Blissful Days After Widowhood

Gu Yin has long thought about sponsorship.

A few days before the lantern festival, she and Mrs Wang took time to visit the county magistrate.

Before the trial of the Wang family's case was over, they had come here once, because they knew that the county magistrate had a clean sleeve, so they didn't send anything valuable, just the snacks made by Gu Yin herself.

After asking someone to pass it on, the county magistrate received them and asked them if they had encountered anything. After all, most people come to the yamen to complain.

Gu Yin said no, and directly stated her intention to sponsor the lantern festival.

The Lantern Festival is a custom in Hanshan Town. It is organized by the yamen, but the yamen does not charge money from the merchants for this event, only the basic venue rent, and the rent received is of course used for to maintain the basic operations of the town.

The county magistrate asked her what she needed to do in the yamen, and Gu Yin said: "Actually, there is no need to do anything, just put our own banners around the lantern festival to promote our moon cakes. In terms of sponsorship fees, I also listen to the meaning of the eldest man."

"It's just like this..." The county magistrate thought for a while, "Then the official thinks it's just a little effort and not troublesome. You don't need the sponsorship fee you mentioned. It happened that you were the case last time. For making suggestions, this official has not rewarded you yet."

The county magistrate has a clear temperament of rewards and punishments. He knew that the Wang family had adopted Gu Ye and rewarded her. In that trial, Gu Yin offered advice twice, which greatly improved the efficiency of handling the case. Although most of the credit was taken by the prefect, the county magistrate was also rewarded, and he was given a half-hearted mention in the assessment. Later, when Gu Yinlai delivered snacks, he mentioned this.

Gu Yin refused at that time, and she offered the proposal because it was a case related to her own family, and she didn't want to go for meritorious service. Moreover, the yamen is really poor, and she can't let her be like her own mother-in-law, and let the arresters come to work for her.

Now that the county magistrate mentioned it again, he obviously hadn't forgotten to owe her an award.

Gu Yin did not refuse any more, she only said: "Then how about I send another 100 moon cakes? The right to dispose of moon cakes is in the hands of the eldest man, whether it is to reward the public and family members, or send them to charity. All the lonely and widowed old people in the hall and the town are at your disposal."

This speaks to the heart of the county magistrate. During a festival like the Mid-Autumn Festival, the county magistrate originally wanted to send some gifts. But the poor are really poor. Every year, they wait for the rent of the lantern festival to be collected, and then rush to buy things and distribute them. The time is in a hurry, and there are leaks every year.

So it went so smoothly, Gu Yin exchanged 100 moon cakes for the exclusive sponsorship of the lantern festival, and the county magistrate did not do anything, he let Li Huotou eat for the sky He helped to put up the banner, making sure that every citizen who came to the lantern festival could see the banner, and even tapped his official seal on the sign, indicating that it was licensed by the yamen, and others could not damage it at will.

Before the night fell, the people who came to participate in the lantern festival in advance saw the huge banner of food for the sky.

The theme of the lantern festival is naturally watching lanterns and guessing lantern riddles. Gu Yin also sent people moon cakes. The taste is naturally the same as the ones sold in the store, but they are much smaller and one piece. The cost is about two cents. A few pieces are given to each booth, and the owner of the lantern booth can give colorful hair to those who guess the lantern riddle correctly as a prize.

Because it was given free of charge, with moon cakes, the owner of the lantern stall also saved a part of the money for preparing prizes, and naturally he was not unwilling.

The sign of the home stands on the stall, and orders can be placed on the spot.

Mr. Bai of Hanxiang Tower and Wang Dafu of Wangyue Tower were almost furious when they saw it.

I said before that Shiweitian was just making a little noise this time, and didn't make a big deal out of it, and the co-author is waiting for them here!

How many people can the children they train to sing to sing? How many people can it affect?

This banner can be seen by anyone who is not blind. Of course, there are people who are illiterate, but when you see such a big banner, as long as you are not dumb, you will definitely ask someone to find out what is written on it.

But there is no way, the secret weapon that has been trained for so long, it should be used.

Then they discovered that they had only trained a dozen or so children, and the two families added up to around 30 children.

But as soon as the child was released, he was surrounded by another group of children.

As Gu Ye said, the few of them have not been trained in advance, and they can't sing any children's songs that are especially proud of their own.

But then he heard his mother say there are other ways of publicity, so he changed his mind-

The ratio is not comparable, then do the opposite.

He has already divided two teams, one team is led by himself, and the other team is led by Fan Jinsong, waiting at the lantern festival.

When the trained, face-to-face children came, they would follow, either fighting or laughing beside them.

If several children sing a nursery rhyme together, it is so cute and gratifying that people can't help hearing what they sing.

