Chapter 21 Steamed Buns

Chapter 21: Baozi

"After we finish writing the 'fu' character in the middle, we can add a few auspicious clouds at the four corners, like this..." Meng Wan roughly sketched a few strokes, and several simplified auspicious clouds appeared on the paper.

Song Tingzhou grew interested, took the brush from him, and drew a couple of strokes himself. "Like this?"

His hand was steady, but since he was used to writing, his painting had a sharp edge to it, making it look a bit stiff, though overall it still looked better than Meng Wan's.

He could see the pros and cons himself and frowned. "I didn't draw it well."

That's just how it was for a scholar from a farming family—just being able to read and write was already tough. Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—all of them were money-burning hobbies beyond their reach.

Meng Wan had free art classes from elementary to high school, knew basic sketching and quick drawing, and even snuck into a few bamboo flute lessons in high school with his literary deskmate. He knew a little Chinese chess but was awful at Go. If you added all that up...

Meng Wan rubbed his chin. That meant out of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he only couldn't play music. If he ever got rich, he could find a chance to learn it.

"You pressed down too hard here. It needs to feel connected—a gradual shift from thick to thin, not an abrupt change." He pulled out the paper Song Tingzhou was drawing on and started giving instructions like he knew what he was doing.

Song Tingzhou shot him a sideways glance. "You draw, I'll write."

Meng Wan wilted. "Ah? But my hand's too shaky."

Song Tingzhou said without changing his expression, "I'll teach you how to handle the brush. You're smart—a few days of practice and you'll be good."

Meng Wan had never been praised like that. He touched his cheek, feeling it get hot. "For real? Then I'll give it a shot?"

The next day, Song Tingzhou went out to buy red paper, while Chang Jinhua took her basket to find Song Sixth Aunt to work together. Meng Wan stayed home alone to practice writing. At noon, the sun was nice, so he put down his brush and stretched, got off the kang and started kneading dough. He hadn't had baozi in a long time, and since it was warmer today, the dough would rise faster.

He mixed up a big ball of dough, washed the cloth that covered the tofu twice in warm water, then draped it over the dough, and put a slightly smaller wooden basin on top. He put it on the kang in the main room, which still had some leftover heat from the morning fire.

After that, he headed to the outdoor latrine in the yard to take care of business, but got stopped halfway there.

"Wan Geer!" Xiao Mei called out to him from her usual spot on the wall.

"What are you standing on? Be careful!"

The wall between their yards was at least six feet tall, and Xiao Mei was only about five foot three. Meng Wan felt he'd grown a bit lately, maybe about five foot seven, taller than Xiao Mei.

They both had to stand on something to get their heads above the wall. Xiao Mei wasn't hanging on the wall like before—her belly was too big, so it wasn't easy—but was standing on something.

"I'm on a wooden stump—it's solid!"

Xiao Mei raised her voice. "Why haven't you come to play with me lately? You didn't even call me for your engagement." She was straightforward and always said whatever was on her mind.

"We've been too busy at home lately. My aunt said not to make a big deal of the engagement, just keep it simple, so I didn't specifically tell you." In truth, Meng Wan didn't really enjoy playing with her. Even setting aside the matter with Tian Xing, he had no good feelings toward the Tian family. Zhu Ge'er's beating hadn't happened overnight—he'd first learned about it from Xiao Mei herself. It was clear the whole family tacitly accepted it. Meng Wan didn't want to meddle in their family affairs anymore, but he definitely had a bad impression of them.

Before, as a newcomer with no friends, and Xiao Mei being so outgoing, they had often gone out together. But after the Tian Xing incident, he had no desire to interact with the Tian family anymore.

Xiao Mei looked slightly disappointed at his explanation. "Oh, I see."

"Xiao Mei! What are you doing up so high? What if you fall? Get down!" Tian Aunt's voice came from their yard, calling to her younger daughter-in-law.

Xiao Mei's head disappeared. "Alright, I was just saying a few words to Wan Geer. I'll be right down."

Tian Aunt was annoyed by her lack of steadiness but didn't scold her directly. Instead, she walked over to the Song family's gate. "Wan Geer, are you home?"

Wasn't that obvious? If you have something to say, just say it. What a hypocrite.

Meng Wan grumbled inwardly but kept a smile on his face. "Aunt's here! Too bad my aunt isn't home, or I'd invite you in to chat."

Tian Aunt cursed him silently for being a smooth talker at such a young age. Dropping her smile, she said earnestly, "I won't come in. Aunt has something to talk to you about..."

She waited for Meng Wan to respond, but he just stared at her blankly without a word.

Tian Aunt stopped beating around the bush. "Xiao Mei is heavy with child—she's carrying our family's first great-grandchild. She's young and lively, not as mature as you. From now on, it's best if you two spend less time together."

