Miao Chu

Chapter 240, Part 2
The bundle was long and thin, and inside was only a bamboo box containing a scroll.

Song Miao gently unrolled the scroll and saw a horizontal painting.

The painting is not large, a little over a foot long and no more than half a foot high. A piece of paper covers the painting, and the two wooden rollers on the sides are small and lightweight, serving only as supports, making it suitable for placing on a table.

The tables in the front hall are used for meals year-round. Although they are cleaned every day, they inevitably get greasy.

She thought for a moment, rolled up the painting again, lit the lamp, and went back to her room.

This time, I laid the painting flat on the desk and removed the paper covering it.

Unexpectedly, the painting of a school of fish was delivered by someone from Huazhou who had traveled a long way to deliver it.

The picture shows a dozen or so fish, each with a different shape.

Song Miao carefully examined the painting and noticed that each fish had a name written on its head, such as A, B, C, D, etc. This made her realize something, and she looked at the fish in the painting again before taking the lamp and going outside.

Under the eaves, in a corner of the courtyard, stood a large water vat.

The jar was broken in half and had cracks along the edges, making it unusable. Instead of throwing it away, she filled the crack with soil, moved the moss she had been keeping there over it, and gave the jar to the fish that Han Li had brought over last time.

It was already dark, and with the lamp, one could only see many fish, gray, black and blue in color, swimming slowly back and forth.

The oil lamp was not very bright to begin with, and with the wind, it was even less bright. Besides, the fish in the tank were just ordinary wild fish, with few beautiful colors and no colorful patterns on their bodies.

After studying it for a while, Song Miao still couldn't figure it out, so she had to give up.

It was time to rest, and she was on her way back to her room. Passing by the rooms of Cheng Erniang and her daughter, the lights were already off. She could hear Xiaolian chattering away to her mother, speaking softly and repeatedly about the dried jasmine flowers that Zhu Jie'er had given her. She added, "Mother, Mother! Zhu Jie'er said that these make a delicious tea. I'll make some for you and your sister tomorrow, so you can take them with you when you go out, okay?"

Then Cheng Erniang urged, "I know, I know your flowers are good, and Zhu Jie'er is good too. I've been talking about it all night. Don't say anything more. Go to sleep! We'll talk about it tomorrow!"

Although it was unintentional, it was still considered eavesdropping on other people's conversation. Song Miao quickly picked up the lamp and hurried back to her room, feeling ashamed but unable to suppress a smile on her face.

To run a breakfast business, you have to get up before dawn, so naturally you need to go to bed early.

She closed the door, planning to go back to the tank the next day when she had some free time and identify the fish in the painting, so she rolled up the scroll again.

When you're rolling it up, you'll inevitably have to take another look.

Compared to his calligraphy, Han Gongzi's paintings are much more conventional, and it is evident that he was very careful when using the brush.

The painting was completed just a few days ago, and it was obviously sent to the capital as soon as it was finished, with a messenger on horseback.

The painting has an inscription and a signature.

The inscription consists of only two lines.

—How joyful and carefree the fish are!

—Are people happy?
The signature was even simpler, consisting of just three characters: “Li Jing Shang”.

Recalling what I had just seen, the fish in the tank were indeed leisurely and content, and from a human perspective, they seemed quite pleased with themselves.

As for people themselves.

Looking at the painting and the words on it, Song Miao couldn't help but smile knowingly.

Having just seen the small fish in the large tank, and now seeing the small fish in the painting, she felt as if she were raising a dozen or so fish in her heart, swimming and swaying, making her heart feel like a pool of water, cool and clear, brimming with a faint joy.

I usually look forward to each tomorrow.

I can sleep soundly at night, and when I set up my stall at dawn, I can earn money. There are new and old customers, new business, and new ingredients. I can not only make money with my skills, but also gain the favor of many people. This will bring me income. I save every day, and my debts will decrease day by day. The life I want is clearly waiting for me not far away.

But before falling asleep that day, she felt a little more hopeful.

After we pack up, while it's still light, I need to identify the fish in the painting. I also need to grow the moss a little longer; it's too thin and weak right now. If it grows thicker, I can appreciate the green moss along with the fish in the future.

When the end of the month came and the accounts were settled, Cheng Erniang and Dabing received their monthly allowances and share of the profits. She also wanted to give herself a little reward.

During my absence, although the capital city kept talking about building canals and connecting rivers, the progress was not ideal.

With the summer flood season approaching, there will be more rain and flooding, making it difficult to set up stalls.

She wanted to see if she could buy a rain chain so she could hang it under the eaves for her own amusement.

