By the time they returned to Clear Water Lane, dusk had spread in from the horizon. The little courtyard lay bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Lin Jing was gazing at their courtyard from a distance when he suddenly stopped. He turned back to look at Lin Wu.
Seeing his little face, Lin Wu asked, “A Jing, what is it?”
He did not answer at once. Instead, he broke into a short run, his little legs carrying him to the courtyard gate. Only when he reached it did he stop.
A picture of Zhong Kui was still pasted to the gate, with peach-wood charms hanging on either side. After being washed by the spring rains, the colors were no longer as bright as they had once been.
Lin Jing rose onto his toes and gestured. The lintel was very high to him, and even the threshold was so tall that he had to lift his little leg to step over it.
He turned to look at Lin Wu as she approached, his small face filled with wonder. “Mother, it’s amazing! Such a big, such a tall courtyard—but just one thin piece of paper…”
He gestured with his hands, pinching his two little fingers together to leave only a narrow gap.
“…can buy the whole thing!”
The monthly rent for their courtyard was the largest fixed expense in the household, so even at his young age, Lin Jing already understood the vast difference between renting and buying.
He had originally been trying to figure out just how much five hundred strings of cash really amounted to.
Lin Wu found this amusing. She pushed open the gate. The wooden door gave a soft creak. Laifu, who had been waiting behind it for them, shot out at once and began circling their legs.
“Because that banknote is only proof of payment.” Lin Wu bent down to rub Laifu’s head. After closing the gate behind them, she continued explaining, “With it, you can go to the Exchange Office and trade it for a heavy chest of silver. It’s that chest of silver that can be exchanged for a large courtyard.”
Lin Jing nodded, but then his little brows drew together again. He knew some things were like that: sometimes a great deal of money could buy only a small item, while at other times, a little money could buy something large. For instance, Liang Fourth Son had spent five hundred strings of cash on a sword, yet a few copper coins were enough to buy a large scallion pancake.
He still could not quite understand the reasoning behind it. Tilting his little head, he poured all his confusion out to Lin Wu.
“Hmm…” Lin Wu looked at the perplexed child. To be honest, she could not explain it clearly either—not just then, anyway.
“That’s the difference between Jizhen Pavilion and Shuangmu Pancake Shop,” she said after thinking it over. Then, without hesitation, she handed the difficult question off to someone else. “I don’t really understand the reasoning myself. Go ask Master Jianshan tomorrow. He’ll certainly be able to explain it to you.”
Lin Wu had to admit that she now somewhat understood Shen Guanting, her senior fellow disciple. With so many people around Lin Jing whom he could ask for advice, she could pass the problem along with perfect justification.
“All right.” Little Lin Jing put the matter aside for the moment and turned to run. He crouched beside the garden plot to inspect the scallions he had planted himself.
He knew every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile in this place as well as he knew his own hands.
The courtyard seemed a little smaller now, because so many things had been added to it. A hoe, a bucket, and several earthen basins leaned against the wall. In the middle stood a straw target, which he and Tigerhead had spent ages tying together. It was where he practiced archery every day.
Laifu’s house had been upgraded even earlier than theirs. It had been replaced with a large, sturdy wooden kennel.
Although the courtyard was only rented, as the days went by, they accumulated more and more belongings. The little space was now packed to the brim.
As was her habit, Lin Wu walked to the well, picked up the wooden bucket hanging beside it, and drew up a bucket of water. She poured it into the earthen basin nearby.
“Remember to wash your hands later,” she called to Lin Jing, who was still pulling weeds.
“I know!” Lin Jing did not even lift his head. He was happily digging through the soil with a little stick. Beside him, Laifu also knew better than to ruin the seedlings and merely scratched at the weeds around the edges.
Lin Wu looked around the small courtyard. This place carried the entire weight of their life in Huzhou.
The light banknote had been enough to buy a courtyard like this. Lin Wu had to admit that, like Lin Jing, she felt somewhat dazed by it.
Once, all they had wanted was a place that could shelter them from the wind and rain. Now, the banknote tucked inside her purse seemed to carry an entirely different weight. The money was enough to buy a proper residence in Huzhou City—one that truly belonged to them. Not rented, not borrowed, but a genuine deed to put down roots here.
