Chapter 19 Moldy Cloth

Wen Zhiheng was very confused when he saw the slices of meat in dinner.

“Have you sold the herbs?”

"No, I'm going to sell them in town tomorrow."

"Where does this meat come from?"

"Oh, it's a neighbor who lives in the mountains. He doesn't know how to cook, so he entertained guests today and asked me to make him a table of food. This piece of pork is his reward."

After hearing what Chen Shiyi said, Wen Zhiheng felt relieved a little.

"We can eat less and eat poorly, but we cannot do bad things for the sake of food."

Chen Shiyi had finished eating and was sorting the herbs. When he heard Wen Zhiheng talking, he couldn't help but stop.

"The bad things you are talking about are like the widow Wang in the village, who had no food to eat and found a man to sleep with and then got food and clothing?"

Wen Zhiheng quickly explained.

"No..."

Chen Shiyi's voice sounded a little muffled.

"Although I am Chen Shiyi, I have a low status, but my clothes and food are all earned through my hard work. I can tell what is good and what is bad."

Wen Zhiheng was very upset.

"I'm sorry, Eleven. I just said something I didn't think of. Don't take it to heart."

Chen Shiyi did not answer. He packed the herbs by himself, went to the stream to clean the backpack, and then went back to the room to rest.

The next day, Chen Shiyi got up very early, but unexpectedly, Wen Zhiheng got up earlier than her.

"Eleven, you go to the mountain to collect herbs, I will go with you."

Chen Shiyi put the backpack on his back and took the kitchen knife.

"I am going to the deep mountains and will not be back until noon. If you go with me, I am afraid you will not be able to reach the mine in time."

Wen Zhiheng sighed.

"Eleven, are you still mad at me?"

Chen Shiyi raised his eyes and glanced at Wen Zhiheng, then continued to tighten her trousers.

"Master, I'm just a maid. You don't have to do this. Let's go."

The air in the mountains was cool in the early morning, and there was fog on the top of the mountain in some places. After a while, it soaked Chen Shiyi's hair. Her eyebrows were stained with tiny water droplets, which made her eyes look extremely bright.

It was almost noon and I came across a few white flowers on the roadside as I was going down the mountain.

The flowers are pure white, with a refreshing fragrance.

Chen Shiyi stopped to pick a few and put them in the backpack. He felt much happier.

She returned home, placed the picked flowers in the broken vase, gathered the dried herbs, and ran to the town.

Xue Lianxing frowned as he looked at Chen Shiyi's herbs.

"You picked them and sent them here to sell on the same day. They are of good quality and even weighed well. But now they are in this state, I don't know if the herbalist will accept them. Let's go and try our luck."

Chen Shiyi was a little annoyed. She thought that she could sell a few days' worth of herbs together to save herself from making extra trips, but she didn't expect that there would be so many twists and turns involved.

Unexpectedly, after examining the patient, the doctor at the pharmacy did not say anything and instead charged Chen Shiyi six cents per pound.

This made her very happy.

"The herbs you picked are clean and free of weeds. Pick them quickly in the next few days. We will stop collecting them at the end of the month."

Chen Shiyi weighed the more than 120 copper coins in his hand, and his demeanor changed even when he walked.

She ran to a small cloth shop, hoping to buy some cheap cloth.

The cloth in the cloth shop was neatly laid out one by one. There were so many colors and dazzling things that Chen Shiyi couldn't even take his eyes off it.

"Boss, do you have any cheaper cloth here?"

The middle-aged boss had a beard and looked very difficult to get along with.

"Go, go, you little beggar, hurry up."

Chen Shiyi looked himself over.

His clothes were old but not torn, and his hair was well-groomed and tied into a small bun. He should not be a beggar.

"Shopkeeper, I'm here to buy some cloth."

"Do you have money? The fabrics here are all silk and satin, and the starting price is three taels of silver. Can you afford it?"

Oh, that's unaffordable.

Then she turned around and left the cloth shop, but was pulled into a clothing store by someone.

"Little girl, you want to buy some cheap cloth?"

"Do you sell cloth here too?"

