As soon as Zi Qing returned from the temple fair, Lin Kangping asked Lin An to take the things back first, and he took Zi Qing to a teahouse to rest in a private room. Zi Qing knew she still had to go see the flower lanterns at night, so she obediently sat by the window drinking tea. Unintentionally, she glanced outside and happened to see Wen San. Wen San looked up and saw her too. Zi Qing's expression was first shocked, then delighted. Wen San's eyes were truly surprised, and it seemed like he had found something he wasn't looking for.

  Zi Qing said to Lin Kangping, "Wen San has arrived. In this vast city of Beijing, how is it that I've come for the first time and gone out for a stroll for the first time, yet I ran into this one familiar person? What a coincidence."

  "What a coincidence, I never thought I'd run into you here. It's great to meet old friends in a foreign land, isn't it? Mind if I join you?" Wen San said as he pushed open the door and walked in, responding to Zi Qing's words.

  "Sit down, when did you become so polite?" Zi Qing said.

  Wen San first asked about Zi Qing's intention, and then the three of them talked about their respective situations after parting ways. Zi Qing learned that Wen San was also going to participate in the imperial examination this year, and he too studied at Guozijian, making him a fellow student with Zi Fu. Wen San said he knew Zi Fu but didn't interact much with him, and Zi Qing understood, as their social circles were different after all.

  "How's my brother doing in school? Is anyone bullying him? At home, he never talks to us about what happens at school." Zi Qing asked with some curiosity. After all, people in the capital city have eyes on top of their heads, and Zi Fu is just a small scholar from the countryside who doesn't have any powerful connections at home.

  "Your brother is very diligent and his studies are going well. He has earned the teacher's praise, so I think he should have a good chance in this year's exam. Nobody bullies him, don't worry."

  "So are you also preparing for the exam this year? I somehow feel like you haven't been studying seriously?" Zi Qing asked.

  "That shows I'm a clever and resourceful person for three days, but doesn't he look down on our family background?"

  "Go ahead and boast all you want, no one will expose you anyway."

  Three people chatted and laughed, unaware that the sky had already darkened. Zi Qing said to Wen San: "Sorry, we still want to stroll around the flower lanterns in Beijing, and who knows when we'll come again next time? So this time we want to have fun enough. Why don't you come over to our house tomorrow? We'll invite you to a simple meal."

  "Alright, I do miss your craftsmanship. As it happens, I was planning to go see the flower lanterns today too, would you mind if we went together? Besides, the more people the merrier when it comes to viewing lanterns, and I'm quite good at guessing riddles." said Wen San.

  Ziying looked at Lin Kangping, and Lin Kangping held Ziying's hand, saying: "Since the young master has this elegant interest, as the common saying goes, it's better to meet by chance than to be invited. Moreover, we are in a foreign land thousands of miles away. Just now, Qing'er also said that you are her only friend here."

  The three of them tidied up and headed to the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival was held on a major street not far from the Imperial Palace, because on this day, members of the royal family would also sneak out in disguise to join in the revelry with the common people. No wonder even Lin Kangping's sister-in-law knew about it - it was an open secret.

  The crowd was even denser than at the temple fair, with people rubbing shoulders and treading on each other's heels. If you weren't careful, you'd be swept away by the tide of people. So Lin Kangping held Ziying's hand tightly, while Wen San stood on her other side. The streets were decorated with all sorts of flower lanterns, and in front of each lantern market, there were crowds gathered to guess riddles. If you guessed correctly three times, you could take the flower lantern away; if not, you had to pay for it. Ziying was never good at guessing riddles, and Wen San kept asking her if she had any ideas.

  Suddenly, Ziqing saw a crowd of people gathered in front, it turned out that the lanterns made by this family were the most exquisite, attracting many tourists. Ziqing also picked two, pointed them out to Wen San, who had already started guessing, but there were still more buyers than guessers. The one Ziqing chose was a "qu" character, which was a line from Cao Cao's poem. Wen San guessed twice but didn't get it right. Ziqing thought for a moment and said: "Dui jiu dang ge." The boss smiled and said: "Congratulations, little lady, you got it right! This lantern is on the house!"

  Wen San was not satisfied and wanted to guess another one, which was a phrase with the word "pin". Wen San guessed it correctly as "three sealed mouths". However, Wen San had his eyes on another lantern, which was a carp jumping over the dragon gate, implying good fortune. The riddle was "not a field in the painting", guessing a single character. Wen San guessed twice but failed, and turned to look at Zi Qing, who smiled and said "ten characters". The boss laughed somewhat awkwardly this time, but still gave the lantern to Wen San. Wen San felt frustrated and deliberately stomped his foot, saying: "After reading so many years of books, I couldn't even guess better than a village girl, how embarrassing is that?"

  Ziying listened and looked at Lin Kangping with a smile, not taking it seriously, knowing that he was intentionally letting her win. The three of them chatted and strolled around, having already walked for half the day, Ziying felt that everything was more or less the same, and suggested going home. Wen San said to guess one last time before leaving, and had his eyes on a small fish lamp, with a pink silk fabric painted with an old pine tree and a fish lying underneath, also a phrase. This time Wen San guessed it quickly, took the lamp and gave it to Ziying, who originally didn't want it, but Lin Kangping took it over.

  The Wen family's carriage sent Lin Kangping and Ziying back home. Ziying had played all day and fell asleep as soon as she lay down, a night without words.

