CHAPTER 415: CHAPTER 415: ANOTHER YEAR OF SPRING FESTIVAL COUPLETS

"Mingming is also a sister, so why can only Qin Xiangnuan use brother Qin Xiangyang’s money and not Qin Xiangmei?"

"But, she seems to have forgotten something. Since they are both sisters, why does Qin Pengfei buy things for her and never bought a thread for Qin Xiangnuan or treated Qin Xiangnuan to a bowl of noodles?"

And with the Chinese New Year approaching, the Spring Festival couplets have always been a major expense for their family. Not to mention the money made from selling them, it is customary to give these couplets as gifts. Although not much money is involved, the couplets represent happiness and festivity, embodying the idea that the value of a gift lies in the thought behind it, not the price tag.

Qin Xiangnuan had long started preparing for the New Year’s gifts.

She had printed the bags in advance and designed several styles of red envelopes, ranging from cartoonish ones to traditional lucky designs. Aside from colorful characters, some envelopes featured cute cartoon tigers, a coveted design among many.

In addition, Qin Xiangnuan had been busy in the system for several months now, particularly since the start of winter. At that time, Qin Xiangmei was around, and she hardly had the energy to do anything else, consumed by thoughts of Qin Xiangmei. Every time she saw her face, she felt sick.

Finally, now that the troublemaker had left, Qin Xiangnuan could focus on preparing to sell Spring Festival couplets.

The system unlocked numerous traditional ethnic fabrics for her, which she remembered would not become popular until twenty years later. They were vibrant and saturated in color. She decided to make ’small year tigers,’ both big and small, using these fabrics, which turned out to be bursting with festive cheer and joy.

She made the largest ’year tiger’ plush toy about one and a half meters tall and over two meters long. It was stuffed with plenty of down cotton and intended for advertising. Afterwards, she would give it to Jian Zhiqin, whose zodiac sign was the tiger—he had mentioned wanting a large tiger just a few days earlier. If it weren’t for a random thought that popped into Jian Zhiqin’s head, Qin Xiangnuan might never have realized that such ’fortune tigers’ would become a thing to sell.

These were all handmade and embroidered by her. In terms of value, she felt it exceeded the set price. However, the spirit of the New Year was all about happiness, and her main product was the Spring Festival couplets. These toys were just an experiment to test the waters. If successful, she believed there would be more business opportunities in the future.

To save time, she made the outer parts herself and then stuffed them with polypropylene cotton, commonly known as toy cotton, hollow cotton, or stuffing cotton, made from polypropylene staple fiber. It came in two varieties: ordinary and hollow. This material is known for good resilience, a smooth feel, low price, and excellent insulation. It is widely used in stuffing toys, garments, bedding, and cotton spray industries.

The system offered this at one Gold Coin for a pile. Regardless of whether it was cost-effective, it saved her a lot of time. What’s more, the polypropylene cotton from the system was odorless, clean, and of superior quality.

Qin Xiangnuan had everyone help with stuffing the cotton. When many hands work together, they can easily be clothed and fed. Now, the Spring Festival couplet business wasn’t just hers; it belonged to everyone, including Jian Zhiqin and Little Taotao, who also helped out. Despite their small size, they were quite skilled and efficient, especially Taotao, whose tiny hands worked swiftly.

Jian Zhiqin took a liking to these small year tigers. After each one was completed, he almost always wanted to hold and touch it. If it weren’t for Qin Xiangnuan’s promise to make him the biggest one, the first small year tiger might never have been sold.

Before the New Year, the school had already closed for the holidays. Qin Xiangnuan kept an eye on Qin Xiangmei and only when she learned that Qin Xiangmei had taken the train back did she truly relax. She feared the woman might cause trouble. Sometimes, she even felt a bit scared of Qin Xiangmei.

What exactly she feared, whether it was trouble or issues from her past life, even she couldn’t articulate it clearly.

But one way or another, Qin Xiangmei, a walking time bomb, was now far from her. At the very least, she could enjoy a good year.

Qin Xiangnuan had already finished writing the Spring Festival couplets, not in one day, but accumulated over time, just enough for this year. What was new this year were those small year tigers, which were quite labor-intensive to make and conceived later, making their production quite rushed. Qin Xiangnuan took out a bunch from the system and asked everyone to finish them. Granny Lu then sewed the openings with thread. After a month or so, they had made several thousand.

Qin Xiangyang continued the tradition as in previous years, distributing Spring Festival couplets throughout the school. This year was his first time staying in school, but that didn’t mean he could ignore social niceties. The school had its own social structure, just like the military and military academies have their own unique worlds separate from the outside.

Gifts still needed to be given, not only to the leaders but also to classmates.

"Spring Festival couplets again, how nice, this year I won’t have to buy any," said Commander Xu’s wife, Jin Na, happily accepting the red paper bag filled naturally with Spring Festival couplets. And this year’s couplets were different; the paper wasn’t just plain red but also printed with flowers—auspicious patterns of birds, fish, and plants, making this year’s couplets stand out, much more exquisite and special than the ordinary ones, not just in the writing but also in the delicate drawings, likely specially printed.

"And this," Commander Xu brought out a small year tiger about fifty centimeters cubed. Women generally like these fluffy things, and this small year tiger was designed to be particularly adorable with its clumsy body, lively big eyes, a delicate ’王’ character on its head, and even two small plum blossoms embroidered on its cheeks.

Upon seeing it, Jin Na immediately fell in love with it, holding it without wanting to let go.

"Where did you get such a fun toy?" Jin Na was thrilled with the small year tiger in her arms. Commander Xu was usually only focused on teaching students, not the least bit romantic. What happened today for him to give her such a cute little gift?

Commander Xu, slightly embarrassed, scratched his head, "It’s from that kid, Qin Xiangyang. He said it’s something his sister made herself. He got one for her, thinking you would like it."

"Of course, I like it," Jin Na said, hugging the small year tiger, happily rubbing it against her face, making Commander Xu somewhat jealous. Why didn’t she ever treat him so affectionately? In the end, he could only touch his own cheek and go get food for Jin Na at the cafeteria. Today there were dumplings; they had agreed not to cook and to have dumplings instead. Jin Na was in a happy mood all day, and that made Commander Xu even more courteous towards Qin Xiangyang.