Chapter Fifteen Neighborhood

  It was the tenth afternoon since several people moved into Jingdong Hutong. The yard was filled with the sound of human voices, and the air was filled with the smell of coal burning. Today was the day they invited their neighbors to a banquet.

  "Move it over here, put the table a bit further away, don't block the door. Dogzi, go borrow some stools from Jiang Wang's house again. Bring Xi, you first stack up the bowls and chopsticks and put them over there."

  "Got it."

  Liu Min was sweating, directing a few followers, and had set up two large tables at the door. Zhou Laifu's wife was helping to cook by the stove, and as a housewife, she knew better how to make the most of the heat from the coal. A chef who had been invited from the market was busy cutting meat and cooking dishes, while Lu Lüzi was assisting him. Er Tun was standing beside them, watching. On the day Chen Xin went to work, Dai Zhenggang and Lu Lüzi had sent Er Tun over. The knife wounds of the others were almost healed, but their injuries were still bandaged. Dai Zhenggang was worried that if the other neighbors saw them, they would be suspicious, so he only sent Er Tun over. Lu Lüzi stayed behind to take care of him, while he himself and the others remained in the den.

  Before long, the aroma of meat wafted inside and outside the door. Several people had been preparing for a whole day, and at dinner time, they would invite all the neighbors to come and have a flowing banquet. The time for inviting guests was calculated by Mr. Xiang, and originally, Tang Zonglin suggested starting at noon, but considering that there were many people going out to work during the day and Chen Xin was not around, it was changed to dinner time, while Tang Zonglin had already informed all the neighbors the day before.

  It was just past dinner time, and the dishes were almost ready. There were only four or five dishes, including braised pork belly, stewed pig's feet, roasted mutton, steamed buns, and coarse grain cakes, which were served in large ceramic bowls on the table. The stove was used to keep the dishes warm, and once a bowl was finished, it was refilled. This was the way of the "flowing water banquet", and the cost was not high, with the chef's labor costs adding up to nearly two taels of silver. Pork cost two cents per catty, and thirty catties were bought, while mutton was cheaper, with fifty catties purchased. There were sixty-eight households in the village, with at least three or four people per household, making a total of two to three hundred people. Each person got a good amount of meat, which made for a decent sacrificial feast.

  As soon as the delicious smell came out, several neighbors arrived. After mentioning it yesterday, they were looking forward to tonight's dinner. Those who were at home came over early, and Liu Min was constantly greeting the neighbors, while Jiang Wang introduced Liu Min to everyone on the side, so that everyone could get to know him, which was also the purpose of holding this banquet.

  The first table was all women from the village, who stayed at home during the day and came early with their children. Each took a bowl and sat down around the table, more than ten people filled one table before starting to eat. While eating, they praised the couple.

  A woman holding a child asked: "Liu Ge, where are you from?"

  "Auntie, we're from Liaodong."

  "Ah yo, isn't that occupied by the Tartars?"

  "Yes, so we fled all the way into the pass."

  "These Tartars are no good, two years ago when they lost Guangning, many people fled in panic, I heard some families were completely wiped out, it's really pitiful to see."

  "Yes, the two of us are still okay, but they have suffered a lot. Their parents died on the road and they have been wandering around for several years." Liu Minyu said, pointing to Wang Dai Xi and others.

  A group of housewives, upon hearing this, were filled with kindness and concern. They pulled over the smallest Wang Dai Xi and Zhang Er Hui, asking them questions in unison.

  Another woman said: "Liu Geer, you've become a family?"

  "Not married yet."

  "That won't do, Liu Ge and you all must hurry up. I heard that you are all educated people, you must know that having no descendants is unfilial. This matter will be taken care of by your Aunt Wang, she will definitely find a good family's daughter for you."

  A woman next to Aunt Wang chimed in, "Aunt Wang, are you eyeing Liu Ge and wanting him as a son-in-law or something? Your daughter is only ten years old, Liu Ge don't listen to her."

  "Hahaha!" A group of women next to her burst out laughing.

  Aunt Wang scolded the woman next to her: "You're talking nonsense, what's wrong with my daughter?"

