Linxia

Chapter 112, Prosperity

Fang Lin squeezed out of the crowd and came to a roadside stall selling roasted chestnuts. The person busy at the stall was not Huang Di, so who else could it be?

Next to her was a woman who looked to be in her fifties or sixties, with gray hair and a thin face.

At this moment, she was collecting the money, and suddenly she covered her chest with her hands, squatted down, breathing rapidly, and her face turned pale.

"Auntie, are you okay?" Fang Lin helped her sit down beside him.

"Mom!" Huang Di, who was busy here, noticed it and ignored his business and hurried over.

"It's okay. Don't you know about Mom's illness? She'll be fine after a rest." The voice was soft and vague, and it was obvious that he was lacking in strength.

"Linzi, thank you for what I said just now." Huang Di said to Fang Lin: "My mother has palpitations and can't move too much, otherwise she will feel weak and short of breath..."

Then he turned around and said, "Mom, I told you, this is Fang Lin from our store."

"Mother Huang, this may be a heart problem..."

Fang Lin thought to himself, and at this moment, he suddenly understood the many details of his past interactions with Huang Di: 'Huang Di is reluctant to spend money, and is very careful with every penny he spends. It's probably because Huang's mother has a chronic disease and needs to take medicine frequently. At the beginning, when Cheng Shiliang went to the brothel and was unable to do it, Huang Di immediately said that he knew a doctor's prescription. I think it was because Huang's mother was sick and often sought medical advice.'

These details instantly connected in his mind, making him suddenly understand.

"Xiao Fang, I heard Di Zi talk about you. She said you took great care of them. She also said your mother made delicious fermented bean curd and often shared it with them. I want to thank you here... By the way, Di Zi, quickly bring some more roasted chestnuts to Xiao Fang."

"Hey!"

Huang Di agreed and packed a large portion of roasted chestnuts for Fang Lin, refusing to take money. However, Fang Lin insisted on paying and left after putting down the money.

He bought the roasted chestnuts and ate them with Fang's father, Fang's mother, and Tian Xuan. He also listened to Liu Mazi's storytelling for a while. When he thought it was about time, he told them to leave and go to Yue Lake.

Mr. and Mrs. Fang still felt a little unsatisfied.

"That's very well said by Liu Mazi."

"Yes, the tiger came and scared me."

"Is this how people eat?"

The family was talking when they came to the Moon Lake, and Fang Lin saw another familiar face.

Missy, the Italian visitor, was standing on the shore, next to a boat, gesturing and saying something, as if she wanted to get on board, but the boatman kept waving his hands to refuse.

Just at this moment, while his attention was drawn, a thin man quietly approached, reached out his hand, and reached towards Missy's waist.

But the next moment, the hand was grabbed by Fang Lin, who looked at the other party calmly: "It's over!"

"Brother, are you meddling in other people's business? This is a golden-haired barbarian."

"my friend."

"I'm sorry." The man clasped his fists and left quickly.

"Fang, nice to see you again!" Missy was excited when she saw Fang Lin. She gave him a big hug and asked, "Was that a thief just now?"

"Yes, we call them pickpockets here. There have been too many of them in the past two days. The government is short-handed. If they are sent to the police station, they will be fined and released soon."

Fang Lin shook his head and asked, "Missy, what were you talking about just now? Do you want to get on the ship?"

"Yes, I heard that this year's Bieshan Lantern is in the middle of the lake. It cost a lot of money and is very gorgeous. I want to see it, but I can't even rent a boat even if I pay." Missy said frustratedly.

"Missy, I have extra seats here. If you like, you can join me," Fang Lin invited.

"Thank you! Thank you! This is really great!" Missy excitedly gave Fang Lin another bear hug.

After bringing Mi Xi over and introducing her to Fang's father and mother, they found the location Dong Zugao mentioned and boarded the boat amid the envious gazes of the people on the shore.

Needless to say, there was a lot of politeness as they ate snacks and chatted while the boat parted the waves and headed towards the center of the lake.

Tonight, the moonlight is bright, reflected in the lake. The small boat is sailing in the lake, as if wandering in the sky, heading straight to the center of the lake. The brightly lit ship carrying the Bieshan Lantern, which looks like a fairy treasure ship, becomes clearer and clearer.

However, when there was still some distance, we couldn't get closer because there were many boats jammed. But this distance was much better than the shore, and we could see the Bieshan Lantern on the boat in the Lake Center Tower more clearly.

Everyone who had been waiting for this for a long time stood up and stood on tiptoe to look.

The turtle mountain lantern on the boat in the center of the lake looks like a rockery, huge and reaching up to the sky. When stacked together, it looks like an old turtle. If you look closely, you can see pine and cypress trees, wind gods and fire gods, colorful lanterns, bamboo skeletons, mountain monsters, water monsters, birds and beasts, fish and dragons...

Suddenly, a breeze started to blow, ripples appeared on the water, and the sound of stringed instruments and orchestras filled the air. When the music started, the lanterns on the Bieshan Mountain changed in various ways, and the various decorations slowly moved, becoming more and more flexible and lifelike. Among them, the fish shook their heads and tails, as if swimming in the water, and the golden dragon circled and danced in the air, spewing clouds and mist...

