Chapter 50: The Mending Corridor from Everyone

Lin Xiushui's former tailor shop became cramped after she put in so many things.

When she usually takes on alteration work, she can't be too flustered from the moment she enters the room. To her left are pieces of red, green, and blue square silk fabrics hanging on a wooden frame, which will be used as table curtains for the accounting department. To her right are clothes hanging up to be altered, some long and some short. There are too many to alter, and they are too close together, causing the fabrics to stick together.

There was a long table between the two sides, placed vertically, almost reaching the window, so that the cloth could be stretched to a sufficient length when pulling it. The wooden walls on both sides were filled with things: scraps of cloth in the cabinet on the left, and various tools such as scissors, rulers, and brass irons on the right.

So when Lin Xiushui carried a piece of cloth in, she either had to hold it upright in her arms like a two- or three-year-old child, supporting it with one hand, or she had to tuck it under her armpit in another way, either horizontally or vertically, to put it on the table.

When she was working inside, Xiao Ye was not allowed to enter. When she was reserved, Xiao He, who tiptoed in, could enter. However, Xiao He, who was too unrestrained and jumped around, was not allowed to enter.

Even Wang Yuelan was afraid of her house. She would usually call out to her from outside, saying that her house was like a roof tile laid on an empty frame, tightly packed. Apart from her, the "tile builder," no one knew which part would be moved and the tiles would fall down and shatter.

So when Wang Yuelan reacted to Lin Xiushui renting a room in the corridor, she first said, "We need to find a better roommate. The one I had before really made him so angry he wanted to grind his teeth."

She was furious. She chopped the chopping board with her knife, and after a while, she gave him two strings of silver coins and told him to go to the pawnshop to pawn his things. He bought a low, dilapidated house for about sixty strings of silver coins.

She was really poor back then. She had no money and kept falling into pits. At one point, she and Xiaohe couldn't even afford to eat.

What she is most grateful for right now is that Lin Xiushui was able to save money through her own efforts. With money in hand, there are better options to choose from, instead of not being able to afford this or that.

Of course, after learning so many lessons about housing, she became very attentive to buying and renting houses. If she was satisfied with the rental/buying, she would ask which real estate agent she had rented/bought from.

Therefore, she knew that there was a man named Zhang Yalang by the Sangqiao Ferry who had a good reputation and a wide range of housing options. Regardless of wind or rain, he would go to Yongjia Tea House in Nanwazi early in the morning to have a cup of herbal tea.

At dawn, the monks who announced the day passed by the two of them. Wang Yuelan changed into new clothes and pulled Lin Xiushui to find Zhang Yalang. Her face was tense and her back was straight all the way.

Lin Xiushui was about to speak when she immediately said, "Don't say anything. I'm holding back a lot of energy. What if you let me go like a fart if I start talking to you?"

I won't say.

Lin Xiushui shut up. She just wanted to say, "Aunt, you have such a tense face, like you're about to kill someone."

Brokers are easy to find in teahouses. Regardless of gender, they usually have a wooden sign with their name, place of origin, and profession, such as human broker, house broker, or something else.

Zhang Yalang was a short, stout man who knew Lin Xiushui. Most of the brokers who worked at Sangqiao Ferry knew her. Seeing the two looking for him, he finished the tea in his bowl and took out a self-made map from his pocket.

Starting from Nanwazi and Nanhuofang, there are various waterways, alleys, and bridges, down to the inns, warehouses, wine cellars, pharmacies, and so on. They know every street and what kind of business is being done on both sides of the buildings.

Wang Yuelan said the house should be spacious, while Lin Xiushui said, "I am a tailor, so the rented house should have a wide corridor, a large courtyard, and should not be near a river, but it should have a well. The rainy season is coming soon, and the cloth near the river will get damp. The house should be large, preferably 10 feet wide horizontally."

"Secondly, it should be close, ideally just a few dozen steps from Sangshukou, not a long walk back and forth."

With their needs clear, Zhang Yalang instantly came up with several listings and said with a smile to the two of them, "They are next to the South Goods Market. It's about a hundred steps from the Mulberry Tree Bridge."

