"Business still isn't good..."

At the intersection where wind and snow fell, Ning Yi spoke with a smile while eating the pancake in his hand, and beside him, Nie Yunzhu looked at the unsold pancakes on the cart and pressed her lips together slightly, then helplessly brushed her hands: "In heavy snow, not many people come to buy."

"I told you long ago to wait until spring before considering this, didn't I? Now you're suffering for it."

"When something's finally decided after much thought, of course it should be started quickly—if I waited several months, who knows if I'd become lazy or what thoughts I'd have by then?"

"Oh, I think you just wanted to try the feeling of running a street stall..."

Though Ning Yi hadn't visited here since Nie Yunzhu set up her stall, even with snow falling, Ning Yi persisted in his daily uninterrupted exercise, and each morning on the steps in front of that small building, the two would always chat for a while—now they'd become quite casual with each other. Ning Yi naturally knew Nie Yunzhu's pancake stall wasn't doing well. A few days ago he might have offered comfort, but after some time, teasing was inevitable.

As he said, the reason Nie Yunzhu set up this small stall wasn't really due to life's pressures—though perhaps that was part of it—but more still just an effort to adapt herself to a more ordinary, more common way of life, and her household finances hadn't reached a truly desperate state. At least for this period, she was still enjoying it.

"...Yesterday I saw several people fall on the opposite street, then they almost got into a fight—something about an escort agency... And a few days ago that shop's sign fell down, almost hit someone... Hutao was originally here with me, but Er Niu came by just now, so I had them go buy some rice and flour, deliberately mentioning some things, probably making them walk from here to East Market to give them more time alone together..."

Ning Yi ate his pancake while Nie Yunzhu chattered beside him about recent happenings, and Ning Yi chatted idly with her—after quite a while, still no one came to the pancake stall. Ning Yi smiled and brushed snow off himself: "This business—pack up. Anyway, you can only sell more in the morning. Why keep suffering now?"

As he spoke, he picked up a small stool from the ground and threw it into the cart, while Nie Yunzhu waved her hands: "No need. Maybe I can still sell a few. Besides, this cart... I can't push it—in this heavy snow, Er Niu comes to push it every morning and evening..."

"I can push it."

"Master Ning... you really don't care about appearances. What scholar does this kind of thing..."

"What appearances..." Ning Yi laughed. "Besides, what I asked you to do a few days ago should be about ready today—there's still time now, perfect to go see how it turned out. If the results are good, maybe your pancake stall can be saved."

"Just some salted duck eggs, and you used too little salt..." Nie Yunzhu pouted, speaking with a smile, but hearing Ning Yi mention this, she no longer objected. She went to a nearby old woman who also sold pastries to ask her to leave a message, then came back to help Ning Yi pack up. After a moment, she somewhat profoundly and proudly explained her reasoning to Ning Yi:

"Actually, Hutao and I are ultimately unfamiliar with these things, and to reach the point of selling well and making money will take quite a while of exploration and adaptation. So I thought, if we do it in winter, making less each day, we'll waste less rice and flour overall—maybe by spring, we can make money. If we only started in spring, the waste would be greater, and we might not be familiar until summer, so better to start early."

"You understand quite a lot," Ning Yi smiled. "I think you just want to marry off Hutao as soon as possible, right?"

"That's also a consideration." The two pushed the cart through the accumulated snow toward home, and Nie Yunzhu laughed lightly: "In earlier years, I naturally thought we two sisters would depend on each other for life, but that's ultimately impossible. Now that she can find her own home, I'm happy for her too. Heh, when she first got together with Er Niu, she kept trying to hide it from me, then later Er Niu gathered courage to come propose before I knew. She worried I couldn't take care of myself alone, so she kept refusing to marry—since I consider her my sister, I naturally can't hold her back too long."

"Hehe, maybe in the future you might marry Er Niu together with Hutao..."

Nie Yunzhu didn't avoid such jokes and pressed her lips together with a smile, seeming to seriously consider it, then shook her head: "I'm afraid not—Er Niu has a simple, honest temperament and he's a good person, but we can't really talk. If I married him, we might respect each other as guests for a few years, but after a few years I'd probably get beaten and scolded, and then Hutao would be in the most difficult position."

"The gap." Ning Yi nodded.