But all of a sudden, ten or twenty children get together in a pile, laughing and making trouble. The adults will naturally feel a little bored and avoid it.

Because of this, the voices of the children trained in the two restaurants became hoarse. After a lantern festival, two or three more people came to ask them what they were singing.

They are about to report the name of the restaurant, and those children who follow them will have an "accident".

I fell down next to me, distracting the other party, I cried suddenly, said I couldn't find my family and asked for help, and I suddenly started sneezing with snot and saliva , let the other party see it and immediately left in disgust...

The two restaurants suffered a loss last time. The children selected this time are all children of their own, and the adults in the family have warned them that this work is related to the adults' jobs, so they can't be sloppy.

It has been like this all the time, and they are also angry, but there are so many people on the other side that they can't beat them, and they can't scold them.

When the first day of the lantern festival ended, Shiweitian received nearly 300 more orders for moon cakes, while Wangyuelou and Hanxianglou received a bunch of children who were crying with anger.

The quarrel made Mr. Bai and Wang Dafu a lot of trouble, so I can only say that I don't blame them, and the wages are paid.

The two of them have deep pockets and can afford a lot of sponsorship fees.

But although the county magistrate lacks money, he also has a bottom line. Since he promised Gu Yin first, he will definitely not go back on his promises.

In a place like Yamen, Master Bai and Dafu Wang didn't dare to entangle, and they could only hold their noses after being rejected.

As for sending moon cakes to the stalls to be the lucky draw, this is the only way to go for cheap moon cakes. Their moon cakes are priced at a high price, and they will immediately drop the grade if they are sent out for nothing. And they didn't make small moon cakes beforehand, and they gave away so many for free, and they might lose money!

On the third day of the lantern festival, Mrs Wang persuaded Gu Yin and said, "I won't see this kind of excitement a few times this year. On the stall. Today is the last day of the lantern festival, you and your aunt Xu can go play."

The lantern festival will be lively and lively. There is no business in the shop. Although there are many people in the stall, it is enough to have two or three people in charge.

Thinking that there is really nothing to do, Gu Yin should come down, "Then I will go shopping and be back soon."

After she finished speaking, she set off with Xu.

Without going far, Mr. Xu stopped under a big tree full of lanterns.

Gu Yin stopped and saw Xu Qingchuan waiting under the tree.

He was still wearing a half-used scholar's robe, with a wooden hairpin on his head. Still holding a book in his hand, he stared intently at the lantern on the tree.

Perhaps because of the warmth of the lanterns, his handsome face was plated with a warm golden light, his estranged temperament was reduced by three points, and he looked a lot closer.

How to talk to him.

Unfortunately, Xu Qingchuan didn't realize it, and he didn't put away the book until he saw Xu Shi and Gu Yin approaching from the corner of the light.

"You child, you are reluctant to put down the book even if you come out to relax." Xu said with a smile, and then the three of them went shopping together.

There are lantern riddles on the lantern stalls. Seeing Xu Qingchuan scholar dressed up, the stall owner will take the initiative to ask him to guess the lantern riddles.

"Enigma eighty-eight, this is the word 'm'."

"Ten mouths, one heart. It's a word for 'thinking'."

"At the foot of the bright moon and half Evian, the remnant flowers still fall before the horse's hoof. This is a 'bear'."

"The book of Chu, shoots the middle sentence of "Book of Songs". The answer is 'The Chronicle of the Southern Kingdom'."

Gu Yin still understood the person who guessed the word in front of him, but after he guessed more and more, Gu Yin's head became so big that he didn't understand the connection between the mystery and the answer at all.

Of course, it's not just her, and Xu Shi also doesn't understand.

Xu Qingchuan asked in a low voice, and Xu Qingchuan explained: "The production of lantern riddles is all based on pictograms, understanding, phonetic, pointing, borrowing, and transferring notes. "Open" is a method of borrowing, and the answer is 'someone is in Sri Lanka, someone is in Sri Lanka'."

Xu Shi immediately praised: "As expected of my son, when you say this, mother really understands a little bit."

Gu Yin's eyes smeared at the side, but she couldn't say anything, so she could only laugh and pretend she understood.

In the back, Xu Qingchuan guessed one by one, and the riddles became more and more difficult, but he didn't stop for a while, almost the moment he saw the riddles, he could guess it after reading it once.

Xu shi looked at his son so smart and agile, so proud, his body stood straighter, and the smile on his face never stopped.

Gu Yin also laughed along, but because she really didn't understand, she was beginning to feel a little bored, and her mind was no longer on the riddles, and she couldn't help thinking about the order.

Three-day lantern festival, at least thousands of moon cakes can be sold in boxes, and there are more scattered ones, there are also one or two thousand pieces.

Although a piece of moon cake only earns two or three cents, it is a lot of money.

