Chapter 50

Zhou Yi pulled aside the heavy nanmu chair and sat down sideways. The carved backrest pressed against his lower back, feeling a chill. He looked around curiously. A mahogany display case in front of him displayed various antiques. The most prominent spot was a purple clay Maitreya Buddha statue, its brows smiling as it gazed calmly across the room.

"This private room is truly elegantly decorated," Xiao Xiao praised softly. Her fingertips traced the embroidered tea mat on the table. The Suzhou embroidery of pine and crane patterns stood out slightly against the indigo satin tablecloth. The creamy white chopstick holder beside her was carved from Hetian jade into small bamboo joints, its color so smooth it looked as if you could squeeze water out of it.

Chen Yuan placed the tea on the rotating table and said calmly, "It's just a casual decoration. I just want to have some peace and quiet."

"Hey, you don't have to know." Li Cheng shook his head in his seat. He took the tea from the round tray and moved forward. "Even the things in this box are all things he bought from all over the world. For example, the Maitreya Buddha statue was obtained by him after waiting for half a year from a master in Suzhou."

"Half a year" Xiao Xiao was surprised. She turned around and saw the Maitreya Buddha.

Li Cheng took a sip of tea and said, "The master opens the kiln twice a year, once in the spring and again at the winter solstice. The products from the kiln have to be sent to Hanshan Temple first and then be consecrated by the abbot. This trip back and forth takes half a year."

As they were talking, a waiter in a blue shirt pushed open the door and brought in a few stacks of cold dishes. On the celadon plate just taken out were a few thin slices of amber-colored ham, accompanied by a baguette and a small dish of something black that looked like a sauce.

Chen Yuan pointed at the dish that had just been served, "Three-year-old Xuanwei ham, smoked with pine needles."

"That's fine." Li Cheng picked up a piece.

Chen Yuan smiled, turned around, and retrieved a delicate little wooden box from the small-leaf rosewood table. He then asked the waiter to bring a few small plates. He opened the box, revealing seven or eight kinds of pastries neatly arranged inside, each separated by oil-paper. He used chopsticks to remove the pastries from the box and arranged them one by one.

"I don't know what you like to eat, so I bought some old Beijing specialties for you to try," he said, placing the small dishes on a round plate and passing them to the people one by one.

Yang Ye looked at the two pieces of pea-yellow pastry in front of her hand. They were clean, with neatly cut edges and a hint of pale yellow underneath. She touched them lightly with her chopsticks, and the moist pastry shook slightly but didn't fall apart, leaving only a small mark on the tip of the chopsticks.

"This is pea yellow." Chen Yuan saw Yang Ye looking at it, and he explained with a smile, "It came from the palace in the early years. It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi liked to eat this cold snack in the summer. The imperial chefs racked their brains to come up with this snack. The beans should be selected from jade peas, and the soaking time should not be too long or too short. When grinding, it must be turned slowly with a stone mill. Now there are still two authentic shops that can make this taste in the whole city of Beijing."

"I know," Yang Ye said. She placed half a piece on the bone dish, lifted some with her chopsticks, and gently sipped it with the tip of her tongue. The pea yellow melted the moment it touched her tongue, so delicate that not a single grain could be detected. The sweet bean fragrance spread across her teeth, sweet but not greasy, with a faint aftertaste of osmanthus.

The voice of "Sister Zhao Zhao" hidden in memory suddenly appeared in my ears.

Yang Ye was leaning back in a recliner reading a book when she was startled by her hurried footsteps. She was startled, the page she had just turned slipping through her fingers. She looked up at the gate and saw her brother running towards the door in a light yellow dress.

Zheng Yue's cheeks were flushed and her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat. She was holding an oil-paper bag carefully in her arms.

"Slow down, be careful not to fall." Yang Ye closed the book, walked over, and reached out to support Zheng Yue who was almost tripped by a stone.

"Look," Zheng Yue handed the oil-paper package to Yang Ye as if presenting a treasure. The outer layer of the oil-paper had been soaked with grease from the pastry, leaving several translucent dots.

Zheng Yue said: "I waited in line for more than half an hour for the pea yellow made by the chef at Longsheng Shop at Dongjiekou. Come and try it."

Yang Ye took the paper package. It was still warm to the touch, and faintly exuded the sweet aroma of peas. She carefully opened a corner, and found that the golden cakes were neatly stacked, with patterns printed on the sides and an oily edge. "You went to East Street. Look at you sweating in this hot weather."

"Hmm," Zheng Yue nodded, her eyes shining. "Try it quickly. I remember Brother Shangyang said you like pea yellow the most."

Without waiting for Yang Ye's reaction, she immediately opened the package and placed it on the stone table in the yard.

Yang Ye smiled helplessly, took out a plain handkerchief from the side and handed it to Zheng Yue, "Wipe the sweat first."

Zheng Yue simply wiped it a few times and sat on the stone stool. She couldn't wait to push the cake towards Yang Ye, "Sister Zhao Zhao, come and taste it."

Yang Ye picked up a piece of soft and glutinous but not loose cake. She broke off a small piece, and the delicate bean fragrance melted in her mouth, with a faint taste of osmanthus honey, and a hint of mint coolness in the aftertaste.

