Chapter 36 A near miss
As the weather got colder, Sui Yu's business became more prosperous. In October, she asked Zhao Xiping to carry baskets and cans to the grain store and buy a dou of flour at once. In the past, a dou of flour would be enough for two or three days, but now two dou is only enough for three days.
"Can you do needlework?" Sui Yu asked in a low voice before entering the cloth shop.
"You can't?" Zhao Xiping looked at her with a puzzled look. It seemed that he had never seen her sew before.
Sui Yu smiled awkwardly, "I can't."
"I don't know how either." Don't even think about asking him to mend or cut clothes for her again.
"Then I'll just spend more money on ready-made clothes." Sui Yu shrugged. She walked into the cloth shop first and called out, "Sister, do you have any ready-made clothes for me and my younger brother?"
"Yes." The waiter glanced at her clothes and led the person to the side room, where were stored coarse linen clothes, mostly in black, dark blue, dark gray, and off-white.
Sui Yu took a quick look and found that the styles were all similar, so there was nothing to pick. She touched the fabric, looked at the stitching, and asked the shop assistant to get her a thicker one. "The one standing outside is my man. Consider his figure and get him a thicker one, maybe a dark blue one."
"How much is the coarsest linen?" Zhao Xiping asked at the door.
"A bolt of cloth costs fifty coins. As my wife said, I can buy three sets of clothes for sixty coins."
Zhao Xiping waved his hand. Sui Liang was small and thin, so a piece of cloth of ten feet would be enough to make him a suit. His height would take up more cloth, and with Sui Yu's, a whole piece of cloth would not be enough.
"Just buy the cloth and go back to ask Aunt Sun to make it. She will be willing to make it if you give her the cloth," he said.
"Okay, just give me some cloth, half dark blue, half off-white." Sui Yu took five coins from the jar and handed them to the clerk, saying, "Count them."
The clerk took out a cloth ruler to measure the coarse cloth. Sui Yu watched from the side and whispered to Zhao Xiping, "It's so expensive. Half of my monthly income is gone."
"If you lose it, earn it again."
"That's easy for you to say." Sui Yu glared at him, "Alas, it's easier to spend money than to make money."
Zhao Xiping thought that it was not easy for him. In the past half month, he had been kneading dough during the day and at night, delivering dough in the morning and picking up dough in the evening, and he had to run to the street many times in between. How could it be easy?
The clerk handed him two rolls of cloth. He took them and went out to pick up the load.
"I'll get the cloth." Sui Yu chased after him.
"A piece of cloth is not light, you can't lift it." Zhao Xiping walked around her and said, "Go back quickly, it's getting dark again."
The wind was cold and dusty, and there were few people on the streets. Even in the alleys, there were few people. Every household had their doors closed, and everyone was hiding inside to avoid the cold. Walking into Shisantun, Sui Yu looked out and saw that there was no one in the alley. She felt relieved, no longer worried about being questioned.
"Meow--" The cat official rolled down from the pile of firewood, and greeted with its long tail raised like a dog.
"Cat Officer, have you caught another mouse? Your belly is so full." Sui Yu leaned over and patted the cat's belly. It was hard. The cat was full without even opening fire.
Sui Liang ran to open the door, Zhao Xiping carried the load and went in, and Sui Yu walked at the end. After the cat went in, she closed the door with her backhand. Once the door was closed, the yard became much warmer.
There was an eye in the crack of the door opposite. After the door of the Zhao family was closed, the old lady stood up and went back to the kitchen to cook.
Within two days, everyone living in Shisantun knew that Sui Yu had made money selling buns and bought two pieces of cloth, which was a big deal.
When Zhao Xiping went to see Aunt Sun to get some cloth cut, Aunt Sun asked, "Captain Zhao, you make a lot of money selling buns, don't you? I heard you bought two bolts of cloth at once. How much is it going for now? Is ten taels of silver enough?"
"Who said I bought two pieces of cloth? I only bought one." Zhao Xiping thought for a moment and said, "Half black cloth, half gray cloth. The black cloth is for me to make clothes, and the gray cloth is for Sui Yu and her brother to make clothes. As usual, you make three sets of clothes for me, and the rest of the cloth is yours."
