Farmhouse Green Plum

Song Tian and Song Yuan cried miserably, their voices were so loud that they almost drowned out all the other sounds on the street.

Li and Yang were completely unmoved. They forcibly carried them away from the sugar painting stall and into the cloth shop opposite.

There were quite a few people in the cloth shop, selecting cloth in groups of three or four.

"Manager Xu, business is booming." Li greeted the owner of the cloth shop.

Shopkeeper Xu was standing behind the counter with several rolls of folded cloth on the table. On the other side of the counter was a young woman in a blue dress with white flowers.

Shopkeeper Xu looked up when he heard the voice, and seeing them, he smiled and said, "It's Aunt Li and my sister-in-law. It's almost New Year, so there are more customers. What kind of cloth do you want? Pick it first. I'll come after I collect the money."

"You go ahead and do your thing, we'll take our time choosing." As she said that, Li put Song Yuan down and prepared to choose the cloth.

There was a chair near the door, and a little girl of five or six years old was sitting on it, eating a little rabbit candy painting.

Seeing this, Song Yuan became even more greedy. He sat down on the ground without caring where he was and shouted at the top of his voice: "I want sugar painting! I want sugar painting!"

Song Tian was not much to be outdone. He held Yang's arm and competed with Song Yuan to see who could howl louder.

Shopkeeper Xu and the customers who were selecting cloth looked at them. Li felt embarrassed and scolded them with a stern face: "Shut up! It's New Year's Day, why are you crying?"

Song Tian's eyes rolled and he cried even louder, forcing out a few tears.

People are most taboo during the twelfth month and the first month of the lunar year. Crying in someone's shop will bring bad luck to others.

Li's eyes widened and he raised his hand: "Do you want to seal the year? I'll count to three, shut up! Three! Two..."

Song Tian and Song Yuan were frightened and stopped howling in time before Li was about to count to three.

They were unsure about Li's attitude and worried that she would beat them up because she couldn't save face in front of others.

After howling for so long, Song Yuan suddenly stopped. He was a little out of breath and hiccuped. Even in this situation, he did not give up and continued to fight for it: "I want the sugar painting, but it doesn't matter if it's a dragon or a phoenix."

With him in the lead, Song Tian quickly said, "My brother and I can share one."

I thought that if I gave in to this extent, Li would agree. After all, it only cost 3 cents. And today, Li was obviously much more generous than usual and was willing to buy the buns for 20 cents.

Unexpectedly, Li still disagreed: "Stand outside for punishment. You dare to interrupt my errands!"

Song Tian and Song Yuan were frightened by the stern look and the two brothers looked at each other and had to stand at the door of the cloth shop.

After dealing with the two little bastards, Li smiled at Shopkeeper Xu and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you by seeing these little kids being naughty."

Shopkeeper Xu didn't mind it much. After all, he was running a business and it was common to see crying children. If he really couldn't stand this, he would give up his business.

He waved his hands: "Children are just children. There is no place for them to act like fools. Otherwise, why would you call them children?"

An old lady with gray hair and wrinkled face interrupted: "My grandson was like that just now, crying and clamoring for it, so he had to be dragged away by his father."

On the other side, the young woman who had paid the money smiled and said, "It's no wonder they are making a fuss. The sugar paintings are indeed exquisitely made. Even adults like us can't help but be moved and want to take a few more glances, let alone children."

Li said, "You can look at it, but it's not worth buying that thing. You can make a bunch of them with just a little sugar. How much sugar does one sugar painting need? If you have that much money, you might as well just buy sugar."

The young woman disagreed with Li's point of view. Due to her age, she could only say tactfully: "That's true, but children don't think about these things. They just like those strange things."

As she spoke, she picked up the cloth and walked to the door. The little girl who was eating the candy painting jumped up, took her hand and left.

Li was surprised and asked Shopkeeper Xu: "Whose daughter-in-law is this? You are so willing to give her away!"

"The proprietress of Zhang's Rice Shop in the east of the city has only one daughter, and she dotes on her very much."

Li suddenly realized: "No wonder you are so willing to give it up."

With a sigh, she stopped paying attention and got down to business: "This year, our whole family needs to get new clothes. I want a warm cotton jacket, and my granddaughter is old, so she needs a brightly colored one. Others don't have any requests."

Shopkeeper Xu nodded: "Have you bought cotton? We also have cotton in our store."

"We need cotton too. We have some old cotton at home. I suggested using that, but my son disagreed. He insisted that new cotton is warmer." Mrs. Li tried her best to look helpless, but the corners of her mouth couldn't stop curling up.

The businessman was very shrewd, and Shopkeeper Xu immediately complimented him: "Brother Song is filial."

"I am satisfied if he has that heart, and the same goes for old cotton."

"It's only natural for a son to be filial to his mother. Just enjoy your good fortune! Many old ladies envy your good fortune."

At this time, Song Tian and Song Yuan at the door began to chant non-stop: "Sugar painting, sugar painting, I want sugar painting, I want sugar painting..."

Li, who was immersed in happiness, couldn't help but look dark, turned around and shouted: "What are you mumbling about?"

Song Tian said confidently: "We didn't cry."

After arguing for a while, he continued to chant with Song Yuan, "Sugar painting, sugar painting, I want sugar painting..."

Li was so angry that her forehead was throbbing. These two little bastards couldn't even fight for her face.

Yang felt distressed and ashamed. The shame was due to her two sons being ignorant and throwing tantrums over their stuttering.

What made me feel sad was the three cents worth of snacks. The two children couldn't get them even after throwing a tantrum. They were living worse than the little girl just now.

In anger and shame, she stepped out of the door, raised her hand, and threatened with red eyes: "Shut up! It's not right for a man to throw a tantrum over a bite of food!"

A woman nearby stopped her and advised, "Sister, don't do that. The child is still young and doesn't know what a man's responsibility is.

This only happens once a year, so I'll spend a few cents to buy them some happiness."

"Yes, it's just a matter of a few cents. I can save a mouthful of meat and buy it. Didn't the two children say they would share one? It's only three cents. They are also sensible and know the financial situation of the family. They didn't make the mistake of insisting on having one for each of them."

Daya stood there like an outsider. Everyone seemed to have forgotten her and assumed that the only children in the Song family were Song Tian and Song Yuan.

She didn't fight for it because it was impossible to succeed. If she were to throw a tantrum and ask for food today, everyone would accuse her of being ignorant and no one would speak up for her.

Having just shown off her son's filial piety, Mrs. Li didn't want to be seen as stingy with her grandson, so she complained immediately: "It's not that I don't buy them snacks, but I just bought some buns, and before they had even walked a mile, they were craving for sugar paintings. No matter how big my family business is, I can't handle this!"

Shopkeeper Xu half comforted and half flattered: "Don't worry, old lady. Your son is so capable. Not to mention a sugar painting, even buying the whole stall is not a problem..."