For the opening of Snack Street, Hua Zhi had done no promotion whatsoever. She needed none of those methods — she believed in her bones that this place would become somewhere that generated a steady profit for her.

Though the fare was common street food, the prices she had set were anything but cheap. A bowl of spicy and sour noodles, for instance, came to two hundred copper coins. She had never been targeting the impoverished masses to begin with — her customers were those with a little money to spend and a little leisure to spend it.

Once the volume was there, the returns would be considerable.

Of course, these modest returns were nothing compared to the grand dealings of the gold and silver houses. But a small operation like this was perfectly suited to the Hua Family — recently stripped of their wealth, with very little capital to start from. In some people’s eyes, the Hua Family was no doubt about to acquire a taint of mercantile vulgarity.

But weighed against survival, what did any of that matter.

Hua Zhi chose a shop and went inside to sit, watching the empty lane with the unhurried air of someone unbothered — seemingly oblivious to the unease written across the face of the servant in clean blue clothing behind the counter.

“Make me one portion.”

The servant scrambled into motion. This stall for now sold only egg pancakes. He looked somewhat flustered, though his skill was genuinely the product of solid training — passing Fu Dong’s standard was no easy thing. She was usually gentle as a person, but when teaching food preparation she was not the agreeable sort, and earning her approval was not a simple matter.

The taste was genuinely good. Hua Zhi ate a small portion; the large one disappeared into Shao Yao’s stomach.

Bao Xia went to pay. The servant didn’t dare accept it and looked beseechingly over at the manager on duty, Chen Liang.

“The eldest young miss has always kept business and personal matters separate. Take it.” Chen Liang came over and poured more tea for her, explaining quietly, “Everyone is a little unsettled. They’re afraid of letting the eldest young miss down.”

“You’ve tasted the food yourself. How do you find it?”

Delicious — truly delicious. When he had served the old master, he had been fortunate to taste all manner of fine things. None of them could claim to be as precious as those, but in terms of taste, he actually felt the fine things fell far short of these.

Chen Liang understood. He bowed low. “This one understands now.”

“Keep your spirits up. Don’t let the others lose confidence too.”

“Yes.”

Chen Liang straightened and squared his shoulders. He drew a slow breath and let it out, and much of the restless anxiety in his chest dissolved. “Eldest young miss, please take your time. This one will go and check outside.”

Hua Zhi nodded. She had a high opinion of Chen Liang’s ability to handle matters. The entire lane, from its initial construction to the present day, had only required her direction — Chen Liang and his people were the ones who had brought everything to fruition, and almost all of it had been done to her satisfaction. Very capable indeed.

Gu Yanxi stood at the entrance of the lane, taking in the transformed alley. With a single glance he spotted the carriage stopped at the far end.

“Have the others go in a few at a time.” He issued the instruction and then strolled in at his leisure, knowing exactly where he was headed.

Chen Qing and the others exchanged looks. Their minds were, once again, quite settled on the matter of their Shizi’s feelings for the eldest young miss of the Hua Family.

Gu Yanxi looked into each shop as he passed. When he caught sight of Hua Zhi, he allowed himself to appear pleasantly surprised, eyebrows lifting in a show of being caught off guard. He walked in with complete ease, entirely self-at-home. “No wonder I didn’t see the eldest young miss today — so you came here instead. Is the clan school on holiday?”

“I negotiated with Master Mu and had Bailin stand in for me.” Hua Zhi made no pretense about it, and poured a cup of tea for Gu Yanxi. “I didn’t expect Master Lu to come by.”

Gu Yanxi had known since several days ago, from Shao Yao, that today was the opening day of Snack Street. He had anticipated that Hua Zhi would be here, and so after the morning’s lesson he had come straight over — and only now realized he hadn’t noticed that it was Hua Bailin who had taken Hua Zhi’s place teaching.

He genuinely didn’t know which of the two siblings was the bolder one.

He took a sip of the bland, tasteless tea. He glanced outside and remarked, “I heard a word or two from Shao Yao and came to have a look. It’s quite unlike anything else.”

