By late afternoon, Sparrow and Tigerhead came over.
Their kitchen immediately grew lively. Since the two children’s home had nothing but four bare walls and a single wooden table in the kitchen, Lin Wu had them write their letters there. Before long, sheets of paper covered the entire table in complete disarray.
Three little heads huddled together as they chattered away, drawing and scribbling.
Tigerhead gripped his brush, stood up, and admired his masterpiece. He muttered to himself, growing more and more excited as he spoke. “I want my big brother to bring me lots and lots of leaves! Red ones, yellow ones, black ones, green ones—some as big as my palm, and some as big as me! Our bookmarks have to be placed in the brightest spot in the Treasure Pavilion, where everyone can see them as soon as they enter! We’ll have everyone in Huzhou come and buy them, and we’ll even sell them all the way to Nanya!”
Lin Jing leaned over to look at Tigerhead’s letter. The characters were crooked and wobbly, hardly any different from the little circles he himself had drawn. In fact, he thought his own little leaves looked better.
At first, he had felt somewhat embarrassed, afraid that his drawings were no good. But now that he had seen how ugly Tigerhead’s writing was—and how confident he remained, writing with such enthusiasm—Lin Jing immediately regained his confidence. He buried his head and drew one leaf after another.
Lin Wu finished writing her own letter. When she looked up and saw the sheets of paper covered with drawings by the children, who had become completely absorbed in their work, she could only pull out another clean sheet and write an explanation, lest the recipients be left completely bewildered when they opened the letters.
Sparrow folded her letter and tucked it into an envelope, then suddenly sighed. “This is the first time Big Brother won’t be home for the Winter Solstice. In past years, he always stayed up with us to welcome the festival. This year, we can only wait for his letter and holiday gifts.”
The Winter Solstice was only three days away. It was one of the three major festivals of the year. Government offices and schools would close for seven days, while shops would shut for three, showing just how important the occasion was. On the night of the Winter Solstice, there was also a custom of “keeping watch through the winter”: children played and stayed awake until dawn. There was even a common saying among the people—“Keep watch through the winter, and Grandpa will live long; keep watch through the New Year, and Mama will live long.”
Once all the letters had been folded and sealed, Lin Wu took out the items she had prepared long ago. She placed the dried meat in separate oiled-paper bags and put each bag into a clay jar. At the bottom of each jar, she placed a small packet of lime to prevent dampness, then wrapped the mouths of the jars in layer upon layer of thick cloth and tied them tightly.
She entrusted the packages to Sparrow and Tigerhead to deliver. She also gave them twenty extra pieces of dried meat to take along, which could count as payment for the postage.
Holding the bundle of dried meat, Sparrow patted her chest. “A Wu, you can rest assured. I’ll make sure this letter gets delivered safe and sound.”
Only then did the two children leave, satisfied and laden with gifts.
Once the letters were sent, they would take some time to arrive. There was no point in worrying; all they could do was wait patiently for a reply.
But there was no time for idleness in the days ahead. With the Winter Solstice approaching and the markets about to close, they had to stock up on enough food and other necessities in advance. On the day of the Winter Solstice, people not only put on new clothes and offer sacrifices to their ancestors, but also exchange festival gifts with relatives, friends, and neighbors.
The moment Lin Wu thought of the holiday gifts, she suddenly felt pressed for time. Wasn’t this exactly when the bookmarks would come in handy? Their deal with the Shen family’s Treasure Goods Shop had not officially begun, but the order for sixty pieces from the academy was very real.
She brought out all the leaf-vein pieces they had made and counted them carefully. Since she no longer needed to prepare spinach juice and date-paste sauce in the evenings, she had managed to process quite a few in her spare time over the past several days. At present, thirty leaf-vein pieces had already been brushed with peach gum and thoroughly dried, but those thirty still needed their cords woven onto them. Only five had been completely finished, while another twelve were still drying in the side room.
That meant she would have to brush at least thirteen more leaf-vein pieces with peach gum that very night. She could brush them tomorrow and leave them to dry until the day after, which would be the day before the Winter Solstice.
