After their afternoon meal, Lin Wu began settling the day’s accounts and brought out the money pouch.
Seeing this, Lin Jing hurried to fetch his little cloth bag as well. With great solemnity, he untied the cord and poured everything inside onto the table with a clatter.
He had already counted it once on the way home from school. He had counted each piece of silver at least three times, but he treasured them dearly and now had to take another look before he could feel at ease.
There was a small handful of bits of silver, each about the size of a peanut.
“There are eleven in all.” Lin Jing pointed to them one by one with his little finger and announced the total again.
Lin Wu looked at the small pile of silver, amused. The children at the elementary school really knew how to pool their money. Most likely, they had teamed up in pairs, each contributing fifty copper coins to make up one qian in silver for their purchase. Thinking of it that way, their original price of fifty copper coins per bookmark had turned out to be a stroke of luck. If she had gone with the thirty-five copper coins she originally had in mind, collecting the money would have been much more troublesome.
“A Jing’s business is truly booming—much bigger than mine,” Lin Wu said with a smile as she sat down at the table. She took out her own account book and began adding things up one item at a time.
“One basket of Jadeite Cakes has twenty-four pieces, and we made twenty-five Golden Jade Cakes in each flavor, for fifty pieces altogether.” As she spoke, she recorded the figures with her brush. “After setting aside one Jadeite Cake and four Golden Jade Cakes for tasting, plus one given to Second Madam Zhao, we sold sixty-eight pieces today and took in three hundred and twelve copper coins.”
Lin Jing rested his chin in both hands and listened with great interest. He could not make head or tail of all those numbers, but they sounded like copper coins pouring into a money pouch beside his ears. It was a lovely sound. He liked listening to it.
“One basket of Jadeite Cakes costs roughly thirty-five copper coins to make. The Golden Jade Cakes should cost about the same. Half a jin of finely milled white flour can make twenty-five pieces, and then there are the costs of the taro, dates, oil, sugar, oh, and the charcoal we bought this morning…” Lin Wu’s brush did not pause. Before long, she had calculated the total. “The cost of making fifty Golden Jade Cakes came to sixty-six copper coins.”
Although Lin Jing had not understood at all where those figures had come from, he still eagerly asked, “Then how much did we earn selling the cakes today…?”
“Two hundred and eleven copper coins,” Lin Wu replied.
“So much money!” Lin Jing looked at the pile of copper coins. It was far more impressive than his eleven little bits of silver.
“That’s still less than what A Jing earned selling bookmarks today.” Lin Wu put his eleven pieces of silver into the box where they kept their money. The box was not large, but it had already grown heavy in their hands. It even came with a lock and key. Their savings were slowly accumulating, so they needed to keep the money somewhere safe.
Although Clear Water Lane was reasonably peaceful, they still needed to hurry up and buy the watchdog they had been talking about.
“But hardly anyone bought bookmarks today…” Lin Jing drooped, sprawling limply across the table. “Only two people bought them from me.”
Compared with yesterday’s sales, that was an astonishing drop.
Lin Wu stroked his little head. “That’s because all the classmates who wanted one have already bought theirs. This is how business works. The first few days are always the liveliest, and then sales gradually taper off. It’s perfectly normal. Let’s wait a little longer for Brother Tigerhead’s reply. Once we hear from him and confirm the shop arrangements, we can put our bookmarks somewhere bigger to sell. Then we’ll have lots of new customers.”
“When will Brother Tigerhead write back?” At that moment, Lin Jing’s longing for Brother Tigerhead was especially strong. He had only met Shen Guanting a few times, and by now he could hardly remember what the man looked like.
“It may take some time.” Lin Wu found it strange as well. They had sent two letters in all, yet Shen Guanting had not sent back a single reply. Could it be that they were too insignificant and Young Master Shen had not taken them seriously? But when she thought it over carefully, he did not seem like the sort of person who was arrogant or dismissive. Hopefully, nothing unexpected had happened to delay him on the road.
Whether the bookmark business succeeded or not was secondary; the bookmarks had been an unexpected bonus in the first place. As for the pastry business, it finally seemed to have stabilized. Bringing in roughly two hundred copper coins a day, it would make their life in Huzhou considerably more secure.