Lin Wu pushed open the door to the main room. The last light of day poured in through the open doors and windows, bathing the room in a soft glow.
The house was small, and its furnishings were simple.
At the center was a little hall with a table and chairs. In front of it stood a small altar table bearing an incense burner and offerings, along with the little stones, flowers, and grasses Lin Jing had collected.
On one side were two modest bedrooms, one for each of them. Lin Jing had already dashed into his own room, put away his schoolbag, and run back outside.
Lin Wu entered her room and closed the door. There was less light inside, but she sat down at the desk, where the slanting glow from the window kept the room from becoming too dim.
She untied the purse at her waist and emptied its contents onto the table. There were a dozen or so copper coins and a banknote folded neatly into squares.
The copper coins landed on the tabletop with a series of tinkling sounds. The banknote, however, lay there in silence.
She rummaged through the drawer and found an old, empty purse, into which she placed the copper coins. She put the banknote back into the purse adorned with the jade ring. Her fingertips brushed against the slightly stiff mulberry-paper surface, and she paused.
At Pineriver Tower, the words spoken by that man and the familiar jade ring had stirred up all kinds of emotions in her. Now, in this space that belonged solely to her, those feelings gradually settled and no longer seemed quite so disturbing.
She walked to the bed, bent down, and dragged out a small wooden chest from underneath it. Then she took out a key and unlocked it.
There were not many things inside, but they held the memories of her and Lin Jing’s past: the gold leaves she had brought out of the palace, Lin Jing’s pouch, and a few other keepsakes.
She placed the purse with the jade ring inside as well.
Then she locked the wooden chest again and pushed it back beneath the bed.
For the time being, she still did not know what to do with the money—or with the purse. She would hide them away for now.
The thoughts and strange feelings from earlier seemed to be sealed away with the wooden chest as it was pushed back into the shadows. Just like all those turbulent memories of the past, she had always hidden them well. Hiding one more thing would make no difference.
In the kitchen, Lin Jing was already sitting obediently on a little stool with his head bowed, carefully picking vegetables. His small hands plucked away the yellow leaves one by one and placed them neatly to the side. He was remarkably skilled at it.
Lin Wu tied on her apron and began preparing the evening meal in the last light of day.
Her knife moved swiftly as she sliced the meat into thin strips, striking the chopping board with a rhythmic clatter.
Amid that steady sound, her thoughts slowly spread outward.
Five hundred strings of cash. Having suddenly come into such a windfall, she was no different from any ordinary commoner. Her first thought was naturally this: Could she buy a home of her own?
Clear Water Lane was a good place. She knew all the neighbors, and it was close to the shop. There would be no need to move again.
But she quickly pushed the thought aside.
In the eyes of outsiders, she and Lin Jing were a widowed mother and orphaned son, with no roots or connections in Huzhou. If they suddenly produced a large sum of money to purchase a house, it would inevitably attract too much attention. A pancake shop that had only been open for a few months—no matter how prosperous it was—could it really have saved enough to buy a house? Who would believe that?
Besides, the pancake shop welcomed all sorts of customers, with people from every walk of life coming and going. If others thought they were making a fortune, envy might turn into jealousy, and jealousy into suspicion, bringing them trouble they did not need.
Once the shredded meat was cut, Lin Jing had finished washing the vegetables as well. Carrying the little bamboo basket over to the basin, he took up the dipper and rinsed the vegetables again and again.
Afterward, he laid the leaves out one by one in neat rows, with the stems at one end and the tips at the other. Only then did he clap his hands in satisfaction, lift his small face, and call out, “I’m all done washing them!”
Lin Wu leaned over to take a look. “Thank you, A Jing. You’ve been a great help. We’ll be able to eat our afternoon meal soon.”
They had returned late that day. If she washed rice and cooked a proper meal, it would probably be too late. Not wanting to go to the trouble, she decided to make something simple: rice-flour sheets stir-fried with shredded meat, sliced egg, and greens, along with a cucumber-and-egg soup.
Before long, the aroma of the food spread through the room. In the fading light that still lingered in the kitchen, the two of them gathered around the little table for their meal.