There was still enough time to finish the leaf-vein pieces, but weaving the cords might be rather rushed. Lin Wu was not particularly skilled at it, and on top of that, she still needed to buy and prepare the food for their own holiday celebration.
After thinking it over carefully, she turned to Lin Jing, who was putting away the brushes and ink. “A Jing, we won’t set up our stall to sell pastries tomorrow. Missing a day or two won’t matter. Let’s finish the bookmarks first. Once the Winter Solstice is over, we’ll go back to the stall.”
Lin Jing nodded his little head. He might have only a vague impression of most festivals, but he remembered the New Year and the Winter Solstice clearly. The Winter Solstice was a grand occasion. A magnificent winter court ceremony would be held, the Son of Heaven would receive the homage of all the officials, and everyone would change into their court robes. His royal father had once taken him to see it. All he could remember was the vast sea of people standing before him.
Lin Wu suddenly remembered something and set down what she was holding. “Speaking of which, two days after the Winter Solstice will be A Jing’s birthday.”
“My birthday?” Lin Jing tilted his head as he thought. He seemed to remember that his birthday had also been very lively. Back in the Eastern Palace, he had been the young imperial grandson. Though his birthday was not celebrated throughout the empire like the Winter Solstice or New Year, the Eastern Palace had still been bustling with activity. Sister Qing, Brother Jue, and Brother Wang would all come over. His royal father and mother would give him presents, and everyone would gather around him, offering one auspicious blessing after another.
Lin Wu naturally remembered that day in the palace as well. After all, according to custom, he had even received a reward of silver, just as he did for the New Year and Winter Solstice. But it would be inappropriate to celebrate his birthday on the original date now. It would attract far too much attention.
“We have so many festivals this year. Why don’t we celebrate A Jing’s birthday together with the Winter Solstice?” Lin Wu suggested brightly. “We’ll make several extra delicious dishes and invite Sparrow, Tigerhead, Young Master Qi, and the others over. Everyone can celebrate with you.”
Lin Jing was putting his little brush and inkstone back into a wooden box one by one. At her words, he looked up and answered without hesitation, “All right!”
To him, any day spent celebrating with A Wu was a good day. But then he thought of something else and looked at Lin Wu. “When is A Wu’s birthday? I want to celebrate it with you. I don’t want to celebrate by myself.”
Lin Wu’s thoughts drifted away. Her birthday was, as always, the second day after she had arrived in this world. She only remembered that one day, she had inexplicably found herself there. Before she had even figured out what was happening, she had somehow ended up among a dangerous group of refugees, struggling simply to survive.
Fortunately, she had been rescued the very next day by the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess. From then on, the day she had been saved became the day she considered the beginning of her new life. No one knew that it was also her true birthday.
“A Wu’s birthday is in spring, not during the Winter Solstice. We’ll have to wait about three more months.”
“In spring…” Lin Jing repeated softly. Then he said, “Then I’ll wait until A Wu’s birthday, and we can celebrate together.”
Lin Wu smiled helplessly. “All right. When spring comes, we’ll celebrate our birthdays properly together.”
Early the next morning, they went to the market. With only two days left before the Winter Solstice, the market was packed with people. Shoulders brushed against shoulders, and it was several times livelier than usual.
Lin Wu suddenly stopped when she saw a stall selling paper offerings shaped like horses. She took Lin Jing by the hand and walked over.
This particular stall stood out from the rest. Its paper offerings were brightly colored, and a delicate paper pavilion had been placed right in front. Quite a few people were gathered around it. With the Winter Solstice approaching, ancestral worship was the most important matter of all, so naturally such a stall was bustling.
Lin Wu picked through the offerings and bought several paper horses depicting fine steeds pulling carriages. She also chose a small paper pavilion, along with a stack of joss paper.
Seeing the brightly colored paper pavilion, Lin Jing assumed it was a toy for him. He picked it up and examined it from every angle.
As they walked along, Lin Wu remembered that they had not set up their stall beside the flower stand for several days, so they made a special trip over there.
The flower vendor, Second Madam Zhao, had sharp eyes. She spotted Lin Wu from afar and called out across the crowd, “Oh my, Mrs. Lin! You’ve finally shown yourself!”
