, "The red falls in arrays, and the wind blows ten thousand points to worry about people. The pond The dawn of Meng, the farewell to the spring; the powder of butterflies lightly touches the flying catkins and snow, and the fragrance of swallow mud provokes the dust of falling flowers... The fragrance eliminates the gold powder of the Six Dynasties, and clears the spirit of the Three Chus."

It's getting late, the Ghost Festival has passed, it's time to go home.

On the way, the father and son met Jiang Yuan. Since they knew each other, the children greeted each other enthusiastically.

Jiang Yuan: "Business is good."

"TOEFL TOEFL." The child knew the tricks quite well.

Jiang Yuan was amused and stepped aside to let them go, "See you next year."

"Hee hee, see you tomorrow."

Jiang Yuan straightened his face and said, "Live a long life." He didn't want to cross the river at a young age.

"Yeah, Shoubi Nanshan. The child thought about it, and gave Jiang Yuan the few melons left in the car, and also gave the baby in his arms, "Furu Donghai. "

Jiang Yuan: "Uh..." The baby was suddenly stuffed into his arms, flustered for a while.

"I won't charge you much for crossing the river." The child tilted his head and said with a smile. Suddenly, he saw the man standing behind Jiang Yuan. He was startled, and quickly knelt down and kowtowed. His father didn't know what happened. , but kowtow.

Fang Chengyan nodded lightly.

The child rushed into the car as if he had been pardoned, "Father, let's go."

"Okay, okay..." His father grabbed the handle of the car, exerted force on the soles of his feet, and disappeared in an instant.

Jiang Yuan: "..." I don't know what to say again.

He lowered his head to look at the baby in his hand, his faint brows were frowned sadly, his little hands stretched out from the swaddling clothes and clenched into small fists, his mouth squirmed twice, and he began to cry, his eyelashes with teardrops trembling Opening, the dark, watery eyeballs fell on Jiang Yuan's body, "Yeah." It seemed to be complaining to Jiang Yuan, talking about a small grievance.