Chapter 13: Business Opportunities

Xu Niannian had two bowls of fish soup and then stopped eating.

Yang Cuihua kept urging her to drink more, but Xu Niannian didn't drink anymore; she couldn't—she was too full.

They had made only three dishes, but the quantities were generous.

And yet, they had polished off every last bit.

When Yang Cuihua and Xu Dawei put down their chopsticks, there was still a hint of reluctance.

Xu Dawei casually wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smacked his lips, "Our Niannian is really something, the first time cooking and it's so delicious."

"If Dad likes it, Niannian will cook for you often," Xu Niannian said.

This made Xu Dawei so happy he squinted gleefully, "No need to do it often, my girl, I'd pity you too much for you to stay in the kitchen all the time."

Yang Cuihua quickly agreed, "Exactly, you're our little treasure, you can't be doing these dirty chores."

When Yang Cuihua said this, she completely disregarded the other three brothers, as if they were just picked up from somewhere.

Xu Niannian worried that these words would hurt her three younger brothers' feelings, but to her surprise, they seemed completely unfazed, clearly used to it.

This left Xu Niannian feeling rather awkward.

After dinner, Xu Dawei continued to smoke his pipe, while Yang Cuihua started sorting beans with a dustpan.

Xu Zhiqiang and his two brothers also helped.

Xu Niannian wanted to help as well, but Yang Cuihua wouldn't hear of it, insisting that she go back to her room to rest.

Having no choice, Xu Niannian returned to her room.

Once in her room, Xu Niannian saw the coarse clothing she'd tossed onto the bed.

She remembered that she had been meaning to make clothes for Xu Zhicheng and his two brothers.

The room was lit by a kerosene lamp, and with her good night vision, Xu Niannian could see clearly.

Her fingers held the embroidery needle and swiftly threaded and stitched.

One of Xu Niannian's strengths in her previous life was fashion design.

But before she learned fashion design, her family skill was making clothes, mending and patching was even easier.

In a short while, Xu Niannian had finished one garment; Xu Duoyu's clothes were small and didn't require much work—she only tightened the waistline, which was quick since it was an alteration of her own clothes, not made from scratch.

After finishing Xu Duoyu's clothing, Xu Niannian started sewing Xu Zhicheng's. By the time she was finished with both, it was very late.

Without a watch and no clock in the house, Xu Niannian could not tell the exact time.

She guessed it was definitely past 10 p.m. based only on her biological clock.

Because only after this time would she start to feel sleepy.

At this point, Xu Duoyu and Xu Zhicheng had definitely gone to bed.

Xu Niannian could only wait until tomorrow to give them the clothes.

Xu Niannian didn't know that Xu Zhicheng and Xu Zhiqiang had just finished picking beans with Yang Cuihua and had been in bed for only a few minutes.

Xu Duoyu had already fallen asleep.

In the next room, because the bed was only 1.2 meters wide, the three couldn't sleep on one side; Xu Zhiqiang had no choice but to sleep on one side with Xu Duoyu, while Xu Zhicheng slept on the other.

Unable to sleep, Xu Zhicheng asked, "Brother, are you asleep?"

Xu Zhiqiang didn't answer, so Xu Zhicheng asked again, "Bro, are you asleep yet?"

"Not yet," Xu Zhiqiang replied, reluctantly.

Xu Zhicheng felt a bit conflicted, "Brother, have you noticed that sister seems a bit different?"

"Different how?" In the darkness, Xu Zhiqiang opened his eyes, recalling how Xu Niannian scooped oil in the kitchen earlier with a reckless abandon.

Xu Zhicheng counted on his fingers, "Just different, these past two days sister hasn't hit us, and she's been cooking for us, and it's particularly tasty."

Remembering the egg pancakes and boiled fish Xu Niannian made, Xu Zhicheng licked his lips again, couldn't believe how delicious the mush was—it was so much better than the salty pancakes.

He made a point to emphasize again, "Really tasty."

"Hmm," Xu Zhiqiang responded with a single hum and then fell silent.

Upon hearing Xu Zhiqiang's response, Xu Zhicheng said, "Bro, you also think Sis has changed, right? Today, she even hugged Duoyu, and she usually hates Duoyu the most. It seems like hitting her head and forgetting the past is actually a good thing."

At that moment, Xu Zhicheng thought to himself that if Xu Niannian ever reverted to her previous arrogant ways, he'd push her again until she forgot all about the past.

Xu Zhicheng lay in bed muttering to himself, and while doing so, he actually talked himself to sleep.

And he was kicking off the covers, too.

It was hot, so Xu Zhiqiang didn't bother getting up to cover him.

＊

The next day, Xu Niannian got up early as usual.

But there was someone who got up even earlier than her.

Xu Dawei went to gather firewood without fail because he had nothing else to do.

The firewood in winter wasn't dry enough, so taking advantage of summer and autumn to prepare the dry firewood wasn't a bad idea.

With the fields busy today, Yang Cuihua and Xu Zhiqiang had headed out early, and Xu Zhicheng and Xu Duoyu were with them.

According to Yang Cuihua, not only did they have to work the fields today, but they also had to split the seedlings.

Splitting seedlings meant separating the seedlings that were stuck together, one by one.

Yang Cuihua planned to take the two of them to help out a bit.

Xu Niannian planned to contribute to the family's effort as well, but Yang Cuihua absolutely wouldn't allow it.

Having her daughter cook was already the limit of Yang Cuihua's tolerance; how could she possibly let her do fieldwork?

Helpless in this matter, Xu Niannian found that her grandmother was entirely unyielding, holding fast to her rigid views.

Since she couldn't go to the fields, Xu Niannian was left alone at home. She pondered how to start earning her first pot of gold.

After thinking for a while, an idea suddenly lit up in her mind—it was already May.

On the fifth day of the fifth month was the Dragon Boat Festival, and Niannian remembered there were dragon boat races in the town, right on the long river.

Where there were competitions, there were people, and where there were people, there were business opportunities.

Initially, Xu Niannian planned to make ice pops and sell them in the fields to the farmers working there.

After all, in the heat of summer, everyone wants something cold to relieve the heat.

Unfortunately, it wasn't very feasible.

First, the village was too poor, and the families working in the fields didn't have much money. Even if they did, they were reluctant to spend it on such things.

Second, she had no refrigerator and couldn't make ice pops. This was the most realistic problem.

Thinking this, Xu Niannian turned her attention to the dragon boat races.

The dragon boat races here were always lively, attracting large crowds every year.

People who came to enjoy were certainly willing to occasionally spend a bit of money.

Xu Niannian planned to sell chilled sugar water, not for much, just eight cents a cup.

In the present era, pennies were still widely used, which was a lot more than the monetary units in later generations.

Those textile factory workers only earned around ten yuan a month.

Seeing the situation at home, they definitely couldn't put up much capital, so Xu Niannian had no choice but to start with this kind of low-cost business.

She intended to make sugarcane water—just boil the sugarcane into sugar water, then chill it.

Xu Niannian remembered that yesterday, when she went up the mountain with Xu Zhicheng to dig wild vegetables, she saw a few scattered wild sugarcanes, although she didn't know if they were sweet.

She planned to go have a look.

If they were usable, she would immediately 'recruit' them.

The thought of being able to make money soon filled Xu Niannian with fighting spirit.