In the spring of the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the south gate of Yingtian is holding the temple fair where the dragon raises its head, although it is already the eighth day, there are still no fewer singing, juggling, and all kinds of stalls to do business, plus the people from the city or the lower reaches of the countryside are called bustling and crowding.

"Thank you, guest!" A woman in her forties happily took the copper coin from the guest's hand and cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, and did not forget to shout, "Tofu brain!" Tofu brain! ”

"Give me a bowl of tofu brain!" An embroidered spring knife slapped on the table, and at the same time, a young man in casual clothes sat on the bench, "If you want a big bowl, put more coriander and chili!" ”

Seeing this, the woman immediately slapped him on the back of the head and scolded: "You know it's causing me trouble!" ”

An Huzi rubbed his head and said aggrievedly: "Mother, I'm really hungry, I've been busy all morning and I haven't had any teeth until now!" ”

The woman gritted her teeth and whispered, "I mean, put away your house, otherwise who would dare to come to the stall to eat!" ”

"Oh!" An Huzi hurriedly put the knife under the table, "Mother, I don't want to set up a stall if I see you, this palm-sized stall can make a few dollars a day." ”

An Shi pouted, "What's the matter, it's a shame for you to be an official, if you can make money, why bother to show your face, and besides, I finally learned the craft from Chunhua, how can I say that I won't do it."

Speaking of spring flowers, it's really a good life, although the man was stunned, but he made more money than you, an official master, and his father and mother took care of him, and he gave birth to a fat girl the year before last, so I was really envious of me. ”

"That's not easy to say, what if I resign from my official position and go to be the chief of my grandfather!"

"Nonsense, in the end, it is an official body that has been handed down from generation to generation, and if you throw away the baby in your mother-in-law's belly, there is no need!"

Lao Zhu is not bad at eagle dogs, and An Huzi is a six-grade brocade and a hundred households, even if he often helps the Yue family, he is also rich.

It's just that his mother-in-law's first child was not saved, and she finally got pregnant again, and she needed to use ginseng soup to protect the fetus, which cost a lot, and An opened such a stall in order to subsidize the family.

An Shi took an iron spoon and scooped a bowl full of snow-white bean brains from the pot, poured the marinade, sprinkled with red and bright mustard, green coriander, and finally sprinkled a circle of sesame oil, and did not forget to lick it before plugging the bottle.

An Huzi took it and stirred it twice, and ate it in a big gulp, and ate half of the full bowl of snoring, "Mother's craftsmanship is really good, even if we don't do business in the future, we can often eat it ourselves." ”

"It's easy to eat, so I'll go and grind it when I get off the ya."

"When I have the money, I'll buy a steam engine."

"If you have that money, it's better to give it to me directly, you can't make so much money in your life by selling bean curd......"

A sharp whistling came from afar, attracting everyone's attention, only to see a huge steel beast in the distance spitting smoke along the Qinhuai River towards this side.

"The train is coming! The train is coming! ”

Everyone rushed to the station not far away, staring at the steel beast through the iron fence with wide eyes.

A man grabbed his son who was about to climb the fence, "I don't want to live anymore, I didn't hear that a beggar was killed last year, and his body was crushed into mud." ”

Although the train has been open for a year, it is still the most longed-to see wonder every day by the people of Yingtian, and they don't understand how such a big guy made of iron can run without a horse-drawn push, and still run so fast.

A Taoist priest from the tour side said that the front of the car was locked with the ancient mythical beast Kui Niu, and it was Kui Niu who made the train run, and the sharp whistling was the cry of Kui Niu, and the black smoke and white smoke that came out of Kui Niu's two nostrils were the air coming out of Kui Niu's two nostrils.

Although this statement is absurd, some people really believe it, and there is even a storyteller who made up a story about how Xu Guogong fought with Kui Niu for 300 rounds and finally locked Kui Niu into the locomotive.

The train departs once a day in the morning, noon and evening to and from Fangshan and the riverside wharf, and will stop at the south gate of Yingtian in the middle, not only to pull the goods but also to carry people, how much the goods are pulled, but every trip of people is full.

Even if it is not necessary, there are people who are willing to spend five cents to go around, this experience is enough to become a capital to show off to others, and the south gate is even more lively because of the stop of the train.

An's patted his son without concealment, "I know how to eat, hurry up to the platform and pull a few guests over for me." ”

"Okay, let's go!" An Huzi put the last bite of bean brain into his mouth, "Look at me and bring you a carload of people!" ”

"Don't bully!" An Shi instructed and began to clean up the table, and suddenly heard a crisp voice in his ear asking, "Are you Aunt An?" ”

An turned his head and saw a young man standing next to the stall, only to see him about fifteen or sixteen years old, with clear eyebrows, red lips and white teeth, long figure and straight waist, wearing a blue robe with narrow arrow sleeves and soap boots, standing under his feet, holding a short sword in his arms, the whole person was full of one point of laziness, two points of heroism, and seven points of handsomeness, standing in the crowd so eye-catching.

