Lin Wu scooped up a ball of batter and spread it across the iron griddle. It sizzled as she flicked her wrist, turning the bamboo scraper in a smooth motion until the batter was spread evenly over the entire surface. She flipped it, cracked in an egg, sprinkled on sesame seeds and scallions, brushed it with sauce, and added a crispy wafer. Her movements were fluid and practiced.
The people originally standing at the counter to place their orders heard the sounds coming from the griddle and craned their necks to look over.
Shen Guanting watched with great interest. But he was tall, and once he stood there, no one behind him could see a thing. The crowd simply shifted to either side of him, forming little clusters as they leaned forward and peered inside.
“Those movements are so neat and quick. It already looks delicious.”
“It’s such a thin layer. How much is there once it’s rolled up? Is it enough for one person?”
Lin Wu kept working as she smiled and answered, “It is. One will fill you right up.”
As they spoke, the jianbing had turned golden. Lin Wu folded it and asked Shen Guanting, “Sir, would you like me to cut it in half? It’ll be easier to eat that way.”
Whenever she made jianbing for them in the past, she had cut it open. For one thing, Tigerhead and Lin Jing would share one. For another, considering Shen Guanting’s usual appearance, it really didn’t seem quite suitable for him to hold an entire jianbing and bite into it.
“Shopkeeper Lin is thoughtful as always. Please cut it in half,” Shen Guanting replied.
Lin Wu broke it down the middle with the iron spatula, slid the two halves into an oiled-paper bag, and handed it over.
A customer nearby stared at the bulging paper bag and couldn’t help clicking his tongue. “That big? It looks almost as large as two steamed buns, yet it’s only five wen? Even with an egg and crispy wafer, it’s just seven wen?”
Once the others heard that, they decided that the portion alone made it worth the price. And with the savory fragrance of sauce drifting over, the taste was sure to be good as well.
Lin Wu handed the paper bag to Shen Guanting. “Thank you for your patronage, sir. Eat it while it’s hot.”
Shen Guanting accepted it with a smile. “I’ll be the first to enjoy this good fortune on everyone’s behalf.”
Behind him, Tigerhead rose onto his toes and tried to squeeze forward, his eyes fixed hungrily on the griddle. “Big Sister, Big Sister, when will mine be ready? Can you put extra sauce on it? I love sauce!”
He was one of the few people present who had eaten jianbing before, so he knew exactly where its appeal lay. The sauce was the most fragrant part!
Lin Wu answered with a laugh, “Of course. When it’s your turn, I’ll give you plenty of sauce.”
Just then, a well-dressed young matron came over. Seeing the scene, she immediately broke into laughter.
“Well, anyone who didn’t know better would think you’d opened a guanpu game stall. Look at all these people gathered around to watch!”
Her cosmetics shop stood diagonally across from them on the main street. She had often patronized their food stall at the morning market, and she had a child studying in the academy’s beginners’ class.
“Auntie Lü,” Sparrow called from the side, “are you here to buy jianbing?”
“Look at how diligent Sparrow and Tigerhead are today, up so early.” Shopkeeper Lü walked over to the wooden display rack and carefully examined the illustrations above it. “So this is jianbing. At last, you’re selling it! My little rascal has been talking about it for ages. One of his classmates had some at home, but he didn’t get to eat any, and he’s been pestering me about it every day.”
She looked farther down. “And steamed-bun pockets too? Oh, what a blessing! From now on, I’ll have something delicious to look forward to. I won’t have to go to the morning market every day.”
Seeing that Lin Wu was busy serving customers, Shen Guanting did not move any closer. He withdrew from the crowd and sat down on a nearby bench, where he began eating his jianbing at an unhurried pace.
Shopkeeper Lü happened to see the Shen family’s young master sitting on a little roadside stool and eating. She couldn’t help laughing. “Young Master, have you come to experience the life of ordinary folk? How did you end up sitting here eating? How does it taste?”
Shen Guanting swallowed the bite in his mouth and gave a slight nod. This jianbing was even better than the ones he had eaten before. The recipe for the batter had probably been improved, and Shopkeeper Lin’s skill at spreading it had grown more polished as well. The crepe was thin and springy, with a fragrance of wheat, while the sauce was perfectly balanced between sweet and salty, blending seamlessly with the crepe. Best of all was the crispy wafer. He had never tasted anything like it before. It was crisp without being greasy, and it crackled satisfyingly with every bite, complementing the thin, chewy crepe perfectly.
