Chapter 8

On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, it was naturally the best time for the couplet business.

Wu Tian was hunched over a table, his little hand gripping a thick brush, dipping it in gold powder and writing with a flourish: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, horizontal: Perfectly Perfect!"

A couplet with a total of fourteen characters, but apart from the "Perfect" in the horizontal, the other characters were all extremely simple, making it very energy-efficient to write, and most importantly, it saved time—today was the best day for business, and there was no shortage of customers. Not to mention, the "prodigy couplets" had gained a reputation, and there were always a dozen or so people queuing up at the stall. Not only Wu Tian, but even his older sister had to join in, and they were still overwhelmed. Many people who couldn't wait ended up giving their business to Chang Tianhua.

Chang Tianhua had been following the light of the two children these past few days. He sold at least dozens of New Year paintings every day, and some who were impatient with the queue naturally fell into his hands. Some even bought printed couplets from Chang Tianhua. Mr. Chang was so busy that he had to call his wife to help.

Mrs. Chang's maiden name was Bai, and her given name was Jie. She was also a teacher at No. 3 Middle School, just like Chang Tianhua. At first, this made little Wu Tian indulge in some wild fantasies—after all, he had read the novel about Teacher Bai Jie more than once. Moreover, the Teacher Bai in front of him indeed had the looks to inspire such fantasies.

Fortunately, little Wu Tian quickly came to his senses—aside from the age difference, he was still too young to think about such things for at least another ten years.

Teacher Bai Jie was a sensible person and quickly understood the situation. She realized that her husband's business was actually benefiting from the two children, so she naturally took on the task of cutting paper for Wu Tian and his sister. The four of them divided the work clearly, and their cooperation was quite harmonious.

"One, three, five, seven, nine, two, four, six, eight, ten, horizontal: Perfectly Perfect!"

Wu Tian quickly wrote another couplet, displaying the demeanor of a typical shrewd businessman. However, the person who received the couplet showed no sign of dissatisfaction—these were prodigy couplets, and getting one was a blessing. Who would care about such details? Besides, although the characters were simple, the meaning was quite auspicious.

After collecting the money, Wu Tian called out to Bai Jie, "Auntie Bai, please give this aunt a door heart."

Chang Tianhua, who was writing couplets nearby, heard Wu Tian's call and almost made a mess—this brat, always calling him "big brother," but addressing his wife as "auntie," truly infuriating!

As if on cue, Wu Tian asked, "Big Brother Chang, what time is it?"

Chang Tianhua gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger, lifting his wrist to check his SH brand watch. "It's half past five."

Wu Tian nodded. "Mm, I'm done writing. It's time to go home for dinner..."

"Hey, little boy, I've been waiting all afternoon, and it's finally my turn. Why are you stopping now?" an aunt immediately complained.

Her words immediately drew a chorus of agreement. Everyone was here for the prodigy couplets. Although not everyone had waited all afternoon, many had queued for half an hour or an hour. They couldn't let their efforts go to waste, could they?

"Uncles, aunts, big brothers, big sisters, I'm really sorry. It's not that I don't want to write for you, but I've been writing all day, and I'm so tired that my back aches, my legs hurt, and my hands are cramping. I'm so young, still a flower bud of the country. You wouldn't want to exhaust me, would you? How about tomorrow? I'll come early tomorrow, or you can find Mr. Chang. His handwriting is better than mine, and he even won third place in the provincial calligraphy competition..."

Wu Tian stood on the table, bowing to everyone around him. His little demeanor immediately calmed everyone down, and some even smiled.

Chang Tianhua, who was writing couplets nearby, couldn't help but roll his eyes. The claim about the "provincial calligraphy competition third place" was purely made up by Wu Tian. Although Mr. Chang loved calligraphy, he was very self-aware and had never participated in any calligraphy competitions, let alone won third place in the province.

A few days ago, Wu Tian had used this claim. At the time, Chang Tianhua had tried to argue with him, questioning how an intellectual could claim honors that didn't belong to him. Besides, who would believe that a third-place winner in the provincial calligraphy competition would be writing couplets on the street?

But someone did believe! Who would doubt the words of a six-year-old? The couplets written by a third-place winner in the provincial calligraphy competition seemed no less impressive than those written by a prodigy. Immediately, a crowd surrounded Chang Tianhua, and Wu Tian slipped away. Chang Tianhua, who wanted to deny it, had no chance. He could only silently accept the large number of customers "given" to him by Wu Tian. After this happened a couple of times, Chang Tianhua gave up on arguing with Wu Tian.

After settling the scene, Wu Tian jumped down from the table and called out to Wu Yuan, "Sis, are you done? Mom is about to finish work!"

"The horizontal is not done yet..." Wu Yuan said. Wu Yuan, who was ten, naturally wouldn't crawl on the table like Wu Tian. She stood on a small stool, and her writing speed was slower than Wu Tian's. Moreover, she was too embarrassed to use Wu Tian's shrewd business tactics, so she wrote neatly and meticulously, often taking longer to finish one couplet than Wu Tian took to write two or three.

Wu Tian patiently waited for his sister to slowly write the four large characters of the horizontal, collected the money, and said goodbye to "Big Brother Chang" and "Auntie Bai," then hurriedly ran home with his sister.

There was no choice. Who would have thought that Chu Yumei liked to leave early? And the other day, she had scolded the siblings for not being home after work. They had to get home before their mother arrived.

Fortunately, it was the New Year, and after leaving early, their mother still had to do some New Year shopping. When Wu Tian and Wu Yuan got home, their mother hadn't returned yet. They panted for a moment, then went into the inner room to count their earnings.

"A total of 62.8 yuan!" Wu Yuan laid out the bills by denomination and counted them, unable to hide her excitement.

This was a significant amount. In just one afternoon, they had earned almost as much as their mother's monthly salary!

Today was the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, the best time for the couplet business. The reputation of the prodigy couplets had spread, and Wu Tian kept persuading people to buy the extra-large couplets that cost one yuan each, so their earnings were much higher than the previous days.

Adding the 40 yuan from the morning, today's net profit had already exceeded 100 yuan!

Wu Tian calculated that the total earnings over the past few days were almost 300 yuan. Tomorrow, the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, the couplet business would likely decline, but they could still earn a few dozen yuan, easily breaking the 300 yuan mark!

Although writing couplets was tiring, thinking about the income the siblings had earned in just a few days, which was equivalent to half a year's salary for an ordinary worker, Wu Tian felt a great sense of achievement.