After reading it, the two excitedly shook Yang Wanwan's arm: "Big sister! You're amazing! You wrote so well! So well! Better than anyone else!"
Yang Wanwan laughed, "So, do you still want to look at those little notebooks?"
Er Ye shook her head violently: "How can a little notebook compare to what my sister writes? I'm not looking at it anymore!"
Shang Tao said, "Big sister, how do you know so much about ancient knowledge? You wrote down the official position of the female protagonist's father so clearly, and you also learned about the ways and tricks of their family's inner quarters. Where did you learn all of that?"
Yang Wanwan's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't this common knowledge she had learned from reading novels about domestic power struggles and palace intrigues?
She coughed lightly, feigning seriousness, and said, "So, that's why your elder sister doesn't let you look at those little notebooks. How does she know? Because the books she reads are different from yours. When you study Chinese, you only care about the text itself, but I look up the official positions, customs, and so on mentioned in the text. You've all read *Dream of the Red Chamber*, but have you noticed any patterns in the inner quarters of the house? I have. So, reading little notebooks is pointless; you should read the classics. What you learn from the classics will become your skills."
Er Ye and Shang Tao looked at Yang Wanwan with admiration. Yang Wanwan began to show off her knowledge of Dream of the Red Chamber, such as when and who should do what, what things servants should not say or do, and what things young ladies should avoid, and so on.
Er Ye and Shang Tao were completely overwhelmed by their eldest sister's "comprehension". They never thought that the bookstores in Qingshan Town only sold practice questions and composition books, and the school library was practically useless. Although Yang Wanwan could also access some extracurricular books, wasn't it a bit strange that she really knew so much?
Having convinced her younger siblings, Yang Wanwan began to describe the prospects of her novel: "I will send this book to the publisher in batches. I think it will be published most likely, and then I can make money. However, I still need a pen name. You two can give me some ideas."
The matter of pen names was something that Er Ye and Shang Tao were both familiar with, and they immediately started talking at once.
After discussing it, the siblings finally came up with the pen name "Yang Chu". It sounds rather common and not very distinctive, but it seems that the possibility of having the same name as someone else is relatively small.
Moreover, the ambiguous gender adds a touch of mystery.
Okay, this is it.
As a result, Yang Wanwan became even busier.
During the day, I go to school and work; at night, I write novels.
She would write a paragraph, and Er Ye and Shang Tao would read it aloud, correcting her spelling mistakes and grammar. Sometimes, the siblings would also discuss the plot.
Under the dim light, the three siblings huddled together reading and writing, a heartwarming scene.
After her younger siblings went to sleep, Yang Wanwan would write for another two hours, producing several thousand words. The next day, Er Ye and Shang Tao would check her for typos, grammar, and so on.
During the day, whenever they had free time, the siblings would go to the water to fly kites, often catching ten, twenty, or even thirty kilograms. Yang Wanwan would take leave from school the next day to sell the live kites, while the dead ones would be made into dried fish and dried shrimp, which the three siblings would sell together on weekends.
In this way, the weekly income is quite considerable, usually more than one hundred yuan.
On Friday nights, they would braise pig's head and blood sausage at home, and then go to the market twice on weekends, making a profit of fifty or sixty yuan.
That adds up to about 800 yuan a month.
Grandpa Yang and Grandma Yang were overjoyed when they found out.
Grandma Yang often came over to help the siblings with chores, but Yang Wanwan was good at cheating, and the siblings were quick and efficient, so Grandma Yang didn't need to do too much.
Incidentally, because Yang Wanwan and her siblings often brought their grandparents pig's head meat, fish, and shrimp, the elderly couple's health improved considerably, and they even looked a bit plumper.
Time passed at a leisurely pace, and the semester came to an end.
The three siblings all achieved excellent results in the final exams. The family saved more than 4,000 yuan, and with the 13,000 yuan that Yang Dali repaid, there was 17,000 yuan in the savings account.
However, some of it was spent, and I gave my grandparents 1,000 yuan. I still have 12,000 yuan left.
They originally wanted to give two thousand, but Grandpa and Grandma Yang refused to accept that much.
The three siblings were all wearing new winter clothes, and they looked quite well.
Yang Wanwan went to the kitchen and inspected the several jars of pickled vegetables and dried vegetables that the three siblings had made in the summer. She also looked over the sausages and blood sausages hanging high above the stove and asked Er Ye if there was anything else she hadn't prepared.
Er Ye said, "Big sister, besides the money in our savings account, we still have more than 500 yuan. We have basically everything we need for the New Year. We just need to buy a few pounds of fresh meat and tofu. Also, tomorrow we'll go buy firecrackers, incense, paper money, and some pastries and candies for visiting relatives."
Yang Wanwan chimed in, "Also, we seem to have about enough firewood and briquettes. It looks like it's going to snow."
Yang Wanwan had the stone man cheat her by getting some firewood and coal, so the woodshed was already full.
As the two sisters were talking, Shang Tao came in. Being young, and not being too busy these days, he quickly went to play with his classmates. It was a bit chilly outside, but he ran fast, his cheeks rosy, looking lively and adorable.
"Big sister, second sister! I just came back from the village entrance. When they saw my new cotton-padded coat, they all asked me where I bought it and how much it cost. I said I bought it at the wholesale market in the county town for thirty yuan. They all said that my siblings and I made money selling fish and shrimp, and asked me how much we made. I didn't say, and just came back."
Yang Wanwan smiled. The women and old ladies in the village love to gossip about these things, without any ill intent, but they just love to dig into things, which can be quite annoying sometimes.
How much money did you make selling fish and shrimp?
This is a question that has been asked by many people.
Er Ye said, "Shang Tao did a good job, we can't say anything. Telling the truth will only make people jealous."
The cotton-padded coat, priced at thirty-eight yuan, was a fashionable style and very pretty; Shang Tao especially liked it. Yang Wanwan had Shang Tao wear it as soon as she bought it, unlike other families who waited until the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Recently, many people have drained their fishponds and harvested their fish. Without water in the ponds, there are no fish or shrimp, so the area for catching fish and shrimp has been greatly reduced; they now only fly kites in the streams.
Because of overfishing, the catch in the stream has been greatly reduced.
However, thanks to the cheating tool of space, catching three to five kilograms a day is not a problem.
On the evening of the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the eve of the Lunar New Year, Yang Wanwan took out her savings book.
Er Ye and Shang Tao stared at the numbers on the screen, their mouths agape.
Yang Wanwan took out another ledger, which recorded the income and expenses of the past few months.
The three siblings studied the account book in detail, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction.
In the past six months, they have not only eaten well and dressed warmly, but have also saved up enough for two or three years' worth of tuition.
This is unimaginable!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com