Chapter 29 - 1#

Partnering Up; Mad Dog Building a Nest#

“No… no need…”

Yanzhi sat up, wanting to stop him.

But it was already too late.

Chu Yu took a large leap, crossed the threshold, and disappeared in a flash.

Well… alright then…

Yanzhi sat back on the couch and touched his stomach.

He had slept for quite a while. The sunlight that had been shining through the bedroom window had unknowingly shifted to the other side.

His stomach was empty too; at a touch, it let out a “gurgle” sound.

Before long, Chu Yu returned carrying a small bowl.

“Here, fresh from the pot. Eat this to tide you over.”

“Thank you, Chu—”

“Hmm?” Chu Yu lowered his head, looking at him with a serious expression.

Don’t call me “Young Master”!

Yanzhi hastily corrected himself: “Thank you, Chu Yu…”

But Yanzhi always felt that addressing someone directly by their full name was a bit improper.

So…

“A… A-Yu…” Yanzhi asked softly, “Can I call you that?”

Back when he was on the cargo ship, Old Man Wei used to call the workers on the boat that way.

Adding an “A” before a name was a common way of creating nicknames in the south.

To his surprise, as soon as he spoke, Chu Yu’s eyes widened even further.

“Ah?”

“Sorry, then… A-Chu?”

Chu Yu clutched his chest, turned his head away, and said, “Just eat your food.”

“Oh.” Yanzhi lowered his head and looked at the small bowl in his hands.

The pastry was fresh out of the steamer, still steaming hot. Fearing he might not be able to hold it, Chu Yu had specifically brought a pair of chopsticks for him.

Yanzhi picked up the chopsticks, lifted the brown sugar cake, and blew on it gently.

Suddenly remembering something, he looked up before taking a bite and said earnestly, “By the way, my name is ‘Yanzhi’, and my surname is ‘Yu’. But when Auntie Yang helped me with my contract, my surname became ‘Pei’.”

He knew Chu Yu’s name, but Chu Yu didn’t know his yet.

Chu Yu crossed his arms, looked down at him, and said helplessly, “I’ve known for a long time.”

“Eh?” Yanzhi was confused.

“You were following Auntie Yang around to look at houses a few days ago, coming and going in the alley. A quick inquiry was all it took to find out.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t go around telling people about the contract. If it gets out, everyone will be punished. My surname on my contract is ‘Wang’.”

“Understood.” Yanzhi nodded. “But you aren’t an outsider. You’re my savior. You saved my life, which means you’re kind-hearted. You won’t hurt me.”

Chu Yu took a sharp breath. Meeting his sincere gaze, he finally gave in.

“Of course I won’t go around talking. Just don’t tell anyone else.”

“Okay.”

Yanzhi lowered his head, took a bite of the brown sugar cake, and his eyes lit up.

“So delicious! It’s even better than the one I bought on the street yesterday!”

“Which shop did you buy it from?” Chu Yu asked.

“Um…” Yanzhi thought for a moment. “It’s the shop with the sign hanging out, to the right after coming out of the inn in town.”

“That shop is no good. Their dough doesn’t rise properly; it’s dead dough, not fluffy or soft at all. Their brown sugar is also mediocre—they use damp sugar brought in by the waterway.”

When it came to making pastries, Chu Yu spoke eloquently.

Yanzhi didn’t quite understand the technicalities, but he listened with a smile.

“You’re amazing! If I’d known you sold brown sugar cakes too, I would’ve bought them from you! Oh, right!”

Yanzhi suddenly remembered something. He took a small piece of broken silver from under his pillow and handed it over: “For the cake.”

Chu Yu waved it away: “No charge. We’re neighbors. It’s just a couple of cakes, no big deal.”

Just then, the old doctor entered with a bowl of herbal medicine.

He gave Chu Yu a sidelong glance: “Give it a rest. Last time I ate one of your cakes, you were like a wild dog fighting for food—you snatched my purse and took a whole tael of silver.”

“He’s sweet-talked me! He ate my cake and praised it to the heavens, and even called me kind-hearted and knowledgeable.” Chu Yu argued righteously. “And you? You eat my cakes and still scold me for making them poorly!”

