09: What sort of superstitious nonsense is this?
She looked up and stared intently at the flower wall, but before she could speak, something strange happened again.
A dense swarm of tiny specks of light flickered in front of the flower wall, slowly drawing closer to the rose before vanishing into thin air! She felt an increasing sense of unease; as she concentrated, the specks surged towards the rose at an even faster pace. What sort of old-fashioned superstition is this!
Tao Qinghe broke out in a cold sweat. Surely the rose wouldn’t suck her in too? The thought sent her into a panic, and she tried to turn and run. But the moment the thought crossed her mind, the specks froze mid-air, simply continuing to flicker.
???
Could this thing read minds? She tried to sort out her jumbled thoughts, glancing at the mark that had vanished from between her index fingers, before slowly bringing her hand closer to the wall of roses once more.
There was no reaction at all! Where had she gone wrong? Yet the specks were clearly still there; she frowned in thought.
Suddenly, the light began to surge once more. Tao Qinghe had a sudden realisation: it was her own thoughts that were influencing the light!
At this realisation, she grew excited and concentrated intently, directing the light into the floral wall. As the light surged in, Tao Qinghe felt an inexplicable sense of relief wash over her mind, though exhaustion followed in its wake. She immediately relaxed her mind, gasping for breath to relieve the exhaustion caused by the drain on her energy.
But what exactly was the purpose of this ‘golden finger’? The rosebushes seemed unchanged. Having regained her composure, Tao Qinghe couldn’t help but ponder this, yet she couldn’t make head nor tail of it for ages. She could only set the question aside for the time being.
……
Soon, she returned. The two who had gone to fetch water had not yet returned. Looking at the empty thatched hut, Tao Qinghe decided to look for stones first, intending to build a simple cooking stove.
Before long, she heard voices. She hurried towards the sound.
“Come and pass it to me quickly. You’ve carried it all this way; have a rest. Tao Qinghe held out her hand to take the wooden bucket.
“Sister, move aside quickly—be careful, the water might spill out.” Tao Qingmiao dodged her elder sister’s hand and continued walking forward with the bucket. “Just a couple more steps and we’ll be there.”
“Let Qingmiao carry it; you haven’t fully recovered yet!” Zhao Liniang chimed in.
The Tao sisters had evidently taken after Tao Dalang; they were tall and remarkably strong, so Tao Qingmiao found carrying the wooden bucket quite easy. Seeing this, Tao Qinghe gave up insisting.
Before long, the three of them had reached the pile of stones. Tao Qinghe explained, “We don’t have a proper kitchen, so we’ll just have to make a simple one for now.”
Zhao Liniang nodded. “Qingmiao, have a rest. I’ll start a fire and cook some food.” With that, she set to work.
Setting the earthenware pot containing the washed grain to one side, Zhao Liniang took the flint and began to start a fire. “Did you borrow the flint and water from the Chen family too?” Tao Qinghe asked.
“Yes, your uncle and aunt had just finished their supper, so I borrowed the flint as well,” Zhao Liniang replied.
“It’s lovely to have a well!” Tao Qingmiao said enviously. “Uncle Chen’s well is even bigger than the village’s! Their house is rather grand too—the bricks on the walls look better than those at the village head’s place!”
Goodness! It seems they’re a wealthy family!
Tao Qinghe asked curiously, “Is it really that grand?”
“They say the Chen family’s son struck it rich trading in distant towns these past few years, which is why they’ve built a house and dug a well in the village,” Zhao Liniang said, striking the fire and joining in the conversation.“The Chens used to be terribly poor. It’s only thanks to Manfu’s enterprising spirit—he dared to go to the prefectural town to find work—that the family has prospered in just a couple of years. ’ She sighed as she spoke. “Your Auntie has always been in poor health and has been taking medicine year after year. I went to see her today, and it seems her condition has worsened.”
Tao Qinghe nodded as if she understood, though she remained puzzled: if they’d made such a fortune from trading, why hadn’t they brought their parents to the provincial capital? Wouldn’t that make it easier for them to receive medical care?
