Chapter 135 City Streets 35

Chapter 135: City Life 35

The next day, Liu Guyu was up at the crack of dawn. He swapped out his old hair ribbon, which he had used for many years, and started using a hairpin instead.

Cui Lanfang was dishing out breakfast. She had steamed buns early in the morning, and they were fresh out of the steamer.

As she brought the buns to the table, her eyes landed on Liu Guyu, and she asked curiously, "Why the sudden change to putting your hair up? Didn’t you say you could never get used to hairpins?"

Liu Guyu fingered the head of the hairpin, his eyes instinctively flickered toward Qin Rongshi sitting across from him, and then he said, "For self-defense."

This hairpin was a gift from Qin Banban—a white water buffalo horn hairpin, jade-like in color and texture, glossy and smooth all over. Its design was simple, with a shuttle-shaped openwork at one end and a sharp, pointed tip at the other, that seemed to gleam coldly.

Qin Banban might look soft and well-behaved, but she actually had a fondness for such things. She had once given Luo Maier a wooden hairpin as well, which also resembled a sharp little dagger.

To avoid worrying Cui Lanfang, neither Liu Guyu nor Qin Rongshi had told her about the previous night’s incident. Hearing Liu Guyu’s words, she laughed and said, "You! Always full of strange ideas! We’re in the city now, with constables patrolling every day. Why would you need to wear that for self-defense?"

Liu Guyu didn’t know how to explain it to her and only said, "Ahem... just in case."

Cui Lanfang smiled and nodded, then took a step back to look Liu Guyu over carefully before saying with satisfaction, "Not bad! Though I’m used to seeing you with a hair ribbon, this looks good too! You seem bright and spirited! Our Guyu looks handsome no matter how he dresses!"

Liu Guyu chuckled softly and stole another glance at Qin Rongshi.

Qin Rongshi’s expression was calm as he poured soy milk into Liu Guyu’s bowl, his face showing no particular emotion.

Only then did Liu Guyu look away. He quickly ate two buns and drank a large bowl of soy milk before waving his hand and saying, "I’m off to the eatery!"

As soon as he left, Qin Banban, who had also finished eating, hurriedly slung her small medicine box over her shoulder and said, "Mom, I’m going too!"

Cui Lanfang nodded cheerfully, tidying up the bowls and chopsticks while saying to Qin Rongshi, "You should hurry too—you have the farthest to go."

Qin Rongshi nodded, helped clear the remaining two sets of bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen counter, and then left as well.

The weather was good today, with rare sunshine, so more people were out strolling and playing. Business at the eatery was also brisk, and the day passed smoothly.

True to his word, Qin Rongshi went straight to the eatery after school, apparently planning to wait until closing time to go home with Liu Guyu.

"Come quick, I saved some food for you!"

As soon as Qin Rongshi entered, Liu Guyu waved him over and brought out a packet of freshly baked milk and chestnut cookies.

These had been prepared the day before, but Liu Guyu had forgotten about them due to Li Youliang’s interruption. Today, he had a fresh batch, still warm and at their most delicious.

The packet was filled with adorable cookies shaped like kittens, puppies, rabbits, fish, and bears—each one round, plump, fragrant, and cute.

Qin Rongshi chuckled softly, picked up a cat-shaped cookie, and popped it into his mouth, saying, "Are you treating me like a child again?"

Liu Guyu seemed to recall something, averted his gaze, and busied himself kneading a glutinous rice dough ball, mumbling vaguely, "You’re not a child anymore."

Qin Rongshi laughed again and was about to say more when they heard a customer’s voice from the stall outside the door.

It was mealtime, and the eatery was crowded. Both Zhang Yun and Tao Yu were running around, unable to attend to everything at once.

Qin Rongshi said, "I’ll go take a look."

Standing at the door were an elderly woman and her eight-year-old grandson, who had been passing by.

As they walked past the eatery, the child smelled the aroma of milk and chestnut cookies and refused to budge, tugging at his grandmother’s clothes and crying.

"I want to eat! I want to eat! Buy it for me, Granny, please!"

The elderly woman glanced furtively at the eatery, and seeing Qin Rongshi approaching, she quickly bent down and said to the child, "Eat what? These little things—who knows how expensive they are! If you want to eat, Granny will make some for you at home!"

The child continued to fuss, "No! Granny, you even burn pancakes! You definitely can’t make cat cookies!"

