Chapter 19 Mountain Home Hearth 19

Chapter 19: Hearth of the Mountain Home 19

One person spoke up, and soon several others behind chimed in impatiently.

"Exactly! Are you buying or not?"

"If you're not buying, hurry up and leave! Why all the chatter?"

"If you don't want it, we still do!"

...

Zhou Qiaozhi was startled by the chorus of voices. Turning around, she realized six or seven people had lined up behind her without her noticing.

Her daughter, Tian Hexiang, was also frightened, grabbing Zhou Qiaozhi's wrist and hiding behind her, then tugging at her sleeve to whisper, "Mom, let's go, Mom!"

Zhou Qiaozhi glared angrily but didn't want to leave empty-handed and risk being laughed at. She turned back to Liu Guyu and snorted, "Fine, I'll buy! How much is it?"

Liu Guyu, with his arms crossed, didn't move, just lifting his gaze to reply unhurriedly, "Two coppers for bowl cake, seven coppers for ice jelly."

Zhou Qiaozhi's eyes widened even more, and she shouted at Liu Guyu, "Seven coppers?! You might as well be robbing people!"

Liu Guyu ignored her and instead looked past Zhou Qiaozhi to the second customer in line, smiling as he asked, "What would you like? Bowl cake or ice jelly?"

The customer was a stout woman holding her grandson's hand. When Liu Guyu addressed her, she immediately shouldered past Zhou Qiaozhi, who was blocking the way, and urged her grandson, "Quick, tell him what you want to eat!"

Zhou Qiaozhi, tall and thin, stumbled several steps before regaining her balance. She shot a fierce glare at the woman but, noticing her broad shoulders and thick waist, shrank back. Finally, she dragged Tian Hexiang away sheepishly, muttering, "What a rip-off! Daring to charge seven coppers—only fools would fall for that!"

Tian Hexiang, however, was still tempted.

The bowl cakes, pink and green, looked translucent, soft and bouncy; the ice jelly was even more appealing, jelly cubes coated with golden dried osmanthus flowers, topped with fresh peach pieces and drizzled with a sweet brown sugar syrup. It was enough to make her mouth water.

She murmured quietly, "...Can’t we get some?"

Zhou Qiaozhi glared at her, yanking her daughter along, gripping so hard her wrist turned red.

"Food, food, food! That's all you think about! Today we're here to get a talisman for your brother to ensure he passes his exams! You're his older sister—why don't you act like it!"

Tian Hexiang's voice grew even softer, but she couldn't help muttering, "Guanyin doesn't care about exams."

Zhou Qiaozhi didn't hear this barely audible whisper and simply pulled her daughter along quickly, heading straight for the Guanyin Temple.

Once this interruption passed, the stall became busy again. Liu Guyu soon put the mother and daughter out of his mind and was back to raking in money hand over fist.

He smiled all day, to the point where his jaw began to ache. After selling the last bowl of ice jelly, he slumped down onto a small stool, panting as he rested: "I’m beat! Sold out at last!"

While catching his breath, he counted on his fingers: "We made five more of each flavor of bowl cake than yesterday and ten more bowls of ice jelly. That should come to about a hundred coppers more. Over the five-day temple fair, we should earn around..."

Qin Rongshi chimed in beside him, "About two taels of silver, and after deducting costs, we should clear around one tael and seven coppers."

Liu Guyu's eyes lit up instantly, and he slapped Qin Rongshi's shoulder happily, exclaiming, "Not bad! You're quick with numbers!"

Qin Rongshi's shoulder tilted from the slap, but he didn't respond, simply standing up to start packing up the stall and prepare to head home.

Liu Guyu was too tired to lift his arms and just sat on the stool, giving directions.

"Hey, hey, yes, that goes at the very bottom!"

"Tighten the lid on the sugar jar—don't let it leak!"

...

Qin Rongshi didn't reply but followed Liu Guyu's instructions, packing everything neatly. Once finished, he turned to look at Liu Guyu.

More precisely, he was looking at the small stool under Liu Guyu.

"Oh, oh, this... here, take it. Pack it up properly."

Noticing the gaze, Liu Guyu immediately stood up, grabbed the stool from under him, and handed it to Qin Rongshi.

Qin Rongshi took it, his fingers brushing against the wooden board. The heat from it made his fingers curl, and he packed it away with his ears turning red.

Liu Guyu, oblivious, tilted his head to greet Lin Xingniang and Luo Maier.

"Aunt Lin! Mai'er! We're sold out, so we're heading back now!"

After receiving a response, he turned to push the cart and left with Qin Rongshi.

On their way, they passed a busy stall also selling tangyuan.

Behind the ordinary tangyuan stall were three tables and stools, all fully occupied, with some customers who couldn't find seats even leaning against the wall to eat.

Business is that good?!

Liu Guyu grew curious and couldn't help taking a few more glances.

The stall was run by a couple in their forties, who seemed very friendly.

When Liu Guyu looked over, the couple nodded and smiled at him, their smiles seeming especially genuine.

...Do I know them? Are they smiling at me?

Liu Guyu paused for a moment, then instinctively curved his lips into a polite smile in return.

"Let's go."

Qin Rongshi's voice came from behind.

Liu Guyu nodded, withdrew his gaze, and walked ahead.

From behind, voices from the stall could be heard, customers chattering excitedly.

"Did you get one? Did you get one?"

"No! Is there really one in the tangyuan? I've had three bowls and haven't seen any!"

