People in Datang, start with a golden hoe

The post station is located on Zhuque Street, close to Honglu Temple. The road in front of the door is accessible, and there is no pressure when dozens of horses are lined up side by side. It's New Year's Day now, and there aren't many people in the inn. The official from the Ministry of Rites booked Cai Xiaolan a house facing the street. There was no one outside the window, except for the occasional patrol and watchmen passing by.

The cold wind howled and scattered snowflakes.

"It's actually snowing!" Cai Xiaolan said she was lucky.

If it had been a day or two earlier, they might have been delayed on the road for another four or five days.

Not far outside the window, there is a mobile stall pulled by a cart, which is steaming "burst" and "burst". There is a lamp hanging on the diagonal corner of the cart, swaying left and right, but it is as dim as ever. Cai Xiaolan wanted to go to the car to get some dry and cold hard objects to pad her belly, but now that she saw it, her mouth immediately overflowed.

"Sister-in-law Xiaolan, I'm hungry!" Xu Xiaoqin was also lying next to the window, drooling.

"Let's go and try Chang'an's midnight snacks."

……

"Old man, what do you have to eat?" Cai Xiaolan asked.

The old man who was sitting behind the trolley to keep warm raised his head and looked at the visitor. Although he was not as graceful as a lady, his simple dress had a somewhat extraordinary flavor. The little girl next to him had lively eyes and her clothes were equally extraordinary. I thought to myself: "This is a big business!"

"Guest, we have wontons, tofu puffs, and thick rice porridge."

Cai Xiaolan's eyes lit up when she heard about tofu pudding. She didn't expect that there was also tofu pudding in Chang'an.

"A bowl of tofu! Xiaoqin, what do you want?"

"I want a bowl of wontons!" Xu Xiaoqin likes to eat meat.

"Guests are in for a treat. This tofu noodle comes from Yangzhou Prefecture. There are only two places in the world where you can get it." The old man praised the tofu noodle, and at the same time there was a hint of joy in his heart.

Although the mobile shop is small, it still has a place for heating. The old man used a large piece of grass cloth to cover it. As long as people sit down, the wind and snow outside will not blow them.

After a while, a bowl of tofu puffs, a bowl of wontons, and a plate of pickles were served on the table.

Cai Xiaolan took a look and couldn't help but feel anxious about the circulation between the north and the south in ancient times. This was not tofu curd. It was just freshly baked tofu curd - uncompacted tofu.

"Guest, the pickles are for free. I also have a few side dishes here, do you want them?" The old man's face turned red, and he was so excited by the stove.

The old man's face was so strange that it reminded Cai Xiaolan of some bad memories: outside the tourist attractions, honest and simple uncles and aunts would put their own agricultural products or handicrafts in their cars. The simpler the smiles on their faces, the higher the price. , the bigger the pit becomes.

"Does the side dish cost money?" Cai Xiaolan asked habitually, completely forgetting that she was not Wu Xia Ameng and had a high income.

The old man paused and said, "It's a small business to earn some hard money."

"Let's have some of the same!" Cai Xiaolan decided to step on the trap. After all, it was New Year's Eve dinner, and sitting next to her was Xu Xiaoqin, who was moaning because of hunger.

The hall of Tianfu Jucai Residence, far away in Yangzhou Prefecture, was still bright at this moment. The three of them called all the clerks and female workers in the family. About ten people were making hot pot in the room, eating, singing and dancing. It was lively. Thinking of peace in the midst of the turmoil, Xu Yinlian, who was not spending the New Year with Cai Xiaolan and Xu Xiaoqin for the first time, suddenly had a thought, "I wonder if Xiaolan and Xiaoqin have something to eat in Chang'an?"

The words were heard by Jiang Lihua on the side, causing her to sneer, "Sister Xu, the emperor invited her there, how can he treat her badly? Now they must be eating delicacies from the mountains and seas!"

If Cai Xiaolan could hear what she said, he would have scolded her, "Where do these delicacies come from?"

……

In the early morning, when the sun just peeked out from the easternmost skyline, a family of young people who got up early lit the neatly piled bamboos. The yellow bamboo pole with its head and tail cut off turns red and hot in the flames. With a "bang" sound, the air inside breaks through the restraints of the bamboo skin and merges into the collective. Each bamboo has many knots, and as soon as each knot is sounded, dozens of bamboos are set off in the fire, and the streets and alleys explode into pieces.

"The sound of firecrackers brings a new year to the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu; thousands of households always exchange new peaches for old charms." Cai Xiaolan, who was awakened by the sound of firecrackers, suddenly sighed with emotion and read out a well-known poem. .

As the saying goes: A Chinese medicine doctor is half a scholar. Xu Xiaoqin has been studying medicine for three years and her cultural level is not low. After hearing the poem Cai Xiaolan recited, I thought about it for a while, and realized that it contained both a festive atmosphere and a fresh new idea. I couldn't help but praise: "Sister-in-law Xiaolan said she wasn't good at poetry, but the poem just now was even better for me as a little girl." Even children can understand that Youdao is 'explaining the profound things in a simple way, and concisely speaking with rich meanings'!"

"You - you have sharp ears!" Cai Xiaolan did not explain anymore, she copied this song from the future, "Get up and clean up, and go to dinner with me later."

There are not many guests at the inn, but two meals a day are served as usual. After the two of them finished eating, they went out together to enjoy the snowy scenery of Chang'an. Most of the houses are closed, with the door panels removed and put aside, but not many of them. In this weather, the poor people stayed at home to keep warm. The rich people were not afraid of the cold and held snow appreciation and poetry banquets in the thermal pavilions. There were not many people on the streets.

"Sister-in-law Xiaolan, Chang'an is not as lively as Yangzhou, and there are no people on the streets." Xu Xiaoqin played in the snow for a while, her face turned red from the cold, and she got tired of it after a while.

This moment when the sky and the earth are all white is actually boring.

Cai Xiaolan wanted to see the scenery of Chang'an, but now that she had seen it, she felt it was too lonely, and wanted to find a lively place. She knew that there was a place that, throughout the ages, during the New Year, there were so many people inside and outside. .

"If you want to go to a lively place, come with me!" There was a map of Chang'an hung on the wall of the inn, and she knew that there was a large temple nearby - Huayan Temple.

People compete for a breath, Buddha competes for a stick of incense. The first incense stick of the New Year is too particular. Cai Xiaolan and Xu Xiaoqin just saw a section of red temple wall and heard the roar of people.

"Haha, I heard it, a lot of people were talking." Xu Xiaoqin's ears were sensitive.

"Come on, there must be someone selling biscuits inside! Let's buy two with meat."

Xu Xiaoqin's feet became much stronger and she walked forward quickly, leaving deep footprints on the spot.

After walking through the snow for another half moment, we turned a corner and saw a large, empty flat land. Horse-drawn carriages, flat cars, and people were all crowded together. The human voice just now obviously came from here.

"Sister-in-law Xiaolan, Hu Cake!" Xu Xiaoqin rushed over.

The journey from Yangzhou to Chang'an was a hurried march and there was no time to eat or drink well; when we arrived at the post station, there was not much oil or water for steaming or cooking vegetables. Now that she saw the oily biscuits, Cai Xiaolan's steps became much lighter, "Boss, I want four biscuits!"

"Okay. Buddhism is open today. Each Hu pancake is three cents less, and Chenghui eighty is eight cents!" The boss immediately put four mutton pancakes into the pot, and the oil started to simmer.