The elderly woman looked somewhat embarrassed as she glanced at Qin Rongshi, but Qin Rongshi’s expression remained neutral, as if he hadn’t heard their conversation.

He asked, "What would you like to buy, ma’am?"

The grandmother, unable to withstand her grandson’s pestering, reluctantly pointed to the cookies and asked, "How much are these?"

Qin Rongshi replied with a faint smile, "Twenty-five coppers per packet."

Hearing the price, the woman’s eyes widened in shock, as if her eyeballs were about to pop out.

"What?!"

"Twenty-five coppers?! For these little things, not even as big as my palm! Twenty-five coppers?! Is this a black shop?! Oh my... I can’t afford this, no way, let’s go, let’s go!"

With that, she tried to drag her pouting, fussing grandson away.

The boy was eight years old, chubby, and when he threw a tantrum, he was hard to pull along.

Stubborn as a mule, the moment he heard his grandmother was leaving, he plopped down on the ground, throwing a full-blown tantrum.

"I want to buy! I want to eat! Erniu next door had some yesterday and teased me on purpose! They’re so fragrant! So fragrant! I want to eat them! I want them! Even Erniu had some!"

The grandmother was also angry, "Ah! You little rascal, you insisted on taking this route earlier just because you wanted to eat something, didn’t you? Already scheming to spend Granny’s money!"

The child half-cried, half-whined, driving the grandmother to her wit’s end.

Qin Rongshi interjected calmly, "The price is a bit high, but we use only the best ingredients. Eggs, milk, and fresh autumn chestnuts... You probably know how much milk costs. The twenty-five coppers are fair. If you’d like, you can try a sample."

With that, he picked up a small plate nearby, which contained some broken cookie pieces—ones that had shattered during baking.

Since they weren’t intact, they couldn’t be sold at full price, so Liu Guyu had set them out for sampling.

The elderly woman glanced at Qin Rongshi, then picked a larger broken piece from the plate, took a bite, and fed the other half to her still-whining grandson.

The milk flavor was rich, and the chestnut aroma was plentiful.

Though reluctant to spend money, the woman’s family wasn’t poor, and she had tasted good food before. With one bite, she could tell that these milk and chestnut cookies were indeed made with quality ingredients, just as the young man had said.

But twenty-five coppers was still too expensive... After all, it was just a snack for children. Wouldn’t it be better to add a few more coppers and buy a pound of nice pork belly to make braised pork or red-cooked pork? Wouldn’t that be more satisfying?

She could afford it, but she felt it wasn’t worth the price.

"Twenty-five coppers is still too expensive... Can you make it cheaper? This is just kids’ food—why does it cost so much? How about this: ten coppers for half a packet?"

She shook her head and grumbled, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction, while subtly reaching toward the plate again, as if wanting another taste. But Qin Rongshi swiftly moved the plate away, which only made her more displeased.

Qin Rongshi calmly put away the plate and said, "Selling half a packet might be difficult... But if you’re sincerely interested, I can put together a portion of these broken pieces for eighteen coppers. It’ll be the same amount as the twenty-five-copper packet, just not as neat. But you’ve tasted it—the flavor is the same."

The cookies were similar to modern chestnut-flavored butter cookies, each about half the size of a palm. A packet of twenty pieces for twenty-five coppers wasn’t cheap, but the quantity was substantial.

After a moment’s thought, the woman nodded and said, "Fine, fine! Eighteen coppers it is!"

She gritted her teeth and paid. As Qin Rongshi began packing the cookies, the child continued to grumble by her legs, "Granny! The broken ones aren’t pretty! They’re not cute! This rabbit doesn’t even have ears!"

But this time, the grandmother didn’t indulge him. She said sternly, "Stop fussing! If you keep it up, we won’t buy any at all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Rongshi packed the cookies for her. The old woman hefted them in her palm to confirm they were roughly the same weight as the 25-wen portion before leading her grandson away.

Not long after she left, another customer came out from the eatery.

"Pack two portions of the chestnut cookies for me—the 30-wen kind."

The voice was aged, belonging to an elderly old man.

Qin Rongshi looked up and nodded in greeting, calling out, "Mr. Qiongshan."

Zheng Qiongshan chuckled and waved a hand, pointing at the cookies on the stall shelf. "I want the rabbit and cat shapes, one of each. My grandchildren have been asking for these since yesterday, so I’m bringing some back for them today."