Aunt Sun readily agreed to make three sets of clothes. She could use the remaining material to patch up clothes and make a set of clothes for her son.
"Auntie, can you tell me who is spreading gossip outside?" Zhao Xiping asked.
Aunt Sun was tight-lipped and refused to speak. She smiled and tried to smooth things over: "No one talks behind their back, and no one doesn't talk behind their back. There are a lot of people living in this alley, and when there are a lot of people, there are a lot of gossips. Every day they're gossiping about the neighbors. Across the alley, Wang Erniu's hen has a lame leg. I don't know who hit it, but this little thing has been talked about in the alley for two or three days. If you keep this little thing in mind, you'll be busy every day."
Zhao Xiping was not very happy.
"How about this, I'll go out and talk to you later. Every household has bought one or two pieces of cloth. The price of cloth is cheaper in the summer, so I bought two pieces of cloth to store." Aunt Sun said.
Zhao Xiping had no choice but to give up and thanked him in a strange tone.
He thought the matter was over, but the next day, when he sent Sui Yu to set up the stall, he saw a new stall selling buns outside the wine shop. They had both radish and sauerkraut fillings. Apparently, someone had believed the rumors and wanted a piece of the action.
Sui Yu paused. The woman who was lighting the fire looked familiar to her, but she didn't know her name. She must be someone who lived in the two adjacent alleys.
"Selling buns?" She deliberately walked closer, and seeing the woman's nervous expression, she leaned over and asked, "How much are the buns?"
Dong Niang lowered her head and said nothing.
"Let's go." Zhao Xiping pulled her aside. He was worried that she would be unhappy and want to find fault, so he deliberately said, "It's karma, isn't it? You stole other people's business at the West City Gate before, and now it's someone else's turn to steal your business."
Sui Yu had anticipated this. She snorted twice and said, "It all depends on your ability."
Zhao Xiping set up her stall, lit the stove, and with a few words of advice, led the camel back. He let the camel out to graze, then returned to type the manuscript. But he was still worried, so he locked the door and went back to Nanshui Street.
Both stalls had their own business, but Sui Yu's business was much better. She had opened the stall half a month earlier and already had regular customers. In addition, she was warm, generous, easy to talk to, and had a sweet voice, so 70% of passers-by would buy something after she called out to them.
"Go play with the cat, I'll make a fire." Zhao Xiping drove Sui Liang away and sat down.
"If you chase Liang Ge'er away, who will help me collect the money?" Sui Yu looked down at him and asked, "Why are you here?"
"See if your business can still be done."
Sui Yu kicked him and said, "Shut your stinky mouth. You just boo me every day."
Zhao Xiping looked to the other side and saw the woman with a distressed expression. It was obvious that she had never done business before. She was too embarrassed to speak and dared not shout. Under Sui Yu's silent suppression, she looked very exhausted.
"Little sister, would you like to buy some buns? They're three cents each, stuffed with radish and lard."
The young girl came over upon hearing this, but when she saw a sullen-looking man sitting on the ground, her expression tensed and she quickly waved her hands, saying, "No, no, I don't like radishes."
Sui Yu looked down and met the man's eyes. She looked up and shouted, "Brother Liang, you come to light the fire. Don't need your brother-in-law's help. He affects my business."
Zhao Xiping got up and left. He thought that he hadn't been to the market for a long time, so he turned and walked into another alley. However, halfway there, he met a man with a bad face. He immediately turned around and walked quickly to Nanshui Street.
"Why are you here again?" Sui Yu was surprised.
"Stop talking nonsense and move your stall over there." Zhao Xiping wet his hands, grabbed two lumps of dough and pressed them onto the steamer, then moved the steamer basket along with it. He didn't forget to tell Dong Niang, "The owner of the liquor store is coming. He's not someone you can easily mess with. Move your stall quickly."
However, Dong Niang was using a large and heavy pottery cauldron, which she could not move by herself. She could only watch as Sui Yu moved the stall away in a few moves, even shoveling away the ashes from the burnt fire.
