Ordinary clear day

Chapter 76 Dragon Boat Festival

Shu Ning smiled and said: "It's just a little thought, if I can help Ahma, it's my daughter's luck."

It turned out that Zhang Bao had been out in the rain for days, and the government-made raincoat could not withstand the long-term rain, and the umbrella and coir raincoat were of little use. He would come back wet every day.In order to prevent him from catching a cold, Tong ordered Changgui to bring another clean official uniform with him, and change it when it got wet.But at the beginning, there were only two official uniforms made, how could he afford to change in half a day?If you change into casual clothes, it's not appropriate to meet the Shangguan.

Thinking of modern raincoats, Shu Ning searched for suitable materials everywhere, but accidentally found a material that the locals used to make rainproof boots. It was fashioned like a modern hooded long-sleeved raincoat, with buttons made of wood sewn on.When Zhang Bao put on his upper body, he buttoned it up, put on his raincoat and hat, and then put on his official hat, and stepped on the rainproof boots made of the same material. Not only could he move freely, but he was not afraid of the rain. Just carry it in your arms.

After Zhang Bao tried the raincoat, he found it very convenient and lighter than the coir raincoat, so he asked her to bring people to make a few more, and gave them to Mr. Su and the servants who went out with him on weekdays.A group of them walked outside, a group of black crows, and at first they scared the people outside quite a bit.

Shu Ning also secretly laughed that they were the ancient version of raincoat geeks, but when she heard from A Song that many people in the government office had learned to make such raincoats, within a few days all the officials in the Guangzhou government became raincoats When you are a strange guest, you can only be dumbfounded.

After dinner, Shuning finished her work and went to the upper room.Zhang Bao was teasing his son, bouncing him in his arms, Xian Ning seemed to like this thrilling feeling very much, and kept shouting "Ahhh".Tong Shi hurriedly said: "I just fed the milk, don't shake him so that he spits out." Zhang Bao finally held his son firmly and put him on the bed.

Shu Ning played with her father and younger brother for a while, and then said to Zhang Bao: "Ama, is there a dragon boat race on the Dragon Boat Festival? I heard it's very lively, so let's go see it too?" Tong Shi on the side glared at her At a glance, she snickered.

Zhang Bao twirled his beard and said, "Actually, this year's dragon boat race is sponsored by the government office, so all officials in the government office must go to see it, and family members can also go. This matter has been scheduled for five or six days. I was in a hurry and unexpectedly Forgot to tell you."

Shu Ning was overjoyed, but Tong Shi frowned: "It's raining all day and night, who wants to go out?"

"It doesn't matter." Zhang Baodao, "There are still a few days left. I heard from the experienced old man in the yamen that the rain will become lighter from tomorrow, and it will stop in two days. At that time, the people below will be in the Pearl River While setting up the shed, let’s just sit in the shed, drink tea and eat rice dumplings, and watch the dragon boats.”

Sure enough, the next morning, the rain became lighter. On the third day, the weather was already cloudy, and the sun would show its face from time to time.The whole family happily took all the clothes, shoes, socks, boxes, food, medicinal materials, etc., to the yard, garden or on the roof, and spread them out to dry.Ah Yin cooked a few pots of soup for the whole family to drink, saying it was "to dehumidify".Shu Ning felt that the taste was a bit strange when she drank it, but after asking, she found out that it was chicken feet eyebrow bean soup, with soil Fuling added, which was the method taught by Mrs. Chen's medicine to Ah Yin.

When Zhang Bao returned home that day, he brought a piece of good news.The day after tomorrow, Master Liang, the magistrate, wanted to send someone to the capital. Zhang Bao had already agreed with him to ask his people to help bring some things back.Tong was overjoyed when he heard the words, and was about to send something to his son in Jingli, when a ready-made courier came to his door.

It's just that Zhang Bao told her: "Don't bring too expensive things, and don't write too long a letter. After all, it's a piggyback, and it's not as good as the people sent by us." Tong nodded in agreement.

