TTTQF Chapter 5

Offering a Small Fish to the Master

By the time the fifth watch of the night is halfway through, Jiang Miao gets up as usual. After tidying everything up, he carries his load out the door. Exiting through the side door, it isn’t long before he arrives at Yifeng Street.

“Brother Jiang, you finally arrived! Several customers just left, asking about your bun stall! If only you had come a bit earlier!”

Jiang Miao hasn’t even set down his load when Old Man Ding, who sells tofu pudding next to him, starts speaking. The regret in his voice is evident, as if it is him, not Jiang Miao, who has missed out on making money.

“Uncle Ding, it’s fine,” Jiang Miao says as he lowers his load and takes out a cloth from the drawer at the bottom to cover the lower half of his face. “There are always customers coming and going on the street. If they leave, others will come.”

Old Man Ding nods, saying, “You’re quite optimistic, young man. But you’re right; your buns taste great and will sell well no matter what.” He is somewhat envious; the flavorful buns are more appealing than his plain tofu pudding.

“Your tofu pudding is good too, with a rich bean flavor and a smooth texture,” Jiang Miao compliments back. In his opinion, the handmade tofu pudding is indeed good, though its taste is rather plain—not sweet nor salty. Without something to accompany it, it can be somewhat bland. Of course, some people prefer it this way, but they are the minority.

Before they can say much more, Jiang Miao’s first customer arrives. As expected, it is Manager Wang from yesterday. He orders four buns and then gets a bowl of tofu pudding from the neighboring stall, sits at a table close to Jiang Miao’s stall and starts eating.

Manager Wang is not there when Jiang Miao goes to his Grain Shop to buy flour yesterday, but one of his staff  had served him. Otherwise, Manager Wang might have realized that the bun seller with the awful buns and the current seller are the same person, and who knows what he would think.

However, Jiang Miao has no time to ponder Manager Wang’s thoughts because more customers are gathering at his stall. The air is filled with voices ordering two here and three there. Fortunately, Jiang Miao is quick and has a good memory, never mixing up who orders how many buns, which allows him to handle the crowd smoothly. This is also because he is only selling one type of bun filling at the moment.

Probably because yesterday’s steamed buns are really delicious, they have created some word-of-mouth promotion, as today’s customers are even more numerous than yesterday’s. Despite steaming an extra batch, Jiang Miao has almost sold out by the time the sun is fully up. Not only that, the popularity of the buns also boosts the neighboring tofu pudding business. Old Man Ding, whose business has been good, sells out early today and looks at his half-filled box of copper coins with a face full of joy.

While handling the buns, Jiang Miao takes a quick look at his drawer. His uncovered eyes curve into two crescents—today’s earnings are noticeably more than yesterday’s!

Next to him, Old Man Ding is tidying up the tables and chairs, storing them in a house next to him. He then approaches Jiang Miao’s stall and waits until he has attended to the other customers before handing over eight copper coins. “Brother Jiang, give me four buns. Yesterday’s were delicious, so I want to take some home for my wife and others to try.”

“Sure thing,” Jiang Miao replies, taking the money. He selects four larger buns and hands them over. “Let them try these and give me some feedback. By the way, Uncle Ding, does your family make tofu for sale?”

Old Man Ding shakes his head. “Our place is too small for tofu-making. I fetch the tofu pudding from my son-in-laws’s place every morning to sell here. The trips back and forth only earn me a little extra.”

Jiang Miao is somewhat disappointed, as he has hoped to expand his bun varieties locally. Yesterday, he noticed that the morning market is nearly empty of anything but radishes and cabbage by the time he arrives.

Using Chinese cabbage for buns is a good idea, but it needs some meat to enhance the flavor. Given Jiang Miao’s current finances, selling meat-filled buns is costly and pricing them higher might not be feasible, making it less profitable.

Sensing Jiang Miao’s thoughts, Old Man Ding asks, “Are you looking to buy tofu?”

“Yes, I’d like to buy some dried tofu for buns. There’s a shop at the end of the street, but…” Jiang Miao trails off with a smile.

Old Man Ding nods knowingly. The people at that shop are known for their dishonest practices, often shortchanging customers and mixing in unsold items from the previous day.

“My daughter’s husband runs a tofu business near the East Gate, but that’s quite a distance from here,” Old Man Ding says. “However, if you really need it, I can bring some for you when I come to sell tofu pudding.”

Jiang Miao thinks for a moment and asks, “How much would it cost?” Being clear about money matters is important to avoid any awkwardness.

“The price is the same as the shops here, but you can trust that my son-in-law is honest and won’t compromise on quality or quantity,” Old Man Ding assures him.

“Alright, please bring me three pounds tomorrow so I can try it out,” Jiang Miao says, adding one more coin to the eight he has just received and giving them back to Old Man Ding.

“Deal! Their tofu tastes great, so your buns will surely be delicious too!” Old Man Ding happily takes the money and leaves.

……

After closing the stall, Jiang Miao carries his load back home. He empties the money from his small drawer and counts the copper coins he has earned today. After deducting his costs, the extra pile of coins is half again as large as yesterday’s, filling him with a sense of satisfaction and happiness.

