At noon, the convoy arrived at a wilderness, where everyone rested, ate something, and continued on their journey.
Li Song would go to the back from time to time to check on the Jiang family. When his father came, he told him to take good care of the Jiang family.
He thought the Jiang family was amazing. A family in the village had never been to Luzhou, but they heard that they could make money in Luzhou, so they dared to go to Luzhou. Anyway, he didn't dare to do it. When he went out for the first time, he also went to Luzhou. The team was full of experienced escorts. He only followed them for one trip, but he was still very worried.
Jiang Cheng was actually worried too, so when he saw him coming, he kept asking about the situation in Luzhou.
Everything was fine along the way, so Li Song told him in detail.
Jiang Yunzhu listened from the side and verified what he said with what she knew. When she heard Li Song mention someone, she asked a few questions to pave the way for the future plan.
A few people were chatting when Li Song suddenly looked back warily.
"What's going on?" Jiang Cheng asked nervously. On their way to escape the famine from Changfeng Prefecture, they had encountered bandits. Fortunately, they saw them from a distance and avoided them, otherwise, who knows what would have happened.
"It's okay, just keep going forward." Li Song said, then he turned his horse's head and hid behind a cliff nearby.
Jiang Yunzhu and the others continued to move forward. About a quarter of an hour later, Li Song caught up on horseback, carrying a person in his hands and a donkey following behind.
The convoy stopped and Li Song threw the man to the ground.
Gu Qifeng got up quickly and groaned, "I already said I didn't follow you. Doesn't this road belong to you? Why don't you let others walk on it?"
It was him. Jiang Yunzhu and others were surprised.
This time, Jiang Yunzhu was going to Luzhou to set up a stall. She only brought Xue Jing, Jiang Cheng and Chen, and Xu Qingshan was the driver.
Speaking of which, Jiang Yunzhu had really underestimated Gu Qifeng's resilience. He seemed to have set his sights on the Jiang family and had been looking for work to do in the Jiang family. His parents had tried to pull him back several times, but it didn't work, so in the end they just turned a blind eye.
In Gu Qifeng's words, they finally accepted their fate, knowing that he could not compare to Gu Yanzhou and could not pass the imperial examination.
From then on, he stayed even more at the Jiang family.
The Jiang family actually likes him quite a bit. He is lively, good at accounting, and has a sweet mouth. He is a really good candidate to be the shopkeeper.
This time when he heard that Jiang Yunzhu was going to Luzhou, he kept saying that he wanted to go too. Jiang Yunzhu naturally disagreed, but who knew that he actually followed her secretly.
"Do you know him?" Li Song asked Jiang Yunzhu and others. He had been to Jiang's house several times and seemed to have seen Gu Qifeng there.
"Why did you follow me?" Jiang Cheng asked.
"I also want to go to Luzhou." Facing Jiang Cheng, Gu Qifeng was still very honest, but he couldn't help but say, "After the New Year, I will be fourteen years old. My cousin went to Beijing to study when he was fourteen. I can't compare to him, but I'm not a child anymore."
Yes, Gu Qifeng actually has a clear understanding of himself. He has been helping the Jiang family these days, and he knows what he wants to do in the future. But opportunities often need to be fought for by oneself, and they are fleeting.
In this era, fourteen years old is indeed not considered young, and some people are even married and have children.
Jiang Cheng looked at Jiang Yunzhu inquiringly. What should we do now? Send him back? They had already walked for most of the day. It would be even more unsafe for Gu Qifeng to go back alone.
Jiang Yunzhu frowned.
"Why not let him follow me?" Xu Qingshan suddenly said. Gu Qifeng was Gu Yongde's nephew, so he was also his relative. It was reasonable for him to take care of him.
"Brother Qingshan, you are the best!" Gu Qifeng immediately ran to Xu Qingshan, said a lot of nice things to him, and even took out an apple from his bag for Xu Qingshan to eat.
Xu Qingshan didn't answer the call. He just asked him if he had told his family and asked him to keep a close eye on him.
"I told my father but not my mother. I know, don't worry, Brother Qingshan." Gu Qifeng assured.
A small episode, and everyone continued to move forward.
When it was dark, they arrived at Biling Town.
"Rest here for one night and we will be in Luzhou by noon tomorrow." Li Song said.
Jiang Cheng and others are fine.
Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Jiang Yunzhu got up an hour earlier than everyone else and started working in the kitchen of the inn. When everyone got up, she just poured the contents of the pot into a jar and sealed it.
"Yunzhu, you're up so early? What are you cooking? It smells so good." Chen looked around and saw the jar in Jiang Yunzhu's hand.
"Mom, this is useful to me." Jiang Yunzhu said.
