Following the address Qin Chuan gave her, Xia Qingqing arrived at a somewhat old courtyard.

After knocking on the courtyard gate, a little girl who looked seven parts like Qin Chu'an came out.

The girl looked at Xia Qingqing outside the door with a hint of wariness in her eyes and asked, "Is there something you need?"

"Hello, I'm here to see Qin Chuan. My surname is Xia."

After Xia Qingqing introduced herself, the girl gave her a slight smile: "So you're the Sister Xia that my brother was talking about. Sister, please come in first."

Xia Qingqing glanced at the house behind the girl, hesitated for a second, but still chose to follow her inside.

After entering the house, Qin Chuxin invited Xia Qingqing to sit down wherever she liked, and quickly washed a cup and poured her some water: "Sister Xia, please have some water first, my brother will be back soon."

Xia Qingqing took the water glass but didn't drink it right away. Instead, she smiled at the girl and asked, "You're Xiao An's sister, right? What's your name?"

"My name is Qin Chuxin, and my brother and I are twins."

A knowing glint flashed in Xia Qingqing's eyes: "No wonder I said you two look so alike."

The two chatted like this, making small talk, with Xia Qingqing asking questions and Qin Chuxin answering most of the time.

By the end of the conversation, Xia Qingqing felt like she was conducting a census.

Fortunately, Qin Chu'an returned not long after.

Qin Chu'an saw Xia Qingqing chatting with her younger sister and a surprised smile appeared on her face: "Sister Xia, you're finally here."

Before Xia Qingqing could speak, he ran to the next room and handed her a stack of money: "Here is 63 yuan. Count it and see if it's correct."

Xia Qingqing didn't stand on ceremony and took the money, counting it out: "That's right, exactly 63 yuan."

Then he handed three yuan to Qin Chuan and said, "Xiao An, this is your commission."

Qin Chu'an took the money and happily waved it at his sister.

This fabric is selling really well. He sold 7 pieces on the first day, and the remaining 3 pieces sold out on the second day as well. And there are still many people who want to buy it.

Qin Chu'an had been waiting anxiously for Xia Qingqing these past few days, going to the black market every day to check, afraid that Xia Qingqing wouldn't be able to find him when she arrived.

After putting away the remaining money, Xia Qingqing was quite satisfied with Qin Chuan's performance; she could keep this errand boy for the time being.

He opened the basket he had brought and said, "Xiao An, this time there are 22 pieces of cloth. Can you sell them?"

It's really inconvenient for her to come to the county town, and if she sells little by little, she doesn't know how long it would take, so she simply sells a little more at once.

Anyway, she doesn't have to sell them herself, and even if she gets caught, she'll only lose a little bit of cloth.

Qin Chu'an readily agreed: "No problem, these fabrics sell very well, I can sell them all in less than 3 days."

He could sell 200 pieces of cloth, let alone 22.

"No rush, take your time selling them. Safety first."

Having received payment and given the fabric to Qin Chu'an, Xia Qingqing prepared to take her leave.

Qin Chu'an escorted the person to the door, glanced into the courtyard, and, noticing that his younger sister hadn't followed, said to Xia Qingqing:

"Sister Xia, can you do me a favor?"

Xia Qingqing raised an eyebrow and asked, "What kind of help? Tell me, and I'll definitely help if I can."

She only learned from her conversation with Qin Chuxin that the siblings' parents had both passed away and they had little contact with their relatives. The two siblings were all living together and the children looked quite pitiful, so she didn't mind helping them with a little something.

“Xin Xin really likes these fabrics. I wanted to buy a piece of fabric myself to make her a dress, but I’m sure she wouldn’t want to. So could you please tell her that you’re giving these to her for free? And the cost of the fabric will be deducted from my commission,” Qin Chu’an said, looking at Xia Qingqing with anticipation.

Xia Qingqing chuckled lightly: "No problem, just give it to her. I'll definitely help you cover up this white lie next time I come."

"Thank you, Sister Xia," Qin Chu'an said happily as she returned home, satisfied with the result.

——

Xia Qingqing didn't rush to the oxcart to gather, but instead turned around and went to the supply and marketing cooperative, where she wanted to buy some things.

The county supply and marketing cooperative wasn't very big, but the shelves were full of things, including daily necessities, candies, pastries, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Xia Qingqing's eyes lit up as she looked at the items on the shelves, eager to buy a lot, but unfortunately, most of the items required ration coupons.

The saleswoman was a woman who looked to be in her thirties. Xia Qingqing used her sweet talk to call her "sister" first.

This immediately improved the saleswoman's impression of Xia Qingqing considerably. The little girl was about the same age as her daughter, yet she called her "sister." Oh dear, it was quite embarrassing.

Before Xia Qingqing could speak, he took the initiative to ask, "Little girl, what would you like to buy?"

"Sister, do I need coupons for toothbrushes and toothpaste?" Xia Qingqing had never bought toothbrushes and toothpaste before and didn't know if these two items required coupons.

"Neither of these items requires a coupon. A toothbrush costs two cents, and a tube of toothpaste costs five cents."

Xia Qingqing thought for a moment and asked for four toothbrushes and two tubes of toothpaste. Each family member would have one toothbrush, and she would use her own tube of toothpaste, as she didn't like sharing toothpaste with others.

The salesperson quickly calculated the price in his mind: "It's 1.8 yuan in total."

Xia Qingqing quickly took out the change from her pocket and handed it over. Only after confirming that the money was correct did the salesperson help Xia Qingqing get the items from the shelf.

The toothbrushes at this time were very crudely made, but Xia Qingqing didn't care to complain; it was better than using a twig.

Seeing that Xia Qingqing didn't leave after getting the items, her eyes fixed on the pastries on the shelf, the sales clerk smiled and asked, "Little girl, is there anything else you'd like? These candies and pastries are all newly arrived, and they taste quite good."

"Is there anything that doesn't require a ticket?" Xia Qingqing really wanted to buy some snacks to treat herself, but unfortunately, she only had money in her pocket and no tickets.

She hadn't thought about needing to exchange some receipts when she went to the black market last time, so she planned to ask Qin Chuan to help her get some next time.

The salesperson pointed to the White Rabbit candy on the shelf and said, "This candy doesn't require a coupon, but it's more expensive, costing 2 yuan per pound."

Xia Qingqing's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Could you please give me 3 jin?"

The sales clerk thought to herself how rich Xia Qingqing was, but still shook her head and said, "You can't buy that much. Each person is limited to one pound."

"Okay, then I'll take a pound."

Xia Qingqing once again felt the frustration of having money but not being able to spend it.

When she gets her tickets next time, she'll definitely buy them to her heart's content.

......

Back home, Zhang Hongyan looked at the few tubes of toothpaste and toothbrushes her daughter had bought for just over a dollar and her heart ached: "You child, do you have money to burn? Buying these useless things, you spendthrift!"

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. These two cheap things alone are enough to buy several kilograms of eggs.

Xia Qingqing quickly stepped forward to help her catch her breath: "Mom, don't worry, listen to me first."