Just after the hour of the hare, the sun in the east had just risen, like a large yolk hanging on the branch of the big willow tree at the alley entrance, driving away the thick night with a strand of light, illuminating the closely packed, high and low eaves of the houses in Yangliu Dong Alley with a soft bluish-gray hue.
The Bian River, with its green waves, also began to shimmer and flicker.
Li Cun’s porcelain mending shop rarely opened early, and Li Taozi did not carry his mending pole to wander through the alleys as usual.
Instead, he was wiping the newly made two-wheeled cart at the door.
Li Taozi wiped the cart from the front to the wheels with a damp cloth, wincing with pain as he did so.
His wife, seeing the new two-wheeled cart at Shen’s house, had insisted on getting one for herself, claiming it would be much more convenient for her to sell chicks and eggs at the market in the future.
Unable to resist her, he had to comply.
This cart cost three hundred and twenty coins!
He didn’t know how much silver Shen’s family had spent.
Li Taozi was not very articulate, and his wife insisted on comparing it with Shen’s cart.
Old Man Yang, who was usually also a man of few words, seemed to have undergone a transformation when they asked him.
He spoke eloquently, saying things like:
“This cart is stable and lightweight, perfect for a woman to use,”
“See Shen’s cart? That’s my craftsmanship!”
“If you buy now, I’ll give you two baskets and an umbrella for free! If the cart breaks within a year, I’ll repair it for you for free!”
“I’m almost done building a house for Shen’s family, and I’ll be free in a couple of days. If you order now, I can finish it in half a month and give you a twenty-coin discount. This price is exclusive to you, so don’t tell anyone else.”
His wife’s eyes lit up, feeling like she had struck a great deal, and insisted on placing the order.
Now that the cart had been delivered, although it was indeed better than the old ones, easier to push, and more finely crafted than ordinary carts, Li Taozi gradually realized something.
A single-wheeled cart only cost about a hundred coins.
How could adding a wheel, two more baskets, and a coat of paint cost more than three hundred coins?
It seemed like they hadn’t really gotten a good deal after all!
But there was nothing he could do now, so he had to swallow this silent loss.
As he was thinking this, the courtyard gate creaked open, and Li Cun led her beloved son, Li Gou’er, to the side of the cart.
Li Gou’er jumped onto the cart and sat down.
Li Cun, who was usually very particular with others, now looked at Li Gou’er with great affection, rubbed his head, and placed the rattan book box she was carrying onto the cart.
She also took out a stack of fried cakes wrapped in oil paper from her bosom and tied them to the box for Li Gou’er.
“Gou’er, you study hard. If you get hungry, eat some cakes. I got up early today to make them and mixed some salted egg yolks into the dough,” Li Cun said.
A while ago, she had been sitting in front of her house to cool off and saw a scholar come to Shen’s house to order some egg yolk pastries.
It was then that she learned Shen’s eldest daughter often bought salted eggs from her for this purpose.
But she didn’t know what these egg yolk pastries looked like because Shen’s eldest daughter had actually turned down the business!
She didn’t agree to make them, saying it was someone else’s recipe, and while she could make them for herself, she couldn’t sell them privately.
Li Cun, eavesdropping intently, had heard this and thought to herself:
“Why not make them quietly? As long as you tell the customers not to spread the word, who would know?”
She thought Shen’s eldest daughter, who usually seemed quite shrewd, was being foolish in this matter.
The scholar with a baby face left dejectedly.
Li Cun had only overheard parts of their conversation, as she didn’t dare get too close.
There was a fierce dog tied in front of Shen’s house, and she now preferred to take a detour through the neighboring alley rather than pass by Shen’s house.
If it weren’t for the fact that Shen’s dog didn’t bark or move much and was always on a leash, she would have complained to the street officials.
What if the dog accidentally bit someone?
She had also complained to Li Taozi about this, but he shook his head and said fairly,
“How would the street officials care about such a trivial matter?
Almost every household in Bianjing keeps a dog for guarding the door, and many don’t even tie their dogs up, letting them roam freely.
This eldest daughter of Shen’s isn’t letting her dog run around, so don’t cause trouble and lose neighborly feelings.