The inn provided breakfast. After everyone had breakfast, the contents of the jar were almost cold, so Jiang Yunzhu poured it out, cut it into small pieces, put it in a food box, and continued on her way.
At about noon, they saw the gate of Luzhou City. Luzhou was indeed the largest city in Central and South China. The city was broad and majestic, towering over the sky. The city gate alone was five meters high. People looked insignificant in front of such a huge structure.
There was a lot of traffic at the city gate, and Chen and Jiang Cheng were both worried as they walked across the huge, mottled bluestone slabs.
Jiang Yunzhu felt a sense of familiarity. This was indeed the Luzhou City where she had lived in her dreams for seven years.
There will be temple fairs in the city starting from the fifth day of the first lunar month, and the city will be very lively until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day. Now all kinds of festival decorations have been placed on the streets, and looking around, it is a festive scene with many people.
"What are you going to do next?" Li Song asked after entering the city. After their escort company delivered the goods, they usually returned on the same day, rested in Biling Town for one night, and returned to Wuling County the next day.
What about the Jiang family? Where do they go? Stay at an inn? Normally, it's OK, but at this time of year, the inns are definitely overcrowded, and the prices are going up. Li Song was worried that they couldn't find a place to stay, or that staying at an inn for one night would cost a lot of money, and they couldn't make that much money even from selling food, so they would lose money and gain publicity.
"We do have a warehouse in the west of the city, but it's really a warehouse, with no windows or water. It's OK for storing things, but it's also OK for living..." Not very good, especially for Jiang Yunzhu and her group of people. Of course, it's definitely better than sleeping on the street. But in that case, he might as well pay for an inn for them.
Jiang Yunzhu originally wanted to find a warehouse to store her things, but Li Song said that they could store her things there, which was really great. The only thing left was to find a place to live, and of course she would not let Li Song pay for it.
"Is Fatong Temple this way?" she asked Li Song.
"Are you going to Fatong Temple?" Li Song asked in confusion.
"Well, from what you said, the monk in charge of reception at Hotong Temple is a strange man."
There are six famous temples in Luzhou City. The first one is Jinguang Temple, which was built by people sent by the imperial court. It is the largest and most popular temple. Then there are Jialan Temple, Changming Temple, etc.
Fatong Temple ranks last among these six temples, but it still has a lot of people.
The monk in charge of reception at Fatong Temple is very famous. He is a bit like Yi Yin of the Shang Dynasty and Liu An of the Western Han Dynasty. He is a gourmet. He once wrote a book called "On the Original Flavor" to explain the Zen meaning in food.
Because he loved delicious food, the vegetarian food at Fatong Temple was very famous.
Jiang Yunzhu had been to Fatong Temple several times in her dreams and knew the character of the monk in charge of reception, so she made plans early.
Hearing this, Li Song remembered that Jiang Yunzhu had asked the monk about the situation before, and he also knew that Jiang Yunzhu cooked delicious food, so he had a vague guess. However, he still felt that Jiang Yunzhu was taking too much risk.
"I'll take you there," he said. If that didn't work, he could help them find an inn. At least he was familiar with Luzhou.
"Thank you, but it's too much trouble for you." Jiang Yunzhu said.
Li Song smiled, "It will take some time for them to unload the goods. I'll take you there and come back in just the right time." After that, he asked the escorts to unload the goods, and he led Jiang Yunzhu and the others.
Unable to refuse the kind invitation, Jiang Yunzhu and her companions followed behind in mule and donkey carts.
During the New Year and other festivals, many people go to the temple to burn incense, one is to pray for the Buddha's blessing, the other is to have fun at the same time. So even though the temple fair has not started yet, there are still crowds of people around Fatong Temple.
When he got here, Li Song was also dumbfounded. What should he do now? He looked around and saw people everywhere.
"Dad, Mom, please watch the car and wait for me here." Jiang Yunzhu got out of the car carrying the lunch box.
"Yunzhu." Jiang Cheng and Chen said worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'll follow Miss Jiang." Li Song said. He was as tall and strong as an iron tower. He protected Jiang Yunzhu and quickly made a path for her in the crowd.
After a while, Jiang Yunzhu entered the temple and saw a young monk in charge of receiving pilgrims. She walked over and asked, "Master, is Master Pu Xuan here in the temple?" Pu Xuan was the monk who received guests in the temple.
In a temple like Fatong Temple, the monk in charge of receiving guests is also a prominent figure. He usually will not receive visitors in person unless they are powerful or wealthy.
The young monk glanced at Jiang Yunzhu and dared not look at her again.
Today Jiang Yunzhu specially put on the new dress that Liu had given her, and wore two small hairpins on her head. The dress and she looked so beautiful together, as beautiful as a bright pearl in the moonlight.
