“Wow!” Tigerhead tugged Lin Jing so hard that he staggered. Lin Jing pushed the door open a little wider to let him in. Once he had steadied himself, his eyes opened wide. “Really? How many people want to buy them?”
“I wrote them all down!” Tigerhead hurriedly pulled a wrinkled little notebook from inside his robe. He flipped through it with a rustle, found a page, and held it before Lin Jing’s eyes. “Look! There are fifteen people! We’ll be able to sell them all at once!”
Lin Jing leaned over to look. The notebook was covered in crooked circles and crosses. He studied it carefully, but his little brows gradually drew together. “But we only have four bookmarks left to sell. We have to save seven for your grandpa, your brothers, and the others.”
“Oh, come on!” Tigerhead crumpled the notebook up and stuffed it back into his robe, waving his hand unconcernedly. “Grandpa and the others aren’t in a hurry. We should sell them to everyone else first!”
Lin Jing nodded and began counting on his fingers, murmuring, “Fifteen people want to buy them. We have eleven bookmarks left, so we’re short by four.”
“We can make more! I’m sure even more people will want them!” Tigerhead declared confidently.
“But…” Lin Jing curled up his fingers. “It took us three days to make sixteen. Some people will have to wait three days. And the day after tomorrow, we have to go to the academy to help make pastries, so we won’t have time to make bookmarks.”
“Ah…” Tigerhead’s excitement faltered a little, but only for a moment. He quickly perked up again. “Then we’ll make them slowly! Good things are supposed to be worth waiting for! I’ll tell them they have to get in line and wait a few more days.”
He cleared his throat and shook his head importantly. “Things are more valuable when they’re scarce. That’s what my grandpa says.”
Lin Jing thought that made sense too and slowly nodded his little head. “Then I’ll go tell my mother.”
“I’m coming too, I’m coming too!” Tigerhead followed close behind as the two boys hopped and skipped into the house.
Lin Wu was slicing eggplant in the kitchen. She had bought some at the morning market to make pickles, and was planning to cook minced pork with eggplant for the late meal. People here loved eggplant, especially in winter when there were few fresh vegetables. Besides pickled eggplant, they also made eggplant preserved in brine, sweet-and-sour dried eggplant, fermented eggplant, and various other dishes. In short, they loved pickling eggplant or cooking it until it was richly flavored.
Lin Wu had already heard Tigerhead’s booming voice from the kitchen. When the two boys came in, she turned around with a smile. “Tigerhead, what brings you here again?”
“Sis!” Tigerhead hurried over. “My classmates all want to buy bookmarks. There are fifteen of them! We don’t have enough stock!”
As he spoke, he pulled out the brocade box again and opened it on the table. “My classmates really love my bookmarks!”
Lin Wu took a look. The simple bookmarks they had made looked far more valuable when displayed in that exquisite box.
“Then we really do need to make more.” She put the sliced eggplant into the steamer, wiped her hands, and walked over. Her eyes fell on the box. “Tigerhead, that box is beautiful.”
It reminded her that perhaps they ought to find something to package their bookmarks in as well.
Tigerhead puffed out his little chest, looking very pleased with himself. “I bought it myself! Only a box like this is worthy of my bookmarks.”
Lin Jing reached out and lightly poked the smooth brocade surface. “How much did this box cost?”
“One hundred copper coins!”
Lin Jing’s eyes immediately went round. “That’s more expensive than our bookmarks! No, no, we can’t.”
“Yes, it’s much too expensive.” Lin Wu shook her head with a smile. She turned and took a clean sheet of oiled paper from a small cloth pouch nearby. With a few quick folds, she made a neat, sturdy little paper packet.
She put a bookmark inside and held it out to the two boys. “See? They look nice packaged this way too. We can draw a little leaf on each packet. That should make them look even prettier.”
“Wow!” Tigerhead leaned closer for a better look and nodded repeatedly. “That does look nice!”
Lin Jing, however, furrowed his little brows. He stared at the oiled-paper packet for a moment before saying, “Oiled paper costs money, so should we raise the price of our bookmarks?”
Lin Wu couldn’t help laughing. “A Jing, you’re certainly good at keeping accounts. That’s a fair point.”
