Depression

  At dusk, the sky was already shrouded in darkness for more than half, and a horse carriage slowly passed through the city gate. Xi Mei stretched out her head to take a look at the outside sky, then complained to her father, "Dad, it's all your fault that we're arriving so late."

  Chen Tianfa swung the whip in his hand, striking a loud crack in the air, and turned to say, "Girl, this isn't your father's fault. It's because your uncle and them kept making me drink wine that I'm late."

  A cold wind hit him in the face, and Chen Tianfa shook his somewhat dizzy head, only then feeling a bit more awake.

  Xi Mei looked at him like that, helplessly shook her head. Her father was really something. Usually no one would drink with him, now that he had finally found someone to accompany him, he just wouldn't stop drinking.

  Luckily they were in ancient times, no one checked for drunk driving on the road, otherwise, with her father's two cups of wine, he would have been put in jail long ago.

  Zhao's face was flushed with excitement, and for once she didn't scold Chen Tianfa together with Xi Mei. Instead, she patted Xi Mei's small hand comfortingly and said, "Don't worry, we're already in town, aren't we? We'll be home before you know it."

  Looking at the bluestone path where the horse carriage had passed, Xi Mei suddenly had an idea and said to Zhao Shi, "Mother, we've been in this town for so long, but we haven't gone to the night market that Shang Gege mentioned. Why don't we go take a look while we have time today?"

  As soon as she finished speaking, the listless children in the carriage all sat up straight and looked at her with hopeful eyes. Zhao hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth to say, "I don't have any objections, but I'm not sure about your father, after all, he's had quite a bit of wine."

  As soon as the words fell, Chen Tianfa's discontented voice came from outside the curtain, "Go, how can't you go? Just drank a few cups of wine and nothing bad will happen! Besides, after blowing for so long outside, I've already sobered up!"

  After hearing his slightly resentful words, several people in the carriage couldn't help but laugh.

  Sister Xi patted her hands and said, "Great, since that's the case, then let's just head over there directly. I've never seen what a night market looks like before."

  With a look of adoration, Xi Mei burst out laughing, "You're so inexperienced, when you get there don't be too arrogant, I wouldn't want to lose face because of you!"

  You're pretending to be innocent, but I know you're also looking forward to it. The sparkle in your eyes is almost overflowing!

  Pushing open the curtain on the car window, I see the bare branches of trees along both sides of the street, which seem to be dressed in beautiful clothes under the reflection of the big red lanterns. The sound of horseshoes hitting the stone road comes from my ears, and everything makes me feel happy for no reason.

  After a while, Chen Tian's anxious voice came from outside the curtain, "Damn it, there are too many people ahead, the horse carriage can't get in."

  Ruihao's face turned red as he gazed out at the crowd with wide, curious eyes and exclaimed, "Wow, there are so many people!"

  This older brother is even more childish than himself, secretly laughing at his younger sister.

  Little did they know, both of them were equally matched, more or less the same.

  Zhao also stuck his head out and looked at the unusually large crowd tonight, sighing, "It's almost New Year's Eve, people are coming out to buy things, and there are more vendors than usual."

  "Mother, let's tie the horse cart to that big tree over there and ask the old man selling goods nearby to help us watch it. We can give him some money later, okay?"

  After finishing speaking, several children including Zhao's eyes lit up, Chen Tianfa praised, "Xi He is really clever, and she is indeed my daughter."

  Having grown accustomed to his boasting, the Chen family walked forward without giving him any face. Xi Mei was also puzzled, why did this sentence sound so familiar? She didn't know that someone had praised her with the same words that morning!

  Why don't you change your tone every once in a while?

  Several people were about to walk away, and Chen Tianfa hurriedly caught up with everyone. However, looking at the puzzled expression on his face, Xi Mei guessed that her father was probably still confused as to why everyone was being so unfriendly.

  Sister Xi remembered reading Du Mu's "Mooring by the Qinhuai River" in her textbook: "Smoke and mist shroud the cold water and moonlit sand, Moored at night near a wine shop on the Qinhuai River, The merchant girls are unaware of the sorrow of a fallen nation, Across the river, they still sing of chrysanthemum flowers."

  The scene before us now may not be as prosperous and bustling as the night market described by Du Mu, but it has its own unique style.

  Anping Night Market has been around for many years, its scale is not too large, but it has everything from potted plants and flowers to fresh fish, pork and mutton, pastries and dried fruits, as well as seasonal fruits.

  The second brother who followed behind was still able to keep up with the team's pace, but this time he had already rushed towards the small stall with a strong fragrance.

  Zhao's family saw this and could only helplessly shake his head.

  "Mother, come quickly, they're selling tangyuan here, mother~~" Not far away, Ruihao loudly beckoned Zhao and the others to come over.

  As he walked to where they were, he saw a couple who were only a few years older than Zhao and Chen Tian, skillfully scooping the tangyuan into bowls and smiling as they delivered them to the customers' tables.

  It's estimated that several people with their families in tow have arrived. The male owner of the house smiled and came forward to greet them: "Big brother brought the kids out to play?"

  Seeing Xi Mei looking at his wife's skilled movements with a worshipful gaze, the boss smiled proudly. "Little girl, haven't you seen such quick techniques before? Our family has been running this stall for some years now. I'm not bragging, but few families can compare to our tangyuan. How about I give you a few bowls to try?"

