After the busy farming season, the people of Wangjia Village, who had worked hard all year, finally got a short rest.

A rare tranquility permeated the village, with wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and the aroma of food filling the air.

However, these days were not easy for Wang Xiuxiu.

The family spent their days staring at each other at home, creating a somewhat dull atmosphere.

In previous years, Chen Chunhua couldn't bear to see Xiuxiu have any free time at this time, and always kept her busy.

But this year, Wang Xiuxiu came, and she would hide back in her room whenever she had nothing to do, trying her best not to linger in front of Chen Chunhua.

Chen Chunhua, on the other hand, is very concerned about saving face.

Recently, rumors have started circulating in the village that she abused her first wife's daughter. Although she was holding a grudge, she no longer dared to openly order Wang Xiuxiu around as she had in previous years.

He could only grit his teeth and watch helplessly as Wang Xiuxiu "slacked off".

This year is a bumper year; after paying taxes, we still have plenty of grain left at home.

Wang Degui was in a great mood, so he instructed Chen Chunhua to prepare more pickled meat and cucumbers this year so that the family could have a prosperous New Year.

Chen Chunhua had the same idea, so she urged Hong Xiaodong to gather the radishes and cabbages from the garden to prepare pickled cucumbers.

The amount of salt we keep at home is based on the amount we prepared in previous years. Since we're going to pickle more this year, we'll naturally buy more salt.

Upon hearing that someone was to be sent to the county to buy salt, Wang Xiuxiu immediately seized an opportunity to say that she was going to the embroidery workshop to get some patterns.

Fortunately, Xiuxiu embroidered handkerchiefs in her spare time to supplement the family income, and her reasons were quite valid.

Wang Degui nodded in satisfaction after hearing this.

Chen Chunhua was naturally happy that she could earn money for her, and echoed, "Second daughter has really grown up! She understands the hardships of the family now. I always thought this little girl should know some embroidery..."

She went on and on, mainly to show off her "brilliant decision" to have Xiuxiu learn embroidery.

Wang Xiuxiu was already immune to these words, automatically summarizing them as "agreement," and she didn't take the rest to heart at all.

Her mind had already flown to the county, thinking that this trip there might offer some new opportunities.

With Wang Degui and Chen Chunhua agreeing, the opinions of others became irrelevant.

That's right, I'm talking about Hong Xiaodong.

The villagers usually only go to the county during the market day, but this year the day for slaughtering the New Year's pig is also set for that day.

Wang Degui was going to help slaughter the pig.

The men were careless; if there was an ounce less fat or an ounce more lean meat, Chen Chunhua would definitely be worried and would insist on going along to check on it.

Moreover, she doesn't usually like to go to the county.

In previous years, Wang Chengwu and his wife were the ones who took care of preparing for the New Year.

Wang Chengwu and his wife were overjoyed about this.

In previous years, the two of them could take this opportunity to secretly use their savings to eat a meat pie and a bowl of meat soup in the county.

Now that Wang Xiuxiu is here, not only is she unable to move around easily, but we also have to pay extra for the oxcart.

Hong Xiaodong immediately became very unhappy.

"Xiuer, in previous years it was always your older brother and me who went. Listen to your sister-in-law, you're still not well, don't make the trip."

Wang Xiuxiu nodded in agreement, then hesitated for a long time before saying, "But the flower patterns my sister-in-law brought back last time were all leftovers. After they were embroidered, no one wanted to buy them. In the end, my mother had to make another trip and say a lot of nice things before the shopkeeper reluctantly accepted them. Mother said that next time I should go and choose them myself..."

Thinking of this, Chen Chunhua nodded thoughtfully.

In the end, Wang Degui made the final decision: "Eldest daughter, this time Xiu'er will go with you. I'll pay for her transportation; you won't have to pay anything!"

After saying that, he gestured for Chen Chunhua to take the money.

Although reluctant, Chen Chunhua still took out three coins from the house, threw them on the table, and turned to go back into the house.

Hong Xiaodong quickly put the money back into his pocket, but he was still unhappy.

On the other side, Chen Chunhua massaged Wang Degui's back while applying eye drops.

"Honey, I think this eldest daughter-in-law is really something else. All year round, she won't even spend three coins on her own sister. What kind of scholar's daughter is so mercenary?"

Wang Degui also had many complaints about his eldest daughter-in-law, who was all show and no substance.

But he had been the one who decided to marry her, and he felt guilty. So he didn't say anything, only silently tapped his shoes.

