Chapter 40 Chapter 40 Two chapters merged into one

"I went home yesterday feeling thirsty, and just as I was about to boil water in the jar, I scooped out all the water. Do you know who did it? Yes, it was my brother-in-law again." Wen Shuhui started talking about her mother-in-law and brother-in-law again.

Jinniang felt a little annoyed after listening to this, maybe because she was not married, and actually didn't really like to listen to these day-to-day gossips. But Wen Shuhui and Xu Sanjie had been married for several years, and yet they sat together and complained about their parents-in-law and brother-in-law all day long.

But they weren't very familiar with each other, so it was hard to say much.

Fortunately, Gu Xiutou came over at this time. She smiled and said, "In two days, it will be the Little New Year. Tomorrow our Wenxiu Academy will give everyone some things to celebrate the New Year."

Jinniang originally thought that at most they would just give out some worthless stuff, but she didn't expect that the Wenxiu Academy would give out quite a lot of things, including a jar of top-quality sesame oil weighing five pounds, two dou of top-quality glutinous rice, a three-foot-long towel, six handkerchiefs, two balls of chrysanthemum soap, a bag of dried lychees, and a bag of crispy walnuts.

Everyone was talking about it. Meng Li Niang, who was about the same age as him, cried out, "How can I take all these things back?"

Meng Li'niang lived up to her name, as there was a "Li" in her name, and she was very beautiful. She lived with her sister and brother-in-law, which made many things inconvenient for her. She asked everyone again, "How did you get it back?"

"My father is here to pick me up, so I can take it back with him." Jinniang said with a smile.

Wen Shuhui's husband was a rickshaw driver, so it was easy: "My Ping'er's father came to pick me up."

As for Third Sister Xu, she said, "My child's father came to pick me up." Her family is similar to Jinniang's, both have donkey carts.

Jinniang saw that it was Youshi, and urged, "It's time to get off work, it's time to get off work."

Meng Li Niang, Zou Yue'e and Jin Niang were all unmarried young ladies, and the three of them had a pretty good relationship. Jin Niang couldn't help but say, "If I had nothing else to do today, I could have asked my father to take you back, but it just so happens that we have to go to my sister and her husband's house for dinner today, so this is unfortunate."

In fact, Jinniang had thought of the excuse, otherwise they would definitely ask her for help. The weather was getting colder and colder, so how could she possibly bother her father?

"It doesn't matter. I'll just bring back less every day and I'll be able to move all the things." Zou Yue'e said.

There were very few unmarried women in Bianjing at the age of 22. Jinniang knew that the Zou family still rented a house, and the family of five lived in two small rooms. So what worries Zou Yue'e the most is the issue of marriage, but she looks calm and peaceful, without any hostility.

After saying goodbye to her colleagues, Jinniang asked her father to come in and help carry rice and oil. Wei Xionghuan said happily, "Jinniang, you've only been here for a few days, and they've already distributed so many things."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that either..."

After returning home, Luo Yu'e was even happier. This was how her family was, always contented and happy. My mother acted like a mistress of the house: "Save the dried lychees for the New Year, and we can all eat some crispy walnuts, which are good for black hair. Isn't it a waste to use the chrysanthemum soap to wash clothes?"

Jinniang smiled and said, "Mother, if there is anything good, just use it."

"Now that we are in the capital, we can live a life of luxury." Luo Yu'e put her hands on her hips, looking proud.

After dinner, Jinniang took out the soles she had made when she had nothing to do in Wenxiu Courtyard during the day, and sewed the pasted uppers together. She was really nervous, not knowing how they would sell in Jinxiu Pavilion.

While she was concerned about these things, Luo Yu'e was also concerned about her daughter's marriage. Next year her daughter would be sixteen years old, and it was time to get married at this age.

But she didn't know anyone at all, so she didn't dare to just look for someone casually. Besides, the couple had almost used up all the money they had from pawning their house. I don’t have enough money to prepare a dowry for my daughter. Never mind, I’ll wait until my business gets going next year.

Yangger's academy has been closed. Jinniang and the others have been learning the rules from the female officials for half a month. Now in the first half of the day, the gentlemen from the Painting Academy of the Hanlin Academy came to prepare some booklets for them and even encouraged them to paint.

"Only if you are good at painting can you embroider to a higher level. Take these paintings back and paint more when you have time."

