Wu Shufang looked at Zhou Shisong and his wife, relieved. "Shisong, today at your Second Aunt’s, she helped us figure out a way to make money. We’ll be crashing with you for a little while, and once your aunt and cousin help us find our own place, we’ll move out."

Zhou Shisong said sincerely, "Mom, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, please don’t worry about staying here. I used to just drift along because I felt like life was going nowhere. You’ve all helped us get to where we are today. And Mom, that money you fronted me? I’ve saved it up. I’ll pay you back right now."

Wu Shufang looked at him. "Have you paid back the money you borrowed from your Second Aunt to buy the land?"

"Auntie told me to pay you back first." As he spoke, Zhou Shisong took out the money and counted it out for Wu Shufang. "Mom, take this. Get the stall set up first. Once the stall is up, as long as there’s business, money will start coming in."

"Mhm!" Wu Shufang took the money. "Tomorrow I’ll find Little Lan to help me buy some flour. I also need to buy a small iron pot, build a clay stove, and get some mung beans to sprout... There’s still so much to prepare!"

Li Xiaofeng offered some words of comfort, "The first step is always the hardest. Once you get the stall set up, everything will be fine."

Wu Shufang nodded. "You two have the stall tomorrow, so go get some sleep."

Zhou Shisong led them to the east wing. It was originally used by the old matriarch to store firewood and junk, but Zhou Shisong and his wife had moved all the clutter to the old pigsty in the west wing.

Wu Shufen had sent over three sets of bedding and two cotton quilts. Qiaohui had bought duvet covers and blankets. Lin Changyou had found some planks and wooden poles at Lin Lan’s house, trimmed them down, and nailed together two simple plank beds. Topped with straw, cotton padding, and blankets, the room looked much brighter and more comfortable than their old house in the mountains.

Wu Shufang touched this and that, then sat on the soft bed and sighed. "Thank goodness for your Second Aunt and everyone. Because of their help, we were able to settle in so quickly."

Zhou Shitou and his wife nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Shisong noticed the dark circles under their eyes and said gently, "Mom, you all have been exhausted for days. Get a good night’s sleep. We can talk about everything else tomorrow." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Mhm! You two go to sleep too."

Everyone went their separate ways to rest. Wu Shufang, together with the three children, had her most peaceful night’s sleep since the disaster.

****

「Early the next morning」

Lin Lan and Qiaohui sorted the clothes for sale, organizing them by size into separate baskets.

They placed their little pushcart in front of the pastry shop, spread a canvas sack over it, and set up their stall.

Yang Liying saw them bustling about and approached with a smile. When she saw the work clothes on the cart, she looked at Lin Lan in surprise. "Lin Lan, why would you stock this kind of clothing to sell?"

"We didn’t stock them to sell..." Lin Lan explained the situation to her again.

After hearing the story, Yang Liying sighed. "That’s so tragic. It’s a blessing no one was hurt." Pointing at the work clothes, she said, "Get two sets for Dehai. They’ll be perfect for him to wear for work."

"Okay!" Lin Lan got two medium-sized sets for her. "This size should fit your husband perfectly."

Yang Liying took them and smiled. "I’ll go tell Big Sis and have her buy a few sets too. For just a few bucks, where else could you find material this good?"

Lin Lan nodded. "Exactly. Sister Li said even just the fabric would cost this much."

Yang Liying went home with the clothes, grabbed some money, then went next door. She told Yang Liqun about the disaster at Shishanling and urged her to buy some of the work clothes too.

The two sisters went to the front of Lin Lan’s house together and saw that a few people were already at the stall, picking out clothes.

Yang Liqun said to Lin Lan, "Little Lan, give me six sets. Two for my husband, and two each for Zhilin and Zhixue." As she spoke, she handed her the money. "Here. Thirty-six for the six sets."

Yang Liying quickly gave Lin Lan the money for her two sets as well and started shouting to attract customers. "Come on, six bucks a set! Selling off these work clothes! Made by the city’s garment factory—good quality, good fabric, only six bucks a set..."

