Seeing Lin Yu come to look for him, Shi Xiaoliu felt excitement and grievance surge together in his heart. His eyes turned red, and tears hovered but did not fall.

When their family’s grain ran out, he followed his mother to wash clothes for people.

At the beginning of spring, the well water was still very cold. His hands, soaked in it, turned bright red from the freezing. His mother felt distressed and did not want him to work, but how could she alone support the three children?

Even so, after a whole day of hard washing, they could only exchange it for a handful of rice, which was just enough for one day’s food for the whole family. They could only mix it with wild vegetables to eat, and it was still not enough to fill their stomachs.

Madam Wu was also in the courtyard washing clothes. Hearing someone come, she asked, “Xiao Liu, who has come?”

Shi Xiaoliu was so overjoyed that he stood frozen in place. Only when his mother called him did he hurriedly step aside to let people in, “Lin Ama, Yue-jie, please come in quickly.”

Then he shouted toward the courtyard, “Mother, it’s Lin Ama who’s here!”

Madam Wu looked up and indeed saw Lin Yu lifting the drying laundry in the courtyard and coming in. She hurriedly wiped her hands and stood up, “So it’s Lin Fulang who’s here. Quickly, have a seat, have a seat.”

In the courtyard, Shi Xiaoshu and Shi Xiaohua were picking through whatever edible wild vegetables they could find. Since they lived in town, even wild vegetables were hard to come by. Everyone was short of grain and went outside the town to look. Even the unpleasant, bitter-tasting wild vegetables, they would still pick and bring back.

Lin Yu glanced at the two children opposite him. Their cheeks had sunken from hunger, their little faces were sallow and yellowish, and they were still holding bitter poplar leaves in their hands—one look and it was clear they had suffered greatly. Lin Yu knew that Shi Xiaoliu’s days were not easy, but he had not expected them to be this difficult. He hurriedly called the two children over, “Xiaoshu, Xiaohua, come here, come to Little A-ma.”

Shi Xiaoshu and Shi Xiaohua had seen Lin Yu before, but when faced with outsiders, they were still somewhat timid. Lin Yu lifted the cloth covering the bamboo basket, revealing the white wheat cakes inside. “Come here to A-Ma and eat something.”

When they saw that the basket held food, the two children ran over, but they still stood properly without reaching out to take it, waiting instead for Lin Yu to hand it to them. Shi Xiaohua was younger, and when she saw the golden wheat cakes, her little face lit up with joy. Her big eyes turned to Madam Wu, “Mother, it’s cakes!”

Madam Wu had not expected that Lin Yu would bring them food when he came. She was moved and wiped away her tears, never imagining that others still remembered them.

“Come here, Mother will wash your hands before you eat. Xiaoshu, you wash your hands too.”

Shi Xiaoshu ran to wash his hands in the basin used for rinsing clothes. Shi Xiaoliu’s gaze also fell on the bamboo basket. Wheat cakes—he could not even remember the last time he had eaten them. Though their family had not gone without grain last year, they had never dared to eat their fill. The whole family had only ever eaten half full.

Seeing that Shi Xiaoliu’s hands were clean, Lin Yu first took one and handed it to him, “Xiaoliu, you eat first.”

Shi Xiaoliu accepted it with both hands and immediately wolfed down two big bites. It was a wheat cake fried in oil! So fragrant!

After devouring two bites, he suddenly came back to his senses. He could not eat it all—at home, their food had to be bought fresh each day. If he ate this entire meal, what would they eat for the next one? So he began eating in small bites, thinking that later he would save half to eat afterwards.

Shi Xiaoshu and Shi Xiaohua also washed their hands and came to take cakes. The two children were still young, and once they held the cakes, they ate in big bites. Madam Wu hurriedly brought over water, “Eat slowly, don’t choke.”

Lin Yu handed the bamboo basket to Madam Wu, “Madam Wu, you should eat some too.”