The 25-wen cookies were randomly packed, containing an assortment of small animal shapes, so they were the most popular option. However, those with more money specifically chose their favorite animal-shaped cookies, which cost five wen more.

Qin Rongshi smiled and nodded, using a small pair of tongs to pack two portions.

Zheng Qiongshan was an old friend of his teacher and a regular at Liu's Eatery, so Qin Rongshi threw in an extra half-portion of peanut-sesame milk candy.

"This is a new candy we made today. There isn’t much of it yet, and it hasn’t been put out for sale. Take some for the children to try."

Zheng Qiongshan chuckled and pointed at Qin Rongshi, saying, "Alright, I won’t be polite with you! When I finish writing my new book, you’ll be the first to see it!"

Qin Rongshi had heard him say the same thing to Dean Zhou Pozhi before, so he didn’t think much of it. He simply smiled as the man walked away.

After the dinner hour, customers in the shop gradually tapered off. By 8 p.m., Liu Guyu closed the eatery and headed to Heyan Street with Qin Rongshi.

They walked mostly in silence the entire way. Liu Guyu felt awkward and wanted to speak several times but feared leading the conversation into even more uncomfortable territory, so he kept his mouth shut.

He was usually talkative, and the silence made him antsy.

As they entered Guozixiang, they heard a commotion up ahead. It sounded like Li Youliang and his wife, Sun Yueqin, arguing, with Chen Qiaoyun occasionally trying to mediate.

"Sun Yueqin! What’s wrong with you, causing a scene so late at night? I just came back from school and wanted to read quietly. Do you have to start trouble?"

"Read?! What kind of book are you reading? What’s hidden in your desk drawer? Who did you draw? And you call yourself educated! Have you no shame? I’ve borne your children, and this is how you treat me!"

"Enough! Stop talking nonsense! What drawing? What person? It’s all in your head!"

"You hid it again after I found it! Do you think I don’t know?"

...

By the time Liu Guyu and Qin Rongshi approached, they saw the couple arguing fiercely, with many neighbors peeking out their gates to watch the spectacle.

Chen Qiaoyun stood between them, seemingly torn, trying to calm one and then the other. Yinzi, about to cry, clung tightly to her mother’s hand.

"Oh, stop fighting! Stop it! We’re all family—there’s no need for this!"

"Yueqin, what are you talking about? I know my son—he’s an educated man and wouldn’t do such a heartless thing! You must be thinking too much because of your pregnancy! Come home with me now. Seeing you with such a big belly worries me!"

"And you! You idiot! Can’t you see how far along your wife is? She’s about to give birth! What’s wrong with letting her have her way? Let her say a few words, scold you a bit—it won’t kill you!"

...

Sun Yueqin wiped her tears and noticed Liu Guyu. Her gaze toward him was peculiar—not exactly resentful, but more embarrassed and ashamed.

As if remembering something, she took Yinzi by the hand and tried to leave, saying, "Mother, don’t say anymore! I want to go back to my parents’ home for a few days. I miss my parents and my older brothers."

Chen Qiaoyun anxiously slapped her thigh. "Oh, you stubborn child! Your parents don’t live in the city. You can't leave this late! None of us will be able to sleep! Listen to me, stop making a scene. Come here, Yinzi, let Grandma hold you!"

Yinzi, terrified and about to cry, clung even tighter to her mother’s hand. When Chen Qiaoyun reached out to take her, she started crying loudly.

Li Youliang was furious. He also saw Liu Guyu and Qin Rongshi, and whether out of embarrassment or feeling humiliated by the spectacle, he grew even more enraged.

In a fit of anger, he suddenly pushed Sun Yueqin hard and yelled, "You unreasonable woman!"

Sun Yueqin was heavily pregnant, and the push sent her crashing against the wall. Yinzi, who was holding her hand, fell hard on the ground.

"Mom!"

The little girl screamed in terror, crawling quickly toward Sun Yueqin, who was slumped against the wall, clutching her stomach.

Sun Yueqin’s face was contorted in pain. In mere moments, cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her face turned deathly pale. She hugged her stomach, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"My... my stomach..."

Chen Qiaoyun was horrified and shrieked:

"Oh my god! My grandchild!"

"You wretched boy! Look what you’ve done! Youliang! Youliang! Where are you running? Hurry and carry your wife inside!"

"She’s going into labor!"