By the time Lin Wu led Lin Jing through the crowd to the stall, Second Madam Zhao had taken a look at the things in her hands and realized she did not seem to be here to set up shop. She asked, “You aren’t selling today either? Haven’t you finished up at the academy yet?”
Lin Wu found it curious that she knew about her work at the academy, but she merely smiled and said, “It’s all done. The Winter Solstice is coming soon, so we came out to buy a few things.”
“I’ll be going shopping later myself,” Second Madam Zhao replied. Then she returned to the subject at hand. “You have no idea how many regular customers have come by these past few days asking, ‘Why hasn’t that young lady who sells jadeite cakes come anymore?’ They’ve practically talked my ears off! Luckily, a certain Young Master Zhou happened to pass by and explained that Canglang Academy was holding a lecture series and had asked you to help in the kitchen. I’ve repeated that explanation so many times, I’ve practically become your messenger!”
Grateful, Lin Wu simply stopped to rest beside her stall. “I’m sorry to have troubled you, Sister-in-law.”
Second Madam Zhao waved her hand hurriedly. “What trouble? We’re neighbors. It was nothing.”
Then she lowered her voice. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but someone at the food stall over there has started selling those green cakes too! They’ve copied the look of your jadeite cakes. The customers who bought them on the first day all said the taste was worlds apart. They seemed to improve a little yesterday, but fortunately, your scholar customers still refuse to buy them. I heard them discussing it, saying something about ‘Dong Shi imitating Xi Shi’…”
Lin Wu’s expression remained calm. “Thank you for keeping an eye on things, Sister-in-law. I heard about it yesterday from one of the neighborhood women. The person copying my cakes lives in the same lane as us.”
“What?!” Second Madam Zhao’s eyes went round. “Someone from the same lane? Good heavens! How shameless! We’re neighbors—how could anyone bully you like that?”
These days, harmony among neighbors was highly valued, and people were expected to watch out for and help one another. For a lonely mother and child like Lin Wu and Lin Jing, who had no one to rely on, even if others could not offer much assistance, there was certainly no excuse for taking away their livelihood.
Lin Jing, standing nearby, huffed angrily. “Shameless!”
His tone and accent were so similar to Second Madam Zhao’s that he had copied her perfectly.
Lin Wu lightly patted his shoulder. “Don’t let this upset you. In the food business, sooner or later someone is bound to imitate what you make. There’s no way to guard against it forever. It’s not as if we can overturn their stall and cause a huge commotion.”
As she spoke, she took an oiled-paper parcel from her cloth bag and held it out. “The market will close for the Winter Solstice, so I probably won’t come by that day. There are a few pieces of homemade dried meat and a few little square cakes inside. They’re nothing valuable, but I wanted to wish you a peaceful Winter Solstice in advance—may your whole family be reunited, and may your flower shop flourish and prosper.”
Second Madam Zhao hurriedly accepted the parcel with both hands and thanked her repeatedly. “Oh, how could I accept this? You’re always so thoughtful and courteous.”
She turned around, swiftly selected several branches of winter plum and daphne in full bloom from her basket, added a few sprigs of pine, and deftly tied them into a bouquet before forcing it into Lin Wu’s hands.
“Take them, quickly! These flowers last well, and they’ll scent a vase for several days. They’ll add a little festive cheer to your home. You’re too good-natured, and you’re young and shy, but you must keep your wits about you. Most of the people in this market are honest folk, but you can never rule out those with shallow minds and crooked intentions. If there’s ever anything you need help with, come and tell me!”
Holding the fragrant bouquet in her arms, Lin Wu smiled sincerely and thanked her again before leading Lin Jing away.
The two continued browsing through the market. Lin Wu was thinking that they still had to visit a clothing shop later to buy new clothes for both herself and Lin Jing. It was customary to wear something new for the Winter Solstice, and there was no time to make anything themselves, so they would simply buy a couple of plain short jackets.
