Flowers in full bloom

Hua Lei knew that ever since her grandfather passed away, her grandmother's family came to make a fuss and she was pushed around until she suffocated and fainted. After waking up, she decided to sell the house and move to Beijing. In addition, the journey was almost like fleeing, which made the seven-year-old brother not only physically unable to bear it, but also mentally anxious all day long.

The mischievous child suddenly became silent and unhappy. "Yeah." His voice was choked with sobs.

Hualei tucked the quilt in, leaned forward, and kissed the little boy gently on the forehead, then hugged the choking child tightly in her arms with the quilt. "Be good, Xiaoyuan, cry if you want to. No one can hear you here. Sister wants to cry too."

A low, suppressed cry rang out, and the slightly trembling body was clearly heard even through the quilt, which made Hualei feel distressed. Hualei comforted her softly and rocked her gently. After a long time, the sobbing stopped. Hualei gently got up, tucked in the corner of the quilt, slowly walked out of the room, and closed the door.

The next day, just after the hour of Mao, Hua Lei got out of bed quietly, put on her clothes, opened Xiao Yuan's room, and saw that he was still sleeping soundly. She closed the door and went downstairs. Downstairs, several adults had already gotten up and were busy with their own things, and Aunt Song was already preparing breakfast.

After Hua Lei washed up and had breakfast, when it was just dawn, she, Xile, Aunt Song and Xiaoxiao took a mule cart out of the yard, and then, with their own house as the center, they circled around the criss-crossing streets and alleys.

The mule cart moved very slowly. Hua Lei, Aunt Song and Xiao Xiao looked carefully at the shops on both sides. Nowadays, there are signs at the door of each shop, which are basically simple and clear. You can tell what the shop does by looking at the sign.

Hualei took the map of Dongcheng District that she had secretly bought from the pawnshop and kept writing something in her notebook. After circling the streets around her house three or four times, Hualei asked Xile to go to the market.

The market is on the east side of Qingyun Lane, about 25 minutes away from Hualei's house. The market is very large, and it is open-air. Many farmers from the countryside place agricultural products brought from their homes in an orderly manner along both sides of the street, including various vegetables grown in their own vegetable gardens, as well as chickens, ducks, eggs, etc.

There were bamboo baskets and plaques woven by peasant men, and handkerchiefs and silk cords woven by peasant girls. There were also stalls selling pork, fish, and firewood. It was very busy, but the market was managed by a clerk, so although there was a large flow of people, the order was good.

I asked the city clerk, and he said that each stall costs three cents, and it's on a first-come, first-served basis. You can also buy a long-term stall, pay the stall fee in one lump sum for a month, and you can choose the stall yourself. There will be a sign indicating the location you have bought, so others can't grab it, but it's rare to buy a long-term stall.

Hualei walked slowly with Auntie Song and Xiaoxiao in the market. After two turns, they found that there was no breakfast to sell here. So if they made steamed buns and wrapped them in a torn quilt and sold them here, it should be okay.

Hua Lei thought about it while talking to Auntie Song about her idea. Auntie Song looked around and nodded repeatedly. There were so many people, but no one was selling breakfast. If she made steamed buns, they would definitely sell well. Auntie Song suddenly gained confidence.

The few of them walked around for a few times and bought a chicken from a farmer's wife who was selling chickens. They also bought all her eggs. The farmer's wife was so happy that she also gave Hualei a handful of leeks that she grew herself.

Then we went to the pork shop to buy some pork. Aunt Song also bought some leftover pork viscera, pork stomach, pork liver, pork large intestine and pork small intestine. Aunt Song's stewed food is also very impressive.

Finally, Aunt Song bought a large load of firewood. Indeed, there was no firewood in the courtyard. Firewood is a necessity for cooking in this era. After the few people finished the market, they went to the grocery store to buy some seasonings and returned with a full load. /

Before Hualei made up her mind to make and sell steamed buns, Aunt Song had already decided to open a steamed bun shop. She returned to her house in Qingyun Lane with full confidence.

Seeing that it was about the end of the Si hour, Aunt Song hurried to prepare lunch, while Xiaoxiao went to clean the pig's internal organs and prepared to make fried leeks and liver tips for lunch. Xile put the pile of firewood he bought under the eaves of the west courtyard. In a few days, he would build a shed with thatched grass against the wall to store firewood.

Hualei went upstairs and saw her younger brother sitting at the long table in the study, reviewing his lessons. She walked over, touched his head, and asked softly, "Have you had breakfast?" Xiaoyuan nodded, his face red, probably still embarrassed for crying last night.

Hua Lei pretended not to see it, put down the cloth bag in her hand, sat next to him, and said, "Xiao Yuan, you should review your previous lessons on your own during this period. We just arrived here and don't know the situation here yet. I will inquire about the private schools nearby as soon as possible to see which one is better, and then ask if I can transfer to their class?" "Yeah," Xiao Yuan nodded, looked at Hua Lei, and hesitated to speak.

"What's wrong? Do you have anything to say to me?" Hua Lei pulled Xiao Yuan's arm and gently held him in her arms. Xiao Yuan's face, which was a little red, became even redder. "Well? What do you have to say to me?" Hua Lei softened her tone.

It may be because she has raised this brother since he was young, or it may be because Hua Lei likes children. She really loves this brother very much. She feels sorry for him losing his family at such a young age, and she also thinks that he is the only brother she can depend on in the future. Therefore, Hua Lei has never been harsh to this younger brother.

"Sister, do you still have money to send me to private school?" Xiaoyuan asked softly.

Hualei was stunned, "Of course, this is the most important thing, I have already let go of the silver."

Seeing Xiaoyuan's hesitant expression, she stood up, took out the wooden box containing the house deed and the land deed from the locked cabinet, took out an account book, and opened it in front of Xiaoyuan. "Look, since I sold the house and land in my hometown, I have recorded every income and expenditure.

You see, our house was quite big because it was connected to my grandfather's private school, so we sold it together for 300 taels. The bookstore was sold for 80 taels, and our 50 mu of good farmland in the countryside was also sold for 300 taels. After handling my grandfather's funeral, we still had 130 taels of silver in cash, and the miscellaneous silver and copper coins totaled 8.5 taels.

Before we went to the capital, I gave thirty taels of silver to Uncle Fu to pay for our trip to the capital, and I put the remaining eight and a half taels in my own purse. The house I bought yesterday cost a total of five hundred and fifty taels, and now I have two hundred and thirty taels left. Look," Hua Lei pointed to the last number in the account book and showed it to Xiao Yuan, then took out the purse from the wooden box, took out two hundred tael silver notes from it, and took out six five-tael silver ingots and placed them in front of Xiao Yuan.