Lin Wu woke up a little earlier than usual today. Pushing the door open, she found the outside far brighter than common days. Many households had hung colorful lanterns on their courtyard gates, and candlelight seeped out from within, wrapping the whole alley in a warm, cozy glow.
Walking along the street, she soon noticed that the entire main road had taken on a new look. All the shopfronts lining the two sides had hung lanterns under their eaves, ranging from revolving scenic lanterns, rolling lanterns to flower basket lanterns, arranged at varying heights in a neat, charming layout.
When she arrived at the shop, Mrs. Sun and Liang Peilan were already inside tidying up.
"It's so lively today," Mrs. Sun said as soon as she saw her come in. "I almost got dazzled looking around all the way here."
Lin Wu tied on her apron. "It will probably get even more bustling tomorrow, since tomorrow is the Lantern Festival."
"I need to head to the morning market later," she said, taking the ingredients down from the shelf. "We're going to make tangyuan today. We have glutinous rice flour in stock, but the fillings need to be bought fresh: sesame seeds, walnuts, brown sugar..."
After a quick tidy-up, Lin Wu and Mrs. Sun went out together.
The morning market was far more lively than usual. Many extra stalls selling lanterns had popped up along both sides of the road, lined up in a row. There were lanterns shaped like animals, some modeled after fruits and melons, and the ever-popular revolving scenic lanterns that kept turning slowly.
Lin Wu bought two fancy lanterns. Fine tassels hung down from the base of the lanterns, swaying gently in the breeze, looking both pretty and lively. She also picked up a exquisitely crafted little civet cat lantern. Since their household only had Little Lucky and no actual cats, buying this cat lantern would count as having both cats and dogs for a complete home, which Lin Jing would surely love.
Back at the shop, she hung the two fancy lanterns under the awning, instantly making the shop feel more vivid. Paired with the blue checkered tablecloths below, the colorful notices on the side, and the shop sign fluttering in the wind up above, the whole place was brimming with festive cheer.
The emerald cakes were put into the steamer, while Mrs. Sun started kneading steamed buns. After these few days of practice, Mrs. Sun had become very skilled at kneading dough, which now yielded easily under her hands without needing any supervision from Lin Wu. But making tangyuan still had to be done by Lin Wu herself.
Nowadays, there were all kinds of tangyuan on the market. Some were mixed with yam powder to make yam tangyuan, others made with taro, mung beans, and countless other variants. But the fillings of these tangyuan were mostly dry and chewy, much like the filling in taro steamed buns, nothing like the tangyuan Lin Wu had eaten before, where sweet syrup would flow out the moment you bit into one.
Lin Wu planned to make four flavors of tangyuan.
Brown sugar filling, sesame filling, walnut filling, and the most classic red bean paste filling that was most common for the Lantern Festival.
These ingredients were not rare at all. Nowadays, people loved adding all kinds of nut kernels to their pasta dishes: pine nuts, walnut kernels, hazelnuts, almonds, the list went on and on. They added them to steamed buns, stuffed buns, even sprinkled a handful on top of pancakes.
These nuts were not exactly cheap, but not overly expensive either. However, in other pasta dishes, nuts were just a garnish, with only a few crumbs scattered on top. Making tangyuan was different: nuts were the main ingredient, and even though each tangyuan was small, the total amount used was quite considerable.
It also took extra work, since all the nuts had to be crushed finely. But luckily, they had Mrs. Sun who was very strong.
Lin Wu toasted the sesame seeds and walnut kernels, then handed them over to Mrs. Sun to pound with the small stone mortar in the shop. They were only making a small batch of tangyuan, so it was perfectly fine to pound them by themselves; if the quantity was any larger, they would have to take them to the village mill.