"People are coming." Sui Yu saw three people coming aggressively.
"How long has it been since I last came here? What kind of grasshopper set up a stall on my property? And even lit a fire? Are you here to help your father with his funeral?" The liquor store owner started cursing before he even got close. Even worse, he ordered the servants to dismantle the stall, "Push it down! Smash it all!"
Sui Yu's stall was outside the oil shop. She was accompanied by a burly man who had obviously served in the army. The two servants did not dare to attack her, so they pounced on Dong Niang and smashed her stall.
"No, I'm leaving now. My husband is under Captain Sun's command. You can't do this..." Dong Niang protected the scalding pottery cauldron and shouted, "You guys smashed my stall. I'm going to sue the authorities."
The two servants stopped at the mere mention of "reporting to the authorities". The master was already embroiled in legal battles, and getting involved in further litigation at this time would certainly not be a good thing.
"Get out, get out now." The liquor store owner hated these soldiers. Damn it, each of them was a low-ranking officer and was like a grass seed. When one dies, another sticks to them.
Dong Niang looked at Zhao Xiping. Sui Yu pushed him and he reluctantly went to help move the things. "Go back and call someone. I'll help you watch it first."
Dong Niang wiped away her tears, turned around and ran back.
"Are you from the military camp too?" asked the liquor store owner.
Zhao Xiping nodded.
"Damn it." The wine shop owner felt very unlucky and threw the wooden sign in his hand to the servant. He walked away stepping on the scattered buns on the ground.
Resale
After a few knocks, the wooden sign for resale was hung on the door of the wine shop.
After the servants left, Sui Yu smiled embarrassedly at the oil shop owner and called Zhao Xiping to help move the stall back.
Dong Niang came with her man. Zhao Xiping recognized him. He was a centurion under Captain Sun, named Du Sanchun.
When Du Sanchun saw Zhao Xiping blushing, he apologized and thanked him vaguely, carried all the things on the ground onto the camel's back, picked up the buns, and left in shame with his wife.
"Are you still chasing me away?" Zhao Xiping stared at Sui Yu with a domineering look and asked again, "Are you still chasing me away?"
"No, no," Sui Yu quickly admitted her mistake. She leaned over and took Zhao Fuchang's hand to invite him to the stove, saying flatteringly, "Please help me light the fire, Zhao Fuchang."
Sui Liang squatted aside with a crooked smile.
"Close the stall early tonight. I want to eat dumplings." Zhao Xiping made a request.
Sui Yu agreed without hesitation.
In the following days, Zhao Xiping spent all his time at Nanshui Street except for kneading dough and chopping stuffing at home. He moved a low couch and a shovel. Whenever the owner of the wine shop brought people to see the shop, he and Sui Yu would move the scattered stall items away like a cat carrying its cubs. After the people left, the two would move the stalls back.
The owner of the wine shop was worn out with temper. He couldn't catch the thief, nor could he beat him with a stick. Every time Sui Yu came home, he would clean up the burnt grass ashes and grass residue and take them away. This made it impossible for him to find any weakness, and slowly, he gave up.
No one came to compete for the business anymore, the smooth days passed by, and in the blink of an eye it was the end of October.
In the middle of the night, Zhao Xiping mixed three bowls of noodles, opened the door and went out to find that it was snowing. He went into the house and woke Sui Yu up, saying, "It's snowing, so we can't go out to the stall tomorrow."
"Why not? It's not cold with the fire burning in the stove." Sui Yu sat up, rubbing her arms, and said, "It's cold and fewer people are making steamed buns, so our business is better. Go and light the stove, burn some charcoal to suppress the flames, add water to the pot, and let it boil overnight. The kitchen will be warm and the dough will rise faster."
Zhao Xiping listened to her, turned around and went out again.
Sui Yu also put on her clothes and went out. She walked around the kitchen, opened the door, went out to pull a bundle of hay and put it in the pot. Then she brought a basin of noodles and placed it on the pot, and placed the other two basins on the stove.
"Cat Officer, be careful tonight and don't mess things up for me." Sui Yu patted the cat's head and warned.
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