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

The two sisters, familiar with the place, arrived at their usual fabric shop. The shopkeeper, recognizing them as regulars, greeted them with a smile: "You two ladies have arrived? What would you like to order this time?"

Su Xiaoyin explained her purpose, and the shopkeeper immediately brought out several bolts of fine cotton cloth for them to choose from. They were all top-quality materials, soft and delicate, perfect for making underwear for newborns.

The two sisters carefully selected two simple bolts of fabric—one moon white and one light pink, both of which were high-quality materials suitable for embroidery. They also picked out some embroidery thread, carefully choosing the colors as well.

The shopkeeper quickly calculated: "Two bolts of fine cotton cloth, plus these embroidery threads, will cost one tael and one mace of silver. You're regular customers, so one tael will suffice."

Su Xiaoyin paid the money, and as usual, the shopkeeper gave her two bundles of fabric scraps. This time, the fabric scraps were of good quality, with several small pieces of fine cotton cloth and bright colors.

"These can be used to make many small things." Su Xiaoqing carefully put away the scraps of cloth. "I'll make some socks for the children when I get back, and the rest can be used to make hair ties."

After buying the fabric, the two returned to the stall. Chen's mother was attending to customers, and Su Xiaoyin quickly went over to help.

"Sister, you help Mom sell the goods, I'll go to the meat stall." Su Xiaoqing said as she walked towards the meat stall.

Upon arriving at the butcher's stall, the butcher was beckoning customers with his knife. Su Xiaoqing squeezed forward: "Uncle, give me five big bones, the ones with lots of meat. And two sets of offal, cleaned thoroughly."

The butcher responded, swiftly chopped the bones with his knife, and then took two clean sets of pig offal, wrapped them in lotus leaves, and handed them over.

Su Xiaoqing took the things and was about to leave when she caught sight of several pieces of white lard on the cutting board next to her. She thought for a moment, then asked, "Uncle, how much is this lard?"

"Fifteen coins a pound, fresh."

"Give me five jin."

The butcher was delighted and cut off a large piece of lard, which he put on the scale: "Five catties, seventy-five coins."

Su Xiaoqing paid the money, wrapped up the lard, and then walked back home satisfied.

Back at the stall, Chen's mother saw the large bags in her hands and laughed, "You bought so much?"

Su Xiaoqing put the things down: "Mom, I saw that we didn't have much lard at home, so I bought five more pounds. We'll render some lard when we get back, and it'll make the stir-fries more fragrant after the autumn harvest."

Mrs. Chen nodded: "You're very thoughtful. Okay, I'll listen to you."

As the sun rose higher, fewer customers remained at the stall. Su Xiaoyin helped Chen's mother put away the remaining goods, while Su Xiaoqing sorted out the items she had bought one by one.

"Mother, when are we going back?" Su Xiaoqing asked.

Chen's mother glanced at the sky and said, "Let's wait a little longer. We'll leave when there aren't many people around. I'm worried about your father taking care of the child alone at home."

As they were talking, an older woman selling vegetables nearby chimed in, "Sister Chen, your two daughters-in-law are really capable. They help with setting up the stall and buying things; they're clearly good at managing a household."

Mother Chen smiled so much her eyes narrowed into slits: "That's right, my two daughters-in-law are both filial and capable, I'm so lucky."

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing were a little embarrassed by the praise, and they lowered their heads and smiled with their lips pursed.

After a while, the crowd at the market gradually dispersed. Mother Chen packed her things and called to her two daughters-in-law, "Let's go home."

The mule cart creaked and groaned along the road back to the village. Su Xiaoyin leaned against the cart, looking at the crops on both sides of the road that were already turning yellow, thinking about the eggs she would pickle, the lard she would render, and the little clothes she would make. The autumn harvest hadn't started yet, but preparations were already underway.

This autumn should be better than last year.

----

"Big brother, what do you think of what I made?"

Chen Xiaohe excitedly looked up from his pile of bamboo strips and wood, holding a palm-sized wooden carving in his hands, and handed it to Chen Dashan. It was a reclining deer, its limbs curled up, its head slightly raised, its two ears perked up, looking utterly adorable. Although the carving technique was still a bit immature, the spirit of the deer was already there, especially the eyes, which were carved vividly.

Chen Dashan took it, examining it several times, a look of surprise in his eyes. He held the fawn up to the light, carefully scrutinizing every knife mark, and after a long while, he said, "Xiaohe, your skills... are even better than mine now."

Chen Xiaohe was a little embarrassed by the praise and scratched his head: "Brother, you're just talking nonsense. I'm nothing special, my skills are far inferior to yours. It's just that I've been helping you every day lately, so I've gotten a bit more skilled."

Chen Dashan shook his head and said seriously, "I'm serious. Look at the deer's eyes, I couldn't have carved that expression before. Haven't you noticed? You've improved a lot lately." He returned the deer to his younger brother, "Keep it. If you collect enough, you might be able to sell it for a good price."

Chen Xiaohe chuckled, carefully placing the fawn aside, then picked up the bamboo strips beside him: "Alright, then I'll hurry up and weave some more bamboo woven goods. Big brother, you said you'd also weave a large mat, right?"

Chen Dashan nodded: "Yes, your sister-in-law said before that we didn't have enough mats for drying things. You should weave a few more big ones, we can use them to dry grain and dried goods during the autumn harvest."

"Okay!" Chen Xiaohe replied and buried himself in his work.

---

In the east wing, Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing were engrossed in their embroidery.

These past two days, they haven't touched the "Guanyin Praying for a Child" painting. Instead, they've been rushing to make items for Steward Liu's unborn child. It's a matter of courtesy and goodwill, and they have to put their heart into it.

Several finished items were already laid out on the kang (heated brick bed): two bright red bibs embroidered with chubby babies holding carp, symbolizing "abundance year after year"; four matching bibs, each with simple cloud patterns embroidered on the edges; two small pillows stuffed with this year's newly harvested buckwheat hulls, soft and breathable; and two sets each of tiger-head shoes and tiger-head hats, the tiger heads embroidered with a majestic air, using colorful silk threads treasured by Su Xiaoyin.

The most time-consuming task was the "Hundred Blessings" quilt. Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing used scraps of fabric in various colors to piece together a hundred different "福" (blessing) characters, and then sewed them onto the quilt cover with fine stitches. This work was hard on both the eyes and hands, but the two sisters did it with exceptional care.

"Sister, these things for Steward Liu should be finished today." Su Xiaoqing put down her needlework and stretched her stiff neck.

Su Xiaoyin also looked up and rubbed her eyes: "Hmm, that's about it. We can continue embroidering the Guanyin picture tomorrow."

Su Xiaoqing's eyes lit up, and she leaned closer: "Sister, shall we go up the mountain later? I've been cooped up at home doing embroidery these past few days, I feel like I'm going to grow mold. Let's see if any wild fruits are ripe, and if we can find a persimmon tree, let's note its location so we can pick some for Mom to make persimmon cakes. Mom's persimmon cakes were so delicious last year."

Su Xiaoyin was also somewhat tempted. Looking at the sky outside, she said, "Okay, let's go for a walk. We'll go early and come back early, so we won't be late to make lunch."