Chapter 28: Dispersing Fortune

  In the bustling East Market, it's not a place for peddlers to make a living, they have to shout loudly while walking through alleys to make ends meet.

  Wu Huolang put down his carrying pole and wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, taking a short rest.

  In the shelves, rouge and powder are occasionally played with honeyed needles and silver threads, all of which are available.

  The sound of children crying came from inside a house.

  Business has arrived, Wu Huolang immediately became spirited and shook his rattle drum.

  "Hey peddler, come over here."

  Two women pulled a child and beckoned.

  Turning over and over on the shelf, picking up various objects to tease the child, three or four-year-old children also climb onto the shelf curiously.

  "Is honey good to eat?" said the woman, rummaging out a few packets. "Hey, what's this? I've never seen it before."

  "What's written above?" another woman also came over and asked.

  Wu Hualang looked and suddenly realized.

  This is the tribute from Xuanmiao Temple yesterday.

  What was it called again?

  Mid-Autumn Festival, reunion...

  " Mooncake," he said. "This is a tribute to the Xuanmiao Temple, where the fairy maiden said that on Mid-Autumn Festival, eating this implies reunion. Look, it's round like the moon."

  The woman had just taken it in her hand and hadn't examined it closely when the child next to her snatched it away, tearing open the oil paper.

  "There are flowers, there are flowers." The child exclaimed while looking at the mooncake in his hand and took a big bite.

  "Oh no, can't eat it!" The woman exclaimed, but it was too late. She had already taken a bite of something and couldn't return it to the owner, so she reluctantly pulled out her money and asked, "How much is this?"

  "Ah, madam, if that's all you want, then don't mention money. This is a small token of good fortune from the temple, how can I accept payment? Let's share in the blessings together." said Wu Huolang with a smile.

  The two women were delighted with what was said, and then they picked out a few more skeins of thread and paid for them before leaving.

  These women just love to take advantage of small bargains, Wu Huolang took a few points of pride and plucked up the courage to shake the drum and shout as he walked away. A chubby old man swayed over from afar, seeing Xiao Tong from a distance and shouting out loud.

  "Grandpa."

  The fat man quickened his pace and picked up the little boy who was running over, the little boy held a mooncake in his hand and smeared it on his face.

  "What is this?" The old man laughed.

  "It's the moon," the little boy shouted, recalling the few words he had just heard.

  The old man exclaimed in surprise, and the child had already lifted the mooncake to his mouth.

  "It's delicious! It's delicious!" he shouted.

  The old man opened his mouth and took a bite, and his eyes lit up instantly.

  "Ah?" he said, swallowing a few mouthfuls, somewhat unsatisfied, and then leaned in again to take another bite, "Not bad, not bad, not bad."

  A child's cry echoed through the alleyway.

  "Grandpa, you ate up all my moon..."

  "Good boy, good boy, grandpa will buy you something... peddler, peddler... peddler, slow down..."

  Cheng Silang stepped into the courtyard, where several maids were chattering and laughing together.

  Cheng Silang was somewhat unhappy and stamped his foot, and the girls scattered.

  "The young master returned early today." Chun Lan hurriedly went up and said, while taking off Si Lang's cloak.

  "We'll have guests soon," said Cheng Si Lang.

  The orchid blooms when its name is called.

  "Tea or wine?" she asked.

  "Tea." said Cheng Silang, as he walked into the house, Chunlan followed him in.

  "Master," she hesitated for a moment before saying, "The Miao Yu Pavilion has changed its servant girl again."

  Cheng Silang murmured in response, momentarily unable to react to what was happening.

  "Jiao Niang's place, that little girl who replaced Ban Qin also left." Chun Lan said in a hurry, the words pouring out non-stop. "It turns out that yesterday Master called her over for this reason, sent her to Zhang Lao Tai Ye's residence, saying that she made some pastries that suited his taste..."

