The ancient life of a master craftsman

The township examination was held in Acropolis, the prefectural city of Yanbei Province, and the date was set on September [-]th, three days later than the first session of the Tongsheng examination.

When Li Enbai set off for the Acropolis, Mu Haishan, Qing Geer's three older brothers, and Zhang Song were all struggling in the cramped test house.

The five of them were not as calm and unhurried as Li Enbai was at the beginning. They were scratching their heads, and they didn't care about the environment at all. Their noses seemed to be malfunctioning, and they couldn't smell any peculiar smell.

As soon as they left the examination room, they saw their brothers coming to pick them up, lying on the carriage like zombies, unconscious.

Although Li Enbai on the other side also felt a little nervous before the exam, he still remained calm and prepared without panic.

This time he went to the Acropolis for a long time, a full month, so he didn't intend to let Yunli stay at home.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and there were many restrictions on brothers and women. Many people spent their entire lives in small inner houses and became men's vassals.

But he wanted to see every plant and tree in the Song Dynasty with Yunli, not to be a vassal to him and act according to his preferences, but to rely on each other, support each other, and join hands for a lifetime.

A place like the Acropolis is already a long, long way away for Yunli.

If Li Enbai hadn't participated in the township examination here, he might never have the opportunity to come to Weicheng, and he would spend his whole life in the county town, Xinglong Town, and Huaimu Village.

The Acropolis is much larger than the Stone City, more prosperous and lively.

But the law and order is much better than Shicheng, and there are city soldiers patrolling here every day.

They lined up to enter the city, and the officers and soldiers guarding the city gate saw their guides and learned that Li Enbai was a student who came to take the exam, so they pointed them to the way to the exam institute.

The attitude is very kind, which makes people feel good. The first impression of the Acropolis is very good.

Li Enbai took Yunli to the examination institute and walked around it. It seemed that it was no different from the examination institute in Shicheng before, so they went to the place where they stayed first.

This time, the place where they settled was not close to the examination institute, but it was still very quiet. It was very suitable for studying with peace of mind. The whole yard was not facing the street, and there would be no noisy sounds even when there were markets in the morning and evening.

After seeing it, Li Enbai was very satisfied. He paid more attention to whether the surroundings were quiet and safe, and he really didn't have any requirements for the specific accommodation conditions.

Yunli knew what he was thinking. Seeing that Li Enbai was very satisfied with the surroundings, he knew that he would stay here for a few days.

Therefore, I checked the environment very carefully. The bedroom is sunny and will not be humid, and the seasoning in the kitchen is also complete, so I will not be unable to cook and get blind.

It's just that the yard is a bit big, and it might take half a day for the three of them to clean it, but he doesn't want to waste such a long time, he still has to prepare food for Brother En.

This time, the township examination lasted for five consecutive days, so food had to be prepared in advance, and En Ge hadn’t brought a charcoal fire before, but this time, he had to bring it so that he could heat up the stove by himself if it was cold at night.

Yunli planned this in her heart and thought a lot about it.

This time they came out, four of them came out together, so that when Li Enbai went to the exam for a few days, Yunli could also have a company.

Although Zhang Jiu knew that Li Enbai liked to take Yunli out, he still didn't understand Li Enbai's decision to bring Yunli to the Acropolis.

But he wisely didn't ask, but silently followed Li Enbai's instructions.

"Is it almost ready? I heard that there is a night market in Acropolis, which is very bustling. Do you want to visit it?"

They arrived at Acropolis at noon, tidied up the yard and room, and when it was sunset, Li Enbai proposed to go out for a walk, which was agreed by Yunli.

So they locked the courtyard door again, and went to the night market in Acropolis together.

The night market in Acropolis is also in Xicheng District. They walked slowly, and there were all kinds of customers in the shops along the streets.

"It's time for excitement." Yunli watched as the last ray of sunset glow disappeared into the night.

Surrounded by the noise of people coming and going, the people around him held his hand tightly, just like they did when they went to the market in Xinglong Town, helping him to avoid the impact of the crowd calmly.

Yunli's brows and eyes were curved when she smiled, very sweet.

Li Enbai nodded his nose, "What are you kidding about?"

"It's nothing, I just feel happy." Yunli shook his hand and replied.

Li Enbai didn't bother to ask, but took him to see the small stalls on the side of the road. If Yunli was interested, he would stop and have a look. If he liked it, he would buy it. If not, he would go to the next one.

So before the night market was reached, Li Enbai already had some things in his hand.

The night market is the busiest place in the Acropolis from evening to before curfew.

Rows of lanterns hung high, even if they swayed in the wind, they only left mottled shadows, and the light in the whole night market was very bright, just like daytime.

They entered from the entrance of the night market. Although there were many people inside, it was not crowded. Everyone consciously separated the left and right sides, leaving a little space in the middle, so that it was convenient for each other to change directions.

Yunli smelled a tempting aroma, which was the aroma of pork, but it was more fragrant than the pork he usually ate, and his mouth watered when he smelled it.

They followed the smell to find a roast pork stall. The stall owner was frying pork slices of moderate thickness in a pan, and each slice was fat and thin.

