After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Qingshan Town

At his calligraphy and painting stall, Xu Wenjie laid out his brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone. By New Year's Eve, the sky had cleared up again, and the streets were bustling with activity. People were coming and going, their faces beaming with joy, all saying that the snow had melted and they could have a good New Year...

A few days ago, Xu Wenjie rented writing implements from the owner of the only bookstore in town and spent ten coins to buy some red paper, hoping to sell a few couplets and the character "福" (fortune) before the New Year.

Xu Wenjie is quite confident in his calligraphy, which he learned from his grandfather, who was the great-great-grandson of the former dynasty's Huaixiu Gong.

Huai Xiu Gong was also famous throughout the world for his calligraphy, painting and literature in the previous dynasty, and his works were extremely rare and valuable.

But later, the Xu family fell into ruin, and Huai Xiu Gong's calligraphy and paintings were scattered and lost without a trace, leaving only a calligraphy copybook. Because of their difficult circumstances, his grandmother pawned it in exchange for the meager land that their family now owns...

Although Xu Wenjie did not fully inherit Huaixiu Gong's true teachings, he had learned about 70% of them. Even his grandfather said that this was already quite remarkable...

However, several days passed, and he still hadn't sold a single couplet.

An old man who came to town to sell firewood thought his handwriting was very beautiful. He walked back and forth in front of his stall several times, but he couldn't bear to buy any.

Although the old man couldn't understand it, he wanted to buy a set to put up on his door for a festive look. Xu Wenjie saw that the old man was simple and unpretentious, and that his clothes were patched all over. On a whim, he took pity on him and gave the old man a set...

Starting from the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, he set up a stall in front of the bustling market in town every morning.

However, in the bustling city, where people came and went in front of all kinds of stalls, his calligraphy and painting stall was deserted and quiet.

Seeing that there was no business, Xu Wenjie thought of his two children and began to draw on red paper. Of course, he drew pictures of his children when they were young, especially a portrait of Xu Zhuzhu, who was chubby and had a pair of bright, adorable eyes.

Unexpectedly, this sudden idea attracted many customers to Xu Wenjie.

Two middle-aged women carrying vegetable baskets came closer.

"This chubby child looks so adorable! How much for a painting, sir?"

A slightly plump-looking middle-aged woman asked with a smile.

Xu Wenjie was taken aback by the question, then burst into laughter. He had unintentionally achieved a positive outcome.

"It's nothing valuable. If you want it, ma'am, it'll be three coins a piece!"

Another older woman asked doubtfully, "Why buy this? You might as well buy more food to take home; your wife might be happier that way."

The plump woman frowned, waved her hand, and took out three coins from her bosom, placing them in front of Xu Wenjie. "This is six coins, sir. Please accept one of each of these 'Golden Boy' and 'Jade Girl' paintings!"

He sighed again, "You don't understand. My wife has been married for half a year and wants a baby boy, but there's still no sign of it. We took the baby home and put it up on the headboard to make it more festive."

Xu Wenjie was taken aback, then laughed and said, "Auntie, this is three coins."

"Oh dear! Look at me," the plump aunt patted her head and said with a somewhat embarrassed laugh, "I misspoke, sorry."

He then took out three coins from his pocket.

Xu Wenjie laughed and said it was no problem, and returned one coin: "It's rare that the auntie likes it, so let's make it five coins, for good luck, may five blessings come to the door."

Who doesn't love to hear auspicious words during the Chinese New Year?

Upon hearing Xu Wenjie's words, the plump aunt's eyes narrowed into slits.

His son was a shop assistant at the town's general store, earning about ten taels of silver a year, so the family's financial situation wasn't bad for the town.

Hearing Xu Wenjie's words and seeing his refined and gentle demeanor, her goodwill towards him soared. "Thank you for your kind words, sir. How much are these 'Fu' characters? Give me five!"

"I'll take one 'Fu' character each, but I think you like it, so I'll take three 'Fu' characters from you. It's auspicious for the three sheep to bring good fortune. I'll give you the other two as a gift."

Seeing this, another woman also took two "Fu" characters.

This was a big business opportunity. Xu Wenjie started his business with the portraits of the two children and made his first sale. He also gained a general understanding of the needs of the townspeople.

There weren't many scholars in the town, so there wasn't much demand for couplets, which were mostly appreciated by families with a long tradition of farming and scholarship.

It was the festive portraits that were more popular, so Xu Wenjie painted a few more pictures of Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An as children and hung them in front of the stall. Sure enough, more customers came.

A heavily pregnant woman walked up to the stall. "Sir, give me a painting of this chubby girl. She's so pretty!"

She already has two sons, and now she wants a daughter so she can take her home and look at her every day. Maybe then she'll give birth to a beautiful daughter.

