"Let go!" The gentleman swung his legs in frustration, but Si Yan buried his face in his trouser legs, holding him tighter with his hands, not caring about the dirt on his trouser legs rubbing against his nose. The abacus on his waist kept knocking against his calves, making a dull "dong dong" sound, as if beating a drum to collect debts. Su Jinli untied the silk ribbon embroidered with lotus flowers around her waist, and cooperated with Jiang Yan tacitly, and tied up the three thieves like dumplings in a few seconds. The silk ribbon was not long enough, so she pulled off the shawl on her head. It was a token of love given by Jiang Yan, but now it was used to tie up the bandits. Her movements were as neat as embroidering a piece of brocade, and the stitch-like folds were crisscrossed on the bandits.
The captain of the Jinwu Guard dismounted, his spurs clanging against the bluestone. He surveyed the scattered abacus beads, the sugar-coated Hu pancakes, and the struggling bandits huddled together. The red tassel on his helmet swayed with his movements, and the sunlight reflecting off his breastplate stung his eyes. "Are you... coming to Chang'an to tour, or to catch thieves?" His gaze swept over Su Jinli's slightly disheveled bun, a few strands clinging to her sweat-soaked forehead; over the sugar threads draped across Jiang Yan's gown, brittle from the sun; and finally, over the excited faces of the two children: Siyan still working on the abacus, and Nianli's sugar painting only half finished.
The onlookers roared with laughter. The old man selling sugar paintings squeezed to the front row and handed over a freshly made phoenix sugar painting. The sugar threads shone golden-red in the sunlight, and the phoenix's tail stretched out in a long arc. "Captain, this family is even more amazing than you Jinwu Guards! They just used the abacus like it could fly, even better than I can draw sugar paintings!"
Si Yan squatted on the ground, fiddling with the abacus. His little fingers, stained with melted icing sugar, left sticky marks on the beads, making each one slippery. "Captain, they still owe me 214 wen in interest. This will be deducted from the reward! I've calculated that after deducting the principal and interest from 500 taels, there's still 497 taels, 786 wen left. Enough to buy..."
The captain scratched his head. His hair beneath his helmet was soaked with sweat and stuck to his scalp. He smiled helplessly, revealing the cigarette stains on his back teeth. "Okay, you're quite capable." He ordered his men to carry the bandits away, then suddenly pointed at Siyan's abacus, his eyes full of admiration. "This kid's better at accounting than the old accountant at the Ministry of Revenue. He'll definitely become the Minister of Revenue someday!"
"My brother still needs to earn ten taels of silver!" Nianli jumped up, holding the sugar painting, the sugar thread stretched out in a long arc, almost tangling on Jiang Yan's belt. Jiang Yan bent down to pick up the silver hairpin that Su Jinli had dropped. The silver foil gardenia hairpin had a petal chipped off. He gently pinned it back to her temple, his fingertips brushing against the red tip of her ear, feeling the warmth there. "Let's go to the West Market to buy Si Yan a new abacus."
The wind on Suzaku Street blew up shredded paper from the fortune-telling stalls, mingling with the sweet aroma of sugar paintings, the scorched aroma of Hu bing (hu bing) cakes, and the distinct smell of sweat and dust from the marketplace. Su Jinli watched Siyan, still haggling over interest with the captain, his little finger darting across the abacus as he muttered to himself. Nianli chased a butterfly that suddenly landed on Jiang Yan's shoulder, her silvery laughter filling the air. Suddenly, the sun in Chang'an City felt exceptionally warm, so warm that it made her want to cry. The sun shone on Jiang Yan's hand, which was shielding her from the sun, casting overlapping shadows on the ground, a stark reflection of their intertwined destinies.
"Where's the next stop?" Jiang Yan held her hand, his fingertips touching the thin calluses on her palms from years of holding a pen and doing accounts. Those were the marks of her hard work after her rebirth.
"Let's go to Luoyang to see the peonies." Su Jinli smiled, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes filled with sunshine, lines of happiness. "And by the way, let's calculate the price of the flowers. I heard that the peonies in Luoyang are sold by the number of petals. A thousand-layer peony can be exchanged for..."
"That'll be ten taels of silver!" Si Yan immediately pulled out his small account book and began scribbling on the paper with his fingers stained with icing sugar. The ink smeared across the rough rice paper, resembling a blooming peony. "The flowers only bloom for twenty days. If I sell ten pots a day, I can make a profit..."
The Jinwu Guards gradually receded, leaving the streets filled with laughter. Su Jinli held the children's hands, listening to Siyan muttering about the account book while watching the phoenix in Nianli's candy painting shimmer in the wind, its sugar threads shimmering like golden threads in the sun. Suddenly, she felt that this interlude of catching the thief was just another crisp icing in their sweet life. This life's journey, like the spring tea of Jiangnan, becomes more and more delicious with each sip. Every unexpected event becomes the sweetest embellishment in life, making her wonder what the next icing will taste like.
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