There were still many things they needed to buy, though. Lin Jing did not yet have a room of his own and was still sharing hers. He did not even have a desk, so after school he could only do his writing and drawing at the dining table. But everything they had yet to purchase was a major expense. And precisely because these were large expenses, though not absolutely urgent, she had kept putting them off.
This was simply how poor people lived. Whenever a major expense arose, they hesitated and hesitated, watched and waited, and made do for as long as they could.
Lin Wu gathered her thoughts and saw that Lin Jing was still lying gloomily on the table. She smiled and said, “All right, both of us had very successful businesses today. Why the long face?”
She reached into the box, counted out another twenty brand-new copper coins, and held them out to him. “A Jing sold quite a few bookmarks today. This is your pay.”
“Thank you, A Wu!” Lin Jing sat up straight and accepted them. He slipped the coins one by one into his little purse. When he saw it gradually puff up, his spirits soared again, and all traces of his earlier dejection vanished.
The next day, before dawn had even broken, Lin Jing groped his way out of bed once more.
Lin Wu had already told him that he did not need to rise so early. Things were different now. In the past, he could catch up on his sleep after returning from their stall, but he was a proper student now.
“Do you ever nod off in class, A Jing?” Lin Wu could not help asking.
“No, why would I? I have to listen to the teacher! His lessons are so interesting. Yesterday he taught me the character for ‘scallion.’ He said, ‘Look, the grass radical at the top is like two tender shoots poking out of the soil. Coriander also has the grass radical…’” Following behind Lin Wu, he chattered away, reciting the lesson.
Lin Wu felt reassured. So this was a little scholar in the making.
After watering the vegetable patch, Lin Jing squatted by the edge and examined it carefully for a long while. Then he suddenly dashed back to the kitchen.
“A Wu, our scallions have grown so tall! Can we eat them now?”
“I suppose they’re ready.” Lin Wu had just finished peeling the shrimp. She washed her hands and followed him to the vegetable patch.
The little plot of scallions was a vivid green, each plant glistening with dew and standing fresh and vigorous among its neighbors.
“Look. We’ll gently pull out the thickest, tallest one or two shoots from each clump. That way, the rest can keep growing.” Lin Wu crouched down and chose a lush clump. Pinching the base of one shoot, she gave it a gentle tug, and a tender white root came free.
Lin Jing copied her. He carefully inspected the plants for quite some time before choosing one. At first, he did not pull hard enough, and the scallion did not budge. He added more strength, and only then did it come free.
“Look! These are the scallions we grew!” He held up the dirt-covered shoot as if announcing his achievement to the whole world.
“A Jing deserves all the credit. We’ll eat it later.” Lin Wu, his sole audience, applauded enthusiastically for him.
That morning, they cooked a pot of fragrant mushroom-and-shrimp porridge, served with the pickled eggplant they had prepared earlier.
While preparing breakfast, Lin Wu deliberately set aside a little extra shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, and scallions, then fried a pan of golden egg-fried rice for Lin Jing’s midday meal.
The rice was left over from yesterday’s lunch. She mixed in a little salt and egg yolk, and the grains immediately turned golden.
Once the wok was hot, she added oil. The golden rice went in with a sizzling sound, followed by chopped shrimp, diced mushrooms, and minced scallions. The fragrance grew richer and richer. When it was done, the rice was golden and aromatic, with every grain separate.
Lin Jing had already eaten breakfast, but he still couldn’t help staring at it, exclaiming, “Yellow rice!”
“That’s right. This is A Jing’s lunch today.” Lin Wu first scooped him a bite, then packed the rest into his food box, adding three tangerines as a token serving of fruit and vegetables.
She tried to avoid packing soups or dishes with too much sauce for his lunch. The main reason was that she never had much time in the morning, so she tended to make do with whatever was quick and easy—as long as he got enough to eat. She would prepare something better for dinner.
Still, Lin Jing always seemed to enjoy his meals. Every day, he came home to find his food box completely empty.
Since the ingredients for the golden jade cakes were simple, the morning was a little less hectic. After putting away the food box, Lin Wu glanced at the leftover egg whites beside her. Leaving them unused would be a waste. She remembered that she still had quite a bit of sesame left over from making the dried meat, and wondered if she could make some crisp wafers.
