The layout of the county town was square and orderly, with clear axes. Two main streets extended into several secondary streets, and the secondary streets further branched into alleys.
Gu Jun tugged at Lin Yue’s sleeve, leading him to the street he had been longing for. His gaze swept over various food stalls several times. With a determined heart, he pulled Lin Yue to the cheapest pastry shop and ordered two bean flour cakes for five coins and three sorghum flour cakes for five coins.
The former was two for five coins; the latter was three for five coins.
Not far from the pastry stall was a porridge shop. Gu Jun and Lin Yue sat down and ordered two large bowls of porridge.
One bowl cost one coin.
The porridge wasn’t very thick, but it was well-cooked, made with millet mixed with some beans and sorghum, topped with a small pile of salted radish cubes.
White steam rose from the surface of the porridge, and as soon as it was served, the simple aroma of the grains and the salty, sour smell of the radish cubes filled the air.
Gu Jun was entranced by the aroma.
He touched the surface of the bowl with his fingers; it was hot. He blew on it, and once the top cooled a bit, he eagerly lowered his head and sipped from the edge.
The slightly thick porridge liquid entered his mouth first, followed by the soft, mushy beans and the slightly chewy sorghum grains. The millet had completely turned into a flower, blending into the beans and sorghum grains, barely noticeable, like a bowl of water—lacking presence but indispensable.
With a gentle chew, everything slid smoothly down his throat and into his stomach.
His stomach warmed up, and the upper body, chilled by the cold wind, also felt warm.
Gu Jun let out a comfortable sigh, and as he gently pursed his lips, he seemed to taste a faint sweetness.
He turned the bowl around and sipped the porridge along the edge in small sips.
Lin Yue sat across from him, unwrapping the reed leaves from the pastries.
Zhuoyang County was located in the northern part of the Xuan Dynasty, where reeds grew tall and large. Business people would fold them, wash them slightly, and dry them, making them perfect for wrapping small items.
The reed leaves were dark green, three stacked together, tightly wrapping the pastries. Pulling out the folded leaf corner used to secure the whole, the reed leaves spread open, revealing five solid pastries inside.
The bean flour cakes were yellowish, and the sorghum cakes were reddish-brown.
The pastry maker was experienced, baking each piece to a golden brown on both sides, placing them in a basket covered with thick cloth, still warm when handed to customers.
Lin Yue used a reed leaf to pick up a bean flour cake and handed it to Gu Jun.
“I only want one.” Gu Jun, taking a break from his busy schedule, accepted it. Once he saw it clearly, he immediately wanted to exchange it for a sorghum cake. “I like that one.”
Lin Yue ignored him.
Gu Jun thought for a moment and didn’t insist on the exchange, taking a bite instead.
The coarse texture of the cake was very dry, but when chewed carefully, it was very fragrant, a hundred times better than the porridge. He couldn’t help but speed up his eating, gobbling it down, and ended up choking.
“Cough, cough, cough—”
Gu Jun’s face turned red from choking, coughing violently, but he couldn’t bear to spit out the cake, covering his mouth.
Lin Yue pulled his hand away.
Without any obstruction, Gu Jun coughed it all out.
Lin Yue came over, patted his back, and asked the shopkeeper for two small bowls, pouring some porridge into one, then transferring it to the other, cooling it down.
He placed the porridge in front of Gu Jun, saying, “Drink a bit to ease it.”
There was no warm water here; warm water had to be bought at a tea shop.
Gu Jun clutched his neck, slowly coughing less, then took a sip from the small bowl, finally recovering.
He looked at the ground, at the remnants of the bean flour cake he had spat out, feeling a bit heartbroken, but he understood it was for his own good, so he held back from showing it.
He tore off a piece of the bean flour cake, wiping away the porridge that had spilled over the edge of the small bowl, and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly.
Lin Yue sat back down, apologizing to the porridge shop’s lady boss who came to clean up the floor, while watching Gu Jun’s reddened eyes.
After a moment, he said, “Are you stupid?”
Gu Jun looked up at him.
Perhaps he had been forced to develop some adult skills by this era, and after thinking for a moment, he actually understood what the other meant.
Gu Jun wanted to smile but couldn’t, forcing a smile that felt strange even without a mirror, so he silently smoothed his expression.
“Husband, I’ve decided on you for this life.”
Lin Yue: “You should learn to be smarter.”
Gu Jun sat up straight, looking very serious, and said, “If you don’t want me, I’ll just die.”
Lin Yue said coldly, “Eat!”
Gu Jun responded with an “oh,” lowered his head, and went back to drinking porridge, catching a glimpse of Lin Yue picking up a sorghum cake through the reed leaves, eating it slowly and deliberately.
Suddenly, he remembered something important and felt the string of coins in his pocket.
“Wait a moment!”
Gu Jun got up and left. Lin Yue didn’t have time to ask him before he saw him take three steps in two strides to a stall selling mixed soup and order a bowl.
“For you.” Gu Jun waited for the stall owner to serve it, using the stall owner’s rag to hold the bowl, and placed it in front of Lin Yue.
A full bowl, six coins, the soup was not clear, leaning towards white, with a layer of broth oil on top, and poultry innards and a few cabbage leaves underneath, looking very appetizing.
Lin Yue asked, “What’s this for?”
Gu Jun quietly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, forcibly moving his gaze away, and sat back down, gnawing on the cake with the aroma of oil and meat. “You fell into the water, and you have work tomorrow, so you need to eat well to replenish yourself.”
