After finishing the purchases, when they returned to the warehouse, the caravan seemed to have grown even larger.
Several tall, broad-shouldered men with swords at their waists stood silently beside the most ornate carriage, their expressions stern—clearly the caravan’s guards.
And in that carriage, no doubt, sat the owner.
Lin Wu barely glanced in that direction before she and Li Sanniang made their way back to their supply wagon.
No sooner had they settled in than Li Sanniang, quick and outspoken, began dividing up the work: “Mrs. Lin, since you’re skilled with noodles, how about this—from now on, you take charge of the morning meal, and I’ll assist you. For the evening meal, I’ll do the cooking, and you can help me out. What do you think?”
Lin Wu nodded. The caravan had a large number of people, but aside from the two of them, there were also four kitchen helpers and laborers to follow orders. With proper arrangements, they should be able to manage.
The sun climbed higher, and amid the noise and bustle, the caravan finally began to move.
Lin Wu sat with Lin Jing in the slightly jolting wagon, surrounded by stacked supplies. Lin Jing pressed close to her, his small face tense, peering out through the swaying curtain gap with a mix of curiosity and wariness.
“The road is long—lean on me and rest for a while,” Lin Wu said softly, adjusting the scarf that shielded him from the wind.
On the first day of the journey, they still had the simple meals they’d bought in the county town; the real cooking would only begin the next day.
The Jincheng Trading Caravan was indeed well-disciplined. Despite the large number of people, there was little noise during the march. Everyone stuck to their duties, and the caravan advanced steadily along the main road.
Behind the main caravan, a few smaller trading groups followed at a distance, clearly hoping to travel under the protection of the Jincheng guards. Looking far out, the highway stretched with an impressive, grand procession.
As the horses and carts covered more distance, the daylight gradually faded, and night fell around them.
Once enveloped by darkness, the tension Lin Wu had been holding in her chest loosened slightly.
The caravan found a sheltered, open area to set up camp. Bonfires were lit, their flames flickering faintly in the black of night.
Though Lin Wu and the others had their wagon to sleep in and didn’t need to use the tents on the ground, they still had to make preparations for the work beginning the next day.
With the help of the kitchen hands and laborers, they unloaded the portable stove and iron woks from the wagon and set them up properly in the open space.
Li Sanniang worked quickly, stewing a large pot of mutton with the sauces she’d brought. The rich, savory aroma spread with the steam.
She ladled the mutton and sauce into several thick clay pots, so they could simply reheat it the next day.
The kitchen helpers, having finished their own tasks, came over and politely asked Lin Wu if they needed to prepare anything in advance for the next morning’s meal.
Lin Wu thought for a moment, then shook her head and said in a soft voice: “Thank you all for the reminder, but I’d prefer the morning meal to be fresh noodles, served hot. Out here in the wilderness, with heavy dew at night, if the dough rises too much overnight, it’ll spoil. Especially for the owner’s meal, we need to be extra careful. Let’s get up early tomorrow and make everything fresh—safe and sure.”
“Mrs. Lin thinks things through well,” the helpers said, nodding in agreement.
Back in the wagon, the dim light made fine work impossible. Lin Wu could only sit quietly, listening to the faint murmur of voices from the camp and the chirping of night insects.
In the rhythmic rocking and the weight of their exhaustion, they soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, before dawn had even broken, the camp was still wrapped in tranquility, broken only by the low murmurs of the night guards and the crackling of the campfires.
Lin Wu quietly woke up, moving with great care to avoid disturbing anyone else.
But Lin Jing woke up along with her, drowsily trying to get up and follow her.
"The dew is heavy outside. You stay inside where it's safe, and you can keep an eye on our belongings—make sure no one touches them." Lin Wu pressed a hand on his small shoulder and said in a low voice. With so many people around the camp, she felt more at ease knowing he was in the relatively enclosed wagon.
Lin Jing immediately felt a sense of importance. He blinked his still-sleepy eyes, nodded seriously, and whispered back, "Mm, I'll watch our things."
"When it's light out, follow the sounds and go to the open area by the kitchen to have some breakfast." Lin Wu added another instruction, worried he might be too obedient and stay glued to the belongings without daring to leave.
Only after seeing Lin Jing nod again did she walk away.
