In the following days, Zeng Ruiyu sometimes sent 50 and sometimes sent 30. Zi Qing kept accounts every day, how many lantern frames were completed, how many Zi Qing had finished, etc. At the end of the month, Zeng Ruixiang and Zeng Zifeng returned, and Zi Qing asked them to write on the lanterns, such as "Congratulations on the New Year", "Everything goes well", "Year after year there is surplus", "Lucky star shines" and so on, writing one character per compartment. In the evening, Zi Qing specially lit a candle to test the effect, and everyone said it was not bad, especially with a yellow tassel made by Shen's family hanging under each lantern, which really had some meaning.

  "My home's Qing'er is really capable, last year on the Lantern Festival day, my brother said he wanted to make a flower lantern for you, but my brother didn't finish making it, and now you're preparing to sell them, you're better than my brother." Zi Fu laughed.

  "Big brother, this first lantern was made by me and my sister together. I even helped my sister a lot," said Zirong.

  "Yes, Xiao Er is becoming more capable." Zi Fu stroked Zi Lu's head and smiled.

  Time flies when one is busy. During this period, the sweet potatoes and soybeans at home were harvested. Zi Qing was busy for several days, and the harvest was still okay, but the late rice crop was greatly reduced, and the wheat was basically all shriveled up. Shen Shi only took half of it to feed the chickens, and the rest was given to Rui Yu to feed the pigs.

  When Zeng Rui Xiang and others returned from their holiday on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zi Qing flipped through the records and found that they had completed more than 3,100. On the tenth day, Zi Qing and Zi Fu took a pair of lanterns to find Zhou Zhanggui and told him that they had some business to discuss with the master and wanted to see the master.

  "What a coincidence, our master is just about to return to the capital. If you had come two days later, you wouldn't have been able to see him. Let me go and inform him, whether he sees you or not is beyond my control. You can come back in half an hour to take a look."

  After listening, Ziqing pulled Zifeng to the vegetable market again and bought some small chicks and two lambs. They found a few peach trees but didn't discover anything new. When they returned to the grocery store, the owner had arrived with a boy of about 10 years old who looked like a young master from a wealthy family. He wore a crimson satin long shirt and carried a jade pendant. Next to him stood an attendant of around 11 or 12 years old who didn't smile.

  As soon as Zi Qing entered the door and hadn't yet seen clearly who was in the house, the host asked: "Old Zhou said you've brought some new things this time, let me take a look."

  Ziying took out the folded lantern and opened it in front of them. Dongjia looked at it with some disappointment and said, "Isn't it just a lantern? Your lantern is quite festive, but there's nothing special about it. If you say it's for the Yuanxiao Festival flower street, the design is a bit too simple."

  Ziying said: "Who says lanterns can only be used on the Lantern Festival? My lantern is specially prepared for the New Year. During the New Year, hang two big red lanterns at home, don't you think it's very festive and has a strong New Year atmosphere? Moreover, my lantern is foldable, when not in use, look, it can be folded up like this, taking up no space at all, very easy to store, and can still be used next year. And look at this."

  Ziying walked to a place with dimmer light, lit the candle and put it in. Ziying rotated the lantern's drawstring, and as the lantern rotated, the words on top became particularly clear under the soft glow of the candlelight. "Don't you think that the overall feeling is not only festive but also warm? During Chinese New Year, hanging two lanterns at the gate of your home will definitely make guests feel delighted when they see the auspicious words on them. At night, it can also light up the way for passersby, and for travelers who are far from home, this lantern can also light up their heart's path, igniting their strong longing for home."

  "Heh heh." Zi Qing saw that young master-like person staring at her and sneaking a smile. Zi Qing gave him a sideways glance.

  "Master, my sister is used to chatting with us at home and sometimes says things that don't make sense. But this lantern really does bring a festive atmosphere for the New Year. After all, isn't it just about having fun and celebrating?" said Zifeng.

  "It doesn't matter, I'm not seeing it for the first time either. The little girl's mouth is quite talkative. However, how much do you plan to sell a pair for?" the landlord asked.

