Chapter 18The kitchen made six kinds of pastries altogether—jujube and yam cake, mugwort cake, turnip cake, yellow millet cold cake, chestnut and walnut cake, and black sesame cake. Mrs. Jiang even found a large red food box patterned with crabapple blossoms and packed everything up for her daughter.Goodness, Yingniang had thought she was bringing a lot, but when she went to the girls' school the next day, she saw that Zhuang Yumian had brought crystal hawthorn cake and dragon-phoenix reunion cake—both extremely exquisite—packed into two full food boxes. She realized that what she'd thought was extravagant was only middling here.Yang Hui looked at Zhuang Yumian's pastries and said in surprise, "How come we've never seen these around here?"Zhuang Yumian said lightly, "These are commonly eaten in Nanjing."At the mention of Nanjing, everyone turned to ask Gu Miaojing, since her father was serving as a prison official there. Gu Miaojing hadn't actually eaten any Nanjing pastries herself, but since everyone was asking her, she hurriedly said, to show she was also well-traveled, "Yes, my father mentioned them too."Yingniang smiled and said, "I really envy you two for being able to go to such a bustling place as Nanjing. I've never once left Cloudwater Town in all my life. But my father plans to take me to the provincial capital to watch the dragon boat races at the Dragon Boat Festival—when I come back, I'll tell you all about what I've seen."As Yingniang's close friend, Lu Yaoyao was the first to respond: "I get dizzy as soon as I get on a boat, so I can only take the Jiangzhou carriage to school every day. I'm so envious.""Don't worry, I'll bring you some fun things when I get back." Yingniang smiled and pinched Lu Yaoyao's cheek.While the two of them were chatting animatedly, Li Yuanshu, sitting in the back row, glanced at Shu Nianci and whispered, "Your mother didn't prepare anything for you at all? That's really too much."Shu Nianci sighed. "I live under my stepmother's thumb. It's already a blessing not to be scolded. On ordinary days I have to go home and help make silk knots and wash clothes. The more I do, the less my father gets scolded. If not for my aunt's kindness, I wouldn't have a single moment of rest.""In that case, I've brought plenty anyway—I'll share a tray with you. And if you ever need anything in the future, just quietly let me know." Li Yuanshu was looking out for her.Shu Nianci was deeply grateful. "I don't know how to thank Sister Li enough."Li Yuanshu didn't give it another thought.On the other side, Lou Jiaoai was complaining: "At home, my mother won't let me eat these cold things—she's afraid I'll get diarrhea."Lou Jiaoai sat across the aisle from Yingniang. She was very pretty, but she always spoke in a coquettish, simpering way. Yingniang didn't really mind, but Zhuang Yumian absolutely detested her—so much so that she rarely turned around and said to Yingniang and the others, "Here she goes again.""Just ignore her," Yingniang said with a smile.Lou Jiaoai was merely coquettish by nature; as long as she wasn't bothering anyone, there was no need to pay her any mind.Little did they know, Zhuang Yumian grew even angrier and got up to step outside for some air. It was Yang Hui who turned around and said to them, "Do you know why Zhuang Yumian is so angry?"Yingniang and Lu Yaoyao both shook their heads. Yang Hui whispered, "I heard that Censor Zhuang once brought Yumian and her mother to Nanjing too, but Madame Zhuang couldn't get used to life there and didn't know how to socialize. Her father also had a concubine who was arrogant and haughty and very much favored—just that simpering type. So mother and daughter came back. Hey, now that I've told you, don't go spreading it around."A secret known to more than three people is no longer a secret, but Yingniang and Lu Yaoyao weren't the gossiping sort, so they naturally agreed.At noon, everyone exchanged food to eat. Lu Yaoyao loved the turnip cake from Yingniang's family and gave Yingniang some of her family's poria cocos cakes and eight-treasure cakes in return.Yingniang pointed at the cakes and said, "These are all tonics, aren't they? My father once brought us ginseng and poria tonic cakes from Wuchang Prefecture—they're made with ginseng and poria cocos.""They're something my mother eats often, so she had me bring some along," Lu Yaoyao said with a smile.Yang Hui's family's cloud-slice cake was delicious, and Zheng Jingyu's family's walnut shortbread was also excellent. As for Yingniang's family's turnip cake and black sesame cake, everyone enjoyed those too.And so the Cold Food Festival passed. Unexpectedly, the next morning when Zheng Jingyu arrived, she said the jade pendant she'd left on the desk the day before was missing. Yingniang hurriedly helped her look and said, "Did you put it in the pouch of the clothes you wore yesterday? Maybe it's not at the school at all."Zheng Jingyu sighed. "I'll look again when I get home tonight. This was a gift from my maternal grandfather—it's supposed to protect me and keep me safe."The weather was a bit sunny that day, so when Feng Li came to pick up his daughter, he specially brought a lotus leaf to use as a hat for her."Father, are we walking home today?" Yingniang looked up at her father.Feng Li nodded. "Yes, the weather is nice today, so we should take a walk. Hitching up the carriage is such a hassle anyway. Besides, your father wants to take you to the bookshop to pick out a couple of calligraphy practice books."Even though she'd known how to read in her previous life, it was only when she began learning to write characters in this life that she realized the difference between truly writing and merely recognizing a few random characters. There was no other secret to calligraphy—just write more.By the time she returned home, she was already famished. Mrs. Jiang had the maid fetch water for Yingniang to wash her hands before saying, "You must be starving. There's one more dish, and then we can eat. I was afraid that if I made it too early, the food would get cold."Yingniang quickly washed her hands and sniffed the air. "Mother, what dishes did you make today?""Mostly the ones