After finishing his meal, Ruan Jian sent Ruan Su ashore to continue his work. Ruan Su, carrying a basket in one hand and his shoes in the other, walked barefoot through the mud back home.
Zhou Mei was waiting in the main room. Ruan Su scooped some water from the vat to wash his feet before running back inside. As he ate from his rice bowl, he eagerly recounted the big business deal with An Tuoyan to Zhou Mei.
“That’s quite a lot,” Zhou Mei remarked with a smile. “I was wondering why you bought so much flour when we still had some at home. This afternoon, knead the dough and start frying the sanzi. Oh, and remember to ask Brother Li to deliver more chestnuts, at least fifteen pounds.”
Ruan Su took a bite of the fatty, oily cured pork and replied, “Got it, I’ll tell him in a bit.”
Zhou Mei nodded, saying no more.
After their meal, Li Shu arrived with the chestnuts. As Ruan Su settled the bill, he said to Li Shu, “Uncle Li, could you please deliver twenty pounds of chestnuts tomorrow?”
Li Shu was surprised and teased, “Wow, your business is really booming.”
Ruan Su chuckled, “Oh, it’s all thanks to you, Uncle Li. I met a customer who wants a lot, so I have to be prepared.”
“You’re quite the talker,” Li Shu said, waving his hand. “Alright, I’ll bring twenty pounds tomorrow.”
Chestnuts on the market were seven coins per pound, but Li Shu sold them to Ruan Su for six coins. After thanking Li Shu, Ruan Su turned back to start preparing the sanzi.
Normally, he made only sixty chestnut cakes, ten pounds of sanzi, and eight pounds of glutinous rice sticks each day. This was partly due to a lack of manpower and partly out of fear that they wouldn’t sell. Oil, salt, and sugar were all expensive, and wasting them would keep Ruan Su awake for a month with worry.
In the afternoon, with the sun shining just right, Ruan Su and Zhou Mei moved the Eight Immortals table into the courtyard and laid a clean, oiled wooden board on top.
Ruan Su wiped the board clean and applied a layer of fried sesame oil before placing the rested dough from the wooden basin onto it.
With flour-dusted hands, Ruan Su and Zhou Mei each pinched off a piece of dough, rolling it into long strips. They then cut the strips into uniform pieces and rolled them into long, chopstick-thick strands to let them rise further.
After two quarters of an hour, the risen strands had softened. The two of them rolled the strands into noodle-thin pieces, wrapping them around four fingers of the left hand seven or eight times. Finally, they removed the loops, inserted chopsticks at both ends, and gently pulled to stretch the loops.
Seeing that they were almost done, Zhou Mei said, “I’ll go start the fire and heat the oil. You hurry up and start frying.”
Ruan Su nodded, quickly finishing the remaining strands, shaping them, and placing some loops on the flour-dusted board before hurrying to the kitchen.
The iron pot held a small amount of sesame oil. A liter of sesame oil cost twelve coins, and frying ten pounds of sanzi required two liters of oil.
The first time Zhou Mei learned how much sesame oil was needed to fry sanzi, she thought it was expensive. However, Ruan Su felt fortunate that the Great Yu oil mill now sold vegetable oil, making sesame oil reasonably priced compared to the fifty coins per liter sesame oil.
Each loop dropped into the oil pot with a sizzle. Because they contained eggs, the dough quickly puffed up, turning into intertwined golden threads.
Zhou Mei went to the main room to fetch the remaining loops and found a basket lined with white cloth for Ruan Su to place the fried sanzi in.
They made forty pounds of sanzi, working non-stop from late noon until just before dark. Around the early evening, Ruan Su continued frying sanzi while Zhou Mei went to the fields to watch over the harvested rice, preventing theft.
Ruan Jian, bent over with a load of rice on his back, worried about the rice falling. He made several trips back and forth, the grass ropes binding the load to his back, soaking his chest and back with sweat.
After a long day of work, the three of them were exhausted. They hastily ate dinner and then washed up before heading to their rooms.
Ruan Su had kneaded over thirty pounds of dough and stood bent over frying sanzi all day. As soon as he lay down, he felt his arms ache and his back finally relax. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
“Ruan ge’er is really capable.”
In the main house, Zhou Mei talked to Ruan Jian about Matchmaker Liu. She mumbled, “Old Ruan, do you think Ruan ge’er really wants to find a husband?”