Shuning excitedly went back to her room to write a letter to her brother.Her painting skills have improved a bit now. When she was bored on rainy days, she drew a few portraits of her little brother. Although her skills were not perfect, they looked cute.In the letter, she described in detail how her younger brother grew up, and asked Duanning to convey her regards to Tongying.She was very glad that her brother didn't have too many connections with the princes, but she was also happy for him because he had a good and reliable friend.

When she handed the finished letter to Mrs. Tong, she saw that Mrs. Tong was putting a stack of letter papers into a flat box, and stuffed a few thin papers in the interlayer of the box. Looking carefully, they were all 20 taels. A small bank note.

Shuning asked: "Emiang, aren't you afraid of being taken away by others?" Mrs. Tong shook her head: "The material of this box is not expensive, and it has our family's imprint on it, so it can't be sold. I made it clear in the book that your brother will find the banknote. He is alone in Beijing, so it would be good to have more money with him.”

Shuning nodded silently, and helped her mother wrap the box with cloth.

The letter was delivered.Mrs. Tong sat in the room for a long time. Shuning brought her younger brother to her, and then she woke up. She rubbed her forehead embarrassingly, and said to her daughter with a smile: "Have the zongzi been wrapped? Let's send them out today." How?" Shuning nodded, not making fun of her.

The family servants were sent out to deliver Dragon Boat Festival gifts to the homes of Zhang Bao's superiors and colleagues.Mrs. Tong specially asked Wang's family to wear decent clothes, carrying a large basket of zongzi, a large basket of dim sum fruits, and two horseshoes, called a small car, and went to Liu's family in the south of Xianyang Street to give gifts.

After Wang Er's family came back in the evening, Mingli told Tong that everything was going well, but turned around and said quietly to her: "The old man of the Liu family doesn't seem to be well. The two grandmas were not pleasing to the eye, and they spoke venomously in secret, as if complaining that they lived at home and refused to remarry. When the servant girl was in Grandma Liu's room, she heard her say outside the house that the good marriage she found for them was rejected. They pushed, not only did not get the gift, but also lost the matchmaker’s money, and now they even have no money to buy medicine. Grandma Liu gave her a few taels of silver, and Grandma Xiao Liu was crying.”

Tong was silent for a while, told her not to spread the matter, and sent her away.

Early in the morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, the magistrate led a group of government officials to offer incense at the Nanhai Temple, praying for good weather this year and no more summer floods and autumn droughts, and Zhang Bao followed.Mrs. Tong squeezed the time, and when it was about the same time, she hugged her son and took her daughter to the edge of the Pearl River outside the city in a sedan chair.

Fortunately, she did not get sick today.

This dragon boat race is a major event with a radius of hundreds of miles. Not only the people from the Guangzhou government office arrived, but also the people from the governor's office, the general's office, Nanhai county government, and Panyu county government. The best place by the river is along the high platform. A row of sheds were built, some of which were tied with colored silk.

Zhang Bao's family was squeezed into the same shed with Liang Zhifu's family, but it was right between the sheds of the Guangzhou General and the Governor of Guangdong, which seemed a bit strange.

Mrs. Tong brought the child into the shed, saluted and said hello to Mrs. Liang, because she had nothing to do with each other, she thanked their family for helping to deliver the letter, and after a few words of greeting, she sat down at an empty table next to her.A pot of tea and a pot of realgar wine were brought up earlier, and two plates of zongzi and fruits were placed on the table.

Before the dragon boat race started, Shu Ning looked from a distance and saw that people seemed to be putting on the dragon's head and tail, so she sat down to drink tea.Tong took a sip of tea and asked someone to open a rice dumpling to try. Seeing a piece of fat pork inside, she frowned and said, "It's greasy, who eats this?"

Shu Ning thought it was very fragrant, the rice dumpling added five-spice peanuts, it tasted special.Seeing that her mother didn't like it, she smiled and said, "Er Niang doesn't want to eat it if she's tired of it. When I get home, we just made red bean rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves yesterday. Er Niang can eat that."

