"That is a given," Lin He said with a smile. "I will only supply your establishment. However, if others see your work and learn from it, that is your concern. What I provide you is merely a template; have your own embroidery house follow it."

Wen Shijie agreed and then asked Lin He, "For these three hundred and fifty taels, do you require bank notes or silver ingots?"

Lin He replied, "I need twenty taels in loose silver coins, and the rest in ingots. No bank notes."

Seeing that they were all young children, Wen Shijie said, "Bank notes are also very convenient. They can be exchanged anywhere there is a bank."

Lin He smiled and said, "I have a use for these silver ingots." The shopkeeper did not press the issue further and signaled for the waiter to bring the silver.

Lin He placed the silver into a bundle. The cloth of the bundle was worn and old; no one would have suspected that such a dilapidated piece of fabric contained so much silver. The shopkeeper asked, "Miss Lin, would you like us to send someone to escort you back?"

Lin He replied, "No need. We still need to buy a few things and will take some time. Please don't trouble yourself, Shopkeeper."

Shopkeeper Wen then inquired, "Then when can you bring the new cloth dolls next time?"

Lin He said, "Around the end of the month. I will bring a few new ones, giving you time to see if these cloth dolls truly hold commercial promise."

Boss Wen smiled but said nothing, though he thought to himself, "Such a young child who can think of so many things—she will surely be an extraordinary person in the future."

The three siblings carried the bundles they had arrived with out of the shop door. Lin He said to Da Bao, "Big Brother, we need to acquire a few more things for the household. We will need to rent an ox-cart to take things back later."

Da Bao nodded. He truly believed now that his sister was determined to give their family a better life. One hundred and fifty taels of silver—that was perhaps what their family could earn by working the fields from sunup to sundown for a lifetime. A common family's annual expenses amounted to no more than two or three taels. His sister had earned so much money in half a day; he believed everything she said.

Lin He remembered that the few of them hadn't eaten yet, not even breakfast, and now it was nearly lunchtime. She led Da Bao and San Ya toward a very grand-looking restaurant, thinking, "Sister is rich now; today we must have a good meal."

Da Bao, seeing the imposing restaurant, knew that one could not leave without spending several taels of silver. He suggested, "Let's just eat noodles at the stall up ahead and buy a few steamed buns. No need to go to such a fine place."

Lin He pulled him back, saying, "Big Brother, we have money now. We have the silver."

The three entered the restaurant and ordered several dishes, enjoying a fine meal. They spent one tael and eight qian of silver. Da Bao winced with the expense. Lin He smiled and shook her head. San Ya, being more perceptive, quietly asked Lin He, "Sister, did the little bears you made sell well?" Lin He nodded.

After lunch, Lin He considered what the household lacked and needed to purchase. She soon realized there were far too many things that needed acquiring; the places where money needed to be spent were endless. It seemed one hundred and fifty taels was not such a large sum after all. Lin He took Da Bao and San Ya to a place selling ceramics and bought a set of chopsticks and bowls. Recently, Lin He had grown very tired of using willow branches for chopsticks. Although many people in this era used willow branches as chopsticks, Lin He found it very hard to adapt to them.

Next, they bought several bolts of cloth, then went to the cotton shop and bought twenty catties of cotton, planning to make two quilts. They would also make a padded cotton coat for everyone in the family, as they needed at least two changes of clothing. This amount of cotton should be sufficient. Then, at the grain store, they bought several tens of catties of white flour, along with some cornmeal and black flour. Eating only white flour at every meal was still impossible for now, but having it occasionally was manageable.

They also bought two catties of meat from the market—pork belly, half fat and half lean. Lin He had originally intended to buy only lean meat, but San Ya and Da Bao insisted that fatty meat tasted better, so they bought pork belly. They also bought some eggs to take home. By the end, they had purchased a large haul of goods. As Lin He passed the marketplace, she noticed several people selling oxen.

Among farming families, oxen were never sold. But as winter approached, there were too many poor families like Lin He's who had no other choice but to sell the oxen used for plowing. After all, as long as one was alive, there was hope; nothing was more important than survival. Lin He decided it would be best to buy an ox-cart to take everything back. The family needed an ox-cart anyway. Da Bao argued that the money should be used to buy fields. Lin He agreed that buying land was excellent—their family still didn't own any land—and they would need an ox to plow it regardless. Renting other people's oxen involved a significant expense, and owning their own cart would be more convenient. So, they left their purchases at the grain store and walked toward the ox market to look around.

Frankly, in her previous life, Lin He had rarely seen oxen, and she had no idea how to judge a good one. Da Bao admitted he also didn't know how to choose. They wandered through the market area and finally saw an old man, dressed thinly along with a five-year-old child, leading an ox to the side. The child coughed intermittently. Lin He stopped at the place where the old man was selling the ox and asked how much he wanted for it. The old man replied, "Little girl, are you children looking to buy an ox? Where are your adults? Do you know how to feed one?"

Da Bao said, "We need it to pull an ox-cart."

The old man laughed and said, "Little ones, do you know how to drive an ox-cart?"

Lin He froze. Indeed, the three little buns—who among them knew how to drive an ox-cart? Perhaps they should wait for their parents to come and buy an ox later.

The old man continued, "I know how to drive an ox-cart. If you buy this ox, I can help you harness it to a cart and take you back. But you must pay me first. Only after I take my grandson to see a doctor can I escort you home." Lin He thought it over and agreed.

Buying the ox wasn't the most crucial thing, but seeing how unwell the small child looked, sending him to the doctor first was the priority. The old man sold the ox to Lin He for ten taels of silver. Da Bao, familiar with the town, took the old man and his grandson to see a doctor. Fortunately, it wasn't a serious illness, just a slight cold, and two doses of medicine would suffice.

The old man led the ox, and they harnessed it to a cart. Then, they returned to the grain store to load all the purchased goods onto the ox-cart. The three siblings and the old man's grandson climbed aboard. Lin He took some old burlap sacks and covered the goods.

On the road, Lin He learned why the old man had to sell his ox. The old man had lived with his family of four: his son, daughter-in-law, and young grandson. Last year, a local bully took a liking to his daughter-in-law and tried to force her to become his concubine. When his son and daughter-in-law refused, the bully drove them out of their home. Having no choice, the family of four had to leave their land. Tragically, the daughter-in-law fell ill on the road, and the son had to go work as a laborer in the bully's territory. He then fell from a several-meter-high wall and died. Not long after, the daughter-in-law also passed away.

The old man was left to take his grandson to a small village near Tianxin Town to live. Usually, the old man earned money by plowing fields for others with the ox. But now, winter had arrived, his grandson was sick, they had no winter clothing, and no food reserves. Fearing they wouldn't survive the winter, he was forced to sell the ox.

Lin He asked him, "Now that you've sold the ox, how will you manage to live?"

The old man didn't know; alas, he could only take things one step at a time.