The cloth shops in the Eastern Market had always done exceptionally good business.
Lin Shanyue browsed through the selections for a long while. In the end, she couldn’t bear to spend the money on ready-made clothes. Instead, she bought three bolts of figured gauze and one bolt of patterned brocade, spending a total of five taels of silver. The expense made her heart ache.
Still, buying fabric was more economical. Leftover scraps could be used to sew pouches and other small items, making it a better value than finished garments.
She also bought fabric for Xiaobao. Winter was approaching, and both of them needed thicker clothes. Fortunately, firewood and charcoal at home weren’t a concern, so they wouldn’t have to worry about freezing through the winter.
After buying the cloth, she naturally needed a sewing basket. The set included all the essential tools and cost another three qian of silver. If she hadn’t been free from worrying about food thanks to her current circumstances, she never would have dared spend so extravagantly.
As she thought about this, she also began looking for something the Mirror Spirit might like.
The young master had said that pottery, porcelain, and jade all worked. Jade was far beyond her means for now, so after browsing for quite some time, she chose a small ceramic figurine of a cat official.
Cat officials were the most fashionable household pets of the dynasty, beloved by the upper class. Though the ornament wasn’t large, it still cost six qian of silver.
After gritting her teeth, Lin Shanyue bought it anyway, intending to bring it home.
She wandered through the Eastern Market a while longer, and before she knew it, the basket in her hand was once again full.
Guangde Ward was quite far from the Eastern Market. Every time she came here, she eventually had to hire a mule cart to return. This was why nearly every household in the imperial capital owned a carriage. At the very least, they kept a mule or an ox.
But with her current finances, owning one was simply out of the question.
Just as a driver pulled up and she was about to climb aboard, an astonished voice suddenly called out behind her.
“You?!”
Lin Shanyue turned around, and her heart sank.
It was someone from the Jiang family—an older servant woman who appeared to be out buying supplies.
The moment the woman saw her face, her expression became even more shocked.
“It really is you! So you’re still in the capital?!”
Lin Shanyue’s heartbeat quickened, though she kept her expression calm.
“You must have mistaken me for someone else. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The servant frowned.
“You don’t remember me? Impossible.”
Even if Lin Shanyue did remember her, she could only pretend otherwise.
Just then, the driver urged impatiently,
“Miss, are you getting on or not?”
“I’m coming.”
Gathering up her skirts, Lin Shanyue climbed aboard without giving the servant another glance.
The woman stared after the departing cart for a moment before suddenly turning and hurrying back the way she’d come.
Lin Shanyue felt uneasy.
She had always known that if she remained in the imperial capital, sooner or later she would cross paths with someone from the Jiang family.
But when that day actually arrived, she still couldn’t help feeling nervous.
She had no desire to become the Marquis’s lost daughter, nor did she wish to become enemies with the Jiangs.
She only hoped they would leave her alone.
Each side should mind its own business.
After returning home, the first thing Lin Shanyue did was pick up Xiaobao.
For some reason, the usually well-behaved child was crying uncontrollably today.
She heard him before she even reached the courtyard gate, startling her so badly that she nearly dropped her basket.
She rushed inside.
Aunt Pang was frantically trying to soothe him. Seeing Lin Shanyue was like seeing a savior.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re finally back…”
Xiaobao’s cheeks were flushed red from crying, his tiny brows knitted tightly together.
It felt as though someone had stabbed Lin Shanyue’s heart.
She quickly took him into her arms.
“Xiaobao, what’s wrong? Don’t cry…”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into him today. He was perfectly fine just a little while ago, then suddenly started crying. I fed him at noon too…”
Strangely enough, the moment Xiaobao was back in Lin Shanyue’s embrace and caught her familiar scent, he immediately calmed down.
His sobbing gradually ceased.
“It’s alright, Auntie. He probably just missed me.”
Patting Xiaobao gently on the back, she smiled reassuringly.
Aunt Pang let out a relieved sigh.
“That must be it. Children this young can’t bear to be apart from their mothers. Poor little thing…”
Lin Shanyue’s heart ached as well.
After chatting with Aunt Pang for another moment, she carried Xiaobao home.
Once they were back, Xiaobao stopped crying altogether.
Holding him on the bed, Lin Shanyue gently rocked him.