"Please forgive the old man for being clumsy, I don't see who the son is." An looked at this young man with some familiarity, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

"Aunt An, I'm Bi Lin, when you were a child, you often sent fried sugar cakes to my house."

"Bilin? Is it the eldest lady of the grandfather's family? I used to remember that the eldest lady's face was round, and many people have grown taller after losing weight for a few years, just like the people who came out of the painting, no wonder the old body can't recognize it. ”

"I am dressed in men's clothes and the aunt naturally can't recognize it, why are you setting up a stall here, Brother Huzi also gave my father a New Year's greeting during the New Year, didn't he say that he had already promoted the Jinyi Wei Baihu, could it be that he was unfilial and drove you out of the house, I asked my father to clean him up and give you anger."

An Shi hurriedly waved his hand, "That's not true, Huzi is filial." "At the moment, I will talk about my daughter-in-law's need to use ginseng soup to protect the fetus.

"I see, you wait!" Bi Lin went to a stall selling calligraphy and paintings next to him and asked for a pen and paper, wrote a note and handed it to An's, "There is a big pharmacy in the security hall on the side of the Qinhuai River, and the owner's surname is Xu is the imperial doctor in the palace, specializing in gynecological miscellaneous diseases, you take your sister-in-law there to protect the fetus, and tell them that the medicine will be deducted from my family's dividends." ”

"How does this make our family already owe a great favor to my grandfather."

"When Brother Huzi has a lot of money, he will pay it back slowly." Bi Lin suddenly caught a glimpse of something, and shoved the note into An's hand, "I still have something to do, let's go here." ”

"Miss......" Before An finished speaking, Bi Lin had already gotten into the crowd and was dexterous like a swimming fish, An stepped on the stool and vaguely saw Bi Lin and a tall and handsome young man bumping their heads.

"Mother! What are you doing standing so high, is it because someone didn't give money? ”

"Nothing!" An Shi got down from the stool, saw that An Huzi came back alone, and said dissatisfiedly: "Why is it so difficult for you to pull a guest." ”

An Huzi smiled and said, "Who said no!" ”

He flashed and gave up someone, and a young man arched his hand at An Shi and said, "Auntie! ”

"Oops, it's Xiaozhong! But I haven't seen you for a long time, and I thought you forgot about your aunt. ”

"Mother, you are confused, Xiaozhong only gave you the New Year in vain during the Spring Festival."

"That's been more than a month!" An Shi pressed Wu Fuzhong on the stool, "Sit, my aunt will serve you a bowl of tofu brain, Xiaozhong likes sweetness." ”

An's served a bowl of bean curd, put several spoonfuls of sugar and sesame oil in a row, and then served it to Wu Fuzhong, looking at a small burden on the table, she reprimanded dissatisfiedly: "How many times has Xiaozhong told you, you don't need to take anything when you come to the eldest mother, the eldest mother is not short of food and drink, and the body is good, if you have money, you should keep it for marrying." ”

"Auntie, I didn't buy it for you, this is for my sister-in-law, I heard that she was going to use someone to participate in the baby, so I got some." Wu Fuzhong untied the burden, and inside was a thumb-thick human body, with more than a dozen branches.

"It's all the best ginseng! How much does this cost, Xiaozhong, you go and return it to others. ”

"I didn't have much money, my friend transferred it to me at a low price, and I found someone to see that it was all good Korean ginseng, just to make up for my sister-in-law."

"Xiaozhong is not an outsider, he gives it to you and takes it, he is now teaching in the academy, and he has twenty taels a month, which is more than my Yulu."

"I can't spend any money, if you don't take it, you'll see me."

An Shi took out a note from his arms, "Just now I met the eldest lady of my grandfather's family, who has not been seen for a few years like a fairy, she gave me a note, and asked me to find Dr. Xu in the security hall to give your sister-in-law a baby, and the medicine money is owed first and then slowly repaid by Huzi." ”

Hearing this, An Huzi snatched the note and put it in his arms, "I can't owe the favor to my grandfather anymore, my identity is different now, I didn't see that I am going to pay my grandfather's New Year's greetings now when there are few people, otherwise it will cause him trouble." ”

"You're not afraid of owing Xiaozhong favors."

An Huzi patted Wu Fuzhong on the shoulder, "That's different, he's my brother, hurry up and eat, otherwise it'll be cold." My mother brought me another bowl, and I accompanied Xiaozhong to eat together. ”

"By the way, it's been a long time since you graduated, and Mr. won't let you out to be an official."

Wu Fuzhong put down the spoon and said: "Teaching is mutually beneficial, I have benefited a lot from teaching and reading in the past two years, especially Mr. Tao also taught me a lot of ways to be an official, and he also gave me a letter of recommendation, and I can enter the court as an official at any time."

It's just that last year, the imperial court suddenly reopened the scientific examination, and I wanted to participate in this year's spring festival, one is to get a jinshi background, and the other is to verify what I have learned. ”