Lin Yan and Pei Fei sat across from each other playing chess.
The exhausting Dragon Boat Festival had finally ended. The citywide festivities at Qujiang concluded without any major incidents of trampling or injuries. The imperial procession had departed and returned safely. The envoys from foreign territories and various regions who had come to the capital bearing gifts were beginning to leave these past few days. The Metropolitan Prefecture finally ended its period requiring all staff to remain on duty.
Lin Yan was having his regular rest day, and Pei Fei came to the Lin residence again to freeload food and drinks.
After barely half an hour, Pei Fei conceded defeat by throwing down his chess piece. He pulled over a cushion and reclined on the couch, his handsome features showing traces of melancholy.
As Lin Yan was collecting the chess pieces and board, Pei Fei suddenly noticed a flash of colored silk thread from Lin Yan’s sleeve, appearing to be a longevity thread. He couldn’t help but joke, “It seems you’re truly in the Emperor’s favor, for His Majesty to even think of giving you a longevity thread.”
Lin Yan casually pulled his sleeve down to cover it, saying, “This one wasn’t bestowed by His Majesty.”
“Did Grand Madam tie it for you?” Although many colleagues wore such things during the fifth month, Pei Fei asked because he knew Lin Yan usually disliked wearing such items.
“No.”
Pei Fei suddenly thought of a possibility. “Could it be… impressive! Already exchanging tokens of love?” Thinking of his ill-fated relationship with Princess Fuhui, Pei Fei felt intense envy. How did An’ran have such good fortune, with both his career and love life progressing so smoothly?
“Don’t overthink it. It’s not what you imagine,” Lin Yan explained, pursing his lips.
Pei Fei raised an eyebrow, “It’s not from Miss Shen?”
Lin Yan covered the chess piece container, “You should think carefully about the Princess’s matter. The Metropolitan surveillance of public opinion has been mentioned frequently.”
During the Dragon Boat Festival celebrations at Qujiang, rumors had spread vividly about Princess Fuhui returning in the same carriage with a young official.
Pei Fei began to explain, “What happened that day during the Dragon Boat Festival isn’t what everyone says—” He stopped halfway, then laughed wryly before sighing. This was so similar to what An’ran had just said; it seemed everyone had their difficulties.
Pei Fei spoke earnestly, “If you’ve set your sights on someone, don’t let them slip away. If you can see Miss Shen’s good qualities, others certainly can too. If someone else gets there first, and you end up missing each other despite mutual feelings…” Pei Fei let out a deep sigh.
Lin Yan placed the chess set away and returned to sit cross-legged on the couch, placing his clasped hands on his legs. His right index and middle fingers slipped into his left sleeve to touch the knot on the longevity thread—a recently developed habit.
Pei Fei knew his temperament and thought he wouldn’t respond. After a while, however, he heard him say, “I need to be certain of her feelings first.”
Pei Fei was speechless.
Even though Pei Fei was suffering from his love troubles, this made him laugh. “You mean you still haven’t confirmed her feelings? The great Lin An’ran has moments of uncertainty. In your early years in Hedong, how many young ladies sent you hair ornaments through others? And later when you held posts elsewhere, and even here in the capital, there must have been quite a few, right? You, the dream lover of proper ladies and genteel women, actually…”
Pei Fei felt that this Miss Shen must truly be an extraordinary person, not only to occupy An’ran’s thoughts but also to appear somewhat indifferent to him.
Misery loves company—at this moment, Pei Fei wanted to laugh out loud. Ha! Even you, Lin An’ran, have such days!
As childhood friends, Lin Yan knew what he was thinking. He pursed his lips and glanced at him, then after some thought, smiled himself.
Though unrestrained, Pei Fei had enough tact that when Lin Yan went to eat pastries at Shen’s shop in the afternoon, he resisted the urge to tag along despite his intense curiosity.
As soon as Lin Yan entered, he saw Miss Shen chatting happily with a young gentleman. Miss Shen’s eyes were curved in pleasure, her expression joyful, as if she had made quite a profit. Suddenly, Pei Fei’s warning flashed through his mind.