  "It's okay, no rush, anyway Liu Ge and his friends have five or six men coming over, Aunt Wang can take her time to choose."

  A group of women burst out laughing, Zhang Er was pulled to the side, pretending not to understand, and followed them in laughter. Wang Shu's ten-year-old daughter blushed with a red face, forgot to eat meat, grabbed a bun and ran away.

  Liu Min felt a bit awkward and didn't know what to say. For this otaku, these housewives were quite difficult to deal with.

  Just then, Chen Xin's voice came from beside him, "I'm in a hurry, Aunt Wang can help me find a woman first."

  Turning around, it was Chen Xin and several others including Old Cai who had arrived, knowing there was food to eat. Several people quickly closed up their stalls and hurried back. Cai Shen and the second one didn't say a word and sat down at another table, occupying a spot.

  Aunt Wang was being squeezed by a group of women, Chen Xin said so, and finally had an excuse, laughing: "Brother Chen, you quickly say what kind of thing you want to find, I'll take care of it for Aunt Wang."

  Chen Xin had a professional smile on his face: "I have high requirements, I must find someone as virtuous and domestic as all of you sisters. If there really isn't anyone like that, then at least they should be half as good as all of you."

  A group of women's faces lit up, and they immediately started chattering and calculating. Liu Min took the opportunity to slip back into the courtyard, leaving Chen Xin to deal with these middle-aged women.

  After eating for a while, more and more people came out onto the streets. The second table where Cai Shen sat was soon filled with men who started eating. A bowl of wine was poured, and everyone took turns drinking from it. Before long, some vegetable scraps floated to the surface of the wine, but no one seemed to mind.

  The women at the first table saw that there were more people, so they didn't linger and quickly finished eating, vacating the first table. As they left, they were still discussing which woman was suitable for Chen Xin. As soon as they left, the neighbors immediately came to fill the tables again, taking bowls and chopsticks to start eating. Wang Daiji and others hurriedly brought out new dishes, collected the empty bowls and took them to the courtyard to wash, ready for use in the next round.

  In the courtyard, everyone was busy. Liu Minyou also went to help pack the dishes. Just as he had packed half of them, Zhou Laifu's wife said: "Liu Gongzi, you can't pack it like this, there's too much meat. There are still many rounds left later, and then there won't be any meat left. Let me do it."

  Liu Min had no choice but to hand the bowl back to Zhou Laifu's wife. After she filled it up, she placed it on the edge of the stove to keep warm.

  Tan Shunlin saw Liu Min still in the courtyard and came over to say, "Liu Gongzi, you should go out and accompany them. Today's main purpose is for the neighbors to get to know you two. The kitchen matters can be left to these women."

  Lu You chimed in from the side: "Exactly, my wife will come over to help soon, you just go and keep her company. Honestly, she insisted on washing clothes today despite knowing how busy we are, I'll deal with her later."

  This Lu You is also a neighbor of Er Dao Street, and goes to and from work with Chen Xin every day. He has been here several times and is quite familiar with the place. Although he appears honest in front of Old Cai, at home he is the one who calls the shots.

  Liu Min had no choice but to go outside the hospital again, accompany Chen Xin and others to drink, and take on the responsibility of pouring wine. There were already many people on the street, all waiting for tables, chatting in groups, Tan Shunlin introduced the two one by one.

  Most of the men sat at the table, and only one table was occupied by women. The majority were squatting beside the table eating, while a few families with strict rules did not allow women to come out for meals. In the late Ming Dynasty, the social atmosphere in the south was open, the handicraft economy was developed, and the status of women had improved. There were many shrews and jealous wives, but the status of northern women was relatively lower. However, due to frequent population mobility, Tianjin, as a hub of canals, had people from all over the country, so the social atmosphere was also a mix of local characteristics.

  Finally, the second table finished eating and left, Old Cai and his son also bid farewell and left. After another round of bustle, they set up again and sat down at a new table. Like this, they ate six or seven rounds, watching as the crowd gradually thinned out. The two of them accompanied each other for half a day and got to know many neighbors.