Marinated in advance, at this time fry in the pan until both sides are golden, brush the sauce and put it on the iron plate next to it at high temperature for a while, a piece of fried pork slices that are fragrant, bomby, crispy and full of umami is ready up.

There were already many people waiting around the small stall, but fortunately, the stall owner acted very quickly, and within a short while, everyone around got their share.

Yunli asked for two copies, one for him and Li Enbai, and one for Zhang Jiu and Shuangzhong.

There are still many stalls selling snacks in the night market, and they can try everything, so they are not in a hurry to fill their stomachs.

Walking and strolling, stopping and going, Yunli was also half full, but he always felt that there was something missing. He looked around, as if he was looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Li Enbai was still holding his hand, holding the snacks they hadn't finished before.

Yunli looked around, "Looking for..." He saw the bright red fruit stuck on the pole, and found it!Candied haws! "

The northerners really like candied haws, a sour and sweet snack. Looking at the crystal-clear sugar coating on the outside of the hawthorn, it makes the red color of the hawthorn even more vivid.

"Candy - gourd! Selling candy - gourd!" the peddler yelled as he carried a pole full of candied haws.

"Wait, I want two bunches of candied haws!" Yunli pulled Li Enbai and ran forward a few steps, catching up with the candied haws seller.

The peddler poked the pole on the ground, grabbed it with one hand, and waited to fetch candied haws for Yunli with the other, "Which two do this husband like?"

"This, and this!" Yunli picked out two bunches of big and round ones, and asked the vendor to take them down.

Li Enbai took out the copper coins to the peddler, and Yunli had already handed one of the bunches to Zhang Jiu, "Brother Jiu, here, you and Shuangzhong share the food."

Candied haws, no matter how you eat them when you are young, you will never get tired of eating them. When you grow up, you can only eat a few to satisfy your cravings. If you eat too much, your teeth will become sore.

Yunli also ate one by herself, so Li Enbai ate one. The two of them shared a bunch of candied haws. They just felt that the candied haws they bought today were extraordinarily sweet.

"It seems that I'm quite good at picking candied haws. This one is so sweet." Yunli chewed on the icing, the shattered icing made a rattling sound, and her mouth was filled with a slightly sour but sweet taste.

After eating candied haws, Yunli felt that her appetite improved a lot. When she saw a place selling small wontons, she dragged Li Enbai over, intending to order two bowls of small wontons.

"Boss, here are four bowls of small wontons."

When Yunli and the others walked to the stall, a table of guests happened to leave, and they could still find a place to sit.

The boss introduced while copying the table, "We have meat stuffing, vegetarian stuffing and egg stuffing here, what kind of stuffing do you four want to eat?"

"It's meaty."

"Okay, I'll serve it to you right away." The boss took the bowl away and said, "We also have the Acropolis special stick noodle pastry here. Would you like to try two?"

The boss seemed to see that Yunli was the one who made the decision among the four, and he had been selling Yunli all the time. Yunli had never eaten stick noodles, so he was a little curious, so let me tell you two.

The boss happily went to cook the wontons, and after a while, the small wontons and the sliced ​​buns were brought over.

The so-called stick noodles are actually pies, but the noodles it uses are not very fine noodles ground from corn, the filling in the middle is wild vegetables and pork, and the whole pastry is fried in oil.

It was about the size of an adult's palm, and even if it was cut open, it was quite a portion, and the price was a little bit more expensive, but Yunli and the others didn't care about this. One person ate half of it, and felt that this dish was quite delicious.

Served with a bowl of small wontons, it was very filling, and Yunli couldn't eat anything else, and they only visited half of the night market in Acropolis.

After making an appointment to come back after a while, the four of them went back to the residence. After a day of exhaustion, they lay down on the bed after washing up, and slept very soundly even after touching the pillows.

On the second day, Li Enbai was still under the influence of his biological clock and woke up at dawn, but Yunli was still in a deep sleep.

Gently landed on the ground, Li Enbai dropped a kiss on his face, in order not to wake him up, Li Enbai took a basin to another room to wash up.

The yard I rented this time was bigger than the previous one. There were only the four of them, and it looked a little empty, but it was very quiet.

After washing up, Li Enbai went to the temporary study room that was simply cleaned up yesterday, and calmed down to review his confusing and error-prone articles.

Once you set your mind to do something, time will pass very quickly.

When Yunli came to ask him to have breakfast, it was already an hour later that he felt the rumbling of hunger in his stomach, obviously he was too hungry.

The breakfast was prepared by Zhang Jiu. The millet porridge was served with the pickles they brought, and thin spring pancakes. The spring pancakes were filled with fresh shredded cucumbers and moderately salty steamed pork slices.

The millet porridge is thick, and it is very comfortable to drink to warm the stomach. Although the meat is rolled in the spring pancake, it is not greasy at all, but very refreshing.

After Li Enbai ate four spring pancakes, he drank a bowl of porridge, and immediately felt comfortable and refreshed.

I turned around and ran back to the study to read. The day after tomorrow is the rural examination. The more I prepare, the more at ease I will feel.