Chapter 15: Going to the Big Market

Chapter 15: The Big Market

For the pig-slaughter feast, aside from the must-have pickled cabbage and pork blood soup, the rest of the menu was up to the host family.

The Gu family cooked up a big pot with pickled cabbage, pork blood, vermicelli, plus pork stomach and heart, all stewed in one pot.

They also had garlic sprout stir-fried pork belly, flash-fried kidneys, and braised pork belly cubes simmered in a rich sauce, plus sliced pork with garlic sauce. For lighter fare, there was vinegared shredded radish, cabbage and tofu stew, pickled cowpeas, and spicy pickled cucumber sticks.

For staples, there was a mix of white and brown rice, plus steamed buns.

Since so many people came, the Gu family set up two tables, just like the town folks did—men at one, women and kids at the other.

Even though everyone there knew each other, Yin Hongxue still felt a little out of place.

To keep warm, the women and kids' table was set up inside.

Listening to the men in the main hall bragging and toasting each other, Gu Chaoning glanced down at Yin Hongxue, who was timidly picking at only the dishes in front of him like a little mouse, and reached over to put a piece of braised pork on his plate.

Yin Hongxue looked up and smiled at Gu Chaoning. He was still shy, but at least Chaoning Ge was sitting right next to him.

The braised pork was rich and tender, and the pickled cabbage and blood soup was tangy and delicious—everyone left the feast happy.

As usual, after the meal, Village Head Gu Changhe would chat a bit with Gu Wen and then head home.

But this year, since Gu Chaoning was studying, there was an extra step.

"I often hear Rong'er talk about how smart Chaoning is. Ever since he started school, he's always been at the top of his class. The Gu family is lucky to have Chaoning." Gu Changhe said with a big smile, looking all gentle and kind.

Rong'er was Gu Changhe's third son, Gu Rong. He was ten, and had started school two years before Chaoning.

Hearing this praise, Gu Chaoning bowed and said a few modest words. Gu Daniu and Gu Wen were proud and pleased, but they pretended to be modest, saying Chaoning was still young and had a lot to learn.

These were peaceful times, and folks were doing well. Many people with a bit of foresight and some savings would send their kids to school—not necessarily to pass the exams, but at least so they wouldn't be illiterate.

In truth, scholars weren't worth much.

Not just scholars—the court brought in new talent every three years, and official posts were like radishes in a field, one per hole. Except for the top scorers in the imperial exams each year, most jinshi degree holders couldn't get an official post.

Because of this, the court's official system was stagnant and corrupt—old blood wouldn't leave, and new blood couldn't get in.

The court had struggled with this for a long time. It wasn't until a few years ago, after the new emperor secured his throne, that he brought in Prime Minister Song Huai, a man of humble origins, to push through major reforms. They executed a bunch of corrupt officials and fired a bunch of incompetent ones, finally opening up a ton of official posts.

The emperor set up a special oversight body, and basically every year more officials got dismissed.

Within just two or three years, scholars were in demand again.

Gu Changhe kept smiling and didn't pick up on Gu Wen's line of talk. Instead, he went on, "Speaking of which, my son is really slow-witted. Even though he started school two years before Chaoning, he hasn't shown much progress compared to him."

Gu Rong had come with his parents to the feast today, and when he heard this, he hung his head in shame.

Gu Changhe had said this much, and while Gu Daniu and Gu Wen hadn't caught on yet, Gu Chaoning had already figured it out. But he didn't speak up—he just said a few more modest things and waited quietly for what came next.

Sure enough, Gu Changhe went on, "Rong'er always talks about Chaoning with such admiration and fondness. As his dad, I keep telling my dull son to spend more time with Chaoning and learn from him."

"But my son is shy by nature, and he says he hasn't had much contact with Chaoning before—he's too embarrassed to reach out..."

This time, it wasn't just Gu Wen and Gu Daniu who got it—everyone in the room had caught on.

Gu Wen immediately jumped in: "What a coincidence! Rong'er has a great personality and excellent grades. Chaoning has also often told me how much he admires his Rong Ge, but he was afraid he'd hold Rong'er back in his studies, so he never made a move."

Gu Daniu also perked up and said straight out that the two boys should hang out together today.

After the elders had all had their say, Gu Chaoning stepped forward, bowed, and directly invited Gu Rong to his room to discuss their studies.

Seeing how cooperative the Gu family was, Gu Changhe was pleased. He looked at Gu Rong fondly, nodded slowly, and watched as the two boys walked out together.

To be honest, even though Gu Chaoning and Gu Rong were both from the Gu clan, they weren't close in this life or their past lives.

Gu Rong was born when Gu Changhe was forty, and he had more of a knack for studying than his two older brothers. Gu Changhe's family had always looked after him carefully, and he didn't often come out to play.

In his past life, Gu Chaoning had been a late bloomer. His grades at the village school were okay, but he wasn't anything special because he was too into playing.

Gu Rong, on the other hand, was diligent and didn't think much of the playful Gu Chaoning. By the time Gu Chaoning matured and became sensible, Gu Rong had already passed the Tongsheng examination and gone to study at a private school in the county town.

With their paths diverging like that, they never really crossed.

Gu Chaoning remembered that in his past life, Gu Rong's fate hadn't been particularly good either.

In the kitchen, Chen Youyan and the others were washing dishes. When they saw Gu Chaoning and Gu Rong walking together into Gu Chaoning's bedroom, Cui Shi breathed a quiet sigh of relief, knowing it had worked out.

Chen Youyan also noticed the two. He knew Gu Rong was well-learned and was pleased that the two boys were becoming friends.

