Da Wa secretly made up his mind that he would take on the task of raising pigs and chickens from now on. He would cut fresh pig feed every day and feed the pigs until they were plump and healthy!

Hearing this, the old woman selling eggs understood and said enthusiastically that if they needed to buy chicks, they could come to her. She said that the chicks she hatched were the strongest, easy to raise, and had a high survival rate!

Qin San Niang and the others readily agreed, saying they would consider her chicks if they needed to raise chickens next year. The happy old woman nodded repeatedly, saying she would give them a discount since they had known each other for a while.

After packing up their things, Qin San Niang and Pang Ya carried the table back to the market clerk. The clerk, contrary to his usual cold demeanor, was surprisingly enthusiastic when he saw Qin San Niang, asking how her business was going and telling her not to hesitate to ask if she needed any help.

This left Qin San Niang and her group completely bewildered. They decided to stop thinking about it and thanked him for his consideration. They didn't need any help at the moment, and were already very grateful to be able to borrow a table! The clerk was so happy his mustache practically danced in the air!

Willow Street is a long street with shops lined up one after another and shoppers jostling shoulder to shoulder, giving it the feel of a pedestrian street in later times!

Looking at the various stalls along the roadside, all bustling with activity, selling New Year's goods, there were vendors selling malt candy melons, winter melon candy strips, silver thread ring cakes, eight-treasure rice, and all kinds of malt candy... There were also vendors selling various couplets, Kitchen God statues, and small firecrackers...

Qin San Niang felt that this street offered a complete one-stop shopping experience.

"Mother, Mother, Grandma wants to buy some candy, saying it's to sweeten the Kitchen God's mouth." Remembering Grandma's instructions before leaving, Da Wa hurriedly told his mother. And it was Grandma who said she wanted to buy candy, not that he wanted to eat candy! Although he really wanted to eat those candies that looked like melons.

Wu Chunhua chuckled and said, "Da Wa is absolutely right. We really need to buy sugar melons, and not only sugar melons, but also maltose and winter melon candy. This year, let's give the Kitchen God plenty of sweets, so that next year he will bless us with full granaries and we'll never have to go hungry again!"

As she finished speaking, a hint of sadness appeared in Wu Chunhua's eyes. She must have been thinking about the hardships she had endured along the way, especially the fact that she had been driven out and that her daughter had also been separated from the clan.

She's been holding a grudge, but she hasn't shown it yet! She just hopes that she and her daughter can eat and drink well, get away from those damned people, and live a better life!

Liao Hongying understood all this perfectly well, and hurriedly pulled them to see the couplets and the Kitchen God statue, which needed to be pasted up, as well as the banner above the couplets that read "Abundant Harvest of Five Grains," that was the one they wanted!

Next, the group went to buy the different kinds of candy they had agreed on before, but none of them were cheap!

Sugar melons, also known as Guandong sugar, are common in northern China. Maltose made in winter is repeatedly stretched and shaped into melons or long strips. The long ones are called Guandong sugar, and the melon-shaped ones are called sugar melons. They are the perfect choice for offering sacrifices on the Little New Year!

There are no long strips of sugar on Willow Street, only melon-shaped sugar melons, which cost thirty coins per pound. That's really too expensive!

There's also maltose, made from sorghum. As for how it's made? That's their secret recipe, why would they tell you!

However, Qin San Niang knew the steps for making sugar melon and sorghum maltose. Not only were they in books, but food bloggers from her previous life often shared their recipes, so she could learn them just by watching. Making them, however, was rather troublesome and time-consuming, and it was clearly too late to do it now.

"Third Sister, this sugar is too expensive! Sorghum sugar costs thirty coins a pound!" Wu Chunhua remembered that sugar used to cost about fifteen or sixteen coins a pound. This is double the price. Although she knew that grain prices were high now, she still had to think twice about buying it at this price!

"Why don't we just buy a little of each? The baby can eat them after the sacrifice! This winter melon candy is cheaper, so we can buy two pounds. We can get one pound of each of the others," Liao Hongying said.

She also thought the candy was a bit expensive, and it didn't look as good as the candy her aunt had given her! However, it was a New Year's tradition, and the children were all looking forward to it at home! She couldn't bear to disappoint them.

Qin San Niang was not short of money. Although her supply depot was full of candy, she did not have these kinds of candy, so she nodded in agreement.

Even so, the candy vendor was all smiles, as this was a sale of several kilograms!

"Sisters, you can eat our candy without worry. It's all made by my mother herself, using only the best ingredients!" The vendor, about twenty years old, picked up a ladle with his lean hands, weighed the candy precisely for them, wrapped it in hemp paper, and handed it to Wu Chunhua.

"Our candied melons are all made with sesame seeds, hollow in the middle, and with a skin less than five-tenths of an inch thick. They're crisp, fragrant, and have a unique flavor. Ladies, if you come to visit again, be sure to look for ours!"

"Do you sell candy here on ordinary days? Not just during the New Year?" Fatty asked. Could it be that we can eat candy anytime?

"Yes, I don't usually sell candied melons, but I do sell malt sugar cakes or winter melon candy. If you want some, come over, and I'll give you a discount!" the vendor said with a smile.

"Okay, here's the money. We'll come to your house again next time." Wu Chunhua and Liao Hongying paid the money, but they absolutely refused to use Qin Sanniang's money again.

Qin San Niang stopped insisting. They both had livelihoods now, and since they'd be living separately anyway, it was better to separate their finances sooner rather than later. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts!

She grabbed two handfuls of candied winter melon and stuffed them into Da Wa and Pang Ya's hands, letting them try the taste. This candied winter melon was actually just strips of winter melon preserved in sugar. Qin San Niang found it a bit greasy, but Da Wa and Pang Ya ate it with relish, not finding anything wrong with it at all. After all, it was candy! They could eat as much as they wanted without getting tired of it!

The group strolled around for a while longer and bought some dates and oranges, and even hawthorns! Since the supermarket didn't have hawthorns in stock, Qin San Niang bought a whole basket of them with a wave of her hand, much to the delight of the man selling the hawthorns, who gave her the basket directly.

The baskets holding the hawthorns were quite old, worth no more than two coins at most! Hawthorns cost five coins a pound, and this woman bought fifty pounds of hawthorns without haggling. The man selling the hawthorns was thrilled; it was truly a good omen for the start of the year!

He initially thought the fruit was very sour. He had planted several hawthorn trees at home, and his wife was thinking of uprooting them to plant something else! He couldn't bear to part with them; they were a keepsake left by his deceased father. Now, seeing so much money, he figured his wife wouldn't say anything more!

He planned to buy some candied melons later to take home and offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God!