Chang’an Small Restaurant

Chapter 14 The Arrival of a Matchmaker

Seeing that it was almost the Double Seventh Festival[1], Shen Shaoguang, knowing that it was another business opportunity, naturally started to make preparations in advance.

The Double Seven wooden cake molds that she had ordered from the craftsman were finally completed. Shen Shaoguang and A’Yuan carefully sand the splinters off the wooden molds and then oiled the surface, washed them, and dried them. This process was repeated several times to ensure an adequate amount of coating. The originally pale cottonwood mold finally deepened in color and developed some luster, but it would be near impossible to quickly polish out a beautiful, moist brown-red color.

A’Yuan still had the heart of a child, and was completely intrigued by one of the sets of molds. "Koi fish, crane, turtle, and tiger… If the rice cakes were made using these molds, I would be too reluctant to eat them."

Shen Shaoguang smiled and confessed, "This only changes its appearance, the stuffing is still the same. Red bean paste, mung bean paste, and jujube paste, all the filling you usually eat."

Since following Shen Shaoguang, A’Yuan had relished various different rice cakes. In the beginning, she wished she could swallow them all in one gulp, but later she learned to tone her excitement down.

"If it looks good, then it should be delicious." A’Yuan laughed.

Shen Shaoguang also laughed. Has she finally been enlightened? Indeed, in terms of food, ‘appearance’ was foremost, ranked above ‘smell’ and ‘taste’.

It was also for this reason that Shen Shaoguang specifically went to the West Market to find a master craftsman to make these sets of cake molds. The first was a simple blessing mold composed of 福 (luck), 禄(prosperity), 寿(longevity), and 喜(happiness). The second set contained the four noble plants[2]– plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, as well as tree peony and rose. The third set were animal related; red-crowned crane, spirit turtle, koi fish, tiger, etc. The last set was composed of Rāhula, Weaver Girl, Cowherd, the fairy from the Palace in the Moon, and other related entities.

The designs were all personally drawn by Shen Shaoguang.

The daily manual labor at the Lateral Courts in the imperial palace was exhausting, the conditions were also quite poor, but the cultural education was exceptional. There were court academicians who specialized in teaching palace workers, and taught a subset of classics and history, as well as calligraphy, painting, the current judicial system, poetry, arithmetic, and chess.

In the beginning, court academicians of internal education were held by scholars with governmental posts, many were erudite ministerials. Those who had the right to appear in front of the Emperor must have some talent, after all, there was a limit to the amount of fake wannabes who could blend in with the professionals.

During the year of the previous Emperor’s passing, the job of the court academicians in the Lateral Courts were no longer held by scholars, but by eunuchs and palace maids. Shen Shaoguang secretly wondered the cause of this revision, perhaps a teacher-student scandal occurred between a palace beauty and a court academician? Unfortunately there was no relevant news released afterwards. 

Among the new teachers was a palace maid in her forties; she had gray hair and a quiet temperament. Her calligraphy skills were superb, adept at both seal and regular script. Shen Shaoguang devoted herself to practicing calligraphy under her for several years. This teacher also played the guqin[3] very well, but it was a pity that Shen Shaoguang had no spirituality in music; she could give a couple random commentary when listening, but couldn’t pluck a tune correctly even if her life depended on it. This teacher never spoke of her past, but Shen Shaoguang speculated that she may also be a family member of a convicted official.

With the foundation of the original body and the memories of her previous life, Shen Shaoguang had been approved of by multiple court academicians, who all had high hopes for her. Regrettably, before this talented female reserve could make a name for herself, her actions became increasingly coarse. For the sake of eating, she dived headfirst into the imperial kitchen...

Shen Shaoguang smiled when recalling the expressions of the teachers, who looked at her as if she was another 'Zhongyong[4]'. Want to amass talents to compete in court for better prospects? Those talents were entering an expedition where few have ever succeeded. In fact, to put it bluntly, it’s just a terrifying place.

…

Shen Shaoguang's Double Seventh Festival had yet passed when a matchmaker came to her doors. It's none other than Lu Sanniang who sold fried noodles.

Missus Lu was quite an interesting person. She was jealous of Shen Shaoguang's lucrative business, but since Shen Shaoguang was her big customer, she didn’t dare to outrightly offend her. However, this didn’t stop Missus Lu saying a couple aggressive words from time to time. Unfortunately for her, Shen Shaoguang was not a corked gourd, but a fine-tuned sanxian[5]. The enunciation and diction of every servant in the palace had to be eloquent and tuned. Lu Sanniang would provoke her, but would never win in a battle of words. She would then leave and come back in a few days to try her luck again, only to be pushed back by Shen Shaoguang; this type of situation would repeat without end.

Shen Shaoguang enjoyed bickering with Lu Sanniang. It was a joyous thing for others to be jealous of oneself because it represented the affirmation of her own success. Of course it was also because it tickled her sadistic streak— It was amusing to see someone else look at her with hate or jealousy but unable to do anything about it.

This time, Lu Sanniang came to ‘requite evil with good’.

"This is a great opportunity! Mister Yang is in the silk and satin business and has a shop in West Market. His house employs many servants and maidservants. He’s an honest and capable man, determined to find a nimble wife to manage the household. Aren’t you a nimble girl? It's really a match made in heaven!" Missus Lu pushed Shen Shaoguang with a mischievous smile, just waiting to see her blush in embarrassment.