That was exactly what Tigerhead wanted to hear. He had long thought that thirty-five copper coins was too cheap, so he quickly chimed in, “Exactly! Besides the oiled paper, we have to fold the packets and draw the leaves. That takes a lot more work!”
Lin Jing tilted his little head and carefully calculated for a while. Then he tentatively held up four fingers. “How about forty?”
Tigerhead shook his head. “The number four sounds unlucky. Fifty!”
Lin Jing thought that made sense and nodded. The two boys turned together and looked at Lin Wu with wide, pleading eyes.
“Fifty might work. But we can ask a carpenter to carve a little leaf-shaped stamp. Then we can simply press it onto the packets. It’ll save time, and the designs will look neat and uniform.” Lin Wu stood up and took several cloves of garlic. As she gently crushed them with the kitchen knife, she continued peeling them.
Lin Jing’s eyes lit up. “A little leaf stamp!”
“But the most important thing right now is making more bookmarks. We can’t keep Tigerhead’s classmates waiting too long.” Lin Wu chopped the garlic and reminded them.
“Then I’ll go gather leaves.” Lin Jing started toward the door.
“I’m coming too, I’m coming too!” Tigerhead hurried after him.
Lin Wu quickly called out, “Not so fast. We still have plenty of leaves left from before. It’s almost time for the late meal, so don’t go far.”
Hearing that, Lin Jing obediently stopped. He turned around, sat down on the little stool by the stove, and looked up at Lin Wu.
Lin Wu crouched down and helped light the firewood.
Tigerhead came over too. “From now on, I’ll come help Jing gather leaves and tend the fire after school! We’ll definitely make lots and lots of bookmarks and earn lots and lots of money!”
“Then we’ll have to pay our capable Tigerhead wages,” Lin Wu said with a smile.
“Hehe.” Tigerhead scratched his head shyly. “You don’t have to pay me.”
It was already time for the late meal, and Little Zheng came in to remind him to go home. Before leaving, Tigerhead clung to the doorframe and called back, “Sis, Jing, I’ll come over right after school tomorrow!”
“Got it.” Lin Jing turned and waved to him.
The kitchen fell quiet again, with only the soft crackle of the stove fire.
Before long, the eggplant was steamed. Lin Wu lifted away the steamer and washed out the wok. She heated it again, poured in some oil, and stir-fried the chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic until their fragrance rose. Then she added the minced pork and cooked it until just done. When she drizzled in half a ladle of cooking wine, it sizzled loudly, and the aroma burst through the kitchen.
Lin Jing, crouching beneath the stove and tending the fire, narrowed his eyes slightly as the savory fragrance washed over him. He tilted his little head to one side and let out a tiny sneeze. Afterward, he rubbed his nose and said in a nasal little voice, “It smells so good! It smells so good that my nose got happy and sneezed.”
“A Jing’s nose is a little glutton. It wakes right up whenever it smells something delicious.” Lin Wu laughed at his way of putting it and tipped the soft, tender eggplant into the wok, tossing it together with the minced pork.
At that, Lin Jing finally remembered the five lazy scallion bulbs he had been worrying about. He hurriedly complained, “There are five lazy scallion bulbs in the vegetable patch, and six cilantro seeds. They refuse to wake up. All the others have sprouted, but those ones haven’t. They just sit there without moving at all.”
"Maybe those little rascals are just sleeping in late. Let's give them one more day. If they still refuse to poke their heads out tomorrow, we'll replace these lazybones with fresh shallot bulbs and new seeds," Lin Wu said as she poured in the sauce she had mixed earlier. Soon the pot began to bubble softly, and the rich, savory scent grew even more inviting.
"Replace them!" Lin Jing nodded firmly, his face set in a serious pout. "If they won't work and won't sprout, they don't get to take up our soil or drink the water we pour on them!"
That dead-serious little expression made him look exactly like a harsh, tight-fisted shopkeeper cracking down on his slacking employees.
He then tilted his head back, eyes wide and fixed eagerly on the pot. "It smells even better now. What's this dish called?"
"It's called braised eggplant with minced pork."
Lin Jing repeated each word slowly after her. "Braised eggplant with minced pork. It has meat, and it has eggplant. It must be super tasty."
The dish was soon done, plated, and set on the table.
Lin Jing was utterly smitten by the rich, savory sauce. He made sure every piece of eggplant was thoroughly coated in it, and even poured a big spoonful over his rice. He took a huge spoonful and stuffed it into his mouth. "This is so good! I could eat braised eggplant with minced pork every single day."
