He sighed in a surprisingly mature way, then sat quietly beside her, keeping her company while she sorted the fabric scraps.
Besides the bows, Su Qiao also made more than ten hair ties, the kind later called “scrunchies.”
Although the name didn’t sound very nice, it was extremely descriptive.
In her previous life, Su Qiao had seen many of the girls at her company tie their hair into a small bun and then loop a hair tie over it, looking both playful and cute.
She was confident that no matter the era, the desire to look nice was universal. Even in the 1980s, these little accessories should have sold well.
As soon as Su Peng took his little sister out, they disappeared from view. Those words about “we’ll just go for a little walk and come back” didn’t count once they were outside the door.
But Su Qiao didn’t bother.
She trusted her little brother, at worst, he and Xiao Lan might get their clothes a little dirty, but nothing worse could happen.
What was there to worry about if the clothes got dirty? With this weather, they’d dry after a night of washing.
Following the method from yesterday, Su Wei divided the fabric scraps into five portions and packed each into a cloth bag.
After finishing that, he saw his sister still busy at work, so he ran quietly to the backyard, flipping the fish and dried pumpkin he had put out to dry in the morning several times.
He even quietly prepared dinner, saving Su Qiao a lot of trouble.
Early the next morning, the four Su siblings set out.
It was so early that Su Qiao didn’t have the younger siblings eat at home; she planned to take them into town for a proper meal.
Although it was early, all four children were dressed up in their best clothes.
Su Wei carried the backpack he never went anywhere without, while Su Peng and Xiao Lan put on their new outfits.
Even when Xiao Lan was still groggy from sleep, she reminded her sister to tie the bow for her and kept muttering that she wanted to be the prettiest child in the entire village!
Su Qiao herself also tidied up.
Today, she didn’t tie two braids but instead gathered her hair into a high bun, looping the hair tie she had made yesterday over it.
The hair tie and the bow on her sister’s hair were made from the same blue-and-white polka-dotted fabric.
Walking together, it was obvious to anyone that they were sisters, their matching look was no different from what would later be called “sister outfits.”
By the time the four siblings arrived in Jiao County, it was just past eight o’clock.
Su Qiao didn’t rush to set up a stall. Instead, she first took them to the place where she had bought buns the day before, letting the little ones have a full meal.
Afterwards, she took her younger siblings to wander through a market deep in the alley.
At that time of day, buying expensive vegetables was obviously impossible. But Su Qiao was quick-eyed and skillful, managing to snatch a pig’s trotter and two pork bones from the hands of several older women.
Not only that, she also bought some wild mushrooms and black fungus sun-dried by local mountain villagers, a truly fruitful haul.
By the time the people in the alley had mostly dispersed, it was nearly ten o’clock, also the time when elementary school students at Jiao County No. 1 Primary School were on their recess break.
Having gone to high school in the county, Su Qiao was familiar with the situation there. She knew that elementary students were allowed to leave the school during a long break.
Jiao County No. 1 Primary School was near the County Party Committee and the County Finance Bureau, so most of the students came from well-off families. These kids often had some pocket money, which they usually spent on snacks during recess.
Sure enough, when they arrived at the school gate, several people were already loosely gathered on the sidewalk.
Some held baskets containing homemade fried cakes or small dishes. Others had steel pots at their feet, and even if the lids were closed, Su Qiao knew they likely contained tea eggs.
A few more had spread an oiled cloth or some newspapers on the roadside, displaying wild fruits picked from the mountains.
Su Qiao carefully observed everyone and found that none were selling anything besides food.
Moreover, these people clearly treated selling as something to be cautious about. They had almost wrapped their faces completely so no one could see them, and they all stood at least eight zhang away from the school, pretending to act casual, afraid anyone would notice they were waiting for students to come out so they could sell snacks.
Their timid, cautious demeanor was nothing like the street vendors at school gates in later times, who would use every trick in the book just to secure a prime spot.
Seeing this, Su Qiao felt even calmer.
She led her younger siblings to the school gate.
