You've Got Mail: Cautionary Tale (YGMCT)

Chapter 91 - Spring's Frequent Visitor, While Money Disappears

Muddleheaded, Wu Xingzi did not know how he ended up sitting down in the seat across Yan Wenxin. Lifting the teacup, he gulped down the entirety of its contents.

Chang’an, that was the name Yan Wenxin gave him, and only Yan Wenxin had used that name before. During that period of time when they were together, this was how he always addressed him.

Chang’an Chang’an, forever, everlasting safety and peace… The gaze Wu Xingzi directed at Yan Wenxin could be described as complicated. Many questions ran through his head. Did Yan Wenxin look for him because of Ping Yifan? Why did he give him that perfume sachet then? Why did he call him Chang’an again? These questions circled his mind non-stop, and in the end, he was unable to ask even a single one of them.

“This is the cloud tea1 from Lu’an. Do you like it?” Yan Wenxin took no notice of Wu Xingzi’s hesitation in speaking. His tone was very warm and friendly, and it seemed as though the separation of twenty years did not exist. It was as though they were not even in the capital, but were still in that place and that time twenty years ago. Although the peach blossoms were gone, the same people still remained.

“Uhh… It’s nice, it’s nice…” Wu Xingzi shook his head, drinking another cup of tea.

Huaixiu, who had been standing by the side, had brought Mint and Osmanthus away at some unknown time. When he returned, he placed an exquisitely made food container in front of Wu Xingzi.

“This is a snack that I got someone to make at home. Try it?” Yan Wenxin opened the container as he spoke. When Wu Xingzi glanced inside, he could not help but gasp lightly.

In the container was not a snack that was very delicate and fine. Inside were a few small, round pieces of pastry, each with a peach blossom print on top, with light powder scattered across the skin of the pastry. Half were fried and half were baked, and the fragrance of the pastries filled their noses, carrying with it a hint of the fragrance of peach blossoms. Each pastry was only a quarter the size of one’s palm, a perfect, bite-sized piece.

This snack was named “Spring’s Frequent Visitor”, the meaning very explicit. It was a flaky pastry made with lard and peach blossoms, and in the middle was a thin layer of maltose with the flavour of peach blossoms mixed into it. The flavour was rich and decadent, the texture thick yet not sticking to the teeth. With the extremely delicate and flaky pastry, it felt as though one was savouring an entire forest of peach trees when chewing on it.

This snack was a signature of an old pastry shop in Goose City. It was delicious and contained good ingredients, but its price was affordable to the people. The fried version was cheaper, and one coin could buy about seven of them. The baked version was a lot more expensive, and one needed to pay eight coins to buy two. Twenty years ago, Wu Xingzi would always bring along seven “Spring’s Frequent Visitor” to visit Yan Wenxin. He would eat three himself, and give Yan Wenxin four. Paired with a coarsely made tea bought from a teahouse, even the bitter, astringent tea tasted a lot better.