you love. These past few years have been blessed with good weather, so there's nothing we lack." Ever since the debt was paid off, the family's circumstances had improved greatly, and Mrs. Jiang had become increasingly composed.But Yingniang remembered something. Although she didn't know her exact age back then, she knew she had been sold into the Fu family in the sixth year of Yongxi. In that year, the traffickers had originally planned to raise her as a slender horse, but then they heard that the Yangtze River had flooded, driving grain prices extremely high, and the traffickers had no choice but to sell her off.Wasn't the sixth year of Yongxi next year?Her family sold almost all their grain every year, keeping only enough for their own rations. There was no helping it—the family was in urgent need of money, so they had no choice.But they couldn't continue like this. After taking a bite of food, Yingniang said, "Father, Mother, last time you mentioned that the side rooms in my courtyard and the eastern backyard were used for storing grain, but why did I see hardly any grain in there? My classmates' families have all been buying grain and filling their storerooms to the brim."Feng Li sighed upon hearing this. "I'd like to keep more for emergencies too, but our family never seems to have any surplus.""Father, our family is much better off now. We should store more grain. I don't need my monthly allowance anymore. In Wei Yingwu's 'Viewing the Farm Households,' it says, 'The granaries have no stored provisions, and the corvée labor has not yet ended.' When I studied this poem, I remembered that Grandmother often said, 'With grain in hand, there's no panic in the heart.'"Feng Li was not entirely unaware of these matters, but the family always had expenses here and there, and he had been clinging to wishful thinking. But if his daughter, so young, understood this, then he truly should take it seriously. "What Yingniang says makes sense. This year, we'll keep more of our grain."Originally, the family had planted forty mu of cotton, but unfortunately there were few weavers, so Feng Li only used twenty mu for cotton and sixty mu for grain. The steamed rice from Huguang was mostly sold to grain and rice shops or six-commodity stores in Jiangnan cities like Hangzhou and Suzhou.Since Feng Li had a plan now, Yingniang felt at ease. After finishing her meal, she first went to the study to trace calligraphy and recite texts, then Suxin asked, "Miss, what do you plan to do after finishing your homework?""I want to bathe in the side room first, then go upstairs to rest." Yingniang wanted to lie down as soon as possible. She said to Suxin, "If I go to bed early, you can finish your tasks early too."Suxin laughed. "Look at you saying that. While you're studying, this servant is the one resting."Yingniang had once been a maid herself. She looked at Suxin and said, "Now that I've learned to read, I'll teach you too—at least enough to recognize all the common characters."Suxin quickly said, "This servant would like to learn, but the moment I look at a book, my head starts spinning.""Don't say that. The more characters you know, the less likely you'll be left in the dark in the future." Yingniang smiled.The mistress and maid exchanged a few more jokes, then Suxin had Mama Yu from the kitchen bring hot water. After Yingniang bathed in the side room, she changed into casual clothes and went upstairs to rest.The second floor was very spacious. Going up the stairs, the main hall held a long table, two rose chairs, a dressing table, and an embroidery frame. Further inside were the bed and wardrobe. At the front of the hall was a railing with a narrow corridor, where one could lean on the railing and enjoy the flowers and trees. From the main hall, her quarters were to the east, containing a bed, wardrobe, a beauty stool, a washstand, and other furnishings. With windows on both the north and south sides, the room was very bright. Behind the boudoir, a door opened into the washroom, so there was no need to go downstairs to the front latrine at night.Once she got into bed, Yingniang felt drowsy.Suxin asked again, "Miss, what if Miss Zheng's jade pendant can't be found?""If it can't be found, then it can't be found. It's not like we took it—it has nothing to do with us." Yingniang said.Suxin whispered, "If it can't be found, so be it. I'm just afraid Xiaomei will be caught in the fallout. The Zheng family isn't a harsh household, but they have a great many rules.""Don't think of the worst. What if Zheng Jingyu finds it when she goes home today?" Yingniang said.Suxin was relieved. "What you say makes sense."The next day, because Yingniang wanted eel noodle soup for breakfast and had to wait a bit longer, she arrived right on time. When she got there, she saw Zheng Jingyu with a mournful face and quickly asked, "You still haven't found your jade pendant?"Zheng Jingyu sighed heavily. "We searched the whole house and couldn't find it.""Then it's possible you lost it here at the academy?" Lou Jiaoai interjected.Yingniang sat down, first handing her calligraphy tracing booklet to the class monitor, then reciting her texts on her own. Lu Yaoyao pursed her lips and said, "They suspect Shu Nianci stole it.""Suspect? Do they have evidence? Without evidence, they can't go around making accusations." Yingniang said.Yang Hui turned around from the front and said, "Feng Chiying, look around—who here is the most short on money, the most shabby? Isn't it that one?"Yingniang retorted, "This doesn't prove she took it. We need to first ask when her jade pendant went missing, and during that period of time, who came and went—we should question each one individually."After she finished speaking, seeing that Yang Hui remained noncommittal, she recalled what Feng Li had said that day about wearing more accessories. People truly only respect fine clothes, not the person wearing them. Shu Nianci was suspected simply because she was poor…Without even needing any evidence!Children were straightforward and showed their feelings openly, while the adults put on a better show of courtesy, but in their hearts, they probably thought the same way.

Yingniang