Chapter 66: The Great Gathering

  Back home, everyone was shocked, how did you buy so many things? Even the car's handlebars were fully loaded.

  Everyone helped to unload the goods, and Zhao Tong finally breathed a sigh of relief. The whole way had exhausted him.

  Sitting by the stove and warming his hands, Zhao Tong expressed his thoughts, and his father also felt that he was being a bit conservative. Anyway, the paper wouldn't go bad, and they could use it in the future, so having more would be better than not enough.

  After a good sleep, Song Jie reluctantly got up from the quilt and put on her clothes. Dazedly walking out to take a look, she found that everyone in the house was already busy with their daily activities.

  Song Jie also hastily washed her face and had breakfast, then joined the army of calligraphy and painting.

  Actually, the division of labor at home is still very clear. Zhao Mu is good at painting, so she painted the outline of the patterns on the edges and corners of the paper cut into couplets.

  Zhao Tong is not good at painting, so he just fills in the colors. After Song Jie came, she also continued to do this work. Zhao's father wrote words on the couplets, and during this time, some well-cut fu characters and other things needed to be painted with gold edges and written in large characters.

  At first, Mrs. Zhao thought Song Jie was still young and her hands were not steady, so she might not be able to fill in the colors accurately, and let her start by filling in the character "fu" (good fortune). As a result, Song Jie's work turned out better than Zhao Tong's, causing Mrs. Zhao to exclaim that there was a worthy successor, and that Song Jie was born with a talent for painting.

  Everyone is working busily and in an orderly manner, the big table is covered with red paper, and one by one, the finished spring couplets are being hung up. The finished products are increasing.

  Zhao's mother didn't paint New Year pictures either. Painting a New Year picture is not easy at all, and the process is similar to that of painting couplets - first drawing the outline and then filling in the colors, which only starts after the couplets are finished.

  During this time, Song Jie pretended to be enthusiastic and made many good suggestions. The lace designs were endless, and Mother Zhao felt that she should cultivate her granddaughter even more.

  Unfortunately, Song Jie didn't know, if she knew, she would definitely exclaim, why still need to add homework?

  It's easy to say, but it's also very easy, just fill in the color. Write a word, and the Spring Festival couplet was finished in just three days. Later, many New Year pictures were painted, and with Song Jie's reminder, almost no two paintings were the same.

  Madam Zhao had a pair of skilled hands and could cut many window flowers. In this matter, Madam Zhao made the greatest effort.

  After 5 days of rushing, more than a thousand couplets, fifty New Year's paintings, and some paper-cuts for auspicious words are done.

  The people at home finally breathed a sigh of relief. The day after tomorrow is the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, and there's still one more day to tidy up. Zhao Tong looked at his family's Spring Festival couplets and felt that if they didn't sell well, it would be unforgivable to the people and the Party.

  On the sixth day of the first month, when it was still a little light outside, everyone in the house got up. It wasn't just for this business, but also for Zhao Tong. After the Liu Mei incident, Zhao Tong's spirit had been somewhat depressed, and his parents were worried. Now that they finally had something to distract their son, they naturally gave it their full support.

  Song Jie also got up early. This time she was going to follow along, even if she couldn't help with collecting money, helping to watch the stall was fine too. Only Zhao's father wasn't feeling well and could only stay at home.

  Mrs. Zhao rode the tricycle bought by her family, while Zhao Tong brought Song Jie to follow behind the tricycle, and several people set off in a line.

  Arrived at the destination. Song Jie looked around and found that there were already many people who had arrived earlier than her, fortunately she came early, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get a spot.

  Paid a management fee of one yuan at the management office, got a small sign with a number written on it, and several people set off in the direction.

  Everyone selling Spring Festival couplets is on the same road, and Zhao Mu and her group stopped in front of stall No. 45. This market is quite different from the one in Xiao Zhang Village back then, with stricter management. After all, it's the capital city, where the rule of law is more sound.

  A row of high platforms made of cement, which eliminated the trouble of using scaffolding. Everything can be placed on the platform. However, Chunlian is different from others, and a few people still took out a few bamboo poles and erected them, pulling up ropes.

  Bring out the Spring Festival couplets, clip them up according to different styles, hang them high, and look far away, a red piece of joy is extremely festive.

  Song Jie was wrapped up, revealing only a pair of eyes, dressed like a little bear. She secretly lamented that her family didn't know how to make lanterns, if they did, they would sell better, and then she despised herself for being too greedy.

  The sun rises, the crowd starts to get noisy, and the bustling streets become crowded. It's around New Year's time that there are the most people, and it's only then that business is good.

  After the stall was set up, people strolling around discovered that the Spring Festival couplets on this stall were different from others, more majestic and exquisite. They all gathered around, asking prices in a cacophony of voices, haggling over prices, chattering incessantly until one's head spun.

  Zhao Tong had a way, took a paper roll and shouted: "Everyone quiet down, Spring Festival couplets three for one yuan, single buy 4 jiao, Fu character 1 jiao four pieces, New Year's picture 2 yuan, everyone come to buy quickly, new style of Spring Festival couplets, good-looking and not expensive, the first family in Beijing."