She mixed the egg whites with sugar, sifted in white flour, and beat everything into a fine batter. Finally, she added a handful of white sesame seeds and a little oil, then stirred it all together.
The leftover heat in the stove was just right. She took out an iron pan, lined it with oil paper, and carefully spread the batter into thin, round disks. Then, using the same method as when she had made the dried meat, she placed the iron pan inside the stove.
Before long, a sweet fragrance drifted out with the heat.
When she took them out, the edges were faintly browned, but they looked quite good overall. Each one was round, with sesame seeds embedded in its golden surface. They looked crisp and fragrant.
Lin Wu gently peeled them off one by one and tasted one herself. The moment she bit into it, it shattered with a crisp crack. Fragrant and sweet, it was perfect as a snack.
By then, Lin Jing had also finished packing his little book bag and came out with it on his back.
As Lin Wu filled an oil-paper bag with the crisp wafers, she casually slipped one toward his mouth.
Lin Jing did not even look to see what it was. He opened his mouth and accepted it, chewing away. His eyes lit up.
“So fragrant! It’s so crispy! Crunch, crunch!”
“These are sesame crisps. They’re for you to snack on.” Lin Wu tied the little oil-paper bag securely and placed it inside the cloth bag containing his food box. “But be careful—they’re still warm. Don’t eat too many.”
“Okay, thank you, A Wu!” Lin Jing nodded vigorously. Hugging the cloth bag, he couldn’t resist lowering his head to smell it again.
After seeing little Lin Jing off to school, Lin Wu turned around and locked the courtyard gate before setting out to her stall.
But just as she reached the mouth of the lane, she came face-to-face with Second Aunt Chen, who was carrying a basket. Clearly, the woman had been waiting there. The moment she saw Lin Wu come out, her face broke into an overly warm smile.
“Mrs. Lin, what a coincidence! Since we both go to the morning market to set up our stalls every day, I thought we might as well walk there together from now on. We’d have some company and could chat along the way.”
“You’re out early today, Sister-in-law Chen.” Lin Wu nodded but did not answer her directly, nor did she slow her steps.
“Not as early as you. You have so much more to arrange than I do.” Second Aunt Chen naturally fell into step beside her, her voice light and conversational. “I happened to see a carriage passing your courtyard just now. What a grand-looking one! Someone came to pick you up specially so early in the morning? How impressive.”
A carriage coming to pick them up every day was bound to attract attention. Lin Wu knew that perfectly well.
She did not try to hide it. “The child is attending elementary lessons at an academy. One of his classmates happens to be going the same way, so they give him a ride.”
“That’s a tremendous stroke of luck!” Second Aunt Chen’s voice rose several notches. “For a classmate from the academy to look after him so thoughtfully, it shows that your young son is well-liked and blessed.”
She was genuinely envious. The Canglang Academy was entirely different from the prefectural school. Although its students were generally young, the families they came from were all wealthy. Her husband worked as a gatekeeper at the prefectural school. He was an official servant assigned by the prefectural government and was exempt from the household labor tax. Though he had no official rank, no grade, no seal, and only a meager wage, it was still an exceedingly respectable position. Every day, he saw scholars dressed in scholar’s robes and Taoist-style gowns, wearing literary caps.
She had a son too. They absolutely refused to send him to some struggling licentiate’s little school. If he was going to study, he had to attend Canglang Academy, and then sit for the prefectural school examinations in the future.
If he could enter Canglang Academy and befriend several classmates from well-off families, then it would be her son riding in carriages and receiving admiring looks. Perhaps even the business at her food stall would benefit from the connection. She had heard that quite a few people yesterday had come to Lin Wu’s stall to buy pastries for their children.
The more she thought about it, the more she began to look down on this line of work. Once her son truly entered the academy, she could no longer go on selling pastries in public like this. His classmates would all be children of prominent families. What would they think if they learned that his mother spent every day crouched in the morning market, hawking pastries? Wouldn’t that make people look down on him for no reason?
