Lin Yue hesitated for a moment. Having a little extra money was certainly nice, but how could he go back on an agreement they’d already made?

“Mother, a third isn’t much. Business is good today, but tomorrow there might not be as much. What if we don’t have enough then?”

Song Xunchun shook her head. “Your father and I still have some savings, and we’re holding onto the money from selling grain. How could we possibly run out? When you go to town, what if you come across something you want to buy? You can’t go without some spare change. That’s final.”

Lin Yue wanted to say more, but Song Xunchun had already gotten up and gone to tend to her chores. Even Shen Zhengchu got up and left, but before he went, he simply said, “Listen to your mother. Keep it for yourselves.”

Lin Yue could only turn to look at Shen Lingzhi, but Shen Lingzhi waved his hands repeatedly. “Brother, don’t look at me. You’ve been giving me money every day these past few days, and I’ve already saved up several dozen wen.”

Lin Yue wasn’t the type to dwell on things. Seeing that they all said so, he put the money away.

After running the stall for about twenty days, the profits—after deducting costs—amounted to over three thousand wen. The drawers in the dressing table had long since been too full to hold any more, so Lin Yue had specifically chosen a clay jar to place under the bed, which was now nearly full. He had long planned to go to the money exchange in town to exchange the copper coins for silver the day the jar was full, and it looked like it would be full in another two days.

When that happened, he planned to exchange it for exactly three taels of silver. He intended to use the remainder to stock up on essentials for making pastries—such as glutinous rice, brown sugar, and rock sugar—and to take the half-yard of freshly woven hemp cloth to the dye shop. Once the autumn harvest was over, he could start making winter clothes.

After briefly running through the tasks ahead, Lin Yue got up and went out. He had promised the shopkeeper today that he would make two kinds of fresh pastries, so he needed to do a test run tonight to check the flavor.

Although the start of autumn was only a few days away, the weather remained sweltering. Lin Yue had spent the entire afternoon pondering before finally settling on the first dessert: steamed mint cake.

The mint’s cool, slightly spicy flavor is a must-have for beating the summer heat. It can be a bit overpowering on its own, but it works wonderfully as a side dish—Lin Yue particularly enjoyed mint-fried pork ribs and mint-scrambled eggs. He also liked making mint tea; its subtle minty aroma was even more thirst-quenching than bayberry soup.

As soon as Lin Yue stepped out of the courtyard, he headed straight for the riverbank. He picked a few butterfly pea flowers by the roadside before turning back home. Then he went to the vegetable patch and plucked a handful of tender mint leaves, washing them in the courtyard before heading to the kitchen.

To make today’s steamed mint cake, he first had to prepare the mint syrup. After washing the mint, he drained it, removed the stems, and set the leaves aside. He added sugar and water to a pot.

Simmer over low heat until it bubbles, then add the mint leaves and butterfly pea flowers and stir for a moment. Let the finished mint syrup steep and cool before straining out the mint leaves and butterfly pea flowers.

The syrup made with just mint leaves turns a deep green, which doesn’t look very appealing. Since butterfly pea flowers turn blue when steeped in water, Lin Yue added a few to the mixture, resulting in a fresh, green-blue syrup.

Seeing this color, Lin Yue was deeply captivated. He wondered if the dye shop carried this shade; if they did, he would have a set of light green garments made this year to wear next summer when he went to see the lotus flowers.

Thinking of this, Lin Yue let out a soft sigh. He hadn’t expected this year to be so busy; he hadn’t managed to find a moment to see the lotus flowers. Next year, he would definitely go!

While the mint syrup was cooling, Lin Yue began preparing other ingredients. He mixed glutinous rice flour, sticky rice flour, and ground sugar powder evenly. Then, he diluted the mint syrup with water and added it in small amounts, stirring constantly, until the mixture formed clumps. Then, he used his hands to break up the clumps into a sand-like texture and sifted the mixture—this made the flour finer. By now, the rice flour had taken on a pale green hue.

He lined the steamer basket with a steaming cloth and placed the mold on top. This time, Lin Yue used a mold made of four wooden planks joined together—it had no bottom, so it sat perfectly on the steaming cloth. He then poured the rice flour mixture into the mold, gently smoothed it out with a thin wooden spatula, cut it into squares with a knife, covered it with the steaming cloth, and steamed it until cooked.

Lin Yue had also decided on another dessert. Although there wasn’t much in the house, there were still several pumpkins left, which were perfect for making pumpkin sponge cake. He mashed the steamed pumpkin, mixed it with glutinous rice flour, added powdered sugar for flavor, and once the mixture reached a coarse flour-like consistency, he sifted it and steamed it—the method was the same as for the mint steamed cake.