Madam Wu wiped her hands and also took one. The moment the fragrant wheat cake entered her mouth, tears nearly fell from her eyes, but as an adult, she minded her manners and ate slowly.

Lin Yu told them about his family renting a shop in town. Shi Xiaoliu suddenly raised his head, “Lin Ama, you rented a shop!”

“Mm, it hasn’t opened yet. There are just the three of us in the shop, I’m afraid we’ll be too busy, so we’ll need Xiaoliu to help. The wages will definitely be raised.”

Shi Xiaoliu wiped the corner of his eye, “Lin Ama, I thought you weren’t coming to town anymore.”

“We are coming, we were delayed a few days because of some matters in the village.”

Lin Yu told them about the bandits in the village and buying land to farm. Shi Xiaoliu let out a cry, “How dangerous!”

Lin Yu then asked how they had been in town last year. Madam Wu sighed, “Last year, the whole town stayed behind closed doors, no work to be found. Luckily, Boss Wei reminded us, so the family had grain stored to last the winter. But every so often, thieves and robbers came in. Fortunately, no one was harmed, and that was already a blessing.”

Last year, the countryside had been somewhat better, but in town, there were many refugees. Fights and killings broke out daily. They had nowhere to flee, so they had to stay inside with doors tightly shut. A few times, their door had been kicked open, but the intruders were only searching for food and did not harm anyone. In their alley, however, two households had deaths.

Lin Yu felt some sorrow hearing this. He told Shi Xiaoliu to come help in three days, then left. He had not brought many cakes this time, but rationed carefully, they would last a day or two. Once Shi Xiaoliu had work, their lives would not be so hard.

Madam Wu and Shi Xiaoliu sent them to the mouth of the alley before returning. With such rare good news at home, Shi Xiaoliu was even bouncing as he walked, “Mother! Lin Ama still wants me to work!”

“Mm, Boss Wei and Lin Fulang are good people. When you go, don’t be lazy.”

“Don’t worry, Mother, I’ll definitely work hard!”

Shi Xiaoliu was very happy. With this job, life at home would be better. At the very least, they could buy more grain. Now grain was expensive. Even if they could not eat their fill, at least they would not have to eat those bitter wild vegetables!

Originally, Lin Yu had not planned to open so soon. The shop sign had not yet been embroidered. He had not even decided what filling the buns would have. They did not yet have the steaming baskets for buns, and the stove still needed to be built. But seeing how Shi Xiaoliu’s family was living, even if they opened a few days later, it would not matter to them, yet for Shi Xiaoliu, it would mean several more days of hunger.

For them, a few days sooner or later was just a small effort, so when they returned, they would begin preparations.

When Lin Yu came back, Wei Qingshan happened to return as well. He carried the written shop sign with him. The scholar who had inscribed it had only drawn the outlines, making it look good when embroidered.

When Lin Yu saw Wei Qingshan return, his eyes sparkled as he reached out to take him, “You’re back.”

Lin Yu opened the two shop banners. The characters outlined on them were very neat. “Ah, they’re written very well.”

Lin Yu did not know many characters, but he recognized his own surname. “Why is my surname also on my shop banner?”

“In the future, if my husband’s business grows big and gains fame, when people say where they bought from, they can’t just say from a bun shop. Otherwise, how would others find our shop?”

Lin Yu was amused by Wei Qingshan’s words and laughed, “We haven’t even opened yet, how do you already know the business will be that good?”

Wei Qingshan was in good spirits and spoke more, teasing his little husband, “I’ve eaten them, of course, I know.”

Lin Yu was very happy. Wei Qingshan read out the words on the two banners to him, “Lin’s Bun Shop, Wei’s Butcher Shop.”

“I’ll start embroidering right now. I’ll use red thread, it will stand out.”

Lin Yu went inside and brought out his embroidery frame. Zhao Yueniang also sat down, “Brother, what should I help you with?”

