“The key to these mushrooms is their freshness,” Lin Yue said, laying out a whole stack of recipes. The man set his birdcage on the ground, hiked up his robe, and crouched down to start picking mushrooms. “You’ve got a way with words, kid. You’ve made me reluctant to leave. Give me a pound of each—I’ll pick them out myself.”

Lin Yue paused for a moment, then picked up a coarse burlap sack and handed it over. “If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, feel free to use this. But mushrooms are delicate—please be careful when picking them.”

“I see you didn’t bring a basket. We have burlap sacks here, but they’ll have to be weighed along with the mushrooms. Would you like one?”

“Bring it on, bring it on. I certainly can’t carry them back in this birdcage.”

Lin Yue wasn’t sure of the weight, so he helped the man pick for a while. When they weighed it, it was already over a pound; the three items together must have been four pounds.

Lin Yue opened the bag wide and asked, “Should I take some out? This adds up to four pounds.”

The man was in a cheerful mood from his shopping and didn’t mind the few extra items. He waved his hand dismissively and said boldly, “No need. Just charge me for the total.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Lin Yue blurted out, “Alright, that’ll be twenty-nine wen in total.”

The man sighed. “Whoa, that’s not exactly cheap.” He then reached into his pouch, scooped out a handful of copper coins, and handed them over directly.

Lin Yue hadn’t expected him to pay this way, so he could only pull his sleeve up and begin counting the coins while muttering to himself, “That comes to thirty-one coins in total. Here’s your two coins in change. Thank you for your patronage, sir.”

“Alright then, that’ll even buy you a pastry.”

With such a generous customer, Lin Yue naturally couldn’t let the opportunity slip by. He eagerly listed all the upcoming offerings: “In two days, I’ll be making some mushroom sauce and mushroom meat sauce. I’ll also set up a table to sell wheat gluten and cold noodles—perfect for this kind of weather. If you have time to wander by, please come and give them a try.”

“My, my, young man, your business is really taking off.”

“Just making a living, that’s all. Taking your kind words to heart, I hope for the day when things really take off.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the older man picked up his birdcage and burlap sack and strolled off at a leisurely pace.

The first customer arrived promptly, and business trickled in steadily afterward. The chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms were the most expensive, yet they sold the best. They were almost sold out—it seemed there were indeed quite a few wealthy people in town.

Lin Yue’s spirits soared, and his mind began to race with business ideas. He wondered when his own family might be able to live such a life.

By the time Shen Lingzhi returned from his stroll, Lin Yue had already sold a third of his mushrooms.

“Brother, business is really booming today.”

Lin Yue was delighted, too. “It really is. Do you want to sit down and rest for a bit? I’ll go sell some pastries.”

Shen Lingzhi shook his head. “No need. I’ll come back tomorrow to take over the stall.”

“Alright then. The waxberry soup isn’t selling well here—it’s been a while, and I’ve only sold two cups. You should take the rest and go sell them over there.”

“Okay.”

After exchanging a few words, Shen Lingzhi set off again, calling out to passersby. Lin Yue also stood up and paced in front of the stall, calling out to anyone who approached. Little by little, quite a few people stopped to watch the commotion.

As dusk approached, Shen Lingzhi returned, pushing an empty cart. “Brother, we sold out of all the pastries today, but there’s still some bayberry soup left.”

After speaking, she leaned close to Lin Yue’s ear and whispered, “Brother, I did a quick calculation—we made over a hundred wen today.”

Lin Yue was delighted. That amount was actually a bit more than the previous two days. They’d been selling pastries for over ten days, but their earnings in recent days hadn’t been as high as at the start. Part of the reason Lin Yue had been busy thinking about a new business venture was precisely this—the town’s pastry shops had started selling steamed buns, and there were more peddlers selling pastries as well. He hadn’t expected business to pick up again today.

“Then let’s keep selling pastries tomorrow. We’ll keep up the good work.”

