perfumer

Chapter 78 Mirabilis

After the Buddha Bathing Festival, seeing that the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, there are more peaches, willows, sunflowers, pu leaves, Buddhist and Taoist wormwoods on the market, and many villagers from neighboring villages flock to sell the flowers they have picked along the street. Waiting for things, the capital is already prosperous, and this approaching festival makes it even more lively.

This popular dragon-boat belt with longevity is woven with five-color silk threads, and there are small decorations all over the body, such as flowers, birds, fish, bells, etc., which are woven for children, which can drive away evil spirits and avoid ghosts.Mrs. Cao hurriedly made a few strings, and sewed them on the left shoulder for Gouzi and on the right shoulder for Wu Niang.

In the evening, the aunt came to find Bai Xin with an excuse. She saw springs in her eyes under the candlelight, and she was not as frivolous as she used to be when she spoke. Can I make a good-smelling spice? I want to make my own."

It was also because Bai Xin was full of wine and food, his brain was dull, and he didn't understand immediately, "Didn't we make sweat sachets before? Now it's hot, and that recipe is very good."

The aunt's face was red, and she said coyly: "That recipe is good, but it's not fragrant enough. I want to make a more fragrant sachet."

Bai Xin looked at the elder sister's expression, and finally came to his senses. He spurned several times for his stupidity, thought for a while, and said, "Then I will teach you how to make lychee fragrance. It's very simple. Take lychee shells, soak them in wine overnight, and drink with them." Put the jasmine together in the pot and steam for half an hour, dry it, pound it into fine powder, and combine it with Cyperus cyperi to make balls, after this kind of fragrance is made, the smell is very fresh and fragrant."

When the aunt heard that she wanted lychee shells, she felt embarrassed. After all, the price of lychees was high, and ordinary people would not be willing to eat them.

Bai Xin knew her worries, so he comforted her and said, "The lychees have been coming down for a while now, and the price is not very high. I'll buy a few tomorrow and try them all. The peeled shells are just right for you to use to make incense. This spice smells very good, but it is inconvenient to use lychee shells as the raw material.”

The aunt let go of half of her hanging heart, and left happily.

The next day, Bai Xin did not forget his promise, and bought eight lychees per person, including the dog and the mute. After taking them home, everyone looked at the small fruit with bumps and holes in it, and they were amazed. They had only heard of it. Litchi, but I have never seen it before. It used to look like an apple, but now it is only the size of a plum with a hard shell. I really don't know what to do with it.

When Mrs. Cao heard that it was a lychee, she exclaimed strangely: "Is this a southern fruit? How much does this one cost? Isn't it cheap? It's so small, you can buy some apples and pears are better than this!"

When the aunt heard this, she clutched the hem of her skirt guiltily, not daring to look at her expression.

Bai Xin nonchalantly picked up one and put it in Mother's hand, "Mother, you should just try it out, one for each person, not too much, and it won't cost much."

Mrs. Cao was speechless, and everyone turned their attention to Bai Xin. Bai Xin knew that they didn't know how to eat, so he did a demonstration first, peeled off the shell, revealing the crystal clear white flesh inside, and the juice immediately slid down his fingers When it comes down, the fresh and sweet fragrance bursts instantly.

Bai Xin hurriedly put the lychees into his mouth, his mouth was full of coolness and sweetness, reaching his stomach.

Seeing that Bai Xin had eaten it, the others smashed their mouths a few times, peeled off the lychee shells one after another, and swallowed them whole. Then, with a look of enjoyment on their faces, they kept gulping their saliva, sucking the juice from the fruit.

They thought that the lychee was full of flesh, so they bit into the fruit pit without any precautions, and their teeth were broken. After eating, Mrs. Cao spit out the lychee core in his hand, looked at it, and shouted unwillingly: " This is too fooled, it’s the size of a plum, and the core inside it accounts for half of it.”

The aunt saw that the litchi was like this, and she couldn't help but feel restless.

Bai Xin inadvertently looked at the mute, saw that he ate the lychees in a casual manner, without exaggerated reaction, wrote this down in his heart, put his hands on his mother's shoulders, and said with a smile: "Buy it for everyone to try it out? Mother, Don't worry about it, if you like it, your son will be happy."

Satisfied by what he said, Mrs. Cao smiled and patted his hand, "You are the only one who can speak well!" She originally wanted to save money and save money for you to marry a wife, but when she thought of the elder daughter's marriage There was no shadow, it would make her feel sad, so she swallowed the words back.

Seeing that Bai Xin took the matter of the lychees on her body, she gently and skillfully uncovered it, and did not mention the matter of making incense. She was grateful in her heart, and felt that the lychees she ate were sweeter than honey. She secretly glanced at the dumb man, who also looked at him She, the two of them happened to meet their gazes, and the aunt quickly turned her head, her starry eyes drooping, her face blushing.

The mute looked at the direction of the aunt thoughtfully, and the hand hanging by his side loosened and tightened, tightened and loosened again.

The lychee incense taught by Bai Xin is also simple, and the aunt actually made it. It was the first time she made incense alone, and she was so excited. After making the balls, it was really fragrant and fragrant, but still quiet. The more she smelled it, the more she liked it. , because I made it myself, I couldn't help but feel that this is the best-smelling fragrance in the world. I put it in a sachet embroidered with plum branches and magpies, and I haven't sent it out yet. Rubbing his cheeks, he felt hot under his palms.