By the time Lin Wu had washed up briefly and returned, the kitchen area had already come alive with the bustle of the cooks and helpers.
They were clearly well accustomed to the routine. The cooks unloaded lightweight portable stoves and heavy iron pots from the wagon, setting up chopping boards on hastily stacked bricks, while the helpers shuttled back and forth between a nearby water source and the camp, filling several buckets. The fire had already been lit—everything was busy yet orderly, all in perfect control.
"For this morning's meal, I plan to make steamed buns with vegetable filling and boiled wontons with pork. We'll have both dry and soupy dishes, both vegetarian and meat-based. Does that sound all right to everyone?" Since it had been agreed beforehand that she would be in charge of breakfast, Lin Wu consulted Li Sanniang and the other cooks on the arrangement.
"We'll follow whatever Mrs. Lin says—no problem." Li Sanniang replied readily, waiting to see how she would delegate the tasks.
Lin Wu then asked each of the cooks in detail about the kind of work they usually did. The two helpers were mainly responsible for labor-intensive tasks like carrying water, chopping wood, and tending the fire, while the two cooks handled tasks that required more skill, such as chopping ingredients and kneading dough.
Once she had a clear picture, everyone set about their own tasks.
Lin Wu mixed the right ratio of white flour and dried yeast, then left the kneading to the cooks. She only occasionally checked the dough's rising progress, focusing instead on making the filling for the vegetable buns.
She finely chopped the Chinese cabbage, rehydrated wood ear mushrooms, and turnips, then added some scrambled eggs, seasoning everything with oil, salt, soy sauce, and a touch of vinegar, stirring it all together.
She deliberately avoided the ginger, sugar, honey, and other common ingredients often added to vegetable fillings at the time, preferring a light, homestyle taste. One reason was the limited conditions of traveling merchants, and another was that she genuinely disliked the sweet-and-savory style of vegetarian fillings.
As for the wontons, the cooks were very familiar with those.
Lin Wu mixed an egg into the pork filling to give it a smoother texture.
In no time, the cooks were kneading dough, the helpers were building fires and filling pots, and while Lin Wu and Li Sanniang worked together—one seasoning the filling, the other checking the broth—everything progressed without a hitch.
"I can tell, Mrs. Lin, that you have a real knack for getting things done in an orderly way." After a busy stretch, Li Sanniang couldn't help but speak up. In this whole morning, Lin Wu had assigned everyone clear duties, and the entire workflow had gone without a hitch. Some of the chefs she'd seen in restaurant kitchens couldn't have arranged things better. Though the food being made was simple, with nearly a hundred mouths to feed, maintaining this level of order was no small feat.
Lin Wu kept her hands busy, lowering her head with a slightly embarrassed smile. “Third Aunt and the other mistresses are all seasoned hands, far more skilled in their craft than I am. I just didn’t want to leave you all waiting around, so I figured I’d assign tasks based on everyone’s strengths first, so as not to waste time.”
“That’s no simple thing,” said Li Sanniang, shaking her head. She had worked in a restaurant before and knew well that most skilled cooks guarded their secrets jealously—never letting anyone watch the key steps like seasoning or mixing ingredients, for that was their livelihood. It was precisely for this reason that she’d spent two years at that restaurant without learning anything truly useful.
But this Mrs. Lin before her was somewhat different. She explained every step clearly. Though when it came to exactly how much of each seasoning to add, she always glossed over it with vague words like “a bit” or “to taste,” ultimately insisting on doing it herself, she still allowed others to watch the earlier steps without hiding anything—which was already quite rare.
Still, seeing how simple the fillings she’d prepared were, Li Sanniang couldn’t help but wonder: Would the finished dishes really taste any good? Doubt lingered in her heart.
Meanwhile, several stacked bamboo steamers were set over the fire all at once, releasing billowing white vapor and the rich, wholesome fragrance of steamed buns that filled the air.
On the other side, the kitchen helpers worked quickly and neatly, having already wrapped rows upon rows of wontons that looked like little silver ingots. The dried shrimp for the broth, finely chopped scallions, and seaweed were also arranged in small bowls and plates, ready to go.
Everything was in place just as the sky began to pale with the first light of dawn.