“I have three rooms here,” he said, circling the southern goods store on the map with his hand. “They are bordered by rivers in the front and back, with courtyards in the middle, and each has a well. They are also very spacious.”

"This place used to do dyeing work. They used to dye combs red. The stall was very big, so the yard and well were big, but the house itself wasn't particularly spacious."

"The shop next door, when it came into my hands, was doing soap ball business, which is washing pig pancreas. It smells a bit strong, but it was cleaned up early. I just need to make it clear to you, young lady."

"The last shop, the front of which is used for renting tea and wine utensils, has a short entrance hall, a large backyard, and a large house. The good thing is that it is on a corner, so it is quieter. And after turning the corner, there is Xu's woolen yarn shop. Outside the backyard, there are shops selling lifelike flower-shaped dough figurines and others that make silk paper."

Zhang Yalang first needed to explain how many suitable rooms there were, and Wang Yuelan then asked, "How much is the monthly rent for one room?"

Zhang Yalang replied, "Those are all good locations. Renting one costs three strings of cash a month. The last room costs three strings and five coins. I dare say, if you can't find a good one with me, you'll find even less with someone else."

Whether it's good or not, we'll only know after we see it. Lin Xiushui isn't aiming to open a tailor shop. Even if it's not lively, as long as it's big enough for her to walk around easily.

The first two shops each had their own drawbacks. Although they were large, they were sandwiched between two shops and had no windows, so the lighting was poor.

The last shop was the first one she passed after crossing the bridge from the mulberry tree entrance. It was blocked by two old mulberry trees in front of it, and it was connected to the shop on the far side by a tiled shed over the street, also called a shed. Behind it was a narrow alley with high walls, which was not very spacious. People carrying loads, driving donkey carts, or peddlers, as long as they had large items in their hands, were not willing to squeeze into this narrow alley.

The southern goods market mainly sold tables, chairs, benches, earthenware pots, and stoves. This first shop wasn't easy to run, but if you wanted to do tailoring work, the courtyard was spacious, and the house had a row of windows.

It's bright and airy, big enough to fit two large tables, one horizontal and one vertical, so you don't have to move them around to change clothes.

The yard is large, so clothes and starched fabrics can finally be hung out to dry, instead of taking up the entire yard with just a few clothes, or being fanned on the eaves to prevent them from being blown away by the river wind.

But three hundred and five hundred yuan a month is indeed expensive. Lin Xiushui and Wang Yuelan had also looked at other places, which were cheaper, but they could find many faults. They had also talked about it many times at night and inquired about other places.

Finally, he settled on the house with Zhang Yalang for a price of three strings of cash and three guan.

When Zhang Yalang was signing the contract with Lin Xiushui, he said, "I think I will do house sales with you again in the future. Let's make this a good relationship. Remember to come to me, Zhang Yalang, next time."

The dentist is very good at judging people. He believes that anyone who rents now will be unable to afford a house in the future. He thinks he can do business with Lin Xiushui many times.

Lin Xiushui carefully put away the deed, exchanged a few polite words, and felt a little sorry for San Guan San. She couldn't imagine when she would be able to spend tens to hundreds of Guan to buy a shop and a house.

Wang Yuelan, no longer keeping a straight face, smiled like a flower, "Thank you for your kind words."

She was mainly happy to have saved two hundred coins, but she didn't really save any. She spent the money from her pocket to buy a table for Lin Xiushui and invite everyone over for dinner. Lin Xiushui received a lot of praise, the most enthusiastic of which came from Sang Ying.

It was just renting a room, but buying such a big item was truly a joyful experience. As Lin Xiushui stepped on the paving stones in the yard, that feeling of happiness swirled within her.

Just like when she first opened her tailor shop, she couldn't sleep at night, pacing back and forth in the room, pulling up a chair to sit down and ponder what to buy for decoration. She would open the window again, look at the houses on the opposite bank, and think that Sang Ying should be asleep, while the people in this area had turned off their lights and gone to bed. The river mouth was quiet, the boats were still, the water was still, and even the lanterns hanging under the eaves were dozing off, swaying back and forth.