The young monk put his hands together and asked, "May I ask who the donor is?" After finding out who it was, he could go in and report.
Jiang Yunzhu handed him the food box in her hand and said, "I have a dish here that I would like to ask Master Puxuan to taste. Please tell me the name after you have tasted it." It was impossible for her to tell him the name because no one here knew her.
The young monk looked at her dress and temperament and listened to her conversation and felt that she must be a noble person from some family. He did not dare to neglect her, so he took the food box and went inside.
There have been a lot of things going on in the temple recently, and Pu Xuan was instructing two disciples to do something when the young monk walked in holding a food box.
Pu Xuan stopped.
The young monk told the story.
It was already noon, but they hadn't eaten yet. Pu Xuan was a little hungry, so he became interested and looked at the food box.
The young monk understood, opened the food box, took out a plate of food and wanted to put it on the table.
However, his expression suddenly changed, and he didn't know what to do with the plate of food.
The two disciples of Pu Xuan who were standing nearby also saw what was on the plate, and one of them immediately shouted, "How dare you bring something like this into the temple?"
The other person was more friendly, but he also immediately said, "Hurry up and bring it out."
The young monk holding the plate suddenly realized and quickly stuffed the plate into the food box. He was very angry with Jiang Yunzhu. He saw that she was a virtuous and beautiful girl, so he helped her bring the food box in. Who would have thought that she would hurt him like this!
At this time, Pu Xuan said, "Put down that dish."
"Master!" the three of them shouted in unison.
They only took a quick look at the dish, but they clearly saw that it was a dish of pork skin jelly. Buddhists avoid meat, but someone sent a dish of pork skin jelly to Pu Xuan and asked him to taste it. Wasn't this deliberately humiliating him
This is intolerable!
"Take a closer look." Pu Xuan said.
The three of them were stunned. Take a closer look? What does the master mean? The young monk took out the dishes from the food box again and put them on the table while taking a closer look.
No matter how you look at it, it's still a plate of pork skin jelly.
Although, the pork skin jelly was cut into pieces and arranged into the shape of flowers.
Pu Xuan laughed. There were chopsticks in the food box, so he took the chopsticks, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.
"Master!" the three disciples exclaimed. If the master took this bite, he would break his vow! Moreover, they didn't know who sent it and whether it was poisoned.
Pu Xuan put the thing into his mouth, a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face, and then he chewed it and said, "It is true!"
“Master…” The three disciples didn’t know what to do.
"You should try it too, and you will know. None of you three is like me." Pu Xuan likes food and also likes to study food, but his three disciples are only busy with various chores.
The three disciples looked at each other and asked, isn't this pork skin jelly
Finally, they gritted their teeth and thought, "Try it. The master has already eaten it, but they don't. Otherwise, the master will hate them in the future."
They didn't have time to look for chopsticks, so each of them picked up a piece of the crystal thing and put it into their mouth.
The jelly is very soft and elastic. When you bite it with your teeth, it melts immediately and the juice fills your mouth.
Fresh, very fresh taste.
At the same time, their teeth bit into the meat skin in the jelly. It had a soft, chewy texture and the aroma of meat, but... They all looked at Pu Xuan. This thing didn't seem to be meat skin.
Moreover, this jelly only has the taste of meat, but no fishy smell at all. It is actually a vegetarian dish.
"Have you learned something new?" Pu Xuan said.
The three disciples looked ashamed; they had never thought that someone could make a vegetarian dish look so much like pork skin jelly.
"So I say you can't just stay in the temple every day, looking at the world from a narrow perspective and being complacent." Pu Xuan said.
"Master, I am grateful for your instruction." The three disciples bowed quickly and looked at the plate of "pork skin" jelly. This thing was really delicious. They couldn't taste the flavor of the previous piece, they just thought it was delicious.
Pu Xuan snorted, "You are useless." However, his eyes also lingered on the plate of "pork skin" jelly.
"Please let the person who brought the food in." He instructed the young monk.
"Yes, Master." The young monk went out immediately.
Outside, Jiang Yunzhu was standing there waiting.
"Girl, my master wants you to come in." said the young monk.
Jiang Yunzhu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she was lucky. She followed the young monk around the main hall and went to a room at the back, where she met Pu Xuan.
Pu Xuan looked younger than she remembered, but generally the same.
Pu Xuan was also looking at Jiang Yunzhu. His eyesight was much better than that of the young monk. He could see that Jiang Yunzhu's family was probably not well off. But it didn't matter. Anyone who could cook such a dish was already outstanding enough.
"Please sit down, young lady." He extended his hand.
"Thank you." Jiang Yunzhu sat down confidently.
