After all the stuffing had been carried into the house, perhaps because of their conversation earlier, Fourth Sister He seemed noticeably more at ease with Lin Wu.
Lin Wu invited her inside to sit for a while.
“Your house still looks rather bare,” Fourth Sister He remarked as she looked around.
Lin Wu went out to the courtyard and brought back a bucket of well water, poured it into an earthenware pot, and set it over the stove.
“That’s true. There’s something that needs buying everywhere you look. We sold everything we could in Lingzhou before we left, since it was such a long journey from there. So now we have to replace things one by one.” As she spoke, she lit the firewood in the stove.
Watching the flames catch, Lin Jing instinctively went over. Clearly, he considered tending the fire part of his responsibilities. Lin Wu smiled and rose to give him the little stool.
The little boy immediately sat down. He was short, and once seated, his eyes were level with the stove opening, giving him a perfect view of the fire without having to bend over. He picked up a thin stick and carefully laid it across a thicker one inside. The end of the stick touched the flames without blocking the airflow—a sure sign that he was already an experienced little fire-tender.
As the fire blazed up, even Lin Wu, sitting by the door, felt considerably warmer. She turned to Fourth Sister He and said, “It just had to be winter when we arrived. I never realized Lake Prefecture’s winters could be so damp and cold. We had to make warm clothing our first priority, so everything else has been put off for now.”
Fourth Sister He nodded and gathered her sleeves around her hands. “Especially after the rain we had a few days ago. Once the temperature drops, the damp seeps right into your bones. No wonder the authorities are building a Warmth and Charity House. Weather like this can truly freeze a person to the bone.”
At that, she paused, then moved her stool a little closer to Lin Wu and lowered her voice. “Speaking of that, if you’re going to the morning market these next few days, you should buy extra vegetables and store them. I heard the old man who sells vegetables at the mouth of the lane say that fewer grain barges have been coming from the south lately. Vegetable prices are likely to rise.”
Lin Wu quickly thanked her. “When I went to buy the stuffing today, the shopkeeper said the grain barges were all being used to transport goods to the capital. It seems the rumor is true.”
“It is indeed,” Fourth Sister He agreed. “I’m planning to pickle some more vegetables these next few days, so tomorrow I’ll go to the market and buy a larger batch. If you want to pickle some too, Mrs. Lin, we can go together. If we buy more, perhaps the farmers will give us a better price.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll be selling pastries by the flower stall in the market. Just come find me there.”
Fourth Sister He readily agreed. She already knew that Lin Wu sold pastries in the market; after all, she had to go there to buy vegetables and had occasionally seen her. She couldn’t help feeling that it was truly difficult for a widow with a child to set up a stall and do business in such cold weather.
The two women chatted a while longer before Fourth Sister He finally rose to leave.
Lin Wu got up and went to the courtyard to wash clothes. As she scrubbed them, she glanced at the small patch of scallions in front of the house. The soil remained quiet, with no shoots emerging yet. Although Lake Prefecture’s winters were not especially cold, there were ultimately only so many vegetables that could survive in the fields. If the local farmers struggled to keep things growing, there would inevitably be little variety. In previous years, the markets had at least received fresh vegetables transported from the south by grain barge.
The diversion of those barges to the capital was probably that man’s doing as well. After all, only by keeping the supplies in hand could one distribute and maneuver them as needed.
Lin Wu shook her head. Affairs in the capital, so far away, had nothing to do with her. It would be better to think first about how she should respond if the yamen clerk really came again tomorrow.
She washed each garment, wrung it dry, and hung it on the line. In the kitchen, the water Lin Jing had been watching was nearly boiling. He stood up and walked to the doorway of the main room, poking out half of his little head.
“A Wu, the water is bubbling and bubbling! When are we going to use the peach gum to make leaf-vein bookmarks?”
Clearly, little Lin Jing was still firmly focused on his great leaf-vein-bookmark project.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Lin Wu put down the wooden bucket and walked into the room with a smile. “You’re in such a hurry. We haven’t even eaten yet.”