She stood by the window gazing at the night sky, regretting that no one was there to share the view with her. The moonlight tonight was bright and hazy.

Suddenly a boat came along, and a bamboo pole gently tapped on her window. She gripped the window and slowly leaned out. Chen Jiuchuan stood by the boat, holding a lantern, and waved to her.

Lin Xiushui moved the candle aside, carefully walked down the narrow stairs, and went downstairs without disturbing Mao Xiaoye. She went to the tailor's room downstairs, closed the door, and opened the window.

"Why aren't you asleep? I was just about to go to sleep," Lin Xiushui said, holding a candle and standing by the window. She was happy but talking nonsense.

Chen Jiuchuan rowed the boat to the side and gently leaned against the window, casting a tall shadow on the wall.

He spoke softly, "Too excited to sleep?"

He returned from transporting mulberry leaves from the south bank at night, intending to go to sleep, but then he noticed that her room was still lit. He stood by the dark kitchen for a while, watching it; only her room was brightly lit in the whole area.

Lin Xiushui lowered her voice, denying it, "Who said that? I'm a worldly person, I just came out for some fresh air after finishing my work."

Chen Jiuchuan didn't expose her, but just asked with a smile, "Would you like some steamed pears?"

"Hey, you asked me, of course I'll eat it," Lin Xiushui said, holding out her hand. "Did you steam it yourself?"

"When there is a second Chen Jiuchuan, he can do the work and steam pears all by himself."

Chen Jiuchuan handed her the hot little jar and told her that she bought it from a street vendor. He said there was a stall selling wild pears near the bridge; the pears were small and sour, but they would become very sweet after being steamed with sugar, and the water would also become sweet water.

"Eat early and go to bed," he thought for a moment and then said, "This year's silkworm harvest is good, producing twelve points of silk. By the time it reaches you, you've already received twenty-four points of the silkworm harvest."

In silkworm farming, a harvest of 24 silkworm flowers is considered the best, and also represents hope and good wishes.

Even though Chen Jiuchuan moved to the Sangqiao Ferry, he was often not home. But when he came back, he would hear Lin Xiushui's name being mentioned repeatedly in the area. He knew about her, and he didn't know about her, but she was someone he had never been involved in.

Lin Xiushui said, "Do you want money? You're praising me so highly."

"Then give me two tips."

"Talking about money is too formal."

Chen Jiuchuan asked, "Then what should we talk about?"

"Let's chat about anything and everything, like you want a tip, or I want to sleep."

Lin Xiushui was really sleepy. Her heart, which had been pounding with excitement from renting a room for the first time, finally calmed down. All she could think about was how delicious the steamed pears were. She would buy a few jars tomorrow to give to her aunt Xiaohe, Chen Jiuchuan, and Sang Ying. She wasn't a stingy person.

Of course, you still have to be a little frugal when buying things for the house.

Otherwise, there simply wouldn't be enough money.

Lin Xiushui spent three strings of cash to buy tables and chairs with Wang Yuelan at the general store. They placed them in the back room, next to a row of windows. She placed a long and wide table that could hold an entire piece of fabric.

No more drawing lines, cutting paper patterns, shrinking and rolling the fabric, or needing her to pad the edge of the fabric with a scrap of cloth and press it tightly against the wall. All the paper patterns she drew, such as jackets, vests, and skirts, were hung on the wall. You could take them down directly if you needed them, without having to search for them back and forth.

The new house is so big that she can hug an entire piece of fabric horizontally. Finally, she doesn't have to worry about bumping into things on either side anymore. Even if more things accumulate later, at least it won't be crowded.

In the front courtyard, she set up three or four bamboo and wooden frames to dry the whole bolt of oilcloth and the whole bolt of linen she bought from the oilcloth shop.

There was also a large tung oil barrel, which couldn't fit in the yard before, but it didn't matter now. She could try to make better oilcloth gloves. Once the glove design was cut out, she would put them in the barrel and soak them for two or three days. These soaked oilcloth gloves would rarely get wet, and they would be more expensive, costing sixty coins a pair.

