Ang Lee would occasionally do some risky things, but these risky things were controllable. Under normal circumstances, there would not be any real danger. It belonged to the danger with a small probability.
For example, this time, they came out to see the lanterns in disguise. Because there were too many people on the street to see the lanterns, there must be a certain risk, but the risk would not be very big. No one dared to commit murder in the capital, and the risk of a stampede could be controlled by themselves. They could avoid this tragedy by not going to places with a lot of people.
On the streets of the East Market, there were more and more people looking at the lanterns. The place with the most traffic was naturally the place where the lanterns were the most dazzling. It was an extremely large combination lantern. Ang Lee and Yan Ruyu were also preparing to go there to see what was going on. However, because too many people wanted to go to that place to see what was going on, it led to too many people gathering in this place. There was almost no place to step on.
Such a dense crowd made Ang Lee realize a hint of danger. In such a dense area, as long as one person squatted down, it was likely to lead to a more serious stampede. Therefore, it was better to stay away from such an area as far as possible. Although there were dozens of yamen runners in this area who kept shouting to everyone to be careful, the danger was still there.
In addition, Yan Ruyu came out dressed as a man, which made it more convenient for her to go out. However, if it was crowded, wouldn't it be exposed? A woman's body was soft, and it could be distinguished with a touch. Moreover, how could Ang Lee be willing to let his wife squeeze in a large group of people? Wouldn't it be easy for others to take advantage of her?
Therefore, not far from the largest lantern, Ang Lee stopped holding Yan Ruyu's hands.
"Husband, why don't we go?"
Yan Ruyu asked in a low voice.
Ang Lee pointed to the crowd in front and whispered, "Madam, look at the crowd in front. It's so crowded. How can I let you suffer like this? It's better to stop and take a rest! It just so happens that I'm hungry. Let's go to the side and have a bowl of snacks! "
Yan Ruyu raised her head and looked ahead. She also frowned. There were too many people in front. Just looking at them made her feel a little anxious. How could they be here to look at the lights? They were simply here to look at people's heads.
"Since you said to eat snacks, then let's eat some snacks."
Yan Ruyu smiled faintly and walked to the roadside stall with Ang Lee.
In the city of Chang 'an in the Tang dynasty, in addition to the restaurants in each square, there were many roadside stalls in the streets and alleys. This was not allowed to exist in later generations. There would be people responsible for driving away this kind of crowd so that these people could not make a living. However, in the Tang dynasty, even in a place like the capital, there were a large number of roadside stalls. No one would drive them away. As long as they operated legally, no one would make things difficult for them. After all, the roadside snacks were much cheaper than those in restaurants and restaurants. In any city, there were many poor people. For the poor who did not have much money, roadside stalls were the best place to eat, and they could save a lot of money.
Of course, the shortcomings of the roadside stalls were also very obvious. They were too low-end. The tables and benches were simple and crude. The hygiene was also a little worrying. Because the clean water was painstakingly picked up, it was relatively frugal when it was used. The dirty dishes were basically washed once. In addition, the passing crowd and vehicles would inevitably raise some dust, and this dust would eventually fall into the roadside food, thus lowering the hygiene standards of the food. Of course, as long as one had a good immune system, one would not fall sick under normal circumstances.
Ang Lee's status was so high that he naturally had few opportunities to eat roadside stalls. He only had a few opportunities to eat roadside stalls in a year. Every opportunity to eat roadside stalls was so rare that it gave him a special feeling.
"Dear guests, what would you like to eat?"
The stall owner did not recognize Ang Lee, so he asked in a friendly manner.
Ang Lee and Yan Ruyu looked at each other and said, "What kind of food do you have here?"
"Dear guests, we have noodle soup, dumplings, and dumplings …"
The stall owner introduced his specialties.
Ang Lee looked at Yan Ruyu and said, "What would you like to eat?"
Yan Ruyu thought for a moment and said, "Two portions of dumplings and two portions of dumplings."
