After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

I bought two catties of pork belly, which cost sixteen coins.

She went to the shop and bought some sugar. In those days, sugar and salt were both expensive, and even a small amount cost her a full fifteen coins.

Well, what's Dongpo pork if it doesn't have sugar? We just didn't have rock sugar, so we had to make do with white sugar.

After a whole morning of running around, the girls hadn't had lunch yet. Lin Qianqian saw a roadside stall selling wontons for six coins a bowl, so she ordered three bowls.

Ding Xiaohu tugged at Lin Qianqian's clothes. "Sis, I'm not hungry, it's too expensive."

"Three bowls, please," Lin Qianqian said, ignoring him.

After paying, the vendor served three bowls of steaming hot wontons.

The three of them slurped their food down until they were sweating profusely, leaving not a drop of soup.

Lin Qianqian put down her bowl and took out the money she had earned that day—she had sold a total of twenty catties of starch, and Manager Su had given her five taels of silver, and one tael and five mace of silver to Ding Xiaohu: "Tiger, kick it properly."

"Sister, that's too much! You did most of the work this time, and Ah Long and I just helped out. How can you take so much? How about this, I'll just take five coins."

"No, it has to be at least one or two ounces." Lin Qianqian forced it on him regardless of whether he agreed or not.

Ding Xiaohu held the copper coin, his lips moved, and finally he muttered, "Thank you, Sister Qianqian."

Lin Qianqian waved her hand, then remembered that the rice jar at home was almost empty, so she went to the grain store and bought two catties of fine rice, which cost sixteen coins—brown rice was cheaper, five coins a catty.

As she left the grain shop, she looked at her and Ah Long's clothes, which were so tattered they could barely cover their flesh.

Buying ready-made clothes is too expensive; I can't bear to spend the money.

She thought for a moment, then started walking towards the fabric shop.

"Buying fabric?" The shop owner, seeing several children enter, wasn't rude at all; in fact, she was quite welcoming. "Where are your parents?"

Fearing being watched, Lin Qianqian made up a story: "My parents went over there to buy things, and they told me to buy three feet of cloth to make clothes. I want the blue one."

"You're quite shrewd, aren't you?" the proprietress smiled. "Alright, I'll give you a discount: sixty coins per foot, one hundred and eighty coins for three feet."

"Thank you, Auntie." Lin Qianqian took out her money, then noticed a pile of scraps of fabric by the counter and casually asked, "Auntie, how much are these scraps?"

"Sigh, these are just scraps, not much to make," the proprietress waved her hand. "Take them if you want, just give me ten coins as a token."

"Thank you so much, Auntie!" Lin Qianqian's eyes lit up. "You're such a kind person, Auntie. Your business will surely prosper."

"Your little mouth is as sweet as honey." The landlady was pleased by her flattery and stuffed another handful of cloth into her hands.

Leaving the cloth shop, Lin Yulong, carrying a bundle of cloth and scraps, walked with a swagger: "Sister, we bought meat, candy, and even some cloth today. Does this mean we're going to have a good life?"

Lin Qianqian didn't answer, but just looked up at the sky.

The sun was shining brightly, neither too hot nor too cold.

She smiled and said, "Let's go home."

Lin Qianqian doesn't plan to walk back today.

Now that she had an explanation, she wasn't afraid of being questioned. She led the two of them to the big willow tree at the entrance of town—Tiger had said that the village always gathered here when they came in oxcarts.

A few women had already gathered in twos and threes under the big willow tree, chatting away. The driver was Old Zhao from the village. His wife had passed away years ago, leaving him to raise two children alone, and life was very difficult for him.

"Uncle Zhao!" Lin Qianqian called out sweetly.

Old Zhao grinned, revealing a few yellow teeth: "Qianqian, huh? Went to town to sell things?"

"Yes, I sold some things." Lin Qianqian took out six coins and handed them over, "This is for the three of you to pay for your ride."