“You help brother make some colorful tassels, hang them under the shop banners, and when the wind blows, they will look nice.”

“Alright.”

The two of them sat in the courtyard and busied themselves. Wei Qingshan also sat beside Lin Yu and took a sip of water. Lin Yu told Wei Qingshan that he wanted the shop to open earlier. Wei Qingshan nodded, “Alright, whatever is missing I’ll buy today.”

“Mm.”

Wei Qingshan drank his water and then stood up to get busy, first mixing some yellow mud to build a stove by the courtyard wall. Wei Qingshan thought that when he went to the countryside to collect pigs, he would also bring back some bamboo and build a shed in this spot, so that if it rained, they wouldn’t get drenched. Three days were too rushed, Lin Yu couldn’t finish embroidering both banners, so he picked the meat shop banner first to embroider. Wei Qingshan’s business was bigger than his own, it wouldn’t do for the shop to open without a signboard and not even a banner.

In the afternoon, Wei Qingshan drove the mule cart to buy steamers and a big iron pot. When he returned, he even found a carpenter to come help make wooden boards to partition the shop. Half a partition would be enough, the two shopfronts were connected at the back, so they could still walk through, and then set up two tall wooden tables to use as counters.

Lin Yu spent the whole day embroidering that banner, and at night, he lit the oil lamp and still hurried on with the work. Wei Qingshan ached for him, but also knew that his little husband, though he looked soft, was actually stubborn inside. If he didn’t let him embroider, he probably wouldn’t even be able to sleep.

The carpenter finished the shop’s middle partition the next day, and the counters would only be delivered the day after. Wei Qingshan asked his little husband what things they should buy. Lin Yu hadn’t thought it out yet, so he just asked Wei Qingshan to haul back a few sacks of flour first.

On the third day, Lin Yu’s banner was still not done, but almost. Wei Qingshan also went out early in the mule cart to collect pigs. Now, pigs were expensive and hard to collect. Wei Qingshan spent the whole morning and only managed to collect one pig. Last year, during the famine, households that had pigs slaughtered them to eat, and the rest were mostly only half-grown pigs.

This time, the place he collected pigs was close to Lujia Village, so Wei Qingshan simply drove the mule cart home, slaughtered the pig there, so that the house would also be clean, and he also went up the back mountain to cut some bamboo and hauled it back.

When Wei Qingshan came back, it was already afternoon, and Lin Yu’s banner had just been finished. The rough white cloth was slightly yellowed, edged with a red border, red embroidered characters, and colorful tassels hanging below. Lin Yu shook it open, looked it over, and was very satisfied.

Hearing knocking, he went to open the door, but Wei Qingshan had dragged things back. Lin Yu saw the pig had already been slaughtered, “How come you slaughtered it this time?”

“It was close to home, so I just slaughtered it there.”

Wei Qingshan carried the pig into the courtyard, then dragged the bamboo into the courtyard. “I’ll build a shed at the stove where we steam the buns.”

Lin Yu showed the embroidered banner to Wei Qingshan. Wei Qingshan still thought that his little husband’s craft was the best; this banner was the most beautiful on the entire street.

The two of them immediately hung the banner outside the shop, and tomorrow they could open.

Lin Yu cooked the pig’s offal from this pig into a pot, just selling that pot tomorrow would be fine. As for the buns, he hadn’t yet thought of what fillings to sell. Generally, there were only two kinds, vegetable and fresh meat. The family didn’t have ingredients for a vegetable filling, so Lin Yu thought to first make a basket of meat-filled ones to try selling tomorrow.

These past few days in town, buying flour, iron pots, steamers, collecting pigs, making wooden boards—all these odds and ends had already cost forty or fifty taels of silver. Lin Yu couldn’t help but sigh that silver really didn’t last long when spent.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Yu got up to work. Buns sold better in the morning, so he had to get up early to prepare. The whole family of three got up. As soon as Lin Yu rose, he heard people talking and doing business out on the street. On this street, there were those who sold food, and everyone got up early.