  Cheng Si Lang was taken aback for a moment, and then changed again? Was he taken away by someone else again?

  That silly girl's maid is either hard to keep or too sought after?

  "Master Zhang's son has arrived."

  The sound outside the door interrupted their conversation.

  "Sister, there aren't enough dim sum."

  A young girl in the house said, looking at a plate of dim sum.

  "There are a few more here," said another girl, picking up two or three oil-paper packages of candied fruit from the table beside her.

  "Where did it come from?" The girl took over, "Ah, there are still words on top."

  "Is it ready?" Chunlan urged as she came in, "The young master of the Zhang family has arrived."

  The two maidservants did not dare to slack off and quickly put away the snacks, carrying them as they followed Chun towards the study.

  The young masters' conversation and laughter didn't require the presence of these maids, not even Chunlan, who was a personal maid, could only stand outside the door waiting to be summoned.

  Discussing poetry and painting in the house, laughing and chatting, until dusk, reluctantly bidding farewell with an unfulfilled intention.

  "Oh, by the way, Fourth Brother, your family's pastries are not bad. Why don't I take some back to my home for Thirteen Niang to eat? She loves eating this." Zhang Family's young master said as he walked to the door of the house and suddenly thought of something.

  "Alright, alright." Cheng Si Lang smiled and said, "Which one do you like?"

  "It's the peach twig in that paper package," said Zhang Jia's young master, pointing with his hand.

  Cheng Silang then ordered the servant girl to go and fetch it.

  After a moment, the girls came over in a flurry.

  "Sir, this one is not from our house." one of them replied.

  Zhang's son was somewhat surprised, while Cheng Si Lang looked a bit embarrassed.

  "That's where it was bought, just go buy some more," he said.

  "No need, no need, just tell me where to buy it and I'll go myself." Zhang Jia's young master hurriedly said with a smile.

  The girls exchanged a glance and looked at Chunlan.

  "It was Spring Orchid who brought her back," they said.

  Chun Lan was taken aback.

  "Oh, it's that..." She remembered something, "The pastry from Xuan Miao Temple?"

  "Xuán Miào Temple?" Zhang's son repeated his question.

  At the same time, many people in the city were also chanting this name.

  "Mysterious and subtle." They recited, looking at the floral pattern on the paper package in their hand, then looked at the steward in front of them, "Is this the Mid-Autumn Festival gift that Old Master Zhang specially sent?"

  For the Taoist nun of Xuanmiao Temple, days are just like they used to be, yet different.

  Because a young girl walked into the Taiping Palace on the mountain.

  "Master will live in the Taiping Palace from now on, and Little Sister and Second Sister will follow to help out. Ling Hui, you take care of the incense." One Taoist nun said to another, "I'll go cook."

  "Sister Shifu, don't worry, we two are enough, anyway there aren't many people coming..." Dao Jie Ling Hui said.

  The words had barely fallen when footsteps sounded outside the mountain gate.

  "Immortal maiden, immortal maiden."

  Someone came in shouting loudly.

  Just as they were talking about someone arriving, two Taoist nuns busied themselves tidying up and welcoming them.

  "Are you making mooncakes here?" The newcomer was an old man who asked as soon as he opened his mouth.

  His words had just fallen when several more people came in from outside the door.

  "Immortal maiden, what else is there as a Mid-Autumn Festival offering?"

  "Immortal maiden, may I ask if you can grant me good fortune?"

  " Fairy maiden, do you serve vegetarian meals and snacks here?"

  A flurry of questions came flooding in, with seven mouths and eight tongues all speaking at once. The two Taoist nuns were stunned, completely unsure who to listen to or answer first.

  What's going on?

  How did so many people come?

  Two people in the Taoist temple are not enough!

  The bustle of Shandong Road, Taiping Palace on the mountain remains unchanged.

  The kitchen was filled with the aroma of two maids doing something and their giggling voices.

  A little boy came from the front hall, first poking his head into the house to look around, but there was no one in front of the screen.