Her birthday is in two months. In the past, her family would give her a golden lotus flower every year on her birthday.

The golden lotus was designed by my mother and crafted by my father with Uncle Xu from the mountain. Every year, the flowers and petals were different, and each flower was engraved with a different character for "wonderful". It was hung under the eaves outside our house. Whenever enough water was stored, the golden lotuses would turn over one by one and pour out the accumulated water.

The lotus seedpod contains movable lotus hearts. When the wind blows or the rain falls, the lotus hearts collide with the petals, producing a crisp sound. There is also a mechanism inside. When quiet is needed, a gentle pull on the long rope of the rain chain activates the mechanism, fixing all the lotus hearts in place and eliminating the sound. They are then used only for ordinary water diversion.

Before coming here, her rain chain already had fourteen golden lotuses strung on it. When it was windy or rainy, she could open the window, lean against the chair, and just watch the rain chain repeatedly turn over and pour water, one lotus catching another, which would make her comfortably daydream for half a day.

Now that the Golden Lotus is no longer available, she can hire craftsmen to help her forge a bronze lotus, an iron lotus, or any other cheaper lotus she can find.

When it rains, I make some snacks and fruits at home, sit at my desk, look out the window, and borrow a few travelogues and casual articles. The sound of raindrops accompanies the stories, and it is a good time of day.

If my parents and elders on the mountain could see or know this from heaven, and see that I am safe, well, and living a happy life, they would be very pleased, wouldn't they?

***
They set up their stall again early the next morning.

Yesterday, the limit for rice noodle rolls was four rolls per person, and extra ingredients were prepared, so naturally more people were able to enjoy the flavor.

Knowing that they could no longer hide it, the earlier comments that "the rice noodle rolls taste ordinary and are not as good as sticky rice" quickly dissipated.

Song Ji has always enjoyed a good reputation among students at both the South Mountain and the Imperial Academy. This reputation was gradually built up from the sticky rice, shumai, snow-steamed cake, yellow steamed buns, various drinks, as well as a previous meal of braised pork trotters and taro with pork belly, and it was very solid.

So, when it came to the new rice noodle rolls, those who had tried them wanted to eat them again or try other flavors, while those who hadn't tried them wanted to eat them. When the stall opened on the third day, there were more monks than porridge, and many students were anxious and tried to help Song Miao come up with a solution.

Some suggested she hire another person, some students from Nanlu urged her to open a breakfast stall at the eatery at the end of Suanzao Lane, and some students from the Imperial Academy even had the wild idea that everyone could take turns getting up at dawn to help Song Ji steam glutinous rice and wash vegetables, without having to pay them, just needing to provide meals for the whole day.

Finally, even her fellow vendors on the food street couldn't stand it anymore. Sister Liu from next door came to her and said, "Little Song, you have enough people here, so you can make more, especially those rice noodle rolls. Right now, there are too many people queuing up, and many people can't buy them. If this goes on for too long, they'll just be wasting their time and won't want to come out anymore—you should prepare more!"

—But they were afraid that if the students couldn't buy their products, it would not only offend Song Ji, but if they refused to come out, it would also cause their business to return to what it was before.

It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality!

Song Miao just smiled, thanked her, and didn't comment.

She always believed that business should not be pursued to the extreme; only by sharing the spoils and making money together can people live in harmony.

Moreover, Song Ji only had two and a half people at this time. The breakfast they made not only had to supply the food alley, but also the patrol shops, the capital government offices, and the two city gates—for the patrol soldiers. In addition, there were some regular customers along the way who placed orders. They already had a lot of work to do and really could not increase the quantity.

There are only twelve hours in a day, and a person's strength has a limit.

I also have to cook for the teachers at noon, and there are occasional dinners. If I put all my time and energy into breakfast, I won't be able to take care of lunch and dinner.

However, relying solely on student customers is never a sustainable business. The wider the range of customer types and origins, the more stable the business will be and the less likely it is to run into problems. Otherwise, wind and rain, government regulations, or pronouncements from the academy could all cause the food stall in the alley to go out of business.

Putting aside everything else, just take the original Song Family Restaurant as an example. It had been thriving for many years thanks to the Nanlu Academy. But at the beginning of last year, the headmaster said one thing and an entire street of shops went out of business. Isn't that a lesson from the past?

Furthermore, although Song Miao was short of money and eager to make money, she did not want to expand blindly for the sake of quick success and instant benefits.

