I am Fugui

Chapter 76 Tongyou Tea Tavern

The sun hangs high in the sky, casting endless rays of light, stretching the shadows of pedestrians on the street.

The sky is cloudless and blue, the dead trees sprout buds under the vitality, and the melodious birdsong echoes in my ears.

Xu Fugui unbuttoned his cotton coat, walked under the sun, and felt the warm sunshine of early spring.

"Selling lo-mei, selling lo-mei, delicious lo-mei." He raised his voice and began to sell on the street, while using a cattail fan to diffuse the aroma of lo-mei.

"Master, that girl is pretty." Laishun who was next to him suddenly interjected.

Following his gaze, a plump middle-aged woman wearing a floral padded jacket passed by with a bamboo basket on her shoulders.

Xu Fugui patted him on the head, "I don't look for young and beautiful girls who are worthless."

Laishun straightened his felt hat, "Hey, I think those young people are too small, just like children."

Too lazy to pay attention to him, Xu Fugui saw that there was no one patronizing for a while, took out a small bench from under the stall, and sat on it.

"Fugui, do you know when this Tongyou Tea Tavern will open?" Kang Baozi on the side also had time to chat.

Xu Fugui glanced at the tea tavern on the opposite side. The black door was closed tightly, and a large plaque was written with big characters of flamboyant and flying phoenix dances. There were even Spring Festival couplets pasted up, and a red carpet was laid out in front of the door, which looked very festive.

"I heard it's coming today."

"It's probably true. You can see that they have laid out the red carpet."

As soon as the words fell, the doors of Tongyou Tea Tavern were opened one by one, and two guys walked out from inside, each holding a hexagram to set off firecrackers.

After lighting it with a match, the crackling sound exploded in the street instantly, and the attention of passers-by was attracted.

Afterwards, a man and a woman came out from the tea tavern. The two looked about thirty years old. The man had sharp brows and eagle eyes, and was wearing a black silk gown. His back was straight and his eyes were extremely determined.

The woman was dressed in the same spirit, with her hair coiled up high and her eyes full of brilliance, like a female general.

"Fathers and folks, please take your time. The shop officially opened today, selling tea, wine and side dishes. I hope you will come and join us."

The man cupped his hands, said a few words about the opening ceremony, and walked into the teahouse.

The woman waved her hand, and a team of gongs and drums came out of the teahouse and began to beat gongs and drums, the sound was so loud.

Following the sound of the gong and drum team, Xu Fugui yelled loudly, "Sell lo-mei, sell lo-mei!"

His voice was so thick and loud that it actually covered the sound of the gongs and drums for a while.

The heroic woman looked at him curiously and walked over.

Xu Fugui stopped yelling, thinking that this person would not be so stingy, even if he rubbed against the gong and drum team?
The heroic woman walked over with strides, and the brown leather shoes knocked on the bluestone board, making a crisp sound.

"Hello, I'm the proprietress of Tongyou Tea Tavern. My name is Du Shanying. I'm new here. Please take care of me." Walking closer, the heroic woman stretched out her hand and greeted her gently, speaking in Mandarin with a perfect accent. .

Xu Fugui was stunned for a moment, feeling a little weird in his heart, before he had time to think, he wiped his hands vigorously on the clothes, squeezed them lightly, and let go.

"Hi Boss Du, my name is Xu Fugui, he is my younger brother Laishun, we just sell lo mei, we need you to take care of us."

Du Shanying chuckled, greeted Kang Baozi next to him, and said to them: "If you are done with work later, why not come in for a cup of tea, the first day of opening is free."

Xu Fugui nodded carelessly, "Success, Boss Du is arrogant, by the way, why does Boss Du want to open a shop in our small county? To be honest, he can't make much money."

While talking, he picked up a kitchen knife, cut off a piece of pork head, and quickly cut it into small pieces.

Du Shanying explained: "I was originally from Yunxi, but when I was more than ten years old, I went to other places because I was fleeing a disaster. Didn't I hear that there was peace? I just came back and wanted to start a small business and settle down."

Xu Fugui nodded suddenly, and put the pork head meat in the oily paper, "Hey, Boss Du, I braised the pork head meat myself, you can take it and taste it, and take care of my business in the future."

Kang Baozi, who was listening to them, saw this, smacked his mouth, and hurriedly took out two meat buns and handed them over.

Du Shanying couldn't shirk it, so she accepted it.

"Okay, you guys are busy, come and sit down later and cheer us on." She said.

"no problem."

Du Shanying turned her head and left, warmly greeting the guests at the door.

"Fugui, this rich man speaks differently. He is polite to everyone and invites the three of us to drink tea. Will you come later?" Kang Baozi put the lid on the steamer.

"Go, why not go?"

Xu Fugui sat on the wooden bench, licked his chapped lips, took out the water bottle and took a big sip, basking in the sun comfortably.

After basking in the sun, sleepiness surged, I put the melon skin cap on my face, closed my eyes and began to take a nap.

"Laishun, remember to greet people." He ordered casually.

After a while, a glutinous voice suddenly came to my ears, "Grandpa, what is this, it smells so good."

Taking the melon skin cap off her face, a little girl about seven or eight years old stood in front of the lo mei stall, gulping her saliva. Her little face was dirty, her hair was withered and yellow, and she was skinny and malnourished.

Next to the little girl was an old man with a hunched back, holding something in a gray cloth in his hand, and being cautious in every move.

Another pair of poor father and mother.

Xu Fugui closed his eyes again, his heart softened, he could not see the suffering in the world.

There are too many people who are suffering. If he dares to be kind, his family will not even want to eat.

"What are you selling here? What's the price?" The old man pointed at the lo mei and asked in a low voice.

Lai Shun glanced at them, pointed to the signboard of Xu Ji Braised Meat, and pointed to the price in front of the stall.

The old man's expression was even more embarrassed, "Well, I can't read."

Laishun said patiently: "Old man, what we sell is braised meat, and the price is not cheap. Pig ears cost 150 copper coins per catty, and braised eggs are cheaper, costing more than 20 copper coins per catty."

The old man took a deep breath, immediately dismissed the idea, and pulled the little girl away.

The little girl glanced at the lo mei on the stall, swallowed hard, and followed her grandfather helplessly.

Unexpectedly, after a while, the old man came back again, opened the gray cloth, and begged: "The old thing passed down from the family, why don't you take a look?"

Xu Fugui stood up, his tall body made the old man back a few words.

"Old man, don't be afraid, let me see what it is first."

Xu Fugui said softly, took the object in his hand, and looked at it carefully.

A black ceramic jar with a pig's head, which seems to be used to hold copper coins, not something expensive
(End of this chapter)