The Double

Chapter 5: The Peddler

Another dozen or so days passed in succession.

Jiang Li quickly adapted to the austere life on the mountain. Though she had endless chores every day, never ate her fill, slept in damp quarters, and was often bullied, she acclimated swiftly.

Perhaps because she had been particularly quiet and compliant during this period, Jing An Shitai from the nunnery came to see her for the first time ever.

Jing An Shitai was a young woman in her twenties, rumored to have been a lady from a wealthy family who shaved her head and became a nun in the mountains after her husband died.

Some days earlier, Jiang Li had made a scene about returning to Yanjing due to the marriage arrangement with the Heir of Marquis of Ningyuan, nearly coming to blows with Jing An Shitai.

Jing An Shitai glanced at Jiang Li, uttered some polite words of concern, and left without giving anything.

Tong'er put her hands on her hips and spat at the retreating figure of Jing An Shitai, saying, "Pah, stingy old hag!"

Jiang Li found it somewhat amusing. She said, "She's much younger than an old hag."

In fact, Jing An Shitai was only in her twenties. Though dressed in a drab Buddhist robe, it couldn't conceal her graceful figure, and her features were delicate and pretty. It was just that her attitude toward them, mistress and maid, was somewhat condescending, her expression cold, making them seem more like servants.

"What's the use of being young?" Tong'er curled her lip. "She's already a nun here. Isn't she destined to spend her life with the dim lamp and ancient Buddha? Can she eat meat or wear colorful clothes?"

"I don't know about eating meat, but she certainly eats better than the two of us. As for colorful clothes, her Buddhist robe is definitely thicker than ours," Jiang Li said.

"How despicable!" Tong'er fumed.

"Not only that," Jiang Li continued to explain to her, "though she wears no jewelry, she uses face powder from Xingchun Fang in Yanjing City, silver-boxed scented cream from Hongxiu Lou, and osmanthus hair oil from Xiangxiu Zhai."

Tong'er gaped, finally exclaiming after a long pause, "That's... too extravagant! Wait," she then caught on, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Jiang Li, "how did you know, Miss?"

Jiang Li pointed to her nose. "I smelled it."

"This servant knows you smelled it. What I meant was, how did you know it was face powder from Xingchun Fang, silver-boxed scented cream from Hongxiu Lou, and osmanthus hair oil from Xiangxiu Zhai?"

Jiang Li thought to herself that of course she knew. When she first married Shen Yurong and came to Yanjing, the Shen family looked down on her for being a girl from a small county like Tongxiang. Shen Yurong's mother and sisters-in-law all despised her. Afraid of embarrassing Shen Yurong, she diligently studied the fashionable clothing and accessories of Yanjing's ladies, gradually correcting her local accent.

She had always learned quickly. Xue Huaiyuan once said that if she hadn't been born a girl, she might have been able to earn honors for the Xue family alongside Xue Zhao.

These face powders, scented creams, and osmanthus hair oils—things the Second Miss Jiang, who hadn't left the mountain in seven years, wouldn't know—she could identify accurately.

Jiang Li said, "I can naturally tell by the scent."

Tong'er thought for a moment and came up with a logical reason: "Of course you'd know, Miss. You used these things daily back in the Jiang family. How could you not be familiar with them?" As she spoke, she grew melancholic. "Speaking of which, it's been so long since you left the Jiang family..."

"Tong'er, do you want to return to Yanjing?" Jiang Li interrupted her.Tong'er widened her eyes and immediately shook her head, declaring firmly, "No! Tong'er only wants to follow you, miss. Wherever you go, Tong'er will go!"

Jiang Li smiled. "It's alright. We'll be able to return soon."

Just as Tong'er was about to say more, they suddenly heard a loud, cheerful call from outside—a man's laughing voice, almost like a folk tune. Tong'er pricked up her ears, then suddenly leaped up, laughing and jumping with excitement. "Miss, it's Zhang Huolang! He's come to deliver goods this year!"

Jiang Li turned her gaze toward the window and smiled. "Then gather all our copper coins. We'll buy some pastries."

"All of them?" Tong'er turned back in surprise.

"All of them."

After Tong'er had scavenged every last copper coin from the room, wrapped them in a blue cloth bundle, and clutched it to her chest, she and Jiang Li walked out of the temple together.

The mountains here were too high, and the neighboring Helin Temple was so bustling with incense and wealthy visitors that most vendors disdained selling in such remote areas. Zhang Huolang only made the trip because he lived at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain. Usually, he didn't venture up, but from May to June each year, when the peach blossoms bloomed on Qingcheng Mountain, not only the wealthy but also commoners flocked to enjoy the flowers. With crowds came opportunity, and vendors like him would seize the chance to sell trinkets like cosmetics and hair ornaments.

Tong'er had become familiar with Zhang Huolang and made a point to meet him here every year on the tenth day of the fifth month. Unlike the lively Helin Temple, the nunnery was quiet, and for Jiang Li and Tong'er, this annual purchase from the vendor was their only luxury—a rare chance to buy snacks.

Sure enough, at the temple gate stood a middle-aged man wearing a bamboo hat, dressed in coarse short hemp clothes and trousers, a white silk belt around his waist, and black cloth shoes—the typical attire of a traveling vendor.

Jiang Li felt a wave of nostalgia.

Before she married Shen Yurong and moved to Yanjing, when she was just a young girl, Xue Huaiyuan had been transferred to the impoverished Tongxiang. Back then, Tongxiang had nothing—the entire county's shops could be counted on two hands.

Xue Zhao and she, living in such conditions as children, found their only joy in the monthly visits of the traveling vendors. From them, they could buy novel clay figurines, pretty silk ribbons, sweet malt candy, and rough brushes for practicing calligraphy.

Life was hard, but they were happy. Later, under Xue Huaiyuan's governance, Tongxiang gradually improved. Later, Xue Zhao began preparing for the military exams. Later, she married into Yanjing. Later... there was no later.

Jiang Li lowered her eyes.

Zhang Huolang was familiar with the two of them and remarked to Tong'er that she had grown taller, which pleased her greatly. Turning to Jiang Li, he asked, "Miss, would you like some of those pastries?"

Only then did Jiang Li look at Zhang Huolang. She smiled at him, which made him pause, feeling somewhat uneasy for no apparent reason.

Jiang Li took the cloth bundle from Tong'er, untied it, and revealed neatly stacked strings of copper coins inside. These coins were what Jiang Li and Tong'er had painstakingly saved over the past six months by embroidering shoe pads, combined with savings from previous years, all hidden from Jing An Shitai—forty strings in total.

"Uncle Zhang," Jiang Li said with a smile, "please exchange all these copper coins for fruit pastries. Any kind will do."

Tong'er stared in astonishment. "Miss!"Though she held all their savings, Tong'er never truly believed Jiang Li would spend every last copper coin. The nunnery frequently withheld their firewood and rice rations, and sometimes keeping some money allowed them to trade with mountain children for extra food or quilts. As for buying snacks and pastries—they wouldn't last long anyway, spoiling quickly after purchase. How could this be justified?

"What's the matter?" Jiang Li still wore a smile as she said, "The Grand Secretary's daughter can't even spend a few coppers on pastries? What kind of young mistress would that make me?"

Tong'er was rendered speechless.

Big Pear: Even without money, one must be willful [smile]

(End of Chapter)