Xiaoyue continued, "It seems that while men's robes can be collected, they're not selling very well. Liang Qi told me that his women all wear trousers, and he's thinking of making a couple to see what the market is like."

He then said to Liang Qi, "The pants design you provide to me tomorrow, have Li Qianqian finish this order, then make a few more pairs of pants, and then we'll find a buyer to see if they're willing to accept it."

Liang Qi quickly replied, "I'll draw it when I get home tonight."

Xiaoyue turned back to Li Qianqian and said, "Tonight, Lu Xiaomei will be next to Xiaodouding, and I will be in the middle. You will sleep on the kang. We will all stay in the east room, and we won't stay in the west room. We'll use it as a sewing room for now."

From now on, you will be in charge of everything in the west wing. This includes getting the sewing supplies, checking the quality of sewn clothes, and managing any returned finished garments. Li Qianqian will pay you one tael of silver per month.

Li Qianqian nodded hurriedly, her excited face slightly flushed.

"As for the finished clothes that are returned, once they are deemed acceptable, tell Liang Qi that Liang Qi will pack them up, label them with numbers and colors, and then have the person who delivered the clothes come to Liang Qi to settle their wages. Liang Qi must also keep a clear record of every expense."

Liang Qi raised his head and looked at Xiaoyue with an ambiguous expression.

Xiaoyue then said to Liang Qi, "Make sure to manage the contracts well. We don't have much work right now, and there's not much time left until the New Year. Let's do a quick accounting of our income and expenses for the next few months before the New Year."

Liang Qi sighed and nodded helplessly, then said to Xiaoyue, "I'll teach you to recognize some characters every night."

Xiaoyue smiled and nodded, then winked at Liang Qi at the dinner table, startling him so much that he dropped his bowl. He glared at Xiaoyue, but she just smiled mischievously, completely unconcerned.

Turning to Li Lei, she said, "You won't be able to go up the mountain every day anymore. There's more work to do at home. You'll not only have to cook and shop, but also get and prepare medicine for Lu Xiaomei."

Didn't I give you five taels of silver? Make sure you keep a clear account, noting the price of everything. After I give you the money, you need to give me the account book. Once you've used the silver, hand over the account book, and I'll give you more silver.

You can talk to Liang Qi and tell him what you spent, and he'll keep track of the expenses for you. Or, we can learn to read together. It's up to you to decide.

"I'm thinking of buying a large quantity of chicks, geese, and ducks in the spring, but we'll see then. Right now, it's just a thought. Your current wage is lower than Li Qianqian's; it's six hundred coins a month," Xiaoyue explained, detailing each point in detail.

Li Lei nodded, then quickly shoveled his food into his mouth.

Xiaoyue picked up her rice bowl again, turned her head and looked at Lu Xiaomei, "You should also get well soon, I have many more things to entrust to you in the future."

Lu Xiaomei's eyes shone, and she nodded while coughing. The little boy was very sensible, leaning against his mother's side quietly without saying a word, only glancing at Xiaoyue with his eyes.

After dinner, Xiaoyue was in charge of clearing the table. Li Qianqian returned to the west room and began to piece together pink and white silk fabrics. Li Lei and Liang Qi moved the loom in the middle of the west side to under the window.

After everyone finished tidying up, they all went back to their rooms to sleep. Xiaoyue also thought that tomorrow would be a new beginning.

In the morning, Yang's wife, along with Yang Xu and Li Shi, along with Ge Liuzhi, arrived at Xiaoyue's house just as dawn broke. Xiaoyue led them to the west room, where Li Qianqian took out two pieces of cloth cut to size and handed them to Yang's wife and Li Shi respectively.

Then she took out a scrap of cloth and asked Ge Liuzhi to sew a few purses.

Seeing that Li Qianqian's arrangements were reasonable, Xiaoyue left the west room and was greeted by Liang Qi. Xiaoyue took the drawing from Liang Qi, looked at it, thought it was quite good, and went into the room to hand it over to Li Qianqian.

Li Qianqian nodded and handed the cut silk cloth to Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue then went to town with Liang Qi. They needed to buy one more piece of cloth, making a total of four pieces. Xiaoyue carried the basket on her back and went to the village entrance with Liang Qi to catch the bus.

Li Lei ran out of his house and said to Xiaoyue, "We need to buy millet, sorghum, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and soy sauce."

Xiaoyue nodded in agreement. "You've only set up such a small stall, yet everything costs money."

Liang Qi patted Xiaoyue on the back and said with a smile, "I'll take care of everything."

Upon arriving in town, they first went to Yunfei Textile Shop. A young shop assistant came up, and Xiaoyue took out sample fabrics. The shop assistant found the fabrics, and one bolt of fabric cost four hundred and fifty coins.

Xiaoyue smiled and said to the shop assistant, "I want all four bolts of cloth. Can you give me a bottom price?"

The young waiter smiled and said, "Four hundred and thirty coins."

Xiaoyue then said, "I have a clothing shop that needs to buy fabric every month. Please give me your bottom price."

"Four hundred and twenty coins, that's the minimum."

"Then you can give me a sewing kit in exchange for a bolt of cloth."

The young shop assistant forced a wry smile. "This won't do. We've already given the lowest price for the fabric."

Xiaoyue blinked and said, "This deal is very worthwhile. This is my initial stage, and the demand is increasing with each transaction."

The waiter said with a bitter face, "I need to find our manager; I really can't make the decision."

Xiaoyue smiled and said, "Then you should go quickly."

"The shopkeeper isn't with me," the young waiter said, looking troubled.

"Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. Here's one tael and seven mace of silver. Use the remaining twenty coins to buy needles and thread."

The young shop assistant finally smiled genuinely and busied himself packing fabric and thread for Xiaoyue. After leaving Xingfei Fabric Shop, Xiaoyue went to the grain store and bought fifty catties of millet and thirty catties of sorghum.

Fifty catties of cornmeal, millet rose to five coins per catty, and sorghum and cornmeal both rose to three coins per catty, costing a total of five hundred and fifty coins. Finally, I went to the spice shop and bought four catties of salt, four catties of white sugar, and two buckets of soy sauce for sixty coins.

The grain was packed into Liang Qi's basket. The two of them left the spice shop and headed towards the oxcart. As they walked toward the city gate, suddenly a person came running towards them, running very fast while looking back. Suddenly, the person bumped into Xiaoyue's arms.

Xiaoyue opened the box and was surprised to find that she recognized the person: it was Chunyue. She had seen him before in the dilapidated temple outside the town. Xiaoyue squatted down and asked, "Where is Shuiyue?"

Chunyue looked up at Xiaoyue, recognized her, and burst into tears in Xiaoyue's arms.

Xiaoyue looked behind Chunyue and saw a plump woman running around, swiping a broom and cursing.

"What's wrong?" Xiaoyue asked Chunyue.

Chunyue pulled two hot buns from her bosom. Xiaoyue glanced at the panting, plump woman, hurried over, and took out four copper coins from her pocket, handing them to the woman.

The woman grabbed the coin, glared at Chunyue, and left.

Where is Shuiyue?

Chunyue stared at Xiaoyue and knelt down with a thud: "Sister, please take us in. Just give us food and shelter, I can do anything."

The sound came out along with the tears, and snot also ran down her face.

Xiaoyue turned to look at Liang Qi, who was also stunned, having never seen such a scene before. He touched his chin, then nodded to Xiaoyue and said, "Whatever."

Xiaoyue helped Chunyue up with both hands and asked, "Where is Shuiyue?"