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

“You should buy it for the two children. I can wear this for a long time. I finally earned some money, how can I spend it like this? Husband, you really are something.”

Zhang He unfolded the new cotton-padded coat that Xu Wenjie had bought. Although she was happy inside, she couldn't help but mutter a word to herself.

Xu Wenjie bought Zhang He a light blue cotton coat with a circle of small white flowers embroidered on the cuffs, which looked very delicate and exquisite. Xu Zhuzhu's clothes were the same style as Zhang He's, but they were made of pink fabric and embroidered with a circle of small yellow flowers.

As for Xu An's, it was dark blue, without any patterns, and only edged with white cotton cloth.

Zhang He noticed that the stitches were dense and tight, and the lining used was very soft, so it must have cost a lot of money.

She frowned, and Xu Wenjie quickly smiled and handed over all the money he had earned from selling goods at his stall that day.

"I earned a total of one tael plus one hundred and sixty-nine coins. I spent two hundred coins on clothes, twenty coins on meat, and fifty-five coins on the remaining snacks. I have eight hundred and ninety-four coins left."

"One tael? That much?" Zhang He paused in adjusting her clothes, puzzled. "Couplets can actually make this much money?"

Xu Wenjie then told him about the little boy asking him to write a letter.

"Maybe you've run into some trouble," Zhang He said, adding her own words.

Xu Wenjie shook his head in confusion, he didn't know either.

However, since the money had already been spent, and it was Xu Wenjie's own money that was used to buy things for her and the children, Zhang He didn't say anything more.

Seeing that Zhang He had stopped nagging, Xu Wenjie said with a fawning smile, "He Niang, quickly put it on and see if it fits?"

Zhang He was washing the meat when she shooed Xu Wenjie aside and said reproachfully, "The dishes aren't finished yet!"

Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An didn't need their father to tell them anything; Xu Zhuzhu had already taken off her brother's and her own clothes, and the two of them put on new clothes.

Xu An's clothes fit perfectly, but Xu Zhuzhu's sleeves were a bit too long, and her hands weren't showing, which looked rather comical and made everyone burst into laughter.

"Daddy!"

Xu Zhuzhu was speechless.

"Oops! I bought too much!" Xu Wenjie habitually touched his nose and said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

He didn't estimate Xu Zhuzhu's height correctly.

Zhang He smiled and said that she would make some alterations that night so that Xu Zhuzhu could wear it tomorrow. Only then did Xu Zhuzhu's dark expression return to normal.

It was only when Xu Wenjie brought osmanthus cake to coax Xu Zhuzhu that she finally smiled.

Because she had just bought some meat, Zhang He insisted on making another batch of meat dumplings. Especially after Xu Zhuzhu begged her to use corn to make the dumplings, Zhang He wanted to try making corn dumplings to see if they would taste good.

So Zhang He used up all the remaining flour.

At that moment, the sun slanted down, casting radiant glow across the sky. Looking up, the entire sky was a golden expanse. Xu Zhuzhu sat on a stool, leaning on the threshold, feeling that the sunset was too beautiful to be real...

Xu Wenjie carried a bucket of water back from the foot of the mountain. Since the snow melted, his family has been getting their daily water from that spring at the foot of the mountain.

Zhang He found it inconvenient, so she went to buy a half-person-high wooden bucket from Old Man Deng, a carpenter, and put it in the yard.

Old Deng's craftsmanship was superb, and the water didn't leak after a few days of use. However, Xu Wenjie was thinking that it would be more convenient to buy a water tank sometime.

On New Year's Eve, Zhang He said the whole family should take a hot bath to have a clean and fresh New Year. However, Zhang He had used up almost all the water in the wooden tub that day, so Xu Wenjie carried four or five buckets of water back and forth and finally filled the large wooden tub with water.

Fortunately, their home was close to the mountain spring, so it didn't take much effort.

Since Zhang He was using the makeshift stove in the house, Xu Wenjie picked up three stones and built a makeshift stove.

Xu Zhuzhu and her brother were making dumplings with Zhang He.

This time, I packed three flavors: corn and pork, cabbage and pork, and chives and egg, with corn and pork being the most common.

However, when it comes to making dumplings, Xu Zhuzhu perfectly retains the skills of a three-year-old, and her craftsmanship is indeed no match for Xu An's.

Xu An studied diligently and his bag looked seven or eight parts like Zhang He's.