  The crowd was still crowded, Zhao Tong saw that it was not a good idea, took a large piece of paper to write the price on it, and then indicated that no further bargaining was allowed. The crowd burst into another commotion, with some saying it was expensive, others asking why they were not allowed to bargain, like a pot had exploded.

  Noisily, Zhao Tong and his mother didn't care, whoever bought it would hurry to call out, and in a short while, several copies were sold. After all, it was a new toy, the Spring Festival couplets next to it were much more rustic than this one, and they were only cheaper by a dime, if you bought more, they wouldn't be expensive at all.

  Everyone has a scale in their heart, and after careful consideration, it's not that expensive. Since the difference is not big, of course, they would choose to buy the better one. The crowd swarmed forward, some paying money, others picking and choosing, surrounding a large circle of people.

  Everyone has a psychology of following the crowd, seeing that there are many people on this side, they all flock to this side. Now it's just the beginning of the month, and the Spring Festival couplets have just been put up for the season. Many families need them, and there are too many people buying them.

  Zhao Tong's throat was hoarse from shouting, but no one listened to him as he tried to maintain order. Helplessly, he could only watch the stall and help collect money.

  Song Jie didn't idle around either, seeing that there were good buys, she quickly handed over the cut rope to help roll it up and tie it well, and helped with a lot of work. With more people, the temperature rose, and soon she was sweating profusely.

  The peak period lasted until after lunch, and when everything was almost sold out, a few people were so hungry that they quickly packed up their stalls and headed back.

  They came with a full load and left with an empty one. When they returned, Zhao's father couldn't wait any longer and repeatedly looked out the door until he finally saw the silhouettes of several people.

  The three of them finally came back to life after finishing a table of food. It was only then that Zhao's father had the chance to ask, "How were sales today?"

  The dishes on the table were quickly cleared away, and Zhao's mother didn't even have time to wash them. She urged Zhao Tong to take out the money and count it. Zhao Tong listened and took off the bag from his waist, pulled out the money inside, and put it all on the table.

  Several people sorted out the money and counted it one by one, while Song Jie watched with eager eyes.

  Today, I sold more than 900 pairs of couplets, 36 New Year's paintings, and more than 600 Fu characters. The cost of a pair of couplets is actually just over one yuan, and after careful calculation, it really made a lot of money.

  Zhao's father personally went out on horseback, carefully calculated the cost, and actually calculated 367.55 yuan.

  Everyone was stunned, and Zhao's father thought he had made a mistake, so he counted again. To his surprise, there wasn't a single error. No wonder Zhao Juan said she earned over 100 yuan once; this money was too easily earned.

  Zhao Tong's heart was extremely excited, he felt that a broad and smooth road had appeared before his eyes, just waiting for him to step forward. Should he take the step or not? He lowered his head in deep thought...

  Zhao's father also discovered his son's abnormality and vaguely sensed Zhao Tong's hidden thoughts. He consoled him, "Zhao Tong, don't be blinded by immediate benefits, you need to have a long-term vision. The current situation is not clear, it's not a good time for business. You must have a plan in mind."

  After listening to his father's words, Zhao Tong's eyes cleared up. His father was right, he didn't have the capital to soar yet and needed to settle down. As long as there was a good opportunity, he would definitely take a firm step forward.

  Zhao's father saw his son regain his senses and secretly let out a sigh of relief, fearing that this stinky kid would really dive in headfirst and never look back.

  "With so much money, we can still sell a few more before the New Year's, it's just that there might be some plagiarism, and the profit won't be as high." Zhao Tong said.

  "The bird that sticks its head out gets shot, being too outstanding isn't good either. This time we earned a lot, can't be too greedy." Zhao's father said with deep concern.

  Zhao Tong nodded, indicating that he understood.

  In the next few days, new-style spring couplets indeed appeared all around. When Zhao Tong went to stock up, the new-style spring couplets had already been printed. He didn't pretend to be refined and directly bought the ready-made ones back home. He also bought some red paper, after all, he needed to draw some new patterns that were different from others in order to have a selling point.

  Back home, it was another busy spell. Zhao Juan had already started her winter break and she also lent a hand with many tasks. As the Spring Festival couplets were more innovative than those of other families and the calligraphy was particularly good, they always sold very well.

  The family-made goods are in short supply, and a lot of time has to be spent on this every day. Even the year-end cleaning was almost delayed, but fortunately, there were some external supplies to fill the gap.

  Due to political reasons, the country once cancelled the Spring Festival holiday for a period of time, but it could not eliminate the enthusiasm of ordinary people for the festival.

  The couplets at home have accumulated a lot, so Zhao's mother distributed them to the neighbors on both sides. As a result, there are often people coming and going, bringing eggs, sending vegetables, etc. The news that the Zhao family has started selling couplets again spread out, and the guests at home are also endless.

  Zhao's father, who was already reluctant to go out, felt very annoyed. The house was like a vegetable market, and this time it spread even faster than the rumor about frying pancakes.

  The news of doing business at home quickly reached Li Li's ears, and the eldest family had not come for a long time. The two old people secretly put their longing for their grandson in their hearts, who knew that such news would bring the eldest family. The people at home didn't know whether to be happy or angry.