Farmer's eldest sister becomes rich

An Yue thought that she should buy the lighter items first and then the heavy items at the end.

An Yue pointed to the street in front of her left and said, "Uncle, let's go buy door god couplets and firecrackers first."

Uncle Jiang Chenghai nodded in a daze, then followed An Yue.

An Yue looked at her uncle's listless appearance, turned around and made a face at him, saying:

"Uncle, cheer up! The whole street is so lively, but you have such a stern face. Isn't it ruining the mood?"

After hearing what An Yue said, uncle Jiang Chenghai could only force a bitter smile and said, "Okay, okay, what should we buy first?"

An Yue said again: "Door gods, couplets, and firecrackers."

Jiang Chenghai listened, smiled faintly, and nodded.

The uncle and nephew walked all the way to the west entrance of the town.

This is where most of the people live, so naturally the sales of couplets and door gods are concentrated in this street.

An Yue walked to a street stall and looked at the rows of couplets written in black on red paper hanging on the stall. The handwriting was strong and flexible.

She pointed at the couplet hanging on the shelf and asked her uncle behind her: "Uncle, what do you think of this couplet?"

Jiang Chenghai scratched his head and said awkwardly: "Uh~! This... they recognize me, but I don't recognize them!"

"Pfft...! How about... reading it to uncle Yueyue?"

Jiang Chenghai smiled awkwardly and nodded.

An Yue spread out the five fingers of her right hand and put them together, reciting: "The upper couplet is "Prosperity and prosperity in the house", the lower couplet is "A good year, a good scene, a rich and prosperous family", and the horizontal scroll is "Happiness and health."

After An Yue finished reading, she turned to look at Jiang Chenghai and asked, "What do you think, uncle?"

"Very good, very good."

The stall owner saw An Yue standing in front of the stall for a long time and seemed to be very pleased with the couplet, so he asked with a smile: "Miss, have you chosen this couplet?"

An Yue pointed at the couplet and asked, "Boss, how much is this couplet?"

The stall owner smiled and said, "Young lady, you have good taste. These are couplets for the front door. They cost eighteen coins a pair."

Then the boss pointed to the small door couplets next to it and said, "A pair of small door couplets is ten cents."

An Yue counted the words on the couplet on the gate; there were exactly eighteen words.

I couldn't help but complain in my mind: "Wow! Good fellow! One penny for each word."

However, one has to admit that the handwriting is as graceful as a startled swan and as elegant as a swimming dragon.

An Yue also wanted to buy a pair of couplets to post on the door frame of the east room of the An family, but the siblings were still in mourning.

An Yue moved her eyes and saw a door god hanging next to the couplet.

The door gods, <all with puffed beards and glared eyes>, are painted in a very majestic and domineering manner. A quick glance shows that there should be more than a dozen of them.

Each one is the same, but when you compare them closely, each one is different.

It is obvious that these paintings were drawn one by one by literati, which is really not easy.

I have to sigh that the copiers and printers of the 21st century are really good things that save time and effort and can do things once and for all.

An Yue asked the stall owner again: "How much is this door god?"

The boss picked up a door god, handed it to An Yue to look at, and said, "A pair of door gods costs thirty coins."

An Yue pointed at the couplets and said, "If I want a few more, can I get a discount?"

The boss acted very helpless and said: "Girl, you see, this is a small business of mine. I buy goods from scholars. The cost of a pair of small door couplets is seven cents. I can only earn three or five cents at most from selling this pair of couplets!"

An Yue listened to what the boss said, although she found it a little hard to believe.

But it is true that paper and ink of this era were expensive and extremely scarce among literati.

An Yue thought roughly and decided to paste couplets on the door.

First, couplets should be posted on the gate of the courtyard, followed by the door of the main house, my uncle's room, the kitchen, and the firewood room.

Door gods are only posted on the courtyard gate and the main house gate.

An Yue said to the boss, "We need five pairs of couplets in total, two pairs for the main doors, three pairs for the small doors, and two pairs for the door gods."

The boss calculated and said, "The total is one hundred and twenty-six coins."

"Is it okay if I buy so much from you and give me two window paper-cuts as a present?"

The boss smiled and said, "Okay, okay, okay, these window paper-cuts were made by the girl's mother herself, so I'll give you two pairs as gifts. Haha...you're really good at bargaining!"

The boss rolled up and tied up the couplets and door gods chosen by An Yue one by one.

An Yue took out a tael of silver from her bosom and handed it to the boss, who gave An Yue seventy-four copper coins in change.

After buying the couplets and window decorations, An Yue and her uncle turned around and walked back along the streets and alleys.

After walking a few steps, I saw a stall selling lanterns.

An Yue ran over curiously and looked at the red lanterns hanging on the shelves, which looked very festive.

She pointed at the red paper lantern and asked, "Boss, how much is this lantern?"

"A big red lantern costs thirty cents, and the smaller lanterns next to it cost twenty cents. The smallest lantern, which can't be lit, costs only five cents."

An Yue pointed at the big lantern and said, "Then we need two big lanterns, and then eight small lanterns."

She thought of buying eight small lanterns, hanging them in two rows on the eaves of the courtyard gate, and then hanging two large lanterns on both sides of the main house gate.

When it gets dark, light the oil lamp in the lantern and set off some firecrackers. The whole yard will be filled with joy and the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

An Yue handed the boss a hundred coins, and the boss gave her a long wooden stick, and tied all the lanterns of different sizes to the stick, so that she would not be afraid of being squeezed when walking on the street.

My uncle walked carefully among the crowd holding a wooden stick, for fear that he would accidentally break the lantern.

An Yue saw another shop selling firecrackers.

The uncle and nephew walked to the door of the shop and found that the shop was crowded with people.

An Yue had never expected that in this age of hunger, firecrackers would still be a hot commodity during the Chinese New Year.

An Yue gestured to her uncle to wait here, and then she went into the shop curiously.

Because of her small stature, she was pushed and shoved by others and was inexplicably pushed to the side, pressed tightly against the wall.

An Yue quickly glanced around the shop. There were all kinds of firecrackers, some hanging, some rolled into cakes and tied up. The cake-shaped firecrackers were of different sizes.

An Yue pointed at the cake-shaped firecrackers and asked, "Boss, how much is this string of firecrackers?"

In an instant, everyone in the shop looked at An Yue with strange eyes.

That’s right, their eyes were full of doubt and disdain.

The boss took time out of his busy schedule to respond, "Two taels of silver."

When An Yue heard that it was two taels of silver, she resisted inwardly and said, "Okay! Sorry for disturbing you!"

At this moment, An Yue had already realized that she was the odd one out in the shop, so she could only smile awkwardly at everyone and prepare to slip away.

After slipping out of the crowd, he found his uncle standing at the door of the shop and told him the details.

The uncle smiled and said to Anyue, "How can we ordinary people afford to buy firecrackers for two taels of silver?"