"Brother, I’ve still got some saved up. Let’s go out and sell more tomorrow."
Qin Xiangnuan was quite satisfied with the amount of money they had made. For the sake of the money, for the sake of saving up, she had pushed herself hard. She rubbed her pitiful, chubby hands—yes, they were frozen. The temperature inside the system space was just right, about twenty-five or twenty-six degrees. She wondered if staying there longer might help alleviate her frostbitten hands.
From time to time, she rubbed her hands on her clothes because they were very itchy, but she didn’t dare to scratch everywhere.
Only after the itch subsided did she stretch out one hand to set up the red paper and start writing again.
Within this space provided by the system, she never stopped working. When tired, she’d rest her head on the table for a bit, then upon waking, she’d continue writing. If she got bored, she would leave the system to add some wood to the stove and cook something to eat.
In this fashion, busily coming and going, she ended up writing nearly two thousand Spring Festival couplets.
She shook her hands; they felt like they were about to break off.
But then she remembered something. She had only written small ones, and she needed to write a few large ones as well. She found a large piece of red paper, about two meters long. These large Spring Festival couplets could sell for one yuan each, and many people wanted them,
She picked up her brush, thought for a moment, and wrote the top line: "Reform yields abundant results, a new ambiance everywhere in the divine land." The bottom line: "Opening up reveals splendid achievements, prosperity and strength in every homeland," with the phrase "Radiance in Every Household" across the middle.
This one was a gift for the Village Chief’s family. The Village Chief had a great reputation in the village, one of the few literate individuals, and this couplet was long and big, fitting the festive mood perfectly. The Village Chief’s family had just built a new house, and pasting this up would bring even more joy. She wrote a few more: for Aunt Hua’s family, and for other villagers who had helped them in the past.
When she came out from the system space, she was so exhausted she could barely lift her arms.
Although it was supposed to be just one day’s time, she had been busy inside for almost ten days.
With over two thousand Spring Festival couplets, not counting those that sold for one yuan, they could at least earn about 1000 yuan.
Early in the morning, Qin Xiangyang took Qin Xiangnuan out to sell the Spring Festival couplets. When they returned, they also needed to buy some goods for the New Year.
Just like yesterday, today’s business was even better. Today was the 29th, the day before New Year’s Eve; not many people would come out tomorrow, so most people were getting all their shopping done today.
Snacks like roasted sunflower seeds and peanuts couldn’t be missed, and they also needed to buy some candy. During New Year’s visits, it was tradition to fill children’s pockets with handfuls of peanut candies, so rural folks would sew large pockets into the children’s clothing.
In recent years, the Qin Xiang siblings hardly had any relatives to visit for New Year’s, so they primarily celebrated at Aunt Hua’s place, as well as the Village Chief’s. Their New Year’s Eve dinners for the past few years had always been at Aunt Hua’s home. Aunt Hua’s life had been getting better over the years; this year she even bought a big TV, and many kids clamored to watch TV at her house. Qin Xiangyang loved watching TV, while Qin Xiangnuan was more indifferent. The TV dramas nowadays lacked distinctiveness, the same old repeats, with the ’83 version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes being the most watched. Even Journey to the West wasn’t out yet—it would be several years before that. Somewhat dull and uninspired. Plus, Qin Xiangnuan might have been too focused on writing Spring Festival couplets for the money, which gave her the motivation to achieve what seemed like an impossible task. As a result, the system unlocked the embroidery skill she wanted to learn ahead of time—just some basic needlework, which she had already started practicing. That left her with even less time to watch TV.
And now she finally understood why the system had made her start from calligraphy, then move on to fine-line painting, followed by line drawing, and finally to traditional Chinese painting.