Ying Sisi was not new to doing business.
When she still lived in the village, she often went around searching for local specialties—morel mushrooms, wild honey, and the like. She would work hard for a whole month and find quite a bit, but the prices were low and her income barely covered daily expenses.
Now it was different.
Even ordinary red paper could be turned into money.
She felt coming to the city had been the right choice.
Her path to wealth was just around the corner.
After receiving the money, she couldn’t help smiling brightly. “Thank you for your patronage.”
With a good start, the rest of the sales went even more smoothly. In less than two hours, she had almost sold out all her paper-cuts.
Her income was higher than expected—eight mao in total.
There was still one week before the New Year.
By the 28th, these things probably wouldn’t sell anymore.
Excluding preparation time, she could still sell for about two more days.
If things continued smoothly, she should be able to earn around five yuan.
Life finally had hope.
She gave the remaining paper-cuts to the gatekeeper boy.
He originally wanted to charge her a stall fee, but now felt too embarrassed to ask and let her go instead.
Ying Sisi had been out for half the day and was already frozen through.
She jogged toward the Qin household.
Passing the entrance of a department store, she stopped and went inside.
After browsing around, she spent her newly earned eight mao on a set of baby clothes and headed to the Qin house.
Just before reaching the alley, she saw the neighbor aunt who had once lent her charcoal, carrying a bucket and chatting with another neighbor.
“The Qin family’s little daughter-in-law is here again to see Yanci,” Aunt Qian teased with a smile.
Ying Sisi smiled shyly. “Hello, Auntie. I already got the marriage certificate with A Ci today. We’re officially husband and wife now.”
Her meaning was clear: don’t go around saying she was an unmarried girl frequently visiting a man’s house.
Aunt Qian laughed. “I know. Your mother-in-law told me early this morning.”
Ying Sisi gave an awkward grin. “Oh, I see. I have something to do, Auntie. You two chat.”
She left.
Aunt Qian watched her go and sighed with a smile. “Such a pretty girl, really likable.”
“No matter how pretty or likable she is, when that man has an episode, she’ll still get beaten,” the other woman said.
Aunt Qian sighed. She had warned the girl yesterday, but she hadn’t listened.
Still, she held on to a bit of hope. “They haven’t talked about his condition for years. Maybe he’s gotten better.”
“If he really got better, would he still accept her?”
“……”
Ying Sisi stood at the gate and called out, “A Ci.”
The next second, Qin Yanci walked out from the side room, with Qin’s father following behind him.
Ying Sisi smiled and greeted him. “Hello, Uncle.”
“Still calling me Uncle?” Qin’s father said with a smile.
Ying Sisi felt too shy to change the term.
Qin’s father laughed. “Come inside.”
“Alright.”
Qin Yanci pointed at the bag in her hand. “What did you bring?”
“Clothes for your little niece,” Ying Sisi said. After seeing through Li Yuwei’s true nature, her impression of her had dropped, but she still felt proper etiquette couldn’t be neglected. She couldn’t afford expensive gifts, so baby clothes were appropriate—showing her sincerity without being wasteful.
Qin’s father smiled. “We’re all family. No need to be so polite. How has your father been recently?”
“He’s doing well.”
After entering the house, Ying Sisi first went to the bedroom to visit Qin’s mother and give her the gift, chatting briefly before returning to the living room.
Qin’s father was persuading Qin Yanci to settle down and keep a stable job.
But Qin Yanci was determined to take the college entrance exam and would not change his mind.
In the end, Qin’s father had no choice and turned to her for help. “Sisi, you try to talk him out of it.”
Ying Sisi supported Qin Yanci in her heart, but didn’t want to offend Qin’s father. So she changed her tone:
“Dad, you know I haven’t studied much and don’t have much insight. A Ci has survived ten hard years in the northwest farm—what hasn’t he seen? He knows what he wants. As his wife, I’m already useless in many ways and can’t help him much—how could I possibly interfere in his decision?”
At the mention of the labor camp, Qin’s father felt guilty.
And with that one word—“Dad”—he lost all further arguments.
He could only sigh. “I’m just afraid he’ll regret it later.”