Chapter 168: Extra 4

As evening approached, a huge red sun hung on the treetops, looking like the oily yellow yolk of a salted duck egg.

Although it was summer, the evening breeze blew gently, making it feel not the least bit stifling or hot. After dinner, Pei Yuan was sent out by Bao Ning to walk the three children.

He walked at the very front with his hands behind his back. In the middle was his three-year-old youngest son, while Yuanzi held Tuanzi’s hand and walked at the very back.

The setting sun stretched their shadows out long. Pei Yuan glanced back and felt the four of them looked just like four big ducks, leisurely strolling out for a walk after eating their fill.

If only Bao Ning were here too, then there would be five ducks. But she simply refused to come out, insisting on tinkering with new dishes—things like fried little duck-pears, lotus leaf strips soaked in vinegar, and pickled stinky lotus seeds. Pei Yuan couldn’t fathom what went through her head every day. Could those things even be edible once cooked?

Yet Bao Ning refused to listen, insisting that those were secret recipes she had unearthed—dishes eaten by the emperors of the previous dynasty—and spoke about them with complete conviction, as if she were a cabbage in the former dynasty’s imperial kitchen that knew every detail inside out.

Pei Yuan couldn’t be bothered to manage her either. She could cook whatever she liked, so long as she didn’t fuss so much that she fell into the lake. Anyway, once she had messed around enough, she would stop. He had grown accustomed to it over the past few years.

To put it plainly, life was too smooth, and she was simply bored.

Every time they went out for a walk, they took the exact same route: out through the back door of the Prince’s Manor, walking east along the street, crossing an intersection, and turning south. To the south was a street alley selling flowers. It was currently the season when balsam flowers bloomed, filling the entire street with balsam. It looked quite nice, but the pollen carried a heavy pigment; once blown onto one’s clothes by the wind, it couldn’t be washed off.

Pei Yuan turned back to instruct them: “Everyone pay attention. Don’t scrape against the flowerpots. If you get your clothes dirty, you’ll wash them yourselves. If you can’t get them clean, your pocket money will be deducted.”

The children behind him agreed in unison, so neat and uniform that it gave Pei Yuan a great sense of accomplishment, as if he had trained a fine army.

After walking through the flower alley, they turned west, passed a small house with a red roof, and then went north. Walking in a loop like this took about fifteen minutes to return to the back door of the Prince’s Manor. But if the duration was too short, Bao Ning would nag him, so Pei Yuan usually walked another loop.

However, an unexpected incident occurred this time. At the intersection of the north-south street, a small stall selling baked sesame cakes suddenly appeared. Two of the three children were entranced by the fragrance of the cakes and couldn’t move their legs.

Pei Yuan originally walked forward on his own, but after taking a few steps, he realized the “little soldiers” behind him had fallen behind. Frowning, he turned his head: “What are you looking at? Didn’t we just eat dinner? You’re not allowed to buy any.”

Tuanzi looked up with eager eyes: “Daddy, I want to eat a baked cake. This sister says it’s a Huangshan baked cake. I’ve never been to Huangshan before.”

Pei Yuan glanced at the stall. The stall owner was a quite young and nimble girl, pointing to the sign hanging on the handlebar: Authentic Huangshan Baked Sesame Cakes.

Pei Yuan’s first reaction was one of gratification: his daughter could recognize characters now! His daughter used to hate studying and had even been beaten by her mother for it, but now she was grown up.

Pei Yuan’s tone softened: “Don’t listen to the nonsense written up there. It’s just a baked cake—what Huangshan or not Huangshan? All baked cakes in the world taste the same. Hurry home; your mother fried big duck-pears for you at home. If we get back late, the pears will be eaten by the dogs. Go, go, go.”

The girl selling baked cakes spoke up rather displeasedly: “How can you speak like that? Huangshan baked cakes are a unique marvel under heaven! I grew up on Mount Huangshan since I was little. If you don’t understand, don’t talk nonsense—it’s so embarrassing!”

This girl had an accent, her Mandarin mixed with local dialect. Pei Yuan couldn’t quite understand it, but he felt her tone was rather sharp.

He was no longer someone who would feel unhappy over a few words from anyone. He didn’t take the girl’s words to heart at all, lifting his foot to leave while threatening the three children: “Are you coming or not? If you’re not coming, I’m going home by myself?”

Before he could take two steps, his thigh was hugged by his little son: “Daddy, Daddy, I want to eat too…”

“Is there anything in this world you don’t want to eat? You look at the legs of a wooden bench and want to go over and gnaw a couple of bites.” Pei Yuan patted his head, sighing helplessly. He turned his head to ask Yuanzi, “Does Yuanzi want to eat too?”

Yuanzi glanced at Tuanzi: “If Tuanzi eats, I’ll eat.”

Pei Yuan nodded. It was just a few lousy baked cakes, not worth making the children unhappy over. If they were to buy them, then so be it. Pei Yuan felt in his pocket; there were still a few loose wens of coins, which should be enough. So he waved his hand grandly: “Go pick them out!”