Shao Yao rolled her eyes inwardly. He’d heard “a word or two” — he had practically interrogated her for every detail.

“Distinctive enough to be remembered. Would Master Lu care to try something?”

During his time at the Hua Family, Gu Yanxi had eaten no small amount of food prepared by Fu Dong. He knew these vendors were all trained under her, and felt not the slightest reluctance — he simply nodded. “As it happens, I’m hungry.”

With no need for instruction, the servant moved swiftly. The earlier experience had already taken some of the nerves off — none of the previous fluster was present now, and in short order a hot, generously filled egg pancake was delivered.

Gu Yanxi passed over a tael of broken silver. “Keep the change — make the rest up in more of these. I’ll take them with me.”

The servant glanced at the eldest young miss and hesitated. “Begging the young gentleman’s pardon — these pancakes are best eaten while hot. Once they’ve gone cold the flavor leaves them.”

Gu Yanxi gave him a longer look. A square, honest face. Clear, upright eyes. Hua Zhi’s taste in people was good.

Just then Chen Qing appeared, strolling up with a show of coincidence. Gu Yanxi pointed at him. “Give them to him when they’re done. He’ll find people to eat them.”

The servant said no more and turned back to his work.

Chen Qing’s instinct upon entering was to bow, but under the pressure of the Shizi’s eyes he remembered the instruction given beforehand, shifted his angle slightly, and gave a modest incline toward Hua Zhi instead. “Eldest young miss.”

“Manager Chen.” Hua Zhi returned the courtesy with a curtsy. She had dealt with Chen Qing on a few occasions and was well aware that this manager, who helped oversee the ice trade in the background, held a position of no small standing with the person behind it all.

Chen Qing didn’t dare accept her bow and sidestepped it without drawing attention to the motion. “I heard from Shao Yao that the things here are ones she’s tried, and that the taste is beyond compare — so naturally I came to try them for myself today.”

Shao Yao felt the urge to roll her eyes again. She had been inside the Hua household for days and hadn’t left. Which Shao Yao had he been “hearing from”?

Gu Yanxi shot him a displeased look. “Stop hovering.”

Not daring to look at the Shizi — who was eating his egg pancake with deliberate, composed bites — Chen Qing kept his gaze carefully forward and went to sit at the adjacent table. He was afraid he might laugh out loud. Since when did his Shizi — that extraordinarily picky eater — eat anything in public without the full composure of a composed gentleman? Even out in the field on missions, appearances were always maintained.

Once the food entered his mouth he understood why. The flavor really was exceptional — the ingredients generous, the taste full. No wonder the Shizi could eat it, and no wonder Shao Yao had stopped going home for days. She’d actually put on a little weight in that short time.

“Young miss, there are a good number of people outside already, buying things and eating.” Bao Xia leaned in, breathless with excitement, her heart that had been suspended finally coming down. The success or failure of this venture mattered to the young miss’s standing in the household. If it fell through, any future plans of hers would face objections from the others. If it succeeded — then from now on, what the young miss said in the Hua Family would go.

Compared to Bao Xia’s anxiety, Hua Zhi had not so much as moved an eyebrow. Food that had been beloved in the world she had come from had no reason to fail to win people over here, in a place where food was scarce and ways of preparing it monotonous. It was only a matter of time.

Gu Yanxi observed her, and for the thousandth time lamented inwardly that Hua Zhi was not born a man. If she had been a son of the Hua Family — paired with the Hua Bailin she had been shaping, and the younger Hua children now under her guidance — this generation of the Hua Family would be the most distinguished the capital had seen, the generation that carried the Hua Family to its peak.

And yet even as a woman, this generation of the Hua Family was not going to fall short. Thinking it through, the downfall of Hua Yizheng had not perhaps been entirely a disaster for the Hua Family after all. Hua Zhi had hidden herself away for so many years — had there been nothing to force her out, she would surely have been content to go on hiding, to become like every daughter of a great family, marrying and bearing children and watching the years pass into grandchildren and old age…

Gu Yanxi found, quite suddenly, that he had lost his appetite.