Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Auntie Liu, it’s freezing out! What brings you here?”
Bai Qianqian had been roasting chestnuts with Zhao Anyao when the knocking started. She rose from her spot and opened the door.
“Whew! It’s absolutely brutal out there,” Auntie Liu sighed, brushing snow from her clothes before stepping inside to warm herself by the fire. “I only walked a few steps and my feet were already numb.”
She paused, then asked, “I’ve come to ask—do you still have any date cakes or candied winter melon?”
“I haven’t made any lately because there hasn’t been much demand. Why, are you looking to buy some?”
“Yes, I’d like two pieces of date cake. They’d make a wonderful gift. And really, it’s thanks to you—otherwise, I’d be stuck gifting eggs again this year. It’s not just me, either; three or four other families in the village asked me to check for them.”
Bai Qianqian understood. Those people usually loathed her, but they knew she made pastries and that she was on good terms with Auntie Liu. It made sense that they’d ask her to inquire on their behalf.
“The date cakes are eight wen each, and the candied winter melon is twenty-five wen per catty,” Bai Qianqian said. “I can’t make the cakes until tomorrow, but I have some winter melon candy left. Auntie Liu, please ask around and see who’s willing to pay. Once you have a firm list, I’ll make more. These aren’t cheap, and I don’t want anyone changing their mind after the fact.”
“Alright, I’ll go tell them,” Auntie Liu said.
She didn’t complain about the price; after all, that was the same rate they charged in town. If the others couldn’t afford it, they simply wouldn’t buy.
The next day, Auntie Liu returned with the news. Four households, including her own, wanted date cakes—ten pieces in total. Only one family wanted a catty of candied winter melon.
Bai Qianqian weighed out a catty of the candy for Auntie Liu to deliver and told her the others should return the following day to pick up their brown sugar jujube cake.
She had planned to make them anyway, and if she couldn’t sell them all, she could take some back to the Bai family when she visited.
Before dawn, Bai Qianqian was already up, steaming two layers of the cakes.
She stayed in the kitchen, though she now regretted its crude construction.
The wind whistled through the gaps in the walls, and even with the door shut, she shivered from the cold. Yet she dared not leave, fearing someone from the Zhao family might sneak over. She could only endure the chill.
When the sun finally rose, the aroma of the cakes wafted from the steamer. Bai Qianqian lifted the lid to check. Both layers were fluffy and soft. A hot bite filled her mouth with the sweet, rich flavor of red dates and brown sugar.
Just then, a few women were seen hurrying toward Bai Qianqian’s place.
“Where are you all going?” someone asked.
“We bought some date cakes from Madam Bai, and we’re on our way to pick them up!”
“I heard these cakes are good for the elderly, women, and children. I want to buy a few for my mother to try.”
“My sister-in-law is pregnant. I was going to bring her some eggs, but when I heard Madam Bai was selling date cakes, I decided to buy a couple of those for her instead.”
Thanks to their word of mouth, the village soon buzzed with news that Madam Bai was selling date cakes right there in the village.
“Eight coppers for a single piece! Are they insane?” one woman scoffed. “How can anyone afford this in the dead of winter with no income? They’re throwing their coins away on cakes!”
“Madam Bai is a black-hearted woman, charging eight coppers a piece. Why not just rob us outright!”
Those who could afford the cakes boasted loudly about their purchase, while those who couldn’t could only mutter curses in private.
Bai Qianqian noticed that most of her customers were young women. They were much more willing to spend, lacking the fierce frugality of the older generation.
Under their watchful eyes, Bai Qianqian sliced the date cakes and packed them into the baskets they had brought.
Bai Qianqian wasn’t stingy. She sliced a few small pieces and arranged them on a plate to offer the young women as a sample.
“Goodness, I’ve never eaten anything this precious before!” one woman exclaimed. “It’s truly sweet and fragrant. No wonder the wealthy families adore these pastries.”
“You can say that again,” another added. “To think Madam Bai would share such a treat with us… She’s changed. We shouldn’t hold her past against her anymore.”
“Your orders are ready.”
Knowing the cakes were intended as gifts, Bai Qianqian packed them with extra care, ensuring the women would feel proud to present them.
The customers bought anywhere from one to three pieces each. Having tasted the cakes, none of them dared to haggle.
They paid the full price in copper coins and left satisfied.
Auntie Liu arrived later, buying three pieces—some for her two daughters and the rest to take to her own parents’ home.
However, the villagers who bought the cakes still faced gossip.
Auntie Liu’s mother-in-law, having heard the rumors, came storming over to create a scene. She berated her daughter-in-law for being a spendthrift who couldn’t manage a household.
“Hand over the cakes!” the old woman demanded. “Or else your husband will divorce you!”
The commotion grew so loud that Auntie Liu’s husband lost his temper. He threw his own mother out of the house, declaring that since they had split the family estate, she had no right to dictate how he spent his money.
The villagers who had gathered, hoping to watch Auntie Liu get berated, found themselves feeling a twinge of envy at how fiercely her husband defended her.
Despite the drama, Bai Qianqian’s brown sugar jujube cake became an overnight sensation in the village. Thanks to the young women flaunting their purchases, a new trend emerged: gifting these cakes was now considered a mark of true prestige.
This drove many other villagers to grit their teeth and buy a piece or two.
After selling out two whole trays of cakes, Bai Qianqian was surprised. She had assumed there would be little demand in the village, but she hadn’t accounted for the locals’ fierce competitiveness.
The Zhao family, meanwhile, watched the villagers flock to Bai Qianqian with burning jealousy. They spent their days counting her customers and calculating her earnings, their hearts aching with envy.
“Two hundred and fifty wen! In just two days!” one of them spat. “That woman has made a fortune!”
“If we could just get our hands on that recipe,” another added, “we could dominate the village market while Third Brother handles the town. We’d be swimming in silver!”
The Zhaos had already planned exactly how they would exploit the recipe. But Bai Qianqian remained unmoved by their pleas and threats, leaving them to watch her success from the sidelines, their mouths watering with greed.
“Third Brother will be back in two days. He’ll find a way to get the recipe. Bai Qianqian’s smug days are numbered!”
The eldest Zhao son had put aside his resentment over his parents’ favoritism toward the third son. Now, he could hardly wait for him to return from town.
Bai Qianqian, having sold two trays of brown sugar jujube cake, decided to steam another tomorrow to see if the demand persisted. The previous two trays had been an unexpected windfall.
She carefully stored her copper coins and fell into a deep sleep.
In the dead of night, she was nudged by someone’s arm. Still half-asleep, she tried to roll over and keep sleeping, but Zhao Anyao’s frantic whisper snapped her awake.
“Someone… someone’s outside!”
The drowsiness vanished instantly. She pulled the trembling Zhao Anyao onto the bed and gestured for him to be silent. Moving stealthily, she crept to the window to listen.
It was pitch black outside. Beyond the howling wind, she heard rustling sounds coming from the direction of the kitchen.
Unable to tell how many people were there, Bai Qianqian dared not be careless. She grabbed the wood-chopping knife from the room and kept her ear pressed to the window, monitoring every sound.