She was still thinking this over as they walked when she suddenly felt Lin Jing quietly tug at her sleeve. Following his gaze, Lin Wu saw Second Aunt Chen’s food stall. She was still selling those jadeite cakes today. Their bright green color stood out sharply among the pale yellow and white pastries around them.
Second Aunt Chen seemed to notice them as well. Without the slightest hint of embarrassment, she greeted them with a beaming smile. “Mrs. Lin, out shopping too? Just look at my cakes—they’re selling wonderfully today! Would you like to try one? I’ll give you a discount.”
Lin Wu could not help sighing inwardly. Second Aunt Chen really was something else. If only she possessed such tenacity and thick skin, she could probably succeed at anything.
She merely shook her head, her smile somewhat distant. “Thank you for the offer, Sister-in-law Chen, but my hands are already full. I really couldn’t carry anything else.”
With that, she did not linger. Taking Lin Jing’s little hand, she left the market with him.
Lin Jing obediently followed, but after they had gone a few steps, he could not resist looking back at the food stall. Frowning, he gave a forceful little snort.
After buying the short jackets, they returned to their small courtyard. Lin Jing was clearly still angry, but his mood did not affect his work in the slightest. The moment they entered the courtyard, he scampered over to the stone slab and carefully turned over each member of his little radish squad.
After finishing with the radishes, he crouched beside the vegetable patch and carefully examined the tender seedlings that had only recently broken through the soil. Leaning closer, he held up his little finger for comparison and discovered that, in just a day or two, the seedlings seemed to have shot up another small bit.
The gloom in his heart immediately dispersed. He sprang to his feet and ran into the kitchen to report his progress.
“A Wu, A Wu, the scallions and cilantro have grown taller! They’re even a little higher than one of my finger joints. I checked, and all their leaves look lively. None of them have been slacking off!”
Lin Wu was putting away the things they had bought. At this, she turned around and smiled. “That’s wonderful. It seems our little shopkeeper A Jing has supervised them well. They wouldn’t dare be lazy under your watch.”
Then he asked, “When will they be ready to eat?”
Sure enough, their practical little shopkeeper had no sentimental attachment whatsoever to the vegetables he had personally tended and watched grow. He was thinking only of when he could enjoy them.
Lin Wu laughed at him and held up her arm, gesturing to a spot near her forearm. “They’ll need to grow about this tall.”
Lin Jing looked at A Wu’s forearm, then at the tiny seedlings, and found it almost impossible to believe.
“Once they really start growing, they’ll shoot up quickly. They’ll look different every day,” Lin Wu said as she took out the paper horse, paper money, and paper tower she had just bought and set them aside.
Lin Jing’s attention was immediately drawn away. Curious, he came over and crouched down beside her. “What are these? Are they like the mohuluo toys that Tigerhead plays with?” Their bright, colorful appearance made them seem similar to him.
Lin Wu shook her head. She carefully straightened the paper horse and paper money, then picked up one of the paper horses and held it in front of Lin Jing. “A Jing, take a look first. What does this look like?”
Lin Jing took it from her and studied the paper horse carefully in his small hands. “It’s a carriage.”
Then he looked at another string of paper money. “These look like copper coins. Can we use these coins to buy things?”
“We can’t spend these, but we can burn them for relatives who have left us and gone to a very, very faraway place. They’re in another wonderful place, where they can receive these gifts, ride in beautiful carriages, live in handsome pavilions, and have money to buy the things they like.”
Lin Wu paused. Seeing that Lin Jing was listening intently, she continued, “We can also entrust our longing and blessings to these paper horses, carriages, and money, and have them deliver everything to our relatives. That way, even though they aren’t by our side, they’ll know that we miss them and hope they’re doing well over there.”
Lin Jing’s eyes widened in wonder. “Then they’ll be able to ride carriages and spend copper coins? And live in this beautiful big house? Then I want to burn some for Sister Qing, Brother Jue, and Brother Wang. They’re far away in Nanya, so we won’t need to ask Tigerhead’s family to send them a letter.”
Lin Wu couldn’t help laughing. “You can’t give these to Sister Qing and the others. These are for relatives who have already passed away and gone to another world, where we can never see them again. A Wu plans to burn them for A Jing’s royal father and mother consort on the Winter Solstice, and tell them that we’re both doing well, and that A Jing is growing up safe and sound.”
