"… "
The gaze from behind was so hot that Jiang Miao felt as if he was being pierced through. He leaned to the side uncomfortably, but the gaze followed him like a shadow and immediately stuck to him.
"Mr. Pei, why don't you go for a walk in the yard? I'll call you when the peaches are ready." Jiang Miao turned around in annoyance. What was it like to have someone staring at him while he was doing something? This greatly affected his efficiency! Since he was his customer now, Jiang Miao could only persuade him in a gentle tone.
Pei Che saw him glaring at him, a little puzzled: "Didn't you say yesterday that I could watch it?"
Yesterday, Jiang Miao was moved by the money and reluctantly agreed to Pei Che's suggestion. This morning, Pei Che asked the maid to bring his most worn-out clothes.
His maids Chan Yi and Wen Jing looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what was wrong with this gentleman today? His clothes would not be accepted even if they were slightly worn out, so how could they be torn? In desperation, they had to dig out a set of old clothes from last year and give them to him.
After Pei Che put it on, he took a carriage to Tianshui Alley. At that time, Jiang Miao had just finished setting up his stall at the morning market and was carrying his load back to the yard when he heard someone knocking on the door.
He went over and opened the door, and saw Pei Che's driver standing outside the door, while Pei Che was sitting in the carriage, with a serious expression and a slightly frowned brow, as if he was troubled by some problem.
"Mr. Pei, please get off first and ask this brother to park the carriage farther away. This alley is narrow and if your carriage is parked here, others will not be able to pass." Jiang Miao suggested.
"Hmm..." Pei Che responded, but he didn't move. He stared at the pile of things outside the door, and his instinct was that it was not a good thing.
Jiang Miao followed his gaze and found a pile of something next to the door that looked like human vomit. Thinking of the sound of the door opening next door when the evening drum was struck yesterday, and the quarrel between Aunt Mo and her daughter-in-law, Jiang Miao guessed that it must be the bastard next door who came back from drinking and vomited at the door.
“It must have been vomited by someone else. Please be careful not to step on it.” Jiang Miao thought about it and swept it with a broom.
"Hmm..." Pei Che just responded, his eyes began to go blank, and no one knew what he was thinking.
So pretentious!
Jiang Miao guessed what he was thinking, secretly complained in his heart, then went to the yard to get some wood ash, covered the area with it, swept it clean, and fetched water to flush it again before letting the young master get out of the car.
"You go back first, and come pick me up before noon." Pei Che sent the driver away, and then followed Jiang Miao cautiously into the yard. Fortunately, there was nothing else in the yard except mud, so he felt relieved.
"Which kitchen is yours?" He looked around the small courtyard, which had an unobstructed view, trying to find out the one he would stay in today.
"Here." Jiang Miao pointed to the one on the north side.
So small? Pei Che looked at the height of the door frame of this room. He was afraid that he would hit his head when he walked in.
"Please come in, everything is here, we can start right away." Jiang Miao didn't know what he was thinking, and seeing him standing at the door, he greeted him. He didn't know if it was because he hadn't seen it often or what, why were the rich people so strange these days? He was increasingly doubting whether this Mr. Pei was the most handsome man in Liangjing. Maybe, they just had the same surname and were both good-looking
Pei Che struggled internally for a while before he slightly bent his body and stepped in.
"!"
Once he entered, he was really shocked! Before entering here, he would sigh that "people's lives are difficult", but he never thought that life could be like this? There are actually people living in a house connected to the kitchen! Although the things inside are tidy and clean, it can't hide the fact that one end is the kitchen and the other end is the bedroom!
No wonder this vendor is so greedy. If he were to end up here, he would probably be like him, right? Thinking of this, Pei Che felt a little sympathetic and a little apologetic, and decided to raise the price of the birthday peaches later.
Jiang Miao stood behind him, looking at the man's back, which was stiff with shock. He knew what he was thinking at the moment, that he simply disliked him. When a person is under strange gazes for a long time, he can already imagine what he will say next without even seeing others' contemptuous eyes.
It's just that the business can't be done. Jiang Miao told himself that he had guessed it anyway.
"Brother Jiang, what's wrong with you?" Pei Che turned around and saw the man in front of him had a strange expression, as if he was both free and easy and resigned to his fate.
"Mr. Pei, do you still want to make the birthday peaches?" Jiang Miao asked. If not, the ingredients will not be wasted. Shopkeeper Wang had already said that he wanted to buy some meat buns, so it seems that he can satisfy him tomorrow.
