Flower Moon

Chapter 27 I will never marry a wife

In the evening, when Tao Yue'er carried the wooden box back, Hua Ling also burned incense in the room.

Curly white smoke rises from the incense burner, it is a faint scent of pine and grass, as if you are in a forest.Compared with the sweet and greasy fragrance in Ruan's shopkeeper's house, it makes people feel refreshed.

"What kind of incense are you burning today? It smells so good..." Tao Yueer was curious.

"Pine wood and lotus fragrance." After Hua Ling finished speaking, she slowly opened her eyes.

The incense that was burned in the past smelled better than today's, but she had no interest in these things in the past.Hua Ling was quite surprised to come back today.

I saw Tao Yue'er holding a huge box and reading a book twice the size of ordinary books, frowning like a hill.

She doesn't know a few big characters, why is she reading a book today?
Hualing leaned over, but saw that the book was densely packed, full of records of spices, and there were only words, no pictures.

"Do you understand?" Hua Ling asked.

Tao Yueer shook her head dejectedly, and closed the book: "I don't understand."

"Then are you still watching?"

"No way, to make money."

"make money?"

Tao Yue'er nodded, telling the whole story about what happened today.He emphasized: "As long as I recognize all these hundred kinds of spices within ten days, I can officially become a member of Miaoxiangtang! At that time, I will let you live comfortably for the rest of your life! You don't have to do it anymore. Rough work, maybe... Maybe I can marry you a wife!"

Hua Ling glanced at her coldly when she heard this, she didn't feel happy at all, but said with a touch of disdain: "If your goal is to let me live comfortably. And... I will never Nor will he marry a wife."

"Why?" Tao Yue'er was taken aback for a moment, never expecting Hua Ling to say that.Marrying a wife and having children, and carrying on the family line are the rules left by the ancestors. She never thought that some men would not want to marry a wife and have children.

"If you don't marry, you don't marry, there is no reason." Hua Ling didn't raise her eyelids, and continued to close her eyes and rest.

Tao Yueer's joy of finding a job seems to be nothing in front of Hua Ling.

Tao Yueer glanced at the rice soup left over from Hua Ling's lunch, and said a little discouraged: "I'll talk about it later, but now I can't even fill your stomach...but you believe me, I will definitely get Miaoxiangtang It’s a great job! At that time, not only will you be able to eat and wear warmly, but you will also be able to buy you a lot of expensive spices and beautiful incense burners!”

Hua Ling let out an "oh" and continued, "Then you have recognized all these hundred kinds of spices?"

"Not yet..." Tao Yueer's ideals are full, but the reality is very skinny to her.

"From left to right, they are agarwood, stack incense, chicken tongue incense, sandalwood, musk, rosin, maple dew..." Tao Yueer was puzzled at first, but as Hua Ling talked, she remembered "Miao The spices in the "Tang Xiang Shi" map, while corresponding to the little spices in the box, found that Hua Ling didn't even need to open the small box to see, and said the names of most of the spices, and there was no mistake.

"How did you do it?" Tao Yue'er was dumbfounded.

"smell."

"Can you smell it all from such a long distance?"

"Ah."

Tao Yueer was shocked, and said blankly: "Or, maybe you are more suitable for this position, or..." Tao Yueer said, Hua Ling coughed twice, and her complexion was two points paler than before.

Realizing that the person in front of her was not suitable to go out and show her face, Tao Yue'er immediately shut her mouth.

How could he go to do chores for others?
He is like a young master raised by a hundred servants.Now that her family is in decline, she has to find a way to maintain his dignity.

Tao Yue'er secretly warned herself that if she agreed to raise him, she should not shrink back, no matter how difficult it was, she had to overcome it!

After Tao Yue'er cooked dinner and decocted the medicine, she lit an oil lamp and identified the spices in the box according to the fragrance spectrum.

In the spice bottle, there is only a small portion of each spice, so small that it is difficult to identify their type by shape.Agarwood, sandalwood, and pine are similar in appearance, and powdered forms such as Angelica dahurica, Amomum, and Asarum are even more similar.