This was Gu Jun’s initial thought, but it was disrupted by the pawned items incident, and he forgot. Once he remembered, he naturally had to make up for it, even though it cost six coins.
Lin Yue looked at him expressionlessly, pulled over a small bowl, and used the wooden ladle that came with the mixed soup bowl to scoop some into the small bowl.
Gu Jun: “What are you doing?”
The mixed soup looked like a lot, but it was just enough for two small bowls, not even full. Lin Yue pushed the small bowl over, saying, “Eat.”
Gu Jun pursed his lips, stubbornly refusing to look at the delicious food pushed towards him. “I won’t eat.”
Lin Yue: “It’ll get cold soon.”
Gu Jun angrily said, “I won’t eat!”
Lin Yue glanced at him, “If you don’t eat, I’ll throw it away.”
Just like his mom.
Gu Jun’s stubbornness didn’t last a second before it broke. He really did want to eat.
He picked up the small bowl, took a sip, full of salty and fresh flavor, scooped a piece of innard, very chewy, with a faint meat taste in the middle, then scooped a piece of cabbage, cooked until soft, soaked with soup, melting in the mouth, full of fresh aroma.
So delicious.
Gu Jun ate in small bites, and to prevent himself from not being able to finish the porridge, he didn’t eat the cake.
One small bowl of mixed soup, one large bowl of porridge, Gu Jun was completely full.
A few grains of millet remained at the bottom of the bowl. He cherished the food, picking them up one by one with bamboo chopsticks, putting them all in his mouth, and only then did he put down the bowl and chopsticks.
Lin Yue was still eating. He had eaten one sorghum cake, one bean flour cake, one small bowl of mixed soup, and was now eating porridge, almost finished.
Gu Jun asked if he wanted more cake, and seeing him shake his head, he wrapped the uneaten cake back in the reed leaves, smiling as he said, “We have breakfast for tomorrow morning.”
Lin Yue didn’t respond.
His throat was irritated by the porridge; there were some husks in it.
The lower-class people used pestles and mortars to hull the millet, and to save processing effort, they often didn’t hull it very cleanly, leaving some husks mixed in.
Affordable porridge shops used such millet to make porridge.
Lin Yue finally finished the porridge. Compared to the dry, hard sorghum and bean flour cakes and the fishy, oily mixed soup, the porridge was much easier to swallow.
He relaxed his slightly furrowed brows, picked up the cake, and said, “Let’s go.” The bowls and chopsticks would be collected by the stall owners.
Gu Jun held onto his sleeve, happily heading back together.
When they arrived, it wasn’t dark yet.
The bottom of the bridge hole was still wet, so they first brought back the “bedding roll” left by Old Huo, neatly laying it outside the bridge hole, next to Gu Jun’s “bedding roll,” then went to the pond to wash with willow branches.
Since there was no shelter and the water was too cold, with nothing to heat it, they didn’t bathe, but fortunately, they didn’t smell.
The broken bowl left by Old Huo couldn’t even hold water without leaking, let alone boil it. Gu Jun didn’t throw it away, just kept it as a memento.
The sky was dark, the stars dense, and tomorrow would be another sunny day.
Gu Jun placed the cake to one side, lay on the grass mat, hugged the money in his arms, reminisced about the taste of the mixed soup, turned over to face Lin Yue, and said, “Husband, when we have money in the future, we’ll eat mixed soup every day.”
Lin Yue sat across, shaking out his inner shirt.
The inner shirt was pressed under the grass mat, picking up some dust and grass bits.
He shook it clean and covered Gu Jun with it, saying, “Do you like it?”
“Yes, it’s delicious!”
Lin Yue thought about the days of eating mixed soup every day, feeling a sense of darkness about the future.
Gu Jun: “Why aren’t you saying anything, is it good or not?”
The words of refusal circled in his mouth, but Lin Yue didn’t say them. He lay down, closed his eyes, and said, “Okay.”
Gu Jun happily rolled over a few times and fell asleep.
Lin Yue listened to the even breathing and also slept. Perhaps not used to this lifestyle, he woke up in the middle of the night. With work tomorrow, he didn’t get up, keeping his eyes closed to rest.
At this moment, he heard a soft murmur.
Lin Yue opened his eyes, turning his head towards the sound. In the faint starlight, he could see Gu Jun’s outline, curled up on his side, head buried down, almost touching his kneecap.
Lin Yue got up, lit a fire, crouched down, and looked at Gu Jun.
His hair arrogantly covered his exposed eyes, and through the gaps in the strands, he saw his eyes were red. Lifting the hair, it was wet, as expected, he had been crying.
At this moment, he heard another soft murmur.
Lin Yue leaned in to listen, and perhaps accustomed to Gu Jun’s slightly strange accent, he easily understood what he was murmuring.
“Mom?”
Lin Yue repeated the murmur in confusion, finding it very strange.
Why say this word?
He waited for a while, not hearing any more murmurs, but the tears were increasing, rolling down as if they were free.
Lin Yue sighed, using the inner shirt to wipe away the tears.
“Mom…” he murmured again, releasing the tight grip on the money, grabbing his hand like a water ghost, rubbing his red, wet nose against his fingers, suddenly smiling, no longer crying.
Lin Yue’s movements paused, slowly lowering his eyes, his expression unreadable.