"That day, in the alley near Puji Temple, there were small stalls everywhere, with a variety of snacks, crafts, flowers, birds, insects, and fish—an extensive collection that was really fun to browse through," Wu Yuan added. After so many years at the training camp, she naturally knew about these things.
"Let’s go check it out," Luo Shu said with interest.
"You must be careful, it’s so crowded over there; don’t get pushed around," Wu Yuan said with concern. If anything happened to Luo Shu, their family couldn’t bear Lu Hanmo’s rage.
"Okay!" Luo Shu nodded, and together with Wu Yuan and Qi Hui began walking towards the direction of Puji Temple.
Entering a small alleyway, from afar one could already see an ancient-looking temple at the end of the street. The thick scent of incense wafting in the air was a clear sign of the temple’s popularity.
At this time, the path that led to the temple was filled with a variety of stalls, the most common being talismans for ensuring safety.
"Wait for me, I’m going to buy some talismans," Qi Hui pointed at a stall selling incense sticks not too far away. In the past, when she came to temple fairs, she would also buy some talismans for the little ones at home and for Old Xu, hoping they would bring them peace and safety.
The three of them approached the stall selling incense sticks, where a number of people were buying peace charms.
Luo Shu glanced at the peace charms on the stall and saw yellow papers with red glyphs drawn on them, folded into triangular shapes. Aside from looking somewhat like talismans, they were completely useless. However, she understood that people bought them as a form of emotional comfort.
After Qi Hui browsed the stall for a while, she picked up four peace charms and asked the stall owner, "How much for these four peace charms?"
"Forty!" the stall owner said with a grin.
Qi Hui was startled by the price, "Isn’t it two dollars each like in previous years?"
"Big sister, how can you measure peace with money? Plus, my talismans are not the usual kind. If you hang my talismans, they can eliminate all illnesses, prevent children from crying at night, and if you encounter danger while outside, they can definitely turn peril into safety. Ten dollars a piece, you’ll definitely get more than your money’s worth!" the stall owner boasted. The training camp was nearby, and there were many guard’s wives. These wives always wanted their husbands to complete their missions safely. So, even if it’s ten dollars each, these guard’s wives would grit their teeth and buy them.
Seeing that Qi Hui was tempted, Luo Shu pulled Qi Hui’s arm, "Sister-in-Law, let’s go have a look elsewhere!" If it was only a dollar or two each, it wouldn’t matter much; consider it buying peace of mind. But ten dollars each, for a few pieces of useless paper, it just wasn’t worth it.
"But..." Qi Hui hesitated as she looked at the peace charms in her hand. Forty dollars was not a small amount to her, but not buying them made her feel uneasy.
"Let’s walk around first. If you think the peace charms at other stalls are not as good as these, we can come back to buy them," Luo Shu advised.
"Yeah! There are so many stalls here; there’s no need to rush," Wu Yuan also persuaded. Ten dollars each was too much for her to be willing to spend.
"Alright!" Seeing that both of them suggested it, Qi Hui put the talismans back on the stall.
"Big sister, since you picked up my talisman, that means you’re destined for it. If you miss out on this chance, you might not be able to buy it again. Peace charms are quite mysterious things," the stall owner warned deliberately.
"This..." Qi Hui furrowed her brow, hesitating as she looked at the four peace charms she had just put down.
"Sister-in-Law, let’s go, he’s just trying to scare you," Luo Shu said as she pulled Qi Hui forward.
"Young Lady, aren’t you harming someone by doing this? If something happens to this elder sister’s family, can you bear the responsibility?" The vendor couldn’t possibly let his forty yuan just slip away like that.
Luo Shu stopped in her tracks and cast a cold glance, "What did you just say?"
Seeing the icy look in Luo Shu’s eyes, the vendor’s heart skipped a beat, and he unconsciously took half a step back, "I didn’t say anything, I was talking nonsense." What an oppressive aura!
"Sister-in-Law, let’s go," Luo Shu said, withdrawing her gaze and continuing forward with Qi Hui and Wu Yuan.
"I kind of want to buy those talismans," Qi Hui admitted with some unease.
"That peace charm doesn’t really do much. If you want, I actually know a Talisman Master. I’ll ask her to draw a few for you, and I guarantee they’ll be far more effective than those talismans," Luo Shu suggested.
"Are you serious?" Qi Hui asked, somewhat incredulous.
"Why would I lie to you? In the past, when Hanmo went on missions, I always had her draw talismans for him. Many times, it was those talismans that he relied on to escape from danger," Luo Shu said. Indeed, on many of Hanmo’s missions, it was those talismans that had helped him through crises.
"Is that so! Then ask her to draw me four peace charms. How much for each?" Qi Hui inquired.
"No need for money. I’ll have her draw them tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, I’ll give them to you," Luo Shu replied with a smile.
"Can you have her draw me three as well?" Wu Yuan asked. She wasn’t trying to take advantage of Luo Shu; in fact, she felt the same as Qi Hui and also hoped her family could live in peace. If those talismans had only cost one or two yuan each, she would have bought them without hesitation.
"Of course, no problem!" Luo Shu nodded and agreed.
The trio continued to stroll through the street market, this time looking at everyday goods and some snacks.
Compared to other Guard’s Wives, the homes of Qi Hui and Wu Yuan were relatively well off, so every time they went to the market, they would bring back some inexpensive snacks for the children at home.
"There’s a sugar figurine vendor ahead, let’s go buy a few," Wu Yuan said upon spotting the sugar figurine stand ahead, and she addressed Luo Shu and the other.
The three approached the sugar figurine stand, and beside his stand was a wooden rack with two layers, each layer featuring numerous small holes, with various shapes of sugar figurines dangling from them—goldfish, gourds, lanterns, monkeys... a delight to the eyes.
The vendor was a somewhat gaunt old man, in front of whom stood a rectangular cabinet on legs. Below it was a half-rounded wooden compartment with an opening, inside which was a small charcoal stove with a large spoon settled atop, filled with sugar syrup.
The old man used a small shovel to take some hot sugar syrup and placed it in his hands coated with talcum powder to knead, then took a piece in his mouth to blow into it. After creating a bubble, he quickly set it in a wooden mold dusted with talcum powder, blew on it again, waited a while, then opened the mold, and the sugar figurine was ready. He just needed to dip one end of a reed into some sugar syrup and adhere it to the sugar figurine, and with that, it was complete.