Wei Qingshan had already pulled wild chickens and wild rabbits over yesterday, and the people in the village all knew that they had rented a shop in the town, and these days they were going there to do business.

Today, they saw Lin Yu and Zhao Yueniang also following along, it must have been the last trip.

After the three of them walked far away, there were still people looking in their direction. “Back then, everyone said that Wei Qingshan’s family was poor, but look at them now. In just a few short years, they have already rented a shop in the town.”

“You were one of those going behind people’s backs gossiping about them at that time, either.”

“Qingshan was capable, Yu-ger was also skillful, whether it was embroidery or handling pig offal, both of them were able to earn.”

“How could they be so good at living life?”

“Don’t be envious of them, all of it was earned through hard work.”

“Has Wei Laotai passed away yet? I guess she must have regretted herself to death. Such a good son, she did not want him at that time, she chose Wei Er.”

“Enough, don’t mention Wei Er. Now, whenever I think of him, my teeth itch with hatred.”

By the time the three of them arrived at the town, it was already close to noon. Wei Qingshan pulled the mule cart to the back door, and the three of them carried things in and out into the courtyard. On both sides of the alley behind the courtyard they lived in, ordinary people lived, while the front was shops facing the street. The location was extremely good.

While the three of them were moving things, a neighbor poked his head out to look. “Have you just moved in?”

Lin Yu responded and smiled at that husband, “Mm.”

“We’re neighbors here, after all. If something comes up, just call out.”

“Thank you.”

Lin Yu was busy moving things, so he did not say much more. Yesterday, when Wei Qingshan came over, he had already settled the wild rabbits and wild chickens. He had also brought the few hens from home, now kept in the chicken cage. Eggs were so expensive now, Lin Yu was unwilling to sell his hens.

When the things were moved into the courtyard, Wei Qingshan unhitched the mule and placed the cart frame on the empty ground at the entrance.

Going back and forth carrying things left them all sweating heavily. Lin Yu fetched water and came up, “Let’s not tidy up now, it’s already past noon. Let’s go outside to eat first and then tidy up.”

From inside the house, Zhao Yueniang also came out, “Hey, brother, what are we going to eat outside?”

“Let’s go take a look.”

The three of them washed their hands, wiped their faces, and then went out together. On the front street near their shop, there were sellers of noodle soup, sellers of fried pastries and snacks, an oil shop, a wonton shop, and a cloth shop. Altogether, it was quite lively.

When Wei Qingshan had looked for a shop back then, he had deliberately chosen a place where there were no nearby meat stalls, so that nobody would obstruct each other, and business would be easier to do.

“How about eating wontons?” Lin Yu asked.

“Alright.”

The three of them headed toward that little wonton shop. The shopfront was very small, with a wonton stall set up at the entrance. There was space for only two tables, and two more tables were placed outside at the shop’s entrance.

Seeing customers arrive, the woman who was wrapping wontons stood up, smiled at Lin Yu and the others, “You must be the newly moved-in neighbors. What will you three have?”

The woman wore a blue coarse-cloth dress, with an apron tied around her waist, and a cloth scarf on her head. She looked very neat and capable.

Lin Yu smiled back at her, “Three bowls of wontons.”

“Hey, Tieniu, put down three bowls of wontons!” the woman shouted into the shop. The sun outside was just right, so the three of them sat outside. The woman poured them tea, “Have some water and rest a bit. That’s my husband, Tieniu, and they all call me Cuiniang. In the future, if you need any help, just say so.”

Lin Yu thanked her and felt quite a good impression of this business couple. The man looked honest and simple, and the woman was also neat and capable.

After Cuiniang poured them tea, she sat back at the entrance and continued wrapping wontons, “This husband, what kind of business does your family do?”

“My husband sells pork.”

“Ah, that’s great, from now on, when my family buys meat, we won’t have to go far, we can just buy it directly from your shop.”

Their shop had not even opened yet, and already business had come to them. Lin Yu was quite happy, “Then I’ll trouble you to take care of our business often.”

In no time, the man came out carrying three bowls of wontons. On top floated a layer of lard and bright green scallions. They smelled very fragrant, and the wonton skins were thin with big fillings. One could tell that this couple did business sincerely.

Lin Yu tasted them and gave a hum, “Such fresh wontons.”

Seeing that they liked their wontons, Cuiniang smiled, “If you like them, then come eat often.”

The wontons were made very deliciously. Land in Yu liked them very much. Being able to set up a stall and do business, one must have a special skill in hand that cannot be easily passed on.

The three of them ate the wontons and paid with copper coins. This bowl of meat wontons was not cheap, one bowl cost fifteen wen. Before, it had been much cheaper, one bowl was only seven or eight wen.

After a whole year of natural disasters, this year’s first harvest had not yet been brought in. Now the food sold in town was all expensive, only when the grain came in later would it become cheaper.