And in the future, when I mention the delicious Baian dim sum in Hanshan Town, people who have bought moon cakes will definitely think that food is heaven.

Although this signboard has only been in operation for less than half a year, in terms of popularity and acceptance, I am afraid it is not much worse than Wangyuelou and Hanxianglou.

As for the wealthy customer group that the two families are dedicated to maintaining, food for the day will have to intervene sooner or later.

Just waiting for an opportunity to become famous, let the rich people know that the cutting-edge food of the food is no worse than the two old-fashioned restaurants.

But there is no hurry, the first half of the year still has to be steady and steady, and only when the foundation is laid can you be qualified to compete with those two. When these two companies are put down, the profit will definitely be several times higher than now. If that time comes, it is time to plan the next step, or expand the scale, or open a branch in a big place like Fucheng...

She was in a trance when she suddenly heard a burst of applause and applause.

When I came back to my senses, it turned out that Xu Qingchuan had already guessed the lantern riddle of a street, and he could pick the king of lanterns!

Gu Yin also applauded, and turned around to find that Mrs Xu walked away at some point.

"My mother is afraid that she will go to see something lively and forget us." Xu Qingchuan smiled helplessly.

Gu Yin also pursed her lips and said, "It's okay, before I came out, my mother was worried that the lanterns would be crowded, and she told us that if we got separated, we would return to the big tree. Wait."

"This, I'll give it to you." Xu Qingchuan didn't ask for the half-person-high lamp king, but just wanted a small and cute rabbit lamp and handed the lamp king forward in his hand , long eyelashes to hide the emotion in his eyes.

Although the things are not expensive, but this is a lottery won by Xu Qingchuan guessing lantern riddles, Gu Yin naturally waved his hand to refuse, "This is the lottery that Xu Gongzi deserves, I can't take it."

"This is just a gadget, it's worthless, just thank you for taking care of my mother during this time."

During this period, Mrs. Xu earned half a tael of silver every month. When the business was full, Gu Yin would pay overtime, not to mention the festival fee . After all, the monthly salary is almost more than a tael of silver.

With these money, the Xu family's life is naturally much better than before.

And not just this one. In the past, Xu Qingchuan studied outside and only returned home once a decade. Xu Shi was doing nothing at home alone, and the whole person seemed lazy and lacking energy. Now, although she is tired every day, her energy is getting better day by day, her temperament is more cheerful, and she looks younger.

And all of this is naturally thanks to Gu Yin.

Gu Yin did not dare to take credit. When she hired Xu, it was because the two families had friendship, so Wang first thought of Xu.

But as a food-oriented owner, Gu Yin has a clear distinction between public and private. The wages, overtime and holiday pay that Xu gets are all due to her serious work and responsible work. Otherwise, if she was replaced by someone who didn't work hard because of friendship, she would definitely be fired.

But Xu Qingchuan held out his hand all the time, and Gu Yin was too embarrassed to refuse again, and said, "I'll take it first, my family Wu An and Ono will definitely like it, thank you on their behalf."

The two returned to the big tree after talking, and stood three or four steps away.

None of them said anything, and Xu Qingchuan took out the book that he had not read before.

Gu Yin didn't feel anything at first, but after standing for more than a quarter of an hour, she came back and felt that something was wrong!

No matter how carefree Xu's temper was, he wouldn't have been separated from them for so long, so he should return to the big tree.

Recalling how her mother-in-law and Mrs Xu were laughing and muttering beside them before they came out, no matter how stupid she was, she could guess that this was what they did on purpose.

As soon as she guessed their intentions, Gu Yin was so embarrassed that her face burned.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Xu Qingchuan noticed something was wrong with her and asked aloud.

"Maybe there are too many people, I'm a little bored." Gu Yin resisted the urge to bury herself like digging a hole in place, fanning the wind with her hand, while thinking about what excuse she should use to escape .

It was just right, she saw a small figure leading a bunch of children running by.

"Xiaoye!" Gu Yin was like a pardon, and immediately called out to Gu Ye.

Although the lantern festival was extremely noisy, Gu Ye keenly caught his mother's voice, he immediately stopped, stood on tiptoe to look around, and finally saw him beckoning to him under the big tree Gu Yin.

"Mother came out to play too?" Gu Ye ran up to her with a smile.

When she saw that Xu Qingchuan was standing beside her, the smile on Gu Ye's face stagnated, and then he smiled and took his mother's hand as if he didn't see anything .

"I found a lot of interesting stalls, mother come with me, I will take you to play."

Gu Yin smiled apologetically at Xu Qingchuan, and then quickly left with Gu Ye.

On the other side of the long street, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xu were peeking from their cats.

Seeing that Gu Yin was taken away by Gu Ye, Mrs. Xu said regretfully, "It's not the right time for Xiaoye to come. Wang Baoyun, didn't you say everything was arranged? How did Xiaoye come here? ?"