The old doctor ignored him, placed the medicine bowl by the couch, and said to Yanzhi: “I brewed some medicine to dispel the cold for you. They’re common herbs. That bit of silver you gave was too much; here is your change.”

“Thank you.”

Looking at them, Yanzhi seemed to understand something.

It turned out this old and young pair weren’t actually fighting; this was just how they interacted.

Bickering and laughing.

Seeing that he was awake, neither of them was in a hurry to leave and stayed by the couch.

After Yanzhi finished the sugar cake and rested for a bit, he picked up the medicine bowl to drink.

He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the medicine in Sweetwater Alley tasted a bit sweeter than that in the Daliang Palace.

It was good! Even the medicine had become tasty!

*

The old doctor of Sweetwater Alley was truly a divine physician of this age!

When Yanzhi caught a cold in the past at the Daliang Palace, he would have to drink medicine for two or three days straight to recover. If that didn’t work, he’d have to take the tablets and liquid medicine the Emperor gave him.

Now, after just one dose, he immediately broke into a sweat and felt much more relaxed.

The old doctor had prescribed him three doses, but he was better after drinking it for only one day.

Once his health improved, Yanzhi planned to go out and find some work.

With the New Year approaching, he needed to save some money to buy incense and candles for his mother, meat bones for Sugar Cake (the puppy), and finer fodder for Peanut Cake (the donkey).

If there was any money left over, he also wanted to buy some candied fruits for himself.

However, because it was almost the New Year, none of the shops in town needed extra help.

He wanted to be an apprentice at a tailor shop, but the old tailor didn’t take outsiders.

He wanted to be a worker at a pastry shop, but the owner’s whole family was already working there; they didn’t need him at all.

He even wanted to be a general laborer at the inn, but these past few days, there hadn’t been a single guest besides him.

The owner even commented on how shrewd he was—having just spent money at the inn, he already wanted to earn it back.

There was one place that would take him: an old man who punted a bamboo raft across the river and spent his time fishing offered to take him as an apprentice.

But on the day he went, from morning until evening, the old man—who usually returned with a full catch—didn’t catch a single fish.

Yanzhi thought that perhaps he was too unlucky and had interfered with the old man’s fortune.

After that, when the old man asked him to go again, he declined.

This morning, Yanzhi dressed neatly as usual, prepared to go out.

He locked his door, bolstered his spirits, and walked briskly toward the alley entrance.

Along the way, he greeted his neighbors.

“Good morning, Uncle Liu, Auntie Liu!”

“Good morning, Grandpa Liu!”

“A… A-Yu, good morning!”

Chu Yu was just returning from outside, pushing his small cart.

“Morn… morning.” Chu Yu paused. “Out looking for work again?”

“Yes.” Yanzhi nodded.

“You’re young and have no trade. Every job in town is already taken; you won’t be able to squeeze in.”

“I still have to go out and try…”

“You…”

Both their voices rang out at the same time.

Chu Yu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, stomped his foot, and made a decision—

“Do you want to come help me?”

“Eh?” Yanzhi’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”

“Sure. I’ve been wanting to make some new pastries lately and can’t manage on my own,” Chu Yu said. “You look like quite a careful person. Come for a trial day. I’ll give you…”

Chu Yu thought for a moment and spread his palm: “Twenty copper coins, how about that?”

“Mhm, mhm!” Yanzhi nodded vigorously. “Yes! I’ll definitely work hard!”

Chu Yu deliberately let go of the small cart and gave him a look: “Ahem—”

“Coming!” Yanzhi caught on quickly and stepped forward to lift the cart, jogging ahead. “I’ll do it!”

Chu Yu curled the corners of his mouth, crossed his arms, flicked his robes, and followed leisurely behind.

From the first moment he saw Yanzhi, he knew—this was a diligent and obedient worker!

He truly had a keen eye for talent!

Yanzhi pushed the cart into the courtyard of Chu Yu’s house, parked it by the corner, and nimbly moved the steamers down.

Chu Yu sold brown sugar cakes. Every day before dawn, he had to get up, make the cakes, load them onto the cart, and push it to the market to sell.

The south favored sweets; by the time the sun was up, they were mostly sold out.

Then he would push the cart back and continue steaming more brown sugar cakes. Not many people ate them for lunch or dinner, so he’d only steam two batches to sell; sometimes there were even leftovers.

