The moment Shen Shaoguang opened her eyes in the morning, she sensed something different – it was cold, and outside seemed unusually bright.
Wrapped in her blanket, she pushed the window open slightly and shivered as the cold air rushed in. Peering through the window crack, she saw everything was indeed blanketed in white. After two days of gloomy weather, the snow had finally fallen.
This was the third snowfall of the winter. The first two had been light, barely making an impression before stopping – just a thin layer on rooftops and tree branches, quite bland. What fell on the ground was trampled by people and horses into black mud, disappointing the Chang’an residents who had hoped to enjoy the snow with feasts.
This snowfall, however, was truly magnificent. No one knew when it had started during the night, but thick snow already covered the ground, and it was still falling in graceful flurries.
Since they didn’t serve breakfast, there was plenty of time in the morning. Shen Shaoguang lazily dressed while waking A-Yuan.
Once everyone was up, A-Yuan went to the front of the shop to fetch hot water. Shen Shaoguang instructed her, “See what Yu San is making for breakfast today?”
A-Yuan cheerfully agreed and soon returned with the hot water.
“He says we’re having lamb noodle rolls this morning!”
Shen Shaoguang nodded with a smile, “Very appropriate!” Some lamb soup noodles on such a cold morning would warm the whole body – quite nice. Princess Yu San was indeed considerate in arranging meals.
After mixing warm water in the mouth-rinsing cup and washbasin, Shen Shaoguang first brushed her teeth with sea salt, then washed her face, while A-Yuan also finished her washing up.
A-Yuan went to dump the used water while Shen Shaoguang combed her hair.
Shen Shaoguang liked Hu-style clothing, and the several sets of winter clothes she had made this year were all in this style. Today’s outfit was amber-colored with multicolored fox fur on the collar. While this color would make someone with darker or more yellow skin look sickly, Shen Shaoguang’s fair complexion made even ordinary Yongzhou brocade appear somewhat luxurious.
To match the clothes, Shen Shaoguang styled her hair in a simple and neat Uyghur cone bun and drew sharp sword-like eyebrows. Looking at her mistress with straight shoulders, slim waist, and long legs wearing the tight-sleeved, form-fitting Hu-style dress with a wide belt, A-Yuan first praised, “So beautiful!”
Shen Shaoguang knew that in A-Yuan’s eyes, she could do no wrong, so she had become somewhat immune to her flattery.
“Even more beautiful than Magistrate Lin!” A-Yuan employed comparison to increase credibility.
“…” Shen Shaoguang turned her head and taught her, “That’s called handsome – even more handsome than Magistrate Lin!”
A-Yuan nodded, her vocabulary expanding a bit more. But then she looked down at her belly, becoming dejected – even in this dynasty where plumpness was considered beautiful, A-Yuan was over the limit.
A-Yuan got enough exercise, but the problem was with eating. Since following Shen Shaoguang, she had puffed up like an inflated balloon, visibly becoming rounder.
Shen Shaoguang felt somewhat guilty: “How about from now on you only eat until 70% full?”
A-Yuan was about to nod, but then remembered the fragrant lamb soup she had smelled earlier, and asked Shen Shaoguang while pursing her lips: “How about I start at lunch?”
Shen Shaoguang wore a helpless expression, “Alright, alright.”
When they got to the front, the noodle rolls were just ready, steaming hot with a rich lamb aroma.
Not rushing to eat the noodles, Shen Shaoguang first took a spoonful of soup – mmm, sautéed minced lamb with plenty of pepper powder, fragrant!
The noodles were good too, wide strips with excellent texture. Shen Shaoguang admitted she couldn’t make them this well – if nothing else, she lacked the strength.
Shen Shaoguang gave quite a bit of praise, and while Yu San remained expressionless, seeing the whole pot of noodle rolls eaten clean – even the usually light-eating Shen Shaoguang had a large bowl, while the other two gluttons were holding their bellies – Yu San finally showed a satisfied smile.