Tong smiled, hugged her son to tease him, and showed him the river in the distance and the people and trees on the bank.

After a while, five or six dragon boats launched into the water.A burst of loud and clear horns sounded, and there were echoing voices on both sides of the Pearl River, followed by drums, and the game began.

The dragon boats were 30 meters long, and there were about [-] people on each dragon boat. They were all middle-aged men, wearing only short jackets, shirtless, with cloth scarves of the same color as the dragon boats on their heads, listening to the drums on the bows of their respective boats. The sound, the movement is neatly paddling.

On the leading silver-white dragon boat, the drummer yelled after beating a few times. He was far away and couldn't hear what he said. Gradually, their dragon boat became faster and faster, and got rid of the Among the other dragon boats, only one crimson one was still following them closely.

The red dragon boat was different from the white one. The drummer didn't say a word, he just beat the drum with a very special rhythm, and the men behind him just immersed themselves in paddling. The dragon head of the boat was only five or six meters away.

Several dragon boats rowed across the waterway in front of Shuning's shed, and headed east again.Shuning looked nervous, jumped up and took two steps forward, looking forward on tiptoe.The two dragon boats, one red and one white, were fighting fiercely, and the people watching on the shore became excited, shouting continuously, and their voices almost shook the sky.

When they approached the finish line, the red one got faster and gradually overtook the white one, and then the white one overtook it back again. The red one refused to admit defeat, and sped up the rhythm of the drums, and slowly, little by little, caught up. , After a while, it was flush with the silver-white one.The sound of people on both sides of the strait was deafening, the drumbeat became more and more urgent, and a sprint——

The red dragon boat crossed the finish line one step ahead, and the dozens of big men on it shouted loudly with joy, and two of them even threw their oars.The people on the silver-white dragon boat slowed down their paddling speed, drooping their heads a little discouraged.

Shu Ning couldn't breathe while watching, Chun Xing was still yelling, making Su Yun look at her frequently.

Just now the audience shouted so loudly that even Shu Ning couldn't help covering his ears, and Tong Shi also wanted to cover Xian Ning's ears, but unexpectedly he was not afraid at all, instead he opened his eyes and shouted joyfully, dancing with his hands and feet, The louder the yelling, the more joyously he yelled, and Tong Shi couldn't laugh or cry because of him.

Even Mrs. Liang jokingly said, "Young master is so clever. My children would be afraid of such a momentum, but he is so happy. He must be amazing when he grows up."

Tong thanked him with a smile, and complimented her five or six-year-old son a few words, then called her daughter to come back and sit down.

Next is the ceremony of awarding red envelopes to the winners.Zhang Bao rushed to the shed, and Tong asked Suyun to pour him a cup of tea, and he sat down to rest after drinking.Shu Ning asked him if he saw the match just now, he nodded with a smile: "Of course I saw it, it was really lively. Later I will follow Master Liang to meet several other adults, you go back first." With a sound.Then Zhang Bao asked Suyun to be the messenger, conveyed Liang Zhifu's message to Mrs. Liang, and left in a hurry.

Shu Ning followed her mother back home in a sedan chair. Not long after entering the city gate, she heard a noise in front of her, and the sedan chair stopped.Sitting in the sedan chair, she asked the people outside what was going on, and after a while Wang Er came to report that two carriages ahead had collided with each other and they had to wait a little before they could pass.

Shuning had no choice but to sit in the sedan chair, and after a while, she heard a few strange words from outside, upon listening carefully, it sounded like French.With excitement in her heart, she raised the curtain and looked out. It was indeed a foreign man with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a long coat and a three-cornered hat. Next to him was a Chinese man in a robe, who was buying zongzi on the street.After a while, I bought it and left.

This was the first time Shuning saw a Westerner after traveling through time.She thought to herself, wondering if there is a chance to have a close contact?
(End of this chapter)