Her thoughts turned this way and that before she said to Lin Wu, “Mrs. Lin, you’re raising a child all by yourself, and everything at home and outside falls on your shoulders. Don’t you have any relatives to lend you a hand? It must be difficult.”
Lin Wu did not respond to that. Her voice remained calm and even. “Everyone lives their days the best they can. I see that you set up your stall every day as well. When you get home, you still have to prepare lunch and dinner and handle everything for the whole family. You’re even busier than I am.”
Second Aunt Chen was momentarily stifled and gave an awkward laugh. “That’s different. I have a husband, at least—a man to support the household. But things are different for you and your son. Without a man at home to stand up for you, there are so many eyes watching and so many tongues wagging outside. There are plenty of things you may be able to decide for yourself, but will other people let you have your way? You’re simply too headstrong…”
Lin Wu did not reply.
When Second Aunt Chen saw that she was getting no response, she added with another smile, “I’m only saying this because I’m worried about you. I don’t mean anything else.”
Lin Wu smiled faintly, but she was annoyed inside. At the very beginning, she had told outsiders that she and Lin Jing were mother and son rather than brother and sister precisely to prevent this sort of trouble.
In ordinary people’s eyes, if they claimed to be siblings, the first thing they would inevitably hear was, “Where are your elders?” Besides, an unmarried young woman could not establish a household independently, leaving her constrained in everything she did.
The identity of a widow could not stop everyone from harboring improper thoughts, but at least it provided a legitimate explanation. Fortunately, she was now in Huzhou Prefecture. The prefectural city was crowded and full of watchful eyes, but there were also enough people that no one person stood out. As long as she conducted herself properly and had nothing to be ashamed of, there was nothing to worry about.
Today, the golden jade cakes sold even better than yesterday. Perhaps the customers who had bought them the day before had enjoyed them and returned for more. Some bought several at once, Auntie Huang among them.
“Your golden jade cakes taste wonderful too. I bought five of every kind yesterday, but who could have guessed that before my young master was dismissed from school, the other young masters and misses had already eaten most of them? Only two were left for him in the end. He was so aggrieved he nearly cried. Today, I have to buy more.”
As a result, Lin Wu finished packing up earlier than she had the day before. While gathering her things, she wondered whether she should prepare more tomorrow. The golden jade cakes were not nearly as labor-intensive as the jade cakes, so making another ten or twenty would not be a problem. But then she reconsidered. The morning market only lasted for so many hours, and even if she made more, she might not be able to sell them all. Things were fine as they were for now.
She slung her bamboo basket over her back, called out a greeting to Second Madam Zhao, and headed toward the market entrance.
As she passed the food stalls, her eyes fell on those pushcarts. She'd asked around last time, and a cart like that, including both labor and materials, cost at least a string of copper coins, nearly two strings in total.
Lin Wu didn't slow her steps. The carts were nice, and they would let her add more varieties of food to sell, but she only had two hands—there was no way she could handle making more items than she already did. On top of that, pushing the cart from the alley to the market every day, then pushing it back again after closing up, would be downright exhausting. She knew she couldn't bear that kind of hardship.
But over at the market, there was a row of covered sheds built specifically for storing people's belongings, similar to the warehouses that inns offered to traveling guests. Several of these spots were run by local folks. The owners would put up a shed in their yard, divide the space into small individual compartments, and charge three copper coins to store something overnight. Carts, stoves, and other large pieces of gear were all commonly stored there, and if anything went missing, the owner would pay back its full value.
If there were people renting out storage space, wouldn't there also be people renting out food stall carts for others to use?
Lost in that thought, Lin Wu had already walked up to the carpenter's shop, only to freeze in her tracks. The several food stall carts parked right outside the shop were surrounded by a thick crowd of people, packed so tightly you could barely squeeze through.
"Master, I sell plain vegetarian pastries, they're perfectly clean, no smoke or oil at all! You have to give me a cheaper rate!"
"I need one for making steamed buns and fried flatbreads, as long as it has two stove openings, I don't mind paying a higher rental price!"
Lin Wu stood on her tiptoes to peek inside, and soon caught on to what was happening. The Ciyun Temple was opening its temple fair tomorrow, and everyone was rushing over to rent stall carts.