Jinniang agreed with this deeply. She could draw very few works without sketching now. Since the ready-made clothes from Jinxiu Pavilion had been taken away, she would go back and practice more when she had time, especially during the seven-day holiday during the Spring Festival.

She didn't expect to go home and see her mother looking very angry. Jinniang asked with a smile, "What happened to you?"

"Your father went to deliver bacon to your grandmother today, but he didn't know that your third aunt said that her elder sister and Rong sister were both married, but you were the only one who was still single. How could a mother not be angry?" Luo Yu'e was very angry.

Jinniang patted her mother's shoulder and said, "Why are you angry? She is just like that. But why did you think of sending things to her?"

"After all, it's your grandmother." Luo Yu'e was actually afraid that when her daughter was getting married, the man would secretly find out that there was a conflict between her and her mother-in-law, and would accuse them of not taking care of their elderly parents, so she did this.

Before the Chinese New Year, she went to Jinxiu Pavilion to ask how the clothes she made were selling. The shopkeeper flipped through the account book and said, "Madam Wei, of all the things you made, only one skirt was sold. I can give you about three strings of cash."

"How much?" Jinniang asked.

The shopkeeper thought Jinniang thought it was too little, so he said hurriedly, "You've only been here a few days, and the regular customers here don't recognize you, which is already good enough."

"No." Jinniang felt it was too much. She used to get only one hundred coins for making a set of clothes in Zhou's family, and that was only a few times. Now a skirt could earn more than three hundred coins.

If Jinxiu Pavilion gets more than three strings of coins and Wenxiuyuan also gets more than three strings of coins in the future, her monthly salary will be six strings of coins, and seventy-two strings of coins a year. You should know that all the rewards she gets in the Zhou family in a year add up to no more than thirty strings of coins, and she still works very hard.

If people don’t take that step, they will never know what will happen to them?

My parents were busy making white rice cakes at home, which are a must-have for the Chinese New Year. My mother said that the rice she brought back was particularly good, so she borrowed a mill from someone and ground the rice into rice milk to make the cakes.

Jinniang went into the room to look at the painters' paintings. She tried to paint without a draft, but after working on it for half a day in the morning, her own painting looked too artificial and the shape of the petals was wrong. She was so angry that she crumpled the painting into a ball and threw it into the trash can, then got up and went out for a walk.

Luo Yu'e happened to say, "Jinniang, send some of these cakes to your elder sister. She even sent us some porridge on Laba Festival."

"Okay, I'll go out for a walk too." Jinniang was also feeling depressed.

Carrying a basket and putting on a headscarf, Jinniang rode over on her donkey. It was a coincidence today as Rongniang and Feng Sheng were both at home. When they saw Jinniang coming, they both asked her to stay for dinner.

Jinniang waved her hand: "When I came, my mother started to wash rice and light a fire, and asked me to go back quickly."

Rong Niang pulled her in: "At least have a cup of hot tea before going back."

Only then did Jinniang sit down, and Feng Sheng asked, "I heard that the second sister went to the Wenxiu Courtyard?"

Jinniang smiled and said, "Yes, it's much easier in Wenxiuyuan. I now have more time to improve myself."

"Yeah, how much is your monthly salary?" Feng Sheng said.

Jinniang told the truth, but Feng Sheng smiled and said, "It's too little. If someone like Yingniang doesn't have to go so early every day, she can earn at least eight strings of cash a month, and it's not uncommon to earn more than ten strings of cash."

"That's her blessing. Oh, it's getting late and I should go back." Jinniang stood up and was about to leave. She obviously didn't like others talking about her.

Rong Niang wanted to hold Lin Er to show her, and wanted her to stay for a while longer, but Jin Niang refused: "If I go back too late, my mother will probably scold me."

After getting out of here, Jinniang was eager to go back to painting. No matter what, she must carve out a path of her own. Even at the Wenxiu Academy, the employment period is only three years. If I don't need to go there anymore, where will I go?

She went home, ate a few mouthfuls of food, and took out new pieces of straw paper. She had been copying before, but now she would draw a picture based on it, outline it with a liner pen, and start coloring. Then she would put away the picture she had just drawn, and draw it again according to what she had in her mind. After finishing the drawing, she would compare it again. She repeated this process until late at night before she finally stopped using the liner pen.

But I always felt that it was not good, so I continued to paint without washing my face in the morning.

