After wandering around the temple fair for a while, Second Aunt Song bought some fabric she liked at a bargain price. She not only bought some for Song Yaozu but also got a bolt for herself.
Song Laidi, holding Song Pandi's hand, followed closely beside Song Qiming. They never dared to hope for new clothes.
Asking would be pointless and would only get them a scolding.
When they reached the end of the fair, Song Jinzhao was surprised to find someone had set up a bookstall there, though it wasn't doing any business; not a single person stood before the empty-looking stall.
Song Qiming and Song Shixue, who had been studying for some time now, eagerly ran over to look.
Gradually, their brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Song Qiming looked up dejectedly, "Sis, there are so many characters I don't recognize."
Song Jinzhao comforted him, "You've only been studying for two months; of course there are characters you don't know. After a couple more years of study, you'll be able to read them all."
Song Pandi, savoring the sweet-and-sour taste of the candied hawthorn in her mouth, watched curiously as Song Jinzhao read out the unfamiliar characters for Song Qiming and Song Shixue.
What was this 'reading'? All those dense marks looked like little ants.
Song Yaozu squatted on the ground, his head swaying left and right, finding it all very boring.
But then he remembered that if he followed his mother, she wouldn't spend money on snacks for him, whereas if he stuck with Sister Jinzhao, whenever she bought something for his cousins, he could always get a share. So, he resigned himself to continuing his wait, chin propped in his hands.
Most of the books on the stall were storybooks, crudely printed, with some characters even blurred.
Curious, Song Shixue opened a stack of books piled together. They were covered in dust, some covers even moth-eaten, clearly very old.
The first page she turned to wasn't all text; it had a drawing with a few columns of small characters beside it.
The book was filled with pictures of various grasses and leaves. She happened upon a page showing a plant she had seen before—it grew on the riverbank.
She only recognized the character for 'grass'; the other one she didn't know.
Holding up the book, she asked Song Jinzhao, "Sis, how do you read this character?"
Song Jinzhao, who had been browsing the storybooks, looked up. Her pupils fixed, and a strange glint flickered in her eyes.
She took the book and instinctively ran her hand over the yellowed paper. "Yao. This character is read 'yao'."
She flipped back to the cover.
"Bai Yao Tu" (Illustrated Compendium of Herbs).
It was a book introducing medicinal herbs.
Song Shixue suddenly understood and pressed on, "The kind of medicine that can cure illnesses?"
Song Jinzhao nodded, her gaze sweeping over the book pile. She reached in and pulled out a medical text that had been buried underneath.
It was an ancient medical book. She hadn't expected to see such a thing at a temple fair bookstall.
She searched through the pile and found all the medical books—three in total.
"Boss, are these the only medical books?"
The vendor squatting by the stall craned his neck for a closer look.
"Just those three. They've been around for many years. If you want to buy them, I'll give you a good price."
They'd been stored under the bed for so long they got bookworms.
If he hadn't been rummaging for a crate to sell storybooks at this temple fair, he wouldn't even have remembered these books were at home.
Song Jinzhao asked, "How much for all three?"
The vendor said, "Fifty coppers will do."
Just as she finished paying, Song Yongnian, leading Song Qiaoniang by the hand, ran over. "Grandma says it's time to go back."
Song Yaozu cried out in protest—he hadn't gotten his sweet soup yet!
Song Jinzhao stuffed the books into her basket. As she walked over, Old Lady Song was already calling out loudly, "It's almost noon, we need to go home and cook!"
Song Jinzhao glanced up at the sun; it was about eleven o'clock.
The walk back would take two hours. They wouldn't get home until one o'clock, and then they still had to cook?
"Grandma, let's just eat here. I'm hungry after walking around for so long."
Old Lady Song frowned. "Didn't you just have candied hawthorn?"
Song Jinzhao pressed her lips together, feigning distress. "That was nearly half an hour ago! The hawthorn just whetted my appetite; it made me hungrier."
Old Lady Song said, "Your grandpa and your uncle are waiting at home for their meal. Your aunt and I have to go back and cook."
Song Jinzhao countered, "They can cook for themselves."
Old Lady Song scowled with disdain. "Since when do men enter the kitchen?"
Song Qiming raised his hand and declared loudly, "Grandma, I'm a man, and I not only go into the kitchen, I can cook! Sis says the dishes I fry are even tastier than the ones Shixue makes."
Song Yaozu pretended to clutch his stomach and squat down. "My stomach hurts... I'm so hungry it aches."
Song Laidi averted her eyes, unable to bear the sight. She knew her brother's nature best—he was definitely faking it.
Song Yongnian tugged at Elder Aunt Song's hand and said softly, "Mother, I'm a little hungry."
Elder Aunt Song felt a pang of sympathy and cautiously addressed Old Lady Song, "Mother-in-law, perhaps we could eat here?"
Seeing several of the children claiming hunger, Old Lady Song reluctantly gave in, though she complained, "Feeding so many people will cost a fortune."
Song Jinzhao took Song Anhao from her. "Grandma, there's a wonton stall over there. I'll take Qiming and the others to eat. You can come find us there when you're done."
Song Yaozu immediately shouted, "Mother, I want wontons too!"
In the end, the whole family ended up eating wontons.
The aroma of sesame oil mixed with fresh scallions. The broth floated with chopped pork cracklings. Each delicate, small wonton resembled a crystal lantern—both beautiful and delicious.
Second Aunt Song couldn't bring herself to order separate bowls for Song Laidi and Song Pandi. Instead, she took two small bowls and scooped two wontons from her own bowl and two from Song Yaozu's for each of the girls.
Song Yaozu pointed at the sweet soup shop across the way and said to Song Jinzhao, "Sister Jinzhao, the sweet soup from that shop over there is especially delicious. My mother took me there last year."
Second Aunt Song nearly choked on her wonton. Who on earth taught him to say that?
Song Jinzhao poured warmed goat's milk into a bowl. One bowl of wontons wasn't quite enough to fill one up.
She teased, "How delicious was it?"
Song Yaozu thought for a long moment before saying, "So delicious I've been thinking about it since last year."
Song Jinzhao couldn't help but laugh. She handed some money to Song Qiming. "Take Yongnian and Yaozu to buy some. One bowl each. Have the owner bring them over."
Elder Aunt Song quickly stopped her. They'd already had candied hawthorn on her; it was too much to let their eldest niece pay again.
"No need, a bowl of wontons is plenty. We couldn't drink any sweet soup."
Song Yaozu puffed out his belly. "Auntie, I have a big appetite. Give me Yongnian's bowl, I can drink it!"
Song Yongnian looked at Song Yaozu in disbelief. Who said he was giving his sweet soup away?
Song Jinzhao shook her head and urged, "It doesn't cost much. Go on, hurry and buy it."
A short while later, the stall owner brought over the sweet soup.
It contained small, soft glutinous rice balls. The soup was sweet and fragrant—no wonder Song Yaozu had been yearning for it.
Seeing that Second Aunt Song also had a bowl in front of her, Song Laidi secretly nudged Song Pandi under the table with her foot.
Her eyes signaled: Drink it quickly.
Song Pandi buried her head in her bowl, her mouth moving rapidly.
A hint of a smile flashed in Song Jinzhao's eyes.
Song Laidi was not only clever but also very protective of Song Pandi.
Despite the unfair treatment she received, she still found ways to make life a little better for herself and her sister within these difficult circumstances.
Unlike Song Yaozu's blatant and obvious scheming, her cleverness was always exercised in the shadows.
She wondered what the three children of the second branch would grow up to be like. For now, at least, none seemed to be complete replicas of their parents.
