Chang’an Small Restaurant - Chapter 3

Translated by: Milky

In the late spring, the day dawned earlier and earlier. As the sky brightened and the early morning drum sounded, those who go to court and those who go out to do business all gathered at the entrance of the square waiting for the last sound of drum to be sounded so they could leave.

Not far from the square gate, steamy heat came from several food stalls, they were opening their business for the early risers.

Zhao Ba, who sold wontons, Qiu Da, who carried a basket of Hubings, and Lu Sanniang, who *fried Sangza were the familiar faces one would see everyday. However, there was an unfamiliar face shown today, a young lady with a distinctive look—apricot eyes, snowy fair skin and a tall figure. If she were more plump, she could be called a beauty.

*A popular snack in the north of China, consisting of deep-fried noodles in a twisted pyramid shape.

She had a carbon stove in front of her, on top of it was a flat-bottomed iron pan and a small bamboo stand next to it. A thick white porcelain bowl holding oil sauce and other condiments was placed on the bamboo stand.

The young lady used a brush to brush a layer of oil on the pan, and then scooped out a spoonful of batter and poured it on the iron pan. The batter was spread evenly when she turned it with a small scraper. Then, she cracked an egg on it, and in a moment it became a *Jianbing. 

*Jianbing, also called ‘pan-fried bing’, is a traditional Chinese street food similar to crêpes. 

She flipped it over again and spreaded the sauce, then sprinkled green onions and coriander. When it was done, she wrapped it up with Sangza inside, then cut it in the middle and folded them together. With that, her Jianbing was made.

The young lady did not touch it with her hand, but used a small spatula to shovel it into a thick bamboo paper bag she prepared. Paper was a valuable thing, it was a fastidious act to wrap the Jianbing with it.

Instantly, someone came forward to ask the price, ten Wen, although it was not cheap, it was not very expensive being how fastidious she made it.

The man opened the bag and took a bite, well—the crust was soft and fragrant, different from the hard Jianbings he had before, perhaps it was because of the egg, while the taste inside was crispy, and there was a fresh spice sauce with some green onions and coriander to enhance the fragrance, it was delicious.

Seeing how satisfied he ate, others came over to buy too. Those noblemen who were in their carriages also sent their servants out to buy, gradually, her stall was crowded with a bunch of people.

Jingzhao Shaoyin, Lin Yan, lifted the gauze curtain of his carriage window and caught a glimpse of the ‘commotion’ there. Wearing *Hufu and has sideburns, willow eyebrows and apricot eyes with a smile around the corner of her lips…the palace maid that was released two days ago?

*A general term the ancient Zhuxia and Han People used to define the costumes worn by Hu people of all ethnic groups in the west and north

‘Swallows that skimmed by painted eaves in bygone days’, now she was quite happy as she flew around the streets…

A green-clad servant came to the window and whispered, “Master, you have not yet eaten breakfast today, how about this servant go buy some Jianbings?” In fact, he was just asking, his master never loved those fishy-smelled and coarse food from the outside.

“…Alright,” Lin Yan nodded and put down the gauze curtain, “Buy a few more.”

Buy a few more…The green-clad servant was stunned for a moment, looking at his master through the thin screen and then turned his head to look at the young lady selling Jianbings over there. Suddenly, he had an epiphany, so he threw the reins of the horse into the hands of his companions, and trotted towards the stall.

In the carriage, Lin Yan lightly rubbed his brow with his fingers. He did not rest well these days, which made his eyes sore.

Today the emperor was going to the Circular Mound Altar to pray for rain. The emperor’s trip was a big deal, although it was the royal guard’s responsibility to  protect the emperor, road check and evacuations along the way was Jingzhao Fu’s job. The leader of the royal guards, Qin Xiang, was once the emperor’s bodyguard, he had quite the temper, just thinking of this power eunuch made Lin Yan’s temples hurt.

Then Lin Yan thought about the capital’s security issues. Recently, the price of goods in the capital has not changed much, the cost of every ten liters of rice rose about ten Wen, as long as the canal river transport was smooth, and the food stored in Changping warehouse was enough, the people would not have any problem in earring. Yet just because of the drought, people were a little unstable, spreading rumors about ‘The River Beast has Shown, the Eyes of Gods are closed’ and so on…

After three thousand sounds of the drum, and as the gate of the square was opened, the green-clad servant came back with a few Jianbings in his hand, “Master, eat it when it’s still hot.”