“Delicious,” he replied briefly, then added, “With Shopkeeper Lin’s skill, even the chefs at Pillow-River Tower would have to admit inferiority.”
Shopkeeper Lü laughed heartily. “The Young Master has given it such high praise. No wonder you came all the way here first thing in the morning to wait for the food stall to open.”
With that, she went to the counter and said to Liang Peilan, “Young man, I’ll take two jianbing. Add an egg and crispy wafer to both.”
“Thank you for your patronage. Fourteen wen.” Liang Peilan replied briskly, took the coins, and turned to hand them to Lin Jing.
Lin Jing accepted the money and expertly took a red-and-yellow bamboo token from one of the small compartments beneath the counter. He handed it to Liang Peilan, and the two worked together with perfect understanding.
Liang Peilan gave the token to Shopkeeper Lü. “Please take this little bamboo token to the griddle and hand it to Shopkeeper Lin. She’ll make you jianbing with an egg and crispy wafer.”
Lin Wu had commissioned a carpenter to make these in advance. A token in its natural bamboo color meant no additions. Red meant an egg, yellow meant a crispy wafer, and a token in both red and yellow meant both. That way, even when there were many customers, orders would not get mixed up. Only those holding a token had actually placed an order.
Shopkeeper Lü took it and turned it over in her hands. “What an ingenious idea. Your little shop has thought of everything.”
Shen Guanting said solemnly, “Shopkeeper Lin has always been meticulous. Her ideas for doing business are even more impressive. I’m not here merely to eat jianbing. I came especially to learn from Shopkeeper Lin.”
Lin Wu, who was standing nearby and busy at the griddle, caught every word despite her hands never stopping. She looked up and saw Young Master Shen dressed in a moon-white robe with blue-trimmed, wide sleeves and a crystal cord tied around his waist. He looked so refined and otherworldly that anyone who didn’t know better would have assumed he was on his way to some gathering of scholars.
And yet here he was, sitting beneath the awning of her little shop with a jianbing in his hand, eating in leisurely comfort. He looked rather like a living signboard she had hired.
Still, if he came regularly in the future, she could think up some delicate-looking pastries and serve them especially to him. Once people saw that the Shen family’s young master ate here, wouldn’t they come along too? There was no reason not to make use of such an excellent signboard.
She could even raise the prices a little. After all, he was the proprietor of Jizhen Pavilion. Charging too little might seem disrespectful to his status.
Lin Jing was thinking about money as well. He lowered his head and carefully counted the handful of copper coins that had just been handed over. Only after confirming that not a single one was missing did he place them in the cash box. The small compartment beneath his position held the bamboo tokens. He kept the red and yellow ones arranged in perfect rows, never letting them cross into one another’s places. Anything related to money fell under his authority, making him a true little shopkeeper.
Watching this, Shopkeeper Lü thought of her own little monkey, who was still sleeping soundly at home, and couldn’t help sighing. This was what people meant by “someone else’s child.” Her own would be doing well if he came to the shop without causing trouble, let alone helping out.
Shen Guanting finished his jianbing and lifted his eyes toward Lin Wu, who was busy working at the griddle. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the awning and fell upon her, shifting with her movements. Her head was bowed, so he could not see her expression. Still, he imagined that, at this moment, there was nothing in her eyes more important than spreading jianbing.
“Shopkeeper Lin,” he asked across the rising heat of the griddle, “tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. Will your shop be selling sweet rice dumplings?”
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was the Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. Lanterns would be lit throughout the city for three days—the fifteenth and the days immediately before and after it—and the festivities began in earnest that very night. Wealthy families held lantern banquets, while ordinary folk ate shangdeng yuanzi.
Shangdeng yuanzi were simple enough to make: roll the flour into balls, fill them with red-bean paste, then fry them in oil. They were also called youtui. There were floating yuanzi as well—glutinous-rice flour wrapped around various fillings and boiled until the round dumplings floated to the surface. On the day of the Lantern Festival, milk-sugar dumplings and smooth red-bean-paste dumplings were the most popular.
Lin Wu’s hands never stopped moving as she replied, “We’ll prepare some, just to observe the festival.”
Shen Guanting nodded. “Then I’ll come buy some tomorrow.”
Yes, he had come to support the shop on its opening day. Tomorrow he would come buy floating yuanzi. Surely his parents wouldn’t drag him away again after that. Celebrating the festival was the important thing.