This business didn’t earn much, but it wasn’t a small amount either. Both the steaming and the selling required someone to be there, so Chu Yu had never been able to let go of it.

He was afraid that if he made new pastries, they wouldn’t sell, and if he turned back to making brown sugar cakes, other shops would have snatched his customers.

But now it was fine; now he had Yanzhi to help him.

Chu Yu kneaded the dough and personally taught Yanzhi how to divide it into small pieces and gently roll them into rounds.

Yanzhi learned very quickly; before long, his work looked quite decent.

Chu Yu watched from the side for a while. Seeing that he was getting the hang of it, he stopped supervising and pulled up a small stool to sit nearby, resting his head on his hand as he thought seriously.

Not long after, the brown sugar cakes were neatly arranged in the steamers.

Yanzhi called out softly, “Boss, they’re all finished.”

“Once they’re done, start the fire and boil the water. Don’t put the cakes on yet; wait for my word.”

“Okay.”

Yanzhi brought over the wooden bucket, poured fresh water into the large pot, gathered the firewood stacked by the wall, and skillfully started the fire, making it burn brightly.

When the water boiled, Chu Yu placed the steamers on top.

Following his instructions, Yanzhi sat before the stove and carefully added wood to keep a steady, low flame.

Chu Yu rested his head on his hand and talked to himself.

“How about Tanghulu? But there are no hawthorns here. There are oranges, though, but white sugar is a bit expensive… I wonder if brown sugar would work.”

“Or maybe Ciba (glutinous rice cakes), the kind dipped in soybean powder. But pounding Ciba is too exhausting. With my thin arms and legs… Yanzhi looks like… he probably couldn’t do it either.”

“Mung bean cakes? Osmanthus cakes? Candied sweet potatoes? Egg tarts? Tiramisu?”

“Bah—”

Chu Yu snapped back to reality and slapped his own mouth: “What nonsense am I saying?”

Fifteen minutes later, Chu Yu used iron tongs to pull the still-burning wood out of the stove. He wasn’t in a hurry to lift the lid; he let them sit for a while.

Another fifteen minutes later, while the brown sugar cakes were still warm, the two of them moved the goods to the cart and pushed it to the market.

The town’s market wasn’t large. They parked the cart at the entrance and lined up two small stools to sit side-by-side.

Chu Yu taught Yanzhi how to hawk their wares.

Yanzhi was a quick study. Whenever he saw someone passing by the stall, he would ask if they wanted to buy sugar cakes.

If they didn’t sell for a while, Yanzhi would be even more anxious than Chu Yu, specifically lifting the steamer lid to let the passersby catch the scent.

In this way, through their joint efforts, the two batches of sugar cakes were sold out by late afternoon, before the sun had even set.

However, Yanzhi’s stomach had been growling at noon, so Chu Yu had given him two; otherwise, they could have sold even more.

As the sun set in the west, the two of them pushed the cart back together, walking side-by-side.

Chu Yu pulled out a pile of copper coins from his money pouch, carefully counted twenty-five, and handed them to him.

“Here, the agreed wage.”

Yanzhi said seriously, “I also ate two sugar cakes; that should be deducted.”

“No need, they’re not expensive. We agreed on twenty coins; I’m giving you five extra. Come again tomorrow. You go to the market yourself tomorrow, and I’ll stay home to research new pastries.”

“Okay.” Yanzhi thought for a moment and asked softly, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll eat them all myself?”

“What’s there to fear?” Chu Yu said reasonably. “You’ll get sick of them if you eat too many. I used to eat sugar cakes as meals for several years; now I want to gag just at the smell.”

“Oh.” Yanzhi nodded, his eyes curving into crescents as he smiled. “Then thank you, Boss.”

“Go back and rest early. You’ll have to push the cart by yourself tomorrow; it’s quite heavy when fully loaded.”

“It’s fine, I have plenty of strength.”

When they returned to Sweetwater Alley, Chu Yu entered his house first. Yanzhi waved to him and pushed open his own gate.

“See you tomorrow!”

“See you tomor—”

Before Chu Yu could finish his sentence, a sudden cry of alarm came from the neighboring yard—

“Ah!”