While Mrs. Sun was pounding the nuts, Lin Wu turned around to prepare the tangyuan wrappers. She planned to make different colored wrappers for each flavor: the brown sugar tangyuan would be dyed pale red with red yeast rice powder, the sesame tangyuan would be bright green with spinach juice, the walnut tangyuan would be yellow with cape jasmine fruit extract, and the red bean paste tangyuan would stay plain white with no added coloring.
After putting in quite a lot of effort, the four-colored tangyuan were just put into the pot when Lin Jing arrived at the shop.
While the shop was not yet open for business, he had counted all the small bamboo tally sticks and straightened the money box, and now he was walking around the counter carrying his little civet cat lantern.
Seeing Lin Wu bring out a bowl, he immediately hurried over, standing on tiptoe to peek inside, his little civet cat lantern swaying back and forth with his movements.
There were four tangyuan in the bowl, one of each color, snuggled up next to each other, looking incredibly cute.
"Careful, it's hot enough to burn your tongue," Lin Wu set the bowl down in front of his special little seat, reminding him gently.
Lin Jing nodded, put his little civet cat lantern aside, picked up the spoon, and carefully scooped up the yellow tangyuan.
He held the spoon up close to his face, blew on it a few times, and then took a small bite.
A gush of hot sweet syrup burst into his mouth immediately, scalding him so much he had to open his mouth wide, but when he saw the syrup was about to drip down, he quickly clamped his mouth shut again, catching it all.
"Mmm, mmm, mmm!" He puffed out his cheeks, not making any clear sense with those sounds.
After he finally swallowed it, Lin Jing let out a long breath, squinted his eyes in delight, and translated his earlier string of mumbles: "It's so delicious!"
"This tangyuan is so soft, the filling just flows out as soon as you bite it, it's sweet," he said, then scooped up the green tangyuan. This time he had learned his lesson, blowing on it several times in a row before taking a tiny careful bite. The sesame filling oozed out slowly, making him wag his little head happily.
Mrs. Sun and Liang Peilan were also tasting their own portions. Mrs. Sun ate three in a row before she could even speak: "Mrs. Lin, these tangyuan you make are wonderful. They're nothing like the ones sold outside, where the filling is soft but still as solid as a dough lump. These burst with syrupy filling the moment you bite into them. I've been eating tangyuan for decades, and this is the first time I've ever had something this good."
Liang Jimin had served as a capital official after all, so when they lived in the capital they had tried many fine foods, but they had never tasted tangyuan like these before.
The tangyuan won unanimous praise from every member of the Double Tree Pastry Shop. It was then that Lin Wu walked to the door to hang up the shop open sign.
The moment she hung the sign, a voice came from outside.
"Mrs. Lin, give me five lotus root jade steamed buns, six cabbage and pork steamed buns, and one pancake," the visitor was Auntie Huang, a long-time regular who had been supporting them back from the days they sold food at the morning market.
Lin Wu was holding a brush at that moment, drawing tangyuan on a sheet of paper on the wooden stand by the door. She turned her head at the words and said, "Coming right up, Auntie Huang, but the steamed buns will take a little waiting, they've just been put in the steamer. We spent a little extra time making tangyuan today, so we're a bit behind schedule."
Auntie Huang leaned over to look at her drawing, surprised. "Oh my, you're the one who draws all these pictures, Mrs. Lin?"
Lin Wu did not stop her brush, smiling as she answered, "To be honest, I can't afford to hire a professional painter. Besides, we roll out new snacks every few days, I can't keep pestering other people to draw for me every time, so I just learned to do it myself."
She finished drawing the last tangyuan, washed her brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote the name and price of the new snack right next to the drawing.
Auntie Huang craned her neck to look. "That makes perfect sense. So you're selling tangyuan today? Let me see... wow, there are four colors, they look so bright and lovely."
Lin Wu put her brush away, went inside and brought out a small porcelain bowl. The bowl was just big enough to hold four tangyuan, arranged neatly inside. There was only a shallow layer of clear soup in the bowl, because she did not want the wrappers to get soggy from soaking too long.