He straightened up, wiped his hands on his apron, found a white porcelain teapot, brewed fresh tea, and brought it over.

When he went in, Gu Chaoning and Gu Rong had already seated themselves on opposite sides of the desk, discussing their studies.

"From the Analects, Chapter Xue'er: 'I daily examine myself on three points: whether in counseling others I have been loyal; whether in intercourse with my friends I have been faithful; whether I have repeated what I have been taught...'"

Chen Youyan moved quietly, carefully set down the teapot, and withdrew.

*

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month: slaughter the New Year's chicken, go to the big market.

This year was Yin Hongxue's first New Year at home, and Chen Youyan wanted to make it abundant. For this reason, he had specially set aside two chickens and one duck.

Early in the morning, Chen Youyan and Gu Wen, during the warmest and most comfortable time for sleeping, didn't dare waste a single moment—they got straight out of bed.

The couple, one heading to the kitchen to boil water, the other heading to the backyard to slaughter the chickens.

They worked quickly. By the time the rest of the Gu family got up, Chen Youyan's chicken blood tofu and duck blood tofu were already done, and Gu Wen had already finished plucking all the feathers off the first chicken.

After the family had eaten, Gu Daniu brought out the mule.

This was the last and most important market trip before the New Year. Except for the past two years when Gu Muan was still small and Chen Youyan had to stay home to watch the child and the house, in previous years the Gu family would lock the door and go out in full force.

This year, Gu Muan could run and jump on his own. Though Chen Youyan was still a bit worried and didn't want to go, Gu Muan himself absolutely insisted.

The little boy had already thrown on his cotton clothes in a messy fashion early in the morning. Though Yin Hongxue had helped him straighten them out since he'd put them on haphazardly, it still counted as dressing himself.

Then after eating, he clung to Gu Chaoning's leg and climbed onto the cart first.

With that attitude, there was no way they weren't taking him.

Seeing Chen Youyan look over, Gu Muan shuffled his little bottom, scooted to the very back of the cart, and gripped the cart tightly with his small hands.

Chen Youyan was amused by him and deliberately took a few steps forward to scare him. Gu Muan didn't dare look at him, but he also didn't dare not look.

The little boy turned his head sideways, sneaking glances at Chen Youyan from the corner of his eye.

Chen Youyan slowly reached out his hand, scaring Gu Muan so much he opened his mouth to call for his father—but Chen Youyan's hand changed direction at the last moment and gently pinched Gu Muan's nose instead.

"Stinky little boy!"

The gate was locked, and Gu Muan sat in Chen Youyan's arms while Yin Hongxue sat in Gu Chaoning's. The whole family rode along, pulled by the mule cart, bumping and swaying along the road to the big market fair.

They hadn't even made it out of the village yet when they heard laughter from a household: "Xiu Xiu! Heading to the market fair?"

Wang Xiuxiu turned around and saw Zhang Cuilan, all dressed up.

Wang Xiuxiu was good friends with her; they often chatted and did needlework together.

"Yes! Cuilan, are you coming too? Hop on, we'll take you along!"

Gu Wen, driving the cart, also reined in the mule and looked at Zhang Cuilan: "Auntie Cuilan, what are you planning to buy?"

The cart was already carrying the whole Gu family, and though it could fit two or three more, it'd be a tight squeeze.

Zhang Cuilan didn't want to impose, so she just smiled and said, "No need, I'll grab the ox cart with Xiaohua at the village entrance later. You all go on ahead."

Wang Xiuxiu urged her a couple more times, but seeing that Zhang Cuilan truly didn't want to ride, she said goodbye and they continued on.

Though the winter sun was out, the wind outside still stung like a slap in the face.

The wind made Yin Hongxue's eyelids red, and he could hardly keep his eyes open, yet he remained full of energy.

This was his very first time going to the market fair!

Before leaving, Grandma had promised she'd buy each of them a piece of fried sweet cake.

The fried sweet cake was small, made with sticky rice flour, packed with brown sugar, pressed into a flat, round shape, then deep-fried in oil until golden. One bite—the outside was greasy and crispy, the inside sweet, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth, so good it'd make you hungry again even right after a meal.

Just as he was thinking about it, all of a sudden, a fierce gust of wind blew, making the tidy little cap on Yin Hongxue's head wobble.

Yin Hongxue squinted, wanting to pull his cap down with his hand, but his hands were tucked snugly under the quilt, warm and reluctant to come out.

Unexpectedly, the wind didn't let up, blowing straight onto his bare forehead until it started to ache from the cold.

The little guy let out a sigh so quiet you could barely hear it, steeling himself.

Just as he was about to pull his hand out, a hand much larger than his reached from behind, landing on his forehead, tugging the crooked cap down and fitting it snugly back on.

Yin Hongxue turned around and saw Gu Chaoning, whose eyelids were equally red, and broke into a bright, beaming smile.

"Thanks, Chaoning Ge~"

The market fair was held in the open space at the entrance of Dukou Town.

It was right by the town and adjacent to the main road into town—spacious, convenient, with plenty of room, and even a large crowd wouldn't be a problem. It was both convenient and roomy.

At the market fair's entrance were mostly sacrificial goods—stalls selling incense, candles, paper money, door gods, kitchen god portraits, red paper, and the like—and it wasn't very crowded.

The liveliest area was further inside, in the core zone of New Year goods and food stalls.

Even from a distance, Yin Hongxue caught the bold, oily aroma of fried sweet cakes.

Wang Xiuxiu, who had been huddled under the quilt the whole way, also caught the scent. She perked up, eyes sparkling as she peered ahead.