The Little Lucky Girl

It is rare for Yuqing County to have such heavy snow. The adults might have felt mixed emotions when seeing it, but the children were extremely happy. They screamed and ran around, attracting all the dogs in the village, and then everyone was woken up.

The young people hunched their necks and stepped on the snow on the ground. After watching the energetic children playing snowball fights for a while, they all yawned and wanted to go back to sleep in.

Village Chief Guo wiped a handful of snow on each of their faces and said, "Be alert, let's set up the stalls before the snow melts."

The young people immediately wailed, "No one would go out to travel in this kind of weather, can we take a day off?"

"That's right. Since we started this business, we haven't had a single day off. I haven't dried my quilt in the sun for a long time."

"You talk like you used to do that," Village Chief Guo laughed angrily and hit everyone with his pipe. "Your wallets are full now, have you forgotten the days when you had to eat coarse grains and vegetables? Back then, you were unwilling to close your stalls early."

The young men rubbed their heads and laughed, "It's freezing cold, no one will come even if we put the pot on, isn't it a waste of firewood?"

Village Chief Guo curled his lips and said, "They look smart, but their brains are actually very muddled and they can't even think straight. Those who are leaving our county can go back another day, but those who are already on their way here, can they just stay on the road and not move?"

"Business depends on word of mouth. If people know that we have set up a stall on the road, they may bring less food with them and come to our place to have a hot meal. What if they come and find that there is no one there?"

"We're not in the county town. If this one is closed, we can go to the next one. It's more than an hour's walk to the next food stall after our village. Would you be willing to travel on an empty stomach in such a cold weather?"

Seeing that the young men were silent, the village chief took a puff of his cigarette with satisfaction and said, "But you are right. Since there are few people on the road, we don't need to mobilize the whole village. Let the elderly take a break and you can help sell."

Thinking that they couldn't escape anyway, the young men resigned themselves to their fate, patted their buttocks, stood up, and divided the work among themselves.

Once they started to move, they were quite efficient. The village chief was right. If they could go out in this weather and drink a sip of hot water when their hands and feet were so frozen that they couldn't move, it would really be a treat.

The young people put themselves in the other's shoes and suddenly felt that just giving people hot water to drink seemed a bit too monotonous, so someone took out two pieces of ginger from home, cut them up and threw them into the pot to boil. When they scooped up the water and tasted it, they said with an expression that was hard to describe: "It's so strong and spicy, it's better to drink water."

One young man slapped his forehead and said, "It seems that we should add some sugar."

But brown sugar is managed by the mothers or sisters-in-law at home, and it is not like ginger that can be pulled out of the soil casually. The young men looked at each other, and finally looked at Guo Sanlang who had just got married, "Take some from your home."

Guo Sanlang immediately shook his head, "No, that's for my wife to use to replenish her body during her confinement."

The young men started to cheer and threw the snowballs in their hands to him, "If you have the guts, get your wife pregnant first."

"You've stockpiled so much, aren't you afraid it will go bad? Take some out and use them first, and the brothers will replenish it later."

After the thin and watery youth version of ginger sugar water is ready, the question arises: how much does it cost per bowl?

Normally, it is not their turn to worry about such problems, but today the elders are not here and there is no one to make a decision.

Considering that all the medicinal materials are available and a bowl of sweet-tasting herbal tea costs only one cent, it is really unscrupulous of them to charge one cent for the ginger sugar water made with their craftsmanship.

The sun had risen and a few pedestrians appeared on the official road.

Looking at the villagers who were staring at their hot pot but didn't even dare to ask the price, the leading young man stamped his feet and said, "It doesn't cost much anyway. I'll buy some brown sugar for Sanlang when I get back. Otherwise, how about we just give this soup for free?"

The other young men immediately understood what he meant and said unhappily, "Who are you looking down on? We also have pocket money, so we should contribute together."

Guo Sanlang also said: "It's just some brown sugar, it's not worth the money, whoever gives it to me will be angry."

"Please don't do that. It will be hard for you to explain to your wife later."

Guo Sanlang immediately said, "No need to explain. I have the final say in our family affairs and she has to listen to me."

"Tsk--" The young men said that everyone knows who, if you have the guts, say it again to your wife.

The group was laughing and talking, but they were busy with their hands, and they started to invite people who were on the road to come over and have some soup.

The hot steam rising from the big pot, together with the smiling faces of the people, formed a unique landscape in this white suburb.

An old man stood on a high place and looked into the distance. When he saw the scene, he nodded secretly and said, "What a beautiful scene of worldly life." Then he asked the boy to grind the ink and paint it.

The bustle at the foot of the mountain could not be heard from the top. The young men in the village looked at the mountain road completely covered with snow, and they were all worried.

According to the old people, there is still more snow to fall. The heavy snow will close the mountain for at least half a month, which will delay their opportunities to make money.

Ali was groaning and gazing at the sky as he walked around in circles. Grandpa Tong got a headache and scolded him, "You've been away for a few days and your mind has wandered. In the past, you would stay at home and hibernate at this time of year. Why can't you stay at home this year?"

"In the past, no one bought our glutinous rice cakes, and they were only five cents a piece." Ali muttered.

"It won't go bad if you leave it there, and it won't go bad if you wait until the weather warms up to sell it."

This is true, but young people who have just tasted the sweetness of making money feel uncomfortable.

Ali hesitated for a moment, then quietly slipped out of the house when his grandfather wasn't paying attention. He planned to find someone to go with him to clear the road, even if it would be possible to get down the mountain one day earlier.

Grandpa Tong shook his head and pretended not to see it. Not to mention his grandson, even he couldn't help wanting to go down the mountain to take a look. He didn't know if Ming Youyou could sell the bamboo weaving.

Although he didn't have much expectations, Grandpa Tong's hands have been busy since he came back. Looking at the pile of small items on the table, he thought that he could at least exchange them for three or five cents, and the old man felt a little happy.

Finally, they made it to the point where the mountain road was passable. Ali and his friends couldn't wait to rush down the mountain, taking with them a large basket that Grandpa Tong had explicitly hinted at.

Ming Youyou saw that Grandpa Tong had really made up a house with complete furniture and two little people drinking tea. Even the spout of the teapot could be seen clearly. She immediately started playing with it and couldn't put it down.

But she also knew that there were no customers for this thing in the village, so she had to find someone who was far away from the land and had money, such as her classmates.

After she got it to the academy, it really caused a sensation. Many people surrounded her and wanted to buy it. Bao Wenkang was even more wealthy and slammed the table and said, "Hurry up and make an offer."