Chapter 14: "Luo Shenyao" and "Fragrance Comes" (Part 2)

"What are you two up to? Speaking of which, Qianqian, I saw many pretty colors when I was buying nail polish, like silver, yellow, and those glittery kinds. Why would you choose such tacky colors, bright red and green, they look terrible." Luo Shufan put down the plastic bag in his hands and casually wiped his sweat with the handkerchief left at the door by Luo Qianqian as he spoke.

Luo Qianqian looked at her brother's disgusted gaze, pursed her lips, and understood his distaste because she would never choose such colors for nail polish either. "Brother, it's not for personal use. We're trying to make money here, why worry so much? Just bring the nail polish here. I still have a few wind chimes left to paint; the bracelets and necklaces are all done. By the way, have you completed that market research you were supposed to do at the grocery and department stores? Also, remember to wash my little bunny handkerchief. Don't think I didn't see it."

In her previous life, her brother had given up too much because of financial constraints. How could she allow history to repeat itself in this life? Thinking about how her brother had grey hair at just over twenty years old before she was reborn, Luo Qianqian couldn't help but feel heartache. If it was fate's design, she'd rather face all the consequences herself in this life, and all she wanted was to protect her mother and brother's happiness and peace.

In this life, she did not want her brother to continue living so quietly and sullenly.

"I never said I wouldn't wash it. Go ahead and paint, I'll read you the results," Luo Shufan said as he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, "Raw pig trotters are four yuan per pound and cooked ones sell for seven at the market and eight at the department stores; vacuum-packed ones cost four yuan each. Chicken feet are probably one and a half yuan per pound. I bought them today at one yuan for five pounds. Cooked chicken feet weren't available in the market, but boneless ones are sold pre-cooked in the department stores for four yuan per pound, with vacuum-packaged ones costing seventy cents each. Didn't see any wind chimes for sale; plastic bracelets are one and a half yuan each, ones with glass beads are two yuan, and braided ones are one yuan for three, only saw plastic necklaces, two yuan each. Wooden pen holders are five yuan, plastic ones three yuan, and those with a music box are eight yuan. Didn't see any decorative items like your bunny models or keychains." Luo Shufan read from beginning to end in one breath, his face turning red from holding his breath.

Luo Qianqian tilted her head and listened attentively to her brother's market research, "I see, that's a bit troublesome. The prices at the train station are originally high, a bit more expensive but not unsellable. Those pig trotters half for five yuan, chicken feet four for five yuan, wind chimes priced at eight yuan, bracelets one for three yuan, two for five yuan, necklaces one for three and a half yuan, two for six yuan, keychains so small one yuan each, two for one and a half yuan, pen holders five yuan, and those little bunnies six yuan. If they don't sell, I'll just keep them myself, I'm too reluctant to sell them anyway."

"Can you really sell them at such high prices? Today I spent thirteen yuan on pig trotters and chicken feet, five on nail polish, one on plastic bags, and one on the cardboard you requested, adding to all those previous purchases of scissors, awls, glue, kite string, glass beads, plastic cups and bamboo cups as pen holder bases, your little bunny models, this has already cost us over fifty yuan. If we don't make the money back, I'm not making tomato and eggs for you ever again," Luo Shufan said with a worried look at his confidently smiling sister. Who gave her such confidence? He's so nervous, and she's setting such high prices that if they don't sell, he'd have to make his sister finish his summer homework.

Luo Qianqian saw her brother like this and thought, he might already be worried about how to handle potential losses.

Luo Qianqian got up and pulled out her brother's virtually unused set of watercolor pens and the calligraphy tools bought just this year. She stared squarely at Luo Shufan for a while. After his hair stood on end from the sweat, and seeing his sister making him write, he reluctantly turned to run away.

"It's amazing how many ideas little sisters can have. Before she hit her head, she would just stay quietly at home, but now she can't sit still for a day, and feels uncomfortable not doing something. My handwriting isn't even as good as hers, and she still wants to boss me around to write, that's out of the question. I definitely can't agree."

So he tilted his head, "I've taught you so many characters already, go write them yourself."

Luo Qianqian, seeing her brother like this, knew he must have misunderstood her idea, but she didn't expose him in front of He Wenyu. Instead, she bounced over to her brother and cooed softly, "What are you thinking, brother? Naturally, you speak and I do the work. Brother, we need to come up with a name for our products, what should we call them?"

Luo Shufan's face reddened, realizing he had thought wrong. His sister looked so cute in that moment, just like the clumsy little dog downstairs with its bright, twinkling eyes and chubby cheeks puffing in and out. He couldn't help but pinch Luo Qianqian's chubby cheeks. "You go ahead and finish painting the wind chimes, and I'll think about it."

Luo Qianqian endured the pain and smiled lightly, giving a mental "V" sign.

She puffed her cheeks and pulled her brother's hand down, "Big brother is the best, I knew you wouldn't let your sister figure it out alone. But you can't pinch my face anymore, it's already round. What if it never slims down?"

Luo Shufan nodded with satisfaction, "As long as you know I'm good, go color now." Then, somewhat embarrassed, he touched his nose, "Your face was round to begin with, not because I pinched it. Why slim it down? Even a little kid knows about dieting now."

"I'm on it." Luo Qianqian quickly agreed, turned around to leave and heard her brother's comments about her face being round by nature. She made a mental note to pay him back slowly in the future, hmph.

Luo Shufan didn't realize that those words would be remembered by his sister for years. His sister, who initially did his homework, eventually made him do hers.

"Qianqian, look, I've finished making it, not bad, huh?" He Wenyu suddenly stood up, holding up the bright red Chinese knot she'd been working on.

"Wow, that's really pretty; then I'll take apart the ropes on the wind chimes and tie up the Chinese knot instead. It'll definitely look better than just the colored rope." Luo Qianqian, very satisfied, nodded her head admiringly at He Wenyu, "Xiao Yu, you're really amazing. I could never make it this neat. Sigh, I'll just stick to painting my nails. By the way, Xiao Yu, what do you want to name the pork trotters and chicken feet? We need a banner for our sales."

"Xiao Yu Pig Trotters? Qianqian Chicken Feet? Qianqian and Xiao Yu Pig-Chicken? Oh, I can't think of names, you guys figure it out, I'll continue making the Chinese knots." He Wenyu quickly bowed her head and dove back into her task, knowing Qianqian would handle it.

"Xiao Yu Pig Trotters, Qianqian Chicken Feet, ha ha, Xiao Yu, you're truly talented. I feel these are great, pick one?" Luo Shufan, clutching his stomach, laughed so hard he fell over, almost crying.

Seeing He Wenyu go into a serious mode, undisturbed by even an earthquake, and then looking at Luo Shufan laughing on the floor trying to think of names, she sighed in resignation and started to rack her brain.

Pig trotters and chicken feet are food, and stepmom made them wonderfully flavorful. There's also the saying, 'the aroma of wine needs no alley.' The scent decides whether people will buy. So, "Brother, how about 'Fragrance Comes'? The scent of pig trotters and chicken feet would definitely attract customers."

Luo Shufan looked at his sister in amazement, impressed that a child as young as five could come up with such a nice name: "Not bad at all, the name sounds good, tastes good, and it's very fragrant indeed, let's call it 'Fragrance Comes'." Then he pondered hard, as he couldn't let his sister take all the credit for naming. What kind of big brother would he be then?

Luo Qianqian watched her brother deep in thought with a serious expression, smiling covertly, and busied herself with her work. She didn't want to outshine him; after all, how would she cope if he got upset and stopped helping her?