Chapter 585
The Roads I've Traveled, The Food I've Eaten
The seventh day of the ninth lunar month is two days before the Double Ninth Festival.
Before dawn, Chen Ji lay awake pondering the events of the previous day. He didn't know why Bai Li had gone to the City God Temple, nor what had happened there. All he knew was that when Bai Li came out of the temple, she seemed like a completely different person.
Chen Ji then heard a loud copper bell ringing in the distance.
Along with the sound of copper bells, dozens of monks chanted Buddhist mantras, creating a dreamlike atmosphere, as if a Buddhist kingdom had descended upon the land.
Chen Ji got up in confusion, dressed, and walked out of the courtyard.
He stood at the entrance of Shaojiu Hutong and looked out. In the distance, through the thin mist, he saw a group of monks carrying a solemn Buddha statue, crossing Yuhebian Street in the darkness of dawn.
Eighty-one monks, dressed in grey robes and with one arm bare, carried an enormous Sumeru pedestal. Beside the pedestal, other monks held copper bells in their left hands and incense sticks in their right.
Chen Ji felt that this scene was familiar... When he first came to Ningchao, it was also on the eve of the Double Ninth Festival, and there was a Bodhisattva parading in Luocheng in front of the Taiping Medical Hall on Anxi Street.
At that time, he didn't know the princess and the prince, nor had anyone sewed six gold melon seeds into his clothes. At that time, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu were trying to kill him, and his life hung by a thread. At that time, Liu Quxing was still exchanging medical knowledge with him, and She Dengke was still secretly in love with Chunhua.
It turns out that I have been in Ningchao for a whole year.
Footsteps came from behind Chen Ji.
He turned around and saw Bai Li, who had changed out of her Taoist robe and into a white dress, even still wearing the red jade pendant at her collar.
At this moment, the procession passed by outside Shaojiu Hutong. The monks leading the way struck their left and right hands together, and the incense and copper bells collided to produce brilliant sparks and crisp sounds. The sound of the bells echoed for a long time, and sparks shot into the sky.
Eighty-one monks lowered their eyes and chanted: "...All dharmas are empty in nature, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no volition, no consciousness..."
Amidst the grand chanting, Chen Ji was momentarily dazed, as if the chanting had transported him back to the past, and he could see the girl sitting on the wall again.
Bai Li walked closer and waved her hand in front of him: "What, don't you recognize me?"
Chen Ji snapped out of his daze and said with a smile, "You're more suited to this outfit; the Taoist robe is too plain."
Bai Li looked down at herself, then circled around in front of Chen Ji: "Xiao Man has never seen me before, but the clothes she prepared for me are almost exactly the same as before, and the size is also the same... Did you tell her to do that?"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then changed the subject: "Are you going to the overpass again today?"
Bai Li pulled his wrist and walked outside: "Yes, let's go to Tianqiao and see if they'll be performing blindfolded throwing knives today."
Chen Ji let Bai Li pull him south, without asking her why she wanted to walk the same path she had taken yesterday again.
……
……
Zhengyangmen Street was exceptionally lively today.
The vendors selling dogwood carried their wares one after another, the bright red dogwood berries strung together on straw poles. Some people bought some and pinned them to their clothes for good luck.
The alcohol ban has also been lifted.
Under the gray-tiled eaves, a crowd had gathered around a stall selling chrysanthemum wine. An old man, holding a large ladle, scooped pale yellow wine from a vat and poured it into a customer's gourd. The aroma of the wine wafted far and wide, enticing passersby to sniff the air.
The area around the overpass was even more bustling, with people crowding around as the Double Ninth Festival approached.
When Master Zhou, who was skilled in throwing knives, saw Bai Li again, his eyes widened, and he pointed at Bai Li, furious: "You... how dare you show your face here, little girl?"
But Bai Li still stood confidently in the crowd, as if she wasn't the one who ran away with the money yesterday: "I've come to see if you'll perform the blindfolded throwing knife act today."
Not wanting to say anything more in front of the other spectators, Master Zhou could only address the villagers to begin the performance, and then proceed with the Nine Stars Surrounding the Moon act in an orderly fashion.
Towards the end, he resorted to his old trick, collecting money while blindfolded, but then shamelessly resumed the "Nine Stars Surrounding the Moon" act after receiving the money.
This time, Bai Li's eyes held a mischievous smile as she opened and closed her hands behind her back.
After Master Zhou threw the knife, it hovered in the air for a long time.
The onlookers cheered, thinking they had finally witnessed a masterful skill from the Tianqiao (a famous street performer) troupe. However, Master Zhou was terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat, fearing that the flying knife might land in the wrong place.
