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

The midday sun was scorching, making the stone slabs on the street scorching hot, and even the air seemed to be distorted by the heat. The general store, however, was cool, with both the front and back doors wide open, and a draft whistled through, filling the room with the aroma of braised meat from the counter.

Su Xiaoyin spent the whole morning working in the small kitchen in the backyard and finally finished preparing lunch. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, brought the food to the front, and said to Su Xiaoqing, who was organizing the goods, "Xiaoqing, you stay home and eat with Qingqing. I'll take a bowl of steamed egg custard to Mom first. It's so hot today, she probably didn't eat properly at the stall."

Su Xiaoqing took the apron and nodded: "Sister, you go ahead. I'll watch the shop. Qingqing is well-behaved and doesn't cause any trouble."

Qingqing was sitting on a small stool behind the counter, holding an old book and reading the words carefully. She'd been recognizing more and more characters lately; Shitou and the others taught her every day after school, and she learned even faster than Shitou. Hearing Su Xiaoyin speak, she looked up and said sweetly, "Mom, come home early."

Su Xiaoyin smiled and patted her head, then took out a bowl of steamed egg custard from the pot, sprinkled a few goji berries on top, drizzled a few drops of sesame oil, wrapped it in a cloth, and went out with the basket.

The market was much less crowded than in the morning. Most stall owners were taking a break at midday; some were dozing off at their stalls, while others were munching on their own dry rations. Chen's mother's stall was located towards the back, not too sunny, but still unbearably hot. She was sitting on a small stool behind her stall, fanning herself idly with a palm-leaf fan, with no customers in front of her.

"Mom!" Su Xiaoyin walked over and placed the basket beside the stall. "It's hot. You haven't eaten properly, have you? I steamed some egg custard. Eat it while it's hot."

When Chen's mother saw her, a smile appeared on her face, but she scolded her gently, "Xiaoyin, why did you come here? It's so hot at midday, you're all sweaty. I'll just grab a bite at the stall, don't run around like that, you might get heatstroke."

Su Xiaoyin brought out the sponge cake and placed it in front of Chen's mother. She then took a pair of chopsticks from the basket and said with a smile, "It's alright, Mom. I walked here, so it's not hot. Please eat quickly, it won't taste good when it gets cold. Tomorrow is the autumn harvest, and the family will be busy. You need to take good care of yourself."

Chen's mother took the chopsticks, scooped a spoonful of steamed egg custard, and put it in her mouth. The steamed egg custard was smooth and melted in her mouth, with a light salty taste mixed with the aroma of sesame oil and a hint of sweetness from goji berries. She nodded and scooped another spoonful: "Delicious, Xiaoyin, your cooking is getting better and better."

Su Xiaoyin sat down beside her mother-in-law, watching her eat, and said, "Mom, I'll go to the butcher's later and buy a pig's head, some big bones, and offal. Tomorrow is the autumn harvest, so I'll braise it tonight and save it for when we're harvesting. Big bones can be used to make soup and stews; they'll be oily and flavorful, which will give the workers the strength to do the work."

As Chen's mother ate, she nodded and said, "Okay, you can buy whatever you think is best. The pig's head meat is fresh this year, so buy plenty. We also need to stock up on the braised meats in the shop, as we'll be busy on both sides during the autumn harvest."

As the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking, a familiar figure walked over from the other end of the market. Su Xiaoyin, with her sharp eyes, spotted him first and quickly stood up: "Manager Liu! What brings you here? It's so hot in the middle of the day!"

Liu Yilong, dressed in a slightly worn official uniform and wearing a straw hat, had a tanned, dark red face and his forehead was covered in sweat. He walked up to the stall, smiling and waving his hand, "It's not hot, I'm used to it. Aunt Chen, Madam Chen, are you both here?"

Chen's mother quickly stood up and pulled up a stool for him to sit on. Liu Yilong waved his hand, didn't sit down, took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his sweat, and said bluntly, "Madam Chen, I came to ask you if you have any work on hand right now? I'd like to order a large embroidery pattern."

Su Xiaoyin's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't show it on her face. She calmly asked, "Manager Liu, what kind of embroidery design would you like?"

Liu Yilong said, "It's not for my use, it's for someone else. A distant cousin of mine works in the prefectural government office. His superior's elder is having a birthday celebration and he wanted to give an embroidery as a gift. He found several embroiderers, but none of them were satisfactory. They either thought the craftsmanship was too rough or the meaning was bad. He knows about your sisters' skills, so he asked me to inquire."

Su Xiaoyin thought for a moment and said, "Manager Liu, we don't have a ready-made large embroidery pattern on hand right now. However, we did draw an embroidery pattern before called 'Five Blessings Surrounding Longevity,' which has an auspicious meaning and is suitable for celebrating an elder's birthday. But..."

Liu Yilong quickly asked, "Just what?"

Su Xiaoyin said, "But our family will start the autumn harvest tomorrow, and we'll be busy for a while, so there won't be time to do the embroidery. We'll have to wait until the harvest is over before we can start. Besides, this embroidery is quite time-consuming; it requires a lot of embroidery thread and gold thread, so it will take at least three and a half months to complete."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yilong was not disappointed at all; instead, he smiled and said repeatedly, "No problem, no problem! As long as your skills are up to par, it's fine. My cousin has been looking for embroiderers to make embroidery patterns for a long time, but he's not satisfied with any of them. It's okay if it takes a little longer; slow and steady wins the race. Okay, then let's settle on it for now. Please let me know as soon as you're done."

Su Xiaoyin was delighted and quickly replied, "Manager Liu, don't worry. We'll get started as soon as the autumn harvest is over. Once it's finished, we'll send it to you for your inspection."

Liu Yilong gave a few more instructions before taking his leave.

After Manager Liu had walked away, Su Xiaoyin turned to Chen's mother and said with a hint of joy in her voice, "Mother, we won't have to worry about selling the next embroidery. The job Manager Liu recommended is definitely reliable."

Mother Chen was happy for her and said with a smile, "You two sisters have good skills, and your reputation has spread. You won't have to worry about not having work. Alright, go and buy the pig's head. Go back early after you're done. Xiaoqing is all alone in the shop, and she has to look after Qingqing."

Su Xiaoyin responded and walked towards the meat stall with her basket.

On the butcher's stall, there was still a pig's head left, cleaned thoroughly, plump and white. Su Xiaoyin picked out three large bones and a set of offal. The butcher recognized her and said with a smile, "Madam Chen, is it the autumn harvest tomorrow? Buying so much stuff."

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "Yes, boss, we'll be busy at home tomorrow, so we need to prepare more food. This pig's head is fresh, could you weigh it for me?"

The shopkeeper deftly weighed the items, wrapped them in lotus leaves, tied them with straw rope, and handed them to her: "Pig's head, twenty coins; large bones, five coins; offal, fifteen coins; forty coins in total. Here you go."

Su Xiaoyin paid the money, put the items in the basket, covered them with another cloth, and turned to walk towards the cloth shop.

Manager Zhou of the cloth shop was using an abacus behind the counter when he saw her enter. He greeted her with a smile, "Madam Chen, you're here! What would you like to order this time?"

Su Xiaoyin said, "Manager Zhou, I want a bolt of fine silk cloth, two bundles of gold thread, and a set of embroidery threads of various colors." After thinking for a moment, she added, "And two more bundles of fabric scraps, in brighter colors."