The Dragon Boat Festival is lively, eating zongzi, and nailing a wormwood man at the door, it's over.

On this day, Bai Xin was setting up a stall. It was noon, when the sun was at its hottest. People on the street hid home to avoid the heat. Feeling drowsy for a while, I wish I could hide in the shade of a tree and have a good sleep.

Bai Xin yawned again and again, his eyelids were twitching. At this moment, he noticed a little girl carrying a basket not far away, wearing plain clothes. The little girl had already wandered around the opposite door several times, yelling and selling flowers from time to time.

It was a very normal scene, but Bai Xin was about to look away subconsciously, but suddenly saw a trumpet-shaped purple flower pinned to the little girl's head, which looked pretty from afar.

Bai Xin stared at it for a long time, and the idle stall owners around him were enough to joke around, "Bai Sanlang, do you have a crush on her little lady? Look at your eyes, I want to cling to her."

Bai Xin blushed, "Don't make fun of me." After he finished speaking, seeing the little girl was about to leave, he quickly entrusted someone he knew to look after the stall, and he chased after her.

When everyone saw him walking towards the little lady, they all thought he was bold and booed behind him.

Bai Xin walked behind the little girl and called out, "Little lady!"

The little girl turned around abruptly, and when she saw Bai Xin, she thought he wanted to buy flowers, so she hurriedly lifted up the basket and smiled sweetly: "My lord, do you want to buy flowers?"

Bai Xin took a look at the situation and saw several kinds of flowers in the basket, none of them were rare or expensive varieties, but rather like wild flowers picked in the countryside, red and yellow.

Although the little girl is young, she already knows how to read words and expressions. Seeing that the other party has no emotional expression, she is afraid that the business will not be possible, so she hurriedly said: "My lord, don't think the flowers are small, but they are fresh and fresh. They are woven into flower rows and worn on the head. They are very cute." , My flowers are also cheap, so you can buy some flowers for your sisters to play with."

Bai Xin saw that there was no one on the little girl's head in the basket, so she looked away and stared at her head, wishing she could take it off to have a look immediately, and said without thinking, "I want the flowers on your head."

The little girl blushed immediately, only thinking that the other party was flirting with her, she bit her lip, as if she wanted to run away.

Bai Xin realized that Meng Lang was a little embarrassed by his words, so he hurriedly explained, "Little lady, don't get me wrong, I just see the pretty flower on your head, I like it very much, and I want to take a look."

The little girl plucked up her courage and looked up at the other party. Seeing that he had an upright face, she felt a little determined, but she was still a little embarrassed, and shyly plucked the purple flowers by her ears.

Bai Xin held the flower and looked at it carefully. After confirming that it was the kind of words he knew, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed, "What's the name of your flower?"

The little girl was relieved to see that the man really showed liking for flowers, "It's just a wild flower in the countryside, how can it have a name?"

"Are there many flowers in your country?"

Hearing this, the little girl became even more energetic, thinking that he wanted to buy more, and nodded hurriedly, "There are yellow and white flowers all over the mountains and plains." After wearing it, it will become soft after a while, and most people don't like to wear it.

But Bai Xin hesitated in his heart. He recognized the flower as Mirabilis, which smelled ordinary and nothing special, but the fruit of Mirabilis was very useful. It was mixed with spices to make a powder, and after rubbing it, it became white again. And naturally, in his dynasty, he was very popular.

Although Bai Xin is mainly engaged in the spice business, he is also inseparable from rouge and gouache. I have noticed before that most of the current makeup powders are a combination of white powder and lead powder. They are more than white, but they are not natural. It is a thick layer of paste, and if there is more expression, scum can fall off the face.

"Master?" Seeing that Bai Xin was silent, the little girl blinked her eyes innocently.

Bai Xin came back to his senses, he intends to go to the place the little girl said, but it is impossible for them to lead him the way, besides, he has no time to pick it, so after thinking about it, he simply said: "In the bushes of this kind of flowers, there Isn’t there a kind of fruit growing, the size of a bean, and black in color?”

The little girl thought for a while, then nodded slowly, and said suspiciously: "There are indeed black fruits growing in green buds."

Bai Xin was shocked, "I don't want this flower, I want the fruit of this flower, can you pick some back tomorrow? I want as much as you pick."

The little girl's eyes widened suddenly, and she asked incredulously, "Really? You only want the fruit of this flower?"

Bai Xin nodded solemnly, then turned around and pointed to his own stall, "I'll set up a stall there, and you can pick me up there tomorrow when you pick it up."

The little girl followed her gaze, and the person who helped Bai Xin look after the stall even winked at Bai Xin when she saw her looking over.

The little girl was overjoyed, her heart was beating so hard, he didn't care what the man wanted to do with the dark fruit, as long as it could make money, she had already calculated in her heart how much the whole family could pick and how much they could sell, little girl The girl was originally a child of a poor family, and she was very happy thinking that she could earn twenty or thirty Wen for nothing.

"Okay! I'll come to you tomorrow!" The little girl responded happily, and then she didn't have the heart to sell flowers anymore. She wished she could send voices across thousands of miles, and immediately sent her family to go up the mountain to pick the fruits of flowers.

The author has something to say: let me emphasize again, the dates in the article are all in the lunar calendar