When Song Tingzhou returned, he saw the book in Meng Wan’s hand.
There are literate young gers and women in the town, but very few of them buy these things. However, the fact that Manager Huang has stocked them means that there is still a customer base.
”The second mistress of the Zhao family, the young master of the Fang family, and the young master Zhang who just left—these people always patronize our shop whenever we get new stock,” Boss Huang said with a smile.
His family’s shop was left to him by his father, so there was no rent, and it was the only one in the whole town, so there was no competition. When he had free time, he would go to the prefectural city to buy some books for leisure, not only to sell, but also to read himself.
”If you like it, buy one too.” Song Tingzhou had never read this kind of book, but he had occasionally heard Zhang Jizu mention it. It was just about love between men and women, nothing worth reading.
But if Meng Wan wants to read it, he can buy a copy.
Meng Wan shook his head violently, “No, no, no, I still prefer reading your Three Character Classic.”
Shopkeeper Huang took out some coins from behind the counter for them. Upon hearing this, he exclaimed in surprise, “So, young ger, you really can read? Then these erotic pictures were really made by you?”
Meng Wan accepted the coins without checking them, and handed them directly to Song Tingzhou, asking him to wrap them up.
”I learned a little bit in my early years, and I wanted to sell a few pictures at the fair to supplement my family income, but Manager Huang laughed at me.”
Shopkeeper Huang smiled knowingly at his actions, “Young boy, aren’t you going to count them? If they’re missing, I won’t take responsibility.”
Meng Wan cupped his hands in greeting to him, “Manager Huang, you’re too kind. You run a shop and are on good terms with my cousin, how could you possibly embezzle a few coins from me, your junior?”
”Hahaha.” Manager Huang laughed heartily.
“Young man, you’re a straightforward person, so I won’t beat around the bush either. There’s a lantern festival in town on the fifteenth of the first lunar month. In previous years, my shop made some lanterns to sell, all of them the most basic designs. But when I saw your paintings, I was quite amazed. I wonder if you’ll still be selling paintings after the New Year?”
Meng Wan’s heart stirred, and he turned to look at Song Tingzhou.
”Go ahead and draw if you want.” Song Tingzhou was secretly delighted that Meng Wan would ask for his opinion, but he didn’t show it on his face.
Meng Wan pondered for a moment, then asked Manager Huang, “What kind of painting does Manager Huang want? I’ve only learned a few small skills; anything too difficult might be…”
Shopkeeper Huang smiled and said, “Young man, don’t worry. The snake paintings you sold today are quite adorable. This kind will do.”
Meng Wan understood. “Then I get it.” It’s the cute type, right?
Meng Wan and Manager Huang agreed that Meng Wan would come over on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year to paint lanterns. By then, the workers he had hired had already pasted the lanterns on, and all that was left was to paint on them. In previous years, the lanterns were painted with the simplest lotus flowers, but this year there were more designs, so they could sell them for a few more coins.
Everything would have to wait until Meng Wan finished painting on the sixth day of the lunar new year, and then Manager Huang would estimate the price before they could calculate the payment.
After finishing their business, Meng Wan was eager to go to the fair, and he was also a little worried about how Chang Jinhua’s business was going.
He and Song Tingzhou said goodbye to Manager Huang and searched for someone along the main street.
”Wait a minute.” Passing by a steamed bun shop, Song Tingzhou stopped to buy some steamed buns.
Meng Wan suddenly realized, “That makes sense. Aunt and the two of them were busy making tofu all night, and none of them had eaten. She definitely wouldn’t have bought food outside, so she must still be hungry.”
Then he was handed a steamed bun.
Meng Wan, holding a steamed bun, glanced at the basket on Song Tingzhou’s back.
”What’s wrong? Not enough to eat? There are other foods on the street. I’m afraid you won’t be able to eat anything else later,” Song Tingzhou explained earnestly.
Meng Wan looked helpless. “You only bought me steamed buns? What about yours? What about Auntie’s?”
Song Tingzhou said, “Mother should have finished selling the tofu a long time ago. She went back and took Dazhu’s oxcart. She should be almost home by now. I had a bowl of soy milk this morning, so I’m not too hungry yet.”
Meng Wan took a bite of the steamed bun, his mouth instantly filled with the aroma of meat. He thought to himself, how could he not be hungry? He was just trying to save a few coins. Song Tingzhou usually seemed dull, but he was actually quite thrifty.
Then he thought that Chang Jinhua had already gone home, so he must have gone out of his way to buy me the steamed buns.
Calling him a fool wouldn’t be accurate.
The two walked from one end of the street to the other, and there were far fewer people than in the morning, so at least they didn’t have to squeeze through the crowds.
After wandering around for a while, they didn’t see Chang Jinhua and Aunt Song. Instead, they met up with Man Ge’er and Dali. The two of them were squeezing into the crowd around the circus troupe to watch the excitement.
”Wan-ge’er, where did you set up your stall? Dali and I have been looking for ages but we can’t find it.” Man-ge’er said to them while keeping his eyes glued to the circus troupe in front of him.