She reached out and pressed both hands against his soft little cheeks. Her hands were icy cold from washing clothes.
“Hee-hee.” Instead of dodging, Lin Jing narrowed his eyes with a grin. Then he reached out with his small hands, warmed by the stove, and clasped Lin Wu’s cool fingers. “I’ll warm them for you, A Wu.”
Selling pastries had taken quite a while that day, and she had also gone to buy a hot-water bottle and cotton batting. By the time they reached home, it was already rather late, nearly the hour of the Monkey. Some families would already have begun preparing their evening meal by then.
But Lin Wu was accustomed to eating three meals a day. No matter how late it was, she still had to eat all three. At worst, she could simply push the evening meal back a little. She had already made up her mind while at the market. She had deliberately bought some ready-made noodles, along with a small jar of sesame paste. With the weather so cold, she planned to cook something hot—a simple, mild hot pot without numbing peppercorns or chili. Well, strictly speaking, it was just vegetables cooked in hot broth.
“In a moment, I’ll need A Jing to help tend the fire for a little while longer. We’ll cook lunch,” Lin Wu said as she took things out of the bamboo basket.
“Are we having mutton?” Without a second word, Lin Jing obediently sat back down on the little stool in front of the stove.
“Yes.” Lin Wu took out the mutton and placed it on the chopping board, carefully slicing it thin. “We spent all morning standing in the wind at the market. Some mutton will warm us up.”
Mutton was expensive, costing seventy copper coins a jin. She had bought only five ounces, which was enough for the two of them and still within what she could afford.
“Has A Jing ever eaten Bo Xia Gong?” Lin Wu asked, never pausing in her slicing.
“No. What is Bo Xia Gong?” Little Lin Jing, not yet five years old, had very little experience of the world. He had never eaten it, and had never even heard of it.
Bo Xia Gong was actually a style of hot-pot cooking popular at the time, though it had not yet caught on in the cities and was more of a rustic country custom. Rabbit, pork, or mutton was sliced thin, then marinated in wine, sauce, and Sichuan peppercorns. A small brazier was placed on the table with a pot half-filled with water. Once the water boiled, diners would use chopsticks to swish the meat in the broth until cooked, then dip it into sauce according to their own tastes. In truth, it was scarcely any different from hot pot.
“It’s a way of eating where you cook the meat yourself by swishing it in the broth. When we have the chance, we’ll try making it. But today, A Wu will cook it for you first.”
She blanched the sliced mutton in a pot, scooped it out to drain, poured away the water, and scrubbed the pot clean. Then she set it back on the stove, added a little oil, and stir-fried scallions, ginger, and garlic until fragrant before pouring in fresh water. Once the water boiled, she removed the scallions, ginger, and garlic, then added the mutton, mushrooms, and noodles. Only at the end did she put in the Chinese cabbage and chopped scallions.
Before long, steam rose from the pot with a gentle gurgle, and a savory fragrance spread through the room with the white mist.
Sitting on his little stool by the stove, Lin Jing sniffed. “It smells so good. Just smelling it makes me feel warm.”
Lin Wu brought out two large earthenware bowls and divided the hot broth, vegetables, and meat between them. Then she took two small bowls, spooned two measures of sesame paste into each, added a little warm water, and slowly stirred them smooth before seasoning them with a pinch of salt and a splash of vinegar. The result was thick, fragrant, and creamy.
“Careful, it’s hot.” She carried the bowls to the table, picked up a slice of mutton, dipped it into the sauce, and held it up to her mouth. “See? You dip it in the sauce like this.”
Lin Jing copied her. He picked up a slice of mutton from his own bowl, rolled it carefully around in the small bowl of sauce, then lifted it out and blew on it before opening his mouth to take a bite. The mutton was tender and silky, while the sauce was savory and fragrant. He narrowed his eyes in contentment, his cheeks puffing as he chewed.
