red and white

Chapter 35

into the night.

The dishes are out of the pan, and the table is full.

Mu Gesheng didn't stick to any order of etiquette, and he had already eaten all afternoon happily, and he said in advance that anyone who was hungry would go directly to the table.Wu Biyou seems to have come here specially for this meal, and he has already moved his chopsticks as soon as the table is opened, not only him, but also the scalper is also feasting, and the two of them even started to stare in order to grab a piece of cherry meat.

The aroma wafted in the yard all afternoon, and Anping also moved his index finger. Unexpectedly, before he moved his chopsticks, Mu Gesheng called him to the kitchen, "Happy New Year."

The other party looked at him with a smile and handed him a red envelope.

Anping was a little surprised, opened his mouth, and was at a loss for words.

Mu Gesheng put the red envelope into his hand, "It's only natural for children to receive lucky money during the New Year. You encountered a lot of evil spirits last year, so you should suppress them."

Inside the red envelope is a debit card with Tiandi Bank printed on the face of the card.

"After a while, the ghost market will open. You can go shopping with my daughter." Mu Gesheng said: "Do you understand the rules of the ghost market? Except for the stalls with blue lanterns, you can shop wherever you want."

It was the first time that Anping received such lucky money, and he was a little dumbfounded for a while.But Mugesheng is rare and generous, just as he was about to say something auspicious for the occasion, Chai Shuxin beside him said, "Take it."

The other party was steaming a steamer, his eyebrows and eyes were a little more gentle under the fireworks, "He is borrowing flowers to present Buddha."

Mu Gesheng retorted eloquently: "I am called an old man with virtue."

With virtue and no virtue, he said that the god stick who has been disrespectful all year round finally has the appearance of an elder. Mu Gesheng put a piece of steamed meat in a pot helmet and handed it to Anping, "Eat something first, and the two starved ghosts outside will be reincarnated." , you may not be able to snatch the ampoule."

Just out of the pan, the pot helmet is crispy with salt and pepper and has a long aftertaste.Anping licked his lips and walked out of the kitchen. In his dream, he could see that he couldn't eat, and stared at the kitchen every day, but now he finally waited for this big day.

The small kitchen of Ginkgo Study can be regarded as half of New Oriental, and most of the people who cooked in it back then had good cooking skills—except for Mu Gesheng.

Anping looked at the table full of food. Compared with Song Wentong's heavy oil and spicy food, Chai Shuxin was obviously lighter and healthier. There were four or five grades in the stew pot alone. A piece of scallop, crispy ham, and a handful of pine nuts sprinkled on the marinade.The side dish seems to be sea rice with scallions, but only the soup is left after it has been eaten.

He didn't know Ubi's taste, and found that there were a lot of sweet dishes on the table. He had the impression that Mu Gesheng was not picky about food. Could it be that Chai Shuxin was a sweet eater?

"What are you doing in a daze, do you still want to eat?" Wu Biyou pointed to a plate of bayberry balls in front of him, "If you don't eat them, I will take them away."

Anping came back to his senses and quickly stretched out his chopsticks.

The whole room is full of heat, just like drinking at night under the lanterns in those years, it is the taste of old rain.

After dinner, it was already midnight, Mu Gesheng pulled the wire somewhere, and several people gathered around the yard to watch TV—it seemed to be the Spring Festival Gala, Anping looked at the official wearing a red cap on TV, "Who is this? "

"It seems that he was a minister of foreign affairs before his death." Ubi sat eight feet away from Mugesheng, immersed in playing games, "This is Fengdu TV station."

Anping was taken aback when he heard the words, and then sneezed, "Aren't you cold?" He said and looked at Mu Gesheng, "Banxian, can we go inside and have a look?"

"The signal in the house is not good." Mu Gesheng ate melon seeds, "It's okay, it will be warm later."

"What do you mean?" Anping didn't understand, but everyone was doing their own thing and no one paid any attention to him.The scalper was helping Chai Shuxin make dumplings in the kitchen, and poked his head out of the window, "Master An, would you like to come in and warm up for a while?"

Anping couldn't bear to watch the demons dancing on TV, so he ran to help the cook, saying that Chai Shuxin didn't seem to come out of the kitchen since he came back, "Lingshuzi," Anping said while washing his hands, "don't you want to eat something?"

Chai Shuxin paused, "No problem."