The four colored tangyuan were evenly sized, plump and round, snuggled against each other: pink, green, yellow, and white.
"They look even more beautiful than they do in the drawing," Auntie Huang could not help leaning in closer to get a better look. "What fillings do they have?"
Lin Wu pointed them out to her one by one. "These white ones are clear bean paste rice balls, three coins apiece. The green ones are sesame rice balls, the crimson ones are sugar rice balls, and these yellow ones are walnut rice balls. These four varieties are made with substantial ingredients. Sesame seeds, walnuts, and fine sugar all cost more than red beans, so their price is a bit higher — five coins apiece."
She knew perfectly well that the price was not low, but the cost of ingredients was there, the making process was far more complicated than steaming ordinary buns, and these were festival-exclusive treats made in limited quantities. It made sense that they would sell well at a higher price, and even if there were leftovers, the shop could just eat them themselves.
Auntie Huang nodded, then asked, "Can I try one first?"
Lin Wu smiled. "Auntie, these rice balls aren't fit for sampling. You can't cut a single rice ball open, and if every customer takes a bite out of one, I won't have any stock left to run the shop."
"Alright, alright, give me two of each kind," Auntie Huang decided after a moment's thought. The price was not cheap, but the rice balls looked truly lovely. Besides, the old mistress of the household had instructed her to buy every new product Mrs. Lin's shop put out to try, so she had the authority to make this call. The three-coin rice balls were quite affordable, and while the five-coin ones were pricey, it was only the Lantern Festival once a year.
"Would you like the cooked ones, or the raw ones?" Lin Wu reminded her. "If you take the raw ones, you can cook them at home the same way you make ordinary rice balls. If you have them cooked here in the shop, you'll need to bring your own bowl, but cooked rice balls left soaking in soup for too long lose their nice flavor."
"I'll take the raw ones," Auntie Huang replied immediately. "The whole point of rice balls is having them hot and fresh. I can cook them at home easily enough, just wait till they float to the top of the water and they're done."
"Coming right up," Lin Wu turned to pack the rice balls for her, then asked casually, "Auntie, why are you buying so many cabbage and meat buns today?"
Auntie Huang was a regular patron, so Lin Wu knew the old mistress of the household preferred sweet and light flavors, and cabbage and meat buns plus pancakes were hardly to her taste.
"My master has returned home, and he's especially fond of your shop's pancakes and savory buns. He loved what he ate yesterday and told me to buy a larger batch today," Auntie Huang chuckled. "The treats from your shop, Mrs. Lin, everyone in our household has their own favorite, not a single one goes unappreciated."
"That's all thanks to your support, Auntie. Without you, how would our little treats ever get into a noble household like yours?" Lin Wu handed over the packed goods with a smile.
When Auntie Huang got back to the manor, she first delivered the lotus root and jade steamed buns to the old mistress's courtyard, then sent the pancakes and cabbage and meat buns over to Lord Han's quarters.
The old mistress took a bite of the bun and nodded in approval. "Every treat from this shop tastes wonderful. The worst thing about making food is having no sense of proportion — overly salty dishes that make you thirsty, or cloyingly sweet pastries. This shop gets everything just right. The person running the kitchen must be a very careful, reliable sort."
Auntie Huang smiled and said, "Exactly so. The shop is all fixed up now, it's not big, but it's very pretty. I saw Mrs. Lin herself writing and drawing a new notice there today."
"Oh?" The old mistress looked interested. "So she must have had an education."
"That seems to be the case. They have new rice balls for sale today, four different colors, they look so bright and fresh," Auntie Huang described the new purchase in detail.
When the rice balls were cooked, a portion was sent to the old mistress as usual, and another to Lord Han.
Over at Lord Han's place, he had just finished the pancakes and eaten three cabbage and meat buns, and he sighed contentedly. "I used to think the Velvet Cake and Snow Cloud Cake were the best treats around, but who would have guessed that this shop is even better at making savory food?"