Sure enough, the feeling brought by physical money is completely different from that of virtual money. Holding this heavy pile in his hands gives him a sense of security far greater than the string of numbers in his phone ever did.

In modern times, he often feels like a lost child living alone in a vast and bustling city, unable to see the path under his feet or find direction for the future. Sometimes, after a long day, returning to his small rented room, he can’t understand what he is fighting for. With no family and no money, the small dream of having his own home has long since become a luxury under the harsh blows of reality. He often wants to escape reality and return to the past. He knows that in the wave of modern development, there will always be those left behind by the times. Perhaps he is one of those with weaker psychological resilience, out of touch with society.

Now, he has come to ancient times, possessing a new identity. Although there is some fear and confusion, there is even more hope for the future. He is determined to work hard, make money, and find out the original owner’s background. Maybe, just maybe, he can have a home here!

Jiang Miao lies on his back on the bed, holding a copper coin, slowly raising it to his eyes, and looks into the square hole in the middle with a happy smile, as if he can see the future he longs for.

“Dahua!!”

A heart-wrenching scream echoes through the courtyard, startling the little sparrows foraging and the cat dozing on the jujube tree. It turns its head, ears perked, with amber-like eyes full of confusion. It meows softly then jumps up and disappears.

Inside the room, Jiang Miao’s eyes are wide open, staring at the “uninvited guest” above. A long, thin, black tail hangs from the beam, right above his head. He thinks if this mouse decides to drop down, it will land squarely on his face!

Jiang Miao scrambles out of the room as if his pants are on fire. This is the second time he has seen a mouse! It has been days since the first sighting, and he thought the cat had caught them all! Luckily, he always covers his food and the buns he sells tightly, or they would have been ruined by now. The thought of coexisting with mice these past days makes his hair stand on end!

No, he has to come up with a solution! He is terrified of these creatures. Although it’s somewhat amusing for a grown man to be afraid of mice, he has his reasons.

When he was young, there were mice in the large courtyard where they lived. One night, his grandmother was woken up by the noise of mice and woke his grandfather to shut the doors and chase them out. The mice, panicked and driven by brooms, scurried around everywhere—from under the bed to the back of the cabinets. At the time, he was about four years old and was woken up by the noise. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and noticed something black in the gap by the bed. When he reached out to grab it, the startled mouse turned and bit his hand.

Years had passed, and the original wound had faded to the point of being invisible, but the fear of mice had become ingrained in him.

Jiang Miao realizes that he is certainly not capable of catching mice himself. Catching mice is a job for professionals.

“Dahua? Dahua? Meow meow? Meow~~” Jiang Miao calls out softly while looking around, hoping to lure the cat out. But it is nowhere to be found, no matter how much he calls.

“Brother Jiang, why are you looking for Dahua?” Sister Bai’s curious voice sounds from behind, startling Jiang Miao. She holds a bunch of green onions in her hand, fresh dirt still clinging to them. She must have been squatting down to pull the onions, which is why he hadn’t noticed her.

“Sister Bai,” Jiang Miao smiles, “there’s a mouse in my room. I was hoping Dahua could help chase it out and maybe catch it.”

“I see. Let me help you call it.” With that, Sister Bai calls out loudly, “Dahua!”

Just as Jiang Miao is about to say that he has been calling for a long time and the cat probably isn’t around, a small yellow head peeks over the wall. Seeing Sister Bai, the cat jumps down, rubs against her legs, and meows sweetly, seemingly asking for a pet.

Jiang Miao: ? Ridiculous!

Could it be that his calls have an accent?

Sister Bai picks up Dahua and walks to Jiang Miao’s door. “Brother Jiang, you should go inside and put away anything fragile. Otherwise, when Dahua catches the mouse, it might knock things over.”

Jiang Miao quickly goes in and puts the teapot and other items into the cabinet, then steps back out.

Sister Bai places Dahua inside and closes the door from the outside. “Dahua is pretty good at catching mice. Check back in half an hour; if there’s a mouse, it will surely catch it.”

“Sister Bai, thank you so much!” Jiang Miao expresses his gratitude.

Sister Bai laughs heartily, “What’s there to thank me for? It’s not like I’m the one catching the mouse. As for Dahua, didn’t it steal your fish yesterday? Catching a mouse for you is the least it could do.”

With that, she leaves.

Jiang Miao takes a few steps forward and presses his ear against the door, trying to hear any noise inside, but it is completely silent.

Waiting around isn’t going to help, so Jiang Miao decides to take a walk around the street. When he returns, he is carrying a string of small fish.

By now, half an hour has passed. Jiang Miao, feeling both anxious and hopeful, carefully opens the door.

Dahua is sitting calmly by the door, lifting a front paw to lick it. When it sees the door open, it lets out a proud meow and slowly gets up, passing by Jiang Miao with an air of indifference.

Seeing the large dead mouse on the floor, clearly toyed with until it is no longer a threat, Jiang Miao is thoroughly impressed. He respectfully offers the fresh small fish to the cat master.

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