"Perfect, then. We bought a whole big basket of eggplants, so there's more than enough to keep you going," Lin Wu laughed to herself, though privately she knew she'd probably get tired of the dish in three days at most. She was curious how long little Lin Jing would stick to his claim.
Lin Jing puffed out his chest full of determination. "I'll eat lots and lots of it, so I'll have the strength to make bookmarks and sell pastries!"
Evidently, even while savoring his favorite meal, little Shopkeeper Lin Jing hadn't forgotten his grand money-making plan. No delicious treat could shake that lofty ambition of his.
"That's right, make lots and lots of bookmarks," Lin Wu nodded, while mentally running through the steps of making the bookmarks. She'd need to make lye water, boil the leaves, brush off the leaf pulp, soak peach gum, boil the gum, brush it onto the leaves, and set them out to dry... and now there was the extra step of folding the oil paper bags. The whole process was time-consuming and labor-intensive, so the next few days were going to be busy.
Luckily, bookmarks weren't perishable goods people had to buy every day. A single one could be used for ages, and most of their customers were scholars, whose numbers were limited anyway. They could take their time making them, and it should be more than enough. If they ever ran into a shortage of supply later, they could figure something out. Lin Jing and Tigerhead, the two little shopkeepers, were far more invested in the business than she was, so they'd definitely find a way to work it out.
After their late-afternoon meal, while there was still daylight left, Lin Wu hurried to make a few more vein bookmarks. By the time the sky turned completely dark, she'd only finished ten of them.
It wasn't a huge number, but at the new price they'd set, those ten bookmarks could bring in five hundred copper coins. That was far less tiring than making and selling pastries, and it felt like a really promising line of work.
Since she planned to test out a new type of pastry the next day, before going to bed she grabbed a small plate of mung beans and soaked them in clean water.
When she was finally done with all her chores and returned to her room, Lin Wu gently rubbed her lower back. The soreness that had built up all day was washing over her all at once. Selling pastries, running errands for supplies, negotiating tea and snack deals with Manager Liang, stuffing the new bedding, making dinner, rushing to finish bookmarks... she'd been spinning around like a top from dawn to dusk, and now she could finally rest.
The newly fluffed bedding was already laid out on the bed. She pressed a hand to the mattress, which was soft and fluffy, and the quilt was thick and warm. After sleeping on cold, hard bed planks for so many days, she could finally sink into a soft mattress that night. Lin Wu let out a long, relieved sigh, thinking that the over four strings of copper coins she'd spent on it were worth every single penny.
Even though she'd been on her feet nonstop all day, the actual cash they'd earned was still very little. Right now, their expenses were outpacing their income. But fortunately, the big-ticket items—winter clothes, bedding, iron pots, and the hand warmer—were all already bought and paid for. The only major expense left, besides Lin Jing's school tuition, should be nothing else too big.
With that thought in mind, she settled into a comfortable position under the covers, and her heavy eyelids slid shut.
The next day, they steamed only two baskets of pastries as usual. After selling them all, Lin Wu first stopped by the carpenter's shop to order a small wooden stamp carved in the shape of a leaf, then bought a stack of oil paper, before heading back to their small courtyard. There was still a lot of work waiting for her that day: keep making bookmarks, and prepare the red date jam they'd need to bring to the academy the next day.
As soon as she pushed open the courtyard gate, Lin Jing squeezed through the small crack in the door and darted straight over to the little patch of shallots, squatting down right next to it.
"Those lazy rascals still haven't sprouted!" Lin Jing peered closely at the soil, then turned to her to report, his voice laced with a hint of exasperation at their lack of work ethic.
"Then we'll have to ask our A Jing to carry out fair and strict justice, kick those slackers out, and put new shallot bulbs and seeds in their place," Lin Wu said with a laugh as she walked into the kitchen, put away all the things she'd bought, and took out the leftover shallot bulbs and a small packet of seeds to hand to him.
Little Shopkeeper Lin Jing took the cloth bag, turned around, and went off without hesitation to carry out his ruthless "layoff" plan.
Lin Wu walked over to the stove, and saw that the mung beans she'd soaked earlier had plumped up nicely. She poured them into a pot, added water, and set them to boil.
