Faced with Zhang Hongyan's question, Xia Qingqing nodded without hesitation: "That's right, school will start soon, and Gou Dan will have to go to school. School won't be as easy as it is now, so let's make him happy first."

Okay, Zhang Hongyan thought her daughter had a point: "Then you have to keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn't get kidnapped."

“No problem, I will hold his hand tightly when we get to the county town and I will never let go.”

When Gou Dan was shaken awake from his dream, he was still a little unhappy. After opening his eyes, he found that the person who woke him up was actually his sister. He immediately remembered what happened yesterday: "Sister, did you call me to go to the county?"

"Yes, hurry up and get dressed, or the oxcart will leave," Xia Qingqing threw Gou Dan's clothes at his head.

Dog Egg quickly got up and hurriedly dressed: "Sister, I'm ready, let's go."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Xia Qingqing immediately stopped him, forced him to brush his teeth and wash his face, and then took him out.

I don’t know if it’s because Gou Dan didn’t develop the habit of brushing his teeth since he was a child, or because the toothpaste tasted bad at this time, but he disliked brushing his teeth very much and needed Xia Qingqing to supervise him every time.

If it weren't for the fear of arousing suspicion by taking out children's toothpaste rashly, Xia Qingqing would have asked Gu Yunshu to find her some children's toothpaste.

The two siblings rode in an oxcart, swaying and rocking, until they arrived in the county town.

This was the first time Gou Dan had ever been to the county town since he could remember. Looking at the clean streets and buildings on both sides, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

"Sister, the county town is so bustling!"

Xia Qingqing thought to herself, what kind of prosperity is this small county town? Not to mention decades from now, big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are far superior to this small place.

Gently patting Gou Dan's little head, she encouraged him, "Study hard in the future, and once you leave this small county, you will see a more prosperous world, with taller buildings and four-wheeled cars..."

As Gou Dan listened to his sister's description, his eyes were filled with undisguised anticipation. Xia Qingqing's words planted a seed in Gou Dan's heart for the first time.

Gou Dan looked at his sister earnestly and said, "Sister, I will definitely study hard in the future. I want to go and see the world you described."

Xia Qingqing smiled with relief: "I believe you can do it."

Although Zhang Hongyan had given both of them eggs before they left home in the morning, Xia Qingqing still took Gou Dan directly to the state-run restaurant since it was a rare opportunity to visit the county town.

It was Gou Dan's first time in a place like this, so he seemed a little reserved and clung to his sister's clothes, unwilling to let go.

Xia Qingqing glanced at today's menu on the blackboard, then asked with her head down, "Gou Dan, do you want meat buns or noodles?"

"I want to eat meat buns," Gou Dan's eyes lit up at the mention of meat, and he chose meat buns without hesitation.

Xia Qingqing took out her money and went to the window to buy six meat buns and a bowl of plain noodles. Then she found a table and sat down with Gou Dan.

Dog Egg took a bite of the meat bun with relish and exclaimed indistinctly, "It's so delicious! It's even better than what Mom makes!"

Previously, Xia Qingqing brought back such a large piece of meat, and at Gou Dan's pleading, Zhang Hongyan made meat buns once.

"How dare you say that in front of Mom? Be careful she never makes meat buns for you again," Xia Qingqing deliberately threatened Gou Dan.

Startled, Gou Dan quickly shook his head: "I misspoke. Mom's cooking is better than this. Sister, you must not say such things in front of Mom."

"Haha, I was just teasing you, I definitely won't tell Mom," Xia Qingqing laughed, then lowered her head to focus on eating her plain noodles.

After finishing a meat bun, Gou Dan watched his sister slurping down noodles and suddenly wanted some too: "Sis, can I have a bite of your noodles? I've never had noodles from a state-run restaurant before."

The portion of a bowl of plain noodles was quite large. When Xia Qingqing heard him say he wanted to eat, she immediately went to the window to ask the waiter for another bowl and put half a bowl out for Gou Dan: "Here, eat up, you little glutton."

After the two had eaten and drunk their fill, Xia Qingqing took Gou Dan directly to Qin Chuan's house.

Xia Qingqing hasn't come for a month, but fortunately, she mentioned last time that she might have something come up and couldn't come occasionally, so Qin Chuan and the others didn't need to worry about her.

Qin Chu'an looked at the little boy standing next to Xia Qingqing and asked curiously, "Xia Qingqing, who is this?"

Although Qin Chuan guessed that this should be Xia Qingqing's younger brother, he did not say it directly, after all, he could also be her nephew.

"This is my brother, you can just call him Lele." Gou Dan's real name is Xia Jiale. After all, this is not the countryside, so Xia Qingqing thinks it's better to let people call him by his real name.

In particular, Gou Dan will be starting elementary school soon, and he'll have to get used to people calling him by his full name at school.

Xia Qingqing, holding Gou Dan's hand, noticed that he was a little nervous. She pointed to Qin Chu'an and his sister and introduced them to him, saying, "Lele, these are Brother Xiao'an and Sister Xinxin. Say hello to them."

Dog Egg obediently greeted everyone, and they all went into the main room together.

Qin Chu'an asked her younger sister to play with Gou Dan, while she and Xia Qingqing went into the room to talk: "Sister Xia, this is the 100 yuan from the meat sale last time, and some tickets."

After selling the meat the first time, Qin Chuan saw what Aunt Huang was thinking, so he took another 100 jin of meat from Xia Qingqing and brought it to Aunt Huang. Sure enough, Aunt Huang bought all the meat in one go.

Following Xia Qingqing's instructions, Qin Chuan exchanged a portion of the money for various kinds of tickets, accumulating a large stack of them.

"Thank you for your hard work. This 10 yuan is your commission," Xia Qingqing said, handing one of the ten-yuan bills to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chu'an said somewhat embarrassedly, "Sister Xia, you don't need this much. You even gave us meat, so you should deduct the cost from that."

Seeing that he wouldn't take it, Xia Qingqing put the money directly on the bed: "Consider the meat as my treat for you two as your older sister. Keep the money; it's what you deserve."

To be honest, Qin Chuan's help made things much easier for Xia Qingqing. Every time she sold something, she only needed to send it to Qin Chuan and wait to receive the money.

Only after hearing her say that did Qin Chu'an feel at ease and put the money in her pocket.

"Sister Xia, don't you have anything to sell this time?" Qin Chu'an asked Xia Qingqing with some anticipation.

Xia Qingqing always carries a basket with her on her back when she comes over. As long as she doesn't open the lid, no one knows what's inside. She brought the basket with her when she entered the room just now.

She took out five cloth strips from the basket. These were all made by Zhang Hongyan before, but she hadn't had time to give them to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan was very happy to see Bulaji. No matter what he was selling, he was at ease as long as Xia Qingqing had something for him to sell.

Sitting outside waiting for his sister, Gou Dan nervously fidgeted with his fingers and was too embarrassed to speak to Qin Chuxin.

Qin Chuxin wasn't a talkative person, so the air became quiet for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, Qin Chuxin went to the kitchen and made a bowl of sweet soup, then brought it to Gou Dan: "Lele, would you like some sweet soup?"