After driving away the people who came because of the smell, Ji Caimai turned to Wen Mingtang and said, “This thing called táng chǎo bǎn is really fragrant. If we set up a stall on the street, I guarantee that it will attract passers-by on the street!” As he said that, he grabbed another handful of táng chǎo bǎn and started eating them while peeling the shells.

Wen Mingtang looked at Ji Caimai who was sighing in front of her, smiled, and sighed: “Of course!”

There was a rare bit of nostalgia in that calm tone as always! Ji Caimai, who was eating táng chǎo bǎn, looked up and glanced at the girl in surprise.

Wen Mingtang certainly misses it: holding a paper bag of táng chǎo bǎn on the streets in late autumn. The freshly baked chestnuts still had a soothing warmth, and she put a peeled chestnut into her mouth, wow… That feeling, for a foodie, was truly unique in autumn.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t seen this situation for many years since she came to Dayong!

Of course, chestnuts were obviously not only eaten fried with sugar. Ji Caimai, who was holding a large paper bag of táng chǎo bǎn and eating them while watching Wen Mingtang cook, couldn’t help but sigh: “I never thought that this thing could be cooked with pork!”

“There are so many dishes that can be paired with braised pork,” Tang Yuan heard, looking at the braised pork and chestnuts being stewed in the casserole, and said, “Master Wen said that this braised pork is also delicious with the eggs fried like ‘tiger-skin’!”

Eggs with skin fried into a “tiger skin” look? He had never seen one before! Ji Caimai’s throat moved and he said, “Let’s make that next time!”

Only after meeting Master Wen did he realize that all things and ingredients in this world could be combined to create so many delicious flavors.

But he really should study more about how to eat it! Otherwise, wouldn’t this small chestnut have grown so big in vain? Ji Caimai shed a handful of non-existent “tears” and threw another chestnut into his mouth: This táng chǎo bǎn was really delicious!

The chestnut braised pork was still simmering in the casserole, but the pot of táng chǎo bǎn prepared by Ah Bing had been bought up by those who were quick with their hands.

Zhao You, who had bought a big bag first, hurriedly ran to Lin Fei’s room holding the bag of táng chǎo bǎn.

With the aroma of táng chǎo bǎn, he trotted past. When he passed the lobby, Liu Yuan and others looked up and looked at Zhao You with “resentment” in their eyes. It was a pity that Zhao You, who was so slow, could not perceive “resentment”. He just happily ran to Lin Fei and shared half with “Lin Shaoqing” to taste.

“He runs really fast!” Liu Yuan took a deep breath of the aroma of táng chǎo bǎn that still lingered in the air, swallowed his saliva, and said, “He doesn’t understand the principle of seeing it, you get it!”

“If he understood, he wouldn’t be Zhao You!” Bai Zhu rubbed his nose, raised the book in his hand, glanced at Liu Yuan, and called him, “Liu Yuan, I remember that you have a biǎo who runs a lantern shop?”

As Bai Zhu raised his hand, Liu Yuan was stunned when he saw the book in his hand: “Introduction to Lamp Making? Mr. Bai, why are you looking at this book? Are you planning to quit your job as a sì chéng and become a lamp maker instead?”

Hearing the words “He was not going to be an sì chéng”, everyone in the hall turned around and looked at Bai Zhu. Bai Zhu raised the book in his hand, pretending to “throw” him with the book, and shouted: “What nonsense are you talking about? When did I say I was not going to be sì chéng? When you passed the gate today, didn’t you see the notice issued by Jingzhao Prefecture?”

What notice? Everyone was puzzled, calmed down, and continued to look at Bai Zhu.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Bai Zhu held his forehead and couldn’t help but sigh, “Why didn’t you even look at the notice before passing by the gate?”

Although he grumbled that everyone “didn’t pay attention to external affairs”, he still patiently explained to everyone: “This year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jingzhao Prefecture will hold a lantern festival! At that time, the winner of the lantern festival will receive a reward of three hundred taels!”

When they heard “three hundred taels”, everyone in the hall exclaimed: “So much?”

“Yes! Three hundred taels!” Bai Zhu nodded and said, “This year, Jingzhao Prefecture has invested a huge amount of money.”

“So, now that there is a huge reward, someone must be trying to cram!” A clerk sighed when he heard this and looked at the book “Introduction to Lamp Making” in Bai Zhu’s hand, but couldn’t help but tell the truth, “I’m afraid there will be professional lamp makers participating in the event. How can we, who are trying to cram at the last minute, compare to professional lamp makers?”

Bai Zhu glanced at him and said, “Jingzhao Prefecture said that lamp makers are not allowed to participate! I don’t ask for the first place. Besides, in addition to the silver reward for the top three, the top 30 will get a beauty lamp made by the old craftsman of Qiandeng Shop!”

When they heard that the old craftsman of Qiandeng Shop personally made the Beauty Lamp, everyone in the hall took a deep breath. Their expressions of watching the fun just now instantly turned into eagerness to try: “Really?”

Bai Zhu had expected the reaction of the crowd. He nodded and said, “Really? It’s written in black and white on the noticeboard! If not, I wouldn’t have done this at the last minute.”

However, seeing the excited expressions of the crowd, Bai Zhu said, “Do you know how the ranking of the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival is determined?”

How could people who didn’t even know about the Lantern Festival know this?

Facing the looks from the crowd, Bai Zhu smiled and said, “Jingzhao Prefecture has a lot of gimmicks this time! Each person can enter the Lantern Festival to watch the lanterns for five coins, and each person can get a wooden stick in his hand. If he likes a lantern, he can throw the stick into the basket in front of that lantern, and the top three and the top thirty will be selected based on the number of sticks.”

After hearing Bai Zhu’s explanation of the Lantern Festival rules, everyone sighed in disappointment: “We really thought that Jingzhao Prefecture had invested a lot of money! It turns out that the wool is still paid by the sheep. What a big calculation! If this is not a competition for the ability to call friends, what else can it be?”

The logic that everyone could understand was certainly not lost on Bai Zhu. He smiled and said, “So, I thought, why not just have our Dali Temple submit only one lantern? Then, everyone would vote for our own, and if we won the beauty lantern, it would be hung in the main hall for everyone to see!”

No matter how you looked at it, the Beauty Lantern in the Thousand Lantern Shop was hard to come by. Besides, everyone was going to see the lanterns anyway, so if they cooperated to get a Beauty Lantern, it wouldn’t be a waste of the five coins.

This suggestion was of course the best, and everyone in the hall responded. Wei Fu, who was calmly reading The Classic of Tea, couldn’t help but laugh when he heard this, “Mid-Autumn Festival only comes once a year, so we might as well join in the fun.”

However, even though it was for fun, the lantern couldn’t be too ugly, or the Dali Temple would be embarrassed!

Therefore, the lantern had to look good! The appearance of the lantern was important!

“Who will paint the picture on the lantern?” Bai Zhu looked at everyone and asked, “Is there anyone among us who is good at painting?”

As soon as these words came out, the murmurs of discussion suddenly stopped. Everyone looked at each other, and after a while, someone smiled bitterly and said, “I’m afraid not…”

“Why not?” Liu Yuan interrupted him, raised his hand pointed him out, and said proudly, “Our Lin Shaoqing’s paintings are pretty good!”

(End of this chapter)

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