Having worked alongside Ruan Su all afternoon, Zhou Mei was also very tired, but she was happy to have helped him. Ever since marrying Ruan Jian, she had felt like a burden because she couldn’t do heavy work.
Ruan Jian remained silent for a moment before saying, “It’s up to him. If he really wants to find a husband, he should find a good one and save up some money over the next few years.”
Zhou Mei looked at the old beams of the house, blinking, and agreed, “Yes, we should find a good one for Ruan ge’er.”
Although Ruan Su was their adopted child, the couple knew him well. Ruan Su was always busy making food to sell and helped Ruan Jian with the farm work whenever he had time.
“Ruan ge’er gave me a hundred coins today,” Zhou Mei said. “I’ve calculated that just this year, the money Ruan ge’er has given us amounts to three taels of silver.”
Since the beginning of the year, Ruan Su had occasionally given Zhou Mei some silver.
The household expenses weren’t much, and knowing Zhou Mei was frugal, Ruan Su often bought meat or other items after selling goods in Jinguan City. Zhou Mei didn’t spend much money.
“Hmm,” Ruan Jian mumbled with his eyes closed. “Save it all for Ruan ge’er.”
Zhou Mei agreed, and the two of them soon fell asleep.
The next morning, at dawn, Ruan Su prepared breakfast. After the family ate, Ruan Jian went to fetch water to fill the two large vats at home, then took his basket and sickle to harvest rice.
Ruan Su began preparing the glutinous rice sticks.
He mixed maltose with water and heated it until fully dissolved. Then, he poured the hot syrup into the glutinous rice flour, stirring it into a fibrous texture. Ruan Su tested the dough’s temperature, and when it was no longer too hot to handle, he kneaded it into a dough.
Glutinous rice sticks were more expensive than sanzi because they required sugar, and glutinous rice flour was less abundant than wheat flour, costing two coins more per pound.
While Ruan Su was busy, Zhou Mei was also occupied. She used a knife to score a cross on each chestnut shell. Once all the chestnuts were ready, she boiled them, then peeled and mashed them into a fine chestnut paste.
Making glutinous rice sticks wasn’t difficult. The rested dough was cut into finger-thick strips, fried over low heat until golden, and finally coated with heated maltose glaze.
As Ruan Su finished the glutinous rice sticks, Zhou Mei steamed the freshly peeled chestnut meat until soft, then mashed it into a paste with a pestle.
Glutinous rice sticks were expensive, but chestnut cakes were even more so because honey was added to the chestnut paste, and the dough for the filling required a mix of honey and ghee. Finally, the filling was wrapped in the dough, and both sides of the cake were brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
“Ruan ge’er, you can put them in the clay oven now.”
Seeing that Ruan Su was nearly done with the glutinous rice sticks, Zhou Mei urged, “I’ll start the fire, and you keep an eye on the time. Don’t forget.”
After all, losing even one chestnut cake would be a significant loss, and the oven could bake thirty chestnut cakes at a time.
“Alright.”
Ruan Su responded, quickening his pace.
The clay oven Zhou Mei mentioned was a “clay oven” Ruan Su had spent nearly two months creating. During that time, he wasted a lot of flour trying to control the oven’s temperature. Now, only Ruan Su could skillfully manage the baking time with the oven.
The chestnut cakes needed to be flipped after half a quarter of an hour to ensure even heating, resulting in a crispy exterior and a soft, delicate interior.
Using bamboo tongs, Ruan Su flipped each chestnut cake, waited another half a quarter, then opened the oven. The entire courtyard was filled with the overpowering aroma of chestnuts mixed with sesame. Ruan Su took a deep breath, unable to stop himself from swallowing twice.
Baking one hundred and fifty chestnut cakes required five rounds. By the time all the chestnut cakes were baked, the day was nearly over.
The next day, Ruan Su packed the chestnut cakes into his basket, the glutinous rice sticks and sanzi into cloth bags. Ruan Jian carried two cloth bags and accompanied Ruan Su to the village entrance to catch the ox cart.
They encountered Old Man Luo and a few others heading to the fields. Luo Yong greeted them warmly, “Uncle Ruan, Ruan ge’er, good morning.”
“Uncle Luo, Brother Luo, Brother Yong, good morning,” Ruan Su replied with a smile. “Heading out to harvest rice so early.”
Luo Yong responded, “Haha, yes.”