A spark of excitement lit up in her chest. A temple fair, of course.
She had originally planned to bring Lin Jing there to buy a puppy, but since the fair was on the way, why not make some cakes to sell too? She could bring her hand-painted bookmarks along as well. The temple fair was always crowded, with far more people than the morning market.
She stopped to ask about the rental price. Normally it was fifteen copper coins a day, but for the temple fair the rate went up to twenty, and once you rented a cart, you didn't need to pay extra for storage—you could just return it directly after you packed up for the day.
Lin Wu did a quick calculation in her head and decided not to rent one. Tomorrow her main errand was to bring A Jing to buy the dog, and selling cakes was just a side plan. Besides, it was her first time going to the temple fair, and she had no idea how the sales would go, so there was no point spending extra money unnecessarily.
Still, she filed the trick of renting carts away in her mind. Fifteen copper coins a day wasn't exactly cheap, but it was far more flexible than buying a cart of her own. If it was windy or rainy, she could choose to take a day off whenever she wanted, and later if she ever made enough money to rent a proper shop front, she wouldn't be stuck wondering what to do with an extra stall cart.
Right now she didn't even have a proper stall cart, just a small clay stove.
But that didn't stop her from daydreaming. Daydreaming didn't cost a single copper.
She carried her bamboo basket on her back, turning over all these scattered ideas in her head as she turned into Qingshui Alley.
The sun was shining bright, and a group of elderly women were sitting on long stools at the alley entrance, basking in the sun and sorting through vegetables. Lin Wu was still thinking about what kinds of cakes she should prepare for the temple fair tomorrow, when a hand suddenly clamped tight around her arm.
"Ouch! If it isn't Mrs. Lin! I've been waiting forever for you!"
The person who grabbed her was a woman in her fifties, with a red velvet flower pinned in her hair, wearing a brand new indigo-blue jacket, and a flower-embroidered sash tied around her waist. Her voice was so loud it could have scared every cat in the whole alley straight up into a puff of fur.
The several women sorting vegetables at the alley entrance all froze at once, their eyes lighting up. There was no need to sort vegetables anymore—watching a good show was far more important.
This was Auntie Wang, the most energetic matchmaker in the west part of the city. She specialized in arranging marriages for ordinary, middle-class families, and while her matchmaker fees weren't high, she made up for it with a thick skin and quick legs. No matter which alley she popped into, the residents there would have fresh gossip to chew over for two whole days.
Auntie Wang didn't let go of Lin Wu's wrist, grinning widely and warmly. "I passed by the morning market earlier, and everyone said you'd already packed up your stall, so I hurried right over here. I waited and waited for you, and I was so anxious I nearly lost my patience!"
Fourth Sister He had just stepped out of her courtyard. Seeing the scene unfolding, she trotted over, pulled Lin Wu behind her without a second thought, and whispered urgently, "Auntie, let's go inside and talk about whatever this is. Pulling and dragging out in public like this, what will the neighbors think?"
"Right, right! I got so excited I forgot my manners!" Auntie Wang wasn't offended at all, and her loud voice didn't quiet down one bit. "I've got good news, absolutely wonderful news! Mrs. Lin, your luck is finally turning around!"
She said that and started following them deeper into the alley.
Just as they turned around, Second Aunt Chen, who lived nearby, stepped out of her house, still clutching a handful of unsorted vegetables. "Isn't this Auntie Wang? What brings you to our little poor alley today? Mrs. Lin is the nicest person around, you can't go making random match arrangements that would do her wrong."
Auntie Wang spun right around, her voice even louder than before. "What kind of talk is that? The family I'm introducing to Mrs. Lin is perfectly proper, well-off, and the man has a fine character. How dare you say I'm making a random bad match? Do you even know which family I'm talking about, or are you just jealous that Mrs. Lin might get to live a good life?"
The two of them stood blocking the alley entrance, bickering back and forth, leaving Lin Wu stuck right in the middle, almost like she was just there to watch the show.
Fourth Sister He grew angry watching the two of them, and tugged at Lin Wu's sleeve, whispering quickly, "Come on, let's head home. There's no point standing out here letting everyone stare and make fun of us."