Chen Chunhua knew he didn't like listening, but she didn't care and continued her rapid-fire monologue.

---

The next morning, Wang Xiuxiu followed Hong Xiaodong and Wang Chengwu onto the oxcart to the county town.

This oxcart was harnessed by the villagers. Oxen are precious, so they only do business for a short time during the off-season. Usually, the people of Wangjia Village travel to the county by donkey cart.

Villagers mostly go to the county to buy things. They don't have much to take with them when they go, just one coin per person. When they come back, they have to pay another coin for the fare.

Upon arriving in the county, Hong Xiaodong and Wang Chengwu abandoned Wang Xiuxiu in front of the embroidery room and hurriedly ran off, as if afraid that Wang Xiuxiu would chase after them.

Wang Xiuxiu curled her lip in disdain, then turned and stepped into the embroidery room.

Upon entering the embroidery workshop, Wang Xiuxiu first found the manager, gave him the written receipt from the shop, and then handed him a basket of wrapped embroidery pieces.

The steward looked through the ledger one by one, wrote a few more entries, and then counted out 60 copper coins for Wang Xiuxiu.

Wang Xiuxiu couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Damn cheap labor!"

Xiuxiu spent almost three months embroidering these sixty handkerchiefs, nearly going blind from exhaustion, and all she got in return was a few copper coins.

This Fuyuan Embroidery Shop was a reputable business that Chen Chunhua had repeatedly heard about from others.

Even so, a handkerchief that costs one coin can be resold for ten coins.

Wang Xiuxiu felt somewhat resentful, but she knew that her current abilities were insufficient to change anything.

Seeing that Wang Xiuxiu remained silent, the steward asked, "Did you bring the embroidery pattern? Do you want to continue embroidering the handkerchief, or should I take the pattern back and give you the money?"

Embroidery patterns, embroidery thread, embroidery cloth—everything costs money.

If you take anything, you have to return a deposit to the embroidery workshop.

When you stop working, you can get your money back by showing the receipt.

Wang Xiuxiu took out an embroidery pattern from her sleeve and handed it to the steward, saying, "These are the ones I'm used to embroidering. I'd like to exchange a few this time."

There were only five embroidery patterns in total. The steward saw that she had kept them well, without even a folded corner, and couldn't help but be more patient with her.

"This box contains embroidery patterns that cost five coins each, this box contains patterns that cost two coins each, and this box contains patterns that cost one coin each, just like the ones you embroidered before."

The steward pointed to several boxes and said, “I see your needlework is quite good, and you’re quite skilled now. You could choose a few five-copper notes to take home and try.”

Wang Xiuxiu picked out two five-coin notes and then a two-coin note before taking the embroidery cloth and thread and putting them in the basket.

It was too early; there weren't many customers in the embroidery shop yet.

Judging that Hong Xiaodong and Wang Chengwu wouldn't be back for a while, Wang Xiuxiu, having nothing else to do, started chatting with the steward.

"Madam manager, does your embroidery workshop accept samples?" Wang Xiuxiu asked tentatively.

The manager raised an eyebrow at her. "What, you have some?"

"I'm used to seeing flowers and plants in the countryside, nothing fancy. I was just asking casually, please don't take it to heart."

Seeing that she spoke honestly, the manager was happy to say a few more words, "We will accept them, but they have to be good ones. It doesn't matter who painted them, as long as they are well painted, our embroidery workshop will buy them at a high price!"

“Really!” Wang Xiuxiu’s eyes lit up instantly.

"Of course, you should know that the embroidery patterns I just showed you were drawn by a scholar at the request of our head steward, and each one cost one tael of silver!" the steward said with a smile.

Wang Xiuxiu silently calculated in her mind that one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,000 copper coins, enough to buy about two shi of rice, enough for an adult to eat for more than half a year.

You should know that a skilled laborer at the docks earns less than one or two taels of silver in half a month.

This embroidery pattern making is much better than embroidering handkerchiefs, and Wang Xiuxiu was very tempted by it.

But while it may be tempting, making money from embroidery patterns isn't so easy.

She's alright at embroidery and has a lot of ideas in her head, but her painting skills are still lacking.

Moreover, Chen Chunhua, who was in charge of the household, was extremely tight-fisted with money.

Even if you make money, there's absolutely no way you can keep it in your own hands.

If you want to hide money in your own pocket, you still need to plan carefully.