Near midnight, Tao Yue'er will be able to distinguish the scent of agarwood and sandalwood.At this rate, she might not be able to recognize all these spices in another month.

Hua Ling slept on the straw couch, and woke up twice in the middle, seeing that Tao Yue'er still had no intention of resting, she finally sighed, got up, moved the futon and sat down beside her.

Hua Ling: "There are many types of spices. There are more than [-] known types of spices, but no matter which one they are, they will be classified into four categories. These four categories are herbal, woody class, resin class, animal class."

Hua Ling's voice was pleasant to hear, with a hint of laziness in the clarity.

Obviously, he wasn't awake yet.

But she didn't wake up, and she couldn't watch Tao Yueer study hard alone.He continued: "Herbal spices, such as Huoxiang, fennel, Cyperus, Artemisia argyi, Asarum, Perrin, Maoxiang, etc."

As Hua Ling said, she took out the spices from the box one by one, and put the herbs in one place according to the category of the spices.

"There are relatively few woody spices, such as agarwood, storax, cinnamon, camphor, etc." He said, dividing woody spices into one place, and distinguishing them from herbal spices with a piece of dead grass.

"Resin incense, amber, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin. Finally, there are animals, such as musk, civet incense, castoreum, ambergris, etc." After Hua Ling finished speaking, she took out the last small bottle and put it aside alone. Said: "There is only the lowest grade of musk in it. Civet, beaver and ambergris are hard to find, and they won't give it to you."

Against the backdrop of the candlelight, Hua Ling's side face shone with a cool brilliance like the moonlight, and the dancing flames reflected in her eyes, shining like stars.

Tao Yue'er was stunned when she heard this. With the help of Hua Ling, this originally boring and boring matter seemed to have become a matter of course.She didn't even need to spend time memorizing it by rote, as long as Hua Ling said it once, she could take it as an imperial decree and memorize it all.

Ten days later, after memorizing the nature, flavor and shape of each spice, Tao Yue'er recalled, in addition to the spices, more of the bright red lips of the flower buds, and his delicate face comparable to the white moonlight. With every flavor of spices, it becomes more and more fragrant.

On the day of the exam, Tao Yueer came to Miaoxiang Hall as scheduled.Shopkeeper Ruan got up very early today, just to personally check Tao Yueer's study results.

Ruan Yanluo picked up two incense pills from his sleeve and asked, "Come and see what kind of incense this is."

Tao Yue'er took it, put it one foot below her nose, fanned it with her sleeve, and then savored the fragrance carefully, and said slowly: "Benzoin, according to ancient books, burning it can enlighten the gods. Most of the medicinal benzoin comes from Chen China. Before the Song Dynasty, benzoin generally came from Persia. Benzoin, frankincense, and amber are all resinous incense. The main ingredients of incense candles are amber and benzoin.”

Ruan Yanluo nodded and said, "That's right, what about the other one?"

Tao Yueer looked at the incense pills on the plate, and without even smelling them, she said, "Frankincense. According to ancient books, it is purple-red in color. The fragrance is multi-purpose. The general effect is to ward off evil spirits, treat gout, and relieve tense body and Emotions make people relax. The lighter the color of frankincense, the better. The highest grade frankincense is called silver incense. It is very precious incense. More than a hundred years ago, there was a war between Jingguo and Liuguo because of frankincense. "

Ruan Yanluo was very happy, and nodded again and again: "Not only can you distinguish the nature and flavor of spices, but you can also tell allusions. I am really surprised by the ability to infer other things from one instance. Lan Sheng, you have to learn from him."

Lan Sheng stood aside, without looking at Tao Yue'er, and nodded respectfully to Ruan Yanluo: "Yes."

She is very respectful to shopkeeper Ruan, but no matter how much the shopkeeper praises Tao Yueer, she always looks down on Tao Yueer with a cold look.

Obviously, she didn't like Tao Yue'er.

In her eyes, Tao Yue'er is just a layman who hit by mistake and cannot afford the job.

Tao Yue'er didn't take it seriously, no matter whether she liked her or not, she still called her kindly: "Hello Senior Sister. Please correct me in the future."

Lan Sheng snorted coldly, and it was his answer.

(End of this chapter)