She used to buy all our salted duck eggs and eggs, earning us quite a few coins.
We can’t bite the hand that feeds us.”
After being scolded by her husband, Li Cun pinched his arm and said,
“You’re taking their side!”
But she indeed didn’t cause any more trouble.
However, seeing that people were coming to Shen’s house to buy food, Li Cun still had some thoughts.
Judging from the scholar’s drooling tone, she thought the egg yolk pastries must be very delicious.
Unfortunately, Shen’s eldest daughter was so tight-lipped that after refusing, she didn’t say anything more.
Li Cun could only imagine what they might taste like and today decided to try mixing egg yolk into the dough to make cakes for Li Gou’er.
Then, she held Li Gou’er’s hand and nagged again,
“Gou’er, remember when you’re taking the exam, write slowly and neatly. Write the characters you know first and don’t rush. We’ve paid two hundred coins for the exam fee”.
“You have to make your mother proud! Don’t let our money go to waste. Your exam number is hanging around your neck; don’t lose it.”
Li Gou’er, who was constantly nagged by Li Cun, was getting a bit impatient:
“Alright, Mother, I’m going to be late.”
“Okay, okay, go ahead,” Li Cun said, then turned to her husband,
“Push the cart slowly and don’t let him fall.”
Li Taozi, also fed up with his wife’s nagging, quickly lifted the cart handle and started walking.
Li Cun finally shut her mouth, leaned on the cart shaft, tidied her hair, and prepared to muster the courage to see them off at the alley entrance—if they went straight without taking a detour, the Li family would have to pass by Shen’s house and see that big dog.
Just at that moment, the door of Shen’s house also opened.
Before the door was fully open, the big black dog lying under the porch had already suddenly opened its eyes and stood up, shaking its fur.
As they got closer to Shen’s house, Li Cun tightly clung to Li Taozi’s cart and moved to the other side.
Li Taozi had to comfort her,
“Don’t be afraid, there’s nothing to fear about a dog. Our own son is even named after a dog, yet you’re afraid of dogs.”
Li Cun couldn’t hear him at all and was almost limping as she walked.
In the entire Yangliu Dong Alley, only the Shen and Li families were going to take the exam.
Some households didn’t have children of the right age, and some did but didn’t plan to support their children’s education through the imperial examination.
One exam cost two hundred coins, and who knew how much the annual tuition would be!
It was better to send them to a private school run by a poor scholar to learn some characters.
Like the Gu family, they could continue the family business, help with the family shop, and not be illiterate.
That was enough.
Li Taozi was different from Li Cun.
They were first cousins within the five degrees of mourning kinship, and this was a match made in heaven, a union of equals.
Although the Song Dynasty had written into the law that
“those of the same clan and surname shall not marry, violators shall be sentenced to two years of penal servitude,”
It did not restrict marriages between “cousins” related through the mother’s side.
In fact, some prefectures even had sayings like “a girl must marry her uncle’s son” and “returning to one’s roots.”
They originally had three sons and one daughter, but either they were born prematurely and died, or they fell ill and passed away at the age of four or five.
Thus, the couple, now in their forties, had only managed to raise one child, Li Gou’er.
Because they had lost so many children at a young age, they had given him such a humble name, and naturally, their expectations for this child were extraordinary.
Not to mention two hundred coins, even two strings of cash, Li Taozi would grit his teeth and support his son’s education.
As the Li family of three pushed the cart out, they happened to run into Shen Miao and her two siblings.
Li Cun, with her keen sense of smell, immediately detected an irresistible aroma wafting from the Shen household, a rich and savory scent that seemed to hint at the flavor of chicken broth.
“Eldest sister, you’re already simmering soup and cooking rice so early in the morning? You young people sure have a lot of energy. It took me quite an effort just to get up and make some cakes, and by then, the sky was already light,”
Li Cun said, though she was afraid and dared not get close, her curiosity almost overcame her fear, prompting her to peer into the Shen house from across the cart.
The once-burned-down Shen residence had changed dramatically.
Three large tile-roofed houses had risen from the ground, with the pillars standing firm and the walls already built.
Now, only the beams needed to be placed and the tiles laid.