"Also, a large plate of soy sauce meat, two plates … and prepare three large bowls of dumplings for the table next to you, three large bowls …"
Ang Lee added. Not only did he add a few side dishes for himself, but he also asked the stall owner to prepare food for the guards who followed him. After all, it would take a long time to see the lanterns. They had to eat first before they could work.
"Okay, it will be served right away."
It was rare for the stall owner to meet such a generous customer like Ang Lee, so he shouted happily.
This stall was run by a family. There were about five or six people working hard. There were also a few children who seemed to be helping. However, they seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help.
There were two gray-haired old people who should be an old couple. The man and woman who worked the hardest should be their son and daughter-in-law. The young man who came to talk to Ang Lee just now looked similar to the man who worked hard. He should be the younger brother. As for the two children who were only seven or eight years old, they were most likely the grandchildren of the old couple. There were a total of seven people in the family. On such days, no one was idle. They were all busy for survival.
There were many families like this in Chang 'an where the whole family was busy for survival, especially the street vendors. For making snacks, one person could never be busy. If there were more varieties, there would be more people needed. Three to five people could be so busy that their feet did not touch the ground. When there were too many customers, they had to let the customers wait for a long time.
The adults were busy working, and the two children were also doing some small things beside them. However, due to the children's playful nature, they were always not focused when working. They even dropped the washed dishes and chopsticks on the ground. As a result, they were more of a hindrance than a help. They could not avoid being reprimanded.
At this moment, there were many people on the street, but there were not so many people eating snacks on the street. After all, many people went out with a full meal. Moreover, there were more snack vendors on both sides of the street. With such a dilution, there would not be many customers in front of each vendor.
The vendor in front of them had a total of twelve tables. Each table was not big. The four largest tables could accommodate up to eight people eating together, and the eight small tables could accommodate up to four people eating together. Moreover, each person could only have one meal, and there could only be two or three dishes at most. If there were more, it would really not be able to fit them.
However, if there were no more seats, two small tables could be put together. In this way, six people could be accommodated and a few more dishes could be placed.
Because the business was not full yet, in addition to Ang Lee's two tables, there were five or six people sitting at three small tables. Ang Lee and the guard chose the largest table. The vendor knew that Ang Lee's clothes were not simple. Naturally, he could not request to change tables. Moreover, there was really no need for that. There were too many empty tables.
As for the customers sitting at the small tables, because they were ordinary people, they were very conscious to sit at the small tables. When there were not many people, they would choose the small tables first. This was a kind of consciousness, and the consciousness of ordinary people at the bottom. Ang Lee was used to sitting at the large table, so even if there were only two people with Yan Ruyu, they would choose the largest and best table. The decent clothes on Ang Lee's body also allowed him to make such a choice. He ordered a few more dishes and almost filled the small table. It was not a waste of the space of the large table.
However, Ang Lee ordered so many snacks in one breath, not to be full, but to taste the taste of each snack. If he couldn't eat it, he would just throw it away. For the sake of novelty, Ang Lee would not be stingy with money.
Soon, plates of side dishes were served. The one who served the dishes was the young man from earlier. As long as he wasn't too busy, he would be in charge of serving the dishes. The other four adults would be washing the vegetables and making snacks. In comparison, serving the dishes was the most time-saving method. One person could definitely handle it all by himself.
"Madam, quickly try it while it's hot. See how the snacks from this roadside stall taste compared to the ones at home?"
Ang Lee looked at Yan Ruyu and said.
"Well, it's delicious. This should be mutton dumplings. The taste is really good. Although it's not as exquisite as the ones at home, it has a different taste."
Yan Ruyu smiled slightly and her eyebrows trembled a few times. She seemed very happy.
"It's good that Madam likes it. Come, try this soy sauce meat. It looks delicious, but I don't know if it's really delicious."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Yan Ruyu gently picked up a piece of soy sauce meat, tasted it gently, and nodded with satisfaction. So Ang Lee also tasted it. The taste was indeed different, but it was really not a delicacy. It was just that Ang Lee had eaten too many delicacies, so he had a different feeling when eating this food. For example, many rich people in later generations began to miss the feeling of eating salted vegetables after getting used to eating fish and meat. Instead, they felt that salted vegetables were a rare delicacy. No matter which era, salted vegetables were not a delicacy. It even became a standard ingredient for the poor.
