Chapter 2 The Second Day
Early the next morning, Chen Lan rose, tidied herself, and then attended to the two infants. Despite her efforts, the little ones remained sound asleep. Chen Lan no longer dared to leave them unattended on the bed, as they had started to roll, and she feared they might fall. Reluctantly, she cradled one infant in each arm and gently took them to Granny Wenrou.
Arriving at Granny Wenrou’s room, Chen Lan found her also fast asleep. Upon being woken, Granny Wenrou mumbled groggily, "Lan'er, what time is it? So early? Is something urgent?" Seeing the infants in Chen Lan’s arms, she immediately roused. She reached out, took the babies, placed them snugly on the inner side of the bed, then turned over and promptly fell back asleep.
Chen Lan had intended to say a few words to Granny Wenrou. However, witnessing Granny Wenrou's swift actions, she felt a touch of helplessness. She awkwardly touched her nose and quietly exited the room, gently closing the door behind her.
Chen Lan hurried to the living room, where everyone else, except for Erhu, Xiaoshuan, Xiangdong, and Xiangxi who were at school, and Uncle Fu who had errands, had already risen and were waiting for her. Even the habitually late Mingzhe was up. They were all waiting for Chen Lan to have breakfast.
Upon seeing Chen Lan enter, her mother-in-law bustled, "Little Lan, hurry up! Once we finish breakfast, we’ll set off early. If we go late, there will be too many people, and it won't be as enjoyable."
Chen Lan and the others quickly finished breakfast and headed out. They boarded several vehicles to Longfu Temple, agreeing to meet under the large tree opposite the temple's main entrance, and then enter the temple fair together once everyone had arrived.
Chen Lan shared a car with Uncle De and her two younger brothers. During the ride, Uncle De regaled the siblings with tales of Longfu Temple's origins and legends, along with some basic information about the temple fair.
The temple fair at Longfu Temple was held on specific days of the lunar month: the first, second, ninth, and tenth days of each ten-day period.
The fair began at sunrise and vendors packed up at sunset. The crowds would swell significantly after noon, hence the need to arrive early. Going late meant overwhelming crowds and potential safety concerns.
Uncle De continued his introduction to Longfu Temple. "This Longfu Temple is located to the east of our capital, in what we call the East City. It is said to have been built during the Ming Dynasty, though I'm not certain of the exact year. It was a prominent incense-burning temple then, and the older generation says its incense was very popular during the Ming Dynasty!"
As Uncle De spoke, the three siblings listened intently. After a bumpy ride of over an hour, they finally arrived at the entrance of Longfu Temple. Under the large tree opposite the main gate, their family members were already waiting.
Uncle De then organized everyone into groups, ensuring each group had at least two adults to supervise the children within the temple fair.
Uncle De emphasized repeatedly for the adults to keep a close eye on the children in their group, warning against them getting lost. Everyone readily agreed, "Understood, we'll be careful! We'll be careful!"
Chen Lan, along with her two brothers, remained in Uncle De's group. Granny Wenrou was with Mingwei and Mingzhe, Mother Liu with Hu Yuzhen and Hu Tou, and Mother Cui with Cui Qiao, Zhao Xiaoyue, and Xiaoshitou. They arranged to reconvene under the tree shade opposite the main gate of Longfu Temple at four o'clock in the afternoon.
Before they split up, Chen Lan presented each group leader with a Swiss Mei Hua brand wristwatch to help them keep track of time. Granny Wenrou, Mother Liu, and Mother Cui each received a women's watch, while Uncle De got a men's watch. Those who received watches were delighted, while those who didn't looked on with envy.
Mingwei pulled Chen Lan aside and whispered, "Sister-in-law, I'd like a women's watch too."
Chen Lan replied without hesitation, "No problem, I'll pick out an even prettier one for you when we get home."
Chen Lan watched as Mingwei happily entered the mountain gate of Longfu Temple with Granny Wenrou and Mingzhe.
She then took her brothers' hands and followed Uncle De towards the mountain gate.
Uncle De continued his explanations to Chen Lan and her brothers. "Little Lan, Wen Kai, Wen Qi, look, this is the mountain gate as soon as you enter."
"The mountain gate of Longfu Temple is constructed with five central pillars and ten surrounding ones, with the main gate in the middle and the Four Heavenly Kings on either side."
Chen Lan listened to Uncle De's explanations as she led her brothers inside. When they reached a caisson ceiling, Uncle De explained, "This is a caisson ceiling. See how the caisson ceiling of Longfu Temple is divided into three tiers: upper, middle, and lower. The lower part features bronze statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the middle section depicts the twenty-eight constellations."
The group continued deeper into the fair, listening to Uncle De's stories. The other groups had already dispersed elsewhere. As they entered, they were met with a bustling scene of people coming and going.
