Sky Curtain: My Happy Daily Life Exposed by Xiao Sizi

Chapter 67 Offering Incense for Qingming Festival: Preparations!

"Balloons? No problem. Come on, let me take you to see them!" Lu Chen took Xiao Sizi's hand, squeezed through the bustling crowd, and walked towards the vendor holding a large bunch of colorful, swaying helium balloons.

The vendor, a dark-skinned middle-aged man, saw the adorable little girl staring longingly at him. He immediately grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and enthusiastically greeted her, "Little sister, which one do you like? We have Ultraman ones, Elsa ones, and also bunny and Paw Patrol ones!"

Little Sizi tilted her head back, her little mouth agape in an "O" shape, her eyes sparkling as she wanted every single one. Her little finger pointed to the bright yellow sunflower balloon with a smiley face painted on it: "This one—prosperity!"

"Alright! This sunflower looks beautiful and vibrant!" The vendor deftly untied the string and handed it to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen paid the money, wrapped the string around Xiao Sizi's chubby wrist, and tied a slipknot.

The balloon floated gently overhead, and Little Si jumped up and down with joy, straining to look up at her "new friend." "Feifei! Guoguo Kang, it wants to fly away!"

"It's tied to the string, it can't run away." Lu Chen smiled, letting her run around in the open space between the stalls, holding the balloon.

"Roast duck! Fresh roast duck! Twenty-five each! Beggar's chicken thirty!" The loud cry from the stall next door echoed.

Grandma San heard this, stopped in her tracks, looked at the glistening roast duck hanging on the hook, then weighed the incense, candles, and paper money she had just bought in her hand, and shook her head: "I'm not buying this today. For the offerings to our ancestors, we should use the chicken and fish that we stew ourselves to show our sincerity."

Lu Chen leaned over to take a look at the beggar's chicken. The round balls wrapped in lotus leaves and covered with yellow mud were piled on the stall, emitting a faint aroma.

"Mom, how about we buy a beggar's chicken? I heard young people love it these days. Uncle and my older brother are coming back tomorrow, maybe we can make them something new?"

Second Grandma nodded in agreement: "I think it's a good idea, let's try it. Lu Chen, have you ever eaten it? Is it good?"

Before Lu Chen could answer, Xiao Sizi had already run back, pulling the balloon along. Her nose twitched as she sniffed the fragrant air, curiously looking at the lumps of yellow mud: "Brother, what are those? Mud balls?"

"That's beggar's chicken. It's made by wrapping the chicken in mud and lotus leaves and then roasting it. It smells amazing," Lu Chen explained.

"Mud—can it be seven?" Little Sizi stared wide-eyed, his face full of disbelief, which made the adults laugh again.

"You can't eat the mud, but the chicken inside is delicious." Mom smiled and patted her head. "When all the uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters come back this afternoon, we'll crack open the mud and eat it together, okay?"

"Okay!" Little Sizi answered loudly, already looking forward to the "hitting mud balls" game.

Considering there are many people in the family, my mother bought two beggar's chickens.

The group then browsed the fabric stalls, where Third Grandma carefully selected a spool of sturdy and durable white thread; Mom went to the fruit stall and bought several pounds of freshly harvested bananas and nectarines, saying they would be used for the grave-sweeping ceremony tomorrow; Aunt helped Mom and Third Grandma pick out some snacks for the grave-sweeping ceremony.

My dad was drawn to an old-fashioned radio at the secondhand stall and started chatting with the stall owner.

Little Sizi held a balloon in one hand and tightly gripped Lu Chen's finger with the other, her eyes constantly scanning the room.

She saw the pot mender take a roll of silver "plaster," stick it on the hole, and the hole was patched up. The little girl exclaimed "Wow!" in surprise.

Seeing the cyclamen flowers resembling rabbit ears and the camellias layered upon each other in a graceful and luxurious manner at the flower stall, she couldn't resist reaching out to touch them, but Lu Chen gently pulled her back.

Under the canopy of the sky, the ancients watched with great interest, their discussions never ceasing.

"If our Great Tang Dynasty had that miraculous pot-mending tool, how much trouble it would save us!" Fang Xuanling sighed, stroking his beard.

"And that beggar's chicken, it looks rough, but it's actually delicious. If I, Cheng Yaojin, punch it, it'll burst open!" Cheng Yaojin stared at the clod of mud, as if he could smell the aroma, and swallowed hard.

Li Shimin paid more attention to the demeanor of the people in the market: "Everyone is at ease, buying and selling is free, and goods are plentiful. This is the sign of a peaceful market."

"I wonder what beggar's chicken tastes like! I've never heard of it when I was a child." Zhu Yuanzhang wondered why he hadn't encountered it when he was begging for food.

"When we were kids, we were so poor we couldn't even afford wild vegetables, let alone chickens," Empress Ma said evasively.

"That's right, those were the poorest years of my childhood!!" Zhu Yuanzhang pounded his thigh.

"Give the order! Make beggar's chicken! Even beggars are eating chicken! We're still eating tofu!"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's exasperated state, Empress Ma chuckled beside him.

"Beggar's Chicken. Such a delicacy, the palace could try to replicate it. It seems it doesn't require any complicated seasonings," Emperor Qianlong said quietly.

"Yes, sir." The little eunuch quickly ran to announce the news, since this was an easy task.

"Sister," Zhu Yuanzhang made another great discovery, "Look at how many things modern people use for sacrifices! There are wreaths, dried flowers, fresh flowers, gold and silver ingots, folded so beautifully, and all kinds of ghost money, even the yellow paper is specially engraved copper coins! We can make some too, and burn them for our parents and brothers!"

Empress Ma nodded: "Yes, modern people are really ingenious. We can have the Ministry of Revenue specially develop and produce them, and then the imperial court can distribute them uniformly. Our national treasury can earn more money."

Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh: "Sister, you are truly a female Zhuge Liang! My good prime minister!"

"Oh, you can't say that. I'm just a woman with a simple life, I wouldn't dare to interfere in politics." Empress Ma waved her hands repeatedly.

"Hey, it's okay! Girl, whatever you say goes with me! There's nothing to hide! We're on the same page!"

"I know."

As the sun rose higher, the market became increasingly lively.

After buying everything, the whole family had their hands full.

Little Sizi also had a good haul: a wrist full of balloons, a pretty little alarm clock that her mother had stuffed into her pocket, and a squeaky rubber duck that Lu Chen had bought for her.

When they got in the car to go home, Xiao Sizi leaned against Lu Chen, playing with her rubber duck, and occasionally looked up at the balloons outside the car window, her little face full of a satisfied smile.

"Are you tired?" Lu Chen asked in a low voice.

"Hmm—" Little Sizi mumbled in response, rubbing her eyes, "But, I'm happy."

"As long as you're happy. The house is even more lively this afternoon, with uncles, elder brothers, and older brothers all coming back to play with Sizi."

"Du Fei Nai?" Xiao Si Zi's eyes brightened again. "Then—that muddy egg, seven in the afternoon?"

"Yes, we'll eat mud balls this afternoon." Lu Chen couldn't help but chuckle.

"Third Aunt, Eldest Sister-in-law, everyone's having dinner at my house tonight, how about we make dumplings together?" Mom asked.

"Alright! When the children are away from home, what they miss most is this dumpling from home! You don't mind having more people around, so we'll all come to your place to eat! Let's invite the other relatives too, so people don't think it's just the few of us from the close relatives eating together," Third Grandmother instructed.

"Sure, it's just a phone call. It's not easy for us to have a meal together all the time. It's family time to get together, that's what makes us close."