Chapter 119 Making Winter Clothes

They didn't have much money when they made clothes last time, and Pei Ying said she had clothes to change into, so she didn't make any.

This time, the whole family worked together to make winter clothes.

The stewardess did the math, and Lin Chuntao said, "Madam, please remember this. We still have one more person to do this; they'll be here to take the measurements shortly."

Lin Chuntao took Lin Chunxing and the others to a fur shop, but it wasn't open yet.

Lin Chunxing said, "Sister, I'll go back to the stall first and have my brother-in-law come over to take the measurements. We'll look at the shoes later."

“Let’s go back with you,” Lin Chuntao said. Lin Chunxing waved her hand and said, “Why make two trips? You guys wait here for your brother-in-law to come. I’m going first.”

She ran off in a flash, and Lin Duo'er chased after her, saying, "Second Sister, I'll go watch the stall with you."

Lin Chunxing paused for a moment upon hearing the sound, and the two sisters disappeared around the corner in a short while.

Lin Chunhe pursed her lips and smiled, "I guess Duo'er will ask my second sister to buy her something."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Mutton pies?"

Lin Chunhe raised an eyebrow, and Lin Chuntao said helplessly, "It's as if I'm not buying it for her."

Lin Chunhe smiled and said, "She probably just wants you and my second sister to each buy her one."

Hearing Lin Chunhe's words, Lin Chuntao suddenly remembered that she was in charge of the money, and Lin Chunxing always had money on hand because of her business. Lin Chunhe, on the other hand, seemed to have no money at all while she was busy at home.

Lin Chuntao said, "I'll talk to your second sister in a couple of days. From now on, all the money we earn will go to the company, but each of us will take a portion of the money each month and keep it ourselves."

Lin Chunhe: "Okay, then you can take care of mine."

Lin Chuntao: "..."

"If I take care of it for you, then what I said earlier was pointless. Now you have your own room, so just put it away yourself."

Lin Chunhe replied to Lin Chuntao's words, "All the money in the house is earned by you and my second sister. I can just tell you what I want to buy."

"Nonsense." Lin Chuntao interrupted her, saying with a serious expression, "We are a family. Everyone has worked. It can't be that whoever did the work and saw the money is the one who earned it. I often come to the county town to keep busy. Aren't you in charge of things at home? You also get a share of the money from selling the sauce. Including Duo'er, she is young, and I don't feel comfortable assigning her any work, but she cuts pig feed and feeds the chickens and pigs every day. That's also earning money for our family."

Lin Chunhe's eyes welled up with tears after hearing Lin Chuntao's words.

Lin Chuntao said, "You have a calm and steady personality. You can handle the complicated things at home. Once you learn how to make sauce, I will leave everything to you if I have to do other things. Duo'er said she wants to learn tailoring, so let her learn and see. I will feel at ease knowing that the three of you will each have your own skills to make a living."

Hearing Lin Chuntao's words, Lin Chunhe felt a surge of emotion.

She watched Lin Chuntao teach Lin Chunxing how to make rice noodle soup and braised eggs to earn money, and watched Duo'er prepare to become an apprentice to learn a skill. She wondered if she should also learn to make something, but after tossing and turning, she really didn't know what to learn. She fell asleep while thinking about it.

I never expected to hear Lin Chuntao say today that she would hand over the whole sauce-making business to her.

Seeing her like this, Lin Chuntao asked suspiciously, "You don't think I've made arrangements for your second sister and Duo'er, but forgot about you, do you?"

Lin Chunhe shook her head slightly, "No."

Lin Chuntao patted her head. "Yes, yes. It's my fault for not explaining it clearly to you. If our sauce is to be sold to other places in the future, we may make a lot. At that time, we will need to collect beans, chili peppers and spices, manage the people who come to do the work, and also make the sauce. I think you have the most stable temperament and are reliable in doing things, so I have already thought it through and will entrust this matter to you in the future."

Lin Chunhe nodded, "Don't worry, sister, I'll definitely do a good job."