Since the method was simple, Lin Yue didn’t make it tonight.

After about fifteen minutes, the steamed cake in the pot was done. Lin Yue lifted the steamer basket out of the pot, placed a kettle of water on the stove, and then called out to Shen Lingzhi and the others, “Lingzhi, come quick and try the new dessert I made today.”

Shen Lingzhi was sweeping the courtyard. As soon as he heard Lin Yue call him, he tossed aside the broom. “Coming, coming!”

When Shen Lingzhi saw the pastries on the table, her eyes lit up. “Brother, why are these pastries green? They look delicious.” 

“They’re made with mint. Why don’t you try one first to see if you like it? I’ll go get Mom and Dad.”

“Okay.”

Lin Yue placed a few pieces of pastry on a plate and carried them to the bedroom, setting them down next to Shen Huaizhi’s hand. Then, before Shen Huaizhi could say a word, he turned and ran off. Lin Yue heard a faint chuckle in the distance, gave a snort, and strode back to the kitchen.

Shen Lingzhi was eating with relish. “Brother, these pastries are nice and cool today, and they look so pretty. I’m sure lots of people will love them.” Shen Zhengchu nodded in agreement, but Song Xunchun furrowed her brow slightly.

Lin Yue asked in confusion, “Mother, does it not suit your taste?”

Song Xunchun swallowed the pastry in her mouth, savored it once more, and then said, “The flavor is a bit too light, and there’s that minty coolness. I simply prefer sweeter treats.”

Lin Yue nodded; indeed, many people didn’t care for mint. “Mother, once the chestnuts are ripe, I’ll make you some chestnut cake. That’s sweet and fragrant too; I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Song Xunchun shook her head at first, then paused. Remembering what Lin Yue had told them earlier, she said, “I’ll look forward to it. When the chestnuts ripen around the Mid-Autumn Festival, your father and I will go pick them. When you make the pastries, send some over for your in-laws to try.”

“Then I’ll make extra and send a plate over to Grandma too.”

After the family finished their snacks and chatted for a while, the room grew dim, and they each washed up and retired to their rooms to rest.

Lin Yue always felt a bit uneasy around Shen Huaizhi. As soon as he entered the room, he dashed to the bed, pulled back the covers with a whoosh, and lay down.

Shen Huaizhi shook his head but didn’t press the issue. He simply turned off the light and lay down as well. Worried that Lin Yue might be shy, he deliberately moved over a bit. For the first time, the two didn’t sleep next to each other; there was even enough space in the middle for another person.

When Lin Yue used to sleep alone, he would stretch out his arms and legs to take up the entire bed. Later, when he started sharing a bed with Shen Huaizhi, he could no longer stretch out fully.

Shen Huaizhi also liked to hold him close, but once he got used to it, it was fine; he’d fall asleep shortly after closing his eyes every night. Tonight, with Shen Huaizhi not next to him, he could stretch out his limbs, yet he found himself unable to sleep. He tossed and turned for a long time; only when the breathing beside him gradually steadied did Lin Yue shift a little to the side.

Lin Yue was about to shift again when Shen Huaizhi suddenly rolled over and wrapped his arms around him. Lin Yue held his breath—if Shen Huaizhi were awake right now, it would be so embarrassing!

Fortunately, Shen Huaizhi was truly asleep; he’d simply hugged him out of habit. As the night deepened, Lin Yue found a comfortable position and fell asleep as well.

The next day, Lin Yue was making pastries in the kitchen when he suddenly heard shouts from outside.

Immediately, Shen Lingzhi burst in from outside. “Brother, I found some chicken mushrooms today. I’d say there’s about a pound of them.”

“Really? Wow, these two are huge—they look like they weigh over a liang each.”

Shen Lingzhi chuckled, “This one was right by the roadside—I spotted it right away. The smaller ones, though, I had to dig out of the ground.” Lin Yue laughed along and praised him, “Chicken mushrooms are rare. Good for you for finding them. We should be able to get a good price for them today.”

Shen Lingzhi looked conflicted. After a long pause, he finally said, “Brother, maybe we shouldn’t sell them. We haven’t had any chicken mushrooms yet this year, and we’re not exactly short on those ten or so wen.”

After saying this, Shen Lingzhi paused in surprise. He hadn’t expected himself to say something like “ten wen isn’t much”—it really did make a difference to have money in hand.

