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The way people celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival here is quite similar to what Miao He is familiar with: moon gazing, eating mooncakes and sticky rice cakes. Of course, there are lanterns as well, but only larger towns or county cities can afford to host lantern festivals. In small villages like Miao Village, people simply float paper lanterns on the river.
However, the lantern festival and the activity of floating river lanterns serve another important function. They provide an opportunity for unmarried men and women to look at each other, intentionally or unintentionally, during the lantern viewing. Although marriages are usually arranged by elders, some doting parents still hope that their children will marry someone they like. Hence, the Mid-Autumn lantern festival has subtly become an event for matchmaking.
On this day, men and women dress in their best clothes and attend the lantern festival. Even those who are already married must participate. The lantern festival is essentially a blessing event. Not attending might bring bad luck.
This reminded Miao He of the times when his grandparents would take him out. The older generation, in addition to enjoying the lanterns, also had the habit of drinking osmanthus wine. He then realized they had forgotten to plant osmanthus trees! Such fragrant and beautiful flowers should not be missing! He quickly asked Yang Dalang to go to town to find osmanthus seeds, or branches if seeds were unavailable. According to Miao He’s memory, osmanthus could be grown from cuttings.
Fortunately, osmanthus blooms around the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people in town were using osmanthus branches for decoration. Yang Dalang spent a few coins to buy some and brought them home. Miao He planted the osmanthus branches in the soil and tried growing them with the magic soil. To his delight, they grew rapidly upon being planted! Now, two beautifully blooming osmanthus trees adorned their backyard. The golden hues of the osmanthus complemented the yellowing birch trees, creating a stunning natural display.
If anyone asked, Miao He planned to explain that Yang Dalang had brought back the seedlings while looking for trees. However, during the busy farming season, with everyone rushing to harvest rice and plant wheat, nobody had time to visit their home. Even Yang’s second aunt had rarely come by lately due to preparing mooncakes. Miao He didn’t know how to make mooncakes, finding them too difficult. He had agreed to visit her home to learn how. In the meantime, although they didn’t have osmanthus wine, he decided to make some osmanthus rice cakes to enhance the festive atmosphere at home.
The process involved steaming glutinous rice until soft, then adding water and a bit of salt before having Yang Dalang pound it into a paste, similar to making sticky rice cakes. The paste was then pressed and cut into small rectangular pieces. The filling was made by cooking white sugar and red beans into red bean paste and cooking osmanthus, maltose, and honey into osmanthus syrup. The three components were combined by spreading the osmanthus syrup on the glutinous rice pieces, wrapping them around the red bean paste, and rolling them up into fragrant, chewy osmanthus rice cakes.
The process produced such a delightful aroma that all five of their pets gathered outside the kitchen, eagerly scratching and jumping. Even Da Bai, their leader, was meowing anxiously. However, the rice cakes were too sweet and hard to digest for the pets, so Miao He diluted some osmanthus syrup with water to make a drink for them first.
Though Yang Dalang did most of the work while Miao He directed, once they were done, Miao He proudly stuffed a piece into Yang Dalang’s mouth, saying, “Isn’t it delicious?”
Indeed, the moment he bit into it, the chewy glutinous rice with a hint of salt and rice fragrance came first, followed by the rich aroma of osmanthus spreading in his mouth. After the osmanthus fragrance subsided, the simple sweet and soft taste of red beans emerged. The three flavors blended harmoniously, creating a wonderful taste experience.
Nowadays, Yang Dalang was more attuned to appreciating such details, just like he appreciated every detail of Miao He, from inside to outside. He nodded in agreement.
“This cake is simple to make. Besides Second Aunt’s family, Shopkeeper Jin helped us a lot during the warm meal, lending us tables, chairs, and manpower without taking our money. What do you think about giving him some as a return gift?” Miao He tilted his head and asked.
“Shopkeeper Jin will definitely be pleased.”
Although the quantity was not enough to sell as a product, giving it as a Mid-Autumn Festival gift to regular customers was a thoughtful and delightful gesture. Yang Dalang, gradually understanding the workings of the teahouse, easily saw the value in these rice cakes.
“Really? Then it’s settled! Even if we have to spend a bit more on sugar, it’s worth it!”
Seeing Miao He’s happy yet anxious expression, Yang Dalang thought about going hunting again soon. However, they didn’t expect that after delivering the rice cakes to the teahouse, Yang Dalang would return with a small wooden box.
“What? We got a dividend for Mid-Autumn Festival?!” Miao He exclaimed.
“Not the entire amount. The rest will be accounted for during the New Year.”
“That’s great! It’s like a gift from the heavens! Let’s see how much it is!” Miao He’s face lit up.
Yang Dalang opened the box. He had already calculated it. “Fifty taels.”
“Fifty, fifty taels?! Just from a dividend?!” Miao He gasped.
Yang Dalang stroked Miao He’s wide-eyed face. “Yes, fifty taels. You earned it.”
Miao He pounced into his arms, “No, we earned it together! If it weren’t for your persistence, we wouldn’t have received this dividend.”
Yang Dalang didn’t intend to differentiate between them. He just wanted to remind himself of how precious the soft and warm person in his arms was. No matter how many strange things appeared, he didn’t want to delve into it. He just wanted Miao He to stay by his side.