A few days prior, Chen Shugu had come to visit, bringing those two types of cake that tasted so good Lord Han had immediately asked where he bought them. He later found out the cakes had originally been made for the maker's own family to eat, not for sale.
"Seems like your retired life is really quite comfortable, Lord Han," Chen Shugu took a sip of tea and smiled. "Spending all your time thinking about new delicious treats."
"Of course," Lord Han said matter-of-factly. "A person lives for three things, doesn't he? Eating, drinking, and sleeping."
Chen Shugu shook his head. "Back when you worked at the Censorate, you spent all your time making sure other people didn't overindulge in eating, drinking, and sleeping."
Lord Han waved a dismissive hand. "Now I'm free of all duties. Nothing beats the easy days back in my hometown."
He paused, looked at Chen Shugu, and said, "Huzhou is such a nice place. Since you've had the luck to come here, Brother Chen, you might as well stay for a while longer."
Chen Shugu nodded. "I really do have a bond with Huzhou. It's a place of outstanding people, very nurturing to live in."
Lord Han's gaze drifted back to the plate with the two remaining buns. "This little pastry shop is really something. My mother got pastries from them sent over from her courtyard, Fifth Young Master sent me some from there the other day, and you brought some over when you visited, Brother Chen. If this wasn't all a coincidence, I'd start thinking this shop is trying to curry favor with my household."
Chen Shugu kept his calm, easy expression, and said slowly, "Good pastries naturally catch everyone's eye, just like a clear spring in the mountains — people come to drink from it of their own will, the spring never calls for them."
Lord Han believed that, and he believed it even more the moment the bowl of glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival was set down in front of him.
He scooped one up, took a bite, and said, "Nothing hits the spot quite like glutinous rice balls for the Lantern Festival."
A moment later, he put down his spoon, called the steward over, and gave the order: "Go buy a lot more of these rice balls tomorrow."
He thought for a second more, and added, "Go very early. These rice balls are delicious, and they're the seasonal treat for the festival. Most people who bought some today will come back for more tomorrow. If you're late, I'm afraid they'll all be sold out."
These rice balls tasted so good, and with so many people in each of the great noble households, if everyone had a bowl, the total amount they needed would be quite large.
Meanwhile, Young Master Shen was on his way to the Two Trees Cake Shop.
Tigerhead hopped along ahead of him, carrying a revolving lantern in his hand.
The colored lantern was exquisitely made. Even in the daytime, with no candle lit inside and the little paper horses not spinning, its bright colors paired with the dainty little painted horses made it look vivid and adorable.
Tigerhead trotted all the way to the shop entrance, held the lantern high up, and called out, "Sister, Jing, the Lantern Festival is almost here! This is the revolving lantern I got for you two!"
"Thank you so much, Tigerhead," Lin Wu bent down to take the lantern.
When she straightened back up, Shen Guanting had just walked up to the shop too, so she added with a smile, "And thank you too, Guanting."
"I picked it out especially," Tigerhead said, already stepping up to the counter.
Shen Guanting glanced at him, then said slowly, "I paid for it."
Lin Wu was long used to the two brothers bickering like this. She put the lantern away, turned around, and asked, "All the glutinous rice balls are done now. Do you two want to try some?"
Tigerhead immediately replied, "Yes!"
As Lin Wu turned around to scoop the rice balls out, Shen Guanting suddenly remembered that they had actually come to the shop today to buy glutinous rice balls.
A moment later, Lin Wu came out carrying two porcelain bowls. One was large, painted with a little garden scene with a pavilion in the middle. The other was smaller, painted with a river view, with a tiny boat anchored on the water. And there was a third bowl, painted with flowering branches, with a little sparrow perched on the twig.
She had thought that Tigerhead would probably come over to play with Lin Jing very often from now on, so she needed to prepare a bowl for him. Otherwise, if she made some new treat later and Lin Jing was eating it while Tigerhead could only watch, that would be far too cruel.