Confidently, she signaled her eldest young brother to spread out a piece of canvas on the sidewalk closest to the school entrance.
Then she took from her bag the set of little grab toys she had made from fabric scraps the day before, placing a few sheets of scrap paper on the ground so her younger brother and sister could sit at the edge of the canvas and play.
She and her eldest young brother then arranged the hair ties, head ornaments, and fabric patches they had made the day before neatly on the canvas, one by one.
Just as they finished arranging their things, the school bell at Jiao County No. 1 Primary School rang for recess.
Almost immediately, a group of boys poured out of the school.
Without thinking, they all ran straight to the people selling food. Obviously, they were regulars who had already formed the habit.
Right behind them came a few girls.
From their clothing and appearance, it was obvious that their families were relatively well-off. Their clothes were clean and mostly seven or eight parts new; not a single patch was visible on any of them.
The girls’ habits were different from the boys’. When they came out, they took the time to browse and choose. They first stopped at the tea egg vendor, then went to see what side dishes were being sold with the fried cakes that day.
As more and more students came out, the food sellers all got busy. Among all the stalls at the school gate, Su Qiao’s was the most eye-catching, but also the quietest. Not a single person even came to take a look.
Seeing this, Su Peng grew anxious.
He quickly stood up from the ground and tugged at his little sister. “Get up! I’ll take you for a walk around.”
Saying that, he grabbed Xiao Lan and started walking circles around their stall.
Both children were dressed beautifully today. Xiao Lan, in particular, had a high ponytail, a style rarely seen among kids these days.
Even though she was still young with large eyes, as she walked around, the ponytail bounced with every step. The bow on top of her head seemed to come alive, making her look incredibly lively.
This immediately caught the attention of a few little girls nearby who were about to buy fruit.
One of the girls stood up, walked over, and pointed at the bow on Xiao Lan’s head, asking excitedly, “Where did you get this?”
Being approached by a stranger like this made Xiao Lan a little shy.
She looked up at her older brother and received an encouraging nod.
Gathering her courage, the little girl pointed toward her sister sitting nearby and whispered, “Over there with my sister… there’s lots, and they’re really pretty!”
After saying this, she let go of her brother’s hand and ran into her sister’s arms.
Their conversation caught the attention of the other girls, and when they heard Xiao Lan, they came closer.
“Hey, look at the hair tie her sister made! It’s so pretty too, it matches the one on her head!”
One of the girls said something, and the others’ eyes immediately fell on Su Qiao’s bun hairstyle.
At this time, no one wore hair like that; most people stuck to the habit of braiding pigtails.
Especially for elementary school kids, when family members brushed their hair, they usually dampened it and tied it very tightly.
They feared that if the children played too wildly at school, their hair would come undone before the end of the day, looking like little wildlings.
Some families with two working parents or many children were too lazy to brush hair every morning, so they tied it even tighter, hoping it could stay neat for a whole week after one morning’s effort.
That’s why Su Qiao’s slightly fluffy bun immediately drew attention.
“It’s so pretty! Are these hair ties for sale?” Finally, someone noticed the hair accessories neatly arranged on the oilcloth.
“Yes, they’re for sale. The bows are 0.2 yuan each, and the hair ties are 0.25 yuan each.”
Su Qiao pointed to the neatly displayed items and said this to the girls.
“Ah, so expensive!” a little girl exclaimed in surprise.
Su Qiao glanced at the tea egg the girl was holding and smiled. “One tea egg is 0.1 yuan, and once you eat it, it’s gone. This bow on your head can look stylish for a whole year! Which one do you think is more expensive?”
The girl was left speechless.
“I’ll take one,” a hand reached out from behind the group, holding a 0.2 yuan note.
The girl was taller, clearly an older student.
“Great! Which color would you like?” Seeing a customer, Su Qiao immediately became more energized.
She squatted by the oilcloth and pointed at each one for the girl: “The red is bright, the blue is lively, and this dark green really matches clothes, looks best with green military-style uniforms.”
Hearing this, the girl’s expression showed obvious hesitation.