"There is! There must be! I saw the boss wrapping it in myself!"

"Ah, who knows who'll be lucky enough to get it."

...

Liu Guyu and the others left the town and headed the cart home.

Cui Lanfang and Qin Banban had naturally been worried at home all day. Liu Guyu shared only the good news, such as the brisk business and how all the bowl cakes and ice jelly had sold out.

As for the encounter with Zhou Qiaozhi, Liu Guyu didn't mention a word.

Cui Lanfang was on bad terms with her, so there was no need to bring it up and upset her.

Liu Guyu said between mouthfuls, "On the last day, let's all go check out the temple fair—it's so lively! They sell everything you can think of!"

Cui Lanfang was worried about the cost, and figured she was too old for that sort of thing. After a moment's thought, she just stroked Qin Banban’s braids and said with a smile, "Let Banban go with you all. I’ll stay home and hold down the fort. You go and have a good time."

But Liu Guyu insisted, "No way, everyone's going!" He tried to persuade her, "Mother, I’ve heard the Guanyin Temple in town really works! You could go and get a peace charm. The gods appreciate it more when you make the effort to go yourself!"

Hearing this, Cui Lanfang was genuinely tempted—not for herself, but thinking of her three children, she felt it would indeed be good to get a few peace charms for them.

Qin Rongshi and Qin Banban nodded in agreement. The little girl even hugged her mother’s arm, tugging on it playfully and pleading in a soft voice, "Please come, Mother, please, please!"

Cui Lanfang let out a long sigh and finally stroked her daughter’s hair affectionately, saying, "Alright then, the whole family's going!"

With that settled, the family happily finished their meal and got everything ready for the temple fair the next day.

That night, the whole of Shanghe Village settled into quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects or barking of dogs. The sky was densely packed with stars clustered around a not-quite-full moon, their light spilling down and reflecting on the branches of the old willow tree in the village, casting long, slender shadows.

In the distance, large and small mountains layered shades of dark green and black. A babbling stream quietly made its way down from the hills, and the soft glow of the moonlight seeped into the water, as if the river in the sky had merged with the one on the ground, creating shimmering ripples like schools of glowing fish.

Under the bright moon and countless stars, the next day promised fine weather.

*

They did great business over the next few days, with all the bowl cakes and ice jelly they brought selling out each day.

On the fifth day, the whole family pitched in, making things much easier for Liu Guyu and Qin Rongshi.

Since they had set aside half the day to enjoy the temple fair, they prepared far less than on previous days, and it still sold out early.

Just from counting the copper coins brought home each day, Cui Lanfang already knew the bowl cakes and ice jelly were selling well, but seeing it with her own eyes still filled her with surprise and delight.

"My goodness, there were so many people! When it got busy, I wished I had seven or eight hands! I don’t know how you two managed the past few days alone!"

Qin Banban, washing bamboo tubes nearby, nodded in agreement and exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! So many people! I had no idea temple fairs were this lively!"

The last time she had been to a temple fair was when her father was still around. Back then, it wasn’t nearly as bustling, and there were far fewer stalls, but Qin Banban had still found it great fun!

Now, with even more people and stalls selling all sorts of things, Qin Banban stole a few glances—the line of stalls stretched through the alley, seemingly endless! She couldn’t help but look forward to it eagerly.

After seeing off a customer who arrived too late to buy anything, the family began packing up their stall, storing everything in a corner against the wall and asking Lin Xingniang and her daughter to keep an eye on it.

Just as they were about to leave, voices rose again from the tangyuan vendor’s stall.

The vendor had tried selling icy tangyuan for a day without success, so the next day he returned to his usual trade, selling sesame tangyuan. But for some reason, business remained poor—fewer than ten customers all day—leaving him disheartened and dejected.

Just moments before, a customer had finally stopped at his stall, and the vendor was thrilled, pulling out all the stops to keep him. But before the tangyuan could even be dropped into the pot, the customer was dragged away by a friend.

The friend tugged at him, saying, "Oh, you want tangyuan? Go up ahead! There’s a new stall recently set up there—the taste is good, lots of fillings: sesame, peanut, even fermented glutinous rice balls!"

The customer, caught off guard, glanced at the even more stunned vendor, then said apologetically, "Forget it, I was just about to order here."

The friend patted him and added, "Come on! You don’t know? That stall up ahead even puts coins in their tangyuan! I heard they’re coins blessed at the Guanyin Temple! And it’s not expensive—whoever gets one keeps it! All down to luck!"

Hearing this, the customer was truly swayed.

The temple fair’s popularity was entirely due to the efficacious Guanyin Temple, and many people came specifically for it!

Hearing his friend’s words, he immediately changed his mind, apologized to the vendor with a couple of "Sorry, sorry!" and turned to leave.

The tangyuan vendor called out, "Hey... don’t go!" But it was no use—the two ran off quickly, chatting as they went.

"Really? Coins blessed for real?"

"Yeah! Yesterday, someone got lucky and found two in one bowl! Man, I was so jealous!"

"Not bad! How’d they come up with that? The vendor’s really clever!"

"Well... I heard the vendor mention it wasn’t his idea—a young scholar taught him!"

"Wow, impressive! Educated folks really are something else!"

...

The two rushed past, their conversation reaching Liu Guyu’s ears.

A young scholar, huh...

He looked thoughtfully at Qin Rongshi, who appeared unaffected and unconcerned.

Author's Note:

Day off tomorrow [scatters flowers].