But if Tigerhead had his own bowl, Sparrow couldn't go without one. And once Sparrow had his, it wouldn't be right to leave Shen Guanting out either.
She was always very good at making sure everyone got their fair share. All it took was buying a few extra bowls, after all.
"These are new bowls I just bought," she said as she set them down on the counter. "I thought you two might find them useful."
The shop did not provide bowls for takeaway, not because they were worried about not getting the bowls back, but because they feared that once returned, they would have no idea what the bowls had been used to hold. While the bowls could be washed, the whole hassle simply wasn't worth it.
Shen Guanting only glanced at it for a split second before immediately reaching out to take the porcelain bowl painted with a little pavilion.
"Why isn't Sparrow here today?" Lin Wu asked.
"She's still fast asleep! I couldn't wake her up no matter what!" Tigerhead did not hold back from spilling her secret at all.
Lin Wu could not help but laugh. It seemed she had heard Tigerhead say Sparrow was sleeping in late several times already. She must be a little sparrow that loved to sleep.
They always say the early bird catches the worm, but this little sparrow could not drag herself out of bed in the morning, so she got no floating tangyuan to eat today.
The moment Tigerhead took the bowl, his eyes were immediately drawn to the four bright, round, glossy tangyuan that looked so colorful and pretty.
Lin Jing, standing beside him, said to him very seriously, "You have to eat them carefully. They are piping hot."
Unfortunately, this reminder was just like the words Lin Wu had said to him earlier that morning - it did not work at all.
Tigerhead took a big bite, and sure enough, the heat made him grimace and gasp, but he did not care a bit. He just buried his head in eating, finishing one tangyuan in two bites, and finally sighed contentedly, "This is the most delicious tangyuan I've ever eaten in my whole life!"
Five-year-old little Lin Jing nodded in complete agreement, and said earnestly, "I think walnut tangyuan is the best too."
The one Tigerhead had just eaten was exactly the yellow walnut tangyuan.
But after he ate the green sesame tangyuan, the shared agreement between the two of them fell apart.
"I think sesame tangyuan tastes better than walnut tangyuan," Tigerhead said, licking the corners of his mouth, still clearly craving more.
Lin Jing shook his head, his little face all stern, obviously not planning to budge on his stance.
The two of them were locked in a stalemate over there.
Over on the other side, Shen Guanting was sitting on the long bench, turning the porcelain bowl painted with a little pavilion over and over in his hands as he looked at it. "This bowl is made specially for me?"
Lin Wu was lowering her head, wrapping steamed buns, and did not even lift her head as she replied, "You, Tigerhead, and Sparrow all have your own."
Shen Guanting turned the bowl over to look at it again, and said slowly, "Thank you, A Wu, for being so thoughtful. Now every time I come to the shop, I'll have a little something to look forward to."
Lin Wu thought to herself, this young master's little "something to look forward to" is really quite cheap - a mere porcelain bowl is enough to satisfy him.
Shen Guanting, however, seemed to be thinking about it very seriously. "Then it seems Jizhen Pavilion must return the favor with equal courtesy. Let me think about what I should prepare for A Wu."
"Guanting, if you like the bowl that much, you can just take it home with you."
Shen Guanting looked up at her. "That won't do. If I have to bring my own bowl to the shop every time I come, won't that make me look like I'm coming here begging for food?"
Lin Wu was stunned for a second, and her mind automatically conjured up the image of Young Master Shen standing at the shop entrance, holding a porcelain bowl in his hands.
She could not hold it in, and "pfft" burst out laughing.
The second she finished laughing, she realized that was inappropriate, and quickly composed herself. "I'm, I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn."
It was all her fault.
She had been in contact with the Shen family for quite a while now, and instead of picking up any of their lavish, generous ways, she had somehow ended up imagining their young master going around begging for food.