“What happened, Xiaobao? Why were you crying all of a sudden?”
Xiaobao looked at her with teary eyes, pouting pitifully.
She stroked his little face.
“You couldn’t really have missed me that much, could you?”
Even saying it made her feel bittersweet.
The child truly had a hard fate.
He was so beautiful—she couldn’t imagine what kind of heartless parents could have abandoned him.
Though they had only been together for a few short days, she already felt deeply connected to him.
Once she’d decided to adopt him, she’d also accepted the responsibility of being his mother.
The problem was…
She had no experience raising children.
And her current situation was far from ideal.
If she stayed home to care for Xiaobao full-time, she wouldn’t be able to earn any money.
Yet leaving him behind every day wasn’t easy either.
“…Mama!”
Suddenly, a clear but childish voice snapped Lin Shanyue out of her thoughts.
Xiaobao had spoken.
He had called her Mama.
Lin Shanyue froze.
“Xiaobao… what did you call me?”
Her face filled with shock and joy.
“Lia… Ah-Liang…”
Having only just begun to speak, Xiaobao couldn’t distinguish between niang (“mother”) and liang, but it was enough to make Lin Shanyue burst into laughter.
She laughed for a few moments—
Then tears suddenly streamed down her face.
She couldn’t even explain why.
It was simply a mixture of overwhelming emotions that she couldn’t suppress.
Seeing his mother cry, Xiaobao immediately crawled over on all fours.
Stretching out his tiny hands, he carefully wiped away her tears.
“Lia… don’t… cry…”
After calming herself down, Lin Shanyue was amazed.
She hadn’t realized Xiaobao could already say so many words.
At that very moment, Huo Yi returned and picked up the mirror.
The first thing he saw was both mother and son in tears.
He blinked in surprise and blurted out,
“Hey! What’s going on? Who bullied you?”
Only then did Lin Shanyue realize the bronze mirror was still in front of her.
Embarrassed, she hurriedly wiped away her tears and turned her face aside.
“It’s nothing… No one bullied me…”
“Then why are you crying?”
Huo Yi couldn’t understand.
In his mind, the only explanation was that the young girl had been cheated while doing business.
He was just about to think of a way to help when Lin Shanyue suddenly smiled and said,
“Xiaobao called me ‘Mother’ today. I became a little emotional. I must have made a fool of myself in front of you, Young Master.”
Huo Yi: “…”
Now that she had recovered, Lin Shanyue quickly took out the ornament she’d bought during the day.
“I spent quite a bit on cloth today. While passing a shop, I saw this. It’s small, but rather delicate. I wondered whether you might like it.”
Huo Yi glanced at it once and immediately exclaimed,
“Isn’t this a Maneki-neko—a Lucky Cat?!”
“A what cat?”
Lin Shanyue only knew it as a cat official. She had never heard the name “Lucky Cat.”
Huo Yi hurriedly asked her to pass it through the mirror so he could inspect it more closely.
That adorable expression.
That raised paw waving people over.
No doubt about it.
“Haha! Maybe someone from Japan saw one during the Tang Dynasty and got the inspiration from it…”
He chuckled before explaining patiently,
“This ornament is called a Lucky Cat. Look at its raised paw. Doesn’t it look like it’s beckoning wealth and good fortune into your home?”
Lin Shanyue considered it carefully.
Now that he mentioned it…
It really did.
She couldn’t help smiling.
Her smiling face was suddenly so close that Huo Yi found himself staring in a daze.
Almost unconsciously, he reached out and touched the mirror.
A strange thought crossed his mind.
Objects could pass through…
Could he perhaps pass through as well?
Apparently not.
Not only couldn’t he—
The edge of the mirror pricked his fingertip.
“Tsk!”
It actually hurt.
A drop of blood welled up and dripped onto the mirror.
Lin Shanyue jumped.
“Young Master! What happened?!”
She had just felt the mirror shake violently.
Instinctively, she reached out to steady it—
Only to prick her own finger as well.
Another drop of blood landed on the mirror.
Then…
Something strange happened.
The surface of the mirror suddenly rippled.
For the first time, Lin Shanyue saw the face of a man appear within it.
He was astonishingly handsome.
But from the way he was dressed, it was immediately obvious that he wasn’t from her era.
Lin Shanyue’s eyes widened in shock.