Shen Shaoguang nodded. "Such a match sounds really good."

Although she didn't see any shy expression, Missus Lu felt quite happy when Shen Shaoguang agreed with what she said– it was rare to see her so honest.

"Though, how such a good match fell on me, an orphan without parents, is a point of doubt."

Missus Lu bent her body and moved her mouth close to Shen Shaoguang's ear, and Shen Shaoguang willinging stood still and listened.

"I heard that he had visited our Lane and happened to try your pointed steam buns and was instantly hooked. He and my husband were acquainted, so this matter fell into my hands."

"For a few steam buns, he decided to marry the cook? Then in the future, when he encounters others who cooked flower rolls, botuo noodles, and roasted lamb..." His house would be full of wives and concubines, Shen Shaoguang was amused by her own imagination.

Missus Lu knew that Shen Shaoguang was not easy to fool, so she finally told her the truth, "He is older than you, about forty-five, but an older male means he knows how to show affection."

"His first wife had been deceased for more than half a year. There had been many matchmakers coming to him, but there was always something he didn’t like about those girls, he seemed to be waiting for someone like you. If you were to agree to his proposal, he would take you as the main wife who is in charge of the household. Then you won’t have to exhaust yourself making a living outside."

The more she spoke, the more Missus Lu started to believe that this prospective match was a quality option. Although the Yang Residence was a bit remote, it’s true that they have a shop in the West Market. It’s also a fact that they have a few servants in the house, and Yang Qi was indeed a capable man. With him being so much older than the bride, and with her good looks, it’s no doubt that he will dote on her. Then wouldn’t she have fallen into a privileged environment? Unlike herself, who had to stand outside vending, rain or wind, and hair stained with oily smoke.

Seeing that Shen Shaoguang remained silent, Missus Lu threw out the ‘leftover women theory[6]’. "You are almost at the end of your prime, and without any parents, you have to carefully plan your own future. Don't miss this excellent opportunity because of shyness. Any older and you’ll be stuck becoming the second wife of a sixty or seventy-year-old widower."

Shen Shaoguang, who just turned nineteen, took a sip of her beverage and nodded. Missus Lu really had a way with words, making her listeners feel as if they have lived a lifetime in a way expressed succinctly. Suddenly she recalled when Deputy Magistrate Lin addressed her as a ‘young girl’ on the day she was dismissed from the palace. So in the end, to the people of the Tang Dynasty, is nineteen old or young?

Although Miss Leftover Shen Shaoguang was being verbally attacked, she kindly refilled Missus Lu's cup with more sour plum drink, and said with a smile, "Since I’m already at this age, my temper has also grown stubborn and eccentric. Missus Lu must have a daughter around fifteen or sixteen of age, right? Why not discuss her with Mister Yang? You know his background, and your husband is well acquainted, wouldn’t they be a wonderful match?"

"How can that be done—" Missus Lu retorted subconsciously. To even associate her daughter with a merchant widower in his forties felt like a crime. Her A’Yu was at a blossoming age and had good looks, she had to marry a young gentleman  who was both a farmer and a scholar. If her husband were to pass the exam, A’Yu would be the wife of a jinshi!

However when Missus Lu realized that this was just Shen Shaoguang's teasing, she couldn’t help but feel vexed. It was a similar feeling to being kicked by a donkey after trying to feed it with good intentions.

At the thought of ‘a young gentleman with the potential of becoming an official’, Missus Lu showed a mocking smile. "Miss, you couldn’t possibly have your eyes set on those honorable young gentlemen who come to buy your crepes every day, right? I advise you to kill that thought. All of those men will be bound to marry a prospective lady, well-matched in terms of social status. Although you are beautiful, you can only become their concubine. As a concubine, you have to serve the main wife every day..."

In just a few short moments, Missus Lu had already imagined several future possibilities for her. Shen Shaoguang knew it was time she should stop her, "Missus Lu, don’t you think with my money-making ability, I can become rich by myself? Buy my own house and land, unfettered and at leisure?"

"..." Missus Lu didn’t believe she sincerely thought that way. Although it seemed like an excuse, when she thought of Shen Shaoguang’s new storefront and pointed steam buns, there was nothing left to refute.

"I’ve already set my eyes on one of the properties in the Zhongnan Mountains." Shen Shaoguang earnestly added.

Missus Lu waved her hand, and as usual, returned home in low spirits following the defeat.

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Footnotes:

[1] Double Seventh Festival - Otherwise known as Qixi Festival, is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Niulang and Zhinü (Cowherd and the Weaver Girl) in Chinese mythology. The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. It’s very much similar to valentines day. 

[2] Four noble plants - In Chinese art, the Four Gentlemen or Four Noble Ones," is a collective term referring to four plants: the plum blossom, the orchid, the bamboo, and the chrysanthemum. The Four Gentlemen have been depicted in Chinese painting for more than a thousand years because of their refined beauty, as well as the moral characters with which the Chinese literati have imbued them. Read more here http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/painting-four-gentlemen.php 

[3] guqin - A plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument. A rather quiet instrument, with a range of about four octaves, and its open strings are tuned in the bass register.