Meng Wan said in surprise, "Then shouldn't you be telling Xiao Mei that?"

Tian Aunt's expression soured. "I'll certainly talk to Xiao Mei. You're an engaged boy now—you should know your limits, or people will laugh."

Realizing she couldn't get the upper hand with Meng Wan, she had learned her lesson. After speaking, she flicked her sleeves and left.

Just as she reached her own gate, she saw Meng Wan stepping onto a stone and climbing up the wall to shout, "Xiao Mei! Your mother-in-law just said since you're pregnant, I shouldn't play with you anymore. From now on, don't call me out—or Aunt might think I'm the one seeking you out."

Xiao Mei pushed open her door and stared blankly at her mother-in-law at the gate. "Then I understand."

Since marrying into the family, her mother-in-law had always treated her well—a stark contrast to how she treated Zhu Ge'er. When visiting her family, she had proudly told her own mother about it. But her mother always warned her that her mother-in-law wasn't easy to deal with and told her to keep some things to herself.

She had never taken that advice seriously—until today, when she saw her mother-in-law's two-faced behavior for the first time. At home, when she brought up Meng Wan, her mother-in-law always agreed. How had things changed so suddenly?

"Xiao Mei, your mother is just worried about the icy ground. If you want to see Wan Geer, wait until after you've given birth—it'll be warmer then." Tian Aunt was smiling, but inside, she was furious at Meng Wan.

"Oh, okay." Xiao Mei didn't seem to fully believe her but replied and went back inside.

Tian Aunt's smile vanished as she shot a venomous glare at Meng Wan, who was still watching from the wall.

Meng Wan rested his chin on his hand and grinned. Tian Aunt was really too kind—he had been looking for an excuse to distance himself from Xiao Mei.

"Why are you climbing so high?" Song Tingzhou returned with a basket full of red paper on his back. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Meng Wan standing on a stone, clinging to the wall.

Meng Wan jumped down. "You're back! Let me get you some hot water."

The two walked into the house together. Song Tingzhou set the basket on the floor. There was too much red paper to fit in the small room, so he placed it on the kang in the main room to organize.

Meng Wan handed him a bowl of hot water. "How many sheets did you buy?"

Song Tingzhou downed the water in two gulps—he had been walking for a while and was indeed thirsty.

"Red paper is more expensive than white. One hundred and ten wen per dao. I bought three dao."

One dao was about a hundred sheets, so three dao meant three hundred sheets. He had initially priced the 'fu' characters at eight wen each. If he sold them all, that would be only two and a half taels of silver. After deducting the three hundred and thirty wen cost, he'd have less than two taels—just one thousand nine hundred wen.

Meng Wan pondered how to add more variety to increase the price.

Song Tingzhou pulled a brown cloth from his chest and opened it to reveal a slender brush. "The shopkeeper also gave me this brush. It's a bit small—I can't use it, so it's perfect for you."

Meng Wan took the brush and examined it. The shaft was small, delicate, and reddish-brown, with a sharp tip. The bristles were distinct, and the belly was round and full. Even without knowing much about brushes, he could tell this was a high-quality one—likely worth more than the three dao of paper. How could the shopkeeper just give it away?

Meng Wan sighed softly. "Then thank you, cousin. For dinner, I'm making baozi. Do you want sour cabbage filling or cabbage filling?"

"Cabbage."

Song Tingzhou moved the kang table to the main room, picked up his brush, and started reading.

Meng Wan went to the cellar in the backyard and brought back a head of cabbage. In the kitchen, he chopped the filling, filling a large basin full. He lit a fire under the small pot, added two scoops of lard when it was hot, and since there was no meat, he had to use extra lard.

He minced scallions and ginger, fried them until fragrant, then added a bowl of chopped mushrooms. The mushrooms had been soaked by Meng Wan at noon—wild fungi from the deep autumn mountains. Even after soaking in warm water, they were still a bit shriveled and not as plump as shiitake, but their aroma was rich, and Meng Wan liked using them to enhance the flavor.

He scooped the oil and mushrooms from the pot into the cabbage, added salt, and mixed well. The simple version of the baozi filling was ready.

The kitchen was freezing while making buns, so Meng Wan had already moved the kneading board to the edge of the kang in the main room. He carried the basin of filling inside, and Song Tingzhou saw him and quickly put down his book to take it.

"It's just a few steps; I can carry it myself," Meng Wan said, a little unused to being fussed over like this.

Song Tingzhou set the wooden basin on the kneading board and said calmly, "I'm a man, not a corpse. Next time, just call me."

Meng Wan didn't know how to respond. If he agreed, it'd seem like he was leaning on Song Tingzhou.

