It took longer to get from the bottom of the mountain to the top than from the city, and it took nearly two hours to reach it in one breath without stopping to rest.

When I reached the top of the mountain, I felt that the wind was stronger, and I could clearly hear the whine of the wind blowing through the woods in the carriage, which would be strange and scary at night.

When I turned out of the mountain forest, I came to a clearing, and now the clearing was full of people, the cries of the hawkers, and the cheers of the crowd around the juggling stalls came and went, as if suddenly from the deep world into the people's fireworks.

Fortunately, even if there were many people in the open space, the road leading to the temple gate in the middle was not blocked, and the carriage could move forward unimpeded, and the flow of people was on both sides of the road.

They did not get out of the carriage, but directly followed the large army into the Qingyuan Temple, and parked the carriage in the special parking place in the front yard of the Qingyuan Temple.

Only then did he get down from the carriage with the ladies and ladies of other families, and first went into the main hall to burn incense.

The ladies went to donate some incense money and went to the backyard to wait for the puja to start today.

The ladies took the maids or guards to go out directly from the side gate of the temple to visit the temple fair, which was regarded as two ways of soldiers.

Qian Yan could see that Xue Huan'er actually wanted to go out to the temple fair with them, but she was pulled away by a lady who had a good relationship with her, and Qian Yan and Li Muxue, who were reluctant to look at it, covered their mouths and snickered.

The ladies went to the backyard to chat, and Qian Yan and Wang Qingyue took Li Muxue to move around freely.

Mrs. Wang was also pulled away by Xue Huan'er and them, but Mrs. Wang was not reluctant, although she was very happy to come out for a walk, but it was still a little impossible to let her go to the temple fair with her daughter.

One is that her body can't support it, she has just been in the carriage for more than two hours and is already tired, and she can't support it in the carriage just now, so she has to go to the back room to rest and rest.

Another is that Qian Yan found that Mrs. Wang was actually a little afraid of society, she would be very nervous when there were many people, and there was no way to communicate with people generously, she answered a sentence when others said a passive, and if others did not take the initiative, she would not take the initiative to speak at all.

Fortunately, it is not very embarrassing to have Xue Huan'er, the social cow, by her side, Wang Qingyue is very trustworthy in Xue Huan'er's character, and she is very relieved to hand over her mother to her.

No matter how she said it, her mother is also a general judge, and the general judge is an official with real power, these ladies will do some face-saving work, and no one will really say something bad in front of her, so you don't have to worry about your mother being bullied.

The three and a half girls were like birds out of the cage, and they took the maid out of the temple and into the crowd outside.

Wang Qingyue took a maid who was waiting with her, Qian Yan and Li Muxue took one, and each left a maid for Xue Huan'er and Mrs. Wang to help run errands or serve tea and water.

The coachman stayed in the carriage, and there were still some things on the carriage, and there were many people here, and I was afraid that there would be a young man.

It's not that I'm afraid of being stolen or anything, this carriage is ridden by the ladies and ladies, and there are some of their personal belongings on it, and it will be very troublesome if you lose it.

When the group of five came outside, the nearest one next to the side gate of the temple was a stage.

Qian Yan looked at the shed on the stage that looked a little like the spiritual shed that later generations had seen, that is, the kind of spiritual shed where coffins were parked.

The top is covered with a tarpaulin, and there are wooden shelves on all sides, surrounded by mats, and there is no high platform with wood below, and there is a relatively high place directly here.

I don't know if it's specially reserved for this stage, or for any other purpose, there is a half-person high platform made of stone, and the stage is directly built on it.

In front of them, two faded red cloths hung as curtains, and now they were lifted and hung on both sides, on which a few people with heavy makeup were babbling and singing.

The singing should be a local opera here, using the dialect here, coupled with the drama, some of them can understand and some can't, looking at the people below or squatting, sitting or standing, you know that it is still very popular with the local people.

Looking at the clothes of those people, they should all be nearby villagers, not to mention tattered clothes, anyway, they are definitely not rich and noble, they should not even be well-off, most of them are patched.

