Fragrance Returned

The one they took last time was the one with one deck.

This time we were on two decks.

Ding Xiang is now dizzy and has some mental disorders. Walking on the bridge, I held Grandpa's hand tightly, and my little body was pressed tightly against Grandpa.

They lived in a small cabin on the second deck, with two small couches on the left and right, and Ling'er set up a bunk in the middle at night.

Although it is extremely small, it is still relatively private.

Ding Zhuang stuck his head out of the small window, waved to Ding Shan and said, "Come back."

At two quarters of the hour, the ship set sail.

Instead of the whistle blowing in the previous life, the gong was struck three times before setting sail.

Canals are not as endless as the sea.

The weather is very good today, the wind is bright and sunny, the morning sun is blazing red, and the blue waves are trembling slightly like silk.

The big boat moved very steadily and smoothly, and the scenery on both sides of the strait could be seen. Ding Xiang's previous fear gradually disappeared.

Ding Zhuang saw Ding Xiang's little head looking out the window and said, "What are you looking at? Eating cherries."

Ling'er has already placed peanuts, snacks, and cherries on the small table between the couches.

Seeing the red cherries, Ding Xiang remembered a sentence from her previous life: The light is easy to throw away people, red cherries, green bananas.

At first I thought time passed too slowly, but in a flash I was already seven and a half years old.

Grandpa is getting old, my parents have entered middle age from their prime, the eldest brother who talks and does things carelessly has become more serious, the second brother with a runny nose went to the imperial examination, and the third brother who only knows how to eat cakes has grown taller. As a young man, the Ding family turned from a well-to-do family into a wealthy family...

Years passed by, flowers fell and flowers bloomed, and the seven years that passed by took away the wind and rain of the past and also changed them.

Thinking again of the stones, dead trees, small purple gourds, and honey butter under the Jitou Peak... they are not eternal in the face of time.

Ding Xiang took a cherry and put it into her mouth, and then took another one and stuffed it into Ding Zhuang's mouth.

Cherries are rare and expensive. In the past two years, I have been rich enough to be willing to buy some. When I buy them, I eat them close to the cloves.

The ship sailed during the day and docked at night for supplies. Ding Xiang and others will go to the shore to have something to eat in the evening and then return to the boat to rest.

Ding Xiang knew that there must be people arranged by Zhu Qian on the ship to protect them.

The weather has been fine these days, and the ship arrived in Henghe County on the evening of April 11th.

We rented a donkey cart and entered the county town, where we stayed at an inn.

At the beginning of the next day, we rented a mule cart and went to Shizhou Mansion.

At the end of Youshi, the setting sun was like blood, and they finally arrived at the gate of Shizhou Prefecture.

After walking into the city for more than three quarters of an hour, we came to the third house in an alley.

Ling'er stepped forward and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and it was Aunt Chai next to Mrs. Zhu.

She smiled and said, "The old shopkeeper and sister are here, please come in."

Ding Xiang was also happy to see a familiar face, "Mother Chai."

A girl, two male servants, and a middle-aged couple came out to greet them.

I also know the girl, she is the second-class girl next to Mrs. Zhu, named Huang Ying.

Two tall men were supposed to be their guards. A middle-aged couple in their forties, Uncle Zhang is the gatekeeper and Aunt Zhang is the cook.

This is a two-entry house. It's not big, but it's quiet.

They were invited directly into the upper chamber.

The furnishings in the house are not luxurious, but they are exquisite, clean and spotless.

After washing my hands and face, the food was put on the table.

After a tiring journey, Ding Xiang ate a few mouthfuls and then went to take a bath and rest, while Ding Zhuang continued to drink. I couldn't get enough of it, so I called Uncle Zhang over to drink with me.

Aunt Chai personally served Lilac to bathe.

Ding Xiang asked about Mrs. Zhu’s situation.

Aunt Chai smiled and said, "Madam is feeling much better. There are still a few slices of ginseng left that she doesn't want to eat, saying she will use them at critical times. She misses her dearly and wants to go to the countryside to visit her, but the master said to wait... The young master has not yet engaged, and the wife is anxious, but the young master is not anxious at all..."