Lin Chuntao smiled, her eyes gentle.

"Yes, I believe you."

The two sisters had just finished speaking when they saw Pei Ying appear around the corner.

Lin Chuntao waved, and after Pei Ying came over, they went into the cloth shop together.

The stewardess called over a tailor to take Pei Ying's measurements. They were old acquaintances. After taking the measurements, Lin Chuntao explained the details of the style. Pei Ying also tried on two pairs of new cloth shoes, and the cost was recalculated.

Two sets of clothes for one person, plus the cost of fabric, cotton, and the tailor's wages, plus six pairs of cloth shoes, all added up to more than six taels.

Last time when the quilt was made, there was plenty of fabric and cotton, so the tailor's fee didn't seem too high. But when it came to making clothes, there wasn't as much fabric, and the stitching fee was quite expensive. Plus, it was a double-layered, padded garment, so the tailor's fee for one set of clothes was 220 wen, and that was after Lin Chuntao negotiated the price.

Because they cut down trees themselves, the cost of building the house was much cheaper than Lin Chuntao's budget. So, after the house was built, they still had a lot of money left over. Five or six taels of silver to make clothes wasn't much, but perhaps because they had been poor for so long, Lin Chuntao was in a daze and felt that the clothes were quite expensive.

Pei Ying looked at her and smiled, "It's not like I make clothes every day, so they're not expensive."

Thinking about the silver note from yesterday, Lin Chuntao realized that it wasn't expensive considering the amount of money she had left.

The clothes were to be picked up in five days. Lin Chuntao paid the money and took the deed. She then went to check on the fur shop, but it was still closed. A neighbor saw them lingering and asked, "Miss, are you looking for the fur shop owner?"

"Yes, ma'am, may I ask what time he opens the door?"

The old woman said, "Don't wait anymore. He's been collecting hides these past few days, and he probably won't be back for another three or four days."

Lin Chuntao smiled and thanked the old woman after receiving the message, then returned to her stall with Pei Ying.

The market started to get busier, and there was a constant stream of shouts and calls from vendors.

Lin Chuntao bought ten catties of pork belly. After cutting off the skin and bones, there were two whole ribs. Looking at such a big piece of meat, Lin Duo'er asked, "Sister, why did you buy so much meat?"

Lin Chuntao frowned and glanced at her, saying, "You're going to learn a craft from Madam Fan today, this is for Madam Fan."

Lin Duo'er opened her mouth, seemingly not expecting to ask for so much meat. In fact, it wasn't just this much meat; she also wanted some rice, noodles, dried vegetables, and the like. But since they had enough grain at home, Lin Chuntao didn't buy any, only some meat.

After buying the meat, Lin Chuntao took Lin Chunhe and the others home first.

The sun came out before they even left the county town.

Lin Chunhe looked at the sun and breathed a sigh of relief, "The sky is clear, we can go back and dry the beans."

Lin Chuntao nodded.

When they arrived home, Aunt Guizhi and Meng Yun were already waiting at the door.

Lin Chuntao opened the door, and Lin Duo'er went to feed the chickens and cook potatoes. Lin Chuntao and Lin Chunhe put the things in the kitchen and then went to the backyard with Aunt Guizhi and the others.

Everyone busied themselves first, carrying the covered beans onto the bamboo racks to dry in the sun.

Lin Chunhe went to get the money for Lin Jiahui, while Meng Yun made a note of it.

When they arrived, Lin Chuntao had already lit the stove fire. Lin Chunhe went to check on the beans that had been soaked the day before, and then brought over a steamer to start steaming them.

Lin Chuntao stirred the soy sauce jar and called Aunt Guizhi and the others for help. Together they carried the soy sauce jar out to dry in the sun.

After the soybean paste was dried, Aunt Guizhi, Mengyun, and Grandma went together to help wash and steam the soaked soybeans.

Although Lin Chuntao initially asked them to pick beans and chili peppers, the two of them did the work quickly. With more clean beans and chili peppers picked, they didn't need to do it all themselves.

