After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Sure enough, their stall was constantly crowded with people throughout the morning. The exquisite and practical bamboo weaving was most popular with housewives; the adorable wooden animal carvings attracted many people with children; the brightly colored and uniquely styled hair ties and silk flowers made many young women and wives stop to pick them out; and the baby clothes and tiger-head shoes and hats made of soft, fine fabric with fine stitches were especially popular, with several women who looked well-off buying a whole set at once.

As noon approached, the peak of the crowds subsided, and many stalls were nearly empty. Mugwort was the first to sell out, followed by hair ties and baby clothes, and most of the bamboo and wood products were also gone.

Looking at the mostly empty stalls, Chen's mother was both happy and regretful: "If I had known it would be this busy, I should have made more! Xiaohe, quickly write it down. Tomorrow, bring at least twice as many hair ties, little clothes, and mugwort! Bamboo food boxes and sewing baskets are also popular. Xiaohe, finish another batch of simple ones tonight."

"I understand, Mother," Chen Xiaohe replied, her face glowing with a mixture of exhaustion and joy.

Chen Dashan roughly estimated his morning's earnings and calmly said to his mother, "Mother, I've roughly tallied up the copper coins and loose silver I collected this morning, and it's at least three taels of silver. If I calculate it carefully, it's probably close to four taels." Although he had expected the new market to be good, this amount still slightly surprised him.

Upon hearing this, Chen's mother's eyes lit up. She lowered her voice, but couldn't hide her smile: "Great! Great! A good start! Two more days, let's keep up the good work!" She planned, "Bring more things tomorrow, everyone in the family will have to stay up late tonight to finish some work. Oh, and we must prepare plenty of mugwort. I saw many people asking about it today. Hanging mugwort to ward off evil spirits during the Dragon Boat Festival is an old tradition."

After resting for a while, seeing that there were fewer people at the stalls, Chen's mother said to her two daughters-in-law, "Xiaoyin, Xiaoqing, take advantage of this break and go to the market. See if there are any bargains to be found, and buy some ingredients for making zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival, such as glutinous rice, dates, and bamboo leaves. We should also check out the butcher shop and buy some suitable meat or bones. We've made some money today, so we'll have a good meal tonight."

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing had long wanted to see the bustling market, and readily agreed upon hearing the suggestion. The two sisters carried empty baskets on their backs, took the silver given to them by Chen's mother, and joined the throng of people hand in hand.

The market was huge, and it sold everything imaginable. They first found the seafood stall and picked out a lively grass carp weighing over two pounds, intending to stew it for the Dragon Boat Festival. When they reached the meat stall, all the good meat was sold out, leaving only a few cleaned large bones. Su Xiaoyin looked at them; the bones were plump and perfect for soup, so she bought those too. Next, they found the grain and general merchandise stall, weighed out some high-quality glutinous rice, bought a large bag of bright red dates, and fresh, large bamboo leaves. Seeing a stall selling stewing spices, they remembered they were running low on seasonings at home and bought some as well.

Having bought almost everything, their baskets were getting heavy. The two sisters didn't linger, but thinking about the stalls, they headed back. Passing a stall selling homespun cloth and scraps of embroidery thread, Su Xiaoyin spotted a small bag of rare indigo fine embroidery thread at a reasonable price. Thinking she might need it for her embroidery, she bought it.

Back at their stall, Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe were packing up for the last few customers. The sun was already beginning to set, and the market was noticeably less crowded. Once no one else was asking about their stall, the family began to pack up. As Chen's mother had predicted, many items were sold out. Although exhausted, everyone's faces beamed with the joy of a successful harvest.

After loading the empty baskets and the few remaining goods onto the oxcart, Chen Dashan drove slowly away from the still bustling but gradually calming market. The oxcart creaked along the dirt road home. Inside the cart, Chen's mother couldn't help but bring up the matter again: "Dashan, in your opinion, with our family in such a state now, what if the government conscripts labor after the Dragon Boat Festival…"

Chen Dashan gripped the reins, his eyes fixed ahead, his voice steady yet firm: "Mother, this is what I'm thinking. If this year, like last year, they allow us to pay money to offset corvée labor, then our family... will take the money. Father is getting old; his previous corvée labor damaged his health, and he's been recuperating for a long time. My legs are better now, but I'm still not as able to handle heavy labor as a normal person. Xiaohe is young, but he has a lot of things to manage both inside and outside the home, and we can't do without him. Now that we have more income and are more financially comfortable, it's not worth sending our family out to suffer that hardship again. Paying money for peace and the well-being of our family is worth it."

Listening, Chen's mother nodded repeatedly, her face showing deep agreement: "You're right. That's what I meant too. Before, we had no choice but to tighten our belts and earn a living. Now it's different. We have skills, we're willing to work, and we can earn money. Let's avoid the hardship of forced labor if we can. Being healthy is more important than anything else. When the news comes down, if we can get the money, we'll pay it!"