Even though her sleep schedule had been adjusted, Mu Simiao still couldn’t wake up early. By the time she opened her eyes, the father and son beside her had long disappeared. She slowly sat up, draped her outer robe over her shoulders, and walked outside.
As Mu Simiao opened the door, a fragrant aroma immediately wafted toward her. Following the scent to the kitchen, she looked at Qi Yuze who was busy working: “What are you making?”
“Steamed Cake.” Qi Yuze patted the flour off his hands and used the back of his hand to support Yue’er who was slipping down. Mu Simiao walked behind him and took the child, advising him, “When cooking in the future, you can put the child next to me. I’ll watch her.”
Mu Simiao had never said this before. Qi Yuze felt deeply embarrassed and nodded vigorously at her, softly agreeing.
In modern times, people ate White Flour, so this was Mu Simiao’s first time trying Mixed Grain Flour. However, it wasn’t bad—after all, modern restaurants often served whole grain foods, and they were quite expensive.
After two days here, she finally had a full meal. Even the plain water had been replaced with Rice Soup, which was truly a significant improvement.
After eating, drinking, and resting for a while, Mu Simiao got up to clear the remaining weeds in the yard, again picking the edible wild plants and placing them in a bamboo basket.
After moving the weeds outside and spreading them flat, Mu Simiao let out a sigh and looked at the yard that was finally fully visible. She nodded in satisfaction.
Sunlight spilled into the yard. Qi Yuze sat on a stone stool, coaxing and holding the child. The rope on his back drooped to the ground—it really didn’t look convenient.
Mu Simiao slapped her forehead—why not make a stroller for him? Carrying the child like this all the time wasn’t sustainable.
But there was no time today. She tucked the plan away in her mind, turned over the soil in the other half of the plot with a Spade, and set it aside temporarily. In a few days, when the Rapeseed on the other side sprouted, she could transplant them here.
Noon had arrived. Not wanting to hold the child, Mu Simiao put down the Spade and turned toward the kitchen.
The weather was hot and dry, and after finishing farm work, Mu Simiao particularly craved Chicken Shreds Cold Noodles.
She mixed the Mixed Grain Flour into dough. When it reached a medium firmness, she rolled it out with a rolling pin, folded the sheet in half, and used a kitchen knife to cut it into thin strips, setting them aside for later.
Without a refrigerator in ancient times, the half chicken bought yesterday had been hung in the well by Mu Simiao to chill. She retrieved the chicken, cut off the breast portion, and put the rest back.
After adding water to the pot and bringing it to a boil, Mu Simiao put the noodles in. She lit another stove, chopped the chicken breast, and tossed it in to cook. Meanwhile, she prepared the essential sauce—fortunately, she had bought extra seasonings yesterday.
The homemade sesame paste in ancient times wasn’t as smooth as the modern version, but it also meant no preservatives were added.
She took out a bowl, poured in half a bowl of sesame paste, two spoonfuls of light soy sauce, two spoonfuls of Bitter Wine, one spoonful of sugar, a few drops of sesame oil, and a little coarse salt for seasoning.
Since Qi Yuze couldn’t handle spice, she crushed the Cornel and set it aside. By now, the water was boiling. She stirred it once, added cold water, and covered the pot again.
The chicken took a while to cook. Mu Simiao first scooped out the noodles and placed them in a bowl filled with cold water. After cooling them, she divided them into two bowls.
Once the chicken breast was fully cooked, Mu Simiao shredded it into thin strips and added it to the bowls. She poured the sauce over, sprinkled the crushed Cornel on top, and the spicy aroma instantly filled her nostrils. She couldn’t help but swallow her saliva. After mixing it, she took the first bite.
A familiar taste.
Mu Simiao smiled with pursed lips, chewing contentedly. She brought the other bowl to Qi Yuze, set it down in front of him, and said, “Try it.”
Qi Yuze stared at the sticky mass in his bowl, tentatively extended his chopsticks, and picked up a single noodle. The aroma of sesame paste stimulated his taste buds, his eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but take another bite.
Watching him eat so heartily, Mu Simiao felt a sense of accomplishment. She continued eating the noodles from her own bowl.
After finishing the Chicken Shreds Cold Noodles, she didn’t forget about Yue’er. Since young children shouldn’t eat food that’s too hard, and there were no nutritious items like eggs at home, she stir-fried the Mixed Grain Flour in a pan until it turned golden brown. After scooping it out, she mixed it with hot water to form a paste and added some crushed Old Rock Candy.
Qi Yuze had never seen this method before. Holding the child, he stood to the side, waiting for Mu Simiao to hand him the bowl. “You feed her,” she said. “I need to go to work.”
Glancing at the sun high in the sky, she realized the hour of Wei was approaching. Afraid of being late on her first day, Mu Simiao decided to leave early. She took the silver from her money pouch and handed it to Qi Yuze, keeping only fifty wen for herself.
In most households, women managed the finances. When Mu Simiao suddenly passed the money to him, Qi Yuze felt the pouch was as scalding as a hot potato. “Mu Niang…”
“Take it. I’m leaving now.” Mu Simiao didn’t know what he wanted to say; she only knew that if she didn’t leave soon, she would truly be late.
Walking to the market again, Mu Simiao stood panting before the stall. One really needs exercise, she thought. Having lain in bed for too long, she was indeed somewhat physically weak.
“You’re here!” The stall owner grabbed her arm as soon as she arrived. Mu Simiao felt both confused and wary. Just as she was about to struggle free, the stall owner suddenly called out to the young girl beside her, “Tangyuan, watch the stall for me.”