If we can't find suitable staff, we can't guarantee the quality of our food. If the taste is not right, the students who are currently lining up for Song Ji will immediately turn their backs on us. When it comes to food, the worst thing you can do is treat your customers like fools, thinking they all have a slow tongue.

Song Miao's worries were not unfounded.

Although many students used to crawl through dog holes to enter Nanlu Academy, they still came out in batches and knew how to hide.

Now, a group of people are vying to be the first to crawl through Songji's hole. One hole isn't enough, so they've added two or three more, making the line for crawling through the hole longer and longer.

The instructors had previously turned a blind eye to such a large commotion, but now that the situation within the academy was becoming increasingly blatant, they could no longer tolerate it and had to step forward to warn and admonish the students.

Everything has its limits. If discipline is strictly enforced for two years, even the tightest string will break. Students complained. When they heard the higher-ups speak, they outwardly agreed but secretly continued to do as they pleased, climbing over walls and crawling through tunnels.

When Song Miao went to Huazhou before, it was fine, but since she wasn't there, people naturally mentioned her much less often. Now that she's back and setting up a stall, selling rice noodle rolls one day and new drinks the next, she's attracted people to get up as soon as the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), take their books and go out to queue up and recite. Someone who used to be in the middle ranks even got an excellent grade in the small test.

Not only that, he even went out and boasted that he was particularly good at getting into the zone when queuing and had an exceptionally good memory.

As a result, a new trend emerged among students on the southern slope: they would get up before dawn to line up at Songji's, reciting their lessons while waiting in line.

One after another, news of Song Ji, Song Xiaoniangzi, Song the stall owner, and other foods such as glutinous rice and rice rolls were mentioned in the academy. Others didn't think much of it and would only join in with great interest. Only one person would hide in a corner and never say a word, wishing that a righteous wind would blow down from the sky and quickly sweep away those people who were talking, so that they would never appear in front of him again.

This person was none other than Lin Yiwen, the former fiancé of "Song Miao".

The more famous Song Miao became, the more her work and she herself were liked by her students, making Lin Yiwen's life increasingly difficult.

Many people know that Lin Yiwen was once engaged to Song Huaizhou's sister, but then, because of the trouble that happened to the Song family, he rushed to break off the engagement before Song Dalang's seven-day mourning period was over.

Anyone with eyes can see how Song Huaizhou and the Song family treated Lin Yiwen. Such ingratitude and shameless behavior have made those who were once close to him unwilling to associate with him anymore.

Lin Yiwen excelled academically from a young age, earning the respect of his teachers and associating with outstanding peers.

Although I can't say I was ostracized this time, I was clearly treated coldly.

During archery practice, no one wanted to show him the target and collect the arrows. When it came to Cuju (ancient Chinese football), no one wanted to be on his team. Even in class, when the teacher read aloud excellent articles as usual, none of the students cheered when he read his article; there was only endless silence.

No matter how much Lin Yiwen encouraged himself to endure hardship and achieve success, and no matter how much he hated his classmates who were close to him back then, the impact he suffered was real.

So, in his first exam after returning home, Song Miao failed again.

After failing three times in a row, Lin Yiwen's grades had dropped significantly, a frightening decline. The school teacher, who always valued this student highly, had a serious talk with him.

Lin Yiwen wept bitterly.

He said that the decision to break off the engagement was entirely made by his parents, and he had no intention of doing so. He also did not want to be such a heartless person and was willing to take on the responsibilities of the Song family and take care of the Song family's younger sister. However, by the time he found out, it was too late.

He said he had tried to persuade his parents repeatedly, but they wouldn't listen. Life at home was unbearable. When he returned to school, his classmates couldn't understand him, making life even harder. He felt like a thousand ants were gnawing at his heart day and night.

He talked about this and that, and then about his close relationship with Song Huaizhou in the past.

"Even if it were just for the sake of my friendship with Brother Song, I wouldn't break off the engagement with Sister Song. But after all, they are my own parents. How can I, as their child, disrespect my elders and go against their wishes?"

"Teacher, I'm suffering so much!"

Seeing such a talented student in such distress, the teacher couldn't help but feel compassion.

He asked, "What do you want to do?"

Lin Yiwen said, "I...I am willing to continue to protect that young lady Song, but...there are strict rules and regulations at home, and I am powerless to do so!"

The man sighed, “A person cannot stand without integrity. If a man is ungrateful and cannot even take care of his own family, how can he take care of the greater good? I will go and persuade your parents. Such behavior will only ruin your future!”

Sure enough, he sent an invitation to the Lin family afterward, and waited for a reply before going to their home to persuade them.

(End of this chapter)