  Four little followers and several helpers were busy, Wang Daili was cleaning the table, when suddenly a waist knife was slapped on the table, startling Wang Daili. He looked up to see a fairly robust man wearing a half-old sheepskin coat with a wooden plaque hanging from his belt, black leather boots on his feet, and a fur hat on his head. The man sat down in a big way, saying repeatedly: "It's good, it's good, I finally made it. Master, bring some wine first, I'm starving to death."

  Chen Xin hurried over and invited: "Brother, please sit down, I'll bring wine right away. I haven't asked your name yet..."

  Tan Shunlin came over from the side and scolded, "Zhou Ranci, what are you doing? This is a new neighbor, with this appearance of yours, aren't you scaring them?"

  That week, Ruan Ding saw Tan Shunlin and quickly picked up the waist knife from the table, smiling apologetically: "It turns out that Director Tan is also here, I'm not hungry, am I? I'm usually like this, it's not intentional to scare them today."

  Tan Shunlin's tone relaxed: "This is the new Chen brother and Liu brother, you will have to help each other more in the future." He also said to Chen Xin: "This is Zhou Shifa, he is a house servant of Qian Zhongxuan, the deputy general of Tianjin. Sometimes he is on duty at the Zhenhai Gate, if there is an urgent matter to enter or exit, you can ask him for help."

  Chen Xin smiled and gave Zhou Shifei a fist bump: "So Brother Zhou is the housekeeper of Vice General's mansion, no wonder he has such a heroic spirit. With Brother Zhou's help in guarding the city with Governor Qian, we common people can finally feel at ease living here. Later, we must toast to Brother Zhou with two more cups of wine to show our respect."

  This week, Shi Fa has been practicing sword and spear since childhood, with some strength, and was selected as the general's house guard. He is also a bully in the city. Because good iron doesn't make nails, and good men don't become soldiers, he became a soldier, so people call him Zhou Rotten Nail. Few people in the neighborhood say anything good about him, but it's nice to hear. He calls Chen Xin brother and wants to get drunk together until dawn.

  Liu Min had lived for a few days and basically understood some things. The neighborhood relationships in ancient times were completely different from the original era of the two people. Neighborhood watch was a matter of course, and the same alley or street was a natural connection link. The community was a person's backing in dealing with the world. Whether rich and powerful or evil, they might look down on their neighbors, but generally wouldn't bully them. They would still help out a bit, so it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that the streets were home to local tyrants and hooligans.

  "Brother Zhou, Brother Zhou, why did you come so late? I've been waiting for you at the street corner for half a day." A sly and cunning young man rushed over, of medium height but very thin, wearing a hat with a curved brim, a tight-fitting robe, and a folding fan tucked into his belt. He sat down next to Zhou Shifeng, moving the wooden stool closer, and smiled before speaking, trying to curry favor with Zhou Shifeng: "Brother Zhou, you must be tired from being on duty today, do you want me to give you a back massage?"

  Zhou Shifa didn't even look at him and impatiently said, "Scram, stop spouting nonsense. First pay me the share from last time before talking about other things."

  That man's face was quite thick, and he didn't care that others were present. He stood up and started giving Zhou Shifeng a back massage, saying: "Look at what you said, Brother Zhou, your share can't be less, right? Recently, I've been tight on cash, but as soon as I get some breathing room, I'll immediately give it to my older brother. It just so happens that if Brother Zhou is free tomorrow, we'll go set up a bonfire and give you the one from last time together."

  Zhou Shifa turned around and pushed him away, scolding: "Get out, if you want to hit someone, let your wife do it."

  "Zhou Ge said with a smile, 'My rough and big-footed wife is coming, I'm afraid she'll beat you up, Zhou Ge.'"

  Tan Shunlin coughed, and the man looked over, seeing it was Tan Shunlin, also smiled and greeted him. Only then did Tan Shunlin say to him: "You came but didn't first pay respects to the host's family, instead you spoke of those trivial matters right away. Come quickly and greet Chen Gongzi and Liu Gongzi."

  "Yes, yes, Director Tan's teachings are correct, and I was in a hurry to find Brother Zhou. Look, I've forgotten the etiquette. Please don't blame me, two Chen brothers and Liu brother. My surname is Ke, first name Shan, courtesy name..."