Then another girl standing next to her spoke up: “Shall we buy together? I’ll get red, you get blue, and later we can swap them.”
Hearing that, the first girl immediately lit up with excitement: “Okay! We’ll switch once a week, then we’ll each have two bows!”
Hearing this, the other girls exchanged glances and also perked up.
If two people could buy two colors, then with three people taking turns, wouldn’t that mean each person could have three bows?
They immediately started forming groups, pairing off or forming trios, and quickly divided the bows among themselves.
No one had expected things to develop this way. Seeing their favorite designs disappear so quickly, the girl who had earlier bought the tea eggs was on the verge of tears.
She looked at Su Qiao with pleading eyes and asked, “Will you come again this afternoon? I’ll go home at noon to get money, please wait here for me this afternoon, okay?”
A troubled expression appeared on Su Qiao’s face.
She shrugged helplessly. “I only brought this much today. Once it’s sold, that’s it. I don’t know if I’ll have more this afternoon. How about this: come the day after tomorrow. I’ll come every other day from now on, and I’ll bring more next time. If you come early, you can pick first.”
Hearing this, the girl looked clearly reluctant.
But seeing other students, worried they might miss out, start frantically choosing, she realized she wouldn’t get her favorite today.
Reluctantly, her eyes scanned the oilcloth and fell on the set of “grabbing toys” that Su Peng and Su Lan had been playing with earlier.
“These are made by my sister too,” Su Peng quickly said, noticing the girl looking at the toys while his sister and brother were busy.
Then he squatted down to demonstrate how to play, handing over the small beanbags: “You can try them, it’s really comfortable to use.”
The girl hesitated at first but took them in her hands and weighed them.
The moment she did, her excitement spiked. Her fingers flew nimbly as she began playing with them expertly.
“Wow, this is so good! It’s so smooth to use!”
As experienced players of the grabbing toys, they could tell right away by handling them.
The girl held all five little beanbags in her hands, practically inventing tricks as she played, squealing in delight.
With a quick reverse of her hand, she gathered all five beanbags tightly into her palm.
Turning to Su Qiao, she asked, “How much is this?”
Even as she spoke, she kept the set clutched tightly in her hands, clearly not planning to let go.
“One cent each. This set has five, so five cents,” Su Qiao said with a glance.
Hearing the price, the girl visibly relaxed and quickly pulled the only five-cent coin from her pocket, placing it into Su Qiao’s hand.
Then she hurriedly put the set of five little beanbag toys into her pocket.
“Xu Yan, is this really that good?”
Seeing how much she liked it, the other girls who came with her all grew curious.
“Really, it’s perfect to use. The little beanbags aren’t too light or too heavy, just right. They feel soft, don’t hurt when they hit the back of your hand, and aren’t easy to drop. You can try it for yourselves!”
Now that the toys were hers, the girl relaxed. Seeing her friends’ interest, she generously took the set out again for them to try.
With her enthusiastic recommendation, two more girls bought a set of beanbag toys.
In just twenty minutes, nearly half of the items they had brought from home were sold. Su Wei was completely in awe of his elder sister!
Yesterday afternoon, she had taken those small leftover scraps of fabric, which he had no idea how to use, and made little fingertip-sized beanbags. She even made him go to the river to collect fine sand, wash it clean, and dry it in the sun.
At first, he didn’t understand her plan. When he realized she intended to sell them as toys, Su Wei thought it was unbelievable, selling sand? How could that be possible!
At this moment, everyone was playing with the beanbag toys, and the game didn’t distinguish between boys and girls.
Usually, the materials used were small stones or pieces of wood.
Some particularly resourceful families could even find goat leg bones.
A set made that way was considered the most luxurious and impressive. Whoever had one would be the envy of all the kids.
But such sets were extremely rare; most families couldn’t get them.
As for using tiny beanbags to make these toys, Su Wei had never seen that before.
He couldn’t help but glance at his sister with admiration, completely puzzled by how her brain worked and how she came up with so many creative ideas.