Xu Zhuzhu, on the other hand, could only wrap the dumplings into oval shapes, and the filling would often leak out. She had to take apart one dumpling wrapper and patch it up again. A perfectly good dumpling wrapper was patched up to look worse than the quilt they were currently using.

"Not bad."

Zhang He suppressed a laugh and tried to comfort Xu Zhuzhu, but Xu Zhuzhu deflated, "I'm not making any more!"

She ran to the yard and joined her father in burning firewood.

Xu Wenjie was starting a fire in the yard, and Xu Zhuzhu helped him gather small pieces of wood to start the fire. Once the fire was big enough, they boiled water pot by pot, repeating this process several times until they finally filled a basin with hot water.

Looking at Zhang He, who was still in the house directing Xu An to add firewood, she was sweating profusely even though it was still winter, just because the weather was a little better now.

He frowned, feeling a pang of heartache, thinking that he should set up a stove as soon as possible and replace some large pots at home.

The first step in starting a business is to make money.

How to earn it? Xu Wenjie had no idea.

In this town, apart from Mr. Wu who appreciates his calligraphy and paintings to some extent, they are completely unsuccessful with other people. Even if he could sell them in the county, the round-trip travel expenses alone would be enough to empty his savings.

Unable to return to his old profession, he had no choice but to seek another path.

As I was thinking this, the water inside had already boiled.

Just as the dumplings were finished being wrapped, Zhang He quickly threw Xu Zhuzhu into the basin and thoroughly washed her inside and out.

She then instructed Xu Wenjie to give Xu An a bath, and took the opportunity to wash her hair and take a bath herself.

Afterwards, the family sat comfortably by the fire, enjoying the aroma of dumplings.

Once the first batch of dumplings was cooked, Zhang He served two more bowls of dumplings, some with cabbage and pork and some with egg and chives, and asked Xu Wenjie to hurry up and deliver them to Li Quanfu's house and Old Man Deng's house.

Both Hu San Niang and Old Man Deng wanted to share some of their own vegetables, but Xu Wenjie refused them both.

As for the corn and pork dumplings, since Xu Zhuzhu specifically requested that they be made, and to avoid unnecessary trouble, Zhang He kept them for her own family to eat.

After Xu Wenjie returned with the dumplings, Zhang He had prepared the New Year's Eve dinner.

Although it wasn't even a proper thatched cottage, and there wasn't even a table, Zhang He still managed to make a round table out of wood, and neatly arranged the dishes on it: three dishes and a soup.

Tomato and egg soup, blanched greens, and stir-fried shredded potatoes with sour sauce are all dishes that my family has been enjoying lately. Because of the Meimei pot, Zhang He only needs to control the heat and cooking time, without having to worry too much about seasoning, so it's not too tiring.

However, looking at the "simple" round table made of wood, Xu Zhuzhu tugged at her mother's sleeve.

"Mom, why don't we buy a table from Grandpa Deng?"

Xu An was unaffected, but Xu Zhuzhu was afraid of running into her. She was usually so carefree and energetic, but now she was being made to be timid and hesitant, which was quite unusual for Xu An.

Zhang He smiled shyly upon hearing this.

Xu Wenjie hadn't sold a single couplet a few days ago, and she didn't want to spend too much money on things that were dispensable.

Previously, due to limited resources and the uncertainty of the garbage station, she decided that her family would only eat one dish per meal each day, and they would eat it directly from the pot without using a table, saving as much as possible.

Seeing her mother's expression, Xu Zhuzhu could roughly guess what was going on, so she didn't say anything more. She smiled and pulled Zhang He, saying she wanted to eat dumplings.

"Wait for Father to come in."

Xu Wenjie, who was washing dishes outside the house, overheard the mother and daughter's conversation. He smiled guiltily, feeling somewhat ashamed.

However, this was not a big problem. Before long, the whole family sat together with smiles on their faces and expectant eyes, happily preparing to ring in the new year.

Before that, Xu Wenjie straightened his clothes, ladled out a bowl of soup, walked to the courtyard, solemnly knelt facing north, and silently recited in his heart:

May our ancestors rest in peace. We, their unfilial children and grandchildren, offer soup instead of wine to express our filial piety... and so on.

Afterwards, he carefully poured the soup onto the ground and bowed deeply.

Xu Wenjie looked towards the village; the mountains were scattered, and the lights of thousands of homes shone through.

Turning around, Zhang He leaned against the door, a faint smile on her face. Two children followed beside her, peeking in curiously. It was a dimly lit corner, a small space he wanted to protect...