Meng Wan joked with him, “You probably didn’t find us among the variety show troupes, did you?”
Mange blushed, “No, I really went to look elsewhere. You can ask Dali if you don’t believe me.”
Dali chimed in, “We drove around the streets for a while and saw your tofu stall. My mother and aunt were selling tofu and there were a lot of people around. They sold out quickly. Later, my father sold all his eggs and then took your tofu stall in Dazhu’s cart.”
Meng Wan asked, “Where did they go? I haven’t seen them at all?”
Mange said, “My aunt and my mother went to buy New Year’s goods. Salt, sugar, fruit and all sorts of things. They were afraid of being robbed because there were too many things. They went back after they finished buying them.”
”Oh, I see.”
Just as Song Tingzhou said.
Meng Wan then asked, “Are you still going to shop around? My cousin and I haven’t gone anywhere yet.”
Mange and his husband had been wandering around for most of the day, and now they were so captivated by the acrobatic performance that they couldn’t tear themselves away. “I’m a little tired, shall I wait for you here?”
Meng Wan didn’t force them, “Okay, we’ll come find you here after we finish shopping.”
After parting ways with Xiaoman, Meng Wan was actually quite tired. However, he had been trapped in the village for more than half a year since arriving in this era. Today, he was fortunate enough to attend a market, so although his body was tired, his spirits were high.
The streets are full of vendors making sugar figurines and selling candied hawthorns. Sugar figurines are purely sweet, which Meng Wan doesn’t really like. Candied hawthorns are sweet and sour, so he might as well buy a skewer to try.
He only glanced at it a couple of times before Song Tingzhou noticed. He took out his money pouch from his pocket, called out to the vendor selling candied hawthorns, handed him two coins, and said to Meng Wan, “Take whichever skewer you like.”
Meng Wan picked out what he thought were the biggest and reddest skewers, and after the vendor pushed the cart away, without taking the first bite himself, he handed one to Song Tingzhou, asking, “Want some?”
He wasn’t heartless. Although he was more attached to Chang Jinhua and didn’t have any feelings for Song Tingzhou beyond that of a family member, he treated him like his fiancé, so he couldn’t just ignore him, or it would be too hurtful.
Song Tingzhou lowered his head to the side. Because he had been busy for half a day and was always squeezed in the crowd, his hair was a little loose, with a strand hanging down to the side of his face, making the lines of his profile softer.
He was quite good-looking, with well-defined facial features and a sculpted appearance. Because he spent many years studying in town and traveling back and forth with his family, his skin wasn’t very fair, but it wasn’t dark either. He was tall and slender, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, handsome and possessing the scholarly air unique to intellectuals.
But what he said still spoiled the mood: “No, it’s broad daylight, and we’re not married yet. We can’t be so frivolous.”
Realizing he had misunderstood, he quickly added, “I didn’t mean you were frivolous, it was me…”
”Never mind, I’ll eat it myself.” Meng Wan withdrew his hand holding the candied hawthorn without expression.
He truly deserves to be a lonely widow forever!
The streets are mostly filled with food stalls. The town is small, and the only entertainment is the show that Man Ge’er and his husband watch. There aren’t even any opera singers. When the local gentry have a wedding, they send people to the county town to invite opera troupes.
After wandering around for a while, Meng Wan decided not to stay any longer and went to the cloth shop in town before leaving.
Song Tingzhou followed behind him like a timid wife, no longer daring to say anything that might anger him.
There are two cloth shops in town, but there are many private stalls selling cloth outside. Meng Wan also looked around outside. The quality of the cloth sold by the stalls varied, and it was only one or two coins cheaper than the cloth sold in the cloth shops.
Meng Wan casually entered a fabric shop near the acrobatic troupe, and could faintly hear the cheers of the crowd. Having seen all kinds of song and dance performances and TV dramas in his previous life, he wasn’t interested in this kind of acrobatics, but he could understand that nowadays, there weren’t many entertainment activities available, and occasionally watching a play or listening to a song was a rare form of entertainment.
When a landlord celebrates his birthday and hires an opera troupe, people from all around want to see it; the more people there are, the more lively it is.
Just like the gatherings now, bustling with people, the children are wearing patched cotton-padded clothes, but that doesn’t stop them from smiling and looking forward to the New Year.
The cloth shop was also crowded today, and it was clear that the cloth shop was more profitable than the bookstore. There were two waiters busy serving customers.
The owners were busy cutting fabric for the customers, and Meng Wan and Song Tingzhou stood there for a while before the waiter had a chance to serve them.
”Gentlemen, what kind of fabric would you like to see? Is it for making clothes or quilts?”
The waiter asked Song Tingzhou, but Song Tingzhou didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Meng Wan, who had been ignoring him.
”For making clothes, the color should be darker.”
Meng Wan was still wearing his old indigo cotton-padded jacket today. After washing it several times, the color had faded a bit and it was torn in some places. Chang Jinhua had even patched it up for him twice.
The customers in the shop were all dressed neatly, at least in newly made coarse cloth clothes, while Meng Wan’s outfit was rather shabby.