At that, Lin Jing’s hands stilled. He lowered his eyes and sat quietly for a long while. Then he reached out his little hand and gently stroked the paper horse and paper money, before touching the eaves of the paper pavilion.
“Mm.” When he lifted his face, his eyes were slightly red, but he still nodded his little head with determination. “Then we have to choose a place without any wind. Otherwise, the flames will run wild and the things will be blown away, and they won’t be delivered.”
“That makes sense. We’ll find a safe, sheltered place.”
By the day before the Winter Solstice, Lin Wu had finally finished all sixty bookmarks, working at a frantic pace. The Shen residence was some distance away in the north of the city, and since she did not have a calling card, she did not feel like making a special trip there.
Fortunately, when she had been buying short jackets on the main street the previous day, she happened to run into Steward Zhou inside Zhiyun’s garment shop, where he was checking the merchandise. It turned out that the Shen family was also preparing new clothes for their servants for the Winter Solstice. Lin Wu went over to greet him and casually mentioned the bookmarks. Steward Zhou immediately suggested that Little Zheng would need to come out the next day to buy a few odds and ends, so he could stop by and pick them up.
Sure enough, after noon, Little Zheng arrived in a small carriage.
On the day of the Winter Solstice, the sky was not yet light when the sounds outside grew much livelier than usual. Although all the shops had closed for the holiday, gambling games were officially permitted for three days during the Winter Solstice and New Year’s Day. Games that were normally strictly forbidden could be played openly during those three days. From noblewomen to common townsfolk, everyone was eager to try their luck, so naturally the streets were bustling.
The sound of firecrackers also rang out one after another. Many families had probably already begun making offerings to their ancestors.
In the main room, Lin Wu cleared a small table. The previous night, they had taken the locked box from the very bottom of the clothes chest. This was the first time they had opened it since arriving in Huzhou. Inside lay Lin Jing’s exquisite little pendant pouch and Lin Wu’s three golden leaves.
Lin Jing untied the silk cord and poured the contents into his palm: a triangular cinnabar talisman given to him by his mother consort, and a small jade seal given to him by his royal father.
Early that morning, they carefully placed the two items on the small table. Looking at the lonely cinnabar talisman and jade seal, Lin Jing suddenly ran back to his room. He returned with his own little purse and placed inside the offering the small blue-green stone and the ginkgo-leaf bookmark he had been keeping in it.
He explained to Lin Wu, “I found the little stone and the ginkgo leaf in the palace, so they represent everyone in the Eastern Palace—not just Royal Father and Mother Consort, but also Grandfather from my mother’s family, Grand Tutor, and all the others. So many people. We’ll burn them for everyone. Then everyone in that distant, wonderful place will have big houses to live in, carriages to ride in, and money to spend.”
The moment Lin Wu heard this, her eyes suddenly grew hot and her throat tightened. Only after a long while was she able to answer softly, “Mm. We’ll burn them for everyone.”
The paper money caught fire in the earthen basin. Flames leaped and danced, devouring the sheets of paper. One by one, they placed the paper horses and pavilions into the flames.
Lin Jing clasped his hands together and murmured:
“Paper horse, paper horse, please help me deliver a message.”
“Tell everyone that A Wu and I are doing very well. We have a pretty little courtyard, and we’ve planted vegetables that are working hard to grow tall. We’ve dried turnips, and we’ve made beautiful Jade Soul bookmarks and delicious cakes to sell for money.”
“I’ve also taken a very learned teacher. He doesn’t charge tuition, so don’t worry. I’ll study hard, then make lots of money. Sister Qing, Brother Jue, and Brother Wang are in Nanya, far away from us. I’ll work hard to save money and send it to them in the future.”
“You must all be well over there, too. In the future, I’ll make lots and lots of money. Then I’ll burn even more paper horses and paper money for you, even more beautiful ones, and great big paper pavilions…”
His voice was soft, yet in the quiet little room, every word was remarkably clear.