Indeed, Shen Shaoguang had made quite a profit!
After several market stalls at Qujiang, and with the Top Graduate Scholar helping as their image ambassador, the flower cakes had truly made a name for themselves. When people said they were better than the famous pastry shops in the East and West Markets, Shen Shaoguang had thought it was just polite praise, but unexpectedly, someone had actually told this to one of those pastry shops, and now their young master had come to visit.
This person’s surname was truly Shao, given name Jie, courtesy name Yingxian, and his family owned Chang’an’s most famous pastry shop, Guixiang Garden. Guixiang Garden had been making pastries for over a hundred years. Previously, Master Yuanjue had mentioned that there was a pastry shop owner in the East Market who had earned an Honorary Official title because of his excellent pastries—that was Master Shao’s grandfather, known as the Pastry Official.
Now the Shao family had expanded into many businesses and no longer relied solely on pastries for their livelihood. However, this was still their ancestral trade, and all legitimate male descendants had to spend some time working in the pastry shop after coming of age.
Master Shao Jie was currently working at the pastry shop. He had heard two customers mention that there were excellent pastries being sold by the Qujiang riverside, though they were only available during festivals. Later, hearing it was from a Shen family tavern in Chongxian Ward when Shao Jie came to visit friends in the ward today, he remembered Shen’s establishment and decided to pay a visit.
The small tavern wasn’t large, but everything inside and out was clean and orderly. Looking at the paintings on the walls and small decorations, Shao Jie felt it wasn’t surprising that this shop could make good pastries.
Upon meeting the female proprietor and tasting several pastries, along with a jug of iced plum drink, Shao Jie made his decision.
“Being from the Shao family of Guixiang Garden in the East Market, how could you be interested in our humble shop’s pastry recipes?” Shen Shaoguang asked with a smile.
Indeed, while her pastries were refined, they weren’t particularly difficult to make, especially for professionals. Just by breaking them apart and tasting them, trying a few times, one could make something similar. In this era without patents, this young master wanting to spend a hundred taels of silver to buy the recipes for pea pastries and hundred-fruit cakes seemed rather strange.
“Miss Shen is too cautious,” Shao Jie smiled. “Let me be honest with you. While these two pastries are good, they’re not as good as your idea for selling them. I just heard from your maid about how you have different pastry gift boxes for different seasons and festivals—the Success in Career box, the Perfect Harmony box, the Fortune and Changshou box—with appropriately patterned pastries inside…”
“Though I haven’t seen them myself, after tasting these few pastries and seeing their patterns, I can imagine what those gift boxes must be like. It’s a pity I most dislike going out during festivals and holidays, otherwise, I wouldn’t have to imagine them here. So, I’d like to learn from your idea, but it wouldn’t feel right to just take it without offering anything in return…” Shao Jie smiled, revealing two small canine teeth.
Looking at this young man with his rather adorable smile and hearing such straightforward words, Shen Shaoguang almost felt transported back to modern times. The people of this dynasty were too accustomed to being indirect—not to mention the example of Deputy Magistrate Lin’s reticence, even ordinary people rarely expressed themselves so directly.
As before, such “creative ideas” were worth even less than the recipes themselves—they were things anyone could use freely. That this Master Shao was willing to exchange a hundred taels of silver, whether out of a century-old business’s desire to maintain its reputation or a young man’s uncompromised conscience, he had shown the respect that made him likable. Especially compared to the Cloud Arrival Tavern in the same ward, which shared a similar competitive relationship, this young master’s attitude was much more appealing.
Shen Shaoguang was also straightforward: “In that case, many thanks for your generosity, young master.”
Shen Shaoguang spread out paper and wrote down the recipes for the two pastries, and very generously had A’yuan go look for any remaining gift boxes, filling two boxes with the shop’s current pastries. “Our shop doesn’t sell many pastries daily, just a few common varieties. Please don’t mind, young master.”
