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East Street? Zhou Jinian pondered. "Outside East Street? If it's Plum Blossom Manor, their surname should be Zhu."

If he remembered correctly, it was Lord Zhu, who had retired from the Ministry of Revenue. But in this life, why had he returned to Plum Blossom Manor in Qingshui Town rather than the Zhu residence in the prefectural city?

"You know them, Jinian?"

"Only by reputation," Zhou Jinian replied. After some thought, he added, "I've heard they're not decent people."

Lin Jin said with a smile, "That has nothing to do with us. We're mere commoners. We wouldn't even get to meet them."

Seeing Xie Ning shoveling down rice, his cheeks bulging and his appetite hearty, Lin Jin asked, "You have quite an appetite today, Ninglang. Did catching fish tire you out?"

"Cough!" Xie Ning choked. "Cough, cough..."

"What's wrong? Eat slowly, child. There's more on the stove." Lin Jin rose to pour Xie Ning some tea.

Zhou Jinian raised his bowl to hide the upward curve of his lips.

Two days later, the tables and benches they had ordered were delivered and stacked in the courtyard. Everything was ready, and the wonton stall would open that day.

Zhou Sanfeng killed and boned the fish, then minced the flesh. Lin Jin rolled out wrappers, while Xie Ning minced pork. Fish released water as it cooked, so adding a little pork made the filling firm.

The midday sun blazed, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Third Zhou's family of four set up their wonton stall at the entrance to Upper North Alley.

Three round tables, six long benches, two stoves, and two pots-the stall banner was not ready yet, and they opened with this simple setup.

As soon as the lid came off the fish head soup, its aroma drifted out. The market was not far from the alley entrance, and diners following the scent only had to turn down a street to reach them.

Zhou Sanfeng had learned a good deal from his son's husband. When he saw someone eyeing their wonton stall, he took the initiative to greet him with a smile. "Good sir, would you like a bowl of fish wontons? Fish filling and fish head broth."

"I haven't seen this before. How much for a bowl?" The man looked toward Lin Jin, who was sitting at a round table, making little wontons with a huge bowl of filling in front of him.

"Twelve wen a bowl. It's our first day in business, so we're adding two extra wontons to every bowl." Their wrappers were only a little thinner than dumpling wrappers. With thick wrappers and plenty of filling, the wontons were quite large and made a generous serving.

The price was not high, considering shredded pork noodles at the market cost ten wen, though those noodles were chiefly meant to fill the belly rather than please the palate. "Then cook me a bowl."

Water came to a boil slowly over charcoal. Zhou Sanfeng fanned the stove while Lin Jin stood beside him, ready to cook the wontons. It was their first time doing business, and both were terribly anxious.

Fortunately, their first customer was easygoing and did not hurry them. By the time they served his wontons, the other two tables were full. When collecting payment, Zhou Sanfeng took two wen off the first customer's bill.

Whenever the wontons were ready, Zhou Sanfeng carried them over, while Xie Ning and Lin Jin took turns cooking and wrapping them.

There were not many diners in the afternoon, and the family managed to keep up.

Once noon had passed and dinnertime arrived, the number of diners suddenly increased. The three each took on a task: Xie Ning handled the cooking, Lin Jin wrapped wontons with his quick hands, and Zhou Sanfeng greeted customers and fanned the fire.

Two hours passed, and the sky dimmed, though it was not yet dark. Not a scrap of filling remained, but quite a few diners were still arriving, drawn by the aroma.

"Sorry, it's our first day, and we didn't prepare enough filling. If you'd be so kind as to come back tomorrow, I'll add another wonton to every bowl." Zhou Sanfeng apologized with a smile.

Quite a few people agreed to return the next day, then turned and left. Some stayed, however, saying, "Don't you still have plenty of wrappers? Cook me a bowl of those for a little less. I'll have some fish head broth."

"I'll have a bowl of wrappers too, and a clove of garlic."

"Certainly. Please have a seat." Zhou Sanfeng readily agreed.

The wonton stall had to stay open late, and they only packed up after the hour of the Dog.

The family had never expected business to be so good. Sixty bowls had not been enough! They threw together a simple supper and discussed how many wontons to sell the next day as they ate.

Xie Ning offered a suggestion. "Let's roll out some noodles and sell fish wonton noodles."

"That would work. Replace half the wontons with noodles and keep the price the same. That'll make the money easy to count too."

Lin Jin also said, "Prepare more garlic. Some diners like it."

Zhou Jinian could only watch his family count the money. The autumn harvest was over, and he had already entered the school, where his studies were demanding.

Those months selling wontons in town were Xie Ning's happiest days. The family had already saved some silver and planned to keep saving until Zhou Jinian had taken the xiucai examination before deciding about buying a courtyard home.

Zhou Jinian's academy examination was fast approaching, and Xie Ning's elder brother, Xie Yao, came to stay with them for a few days to make attending the examination more convenient.

There was a local custom of eating cakes and zongzi before an examination. The word for cake sounded like "high," symbolizing success in the examination, so Xie Ning made cakes and zongzi in the kitchen.

He soaked glutinous rice, wrapped it in bamboo leaves to form dainty triangles, and steamed them to be dipped in sugar. Since Zhou Jinian did not like sweets, Xie Ning made them small, the little plump triangles nestling in his palm.

The examination grounds were at the prefectural administrative seat in the prefectural city. Qingshui Town was not far from the prefectural city, but they still needed to stay at an inn there. The family could now spare those few pieces of silver.

Water could not be brought into the examination grounds and had to be bought there. According to Jinian's teacher, a pot of hot water cost forty wen, and after the examination, they had to pay another hundred wen to have their papers sealed. After passing, gifts to thank their teachers and other expenses would also add up to a considerable sum.

To make sure his husband and brother could eat well during the examination, Xie Ning made dry provisions himself.

He boiled shrimp in salted water and left them out in the blazing sun every day, then chopped the dried shrimp finely. Next, he heated a wok without oil and toasted rice and sesame seeds, adding star anise, bay leaves, and other seasonings. Once they were cooked, he scooped them out to cool, then mixed them with the salty shrimp pieces and packed the mixture into two clean cloth bags.

Xie Ning also prepared two extra clean cloth bags, because the examiners would inspect the bags upon entry to prevent candidates bringing rice from tampering with their bags to cheat.

Xie Ning carried the cooked cakes and zongzi, steeped two bowls of shrimp rice porridge, and brought them to the study. His elder brother and husband had just finished writing their essays.

"Do you have a moment? Have some cakes and zongzi. You're leaving tomorrow, so I made some dry provisions for you to try." Xie Ning went over and placed a bowl in front of each of them.

Xie Yao picked up his bowl first and took a sip. The rice had a toasted fragrance, complemented by the salty shrimp. He praised his younger brother. "Ning-ge'er has always been a good cook. It's delicious."