"People sure are out in force tonight."
"Well, it is the Dragon Boat Festival after all."
As night fell and the lights began to glow, Li Ang and Chai Cuiqiao strolled along the riverside street. In the middle of the road was a group of men in red clothes and red hats, carrying a dragon dance cart strung together with stools and wrapped in colorful paper lanterns. Those at the front lifted and lowered the dragon's head, making various soaring and tumbling gestures. This was the dragon cart of the New Grain Society, a rice shop mutual aid society.
In Yu Country, there were all sorts of mutual aid societies in every city, like rice societies, Weaving Silk Shops, and Gold and Silver Societies. Following the New Grain Society was the dragon cart of the Wine Society. In addition to the stool design, each of the four dragon claws held a lantern in the shape of a wine jar, making it look very lifelike. Dozens of dragon dance carts, accompanied by the lively and boisterous sound of drums, led the citizens in a procession along both banks of the Yishui River, heading from north to south.
"Sir, please give me two fried sesame balls."
Li Ang stopped in front of a food stall, cheerfully pulling out money to buy two fried sesame balls – also known as sesame seed-coated mochi balls. The balls were made of glutinous rice flour and water, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and then deep-fried in a pan. They were crunchy, flaky, and delicious—just like the flavor of the campus breakfasts from his memories.
It was said that eating fried sesame balls was an ancient custom. When Nuwa was worn out from mending the sky, the newly born humans on earth, worried and caring for Nuwa, made fried sesame balls shaped like globes out of flour. They tied them with red string and placed them on the rooftops to repair the sky.
This must be the most authentic thousand-year-old delicacy; the production craft and flavor haven't changed at all, and even the filling is the same.
Li Ang ate the sesame balls from a paper bag and glanced at Chai Cuiqiao, who was beside him with tears welling up in her eyes and a look of quiet resentment. His smile deepened slightly. The little maid had overestimated her own appetite, having eaten too many zongzi during dinner, and could hardly walk now. Even if she wanted to eat, there was no spare room in her stomach.
That'll teach you to eat so much at dinner.
Li Ang smiled, turned his head, and bought four more sesame balls from the food stall, casually saying, "You can't eat them now anyway, to avoid getting too full. We'll re-fry them in oil when we get back tonight."
"Yay!"
Chai Cuiqiao pumped her little fist, suddenly shortening her step and quickening her pace, appearing to walk briskly while continuously making "PUFF, PUFF" sounds.
Li Ang was baffled. "What are you doing?"
"Power walking to help digestion."
Chai Cuiqiao marched seriously back and forth in front of Li Ang. After only a few dozen steps, she felt tired again, leaning on a willow tree by the river and sighing, "That really is quite a workout. Maybe that's what you meant by marathon, Young Master."
"Marathon, my foot! You're closer to having a bout of diarrhea."
Li Ang helplessly and amusedly smacked his forehead. Following Chai Cuiqiao's gaze, he looked down at the Yishui River. Several pleasure boats and painted barges sailed on the river, lanterns hanging from each of their four corners. Through the thin curtains, one could hear elegant string and bamboo music, the clinking of glasses, and loud laughter and chatter.
From behind came the tinkling laughter of children. A group of youngsters, with rice wine daubed on their foreheads, were ducking and weaving through the gaps in the dragon-shaped carts. Their chests were adorned with duck eggs strung together with colored threads. They paused now and then to play a game with straws: each would take a straw, hook it to another's, and pull with force. The unbroken one won; the loser had to find a new straw.
Gazing at the lamps of thousands of homes, a tumult of blurry, chaotic memories surfaced in Li Ang's mind. It was just like a thousand years later. Fierce and complex emotions arose: joy, sorrow, melancholy, and loneliness. A thousand years apart... the delicacies are the same, the festival is the same, the customs are the same. Yet, those innermost thoughts and words he longed to share found no listener.
"Young Master, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's go. The dragon boats are up ahead."
Li Ang smiled and waved his hand, drawing back his gaze from the deep river waters, and continued on with Chai Cuiqiao.
Thanks to the Academic Palace's improvements in iron pot forging, plant oil extraction, and spice cultivation, Li Ang also saw a large array of street snacks akin to modern treats along the market stands: fried squid, fried pigeons, stir-fried chestnuts, chicken skewers, and more. They were merely a few cents more expensive than ordinary snacks, both because of the festival today and the added spices.
Li Ang still had several strings of coins at home. He finally experienced the joy of snack freedom and bought a dozen bags of treats. Since he couldn't carry them all, he asked the shopkeeper for a thin string, threaded it through the oiled paper packaging, and carried them along.
Passing by a jewelry stall, he glanced at the old hairpin on Chai Cuiqiao's head. A spark of inspiration struck him, and he stopped in his tracks. Pointing at a beautifully crafted copper-peony hairpin, he said to the elderly lady behind the stall, "Madam, please give me one of these hairpins..."
"Granny, how much for this hairpin?"
Almost at the exact same time, a thin little finger also pointed at the copper hairpin.
Turning his head, Li Ang saw who was interested in the same hairpin. It was a little girl, around nine years old. She stood beside a woman in her thirties who wore a moderately priced Ru dress, had delicate, well-maintained features, and seemed pregnant.
Li Ang smiled and greeted them with a cupped fist. "Young miss, are you buying it for yourself?"
"Not for myself." The little girl awkwardly moved closer to her mother. "My mom hasn't bought any jewelry for a long time. I saved up a hundred cents, and I want to buy her a hairpin."
Li Ang nodded. "I see."
The little girl's mother smiled and asked, "Young Master, are you buying it for your sweetheart?"
"No, it's for our little maid." Li Ang laughed and waved his hand dismissively. He reached to his side but grasped only air—Chai Cuiqiao had stepped aside, inexplicably pouting and huffing as she looked up at the starry sky.
"For a maid? Well then, Young Master, if you'd like it, I can let you have it..."
The little girl's mother looked puzzled. Before she could finish her sentence, a voice of surprise came from behind the crowd, "Doctor Li?"
Looking back, Li Ang saw Shade's third younger brother, Sha Sanlang, bursting through the crowd with a few colleagues, running over with faces full of delight.
They were all dressed in short-sleeved clothes with the name of their family business embroidered on their chest in white thread—clearly, they were going to participate in tonight's dragon boat race.
"Sha Sanlang, huh." Li Ang greeted with a cupped fist. "How is your big brother feeling?"
"Much better. After returning home, he hasn't experienced any dizziness, vomiting, or diarrhea. And, heeding your medical advice, we didn't let him drink realgar wine today." Sha Sanlang replied, "Tonight, I'm leading a few colleagues to compete in the dragon boat race, hoping to win first place and bring good fortune to my big brother."
Li Ang smiled and nodded. "Then I wish you all a triumphant victory."
"Doctor Li?" The woman in the Ru dress and her daughter blinked curiously. "Young Master, you are a doctor?"
"Of course! Doctor Li from the Security Hall is the best doctor in all of Yizhou—no, in all of Jiangnan Road."
Before Li Ang could introduce himself, Sha Sanlang, standing nearby, proudly proclaimed, "He saved my big brother's life.
"And the military horses of the Pasture Supervisory Office, and the broken bones of several hundred people in the city.
"Doctor Li, how does your Security Hall's advertisement go?
"'Who is strong in curing all illnesses? Find Security Hall on the western bank at Yishui Bridge.'
"This isn't just empty praise. I'm genuinely just a passerby who admires Doctor Li's outstanding medical skill."