  Zhou Shifan kicked him in the butt, "You dare to say that rotten word, I'll slap you with my big ear."

  Deng Keshan was kicked, and he quickly patted the footprint on his pants twice. His smile unchanged, he slightly bowed to Zhou Shifa and said: "I'm not greeting Xin Jie Fang like this, without even saying a word, how can we address each other in the future?"

  "You're not even a scholar, you can't recognize a single character the size of a millstone, what's the point of taking another one? And with your behavior, how dare you take a word called 'morality'? I'm ashamed for these two words."

  "Zhou Ge, look at what you said, I've also attended private school for two years, and it's not a big deal to carry two baskets of goods. Calm down, I won't say anything else."

  Deng Keshan's words were neither soft nor hard, and Zhou Shifa seemed to have come up with a temper. His eyes bulged, and Chen Xin saw that things were not going well, so he hastily intervened between the two men, pulling Deng Keshan away: "Come on, Brother Deng, sit down first. In my opinion, the name 'Keshan' is originally very meaningful. Life is like a dream in a vast wilderness, which shows that your parents are knowledgeable and insightful people. With such a good name, whether it's a character or not doesn't matter. Brother Zhou, you should also calm down. When there are things to discuss between neighbors, it's always better to talk them over. Today, I'll accompany everyone to drink a few cups, and we can discuss other matters tomorrow."

  Zhou Shifa then said: "I will spare you because of Chen's face and won't bother with you."

  Deng Keshan sat down and said to Chen Xin, "Chen Gongzi is indeed a learned man. I have the utmost respect for those with knowledge. You can just call me Deng Er, Liu brother too. Don't say anything else, but all our neighbors around here know me..."

  Zhou Shifa sneered coldly: "Everyone knows you're deceiving and cheating."

  Deng Keshan didn't mind either, and chuckled as he continued: "Everyone in the neighborhood knows I'm a warm-hearted person. If you need help with anything, just let me know..."

  "It's settled then, I've been had."

  Tan Shunlin couldn't bear it anymore and scolded: "You two, stop right there! If you have something to say, go ahead and say it. Don't lose face in front of the new street crowd. Deng Keshan, why don't you just stuff your mouth with a steamed bun?"

  Zhou Shifa stopped talking and turned his face to the side, while Deng Keshan didn't get angry at all. He went to grab a steamed bun himself and looked at the table, still not stopping: "Brother Chen, where are your dishes? I've been sitting here for half a day and they still haven't arrived."

  Tan Shunlin was so angry that he rushed over and wanted to hit him: "Which flow water banquet has no one present before serving dishes? Can't you shut up your stinky mouth?"

  Chen Xin got up and blocked Tan Shunlin: "General Manager Tan, don't be in a hurry. I think it's late today, you haven't eaten yet, just sit at this table. The aunties and uncles who helped inside can also come to eat, just enough to fill the table. Min You, quickly let them bring the dishes, take more bowls, and pour wine."

  Deng Keshan heard there was wine and got excited again. Tan Shunlin had just sat down, saw him wanting to speak, and slapped the table, forcing Deng Keshan to swallow his words back.

  Chen Xin saw that the situation was calm, so he hurried into the courtyard to ask for help from Lu You, Zhou Laifu, Jiang Wang and others. The three men's wives couldn't sit at the table either, so they served themselves food and sat down on a small stool by the stove to eat. Liu Minyou didn't agree with this approach, but there was no way to reason with them, so he had to let it go. Because of the existence of conservative people like Zhou Laifu, Wang Dai Xi also couldn't sit at the table. She wasn't bothered by it at all, as her original family was even more conservative than this one. Not only could women not sit at the table, but they often didn't get to eat until after the men had finished eating and there were leftovers.

  Inviting everyone to eat, Chen Xin was about to go out, Liu Min whispered beside him: "Deng Keshan's face is even thicker than yours."

  Chen Xin smiled and said: "Then I'll learn from him, never mind about him, you also come to accompany everyone to drink more wine later, in the end these two are quite interesting."

  "It's also only you who thinks it's interesting."

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