perfumer

After tidying up until night, the house was finally ready for people to live in. All the Bai family looked tired and had a meal in a hurry. If they were in the village, they would probably have gone to bed. The lampposts, hanging with iron basins and burning fire, come windingly, like a swimming dragon, illuminating it like daytime.

Seeing this, Mrs. Cao was amazed, and wondered what time it was, why was it so lively outside? The only thing she liked was that the lights outside were bright, so she could take advantage of the light to make some embroidery, and even save money on candlelight at home.

Everyone is still a little difficult to adapt to this completely different environment from before. They are at a loss. They don’t know whether to go to sleep or find something to do. Gouzi showed it more directly. Unable to coax him, Mrs. Cao hurriedly said to Man Niang: "Take the child into the house quickly, close the door, and coax him to sleep."

Bai Xin looked outside, his face moved, and he said, "Mom, I'll go outside for a walk."

Cao only thought of him as a child, and was attracted by the excitement outside, so he shook his head violently in fright, "I can't help it, we just came to the capital, we don't know anywhere, there are so many people outside, we got lost in a while, or Met a kidnapper who took advantage of the chaos and kidnapped you?" The more Cao said, the more frightened she became, her face turned pale, and she couldn't stop talking.

Seeing that he was not reconciled, Mrs. Cao was afraid that he would be strong and stubborn, so she hurriedly persuaded him; "If you want to go, you might as well go in the daytime. You have been tired all day, so you should rest early."

Bai Xin actually remembered the roads around him, and he didn't want to wait for a moment, but as his mother said, he was not very familiar with it, and he only remembered the direction of the road, so he suppressed his excitement and went back to the house honestly.

When he got back to the house, he first took out all the money he kept close to him, and counted it by hand. In the past six months, including the sales of Cyperus cypress, turpentine, hair oil, and some odds and ends, the total I have saved about 20 taels, excluding renting a house and using three taels, the car fare spent 16 yuan, and some things I bought more or less today, and now there are more than 16 taels left. If the [-] taels are in the countryside, It is enough to live for a few years, but in the capital, I am afraid that even a few months will not be able to pass.

Bai Xin secretly made up his mind that he must make money as soon as possible. He tossed and turned in bed, the noise outside was like an ecstatic sound, tempting people to go out and fall into the arms of luxury and money, making Bai Xin regret just agreeing to his mother to go back to the house to sleep.

After tossing and turning for a long time, he didn't drift off to sleep until he vaguely heard the sound of Ding Geng Bang from outside.

On the second day, the whole family got up early, washed up, and took out the glutinous noodles to make hot dumplings, mixed with porridge and pickles, which also had a somewhat stable taste.

After the meal, Mrs. Cao couldn't wait to invite her aunt and sister-in-law to make embroidery with her. She knew that the price in the capital was expensive, so she wished she could give birth to a few more hands, holding the half-embroidered sachet and couldn't help worrying that she didn't know this thing. Whether it can be sold in the capital or not.

The women got up in a hurry, and Da Lang was a little uneasy about having nothing to do. He turned his gaze to Bai Xin and wanted to ask him what to do next.

Bai Xin said, "I'll go out for a walk."

Knowing that he couldn't wait, Mrs. Cao sighed, and said, "Be careful yourself, and remember the name of our street. If you can't find your way home, remember to ask someone and come back early..."

When Wu Niang heard that he was going out, she looked envious and wanted to go out to play with her. She slowly moved to Bai Xin's side and whispered, "I want to go too."

Cao was worried about letting such a young daughter go out with her, she suddenly raised her voice, "You stay at home and help your sister-in-law take care of the dog."

Wu Niang looked at Bai Xin pitifully, wanting him to convince her mother.

Bai Xin was not very familiar with the capital, so naturally he didn't dare to take the naughty Wu Niang with him, so he shook his head helplessly at her, "You stay at home honestly, and I will take you out to play after I get familiar with it."

Wu Niang's eyes were full of disappointment, she hummed twice, and her little mouth was so pouted that she could put an oil bottle on it.

Bai Xin brought a few taels of silver with him, and then he went out. He stopped and walked, even if he traveled all over the world in his previous life, he was blinded by the prosperity of the capital. He saw weeping willows on the bank, shaded by green willows, majestic houses on both sides, and a vast frontage. , all kinds of shops and stalls are different, there are flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the water, those who can be named, and those who cannot be named.

He calmed down a little, and went straight to a spice shop.

The clerk in the shop saw the visitor, hurried up to greet him, secretly looked at the visitor, saw that he was dressed poorly, his eyes flashed with disdain, but his attitude was still amicable, he smiled whenever he met, "Brother, what do you need? We have all kinds of incense in our shop."

"Uh, what kind of fragrance do you have?"

Bai Xin spoke with a slight accent, and the guy knew he was not a local when he heard it. , the aroma is sweet and delicate, there are silver moon and green osmanthus, subtle and soft, there are hibiscus and jade rabbits, which are fragrant and strong, and there are purple and red jade lotus, which are clear and subtle...these are all prepared by our shopkeeper, and are well-known far and near.”

The man thought he was going to buy it as a gift for his sweetheart, and estimated how much he would spend. After thinking about it, he said, "This jasper incense is our shop's signature, and young ladies love it very much. It smells delicate and gentle, just like Xiaojia jasper. .”