She planned to make mung bean cakes. The ingredients were simple, and if she prepped the mung bean filling and the dough ahead of time, she could wrap them up on the spot when they were out at the stall, and bake them over a portable charcoal clay stove.
Oh right, she still needed to buy a flat iron griddle—she'd almost forgotten that part.
She covered the kneaded dough with a damp cloth to let it rise, then moved to the small stove to boil the peach gum. By the time the peach gum was done boiling and the leaf veins had been brushed with gum and hung out to dry, she came back to tend to the mung beans.
The mung beans had cooked until they were completely soft. She added sugar while they were still hot, and kept stirring and flipping them in the pot until the water cooked off. Gradually, the mung bean paste in the pot turned smooth and creamy, and the dough on the counter had finished resting too.
Lin Wu took the dough out, gently pressed and kneaded it on the pastry board to release the trapped air, rolled it into a long strip, and cut it into evenly sized small portions. She wrapped the mung bean filling in the pastry skin, shaping each one into a neat little square.
Right then, little Shopkeeper Lin Jing had finished his layoff work, planted the new "employees" (the seeds), washed his little hands, and wandered back inside.
He looked at those square, plump little pastries, which looked so cute, and couldn't help standing on tiptoe, staring at them longingly. "What are those?"
"They're mung bean cakes. We're making a new kind of snack to take to the market and test out later. A Jing, I'll need your help to taste them and tell me what you think," Lin Wu said as she set the pan on the stove and lit the firewood.
At once, Lin Jing consciously plopped down on the small wooden stool by the stove, and skillfully started adding firewood to the fire.
Lin Wu gently placed the little square pastries into the pan, letting them bake slowly. Soon, all six sides of each pastry turned golden brown, their neat square shape becoming even more distinct, and a wonderful sweet scent filled the air. The baked little pastries were stacked on a earthen plate, golden and neatly arranged, looking incredibly appealing.
Lin Jing watched in awe. "They look just like the little wooden tower we built, stacked one on top of another."
Lin Wu picked one up for herself, then handed one to Lin Jing. The pastries were still hot, so the two of them blew on them carefully before taking small bites. The outer crust was slightly crisp, while the inside was soft and fluffy. The mung bean filling was sweet and smooth, not cloying at all, and kept the fresh, light fragrance of the beans.
"It's so good," Lin Jing said, finishing his pastry in just a few quick bites, and declared with full confidence. "This one is definitely going to sell like hotcakes!"
Lin Wu was amused by how he thought about making money every single second, and was just about to give him another pastry when they heard Tigerhead calling from outside the courtyard gate.
The two of them went to open the door together, and Tigerhead came bounding in excitedly, with Sparrow, who they hadn't seen in a long time, following right behind him.
"Did you two come over? Tigerhead, you're home from school really early today," Lin Wu greeted them with a smile.
"The academy is hosting a lecture gathering tomorrow, and everyone's busy getting things ready, so they let us leave early," Tigerhead said with a sigh. "I wish they held a lecture gathering every single day!"
Lin Jing nodded in agreement. "Right! Every day, so they can keep buying our pastries every day."
Sparrow stepped forward and curtsied to Lin Wu. She was wearing an apricot-colored shawl trimmed with rabbit fur that day. Now that winter had arrived, she, like Tigerhead and Lin Jing, looked a little paler and softer than usual.
She said to Lin Wu in a cheerful voice, "Thank you, A-jie, for the bookmark. I love it so much!"
As she spoke, she took the vein bookmark out of her small pouch. She had added a tassel strung with a green jade leaf to the silk cord at the bottom of the bookmark, and a dainty sachet hung below that, so that a whole string of little trinkets dangled from it. It barely looked like a bookmark anymore, but more like a unique decorative pendant.
This trend of adding extra decorations that overshadow the original item was exactly the same as what Tigerhead had done with his brocade square box.
She then handed a flat, long wooden box to Lin Wu. "I heard that Jing is going to start his elementary studies at the academy. This is a gift for him."
"You really went to so much trouble. Thank you," Lin Wu said as she took the box. It was heavy in her hands.
Lin Jing heard his name and looked over curiously. When Lin Wu passed the small box to him, he took it with both hands, bowed respectfully to Sparrow, and said, "Thank you, Sister Que'er."