When I came to the west room, the things on the bed were all made of Jiangnan silk and Song brocade.

Aunt Chai smiled again and said, "My wife asked the old slave to bring these things. She said that she is delicate and cannot be wronged even if she lives outside."

The next day, when Uncle Zhang was driving, Ding Zhuang and Ding Xiang went shopping for a day, ate in a restaurant, and bought some things for Ding Lilai and his family. He even went to two study rooms and bought two arithmetic books for Ding Lilai.

In the evening, Lilac hurriedly drew three pictures.

Tao Weng said "a few pictures", and Ding Xiang felt that "three" was the minimum value among the "several numbers", so she drew three pictures.

The next day, she went to play on the street again. Before returning home, Dingxiang bought a lot of jujubes, glutinous rice flour, rock sugar, and sesame seeds.

There is rock sugar and sesame seeds in the house, not much.

Ding Zhuang wondered, "Why did Xiangxiang buy so many jujubes? The jujubes here are not as delicious as our Jiaodong jujubes."

Ding Xiang said, "I'm going to make glutinous rice and dates and send some to Master Mingyuan tomorrow."

Ding Zhuang smiled and said, "Children come up with whatever they want. Mingyuan is a master, how could he want your jujubes?"

Dingxiang Nuonuo said, "It's his loss if he doesn't want it, and we have no loss."

When she got home, she called Aunt Chai and Aunt Zhang into the kitchen and asked them to do this.

This kind of vegetarian dish is delicious and easy to prepare, and the ingredients are simple. The key is that it does not exist in this era.

Make glutinous rice and dates first. Remove the date core, cut open one side of the date, and stuff it into a piece of glutinous rice strips. Put an appropriate amount of rock sugar in the pot and boil it until it turns into sugar color. Add water, put the dates in and cook for a quarter of an hour. After the water is gone, sprinkle with cooked sesame seeds.

Next, make snowball glutinous rice jujubes. Deep-fry the jujubes stuffed with glutinous rice strips and add a layer of sugar to make them sweeter and crispier.

After finishing it, both Aunt Chai and Aunt Zhang said it was delicious.

Ding Xiang smiled and said, "Mom, go back and make it for my aunt. She will definitely like it."

Aunt Chai smiled and said, "I don't blame my husband and wife for feeling sorry for my sister. My sister is just filial."

On the 15th of April, Ding Zhuang and Ding Xiang took Ling'er, Aunt Chai, two small pots of glutinous rice dates and snowball glutinous rice dates, and drove to Zilong Mountain in the suburbs by Uncle Zhang.

Not only were the two guards following from a distance, but there were also protective people around.

Zhu Qian took great pains to protect Lilac.

We arrived at Zilong Mountain more than half an hour later.

Guangling Temple is located at the foot of Zilong Mountain. It was just the beginning of the morning, and there were many vendors selling goods gathered outside the mountain gate, and there were also many pilgrims.

Master Mingyuan was teaching Zen here, and not only the locals, but also many outsiders who got the news came over.

Today is the last day that Master Mingjue teaches Zen. There are no longer as many people as yesterday and the day before yesterday.

Entering the temple, the fragrance is lingering.

Ding Xiang and Ding Zhuang first went to the main hall to burn incense and worship Buddha. They not only prayed to Buddha and Bodhisattva to bless Ding Zhao for his meritorious service, but also prayed to Buddha and Bodhisattva to bless Zhu Qian and others to reveal the true face of the Su family as soon as possible and rehabilitate the Dong family.

Finally, he donated two hundred taels of sesame oil money.

According to Ding Zhuang's original intention, he wanted to burn incense and donate five hundred taels of silver. But Zhu Qian means not to attract too much attention and to act in a low profile.

In these days, all pilgrims who donate more than one hundred taels of silver will not only have their names written on the merit book, but will also be invited by the welcoming monks to the Dharma Hall to listen to Master Mingyuan's Zen lectures.

They donated two hundred taels, and both of them went.

Aunt Chai and Ling'er, carrying food boxes, went to the corridor to sit and wait.

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