TTLJDFL chapter 12

Li Jin got up before six in the morning and ate a bowl of plain, watery noodles.

Now it was probably past nine. After all, his body was still that of a young man around eighteen, right in the growing stage, and by now he already felt an emptiness in his stomach.

He could at least buy two buns to eat.

Li Jin walked to the end of Xinglintang Street, then turned right, and in less than three minutes, he reached the main street of the town.

The land on this side of the town is relatively low, but the ground is very flat, making it easy to build houses. Plus, there are seven or eight small villages connected around it. Because of this, the main street is always bustling with activity.

At the entrance of the main street is a bun shop, selling buns as big as an adult’s fist, with white, soft skin and steaming hot, enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

The shop owner’s wife, looking at Li Jin, felt she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn’t quite place it.

Still, that didn’t stop her from greeting him and selling buns: “Young man, want some buns?”

Li Jin was not short of money at the moment, and he asked, “Madam, how much are the buns?”

The madam replied briskly, “Two for one coin for the vegetarian filling, and one for one coin for the meat filling.” She thought to herself, encountering such a handsome young man, she would surely never forget him.

After all, her own son was fourteen this year, and once the New Year passed, it would be time to talk about marriage. As his mother, she had been busy looking for a suitable match for her child recently.

Li Jin said, “Then I’ll have two with vegetable filling.”

The shopkeeper’s wife smiled and said, “Young man, won’t you try our meat buns? Diced lotus root mixed with meat, everyone in town praises them.”

Li Jin paused and said, “I’ll get the vegetable ones first.”

After saying that, he took out a copper coin and handed it to the shopkeeper’s wife.

The shopkeeper’s wife packed the buns for him, then shook her head. The young man was indeed handsome, but poor.

Although she hoped her own child would marry well, at the very least, she wanted them to have enough for food and clothing.

What’s the use of just having a good-looking face? Being handsome won’t fill your stomach.

Li Jin walked through the main street while eating two vegetarian buns.

I have to admit, ancient flour didn’t have bleaching powder or leavening agents, so the bun dough was all hand-rolled. Steamed in bamboo steamers, the juices from the filling slightly soaked into the dough, and the vegetarian buns with fillings of tofu, cabbage, and vermicelli were incredibly delicious.

After finishing the buns, Li Jin first went into the grocery store closest to him.

At the entrance were displayed seasonings such as salt, dried chili peppers, Sichuan pepper, bay leaves, and so on.

The owner had been dozing off, and upon seeing someone come in, he only slightly lifted his drooping eyelids. Li Jin directly asked, “Boss, I saw a sign at the entrance saying you sell vagetable seed. May I ask what varieties you have?”

The shop owner pulled out a stack of paper-wrapped seed packets from the deepest cabinet in the store.

“I have a complete range of vegetable seeds here. Any seasonal vegetables that can be bought on the street are basically available here.

Cucumbers, winter melons, scallions, Chinese cabbage, radishes, garlic shoots… Once the busy farming season is over, eggplant seedlings will also be available. You can come by if you want to buy them.”

The shop owner said, “You can pick whichever seeds you like here, I absolutely won’t sell old stock. If nothing grows in your field after you go back, just come and ask me for a refund.”

Li Jin thought that although there are many dishonest merchants, shops with a good reputation still need to maintain their image; otherwise, they won’t last long.

Li Jin asked, “How much is it?”

“That depends on how many types you want. Right now, it’s still busy in the fields, so not many people are buying seeds. I’ll give you a bit of a discount. One pack is four wen, two packs seven wen, four packs thirteen wen.”

Li Jin picked up a packet of vegetable seeds, opened the paper wrapping, and examined them in his hands; they were not damaged by insects.

Finally, Li Jin picked garlic sprouts, radishes, cabbage, and cucumbers. These vegetables aren’t hard to take care of, and they cook quickly.

Once planted in the ground, it wouldn’t take long before the family could eat vegetables they grew themselves.

When Li Jin was paying, he remembered the smile on the boy’s face after drinking the sweet soup last night, and he asked, “Do you have sugar?”

“Yes, yes, yes, I have malt sugar, honey, and even some candied fruit snacks.”

Li Jin thought to himself that malt sugar is basically maltose; that’s the kind of sugar he put in the boy’s bowl yesterday.

“Young man, who are you buying this candy for? One pack of candy costs as much as six packs of seed. You can go back and discuss it with your parents.”

Li Jin said, “No need, I want one pack of malt suger and one pack of honey candy.”

The shopkeeper gave him two small bags of candy, and seeing that he bought a lot, also gave him an extra small bag of dried fruit for free.

Thirteen wen for the vegetable seed and forty wen for the candy, totaling fifty-three wen.

After Li Jin put his things in the bamboo basket, he went to the butcher to get a pound of pork and a pound of pig’s trotters. As for beef and mutton, the butcher rarely sold them, and if you wanted them, you had to order in advance.

All of this came to twenty-seven wen.

Finally, Li Jin went to the shopkeeper’s wife at the street corner to buy two hot meat buns. The shopkeeper’s wife recognized him and said, “I told you, young man, you have to try the meat buns—absolutely loved by everyone.”

Li Jin nodded slightly, but the bun hadn’t been placed in the backpack; instead, it was held in his hands.

Now that the weather was hot, holding it this way ensured that by the time he got home, the bun wouldn’t have cooled.

By the time Li Jin returned, it was already past eleven.