When the waiter saw that this young ger was in charge, his smile didn’t fade.
”Look over here, this is coarse cloth. Our cloth shop dyes the fabric evenly, and there are many colors. It costs 150 coins a bolt, enough to make a complete outfit, with some left over.”
He didn’t say it aloud, but he had already automatically categorized Meng Wan in his mind and even agreed on a price beforehand. The cloth stalls outside the gathering were cheaper than usual today, so agreeing on a price beforehand would prevent them from getting into a fight over a few coins later.
This waiter, used to doing business, had actually figured out a set of experiences in dealing with people.
Meng Wan carefully touched the cloth and looked at the colors. The only darker colors were dark purple, brown, and dark blue. Black didn’t count; unless there was a funeral in the family, almost no normal person would buy black or white cloth to make clothes. Wearing it and passing by someone’s door would get them cursed.
”May I ask how much the fine cotton cloth costs, young man?”
The waiter led them to a more crowded area on the other side, saying, “These are all cotton fabrics, with more colors than coarse cloth, and the material is also softer.”
Fine cotton cloth was displayed in the very center of the shop, occupying a large area, indicating that most of the town’s residents usually bought fine cotton cloth.
Meng Wan took a closer look and found that there were indeed many colors. The dark purple of the coarse cloth looked like something an elderly woman in her seventies or eighties would wear, while the purplish-red of the fine cotton cloth looked like purple had been mixed with smoky pink, which was perfect for women in their thirties or forties.
Meng Wan immediately took a liking to the piece of fabric. He first asked Song Tingzhou behind him, “Is this fabric for Aunt Song to make clothes?”
Without even glancing at the piece of cloth, Song Tingzhou hastily agreed, “Very good.”
Meng Wan looked at him suspiciously, his eyes filled with distrust.
Is he just giving me the runaround?
Song Tingzhou, not understanding his meaning, felt uneasy seeing that Meng Wan remained silent, so he added, “My mother wears old clothes from previous years. She hasn’t had new clothes made for many years, and I don’t know what colors she likes.”
Meng Wan thought to himself: It’s pointless to ask; I still have to make the decision myself.
”Waiter, how much is this piece of crimson cloth?”
Seeing that Meng Wan seemed genuinely interested in buying cotton cloth, the waiter’s smile deepened. “The ten types of fine cotton cloth here are all 400 coins per bolt. The crimson one you see here has a more intricate design than the others, and it’s 450 coins per bolt.”
Meng Wan hissed. No wonder everyone in the village buys coarse cloth, and no one ever buys fine cotton cloth. It’s really expensive.
He had worked hard these past few days and spent most of the day hawking his wares in the alley, only to earn about 3,800 coins, after deducting 300 to 400 coins for his initial investment.
But thinking of the care Chang Jinhua had always given him, Meng Wan gritted his teeth, stretched out his hand, and said, “Cousin, pay up.”
So after leaving the cloth shop, Song Tingzhou found a piece of crimson cloth in his basket.
”Is everything else alright?” Meng Wan couldn’t help but ask Song Tingzhou again.
Song Tingzhou said, “They’re selling decorative knotted cords at the stall—want to buy a couple for fun?”
”Do you like it? If you like it, buy it. I don’t like wearing it.” Meng Wan wasn’t interested in that thing, but he noticed that Zhang Jizu seemed to have it hanging around his waist.
Song Tingzhou was silent for a moment. He didn’t know what Meng Wan liked. He had only asked him because he saw many young gers and women picking out knotted nets at a stall. He never expected that the question would be thrown back at him.
”Let’s go to the pastry shop and buy some fruit. Over the years, Mother has been reluctant to eat or wear anything nice.”
Sure enough, as soon as Chang Jinhua was mentioned, Meng Wan said without hesitation, “Let’s go then, isn’t that a pastry shop up ahead?”
When it comes to food, Meng Wan also gets hungry, but unfortunately he’s short of money. He thinks about how to save money every day, since he has a school student to support.
The snack shops in town offer simple items: rice cakes, jujube cakes, layered cakes, mung bean cakes, and pea flour cakes—all easy to make.
Meng Wan likes sweets, but unfortunately he has never studied how to make pastries. He only vaguely remembers that birthday cakes are made by whipping egg whites, but he doesn’t know what the next steps are.
He couldn’t help but feel extremely regretful at this moment. If only he had gone to New Oriental back then, he could have easily made some milk tea and modern pastries and maybe they would have become popular throughout the entire Yu Kingdom!
”Boss, give me a pound of rice cake and a pound of layered cake.”
Meng Wan had asked about the prices; the cheapest rice cake was 20 wen per jin, more expensive than meat. He wanted the layered cake the most, which cost 45 wen per jin. Since it was the New Year, he decided to get a jin of each.
After leaving the pastry shop, Song Tingzhou found that he had lost another sixty-five coins from his purse. The two packets of pastries weighed only two jin (approximately 1 kg), which wasn’t much, but Meng Wan felt they were quite heavy, probably because he had spent more money.