The children cheered. Pei Yuan didn’t join in the selection process; he walked to the side of the road, found a large rock to sit on, and lifted his hem to fan himself.

Years still left their marks on a person, such as in preferences regarding clothing and appearance.

When he was young, Pei Yuan didn’t understand what fashionable clothes were, but he knew how to choose good-looking ones. For fabrics, he preferred heavenly silkworm silk or moonlight brocade. Moonlight brocade would glow in the night, looking shiny and lovely, though Bao Ning had once disdained it, saying he looked like a firefly. Now, he no longer pursued those things—comfort and breathability were all that mattered. Cotton and linen seemed even more comfortable than silk. He no longer liked wearing boots either, wearing a pair of low-cut cloth shoes instead. In his spare time, he would stroll along the street with his hands behind his back, and on summer mornings, he would even carry a birdcage when going out.

Bao Ning had already given up on saving him.

Today was a fine day with evening clouds in the sky. Pei Yuan squinted over at them—vast stretches of brilliant pink, very lovely, a kind of beauty he had no time to spare for in his youth.

In his ears were the noisy voices of the children—one Tuanzi and one Pei Ji’an, two little brats who added up to ten years old, making a racket like hundreds of ducks quacking. Yuanzi’s steady voice sounded much more pleasant in comparison, like a phoenix’s cry amid the quacking of ducks.

The girl selling baked cakes asked them what filling they wanted: “There’s pure meat, pure preserved mustard greens, and half-and-half. There’s also more meat than greens, and more greens than meat.”

Ji’an was only three years old and couldn’t remember all that, looking bewilderedly at his elder sister.

Tuanzi pulled Yuanzi’s hand with eager eyes: “Brother, I want to eat pure meat, and little brother wants to eat meat too.”

Yuanzi said okay and asked how much it was.

The girl said, “Pure meat is six wens, pure greens is two wens, half-and-half is four wens, more greens is three wens, and more meat is five wens. Buying more is cheaper—no matter what you buy, get ten wens worth and get one wen off, get twenty wens worth and get two wens off, and so on.”

Now even Tuanzi couldn’t understand.

Ji’an’s attention wasn’t on this; he noticed half a bowl of sour plum soup in the corner of the small pushcart and asked, “How much is that one?”

“I brought that for myself to drink, it’s not for sale…” The girl seemed very short of money. Mid-sentence, she suddenly paused and changed her tune, “It’s not sold cheap. These are all top-quality plums, washed squeaky clean, and very difficult to make. If you buy the whole jar, thirty wens.”

Tuanzi gasped: “Why are you selling it so expensively!”

The girl swore solemnly: “My ingredients are good, so it’s worth this price! Besides, my jar alone costs five wens…”

…

Pei Yuan’s legs had gone numb from squatting. He stood up, stomped his feet, and was just about to urge them to hurry up when Yuanzi ran over, stretching out his hand to ask him for silver: “Uncle, we’ve picked them out. It comes to forty-eight wens in total.”

Pei Yuan couldn’t believe it: “What on earth did you buy to make it so expensive?”

Yuanzi answered, “Five baked cakes and a jar of sour plum soup.”

“It fckng feels like robbery.” Pei Yuan’s eyebrows knitted into a knot, but it wasn’t good to fuss over it either, so he reluctantly reached out to dig for money. Counting through it once, he was short by two wens. He placed the money in Yuanzi’s palm, “Ask her if forty-six is okay.”

Yuanzi quickly ran back again, shaking his head: “That sister said forty-seven at minimum.”

Pei Yuan was speechlessly stunned. He felt all over himself again: “There really isn’t a single wen left. Can’t you bargain a bit more? Otherwise, let’s go home right now and have your mother make baked cakes. It’s just a stuffed cake anyway, it tastes the same.”

“Daddy…” Ji’an ran over, tilting his head up to ask, “Why didn’t you bring a little more money? So shabby and poor…”

Pei Yuan sucked in a sharp breath, tapping his finger against his forehead: “Pei Ji’an, let me tell you, don’t learn some lousy words and use them recklessly! If there’s a next time, I’ll beat you!”

“So shabby and poor…” Ji’an repeated discontentedly.

Pei Yuan grew angry, raising his palm to scare him: “Say it one more time?”

Ji’an stared at his palm, his nose twitching, and suddenly burst into loud wails, “The Prince of Jibei is hitting a child! Everyone come look, he’s hitting a child!”

Pei Yuan was so angry that he saw stars, having no idea where the boy had picked up such crooked talk. Stepping forward, he grabbed Ji’an by the back of his collar in one scoop: “Let’s go, we’ll talk after we get home.”

Ji’an sank his bottom downward, hugging Pei Yuan’s lower leg with both hands and refusing to move, incessantly muttering, “I want to eat baked cakes! I want to eat baked cakes!”