"Why does this taste different from what I had before?" Yang Ye was pleasantly surprised. She couldn't help but take another bite. The soft bean cake was wrapped in a light sweetness, just like the bean cake her mother would make when she was a child, except that the ones her mother made were always sweeter.

"I knew you liked this," Zheng Yue said beside him, "but it's a pity that the chef from Longsheng Shop has to go back to his hometown tomorrow, so you won't be able to eat it anymore."

"There will always be opportunities later," said Yang Ye.

"Oh, by the way, Sister Zhaozhao," Zheng Yue suddenly lowered her voice and approached mysteriously, "When I came here, I heard a few women say that there were students organizing a parade and rally on East Fourth Street."

Hearing this, Yang Ye's expression froze, and she leaned forward unconsciously. She whispered, "This morning, when Aunt Zhang came back from buying groceries, she told me about this. She said that just after dawn, she saw several young people dressed as students holding a banner heading towards that area. Aunt Zhang said that the words on the banner were so bright and glaring that it made her heart ache."

As she spoke, her eyes unconsciously swept around the courtyard. After confirming that no one was around, she dared to whisper to Zheng Yue, "People from the police department have been hanging around the university halls these days. I'm afraid things won't be peaceful these days."

Yang Ye looked at Zheng Yue seriously and reminded her carefully, "You have to be careful when you go out these days. Don't go to crowded places."

Zheng Yue nodded. "I know. My father told me about this a few days ago. He told me to be careful now that my brother is away. Sister Zhaozhao, do you think the police arrested the student and locked him up? Are they going to..."

Yang Ye sighed softly and held Zheng Yue's hand. "No one can predict the current situation. As long as we don't get involved and avoid crowds, we should be fine."

Before she could finish her words, a gust of wind blew and lifted the book she had just placed on the table. The rustling of pages was faintly mixed with the barking of dogs and the sound of whistles coming from far away.

The sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps echoed from the alleyway, the clatter of leather shoes on bluestone slabs, the clatter of metal fittings colliding with each other, and both of them froze. The dense footsteps grew closer and closer, and with a few rude shouts, they stopped next to them.

Someone banged hard on the nearby door with the butt of a gun.

"Police patrol, open the door!" Heavy leather shoes kicked the door hard several times, followed by an even more violent banging sound, which made the door bolt sound.

A child's cry could be heard from next door, and the next moment, a woman's trembling voice, pleading with tears in her eyes, could be heard. "My son was dragged away, he doesn't know anything."

"Stop talking nonsense!" A rough shout interrupted the woman's plea.

There was a sound of heavy objects being pushed to the ground in the yard, and tables, chairs and benches were overturned and fell heavily to the ground.

"It's him. He was the one who took the lead in shouting slogans in Dongxiang two days ago. It's him," a sharp voice pointed out.

"You're talking nonsense, my son couldn't have done that," the woman didn't believe.

"I'm not talking nonsense, sir. I saw it with my own eyes, it was him," the sharp voice continued, with a hint of flattery.

Yang Ye and Zheng Yue sat in the yard, silently listening to the scene coming from the yard next door, broken porcelain on the ground trampled by leather boots, and cabinet wooden boards being smashed hard.

Suddenly someone said, "Found it."

Yang Ye closed his eyes and clenched his hands.

"Let me go, what gives you the right to arrest me?" The young man's protest stopped abruptly, replaced by a few cries of pain and muffled sounds, as if he had been hit hard by something.

"Take him away!" The woman's cries suddenly rose as the order was given. She trotted over and tried to stop the young man who was about to be dragged away by the patrolman. "Sir, I beg you, he was deceived and he knows nothing."

"Get out of here!" There was another muffled sound, and the woman's crying turned into a painful wail.

"Son, my son!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Her nails were deeply embedded in her palms. Yang Ye opened her eyes and looked at Zheng Yue opposite her. Zheng Yue also looked up at her, biting her trembling lips tightly. Zheng Yue's eyes showed reluctance and confusion, as well as a deep sense of powerlessness, regret and self-blame for not being able to help.

The two looked at each other without saying a word.

"Yang Ye, Yang Ye" Li Cheng's voice came from far away.

Yang Ye finally came back to her senses and found that everyone in the box was looking at her, with confusion and concern in their eyes. She clenched the chopsticks in her hand, and her fingertips tightened slightly.

"The food is so delicious that it made you confused?" Li Cheng tried to smooth things over with a smile, and pushed the plate of pea yellow towards Yang Ye.

Seeing the people looking at her, she lowered her head and took a sip of tea. The warm Longjing tea brought a slight astringency, but it diluted the heaviness in her throat.

"I thought of something," Yang Ye smiled apologetically.

She picked up the remaining half piece of pea yellow cake in the bone dish and took a light bite. The cake was a little dry due to being stored for a long time, but when she bit it, the familiar bean fragrance spread between her lips and teeth. It was obviously a sweet cake, but when she swallowed it, she tasted a hint of bitterness.

"This pea yellow is quite delicious," she said softly, her tone calm, as if she was stating a very ordinary fact.

Chen Yuan's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, and he said softly, "If you like it, eat more. I've prepared a few more and will take some back later."