Shen Lingzhi carried the wooden bucket down and crouched beside Lin Yue. “Brother, how are the mushrooms selling? Are we losing money?”

Lin Yue furrowed his brow, then quickly smoothed it out, saying in a low voice, “We only make a penny per pound of mushrooms. We shouldn’t lose money, but we won’t make much either. I think we should start making mushroom sauce too. Selling both together might help us earn a bit more.”

When it came to business, Shen Lingzhi always went along with whatever Lin Yue said. “Brother, should we go home now?”

Lin Yue glanced at the stall. The chicken-oil mushrooms had sold out early, and the green-capped and milk-cap mushrooms were nearly gone. Only the porcini mushrooms remained, with perhaps four or five pounds left.

Lin Yue turned to Shen Lingzhi and went over the prices with him, then added, “You stay here and watch the stall. I’ll go buy a few small jars so we can make mushroom sauce when we get home tonight.”

“Are you going to the place my brother mentioned last time?”

Lin Yue nodded and chuckled softly, “Your brother just told me yesterday that the vendor is setting up a stall in town today too. I’ll pick them up on my way back to save you the trouble.”

Shen Lingzhi waved his hand. “Go ahead, big brother. I’ll wait for you here.”

Lin Yue’s stall was in a prime spot, right at the entrance to this street. The vendors selling pots, pans, and kitchenware were on the street diagonally across. In just a moment, Lin Yue found the stall; the sign hanging above it was exactly as Shen Huaizhi had described.

Shen Huaizhi had mentioned that the sign was made by one of his classmates, but to Lin Yue, it didn’t look as nice as the one Shen Huaizhi had made. Although his own handwriting wasn’t great these days, he could still tell that the characters on this sign weren’t as good as his own.

The stall was arranged in a circle with earthenware pots and bowls, and Lin Yue immediately spotted several small jars in the corner—their size and style were just right.

Seeing that the stall was tended by a middle-aged man, Lin Yue smiled and asked, “May I ask if this is Scholar Zhao’s stall? Uncle, how much are these jars each?”

There were no customers at the moment, and Scholar Zhao’s father had been dozing off. When he opened his eyes, he saw a handsome young man standing before him. As soon as he came to his senses, he smiled and said, “You must be the husband of my son’s classmate, right? Little Shen has actually visited our home before.”

“These jars were fired just recently; they’re among the best batch we’ve made. If you only want one, feel free to take it and use it right away. But if you want more, I can’t just give them away—I’ll have to charge you four wen per jar.”

Lin Yue often wandered among the stalls in town and knew the price of everything. As soon as he heard this price, he knew there was no profit to be made—he might even lose money. It was clearly a favor granted out of respect for Shen Huaizhi.

Lin Yue flashed a smile and said cheerfully, “Uncle, we’re the younger generation—how could we take advantage of you? Whatever price you usually charge, that’s the price today. Otherwise, I simply can’t buy them.”

Mr. Zhao laughed heartily and waved his hand. “At this price, I won’t even lose money. Just tell me how many you want, and I’ll pack them up for you right away.”

Neither of them would give an inch, and after haggling for quite a while, Lin Yue finally had the upper hand.

“All right, all right. I can’t win this argument with you. I’ll sell you three for nine wen. If you keep arguing, I won’t sell them to you.”

Lin Yue crouched down in front of the stall with a smile, pulled twenty-seven coins from his pocket, and handed them over. “Alright, I’ll take your word for it. I’ll take all nine jars from the stall. Please pack them up for me.”

“That’s more like it. I’ll tie them up for you right away.”

As he spoke, Uncle Zhao grabbed a handful of straw from behind and, in just a few quick motions, tied the jars together into a bundle before handing them to Lin Yue.

The two chatted for quite a while longer—one talking about his son, the other about his husband—and they seemed to enjoy the conversation. Finally, Lin Yue spoke up to take his leave. “Uncle, it’s getting late. I should head home first and come back tomorrow to chat with you.”

“Go on, go on. Take your time on the way home.”

