Ancient romance

West Market, Zhao Ji Teahouse.

After the crackling sound of firecrackers, the new plaque that had just been ordered was hung up, with red gilt lettering on the base, and two celebratory flower baskets in front of the gate.

A few passers-by heard the movement, and curiously glanced at the crowd inside, and couldn't help but pull Xiao Er, who was soliciting guests at the door, and asked, Hey, what is your teahouse? Changed owners? Or is it something new? ”

"Yo, it's you, long time no see, the little one is saying hello to you," Xiao Er waved his hands enthusiastically after seeing the guests who asked the question, and greeted you happily. ”

"What's new? It can't be two little ladies singing little songs, right? No less words"

After hearing this, the people around also walked to join in the fun.

"Look at what this guest officer said, how can our Zhao Ji be the kind of place that doesn't enter the stream?" Xiao Er pursed his lips angrily, and said with a smile, "It's a real thing." In order to celebrate the reopening of the teahouse, our new owner specially invited several famous jugglers in the former Tang Dynasty, all of whom have unique skills at the bottom of the box. ”

"All of them? Hey, it's not going to be a big vat again, shaking empty bamboo, right? There are not many words, and there are tiles in the north and south cities every day. ”

There was another sound in the crowd of no. It's not that they deliberately find fault, it's that the entertainment activities in the capital are getting more and more abundant, and they, the local residents, have long been well-informed, and the ordinary jugglers really don't look at it.

"Yes?" Xiao Eryi raised his neck, pretending to be mysterious, and said that the big change of living people has not seen it? Have you ever seen the turtle stacked arhats? Have you seen anything in the mirror? ”

The onlookers were really asked by Xiao Er, you look at me, I look at you, and they all saw some doubts in each other's eyes.

"Hehe, guest officer, this is a real unique thing, the old store is newly opened, the performance is three days, you must not pass by, you will regret it for a lifetime."

Xiao Er saw that everyone was finally fooled by him, so he was so embarrassed that he shouted at the top of his voice.

"Let's take a look, let's take a look, isn't it just a pot of tea and two plates of snacks, it's not worth it"

A few people in the crowd were quite moved by Xiao Er's words, looked at the 'instructions for tea guests' written at the door, and secretly calculated that this minimum consumption would not cost a few dollars, so they called friends and rushed in.

When the other people saw that someone was taking the lead, they also followed, "That's it, but a dozen copper coins, we are not bad at this point." Even if the juggling is not good-looking, isn't there tea and snacks, and it will not suffer. ”

After a while, the upper and lower floors of the teahouse were full, drinking tea and eating dim sum, waiting for the juggling on the high platform on the first floor.

"Boom"

When the gong sounded, an old man of about fifty years old, dressed in brightly colored costumes, was followed by two young men of fifteen or sixteen years old, carrying a red lacquered table.

The two young men set the table away, and the old man stood behind the table, and commanded one of the young men to bring a wooden box one foot square, and the young man put the wooden box at one end of the table, and then pulled the baffle on one side, and the other young man carried the gong and struck it with a clatter.

As he slowly or quickly adjusted the gong point, several turtles of different sizes slowly crawled out of the black wooden box, and I saw these turtles rhythmically forming a circle with the sound of the gong.

At this time, the young man changed his rhythm again, and the gong rattled faster, and the turtles began to move, the largest one lay on the table firmly, and the smaller one climbed on the back of the big turtle, and so on, several turtles stacked one on top of the other, and the arhat was stacked from the largest to the smallest.

Finally, the smallest of the turtles also climbed to the top, and the young man changed the gong a little bit when he saw this, and saw the little turtle standing on the top stretching out his limbs to support his body, and then stood up, tilted his head vigorously, and posed for an appearance, which immediately attracted the applause of the whole house.

To be honest, if this kind of juggling were done by people, everyone might not be so surprised, but the performance was a turtle, which was somewhat fresh.

"Not to mention, this juggling is really that interesting."

The few idlers who were asking Xiao Er at the door just now sat together, drinking tea while leaning on the railing, leisurely watching the performance.

Most of the other guests were interested and chattering.

Only a few gorgeously dressed guests in a private room on the second floor glanced at the stage downstairs without interest, pursed their lips, and sneered, this is Wang Qiniang's new tricks? Is that all? ”

"It's not, hmph, it's okay to get a few artists who set up stalls to deceive ordinary people, but you can use this as a magic weapon...... Tsk tsk, that is, where will business be? ”

"That's right, with her as the president of the Confucian Business Association, it seems that this Confucian Business Association is about to finish."