Lin Chunhe knew how to steam beans at home, so she asked Aunt Guizhi and her grandmother for help. When Lin Shuilian first arrived, she wanted to wash the beans with her. Although the water wasn't cold in the summer, Lin Chunhe didn't let Lin Shuilian touch the water since she had just finished her postpartum confinement period.

After working for a while, everyone just did whatever was available first, without dividing the work into very specific tasks.

After drying the soy sauce and beans, Lin Chuntao went to check on the charcoal kiln, which was still hot to the touch.

After going around in circles, she packed six jin of rice, six jin of wheat flour, six jin of buckwheat flour, and a bamboo tube of sauce, and put them all in the bamboo basket.

She poked a hole in the meat with a knife, twisted some straw through it, and used it as a rope.

After preparing everything, Lin Chuntao went to ask Meng Yun, "Mrs. Meng, are your sister-in-law and the others home?"

Meng Yun replied, "No, my sister-in-law took Jialang and the others to the fields. They probably won't be back until lunchtime."

Lin Chuntao nodded, then asked, "Are they digging in the ground?"

Meng Yun: "Well, my sister-in-law said we could plant some buckwheat, so we turned over the soil."

Have you bought the buckwheat seeds?

"It seems not yet," Meng Yun replied.

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuntao returned to the front yard. After thinking for a moment, she brought back all the flour and exchanged twenty catties of buckwheat seeds from the system, which she then divided into two small bamboo baskets.

At noon, Lin Chunxing and Pei Ying returned. After everyone had lunch, Lin Chuntao took Lin Duo'er and carried their things to find Fan Liniang.

Meng Yun had already returned to work. Fan Liniang had just washed Meng Yue's hair, which was still wet. When she saw Lin Chuntao and the others come in, she was a little embarrassed and hid behind Fan Liniang.

Duo'er carried two bamboo baskets of buckwheat seeds and bamboo tubes, while Lin Chuntao carried rice and meat.

Fan Liniang looked up and saw what Lin Chuntao was holding. She was a little surprised. Lin Chuntao said yesterday that she would pay her tuition for half a month. That was just a token gesture. She could just give her a red envelope with ten or eight coins. After all, it was only half a month. The main thing was to see if Duo'er could persevere in learning. If she only studied for three or five days and then didn't want to study anymore, that would be fine.

Lin Chuntao looked at Madam Fan and smiled, "Madam Fan, I've come to pay Duo'er's tuition. I'll have to trouble you to take care of this girl from now on."

Fan Liniang greeted, "Madam Lin, please come inside." As she spoke, she led Lin Chuntao and Lin Duo'er into the house, saying as they walked, "Madam, this is too much of a fee. Even a formal apprenticeship ceremony wouldn't be much more than this." As she spoke, she turned back and looked at Lin Duo'er with tender eyes, pondered for a moment, and said, "If Duo'er really likes it, why don't you become an apprentice today?"

Lin Chuntao had no objection to this. She turned to Lin Duo'er and asked, "Duo'er, what do you say?"

Lin Duo'er glanced at Fan Liniang and then at Lin Chuntao, somewhat nervous, but still nodded.

Although the apprenticeship ceremony was simple, Lin Chuntao felt it was very solemn. In their main room, the words "Heaven, Earth, Parents, Sovereign, and Teacher" were pasted up, and an incense burner was placed on the cabinet in front. Fan Liniang took out incense, lit it, and knelt down to pray, saying, "Today, Fan Liniang, the seventh generation embroiderer of the Fan family, accepts Lin Duo'er as her apprentice. She will carry on the family tradition and bring honor to the family and will not fail in her mission. May our ancestors bless her."

After she finished speaking, she bowed three times and then put the incense sticks into the small incense burner.

After finishing this, Lin Duo'er offered tea and kowtowed to her master, thus completing the ceremony.

After finishing, Lin Chuntao went home, while Lin Duo'er stayed with Fan Niangzi and began learning a craft today.