Early in the morning, Jiang Zhou got up and steamed enough sponge cake. Although this cake was delicious but it was easy to get thirsty after eating it, so he made a barrel of mint tea. When uncle Yu came, they moved the things to the boat.

It could be seen that uncle Yu made preparation for this business. Uncle Yu actually owned two boats, one big and one small. He rarely used the big boat unless it was the market day or special events. But today, he moved out the big boat with enough space to set out a small canteen. There was a wooden table which they placed two boxes of sponge cake; the table was fixed on the boat so it wouldn’t sway away.

Jiang Zhou thought this business was ready and wanted to see whether the sponge cake would sell well, so he cheekily followed uncle Yu. They went to the Pinghe Village to pick passengers.

.

The village wasn’t far away, they arrived quickly and saw a woman stood on the pier with a six years old kid. When she got closer, they could see another small baby on her back. She boarded the boat and uncle Yu asked, “Aunty Qin, where are you going?”

Aunty Qin was quite young, it could be seen she was a married woman from her bun. When she saw Jiang Zhou, she was a little cautious and chose to sit outside the cabin. She lowered her head and took care her eldest son, “Go to Yushan Bay, I’m going to see my mother.”

The child smelled a sweet scent in the air and looked around the cabin while biting his finger, “Mama, it smelled so good.”

Aunty Qin also smelled it before her kid, but she was too shy to ask. Now that her son said something, she finally talked to uncle Yu, “Uncle Yu, something smells so good. What did you put on this boat?”

“This was made by me; it will be sold on this boat. Aunty Qin, do you want to see it?” Jiang Zhou handed a plate of sponge cake for her, “Look, you can try this for free.”

The kid was about to take one but aunty Qin glared at him so the child could only watch her mother helplessly. Aunty Qin twisted a small piece and tasted it, the cake was melted softly in her mouth and the taste was really good. Her family wasn’t bad and she was married to a strong hunter. She lived a good life but only ate pastry on the Chinese New Year, those things were hard and greasy. It wasn’t comparable to this cake.

She was hooked to the taste, “What is the cake name? How do you sell it?”

Jiang Zhou smiled sightly, “This is sponge cake, one piece only three wens.”

Aunty Qin was a little hesitant, she could afford it but three wens for a cake was a little too much to her. Her son saw his mother’s hesitant and said anxiously, “Mama, I want to eat it.”

Aunty Qin glared at him, “Eat, eat. What do you know except eating?” she smiled at Jiang Zhou, “The kid is noisy.”

She lowered her head and thought for a while, finally she pulled out a cloth bag and counted six wens, “Young master, I will buy it two.” She was going back to her natal house; it would be nice to bring a present. This sponge cake was rare; one piece was quite big; she could buy one for her natal family and kept another one for her own family.

Jiang Zhou wrapped two sponge cakes and handed them to her, he also reminded her, “This cake is soft, it might choke the baby. It would be better to soak it in the milk for them, if there is no milk, warm water is fine.”

Aunty Qin praised and thanked him, then stopped chatting. Once they arrived in the Yunshan Bay, aunty Qin bid them farewell and led her children to her mother’s house.

.

When aunty Qin arrived at the village, she saw her mother waiting under the big tree. She walked to her slowly.

“How is it? Do you feel dizzy from the boat? Are you hungry?” mother Qin was fussing over her daughter and made aunty Qin laughed.

“Mother, it’s just a little ride. I had breakfast before, I’m not hungry at all.”

Mother Qin was relieved and looked at her grandson, “Where is my good grandson? Are you hungry?”

Xiao Zhu looked at his grandma and felt a little sad, “Grandma, mam won’t let me eat cake.”

“What kind of cake? Tell grandma, I will buy it for you.” While talking to her grandson, mother Qin led them home.

“Mother, don’t worry. I bought this cake from uncle Yu’s boat; I’ve taste it and it was good. You can taste it later.”

“What else did you bring?” Mother Qin was very happy, everyone said that a married daughter was a water that splashed out and never return. But her daughter treated her very good and often times brought things home.

.

When they went inside the house, there was Qin sao-zi doing needlework on the kang. She only looked at them and smiled.

Mother Qin didn’t say anything about her, she turned to aunty Qin and told her to rest, “You sit down, your father bought sweet potatoes from the market. It was all big and sweet, I already cook them for you. I will take them out and let it cool down.”

“Hey, you are coming back with a whole baggage this time.” Qin sao-zi said as soon as mother Qin left them. The baggage was obviously talking about the children.

Aunty Qin knew her bad temper, so she didn’t bother to get angry with her. She just ignored her and play with her youngest baby. There was no reply, so Qin sao-zi couldn’t scold aunty Qin anymore.

Unfortunately, the husband, Qin Tie was coming back from the field. He got scolded as soon as he stepped inside, “How many times do I have to tell you? Clean your feet before coming inside. Look at those dirty shoes, why do you never listen to me?”

Qin Tie was honest person, he didn’t reply his wife and went out to clean himself a bit.

.

“Have you eaten yet?” Qin Tie asked his little sister.

Aunty Qin nodded her head and handed over the sponge cake to him. Father and mother Qin also returned home, so Qin Tie opened up the oil paper and cut the sponge cake for everyone to eat.

Everyone was surprised by the taste and Qin sao-zi was a little shy but leaned closer to aunty Qin, “Xiao-mei, do you still have the cake?”

Qin sao-zi wanted to go back to her natal house in two days, she thought this cake wasn’t bad. It would be good if she brought it back for them. But she talked bad to aunty Qin as soon as they met, she felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, aunty Qin wasn’t a small person and told her where to buy the sponge cake.

Qin sao-zi quietly remembered Jiang Zhou and the sponge cake.

.

Jiang Zhou thought about the customer effect of his sponge cake, he was sure it wouldn’t spread so fast. He followed the boat for half a day and saw the selling was good, he didn’t continue to squat on the boat but went to his wife’s home with a bag of sponge cake. He knocked on the Wen family’s door.