Si Yan scratched his head, the abacus jingling at his waist. "You are too young, and it's easy to lose the money if you keep it with you. I will save it for you first, and buy you a dowry when you grow up."
"No!" Nian Li stood with her hands on her hips, like a hen protecting her chicks. "Grandfather said I have to manage my own money! Look!" She pulled out a blue cloth bag from her sleeve pocket, which contained a few shiny copper coins. "This is what I earned from singing nursery rhymes in Yangzhou. I'll manage it myself!"
Jiang Yan smiled and picked up his daughter, letting her sit on the edge of the table. The candlelight reflected the icing on her nose. "Okay, okay, I'll take you to the West Market tomorrow. I'll buy you whatever Nianli wants, and Siyan can also buy a new abacus, okay?"
Siyan nodded immediately, her eyes sparkling: "I want one made of rosewood, with ivory beads! And it wants my name engraved on it!"
Nian Li hugged Jiang Yan's neck and rubbed her little head against his chin: "I want the biggest sugar painting, and pink rouge, like the one my sister gave me!"
Su Jinli watched the three of them laughing and joking. The silver on the table, reflecting the candlelight, felt warm. She recalled her past life in the prime minister's residence, where her monthly allowance was always deducted by her stepmother. Even when she was sick, she could hardly even have a sip of porridge with sugar. Now, watching the children fight over a share of the silver, her heart felt like honey melted in warm water, sweet and warm.
"Let's eat first." Jiang Yan poured her a bowl of mushroom soup. The soup was clear with a few pieces of tender green onions floating in it. "I'm exhausted after running all day."
Si Yan held the abacus tightly, the beads clattering in his palm: "Dad, if I deposit a hundred taels of silver into a bank at an annual interest rate of four percent, in a year it will be..."
"You can't eat if you can't figure it out." Su Jinli pretended to be serious, but she quietly picked up a piece of braised beef with her chopsticks for her son. "Hurry up and figure it out. When you're done, I'll give you a sweet cake."
From outside the window came the clatter of the night watchman's drum, the "dong-dong" of the clapperboard mingling with the din of the night market and the cries of vendors hawking "Osmanthus Flower Candy Cakes." Si Yan had finally calculated the interest and proudly reported the figure. Nian Li, holding up the copper coins, insisted that Jiang Yan string them together with a red string to make a necklace for her to wear around her neck.
Su Jinli took in everything before her, and suddenly felt that the hundred taels of silver reward was far less precious than the warmth she felt at this moment. The emperor's words, "Catching a thief is more convenient than traveling," still echoed in her ears, yet she felt the emperor was particularly kind, like an elder who loved to joke. Perhaps this was how life in this world was supposed to be, full of laughter and noise, surprises and joys, where even the emperor's decrees could become a source of after-dinner jokes.
"Are we really going to Luoyang to see the peonies next?" Jiang Yan picked up a piece of tofu for her. The snow-white tofu was drizzled with sauce. "I heard that the Wei Zi and Yao Huang flowers there can be sold for ten taels of silver each, and the bloom period is only twenty days."
Si Yan immediately put down his chopsticks and began clacking his abacus on the table: "Ten taels? Then we buy ten plants, and we can make a profit in twenty days..."
"Let's have enough fun first!" Su Jinli interrupted her son's abacus and glared at him with a smile. "Tomorrow we'll go to the West Market. I'm going to buy Nianli a pearl-inlaid headpiece, the best abacus for Siyan, and a piece of lake blue brocade for you to make a long gown."
Jiang Yan held her hand, the candlelight dancing in his eyes, reflecting the scattered hair on her temples: "I'll do as you say."
The silver lay quietly on the table, reflecting the shadows of the family of three, a warm and peaceful scene. This hundred taels of silver was not only a reward from the emperor, but also a mark of their joyful life journey. Su Jinli couldn't help but chuckle as she thought of the emperor's playful edict. Perhaps, their next stop, Luoyang, would truly be like this edict, filled with unexpected surprises and laughter, adorning their honeyed life with even more sweet icing.
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