In broad daylight, quite a few people were already looking over. Pei Yuan wished he could carry him off by his hind leg on the spot, threatening in a low voice: “I’ll count to three. Obediently come home with me, or else see how I beat you!”

“I’m not going home with you, you can’t even afford baked cakes.” Ji’an sat cross-legged on the ground, his head drooping dejectedly, “I’m not going home. Mother wants me to eat fried duck-pears, I don’t want to eat them! I want to eat baked cakes!”

The scene fell into a deadlock for a moment. The girl selling baked cakes was scared out of her wits—when she was asking for sky-high prices, she didn’t know who was in front of her, but now she was terrified, wanting to push her small cart and run.

Pei Yuan had no time to pay attention to her. Grabbing Ji’an by his armpits with both hands, he lifted him up, hoisted him onto his shoulder with a reverse grip, and said through gritted teeth, “Pei Ji’an, you just wait. If I don’t break both your legs today, you are my father!”

Ji’an lay on Pei Yuan’s shoulder, crying and shouting again: “The Prince of Jibei is hitting a child!”

The scene was in utter chaos. Yuanzi had long since slipped away with Tuanzi, leaving Pei Yuan without even a single helper.

Although Ji’an was only three years old, when he used brute force, he was like a small bull calf. After walking just a few steps, Pei Yuan was thoroughly exhausted by his thrashing. Just as he was pondering whether to simply give him a beating right on the street, he suddenly heard a loud clang behind him, followed by Wei Meng’s bashful and urgent voice: “Miss, Miss, are you alright?”

Looking back, the baked cake girl’s pushcart had flipped over, and golden-bright baked cakes were scattered all over the ground. Wei Meng stood awkwardly in front of the cart, explaining in a low voice: “I didn’t do it on purpose, I was just walking in a hurry and accidentally bumped into you…”

“Forget it, forget it…” The girl glanced at Pei Yuan, hurriedly gathering the baked cakes back onto the cart. She had originally wanted to extort some money from Wei Meng, but was afraid of being caught by Pei Yuan, so without saying much more, she pushed her cart and left hastily.

Even when the girl’s back was no longer visible, Wei Meng still stood there blankly, gazing into the distance.

“Every single one of them has something wrong with their heads.”

The good mood Pei Yuan had when going out was completely ruined. Ji’an was still struggling incessantly. Pei Yuan smacked his bottom hard twice, ignored Wei Meng, and half-dragged, half-hauled Ji’an back home.

The night after returning was the biggest nightmare of Ji’an’s life before turning five. Before he even knew how to write his own name, he was forced by Pei Yuan to stand on a small stool and copy the two characters for “shabby and poor” three hundred times.

Pei Yuan originally thought this was merely a plain, ordinary victory in the countless battles between him and Ji’an, yet he never expected that because of a few baked cakes, Wei Meng would find a wife to spend the rest of his life with at the ripe old age of thirty-eight.

A woman who was called the “Baked Cake Heroine” by the grown-up Ji’an.

Sansukini: Sorry for the late post, I’ve been so busy. Next week will be the last few chapters.

P.S.

I have a new translation up. It’s called Stepping into the Trap: The Unbridled Boss Yields Everytime

[The “Little Liar” who is great at playing a fool & The “Crown Prince” who surrenders every time]

[1v1 Pure Leads + Healing Sweet Romance + Deliberate Seduction]

Jiang Yu grew up in Yangcheng, a city of perpetual rain. She was locked away in a wooden tower by the Song family though she inherited her grandfather’s entire estate. To survive, she acted like a lunatic and played the fool and she was left to rot and fend for herself.

In order to seek revenge and escape that old mansion, she set her sights to trap He Lian, the “Crown Prince” of Jinzhou. She cast her hooks step by step, using herself as the bait, until one day, He Lian finally held her with one arm and told the Song family members who have been trying to k!ll her:

“Yangcheng is too damp so I’m taking the little fool to Jinzhou to get some sun.” “If the Song family refused raise her, then I will.”

The people of Jinzhou thought the sky was falling—their arrogant Crown Prince actually brought back a young girl and even humbled himself to dress her and wash her hair!

When his friends questioned his decision, the usually overbearing man simply said he was born with a “worrywart” soul and that the little fool couldn’t survive without him.

It wasn’t until Jiang Yu used He Lian’s own hands to bury the Song family’s power that she prepared to leave. However, He Lian grabbed her arm tightly and as their eyes met, she was suddenly startled by the smile in his gaze.

“When did you find out I was faking it and using you?”

He Lian pulled her into his embrace, his tone deep and meaningful.

“Early. I’ve known for a very long time.”

“Jiang Yu, don’t be afraid. I am willing to be used by you for the rest of my life.”

[The female lead sets the trap; the male lead rushes to bite the hook.]

I found this one through a vertical drama. I like the leads a lot. The FL is not really a lunatic, but her family wanted to get rid of her after they get her inheritance, so she had to play the fool.

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