He turned to look at his younger brother and sister, who were eating with their mouths gleaming with oil. With the full awareness of an elder brother, he asked, “Sparrow, Tigerhead, are you coming home or not?”
The two of them bit into their pancakes and shook their heads in unison.
“I’m not going back. I’m staying here to help.” To make her words more convincing, Sparrow took a few more steps toward the counter.
Tigerhead refused to be outdone. “I’m going to greet the customers!”
Shen Guanting could not be bothered with the two idle children. Leaving Little Zheng behind, he turned and walked away.
After a few steps, he glanced back.
There were still several people waiting outside the little shop. The shop banner rustled in the wind. The awning blocked the sunlight, and from a distance it was difficult to see inside. He could only make out shifting figures, with occasional bursts of laughter drifting out amid the bustle.
It had only opened that day, yet it already looked as though it had been there for years.
Shen Qi took a bite of his steamed bun and muttered indistinctly, “Young Master, business at the Shuangmu Pastry Shop is truly excellent. By comparison, our Jizhen Pavilion is pitifully quiet. All day long, only a few people go in, and most of them just look around without buying anything.”
As he chewed the bun, he found it more and more delicious. It looked ordinary enough, but the fillings had been seasoned perfectly. The sweet ones were clean and refreshing, while the savory ones were rich and fragrant. They were nothing like the buns sold elsewhere, where there was barely any meat and the rest was stuffed with almonds, dried tangerine peel, and garlic. One bite was like a whole pile of vegetables and meat fighting in his mouth.
He finished one in two or three bites, then pulled out another and continued eating.
“Looks like the Shuangmu Pastry Shop will soon become the biggest pastry shop in Huzhou Prefecture.” Shen Qi suddenly sighed. “When that happens, I’m afraid my meager wages won’t be enough for me to afford it. Don’t you agree, Young Master?”
Master Shen made no comment.
Shen Qi continued rambling. “Seems I’ll have to cultivate a better relationship with Shopkeeper Lin and Little Jing in the future if I want to keep enjoying such good food.”
Shen Guanting finally lifted his eyelids and cast him a cool glance. “You’re certainly thinking far ahead. Why not quit and go work as a shop assistant at the Shuangmu Pastry Shop? That would be quicker.”
Shen Qi said, “The one who lives closest to the water gets the best cakes. You’re right, Young Master. If I became a shop assistant, you could cultivate a relationship with me, and I’d ask Shopkeeper Lin to spread extra sauce on your pancakes.”
Shen Guanting gave a soft laugh. “That won’t be necessary. As it happens, I tried Shopkeeper Lin’s pork-floss-and-sausage pancakes a while ago—ones she didn’t sell to the public—as well as her Fluffy Cakes and Snowcloud Cakes. Their flavor is something an extra layer of sauce could never compare with. Keep that little bit of influence for your own enjoyment.”
“Young Master, isn’t that exactly what it means to live close to the water and get the best cakes? So you’ve been plotting this for quite some time.” Shen Qi suddenly understood. “No wonder you started taking Tigerhead to Clear Water Alley every few days after returning from South Cliff. I thought you’d suddenly become thoughtful and learned to care about Young Master Hutou. As it turns out, you were after Shopkeeper Lin’s cakes! Young Master, your schemes are truly brilliant. This subordinate bows in admiration.”
Young Master Shen, who had been plotting to get his hands on the Lin family’s cakes, returned to Jizhen Pavilion and suddenly felt that the place really was rather quiet. The treasures that normally looked pleasing to the eye now seemed cold and lifeless. They were nothing like the pastry shop, where people cooked pancakes over smoke and fire, filled with the warmth of everyday life.
The Shuangmu Pastry Shop was indeed still bustling.
Since it had just opened, many old customers had come to show their support. In particular, the academy and the elementary school had yet to reopen, so the children were running wild with free time. Many who came to the market to play spotted Tigerhead sitting on a long bench with his legs crossed, eating a pancake. They would immediately scamper over in a rush and gather around the counter, chattering away.
The New Year had just passed, and the children’s pockets were still full of spending money. With Lin Jing collecting the payment, they were especially eager to buy and pay for their own food. Since they could read, they swarmed around the wooden display rack, shouting as they looked:
“I want a lotus-root-and-lotus-seed steamed bun and a bok-choy-and-pork steamed bun!”