"Of course, didn't you promise me yesterday?" Did he want to go back on his word at the last minute
Jiang Miao looked at his expression carefully and found that he was genuinely surprised, without any reluctance, so he smiled and said, "Then I'll start."
This smile was different from other times, and his originally somewhat prickly attitude also softened a lot.
However, this good attitude did not last long, and Jiang Miao failed under his pressing gaze.
"Isn't this how birthday peaches are made? You've been watching for so long and you're still not satisfied. Do you want to learn how to make it yourself?" Jiang Miao tried hard to suppress his temper, which was rising due to the discomfort of being stared at.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, Pei Che actually thought about it seriously and said, "That's fine." His meaning was very clear, he just wanted to make it himself. He had never been in the kitchen since he was a child. After watching for a long time, he actually felt that the white dough seemed very interesting to knead. He wanted to make it himself, maybe after doing it, he would have some insights
"..." Jiang Miao wanted to slap himself twice, and he tried to save the situation feebly, "This job is easy to get dirty, you'd better not do it."
"It doesn't matter. Today's clothes are old ones. I'll throw them away when they get dirty." Pei Che couldn't help feeling a little complacent. Fortunately, he had foresight.
"You call what you are wearing old clothes? Then what am I wearing?" It was totally off the mark. This dress made of silver thread was still sparkling even in the dark. Was it old clothes
"Ripped clothes?" Pei Che stared at the marks of mending on his body and asked tentatively.
"Well, I don't understand the world of you rich people. It's just a pity to throw away such nice clothes, so it's better to give them to others." Jiang Miao is a person who can't stand waste.
Pei Che disagreed: "How can you give your private clothes to others?" It's okay if you haven't worn them, but you can never give away clothes that you have worn.
Well, Jiang Miao forgot that he was a noble person from the upper class in ancient times. Anyway, ordinary people didn’t have so many taboos.
"Don't you want to do it? Go wash your hands outside at the well and come back in."
Pei Che walked out obediently, looked around, and searched for the location of the well. He walked towards the well and found the vendor's younger brother sitting not far from the well, pounding something with a small bowl. The thing in the bowl was pounded so hard that green juice came out. The child lowered his head and pounded it very seriously. The sunlight shone on his hair, forming a small halo. In a trance, Pei Che thought of his younger brother.
"What are you doing?" Pei Che asked.
The sudden voice startled Xiao Shitou. He raised his head suddenly and found that the handsome young man was standing in front of him.
"I... am pounding spinach." Little Stone answered in a low voice. He didn't expect that the young man would talk to him.
"To make leaves." Little Stone explained, "Leaves of longevity peaches."
Pei Che suddenly realized. He had wondered why the noodles were green when he ate them before. It turned out that they were made from the juice of this thing. The vendor was indeed unusual.
"May I have your name?"
"Little Stone," he said, and then he quickly added, "His name is Jiang Lei, which means three stones."
"The sound of white poplars rustling on the rocky hill?"
Little Stone had never heard of it before, so he shook his head seriously and said, "No, it's three small stones stacked together."
Pei Che was amused by him and asked, "What's your brother's name?" He also asked the peddler's name yesterday.
"My brother's name is Jiang Miao, Miao means three water characters." Everyone in the village calls him Sanshui boy. When Xiao Shitou introduced him to his good friend Xiaowu, he was afraid that he would also call him brother directly, so he asked him to call him Brother Sanshui, because only he could call him brother.
"Jiang Miao, looking at the lake, the green reed leaves are all in line?" Pei Che said. He didn't expect that the peddler's name was quite nice.
When Little Shitou heard him reading something he didn't understand, he couldn't help but look puzzled. Can't this young man read either
"Mr. Pei, what are you doing here?" Jiang Miao, who hadn't seen anyone coming in, thought that he would not fall into the well while fetching water.
"Brother, I'm almost done!" Little Stone raised the small bowl and smiled happily.
"Be good, I'll put it in after you're done beating it." Jiang Miao praised him, then walked to the well, picked up the bucket with a rope tied to it, reached down and shook it, and brought up half a bucket of water.
"Mr. Pei, please wash your hands." He lifted the bucket and motioned for him to stretch out his hands.
Pei Che stretched out his hand, half bent over and washed his hands curiously, then he asked, "Where is the towel for wiping your hands?" When they were at home, every time they brought water to wash their hands, they would put a dry towel next to it for him to wipe his hands.
Jiang Miao wanted to say, "Why don't you just wipe it on your body?" But he couldn't, so he said, "If you don't have a towel, just shake your hands back and forth vigorously, and it will dry quickly."
Pei Che thought about it and felt that this action didn't look good, so he shook his head and refused.
Things are urgent!