The scalper laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Except for you and Wuchangzi in our yard, it doesn't matter if everyone else eats or not. The main reason is that the fortune teller is greedy. Wait, there are three more meals tonight."

Anping was dumbfounded, three meals?

But looking at the pots and stoves in the kitchen, it really doesn't look like it's easy to close the stall.Chai Shuxin put the prickly ash on a spatula and dry-stirred it, and the aroma exploded. There were three big pots for the stuffing alone. Anping recognized the celery and chives, "What is this pot?"

"Horseshoes and corn, sweet stuffing." The scalper said, "There will be a pot of brown sugar dumplings later."

Brown sugar dumplings, which Anping had never heard of, sounded like Mu Gesheng's own dark cuisine, he hesitated: "Dumplings made of sweet stuffing? Is it delicious?"

"Radish and green vegetables, everyone has their own love." The scalper said with a smile: "There are many people who love sweets."

After a while, the dumplings were put into the pot, and there was a sound of drums in the courtyard. Anping followed the prestige and asked, "What is playing on the TV?"

"Wufang Lion Dance." Mu Gesheng said: "A kind of dance music in the Tang Dynasty, which was almost lost. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Propaganda Department of Fengdu made a video tape. Now it is very popular in ghost fairs. There are also aerobics and square dance versions. .”

There are too many pitfalls and I don't know where to start. Anping can't help but wonder what the ghost fair in Fengdu is like today. Do ghosts still need aerobics?The ghosts and sprites are jumping and jumping, singing and burning my calories?

It was a wild dance of demons.

Someone knocked on the window, Ubi popped his head, "Pack me something to eat, hurry up, I'm going to die again."

Ubi's game playing skills are really not that good, he is either dying or on the way to death, Anping glanced at his screen, sure there is no way out, "Can't you come in and get it?"

"The Rakshazi is inside, I won't go in."

An Ping was surprised, "Are you so afraid of him?"

Wubi had all his energy on the game, and he said casually, "You try to fight with him... Fuck!" Then he was shot in the head, and he almost dropped his phone. It exploded on the spot, and Anping quickly took out his mobile phone, "Well, I'll play a game with you."

"No more." Ubiyou shook his head, "Are you free on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month?"

"how?"

"Didn't the old man give you the New Year's money?" Ubi said: "The [-]th ghost market is open, and I will take you to dance."

Anping suspected that he had an auditory hallucination: "What did you say?"

"Bongdi." Ubi clicked his tongue, "If you don't want to go, forget it, if I didn't take you, you, a minor, wouldn't be able to get in at all."

Anping: "...I am an adult, thank you."

"Tch, then you are not tall enough."

Anping didn't know how much Ubiyou resented his height, the boy was not short, probably because he was poisoned by Mu Gesheng's words every day, he looked like a heavily dependent on milk.Wu Zixu's height is not low. According to his genes, as long as his wife is not a Thumbelina, with Wu Bi's current height, he will definitely exceed 1.8 meters in the future.

Then it occurred to him that the kid seemed to have only graduated from kindergarten and really didn't know about genetics.

Anping served Wu Biyou a plate of shredded taro, but he said with disgust, "Why do you like such a girly sweet thing?"

"I thought it was because you liked it." Anping took a bite, "I see that many of the meals Lingshuzi cooked tonight are sweet."

If you hate it, you hate it, and if you eat it, you eat it. Wu Biyou took the plate and said vaguely: "I am not picky about food, he also likes sweets."

Anping noticed his choice of words: "Also?"

"You do not know?"

Ubi suddenly came to his senses, and then put on an expression of watching the show, "Otherwise, who do you think can finish the food in such a big kitchen? Feed the pigs?"

Anping thought for a while about the two people at the dinner table, and decided that it's better not to pick on this brat's language.

Wu Biyou told him some anecdotes about Fengdu Ghost Fair. The two were chatting, and the dumplings were out of the pot, and at the same time there was a knock on the door. "He will catch the chance." Wu Biyou raised his eyebrows and said, "Every year, he catches up with the first pot of dumplings."

Mu Gesheng's full attention was on the TV, and he didn't hear anything outside the window. Chai Shuxin and Huang Niu were busy serving dumplings, and it was Ubiyou who pushed Anping to answer the door.As soon as the door was opened, the colorful flowers exploded with a "bang", blasting Anping's head and face, and laughter came: "Happy Chinese New Year! Happy New Year! Prosperous wealth! Gong Xi Fa Cai!"