More and more people gathered around to see what was going on.

Yang Liqun told an acquaintance who was looking at the clothes, "Look, I bought six sets. You do the math. The fabric alone, plus the cost of tailoring... where else are you going to find a whole set of clothes for six bucks? You wouldn’t, if it weren’t for a few minor dye stains."

"Mhm! When you put it that way, it’s a pretty good deal. I’ll buy two sets for my kid and my old man!"

With one person buying a set here and another buying a set there, Lin Lan and Qiaohui were swamped with taking money. The Yang sisters helped hawk the wares and fetch the clothes, and everyone was busy beyond belief.

Meanwhile, Li Xiangyang went to Li Wu’s and paid for the grain, telling him to deliver the portion Liu Da had purchased to Liming Road. Then, he took the order slip and headed to Liu Da’s house.

Liu Da’s wife told him that Liu Da had gone out for tea with some friends.

After leaving Liu Da’s house, Li Xiangyang rode his bicycle to the pastry shop. He saw Lin Lan and Qiaohui by the pushcart, which still had several dozen sets of clothes on it.

He walked up with a smile. "How’s it going? Are people buying?"

Lin Lan looked at him with a long face and spread her hands. "Sigh! Lots of lookers, but not many buyers."

Qiaohui, standing to the side, turned her head and stifled a giggle.

Seeing her gloomy expression, Li Xiangyang smiled comfortingly. "Don’t worry, just take your time. Every bit you sell helps. If it comes to it, when I get back I’ll find some time to take them down to the villages to sell..."

"Hee hee..." Lin Lan and Qiaoyun both started laughing at him. Li Xiangyang pointed at them and laughed, "You two were putting on an act!"

"We were just teasing you." Lin Lan said, pointing to the basket under the cart, which was filled with the money from the morning’s sales. "We’ve already made back our initial cost. We just counted, and there are still a few dozen sets left to sell."

Li Xiangyang gave her a thumbs-up. "Not bad! You made all that money in just one morning."

Lin Lan pointed toward Yang Liying. "Big Sis and Third Sis both came to help. The other stall owners nearby heard the money was to buy things for the folks in the mountains, so they all pitched in and bought sets for their families. Everyone was buying several sets at a time. Sister Yuezhen bought two men’s sets and two women’s sets."

People felt like they were doing a good deed while also getting a great deal on clothes, so they were happy to spend the money. When the nearby market vendors and shoppers heard the story, they all came over and bought some too.

"I just went to Uncle Da’s place. Auntie said he went out for tea and cards with some friends." Li Xiangyang said as he handed the grain order to Lin Lan. "Give the order slip to Cousin Shi Tou. Make sure everything gets distributed to the victims."

Lin Lan nodded. "Mhm! Everything we make from selling the last few dozen sets will be pure profit. I plan to use the profits to buy more grain, and also some medicine for fevers and colds to take to them."

Qiaohui told her that there were no barefoot doctors in the mountains. When people got sick or were in pain, they would dig up familiar herbs in the mountains to boil and drink as tea. Only when they absolutely couldn’t bear it anymore would they go to the commune to see a doctor.

But the illnesses that became unbearable were usually serious ones. The doctor would prescribe some painkillers for them to take home. When the pain became too much, they’d take a pill and keep enduring it, until...

"Okay, I’ll go buy them. Li Wu and Hou Bing will deliver the supplies this afternoon, and we’ll head out for Shilian tomorrow morning," Li Xiangyang said.

Lin Lan gave him the money. "After you’ve bought the medicine, go call Dad and Douzi over for a meal."

"Mhm!" Li Xiangyang took the money, hopped on his bike, and left.

Lin Lan said to Qiaohui, "You watch the stall. I’m going to go cook."

"Okay." Qiaohui picked up a set of clothes and started hawking again, "Come on, get your clothes! Good, cheap work clothes..."