Chapter 49: Buying Fabric
“Oh, right, where did your older brother go?”
“Jianlin, Jianlin, hurry and take your younger sister to school.”
The old lady pulled Wang Yi, who was beside her, over.
“Watch your younger sister carefully, don’t let bad people snatch her away.”
Wang Yi: … I’m his younger sister again?
Yun Jiao: My seniority has been lowered.
Wang Jianlin and his family finally managed to coax the old lady away, and Yun Jiao and the others bid farewell and left the Wang family’s home.
Since they were already here, they naturally had to buy some things to take back.
Yun Jiao pestered Yun Linhai and got three yuan, then ran to where the street vendors were.
Now that the individual economy has developed, some small private vendors have gradually emerged.
Yun Jiao went to the entrance of the county’s first middle school, where many people set up stalls selling various goods.
She first bought some snacks, spicy strips that cost a few cents each. These spicy strips were quite large, and she bought five jiao worth.
“How much are these popsicles?”
A man with a box hanging on his chest was selling popsicles, and Yun Jiao was immediately attracted.
It would be so refreshing to eat a popsicle in this weather.
“Brown sugar and white sugar popsicles are three fen each, and mung bean ones are five fen. Do you want some?”
“Yes, I want…”
Yun Jiao calculated how many people there were, then held up one hand with five fingers spread out: “I want five mung bean ones!”
She silently told herself: “Mom, Uncle, older brothers, I’m sorry, there are no popsicles for you.”
Once popsicles are taken out, they melt if not eaten for a long time, so it’s impossible to take them back to the village.
Next time, if the older brothers have a chance to come together, she’ll buy them then.
After buying five popsicles, she spent another two jiao and five fen.
Yun Jiao quickly took the popsicles to distribute to everyone.
“Eat quickly, eat quickly, they’ll melt and won’t be delicious anymore.”
“How much money is left?”
Yun Jiao licked the cold brown sugar popsicle, satisfied like a particularly pampered little kitten.
“There’s still two jiao and five fen left.”
She bought another yuan worth of egg cake, which everyone could eat when they got back.
She didn’t have enough money today to buy toys for her older brothers.
With the last yuan remaining, her gaze fell on a pile of brightly colored ropes at one of the stalls.
Those ropes were exactly the kind of ropes her fourth older brother used to make bracelets for her.
“How much are these ropes?”
“These ropes are one fen each, you can choose any color.”
Yun Jiao used one jiao to buy several pretty ropes of different colors, with red being the most numerous.
She had actually also spotted a pen. Her third older brother liked to read and write, so a pen would definitely suit him.
But she didn’t have enough money.
The remaining money was used to buy biscuits to share with everyone back home.
After Yun Jiao finished buying her things, Yun Linhai and the others took her to the supply and marketing cooperative.
The supply and marketing cooperatives are not as popular as they used to be, but there are still quite a few items inside.
“Jiaojiao, which color fabric do you like?”
Yun Jiao tilted her head and looked at them.
“Are we going to make pretty clothes for Jiaojiao?”
Yun Linhai nodded: “That’s right, Jiaojiao is growing. Your mom specifically instructed me to buy fabric in the county to make clothes for you.”
“What about the older brothers’ clothes?”
Yun Linhai: “Your older brothers’ clothes are still wearable. Besides, they often run around outside, and their clothes easily get muddy or torn. It would be a waste to give them new clothes.”
But in reality, no matter who got new clothes, they would cherish them and be reluctant to get them dirty.
The reason for saying this was simply because there were too many children at home, and they couldn’t afford to consume so much fabric.
Yun Jiao chose blue fabric.
Yun Linhai: “Why don’t you want the floral print? That blue one with the floral print is nice and suits you.”
Yun Jiao: “Okay.”
She wanted to earn more money, to earn money together with her older brothers, so that everyone would have new clothes to wear!
Of course, she wouldn’t refuse new clothes if she had them now.
The little girl was also someone who cared about her appearance.
After buying the fabric, they also bought some things the family was short of, such as salt, soy sauce, and other seasonings.
Actually, they were also running low on rice and flour, but it wasn’t cost-effective to buy them outside.
After the autumn harvest, they could buy some from their in-laws.
By the time they returned to Bailong Village, the sun had completely set.
Yun Xiaowu and the others were waiting for them at the village entrance, playing marbles.
Seeing them, they immediately put away their marbles and ran over as fast as if their legs had motors.
“Grandpa, Dad, Jiaojiao…”
“Woof woof woof…”
The dog barks in the village, along with the cries of chickens, ducks, and geese, all sorts of sounds intermingling and creating a lively atmosphere because of his loud voice.
No matter who returns from the county town, the first attention of the children at home is always focused on the adults’ hands.
To see if they brought back any delicious food or fun toys from the county town.
“Dad, Dad, what did you buy? Let me see.”
“Eldest Brother, what are you carrying? I smell spicy strips, it smells so good! Did you buy spicy strips? Hurry and show me!”
“Egg cake, egg cake again!”
“There are really spicy strips! Hahaha…”
Seeing delicious food, a group of children immediately jumped for joy on the spot.
Yun Jiao: “I bought them, I bought them.”
Yun Xiaowu hugged Yun Jiao’s little face and kissed her on the forehead several times.
“Older brother knew Jiaojiao would know best what we like.”
Yun Jiao: Proud.jpg
The adults discussed important matters, while the children gathered together to share the food.
One spicy strip was passed around, with each person taking a bite, and a fight would break out if someone took too much.
Yun Jiao, with her little mouth red from eating, ran to find her fourth older brother.
Yun Chenbei wiped the oil and chili from her mouth.
“Fourth Older Brother, this is for you.”
She took out the ropes she had bought.
Yun Chenbei’s eyes lit up when he saw the beautiful ropes.
Yun Jiao pulled him down and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“Older Brother, I saw many people selling things. Those toys and bracelets aren’t as pretty as what Older Brother makes.”
Yun Chenbei looked at her, not understanding what she meant for a moment.
Yun Jiao: “Older Brother is so silly. The pretty wind chimes, small animals, and bracelets that Fourth Older Brother makes can all be sold for money.”
Yun Chenbei shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this: “I can’t do it.”
He could make things, but he couldn’t sell them.
Yun Chenbei was usually quiet and introverted at home and didn’t like to interact with people, so asking him to sell things would be too difficult.
Moreover, he wasn’t very confident in himself.
The things he made were from ‘trash’ that no one wanted, like stones, shells, and wood. Who would want those?
“What are you talking about?”
Yun Xiaowu suddenly came over: “What are you talking about? I want to hear too.”
Yun Jiao recounted what she had just said.
Yun Xiaowu rubbed his hands, showing interest.
“You can try it, Brother Si. If you don’t have time, I do! I’ll sell them for you!”
“What time do you have? You have to go to school too.”
Shen Yunlian came over and heard Yun Xiaowu’s last words, immediately twisting his ear.
“All of you go to school.”
Yun Xiaowu: “Fine, go to school. Is it harder than gathering tides?”
At this moment, he didn’t know that when he actually started attending school, he would regret it so much that he would wish he could slap himself a few times right now.
You asked for it!
