Chapter Bonanza (1/5)

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The next day, Yan Xiaoyu sought out Jiang Xiaowu to discuss the matter. Sure enough, Jiang Xiaowu immediately agreed to help.

“Xiao Jiu would definitely be willing. You and Nian-ger are doing a good deed—Xiao Jiu admires people like you the most!”

“Whether it’s him or someone else, it doesn’t matter. If he’s unwilling, I have other options.” Yan Xiaoyu thought for a moment, then added, “If he agrees to help, you two should keep your interactions private from now on, so Yan Yonghe doesn’t track us down.”

“Alright. I’ll go see him as soon as the shop closes.”

After Jiang Xiaowu left, Yan Xiaoyu made up his mind: if Xiao Jiu agreed to help this time, once the matter was settled, he would let Xiao Jiu come work at the Yuye Pavilion.

Xiao Jiu always reminded him of that little boy at the orphanage who used to tug at his sleeve and call him “big brother.” He hoped that by helping this Xiao Jiu, someone would be willing to help the modern-day Xiao Jiu as well.

After all, Xiao Jiu was just a young ger, and hanging around with a bunch of beggars was a bit dangerous. Yan Xiaoyu was determined to give him a helping hand.

Now, Xiao Jiu was dressed in rags, with hair covering half his face and a bit of fuzzy stubble on his lips. If he ever wanted to work at the Yuye Pavilion in the future, all he’d have to do was change his clothes and clean himself up—no one would recognize him.

After all, no one would stare at a beggar and deliberately memorize their face.

That day, Jiang Xiaowu went to see Xiao Jiu and immediately gave Yan Xiaoyu a definite answer.

“Xiao Jiu has agreed. Tomorrow, just as you said, A-Chai will carry Nian-ger’s note, and Xiao Jiu will wait at Lanyue Bridge.”

Upon hearing this, Nian-ger was overjoyed and wrote the note that very night.

Yan Xiaoyu didn’t get involved in what happened afterward; he only offered a few suggestions when Nian-ger mentioned it to him that evening.

It was now the end of July, and the fifteenth day of the eighth month was fast approaching. The cream cakes had recently become a sensation in the county, boosting business at the Yuye Pavilion. Later, several landowners and local dignitaries even invited Yan Xiaoyu to their estates to help oversee the banquets.

In recent days, for reasons unknown, a trend had emerged: many wealthy families sent their stewards to Yuye Pavilion to order cakes for their Mid-Autumn Festival banquets.

The first few who came were quite demanding, asking Yuye Pavilion to craft the cake bases and cream decorations into the unique, one-of-a-kind designs they desired. Yan Xiaoyu refused. Yan Shaocheng spoke in a friendly tone, with a warm smile, but his stance was clear: either go with Yuye Pavilion’s standard designs, or don’t buy at all.

It’s just that these things are such a hassle to make. If they had to make a different one for every customer, the staff would be exhausted. And with the heat today, the cream melts easily, which makes it even harder.

Yuye Pavilion is a restaurant, and business has been booming lately. Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaocheng haven’t been able to devote much attention to the cream cakes. If they were to open a dessert shop in the future, they might be able to put more effort into perfecting them.

The first few wealthy patrons who couldn’t get the cream cakes they wanted were a bit annoyed, but they soon couldn’t afford to be so arrogant. Yuye Pavilion certainly wasn’t short of customers like them; their cream cakes were in high demand, and even the simplest designs had people lining up to buy them.

The prominent families in the county were also secretly competing with one another. Although cream cakes were merely a type of pastry, if all the other influential households had them and their family did not, the news would spread and bring them into disrepute.

In the end, those families sent messengers to place orders. Since they were late, the Mid-Autumn Festival-themed designs Yan Xiaoyu had specially created were already sold out, leaving only the simplest designs. Still, that was better than nothing, so they didn’t dare to be picky.

