Work Text:
Food is a necessity.
Good food is a privilege.
Especially to be able to eat whatever you want whenever you want - only a fortunate few would be privileged enough to afford it.
From the day he was still a child, Mu Qing already came to the understanding that he was not among those associated with the word “privilege.” Even though he was very young, Mu Qing knew that he would never be able to easily get what he wanted, unlike other children from more well-off families.
Those brand new toys that kids around his age were playing with? He could only sit at the side as they laughed and fought among themselves over it.
Those brand new clothes for festival days? He must be satisfied with the secondhand ones his mother received from her workplace and patched together to fit his small stature.
Those delectable, mouth-watering snacks that street vendors were selling in almost every corner of the town? He could only watch from afar as other children pulled their parents to crowd around the colorful stalls, pointing and whining until they received what they wanted.
Sometimes, Mu Qing couldn’t help but wonder. What kind of meats were used to fill the jianbing sold on that street corner near his home? Would the fruits on a tanghulu taste the same as the ones he picked from the trees?
He wondered, but never insisted on getting them.
Mu Qing was mature for a child of his age. He knew his mother had been working very hard, neglecting her health so that the two of them could have just a mouthful of rice to eat tomorrow. He was grateful enough that he still had a home to seek shelter from the rain, clothes to cover his body, and food to fill his stomach. Even if he had to live off cold rice and plain congee every day, as long as they weren’t starving, shouldn’t it be something to be thankful for?
But there was one time, one special moment, that Mu Qing would never forget for the rest of his life.
It was the start of the Hour of You. The day was still bright then, but the sky had been sprayed with a shade of gold as the sun was slowly heading to the west.
Mu Qing was sitting by the street side, not far from the slums.
On days when he managed to finish house chores early, he would go out and wait for his mother to come home. There would be children from a nearby residential area gathering there. Sometimes they would chase one another, sometimes they would bring toys from home. Mu Qing would just watch them from the side without making a sound. After all, with his appearance, he wouldn’t be allowed to join them even if he wanted to.
Today, too, he saw that same group of children crowding at the same place at the same time. He went to sit in his usual spot, trying to guess in his head what kind of games they would play today. However, as Mu Qing waited, he realized that they weren’t playing a game at all.
The children were standing in front of a street stall. The vendor was a kind-looking middle-aged man, and as Mu Qing looked closer, it turned out that he was selling blown-sugar candies. The kids excitedly jumped around his stall, asking the uncle to make this and that shape while clutching onto their pocket money in hands. When the vendor started his craft, all of the children stared wide-eyed as the originally shapeless mold began to take shape little by little.
A kid asked for a dragon-shaped candy. Another kid asked for a rabbit. The others asked for a deer, a wolf, and a bird.
They were laughing in delight and clapping their hands as they watched the candies being made. For a moment, Mu Qing was tempted to go over and take a closer look, but eventually, he decided against it because he had no money in his pocket. It would be embarrassing if the seller asked him what he wanted to buy and discovered that Mu Qing was only there to watch.
Just as the thought passed through his mind, he saw a familiar figure walking from the other end of the street.
“Mom!”
A smile rising to his face, Mu Qing rose to his feet and trotted toward his mother. Madam Mu was evidently worn-out after a long day of work, but she still smiled tenderly at him when she saw her son approaching.
“Have you been waiting long?” she asked, while taking his little hand into her own.
Mu Qing shook his head and looked up at her.
“How was work today?” he asked in return.
“Oh, it was great! The master gave me some of his son’s clothes today because the boy has grown too tall to wear them. Mom will fix them up later so they’ll fit your size.”
Mu Qing smiled at his mother and didn’t ask anything else. As they were walking back home, they passed by that sugar candy stall. The uncle seemed to have just sold the last of his goods and was prepared to close for the day. Mu Qing watched as the final batch of the candies went to the hands of two toddlers who were carried by their parents. Without his realization, he had been staring at them as they left in the other direction.
“Mu Qing, is something the matter?”
Startled by his mother’s question, Mu Qing quickly shook his head again.
“No, it’s nothing,” he said, “Let’s go home, Mom.”
Her mother only gave him a strange look. Mu Qing immediately retrieved his gaze from that family and continued walking on ahead. But his mother suddenly let out an “Ah!” and halted her steps.
“I just remembered that I’ve forgotten something,” Madam Mu said, “Could you wait here for a moment? Mom will be back soon.”
She didn’t wait for Mu Qing to answer and left in hurried steps. Having no other choice, Mu Qing found his way to a nearby store that had closed and sat down on the steps. He looked in the direction of that family with toddlers again, but they already disappeared. Sighing to himself, he put his elbows on his knees and rested his face on his hands.
Only after a while later did he hear his mother’s footsteps returning.
“Mom, what did you forget—?”
His words stuck in his tongue, Mu Qing’s eyes widened at the sight of a small object appearing before his eyes.
In his mother’s hand, there was a blown-sugar candy in the shape of a little cat.
“Do you like it?” his mother smiled at him.
Mu Qing opened his mouth but couldn’t let out a single sound. He was dumbstruck like a wooden chicken as his mother placed the candy stick in his hands.
Madam Mu also didn’t say anything else. With one hand on his back, she gently pushed him forward.
“Come. Let’s go home before it gets dark.”
Mu Qing didn’t remember what happened the rest of the way home. With one hand held by his mother and his other hand holding onto the candy, he kept staring at the cat-shaped sugar as though his eyes were glued to it.
“Why did you get this for me? How much does this cost? Did you sacrifice a meal to buy me this?”