"Girl, is sweet potato flour used in this dish?" The "pork skin" seemed to be made of sweet potato flour.
"Master, you have a good eye. You really used sweet potato flour." Of course, it's not just sweet potato flour, otherwise it would never taste like that. As for what else was added, it's not convenient to tell the monk.
"Is it so realistic?" Pu Xuan asked. In vegetarian restaurants, there are imitation dishes, such as imitation bear paws and imitation abalone, but most of them imitate the taste. Jiang Yunzhu's dish is so similar in shape that it seems to be teasing.
For example, those three useless disciples of his just now.
Jiang Yunzhu had no choice. She cooked this in the morning and gave it to him now. If she didn't make something new, would he see her? But she couldn't say it directly, so she smiled and said, "Fake is true, true is fake."
This sentence of hers comes from the line in "Dream of Red Mansions": "When the false is made to appear true, the true becomes false; when the non-existent is made to appear existent, the existent becomes non-existent." This sentence fully explains the relationship between truth and falsehood.
Pu Xuan was stunned for a moment, true or false... Suddenly, he burst into laughter, "The young lady is indeed very smart, I have learned a lot from her."
Jiang Yunzhu blushed slightly. It was not what she thought. She was just borrowing it.
Fortunately, Pu Xuan didn't ask her about this, but asked her purpose of coming.
Jiang Yunzhu tactfully explained the purpose of her coming to Luzhou and why she wanted to stay here. She also said that she only wanted a roof over her head and did not need to stay in a guest room, a woodshed or something like that would do.
There are many pilgrims in the temple now, and there are really no vacant guest rooms or firewood rooms. "There are quite a lot of firewood rooms, but no one has lived in them for a long time. If the girl doesn't mind..."
"I don't mind, I don't mind." Jiang Yunzhu said quickly.
Pu Xuan nodded and asked the young monk to take Jiang Yunzhu to the woodshed.
"Thank you, Master. There is one more thing. Can I borrow the kitchen in the temple? I have no way to repay you for your kindness by staying in the temple. I would like to cook two dishes for you as a thank you." Jiang Yunzhu meant to use the dishes to pay for the room.
Pu Xuan thought of the taste of the "pork skin jelly" and readily agreed.
Outside the gate, Jiang Cheng and Chen were waiting anxiously when Jiang Yunzhu came out of the temple.
"Yunzhu." Chen asked with concern.
"Dad, Mom, we've found a place to live." Jiang Yunzhu said, and then she said to Li Song, "Brother Li, can I borrow your storeroom for a while?" to store her meat skewers. Living in the temple, it would be difficult to bring in meat.
Li Song was stunned by her series of actions just now. She only heard that the monk in charge of reception at Fatong Temple liked delicious food, so she made a dish and sent it to the door. It was not freshly made, but was made in the morning. As a result, people really gave them a place to stay
Li Song didn't know whether Jiang Yunzhu was too smart, or too lucky, or both.
Anyway, he admires her very much now, and feels that the Jiang family may really make a fortune in Luzhou this time.
"Okay," he agreed.
After leaving the goods in the Li family warehouse, Jiang Yunzhu and the others returned to Fatong Temple. In the west courtyard of the guest room, there were indeed several firewood rooms, some of which were piled with things and some were a bit dilapidated, but they could be lived in after being cleaned up.
Chen and Jiang Cheng then had the chance to ask Jiang Yunzhu what had happened. Jiang Yunzhu briefly explained that she was afraid that there was no place to stay in the inn in the city, and she heard that the monk in charge of guests at Fatong Temple liked delicious food, so she thought of coming to stay and using the food to pay for the room.
They mainly live here because it is close to the water and it is convenient for them to set up stalls.
After hearing this, Jiang Cheng and others were both happy and amazed.
That night, Jiang Yunzhu really made two vegetarian dishes and sent them to Pu Xuan. Pu Xuan also sent two plates of cakes and pastries to her. It was obvious that he still liked those vegetarian dishes very much.
The next day, before dawn, the Jiang family got up early.
Jiang Yunzhu had already decided where to set up her stall, near Wuliu Bridge. People who came and went there were all wealthy people, so it was just right for her to sell skewers.
They came early, but there were already several stalls selling things by the bridge, some selling sesame cakes, some selling facial masks, some selling tea, etc. If they came later, there might be no place.
Everyone also felt that living in a temple was much more convenient.
They quickly occupied a seat, Jiang Yunzhu cleaned up the place, and Jiang Cheng went to get the skewers of meat and other things.
By the time they had finished cleaning up, more people were coming to the street.
"Grilled skewers, delicious grilled skewers, come and try them!" Gu Qifeng shouted happily at the top of his voice.