It's quite clean and tidy, and I should have put on my best clothes to attend the temple fair.

This kind of temple fair is not held several times a year, and the nearby villagers should all come up early to join in the fun.

The five of them stood on the periphery and listened for a while, then lost interest.

Qian Yan is because she can't understand it, Li Muxue is not interested in this kind of opera because she is young, and Wang Qingyue is tired of hearing this story.

As soon as she heard it, she knew which one was singing, and as she led them away, she told them what the play was singing.

This play sings the story of the Dragon King, saying that there is a Dragon Palace in Weishui on their side, it turns out that there is a lot of water, and later because the son of the Dragon King married the daughter of the Dragon King of Dongting, because later empathy is not good for others, the other party's uncle called over and lifted the Dragon Palace, and then there was no Dragon King to guard here, so there was less and less water, and there was even a drought in some places.

After the dragon girl was taken back to Dongting, she found that she had a child, and when the child grew up, she returned here, and the dragon palace here was rebuilt, and this side slowly returned to the wind and rain.

It was quite interesting to listen to Wang Qingyue, and it was a little familiar, she seemed to have heard her mother tell her this story, but she heard it from the opposite perspective, it was from the dragon girl's side, it seemed to be the story of Liu Yijing.

At that time, she felt that this myth and story was quite realistic, and it was all love and hatred like the world, of course, it was very likely that this was imagined by the people, just to find a reasonable reason why many places here are dry and short of water.

There are actually a lot of rivers here, but there are not many places where they flow, and there are no rivers in many places.

And it's a plateau here, and it's not easy to find other water sources where there are no rivers to pass by, so there are more arid places, and now it's better, and in the future there will be less water.

In later generations, many donations were made to build the mother's water cellar, which was not a well with groundwater, but was used to store rainwater, so you can imagine how short of water is here.

When she was eleven years old, she came to this place with her mother, and their family also donated the project of her mother's water cellar to inspect it.

She saw that many families, especially those in remote villages, had walked for hours to fetch water, and the water was really trying to save it.

To what extent? The water had to settle overnight before it could be used, because the water was very muddy and had a lot of sediment in it.

The next morning, it is used to wash rice, cook and wash vegetables, and then use the water to wash hands, face, and teeth, and then this water is also used to wash clothes, and after washing clothes, this water is not poured out, but used to feed the chickens and vegetables.

And it's a basin of water for the whole family to use, not to say that one person runs out of use and replace, at that time she lived with her mother in the village chief's house, which is the best in the village, all like this, you can imagine what those people with worse conditions are like.

It's common not to wash your face for a few days, at that time she wanted to let Xiangxiang put some water on them, there are not only lakes and seas in Xiangxiang's space, but there is a lot of water, or her mother stopped her and asked her not to mess around, they can't do this kind of thing, if they are discovered, it is likely to be sliced and studied by the state.

Because of this, she will be particularly impressed, and when she mentions the northwest, she will think of the lack of water.

After the five of them left the stage, there was a shop selling gadgets in front of them, and a snack shop in front of them.

They are not very interested in snacks, that is, some sugar people, and rice cakes made of millet, because sugar is relatively rare, so there are not many people who do this, and the price sold is relatively not cheap, a small sugar man costs ten cents.

Then a piece of rice cake costs two cents, and it is a very small piece, which is almost a little larger than a mahjong block.

So they went directly to the side selling gadgets, mostly some handmade products, baskets and other wood carvings, and clay figurines, but not like the colorful ones of later generations, and now the pigments are very expensive, so a little color is already very rare, and there are not many characters who are some animals.

There were many children squatting there watching the clay man make it, and some of them were already ready, mostly lions, dogs, and tigers.

This is not expensive, a larger one costs five cents, and a smaller one can be bought for a penny or two.

They are all the size of a palm, the largest is only twenty or thirty centimeters, and the penny and penny are more popular, and many ordinary children can also have them, and their parents are willing to buy them.

The wood carvings are pretty much the same, but there are a little more styles, in addition to animals, miniature carriages and small houses.

She fell in love with a small house, because it was very similar to the wooden house she customized, and she thought it was very interesting, and she could put it in the wooden house as an ornament.