Under the lanterns on Bieshan Mountain, there are also colorful lantern trees on the boats, all brightly lit, and young girls in their twenties are dancing gracefully in their gauze dresses.

"A prosperous age, an unprecedented prosperous age!"

From where Fang Lin and the others were standing, they could see a young man in a moon-white brocade suit standing up and shouting, "Let's cook sheep and cattle for fun, and drink three hundred cups at the party..."

He was so unrestrained that the wine, worth a thousand gold coins, flowed down his neck and soaked his clothes.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
On every boat and on the shore, countless fireworks were set off continuously for a long time, lighting up the night sky and eclipsing the bright moon.

……

The beauty of the lanterns on Bieshan Mountain and the grandeur of the fireworks display are so dazzling that even after appreciating them, it takes a long time for people to recover from the shock even after turning back to the shore.

At this time, it was getting late, so everyone went their separate ways.

……

Missy returned to the inn and excitedly recorded what she had seen and heard that day, writing furiously.

Lantern Festival is an important festival for the people of Daxia in the first month of the lunar calendar, during which a lantern festival is held. There are various activities and various commodities in the lantern festival... All the goods in the world seem to be gathered here... Of course, the most worth mentioning is the Bieshan Lantern... On the shore, I met Fang and praised Fang. Because of him, I was lucky enough to take a boat to watch the Bieshan Lantern up close...

The beauty of the Bieshan Lantern is truly astonishing. Forgive me for not being able to describe it in words. Now when I think back on it, I still can’t forget it for a long time...

After watching the Bieshan Lantern, there was a grand fireworks display. There were so many fireworks and they were so dense that the light blocked out the moon... The people of Daxia were very keen on fireworks and seemed to be willing to spend any amount of money on them. I witnessed the fireworks display they held to celebrate the first month of the lunar year at the Huai'an Lantern Festival. I estimate that the gunpowder they consumed at this festival alone was enough to sustain a war of considerable size for several months...

Fang is a very learned man. I talked to him about mathematics and astronomy, and I could see that he had deep attainments in these areas. Fang is also a very interesting person. He works in a bookstore and is currently self-studying to prepare for an exam called the imperial examination. At the same time, he and Dong are in business together to run a feces industry... Forgive me, I really can't imagine that feces can become an industry, but Fang and Dong told me that feces is a very precious resource in Daxia, and an industry has indeed been formed around it. They also promised me that I could go to the site for an investigation, saying that it contains the secret of Daxia's cleanliness. I am looking forward to it...

Oh, here we need to mention the exam called the Imperial Examination. This is a very new and amazing thing. Fang told me in detail, but I didn't quite understand it. My understanding of the Imperial Examination is that in Daxia, even an ordinary person can pass this exam and become a privileged noble. It is said that Dong, who did business with him, was like this... In Daxia, scholars have an extremely high status...

……

After saying goodbye to Mi Xi, Dong Zugao and others, Fang Lin and his family returned.

On the way back, the family talked excitedly.

“The Bieshan lanterns are so beautiful!”

"Yes, no wonder it cost tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"I feel like I wasted my time in Xiaohe Village. I've only been in the city for half a year, and I've seen so many beautiful things. My life has become much better now."

Fang's mother looked at Fang Lin and said, "My son is really capable."

"Don't praise him too much..."

"You, don't you know how your manager got here?"

……

The family was talking, and Fang's father and mother were bickering as usual, and then they went back.

On the way, Fang's father met a former co-worker who used to work as a porter at the dock and said hello.

The other party saw a hat in front of a stall and wanted to buy it for his son. However, the hat was not cheap, so he haggled over the price with the vendor.

On such a festive day as the Lantern Festival, even the vendors are annoyed: "Go, go, go, if you can't afford it, don't buy it, it's a waste of my saliva!"

Mr. Fang's co-worker was not angry, but still smiled and said nice things: "I really like it, I'll give it a few cents off..."

On the way back, they saw Huang Di and her son again. The last few chestnuts they had were taken by a customer, who said, "Twenty-five cents, just keep the change," and left with twenty cents. Huang's mother shouted that it was not enough to cover her investment, but she was unable to call the man back. She lowered her head and looked dejected.

……

The moon was bright, illuminating the earth. The family returned to Xixiang Hutong. Behind them, the hustle and bustle of the street market gradually faded away.

Fang Lin held Tian Xuan's hand and walked side by side with Fang's father and mother, recalling what he had seen tonight: in the center of Yuehu Lake, the Bieshan Lantern built with tens of thousands of taels of silver, fine wine and beautiful women, fine wine worth a thousand gold flowing down the neck of the young man in brocade clothes; his father's co-worker bowed his head and smiled, negotiating the price for a hat; Huang's mother lowered her head, looking lonely, for a few cents of change for roasted chestnuts.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: 'This is a prosperous era for the nobles like those on the ship, but also for ordinary people like my family, and for poor people like my father's co-workers, Huang Di and his mother. All of them... together constitute this prosperous era.'

……

(End of this chapter)