Chapter 5

After lunch, the brother and sister immediately set out with a "huge" one yuan, carrying two stools and sneaking out.

Wu Tian's family lived in the eastern district of Shangcheng City, which was considered the cultural center of the city. Just outside the alley was Cultural Road, and not far to the east were the library, Xinhua Bookstore, and several newspaper and magazine publishers. Later, a cultural market was built nearby, becoming a hub for pirated books across the province.

And at the entrance of Xinhua Bookstore, every New Year, many stalls selling couplets and New Year paintings would gather. Naturally, Wu Tian's stall would also be set up here.

"Let's set up here!" Wu Tian said, standing under a brick wall to the east of Xinhua Bookstore.

"Why here? We should go to the west, closer to home," Wu Yuan said.

"That side is closer to home, but right across is the library. We might get caught by Mom," Wu Tian said. "This side isn't as good, but we have the saying, 'Good wine needs no bush.'"

Wu Yuan rolled her eyes. Although young and inexperienced in business, anyone could see that setting up a stall here would make it almost impossible to sell a single couplet!

It was already the 24th of the 12th lunar month. By this time, it was already late to set up a stall. As early as the 20th, people had already occupied the prime spots in front of Xinhua Bookstore. By the time they reached Wu Tian's location, it was already 20 to 30 meters away from the bookstore, and they were the farthest out. Not to mention, the other stalls were all "big businesses," with at least two or three large tables, and some even had makeshift sheds, with hand-written and printed red couplets hanging all around, looking very impressive. In contrast, they only had two small stools!

Wu Yuan, filled with dissatisfaction, went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy red paper, while Wu Tian took out the ink and brush he had brought from home, placing them neatly on the small stool. The stall owner next to him couldn't help but laugh at the sight—these kids were really ambitious, setting up a stall on the street like this?

The stall owner laughed, but Wu Tian didn't like it. He glanced at the man, who was in his thirties, wearing thick glasses, and dressed in a faded Lenin suit with two fountain pens in his pocket, looking like a teacher.

"Competition is fierce, this is our rival," Wu Tian thought. But seeing that the man's business wasn't doing well either, he ignored him and took out a roll of red paper from his chest, which was secretly brought by his grandfather. He unfolded it and pinned it to the wall with two thumbtacks—after all, you need to display some samples when doing business.

"Wow, kid, who wrote these characters? They're really good!" the man with thick glasses exclaimed, admiring the couplets in Wu Tian's hand.

Wu Tian, who was barely taller than the couplets, was struggling to hang them on the wall. Hearing the man's praise, he said irritably, "I..."

"You wrote them?" the man asked, his mouth wide open.

"Grandpa!" Wu Tian took a deep breath.

"Ah..." The man sighed in relief, speechless. "If a six or seven-year-old kid could write such good characters, I'd just pack up and go home, saving myself the embarrassment."

Seeing Wu Tian about to climb the stool to hang the couplets, the man hurried over and took the couplets from him, saying, "Kid, let me help you hang them. Don't fall."

Wu Tian, however, wasn't grateful. He shouted, "Who are you to be my uncle? You're taking advantage of me!"

The man, taken aback by the kid's attitude, handed the couplets back to Wu Tian, saying, "Alright, alright, I won't be your uncle. You do it yourself..."

Wu Tian, with his arms crossed, shouted again, "Why don't you finish what you started? You said you'd help me, so help me hang the other two as well."

The man with thick glasses gritted his teeth, looking at the kid who barely reached his waist. Finally, he sighed and helped Wu Tian hang all three couplets.

Wu Tian finally smiled, showing his teeth, and tried to pat the man's shoulder, but couldn't reach, so he patted the man's hip instead, saying, "You're a good guy! What's your name, big brother?"

The man, speechless, sighed again—how could a six or seven-year-old kid call him big brother? He wasn't much older than his own daughter. Wasn't this making him a generation younger?

But facing such a kid with a smile, he couldn't really get angry.

"My name is Chang, Chang Tianhua," the man said, somewhat helplessly.

"Big Brother Chang, hehe, I'm Wu, Wu Tian, Wu as in 'mouth and sky,' and Tian as in 'no law and no sky.' Just call me Little Wu. Hehe, Big Brother Chang, which school do you teach at?" Wu Tian, ignoring the man's reluctance, started chatting.

"How did you know I'm a teacher?" Chang Tianhua asked, surprised.

"Hehe, look at your simple clothes and your refined demeanor. You're clearly a hardworking gardener nurturing the next generation, a soul engineer of humanity," Wu Tian said.

Chang Tianhua couldn't help but laugh, "You're a sweet-talker, hehe..."

Wu Tian smiled, "Not really, hehe. I'm just a small kid with little strength. We're setting up a stall together, so I'll need Big Brother Chang's help."

Chang Tianhua, speechless, nodded, wondering if this kid was a prodigy. How could a kid this young be so smooth-talking?

Sure enough, when Wu Yuan returned with the red paper, Wu Tian shamelessly came over to borrow a paper cutter, calling the man "big brother" all the time. Chang Tianhua, feeling both frustrated and curious, had to lend him the cutter. He was also curious about these two kids—were they really going to sell couplets? Could they even write?

Wu Tian took the cutter and quickly folded the red paper, ready to cut it. Chang Tianhua quickly said, "Kid, you folded it too narrow. You won't be able to write both the upper and lower couplets on such a narrow strip."

Wu Tian, however, ignored him and cut the paper, saying, "I'm only writing one couplet."

Chang Tianhua shook his head—kids really don't know how to do business. On this street, most couplets were cut to about 12 centimeters wide, with the upper and lower couplets written on the left and right sides, to be cut in half at home. But Wu Tian cut it to nearly 10 centimeters wide and said he was only writing one couplet? How much paper would that waste?