Birds come in all kinds of forms, and flowers come in all kinds of shapes. Jinniang is not a great painter, nor does she have a garden at home, nor does she have any famous teachers to teach her. She relies entirely on her own experience to figure things out.

Because of painting, she didn't even visit her relatives. When Luo Yu'e and Wei Xiong said they wanted to go out together, she didn't want to go. Of course, her parents would blame her, and even her relatives would say that she had a weird temper, but Jinniang didn't care about these.

Xu Chongsi's paintings are more suitable for Jinniang than Xu Xi and Huang Quan's, and are the first choice for learning boneless painting.

But it is still not possible for her to use the liner pen now. She first uses gamboge and indigo to make it green. Don't mix the colors evenly when mixing them, because this is for painting leaves.

After stretching, she realized that she was hungry. Jinniang took out the crispy walnuts and steamed buns to eat, and made a bowl of longan rice flour with hot water.

After finishing the meal, Jinniang smiled bitterly. Her weight loss plan was over. With her current high-intensity job, she had to sit for long periods of time. She had to spend a lot of time every day and had to eat a lot.

She didn't feel bitter or tired at all, she just felt that she was walking alone for her career.

Of course, because of this, Rong Niang and Feng Sheng both felt that Jin Niang was really not sociable.

Just like Feng Sheng said: "For a woman, her appearance is not important, what matters is her temperament. Look at your second uncle and his friends, they don't think your sister did anything wrong at all."

Rong Niang laughed and said, "Look at you. Even if you care about someone, you still say such harsh words. She has always been a stubborn and sharp-tongued person. Not to mention comparing herself with us, she even wants to compare herself with men."

When Jinniang finished typing out the lead line drawing for "Loquat Ribbon Bird", Luo Yu'e was amazed and looked at her daughter in disbelief: "It's really amazing."

"I plan to make three collars according to the instructions. It's a good idea to buy some silk tomorrow. Let's go to Daxiangguo Temple together tomorrow." Jinniang said. She also had to take time to accompany her parents.

Of course Luo Yu'e had no objection. She even hoped that Jinniang would go out more often, perhaps she could meet her ideal husband.

In the past, I was always in a hurry to go to Daxiangguo Temple, but now I can slow down and appreciate it, which is really great. This was my mother’s first time to visit Daxiangguo Temple. She was so overwhelmed by the sights that she couldn’t walk.

The most interesting thing was that when other vendors called, her mother would go up to take a look. Jinniang pulled her mother and said, "You can come often in the future. I want to go to the nearby Embroidery Alley to take a look."

"Then I'll buy a bag of roasted chestnuts first." Luo Yu'e said.

Jinniang laughed. As long as her mother had money, she would only buy food.

The mother and daughter then went to the nearby Embroidery Lane, which is the real holy land for embroiderers, with all the embroidered pieces in a dazzling array. She was like a mouse in a rice jar. Her mother accompanied her in at first, but then waved her hand and said, "I feel dizzy and my eyes are blurry."

Jinniang had no choice but to look for herself. There were special collar shops here, which had delicate patterns on them and came in all kinds of colors. There were also special shoe stores, with exquisite shoe uppers, not to mention the clothes.

She cut a few feet of silk and gauze and went home to start preparing the collar for the "Loquat Ribbon Bird". After all, it symbolizes the longevity of high-ranking officials. This year, there will be the preliminary examination in Kaifeng Prefecture, the provincial examination in August and September, and the palace examination next.

Before she knew it, seven days had passed and Jinniang started working at the Wenxiu Courtyard again.

Now they had to learn from the old embroiderers first. Jinniang moved a stool and sat aside to watch. The old embroiderer would say a few words to her from time to time: "In the future, you new embroiderers will have to help the new scholars make clothes. This is what we did when we first came in."

"Oh, that's how it is." Seeing the embroiderer embroidering skillfully on a jacket, Jin Niang asked curiously, "Who are you embroidering this for?"

"It's embroidered for Concubine Huang. She was originally the adopted daughter of Concubine Chen. Now that she's been given the title of Concubine, we have to make a skirt for her. By the way, let me tell you, in formal imperial banquets, the concubines all wear red jackets decorated with pearls." said the old embroiderer.

Jinniang quickly wrote it down with a feather pen and chatted with her: "Can an adopted daughter become a beauty?"

The old embroiderer was already doing a boring job, so she couldn't help but say, "The emperor has no sons, and these adopted daughters were either presented by ministers or adopted by concubines."