But Lin Wu didn't move.
She gently patted the back of Fourth Sister He's hand, lowered her eyelids, and when she lifted them again, her eyes were glistening with tears.
"Thank you so much for going out of your way to come here, Auntie. But if this is about arranging a marriage, I have to tell you clearly now that I can't accept it."
Auntie Wang was stunned for a second. "Mrs. Lin, don't rush to turn me down! The man's family is very well-off, he only has one little daughter from his late wife, and if you marry him you'll be his proper, legal first wife. You'll have all the food and clothes you could ever want, and even that young boy of yours will get to share in the good fortune..."
Lin Wu pulled a white cloth handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped her eyes, her voice thick with sobs. "I made a vow to my late husband before he passed. I promised I would raise our child all on my own, and never let him have to live under someone else's roof and be looked down on."
Auntie Wang quickly recovered, she was very used to responding to words like these. "Oh, come now, everyone has to look forward! You're just trying to raise your child, you aren't being greedy for luxury. You're so young, how are you supposed to raise a little boy all by yourself? Especially since your son is already in school—his tuition, his brushes, paper, ink, and inkstone, every single one of those things costs money. How can a woman carry that kind of burden all alone?"
Lin Wu covered her eyes with her handkerchief again. The large bamboo basket on her back made her thin figure look even more delicate, and her voice was so choked up she could barely get the words out, speaking in broken, trembling bits. "He... he treated me so well when he was alive. After he left, my heart... it went with him. No matter how rich or noble any other man in this world is, to me he's nothing but a stranger passing by.
If I wanted to chase after wealth and ease, I would never get up before dawn and work hard running my stall every single day just to earn a few copper coins. If I have a bite to eat for myself, there will always be a bite for my son. If we can't afford his school fees... then so be it. At least we'll be eating food we earned with our own two hands, never having to look at anyone's face to see if we're in their favor, and my son will never have to call some other man his father."
Now that she'd said all that, there was no way to keep trying to persuade her.
After all, it wasn't considered strange for widows to remarry in this day and age. But a widow who chose to remain chaste and faithful to her late husband was widely seen as someone who embodied a great virtue, and no one could say that was wrong. To keep pushing her to remarry after that would have been completely unreasonable.
Auntie Wang gave a dry, awkward laugh. "If that's how you feel, then I'm sorry for being so forward, old me. Mrs. Lin, you're a woman who knows her own mind. I only meant well, I hope you don't take it to heart." She rambled on a few more polite pleasantries, then quickly scurried off.
The neighbors who had gathered around all stepped forward to offer their comfort.
"Mrs. Lin, don't grieve too much. That child of yours is a promising one. He got admitted to the local academy at such a young age. A few more years of hard work, and he will surely make something of himself in the future."
"That's right. Your late husband must have been a good man too. I'm sure he made proper arrangements for you and your son before he passed on. Otherwise, you wouldn't be living in this courtyard right now, and your life wouldn't be as manageable as it is today."
"Thank you so much, all of you aunties and sisters." Lin Wu's eyes were still red, but she managed a faint smile, wiped her tears dry with a handkerchief, then turned and walked back into her own courtyard.
"Alas..." Fourth Sister He followed her in, patting her on the shoulder. "Don't take it amiss that I'm speaking out of turn. Your life right now, tight as money might be, only requires you to look after Little Jing. He's such a sweet, well-behaved boy, and he's only grown more sensible since he started at the academy. A few more years of endurance, and once he's grown up, what good days won't you have to look forward to? If you went and became a stepmother, there's no telling how that life would turn out."
"You're quite right, sister. I haven't thought of anything else at all. My only wish is to raise A Jing properly, and make sure he never suffers any unfair treatment."
Fourth Sister He's eyes also grew warm. She patted the back of Lin Wu's hand. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. If you ever run into difficulties, just come knock on my door. If you need someone to watch A Jing, send him over to my place. My Shulang is at the state academy all day long, and the house is so quiet and empty. An extra child around will make things much more lively."
"Thank you, sister." Lin Wu walked Fourth Sister He out of the courtyard, then turned back inside and let out a long breath.
This was exactly the chance she needed to get those words out there. She only hoped that all that messy business would stop pestering her for good.