The only reason why rich people liked to eat salted vegetables was that they had eaten too much fish and meat. They were tired of eating salted vegetables, and salted vegetables could relieve the grease and make people's appetite more comfortable.
There were not many ingredients in this stall, only a dozen kinds. Too many kinds were not affordable for this roadside stall. More than a dozen kinds were enough. Some small stalls only had one or two kinds of ingredients. These were very common. For example, the stall selling candied haws along the street could also be regarded as a kind of hawker, but they only had one kind of food. There was also a stall that specialized in selling noodles and soup. For a stall with one or two people, selling a single food was not a choice. There were too many things that they could not handle.
After tasting every food, Ang Lee and Yan Ruyu did not want to eat anymore. They originally wanted to taste the taste and did not intend to finish it. After eating too much, they felt that these ingredients were insufficient.
"Madam, look, the lantern in front is moving!"
Ang Lee looked at the nearest lantern and said.
The nearest lantern in front of them was an advertising lantern. It was relatively large. At the top of the lantern was a rich child holding jewels. The child's neck and head were all kinds of jewels, and the whole child was slowly rotating. Below the child was a structure similar to a hill. It should be said that it was a jewel mountain. The mountain was full of jewels of various styles, and many of the jewels were carefully engraved. It was just that Ang Lee was too far away and could not see the words in the distance. However, he could guess that these words must be advertisements by merchants, and the whole lantern must be made by jewelry merchants in order to promote their jewelry products and let the nobles and common people in the capital go to their shops to buy jewelry.
Yan Ruyu put down her chopsticks and sat beside Ang Lee. She quietly looked at the lantern in front of them. Her eyes were always fixed on the rich child who was rotating, and her brows slightly frowned.
"Husband, is this little boy a lantern or a real person?"
Yan Ruyu suddenly asked.
Ang Lee was very puzzled and said, "A real person? Madam, do you think it's a real child standing on it? "
"It really looks like a real child. If it's a model of a lantern, it's too realistic! Moreover, it can rotate. "
Yan Ruyu said doubtfully.
Hearing this, Ang Lee looked at the lantern in front of them carefully. He really felt that Yan Ruyu's words made sense. Because it was too far away, Ang Lee had not noticed it. Now that he took a closer look, it really did look like a real child.
"Go over and take a look. Is the child on the lantern a real person or a model of the lantern?"
Ang Lee looked at a guard at the next table and ordered.
"No, no need to look. It's a real person, a five or six-year-old child."
The hawker who was passing dishes to another table quickly interrupted when he heard Ang Lee's order.
"A real person? It's really a real person? "
Ang Lee was quite surprised. Yan Ruyu was also surprised, but at the same time, she was a little proud.
When the hawker came over again, Yan Ruyu asked, "That five or six-year-old child has been standing on the lantern and rotating back and forth. There are so many jewels hanging on it. Isn't it very tiring?"
The hawker said with a smile, "It's not tiring. It's a good job and can make a lot of money. There are three children under the lantern. Including the one on top, there are four people in total. They take turns on the lantern and just stand there and rotate a little. It's not tiring at all. It's just that it's easy for children to not be sleepy at night. It's just that it's easy to find a good job in the evening."
"Haha! This merchant is very smart! Letting a real child stand on the lantern will definitely attract more people. It's a good advertisement! "
Ang Lee praised.
"I heard that it was Assistant Minister Li's idea to let the merchants make the lantern. Otherwise, how could these hawkers have such brains?"
The hawker looked at the lantern with an unconvinced face. He seemed to be disdainful of such a creative jewelry merchant. He even used the word 'hawker' to describe jewelry merchants. It was quite appropriate to use it to describe himself.
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