Chapter 84 Mop
Zhu Tao took a rag and wiped the store again. There were some stains on the floor, so she prepared to wipe them again with the rag.
When Wen Zhenyi saw her squatting on the ground, wiping the floor with a rotten rag, he suddenly remembered that there seemed to be no mop here.
They don't need it when they are at home, because the ground outside the house is all mud and has been trampled hard. But when it rains, they will get their feet covered in mud when they go out.
It's different in the town. The streets, houses and shops are all paved with bluestone slabs. You won't step into mud when it rains, but it's relatively troublesome to clean up.
"Grandma, are there any unwanted scraps of cloth in the cloth shop?"
"Yes, many people buy these scraps of cloth to sew shoe uppers and soles."
“Is it expensive?”
"It's not expensive. You can buy a big bag for a few cents."
"Do you have any old clothes at home that you can't wear?"
"We cut up those old clothes into rags, or used them to make scarecrows in the fields. Why do you ask that?"
"I just thought of something I wanted to make with some scraps of fabric."
"Just go to the cloth shop and buy some. It won't cost a few cents." Then he called over to Old Man Wen and said, "Old man, go to the cloth shop and buy some scraps of cloth for Yi Yi."
"Okay, I'll go now."
Wen Zhenyi quickly called out to him, "Grandpa, I still need a few more sticks."
"Stick?" Old Man Wen looked at her strangely.
"Well, anything like the handle of a hoe will do."
"This is easy. They're sold in grocery stores. I'll go buy you a few."
Wen Zhen nodded slightly and called Zhu Tao who was about to mop the floor: "Little Taozi, don't mop it yet. I'll make something to mop it with later."
Zhu Tao can only wait and do it.
When there are more people, work efficiency is higher. The originally empty shop now has a breath of life.
There are many seasonings in the kitchen that were brought from home. Ma Yinghe said that these were the ones she was most comfortable using, so she brought them all here.
Wen Zhenyi and Xiao Taozi each had a room, and one room was left empty for the family to live in. The other room was used as a storage room to store some things.
In addition to these rooms, there is also a bathroom and a toilet in the backyard, which also makes their daily life more convenient.
Old Man Wen came back with a large bag of rags and three wooden sticks. "Yi Yi, I bought what you wanted."
Wen Zhenyi came out of the kitchen, saw the things he bought, wiped his hands, and found a stool to sit down.
Old Man Wen looked at her curiously: "What are you going to use these things for?"
"Make a tool for mopping the floor."
"Mop the floor?" Old Man Wen was a little confused.
"Grandpa, you'll know when I make it."
Wen Zhenyi checked the tools he needed and felt like something was still missing: "Grandpa, can the blacksmith shop nail some nails on the wooden stick for me?"
"Tell me about it in detail."
Wen Zhenyi pointed out a position. Both sides needed a small section like this. It didn’t need to be very thick or very long, about two centimeters would be enough.
"I'll go find the blacksmith and try."
"I also need some twine."
"Okay, I'll bring it back later."
Wen Zhenyi found a pair of scissors and began to cut the strips of cloth into the required length and width.
Old Lady Wen and the others were fine, so they also helped cut the strips of cloth: "Yi Yi, these strips of cloth are no longer usable after being cut like this."
"Grandma, it's okay not to cut it, but it just doesn't look very nice."
"Then let's cut it."
Zhu Tao cut the cloth in her hand and asked, "Is this for mopping the floor?"
"Yes, this saves us from having to use our hands to wipe it bit by bit."
"Will this work?"
"You'll know if you try it."
When Old Man Wen came back, the three wooden sticks had been nailed with iron nails according to Wen Zhenyi's request.
Wen Zhenyi took the wooden stick and looked at it, and found that he had thoughtfully smoothed out the sharp nails to make it smooth so that it would not poke people easily.
Old Man Wen looked at her and said, "Yi Yi, do you think it's right? If not, go and ask him to change it."
"That's right."
Wen Zhen spread the cut strips of cloth on the ground, placed the wooden stick in the middle, added some more strips of cloth on top, and then fixed the strips with hemp rope.
Then she let down the upper cloth strip, which could perfectly cover the iron nails inside. She then carefully wrapped the hemp rope around the outside several times to secure the cloth strip.
Wen Chengwen looked at her movements and asked, "Is that all?"
"Okay."
Old Man Wen looked at what she was holding and asked, "Won't this fall off?"
Wen Zhenyi handed him the mop in his hand: "Grandpa, you try it."
Old Man Wen took it, pulled it hard, and found that it really wouldn't fall off: "It really won't fall off."
Old Lady Wen also took it and examined it curiously: "How do I use this thing?"
Wen Zhenyi reached out to take the mop, filled a basin with water, dipped the mop head into the water to soak it, and then reached out to wring out the water from the mop head.
I took the mop and went to the hall and started mopping the floor.
Several people from the Wen family followed her curiously. When they saw the situation on the ground, their eyes widened: "This can really be wiped clean."
"Let me try, let me try." Ma Yinghe felt it was quite convenient.
Wen Zhenyi handed her the mop in his hand and taught her how to use it: "Mom, bend your body slightly, yes, yes, just like that."
Ma Yinghe mopped half of the hall and found it quite easy. It was much more convenient than squatting on the ground and wiping with a rag.
Old Man Wen looked at the mop and said, "Yi Yi, do you think this thing can be sold for money?"
"Grandpa, it should be able to sell for money at first, but it will probably not make much money later. After all, making a mop is not that difficult."
Mrs. Wen looked at her husband and asked, "Are you planning to make mops and sell them?"
"I thought that a lot of people would buy something as convenient as this. Whether it can be sold in the future or not doesn't matter, but we can make some money in the early stages."
"What you said seems to make sense. As long as the price is not too high, every household will buy one. How much did you spend on these things in total? Can we calculate it?"
"These cloths are five cents. I think they're more than enough to make five mops. As for the hemp rope and wooden sticks, they won't cost much either. We can make the wooden sticks ourselves back in the village, which will save us a lot. As for the nails, they're just leftovers from the blacksmith shop. They only cost a penny each."
Old Lady Wen lowered her head and began to calculate: "According to this calculation, the cost of a mop is no more than three cents."
"Yes, we can sell it for ten cents. I don't think it's a big deal."
"So, I can make a lot of money in a day."
"Old lady, let's go buy some more cloth strips. We have nothing to do at home, so we can make some mops to sell."
"I think it's okay."
"I'll go buy some cloth strips and nails later. I'll ask the blacksmith for more. There's no use for him keeping them."
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