Lin Jing slurped up the rice-flour sheets, his little mouth chattering nonstop.
“Brother Ting is amazing. Not only did he scare Liang Fourth Son, he even made him pay us!”
“I’m going to practice martial arts and study hard. Then I’ll be able to wield a sword and shoot arrows—and write bills to make people pay what they owe!”
Listening to this summary of his educational goals, Lin Wu could only think that the two really were fellow disciples. A Jing clearly approved of his senior brother’s approach to debt collection.
“Then you should train hard with Master Guanting. If someone ever runs up a tab at the pancake shop and refuses to pay, we’ll send you to collect it. He’s your senior brother, after all. I’m sure he’d be willing to teach you.”
At the words “senior brother,” Lin Wu felt a faint stir in her heart.
Senior brother. Yes.
He was only A Jing’s senior brother. That was the sole connection between him and her—plain and unmistakable. In the eyes of outsiders, wasn’t that the very excuse Liang Fourth Son had used to cause trouble for the pancake shop?
In the past, she had let his half-serious, half-playful remarks go in one ear and out the other, taking them simply as a reflection of his nature and never looking into them too deeply. But the jade ring had made certain things, which had previously been difficult to discern, somewhat clearer.
The Young Master Shen seemed to pay her attention that went beyond the ordinary. Even now, however, she could not understand what was so special about her that she had caught the eye of a young master of the Shen family, a man who had seen every kind of splendor.
But this was not something she ought to spend time puzzling over. How he thought was his concern. How she chose to respond was hers.
At present, she had no strength to deal with this unexpected situation that lay entirely beyond her control. The pancake shop’s business was gradually settling into a steady rhythm, and Lin Jing was growing up safe and sound day by day. All she wanted was for this hard-won life of peace to continue, without wind or waves.
She had made up her mind.
Strangely, however, the decision did not bring her the solid reassurance and certainty she usually felt after solving a problem and regaining control of her life. A faint melancholy still lingered in her heart, refusing to fade.
The next day, at first light, Double Wood Pancake Shop began another day of business.
As the sun rose higher, the market came awake, and the shop gradually grew lively.
As usual, Shen Guanting sauntered over.
“Good morning, Young Master Shen!” Familiar customers inside and outside the shop greeted him with smiles.
Shen Guanting returned their greetings with a nod, but did not enter the shop. Instead, he stopped in front of the pancake stall, from where he could see the figure moving busily behind the stove.
Lin Wu was looking down at the roiling clear broth, deftly dropping wontons into the pot.
When she turned to take the chopped scallions from the cutting board, she turned sideways, revealing the apron strings tied around her waist.
Beside the strings hung an utterly unremarkable old coin purse. Made of ramie cloth and a dull gray, it had no embroidery or ornamentation. It was nothing more than a simple little pouch for loose copper coins.
It was not the one from yesterday.
Shen Guanting’s gaze lingered on the old purse for a moment. Before leaving Riverside Tower the day before, he had clearly seen her take out the purse hanging with the blue-and-white jade ring and place the negotiable note inside it.
Yet today, she had changed to this one.
“Shopkeeper Lin…” he said slowly.
Lin Wu did not pause in her work. She merely raised her head and looked toward him.
The morning light illuminated the side of her face, and she looked no different from the day before. Her eyes met Shen Guanting’s in midair, and then she smiled warmly. Her tone was as natural as ever. “Up so early today, Master Shen? What can I get you?”
Looking at the proper, composed smile on her face, Shen Guanting suddenly felt an indescribable heaviness in his heart. He realized that he had been too hasty after all.
Young Master Shen had always been particular about maintaining proper boundaries. Even when he made a misstep, he had a way of smoothing it over without anyone noticing. But for the first time, he found those two words—proper boundaries—so painfully difficult to bear.
“One egg pancake and a bowl of wontons.” His voice remained calm as he answered. He walked to the counter to pay, his pace neither hurried nor slow, no different from usual.
Morning light spilled in from outside the awning and fell across his shoulders, but it could not reach the depths of the shop. Her figure was shrouded in the white steam rising from the pot, indistinct and hazy.
He withdrew his gaze. He did not blame anyone. He simply had been the one who failed to steady his step.