He didn't want to rely on anyone, just like when he was a kid and depended on his parents completely, only for them to die out of nowhere. His world collapsed, and it took him forever to crawl out of that "the whole world abandoned me" feeling. It was a terrifying thing.

He could marry him, but he didn't dare rely on him.

Song Tingzhou didn't push Meng Wan for an answer, picking up his book like nothing had happened.

Chang Jinhua came home and the first thing she thought of was her chickens. "Wan Geer, have you fed the chickens?"

"Yeah, I chopped up the cabbage roots and mixed 'em with chaff for the chickens."

Meng Wan washed his hands and lifted the lid off the wooden basin with the dough. The dough had risen nicely, with even honeycomb holes inside.

He kneaded the dough to release the air. Chang Jinhua lifted the cloth curtain and came in, first surprised to see her son reading in that room, then realizing when she saw Meng Wan rolling out bun wrappers. That was more like it.

"We're having buns tonight. I'll roll the wrappers, you wrap the buns," Chang Jinhua said, washing her hands in the kitchen and taking the rolling pin from Meng Wan.

"I saw Zhu Ge'er earlier, heading to her parents' place with her mother-in-law. Weird, right? Tian Xing's got bad legs, so why would he go back alone and drag his mother-in-law along?" Chang Jinhua mused while rolling out the wrappers, puzzled.

Meng Wan didn't get it either, but he felt Tian's aunt wasn't up to any good. Caught up in Chang Jinhua's gossipy vibe, he asked while wrapping buns, "Auntie, do you know if Tian Xing beats Zhu Ge'er at home?"

Chang Jinhua sighed. "Living next door, how could I not know? Zhu Ge'er's pitiful, stuck with that family. Years ago, Tian's eldest had a serious illness, and Tian Wang was still young. The family was so poor they couldn't even put food on the table. It took years, and Tian Xing got old, and they couldn't afford to marry a woman, so they swapped two sacks of grain for Zhu Ge'er."

Meng Wan couldn't believe it. "A whole person, swapped for two sacks of grain?"

Chang Jinhua glanced at him. "You think everyone's as valuable as you? Eight taels of silver—I still felt that one."

Meng Wan instinctively coaxed her. "That money you spent on me was totally worth it. I'm so good and dutiful!"

Song Tingzhou looked up from his book and glanced at him, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes.

No wonder his mom was so good to Meng Wan—he always sweet-talked her like this. If he were the one being sweet-talked...

His mother interrupted his thoughts. Chang Jinhua continued, "How many wives in our village were bought with grain? Mostly xiao ge'er, though."

When a family was poor and had many children, sons were never traded away, daughters' bride prices were too high, and only xiao ge'er were worthless. Marrying one off meant one less mouth to feed and two sacks of grain in return—a perfect deal. When food was scarce, even family bonds had limits.

Meng Wan felt heavy-hearted. "Even after swapping for him, they don't treat him well. Why bother marrying him at all?"

Chang Jinhua also disliked the Tian family's ways, which was why she had told Meng Wan not to play with the grandson's wife earlier.

She finished rolling all the wrappers, went to the kitchen for a tall stool, set up the bamboo steamer on it, lined it with washed cabbage leaves, and placed the round, plump buns Meng Wan had wrapped on top.

"That family has a tradition passed down from father to son."

Chang Jinhua said sarcastically, "Tian Xing's grandmother was beaten to death by his grandfather before she was forty. Your Tian aunt was known for her sharp tongue when young, but after marrying into the Tian family, she ran back to her parents' house three or five times before her husband beat her into submission. But she's clever, and with two sons, she's probably living comfortably again." Otherwise, why would she boast to her about her daughter-in-law's pregnancy two months ago?

Meng Wan was stunned. Good heavens, this despicable practice had become a tradition?

"Wan Geer, add water to the pot. I'll get the firewood. You don't need to handle the rest."

"Alright, I'll shred some radish to go with it." Meng Wan added water and placed a steamer of buns into the pot, covering it.

While Chang Jinhua lit the fire, Meng Wan mixed a sweet-and-sour shredded radish dish.

"Brother, time to eat."

Meng Wan's cooking was good. The buns were slightly yellow due to the coarse flour, but they were soft and fluffy. The filling was light without meat, but each bite was full of vegetable flavor.

Meng Wan ate four big buns, his stomach round and full. Song Tingzhou quietly ate seven, and even Chang Jinhua had three.

Chang Jinhua cleared the dishes, smiling. "Your second uncle's family is slaughtering a pig on the 29th. I ordered half a rack of ribs, four jin of pork belly, and two pig trotters. We'll make meat buns for New Year's on the 29th."