As they parted ways and reached the village entrance, Ruan Jian asked where they would be trading. Ruan Su replied, “I’ve arranged to meet Boss An outside the city, so I won’t have to go into the city and won’t get too tired.”
Ruan Jian, always a man of few words, simply said, “Be careful,” and helped Ruan Su load the goods onto the ox cart before heading back.
Because there were so many fragile items, Ruan Su bought two seats, using one solely for the cloth bags. After all, it would be a shame if the goods were returned due to poor appearance.
The ox cart stopped outside Jinguan City, and Ruan Su immediately spotted the caravan of Hu merchants. At a glance, there were seven or eight horse-drawn carriages, with about thirty Hu merchants bustling around. An Tuoyan was directing people to load boxes when he noticed Ruan Su preparing to disembark and quickly brought two men over to help with the goods.
“Boss An, please check everything,” Ruan Su said. “The glutinous rice sticks can last ten to fifteen days, the sanzi can last a month, and the chestnut cakes are best eaten within seven days. Remember to seal the cloth bag each time you take some out, or store them in a ceramic jar or wooden box sealed with oilcloth to keep them dry for longer.”
“Thank you for the reminder, young proprietor. I trust your integrity.”
After transferring the items from the cloth bags, An Tuoyan returned the bags and basket to Ruan Su and cheerfully settled the remaining balance.
Holding the two taels of silver and a hundred coins, Ruan Su squinted and smiled, feeling that the hibiscus flowers by the roadside smelled even sweeter.
“Boss An, you’re so generous,” Ruan Su said sweetly. “Next time you’re in Jinguan City, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
An Tuoyan nodded, but as someone urged him, he signaled to Ruan Su and returned to the carriage. Soon, the group was on their way, driving the carriages away.
Inside one of the carriages, a Hu merchant eagerly opened a bag and took out a chestnut cake to taste. In the Hu language, he said, “The taste hasn’t changed, it’s really delicious.”
Another agreed, “But there are only one hundred and fifty of them. They’ll be gone once we share them.”
“Ah Chu will definitely love these chestnut cakes. It would be great if she could try them.”
An Tuoyan chuckled, picking up a piece of sanzi and chewing it. “It’s not like we can’t get more. We’ll just find the young proprietor again for the next trade.”
~
With so much to carry today, Ruan Su hadn’t brought his money jar. He carefully placed the silver into his money pouch and tucked it into his chest. He was planning to return home to help Ruan Jian with the harvest, but then he remembered that the honey, flour, and glutinous rice flour at home had been used up yesterday.
Even if he didn’t sell cakes tomorrow, he still needed to restock. He also planned to buy some fresh meat, so he headed back into Jinguan City with his basket.
Ruan Su was skilled at bargaining, and since he often bought flour and glutinous rice flour, the rice shop owner would give him a discount of two or three coins per bushel.
As for honey, it was quite expensive at thirty-five coins per liter in the shop, so he decided to stroll around the street to see if he could find a better deal.
Today, luck was on his side. Ruan Su spotted an old man by the Jin River selling honey for only thirty coins per liter. His eyes lit up, and he rushed over to buy two liters.
After placing the bamboo tube filled with honey into his basket, Ruan Su was pleased with his bargain. Just as he walked about ten feet away, his view suddenly darkened, and he bumped into a “wall of flesh.”
Stumbling back a couple of steps, Ruan Su steadied himself and frowned, carefully examining the person he had collided with. It was a man around twenty years old with phoenix eyes, a high nose bridge, thin lips, and sharp eyebrows. His facial features were cold and hard, and he was more than half a head taller than Ruan Su.
Although he wore coarse linen clothes, his height made him seem quite imposing.
He was handsome, but his eyesight seemed questionable.
Ruan Su grumbled inwardly, not wanting to cause trouble. He tried to walk around the man, but another shadow fell in front of him.
Looking up, he saw the man blocking his way again. Resisting the urge to curse, Ruan Su changed direction, but no matter where he went, the man insisted on blocking him.
After three or five attempts, Ruan Su couldn’t hold back any longer. He forced a smile and said, “Brother, why are you blocking my way?”
The man’s dark eyes fixed on Ruan Su. He pointed to the easily overlooked straw marker on his collar and asked expressionlessly, “Selling myself to bury my father. Are you buying?”
Ruan Su: …
Author’s Note:
Ruan ge’er: I haven’t even had a chance to warm up the silver I just got!
Qin Yunxiao: Buy me, buy me, please buy me [I’m begging you]