“So delicious!” After swallowing a piece of mutton, he watched Lin Wu pick up some suo bing. He followed suit, painstakingly lifting a pair of chopsticks’ worth, and said indistinctly around his food, “The noodles are soft too, and so fragrant.”
The suo bing had soaked up the broth, becoming tender without turning mushy. Mixed with the rich aroma of sesame paste, it was especially comforting on this damp, chilly winter day.
After lunch, they finally reached the part Lin Jing had been eagerly awaiting: making leaf-vein bookmarks. It was actually quite simple. First, the peach gum had to be boiled until it melted, then cooled until merely warm. A small brush was dipped into it and used to slowly and very gently coat both sides of the leaf-vein pieces with a thin layer.
Lin Jing sat pressed close to the edge of the table, his chin propped in both hands as he watched Lin Wu’s every movement without blinking.
As he watched the brush carefully sweep across the transparent veins, he could not help asking in a small voice, “Why does it have to be so thin? Wouldn’t it be sturdier if you brushed on a thicker layer?”
“If it’s too thick, it will take longer to dry, and it could easily crush the leaf veins.”
Lin Jing nodded as though he had suddenly understood. “Oh, I get it. It’s like how A Jing is little and can only carry light things, while A Wu is big and can carry heavy things.”
“That’s right. These leaf veins are so fine and fragile.” Lin Wu continued with her work. “You have to know your limits in everything you do. If you carry more than you can bear, you’ll easily hurt yourself. Just like when you insisted on carrying that heavy bag of copper coins earlier—you nearly strained your arm.”
“I know!” Lin Jing continued resting his chin on his hands as he watched. Then, all at once, he said, “But they were perfectly good leaves to begin with. We boiled away and brushed away all their green flesh, leaving them so fine and thin.”
Lin Wu smiled. “When you put it that way, we really are being terribly cruel.”
“Not at all!” Lin Jing shook his little head solemnly. “If they fell on the ground, the wind would blow them away, people would step on them, and they’d wither and rot. We’re helping them become leaf-vein bookmarks that can be tucked into books and stay intact for a very, very long time.”
The more he spoke, the more convincing he found his reasoning. His eyes shone brightly. “We’re doing a good deed. And once it’s done, Tigerhead and his schoolmates will like them, and they’ll help us earn money!”
Lin Wu was amused by his impassioned expression. “Then we really are doing something that benefits everyone.”
“Benefits everyone…” Lin Jing repeated slowly, as though savoring the phrase. He nodded gradually. “Yes, it benefits everyone. The leaf-vein bookmarks will be beautiful, and we’ll make money too. Everything will be beautiful!”
Once all the leaf veins had been coated, the question of how to dry them became a problem. Before the peach gum dried, it was sticky and gummy, and they had to be careful not to let dust—or some unlucky little flying insect—land on it.
Lin Wu thought for a moment, then fetched a bamboo sieve from the kitchen. It was somewhat deep, making it just right for the job. She found some fine string, tied one end to the mesh of the sieve and carefully fastened the other to the stems of the leaf veins. Then she turned the sieve upside down on the table. This left the leaf pieces hanging suspended beneath it, with air circulating freely on all sides while keeping them out of harm’s way. The only drawback was that they might take a little longer to dry.
“How long will it take for them to dry completely?” Lin Jing sat by the table, staring at the dozen or so dangling leaves without blinking, as though afraid he might miss the very moment they finished drying.
“Hmm…” Lin Wu was not entirely sure either. “Perhaps by tomorrow?”
Lin Jing was clearly dissatisfied with that answer. He pursed his lips, then suddenly stretched out both little hands and began fanning them back and forth beside the bamboo sieve. His small hands stirred up a breeze so faint it could hardly be felt.
Lin Wu left him there to battle the weather while she went to deal with the pile of batting.
She took out a small lined jacket she had washed and thoroughly dried several days earlier. It had still been about eighty percent new when she bought it from the secondhand clothing shop. Since Lin Jing’s clothes were small, it was just right for practicing on.