  "Miss, miss." The little boy was somewhat frightened and hastily called out.

  No one answered inside the house, so the child hastily went to the kitchen and asked the two maids.

  "Just now he was still sitting in the corridor." The two maids said, looking out, "Oh my, this fool is really fast-legged, and ran to where again, without even saying a word."

  "Be careful." Little Tong said hastily.

  "Who's watching? You're watching the door, what are you doing? Eating and drinking at our house for free?" The two girls stood with their hands on their hips, shouting back.

  The little boy took two steps back in fright.

  "Go quickly and find." The two servant girls raised their eyebrows and pointed with one hand.

  The little boy was so scared that he quickly turned around and ran, tripping on the doorstep and causing the two maids behind him to burst out laughing.

  The little boy was both shy and afraid, with tears almost falling down, looking around restlessly.

  The master and the elder sister accompanied their mother at night, but now they were busy making up for lost time, she went to check the incense in the temple, when she came back, her mother was nowhere to be seen. What if this foolish child fell off the mountain?

  "My daughter." She cried out.

  "Huh?"

  Someone answered from the side door.

  The little boy hastily wiped away his tears, and only then did he see a young girl walk in, wearing her usual plain white outer garment, red skirt with a crimson hem, wooden clogs and white socks, with long hair hanging down to her waist - it was precisely Cheng Yaoniang.

  "Daughter..." The little boy hurriedly walked a few steps and shouted.

  Jiang Nang looked at her and made a flower with the branch in her hand.

  "How?" she asked.

  "Where did you go?" the little boy asked.

  "Take a walk." said Jingniang, and walked straight towards the small pavilion.

  When Half-Chen was around, the master and servant would go for a stroll on the mountain every day. Now that she's gone, only one person goes for strolls.

  "Girl, next time you go out, call me." Xiaotong felt a little heartache and hurriedly followed up, saying loudly in a slow tone, "Call me, see, if we meet a wolf, it will eat you."

  Jiang Niang had already sat down on the stone bench, and upon hearing this, she looked over at her with a slight smile.

  "Good." She said, her hand grasping a branch downwards, drawing on the ground.

  "Girl, do you want to drink some water?"

  "...The stone is cool, let's go back?"

  "Daughter, are you hungry?"

  The little boy kept asking, but Jingniang didn't respond. She was focused on holding the branch and making strokes in all directions.

  "Daughter, what are you drawing?" The little boy asked curiously, walking over a few steps and bending down to look.

  The ground was scribbled with messy strokes, seemingly a character, but soon the branches swept by, one horizontal and one vertical, and the original mark was ruined.

  Just scribble something down.

  The little boy looked up and saw that Jingniang had switched the branch from her right hand to her left hand, continuing to draw on the ground.

  The child scribbled randomly and confirmed that no one writes with their left hand.

  "Girl, girl."

  Sun Guanzhu's voice came from the front hall, and Cheng Jiuniang and Xiaotong looked for the sound and saw Sun Guanzhu hastily running over to the house.

  "Master, over here." The little boy called out hastily.

  Sun Guanzhu only saw them now and hastily walked over, his footsteps quick and disorderly, causing the two maids standing at the kitchen door to burst out laughing again.

  "This has become their Buddha, they're anxious if they don't see it for a moment." one of them laughed.

  "That's not possible, without this foolish girl, their mysterious plan would collapse." Another one said, "You see, maybe the next incense stick should be burned somewhere else, and they still need to ask this foolish girl about it."

  These two girls guessed it right.

  "Daughter, what's going on? How did so many come all of a sudden..." Sun Guanzhu asked.

  Jiang Nang raised her eyes to look at her, and the branch in her hand did not stop.

  "San Fu ah." She said, "Have you forgotten?"

  Sun Guanzhu was taken aback by the question and looked at the girl's wooden expression, also calming down.

