Snowflakes cut out from goose yellow, gold millet scattered over the dew pouch.
On the ninth day of the eighth month, white dew, auspicious for marriage.
Early in the morning, Yu Jinnian was awakened by the continuous sound of firecrackers on the street. He got up and went out to see. As he opened the door, a wave of coolness rushed in, making him shiver involuntarily. In the corner of the wall, there were two pots of flowers and plants that Aunt had been nurturing, now covered in dew. He moved the two pots to a place where they could catch the sun, then looked up at the sky—autumn was approaching, even the clouds were thinning.
After washing up roughly, he heated some water in the kitchen and then ran to the front to watch the excitement. There were already quite a few people on the street. After asking around, he learned that the owner of a pharmacy on Ye’er Street in the east of the city was marrying off his daughter. It was said that the bride was a talented and charming person, and the groom was a scholar from the west of the city named Qin. They were truly a perfect match.
Because there were many people watching the excitement on the street, those who got tired of standing came in to eat noodles, and soon there was a crowd. Before Yu Jinnian could see the groom on his high horse, he had to regretfully return to the back kitchen to cook noodles.
He was busy for more than two hours without realizing it. It was almost noon when he finally had a moment to catch his breath. By then, there was nothing left to see. He had been lazy in the morning and didn’t make any fresh food. Now, feeling sleepy in the autumn, he didn’t want to move and sat in the shop listlessly, playing with a few chopsticks.
He squinted his eyes as a short, stubby boy slipped in, sat opposite Yu Jinnian, and sighed like a little adult. Yu Jinnian recognized the boy, who lived on Swallow Lane two streets away. His father was a broker, introducing trades and managing goods, and his mother had a fiery temper, often chasing this mischievous boy through three streets.
Yu Jinnian found his sighs amusing and asked, “What are you worried about?”
Zheng Yu sighed again, “What else? My mother’s sick again!”
Yu Jinnian asked, “Did you make her angry again?”
“What do you mean I made her angry!” Zheng Yu said angrily, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her these past two days, she doesn’t sleep at night. This morning, I was just talking to Ling’er at the door, and she came out with a broom without saying a word! She was really furious.”
Yu Jinnian asked curiously, “Who is Ling’er?”
Zheng Yu was immediately sidetracked, “Old man Liu’s granddaughter, the one with big eyes. She wore a new head flower today.”
“Oh?” Yu Jinnian blinked, “So young and already flirting with little girls. No wonder your mother wants to hit you!”
Zheng Yu panicked, “I didn’t! I didn’t flirt with her…” His voice weakened, but he still spoke urgently, “Don’t say that, or Ling’er won’t talk to me tomorrow.”
Yu Jinnian stopped teasing the child and smiled as he stood up, “Do you want some noodles?”
“Yes, yes.” Zheng Yu said quickly, “My mother is angry and said she wouldn’t make lunch for my father and me. She told me to come here for noodles. Last time my father gave you more money, just deduct it from there.”
“Alright, I got it.”
After eating the noodles, Yu Jinnian saw that Zheng Yu was still frowning, his little face looking bitter, so he grabbed some candied fruits from behind the counter for him. He then carefully tidied up the counter.
Sucking on the candied fruits, Zheng Yu hesitated for a while before saying, “Hey, can you make something else? Whenever my mother gets angry, she doesn’t eat all day, just drinks cold water. That’s not good, right? She’s tired of noodles. Can you make something else, anything will do. Everyone says your food is delicious. The money… just deduct it from there, okay?”
So, the child was being considerate of his mother.
“No problem at all.” Yu Jinnian smiled. He had nothing else to do, and the shop wasn’t busy, so he readily agreed. He also told Zheng Yu to go home and coax his mother, assuring him that he would bring the food over once it was ready.
“Hey, Brother Xiao Nian, please bring it over later, for dinner!” Zheng Yu shouted back as he left.
Yu Jinnian responded gently, and Zheng Yu went home happily. In the afternoon, when there were fewer customers, Yu Jinnian went into the kitchen to prepare.
Yesterday, Aunt Li from the market had brought fresh and crisp vegetables, though some cabbages at the bottom had rotting leaves. She felt bad and threw in a couple of bitter melons—bitter melons were similar in shape to what he remembered but slightly different. Nevertheless, they were still bitter.
Aunt and Sui Sui both didn’t eat bitter melon, and it wasn’t useful for making sauce. He was fretting about how to deal with these two good bitter melons when Zheng Yu came to the door.
Yu Jinnian had seen Zheng Yu’s mother twice before; she was a fiery woman who could ignite at the slightest spark.
