Baozi Xishi's Struggle

When Shen Yu heard what Li said, she was relieved at first. She was not afraid of anything else but someone getting sick. In this age of lack of clothing and medicine, getting sick was more terrible than being poor.

She understood Li's confusion and smiled gently, "Mother, we had a hard life in the past. We didn't have much delicious food to eat on weekdays. When we could eat a piece of milk cake on festivals, we thought it was sweet and fragrant. If we could buy a piece of honey cake or eat a few candies, we would feel that this was a sweet day."

After a pause, he pointed at the scallion pancake with the chopsticks in his hand and said, "Actually, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty all have their own flavors. Sweet ones are not the only delicious ones. Look at the wealthy families, they don't eat sweet cakes every day. Otherwise, how could the restaurant business be so prosperous, with people ordering all kinds of dishes? We have better food now than in the past, and we can eat all kinds of flavors every day. Of course, we don't think that sweet alone is so delicious."

Li didn't quite understand what he said, but Yu Cheng said loudly beside her: "Mom, I know why you think sweet cakes are not delicious. We have delicious food at home now, and we can eat it every day, so you don't think sweet cakes are the best."

"Look at me. At first I thought the meat buns made by my elder sister were the most delicious, but then I thought the pork ribs stewed by my elder sister were also delicious. The scallion pancakes made today are crispy and fragrant. I think they are all delicious. Sweet cakes are delicious in their own way, and scallion pancakes are delicious in their own way. There is no one that is the most delicious."

Yu Cheng said a lot of words in one breath, thought for a while, and added: "Eldest sister said that she can cook a lot of delicious food, and will cook them for us one by one in the future. Being able to eat all kinds of delicious food is a sweet and good life, mother, don't you think so?"

Shen Yu listened and nodded approvingly. Although Yu Cheng's words were confusing, his expression was very clear. It seemed that with this analogy, Li should understand and would not clamor to eat sweets all day long anymore.

Yu Tao also said, "Mom, I feel the same way. I used to think that being able to eat sweet cakes was a good life, but now, I feel that I don't like sweet cakes as much as before. Sweet cakes are delicious, and they are still very fragrant when you eat a piece. If you eat too much, I will start to want to eat the food made by my eldest sister."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Okay, today is the Ghost Festival, we should eat vegetarian and sweet food. Our scallion pancakes are made with vegetable oil. I will make them with fat oil later. They will taste better than this."

After that, he urged, "Eat quickly. After that, we will follow mother to burn incense and offer sacrifices, and watch the dragon and lion dances."

Guang'an Temple is located in the east of Anping County, on a busy street. It is said that Guang'an Temple has been around for a long time. Because it is located inside the county, it is not far from anywhere in the county. Most of the women in the county go to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha.

Shen Yu wrapped a few pieces of scallion pancakes in dry lotus leaves, put them in a small basket and carried it in her hand. She stuffed two strings of fifty-cent silver coins into two small purses and handed them to Yu Tao and Yu Cheng. She smiled and said to the siblings, "There are fifty-cent silver coins in this purse. When you go to the temple fair, if you see something you like, use this to buy it. You don't have much money, so you can only buy some small things. We just set up our bun stall, so we don't make much money. When you make more money in the future, you can have more pocket money when you go out to play."

The two children hesitated, looking at Shen Yu and then at Li, not knowing whether they should take the purse.

Li was busy taking out the offerings she had prepared. When she saw Shen Yu preparing pocket money for the siblings, she remembered this matter and said generously for the first time: "Take them all. We didn't have money before, so we could only watch other children buy delicious things when we went to the market. I remember Yucheng came back once and cried for a long time and couldn't be comforted. It was because the second kid next door bought a small windmill. This time, if you see something you like, just buy it."

After hesitating for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, "If there is something you really want and it's expensive, I'll add more for you. But let me make it clear, I'll only add fifty cents at most. If it's more expensive, I won't add more."

When the brother and sister heard that even their usually stingy mother agreed, they happily took the small purse, hid it in their sleeve pockets like a treasure, and pressed it again before they felt relieved.

Yutao and Yucheng brought nothing except small purses. Shen Yu carried a small bamboo basket. The three siblings traveled light, except for Li, who carried a large bag, which was wrapped tightly and did not look heavy when she carried it in her hand.

Although Shen Yu was curious about what was in Li's bag, she did not ask after learning from the last lesson. Yutao and Yucheng also had a tacit understanding. They all knew that they should talk less during festivals or they would be scolded if they spoke.

Li led the way out of the house. Seeing Li's relaxed steps, the three men gave up the idea of ​​helping Li carry her bag. Shen Yu was the last one to come out. He locked the door, and the family walked out of the alley and headed towards Guang'an Temple.

After exiting the alley, I saw that most of the shops on both sides were closed. There were only one or two shops that had not yet finished their morning work. They were busy with only half of the door open, as if they wanted to finish their work quickly and wait for the shop to close.

There were a lot of people on the street, and everyone was heading in the same direction. Shen Yu looked carefully and saw that there were several women like Li, carrying large bags in their hands. Some were walking, and some hired carts. The bags on the carts of those who hired carts were even heavier.

When Li saw the car passing by, she couldn't help but point at Shen Yu with envy and whispered, "Oh, look, the Ullambana basin they offer is much bigger than mine, and their hearts are more sincere." There was a sense of self-deprecation in her words, and her steps slowed down.

Shen Yu couldn't help but smile. It turned out that what was wrapped in the big bundle was nothing else but the Yulan Basin used for offerings during the Ghost Festival.

She whispered to Li, "Mother, offering to Buddha is about the heart, not the objects. Sincerity is the key to success. You offer with sincerity and carefully select good fruits. This is your sincerity to the Buddha. Every family has different financial conditions, so do what you can. In the eyes of the Buddha, we are all treated the same. It is said that all living beings are equal."

After hearing this, Li thought silently for a moment, as if he had figured it out. He held his head high, straightened his back, and walked more briskly.

Shen Yu was watching from behind, smiling with a relaxed mood, and called out to Yutao and Yucheng to follow quickly.

Anping County was not very big, and after walking for half an incense stick of time, they were almost at Guang'an Temple. Although Shen Yu and her friends had never been there before, they didn't need to ask for directions. They just followed the crowd and walked to the busy area.

When we were about a hundred steps away from the temple, we saw a sea of ​​people in front of us and it was almost impossible to squeeze through.

Li stamped her feet in regret and said, "It's still a little late. Look, there are so many people in front of us. What should I do?"

Just as he was getting anxious, a woman next to him suddenly called out, "Hey, isn't this Aunt Shen and Miss Shen? You're here too."