Happy holidays, Mom! chapter 2

Selling Books

The next day was Saturday. Amy got up very early. She carried the big carton full of books to the city’s cultural square. She found a spot, took out the books one by one, and started shouting, “Five dollars each!” Many people were in the square. From time to time, someone would stop to take a look, but then shake their heads and leave. The whole morning passed quickly, and she hadn’t sold a single book.

In the afternoon, the number of people in the square gradually decreased. Amy hadn’t eaten lunch and her legs were sore and numb, but her little business still attracted few customers. By evening, the number of people in the square started to increase again. At this time, she was so hungry that she felt dizzy, but she was afraid someone would take her spot, so she still endured without eating. She gritted her teeth and lowered the price to two dollars per book. Finally, a few people came over, and two books were sold. Amy suddenly didn’t feel as hungry. Just then, she saw Lily walking over, holding several skewers of barbecue in one hand and a can of Coke in the other. She panicked and quickly lowered her head. Fortunately, Lily walked by without noticing her.

After a while, an eight – or nine – year – old boy came. He rummaged through the books, picked up five, and asked, “Sister, how much?”

Amy told him the price. The boy took out ten dollars and handed it to her. Then he asked seriously, “Sister, can I ask you a question? Promise not to lie, okay?”

Amy said, “I’m selling these books to buy a gift for my mom on Mother’s Day.” The little boy clapped his hands and said happily, “Sister is so great, making money to buy a gift for her mom…”

Suddenly, there was chaos in the square. All the street vendors started running for their lives. An uncle saw Amy standing there in a daze and reminded her, “Run quickly! If the city inspectors catch you, they’ll confiscate your books and fine you.”

Amy panicked immediately. She quickly put the books on the stall back into the carton, picked it up, and staggered after the others. The carton was very heavy, and she ran slower and slower until she couldn’t run anymore. At this time, a hot – dog vendor rushed over with his cart and knocked her down. Amy’s vision went black and she fainted…

After an unknown amount of time, Amy woke up and found herself in the hospital. Lily and several other girls from the dorm were anxiously gathered around her, and the little boy who bought the books was also there. Seeing her wake up, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Lily told her that the boy was her cousin. In the evening, she brought her cousin to the square to play. When she saw Amy selling books, she pretended not to see and walked by. But she was curious, so she asked her little cousin to pretend to buy books to find out the reason. After Amy fainted, Lily sent her to the hospital and quickly called the other girls in the dorm.

Then, Lily took out a beautiful big box and said, “You never tell us about your family. That’s not nice. Here, this is a set of skin – care cosmetics we bought for your mom!” Seeing Amy about to say something, Lily shook her head and gently put her hand on Amy’s lips, saying, “Don’t say no. This isn’t for you. We’ve decided. We’ll go to your home together tomorrow and give the gift to your mom in person!” The other girls in the dorm nodded in agreement.

Amy fainted mainly because she was tired, hungry, and overly frightened. She kept shedding tears, as if she had a lot to say but couldn’t utter a single word.