Wei Qingshan’s butcher shop wasn’t in a rush to open yet, so he helped Lin Yu chop the meat filling. Lin Yu rolled up his sleeves to knead the dough. They didn’t plan to make much today, just prepared to first make three baskets of buns to sell and see. Zhao Yueniang also helped at the side, wrapping buns and boiling water. The three of them busied themselves.

Lin Yu’s buns were big, and he was generous with the meat filling. When they were steaming in the pot, the aroma of meat and dough blended and wafted out.

Shi Xiaoliu also came early. When he came and saw Lin Yu was already almost done, he was a bit annoyed at himself for being late. He busied himself just like before, lighting the fire and stoking the stove. The pot of pig offal bubbled up after boiling and gave off fragrance.

“Xiaoliu, you’re here, taste first how my buns are.”

Shi Xiaoliu hurriedly wiped his hands and took it. No,w grain was as precious as gold, a meat bun like this would cost seven or eight wen.

Shi Xiaoliu held the bun and ate. One bite and he bit into the meat filling. After not eating meat for more than a year, Shi Xiaoliu couldn’t stop himself from stuffing the whole bun in his mouth. He slowly chewed a couple of bites, then secretly hid the bun in the corner of the table, so that when he went home, he could bring it back for his younger brother and sister to taste meat.

Across the street, Tieniu from the wonton shop came over and had Wei Qingshan cut him a string of meat to take back. Since Wei Qingshan had just opened, he sold a bit cheaper than others. Tieniu’s wonton shop needed fresh meat every day, so he simply bought it from Wei Qingshan.

Early in the morning, each shop began to take down the boards and open its doors, and the street gradually had more people coming and going. Lin Yu then had Shi Xiaoliu look after the bun shop alone. Too many people would be unnecessary. Since they woke early, he told Zhao Yueniang to go back inside to rest, while he himself sat in the courtyard to continue embroidering the bun shop’s banner.

His meat buns sold for seven wen apiece, twice as expensive as before the famine, but this was the normal price at the market now. Both flour and meat were expensive; if he set the price too low, he wouldn’t recover the cost. Braised offal was still six wen a bowl, same as before.

Shi Xiaoliu called out vigorously, “Big meat buns, braised offal, six wen! Customer, won’t you buy a bun? Our buns are as big as fists, seven wen apiece!”

“What’s cooking in that pot?”

Someone smelled the fragrance and asked, “This pot of food was truly fragrant, and it was shining red and oily, but they did not know what it was.

“My family’s braised offal, six wen a bowl, please have a taste.”

When that person heard it was pig offal, he immediately showed a look of disgust, “Pig offal? That stinky stuff can be delicious?”

Shi Xiaoliu was somewhat unhappy, but he did not show it on his face. He had not made a single sale today yet, so he could not possibly drive people away. He picked up a piece with chopsticks, “Just try it and you’ll know.”

That person disliked that it was pig offal, yet at the same time smelled the fragrance. In the end, he pinched his nose, reached out, took it over, and threw it into his mouth. He chewed, and his eyes gradually widened, “Hm? Delicious! Give me a bowl! This really is pig offal!”

Shi Xiaoliu looked around but did not see any bowls. When he used to help sell at the market, customers either brought their own bowls or went next door to buy a few buns to eat with them. Now someone wanted to buy, but there was no bowl. What should he do?

“Guest, please wait a moment.”

Shi Xiaoliu hurried to the backyard, “Lin Ama, this customer wants to buy braised offal, but what do we do without a bowl?”

Lin Yu let out an “ah” sound. He had forgotten about this matter. The bowls at home were not many, just enough for the family to use. If they sold, one person took a bowl, another took a bowl—whether they would return it was another matter. They could not possibly sacrifice bowls just for one serving of six-wen braised offal.

Lin Yu was so anxious that he paced in a circle in the yard. How had he forgotten about this?