My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 17 Lantern Festival (2)

The group continued walking along the street with the flow of people.

Lin Ziping's hands were stuffed with all sorts of food, and Liao Mama also put a handful of chestnuts in his pocket.

Arriving at a lantern stall, Lin Ziping looked at the tinderbox the stall owner used to light the lanterns and, recalling videos he had watched before, gradually slowed his pace.

Seeing this, Lin Zhong leaned down and looked at Lin Ziping: "Ziping, do you want a lantern?"

Having probably heard the noise, the stall owner looked up at the group.

Lin Ziping nodded as he saw that the children around him were all carrying lanterns.

"Stadium owner, four lanterns," Lin Zhong said to the stall owner, then let Lin Ziping and the other children, including Zhu Zi, choose for themselves.

Zhu Zi and Xiao Ya glanced at Granny Liao, while Shun Zi looked at Steward Tao. Steward Tao and Granny Liao nodded slightly.

The group arrived at the stall and saw that the lanterns on display were mainly in the shapes of flowers and animals. Zhu Zi and Xiao Ya began to choose with great interest. Zhu Zi, who was usually quiet, also showed a happy expression at this moment.

Lin Ziping chose an orange pumpkin-shaped lantern. Through the paper, several bamboo poles were interwoven to form the internal structure of the lantern.

Upon seeing this, the stall owner smiled and said, "Young master, do you like it? This was made by my youngest son, and it stays on the light for a little longer than the others."

Lin Ziping nodded: "Thank you, I like it very much. Can I have one of these tinderboxes, stall owner?"

The stall owner was somewhat surprised. He handed the tinderbox to Lin Ziping and said, "This is nothing special. If you like it, young master, I'll give you one."

Lin Ziping took the tinderbox, intending to go back and study it. He said to the stall owner, "Thank you."

"Have you chosen, Zhuzi, Shunzi, and Xiaoya?" Seeing that the group hadn't made their selections yet, Granny Liao asked the stall owner, "How much?"

"Twenty coins."

Granny Liao counted out twenty copper coins and handed them to the stall owner.

Several children, carrying lanterns, followed the adults as they walked further down the street.

"Master Lin."

Lin Ziping looked at the man and saw that he was a middle-aged man dressed in dark blue who called out to Lin Zhong. There was also a pretty woman beside him, holding a child's hand, and several servants behind him.

That child looks like Ji Xun.

"Greetings, Magistrate Ji." Lin Zhong bowed to the man.

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "It's the Lantern Festival, no need for such formalities."

"Ziping, this is Magistrate Ji." Lin Zhong gently nudged Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping's feelings at this moment overlapped with those of encountering unfamiliar relatives during the Chinese New Year, when he needed to call out to them and his eyes were filled with confusion. The surrounding liveliness could not mask the tranquility at this moment.

"Uncle Ji," Lin Ziping said to Magistrate Ji, a sigh of relief in his heart, and then said to the pretty woman beside him, "Aunt Ji."

Let's just ignore the seasonal patrol.

Magistrate Ji and his wife smiled and nodded. The pretty woman released Ji Xun's hand, and Ji Xun bowed to Lin Zhong, saying, "Greetings, Master Lin."

“Young Master, there’s no need for such formalities,” Lin Zhong quickly said. “It’s rare for Magistrate Ji to be out enjoying time with his family, so I shouldn’t bother him. I’ll visit him in person another day.”

“Very well, there’s still some iron-smelting going on ahead, Mr. Lin can take Ziping to see it.”

Magistrate Ji and Lin Zhong bowed to each other in farewell, and Lin Zhong led Lin Ziping and the others toward the place where the iron flower was being displayed.

When we arrived at the place where the iron flower performance was held, the performance had not yet started, but there were already many people around.

The group found a secluded spot and watched from a distance.

Soon after, the iron flower performance began.

Lin Ziping had never seen such a scene before. He was amazed and shocked. He gained a concrete understanding of "iron tree and silver flower". This truly presented the scene of "flower market as bright as day"[1].

Suddenly, sparks flew into the crowd.

"Ah—" Someone must have been burned, because they cried out.

The crowd began to stir and surge forward.

"Granny Liao, Uncle—" Lin Ziping was separated from the crowd and shouted loudly to those around him, but it was too noisy and he didn't know if Granny Liao and his uncle heard him.

Lin Ziping gripped the pumpkin lantern in his hand, steadying himself as he moved with the crowd.

The crowd gradually slowed down. Lin Ziping looked around, unsure of where he was. Remembering Lin Zhong's earlier suggestion to go to Lin's Spice Shop, he began searching for constables on the street, intending to have them take him there.

In the past, people would go to the police if they had problems; now they go to government officials. That makes sense.

Lin Ziping followed the crowd and suddenly saw a person's back that looked like a pillar. He quickly followed, not noticing that the number of people around him was gradually decreasing, nor that a figure had been following him for quite some time and was getting closer and closer.

"Zhu Zi!" Lin Ziping was about to pat the man on the shoulder.

A large hand suddenly covered Lin Ziping's mouth and nose from behind.

"Save..." Before he could finish speaking, he was plunged into darkness.