  "Two hundred coins for a pair, you see, these are all high-quality silk and satin fabrics, which I personally sewed. It's really troublesome to sew them together. And this is the auspicious tassel made by my mother herself, it has many good meanings for the New Year. This is the special calligraphy done by my father, one hundred coins per piece, it's really not expensive. And there are also the new bamboo racks inside, which took a lot of effort to make. The couplet written on red paper will be sold for ten coins." Zi Qing said slowly. This price was negotiated with Zi Fu last night.

  "You're not afraid I won't buy it and just take your sample to have it made by workers myself?" the owner asked.

  "What's the point? You're such a big shot, with so many things to deal with every day, how could you care about this little bit of silver profit? I'm doing this for your sake, so you can take it out and use it yourself or give it as a gift, isn't that a nice gesture?" Zi Qing fawned.

  "I wonder whose idea it was to make this?"

  "What's the big deal whose idea it is? It's the crystallization of our whole family's collective wisdom." Zi Qing said.

  "What is crystallization? What does it mean?"

  "That's it, that's what I meant." Zi Qing rubbed her own head.

  "I didn't know that, but it's actually called crystallization. But in the past two years, little girl, your family's watermelon business hasn't been bad at all, and you've even built a big house. Little girl, I really want to know, why can your family's watermelons mature 10-20 days earlier than others? And, at such a young age, you're working so hard to earn money, last time it was for building a house, what do you most want to do with the money you've earned this time?" The master looked at Zi Qing with curiosity.

  "First, the early ripening of watermelon is a trade secret and can't be discussed. My family relies on this to make a living, so I won't tell you anything about it. Second, don't laugh at me, but after earning some money, I'll buy land and houses, then wait for rent, and finally just sleep in until I wake up naturally, counting my money until my hands cramp."

  "Rice weevil? Why rice weevil?"

  "It's great being a rice weevil, nothing to do all day but lie in the rice pile, no need to worry about going hungry, plenty of food and play, so relaxing."

  As soon as Zi Qing's words fell, everyone burst out laughing, with some chuckling, others snickering, and still others guffawing. In short, Zi Qing's words entertained everyone. Zi Fu suppressed his smile and playfully ruffled Zi Qing's hair.

  "Alright, just for you, this great rice worm goal of sleeping until natural wake-up and counting silver until hand cramps, I'll take these lanterns. How many are there? And remind Old Zhou to bring 300 taels of silver and some loose change, and have the castrated chicken transported back together, preparing to send it to the capital." After finishing speaking, the master left, and the two children looked back at Zi Qing several times.

  Ziying was still immersed in the joy of making money, jumping up and pulling Zifu to celebrate, "Brother, I succeeded, brother, I succeeded." With two smiling eyes, he thought he would have to spend more effort, but didn't expect it to be so easy.

  She never expected that her sentence, whether used by herself or given to others, would have a bit of new meaning and move people. Of course, Mr. Wen didn't expect that once his lanterns were hung up and some more were sent out, the whole city would be searching for large red lanterns everywhere. In the midst of this chaos, his batch of lanterns was sold at a price of one or two silver coins per piece. Of course, Zi Qing had no way of knowing this, otherwise she would have regretted not selling them at a higher price.

  Zi Qing and Zi Fu followed Zhou Zhanggui's donkey cart back to the village, Zeng Rui Xiang and Shen Shi were busy catching chickens, Zi Qing, Zi Fu and Zi Lu moved the lanterns onto the cart, Zi Qing left five pairs behind, all the rest were moved away, she was preparing to send them to Lao Yezi and Shen's family.

  At night, Zi Qing secretly gave the silver ticket to Shen Shi. Her father and mother were overjoyed when they saw that so much silver had been sold. "I didn't expect that our Qinger would really make it and could sell out these silver taels. Our Qinger is really capable," Shen Shi praised.

  "Hey, don't forget about me! The first lantern was made by me and my sister together, and it was even my idea to help her!" said Zilu.

  "Yes, my son is also good, mother knows you are all good kids."

  Zi Rong rubbed his head and chuckled.

  Zi Qing calculated that the cost was only over thirty taels, of course not including labor. Shen Shi said to give He Shi ten taels of silver, and Zi Qing naturally had no opinion.

  Zi Qing asked her father again if he still sells couplets. Shen Shi said, "Sell it anyway, sell some silver to make up for your loss, and the New Year's money will be enough."

  Zi Qing was shocked and hastily asked: "What loss?"