When the others in the audience heard this, they also nodded, full of disdainful ridicule.

Only the middle-aged man sitting on the main seat, holding a teacup, did not say a word, quietly listening to the complaints and ridicule of everyone one after another.

Just when a few people were coaxing to leave the table, the three people who performed the 'Turtle Stacking Arhats' on the stage had already left with props and turtles, and the owner of the teahouse walked onto the stage with a smile while giving up his hand. I hope that all tea friends will come to us often in the future."

Before the words fell, there was a sudden sound of chattering all around.

"Isn't it, Shiji's tobacco? It's a rarity, a box of twenty sticks, and the most common box costs a penny of silver each. ”

"But no, I have tried that kind of tobacco, the taste is very unique, Shi Ji's advertising slogan says, oh, yes, it's called 'a cigarette after a meal, race over the living immortals', tsk, it's really like that, after eating, make a pot of tea, and then come to such a cigarette, that taste, it's really beautiful."

"Hehe, this new owner is so generous, we have a pot of tea and two plates of dim sum, only more than 20 yuan, but he is willing to send such expensive cigarettes...... Hey, brothers, why do you think he's doing this? ”

In the midst of everyone's discussions, a few juniors dressed in uniform services, holding trays, began to distribute cigarettes to tea guests at each table.

What's even more exciting is yet to come.

After Xiao Er distributed the cigarettes to each tea guest, he took out a rectangular carton three inches long and one inch wide from the tray, opened the carton, and took out a small wooden stick with red dots on the end.

"Hey, what kind of thing is this, better than a fire fold, a candle (an ancient match)?"

Several tea guests smoked cigarettes while asking Xiao Er curiously.

"Back to a few guest officers, this is called 'match', is our new owner just developed a fire tool, it is made on the basis of the candle, Cui'er on the basis of the improved recipe, it is much safer than the candle, but also easy to use, especially when smoking, it is the most convenient, and it is carried in a purse."

Xiao Er took the small cardboard box, opened the box, revealing a full of small wooden sticks, and showed it to everyone as he spoke.

"Yo, is that good?"

A tea customer touched it in disbelief, took out a small wooden stick and tried it, and with a slight stroke, a small orange spark suddenly appeared, and he couldn't help nodding, "Well, it's really convenient, how can this thing be sold?" ”

He is a senior smoker, he can smoke half a box every day, but every time he lights a cigarette, he is a little troublesome, and he still needs to ignite the fire to light the candle or fire fold, unlike the match in his hand, he doesn't need flint to burn, well, it's really convenient.

"Hehe, back to this master's words, this match is sold in the Shiji tobacco shop in the capital and the grocery store in Zhao Ji, and the price is also cheap, only five cents per box."

Xiao Er explained, put away the matches, finished speaking, saluted several tea guests at this table, and walked towards the next table.

In the private room on the second floor, several men in gorgeous clothes were also attracted by this fresh gadget, a box of matches was passed around in the hands of several people, they were businessmen, and when they saw a new gadget, the first reaction was whether it had any profit margin. But when they heard Xiao Er say that a box was only five yuan, they were a little disappointed - hey, five yuan, not enough for the labor cost of cutting wooden sticks.

The man sitting in the right seat looked at the box of matches with a pensive expression, and unconsciously played with the cigarette with his right hand, not knowing what to think.

"Master Cui, what do you want? Do you want to be in the match business? ”

The next few are old foxes, and they can guess his thoughts with just one look.

Now seeing their 'boss' so focused, I couldn't help but be a little suspicious, and asked with a deliberate smile.

Cui Changgui shook his head, put down the cigarette, swept his cold gaze over the people with different faces, and said slowly, Let's all underestimate this Wang Qiniang, the old man has a hunch that this match business is definitely profitable. If you don't believe me, we'll see. ”

"No, even if there is any more profit, the selling price of a box is only five cents, even if it is all profits, it is only five cents, so how many boxes do you have to sell to earn enough silver for one or two silver?"

The others didn't think so, and all of them looked disdainful and shook their heads in question.

Only Cui Changgui secretly sighed in his heart: Alas, it is precisely because of her practice of ordering five cents per box that I think she is not simple.

The price is low, which means that there are fewer profits, fewer people follow the trend and imitate, and no one competes, heh, look at it, it will take less than a month, this kind of match will become a necessity for thousands of households, and then the time will ......

I'm ready to wrap it up, but I don't know why, the more I write, the more I feel, and I hold my forehead and look at the sky in contemplation......

If there is any improper disposal, please write to inform us, we will deal with it as soon as possible, please forgive me for bringing you without it.