Standing outside the door was a pretty girl with red lips and a slender waist. She had long legs exposed under a short skirt and her high heels stepped on the threshold. She was almost a head taller than Anping. "Are you Anping?" She seemed to embrace him, speaking with a bit of a Beijing accent, "You guys are not bad looking!"

"Why the hell are you wearing high heels again?" Wu Biyou looked up at the other party, "Fuck, you still have pink hair?"

"The pinker the hair, the harder the beating. I am the king now, and I will lead you to grab the head and advance to the next level." The girl took out a red envelope from her pocket, "Take the lucky money, man."

As he spoke, he looked at Anping again: "I came here in a hurry this time, and I didn't prepare any greeting ceremony. Later, I invite you to go to the ghost fair for dancing."

This girl is so hot, she speaks in high spirits, with an indescribably unrestrained style, although she is a head taller than him, Anping still can't help but feel a little charming, "It's a pleasure to meet you, what's your name?"

Ubi looked at him with a strange expression, as if he was holding back a smile, "I didn't tell him anything."

"It's okay, it's okay, we are destined to meet each other, we are good brothers." The girl patted him on the shoulder carelessly, "I'm starving to death, is my brother ready for dinner?"

Saying that the kitchen door was wide open, the scalper came out with a plate, "God's fortune, please excuse me, make room!"

"dinner's ready!"

A round table was opened in the yard, and the red light was hung high. Anping was surprised to find that the surrounding area was not cold anymore.

He secretly thought about it, just now this girl gave Ubi a red envelope, maybe it was an elder - but Mu Gesheng said, "Old rules, give out red envelopes for New Year greetings."

"Alright." The girl snapped her fingers, "Which passage are you listening to this year?"

"You have worked hard tonight." Mu Gesheng looked at Chai Shuxin and joked, "What do you want to hear, the hero in charge?"

Chai Shuxin took a sip of tea, "As long as you like it."

"Then it's still the West Wing." Mu Gesheng picked up his chopsticks and knocked on the cup, "Come on, Matchmaker Duan."

As soon as she said it, the girl squeezed the napkin and shook her eyes, "Miss, you are so handsome——"

Changing his voice, he looked at Chai Shuxin again, "Junrui, Junrui, you are so elegant——"

"Merry doesn't cost thousands of dollars to buy,

The moon moves, the flowers and shadows and the jade people come,

Tonight, the debt of lovesickness is settled,

A couple take advantage of their hearts..."

This girl's eyebrows and eyes are full of drama, Anping is so happy watching, even laughing with Wu Biyou, the scalper coughed, "Hey, my God! Xingxiu, hurry up and marry yourself, don't be here This is a disaster for the country and the people!"

Anping was still laughing, and after a few laughs, he suddenly lost his mind.

Wait, what did the scalper call her just now?

Constellation child?

? ! ? !

Anping's entire petrification, Mu Gesheng seemed to be waiting for this scene, and then he and Ubi laughed frantically in the yard.

"The fifth child was brought up by the second child." Mu Gesheng laughed while coughing, "The second child was soaked in Guan Shanyue when he was a child, and grew up in the powder pile. The two of them have the same virtue."

Anping knew Song Wentong's life experience, but was still shocked for a long time.Hibiscus noodles, willow waist, beautiful face, handsome appearance, romantic eyes with murderous knives - a friend of women raised a big guy in women's clothing?

Is this stuff learned by a married couple?

The food on the table was explained, and Zhu Yinxiao literally plunged into the sugar bowl, dipping brown sugar dumplings in honey.Anping saw his toothache, no wonder the surroundings are not cold anymore, he is a descendant of Suzaku, the five elements rule fire, even the lanterns are brighter, and the courtyard is full of warmth.

Zhu Yinxiao accepted Mu Gesheng's red envelope with a smile, "Thank you." He turned to look at Anping, "I'm sorry man, I'll treat you to a drink later."

He has singing skills, and just now he has been talking with Anping in a pinched tone, smart and charming.At this moment, he let go of his voice to speak, his voice was a little hoarse, with an indescribably chic style.

The beauty is in full swing, in full swing.

In Anping's memory, Zhu Yinxiao was still a mottled feather duster, crawling around all over the vegetable field teased by Mu Gesheng. He stared at the big girl in front of him.