During that time, the young man couldn’t help himself—he leaned against the bed by the wall and opened the door just a crack. That way, when he sat on the bed, his eyes could look outside, and he would know as soon as Li Jin returned.

After Qin Muwen finished all this, his face felt a bit hot.

He… actually wasn’t thinking about anything else. He just listened to people going back and forth outside the room, and his heart kept filling with anticipation, only for the hope to be dashed, disappointment wrapping around his chest, making his heart feel empty.

But once the child woke up, he didn’t have time to watch the door anymore. He had to hold the child with one hand and feed him porridge with the other.

Li Jin returned and placed the purchased items in the kitchen. It was only when he pushed the door open that Qin Muwen suddenly realized his presence.

“Ah Jin, you’re back.”

“Yes.”

Li Jin was holding steamed buns, still warm. He had walked very quickly all the way; a journey that would normally take most people two and a half hours, he completed in less than two hours.

Of course, this is still because Li Jin’s physique is not strong; when he gets tired from walking, he has to stop and rest.

If he did not rest, he could move as fast as Li Zhuzi’s ox cart.

Li Jin put down the buns, took the child from Qin Muwen’s arms, and asked, “Was he well-behaved this morning? Did he make trouble for you?”

When Qin Muwen spoke of the child, a smile appeared on his face, and his eyes carried a warmth and gentleness not typically seen in boys of his age.

“He didn’t cry, the child was very well-behaved, and was sleeping the whole time. He only just woke up when you came back.”

Qin Muwen, although it was only his second time feeding the child, had already figured out the child’s eating patterns.

One spoon after another, at a steady pace, he would offer the second spoon just as the child finished the first, leaving no chance for him to spit it out.

Once the child finished eating, he became more energetic.

Having been fed rice porridge by Li Jin last night while being held, he still remembered the scent of Li Jin.

At this moment, he did not resist Li Jin either, spreading his arms as if to hug Li Jin’s neck. Li Jin stayed close to the child, whose mouth, having just been fed rice paste, was smearing messily on his face.

Li Jin was not annoyed at all; instead, he very naturally held him, stood up, and walked back and forth around the room.

It was the first time the child had been held so high, and he became even more excited, grinning happily. With the child facing away from Qin Muwen, Li Jin said, “There are meat buns on the table. Eat them quickly before they get cold.”

Children are extremely possessive. If they see their father eating and not sharing, they might start crying.

So Qin Muwen had to eat the buns with his back turned to him.

Qin Muwen was momentarily stunned, looking at the greaseproof paper on the table, feeling a bittersweet, tangled mixture of emotions.

He knew about the buns in the town—one meat bun cost a wen…

He used to go to town to sell the handkerchiefs or pouches he made for ten or fifteen cents.

Every time he passed the street corner, he would smell the aroma of meat buns. Yet he had never eaten one.

There was a period when Qin Muwen’s dream was simply to have a bite of a meat bun.

But at one wen per bun, it was still too luxurious for him; the money he earned had to go toward supporting his family and buying wine for Li Jin… How could he afford to eat meat buns?

Qin Muwen felt that the version of himself who once regarded eating a meat bun as a dream had long been suffocated by life, leaving him no time to think about such things anymore.

Unexpectedly, as time passed and life went in circles, his husband came back with two steaming hot meat buns for him.

Qin Muwen held back his tears, not daring to look at Li Jin.

He finished one bun in small bites, but absolutely refused to eat the other one, insisting on leaving it for Li Jin.

Even when Li Jin said he had already eaten, Qin Muwen stubbornly said, ‘One is enough for me.’

So the child went back into Qin Muwen’s arms, and Li Jin quickly finished the bun in a few bites.

He said, “Let’s give the kid a nickname.”

That morning, he had chatted with Li Zhuzi on the ox cart about this and that, and he said that before the baby turns one month old, you can’t give them their formal name, otherwise their soul might get carried away.

You have to pick a humble little name first to keep it down.

This is the village custom, and Qin Muwen was having a child for the first time, so he didn’t know about this tradition.

Li Jin said, “A humble little name… I really have no experience with that.”

Qin Muwen suddenly felt a lump in his throat, afraid that Li Jin would say something like ‘Gousheng’ or ‘Ergouzi’.

Li Jin thought for a moment: “He was just hugging people like a little leopard. How about we call him Leopard?”

Qin Muwen: “………………” feeling utterly devastated.

A ger, who will eventually get married, how can you name him something like Leopard!

Anyone who hears it would think he’s like a tigress, fierce and scary.

Li Jin said, “What are your thoughts?”

Qin Muwen looked up at Li Jin. That small face appeared even more pitiful. He shook his head and said, “I think… it’s fine.”

Although Li Jin is much better now than before, he still feels fear toward this person.

Li Jin, not knowing what came over him, said, “The word ‘leopard’ is too aggressive. Our house is brotherly, so how about calling it ‘baozi’ instead?”

Qin Muwen now also thought this name was nice. Connecting it to the meat buns he had just eaten, he instantly felt that his child nickname was simply adorable.

Seeing him smile, Li Jin directly decided on this nickname.

He was about to go get some candy, honey, and preserved fruit for the boy as snacks when he suddenly noticed that the basket the boy used for sewing had quite a few extra items in it.

Seeing Li Jin suddenly squat down, Qin Muwen felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

This morning before Li Jin went out, he said to make sure he got some rest… but he still sneaked in some patching-up work.

Li Jin, he won’t be mad, right?​