Jiang Miao cursed inwardly, but stood there waiting for his hands to dry naturally before walking in with him.
Seeing that Master Pei was eager to put his hands into the basin as soon as he entered, Jiang Miao quickly stopped him: "Hey, your sleeves are so wide, they will get soaked in the noodles!"
Jiang Miao's clothes have narrow sleeves. Ordinary people don't like to wear clothes with wide sleeves because it will delay their work.
Pei Che frowned and stood there with his hands stiff. He didn't know why so much trouble would arise just because he wanted to knead some dough.
Jiang Miao couldn't bear to watch it, so he turned around and found two ropes at the bedside, then rolled up one of Pei Che's sleeves and tied it around his arm twice, and did the same with the other one. He was so close that his breathing was clearly audible, and Pei Che's body stiffened slightly. He had never been so close to a stranger before.
"It's done." Jiang Miao washed his hands, and after drying them, he saw Pei Che still standing there, so he gave him a reminder. He pulled off a ball of dough, handed it to Pei Che, and asked him to follow his steps.
He used bean paste as the filling for Pei Che. For a novice like this, the bean paste filling was dry and loose, so it wouldn't produce juice when squeezed out, and there was no need to worry about the package bursting.
Jiang Miao was very deft, and he was able to shape the peach in just a few strokes. Then, with a push of the scraper, a cute little peach appeared. Pei Che watched his movements closely, and after he felt that he had learned it, he also began to do it confidently.
Facts and imaginations are always at odds. It was obvious that he had “failed” rather than “learned”. Even with the relatively easy red bean paste filling, he could not make a peach as beautiful as the one in Jiang Miao’s hand. Finally, after ruining several doughs, he finally made a peach shape.
Jiang Miao couldn't bear to hit him, he felt it looked more like a butt.
Pei Che excitedly pinched dozens of "butts" in the morning, and Jiang Miao quickly wrapped up the other birthday peaches.
The next step is to make the leaves and color them. The peaches dyed with red yeast rice powder look vivid, and the "butt" dyed with red yeast rice powder still looks like a butt.
Jiang Miao put the longevity peaches in the steamer, then looked at Pei Che and said, "Mr. Pei, can you tell me the purpose of your trip?" Although this man was having a lot of fun, he still felt that Mr. Pei would not condescend to come here just to buy longevity peaches.
Pei Che was not surprised that he would ask himself this. He said, "Remember the last time I asked you why you didn't use a brush? You said that it was because of the different lighting that the color of the peach was different. After receiving your advice, I went back and carefully observed the light and painted a picture. I felt that I had gained something in the art of painting, so I wanted to come and talk to you again to see if I could get some more advice."
After listening to his explanation, Jiang Miao finally understood what he meant by "I've learned a lesson" that day. At the same time, he was also shocked by the ancients' spirit of humility and eagerness to learn. For a sentence, they were willing to come to such a poor place. If he had such a spirit, he might not have to go to New Oriental to become a disciple.
"Mr. Pei, you may have made a trip in vain. I just said it casually that day. The fact that you can realize other things shows that you are smart and has nothing to do with me." Jiang Miao had only done painting when he was in school. At that time, he liked all subjects except the main subjects, but this did not mean that he could use his clumsy skills to teach the ancients.
"Your birthday peaches are so well made. I think it would be impossible to make them without a certain level of wisdom. Since they are both skills, there must be some common points." Pei Che said.
Jiang Miao smiled. He was not pedantic, but he didn't know whether other scholars would lump painting and making snacks together and call them skills.
Seeing that this sentence sounded quite nice, Jiang Miao took out a small knife and a big radish and began to peel it seriously. He lowered his head, a smile on his lips, and the white radish skin kept falling down as he moved his knife. Pei Che didn't know why he suddenly started peeling radishes, but seeing that there was a certain beauty in his movements, he just waited patiently.
"Here, I'll give it to you." Jiang Miao handed the radish to him, shook his arm slightly, and shook off the excess radish crumbs. An innocent white, exquisitely clear crystal flower bloomed from the palm of his hand.
"Give it to me?" Pei Che stared at the flower, and was greatly shocked. He had never thought that a thick and ugly radish could turn into such a beautiful flower in front of him
"Well, I'm not really good at painting, but I'm pretty good at cooking. How about you dip this flower in ink and print it on paper, it looks pretty good too?" Jiang Miao suddenly had an idea and suggested. He had seen people paint fish directly with ink, and the painting turned out to be very similar!
Pei Che was amused. He took the flower, and the slightly cool and moist feeling went from his hands to his heart.
(End of this chapter)