  Although it was said to Xi Mei, her eyes were looking at Chen Tianfa and his wife.

  Look at the happy siblings staring at the floating dumplings in the pot, Chen Tian burst out laughing, "Boss, give us one bowl per person, if it's not enough, we'll ask for more."

  After finishing, he patted Ruihao's head and laughed, "Little guy, quickly withdraw your gaze, or I'll leave you here to be a partner in calculation. This way, you can eat Tangyuan every day, isn't that what you want?"

  After finishing speaking, several adults present couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Xi He whispered: "If Second Brother were here, he would definitely make them poor."

  The laughter grew even louder after this sentence was said.

  What the little three said is not false, now Ruihao's appetite is almost twice that of her father, no wonder people always say that a half-grown son eats his old man to poverty, if it were in their family's previous condition, they would have gone hungry long ago.

  While chatting, the steaming Tangyuan was served on the table. Xi Mei looked at the Tangyuan in front of her and exclaimed with wide eyes, "Mother, look! This Tangyuan is not just one color!"

  Zhao counted the tangyuan in his bowl and exclaimed, "Isn't it? Others are indeed thoughtful, no wonder their business is so good."

  The colorful glutinous rice balls in front of them made people want to eat them just by looking at them. Zhao's praise also made the simple couple laugh and say "see, see".

  After rushing for so long, Xi Mei's stomach had been empty since noon, and now that she saw delicious food in front of her, she couldn't be bothered with polite conversation.

  He scooped up one with a spoon, blew it hastily and stuffed it into his mouth. The skin was crispy and fragrant, the glutinous rice was not sticky, and the filling inside was rarely sweet and greasy, but had some salty flavor.

  It's quite similar to Suzhou's five-color glutinous rice balls, but the fillings inside are not pork, rose lard, bean paste, sesame, and osmanthus like those in Suzhou's five-color glutinous rice balls, but rather common fillings.

  However, this is much better than the countless Tangyuan Xi Mei had eaten before.

  Pick up one, put it to the mouth and swallow, pick up another, regardless of the one stuffed in the mouth not finished eating, want to stuff it in again, two cheeks bulging, comparable to a squirrel.

  However, as she continued eating, Xi Mei's speed slowed down. After all, she was just a kid, and having eaten five or six was already quite impressive.

  Looking at the three or four remaining in the bowl, Xi Mei was worried, she couldn't bear to throw away such a delicious thing.

  She glanced at her second brother's bowl and saw that there was only one lonely tangyuan left, so she quickly moved the bowl over and poured it in.

  Xi Mei and Xi He followed suit, pouring the unfinished tangyuan into Ruihao's bowl.

  Ruihao didn't refuse either, and he ate one after another with gusto.

  For some reason, Xi Mei suddenly remembered that when she first came to this world, although her family wasn't extremely poor and starving every day, they never had a meal where they could eat freely with an open belly.

  Later on, Mother decided to set up a street stall, and only then did the family's life gradually improve, and meat appeared on the table.

  Watching the silly husband wipe sweat for his wife, one can't help but think of their own parents' appearance back in the day. Unintentionally glancing at her mother, it was discovered that her mother's gaze was also fixed on them.

  Finally, after Ruihao was satisfied and let out a contented burp, Zhao indicated to Chen Tian to get up and settle the bill.

  Rubbing his round belly, Ruihao smiled with satisfaction, and just a few steps away, he heard Ximei's excited cry, "Dad, mom, look quickly, isn't that Brother Xu?"

  Zhao Shi Chao Xi Mei pointed in the direction, but what's going on? In the crowd, a tall man stood in the center, occasionally being bumped by people, and his face was actually annoyed.

  Look at him like this, Xi Mei was happy, and said, "You say this person is weird or not. Obviously not willing to come, why still want to come over to find uncomfortable."

  "Hey, silly girl, you certainly don't know, he came here to protect you, didn't he? Otherwise, why would he come here to suffer for no reason? He's not stupid."

  Walking up to Zhao's family, Zhao asked warmly: "Peifeng, with the New Year approaching, have you and your older brother prepared everything for the celebration?"

  Although Xu Peifeng is a few years older than Lao Da Rui Xuan, he has been mixing with the Chen family for nearly five years.

  Moreover, he was a lifesaver for several children, and his reputation preceded him in the eyes of Zhao's family, who treated him with even greater respect.

  Xu Peifeng politely said, "Everything is ready, thank you for your trouble." After finishing speaking, he followed behind the Chen family and started strolling together.

  After walking for a while, the family who were originally together dispersed in twos and threes. Although being pulled by Ruihao to another side, his line of sight never left Ximai.

  At the same time, the sound of horseshoes came from the corner of the street. Xihe pulled Ximei to one side and looked at the people riding over on horseback.

  First and foremost, there was a young man with a cold face, wearing a black brocade robe, with intricate golden silk embroidery on his collar, making him look as cold as frost, with sharp features.

  Jet-black eyebrows and eyes, sword-like eyebrows reaching the temples, tightly closed mouth corners, inexplicably inspiring fear.

  After several people whizzed away, Xi Mei lowered her head and continued to chat with San Jie about the handkerchief flowers beside her, but didn't notice Xu Peifeng who had been lingering around her, his gaze following the direction where the few people had disappeared.

  Xuan Yuan Lie is finally back, phew, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Wishing everyone a happy new week! RS