Then he turned to Tigerhead. "Thank you too, Tigerhead."
"Hehe, no need to thank me," Tigerhead said, shuffling over to Lin Jing's side. "This box is just like mine. Hurry up and open it to see what's inside!"
Lin Jing nodded, and the two of them trotted quickly into the room together, placing the box on the table. The box was exquisitely made, with smooth rounded edges and two layers. When he pulled open the top layer, there was a small purple-hair writing brush, and in the compartment next to it was a small ink ingot that gave off a faint pleasant scent, as well as a little porcelain inkstone shaped like a curled-up cat. It looked so naive and endearing that anyone who saw it would love it.
The layer below held a stack of neatly cut paper with a fine, even texture.
"Wow!" Lin Jing reached out and gently stroked the small inkstone, then picked up the brush and held it against his palm. His face lit up with unmasked delight. "Thank you, Sister Que'er! Thank you, Tigerhead!"
Lin Wu walked in and saw the scene, and thanked them again. "You really put so much thought into this. This gift is so thoughtful."
Last night, she had been thinking that there wouldn't be any big expenses coming up soon, but she had forgotten that Lin Jing would need the "four treasures of the study" for his academy lessons. Though she had bought some basic supplies at the stationer's earlier, those items were too big and cumbersome for a child to use comfortably. Replacing them all with a properly sized, suitable set would have been another unexpected big cost.
Sparrow waved her hand. "As long as Jing likes it, that's all that matters. They're just ordinary things. What's really rare is your vein bookmarks. When Tigerhead brought his home yesterday, my grandpa and my parents all wanted one, but Tigerhead was so stingy, guarding it tightly and saying he wouldn't give even a single one away."
Tigerhead puffed out his chest proudly and nodded. "That's right! Right now, only we have them!" He didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about his grand plan to sell the bookmarks to his classmates first, and leave his own family out of the queue.
The group then went to the side room to look at the vein slices that were hanging out to dry.
Lin Wu went to the kitchen and brought over a plate of mung bean cakes. "These are just out of the steamer. Everyone, try some."
The golden, square little cakes were still steaming hot, and Sparrow and Tigerhead's attention immediately shifted away from the vein slices to the plate.
"It's square!" Tigerhead exclaimed in surprise. He picked up a piece and turned it around to look at it. "I've never seen square pastries in any shop before."
He took a careful bite, and his eyes lit up. "It's delicious! So soft and fragrant!" He really loved coming to Jing's home. Every time he came, there were always new, interesting things to see, and unique, tasty snacks to eat.
The group gathered around the small table, eating mung bean cakes while looking at the vein slices hanging down. Lin Jing swallowed the cake in his mouth, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "What's the lecture gathering at the academy like?"
Tigerhead made a dismissive face. "It's just a bunch of people sitting there, talking over each other. Sometimes they even start arguing, and it's all noisy and no fun at all."
Sparrow picked up another piece of mung bean cake and added, "But tomorrow will be different. I heard Master Jianshan is coming. He's an incredible figure. So many scholars in the prefecture are trying to squeeze in to listen to him. It's definitely going to be really lively. My grandpa is going tomorrow too."
Lin Jing blinked. "Who is Master Jianshan?"
Tigerhead immediately cut in, his voice rising with excitement. "He's a grumpy old man! He always keeps a straight face and scolds people. He used to scold my big brother all the time, but it's a shame my big brother isn't in Huzhou anymore..."
At that point, he sighed in regret.
Lin Jing looked confused when he heard that. If Master Jianshan was such a grumpy old man, why would everyone rush to listen to him talk? That was just asking to get yelled at, wasn't it?
He tilted his little head, his face full of puzzlement. "So he's a teacher who likes to scold people?"
Tigerhead nodded right away. "Exactly. He's my big brother's teacher."
Lin Jing's eyes widened as if he had just figured out a huge secret. "But your big brother isn't in Huzhou anymore. Did he skip class? Is Master Jianshan coming here especially to catch him?"
Sparrow and Tigerhead froze for a second when they heard that, then both burst out laughing.
Tigerhead laughed so hard he thumped the table. "Yes yes yes! You're totally right! He must be coming to catch my big brother. Later, we'll go tell Master Jianshan and snitch on him, say that Shen Guanting skipped class and ran off!"
Sorry for the late update today [poor thing]