Time is really a real killer.

Zhu Yinxiao should come to pay New Year's greetings every year, chatting enthusiastically with Mu Gesheng, the family's gossip, mixed with the laughter of the two of them, even Chai Shuxin is very close to him, with concern in his expression.

Anping recalled that the master of Ginkgo Studio loved Kunqiang, and it was a tradition of Ginkgo Study to come to two songs during Chinese New Year. That year, Chai Shuxin stayed in the study for the first time for the New Year, and Mu Gesheng also sang a part of West Chamber.

There was an old tune of unknown dynasty and generation on the TV. Mu Gesheng and Zhu Yinxiao started to drink together and drank all the way from the table to the roof. Chai Shuxin opened the door, and the streets were full of people.

The New Year's Eve just at night is very deserted. People gather at home to have a reunion dinner, and when it is close to midnight, people who are full of wine and food will walk from home to the street, chatting and talking nonsense while drunk.There is no moon on New Year's Eve, but the city is full of boiling lights.

The ox moved a large pot from the kitchen to the gate of the Town God's Temple and began to serve porridge. The glutinous rice was mixed with longan, lotus seeds, candied dates and kidney beans. The children surrounded the pot with lanterns, their round faces rosy and pleasant.

The porridge queue on the steps got longer and longer, Ubiyou threw a spoon to Anping, "Come and help."

Although there is little incense in Chenghuang Temple, the lucky porridge is very popular every year during Chinese New Year, and people always come here to pray for auspiciousness.When Anping was young, he celebrated the New Year with his parents. His mother played half of the mahjong game. When she saw that it was almost midnight, she drove to get the porridge.

At that time, he didn't understand the meaning of this bowl of porridge. He only remembered that it snowed that night and the air was filled with the aroma of candied dates.

A pot of porridge was finished soon, Anping and Wu Biyou carried the big pot back to the kitchen, the other party asked him suddenly: "Do you know Gingko Study?"

"what happened?"

"When my father was still alive, I heard from him that the Ginkgo Study was built in a temple. Every year during the Chinese New Year, monks distributed blessing porridge. At midnight, the most respected abbot in the temple would ring the bell to pray for blessings. People sat on the long stairs. Come, drink your porridge and listen to the clock."

An Ping said in his heart, I know, I have seen it with my own eyes.

The blessing porridge that year was still a medicinal recipe prescribed by Chai Shuxin. Song Wentong stayed up all afternoon, but Mu Gesheng and Zhu Yinxiao secretly drank most of the pot. Song Wentong chased them all over the city with a spoon In the end, it was Wu Zixu who took out his wallet and the chefs of several restaurants, and only then did he catch up with the porridge that night.

The kitchen door was pushed open, the scalper walked in, and a small pot was taken out from under the stove, which contained steaming Fu porridge.

The other party winked at them and said, "I kept it secretly, drink it while it's hot."

"I didn't say you can't drink." Chai Shuxin's voice came from outside the window, and the other party knocked on the window, "Come out, it will be midnight soon."

The scalper trembled, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, I can't hide it from you..."

Before the words were finished, a ray of fire shot up into the sky, exploding fireworks all over the sky, and exclamations came one after another from the street.Anping poked his head out from the window, and saw Zhu Yinxiao standing on the roof, holding a sparrow feather in his hand, the feather was ignited by him one by one, spiraled into the air like a golden thread, and exploded with a bang.

Ubi pushed him aside, two heads squeezed into one pane, "Is cooking supper burning his hair again?"

"Xing Xiuzi does this every year?" Anping bumped his arm, "Fireworks and firecrackers are contraband, so you just look at them like that?"

"Firing cannons is prohibited in the urban area, but it doesn't say that singeing is prohibited." Ubi rolled his eyes, "I don't care."

Chai Shuxin stood by the window, looked up for a long time, and said to Anping: "There is one last pot on the stove, please take it."

Only then did Anping realize that there was a single stove in the corner, with a copper pot simmering, "What is this?"

Wu Biyou was still lying outside the window, and snorted when he heard the words, "Old and immortal little stove."

He opened it curiously and took a look. There were layers of meat and vegetable stew in the copper pot. The side of the pot was dotted with egg dumplings and prawns, and the bottom was covered with ham and mushrooms. The aroma was familiar and strange.

It is a first-class pot.