Wang Dagui's sister's birthday banquet only required making longevity peach buns, so Xia Chunmei didn't invite everyone from her team, only Xia Ping, Xia Hongfen, Aunt Lihua, and Xia Qiumei.

Xia Qiumei originally thought that Xia Chunmei wouldn't take her, so when Xia Chunmei said she would take her along, she jumped for joy.

Xia Chunmei really didn't want to take her along, but this time they had to wrap more than 700 longevity peach buns, which was a huge workload. Besides herself, the only other people in the team who knew how to wrap them were Xia Ping and her.

Fortunately, the weather is cold now, so we can make some the day before without worrying about them spoiling. Otherwise, if we waited until the day of the birthday banquet to make them, it would definitely be too late.

Xia Ping and Xia Qiumei were extremely excited as it was their first time in the city.

Seeing this, Xia Chunmei encouraged them, saying, "If we do this job well, many customers in the county will come to us for work, and we'll have many more opportunities to come to the city. I'm just afraid you'll find it too troublesome and won't want to come."

Xia Hongfen: "Chunmei is right. You two should work hard, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to go to the city in the future."

Wang Dagui's sister's husband's surname is Zhuang. The family runs a general store and a tofu shop, and they live a fairly good life. They know many people in the city who do small business.

Xia Chunmei felt that she could take this opportunity to open up the market for her peach-shaped steamed buns in the county town.

"If we finish our work and still have time, we can stroll around the city a bit," Xia Chunmei said.

Xia Qiumei quickly said, "Sister, may I buy a few hair ties?"

"If you behave well, I'll buy you two so you can alternate them."

Xia Qiumei quickly patted her chest and assured her, "Sister, don't worry, I'll definitely do it quickly and well."

Xia Qiumei does have various shortcomings, but she is still very diligent when it comes to doing things.

Soon they arrived at the dealer's location.

The Zhuang family treated Xia Chunmei very politely.

Xia Chunmei and the others had lunch at the farmhouse and then started working.

She plans to finish half of her task today so that tomorrow will be easier, and she can go shopping to prepare for her coming-of-age banquet.

After a whole afternoon and morning of hard work, 722 longevity peach buns were successfully cooked.

Xia Chunmei received 370 coins as a service fee. After deducting the wages of Xia Ping and Aunt Lihua, she still made 310 coins.

Generally speaking, Xia Chunmei and her friends would have eaten the birthday banquet at the Zhuang family's house, but Xia Chunmei still needed to go shopping and wanted to take her younger sister out for a stroll, so she didn't eat there.

The dealer gave Xia Chunmei twenty boiled eggs and twelve longevity peach buns, which was quite generous.

Xia Chunmei didn't stand on ceremony. Dongmei and Yaomei had never tried longevity peach buns before, so she decided to take some back for them to try.

These items were divided among the group of people, so each person received exactly two longevity peach buns and three eggs.

There were two eggs left over after dividing the three eggs, so Xia Chunmei decided to give one to Xia Ping and one to Aunt Lihua.

The market was quite lively. Xia Ping and Xia Qiumei were at the trinkets stall, and they couldn't tear themselves away from the exquisite hair accessories.

How much is this floral hair tie?

"Young lady, you have a good eye. These are all newly arrived goods. Hair ties are two coins each, and hair flowers here are twenty-eight coins each, while those here are thirty-six coins each."

"So expensive!" Xia Hongfen gasped, then quickly pulled Xia Qiumei and Xia Ping along, "Too expensive, let's not buy it, let's go."

"How much is the rattle drum?" Xia Chunmei picked up the rattle drum from the stall.

"Fifteen articles."

"Young man, don't overcharge. In our rural market, such a small rattle drum only costs ten coins."

"Oh dear, young lady, the workmanship and materials are definitely different, and you have to pay a stall fee to set up a stall here. Ten coins won't do; I can only give you a discount of one coin at most."

"That's too expensive, Chunmei. You can't eat or drink this stuff, so let's not buy it." Xia Hongfen was afraid that Xia Chunmei would waste money.

"Fourteen coins is indeed a bit expensive. How about twenty coins for this rattle drum plus twelve hair ties?"

"No way, that would be too much of a loss for me, you're cutting the price too low." The vendor immediately shook his head, "Thirty-five coins is about right."

"Chunmei, why did you buy so many hair ties? One or two for each person would be enough. Don't waste money."

Xia Hongfen realized that her niece was spending money too much and she had to keep an eye on her.

Xia Hongfen grabbed Xia Chunmei and hurried away.

I remember the vendor immediately blocking my way: "Young lady, auntie, twenty-eight, twenty-eight! I really can't go any lower! You won't find this cheap anywhere else. I'm only giving you a discount because you're buying a lot, really!"

"Okay, I'll take it."

"Xiaoping, Qiumei, pick them. Pick twelve, two for each of you."

Although I can't afford hair accessories, new hair ties are still pretty good.

The two little girls chose twelve sticks, and then selected their two favorite sticks from those twelve.

Xia Chunmei gave Aunt Lihua two sticks: "Take these two sticks to Guixiang. She's been working hard cooking lately."

"Oh dear, Chunmei, this won't do! Return it immediately! Guixiang has everything..."

“Auntie, you’re being too polite. It’s not like you’re helping me like this, treating me like your own niece. Gui Xiang is like my sister, and Jiang Shi is like my sister-in-law. I’m giving my sister-in-law and sister a hair tie, and you’re making excuses. I bought a lot at once, so they got a discount. Now they definitely won’t give me a refund.”

Xia Chunmei forcibly stuffed the things into her arms.

Xia Chunmei planned to give one hair tie to each of Chen Jinlian's daughters Xiao'e, Zhaodi, and Chen Xiaoyu, two to Dongmei, and keep one for herself, which would be just right.

The rattle drum was naturally reserved for the youngest sister.

The items aren't expensive; it's more about the sentiment behind them.

Besides, they know they make a lot of money running the restaurant, so they occasionally give small gifts to boost team cohesion.

"Sister, if we make money next time, can we buy a hair accessory?" Xia Qiumei looked at the exquisite hair accessory with some reluctance.

"Sure, but you have to wash your hair frequently. If you get lice and can't comb it properly, I'll still shave them off for you. Then you won't even have anywhere to wear the hair accessories you buy."

"Don't worry, sis, I'll definitely wash my hair frequently and stay hygienic. It's settled then, we'll buy it next time we go to town."

“That thing is so expensive, don’t just focus on looking pretty,” Xia Hongfen criticized. “Chunmei, don’t spoil her either.”

"If you and Dongmei perform well, and we get more orders, I'll give you and Dongmei a flower each."

The Lunar New Year is just three months away, and these months are the peak season for banquets. Xia Chunmei estimates that she can definitely earn eleven or twelve taels of silver.

It wouldn't matter if she spent a few dozen coins on hair ornaments; ten taels of silver would be enough for her to hide and give birth to the child.

She'll stop doing it after the New Year; by then, her belly will be showing.

During this time, she also had an important task: to buy a man to act as her husband and give the child in her womb a legitimate chance to be born!