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

Mrs. Chen beamed from ear to ear: "Good, good, good, Grandma will wait!"

Su Xiaoyin asked from the side, "Li An, how old are you this year?"

Ang Lee said, "It's seven years old."

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "That's great, they can already read. In a couple of years, we plan to send them to school. We don't expect them to pass the imperial examinations, just to be able to read and write."

Li Hu said, "Sister-in-law, five or six years old is just right to send them. Our Li An was sent a bit late. Some children in the county town start their education at three years old. If they want to take the imperial examinations, they have to study for more than ten years."

Chen's mother said, "We haven't thought that far ahead. We just want to see if they have the talent. If they do, we'll support them; if not, we'll just make sure they can read a few words and not get scammed."

Li Hu nodded: "Thinking this way is the most reassuring."

---

Chatting and laughing, the mule cart entered the county town. Li Hu and Li An got off the cart, and Li Hu insisted on giving Chen's mother money. Chen's mother frowned and said, "What money?! It's just a small favor, I won't accept it!"

Li Hu couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he had to give up and thanked her repeatedly before leaving with his son.

Mother Chen drove her mule cart to the usual spot and set up her stall. She said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go and deliver the embroidery to Manager Sun first. Come back after you're done, there's no rush."

Su Xiaoyin nodded and walked towards Sun's bookstore with Su Xiaoqing.

---

Inside the Sun family bookstore, Manager Sun was arranging books behind the counter. Seeing the two sisters enter, his eyes lit up, and he quickly greeted them, "Ladies, you've arrived! Please come in, please come in!"

He invited the person into the back room and had the waiter bring hot tea. Su Xiaoyin carefully took out the Five Relationships Chart from the basket on her back and gently unfolded it.

Manager Sun stepped forward, took one look, and froze.

This Five Relationships embroidery is even more exquisite than the previous one. The five birds are lifelike: the phoenix has magnificent feathers, the crane has an elegant posture, the mandarin ducks are intimately cuddling, the wagtail is lively and agile, and the oriole sings sweetly. Every detail is meticulously embroidered. Peonies and lingzhi mushrooms surround the embroidery, and the gold thread glitters under the light. The entire piece is magnificent and breathtaking.

Shopkeeper Sun looked at it for a long time before letting out a long sigh: "Excellent! Excellent! Even better than the last one!"

Su Xiaoyin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "You flatter me, shopkeeper. Could you please see if there's anything that needs to be changed?"

Manager Sun waved his hands repeatedly, "No need, no need! There's absolutely no problem! My cousin will definitely love it!" He took out a silver note from his pocket, counted out twenty-five taels and handed it over, "This is the final payment, ladies, please keep it safe."

Su Xiaoyin took the silver note, examined it carefully, and put it into her inner pocket.

Shopkeeper Sun then said, "Ladies, please send your finished large embroidery pieces to me first. If there's anything suitable, I'll buy it. I have many customers coming and going; people from the prefectural city and the county town all want good things."

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "Okay, shopkeeper, we'll send them over for you to inspect first from now on."

Manager Sun kept them talking for a while longer before the two sisters took their leave.

---

Stepping out of the bookstore, Su Xiaoqing grabbed her sister's hand, jumping for joy: "Sister! We got it again! Twenty-five taels!"

Su Xiaoyin smiled and pulled her towards the stall: "Come on, let's send the money back to Mother first, and then go to the cloth shop to buy things."

Back at the stall, Chen's mother was attending to customers. Su Xiaoyin handed her the silver note, which Chen's mother glanced at, her face lighting up with a smile, before quickly putting it away.

"Mother, let's go to the fabric shop to buy the things we need for the next embroidery," Su Xiaoyin said.

Mother Chen nodded and took out some loose silver from her purse, handing it to them: "Take this. After you've bought your things, go to the butcher shop and buy some meat for dinner."

Su Xiaoyin took the silver and walked towards the cloth shop with Su Xiaoqing.

---

On the way, Su Xiaoqing asked, "Sister, what should we embroider next? Have you decided yet?"

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "I've decided. Let's embroider a picture of a Qilin delivering a child."

Su Xiaoqing was taken aback: "A painting of a Qilin delivering a child?"

Su Xiaoyin said, "That's right. Think about it, why did Madam Yu want to buy our Guanyin giving a child painting before? Wasn't it because we had twins, and she thought we were blessed? All the married ladies in the county who haven't had children for many years want this the most. If we embroider a Qilin giving a child painting, someone will definitely buy it."

Su Xiaoqing's eyes lit up: "Sister, you're right! We can gradually turn the patterns in that picture book into embroidery designs."

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "We'll save those flower and bird patterns in the catalog for later embroidery. Let's finish the Qilin Bringing a Child pattern first, and take advantage of our current reputation to get more orders."

Su Xiaoqing nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I'll do as you say!"

---

The shopkeeper greeted them warmly, "Ladies, you're here again! What would you like to order this time?"

Su Xiaoyin listed what she wanted—fine silk fabric, various colored silk threads, and some gold thread. The shopkeeper brought out each item for them to choose from, praising them as he did so: "Ladies, you've taken on another big job, haven't you? Your craftsmanship is truly exceptional."

Su Xiaoqing smiled and said, "Thanks to you, shopkeeper."

After selecting the items and calculating the bill, they had spent a little over four taels of silver. As usual, the shopkeeper gave them two large bundles of fabric scraps, and even specially selected some brightly colored ones, saying they were for making small items.

---

As they left the cloth shop, the market was gradually emptying out. Su Xiaoyin glanced at the sky and said, "Let's go to the meat stall."

There were only a few pieces of pork belly left at the butcher's stall. Su Xiaoyin picked out a piece with a good balance of fat and lean meat, and also bought two large bones. The butcher was a regular customer, and seeing them come in, he smiled and gave them an extra piece of lard.

"Take this, go back and render the oil, it'll smell delicious."

Su Xiaoqing quickly thanked her.

---

Back at the stall, Chen's mother was already packing up. Seeing them return, she asked, "Have you bought everything?"

Su Xiaoyin nodded and put the things she bought into her basket. Chen's mother packed up the stall, and the three of them drove the mule cart back home.

On the way, Su Xiaoqing told her about her plan to embroider the next picture of a unicorn bringing a child. Chen's mother nodded repeatedly, "That's a good idea! The ladies in the county town who are eager for children will definitely be willing to spend the money."

Su Xiaoyin said, "Mother, we're thinking of showing the finished large embroidery to Manager Sun first. He said he has a lot of customers, and if there's a suitable one, he'll buy it."

Chen's mother said, "Okay, that's a safer approach. With him helping to introduce products, we won't have to worry about finding a market."

---

When they got home, it wasn't dark yet. Father Chen was playing with his four children in the yard. Shitou led his younger siblings in chasing the puppy, running all over the yard, their giggles carrying far.

Seeing them return, the four children rushed over to them. Shi Tou hugged Su Xiaoyin's leg, looking up at her with his little face and asking, "Mommy, you're back! Did you bring us anything yummy?"

Su Xiaoyin smiled and patted his head: "I brought it, I brought it. We'll have meat for dinner tonight!"