Having eaten quite a lot for breakfast, Shen Shaoguang stood at the door, looked at the ankle-deep snow outside, and gave up the idea of going for a walk.
Yu San said: “The fish vendor Qu might not make it today, and I’m not sure if the meat and vegetable vendors can deliver. Fortunately, we stocked up on vegetables and meat these past two cloudy days, and we have enough rice and firewood.”
Since business had gotten busier, Shen Shaoguang no longer went shopping for ingredients herself, instead choosing two reliable and honest vegetable and meat vendors to deliver, and the tofu shop also delivered a block daily.
“It’s fine, we’ll cook what we have. Occasional shortages are okay – this is called hunger marketing…” Having eaten her fill with nothing to do, and knowing such heavy snow would surely affect business, Shen Shaoguang became increasingly casual with her nonsense.
A-Yuan patted her belly, really unable to find any feeling of “hunger.”
Yu San’s prediction wasn’t wrong – the fish vendor indeed didn’t come, but the meat and vegetable vendors did. The meat was just pork and lamb, nothing special, and the vegetable vendor who usually only brought ordinary items like scallions, garlic, Chinese cabbage, radishes, and taro, today brought a surprise – a small basket of fresh hawthorns.
“Now this is a rare treat!” Shen Shaoguang smiled first.
Hawthorns were sometimes sold on the streets in autumn, but people of this dynasty seemed rather indifferent to them, with few buyers. Shen Shaoguang occasionally bought some to make hawthorn cakes, but it seemed most hawthorns went to medicinal drink shops.
“These were stored by the root cellar owner who keeps Chinese cabbage and radishes in the outskirts of the capital. His wife had pregnancy cravings and loved these, so fearing she wouldn’t get any in winter, they stored some in the cellar. I saw how bright red and lovely they were, so I insisted on buying this half basket.”
“Hawthorns promote blood circulation and remove stasis – pregnant women shouldn’t eat too many. When you go back, tell the cellar owner-“
The vegetable vendor hurriedly thanked her on the cellar owner’s behalf, but then was surprised when the young lady asked: “How many more does he have? Could you help me buy more?”
The vendor suddenly suspected that the young lady’s earlier words might have been a ploy to get the fruit.
Yu San let out a snort of laughter and carried a basket of Chinese cabbage and radishes back to the kitchen.
The vendor hurriedly smiled apologetically: “Leave it to me, miss.”
Accused of snatching food from a pregnant woman’s mouth, Shen Shaoguang bought the fruit and hummed a tune while washing them clean in a basin of warm water. The fruit was really good – they must have been carefully selected when stored in the cellar, each one large and plump, without any wormholes.
“Is Young Miss going to make hawthorn cakes?” A-Yuan asked with a smile. The young miss had said before that hawthorn cakes aid digestion, so she must have seen everyone ate too much breakfast and wanted to make something to help.
“What’s so good about hawthorn cakes?” Shen Shaoguang wore a proud expression like she’d just been appointed to office, “I’ll make you some candied hawthorns to try.”
Just the name sounded like a delicious snack, and A-Yuan grew excited.
Shen Shaoguang let them busy themselves with cutting vegetables and meat and preparing dough for lunch, while she took her leisure time to remove seeds, stuff red bean paste, and put the hawthorns on bamboo skewers to make candied hawthorns.
Candied hawthorns held a special place in the hearts of every child born in the 80s and 90s. In that era when snacks weren’t so varied and pocket money wasn’t so plentiful, ice cream in summer and candied hawthorns in winter were the two pillars of the snack world.
In the cold, someone would ride a bicycle with a bundle of straw tied to the back, calling out “Tanglao-er!”
That straw bundle would be full of strings of “sugar balls” – plain hawthorn, red bean paste-filled, Chinese yam, yam beans, tangerines, and apples, all coated in shiny transparent sugar with sugar thorns hanging on the side.
This treat had different names – in the nearby capital it was called “candied hawthorn,” while another classmate said in her hometown they called it “sugar balls.” Whatever the name, everyone’s mouth would water at the mention of it.