With that thought in mind, she took all the items out of her wicker basket and put them away one by one. But no sooner had she emptied the basket than the courtyard gate banged again.
Lin Wu wiped her hands and went to open the door. When she pulled it open, she found Second Aunt Chen standing outside.
"Mrs. Lin," Second Aunt Chen wore a wide smile on her face, "I heard what happened down the lane just now, and I felt so awful for you. I came over specially to check on you."
Lin Wu's tone was calm. "That's very thoughtful of you, Sister-in-law Chen. I'm fine."
"Alas, I heard what you said out there, and my heart is full of respect for you and full of pity for you too," Second Aunt Chen cut in, not even waiting for a response. "You're still so young, with decades of life ahead of you. Are you really planning to spend all that time all alone? Look at you—you're beautiful, you're deft with your hands, and your business is doing wonderfully. So many people have their eyes on you. That Auntie Wang who spoke to you today didn't choose her words very well, but she wasn't entirely wrong. A woman as fine as you could easily remarry into a very good family."
Lin Wu didn't answer, and she didn't step aside to let Second Aunt Chen in.
Second Aunt Chen leaned a little closer, lowering her voice. "To be honest with you, I came here today because someone asked me to. My brother-in-law has an elder brother, whose first wife also passed away from illness, and didn't leave him any children. His family is quite well-off, and his own younger brother is the local ward officer right here in our neighborhood. You must have heard of him."
She glanced up at Lin Wu's face, saw no change in her expression, and kept talking. "If you agree to this match, no one would ever dare to cause you trouble when you set up your stall at the morning market again. No matter what anyone says, you'd be related to a government official. What's more, both you and that man have had hard, fated lives, so you'd be able to understand and care for each other. His family has no children of their own, so once you move in and have a child of your own, your A Jing will be the legitimate eldest son, and he'll never have to live under someone else's roof as a dependent. Everything in the family will belong to him one day. Isn't that a perfect arrangement that satisfies everyone?"
"Sister-in-law Chen," Lin Wu finally spoke.
Second Aunt Chen fell quiet, looking at her with eager, hopeful eyes.
"I won't accept this marriage proposal. Every word I said out in the lane today was spoken from my heart. I swore an oath to my late husband, and oaths are not to be trifled with. The heavens are watching all that we do."
Second Aunt Chen's smile froze on her face at once. "Mrs. Lin, you're still young. Don't say things so absolutely. Your A Jing is at the academy now, but his expenses are only going to get bigger later on. You get up before dawn and work till dark making and selling cakes. How much can you possibly save in a whole year—"
"Thank you for thinking of me, Sister-in-law Chen," Lin Wu cut her off. "But if I break the promise I made to my late husband, I would never have the face to meet him again in the afterlife."
Second Aunt Chen's friendly warmth faded completely. She looked Lin Wu up and down sharply for a long moment before saying, "Mrs. Lin, don't take this the wrong way, but all this refusing you're doing—people will start thinking you're just too proud, that you look down on families like ours."
Lin Wu didn't take the bait. "Sister-in-law, it's getting late. I still have work to do in the house."
Second Aunt Chen's pride finally couldn't take it anymore, and her voice rose in irritation. "Mrs. Lin, you made such a big, nice speech out in the lane today, but have you ever thought about your son? He's still small now, but when he grows up and sees that every other child has a father and he doesn't, won't he feel wronged? If you turn this match down now and can't find anyone better later on, don't come crying about regretting it."
Lin Wu's voice remained steady. "Sister-in-law, I said those words out in public today not to sound nice, or to win praise from anyone. That's the promise I made to my late husband. It has nothing to do with anyone else."
Second Aunt Chen was so blocked by that line that her face burned bright red. That "anyone else" was obviously referring to her. She didn't say another word, turned around and left, stomping her feet so hard the ground seemed to shake.
When she got home, Second Aunt Chen was still fuming, and at supper she got a whole load of sarcasm from Brother Ma. "I think she just doesn't want anything to do with you. I told you long ago not to go messing around with those silly schemes. You don't have a proper craft of your own, and you went copying her emerald cakes to sell. It's a wonder she'd treat you nicely."