After the three of them ate, they went back to tidy things up. Everything was still left in the courtyard, not yet put away. Wei Qingshan cleaned outside, while Lin Yu and Zhao Yueniang tidied inside.

Living in this blue-brick, tile-roofed house was certainly more comfortable than the thatched hut at home. It was cool in summer and warm in winter. Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan had discussed it before: now, although they had silver in hand, if they built a tiled house at home, it would cost at least fifty or sixty taels of silver. Since no one was living there now, it would be better to wait until later to consider it.

Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan lived in the main room, which had a bedroom and a main hall. Zhao Yueniang lived in the west-side small wing room, which was also bright inside. Another room was empty and left unused for now.

On the east side of the courtyard was the kitchen shed, and the family’s wild chickens, wild rabbits, and mule were also kept on the east side. There was even a big locust tree in the courtyard, just right for shade in the summer, so it would not be hot.

Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan cleaned up the inside of the house, arranging the beddings and utensils properly. Wei Qingshan also cleaned the courtyard and the shop in front. In a few days, they would be able to open for business.

After finishing tidying up, Lin Yu wiped his sweat and walked to the shop in front. Their shop was quite large. Lin Yu looked around once and was very satisfied, his eyes curved with his smile. Wei Qingshan, seeing his little husband happy, also felt joyful in his heart, “Have you thought about what kind of business to do?”

“You and Yueniang both said my buns taste good. I want to open a bun shop.”

“Mm, then let’s have a carpenter make boards to divide it into two shops. Do you want to put tables inside, too? If you want, let the carpenter make them at the same time.”

“No need, don’t put tables inside. Just divide it as big as that wonton shop. Customers will buy and leave. We won’t make any soups or watery things, as cleaning up would be troublesome. Just put a table in the back. Usually, we can make them in the courtyard, which is more spacious. If the weather is bad, then we’ll make them inside the shop.”

“Alright, then tomorrow I’ll go get a carpenter to come make the boards to divide it, and make two signboards to hang up.”

Lin Yu waved his hands repeatedly, “My bun stall is a small business, how could it need signboards? You forgot that I can do embroidery. I’ll embroider a banner myself, that’s enough.”

Wei Qingshan had not thought of that, “Then the butcher shop also won’t need signboards. I’ll trouble my little husband to embroider one as well.”

“Alright, then, after buying the cloth and finding someone to write it properly, I’ll embroider it. By the time we open for business, it will be ready.”

Both of them felt that embroidered banners were much cheaper than signboards, and they could save quite a lot of silver. Moreover, Wei Qingshan thought that since the banners at home were embroidered by his little husband, he liked them even more.

After the two of them discussed it, they went out to buy cloth. Just on their street, there was a small cloth shop. When they arrived, the shopkeeper was dozing, only waking when Wei Qingshan called out.

The shopkeeper quickly stood up. This man looked a bit old, with drooping eyes, wearing a brown coarse-cloth robe, which looked a bit out of place against the various silks and satins on the counter.

“Customer, feel free to look. What do you need?”

Lin Yu said he wanted cloth for embroidering banners. The shopkeeper carried out a bolt of slightly yellowish coarse white cloth. “This kind of coarse cloth is best for banners. Even with wind and sun, it won’t rot in a year.”

Lin Yu measured about how long he needed and asked the shopkeeper to cut it. Just as the shopkeeper was holding the ruler to measure, from the back courtyard came a rather sharp voice, “Zhou Da, Zhou Da, look at your son, he’s gotten all muddy again! Come over here!”

“Hey, wait a while, I’ll be there in a moment.”

The shopkeeper hurried to measure the cloth for Lin Yu. After a few more calls from the back with no response, someone dragged out a seven- or eight-year-old boy, “Zhou Da, look how filthy your son is!”

As soon as the person came in, he saw customers in the shop. The newcomer was a young husband, wearing a brightly colored satin spring robe. This husband glanced at the two of them, then put on a smile, “Oh, there are customers.”

He squeezed Zhou Da aside and took the ruler, “You have clumsy hands, let me measure. You take him to wash up at the back. He’s filthy, he almost dirtied my clothes.”

This husband measured the cloth and cut it for Lin Yu, “I haven’t seen this husband and wife before.”

Lin Yu only smiled and did not respond. Asked the price, paid the silver, took the cloth, and left with Wei Qingshan.

After the two of them left, Fang Shuizi was still craning his head to look, seeing the two enter the shop across the street. He had heard that the shop had been rented, so it should have been rented by this pair of husbands. Tsk, look how upright that man looked. Then look at his own man. Fang Shuizi bit his teeth.

“Shuizi, Shuizi, where did Xiao Wu’s shoes go?” Hearing Zhou Da calling him, Fang Shuizi replied impatiently, “What are you shouting for! Can’t you look for them yourself!”