  On the second day, Zi Qing woke up to find Lin Kangping not by her side again. Wang Cai and Wang Xi were also nowhere to be found. Lin An explained that most of the shops in the capital city were reopening today, so Lin Kangping had gone out to inspect his own shop and collect rent from another one. Before leaving, he instructed Zi Qing not to go out alone and to wait for him at home.

  Zi Qing took a look and found nothing to do, so she put away the things she bought at the temple fair yesterday. She also went to see Zi Fu and Liu Shi in a few days, and bought many toys for the children. Taking advantage of Lin Kangping's absence, she tidied up properly. Who knew that just as she was busy, Wen San brought his little servant over? Zi Qing was somewhat taken aback, forgot to invite him to eat this time, and was a bit stunned.

  "This isn't you inviting me yesterday and then forgetting, is it? I was looking forward to it so much, afraid that if I came too early, I would disturb you. I get it now, in your heart, I'm not important at all. Fortunately, this isn't the first time you've hurt me, I can still barely hold on." Wen San spoke more freely when he saw that Lin Kangping wasn't there.

  "Nowhere, what are you talking about? I'm being sincere in treating you as a friend, from childhood. Don't worry, I'll personally cook a delicious meal for you that you've never had before." After finishing speaking, Zi Qing went to the kitchen and told Liu Pozi to go buy a large live fish, preferably a black carp or a grass carp, a tender hen, some bean sprouts and tofu.

  "Grandma, it's not easy to buy live fish this season and the price is also ridiculously expensive. What if we can't buy any, should we consider buying something else as a substitute?"

  Zi Qing looked around the house and saw that there were still Chinese cabbage, pork, Sichuan peppercorns, and dried chili peppers that Zi Qing had brought. He said: "Don't worry about the cost, just get whatever is available. If nothing else is available, then buy a live duck or half a leg of lamb."

  Ziying had Wen San sit in the hall, while she herself was chopping meat fillings in the kitchen. Wen San couldn't sit still in the hall and stood at the kitchen door chatting with Ziying.

  Liu Pozi came back quickly, and it turned out that she had good luck and really bought a big grass carp. Zi Qing taught her how to clean the fish and chicken, and before Lin Kangping arrived at the door, Zi Qing managed to finish three dishes: one was steamed fish, one was poached chicken, and one was vegetable balls made with chicken broth as the base soup, and some dried scallops were added for flavor. The dishes were exceptionally fresh and delicious. Wen San did not expect that Zi Qing would really make two dishes he had never seen before, and they were also very tasty. Although he had eaten vegetable balls before, they were not as bright and fresh as these ones.

  Ziying originally thought they wouldn't quickly accept the spicy and numbing flavor of boiled fish, so she didn't dare to add too much chili pepper. Unexpectedly, Wen San said: "This is truly enjoyable, I've never eaten anything this delicious before. It's really fresh, salty, numbing, spicy, and fragrant. I didn't know you had such skills. I'm truly envious of Kangping's good fortune, why didn't you consider me back then? Alright, let's talk seriously, Ziying, do you plan on opening a restaurant?"

  "I didn't expect this, what's going on?" Zi Qing was somewhat perplexed.

  "Then sell me the recipes for these two dishes, I have a restaurant, and I guarantee they will be popular. They are too delicious, especially that fish dish. Name your price."

  "Look at you, Lin Kongping. You're thinking of making money even while eating a meal! I've never sold a recipe in my life. To be honest, your family has helped mine a lot over the years. If it weren't for that, I'd consider this recipe as payment to your family."

  "Alright, one code for one code, my father didn't lose out either, he even made a lot of silver from you. How about this, I'll give you 1,000 taels of silver, and you give me two more recipes?" Wen San said.

  Ziying looked at Lin Kangping again, and Lin Kangping touched Ziying's head and said: "My Qinger is just awesome, please stay for a while and you can still earn 1,000 taels of silver. Don't worry, young master doesn't lack silver the most, you can want it as much as you like."

  Ziying thought for half a day, taught him the method of making cakes, and said: "This white cut chicken and cake, my second aunt in my hometown is doing it, should not affect you. This cake can be developed into many varieties, large and small, round and square, with butter or without butter. In theory, this one cake recipe is worth 500 or 1,000 taels, those two are considered as a gift from me, a friend's return."

  "That's settled, I won't take advantage of you. Like that cake you mentioned, I can open a special shop just for it, and it'll be one-of-a-kind. Kangping has helped me a lot over the years, and even when I got angry, I didn't deduct his wages. Let's just settle this once and for all. Later, I'll give you 1,000 taels."

  After dinner, Wen San urged Zi Qing to go to his wine tower, where the master chef was teaching cooking. Lin Kangping followed them. When they came out of the wine tower, it had already darkened. Lin Kangping held Zi Qing's hand, and there were still many people on the street. Zi Qing looked up and saw the round moon in the sky, with a faint yellow halo surrounding its clear and cold light, which poured down like water.

  Ziying thought back to the Lantern Festival before she came to this world, and in a flash, more than ten years had passed. The changes of time and space had already made everything different, and by her side was Lin Kangping. Now, it could be said that she had found her own happiness. Thinking of this, Ziying patted Lin Kangping's back, and Lin Kangping carried Ziying home.

  On the eighteenth day, Lin Kangping took Zi Qing to the temple fair again, where they heard there would be a large-scale performance of ethnic customs. Neither of them expected that what awaited them was an abyss from which they might never return.