Second Aunt Chen slammed her chopsticks down on the table. "I don't have a craft? If I don't, who makes your breakfast and supper every single day? Who washes all your clothes, and mends all the holes in them? I'd love to work out a craft to earn money too, but who would take care of all the chores around the house? Would the stove light itself, and the clothes fold themselves? All Mrs. Lin has to do is take care of herself and her boy. Me? I wait on the old, wait on the young, and after that's done I still have to wait on you!"
The angrier she got, the more she spoke. "I was only doing all that for this family! And here you are, turning your back on me and undermining everything I do! You don't happen to have a crush on her yourself, do you?"
"Nonsense!" Brother Ma shot to his feet and shoved her hard.
Outside the Ma family's wall, several neighbors holding their rice bowls stretched their necks out to watch, their chopsticks stuck at their mouths, completely forgotten.
"They're fighting so loud... are they going to start throwing punches?"
"That couple just has bad intentions, that's all. They picked on a poor widow, copied her cake recipe to sell, they have no shame at all. Mrs. Lin was being polite by not getting mad, and they actually thought they were in the right?"
Just as they were talking, the clatter of a horse-drawn carriage came from the lane entrance. They all turned to look, and saw the carriage rolling slowly from the start of the lane all the way to the end.
One man took a sip of his porridge and smacked his lips. "That mother and son can't be ordinary folk, can they? They get picked up by a carriage every day to go in and out, and I heard that little boy is a student at Canglang Academy."
"You're telling me. They're asking for trouble, going and provoking people like that."
"Her brother-in-law is the state academy's gatekeeper, and her own brother-in-law is our local ward officer, remember?"
"Hmph, they're just low-level lackeys, nothing special."
Down at the other end of the lane, Lin Jing pulled the carriage curtain aside, hopped down nimbly with his book bag on his back, and scurried towards his house as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"I'm home!"
He ran straight into the kitchen, where Lin Wu was busy at work. She was planning to make some spiced dried meat to sell at the temple fair tomorrow.
Lin Jing set his book bag down on the chair, then trotted over with a small cloth sack in his hand, pressing it up to Lin Wu like he was presenting a precious treasure.
"A Wu, A Wu, the crisp cracker today was so delicious! The master even ate several slices from me! And during lunch, my classmates at the Meng School traded food with me. Look, look!"
He pulled things out one by one: candied preserved fruit, cloud cake, small flaky pastries, and a little wooden carving of a dog that someone had slipped to him.
Lin Wu looked at the pile of odds and ends and couldn't help laughing. "So many things? I'll have to pack more for A Jing tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is my school holiday, I don't have to go to class!" Lin Jing reminded her loudly. "We're going to the temple market to buy a dog!"
"Oh right, A Wu almost forgot. Look, I'm making dried meat slices right now, it will be perfect to sell at the temple market tomorrow." She had originally thought of making emerald cake or gold-and-jade cake, but those two were larger in size, and the gold-and-jade cake would lose its crispness once it cooled down. The thin dried meat slices kept well, tasted great, and were perfect to bring to the temple market.
"Then we can sell the crisp crackers too!" Lin Jing perked up immediately. "Lots of my classmates from the Meng School will be at the temple market tomorrow, I'll shout out loud to get them to come buy!"
"That's right, the crisp crackers are a good fit too."
"We can sell bookmarks too!" Lin Jing clapped his little hands. "I'll go cover the oil paper bags!"
With that, he had already trotted off to look for his precious little wooden stamp.
That night, the oil lamp in the kitchen burned late.
A basket of crisp crackers and dried meat slices, and a basket of bookmarks, were all carefully wrapped in oil paper bags, each marked with a neat little leaf stamp.
Lin Jing finished stamping the last bag while leaning over the table, let out a tiny yawn, and his eyelids started to droop.
"A Wu," he mumbled sleepily, "what kind of dog are we going to buy tomorrow?"
"What kind of dog does A Jing want?"
"A strong one, that barks really loud, and is scary. So it can guard the house!"
"Alright, then we'll buy a strong, scary little puppy." Lin Wu thought for a moment, that would probably be a chubby, a little ugly plump puppy.