Yuye Pavilion’s dining business brought in roughly two hundred taels a month, but the cream cakes, having been on sale for just over half a month, had already earned the establishment a hundred taels. Even someone as level-headed as Yan Shaocheng couldn’t help but feel a stir of excitement at this pace of profit.

“The cream cakes are selling like hotcakes. Do you think we could open a pastry shop someday?”

Yan Xiaoyu nodded. “It’s worth considering, but we’ll have to think it over carefully.”

Right now, the Yuye Pavilion was already keeping the two of them busy enough; opening a new shop would mean another staffing issue.

Moreover, this year Magistrate Zhong has come up with all sorts of pretexts to drain the merchants’ pockets, and business is tough for everyone in the county. Doing business in Weishi County, the magistrate remained a constant source of trouble.

Yan Shaocheng was just throwing the idea out there; opening a new shop was no small matter, and they would certainly have to weigh it carefully. In November, Yan Xiaoyue was getting married, so at the very least, opening a pastry shop within this year would be difficult.

The cream cakes had become a sensation, and the other restaurants and pastry shops in the county were all green with envy; some had even gone to great lengths to buy the cakes and try to replicate them. While the cake base was passable, no one had yet figured out how the cream topping was made.

Yan Xiaoyu seized the opportunity to create several pastries by combining the cream with other ingredients. Yuye Pavilion had previously been only moderately well-known, but now, thanks to this unique specialty, it has unexpectedly become a renowned restaurant in the county.

Since the food at the shop wasn’t expensive, ordinary people in the county could afford it. On ordinary days, they might have hesitated to treat themselves, but when festivals rolled around, they didn’t hesitate to spend those few dozen copper coins.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone at Yuye Pavilion was running around nonstop. Aunt Sun, who was in charge of washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen, usually got a chance to rest for a while each day, but on this day, she was so busy she barely had time to even take a sip of water.

Yan Xingmao had originally come specifically to spend the holiday with his family, but once he arrived, he ended up pitching in with the chores.

Even so, he was thoroughly delighted.

Although he had long heard from Liu Pingshan and the others that business at Yuye Pavilion was brisk, seeing it with his own eyes was far more impressive.

The kitchen was bustling with activity, the dining hall was packed with guests, and there were even people waiting for seats outside—there were barely enough seats to go around… Such a scene was rare even at the county’s most popular restaurants.

Seeing his son’s culinary skills so well-received, and his own business thriving and bringing in so much silver, Yan Xingmao felt a deep sense of pride. As he worked, a smile never left his face.

Later, when He Qiuhua told him about Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaoxuan, the joy in his heart reached a new peak.

His son had finally found a place to belong, and it was with a young man they had always favored—how could he not be overjoyed?

After dinner, Yueyue Pavilion closed for the night, and Yan Xiaoyu’s family sat in the backyard with Yan Shaocheng and Nian-ger, enjoying the moon and snacking on pastries.

As Yan Xiaoyu ate the cream cake he had set aside, gazing at the moon in the sky, he couldn’t help but think of that person far away in the provincial capital. He had originally made the cake to cheer up Yan Erlang, but she never expected it would earn them some silver.

The provincial exams consisted of three sessions over nine days. Today was the first day of the third session. Yan Erlang was still at the examination hall right now, so he certainly wouldn’t be able to eat the cream cake, but Yan Xiaoyu had made him mooncakes specifically for today.

He’d heard that these candidates stayed up late studying by lamplight. He wondered how Yan Erlang had done on his exams—and whether he’d had a chance to eat the mooncake. Just as Yan Xiaoyu was lost in thought, Yan Shaocheng brought up his younger brother.

“Shaoxuan should be taking the third session right now. I hope he’ll do well this time and achieve a good result.”

The two brothers teased each other constantly, but with Yan Shaoxuan away on this long journey, Yan Shaocheng couldn’t help but worry about him, and a hint of concern slipped into his voice.