“Got it. Thank you, Uncle.”

Lin Yue carried the jars back the way they came, and after packing up the stall with Shen Lingzhi, they hurried home.

Just halfway there, they ran into Shen Huaizhi coming toward them.

Lin Yue waved at him, puzzled. “Why are you here?”

Shen Huaizhi pushed the cart forward before explaining, “I got out of school early today. I saw you guys hadn’t come back yet, so I came to pick you up.”

Lin Yue scratched his head. “It was our first time selling mushrooms today, so it took a bit longer. We won’t be this late tomorrow.”

Seeing that there were still some mushrooms left on the cart, Shen Huaizhi hesitated. “Didn’t you sell them all? If they’re not selling well, maybe we should try a different business?”

Lin Yue shook his head at first, then nodded. “Most of them sold. There aren’t many left. I’ll use the rest to make mushroom sauce tonight. But I do want to add another line of business. Selling mushrooms leaves a lot of downtime, and the stall we rent isn’t small—setting up a table to sell food would be perfect.”

“Today’s sales—pastries, waxberry soup, and mushrooms combined—net me about 150 wen after costs. If I add some food items, I should easily make 200 wen a day. That’s much better than doing manual labor.”

When it came to business, Shen Huaizhi and Shen Lingzhi were practically identical—both took Lin Yue’s advice. Still, Shen Huaizhi asked with a touch of concern, “Will we be too busy to handle it all? Is there anything you need me to do?”

Lin Yue had intended to say no, but seeing Shen Huaizhi’s eager expression, he hesitated for a long moment before saying, “Make a few more bamboo tubes. Besides holding drinks, they can also be used to hold rice-stuffed shrimp.”

Rice-stuffed shrimp is made the same way as cold rice cakes, though there’s a slight difference in how they set. Cold rice cakes can simply be poured into a bowl, while the cold shrimp is scooped out with a ladle and placed in water. However, the two have slightly different flavors. Lin Yue, for instance, preferred the cold shrimp, as the brown sugar syrup soaked in more deeply.

Shen Huaizhi immediately replied, “I’ll go cut some bamboo as soon as I get home. I should still have a few dozen left from before; I left them in the main hall.”

“There’s no rush. Make them when you have time; the ones we have left will last for several more days.”

The two of them chatted animatedly, back and forth, while Shen Lingzhi, trailing behind them, couldn’t get a word in edgewise. He could only silently pout and pluck a handful of grass leaves from the roadside to play with.

By the time the three of them arrived home, Song Xunchun was already cooking. Seeing that no task needed help, Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi squatted in the courtyard to wash the mushrooms, while Shen Huaizhi headed to the bamboo grove with a knife.

After dinner, Lin Yue began making the mushroom sauce.

He diced all the freshly washed mushrooms and set them aside. He heated oil in a pan, added minced ginger and garlic, and stir-fried them until fragrant. Then he added chopped chili peppers and two spoonfuls of sauce, followed by the mushrooms. He stir-fried them until they were about eighty percent cooked, then added soy sauce, powdered sugar, chili powder, a spoonful of liquor, a handful of crushed peanuts, and white sesame seeds. After a few more stirs, it was ready to serve.

Lin Yue didn’t rush to transfer the finished mushroom sauce into a jar; instead, he poured it into a large soup bowl. Jars weren’t cheap, and most of the people willing to pay for mushroom sauce were from town. Many might choose to bring their own bowls home, so he could simply prepare a jar to have on hand when setting up his stall.

Lin Yue hadn’t used much oil while stir-frying the sauce—just enough to coat the ingredients—but there was still quite a bit of oil clinging to the sides of the wok. He poured the remaining rice into the wok and gave it a quick stir-fry, setting it aside for Shen Huaizhi’s breakfast the next morning.

While Lin Yue was busy in the kitchen, Shen Lingzhi and the others were working outside. By the time the family had finished their chores and washed up, it was already pitch black. The next day, Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi went up the mountain as usual.