Yingbao secretly glanced at the girl in green, and saw that she looked surprised. Then her eyes turned red, and she turned and ran out of the shop without even taking the chestnut cake.
The girl in red who followed behind her did not leave. She stared at Jiang Quan for a while, covered half of her face with a handkerchief, pointed at the shelf and said, "Brother Jiang Quan, I want to buy a box of chestnut cakes too."
Jiang Quan stuffed the green-dressed girl's pastries into her hands and said, "Just one box for the two of you."
These two young ladies are both daughters of Pan’s silk shop, but the one in green is the legitimate daughter, and the one in red is a concubine’s daughter.
The legitimate daughter had plenty of money, but the illegitimate daughter had very little.
The reason why Jiang Quan knew so much was because these two girls often came to the shop to buy this and that, and he could see through them with his sharp eyes.
The girl in red blushed, bowed slightly to Jiang Quan, and ran away with the box of cakes.
Yingbao secretly observed her second cousin, and seeing that he remained calm, she knew that this guy had not gotten his mind.
I guess this girl in red is going to give her heart to the wrong person.
"Yingbao, I don't want to go home." Jiang Quan said to his little cousin, "Business will be good during the New Year. I want to stay here to look after the shop."
Yingbao: "But we have sold out all our goods, and other pastry shops have closed down. What will you do with your business?"
Jiang Quan chuckled and said, "I'll just put a turntable at the door and play Guanpu."
"Guanpu?"
Ying Bao's face darkened: "That's gambling. We are not short of money, how can we do that kind of business?"
Jiang Quan scratched the back of his head and muttered quietly: "It's only possible for a few days a year, so let's give it a try."
The imperial court issued a clear ban on merchants engaging in this kind of gambling-like business, but it would relax the ban for a few days during the New Year and other festivals to allow the people to have fun.
Yingbao knew that her second cousin was determined to do a Guanpu deal, so she had no choice but to say, "Okay, I'll come too when the time comes."
"Haha! I knew you wanted to play too." Seeing his little cousin agree, Jiang Quan jumped up happily and whispered, "I've already bought the turntable. Let's go try it out later."
"Have you bought it? Where did you put it?" This kid actually acted without authorization.
Jiang Quan asked Erni to look after the shop, and he took his little cousin to the backyard and moved a large colorful turntable out of his house.
The turntable is about five feet wide and is painted with fan-shaped patterns of various colors. Each pattern is of different sizes, and the smaller the prize, the better.
The colors are divided into six types: black, red, orange, cyan, green, and white, with varying sizes.
"Look at this!"
Jiang Quan demonstrated to his little cousin. "You turn the wheel quickly, right! Just like that, whichever pattern I shoot with my arrow, you get that product."
He raised a bow and arrow and fired at the turntable.
Bang!
The arrow hit the wooden turntable. Yingbao stopped cranking the handle and checked what her second cousin had hit.
I saw the arrow poking at the white pattern.
White patterns are also the most common patterns on the turntable, which means there are no prizes.
Yingbao pulled out the arrow, threw it to Jiang Quan, and asked him to try again.
As a result, Jiang Quan shot a total of ten arrows, five of which hit the white color, four hit the green color, and only one hit the cyan color.
“Second cousin, you can set the prizes according to this ratio.”
The highest prize also needs to be well-measured. The value cannot be too low or too high, otherwise the company will lose money.
Jiang Quan smiled and said, "I know, I will be ready by then."
Yingbao looked at him and said, "I don't want the money you earn, and I guess my brother won't want it either, but you can't indulge in it."
"How is that possible? Guanpu is only open for three to five days. I can't become addicted even if I want to."
Jiang Quan put away his bow and arrow and moved the turntable back to his room.
On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, Jiang Cheng got married.
Before dawn, nine horse-drawn carriages and mule carts set out from Dongchen Village, carrying betrothal gifts to the county town to pick up the bride.
The villagers did not see the exact amount of the bride price, but when the wedding procession returned, the bride's dowry was carried down from the carriage, thirty-six times in total, which shocked the entire village.
The thirty-six loads of dowry were all displayed openly, and the silk cloths, silver items, copper coins and other items were simply dazzling.
The bride's relatives who came to see her off carried bamboo baskets and threw copper coins and candies into the crowd, which immediately attracted the children to scramble for them.
Jiang Cheng, dressed in wedding clothes, helped his new bride down from the carriage, which amazed everyone again.
"Oh, this girl is so pretty, she looks like a queen in the palace. She and Dacheng are a perfect match."
Aunt Wang was generous with her praise, and her eyes intentionally or unintentionally swept over Chu Man who was standing not far away.
Someone agreed: "That's right, look at Dacheng, he was not very good-looking before, but now he is really a handsome man, three times more handsome than the noble young master."
"Haha! Of course, everyone in the Jiang family is good-looking, and now they've made a fortune. Any girl who can marry into the Jiang family must be blessed by their ancestors."
The ladies were talking excitedly, and they didn't forget to grab some candies and coins.
One of them even grabbed a silver ingot, and immediately smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed. "The Jiang family is really generous, even giving out silver!"
"Oh, you must have one or two of these, right?" someone asked enviously.
"Yes, Jiang Cheng opened a shop in the county and made a fortune. He bought a large house with two entrances at a young age. Wow, he is definitely a wealthy man."
Everyone was laughing and making a lot of noise until the bride was welcomed into the Jiang family compound.
Chu Man looked at the newlyweds who were the center of attention, almost biting her teeth. She turned around and walked home angrily.
On the way, she met Chen Zhao with Xu Bao. She glared at her fiercely and shouted, "Why did you run out with that kid? Is the meal ready?"
Chen Zhao was not willing to be outdone and rolled his eyes at her: "Let's go to Jiang's house with grandpa and grandma for a feast, not eat at home!"
Chu Man was furious and stretched out her hand to hit Chen Zhao: "You have food to eat, so what should I eat? Go back and cook!"
No matter how stupid she was, she knew she couldn't go to the Jiang family for dinner, otherwise she would be laughed at to death.
Chen Zhao was unable to dodge and was slapped by her. He was immediately furious. He let go of Xu Bao and rushed towards Chu Lan, hitting her directly in the abdomen.
"Ouch!" Chu Man fell on the ground with her face up, holding her stomach and crying.
Chen Zhao spat at her, then pulled his brother towards the Jiang family, leaving Chu Man lying on the ground crying.
This woman is good at pretending and I don't want to pay any attention to her at all.
The Jiang family has set up dozens of tables for a buffet to entertain the whole village, young and old.
Of course, Nanpo West Village was also notified, and everyone rushed over.
Even Li Dayong and Li Eryong's blind father was helped over and sat at the table to drink.
The drink is rice wine brewed by Jiang Dalang himself. It tastes sour and sweet and is delicious. Both the elderly and children can have a sip.
Long before his son got engaged, Jiang Dalang asked his wife to cook rice and start brewing rice wine. He brewed two large jars of it, which now came in handy.
Yingbao also tried this rice wine and felt it was better than the fruit wine she brewed herself, with a sweet and sour taste and the mellow aroma of rice.
Or, why not brew some and store it yourself
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly heard Chuchu calling her: "Yingbao! Yingbao! Come here quickly!"
Yingbao got up from the banquet and ran outside: "Sister Chuchu, what's the matter?"
Chu Chu said anxiously, "Chu Man seems to have had a miscarriage, you go and have a look."