In their courtyard, they had even dug a small pond, built chicken and dog coops, and cultivated two vegetable plots.
Li Cun took a quick glance and felt a pang of jealousy.
The new house looked really nice, with new walls and tiles, truly beautiful.
Especially, Shen’s eldest daughter had spared no expense; the house even had dougong brackets and a single-layer flying eave corridor, so rainwater would not enter the house and could be directly channeled into the gutter.
It looked really comfortable.
Having made a fortune, they built such a fine house, wouldn’t that deplete all their savings?
After all, they were still young and didn’t know how to manage household affairs.
Li Cun thought of her own old house, which had been renovated and repainted several times over nearly thirty years, and felt a sourness in her stomach.
“Good morning, Aunt Li, Uncle Li. We’re also up early. I didn’t actually get up early; I prepared everything last night. It was just heated up this morning,”
Shen Miao said with a smile as she closed the door behind her, without revealing what she had eaten or cooked.
“Good morning, Uncle Li, Aunt Li,”
Jie Ge and Xiang Jie greeted them crisply, following behind her.
“Good morning,” Li Taozi replied with a smile.
He rarely stayed in the alley, so he knew little about Aunt Li’s competitive mindset and the neighborhood gossip.
Moreover, since he had lost many children at a young age, he always smiled at the children in the alley and was happy to talk with them.
Seeing that Shen Miao only carried a basket, Jie Ge held a simple book basket, and Xiang Jie clutched a large baked cake, he said gently,
“You’re also going to send Jie Ge to take the exam, right? Why not use the cart? Shall I have Jie Ge sit with Gou’er, and I’ll pull them both…”
Li Gou’er also waved to Xiang Jie when he saw her.
He was not in good health and had a rather gentle disposition.
Boys his age didn’t like to play with him, but he got along better with Xiang Jie.
Xiang Jie’s mouth was still full of baked cake, her cheeks puffed out, and she looked up at him and smiled,
“Gou’er, Gou’er, I wish you success in every exam too!”
She had naturally picked up this phrase from Shen Miao and was imitating her.
After hearing her elder sister and brother say it, she also learned to congratulate Li Gou’er.
“Aunt Li, Gou’er and your brother Jie Ge are about the same age. You should call him ‘Big Brother Li,’ not ‘Gou’er.’ That’s really impolite,”
Aunt Li said, frowning and folding her arms.
When she heard Uncle Li offer to let Jie Ge ride in the cart, her eyebrows shot up.
She was already a woman with high cheekbones, and when she frowned like that, it made Uncle Li feel a chill down his back and he swallowed the rest of his words.
Xiang Jie was not afraid of Aunt Li.
She tilted her head and said,
“But… Gou’er said it’s okay to call him whatever I want.”
Li Gou’er also nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I said so. Xiang Jie can call me whatever she wants.”
This made Aunt Li roll her eyes in frustration, but since it was her own son who had spoken, she had no argument.
She just urged Uncle Li to hurry up and leave.
Uncle Li still looked back at Shen Miao,
“Are you sure you don’t want me to give you a lift?”
Shen Miao smiled and shook her head,
“Thank you, Uncle Li, but we plan to take the long-distance carriage at Ma Xing, so we won’t be riding with you. We can’t be so thoughtless either”.
“If Jie Ge rode in the cart, you would have to push two people, and that would be too tiring for you.”
Hearing this, Aunt Li felt a bit more comfortable.
Although Shen’s eldest daughter didn’t know how to manage household affairs, she had some sense of propriety.
So she shifted her attention back to Shen’s eldest daughter, who had also dressed up quite nicely today.
She had combed her hair into the currently fashionable floral bun, with a cloth folded and colorful silk threads used to decorate the bun into a simple petal shape.
She wore a light blue, narrow-sleeved, Begonia patterned jacket over a pink and white skirt, and a pair of plain, coarse cloth shoes that had been scrubbed very clean.
She had a large basket on her back, which was covered with a piece of coarse cloth, obscuring the contents within.
However, judging by the slightly bent posture of Shen’s eldest daughter, it was clear that the basket was not light.
Thus, Li Cun speculated and asked in surprise,