"I didn't expect them to meet Ono in such a big lantern festival." Wang Shi also jumped up and down, but she didn't forget to turn her head and complain: "Don't just talk about it. I, why did your Qingchuan come to the lantern festival and bring a book? Look at my family!"

"This...this is what my Qingchuan family usually can't put down." Mrs. Xu also felt that the lantern festival was still very unpleasant, but complaining was useless. Today's plan was in vain , The two didn't stay long, and left while muttering about the next time.

After leaving the tree, Gu Yin finally exhaled a long breath, took Gu Ye's hand and squeezed it.

Afterwards, she reunited with the children. Although they were of different ages, Gu Ye and Wu An took the lead. The other children were as well-behaved and polite as them, and they didn't seem particularly noisy.

The same group of children eat, drink and play, but Gu Yin thinks it is more interesting and more in line with her interest.

The food at the lantern festival is not expensive, only two or three cents per serving. Gu Yin buys it and tastes it, and then distributes it to the children.

Everyone couldn't eat it. Later, they watched the dragon dance and juggling together, and it was getting late.

When it was time to leave, Gu Yincai remembered that she had brought the lanterns all the way, and said to the two children, "Uncle Xu gave it to you, I forgot to give it to you."

Her lantern has been carried for so long, and the children have seen it, Wu An shook his head and said: "The lantern is easily damaged, I've seen it, sister-in-law give it to Ono."

Gu Ye likes novelties the most, and this time he also uncharacteristically said: "I don't like lanterns very much."

Fan Jinsong and the other children all liked this rabbit lamp very much. After Gu Ye said no, they still showed a pity expression, because if Gu Ye wanted it, they would still be able to do so in the future. Take a look.

Gu Yin said, "Then I'll give it to you."

Firstly, the children really like it, and secondly, since she knows Wang and Xu's plan, she can't keep Xu Qingchuan's things around.

Fan Jinsong's eyes lit up immediately, and he promised, "Thank you auntie, we will keep it well, and we won't spoil it!"

After delivering the lanterns, Gu Yin pulled a child in one hand and went directly back to Zhenyi Lane.

The door of the house was ajar, and Mrs. Wang came back earlier than them, waiting for them in the main room.

Gu Yin first asked the two children to wash up, and she went directly into the main room, feeling the need to chat with Wang.

Wang was drowsy with her chin resting in front of the table. When she saw Gu Yin entering the room, she immediately recovered herself, stood up and said with a smile, "You guys are back? I don't know what happened today. , I will be sleepy at this hour, since you are back, I will go to sleep first."

Gu Yin reluctantly called out "mother".

Only then did Mrs Wang stop her feet that were about to slip away, and said with her head drooping, "Hey, here it is, talk about it."

Seeing her like this, Gu Yin couldn't help but laugh first - it's the mother and son, although Wu An and Wang's look are not very similar, but after doing this kind of wrong thing, she is guilty and waiting to be scolded It looks exactly the same!

She smiled and held it back, saying, "Mother and Aunt Xu specially arranged the matter between me and Xu Gongzi today?"

Wang Mosquito hummed "um".

"I've said it several times, but I really don't think so." Gu Yin took his hand and said seriously, "I'll definitely tell you sometime. Don't be like that, it's embarrassing."

Wang responded again and assured: "Next time I will definitely not know you, so I will arrange it myself."

He and Xu Shi both saw it, Gu Yin and Xu Qingchuan usually look like smart people, and they are two elm knots in their relationship! If you don't tell them about it, it's useless to create a hundred opportunities like today's. Next time it's better to be upright!

Gu Yin didn't know that she was still thinking about an upright next time. After hearing her promise, she would not worry about it anymore, and went to wash and rest.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, a steady stream of guests come to pick up moon cakes early in the morning.

Especially for the snowskin mooncakes - the other two mooncakes can be placed, the snowskin mooncakes, which need to be refrigerated for the best taste, so they all choose to pick up the mooncakes on this day .

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Gu Yin let the family members off work ahead of time. As for her, Wang Shi, Manager Zhou, and Chef Xu, they simply spent the Mid-Autumn Festival together.

Two tables were set up in the backyard, one table for shopkeeper Zhou, Chef Xu and his two young apprentices, one table for Gu Yin and Mrs Wang and two children.

The delicious moon cakes made by themselves, accompanied by the tea treasured by the shopkeeper Zhou, the taste is really good even Gu Yin herself thinks it is very good.

She held a child in one hand, leaned half of her body on Wang Shi's body, admiring the moon while gossiping, and occasionally eating moon cakes with Gu Ye's hand and drinking with Wu An's hand Hot tea... A warm and quiet Mid-Autumn Festival just ended.