Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Uncle Yang, your flowers are growing really well. You can tell at a glance that you take good care of them on a daily basis."

The old man saw sweat on her forehead and knew she was tired. He felt bad and said hurriedly, "Girl, wash your hands quickly, drink a bowl of cold tea and take a rest before leaving."

Shen Yu didn't want to stay for long. Although there was nothing urgent at home, he was afraid that Li would worry if he stayed for too long, so he waved his hand and said, "No, I'll wash my hands and leave."

As the two were talking, an old woman came out slowly, holding her waist with her hands, and greeted her gratefully, "Miss, thank you for your trouble. Please sit down and have a rest. This stubborn old man of mine, I told him to move when my nephew came, but he couldn't wait even a moment."

Shen Yu smiled and squatted beside the basin to rinse the floral mud off his hands.

Old Man Yang said, "Miss, I have troubled you for a while, but there is nothing to thank you for. How about this? I saw that your price tag was written with charcoal sticks, and the words are blurred when the customers rub against their clothes. Can I write a new one for you?"

Shen Yu was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Mr. Yang could write.

She knelt down and bowed, thanking him sincerely: "Thank you very much, Uncle Yang. The buns are still hot. You and your wife probably haven't had breakfast yet. I'll go back and get a suitable wooden board. I'll write after you and your wife have breakfast."

Uncle Yang then remembered that the hot buns were still on the wooden table, and he hurriedly said, "Okay, go back and get them. You can come over anytime."

Turning around, he presented his treasure to the old woman and said, "Madam, this is the meat bun that I mentioned that smells so good. I didn't buy it yesterday, so I had to order it for today. The girl delivered it today. Come and try it while it's hot to see if it tastes good."

Shen Yu smiled. This old man was really a wonderful person, so innocent and sincere. Looking at how attentive he was to his wife, he must be a man who doted on his wife.

Seeing that Mr. and Mrs. Yang were showing their affection and didn't care about her at all, Shen Yu walked out quietly.

When she reached the entrance of Willow Alley, she saw Li standing there, looking around with an anxious look on her face. When she saw her coming, she relaxed and complained, "Didn't you say it was just across the alley? Why did you take so long? If you don't come back, I have to trouble you to look for you."

Although Shen Yu was complained about, she knew in her heart that Li was worried about her, so she quickly explained the reason.

After hearing this, Li said "Wait a moment" and went to search in the kitchen. After struggling for a while, she found a flat wooden board.

It turned out to be a piece of wood from the broken cart. What was rare was that the four sides were flat and there were no cracks or scars on the surface. Although it was not big, it was enough to write the price tag.

Li wiped the surface of the wooden board with a cloth, handed it to Shen Yu and said, "If your father were still alive, there would be no need to help others move flowers with a few words."

Then he called out again, "Yucheng, you and your elder sister go together."

Shen Yu thought it was unnecessary and could just send her there himself, but Li said, "It's better to be safe than sorry. We are new here and don't know anyone. It's better to have someone to accompany us when we go to a stranger's house. Besides, my daughter is so pretty and capable, so we should be more careful."

Shen Yuchu thought what Li said made sense and nodded in agreement. But when he heard her boasting later, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Li raised her hand in feigned anger, pretending to hit Shen Yu, and kept saying, "Silly girl, what are you laughing at? When I was your age, I was already engaged to your father, and was busy embroidering my dowry at home. Girls are pretty, but you have to be careful."

Yu Cheng was listening without thinking and also laughed foolishly with Shen Yu. Shen Yu held back his laughter and quickly responded, "Mother is right. What mother said makes sense. Let's go."

After saying this, he didn't care what Li had to say anymore and hurriedly pulled Yucheng away.

On the way, Yu Cheng asked Shen Yu: "Big sister, what did mother talk to you about? She was talking so excitedly."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Mom didn't say anything. She just wanted you to follow me and get familiar with the roads here so that you won't get lost when you go out next time."

Yu Cheng nodded seriously, looking around and said, "Sister, what mother said makes sense. There are many more houses here than in our village. We need to get to know the way well. If you need to run errands in the future, I can help you."

Shen Yu liked this honest little brother very much, and responded: "Then with Yu Cheng's help, big sister will be more relaxed in the future."

The brother and sister talked all the way and soon arrived at Yang's house. Old Mr. Yang and his wife had finished breakfast. There were pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the wooden table in the courtyard. Old Mr. Yang was walking around the courtyard with his hands behind his back, looking at the flowers.

Shen Yu pulled Yu Cheng in and said to Uncle Yang, "Uncle Yang, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I found a bigger piece of wood and was delayed for a while. This is my brother Yu Cheng."

Yu Cheng also stepped forward and saluted obediently: "Uncle Yang."

Old Man Yang looked at Yu Cheng, smiled amiably, took the wooden board from Shen Yu, and asked, "Does your food stall have a name? Write it on it as well."

Shen Yu had never thought about this before. After a brief thought, he said, "It is said that the fragrance of rice flowers heralds a good harvest. Only in a good harvest year can the people have enough to eat and eat well. I will call these buns Good Harvest Buns. My family name is Shen, so it means Shen's Good Harvest Buns."

After listening to this, Mr. Yang nodded approvingly and asked with interest, "You wrote the sign on the food stall yourself. I also heard you recite this poem. Do you know how to read? How many years of education did you have?"

Shen Yu didn't know how to answer for a moment. If he said he had read it, then he couldn't even write a single calligraphy character. If he said he hadn't read it, then the words on the price tag were indeed written by himself.

After thinking about it, he could only make up a story: "My father is a scholar. When he was studying, I listened to a few sentences, but I didn't study seriously and I can't write."

When Mr. Yang heard this, he became interested and said, "Oh," "Then where is your father now?"

Shen Yu lowered his head and pretended to be sad, saying, "Dad has passed away for several years, so now my family runs a food stall to make a living."

In fact, when she came through, the original owner's father had died of illness for several years. Apart from making the original owner's family poorer, she had no other understanding of the original owner's scholar father, let alone sadness.

Mr. Yang felt a little apologetic and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Shen Yu raised his head and smiled, changing the subject: "Uncle Yang, do you think this sign should be written horizontally or vertically?"

Old Man Yang felt more at ease. He looked at the square wooden board in his hand, measured it and said, "Write the name horizontally on this, and the price tag vertically. The space at the back is empty. If you add new food in the future, you can continue to write it at the back."

Shen Yu also thought it was a good idea, so Uncle Yang laid the wooden board flat, picked up a pen, and wrote the four big characters "Fengnian Baozi" neatly. Next to the big characters, he wrote the two small characters "Shen Ji" vertically. Then, below this line, he started writing vertically from the edge and wrote three lines of smaller vertical characters: "Juicy Meat Buns", "Vegetable and Mushroom Buns", and "Red Bean Paste and Candied Date Buns".

The font is square, the style is ancient and simple, and every stroke shows its style.

After writing, Mr. Yang pointed to the bottom of the board and said with a smile: "Write the price here with charcoal sticks, so it's easy to modify."

Shen Yu praised: "Mr. Yang is still very thoughtful, this is the best."

As he spoke, he picked it up carefully and looked at it. Fearing that the ink had not dried yet, he held the wooden board steadily and waited for the ink to dry.