Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 379 Ancient Chapter Day Gift Basket

Shen Yu agreed, hurried out of the room, and followed Li and the others to Guang'an Temple. He did not return until he had finished making the dough for the cakes and pastries needed for the next day.

The next day, Li and her family still rushed to Guang'an Temple. The difference was that today they set out on foot earlier. Several families agreed to meet at the entrance of the Scripture Study Hall.

When Shen Yu followed Li and the others over, he first saw Qi Xi, who was standing in front of the Scripture Study Hall and talking to Yan Xin.

Seeing Li and the others coming over, Qi Xi hurried forward to greet them: "How are you, Madam? You're here early today."

"I'm here to pick up Miss Shen and the others. They can't follow you to listen to the lecture today."

"We haven't finished writing yesterday's gift paper yet, and we'll need it after noon. Today, we'll have to rely on their help."

Qi Xi had an anxious look on his face, and seemed to be really worried.

Shen Yu was a little confused and muttered to himself, "Qi Xi's acting is too real. Aren't those gift signs almost finished? They were supposed to be used tomorrow, why did they change to today?"

Li believed it to be true, and hurriedly asked Shen Yu and others to follow Qi Xi immediately so as not to delay Master Lu's business.

Shen Yu and the others agreed and made an appointment with Li. Just like yesterday, they would go back after writing the gift signs in the afternoon, and everyone didn't need to wait for them after listening to the lecture.

After Li's repeated urging of "I understand, let's go", Shen Yu and the others followed Qi Xi.

I followed the corridor of the Scripture Study Hall and turned to the corner gate next to it, but I did not see Lu Lang.

Yu Cheng asked with excitement and anticipation: "Brother Qixi, why don't we see Master Lu? Are we still going to put on the colored rings today?"

Qi Xi sighed helplessly and shook his head: "Something went wrong with the arrangement of the fireworks to be set off by the canal tomorrow. The young master and the two masters hurried out with their people early in the morning and can't get away."

"If I take you to put on the colored rings, I can't compare to the young master, and I'll just be giving away money for nothing."

"We need to hurry up and write the gift labels today, and then stick them on the gifts we've purchased after the ink dries."

"The people originally arranged were all taken away by the young master. I was the only one who didn't go because I had to stay to pick you up."

"After we finish this, I will take you to other temple fairs or to visit the temples in other temples."

Although Yucheng and his friends were young and loved to play, they also knew the priorities of things, so they hurriedly said, "Then we won't go to the temple fair."

"The temple fair will last for three days. It will be the same if we go there tomorrow. It is most important to write the gift notes and prepare the gifts to be distributed first."

Qi Xi thanked him and took a few people to the county government office through the back door of Guang'an Temple.

When they arrived at Lu Lang's study, Qi Xi arranged writing materials for Yu Tao and the other two, and only had some free time after they started writing.

Shen Yu felt that her handwriting was not good enough and was afraid of wasting the gift papers, so she did not dare to help them write and could only tell them to write faster.

Because the fruits and cakes that needed to be distributed had been ordered long ago, they were delivered to the county government office early this morning and were now all placed in the warehouse in the yard.

According to the custom of previous years, each bamboo basket is filled with the same number of red dates, chestnuts, two packages of cakes and pastries, and a string of ninety-nine shiny new copper coins. The basket is then covered with a lid and the written gift sign is affixed.

Shen Yu and Qixi discussed it and decided that one person would be responsible for packing the gift baskets, and the other would be responsible for double-checking to make sure nothing was missed. Then they would close the lid and stick on the gift tags.

Use a small bowl to weigh one bowl each of red dates and chestnuts.

There are two flavors of cakes and pastries, red bean paste cakes and jujube paste cakes. They are wrapped in hemp paper when delivered from the shop, and there is one package of each flavor in each bamboo basket.

The new copper coins had been exchanged long ago at the money shop and were sent strung together with red-dyed hemp ropes.

So packing a gift basket is actually very easy to do. It’s just a simple physical job and doesn’t require any brainpower.

The two of them divided the work and worked together, and in less than half an hour, they had packed everything and pasted up the written gift signs.

Just at this moment, Yutao and the other two came over with gift signs that had been written and dried in ink. They worked together and quickly finished distributing the gifts.

Looking at the neatly arranged rows of bamboo baskets in the warehouse, Qixi breathed a sigh of relief.

He bowed to Shen Yu and the others and said, "Thank you for your help today. Let's have a good meal at noon."

"If you have nothing else to do this afternoon, I'll take you to visit Wazi and watch a play. I heard that several of the actors invited this year are quite famous."

When Yutao and the others heard that they could have delicious food and go to the theater, they clapped their hands excitedly.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "I won't go with you. Tomorrow is the day of the Wanshou Festival."

"After lunch, I will go prepare the big flower cakes to be served tomorrow."

Yu Tao hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly said, "Then I won't go either. I want to help my sister."

Shen Yu waved her hand: "No, no, you love watching plays the most. You are usually busy in the restaurant and you don't have the chance to watch. Although the flower cake is a bit big, I have made it once, so it is not difficult to make. You can go and have fun without worry."

After hearing this, Yutao finally felt relieved and agreed to follow Qixi and the others to watch the show in Wazi.

Shen Yu turned to ask Qi Xi: "Will Mr. Lu come back at noon? How are you going to eat lunch today?"

"You said we had something delicious to eat. Could it be that Chef Jiang didn't go to the lecture today and stayed at the county government office?"

Qi Xi said angrily when this was mentioned: "I don't know if the young master will come back. Chef Jiang is not here. He went to Guang'an Temple again. But he asked for leave from the master, and the master approved it."

Shen Yu comforted him, "The Wanshou Festival only comes once a year, so it's reasonable for you to want to go and listen to the monks' lectures on the scriptures."

Qi Xi nodded helplessly: "Yes, that's it."

"And Chef Jiang said that the master and his men are not in the county office these days, and the yamen runners are not here either. If he stays in the county office, no one will want to eat."

"So when he asked for leave, the master granted it."

Shen Yu smiled nonchalantly and said, "As long as there are ingredients, why worry about not having food to eat?"

"Besides, you can cook, so you can cook for yourself."

Qi Xi rolled his eyes and smiled slyly: "Miss Shen is right, I specially prepared some ingredients today, and I am waiting for you to cook."

"I'll help you, and you'll just have to adjust the flavor. What do you think?"

"We've prepared it. Leave a portion for the young master. If they come back at noon, they can still have a hot meal."

Shen Yu looked at the sky. It was still early for lunch, so there was still enough time to cook any dish.

She nodded and replied cheerfully, "Okay, I wonder what ingredients you have prepared, and how many people will be eating at noon?"

Qixi kept the secret a secret and said with a chuckle, "You will never guess what the ingredients are today. Let's go and see."