Chapter 19: The Inspired Sachet Idea

People in the Song Dynasty loved fragrance. They would scent their clothes and leave a pleasant scent on their breath, which is why there were many incense and medicine shops on the streets of Sangqing Town.

The shop assistants in the incense shop were all wearing hats and shawls, and the fragrance inside was so strong that Lin Xiushui held her breath as she showed the two buckets of spices to the shop assistants and asked, "Do you sell this kind of incense in your shop? How much does it cost?"

The shopkeeper took the bucket and glanced at it, then immediately smiled and said, "This bucket contains incense cakes, which are baked in the stove. They are also called small charcoal cakes. If you want to buy them, young lady, it will cost around three hundred coins."

"This bucket contains incense balls, mixed with osmanthus and honey, so it's a bit more expensive, costing a little over seven hundred coins."

Lin Xiushui knew nothing about incense, so she pretended to ask a series of questions before finally asking, "If we wanted to sell these spices to you, would you buy them?"

The waiter still had a smile on his face. "Young lady, we don't accept outside incense. If something is mixed in, and the customer comes to complain, we won't be able to reason with them."

Lin Xiushui wasn't disappointed. She asked around at several other shops and confirmed the prices: a bucket of sachets cost around 300 to 400 yuan, and sachets cost 700 to 1 guan.

However, they wouldn't accept the spices she had sold. They advised her that if she really wanted to sell, she should go to the pawnshop next to the government office in the west. She took a shortcut and found a pawnshop on the main street. She went there and asked, and the pawnshop immediately discounted the price by half after she put the good stuff in. When they saw that she came alone, they even lowered the price to three hundred coins.

Lin Xiushui had been struggling all the way, but not only did she fail to sell anything, she was also furious with the pawnshop and stormed off. As she walked, she thought to herself, and finally made up her mind not to sell anymore. She would make sachets; she could earn money one by one, right?

We can't let these spices end up being wasted on her.

It was dark when she returned home, and a light rain started to fall halfway there. She hurried home, but the rain intensified when she arrived.

Xiaohe, dressed in an oilcloth, waited for her at the door, splashing and playing in the puddles as she waited. When she saw her return, she immediately ran into the house and shouted, "Mother, Sister is back! Let's eat!"

"Sister, why are you back so late? Didn't your stomach tell you to come back for dinner?"

Lin Xiushui patted Xiaohe's head and said with a smile, "We walked a little slowly on the way. Go inside and change your clothes quickly."

Actually, she tripped and fell on her way back. She was so angry with the quality control department that she didn't watch where she was going and tripped over her own foot. Fortunately, she didn't bleed, just got a minor cut, and it hurt so much that she sat down to rest for a while.

She first put the spices and other ingredients in her room, then sat down and applied the medicinal wine. She grimaced in pain as she slowly made her way downstairs.

As soon as she got downstairs, she put on a smile and said, "Auntie, I received a reward today, and I have some good news to tell you."

Wang Yuelan had been very worried and waited for her for a long time at the bridgehead. She was holding back her anger at the time, but now she was no longer angry and put down the fish soup.

She feigned a question: "What good news?"

“I’ve found you a job, Aunt,” Lin Xiushui said, going out to bring in a bag of silk floss. “They make silkworm flower quilts, and you have to pick and choose them. They tell you not to tear them with any holes, and they pay two coins for each one.”

"We have to work hard at night and during the day because the other party needs it the day after tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yuelan, who was about to pick up her chopsticks to eat, got up again to touch the silk floss pouches. She took out two and squeezed and pulled them in her hands to see how easy they were to tear. Sure enough, she preferred reeling silk and working with silk floss to dyeing cloth.

“This silk floss is easy to pick out,” Wang Yuelan said as she sat back down at the table and picked up her bowl to eat. After taking a couple of bites, she added, “I’ll go pick some out first before I eat.”

Lin Xiushui stopped him, saying that eating was more important.

Wang Yuelan couldn't eat right now. She glanced at Lin Xiushui, hesitated, and then moved her lips.

Actually, she had a big argument with someone at the dye shop today, and they almost came to blows. It all started with those oilcloth gloves.

Besides the three pairs that had been repaired earlier, several more pairs that came back for repair leaked. The woman in the dye vat complained that her niece had taken advantage of the oilcloth, and that the work was so poorly made. She had ordered waterproof cloth, but it was leaking everywhere.

