Bai Qianqian considered this deeply. She decided to make more snacks, perhaps selling them as New Year’s goods before the holiday. Even if she didn’t go to town, she could still sell a few in the village—though she doubted brown sugar jujube cake would be popular here.
The weather was growing colder. Every morning, Bai Qianqian had to mentally prepare herself before getting out of bed.
The moment she emerged from the covers, a shiver coursed through her. Even wrapped in a cotton-padded jacket, it took her a while to warm up.
When she opened the door, she saw a fresh layer of snow covering the ground. It was the first snowfall she had witnessed since arriving in this world.
Zhao Anyao was still fast asleep. Fearing the cold wind would wake him, Bai Qianqian quickly shut the door. She paced back and forth near the entrance twenty times, and only when she was thoroughly warm did she begin preparing breakfast.
She planned to steam a batch of buns today. That way, she would have something decent to bring when she went to ask others for help.
Adding warm water to the flour, Bai Qianqian began to knead. Her hands were strong, and the task was easy for her. Before long, the dough was smooth. She covered it with a lid and set it aside to rise.
The starter she used to proof the dough today had been a gift from Auntie Liu yesterday. Auntie Liu had seen that Bai Qianqian paid generously in copper coins when buying firewood, so she wasn’t stingy with such a small thing.
While waiting for the dough to rise, Bai Qianqian scooped hot water from the pot into a basin and carried it inside.
Zhao Anyao was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a blanket and staring blankly into space. Bai Qianqian wrung out a rag and wiped his face, finally shaking him awake.
After washing and grooming herself, she applied face cream to both her and Zhao Anyao’s skin.
“Stay inside. Come out when the buns are ready.” Bai Qianqian decided it was too cold for Zhao Anyao to go out, knowing his frail constitution couldn’t handle the chill.
The dough still needed time to proof. Bai Qianqian soaked and minced the preserved vegetables, seasoning them with just the right amount of oil and salt.
Once the dough had risen, she worked quickly. Her movements were practiced and fluid, her fingers deftly pinching the dough into plump, evenly pleated buns.
The first batch went into the steamer. As soon as they were finished, Bai Qianqian took them out and replaced them with two more layers of freshly made buns.
She brought the first batch of savory preserved vegetable buns into the room for her and Zhao Anyao’s breakfast.
“Careful, they’re still hot,” Bai Qianqian warned, then took a big bite of a bun herself.
The savory aroma of the preserved vegetable filling spread through her mouth. Even though it scorched her tongue, she refused to spit it out. After a morning of hard work, her stomach was practically growling.
Afraid of burning his mouth, Zhao Anyao didn’t dare eat as enthusiastically as she did. He took small, nibbling bites, swinging his legs in contentment once he reached the filling.
After finishing the first bun, he immediately reached for another.
They managed to finish half a steamer basket, and even that was only because Bai Qianqian purposefully held back.
Bai Qianqian packed eight of the remaining buns into a basket, covered them with a white cloth, and led Zhao Anyao over to visit.
Auntie Liu hadn’t expected a visit so early in the morning. Her family was currently gathered in the main room, eating thin porridge.
“Come on in,” Auntie Liu said, welcoming them. She had already made a fair amount of copper coins from Bai Qianqian and wasn’t one to hold a grudge over a little disruption.
Her husband and their two daughters, both around ten years old, sat together in the room and looked up in surprise.
“Have you already eaten breakfast?” Auntie Liu asked casually.
Knowing she had interrupted their family meal, Bai Qianqian lifted the white cloth from the basket. Eight plump, white buns with perfectly neat pleats were revealed before Auntie Liu.
“What’s this…?” Auntie Liu’s eyes were glued to the buns, but she hesitated, afraid to misinterpret Bai Qianqian’s gesture.
“I made these buns this morning, and they’re still hot,” Bai Qianqian explained. “I wanted to trade them for some winter melons.”
She didn’t have a vegetable patch of her own, and all the dried vegetables in her home were bought. Since she wanted to make winter melon candy to sell in the village, Auntie Liu was her only option.
“Winter melons? I think we have a few in the cellar. Go on, bring them up!” Auntie Liu hadn’t expected a simple trade for winter melons.
Without hesitation, she sent her husband and daughters to fetch them.
“We only have five left,” Auntie Liu said when they returned. “Trading these for eight of your white buns doesn’t seem fair. How about I ask around the other houses for you?”
Auntie Liu felt a twinge of guilt. Though Bai Qianqian’s reputation had been poor in the past, her family had already made a fair amount of money from her recently. She couldn’t bring herself to take advantage of the girl.
“That would be a huge help, Auntie. You can keep the buns as payment. If anyone else in the village has winter melons, could you please collect them for me? It would be much more difficult if I tried to do it myself.”
Bai Qianqian knew her place. The villagers’ prejudice against her ran deep, so it was better not to waste her breath. Having Auntie Liu act as her agent was the perfect solution.
Bai Qianqian left Auntie Liu with two hundred copper coins to buy the remaining winter melons. After their recent interactions, she’d learned a bit about the family.
They had only two daughters, and Auntie Liu’s husband’s family had looked down on them for failing to produce a son. Fortunately, the husband had stood by his wife and daughters, splitting from his parents’ household to start their own.
The couple was hardworking and capable, managing to build a decent life for themselves.
After taking the melons from Auntie Liu’s place back home, Bai Qianqian decided to make a small batch to test the waters.
Auntie Liu’s melons were large. Bai Qianqian peeled them and sliced them into a massive platter of strips, which she then soaked in lime water. Next, she headed to town to buy sugar.
When she inquired about the price of white sugar, she realized she’d been foolish. White sugar was far more expensive than brown. She had forgotten that in her previous life, white sugar was cheap, which was why winter melon candy had been so affordable. In this world, white sugar was much harder to produce than brown sugar.
Selling winter melon candy in the village would be even more challenging than selling her brown sugar jujube cake.
Still, Bai Qianqian wasn’t ready to give up. She had already collected the melons, and if they wouldn’t sell in the village, she would simply take them to town.
After buying the expensive white sugar, Bai Qianqian was shivering so hard she couldn’t bear to stay any longer. She spotted a man with an ox cart heading back and approached him.
“Can you give me a ride?”
The old man sized her up, his expression curious. “I can, but for your size, it’ll cost four wen.” He’d never seen anyone as large as Bai Qianqian in all the surrounding villages.
She didn’t haggle, simply handed him the coins and climbed aboard. After a few more women joined them, the cart finally set off.
The old man and the women weren’t from her village, but they were heading in the same direction. Bai Qianqian got off at the crossroads and walked another ten minutes to reach the village entrance.
Once home, she began cooking the winter melon candy, with Zhao Anyao helping her tend the fire.
The five melons had yielded a massive amount of strips, so she divided them into three batches.
When the first batch was finished, she tasted it. The flavor was just as she remembered from her past life—sweet and refreshing, not cloying. It looked wonderful, too, with a thin, even layer of white sugar coating the pale green melon strips, giving them a crystalline shimmer.
She pressed a handful into Zhao Anyao’s hand and turned back to the remaining two batches.