She stuffed the fluffy batting into the jacket’s lining little by little. First, she filled the corners with her fingers, then gently patted it so the batting could puff up naturally. After that, she lifted the garment and shook it, allowing the filling to spread evenly, and repeated the process.
“A Jing, come try it on.” Lin Wu called out.
Lin Jing had still been watching over the leaf pieces in the side room, but at the sound of her voice, he immediately came trotting over.
“Look, our padded jacket is finished.” Lin Wu lifted the jacket and shook it open.
“Wow!” Lin Jing’s eyes lit up.
It was a pale blue short jacket made of fine cloth. It was a little too large for Lin Jing’s current size, with the hem nearly reaching the middle of his thighs.
Lin Wu helped him put it on. Since she had filled it generously, the jacket puffed up. Once the little boy had squeezed into it, he looked round and chubby, with his arms held out like a soft little ball of cotton.
“It looks so good!” Lin Jing could not see his whole body, but he spread his arms and excitedly spun around in place.
Lin Wu picked up the short outer vest he had taken off earlier and draped it over the jacket. The vest was roomier, and would protect the jacket underneath from getting dirty.
“Not bad, not bad.” Lin Wu took half a step back to inspect it, quite pleased with her handiwork for a first attempt at filling a garment.
“A Wu is amazing!” Lin Jing raised a hand and felt his round, puffed-out chest. Then he lowered his head and rubbed his chin against the soft sleeve.
Lin Wu pulled up his sleeve and examined it. The sleeve was somewhat wide, which not only made it easy for cold air to get inside but also meant it would get dirty easily. Lin Jing was a little busybody, after all, forever occupied from dawn to dusk. Outside, he was either collecting and counting money at the market or squatting on the ground picking up leaves. At home, he was either crouched beside the scallion patch or tending the fire beneath the stove. He needed a pair of sleeve protectors—and Lin Wu needed a pair too.
After taking off his padded jacket, the little boy began thinking about his leaf-vein bookmarks again and dashed back to the side room to watch over them.
Lin Wu stroked the jacket in her hands. It was fluffy and soft, though the filling at the hem seemed a little too thick. Recalling the padded clothes she had seen in the past, she picked up her needle and thread and followed the shape of the garment, sewing several widely spaced long stitches through the outer layer of the lining to roughly divide it into a few vertical sections. It looked somewhat unattractive, but it would keep the filling in place and prevent it from bunching up. In any case, the outer vest would cover it, so it did not matter.
She had just snipped off the thread when another little head appeared at the doorway.
Lin Jing clung to the doorframe, worry plain on his small face. “What if Tigerhead comes today with the academy steward? What are we going to do? They aren’t dry yet.”
“It’s already around the time for the afternoon meal. I imagine they won’t be coming today.” Lin Wu reassured him, though she could not help finding it amusing. It seemed the little breeze he had fanned at the table earlier had been rather lacking in power.
The tiny Shopkeeper Lin had clearly exhausted himself worrying over the production schedule for this batch of goods, afraid they might miss the delivery deadline.
Lin Wu added, “Even if Tigerhead really does come, we can show him the half-finished ones first and tell him that this is fine craftsmanship. Good work can’t be rushed.”
Lin Jing’s brows relaxed slightly. He nodded and sat down beside her. Stretching out his little hand, he began counting on his fingers, carefully calculating. “We need to give one to Tigerhead, and have him take it back to show his schoolmates. We also need to give one to Sister Que’er, and Sister Qing and Brother Jue each need one too. Then, what’s left…”
“There are twelve left,” Lin Wu finished the calculation for him.
“Only twelve?” Lin Jing’s little brows drew together again, dissatisfied with the number they had prepared. “Then we need to make more.”
“We should first see whether everyone likes this batch of bookmarks and whether they’ll sell well,” Lin Wu reminded him.
“They’ll definitely sell well!” Lin Jing said with absolute certainty, his voice rising a little.
“Good. Then we’ll take Shopkeeper Lin at his word.”