In fact, these ordinary people who are busy all day long have no idea what the officials in the court are like. To be honest, if she had not decided to work for the Zhou family, she would not even know who the local prefect and county magistrate were.

"How can it be like this?" Jinniang said. She didn't think this matter had anything to do with her now, but she would be involved in trouble because of this matter in the future.

Looking again, she saw that the embroiderer was sewing the pearls on the teeth instead of smearing them on the collar. Jinniang took note of it secretly.

He also said that his parents had limited money at home, and they had finally found a shop. His mother wanted to make money quickly, so she simply paid half a year's rent, and bought a steamer, table, iron pot, etc., and spent all the twenty strings of cash she had.

Jinniang became their first customer. Her parents sold soup steamed buns, vegetable pancakes, porridge, tofu brain, soy milk, etc. She tried two steamed buns and said, "Not bad, but the buns are a little yellow."

"It's your father's fault. He didn't know that the climate in Kaifeng is different from that in Jiangling. Also, the noodles in Kaifeng are different from those in Jiangling." Luo Yu'e said, and pointed to the mutton soup shop opposite: "Don't you know that the noodle shop opposite is also selling steamed buns? We are too impatient."

"It's not that you are too impatient, it's that we have limited capital. You and Dad can use this place to practice your skills. The taste of Kaifeng people is different from our Jiangling people. As long as you don't lose money, wait half a year and then move to another place."

Jinniang knew that housing prices in Kaifeng were high, and only in a remote place like this could she negotiate the rent of two guan a month. A slightly better place would cost around four guan, and that was for just a single shop.

Luo Yu'e was originally impatient, but seeing Jinniang's comfort, she felt much more relaxed, "Don't worry, your father and I will definitely hold on until the last day."

She also said that Jinniang and her colleagues had finished their one-month pre-job training and had officially started their posts. She didn't know if it was because of the devilish training she had given herself during the Chinese New Year, but now when she saw the new paintings sent by the art academy, she no longer had to cover them with transparent Korean paper, but could directly draw them with a pen and outline the places to be embroidered with thread.

Spring is coming, and it's time for the ladies to cut their new clothes and skirts.

Gu Xiutou walked and looked at the newlyweds, and Jinniang stood up and asked questions while embroidering, regardless of the hassle. Her attitude was very good.

When new embroiderers start to embroider, even though they have listened to instructions for a month before, they still make a lot of mistakes when they actually do it. So the embroidery head Gu will arrange experienced embroiderers to teach them in turn.

The five new people were grouped together to make a set of clothes. This was different from the Zhou family, where one person made a complete set of clothes, but here one person only made one piece.

Jinniang was assigned to make a four-torn three-pleat skirt. There was a special person to teach her how to make it. For example, now, Gu Xiutou said to Jinniang: "Embroider peonies on the upper right and lower left of this skirt. The pattern should be based on this picture. Use cotton thread first and then silk thread, and split it thinner."

"Yes." Jinniang understood. Wenxiuyuan is a specialized embroiderer. You don't need to have many ideas, just be able to do it.

This is a good way to go as you don’t have to rack your brain and you can also bring back the latest styles. The palace style is the most popular.

Therefore, she originally planned to make three loquat oriole collars, but she changed the last one to a peony one. She still planned to earn three strings of cash from these three, but she never expected that she would make six strings of cash. In this way, together with this month's salary, it would be almost ten strings of cash.

After returning home, Jinniang shook her purse and said, "Tomorrow I have a day off, so let's go to the fish soup restaurant and eat fish."

Her father was hesitant as usual, but her mother said, "Hurry up, let's close the stall early tomorrow."

Ever since Jinniang bought the donkey cart last time, she stopped giving money to her parents. She used to think that she was saving for a dowry, but now she feels that it is better to have money in her hands, at least a large sum of money, so that no matter what she does, she will not be restricted by poverty and will not be looked down upon.

Look at why Feng Sheng dares to give instructions to each of them, isn’t it because she can make money?

Ten strings of cash a month was something she had never dared to imagine before. She felt very good if she could get one or two strings of cash. Sometimes, when she sat aside and heard that Brother Feng's husband earned more than thirty strings of cash a month, it seemed like an astronomical figure to her at that time, but now she felt that she could actually reach it.