Listening to what he said, Bai Xin felt a little charming unconsciously, secretly praising this guy for his eloquence.

After the guy finished speaking, he took out a small box from behind the counter, which contained a few black incense pills the size of fingernails. Bai Xin subconsciously leaned over to smell it, only to feel a slightly woody fragrance rushing into his nose. After thinking about it for a while, I guessed that there are two types of incense, white gum and clove, and no matter how many there are, you can't smell it all at once.

Seeing him smelling it endlessly, the clerk couldn't help feeling disgusted, and closed the box with a snap, but the smile on his face didn't change, "Brother, this incense doesn't smell like that, and it's not the same after burning it as it is now."

"How much is this incense?"

The buddy stretched out five fingers and said, "Five hundred Wen."

Bai Xin was stunned, this small box only contained eight incense pills, and the spices were not used, yet it cost five hundred cash.

Although he didn't speak, but the surprised expression made the waiter see the truth, the latter was not annoyed, and explained with a smile, "Our shopkeeper adds frankincense to this jasper incense, which is a spice from Persia, and five hundred cash is not expensive." He said proudly, and emphasized again that it was frankincense from Persia.

Bai Xin was taken aback, thinking that he had smelled it wrong just now. Looking back, it was true that the scent of white gum was more intense than frankincense, but after thinking about it, he realized that this frankincense has been fake since ancient times, and many merchants use white gum scent He didn't point out the counterfeit, he pretended to be too expensive and shook his head.

The guy gestured again, "Well, little brother, I think you really like this incense too, why don't I give you ten renminbi, the minimum is 490 renminbi."

Bai Xin really wanted to buy Jasper Incense and study it, but he knew how to make incense himself, but he was not reconciled. After thinking about it, he shook his head and said before the waiter could speak, "So, do you have any spices in your store?"

The guy was taken aback, their shop naturally had all kinds of spices, but ordinary literati like to make their own incense, he couldn't help but look him up and down again, and secretly lifted his nose to smell, and saw that he didn't have any fragrance on him , could not help but doubt: "You can also make incense?"

Bai Xin smiled and didn't answer. The clerk knew that there was no need to inquire too much. It was important to be able to sell the goods, so he put Bi Yuxiang back and asked, "What spices do you want?"

Bai Xin wiped the sweat from his brow, and said quickly, "The capital is really hot."

The clerk was taken aback, and said, "Lampposts are lit on the street at night, and the fire illuminates the sky. Naturally, the capital is hotter than other places." In his heart, he even thought that the other party was a villager from the countryside.

Bai Xin pondered for a moment, and went through all kinds of fragrances in his mind. Most of them used expensive spices, and he couldn't afford them at the moment, so he finally chose one, and said, "Cloves, Sichuan pepper, two catties each, Angelica dahurica, Cyperus cyperus, each One or two, Xiangfu must be Nanxiangfu."

The clerk heard that he was buying spices by the catty, as if he was buying vegetables. He was dumbfounded, and then he came back to his senses after a daze.

He thought to himself that if he bought so much, it would be enough to go back and cook. He could only say that this guy underestimated people from the very beginning.

Bai Xin nodded. These spices are the most common. Although they are bought a lot, the price should not be too high.

The guy only knew that dozens of kinds of spices are needed to make incense. These four kinds of spices are unavoidably shabby, and they can't make any good fragrance. Come on, it would be a waste to buy it back, why not just buy this Jasper Incense back, the price is not much expensive, and I will give you another five cents."

Although the price of spices that Bai Xin wants is about the same as that of Jasper incense, how can spices make money with finished incense?

With a firm attitude, Bai Xin said, "I want these four things."

The clerk thought he was a donkey with good intentions, stopped talking, went to the counter and confessed to another person. The person also looked at Bai Xin strangely for a few times, then went to get the spices, and weighed them with small scales. Bai Xin watched from the side. , these four kinds of spices are very common, and they cannot be faked. He watched from the side and saw that the quality was good.

After buying the spices, Bai Xin continued to stroll along the street, visited other incense powder shops, and inquired about some fragrances such as Bright Moon Fragrance, Zhaoxia Fragrance, Qingshan Bailu Fragrance, etc., all of which are independently blended by each family, and not many are really famous.

After walking around, time was like running water, and it was afternoon before he knew it. Bai Xin saw that it was getting late, so he went home.

Seeing her son going out for a day, Mrs. Cao couldn't help being nervous and worried. She was also afraid that he would get lost, was afraid that he would be abducted, and was also worried that he would cause trouble for unknown reasons. Turning around, he breathed a sigh of relief, only then noticed that he was carrying a large bag in his hand, and blamed him for spending money indiscriminately.

Cao was cowardly when he first arrived in the capital, and he was uneasy even stepping out of the gate. He waited for him to come in by the gate, looking straight at the packages, "What did you buy?"

Bai Xin put the things on the table, "I bought some spices, and I want to make incense and sell them."

Mrs. Cao wanted to say how could you make incense, but suddenly remembered that the hair oil made by her son was selling very well, so she had nothing to say, and kept begging the Buddha to bless them so that they could make money.