He quickly clasped his hands in greeting to the crowd and said, "I was blind and did not know that a great person had arrived. I have just arrived at your esteemed place and have already paid my respects to the Three Mountains Association. I hope that you will be lenient and not make fun of me any further."
As soon as she finished speaking, the throwing knife embedded itself in the wooden target. Bai Li triumphantly pulled Chen Ji away by the wrist, saying, "Let him lie to people every day!"
She then dragged Chen Ji to watch the opera, where the old man conjured three apples into existence in full view of everyone, and then conjured them back into existence in full view of everyone. Then he conjured them into existence again, and they came back to be three pears.
This went on repeatedly, drawing cheers from the onlookers.
After the old man finished his transformation, he immediately instructed his young apprentice to carry a gong and collect money, promising loudly that he would solve the mystery for the onlookers once enough money was collected.
Bai Li tossed in a piece of silver with great anticipation, but once the old man had collected enough money, he shamelessly resumed his previous magic trick, refusing to mention the mystery at all.
Bai Li pouted and whispered to Chen Ji, "Why are all the tricks on this overpass just these deceptive stunts?"
Chen Ji said with a smile, "These are all skills that make a living. If we have to solve puzzles every day, we won't be able to eat for long."
Bai Li complained, "But we can't keep being fooled by them forever."
Chen Ji explained, "The overpass is always bustling with people; there are always some who haven't seen it before."
When the old man performed his magic trick again, Bai Li opened and closed his palm, but the apple that had been transformed could not be brought back.
The old man was embarrassed for a moment, then took three more pears, covered them with a cloth, and lifted it again, and the pears were gone.
Outside the crowd, Bai Li, with three apples and three pears tucked into the hem of her clothes, smiled and pulled Chen Ji's wrist, leading him out: "Hurry up, hurry up."
After squeezing through the crowd, she wiped a pear with her sleeve and handed it to Chen Ji: "Here, have this."
Chen Ji took the pear and took a bite: "It's quite sweet. With this skill, you'll never lack food anywhere in the future."
Bai Li smiled and said, "Isn't that right? My connections in officialdom are pretty impressive. Let's go see some others."
Beside the overpass, a man twirling a bamboo flag was lifting a two-zhang-tall flagpole onto his shoulder when suddenly the flagpole flew into the sky, like a flagpole piercing into the clouds.
The man craned his neck to look for a long time, then the flagpole fell straight down and landed steadily on his shoulder. He stood there, stunned, unable to come to his senses for a long time.
The man performing the iron ball trick tossed three iron balls in succession, spinning them around. Five iron balls on the ground moved on their own, flying one after another into his hands. The man could only frantically try to keep up, spinning the iron balls like wheels of fire. In fact, this trick had been repeated countless times by the overpass. The performers seemed trapped in some kind of cycle; once they reached a certain point, fate would reset them, forcing them to do the same thing day after day... all over again.
The common people seem to never see the blindfolded throwing knives, yet they still enjoy it immensely.
But this morning, the white carp caused chaos on the overpass, forcing the performers to use all their skills to outdo each other, leaving the market-goers in awe, thinking they had seen something real.
Bai Li laughed incessantly, as if she hadn't laughed like that in a long time.
On the seventh day of the ninth month of the thirty-second year of Jia Ning, Bai Li etched this day into everyone's memory in his own way.
Perhaps one day in the future, someone who witnessed this farce will say to others: "The acrobats on Tianqiao are really skilled. I've seen Master Zhou throw knives into the sky, and the bamboo flag twirler throw his flag into the clouds. They are all extraordinary figures who usually keep a low profile."
Perhaps some people will mention Bai Li, saying that there was a very beautiful girl in white that day, but the boy next to her was a bit dull and didn't talk much.
Perhaps some people will still mention this day, saying that it was a day of clear autumn skies, teeming with people, and filled with the sight of dogwood blossoms. It was the best day in the thirty-two years of Jia Ning's reign, after which the weather would turn cold.
As dusk fell, Chen Ji looked at her and asked, "Will you come again tomorrow?"
Bai Li looked at the commotion beside the overpass, then shook her head: "I'm not coming."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "So what are we doing tomorrow?"
Bai Li said mischievously, "Let's go get something to eat."
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "What do you want to eat?"
Bai Li hesitated for a moment and said, "How about I show you all the famous foods in the capital? I grew up in the capital, so now that you're here, I should naturally take you around and show you around as a host."
Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Okay."
……
……
September 8th.
Bai Li dragged Chen Ji out the door early in the morning and headed straight for Zeng Sheng Kui on Qipan Street.
The two ordered only one serving of savory bean curd, divided into two bowls, plus a meat pie. Each bite of the meat pie revealed a filling of perfectly balanced lean and fatty meat, its aroma wafting far and wide.