Shao Jie smiled, “How refreshing! Miss Shen truly proves that women can be as capable as men!”
When he received the paper with the recipes and saw the strong, graceful handwriting, Shao Jie groaned as if in toothache, “Indeed as capable as men! Even Miss Shen’s handwriting is this good… If I could write like this, I would be able to hold my head high among my brothers.”
Shao Jie revealed a family secret: “To be honest with Miss Shen, for generations our family has been skilled with our hands, but not in reading and writing,” he said, then burst into hearty laughter.
Shen Shaoguang truly liked this young man—without enough confidence, one could hardly laugh so freely at oneself.
Shen Shaoguang smiled, “To be honest with you as well, I too am skilled with my hands, but not in needlework and feminine arts. The spring banners hanging in the Yuan Zheng courtyard are fortunately hung high, otherwise, they would be quite embarrassing!”
Shao Jie laughed heartily.
Shen Shaoguang also laughed.
Yu San, who had just gone to get cured meat from the back courtyard: “…”
Lin Yan, who had just entered: “…”
Seeing Lin Yan, Shao Jie was startled and quickly stood up to bow, “Greetings, Deputy Magistrate Lin.”
As a major shop near the imperial city in the East and West Markets, they inevitably had dealings with the government offices. This Deputy Magistrate of the Metropolitan Prefecture—Shao Jie had seen him twice, though they had never spoken.
Lin Yan looked him over once, smiled faintly, and asked, “And you are…?”
After Shao Jie stated his identity, Lin Yan nodded and went to sit in his usual window seat.
Shen Shaoguang served drinks as usual and asked what he would like to eat, carrying out their daily routine conversation.
Not wanting to disturb this honored guest’s meal, and with his servant having brought a hundred taels of silver, Shao Jie paid the money, exchanged a few polite words with Shen Shaoguang, came over to bid farewell to Deputy Magistrate Lin, and left the tavern.
When Deputy Magistrate Lin first entered the tavern, he appeared quite serious, but Shen Shaoguang noticed he had become more genial while serving his food. Heh, men’s hearts were as unfathomable as the ocean floor—it seemed unlikely this Deputy Magistrate Lin would ever be as open as Master Shao who had just left, given how different their personalities were.
Since all the presentable pastries had been packed for Master Shao, Shen Shaoguang had Yu San prepare several quick dishes for Lin Yan: fried quail, celery with lily bulbs, shrimp with cucumber, salted egg yolk with braised tofu, and a bowl of mung bean and rice porridge prepared for the evening meal, along with two small scallion pancakes.
The portions were small, with little plates of red, white, green, and yellow items arranged refreshingly; the small bowl of porridge wasn’t too sweet, as this guest preferred light flavors and disliked excessive sweetness, especially with savory dishes.
Taking a spoonful of porridge, the rice and beans were cooked to perfection, with just a hint of sweetness that didn’t overwhelm the porridge’s natural fragrance. Lin Yan’s eyes curved slightly.
With her good eyesight in this life, Shen Shaoguang caught a glimpse of the silk thread at his wrist when he reached for a pancake, and her heart unexpectedly tightened.
Looking at the Deputy Magistrate’s elegant face, broad shoulders and slim waist, and those thin, pale, slender hands, Shen Shaoguang suddenly thought of another plump beauty—the beloved Sister Bao with her embroidered incense pouch, and naturally Bao Yu’s unfulfilled wish to touch it.
Shen Shaoguang felt quite regretful too, and remembered the embrace from that day—the feel had been quite nice indeed. Though clothes made him look thin, he must be quite well-built underneath…
Lin Yan looked up and met Shen Shaoguang’s intense gaze. Shen Shaoguang squinted in a smile, and Lin Yan looked away, though the corners of his mouth turned upward.
Shen Shaoguang had once visited Guixiang Garden in the East Market out of curiosity, ordering several of their signature pastries. They were all delicious, especially their most famous osmanthus cake, which was sweet and glutinous without being sticky, with a degree of osmanthus fragrance that northerners found just right—truly unique.