Chapter 19

When she came back from feeding the fish, Zhou Chengkang was already standing at the road’s entrance, watching her with meaning in his eyes. "I escorted him to his aunt’s house."
Li Qinghe snorted with laughter.
"And you laugh," Zhou Chengkang scolded, glaring at her. "I was nearly frantic."
Li Qinghe paid it no mind and smiled as she headed toward home. "He was only asking for directions; what’s there to be anxious about?"
Zhou Chengkang sighed helplessly and hurried a few steps after her. "I didn’t mean to break my word this morning. There was a lot going on at my house today."
"I know. Your brothers are getting betrothed, right? The whole village knows," Li Qinghe answered casually.
"Shall we go to town tomorrow?" Zhou Chengkang asked cautiously. "There’s the market; you can buy anything there." He added, "I actually planned to come to see you this morning, but they started arguing at dawn, everyone wants to arrange a betrothal, and my mother was in a difficult spot."
Li Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "You could just not arrange it."
Zhou Chengkang sighed. "You don’t know how things are at my house. My mother has, in total, only two taels of silver; everyone has their eyes on it. It would be enough only as a small betrothal gift, but for the future… My eldest brother offered only half a tael as bride-price; my second brother will live with his wife’s family and asked only for a set of clothes. The rest was taken by the third brother. One tael as the small betrothal isn’t much, but for us it’s already a lot, and yet the third brother says the other family wants two taels, so he’s going to add some himself."
Li Qinghe listened in silence. When he finished, he hadn’t said anything about himself. After all, he was seventeen this year, of an age to be betrothed. But she didn’t press him. If Zhou Chengkang was sincere toward her yet wouldn’t fight for her, perhaps she would have to reconsider their relationship...
Just as she was thinking that, he said, "I want to settle the betrothal as soon as possible, Qinghe. I’ll send for a matchmaker, will that be all right?"
After a moment, Li Qinghe looked at the small Li family courtyard and replied solemnly, "Okay."
That place wasn’t truly her home. She had never felt a sense of belonging. The Xu family in her previous life hadn’t been her family either, it had been at most the place where she worked in the town’s tavern, unpaid labor. She hoped this time she hadn’t chosen wrong.
Zhou Chengkang’s face lit up. "Qinghe, you agreed?"
Li Qinghe came back to herself, looking at the joy on his face, at the way his eyes held only her. She smiled and nodded. "Mm."
Before Zhou Chengkang could get too excited, Li Qinghe added, "But the small betrothal silver must come from your mother."
Zhou Chengkang looked puzzled. "But my mother, " Meeting her clear eyes, he felt a little deflated. "Okay."
Li Qinghe was satisfied. It was all right to supplement Mrs. Zhou, but not if the benefit didn’t ultimately reach her.
When she returned home, Li Fu stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back. He seemed not to notice her coming in; instead he addressed Zhao Wanwan in the kitchen. "There’s the big market tomorrow. You and your mother should go to town and buy some decent clothes, the Hu family will be coming calling."
They really hadn’t intended to consider Li Qinghe at all, before arranging her betrothal they’d already settled one for Zhao Wanwan. Even so, it didn’t dampen Li Qinghe’s spirits; she hadn’t expected anything, so she wasn’t disappointed.
The next morning, Zhou Chengkang came to fetch her. Once Li Qinghe got up, Madam Qian hurried out pulling Zhao Wanwan with her. "Wait for us!" she called.
Zhou Chengkang sat up front and apologized. "I’m sorry, aunt. I have some business today; it’s not convenient to bring people along."
With that he pulled the reins and the horse broke into a trot and was gone. Li Qinghe glanced back and saw Madam Qian’s exasperated face and couldn’t help smiling.
She laughed happily. Zhou Chengkang secretly relaxed, and after leaving the village entrance he slowed the pace. "What shall we buy?"
Li Qinghe thought for a moment. "Buy some meat and white rice, and some refined flour."
Hearing this, Zhou Chengkang asked in surprise, "Will that break even?"
Li Qinghe gave him a sidelong smile. "You’ll know if it works when we try."
Now most of the stalls in town sold steamed buns and dry flatbread made from coarse grains, cheap to buy and unsellable if priced higher, only earning a little for the sellers. Li Qinghe first bought the refined flour and white rice, only half a pound of lean meat, and some lard, then took the items to a bun shop.
At the market, the bun shop was bustling. The woman running it not only made buns but also meat- and vegetable-based noodles.
When she arrived at the bun shop it was still early; most of the people heading to the market were still on the road. The matron brightened at the sight of her, then noticed what she was carrying and, surprised, asked, “Those aren’t cheap, what are you buying them for?”
Li Qinghe smiled broadly, her tone easy. “Matron, I’d like to sell some food, may I use your stall for a trial?” She added, “I’ll pay you in silver.”
The matron looked surprised, glanced again at the bundle in her hand, and couldn’t help but advise, “It’s not that I don’t want to help, but most of the folks who come here are peasants looking to fill their bellies after work. I doubt many would eat things like that… You could take them back and return them now, don’t waste your silver.”
“Thank you.” Li Qinghe thanked her sincerely. “I just want to try it. When they’re ready I’ll let you taste one first.”
The matron no longer objected. Such fare might affect her trade a little, but ordinary households wouldn’t normally buy these things just for curiosity, besides, today her stall wouldn’t be short of customers.
Li Qinghe boiled the rice, had Zhou Chengkang mince the meat, then went to render the fat. Once the meat hit the pan the scent rose, making people swallow involuntarily; passersby glanced over. When the oil was ready the rice was done; she mixed the meat with the prepared vegetables, added a pinch of salt, filled skins rolled from fine flour, shaped them to the size of a palm, and began to fry.
In an instant the whole stall was filled with the smell of meat and rice, making the buns and the meat-topped noodles seem dull by comparison.
Someone immediately called out, “Miss, what are you making that smells so good?”
Li Qinghe had finished one and was offering it to the matron to taste. The matron kept glancing this way, it smelled irresistible, and who would be willing to spend that much silver to make such things at home?
The cake was golden on both sides and still sizzled in the pan. The matron couldn’t wait and took a bite; her mouth filled with the meat’s flavor and a faint toasty rice aroma. “Delicious!”
A man rose and walked to the pan, bent to peer at the golden fine-flour cakes, and asked curiously, “How much are these?”
“Eight wen each,” Li Qinghe replied at once, “but you’re the first buyer, uncle, I’ll give you one for five wen.”
There were many onlookers; sooner or later someone would buy. At first the price sounded like a bargain, and with the aroma filling his nose he blurted, “Then I’ll take one.”
The cake wasn’t large, and he immediately regretted it; with so many people watching he couldn’t ask for his money back, so he swallowed his pride. After one bite his eyes lit up. “Delicious!”
The crowd looked at him as if he were a fool, eight wen could buy a big bowl of meat noodles, yet he’d spent it on a small cake. But it was made with fine flour, filled with rice and meat… getting so much for a few wen seemed a good deal; a little treat for the family wouldn’t hurt. So many people pushed forward to buy one, if they couldn’t bear to eat it themselves, they’d take it home for the children.
Li Qinghe and her companion were instantly busy.