Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

Qin Jingru had just wrapped the dumplings, put them in the pot to cook, mixed the soy sauce and vinegar sauce, and was ready to serve the dumplings so she could enjoy them.

"Bang, bang, bang." There was a knock on the door. Qin Jingru frowned and asked, "Who is it?"

"Aunt, I'm here to tell you to set off firecrackers." Xiaodang's voice sounded outside.

"Xiaodang, I'm going to sleep. I won't set off the firecrackers. You can play by yourself." Qin Jingru didn't want to open the door.

"No, aunt, I promised you. We said two are yours and two are mine. Some people say that people should keep their words." Xiao Dang didn't know who said this, but he kept it in mind.

The persistent knocking on the door made Qin Jingru unable to ignore it. She opened the door and saw not only Xiaodang but also Banggeng. When the two little guys entered the room, they smelled the fragrance of dumplings.

"Auntie, are you cooking dumplings?" Banggeng asked.

Before Qin Jingru could answer, Xiaodang asked again: "Aunt, what kind of filling do you make dumplings with?"

Qin Jingru was helpless. Even if she wanted to eat alone and didn't care about her face, she couldn't eat in front of the two children and let them watch. So she took out the chopsticks and handed them to Banggeng and Xiaodang.

Qin Jingru once again saw the skill of eating dumplings at high speed, and even at such a high speed, Banggeng could praise Qin Jingru from time to time, "Aunt, the dumplings you make are so delicious." "So delicious." "I have never eaten dumplings so delicious."

Xiao Dang would add from time to time: "My mom's dumplings are not as delicious as these. It's all meat when you take a bite, so delicious."

Such praise almost made Qin Jingru lose herself. If her rumbling stomach hadn't reminded her, she might have really forgotten that she had come back to make these dumplings because she was only half full after the New Year's Eve dinner. So, Qin Jingru stopped talking and started competing with Banggeng, but how could one person beat two people, and an adult's appetite must be larger than that of a child. After eating dozens of dumplings, Banggeng and Xiaodang were probably almost full, but Qin Jingru was still half full.

Qin Jingru looked at the empty plate, Banggeng and Xiaodang, rubbed her temples, and poured herself a bowl of soup, "If the rice is not enough, use water!"

Xiaodang and Banggeng did not forget the purpose of coming here, and took Qin Jingru out to set off firecrackers. This was the only thing Qin Jingru could be thankful for tonight.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Sha Zhu got up, prepared breakfast, and ate with his master before going to visit several uncles and aunts. After Sha Zhu reconciled with his master, he reconnected with several of He Daqing's brothers. Although these uncles and aunts were not as close to Sha Zhu as Master Sun, they still cared about him. When they heard that he was blind before, they asked him to pay more attention or go to the hospital for a check-up.

There are five brothers who burn incense with He Daqing. He Daqing is the third oldest. The eldest is Cheng Shujie, who is also a chef. He specializes in palace cuisine and is the chef at Liuquanju.

The second son, Lan Bingli, is a gourmet. His ancestors served as captains in the Han Army Banner of the Bordered Blue Banner, but he no longer held any position. However, he became a gourmet because he had eaten and seen the food from his elders. He used to make a living by writing food reviews, and he became familiar with He Daqing and others. They had a similar sense of righteousness, so they kowtowed to each other and became brothers.

The fourth one is Sha Zhu’s master, Sun Fuxiang.

The fifth brother, Xie Chunsheng, is also a chef. He is a fellow apprentice of He Daqing. They learned Beijing-style Sichuan cuisine together. He is now the master chef of Emei Restaurant.