The key to good candied hawthorns lies in the timing of the sugar syrup – slow cook over low heat, and when you can pull strings with chopsticks, it’s about ready. If you’re unsure, cool a drop in cold water – if it’s crispy when bitten, it’s perfect.
If undercooked, it sticks to your teeth; if overcooked, it’s even worse – becomes bitter.
With experience making candied Chinese yam, Shen Shaoguang was skilled at cooking sugar syrup. Testing it, the syrup was ready. She rolled the hawthorns in the pot, then dropped them onto an oiled flat plate, creating beautiful sugar thorns. A-Yuan came to help stick them in a simply tied straw bundle.
Soon the small straw bundle was full, with twenty or thirty strings.
Bright red and glistening with ice – quite beautiful. Not just A-Yuan and A-Chang, even Yu San turned his head to look.
Shen Shaoguang instructed A-Yuan: “First take them under the eaves to cool, away from the wind and snow. They’re best eaten once the sugar has cooled.”
A-Yuan carried the straw bundle out as if receiving an imperial edict.
After a short while, all the shop’s proprietress and workers were eating these candied hawthorns. Even Yu San couldn’t resist trying one – the young miss truly had a gift for these fancy snacks.
Shen Shaoguang held a candied hawthorn, standing at the door eating while enjoying the scenery – the vast expanse of snow, white walls and dark tiles, passing people and carriages, and two young ladies holding umbrellas, looking just like an ancient painting or a tale from a romance.
Unexpectedly, just as a carriage passed by, it stopped, and a familiar person stepped out – Magistrate Lin.
No court today? Shen Shaoguang calculated – ah, it was a rest day. He still went out in this weather?
Lin Yan had gone in the morning to visit Su Zhen, a Four Gates Scholar at the Imperial Academy, who had fallen severely ill. Going in the afternoon might be considered inauspicious, and waiting until the next rest day might be too late, so he had ventured out despite the wind and snow.
Now returning, he felt something and lifted the curtain, just catching sight of Young Lady Shen in neat Hu-style clothing with a fashionable Hu-style bun, comically holding a string of red fruit.
On such a rainy and snowy day, having just left a sick person’s gloomy bedside, suddenly seeing this leisurely, comfortable, and even somewhat lively scene, Lin Yan’s brows, which had been furrowed all the way, finally relaxed, and his lips curved slightly upward. This Young Lady Shen knew how to enjoy life…
“Lord Lin – out enjoying the snow? Truly a refined person.” Shen Shaoguang smiled in greeting.
“Not as much as Young Lady Shen.” Lin Yan smiled back, his gaze moving to the candied hawthorn in her hand.
“…” Was that sarcasm, a joke, or sarcastic humor? Shen Shaoguang looked at the back of Lin Yan’s head, surprised that the usually serious Magistrate Lin could speak this way…
“Our lunch isn’t ready yet, but we can make some wontons fresh for my lord.” Shen Shaoguang set aside her half-eaten candied hawthorn to attend to this demanding guest.
Lin Yan pondered somewhat.
“Or have a candied hawthorn while you think?” This question was pure mischief, revenge for his earlier “not as much” comment.
Lin Yan looked up at Shen Shaoguang.
Shen Shaoguang returned a politely eager smile.
“Alright.”
“…” Shen Shaoguang paused, nodded, and smiled, “Please wait a moment, my lord.”
Then followed a strange period of five people each eating candied hawthorns inside.
Yu San finished his in two or three bites and led A-Chang, who wanted to grab another one, back to the kitchen. A-Yuan took another one and also went to the kitchen. Shen Shaoguang, being the proprietress after all, had more self-control, continuing to eat her half-stick of candied hawthorn behind the counter.
As for Magistrate Lin, being a high official who had passed the imperial examinations and stood in court, he ate naturally and elegantly, showing no sign of awkwardness.
Breaking this strange atmosphere were two young ladies – judging by their green silk umbrellas, they were the ones Shen Shaoguang had seen outside earlier.