"Of course, who said that only cloth shops sell it? I have it here too."

"How much do you sell the cloth here?"

"Eighty-five cents a piece of cotton."

As soon as Chen Shiyi heard this, he was about to leave.

The shop owner was a charming woman. When she saw Chen Shiyi was about to leave, she hurriedly grabbed her.

"If you ask around, you'll find that coarse cotton cloth costs upwards of a hundred coins."

"Then I'll buy burlap. It should be cheaper."

"Can you wear coarse linen? It will hurt your skin. It's fine for outerwear, but not for underwear."

"Seventy cents."

The boss patted Chen Shiyi's shoulder with a smile.

"make a deal."

You agreed so readily?

Could it be that I was fooled?

When the boss took out the cloth, Chen Shiyi knew that cheap goods were definitely not good.

She looked at the black and yellow spots on the cloth and shook her head.

"Your cloth is all moldy. No wonder you agreed so quickly."

The proprietress said with a smile.

"I only have this one piece of cloth, and it has become moldy due to the rainy weather. Normally, I would not sell it for less than 120 wen. Today you got a bargain."

Chen Shiyi thought about it.

"I have neither scissors nor needle and thread."

The proprietress couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"Your family is so poor? Why are you still buying cloth?"

"Rich people don't like your cloth, poor people can't afford it, and there are very few people like me who are willing to buy it. If you can give me some needlework and lend me a pair of scissors, I will pay you."

The proprietress snorted.

"I can afford a piece of cloth. A pair of scissors is worth a piece of cloth. I don't want to do business like this."

Chen Shiyi asked, looking at the pile of rags in the corner.

"Do you still want these scraps of cloth?"

"You want it?"

"Well, you put all ten copper plates in there."

"Eighty coppers, and you'll give me some needlework, will you?"

"How can you cut clothes without scissors?"

"I'll borrow it from my neighbor later."

After leaving the clothing shop, Chen Shiyi began to look depressed again.

Her little bit of copper is not good enough at all.

She went to the grocery store to buy some old rice. The shopkeeper told her that if she washed this rice several times, the porridge made from it would taste as good as new rice and would be cheaper.

Okay, I'll use the remaining two cents to buy some candy for Rui'er and then go back home.

The things in the backpack on her back became more and more numerous and heavier. The dozen or so miles of walking back up the mountain road left two bright red marks on her shoulders.

She rested several times before returning home.

Wen Zhirou quickly took the things off her shoulders.

“Why buy so much?”

Chen Shiyi drank a lot of water and sat paralyzed on the bluestone slab without saying a word.

"Eleven, why is this piece of cloth moldy?"

Mrs. Wen asked with a frown.

"Oh, I can't afford the ones that aren't moldy."

The second young master's wife opened the cloth and took a look.

"The moldy part looks a bit large on the outside, but there is basically no mold on the inside, so there are many places that can be used."

Wen Zhirou asked as she picked up the scraps of cloth from the big bag.

"What do you want to do with these?"

Chen Shiyi replied in a low voice.

"Make some pillows. Madam said her neck is always sore when she sleeps."

Mrs. Wen smiled with relief.

"You are such a thoughtful kid."

Rui'er squatted beside Chen Shiyi, picked up a large leaf that he had picked up from somewhere, and fanned her.

"Sister, are you tired?"

Chen Shiyi pursed his lips and smiled.

"Rui'er, there's a bag of candy crumbs under the backpack, go and have some."

Rui'er was really well behaved. He took the candy crumbs, sat next to Chen Shiyi, and fed her a handful of candy crumbs.

"Sister, is it sweet?"

"Yeah, Rui'er feeds it especially sweetly."

Mrs. Wen and the second young master's wife were discussing what kind of clothes to make. Wen Zhirou flipped through the scraps of cloth and found a few larger pieces. There was actually a piece with a ribbon, which she wanted to use to make a handkerchief.

They were all immersed in their own happiness and no one spoke to Chen Shiyi.

Chen Shiyibai was bored sitting there, so after resting enough, he carried his backpack and went out of the yard again.