Sha Zhu first went to his uncle Cheng Shujie's house, who lived the farthest away, carrying a box of snacks. After he kowtowed to Uncle Cheng and wished him a happy new year, his uncle's eldest son asked Sha Zhu to sit aside and drink water and chat with him. Brother Cheng learned cooking from his father and now also worked at Liuquanju. When chefs are together, they must exchange cooking experiences. The Tan family cuisine passed down by Sha Zhu's family is a kind of official cuisine. It is the same as the palace cuisine, which emphasizes the use of high-quality ingredients, but the palace cuisine is more sophisticated and technical in terms of the preparation of dishes. Sha Zhu took the opportunity to ask Brother Cheng about some of his doubts and shortcomings in cooking. Although the quality ingredients are limited now, he can learn more and listen more, and write them down in case he needs them in the future. This chat lasted more than an hour. Sha Zhu wanted to go to the two uncles' houses that he had not visited yet, so he made an appointment with Brother Cheng to meet him at Liuquanju after the New Year and learn from him then.

When he arrived at Lan Bingli and Xie Chunsheng's house, he didn't stay long because he had to take his wife to the temple fair in the afternoon. He kowtowed and stayed for a while. It happened that other guests came to each family to pay New Year's greetings, so Sha Zhu said goodbye to the two and returned to his master's house.

Arriving at the master's house, well, there were a whole room of people, and several fellow apprentices should have come together by appointment. I heard that Sha Zhu and his friends were going to the temple fair in Changdian this afternoon. We had been holding back for several years, and we rarely had the chance to hang out in the building every day. It just so happened that there was something going on, so wouldn't it be boring if we didn't go together? We all agreed to go home and bring our families, and meet at Hepingmen.

This made Yu Shui very happy. It would not be lively if she and Yu Li, the two little girls, went there, and her sister-in-law was pregnant and couldn't make too much noise. Now many sisters-in-law and children came back, and the scene and scale were fun to think about.

The Changdian Temple Fair starts from Hepingmen in the north, reaches Liangjiayuan in the south, Nanbeiliuxiang in the west, and Yanshousi Street in the east, with Xinhua Street, Haiwang Village, Fire God Temple, and Lu Zu Temple as its core areas.

The master and his disciples were a group of seven or eight men, eight or nine women, and six or seven children. It was a very powerful lineup.

After entering the main street, Sha Zhu saw someone selling candied haws and bought one for each of the children, Yu Shui. Yu Shui was fine holding the candied haws, but the other two children, who were just six or seven years old, were holding candied haws that were almost as tall as themselves. They didn't know whether they should be happy or feel that Uncle Zhuzi was bringing too much of a burden to them.

This scene made the master's wife laugh. Yu Li looked at the children's embarrassed expressions and took photos of Sha Zhu. Several other brothers also said that Sha Zhu was a little out of his element. Fortunately, the children's mothers couldn't bear to see that the children were too tired and helped them to eat some. The sweet taste of joy was not only in their hearts, but also in their mouths.

Yu Shui took the sisters-in-law and the children to watch various bridge tricks, including monkey shows, magic tricks, people balancing pots on the bridge board, playing with diabolos, and people using slingshots to hit bottles and tea bowls... all kinds of things that were rarely seen before. There were also people blowing sugar figurines and making dough figurines, and the children watched them intently, which were much more attractive than balancing pots and playing with diabolos. If it weren't for the candied haws bought by Uncle Zhuzi, they would have picked another candied haws or dough figurines to take home. I guess when they get home in the evening, the children will definitely complain about why Uncle Zhuzi generously bought them candied haws, because they are too big! It would be better to change to two small ones so that they can play with them alternately.

A group of people were strolling around when a few people on stilts came out from the side. The children followed the drum beats of the stilt team and jumped and danced behind them, looking very happy. Fortunately, there were so many of them that they kept a close eye on the children and did not let them get lost.

Master Sun saw the windmill sellers with a small drum behind the round windmills. The windmills had one wheel, two wheels, four wheels, six wheels, and even seven or eight wheels. When the wind blew, the seven or eight windmill wheels turned, and the small drums behind them rang. So he bought an eight-wheeled windmill for each child. When several children stood together, it was colorful and beautiful, and the small drums rang, creating a festive atmosphere.

On the way back, Yu Shui saw a lot of children being arranged in a field. Looking closely, it seemed that there were only seven or eight adults taking care of them, but there were 20 or 30 children. It was a strange scene.

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Source of information about temple fairs: [Focus Interview] Another Temple Fair - Memories of the Year of the Rabbit Spring Festival in 1963, available online