“You all divide them.” Lin Yan knocked the front of the carriage, indicating it to start moving.

The green-clad servant was stunned, he looked at the swaying curtains of the carriage window, then turned his head to look at the young lady who was still busy over there, perhaps, I thought wrongly?

Those who got up early all left, and the sun was up now. After selling another batch to those who got up late, Shen Shaoguang packed her things and closed her stall just like the others did.

Shen Shaoguang gave her Jianbings a marketing positioning of ‘mid-to-high-end’ breakfast. It was an upscale community here and most of the residents have good purchasing power, they will definitely buy even if her price is a few Wen higher than Hubings as she added eggs and sauce to enhance the taste and also equipped with a paper bag. Although the cost increased, it was hygienic, just in case these people thought it would dirty their hands, or if the sauce and onion crumbs would drop on their clothes and sleeves causing them to become indecent; Moreover, it was also convenient for those who were walking, horseback riding or eating with one hand, they could eat it when they were walking or standing.

Today was a trial test, and it seemed like her positioning was reliable.

Shen Shaoguang weighed the money in her bag. Through a rough estimation without counting in her cost, she earned about eighty to ninety Wen, that means she could earn about 2,000 Wen a month. A scholar who graduated as one of the top three in the imperial’s examination only earned about 10,000 Wen. As an orphan girl, 2,000 Wen was enough to cover her expenses. However, it was a distant dream to buy a house in Chang’an with this two thousand. She still needed to work hard.

Shen Shaoguang dragged her cart back to convent and ran into the Buddhist nun Jingci who was waiting at the door.

Jingci squinted at Shen Shaoguang with her triangular eyes, her gaze sizing her up from her body to those iron pan and bamboo stand on her cart, with a fake smile, she asked: “Young lady Shen, you’ve been busy since early morning I see?”

Shen Shaoguang squinted her eyes and smiled: “Yeah, I went out to disperse things.”

Disperse things? Clearly she went out to do merchant business! A sarcastic smile was shown at the corner of Jingci’s lips. In all fairness, Jingci had no comments about the merchants, especially those families of the big merchants who come to offer incense, merchants were humans too, but her tolerance obviously doesn’t involve those stalls and carts by the street. Jingci felt that what Shen Shaoguang did simply tarnished the lintel of the convent! She could not tolerate it!

Shen Shaoguang dragged her cart and walked past her while Jingci turned around and flew to Jingqing like a big flower moth.

“That young lady Shen is actually selling Jianbings on the street! It’s really unseemly! Senior, go report this to the abbot and kick her out.”

Jingci gave a light cough awkwardly, “Have you forgotten, she paid for the lease…”

“So what? Give it back to her then.” As a Buddhist nun in charge of taking guests in, Jingci handled a lot of silver money, she looked down on Shen Shaoguang’s little rent pay.

“That’s not how it’s done.” Jingci earnestly advised, “The convent’s reputation would somewhat be inevitably hampered if others know we did not keep our promise.”

Hearing the words ‘reputation’, Jingci finally sobered up a bit and pondered for a moment, “Fine then, let her stay till the three months end.”

Jingqing recalled the scene two days ago when young lady Shen took the Jianbing and sent them to the abbot.

Her master was eating the Jianbing as young lady Shen said: “If wealth is attainable, I would condescend to be a gate-keeper of the market.” And what did her master say at that time? “The young lady is really practicing the words of Fuzi, it’s very admirable!”

Listen, selling Jianbing at a stall was practicing the words of Confucius! Master really has no modesty in front of delicacies. Talking about a three month period, according to how things go, it is possible the master will agree to let young lady Shen open a restaurant in the convent any moment.

But these words could not be said to the other disciples, she had to keep her master’s reputation and face.

Jingci was still chattering: “How can this high-ranking family’s lady go out to do business? Could she be a fraud?”

If Shen Shaoguang was here, she would have snorted, even the emperor would play with a matchbox, let alone a lady from the high-ranking families. She should get some information about the last emperor Pu Yi.

References:

‘Swallows that skimmed by painted eaves in bygone days are dipping now among the humble homes’ doorways’ are two lines from the poem “Wuyi Xiang” written by Liu Yuxi, meaning the expression of his feelings about the vicissitudes of the sea and the great changes in the world.

‘If wealth is attainable, I would condescend to be a gate-keeper of the market.’ is from Confucius’ ‘the Analects’, chapter 7, line 12.

Emperor Pu Yi was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch.