On the seventh morning of the new year, they arrived at the county town. The streets of All Water County were full of people. It was very lively and extraordinary. The enthusiasm of the new year hadn’t dissipated yet. Many fresh faces appeared in the downtown area. They came to visit family. When Lin arrived at the food shop, he found the shop already open. Ger Qiu was waiting for them while wiping down the tables inside. Ger Qiu raised his gaze to look at them and greeted them for the new year.
“Ger Qiu, happy new year. You came so early. Have you had breakfast yet? I brought some food with Lin-dage.” Ger Yan walked into the store first while Lin Lixuan unloaded many things from the donkey cart in the back. The first they brought was all packed in bamboo baskets or wooden boxes. Ger Qiu went over to help.
“I already ate.” Ger Qiu quickly nodded and carried the items with his hands. “By the way, please thank Auntie Zhao for me. The chicken she raised was very delicious. My grandmother wants to thank her as well.”
Ger Yan smiled: “The chicken and ducks raised by Mother are delicious.” During the new year, Ger Yan ate a lot. Zhao Liniang stewed chicken soup for him several times. In the Lin family, he was the one who ate the most, especially these past few days. He was bullied to the max, and Zhao Liniang felt sorry for him.
They brought some delicious sweet potato strips, fried tofu, and snow skin mooncakes, as well as a large piece of bone pork. Lin Lixuan put everything away, Ger Qiu continued to clean the shop, and Ger Yan begane to make Mandarin rolls and noodles. Lin Lixuan took care of things and began to boil the soup. He let the little donkey start grinding the beans after resting a bit.
The little donkey couldn’t really be called a little donkey anymore. It was now a graceful big donkey. It had no problem pulling the cart or the grinder. Like pet, like owner. It was raised with a greedy big stomach like Ger Yan. The Lin family didn’t abuse it and let it eat whatever it wanted. It was raised to be shiny and robust. It looked very good. When they went out for a walk, passersby would always praise him for being such a beautiful little donkey.
When they met the same kind on the road, it would also observe the other party. Seeing that their posture wasn’t as good as its own, it would immediately tilt its head and stride forward with full spirits.
Not long after their store opened, someone already came to buy food. That person was a regular. He called out from the door that he wanted Mandarin rolls and soy milk. It wasn’t ready yet, Ger Yan asked them to wait a bit. Lin Lixuan greeted him with a smile and said, “Happy new year, Xiaohei-ge. Do your want to try our store’s new soup dumplings…?”
“New food? Sure, let’s try it.”
Ger Yan wrapped two pieces in oiled paper. Xiaohei-ge1 wasn’t black. Contrary to his name, he was a pale young man. He took the bun, opened his mouth, and bit into it. “The stuffing is delicious. Wow! There’s actually soup inside. No wonder it’s called soup dumplings. It’s delicious. How much for one? Give me three more.”
“Five wen each.”
“Okay. I’ll buy some and take it back for my mother to taste.”
Xiaohei-ge quickly paid. “Remember to tell me if you have new food items in the future as well…” Lin Lixuan liked refreshing people like him. And since he was the first guest of the new year, he wrapped up some fried sweet potato fries for him. Ger Yan smiled. “This is very delicious. You should try it, Xiaohei-ge.”
“Okay. Thank you two.”
After the first guest came, there was naturally a third and fourth. They came one after another. The new soup dumplings were very popular and continuously praised. But the price was a bit expensive, so ordinary people weren’t willing to buy much. Some old customers were relieved to see them open, especially the old people who liked to eat tofu. “We cooked fish at home for the new year. My grandmother didn’t see any tofu in the soup and criticized us. She kept nagging about eating it and urged me to buy some, so I’m in a rush.”
It was the busiest time of the store around noon. After dealing with the constant customers, the three of them were exhausted. They quickly ate some buns for lunch, then Ger Qiu suddenly said, “Before the new year, a scholar surnamed Chu sent a book over. He asked me to hand it over to Boss Lin. I almost forgot about it. I’ll go find it.”
Book? A scholar surnamed Chu? Ger Qiu and Lin Lixuan glanced at each other. Surprised filled their eyes. Could it be that the book he wrote was finally released? Ger Qiu took the book out from the cabinet and handed it to Lin Lixuan. Ger Qiu saw the words on the cover. He recognized it. He immediately jumped up and exclaimed, “Lin-dage, it’s the book you wrote…”
This feeling was very strange. After following Lin Lixuan, Ger Yan had seen countless books, but he’d never met an author before. However, the book in front of him, the author was his very own Lin-dage!!! Ger Yan felt indescribable joy in his chest, so much that he felt like his chest was about to burst open.
Lin Lixuan smiled silently. He was very happy that his work could be published, but he didn’t know if it would sell. It would probably take some time before he received the news. News traveled slowly in ancient times. There was no Weibo or Wechat. He didn’t even know that Chu Zihang had sent over this book until now.
However, they’d produced the book very quickly.
After flipping through the book in his head, he threw it to Ger Yan. Ger Yan hugged it like a baby. Lin Lixuan saw how cautious he was being, like it was treasure that had fallen from the sky. He was so happy that he quickly pressed Ger Yan into his arms and kissed him. “Happy?”
Ger Yan nodded. “Very happy.”
“You should hide it with the rest of your treasures!” Lin Lixuan rubbed his face and suddenly proposed this idea.
Ger Yan was confused and tilted his head as he asked, “My little treasures?” What little treasures did he have?
Lin Lixuan’s tone was playful. “Oh, I’m talking about the thing you hid at the bottom of the box—my Ger Yan’s masterpiece.”
Ever since the time Ger Yan learned how to draw with Lin Lixuan, he would grab a brush and doodle and draw when he was free. He was now also a literate person. He had a sense of shame and didn’t want to show Lin-dage his drawings if they weren’t good. But they were still his hard work, so he was reluctant to throw them away. That was why he secretly found a place to hide them. Lin Lixuan discovered them one day when he was rummaging through the cabinets looking for something. In order to keep his baby’s hobby of hiding things a secret, he didn’t tell him about finding his drawings. When he was free, he would take a look at his baby’s masterpieces.
The book in Ger Yan’s hands slipped, and the joy on his face froze, quickly turning crimson. He found it! He actually found his drawings! Ger Yan wanted to dig a hole and bury himself. Besides doodles of the little donkey, he had secretly drawn Lin-dage many times as well. He’d even neatly copied Lin-dage’s name many times as well. And he saw it all!!!
Ger Yan was like a thief that was caught stealing. He was like a little white cat being picked up by his tail. His heart was in pieces. “You saw everything…”
“So what if I saw everything?” Lin Lixuan was a bit remorseful. He knew this would happen, he wouldn’t have said anything. What if his little Shuang’er became annoyed and didn’t write or draw anymore. Not only had Ger Yan secretly written his name, he would occasionally write a diary. He would talk about how much he liked his Lin-dage…
When he went through the items yesterday, he saw Ger Yan even wrote what position he liked best during nighttime activities—he really was a bold yet shy Shuang’er. Lin Lixuan secretly scolding himself for having a loose mouth. He let his pride get carried away.
“You’ll laugh at me, dislike me, and bully me…” He’d seen the teasing in Lin-dage’s eyes.
Lin Lixuan was shocked. He hadn’t expected that this was how his little Shuang’er saw him. “That’s too much, Ger Yan. When have I ever laughed at, disliked, or bullied you…” You’re always being pampered.
“You do. Hide your things yourself…” Ger Yan returned the book to him.
“You should hide it!”
“I don’t want to.”
The two made a fuss and ended up hugging again. On the side, Ger Qiu smiled as his boss spoke in his husband’s ear. “In my eyes, everything my Ger makes is the best…” He realized that after the new year, the two husbands were even more affectionate. In the past, some might have thought they were brothers, but nobody would make that assumption now.
Ger Qiu was a bit jealous. He thought of himself. He was such a strong and robust Shuang’er. There was probably no man who’d want to marry him. He would probably be alone for the rest of his life.
In the afternoon, there were fewer people who came to eat at Lin’s Restaurant. Ger Qiu could handle the work himself. Seeing that the store was open, a rather familiar person walked inside. It was a handsome young man in white. He talked to Ger Qiu, asking to buy mooncakes as soon as he entered.
“Purple ones?”
“That’s right. It’s boss’ new product.”
That morning, Ger Yan had brought over some purple snow skin mooncake. The mooncake crust was made from glutinous rice flour and purple yam puree. The color was really beautiful. The purple mooncakes were like pieces of art. It had the scent of purple yam. It was sweet and glutinous and very delicious.
The young man stared at Ger Qiu with smiling eyes. “Then help me pack up four.”
“Okay.” Ger Qiu skillfully packed them for him. The two were very familiar with each other. Since he started at the store, the other party would come to buy food every three or five years. The young man would always chat with him as he packed up the mooncakes.
Lin Lixuan, who was sitting in the corner of the store, nudged Ger Yan with his elbow. Ger Yan was sewing a cloth bag. He was using the leftover scraps from when he made clothes. He was still holding the needle and threat in his head and leaned against Lin Lixuan, who was reading a book.
He was suddenly pushed by Lin Lixuan. Ger Yan turned his head and asked him what was the matter with his eyes. Lin Lixuan looked at the young man who had turned around and was about to leave the store. He leaned close to Ger Yan’s ear and whispered, “Ger Yan, do you think we should give Ger Qiu a raise?”
Ger Yan glanced at Ger Qiu and whispered back, “What happened?”
- His name/nickname literally means Little Black ↩︎