  "You mean, the day before yesterday, that person at the foot of the mountain gave gifts to passersby?" she asked, with a look of surprise.

  Is it because of that? No way.

  "That's one, and another, I should thank you half a lot." said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Celery?

  Sun Guanzhu was stunned again, thinking of that day when Ban Qin also packed a basket of dried fruits and said he was going to send them to the old man in the city, but never came back.

  That old man's status is extraordinary, receiving these gifts, considering half of the face, so he replaced them with a mysterious and famous name?

  "Those clever people are like that, they can't eat their fill even if you give them food for free, they have to do something to put their minds at ease." said Cheng Jiaoniang, weaving a flower with the branch in her hand.

  It's really refreshing with nimble hands and feet.

  It won't be long before she can speak freely.

  Just as she wrote a few more words with her hand, Sun Guan finally understood. Looking at the girl who was still sitting calmly in front of him, his heart was turbulent and hard to calm down.

  Thanks to Ban Jin, thanks to that old man, and finally thanks to this person in front of me.

  She said whether it's a small name or a big name, rather than asking if she wants to be famous, as if being famous is the simplest thing for her.

  As expected, in just a blink of an eye, fame has really arrived.

  "Thank you, miss." She bowed solemnly.

  Jiang Nang didn't say a word, stood up and put down the branch in her hand.

  "Daughter, then these tributes have been used up, shall we make some more immediately?" Sun Guan's master thought of something and hastily asked.

  "Immortal maiden, you've forgotten again." Cheng Jiaoniang said to her, "You're a Taoist temple, not a food shop."

  Sun Guan's excitement gradually subsided and he calmed down.

  "Things are precious because they are rare." said Jingniang, as she walked past him and into the house, "The precious is valued for its excellence."

  Sun Guan's host was silent for a moment, and then couldn't help but smile slightly.

  "I've been practicing for so many years in vain." She shook her head and said.

  "That's not it," said Chong Jiuniang turning her head, "Immortal maiden, I'm just in the midst of it."

  Sun Guan bowed again with a hint of embarrassment.

  Dai Cheng's daughter walked into the house, and only then did she turn around to head down the mountain. Compared to when she came, her pace was now leisurely, and her expression calm.

  Jiangniang and Sun Guanzhu went their separate ways, leaving only the little boy standing alone by the small pavilion.

  What did Master and this foolish girl say just now? Why do they seem to be getting along so well? How come she didn't understand a single word?

  "Am I actually a fool?" she muttered to herself.

  The mountain path was crowded with people waiting, accompanied by a Buddhist chant, looking at the hostess of the Taoist temple, Xian Gu, who stepped in through the gate. Her expression was solemn and her pace was leisurely. At this time, the autumn sun was high, and the sunlight shone on Sun Guanzhu's body, with a few dazzling rays, which also added a few spiritual energies to this dilapidated Taoist temple.

  This mysterious phenomenon is indeed somewhat unusual, and everyone present had this thought flash through their minds at that moment.

  Old Zhang on the donkey cart withdrew his gaze from the bustling front of the Miao Temple and looked at the girl standing beside the cart.

  The girl's expression was sorrowful, and she struggled hard to restrain herself, so much so that her body was trembling.

  "Ban Jin, are you unwilling to follow us to the capital?" he asked.

  The girl came back to her senses after being frightened.

  "No, no, Master, I'm willing," she said in a trembling voice.

  Old Man Zhang burst out laughing.

  "If I believed that, wouldn't I be a fool?" He smiled and said, "A gentleman does not take away what others love. You can go."

  Having said that, he stretched out his hand and pointed, which was exactly in the direction of Taiping Palace on the mountain.

  Four thousand words, one more update, no more at noon and night, don't wait anymore.

  Recommendation: Canghai Qiuye "Full-time Farmer Girl" Book number 2634168

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  The peasant woman "Ming" still stood up straight in such a bad situation, coldly smiling at this play that was devoid of human nature.

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