“Me too! I want a pancake as well!”
“Make mine first! Here’s the money!”
A whole crowd of chattering children made the Shuangmu Pastry Shop as noisy as a boiling pot. And that was not all. Even after buying their food, they did not leave. They squeezed together on the long benches. When one bench was not enough, they packed onto two, each child holding a steamed bun or pancake and taking bite after bite.
The sight was more effective than any signboard. Not only passersby, but even the mules and donkeys going past had to turn their heads for a look.
Not long after noon, all the goods prepared for the day had been sold out. There was still flour left, but not a scrap of filling remained.
Lin Wu straightened up and rubbed the back of her neck. She had not rested for most of the day and was truly exhausted. She glanced outside and saw several more people heading their way, so she simply flipped over the wooden sign by the door. The other side read: Sold Out for Today.
Mrs. Sun brought out a pot of tangerine drink and poured everyone a bowl. They sat down on the long bench and drank it in great gulps. When they finished, they let out long, satisfied breaths.
“We made so, so much money today!” Young Master Lin Jing announced excitedly.
“That was all thanks to everyone,” Lin Wu replied with a smile. “You’ve all worked hard.”
Though it was still early, there was still cleaning to be done. Lin Wu and the others wiped down the stove and worktables, put away all the utensils, and mentally went over the ingredients they would need the next day.
They would also have to prepare floating yuanzi tomorrow. Glutinous-rice flour, red-bean paste, sesame seeds, nuts, and dried fruit—nothing could be missing. Once all that was done, she still had to return home and prepare the evening meal.
She paid Mrs. Sun and Liang Peilan for the day’s work. They had agreed beforehand that Mrs. Sun would receive eighty copper coins a day and Liang Peilan sixty—both somewhat higher than the usual wages. Lin Wu felt they were worth it. Mrs. Sun was strong enough to do the work of two people. Liang Peilan was young and handled the lighter tasks, but he could read and do arithmetic, and he kept the accounts in perfect order.
Neither of them was the sort to refuse out of politeness, and they accepted the money readily.
Lin Wu flipped through the account book Liang Peilan had kept. Everything was written in neat, orderly characters: how much had been sold, how much money had been received—nothing had been left out. She could not help praising him again. “Peilan, you keep the accounts so well. You’re practically one of our little shopkeepers now. We’ll have to raise your wages in the future.”
Liang Peilan looked serious. “It’s simple. It isn’t troublesome.”
Compared with all the acupoints, medicinal herbs, and prescriptions his father had taught him, the shop had only a few items in total. They were easy enough to remember.
Lin Wu put away the account book and rose, looking toward the street outside. It was still bustling. Perhaps it was because the lanterns would be lit that very night.
She glanced back at the shop. The stove had been cleaned, the shelves were neatly arranged, and Lin Jing was still counting the little bamboo slips while Mrs. Sun and Liang Peilan tidied up the last few odds and ends.
“Thank you all for your hard work today,” she said softly.
Mrs. Sun waved a hand dismissively. “What are you thanking us for? We’ll be back tomorrow.”
After seeing Mrs. Sun and Liang Peilan off, Lin Wu locked up and took Lin Jing’s hand as they headed home.
All the way back, Lin Jing chattered without pause, counting off the day’s work on his fingers.
“I collected so, so much money today! Some people paid in copper coins, and some paid in bits of silver. I counted everything correctly—not a single mistake!”
“We used lots and lots of yellow bamboo slips, and lots of red-and-yellow ones too. Way more than the plain-colored ones! That means everyone likes adding eggs and crispy bits to their buns!”
“And there’s more! A chubby little boy bought five steamed buns and said he was taking them home for his mother. But I saw him eat them all halfway there! He didn’t leave a single one!”
Lin Wu laughed. “You’re quite the little shopkeeper—not only collecting the money, but keeping an eye on the customers too?”
Lin Jing nodded seriously. “That’s right! I have to make sure our customers eat their buns properly!”
After talking himself tired, he paused to catch his breath. Then he suddenly remembered something, tilted his head back, and asked, “Can I go see the lanterns tomorrow night with Sister Que’er and Tigerhead? Tigerhead said there’ll be lantern riddles on the street. He said they’re lots of fun!”
Lin Wu looked down at him. The little boy’s eyes were shining with anticipation.
“Of course. We’ll go take a look together. I’ve been wanting to see what the lantern festival is like here, too.”