They proceeded forward, passing through bustling markets with rising steam, residential areas with courtyard walls and mansion gates surrounded by snow, and silver trees and ice flowers by the Qinhuai River where painted boats and tower ships were all moored, strings of icicles hanging down like water palaces and dragon halls. Pedestrians gradually became fewer, and the two chatted intermittently, like a young couple who ran a pancake stall now packing up to go home. The husband should be an impractical bookworm scholar, coming out to help in such weather still wearing nice robes, while the wife was diligent and virtuous, running the pancake stall daily to supplement the household, hoping her husband would one day pass the exams, gain an official position, and bring honor to the family... Passing one road, a carriage rushed up from behind, the driver waving his whip: "Giddy up, giddy up... Move aside, move aside... Don't block the road—" Ning Yi pushed the cart to the roadside with Nie Yunzhu and stopped, and as the carriage passed, the driver even glared at him fiercely. He exhaled and called after them: "Well sorry then~" while Nie Yunzhu lowered her head, pressing her lips together in a light laugh.

Humming some random song melodies, Ning Yi pushed the cart onward while Nie Yunzhu watched his back for a while from behind, then hurried to catch up, pushing from the cart's side.

"I often hear Master Ning humming these. I wonder what tunes they are?"

"Random singing, like mountain folk singing random ditties. Er... folk songs..."

After Ning Yi's description, Nie Yunzhu laughed lightly: "Country folk songs? I actually learned some of those before... Hey, why hasn't my love come yet... pfft... These are quite different from Master Ning's tunes though..."

She sang a line in a lowered voice—that voice was clear as water, quite pleasant to hear—but the street wasn't really a place to sing such things. After just one line in a lowered voice, her face reddened slightly, then she covered her mouth and laughed.

Ning Yi nodded, then looked at her: "By the way, you're very good at singing and playing the qin, right?"

In their previous conversations, though Nie Yunzhu called herself one who "entertained with beauty" and seemed to have few reservations, Ning Yi could naturally see she didn't like these entertaining matters, so he never brought them up. Since arriving here, he'd never been to any pleasure quarters, and though he'd somewhat guessed Nie Yunzhu should be among the famous courtesans, he truly couldn't imagine how "famous" she was—by now it probably didn't matter much, so he asked this question. Nie Yunzhu nodded: "Mm, I actually put quite some effort into it."

"So... skilled? An expert?"

"Pfft... probably..." Others naturally couldn't ask such questions like Ning Yi, and Nie Yunzhu found it amusing and laughed, then kept a straight face and nodded seriously: "Mm, I am an expert!"

"Oh, how expert?"

The tense smile instantly broke: "Several floors high..." Remembering Ning Yi's joke from days ago, Nie Yunzhu answered thus. "What exactly do you want?"

As they joked like this, the small cart had already reached the road by Old Qin's gate—unexpectedly, Kang Xian had come today, his sedan chair having just stopped by the roadside, and Old Qin had also come out. The two cast surprised looks this way, then smiled, and not knowing what they said, Ning Yi waved a greeting toward them. Kang Xian called over: "Liheng, what's this about? Need help?" His several attendants were right beside him. If help was needed, they could naturally come over immediately.

Ning Yi stopped the cart several meters away and shook his head: "It's nothing," then nodded toward the woman beside him: "Nie Yunzhu... Old Qin, Old Kang... We're fine, playing chess over there..." Making such introductions, and Nie Yunzhu curtsied. After brief greetings were exchanged, Ning Yi asked: "Will Old Kang be here later too?"

Kang Xian nodded: "Brought some good things. Should be here this afternoon. If Liheng is free, you can come over later with Miss Nie to appreciate some paintings and calligraphy."

Ning Yi smiled: "Heh, perfect timing—I'll also bring some good things over later. We can study them together then."

"Very good indeed."

After saying these words, Ning Yi took his leave and pushed the cart forward, and not until turning the corner of the street ahead did Nie Yunzhu's smile fade: "Master asked about music earlier..."

"Oh, I was mainly thinking, if I have some songs that could be sung, could you help compose qin music¹for them?"

Nie Yunzhu nodded, showing a confident smile: "That should be no problem—at least for this matter, whether various poems and songs or the country folk songs Master mentioned earlier, if Yunzhu can't do it, I'm afraid few people in all of Jiangning could."

"Wow, really several floors high²..." Only now could Ning Yi roughly estimate her level, and he looked sideways, showing newfound respect.

"Yes, at least four or five floors, fall-and-die-from-that-height high."

"Then I'm reassured," Ning Yi thought, then added: "But the lyrics might be somewhat strange—just for a few people to casually sing and listen to, probably can't be presented in refined company. You should be mentally prepared."

Nie Yunzhu nodded: "Mm."

Then, the small building by the river drew near.

(End of Chapter)