……
Once the rice porridge had simmered until soft and creamy, Tao Qinghe gave the bowls and chopsticks a quick wash. Zhao Liniang took the bowls as they were handed to her and filled each one to the brim.
Inhaling the fragrant steam of the porridge, Tao Qingmiao couldn’t help but sigh, “If only we could have rice porridge every day, how happy we’d be!”
Hearing this, Tao Qinghe fell deep in thought. At present, the three of them had no source of income and faced the risk of running out of food; they really must find a way to earn money soon!
With that in mind, she tentatively asked, “Mother, do you know there’s a large patch of roses up on the mountain?”
“Roses?” Zhao Liniang pondered for a moment. “Perhaps your father planted them. A few years back, he brought back several rose bushes from elsewhere, saying they could be used for food.” She furrowed her brow and continued, “Later, when he took them to the city, no one would buy them. He’s a man who cherishes flowers, so I imagine he must have planted them in the mountains.”
Upon hearing this, Tao Qinghe grew excited. So they weren’t wild roses after all, but a variety that could be eaten! A vague idea began to take shape in her mind. Suppressing her excitement, she asked again, “Mother, do you know of any utensil with a flat bottom, like the base of a clay pot?”
Flat like the base of a clay pot… Zhao Liniang searched for a moment and actually found one.
“An iron griddle!”
Such a pan was not commonly seen in Dongtou Village; it was originally found only in the northern regions where people frequently ate flatbreads. Ding Shi, the daughter-in-law of the Li family in the village, had fled from the north with her family years ago, and they were accustomed to using this iron griddle there. Tao Qinghe could exchange a few words with the Li family’s daughter-in-law, and that was how she had come to know of this item.
“Why do you ask about this?”
Tao Qinghe hesitated over whether to speak up, but then thought that as the three of them would be relying on one another from now on, there was no need to keep anything from each other. So she voiced her plan.
“Flower cakes?” Zhao Liniang exclaimed in surprise. “I’ve never heard of such a delicacy…”
“It’s something Father told me long ago.” Tao Qinghe silently apologised to Tao Dalang in her mind, hoping he wouldn’t take offence. She continued, “It was when I used to help Father tend the flowers that he mentioned it to me. I saw those roses whilst gathering firewood, and it reminded me of this treat. As we have no means of earning money at the moment, I thought I’d give it a try.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Li Niang fell silent. She had no trade of her own, nor did she have a wealthy family to rely on like the Qian family. It fell to the eldest daughter to find a way to support the household…
“It’s just that those pastries require quite a lot of sugar and oil. If we’re really going to make them, we’ll need to plan ahead,” Tao Qinghe said.
“We’ve got oil and sugar at home! We can make them!” Seeing her mother say nothing, Zhao Qingmiao immediately spoke up in support of Tao Qinghe.
Seeing that both her sisters agreed, Zhao Liniang gritted her teeth and said, “There’s no other way for the time being. If Qinghe thinks it’s feasible, let’s give it a try.”
The meal was simple, and the three of them finished quickly, saving half for tomorrow’s breakfast. Zhao Liniang sealed the earthenware pot tightly and placed it in water, hoping it wouldn’t spoil.
Once everything was tidied away, Tao Qinghe pulled the other two down to sit, clearly looking as though she had something to say.
“Mother, there are so many things we need to buy right now, and I doubt the pedlar will make his way round to us when he comes into the village.” Besides, the market in Dongtou Village and the neighbouring villages only took place once every few days. Tao Qinghe pondered for a moment before adding, “I’m afraid we’ll have to make a trip to the county town.”
“If we go to the county town, I’m afraid the items will cost a bit more,” Zhao Liniang said, somewhat hesitant.
“But we can’t keep borrowing flint every day, and besides, we need to go to the county town to see if selling pastries is a viable option,” Tao Qinghe urged.
Hearing this, Zhao Liniang no longer hesitated. “Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“But our household registration hasn’t been finalised yet. Do you know if we’re allowed to go to the county town, Mother?”
“We can go. I’ve been there a few times with your father in the past,” Zhao Liniang replied.
Tao Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t expected the regulations in this regard to be so lax; this made things considerably easier for her.