The small house is very exquisite, the corners and corners are also very smooth, not prickly at all, it is quite heavy in the hand, and it seems that the wood used is good.

Asked the price, "Boss, how did this small house sell?" ”

The boss is a middle-aged man who looks like he is in his forties and fifties, and of course, he should be an old man in this era.

He has a beard on his chin, his hair is a little gray, and his face has fewer folds than some farmers who farm, and it can be seen that those who earn money by their crafts can work at home, and they do not need to go to the ground to be exposed to the wind and sun, and the maintenance is still slightly better.

The other party raised his head and smiled: "This one was carved by me in two days, if the girl likes to give fifty wen." ”

Qian Yan really likes it, and the price is not expensive, so she didn't make a counteroffer, and directly took out fifty wen and handed it to the boss.

Holding a small house in his hand, the problem is that although this small house is not big, it is only about 20 centimeters, but it is quite heavy, unlike the later generations who will wrap a box or carry it in a plastic bag when buying things in the future.

She couldn't hold it with her hands all the time, so after thinking about it, she walked to the place that sold baskets not far away and bought a rattan blue that could be hung on her hand.

This basket is quite delicately woven, although there is no pattern, but the weaving is very fine.

It's not like they made it up randomly on the road before, the hole can leak the beans down, and this gap is handled very well, unless it is filled with water, it feels like it will not leak out of the flour or anything.

This basket cost five cents, which is quite cheap, Wang Qingyue and Li Muxue also bought wood carvings such as pony carriages and small pavilions, and then followed here.

Seeing that she bought a basket and put the small house in it, she carried it herself, so she said: "Just let the girl take it, why do you have to buy a basket and carry it yourself." ”

Qian Yan raised her arm at her and said with a smile: "You don't understand this, the fun of shopping is to hold it in your hand, hold a basket and put your favorite things in it, and then look at it from time to time, that kind of satisfaction will make people feel happy." ”

When the two heard this, they also paid for it, and one of them bought a basket.

Wang Qingyue and Li Muxue also carried the basket on their arms, and asked the wooden carving in Yahuan's hand to put it inside, although it was a little heavy, but it was not very heavy, and it was only one or two catties, and they still moved.

The one Li Muxue bought was a little smaller, after all, she was smaller, and it was very difficult to carry a big basket.

After hanging the basket in their hands, they continued to walk forward, and bought some favorite silk flowers and wooden hairpins and the like, which were not worth much, but the workmanship was quite fine, at least they looked good.

Putting them in the basket, seeing that there were more and more things in the basket, Li Muxue said to them, "Sister Yue...... Huh? The two of you seem to have the word "Yue" in the month, Alas, Sister Hengyue is right, it's really like this, I look at the things I bought in the basket from time to time, I feel so happy, I will be happy at a glance......"

Wang Qingyue also nodded beside her, just now Li Muxue called Yue "Yue" sister, she thought it was called her, only then did she think that she and Heng Yue both have Yue "Yue" in their names, although they know that they are homophones and different words, but it is indeed easy to confuse them.

"This feeling of shopping with a basket on your own is indeed more fun than letting the maids hold it, and you can try it in the future, there is a market there every morning, and it is also very lively."

Wang Qingyue said to the two with a smile.

After that, they went to the other side to watch the juggling, and threw a lot of copper plates at others.

There was a big knife and a breath of fire in his mouth, Li Muxue's children who watched it were shocked again and again, and reached out to throw the broken silver in his purse out to give a reward, but he still stopped it with a clear hand and helped throw a handful of copper coins out.

It's not that I'm afraid that she will be too generous and give too much money, but the main thing is that there are many people at this temple fair, and she is too generous, and it is easy to be targeted.

They are wearing very low-key today, they don't wear that kind of satin, they are all ordinary cotton jackets and skirts, and the color is not very outstanding, and they look like the kind of people who have a little property at home, just for the convenience of visiting the temple fair.

So it's better not to be too eye-catching, she still understands the truth that wealth is not exposed.

(End of chapter)