Another young woman said, "Give me two 'Fu' characters!"

"A perfect couple, a golden boy and a jade girl, have arrived..."

.........

Xu Wenjie's business then flourished.

Before marrying Zhang He, Xu Wenjie made a living by selling calligraphy and paintings. He was self-reliant and never felt that it was a disgrace to a scholar.

He was adept at greeting guests, his lips were always curved in a smile, and he never had a cold face. He was also handsome, so there were even more people around.

Before the thirtieth day was even halfway over, Xu Wenjie had sold all the red paper that had been piling up for several days. The portraits sold well, and he also sold a lot of couplets.

Xu Wenjie counted the money: he had sold 36 portraits for 106 coins, 50 "Fu" characters for 45 coins, and 19 couplets for 38 coins. He didn't plan to sell the remaining four couplets. After calculating, he realized he had already made quite a bit of money.

Since it was the first time their family had spent New Year's Eve away from home, Xu Wenjie didn't want to do too much and packed up to go back.

Just as he was about to leave, a well-dressed little boy suddenly poked half his head out from in front of his stall, panting, and asked, "Sir, can I write a letter here?"

Xu Wenjie was taken aback. He had only bought red paper. How was he supposed to write a letter?

He smiled and said, "I have red paper here. If you don't mind, I'll write it for you."

The little boy had rosy cheeks and chubby hands and feet. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his big eyes darting around. After thinking for a moment, he took out a plain white handkerchief from his pocket.

“Sir, write this down and tell Aunt Mei to come and pick me up.”

"That's it?"

The boy nodded.

Xu Wenjie nodded with a smile and unfolded the handkerchief, revealing a lifelike white plum blossom embroidered in the lower right corner.

He dipped his brush in ink and wrote: "Aunt Mei, come pick me up quickly." Then he asked the little boy if he wanted a signature.

"no need."

The little boy looked around as if he were hiding from someone. He hurriedly grabbed the handkerchief, threw down a piece of silver, and ran off in a flash. A short while later, two servant-like men walked by, calling out "Young Master" everywhere.

Xu Wenjie was secretly amazed. He guessed that the boy was looking for the little boy from earlier. But since he had servants at home, he must have had someone to teach him to read and write. Why would he come to his little stall to write a letter?

However, he was too lazy to investigate that much. Xu Wenjie smiled and weighed the loose silver in his hand. It was quite heavy, at least an ounce.

He happily packed up his stall, returned the brush and ink to Mr. Wu, the owner of the bookstore, and gave him a couplet as a gift: "Thank you for trusting me, Mr. Wu. I have nothing else to offer but this couplet to wish you good luck!"

"It seems Mr. Xu's business is doing well today."

Mr. Wu smiled and said politely, and Xu Wenjie smiled generously and said that it was all thanks to Mr. Wu. After exchanging pleasantries, Mr. Wu admired Xu Wenjie's calligraphy.

He sighed, saying that there were probably few people in the town who could compare to him. He also said that if anyone needed calligraphy or painting in the future, they could just come and borrow it. He wouldn't charge a deposit anymore, but he wanted to send a few more paintings.

The ten coins that Xu Wenjie paid for the brushes, ink, and flowers were a deposit. The actual rental fee was for a painting he copied of a spring tree and autumn frost. Boss Wu liked it very much. Hearing that Xu Wenjie had just moved here, he was interested in making friends and said that he would visit him more often in the future.

The two found it rare to appreciate each other so much, and Xu Wenjie smiled and said he would definitely buy a copy of "Primer of Prosody" for Xu An.

Thinking about the New Year's Eve tonight, especially the two children who haven't eaten meat for months, I realized that we only earned money today thanks to the two siblings.

Xu Wenjie then spent twenty coins to buy two catties of pork leg meat from the butcher's stall.

I also went to the general store and bought some pastries.

The grocery store had previously run out of stock and said it wouldn't be able to restock until after the New Year. But unexpectedly, the snow melted so quickly after the weather cleared up, and the grocery store took advantage of the clear weather to go to the county to restock.

Xu Wenjie bought some of Xu Zhuzhu's favorite osmanthus cake, Zhang He's favorite cloud cake, and Xu An's mung bean cake, as well as some peanuts, melon seeds, and other snacks.

As Zhang He had told her a few days ago, the New Year should look like the New Year...

Remembering how much money he had made from his children's portraits, Xu Wenjie's heart softened again. Having these two children was a blessing for him.

When he passed by a clothing store, he didn't hesitate and bought new cotton-padded coats for his wife and two children...

However, thinking about how his wife would nag him after she found out, Xu Wenjie felt a warm feeling in his heart.