“We have money now. Let’s keep spending,” Yang Dalang whispered into Miao He’s ear.
Miao He nestled in his arms, not understanding his thoughts, and smiled brightly. “Really?”
Even though he liked to spend money and save money simultaneously, his contradictions were endearing. Yang Dalang nodded.
Miao He’s eyes sparkled as he counted on his fingers, “Let’s buy a donkey cart first. We’ve wanted one for a long time! We’re delivering more and more vegetables, and you refuse to ride Uncle Ma’s cart. It’s so tiring to carry everything. A cart would make things easier!”
“Also, if we still have enough money, I want to dig a well. We’ve left space outside the bathhouse for it, and the master said there should be water. With a well, you wouldn’t have to fetch water from the stream every day.”
… And other reasons were just additional. The real irresistible part was the constant care and warmth.
“Alright.”
“We also need more clothes for autumn and winter. Not just for the baby, but for you too. You have to go to the teahouse, so it’s better to dress neatly. Don’t let people laugh at you behind your back. By the way, you looked really good in the new clothes Aunt made for you! You’ve always looked good, but you didn’t care about your appearance before…”
Yang Dalang held him tighter.
Then he found Miao He’s babbling mouth and gently kissed it, softening his words.
Miao He’s bones turned to jelly, and his face flushed.
In that moment, the world was filled only with Yang Dalang’s warmth and scent.
***
The next morning, after a night of teasing but no real action, which left Miao He feeling embarrassed, he hurriedly sent Yang Dalang out to buy the donkey cart.
Soon, their household had a new addition: a small donkey.
Da Bai, who considered himself the leader, almost couldn’t manage. The newcomer was just too big!
The small donkey was sleek and shiny, very spirited, with dark gray fur and a white muzzle, giving it a look quite similar to Da Bai. Miao He decided to name it Xiao Bai (Little White), much to the dismay of Da Bai and Xiao Bai. However, even with the new addition, Miao He couldn’t yet enjoy riding the cart. Yang Dalang insisted on practicing driving the cart until he was proficient before letting Miao He ride.
Even during the busy harvest season, the village was filled with a joyful atmosphere. This year’s weather had been quite good, with only slightly less rain than usual, but it didn’t significantly affect the harvest. During the autumn harvest, people were tired but happy.
As promised, Miao He visited his second aunt’s house before Mid-Autumn Festival to learn how to make mooncakes. Her mooncakes were similar to Cantonese-style mooncakes, with a crust made from flour, sugar syrup, lard, and lye water. The lye water was an ingredient made from wood ash, also used to make lye dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival. Miao He hadn’t expected it to exist at this time.
The mooncake crust baked to a golden brown, with a fragrant and appetizing appearance. The fillings were both sweet and savory. The sweet ones included jujube paste with egg yolk and green bean with pine nuts, while the savory ones were meat floss with a layer of sticky rice, similar to Mandarin cakes. Miao He brought home three large mooncakes that day, meaning he wouldn’t need to make any this year.
However, just when he thought he could relax and enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Dalang returned from the teahouse with a new business opportunity.
Undoubtedly, Shopkeeper Jin, full of apologies and requests, wanted to order more osmanthus rice cakes. This dessert, more refined than green bean cakes, had a richer flavor and was seasonally appropriate. Originally given as small Mid-Autumn gifts, the recipients returned with a strong desire to place orders!
Wow, they had quickly expanded into the delivery business!
“Sure, no problem!” Miao He’s eyes sparkled. “But first, we need to come up with a design to imprint on the osmanthus rice cakes!”
“A design? Why?”
Miao He grinned, “So that people will recognize our products by the design! Customers who’ve bought our products before will be more likely to buy again when they see the marked items. In the future, we can use this for fruits, jams, or other products from the back mountain.”
Yang Dalang stroked the confident Miao He’s face. “Alright. You draw it, and I’ll have Da Tong carve it.”
Then the two of them got busy again. Fortunately, they had previously made extra osmanthus honey, saving them the most time-consuming task. With the honey ready, making the sticky rice, cooking the red beans, and preparing the syrup were all manageable tasks that Yang Dalang could handle with Miao He’s guidance.
By the day before Mid-Autumn Festival, the first batch of osmanthus rice cakes with the new design was ready, totaling ten large boxes! They were loaded onto their new donkey cart and delivered to the Yangshui Teahouse. Each rice cake had a stamped design: a circle with three small leaves, representing the three clumps of magic soil, the source of everything. The three leaves were not evenly spaced to prevent future imitation.
Shopkeeper Jin couldn’t see the significance behind these details. He found the added imprint made the cakes look even better. Without a second thought, he packed them in the teahouse’s highest quality wooden boxes and sent them off to the houses of important clients.
The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
During the day, Miao He and Yang Dalang went to Second Aunt’s house to eat mooncakes and celebrate. They played with Yang Da Tong’s two sons, one three years old and the other nearly one year old, eating, drinking, and having a lively time. In the evening, the two of them put on the new clothes Second Aunt had made, took the river lanterns they had bought in town, and walked hand in hand to the river to float the lanterns.
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