Wang Yuelan said that she wouldn't care if others said she made money through dishonest means, but when it came to Lin Xiushui, she would jump out like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

The woman tried to pull her hair, but Wang Yuelan pinned her down with one hand, making her unable to move. She had only lost weight in the last two years due to hardship; before, her broad physique was enough to defeat her husband.

She said, "Ah Qiao, don't ever take scraps of oilcloth to make oilcloth clothes and gloves again, or you'll get into trouble with other people."

Before Lin Xiushui could reply, she added, "I brought back the oilcloth gloves that I made for them earlier."

"You bought it with money?" Lin Xiushui had just gotten up to put the bowls away when she heard this, so she came back and sat down.

Wang Yuelan scoffed, "Do you think I'd be willing to spend those three coins if I had to?"

“I told them to bring it back and change it to something else. It was their own fault for trying to save money and insisting on buying inferior oilcloth. I didn’t say I wouldn’t do anything about it. I could only cut it and make something else.”

Lin Xiushui wasn't surprised. She had originally said she would pay to get it back first, but the problem was with the oilcloth. The other group of people absolutely refused to agree, so she could only patch it up first and then sew it back together, since leaks were bound to happen sooner or later anyway.

She had received oilcloth from someone earlier, and now that the gloves were unusable, she didn't intend to renege on her promise. She sat there rummaging through the gloves, and the simplest solution was to cut off the seams at the bottom of the fingers and turn them into sleeves.

Sleeve covers were not uncommon in the Song Dynasty; they were simply called "sleeve covers" and were made of leather.

Lin Xiushui leaned close to the sesame oil lamp and cut a section first. The scissors at this time did not have a hinge, and they would get stuck when cutting two layers of cloth. She could only cut a small opening first, and then insert the scissors to cut around the edge.

Without elastic bands, she added a narrow band of oilcloth around the cuffs, and then added buttons and loops to the wider part above.

The button is made by wrapping strips of cloth into a knot, while the loop is made by bending strips of cloth into an arc and sewing them together, so that the two can be fastened together.

These sleeves are quick to make. She called Wang Yuelan, who was turning over silk floss, to get up and put them on. "Auntie, are they too tight? Are they too snug?"

“It’s not tight. It’s only tight when the sleeves are completely tucked in. This thing is better than the shoulder straps,” Wang Yuelan said, moving her arms. “Shoulder straps are too tight, and you have to shake the sleeves when they’re on. It’s the most troublesome thing when you’re taking out the fabric.”

“They should use this at home,” Lin Xiushui said, putting the cloth on herself and buttoning it with one hand. “This oilcloth is no good. If you use it when making cloth, the dye will seep into the clothes and won’t wash out.”

"If any more problems arise, they'll have to pay me out of their own pockets."

Wang Yuelan said, "This time we took their cloth, so we're in the wrong. Let's make trouble again tomorrow. If you're thinking of getting something in return, dream on."

She sat back down and touched the silk pouch. These days she had been applying lard every day, so her hands were still rough but no longer snagged the silk. She could pick out twenty or thirty pieces a night.

Lin Xiushui rolled up her sleeves. Tonight, she would finish altering the oilcloth gloves. She sat by the sesame oil lamp. It was raining heavily outside, and the rain was pattering on the eaves. Fortunately, she had applied tung oil to the leaky areas and stuffed them with oilcloth.

Fortunately, I made an oilcloth coat, repainted the oilcloth umbrella, and have a pair of oiled shoes, so I no longer have to worry about getting wet in the rain or my shoes leaking.

Moreover, she didn't have to set up her stall the next day, so she was finally able to get up later.

At dawn, a light rain was falling outside. Lin Xiushui sat in the dark room, rubbing her arms because she was cold. She got out of bed to get dressed, then opened the shutter window. Downstairs, carpenter Zhang was cursing Zhang Musheng, "You little bastard, I told you to get up and grind wood, and you were doing some kind of Nuo opera by the door? Stretching out your arms like a monkey."

The woman on the other side of the river has a new bird. Lin Xiushui can't tell what kind of bird it is, but its call is particularly unpleasant, like a saw grinding against a saw.

Chen Guihua and Chai Niangzi were arguing by the river. One was standing in the house, and the other was standing on the boat. Chen Guihua was jumping up and down with her hands on her hips, while Chai Niangzi grabbed a bundle of firewood with both hands, threw it straight to the shore, and left.

Lin Xiushui braved the cold wind and watched for a while. Sangqing Town was much more lively than Shanglintang. There was always something to see every morning.