Not only Chang Tianhua, but Wu Yuan was also angry, pointing at Wu Tian and threatening to "withdraw her investment." Wu Tian had to coax his sister, "Sis, look at how many people are selling couplets. The competition is fierce. If we want to sell, we need to be better than others. Our couplets are wider, and the characters are bigger, so they'll sell better. Think about it, if we sell just one more couplet, we'll earn enough for the red paper for several more couplets..."

Chang Tianhua found it amusing—what matters in writing couplets is the quality of the characters! Even if the paper is wider, no one will believe a kid can write good characters. It's unlikely he'll sell any.

"How much for a set of couplets?"

Hearing someone speak, Chang Tianhua quickly turned around, seeing a sixty-year-old grandmother. Following her gaze, he was disappointed to see that she was looking at the couplets written by Wu Tian's grandfather, not his own.

Chang Tianhua, being honest, pointed to Wu Tian, "These aren't mine, they're his..."

"Right, right, these are the couplets I hung. Want to buy some? How many sets?" Wu Tian quickly took over, talking rapidly, surprising the grandmother. Could these couplets really be written by such a young kid? Her late husband was a calligraphy enthusiast, and though she couldn't write well, she had developed an eye for it. These couplets must have been written by someone with decades of practice. It was barely possible for a thirty-something to be so talented, but not for a child.

Wu Tian, however, didn't care. He quickly laid out a strip of red paper on the stool, picked up the brush, and said, "Grandma, for the New Year, we need to be festive. How about I write 'Firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, and plum blossoms welcome the new spring'?"

Without waiting for the grandmother to answer, Wu Tian started writing, leaving her unsure whether to stop him or agree. She watched as he wrote, "Kid, how long have you been practicing?"

"Over a year," Wu Tian said, writing.

"Good, to write like this in just over a year is impressive, hehe," the grandmother praised. "But the couplets you hung aren't yours..."

"They're my grandfather's," Wu Tian said.

"You're not being honest, kid. If they're not yours, hanging them is misleading people," the grandmother said.

"My grandfather taught me, and I'm his student. Hanging a few of his couplets as samples isn't a big deal, right?" Wu Tian quickly finished the couplet and said, "Grandma, look, my couplets are wide and big, perfect for the door. The characters may not be perfect, but I'm young, and it's already quite good. Buy my couplets, and you'll be encouraging me. I'll work harder to become a great calligrapher. If you don't buy my couplets, you'll be discouraging me, and our country will lose a potential calligraphy master. That would be your responsibility..."

The grandmother, amused and moved, pointed at Wu Tian, "Alright, alright, I won't be the one to ruin your future, hehe. I'll buy your couplets. I want four sets, and don't repeat any."

"Sure, no problem. I can write forty sets without repeating," Wu Tian said happily. "I'll write 'Spring returns to the earth, and the mountains and rivers are beautiful, the sun warms the land, and the weather is new.'"

Wu Tian quickly wrote another set, changed the red paper, and said, "How about 'The east wind turns the mountains green, and the spring rain brings new life to all things?'"

"Hehe, you're quite confident, but the couplets are a bit old. Do you have anything fresher?" the grandmother asked, trying to challenge Wu Tian.

"Fresher?" Wu Tian scratched his head. The two couplets he just wrote were commonly used, so he remembered them clearly. But for something fresher, he had to think of something that fit the early 1980s. He remembered a few couplets from a few years ago...

Wu Tian wrote: "The Party's heart, the people's heart, all hearts as one; the country's fortune, the family's fortune, great fortune."

Chang Tianhua adjusted his glasses, "Hmm, where did you copy this couplet from? I've never seen it."

Writing couplets doesn't mean creating them. Most people who write couplets have a small notebook to copy them, and some publishers even print books of new couplets. So, even though there were twenty to thirty stalls on this street, the content was mostly the same. As the saying goes, "All articles are copied," and even more so for couplets. Wu Tian confidently claimed this modern work as his own: "I created it myself, what's wrong with that?"

Chang Tianhua chuckled, but he didn't believe Wu Tian could create such a couplet. At his age, even remembering a dozen or so couplets would make him a prodigy.

Wu Tian, however, had already changed the red paper and started writing: "Purple aura surrounds the hall, bringing fortune and blessings; the courtyard is filled with spring, adding longevity and joy!"

"Uh... I've never seen this one either..." Chang Tianhua was even more surprised. He didn't believe the previous one was Wu Tian's creation, and this one was even less likely. But no one on this street had written this couplet...

The grandmother, however, was very satisfied, "Good, this one is great. It has fortune, blessings, longevity, and joy. You're really a little prodigy, hehe..."

"Grandma, you're too kind. If you keep praising me, I'll get arrogant..." Wu Tian happily had Wu Yuan cut some short strips from the red paper's edges and wrote the horizontal banners and other miscellaneous items like "good health," "joy on the road," and "spring in the garden." After calculating, four sets of couplets cost 80 cents, and the miscellaneous items 5 cents each, totaling 1.10 yuan.

"Grandma, buying my couplets is a vote of confidence. I can't take your money. Just give me one yuan!" Wu Tian quickly dried the ink, rolled the couplets, and held them high to hand to the grandmother.

The grandmother, however, was unhappy, "How can I take advantage of a child? One yuan and ten cents is one yuan and ten cents!"

As she spoke, she took out a small hand scroll from her pocket, unfolded it, and picked out 1.10 yuan to give to Wu Tian.

"Thank you, Grandma!" Wu Tian took the money without further ado and said, "Grandma, if you see any neighbors who haven't bought couplets, please introduce them to me. I need to write more to earn money for school fees."

The grandmother, delighted, said, "Don't worry, I'll definitely help you, little prodigy, hehe..."

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