As Sun Da and Song San Niang went around soliciting and selling, she could no longer supply what she needed. Oilcloth was expensive, so although there were many buyers, it was not as expensive as cloth.

Sun Da, in particular, sold his hemp gloves to the poultry and duck trade.

“The chicken and duck business sounds like it has a lot of meat,” Sun Da told her in front of the stall, “but it’s mostly eggs, feathers, and poop.”

“They have people who specialize in collecting fur and scooping up poop, but I can’t even bring myself to step on them. How can they do that?”

"I said, thank God, thank goodness, the thing that saves people from chicken and duck droppings has appeared!"

Sun Da touched his nose. "I gave them the gloves. Even though they got on their hands, the difference between wearing gloves and not wearing gloves is huge. They asked for quite a few."

Lin Xiushui took his order and glanced at it; there were over two hundred pairs, but she only had twenty pairs on hand at the moment.

I haven't asked Sang Ying for help yet, and since it's free, it's hard to ask. Besides, she's very diligent in learning about rice, and I insist on helping her every day. She also takes time to memorize early rice varieties, such as early white rice, early white rice, black sticky rice, Xuanzhou early rice, and so on.

She said she was rather stupid and had no special skills, so she had to work hard to at least learn to recognize rice before doing anything else. She wanted to be able to do one thing well first.

So Lin Xiushui found Zhou Niangzi, who used to sweep up garbage on the street. She did odd jobs at the accounting office and could earn an extra thirty or forty coins a day. Occasionally, she would buy some scraps of cloth from Lin Xiushui, piece them together, and make clothes for her child.

Every time, Madam Zhou would get up early and sweep her area clean, removing all the dust and mulberry leaves, always earlier than Lin Xiushui when she set up her stall.

Early that morning, when it was drizzling, Lin Xiushui called out to Zhou Niangzi, telling her to come inside quickly and handing her a towel so she could wipe herself and the child down first.

“I think the work of the street office is not too busy for you, just sweeping twice in the morning and evening. The small tasks of wrapping the tassels are not urgent and can be done quickly.”

Lin Xiushui went into the house, poured her a cup of hot water, and sat down, saying, "I've rented a room in the corridor and have some glove-sewing work to do. I'll pay two coins per pair for mending. I also hope that you can clean my yard and house every day, at twenty coins a day."

"If you want to sew over there, my lady, you can. The needle and thread are already prepared. Consider it helping me guard the yard, so I can hang the clothes out to dry and bring them back in. That'll be paid for, how about five or six coins?"

In this way, she could earn at least a hundred coins a day. For someone like Zhou Niangzi who was struggling financially and whose child was only three months old and still breastfeeding, this was already a very good income.

Holding her child in her arms, she tried to stand up but almost tripped over the chair. She quickly sat back down, her face full of helplessness. She kept patting the child and nodding repeatedly, saying, "Okay, I can do it!"

"It's just guarding the yard, hanging out the laundry, taking it in—it's a simple job, no, it doesn't require payment."

Lin Xiushui told her to drink some water, her lips were so dry they were cracked and bleeding. "So this is something that's easy to do, that's something that's easy to do, in the end, if everything is easy to do, does that mean you don't have to pay?"

There's no such thing as an easy thing in this world; you either have to repay a favor or pay money.

"Just keep doing your work. I just rented that yard, and I have to work every day. I worry every day about whether anyone will come into the house."

Lin Xiushui said it casually. She had no reason to worry. There was nothing valuable inside. If a thief came to browse, she wouldn't know what else to steal besides her needles, thread, and scraps of cloth.

Madam Zhou nodded vigorously. She would do her best to do this kind of work, as it would earn her a good amount of money each day. During the rainy season when she couldn't go to work at the street market, at least she had something to do to fill her rice bin.

Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival and the Grain in Ear season, and continuing until the Summer Solstice and the Minor Heat, it is actually very difficult for those who rely on sweeping the streets and are paid by the day. Continuous rainy days mean they can't go out, which means they can't earn money. Other jobs are not paid by the day either.