Taking advantage of the rain, she moved the table to the window, started sewing, and began sewing cloth and handkerchiefs. Listening to the noise and bustle below, she watched as the basket beside her gradually filled with cloth and handkerchiefs.

After cutting the last thread, Lin Xiushui got up, shook her shoulders, rubbed her knees, and went downstairs to get the money from Chen Guihua.

“Let me tell you, don’t do business with that woman Chai Feng. Half of the mulberry branches she gives you are raw. How can you cook raw ones? She’s spoiled,” Chen Guihua said angrily as she took out the money. When she saw the basket of cloth, she took it out one by one to look at it and tug at it. Then her face quickly put on a smile again. “It has to be Xiu-jie. If I need this kind of work next time, I’ll still come to you.”

"Wait a minute," Chen Guihua strode into the house, came out with a cloth bag filled with bath powder, and handed it to Lin Xiushui. She was using this to bribe the "God of Wealth." "Use some of this when you wash your body. It's like being incense. My relative gave it to me. You can use it."

Lin Xiushui was counting money when she was suddenly stuffed with a bag of fragrant bath beans. Her expression changed involuntarily, and as she walked out the door, she couldn't help but touch her back, feeling a strange tingling sensation.

Is this really Chen Guihua? The Chen Guihua who just had a big argument with Chai Niangzi?

She didn't understand. The rain outside was getting heavier. She took an oilcloth umbrella, put on her oil shoes, and went to work, carrying a bag of silk floss in her hand. When she arrived at the clothing shop, Madam Gu had not yet arrived, so she went to the backyard first.

When Xiao Chun'e was told about yesterday's events, she said helplessly, "Everyone in the pawnshop is incredibly annoying."

“But luckily you don’t sell spices,” Xiao Chun’e said excitedly. “If you want to make sachets, I know where you can sell them.”

Lin Xiushui wiped the bottom of the iron with a damp cloth and casually replied, "The 'good place' you're talking about, you don't mean a pawn shop, do you?"

Xiao Chun'e asked in surprise, "How did you guess that?"

How did she guess that? Lin Xiushui was just making things up.

“Look at you, you don’t even go to the market, you have no idea what to buy at the stalls,” Xiao Chun’e sat next to her and began to boast, “Those stalls sell all sorts of things, embroidered skirts, satin vests, seasonal accessories, crowns, collar ornaments, sachets…”

“Especially these days, it coincides with the West Lake incense season and the Flower Festival. People from the towns in the south all go to Zhaoqing Temple to burn incense. Guanpu is the most popular. You can sell it yourself or sell it to Guanpu vendors.”

Xiao Chun'e racked her brains to give Lin Xiushui advice, fearing that she wouldn't make money and wouldn't be able to live a good life. She said, "During the Flower Festival, we worship the Flower Goddess. In January, the Flower Goddess is plum blossom, in February, apricot blossom, and in March, peach blossom. With your skills, as long as you embroider these flowers on your collar and sachets, you won't have to worry about not having any business."

"And if you put in a little more effort, you could make some lifelike flowers out of silk; that would earn you more than mending."

Lin Xiushui understood immediately. Following Xiao Chun'e's words, she thought about it carefully. The collar and sachet were not difficult to make, but the embroidery was more complicated. As for the lifelike flowers, people at that time called fresh flowers "lifelike flowers," so these lifelike flowers were made of silk cloth to resemble fresh flowers. She did not have this skill yet.

She grabbed Xiao Chun'e's hand, "That's a good idea. I'll share some of my earnings with you when I make money."

"No way," Xiao Chun'e shook her head from side to side, her double buns almost falling apart. She hurriedly straightened them. "I don't want your money. You work so hard to earn it."

She said with a smile, "Just treat me to a bowl of eel later, I've been craving it for ages."

She was lying, but Lin Xiushui didn't call her out on it; eels were the cheapest in town.

So after work, Xiao Chun'e invited her again, "A Qiao, are you coming? Come with me to see Guan Pu."

"Let's go," Lin Xiushui said, packing her things.

Xiao Chun'e was surprised, then jumped up and ran over with a smile to take Lin Xiushui's arm. "You've finally figured it out! Come on, come on, it's rare for you to do me the honor."

"I still owe you a bowl of eel, how about I treat you to a bowl of shrimp and fish maw soup?"

"No, that's too expensive," Xiao Chun'e said earnestly. "A Qiao, if you want to eat something good even though you don't have money, I'll tell you a way."

Lin Xiushui asked curiously, "What method?"

"Come to my house for a free meal and drinks. If you can't finish it, you can take it home with you."

A note from the author: