Chapter 187: Chapter 187: Sold Out
An Guoqing’s words, though a bit coarse, weren’t wrong.
It wasn’t just him; An Ning hadn’t gone to the bathroom all morning either.
An Sancheng and the others who had gone to sell things all agreed. There were just so many people.
"Second Brother, will this stock last for two more market days?"
"Just about. I reckon we won’t have enough to sell even on the market day of the twenty-seventh."
The family ate their noodles and chatted for a bit. After they finished, they all went back to their rooms to sleep.
For the next two days, the An family rested at home.
They just didn’t expect that quite a few people from the village would still come to their house to buy New Year’s couplets.
But even for the villagers, the price was the same. At most, they’d get a few extra pieces of candy when they bought some.
Over these two days, Lin Cuihua kept busy at home, washing, starching, and stretching the quilts.
It was An Ning’s first time seeing quilts being prepared this way.
After Lin Cuihua washed them clean, she would soak them in rice water, then place them in a warm spot, occasionally spritzing them with water from her mouth.
When they felt about right, she folded them one by one into squares, stacked them up, covered them with a clean cloth, and had someone take off their shoes to go up and stomp on them.
An Ning was entrusted with this important task and got on top to stomp on the quilts.
As she stomped, she humbly asked questions.
"Mom, why do we use rice water?"
"Why do you spritz them with water, and why do we have to stomp on them?"
Lin Cuihua was making new clothes off to the side. She scratched her head a couple of times with her needle, a habit An Ning still wasn’t quite used to seeing.
"Quilts starched with rice water are sturdy and durable. The color doesn’t fade easily, and they can last for several years."
"Ohhh—"
An Ning had no idea how long she’d been stomping. Finally, at Lin Cuihua’s command, she got down.
An Ning sat on the kang bed-stove, rubbing the soles of her feet.
"Get up. Come stretch quilts with me."
An Ning didn’t even know what "stretching quilts" was, but she obediently stood up, waiting for Lin Cuihua to give orders.
Lin Cuihua took a quilt cover, folded it until it was thirty centimeters wide, stretched it out, and rolled up the ends by a few centimeters to form temporary little handles.
"Here, you take that end."
An Ning went forward and grabbed one end, while Lin Cuihua was at the other.
"Hold tight. We need to stretch it, or it’ll shrink."
An Ning understood.
With a loud "SNAP—," the quilt cover was pulled taut between them, making a crisp, explosive sound.
Lin Cuihua staggered, pulled several steps forward by An Ning.
"I was holding back."
An Ning raised one hand guiltily. She had already been trying her best to control her strength.
"Is the quilt cover okay?"
Lin Cuihua didn’t even have time to worry about herself; she first checked the quilt cover.
"So that’s what I forgot."
Lin Cuihua put the quilt cover away and sent An Ning off. An Guoping was called over instead.
As for An Guoming, Lin Cuihua had even less desire to use him. He wasn’t even as strong as she was.
This was An Guoping’s first time stretching quilts. Every year, his sister-in-law and Lin Cuihua did it together, so he had never participated.
After a full session of pulling and stretching, the skin on the outside of his middle knuckles was completely rubbed off.
Towards the end, he was grimacing in pain, asking Lin Cuihua through gritted teeth, "Mom, are there any more?"
"What’s the rush? Aren’t these all new quilts being made for you kids?"
With bedding for a family of seven, An Guoping spent the whole afternoon stretching. When he came out of the room, his arms were so stiff he couldn’t bend them.
"Sis—"
An Guoping’s wavering cry of "Sis" sent a shiver down An Ning’s spine.
"What, are you crippled now?"
"You really are my dear sister."
An Guoping stood at the door, pitifully holding up his two hands. "Look, just look at my hands. Aren’t they a tragic sight?"
An Ning got off the kang bed-stove and walked closer to look.
"Your skin’s broken?"
"Yeah. Not just broken, it’s been rubbed raw. It hurts like hell."
An Ning asked, not understanding, "Then how come Mom is fine?"
"Exactly. Good for nothing when it comes to a little work."
Just as Lin Cuihua came out of the west room, she happened to hear the brother and sister complaining about her.
An Guoping reacted quickly. His hands suddenly worked fine again as he swiftly put them behind his back and said, "Mom’s still the best."
Lin Cuihua was amused by An Guoping. She carried the soaked soybeans out.
"An Ning, it’s your turn now."
An Ning poked her head out, her hands gripping the doorframe. "For what, Mom?"
"To grind the beans and make tofu."
"You’re strong, so you’re perfect for it."
"Coming!"
An Ning went out and began pushing the small millstone to grind the soy milk.
Lin Cuihua boiled the soy milk, setting some aside for everyone to drink and using the rest to make tofu.
An Ning watched from the side, savoring a cup of soy milk with a little white sugar added.
"Don’t just drink it yourself. Take some over to the neighbors."
"I’m on it."
An Ning carried a basin, covered with a cloth, over to Jiang Xia’s house while it was still hot.
She didn’t come back empty-handed. She returned carrying a large piece of cured meat, for which she got a lecture from Lin Cuihua.
"Who trades soy milk for such a huge piece of meat?"
"I didn’t want to take it, but I couldn’t win the argument with Grandpa Jiang."
Lin Cuihua accepted it for now, planning to use it for cooking during the New Year.
After two busy days, on the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month, it was another big market day. An Ning, the group of five, plus their reinforcement, Jiang Xia, once again drove to the market.
This time, people started coming to buy things before they had even finished setting up the stall.
The rush was so intense it was like they were just picking money up off the ground.
After the day was over, the truck was dead silent on the way back.
No one wanted to talk. Everyone felt as if they had used up their lifetime’s quota of words and solved their lifetime’s share of math problems.
When they got home, Lin Cuihua already had dinner ready.
Hot lamb soup, paired with large meat-filled buns and several stir-fried dishes. After eating, the group finally felt alive again.
They had been standing for the better part of the day and were chilled to the bone.
After the meal, Jiang Xia and Grandpa Jiang went home. The An family didn’t count their money; they went to sleep first, deciding to deal with it the next day.
The next day, everyone in the An family woke up especially late. By the time they finished breakfast, it was already past nine o’clock.
After everyone was ready, they once again began the activity of counting money.
This time, the total income was 3,480.63 yuan.
But An Guoming said that they wouldn’t make as much at the next market day because they were running low on stock.
No one was greedy, though. An income like this would make countless people die of jealousy.
On the twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month, the An family went to the market to sell couplets for the last time. After this, they would rest at home and wait for the New Year.
Jiang Xia came over again, as proactive and eager as ever. According to him, if he didn’t work, he’d be too embarrassed to come over for a meal during the New Year.
The six of them set up the stall, hawked their wares, and sold their goods just like before.
They packed up the stall before noon. Many people still hadn’t been able to buy anything, but there was nothing to be done if they came too late.
An Sancheng and An Guoming packed up the stall while An Ning and An Guoping went to browse the market and buy a few things to take back.
Jiang Xia tagged along. The three of them wandered around, not buying much in the way of proper goods, but buying plenty of snacks.
Dark frozen pears, a big-head carp weighing dozens of pounds, old-fashioned pastries, eight-petal crisps, and bright red tanghulu.
An Ning held a stick of tanghulu, taking a crunchy bite. She absolutely loved the sweet and sour taste.
"Done shopping. Let’s go home!"