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Yue nodded. “Since you found the mushrooms, it’s up to you. But we have to head out soon, and they’ll go bad by nightfall. We can’t ask Mother to cook them for lunch either. How about this: let’s stir-fry the chicken-of-the-woods first, then we’ll go to town.”

Shen Lingzhi waved his hand. “Brother, there’s no need to go to all that trouble. Just stick them in the ground with the roots still attached, and we’ll cook them when we get back this afternoon.”

Mushrooms do indeed spoil more slowly when left in the ground, so Lin Yue urged, “Then go to the vegetable patch and dig up some soil. I’ll finish making these pastries, and we’ll set off quickly. The sooner we sell them all, the sooner we’ll be back.”

“Got it, Brother. I’ll go right now.”

In about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the two had finished their respective tasks. They then went to the back of the village to gather the mushrooms before pushing their cart toward town.

Today, Lin Yue had prepared mint steamed cakes and pumpkin sponge cakes for pastries, tamarind juice to drink, and pea jelly and buckwheat noodles for the main dishes.

The buckwheat noodles were made from bitter buckwheat flour. The preparation method was almost identical to that of the pea jelly, but the finished buckwheat noodles were grayish-white in color and had a much milder flavor. Lin Yue’s favorite way to eat it was to mix equal parts buckwheat and pea jelly, topped with plenty of chili oil and sour soup. It tasted refreshing, with a tangy and spicy kick that whetted the appetite; he could easily eat two bowls at a time.

They were well-acquainted with the route to town, and before long, the two arrived at the back door of Yang’s Restaurant. Manager Feng was still standing in his usual spot, waiting for them. Upon seeing the new pastries Lin Yue had made, he was, as expected, very pleased.

He bought one of each to sample before making his decision: “Thirty pieces of the mint steamed cakes and twenty of the pumpkin sponge cakes. No need to wrap them—I’ll have my assistant bring out some food boxes.”

Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi were both delighted. They had made a total of forty-five pieces of steamed mint cake that morning, and now two-thirds of them were gone; half of the pumpkin sponge cakes had also been sold. If Lin Yue had known Manager Feng would want so many, he would have made more.

“Young Mr. Lin, that comes to seventy-five wen in total. Please count it.”

Lin Yue had counted along with Manager Feng earlier, so he merely glanced at the coins and replied, “Exactly right. Thank you, Manager Feng.”

After selling the pastries, it was time for the mushrooms. Manager Feng ordered almost the same amount as yesterday, and Lin Yue made another twenty-odd wen. He was so happy he could barely contain himself.

Before leaving, Manager Feng added, “Next time you make a new pastry, be sure to let me know. I’ll likely come by every two or three days.” Lin Yue certainly wouldn’t pass up such a lucrative opportunity. He immediately nodded with a smile. “I’ll definitely remember. Thank you for your business, Manager.”

Feng Bo waved his hand. “It’s your skill in making pastries. Once people try them, they can’t wait for the next batch.” Lin Yue offered a few words of modesty before taking his leave.

It was the same spot as before. Starting the day before yesterday, Lin Yue had taken out a long-term lease on this stall, renting it for ten days at a time. Having a fixed location would help attract more repeat customers.

Business today wasn’t as brisk as yesterday’s, but since Lin Yue hadn’t prepared as many snacks as he had the day before, he managed to sell out just fine.

For the next few days, Lin Yue and Shen Lingzhi followed the same routine: rising early to prepare food, gathering mushrooms, and setting up their stall in town, continuing until the mushrooms were nearly gone. After Lin Yue sold the last two jars of mushroom paste he had, this year’s mushroom business came to an end; by then, it was already early July.

With the start of autumn just around the corner—and the weather set to gradually cool off—Lin Yue and Song Xunchun had previously planned to buy some chickens and ducks. The end of July, during the autumn harvest, was the perfect time, as there was an abundance of chaff, bran, and husks, which were ideal for feeding the birds.

With expenses to cover, Lin Yue felt even more motivated to earn money. He had exchanged the over four thousand wen he’d earned earlier at the money exchange for four taels of silver and spent the remainder—a few dozen wen—at the dye shop.

Unfortunately, the shop didn’t have the light green shade Lin Yue had his eye on, so he chose an eggshell blue—a color reminiscent of a duck eggshell. When made into clothing, it looked fresh and delicate. He planned to have one made for himself and one for Shen Lingzhi, while the remaining fabric would be dyed indigo blue, suitable for Shen Huaizhi and his parents to wear.

As the scorching heat of July gave way to cooler weather, new treats appeared at Lin Yue’s food stall.