There is a fish soup shop on the north side of Ma Xing Street. Jinniang was talking to her parents, "I heard from our Gu Xiutou that this fish soup shop is different from other shops. Ordinary fish shops either boil or steam the fish, but this shop roasts the fish first and then boils it. It is always packed with people."

"Can it be eaten like this?" Everyone found it strange.

Jinniang nodded: "Yes, it is, and it's not expensive. One hundred coins also come with free wine. Dad, didn't you say you didn't have time to buy wine recently?"

Only by combining work and rest can you go further. My parents' business has not been very good recently, but they feel much better after coming out to relax. This was the first time that Yang Ge'er came out with them. Normally he didn't talk much, but now he was looking around excitedly.

Jinniang held his little hand and bought him a mask and a small windmill. Yang Ge'er immediately asked, "Can I take it to school to play tomorrow, sister?"

"Of course, you can make more friends." Jinniang smiled.

Yang Ge'er loves and fears his sister. He loves that she treats him well, but he is afraid that she will scold him and not let him have snacks if he doesn't finish his homework. Fortunately, his grades have improved from being at the bottom to finally being ranked tenth in the school.

The uncles at the door were soliciting business. Jinniang and the others had been waiting for half an hour. Dad was getting impatient, and at the critical moment, he finally got in. Jinniang ordered a fish and a portion of crispy pork. While waiting for the dishes, she seemed to see the maid beside Wu. In fact, she was only two or three months old, but she felt like she had been there for a long time.

It is also said that after the Zhou family married off their eldest daughter, all the people in the sewing room were dismissed, but the people in the outer courtyard did not know. Zhou Cunzhi did make a deep impression with that red dress last time. He joked that he was like Chen Zi'ang who spent a lot of gold on a zither. So when he wanted Jinniang to make a spring shirt for him, he heard that all the people in the sewing room had left?

Zhou Cunzhi was stunned.

It is also said that Jinniang and her group walked out after eating and drinking to their heart's content. As the saying goes, excessive joy leads to sorrow, and the small purse in Jinniang's hand was snatched away by a thief. Although she usually did not bring much money with her, there was a note in the purse for reimbursement of cloth purchases.

Her father also quickly pretended to run forward, and Jinniang followed behind him, but the thief was so nimble and there were so many people here that he disappeared without a trace in a moment.

When the parents were at a loss, they saw a young man holding a purse coming over. He was wearing a robe and a square scarf on his head. He said, "My girl, check your purse to see if anything is missing."

Jinniang thanked him first, then opened it and looked around. There was nothing missing, a total of thirty coins. Jinniang took out twenty coins and gave them to him: "Thank you, strong man. I'll use this money to buy you some wine."

While they were still talking, they saw Wei Xiong chatting with the man. The man's surname was Shao, and his given name was Shengping. They learned that he was a scholar who came to Beijing from his hometown in Jinan. He was now teaching in a private school, earning three strings of cash a month, but he rented a house for two strings of cash, and now he could barely afford three meals a day.

Luo Yu'e and Wei Xiong both felt very sorry for him, and seeing that he helped their daughter get her purse back, they even often asked him to go to the pancake shop to send him some food. Jinniang didn't care much about these things, but when her mother whispered to her that Shao Shengping had asked a matchmaker to come to the house, Jinniang refused.

"Jinniang, you are capable and strong-willed. I see this Shao Langjun, who is five years older than you. Although his family is financially struggling, he is a scholar with a good heart and a very upright person. Look, he even helped you chase the thief."

Since Jinniang was the one who made decisions on all matters big or small in the family, Luo Yu'e asked her first.

Jinniang immediately shook her head: "Mother, my daughter has not considered getting married yet. Most women in Bianjing get married at the age of 17 or 18. I still want to make more money. I think it's not right for him to cross the river by himself. My daughter doesn't want to suffer anymore."

She knew herself well. She was very fat now only because she worked in places like the Zhou family and the Wenxiuyuan, so she wore silk clothes outside and had a room at home. Apart from that, she had never spoken to that man, so how could he really like her? Besides, she didn't have any feelings for Shao Shengping.

It is said that Shao Shengping did not give up and asked a matchmaker to come, but was rejected again. Luo Yu'e said to the matchmaker with a bitter face: "My daughter doesn't agree, there is nothing I can do. I can't let my daughter live in a shack."

The matchmaker failed to arrange the marriage, and said to Shao Shengping, "Mr. Shao, don't be upset. I am a very diligent matchmaker, but Miss Wei only loves rich men."