Stalls displayed all sorts of goods: antiques, jade carvings, and old objects. The items were mostly small, including porcelain vases, snuff bottles, bracelets, earrings, ivory carvings, and ancient bronze tripods.
Chen Lan approached a stall closest to her, intending to examine the items. Noticing her brothers' lack of interest, she asked Uncle De to take them to stalls that might capture their attention, while she browsed here.
Chen Lan and Uncle De made an arrangement: once they had finished exploring, they would meet Chen Lan at the food stalls. If she wasn't there, they were to wait at the designated meeting point.
Watching Uncle De lead her brothers away, Chen Lan squatted down to examine the items on the stall, simultaneously activating her system's scanning function.
Chen Lan proceeded to visit several stalls selling old items, scanning and purchasing as she went. She bought a few exquisitely painted and gilded snuff bottles and some ivory carvings. Larger items were left behind due to difficulty in transport, though they were actually stored in her system's inventory.
By this time, the crowds had grown. Every stall had numerous people browsing, selecting, and haggling with vendors, creating a lively atmosphere.
Chen Lan continued her exploration, eventually reaching a stall selling old books. While the books weren't rare treasures or valuable ancient editions, both complete sets and individual volumes were in decent condition.
Unsure of their value, Chen Lan bought two complete sets of bound books and a few individual volumes.
Chen Lan noticed another small bookstall across the way, specializing in children's primers like the *Three Character Classic*, *Thousand Character Classic*, miscellaneous notes, and picture books. She had no intention of buying, as her system already contained various versions of children's literature.
As she walked and looked, Chen Lan reached a crossroads and paused, uncertain of which path to take. As she hesitated, she spotted a photo studio within the West Gate of the temple, displaying theatrical portraits of famous actors.
By this point, the temple fair was teeming with people, almost shoulder to shoulder.
Chen Lan, uninterested in photography, headed towards the North Gate, where artisans were sculpting clay figures, dough figures, and glutinous rice figures.
There were also vendors selling kites, diaboloes, *húqín* (two-stringed fiddles), miniature brick houses and pavilions, and a wide array of children's toys: cloth tigers, cloth dolls, rattles, drums, toy trumpets, wooden horses, wooden swords, wooden guns, spinning tops, and more.
Vendors also sold live crickets, grasshoppers, and field crickets.
Chen Lan continued her stroll and exploration. The North Gate was even more crowded, with many adults buying toys and small animals for their children. Due to the sheer number of people and her lack of interest in children's merchandise, Chen Lan moved towards the South Gate.
The South Gate was also densely populated, with people packed into every stall. It was no wonder Granny had said that arriving late meant overwhelming crowds. Everywhere she looked, she saw people.
Turning into the South Gate, Chen Lan found stalls selling dried and fresh fruits, seasonal fruits like apples, pears, peaches, as well as melon seeds, peanuts, dates, persimmons, and hawthorn.
There were also stalls selling daily necessities: pots, bowls, ladles, bamboo sieves, rice sieves, rolling pins, washboards, chopping blocks, and laundry sticks.
For women, there were products like osmanthus oil, fragrant sachets, floral water, handkerchiefs, embroidery patterns, needles, and thread – everything imaginable.
Chen Lan arrived at a row of food stalls, which were even more crowded. She saw vendors selling sticky rice cakes, fried rice cakes, chilled rice cakes, *àiwōwō* (steamed glutinous rice rolls), *lǘdǎgǔn* (rolled glutinous rice cakes), glutinous rice with lotus root, zongzi, yuanxiao, soy milk, fried tofu, fried meatballs, fried triangles, wontons, and huoshao.
Chen Lan weaved through the crowds, purchasing and eating chilled rice cakes, *lǘdǎgǔn*, glutinous rice with lotus root, and fried tofu as she walked.
Chen Lan did not see Uncle De or her brothers near the food stalls. She turned and headed back towards the East Gate.
The East Gate featured performers, and Chen Lan suspected her brothers might be there. As she entered the East Gate, she browsed and ate. There were magicians, acrobats, sellers of miracle pills, wrestlers, shuttlecock players, jugglers, diabolo artists, crosstalk comedians, comic duo performers, *lián huā luò* singers, and *dàgǔ shū* storytellers. Chen Lan took a quick look around and then spotted her brothers and Uncle De at a comic duo performance, roaring with laughter. Chen Lan squeezed in, found them, and then squeezed back out with them.
Ahead, she saw fortune-tellers, diviners, and palm readers.
The group was not interested and, feeling tired and thirsty, Uncle De suggested finding a teahouse to rest and have some tea.
Chen Lan and her brothers readily agreed and followed Uncle De to a side hall to find a teahouse.