The morning mist had not yet dissipated over Green Ox Lodge when the camel bells of the Persian caravan began to ring at the end of the alley. Xiaotao stood on tiptoe to lift the Abacus-Bead Lantern, and the flour-dough Huwa on her double hair buns held up a small flag while the abacus beads in her apron pocket bounced into the character for "trade": "Brother Fan! Uncle Ali says he wants thirty portions of food you can 'eat while riding a camel'!"
Zhang Yifan shook her abacus beads and looked out the window, where the shadows of the camel caravan were stretched long by the morning light. The abacus beads bounced into the character for "work" on the window lattice: "Today we teach the character for 'naan'—a dry ration of the northern tribes, which keeps for a long time." Xiaotao immediately drew "naan" on the cutting board, and the abacus beads rolled across the strokes, unexpectedly forming the shape of an oven in the flour. Uncle Ali stroked his big beard and laughed: "Yifan! It needs to be edible while riding a camel, and it has to keep the sand out!"
"Simple," Zhang Yifan's abacus beads bounced into the character for "cylinder" on the cutting board, "we make 'abacus-bead noodle cylinders'—" She used a bamboo mold to press the dough into a cylindrical shape, stuffed it with dried beef and pickles, and the abacus beads licked their tongue across the sealed edge. "Wrap it tightly in lotus leaves again so the sand can't get in, and it can be held in one hand." Xiaotao's eyes…
Chapter 151