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After asking twice, one of the children answered in a foreign accent, “Xiaohe Village, we’re from Xiaohe Village.”

Yingbao didn’t know where Xiaohe Village was, but she was certain these two children were not from Qinchuan County.

She crouched down and felt the breath of the person lying on the ground with her finger, only to find that the person was already dead.

“Who is this person to you?” Yingbao asked.

The older boy was wary and wouldn’t answer, but the girl beside him said, “She’s our mother.”

Yingbao paused for a moment, then decided to tell them the truth: “Your mother has died.”

Even in cold weather, staying with a corpse could lead to illness, and if these two children didn’t quickly find somewhere to stay, they probably wouldn’t survive the winter.

The girl cried as she gnawed on her apple, the boy was silent. Apparently, they were already aware of this outcome.

Jiang Quan walked over and handed them a string of copper coins, “Here’s three hundred coins. You can’t go around stealing from others anymore. Today you were fortunate enough to meet us; if it had been someone else, they would have broken your legs by now. Hurry and leave this place, find somewhere to stay.”

Even becoming someone’s slaves was better than freezing or starving to death on the street.

The boy immediately took the copper coins, thanked him, and put the money in his ragged jacket.

Jiang Quan left holding his little cousin in one hand and Xiaohei and Jin Tong in the other.

There were many beggars like this. Today alone, he had encountered several groups at the market, and he didn’t even know where they all came from.

He could help them temporarily, but not forever. All he could do at the moment was give them some money to help them survive a little longer.

Jin Tong choked back tears the whole way, mourning his half-eaten apple that had been stolen.

Yingbao saw that he wouldn’t stop, and reluctantly took another big apple from her bag and gave it to him. “Here, stop crying. I haven’t even asked you yet, why did you come here?”

Jin Tong took the apple, wiped his nose with his sleeve, instantly beaming with happiness, “I wanted to come to your house to play.”

In the past, he used to go to the Jiang Family’s special product store with his big sister, so today he wanted to go there to find Yingbao to play.

Yingbao scolded unhappily, “How old are you? You dare to run around alone?”

Jin Tong blinked and answered seriously, “I’ll be seven years old after New Year’s, of course, I dare.”

He had been playing outside the store since he was little, and when he was a bit older, he would run off to play with the kids from the neighboring houses. A while back, he even went to Wa City by himself to watch an acrobatics performance.

Yingbao sighed inwardly.

She supposed that’s how street children were raised.

In fact, Jin Tong had started attending private school, but he had some free time because the school was on a New Year’s break.

Today happened to be the day that the Qiu family was visiting the Jiang family, there were many guests at home, and in the hustle and bustle, Jin Tong had been overlooked.

Fortunately, Jin Tong had only encountered two small beggars and was not hurt too badly. It was unthinkable what could have happened if he had encountered kidnappers or criminals.

However, a seven-year-old boy was old enough to remember things. Kidnappers didn’t usually target boys like him, but if it was a girl it would be a different story.

To be safe, Yingbao and her cousin escorted Jin Tong to his front door before turning back to the market.

After they finished shopping and saw that it was getting late, they started back home.

When they passed the place by the wall again, the two small beggars and the corpse were gone.

The next day, Jiang Erlang went back to his home village with his wife, while Jiang Quan stayed behind to look after his daughter and the three of them, taking the opportunity to buy door gods and peach talisman from the market to replace the old ones on his own house and his daughter’s store on New Year’s Eve.

As for Cheng’s house, it was, of course, taken care of by his father-in-law.

New Year’s Eve arrived soon enough.

Jiang Quan woke up early in the morning and also woke up his little cousin. They loaded up the turntable and some merchandise onto the cart and transported them to the place he had previously scouted.

It was barely dawn, and there were already people starting to move around the streets.

Yingbao stuck her head out of the carriage and saw bricks laid out on the ground on both sides of the street, interspersed here and there with a bamboo root or a wooden stick, or a few clods of earth.

This indicated that someone had been there overnight, using these items to reserve their spot so they could set up their stall there the next day according to their markers.

Her second cousin must have come by, as she saw that where they had parked their carriage, over a dozen broken tiles had been laid out, marking out a space.

“Yingbao, are you hungry?” Jiang Quan asked as he set up the carousel, preparing to go buy breakfast from a food stall not far away.

Yingbao yawned, “I want to eat wontons, and meat pies too.” She suddenly missed her aunt’s meat pies.

“Wait here! I’ll go buy them.” Jiang Quan dashed off excitedly to buy breakfast.

It wasn’t long before he came back, holding two large bowls of wontons and tucking a greasy paper bag under his arm.

Yingbao sat on the carriage, taking alternate bites of wontons and meat pie, relishing her meal.

As the sky grew brighter, more people began to populate the street, most of them street vendors setting up their stalls.

Yingbao eyed their own colourful carousel, next to which was a signboard, on which was written: Jiang Specialties, opposite the county school, selling local specialties of our county. Honest dealings assured for both young and old.

She looked again at the carousel, which Jiang Quan had already decorated with various designs, each corresponding to a different small item.

The most expensive item was surprisingly a silver bracelet.

After finishing her wontons, Jiang Quan returned the dishes and chopsticks to the small food stall and got on with his own business of shooting arrows to attract customers.

Yingbao found herself bored sitting on the carriage. Seeing her second cousin still shooting arrows, she said, “I’m going back. Will you be alright here by yourself?”

“Go back where?” Jiang Quan asked in confusion.

Yingbao pointed towards the shop, “I’m going to set up a stall at the entrance of the shop.” She had brought out a lot of apples and cantaloupes over the past two days, as well as some flowers, all to sell at the shop and increase its popularity.

Jiang Quan nodded. “Okay.”

After all, their third uncle was also around. If his little cousin couldn’t cope, he would certainly step in to help.

The traffic on this side of the county school was far less than that in the market, and the number of roadside vendors was sparse.

Yingbao and her father opened the shop and placed a small bamboo bed at the entrance, on which they displayed a large bunch of eye-catching peony flowers and chrysanthemums.

These clusters of peonies, their stems wrapped in cotton soaked in Pupil Spring water, would remain fresh for several days.

There was also a basket of sweet-smelling magnolias, a basket of big red apples, and another basket full of golden and green cantaloupes.

Although Jiang Sanlang was puzzled to see such things in the middle of winter, he couldn’t think of anything unusual.

After all, some wealthy families also built warm houses in which they grew many rare flowers.

But as to what they actually grew, common folks had no idea.

Perhaps these peonies, magnolias, and chrysanthemums were raised by some wealthy households.

As for the apples and such, they weren’t unusual. Some fruit farmers would intentionally save their autumn fruit to sell in winter, hoping to fetch a higher price.

It wasn’t long after they had set up their wares when people started to gather to browse.

The bed of vibrant peonies was so appealing that even Jiang Yunniang came over several times to take a look.

“How much are these flowers?” asked an older woman.

Yingbao replied, “Fifty coins for a peony, 100 coins for five magnolias.”

“Oh, that’s quite expensive!” The woman exclaimed, “It’s as expensive as silk flowers!”

Yingbao retorted seriously, “Silk flowers don’t have a fragrance. Our flowers are fresh and can stay fresh for several days.”

Nowadays, people loved to wear flowers, especially real flowers. Silk flowers, although they never wilted, were considered inferior adornments.

Especially during winter, when all flowers had withered, wearing a real peony while visiting relatives and friends during Lunar New Year was a matter of great prestige.