Listening to Zheng Yu today, he guessed that she must have been inflamed by some women’s issue. Otherwise, how could Mrs. Zheng be so angry at the sight of an eight-year-old girl? The matter seemed to have started with Zheng Yu’s father, who was rumored to be involved with a flower girl from the brothel on Qingliu Street. It was said that he wanted to redeem the girl to make her his concubine—but this wasn’t due to Yu Jinnian prying into other people’s gossip. With so many people talking, he couldn’t help but hear it.
However, this was their family matter. Yu Jinnian collected his thoughts and speculated that Mrs. Zheng’s anger might be due to emotional agitation leading to excessive liver fire. Based on this reasoning, he decided to address it accordingly.
He would use the bitter melon to alleviate Mrs. Zheng’s anger. According to medical texts, the five flavors enter the stomach, each corresponding to a preferred organ: sour enters the liver, bitter enters the heart, sweet enters the spleen, pungent enters the lungs, and salty enters the kidneys. Prolonged intake strengthens the respective organ. Bitter melon, being cold and bitter, could relieve heart fire and clear liver heat.
With this in mind, he started cooking. He first cleaned the bitter melon, removed the ends, and carefully scooped out the seeds and pulp with a chopstick. Then he blanched it in hot water to reduce its bitterness. After blanching, he prepared a filling with minced meat, chopped shiitake mushrooms, and carrots, seasoning it with green onions, ginger, cooking wine, and salt. A small trick he used was adding a fresh egg to the filling to make it more tender and cohesive when steamed.
Next, he stuffed the prepared filling into the bitter melon, sealing both ends, and steamed it over high heat for about a cup of tea’s time. During this time, he made a light sauce with fermented black beans, sesame oil, and sugar. Once the bitter melon was steamed, he tasted a small piece and found it very refreshing. Satisfied, he cut the rest into inch-long pieces, plated them, and poured the sauce over them.
The steamed bitter melon cups were tender and bright green, looking very appealing. But one dish wasn’t enough, so he prepared another dish: Lotus Pond Stir-fry.
Lotus Pond Stir-fry sounded refreshing and delightful. It was made with lotus root, yam, wood ear mushrooms, and lily bulbs, lightly stir-fried with oil and salt, without any heavy sauces. These ingredients were cooling and beneficial for the spleen, and lily bulbs were particularly calming. This combination would be crisp and delicious.
With these two dishes, only a soothing soup was missing. Yu Jinnian calculated that he still had time, so he patiently made celery congee. Celery was cooling and detoxifying, while the rice porridge was nourishing for the stomach, making it perfect for someone like Mrs. Zheng, who was suffering from liver fire. If she had time, she could even juice celery to drink, which would be an excellent beverage.
With two dishes and a soup ready, Yu Jinnian felt it was presentable. He packed the dishes into a food box, informed Aunt Xu, and headed towards Zheng’s house in Swallow Lane.
Just as he stepped out, Sui Sui came bouncing after him. The little girl, with her short arms and legs, usually liked to stick to Yu Jinnian. Seeing him go out not to buy groceries, she naturally wanted to tag along. Sui Sui wore newly mended embroidered shoes from Aunt Xu, carefully avoiding getting them dirty and occasionally looking up to avoid bumping into people. Almost falling, she was caught by Yu Jinnian, who scooped her up and held her by his side.
A group of children was playing jump rope on the street, singing a nursery rhyme: “Wild geese come, swallows return, white dew becomes frost, autumn wind is cool…” Sui Sui watched enviously but was too shy to join in. She just watched from a distance.
They slowed their pace, watching and listening, and soon reached the Zheng household.
The Zheng family’s gate opened onto Swallow Lane, adorned with the fierce and imposing door gods, Yulei and Shentu. It was easy to find. The gate was half-open, with a dusty cart parked outside. Zheng Yu was lazily sitting on the threshold, looking bored. Seeing them approaching, he jumped up and waved energetically.
Yu Jinnian glanced at the cart, noticing a small copper hook on the top. Following Zheng Yu into the courtyard, he saw Mr. Zheng arguing with an unfamiliar servant under the porch, the air filled with a sweet, cloying scent.
The pungent fragrance made Yu Jinnian suddenly realize the purpose of the copper hook on the cart—it was for hanging lotus bells. These small, lotus-shaped, hollow ornaments contained bells and were a customary decoration for courtesans’ carriages, jingling pleasantly as they traveled.
Just then, Mrs. Zheng, with her eyes red from either anger or sorrow, appeared. Zheng Yu didn’t know whether to comfort his mother or mediate between his parents, standing there scratching his head.
Sensing an impending storm, Yu Jinnian quickly delivered the food inside, exchanged a few polite words, and left with Sui Sui.
As they exited, the curtain of the cart lifted slightly, revealing a delicate, worried face. Startled to see someone in front of the cart, she hesitated, then nodded nervously. Yu Jinnian nodded back politely and greeted her, “Good day, miss.” The curtain fell back hurriedly.