The girl, already grown to resemble an adult despite being only in her teens, stood in the stall owner’s spot and began hawking wares with practiced ease.
Mu Simiao, meanwhile, was pulled by the stall owner into an alley. After a few turns, two Thatched Cottages came into view. The stall owner finally released her arm and stepped into the courtyard.
A shed stood in the yard, beneath which an old man dressed in coarse linen was pouring molten iron from a steel plate into a mold. Using tweezers, he dropped the mold into water, instantly producing a sizzling sound accompanied by a plume of white smoke rising steadily.
“Shen Lang, the Nügongzi I told you about is here,” the stall owner said, pointing toward Mu Simiao. The old man, a man of few words, nodded at her in respect.
“What do you need me to do?” Mu Simiao nodded back at him and turned to the stall owner, who held the authority.
“Just draw the detailed sketches of the hairpin you showed me yesterday. There’s paper and ink here,” the stall owner said, pointing to a wooden stool nearby. “You can call me Granny Liu. There’s water over there—help yourself if you’re thirsty. Don’t stand on ceremony.”
Mu Simiao naturally didn’t hesitate. Although she had never held a job before, she had often seen videos of workers bringing water bottles to fill up at work. She made a mental note to bring a water flask tomorrow.
Though she had initially drawn the diagram for Granny Liu to save money, she had to admit the hairpin’s craftsmanship was quite good, closely matching the design she had sketched.
Only the hollowed-out part had some flaws.
Fortunately, Mu Simiao remembered the detailed diagrams from the museum. She picked up the paper and ink and drew a stack of sketches from multiple angles. Just as she finished and set down her brush, a sudden exclamation sounded beside her.
“Wow! So beautiful!”
Mu Simiao’s fingers trembled, causing the brush tip to veer sharply to the side and blot a patch of ink.
She cast a sidelong glance beside her. The young man seemed to realize he had caused trouble, his face instantly flushing red. After retreating two steps, he shuffled forward and bowed to her: “My apologies, Nügongzi.”
Mu Simiao instinctively responded: “It’s alright.”
But when she saw his face, Mu Simiao froze mid-motion. His features were strikingly similar to her real-world cousin, as if carved from the same mold.
“Haoxuan, this is the new helper our family just hired.” The old man introduced Mu Simiao to the youth, and she nodded in acknowledgment.
“Greetings, Nügongzi. My name is Liu Haoxuan.” The young man stole a glance at her before quickly looking away, lowering his gaze to examine the papers on the table.
Mu Simiao didn’t stop him from looking, even pushing the papers toward him: “Want to see?”
Liu Haoxuan’s face lit up with delight, though he still cautiously glanced at the old man nearby. After receiving a nod of approval, his eyes brightened as he quickly stepped before Mu Simiao, taking the papers to examine them carefully.
The Liu family’s forging techniques were passed down only to women, not men. Liu Haoxuan usually only had the chance to watch from a distance, rarely getting such a close look at design drawings.
His joy was utterly unrestrained. Watching his excitement, Mu Simiao couldn’t help but smile affectionately.
Having sat for too long, Mu Simiao’s legs had gone numb. She stood up and stamped her feet a few times, then took a bowl from the table to fetch some cool water. After drinking it in a few gulps, she approached the old man, watching his skilled movements as he cut jade materials.
Scrap jade pieces were set aside. With nothing else to do, Mu Simiao thought she’d try her hand: “Uncle Shen, may I give it a try?”
Since they were just scrap materials anyway, the old man nodded to her. Mu Simiao then bent down to pick up two small pieces and retrieved two carving knives from the toolbox nearby.
She had never learned carving, though she had practiced sketching for several years. Imitating the old man’s technique, she carefully shaved away at the scrap pieces stroke by stroke. By the time she had carved the rabbit shape that had come to mind, the sky was gradually darkening.
The sound of a cart and cheerful chatter came from outside the gate. When Mu Simiao looked up, Granny Liu was pushing a cart into the courtyard. It seemed closing time had arrived.
Granny Liu released the cart and walked over to the old man, picking up a jade hairpin from the table. She praised: “Excellent, truly exquisite. I’ll take this to the market tomorrow—it should fetch a good price, Nügongzi.”
Mu Simiao was polishing details when she heard Granny Liu address her, remembering she hadn’t introduced herself: “Please just call me Simiao, Granny Liu.”
“Simiao, here is your pay for today.” Granny Liu took ten copper coins from her purse. Mu Simiao accepted them and bid farewell, clutching the small rabbit she had carved earlier.
“Mother, I want to learn this from Father too.”
The young man’s voice came from behind. Mu Simiao couldn’t help overhearing, but Granny Liu’s following words left her somewhat puzzled.
“Learn what! These are things women should learn. You hurry and practice your embroidery, or you might get divorced by your wife in the future…”
Generally speaking, embroidery should be learned by women. Moreover, back at home, Qi Yuze was also doing such work. Could it be that this place was different from typical ancient times?
Passing by a pastry shop, Mu Simiao stopped and used half her earnings to buy several pastries. After having the shopkeeper wrap them up, she leisurely made her way home.
Returning home with lingering doubts, Mu Simiao found no sign of Qi Yuze in the courtyard. Carrying pastries bought on her way back, she pushed open the door to her room. Before she could utter a word, the bewildering scene before her struck her speechless.
Qi Yuze was supporting Yue’er’s back with one hand while using the other to lift a corner of his inner garment. His outer robe hung open and pooled on the floor. His face registered shock, leaving him no time to conceal his current actions—especially since Yue’er was suckling with evident relish, even producing audible sounds.