Bai Li stirred the tofu pudding with a spoon, watching Chen Ji wolf it down with a smile, while she herself barely ate any.
Chen Ji looked up at her: "Why aren't you eating?"
Bai Li smiled and explained, "I'm not hungry. I just wanted to show you the taste of this savory bean curd. My father brought my brother and me here when we were little. Back then, we lived in the Tenth Prince's Mansion, which was just a few steps away from Shaojiu Alley. We thought the meat pies were incredibly delicious back then, and my brother could eat eight in one go."
Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "It really is delicious. This is the first time I've had it since I came to the capital."
Bai Li asked curiously, "You've been in the capital for so long, haven't you ever tried Zengshengkui? It's very famous, and all the candidates who come to the capital for the imperial examinations will come to try it."
As Chen Ji ate, he explained, "I haven't had time to do that before."
The spoon in the white carp's hand paused.
After finishing the meat pie with door nails in his hand, Chen Ji wanted to buy more, but Bai Li stopped him: "Don't eat too much, there's still a lot to eat."
Chen Ji wiped his hands: "What else do you want to eat?"
Bai Li sat behind the table, resting her chin on her hand as she recalled, "Let's go eat Shu Ji's douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) and jiaoquan (fried dough rings) first. Shu Ji is hidden in a narrow alley in the south. The storefront is not big, and there are two big pots set up at the door. Father said that douzhi and jiaoquan are like the young male and female leads in a play, one is strong and the other is gentle. You can't do without either one."
Bai Li's eyes curved into crescent moons with laughter: "But you might not be used to drinking douzhi (fermented mung bean juice). My father tricked me into drinking it earlier. He and my brother liked it, but I couldn't drink a drop. Later, my father tricked me again, saying that I would like it if I drank it a few more times. He tricked me into drinking it five or six more times, but I still couldn't drink it."
"Tianxingju's fried liver is located in Xianyu Kou, Qianmen, and there's always a long queue outside. The bowl contains liver tips and fatty intestines, with a strong garlic aroma and a thick, glossy sauce. You don't need a spoon or chopsticks; you just drink it by turning the bowl around. Back then, I liked to eat liver tips, so I would pick them from my brother's bowl. He would complain that I was taking his, but he couldn't bear to scold me, so he would always order an extra bowl and then pick all the liver tips from his bowl for me."
"When you go to Baodu Feng, you have to order a plate of tripe and a plate of beef tripe. The tripe is crisp, and the beef tripe is tender. Blanch it in boiling water and eat it with sesame sauce... My mother took me there once, just once. She didn't like eating out, thinking it was undignified. For some reason, she was in a good mood that day and took my brother and me there. While we were eating, someone tried to assassinate us, but luckily someone from the Secret Service intervened and stopped the assassin, otherwise it would have been dangerous. After that, my mother felt it was too dangerous and never took my brother and me there again."
"Xiaochang Chen's braised pork offal is in Er Tiao Hutong..."
Chen Ji listened quietly as Bai Li recounted the delicacies he had eaten in the past, as if afraid that there wouldn't be enough time, wanting to take him through all the delicious food he remembered in one go.
Chen Ji wasn't going to spoil the fun; he would go eat with Bai Li as long as her name was mentioned.
As dusk fell, Chen Ji was so full he could barely walk. He let out a burp and looked at Bai Li: "Shall we go home?"
Bai Li was standing in the bustling crowd on Zhengyangmen Street when he suddenly heard a woman shouting from a deep alley: "Old Li, come home for dinner!"
She suddenly smiled and looked at Chen Ji: "Let's not go home first, come with me to buy some groceries."
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Buying groceries?"
Bai Li walked north with her back to Chen Ji: "It's been a long time since I cooked for you. Do you remember what I'm good at making?"
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Pan-fried tofu, stir-fried mutton with scallions, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and dried bamboo shoots with cured meat."
Bai Li nodded and said, "I'll make these four things tomorrow."
Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Okay."
Bai Li added, "Go to Bianyifang and buy a jar of good wine. The Empress said you have a great capacity for alcohol. You can drink eighty-eight bowls in one go from Andingmen to Wumenmen."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Alright, then let's buy another jar of good wine."
He didn't ask Bai Li what she did at the City God Temple the day before yesterday, nor did he ask her why she was willing to change into a white dress again, nor did he ask her why she suddenly wanted to cook a meal herself.
He didn't ask Xiaoman if the carriage was ready, if the dry food was prepared, or if the cotton clothes had been bought; none of that seemed important anymore.
The two stopped talking about the past and the future.
……
Dear readers and readers, Happy New Year! (End of Chapter)