Lin Yu inexplicably felt a bit of dislike for this cloth shop, without knowing why.

After returning, Lin Yu put away the coarse cloth they had bought. It was not early anymore, and it was time to cook. Since it was the first day moving to town, the first meal could not just be made carelessly, so he had Wei Qingshan bring out a rabbit to prepare.

That evening, he made dry-braised rabbit, braised bamboo shoots, and also stir-fried a plate of eggs. They had brought a basket of vegetables, so for the next few days, they would not need to buy food. In this town, everything required money, unlike in the countryside, where they could pick some wild vegetables.

At the dinner table, when Zhao Yueniang heard Lin Yu say he was going to sell buns, Zhao Yueniang was very happy, “Brother, I’ll help you wrap buns together!”

“Alright, since things have settled down, tomorrow we’ll go call Xiao Liu over.”

“Brother, are you still doing pig offal business this year?”

Lin Yu thought for a moment. In the past two years, when they lacked silver, they had to wash four or five buckets of pig offal every day. That stuff was hard to clean and also smelled. He actually did not really like it.

He shook his head, “Not anymore. Since we’ll be selling buns, it will already be too busy. Let’s call Xiao Liu over to lend a hand.”

Zhao Yueniang nodded.

Right now, their shop had not opened yet, and Lin Yu did not know how things would turn out. But thinking about Madam Wu raising three children by herself and how hard that must have been, he felt that with two shops at home, there would always be work to do. It had been a year since he last saw Shi Xiaoliu, and he did not know how he was now.

After the meal, Lin Yu cut the coarse cloth into two equal pieces, lit the oil lamp, and began sewing the edges. To make the two banners look nicer, Lin Yu took some red cloth from home and sewed borders onto both banners.

Wei Qingshan poured him a bowl of tea, “Do it tomorrow. Rest early. We’ve been busy all day today.”

“It’s fine, I’m just stitching the edges. It won’t take long. Tomorrow you can go find someone to write the words.”

Wei Qingshan did not say anything else, just sat at the side to keep his little husband company. Lin Yu’s stitches were dense. Stitching the borders on both banners took some time. Lin Yu bit off the thread, shook open the banners, and showed them to Wei Qingshan, “How is it, not bad, right?”

“Very good-looking. My little husband’s craftsmanship is the best.”

Lin Yu was a little embarrassed at the praise. “Once you take them to get the words written tomorrow, I’ll add some tassels with colored thread at the bottom, it will look even better.”

Wei Qingshan stood up and massaged his little husband’s shoulders, “My little husband has worked hard.”

Lin Yu blushed a little. When Wei Qingshan called him ‘little husband,’ he felt his face heat up. He carefully folded the two banners and then went to rest.

Lying in bed, he fell asleep not long after. Although it was a new place, today they had traveled and tidied the house, which was tiring. Wei Qingshan pulled him into his arms, wondering. What kind of virtue had he accumulated in his past life to be able to meet such a good husband in this life?

The two of them slept well through the night. The next morning, they did not get up too early. After getting up, the three of them each busied themselves: Zhao Yueniang made the fire, Lin Yu made pancakes, and Wei Qingshan tended the livestock in the courtyard.

After breakfast, Wei Qingshan took the two banners to find someone to write words on them. Lin Yu packed a few golden pancakes into a basket and went with Zhao Yueniang to find Shi Xiaoliu.

Lin Yu had only been to Shi Xiaoliu’s house once before and did not remember exactly where it was, only the general location. He asked around before finding the place.

At the door, Lin Yu already heard children’s voices. He knocked on the door, “Is Madam Wu at home?”

“Coming!” Shi Xiaoliu shook the water off his hands and went to open the door. He thought it was someone nearby delivering clothes, so he hurried over.

When Shi Xiaoliu opened the door, he froze in surprise. His nose stung, and he almost shed tears, “Lin Ama!”

Lin Yu rubbed his head. After a year of not seeing him, Shi Xiaoliu had grown taller, but he was still just as thin.

Shi Xiaoliu had not expected Lin Yu to still remember him. Last year, Uncle Wei had come to town for the last time and said that after the disaster was over, they would come find him for work. He had waited and waited. When spring came, the refugees in town returned home, and the town settled down again.

He thought Uncle Wei and Lin Ama should soon come to town to sell pork again, and then he could also earn some copper coins to buy grain for his family.

At home, although they had stored some grain, it had all been eaten by the New Year. Since then, they had had almost nothing to eat, and he could only take his younger siblings outside the town to dig for wild vegetables. Every meal was just boiled wild vegetables.

Every day, he hoped their stall would be set up soon, but he was also afraid that Wei Qingshan and Lin Yu would forget him. From time to time, he went to the market to look, but each time he did not see them. Shi Xiaoliu gradually grew disheartened.