A light drizzle was falling outside, and the sky looked overcast, but Zhou Niangzi felt as if she were bathed in the scorching sun of midsummer, warm and cozy for a moment.

In fact, Lin Xiushui really needed someone to bring in and dry her clothes, especially in this awful weather. The rain came in bursts, sometimes heavy and sometimes light, so she didn't dare to dry the clothes in the sun. She had to leave them indoors, which made them smell damp again.

If there were someone sewing gloves from morning till night, she could sell quite a few. And during the rainy season, she wanted to sell oil hats. Grandpa Zhou had an old woman named Granny Chen, who had difficulty walking but was very skillful with her hands. She was also a bamboo craftswoman and made many bamboo hats, but they didn't sell very well.

She planned to buy some, sew oilcloth along the edges from the shoulders down to the buttocks, and sell it for a hundred coins. It would provide a lot of protection from wind and rain, and would be several hundred coins cheaper than buying an oiled paper umbrella. Oilcloth was too expensive, and no one would buy it.

The poverty of the people living at Sangqiao Ferry is usually revealed during the continuous rain. They carefully walk through puddles, holding a tattered umbrella that has been repeatedly repaired, wearing wet shoes, or wearing a broken bamboo hat.

Moreover, at times like these, when people's umbrellas are broken, their bamboo hats are damaged, their shoes are soaked in water, and their heels are cracked, it is very difficult to find someone to repair them. Since it often rains, repairmen cannot come to the mulberry tree mouth.

Lin Xiushui couldn't repair all the shoes by herself. For some shoes, she could make an oilcloth foot cover with two ropes to tie on the legs. This would greatly alleviate the discomfort of walking in the rain without oiled boots. When they arrived at work, their shoes would be wet, making them uncomfortable all day.

She also repaired many umbrellas, but she never used them in sunny weather, light rain, or moderate rain. She only opened them in heavy rain, which resulted in many of the umbrellas being torn.

Originally, these jobs were no longer Lin Xiushui's responsibility. She was having some trouble mending them, and the others who couldn't set up their stalls were also extremely frustrated. Firstly, they weren't making any money, and secondly, they used to chat and laugh and have a lively time here all day, but once they got home, it was like being in prison. At least in prison, they would get some food.

With this continuous rain, Lin Xiushui found going to work very tedious. Everything was damp, and no one would come to her specifically to have clothes altered on a rainy day, especially since she had so much work piled up.

Seeing her so worried, like a flower wilted by the rain, the old tailor came over and said to her, "If you ask me, your place has so much space, you should have a covered walkway. You're not worried, but if you give some mending stalls a way out on rainy days, you'll have a place to go, right?"

"Easy for you to say, but who's going to pay for it?"

Lin Xiushui's eyes suddenly lit up. That's right, their sewing stall should have a covered walkway. The rain in Sangqing Town doesn't just happen during the plum rain season; it can rain for ten or twenty days a month, in bursts. If people don't have umbrellas, they have to hurry up and pack up their stalls, standing under other people's eaves to avoid the rain, and can only come out to set up their stalls again after the rain stops.

However, the construction of covered walkways is under the jurisdiction of the street office. Otherwise, even if everyone builds them privately, it will only be considered an encroachment on the street and they will all be fined and demolished.

She was familiar with the neighborhood committee, so after work she dragged Sang Ying along to encourage her and asked if they could build a covered walkway for Sangshukou and plan it out. If the neighborhood committee didn't provide funding, what if everyone contributed their own money? People here often contribute their own money to build bridges and pavilions.

The street official in charge said, "Your area is famous for its mending stalls. We originally thought that from now on, this would be the proper place to collect taxes, and we would make proper arrangements for you."

“But building a covered walkway would cost at least twenty or thirty strings of cash. We can build it, but your area, which is against the right wall, is fine. It's not encroaching on the street. It's just that it needs to be long and wide enough to set up a stall. We would charge at least thirty strings of cash for that.”