Rumor had it that Mr. Zheng’s lover was a scheming woman, determined to secure a better future by clinging to him relentlessly.
Though Yu Jinnian wasn’t skilled in reading faces, the genuine sorrow on her face didn’t suggest a cunning character. He paused by the cart, took a few dried fruits from his sleeve, and placed them in the curtain’s gap.
“They’re just dried fruits, but at least they’re sweet,” he smiled.
Soon, the fruits were taken inside, and the sound of unwrapping was faintly heard. After a moment, a trembling voice said with a hint of a smile, “Yes, very sweet… Thank you, little brother.”
Yu Jinnian then held Sui Sui’s hand and headed back.
Everyone has their own hardships. Aunt Xu in the noodle shop had hers, Mrs. Zheng had hers, and so did the flower girl in the carriage. Yu Jinnian certainly had his own as well. He looked down at carefree Sui Sui and thought that maybe even such a small child might have her own troubles too. All he could do was quietly give her a piece of candy.
As they passed through a side alley in Swallow Lane, a sweet and fragrant scent drifted over, seemingly far yet near. It smelled like osmanthus flowers and was quite enticing.
“How nice the scent! Let’s go see, let’s go see!” Sui Sui clamored.
Yu Jinnian couldn’t help but want to investigate as well. He led Sui Sui into the back alley of Swallow Lane. “Alright, we’ll listen to Sui Sui and go see.”
The back alley was much narrower than the front, with uneven bluestone paths. Fearing that Sui Sui might trip, he carried her on his shoulder. After walking a short distance, they saw a branch heavy with flowers extending over a wall. It was indeed an early-blooming golden osmanthus tree, with silver-tinged yellow blossoms.
“Snowflakes scattered, yellow as goslings, golden millet scattered like dewdrops. How could such a small blossom hold so much fragrance?”
Sui Sui, sitting on his shoulder, plucked a flower and innocently asked, “What does it mean?”
Yu Jinnian smiled gently. “It means that such a tiny flower bud can hold so much fragrance.”
Sui Sui, unable to understand the poem, acted mischievously. “Of course it wants to be this fragrant! There’s no why about it!”
“Sui Sui is right,” Yu Jinnian laughed, nodding and patting her head. “Shall we pick some to take back and make osmanthus tea tonight?”
Sui Sui clapped her hands and laughed. “Sure, sure, let’s let Mom taste it too!”
They stealthily picked a bunch of flowers, choosing the golden ones, and hid them in their sleeves.
While happily picking flowers, Yu Jinnian turned around and suddenly noticed someone standing not far away. Coincidentally, they were standing right at the doorway of the house where the osmanthus tree grew, staring expressionlessly at the two “thieves.”
Yu Jinnian exclaimed, “Oh no, Sui Sui, we’ve been caught. What should we do?”
Frightened, Sui Sui quickly clutched her sleeve holding the flowers, opened her mouth in surprise, and gulped in some cold air, causing her to hiccup. “Brother Xiao Nian, hic!… are we going to be beaten?”
Yu Jinnian wanted to laugh at her expression but felt it inappropriate to have stolen someone’s flowers and be so brazen in front of the owner. He quickly walked over to the man holding a horse. The man was quite tall, and Yu Jinnian, even standing straight, only reached his shoulder and had to look up slightly.
The man looked about twenty years old, wearing a jade-green wide-sleeved robe. His tall, straight figure and pale complexion, further lightened by his light-colored clothes, gave him an ethereal appearance. He frowned as if wanting to say something, his lips slightly opening and closing before pressing together tightly. He looked down at Yu Jinnian with an expression that seemed cold and distant, like a layer of thin veil separating them, making his emotions hard to read.
At this moment, the sky was dimming, enhancing the fragrance of the osmanthus tree. The man’s slender figure seemed to blend into the dim light, like a touch of elegance amidst distant mountains and thin clouds.
Yu Jinnian was momentarily stunned. He had seen many beautiful men and women in his past life, but none could compare to this person in front of him, with his graceful demeanor and ethereal beauty, as if he could ascend to immortality at any moment.
Caught up in his thoughts, the man suddenly raised his hand, seemingly about to hit him.
Instinctively, Yu Jinnian stepped back. The man’s arm paused, his hand stopping just before Yu Jinnian’s face, then slowly and stiffly lowered.
“I’m sorry, master. The osmanthus flowers in your yard smelled so good that we couldn’t help but pick a few. If you don’t mind, please come to the noodle shop at the west city gate tonight. I’ll cook a meal for you to apologize…”
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, listening to the young boy’s warm, smiling apology.
He then saw the boy raise his arm and make a respectful gesture of apology.
In an instant, the sleeve was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.
In the distance, a child’s song could be heard: “The wild geese come, the wild geese come, white dew turns to frost, the osmanthus blooms…”