The Sweet Little Fulang

Qingxi River flowed out of the mountains, moistened the earth wherever it went, and flowed to unknown distances.

    In the wide section of the river in the distance, the boats could be seen swaying.
From a distance, it looked small.
It really looked like the flat boat that people said.
Both people and poultry needed to rely on the boats to cross the river.

    There was a bridge in the narrow section of the stream, this bridge was called Liangzhang Bridge, Lu Gu walked across the bridge with Shen Xuanqing carrying a small bamboo basket on his back.

    Niujia village was on the other side of the Qingxi River, far away.
It took almost 35 minutes to walk along the river bank to the Liangzhang Bridge.
Most of the villages and towns here were built along the river.
Fork the road and turn to the southwest avenue, followed the avenue, Fenggu Town was in the front, but after getting off the bridge, according to what Shen Xuanqing said, you would reach Niujia village after one more village.

    There was a flood of people on and off the bridge, peddlers carrying loads and yelling, there were needles, threads, knives, groceries, fruit, cakes, and biscuits.
The woman with the basket led the child, and the child stretched out his hand to eat candied haws, and his arm was grabbed by the woman and they hurried down the bridge.

    The bearer carried a small sedan chair onto the bridge from the opposite side, and the curtain of the sedan chair window was gently pushed aside, and the fulang sitting in the sedan chair looked out.

    The gray-haired but elegant old lady wore a black embroidered forehead band on her forehead.
She was riding a donkey led by a half-grown boy in the front, and the donkey's hooves pattered to her house.

    Liangzhang Bridge was similar to the bustle of the town.
There was a big market on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, and people from all over the world would come to the market to buy and sell things.

    The ships on both sides of the bridge were unloading.
Shen Xuanqing used to carry large bales and unload timber here, so he was quite familiar with the surrounding area.

    The candied haws seller passed by with a pile of wood on his shoulders.
Lu Gu had never been to Fenggu Town for few times before, let alone come here.
He was watching curiously, when he heard Shen Xuanqing yelling to stop the candied haws seller.

    Seeing a customer coming to ask, the peddler grinned and asked courteously: “A string is three copper coin, how many strings do you want?”

    “One string is fine, pick a big one.” Shen Xuanqing took out a new purse embroidered with tiger patterns from his bosom.
It was sewn by Lu Gu when he was free these days.
It was given to him the night before, and when he went out today, just put it on.

    “Okay.” As soon as the peddler collected the money, he took a piece from the pile.
The size of his pile was fairly uniform, otherwise it would be difficult to sell if he was picked on.

    Shen Xuanqing put the purse in his arms, but didn't intend to take it, so the peddler handed it to Lu Gu.

    There were eight red fruit wrapped in sugar syrup.
People often sold this thing in the streets and alleys of the town, but country people didn’t buy it easily.
Where they got so much spare money? Besides, it was a favorite food for children, and some adults still hated the sour of hawthorn.

    The peddler left, Lu Gu looked up at Shen Xuanqing with the sticks of candied haws in his hand, his eyes worried and cautious.

    “Let's eat.” Shen Xuanqing said.

    A bunch of candied haws was not a precious thing.
Liangzhang bridge was like a small fair.
It was nothing to buy a snack for his fulang.
When he was young, he went to the fair with his family to eat delicious food.
When he went to the big market he bought what he loved the most and when he returned to the village he ate it together with his peers.

    For the country folks whose circumstances were not bad, it seemed necessary to go to the market to buy something that they didn't usually eat.

    Shen Xuanqing walked down the bridge, Lu Gu took a half step behind and followed him, he hesitated before biting into the red fruit on the top, it was wrapped in sugar syrup and very sweet, the bit of the flesh of the fruit was sour, he tasted it and thought it was not good to eat alone, so he turned his head and asked in a low voice: “Do you want to eat?”

    Before he finished speaking, the candied haws were passed to Shen Xuanqing.

    “No, you eat.” Shen Xuanqing didn't like candied haws very much.

    After the two got off the bridge, it was still bustling.
The fortune-teller who set up a stall twisted his beards to explain his hexagrams, and all kinds of snacks were fragrant.
There were many people sitting in the tavern and teahouse.
When he saw the pancakes seller, Shen Xuanqing paused and went to buy it, he  ordered two pancakes, which cost six copper coins.

    The hot shortbread was wrapped with a small piece of oil paper, and could be eaten in the hand.
The pancake was not big, but it was better since it was oily, crispy and soft.
Shen Xuanqing gave one to Lu Gu, and the other one was settled by himself in three bites.

    With something to eat in both hands, Lu Gu didn't know which one to eat first.
After making a choice, he finished the pancake first, otherwise it would be cold.

    He couldn't help looking at Shen Xuanqing when he was eating, even when his mother was around, he never bought him two delicious foods once, filling both hands.

    After being cautiously startled, an indescribable joy surged up, making his eyes brighten when he looked at Shen Xuanqing, but gradually, there was an inexplicable sourness quietly permeating his heart and eye sockets, he never thought that there would be someone who treated him as well as his mother and bought more things than his mother.

    So when Shen Xuanqing turned his head, he saw that his little fulang’s eyes were wet, showing a bit of pity.
He was shocked, but he couldn't figure it out.
He didn't know what happened, why he cried, and asked immediately: “What's wrong? Why are you crying?”

    Hearing this, Lu Gu shook his head subconsciously, meaning it was nothing.
He thought for a while before saying, “It's a little sour.”

    Shen Xuanqing glanced at the candied haws he was about to eat in his hand, and felt relieved.
You couldn’t buy this one next time, the hawthorn could make people shed tears, he said: “Don’t eat it if it’s too sour.”

    Lu Gu’s sourness was the sourness in his heart, but he didn’t know how to express his emotions.
He still felt embarrassed when he say it, and he was afraid of being scolded as a mourning ghost.
In addition, those emotions would be broken as soon as he opened his mouth.
He was too embarrassed to explain.
He had to say it quickly: “It's not sour, there's only one left.”

    Shen Xuanqing thought it was a pity for him, but he couldn't grab it and threw it away, so he didn't say anymore.