Yunling went straight to Granny Fan's house. Her family was also busy today. Granny Yun and Zhang were busy dealing with cotton and had no time to prepare lunch. Granny Fan had to take on the responsibility. She thought that she had to take care of her family, Granny Yun's side, and Granny Yun's side, so she simply cooked a big pot of pork and rice porridge and steamed three large baskets of meat buns.
When Yunling arrived, Granny Fan was taking steamed buns out of the steamer and piling them up high. Upon seeing Yunling, Granny Fan warmly invited her over:
"Ling-jie, come here, these meat buns are fresh out of the oven, they're delicious, try them quickly."
It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, because as soon as she did, Yunling felt a little hungry. So she went to the side, washed her muddy hands clean, and then picked up a steamed bun and put it in her mouth.
Although Granny Fan's steamed buns were similar to Zhang's, they tasted a little different. But the taste wasn't a matter of good or bad; they were both the taste of home.
"Is it good? Would you like another one?"
"Grandma, I haven't finished eating yet, no rush."
With a smile, Granny Fan picked up a ladle and stirred the pork porridge in another large pot.
"More cotton has arrived today. How many kilograms is this?"
"Same as last time, 1,000 jin."
"Another thousand catties! You little rascal are quite something. If it weren't for helping Bingniang embroider her briefs, I would have gone to wash the cotton for your grandma."
Yunling put the last bite of the bun into her mouth and said with a smile:
"Grandma, you've got your hands dirty with these briefs, why bother with dry cleaning cotton?"
“I would like to do more work, but I am getting old and my eyesight is not as good as Bingniang’s. Sometimes I will make mistakes in my embroidery if I am not careful, and I will have to trouble my two daughters-in-law to help me redo it. That is not good.”
Old Lady Fan's words gave Yunling a different idea. Old Lady Fan was old and her eyesight was not good, so she could not embroider. She could do what her grandmother did and fluff cotton.
As for the two aunts of the Fan family, although their embroidery skills are excellent, they are still two people with four hands. If the number of orders increases in the future, or if new designs come out, someone will have to continue embroidering briefs.
However, their houses are still under construction and the number of orders is not very high, so the matter of finding embroiderers to train can be put on hold for the time being.
"Ling-jie, would you like a bowl of pork slice congee? The pork slices are so tender, they won't get stuck in your teeth at all."
"Then Grandma, please serve me a bowl to cool down. I'll eat it after I finish my work."
Grandma Fan said "Hey," and then shoveled half a bowl of porridge into the big bowl, adding another half bowl of meat slices. It looked so full that it seemed about to overflow.
Yunling felt a little embarrassed, wondering if she was eating porridge or meat from the bowl she was eating.
"Thank you, Grandma. By the way, Grandma, if your eyesight isn't very good, you can come and help me fluff cotton and make cotton pads. I don't always have time to do this, so it would be good for you to help out. I'll give you sixty coins a day for your work. How does that sound?"
Old Lady Fan immediately felt that the bowl of porridge in her hand was scalding hot, and the wages offered by Yunling were too tempting, which made her unsure whether to put down the bowl of porridge or agree to Yunling's request.
Yunling took the bowl of porridge from her hand, placed it on the corner of the stove, and said with a smile:
"Grandma, don't worry. You've watched me grow up. We're practically family, so if our words and actions are wrong, then let's just accept that they're right."
"How could this be wrong? You are a kind-hearted living bodhisattva, just like your grandmother. Sixty coins a day is too much. Besides, if I were to fluff cotton and make briefs, how could the two of them possibly manage to embroider them?"
"The number of orders isn't high right now. I'll think of something in a while. Don't worry, Grandma, I'm sure I can come up with a solution."
Hearing Yunling's words, Granny Fan was naturally delighted. She grabbed a handful of chopped scallions and sprinkled them onto Yunling's bowl of meat porridge, excitedly saying:
"I forgot to add scallions earlier. This porridge tastes so much better with scallions!"
Yunling: ? ? ?
Yunling: ...
**
When the cotton, yarn, cotton cloth, and cowhide were delivered to her home, Yunling threw all the cowhide into a wooden basin to soak in water. Then she drove her horse-drawn carriage to the craft street in the city, thinking of asking her father-in-law to make another cotton slingshot for Granny Fan.
But a strange wind was blowing through the city, and the young men in the teahouses along the street were all talking about the black briefs from Ya Yuan.
It turned out that on the day the He family's cargo ship docked, all the owners of cloth and embroidery shops in Pingcheng knew that the price of cotton cloth had been raised to five hundred wen per bolt.
This is not good news for them. Normally, they sell their horses for 500 coins each, but now the cost has reached 500 coins. Where is there any room for them to make a profit? They can only raise the selling price a little.
While the price of cotton fabrics in the neighboring Yuncheng is slightly lower, it's only slightly lower. If you buy goods in Yuncheng, plus the travel expenses, the price will be the same.
Furthermore, the He family is not to be underestimated. To have such a large cotton workshop in Qingcheng, and to be from Jiangnan, means they must have considerable power behind them. They are not people like us who can easily provoke them. If the price goes up, we'll just have to accept it as a loss.
However, the owner of the fabric shop who embroidered "Night-Shining Blue" as a substitute for briefs had a different idea. She felt that the price increase was not unfounded, but rather deliberately orchestrated by someone.
This wasn't because she was overthinking things, but ever since Yunling and Yun Ruoxia left her shop, her right eyelid had been twitching nonstop, and she had a feeling that something was amiss. Sure enough, the cotton cloth had an accident.
She was well aware that the He family's power was not to be underestimated. Since Yunling and the others could speak with authority within this family, they must be quite remarkable. How could she have dared to speak to them so arrogantly back then? She was truly courting death.
The shopkeeper dared not covet the briefs again, but just as she decided to give up, the madam of Ya Yuan and a regular customer who frequently bought goods from the fabric shop placed another order. They lured her with profits and pressured her with more goods, rekindling her interest. However, the price of the cotton fabric was a major hurdle.
"Everyone, it's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that the price of cotton cloth in Qingcheng has risen sharply. If I sell it at the original price, my cloth shop will be forced to close down in less than two days."
The madam of Ya Yuan was the first to respond:
"It's your job to deal with the exorbitant price increases, not ours. If you don't sell at the original price, I'll buy Zhao Yeqing's. They're cheap and of good quality, and they might even be able to compete head-on with Fengyuelou."
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