There were dozens and dozens of questions that Mu Qing wanted to ask, but in the end, he wasn’t able to say them all. He continued to stare in awe at the blown-sugar candy as if he had just discovered a rare treasure, not daring to touch, let alone eat it.
It wasn’t until the candy almost melted that, at his mother’s urging, Mu Qing finally opened his mouth to get a taste. He took a little bite at the tip of the cat’s tail, savoring the taste while thinking to himself.
“It’s sweet…”
“Mu Qing, are you going somewhere?”
Hearing a familiar voice calling his name, Mu Qing turned around to look. A youth around his age was walking in his direction; he was tall and handsome, his complexion was the color of wheat. Mu Qing thought the way his brows were pulled into a frown always made him look a bit too uptight than he actually was.
“I’m heading home for a bit to check on my mother. I’ll come back before it is time to prepare dinner,” he answered.
Feng Xin caught up to him in several long strides, soon walking by his side. With a curious face, he peered into the other youth’s arms.
Mu Qing was carrying a basket filled with wild fruits freshly picked from the trees.
“Are those from Taicang Mountain?” Feng Xin asked, “I didn’t know you can find so many types of fruits there.”
“That’s because you never bother to look,” Mu Qing was indifferent, “Why are you looking for me?”
“His Highness asked me to do some errands in town. He said to go with you if you’re not occupied with something else.”
“Alright. Do you mind if I just drop this at home, though?”
“Sure.”
Having reached a quick agreement for once without fighting, the two continued on in silence with barely anyone speaking a word along the way. Soon, they reached the streets near the slums where Mu Qing’s mother was living.
After Madam Mu’s eyesight worsened, she could no longer continue working as a seamstress, so Mu Qing took it upon himself to support the family in her stead. Being one of the eldest kids in the neighborhood, he often found himself looking after the younger ones, as well. The children liked him and saw him as a role model, always crowding around him whenever he came back from work.
Today, too, the moment they spotted Mu Qing, the kids dressed in rags and tattered clothes immediately ran up to him, excitedly shouting “Gege! Gege! Gege!”
“Okay, okay. Don’t block the way,” Mu Qing scolded them gently, showing a rare smile on his face, “Here. This is for you guys. There’s enough for everyone, so don’t fight.”
He picked some of the fruits in the basket and shared them with the slum’s children. These kids, just like him, barely ever had the chance to enjoy any good food in their life. Some wild fruits were nothing extraordinary to those who could afford them, but for the people living in this poor neighborhood, even one fresh apple was like a blessing from heaven.
Feng Xin only watched from the side without saying a word.
At this moment, an old man appeared with a cart on the other side of the street. He set up his workstation in nimble movements, as if he had been doing this for many years. In no time, a stall already stood amidst the bustling road.
It was a blown-sugar candy stall.
“Oh, the candy uncle…”
Mu Qing turned around at one of the kids’ remarks. Sure enough, he noticed that familiar stall standing in the same place as it always did after all these years. And it didn’t take long for customers to gather around his booth; most were parents bringing their children with them.
The uncle running the little business seemed to already grow more wrinkles on his face, but his skill had by no means been reduced. Sugar candies in all sorts of forms and shapes began to pop out one by one from his adept hands, making his young patrons laugh and clap in delight.
In contrast, the kids from the slums could only watch from afar as they had no means to buy the candies. Mu Qing couldn’t help but see a shadow of his past self in them. He took a deep breath and smiled in resignation.
"Uncle, could you make some for them, as well?"
The poor children all looked up in unison when Mu Qing suddenly approached the blown-sugar candy stall. With a face full of disbelief, they saw him giving the old man a few copper coins before gesturing for them to come over.
"Tell the Uncle what shape of candy you want to get. Only one per person, alright?" he told them.
In an instant, Mu Qing seemed to have turned from an older brother to a god in their eyes.
With the younger ones already taken care of, Mu Qing turned on his heels to finally head back home. As he passed by Feng Xin, who'd remained standing in the same spot with both arms crossed, he nodded at him in apology.
"Sorry about that. I'll just drop the fruit at home and come back here—"
"Why didn't you get one for yourself?" Feng Xin asked all of a sudden.
"Me? Why would I want some sugar candies? I'm not a kid anymore," Mu Qing waved his hand and walked away.
Plus, he had spent all his extra money to treat those children just now. The rest was for his mother.
Feng Xin only hummed without saying anything else in return. Thus, Mu Qing hurriedly headed home, gave the fruits to his mother, and went out again after making sure that she was well.
By the time he reached the street, however, Feng Xin was nowhere to be found.
“Feng Xin?” frowning, Mu Qing looked to his left and right, “Damn it… Don’t tell me that he didn’t wait for—”
“Didn’t wait for what?”
The voice came from behind him. Mu Qing flipped around at once, about to open his mouth to nag. But his words were stuck in his tongue when a small object appeared all of a sudden before his eyes.
Feng Xin was holding up a blown-sugar candy to him. The shape was that of a little cat.
“Here,” he said, pushing the stick forward until it almost poked Mu Qing’s mouth.
Mu Qing took the sugar candy from his hand, but it wasn’t until a long while later did he finally manage to speak.
“......Why?”
“No reason,” Feng Xin shrugged and started walking, “Come on. Let’s go finish this soon and return to the palace.”
Quietly, Mu Qing followed the other youth behind. He looked at the cat-shaped candy, then at Feng Xin’s back. The boy in front of him was walking with hands behind his head and strangely relaxed steps, unlike his usual upright stature. Mu Qing couldn’t see his face, so he didn’t know what Feng Xin was thinking.
After some time had passed, Mu Qing finally took a little bite at the tip of the cat’s tail.
It was still as sweet as how he remembered it from back then.