Lu Huaishen of Chong Xian Square was also eating crabs.
Lu Huaishen was poor because he had distributed his salary and other subsidies to his relatives.
His house in Chong Xian Square was still rented. He did not own the house nor the land. He only had the right to use it.
Of course, even if he did not give his salary to others, he still could not afford to buy a house in Chang 'an.
Yao Chong's house in Xing Ning Square was bought by Li Longji. It had nothing to do with Yao Chong. Before he bought a house, Yao Chong had rented an inn for a while.
The richest person was probably Zhang Shuo. Zhang Shuo had a big house in Yongle Square that belonged to him.
Lu Huaishen was eating crabs, and so was his wife. He did not live in Cheng 'an and only came over before the New Year.
His second son, Lu Yi, also came over. They were eating crabs together.
Beside them was a person from Heavenly Earth, Xiaoyun, and two maids.
On another table, paper and a brush were arranged. Xiaoyun took a piece of ink and ground it on an inkstone.
Xiaoyun whispered softly as she ground it, "The zither has fifty strings …"
"Fine, fine. I ate your crabs, and now I have to write for you. If you had told me earlier, I would not have eaten it." Lu Huaishen finally could not take it anymore and agreed to write for them.
"Prime Minister Lu is joking. If Prime Minister Lu is not willing to write, I will leave." Xiaoyun gave Lu Huaishen a way out.
Lu Huaishen sighed, "It's just that this couplet was not written by me."
He looked at a piece of paper on the table. The words on the paper were written in a special font.
It said, "Greedy for two bottles of wine, dreaming of snow. Drunk for one night, hearing about the awakening of insects."
It was written specifically for the drunken crabs. It said that the crabs drank two cups of wine during the Light Snow Festival. As a result, they got drunk in the jar and heard the awakening of insects.
Originally, it was an edible thing. Writing this couplet made the crab seem especially interesting.
Lu Huaishen knew that it was written by Li Yi, but he insisted that it was written by him, the prime minister. It was easy to spread.
Lu Huaishen did not want to take advantage of this. It was obviously not written by him.
But who told him to eat other people's crabs? He had no choice but to take a brush and make a copy, then write down his name and seal it.
"Go." Lu Huaishen tossed the pen aside, looking like he was about to lose his integrity.
"I need to write two copies." Xiaoyun picked up the pen and placed a stack of paper there.
Lu Huaishen had no choice but to continue writing.
"Thank you, Prime Minister Lu." Xiaoyun said happily, her fingers scratching the paper on the second copy.
With a few scratches, shua, he uncovered half of the paper. Below it were densely packed small words.
"Then our contract is done." Xiaoyun began to put away the paper.
"Hold on, what contract?" Lu Huaishen was unhappy. What did writing have to do with a contract?
"Lu Xiang, you don't remember. Just now we agreed that Lu Xiang would write a 'drunken crab couplet' and get ten strokes of the brush. These ten strokes of the brush will be used to buy and sell cotton candy in front of the House of Heaven and Earth.
Henceforth, any profits from the sale of cotton candy shall be given to Prime Minister Lu for five percent, to be used for the repair of the house, for furnishings, or for simple meals, but no money shall be deducted. "
Xiaoyun said with a shocked expression, as if saying, "Why is your memory so bad?"
The two maids at the side nodded vigorously, indicating that they had indeed agreed on it. Did you forget in the blink of an eye?
Lu Huaishen was at a loss. He looked at his wife and son, somewhat doubtful.
He understood the content. He would write a couplet in exchange for ten strokes of money.
Then these ten strokes of money would be used to buy cotton candy with the House of Heaven and Earth. In the future, he would get one twentieth of the profits from the sale of cotton candy.
However, this money would be used to repair the house and furnishings. Sometimes, it would be used to buy some food, but no cash.
"You dare to bully me? I don't even know what cotton candy is, so how could I forget? "Lu Huaishen was angry.
"The seal has already been stamped. Does Prime Minister Lu really want to go back on his word? Let's go. "
Xiaoyun threw down these words and ran away with the paper. The two maids followed her as if to protect her.
"This old man, this old man …" Lu Huaishen gasped for breath. His eyes were red.
He muttered: "This old man has a good reputation. Li Yi, you're good. You're capable. You're very capable."
After muttering to himself, he suddenly laughed: "Haha! Eat, this old man has already taken the membership card of the House of Heaven and Earth. I don't need cotton candy. "
Xiaoyun went back and asked someone to copy the words and enlarge them by two times. She also asked someone to frame them and hang them up.
On the first floor of the House of Heaven and Earth, there were four people assembling the cotton candy equipment.
When they stepped on it, the round box with holes around it would spin quickly.
At the bottom was a box that could be used to store coke or charcoal. If it was too hot, it could be moved to the side and adjusted its height.
In this way, the bamboo skewers and some sugar could be used to make cotton candy.
When they made money, they would take out some money to help Lu Huaishen repair his house or something, so that his life would not be too difficult.
Lu Huaishen was born in the Lu family of Fanyang. He was a descendant of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The seven families of the Tang dynasty were not allowed to marry each other. This was to prevent the powerful Lu family of Fanyang from occupying three of the families.
There were many people of the Lu family of Fanyang in Chang 'an. They did not have a good life. Lu Huaishen was the prime minister, so he had to help them.
He had no choice. Otherwise, when the rent was paid, he would have a good life but the others would not. The whole Lu family of Fanyang would attack him.
Everyone was of the same breath and branch. How could a prime minister ignore the other children of the Lu family?
Your father was only a seventh-rank military officer in a state. Do you remember when you were a child, you studied in the family school? Do you remember that the family gave you food and clothing?
Even if you did not care about the other branches of the Lu family of Fanyang, did you not care about your own branch?
What could Lu Huaishen do? His family's life would be difficult.
Li Yi knew about Lu Huaishen's situation. He was not in good health. According to the normal development of history, he would die next year.
This was not good. Even if he was old, he could be transferred to another position. He would have a helper in the imperial court.
Therefore, he could bribe. The prime minister was not afraid of being poor. It did not matter if he gave money to the family. He had a way to improve the quality of life of his family.
You have to be stable in the imperial court. If anyone wants to bully me, think about the cotton candy.
You have to be fair and honest. Cotton candy is so white, isn't it?
The next day, the cotton candy was officially sold.
The four machines were operated by four people. First, a few were made and placed at the side for people to see.
Two waitresses came out and took small bites of the cotton candy, telling people that this thing was edible. It was very sweet. If you don't believe it, look at your expression. Is it sweet?
Sweet, beautiful, sweet, beautiful. Some people were attracted.
Looking at the waitress sticking out her small tongue and licking it, they swallowed their saliva.
"What is this?" A young man stared at the waitress and asked.
"Replying to the young man, this is cotton candy. It only costs two copper coins and it is a big lump." The waitress gestured with the cotton candy in her hand and said sweetly.
"I'll buy one." Cai Jun took out two copper coins.
The waitress shook a cotton candy. He took it and stood at the door, learning to lick it.
After a few licks, he found that this thing was not suitable for licking. It should be eaten with a bite or a pinch.
Not long after, there were four lines at the entrance of the Heavenly World selling cotton candy.
Unfortunately, the waitress went in and did not accompany him to eat.
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