Yan Xiaoyu smiled as she raised her wine cup and called out, “Let’s all toast to Yan Erlang passing the provincial exams and returning safely!”

Nian-ger hurriedly set down his piece of cake and raised his cup eagerly: “Amen! Let’s wish Yan Erlang success in the provincial exams and a safe return!” Everyone chimed in in unison, and they all drank a cup of rice wine together.

Meanwhile, at the examination hall in the provincial capital.

Yan Shaoxuan wrote the final character on the paper, let out a soft sigh, and moved the draft paper to a corner where it wouldn’t be easily disturbed to air out. He took two sips of water and pulled a pastry box from his exam basket.

He sat upright and stern as ice while answering the questions, but his gaze softened considerably when he looked at the pastry box.

Inside was a mooncake that had been squashed out of shape by the security guard during the search upon entering. Under normal circumstances, Yan Shaoxuan would have looked down on it and refused to give it a second glance.

But today, he carefully took it out and ate it with relish.

It was made for him by Yan Xiaoyu—a token of that young man’s affection. As Yan Shaoxuan thought of this, the mooncake tasted utterly delicious to him, the most delicious thing in the world.

The examination hall was cramped, and the moon was out of sight, but moonlight was everywhere—just like the longing in Yan Shaoxuan’s heart.

These past days, he had deliberately suppressed his emotions, focusing all his attention on the exams. But on this special day, he couldn’t help but let his guard down and think of that person.

Yan Shaoxuan let himself relax only briefly; after finishing the mooncake, he resumed his previous expressionless demeanor.

After carefully checking the answers on his scratch paper and carefully copying them onto the exam paper, he let it dry, put it away, and only then did Yan Shaoxuan fit the two wooden planks together, preparing to rest.

The final session of the provincial examination consisted of five essay questions, each more challenging than the last. Today, the adjacent examination booths were filled with constant sighs and groans. Yan Shaoxuan, however, remained calm and composed.

Having spent six years in seclusion, he had tackled countless essay questions and had developed the ability to synthesize knowledge and apply it to new situations. Even though he was less familiar with the political landscape of the court than the sons of prominent families, these questions posed no challenge to him.

However, the provincial examination tested not only the candidates’ ability and cultivation but also, to some extent, their luck.

Unlike the provincial examinations, the chief and deputy examiners for the provincial exams were all officials from the capital, mostly scholars from the Hanlin Academy, dispatched by the emperor to preside over the examinations.

Whether these examiners lean toward conservative or radical political views, or what style of writing they prefer, will influence their grading and, consequently, the candidates’ scores.

Thanks to his connections with Luo Fu and Ji Wenyan, Yan Shaoxuan had a good understanding of the writing preferences at the prefectural academy. During the academy examinations, he knew exactly what to expect and wrote with confidence. However, with new examiners for the provincial examinations, it was difficult to gauge their preferences, so he simply wrote according to his own convictions.

As for whether he would pass, he would simply leave that to fate for now.

Two days later, the provincial examinations concluded. As the candidates emerged from the examination hall, many looked utterly exhausted and haggard.

The conditions in the examination hall were harsh, the air was stale, and the pressure of the exams weighed heavily on their minds. They could neither eat nor sleep properly. Some with frail constitutions were carried out before the exams were over; those who managed to persevere to the end were considered to have a fairly robust constitution.

Yan Shaoxuan’s two close friends looked somewhat listless, but he himself appeared almost as fresh as when he had entered the hall, showing almost no signs of fatigue.

The three returned to their lodgings, had a light meal, then washed up and went to rest.

Over the next few days, the other two stayed at their lodgings to rest, while Yan Shaoxuan visited every bookstore in the city and even bought a gift for Yan Xiaoyu. Three days later, the three classmates set off together to return home.

The results wouldn’t be announced until October, so they didn’t need to wait in the prefectural city; if they passed, officials would come with great fanfare to notify them.