“We simply can’t afford it. If you can contribute 25 strings of cash, we’ll advance you some money, and I’ll send someone over to see how to build it quickly.”

Twenty-five strings of cash—Lin Xiushui didn't have that much in her entire fortune. Sang Ying patted her back, not to dampen her spirits, but said, "Before my mother came out, she gave me two strings and three coins, telling me to hide them well. These past few days, my brother has been taking care of my food and drink. I'll keep three hundred coins for you, and the rest is yours."

“Good Sang Ying, I don’t want your money. I have an idea.”

Lin Xiushui accepted her kindness, but she didn't want the money. She wanted to ask the people in Sangshukou if they would be willing to build a covered walkway.

Hu San Niangzi slammed her hand on the table and said, "If we're going to build one, we have to build a covered walkway. Not to mention that we've just gotten through the plum rain season, there's still the summer heat coming up. The weather in July and August can change in an instant. We have to plan for the future. I'll contribute two strings of cash. If that's not enough, I can scrape together some more."

Her family was poor, and she had a sick child; this was the most money she could afford.

“We have to build it. This doesn’t count as encroaching on the street. We’ll build it. I’ll contribute two strings of cash.” Grandpa Zhou had just paid for a lot of bamboo materials and didn’t have much money on hand. It was only because he had been making money recently that he was able to come up with two strings of cash.

As for the others, some were too embarrassed to contribute more than 1.5 strings of cash, while others went back to discuss their finances and see if they could come up with some money.

However, there was no objection to building covered walkways. Everyone knew that while it cost some money in the short term, it was entirely beneficial in the long run.

Even with Lin Xiushui contributing three strings of cash, the group could only scrape together a little over seventeen strings.

However, the next day, when the rain was heaviest, someone came to the door. It was an elderly couple carrying a cloth bag, which they handed to Lin Xiushui.

“We know that you need money to build the covered walkway, right? This is San Guan Wu. We often hang out under your stall. Our children and grandchildren aren’t around, so it’s been a good way to pass the time. Now that you’re not setting up your stall, we’re worried too. Go ahead and build it. We’ll contribute some money.”

Seeing the two men's wet trouser legs made Lin Xiushui extremely uncomfortable. Her heart was as heavy as the rain, and she didn't want to accept the money, nor did she want to count it.

“Oh, Granny Hua, what brings you here?” Another woman entered. “Ah Qiao, I heard that there’s a shortage of money to build this covered walkway. I didn’t sleep well last night. This must be built. I don’t have much money on me. Here is one string of cash and five qian, plus fifty-seven coins. You can use this to cover the difference.”

"Listen to your sister, money isn't a problem. The covered walkway needs to be built, and we can scrape together the money."

This was Lin Xiushui's day off. She received the money that everyone had pooled together and wrote it down in the account book. There were dozens and hundreds of coins, page after page of names and amounts of money. Among them were five hundred coins from Sang Ying, fifty-seven coins from Xiao He, and three strings and six coins from Chen Jiuchuan.

The amount far exceeded the thirty-odd strings of cash needed for the covered walkway. Everyone raised forty-six strings and seven coins, and they wanted to keep an eye on the street office to build a patched covered walkway at the mulberry tree entrance.

It should be built wide, long, and well-constructed, impermeable to wind and rain, embodying the wishes of all 112 donors from Sangshukou.

On a sunny day, construction of this patched-up covered walkway began in a flurry of activity. First, piles were driven in, and then tiles were laid on top to provide shelter from the rain and a place for people to set up stalls. Other tasks, such as paving bricks, building benches, painting, and hanging plaques, were all put off and refined later.

The covered walkway was eventually built during the rainy season. It was a long shed with one end attached to the wall and covered with tiles, which was like a long section of eaves. It was supported by pillars on all four sides and in the middle.

This simple covered walkway allows these mending stalls to continue working, mending broken umbrellas, raincoats, and straw hats for everyone.

To resolve the troubles of the people of Sangqiao Ferry during the rainy season and mend the anxieties caused by the rain.