Chapter 32 Chapter 32-Two-in-one Cloth Shop
Lao Zheng agreed repeatedly. These farmers were so tired of seeing the cows every year, but they were reluctant to rent them. They were simply worried that the harvest would be poor and the rent would be too high. What if they didn't have enough food to eat after paying the rent for the cows?
They beat drums and gongs during the autumn harvest, and they also announced that signing a contract to pay grain now would be cheaper than renting cattle after the New Year. I'm sure many people would be tempted to rent cattle for a couple of days. This is really a good idea.
When the cows were returned, it was still early and Aunt Guizhi and Lin Chunxing were still planting beans in the field.
Lin Cunzheng and Sun also followed Lin Chuntao back to the field to help plant bean seeds.
There was a shallow trench between the two rows of corn, and Lin Chuntao planted the bean seeds in this trench. Aunt Guizhi said as she was planting, "Your idea is quite good, Chuntao. It will make it easier to pull out the bean seedlings. They will all follow the trench and won't trip over anything."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I'm just worried I'll forget where I planted the seeds and where I left them. That's why I decided to do this."
Aunt Guizhi and Mrs. Sun both laughed heartily upon hearing this.
We will plant for one day today, and Lin Chuntao and the others will be able to take care of the rest by themselves, planting some bean seeds and some vegetables.
Lin Chuntao has been very busy these days. She gets up early to pick mushrooms, then comes back to plant corn. She has also asked Aunt Guizhi to help sell mushrooms for several days in a row.
The corn had been planted for a few days, and the meat that was cooked earlier had long been eaten. Pei Ying bought two pounds of pork belly this morning. Lin Chuntao made a braised pork dish, adding some chili peppers, but not letting the chili peppers dominate the flavor.
During dinner, she specially thanked Mrs. Sun, Lin Cunzheng, and Aunt Guizhi.
Hearing this, several people said, "It's not hard at all. Just planting corn with you for a few days will make your great-grandfather and I fat."
Aunt Guizhi also laughed and said, "I don't deserve it even more. It's like I come here every day to eat your mushrooms."
Everyone laughed and the atmosphere at the table was relaxed. Although the villagers were complaining about their help for many days, the old man and the old woman really didn't have any extra thoughts. As they spent time together day after day, Sun often told Lin Cunzheng that she always felt that Lin Chuntao and the others might have the best life in our village in the future.
Lin Cunzheng agreed with what the old woman said. In the past few days, Lin Chuntao went into the mountains to pick mushrooms in the middle of the night every day, and asked Xu Guizhi to help her sell them. Lin Chuntao did not hide the price of mushrooms per pound from them. In a few days, they had earned several hundred coins. Although they had nothing now, they would definitely be able to save up some money bit by bit in the future.
"I just couldn't bear to eat it." said Hayashi Murazheng.
Sun was at a loss for words: "That's right. The meat I've eaten in the past few days is more than what I've eaten in the past few months."
After dinner, dusk fell. Sun and Lin Cunzheng went home, and Aunt Guizhi sat in the yard chatting with nothing to do.
Lin Chuntao and Aunt Guizhi said, "Thank you for helping me sell mushrooms these past few days, Aunt. Do you have a fixed place at the market?"
"Yes, there's a sweet water shop not far from the market. Do you know it? I set up my stall in front of that shop."
Lin Chuntao nodded and said, "Okay, if I go, I'll go find my aunt. If the sun comes out and we still haven't gone, then we won't find any mushrooms."
Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Okay."
After the matter was settled, Aunt Guizhi sat for a long time before leaving.
These days I have picked up some blue-headed mushrooms, broom mushrooms, and earth mushrooms, and left two or three pounds to eat. I sell eighteen or nineteen pounds every day, and my income in these days is about seven or eight hundred coins.
She was so busy that she didn't check her points.
Now that I have some free time and opened the control panel, I saw that I actually had more than 2,600 points. In addition, the living area and recipe area were flashing red dots, indicating that the area could be opened.
She quickly summoned the system and asked, "Why do I have so many points?"
"I forgot to tell the host that each Alstonia arborvitae is worth ten points."
"So that's how it is. What's in the living area?" Lin Chuntao asked.
“Everything you find in a large supermarket is available in the living area.”
Lin Chuntao's heart skipped a beat, and she asked tentatively, "Are there any gold and silver jewelry or something like that?"
"some."
After hearing this, Lin Chuntao was waiting for nothing and quickly opened the living area.
"Host Su Su Su! Wait..."
Before the system finished speaking, Lin Chuntao had already unlocked the living area, and the system's steady voice sounded in her mind.
"Congratulations to the host for unlocking the living area. 2,666 points have been deducted, and the remaining points are 22."
Hearing this number, Lin Chuntao was completely stunned.
Her ears were buzzing as she looked at the dazzling array of items in the living area. The remaining balance of twenty-two yuan kept echoing in her mind. She hadn't redeemed her vegetable seeds yet...
"Why did you stutter just now?"
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Lin Chuntao's tone was too calm, so the system quickly explained, "Host, your hands are too fast! It's not that I stutter."
"Host, I have some good news. Do you want to hear it?"
"What good news? You tell me first."
"In view of the host's successful zone opening, this system will give the host two chances to draw a lottery. No points will be deducted. Do you want to draw now?"
Lin Chuntao took a deep breath and decided not to miss it.
"smoke!"
"Host, please choose."
Lin Chuntao looked at the big dial on the control panel, feeling like she was about to be cheated, but she still endured it. After it turned several times and selected the one, a smiling face popped up on the panel.
"Congratulations to the host, you have won a gift pack of vegetable seeds. It has been stored in your backpack and can be retrieved at any time."
Lin Chuntao narrowed her eyes. Hmm?
"Keep smoking."
The dial on the control panel turned round and round, and Lin Chuntao made her choice only after the countdown began.
"Congratulations host, you have drawn a kitchen knife and have stored it in your backpack."
Is she going to win it just because she has something in mind?
It doesn't matter, as long as I get something useful. She clicked on the backpack and looked at the kitchen knife. It was an old Chinese kitchen knife, similar in style to the one in the old Lin family's memory.
After all, there are so many different types of kitchen knives in the modern world. If she draws one that doesn't exist in this world, she won't dare to use it.
This is perfect. She can ask for it when she comes back to the city tomorrow.
Having these two things could slightly ease the heartache she felt when her 2,600 points disappeared. She strolled around the living area and saw a wide variety of items, including rice, flour, oil, meat, salt, ginger, vinegar, tea, spices, pots, pans, various utensils, and gold and silver jewelry.
Fortunately, points can be earned again if lost, so there is still some hope.
Just as I was about to tidy up and close the control panel, I suddenly remembered that the system had said that it would also be upgraded.
"Have you upgraded? Besides the mushrooms, what else did you upgrade?"
The system was silent for a long time before it said, "Wild vegetables."
Lin Chuntao frowned slightly. She couldn't exchange the wild vegetables for money, but she could kill two birds with one stone by getting points and money from the mushrooms.
"You're not going to sign the mushrooms, are you?"
"Sign, I will remind the host of the mushrooms, and the wild vegetables are random, the host can dig them up at will, as long as they are edible."
Lin Chuntao breathed a sigh of relief. It would be nice if she could sign in and earn money in exchange for points.
She grew up in the countryside and went back to live with her grandmother after graduation and work. Having lived in the countryside for many years, she knew a lot about wild vegetables and would go dig them after she finished planting them.
These days, I have been busy planting corn. The three younger sisters are very well-behaved. They never complain about being tired or suffering. They cut grass and feed the pigs, and plant seeds together. Lin Chuntao is actually quite pleased.
She counted and found that she had almost two strings of cash at home. She didn't know if it was enough to make clothes, so she had to go to the cloth shop and the clothing store to have a look.
As the night deepened, Lin Chunxing and the others yawned continuously. They waited for the water to boil for their bath and then went to bed.
Lin Chuntao was the last one to wash, the water was still boiling, and Pei Ying sat with her in the yard waiting for the water to boil.
"Are your shoulders and back still sore? Do you want me to massage you again?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuntao looked up at him and their eyes met. Perhaps because of the dim moonlight, she felt that the man in front of her had deep eyes, staring at her with some indescribable meaning.
She shook her head slightly, "It's fine today, no need to press it."
Pei Ying nodded slightly, "Well, then I'll go take a bath in the river."
Pei Ying left quickly and came back quickly. Lin Chuntao waited for him to come back and bolted the gate before going back to the house to sleep.
"Come here." Pei Ying called her.
Lin Chuntao paused and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?"
Pei Ying looked at her with dim eyes.
"Come in first."
Lin Chuntao looked at the man with his shirt open and seriously suspected that he did it on purpose. She swallowed unconsciously and walked into the house.
"What are you thinking about, madam?" Pei Ying asked in a low voice.
Looking at the face gradually approaching, Lin Chuntao suddenly woke up.
"No."
Seeing her expression change, Pei Ying smiled slowly, turned around to get the wages for the past few days and handed it to her.
"Put these days' wages together."
This was the second time he gave her money. Lin Chuntao didn't refuse again. She just smiled and said, "If we put them together, I'll spend it."
Pei Ying said, "You make money to spend. You want to make clothes, right? You can go to the county town tomorrow to have a look."
Lin Chuntao nodded, "I have the same plan. Let's go and see if there are enough, then we can make one for each of us. If not, we can make one or two and then come back to exchange them."
"Well, do you want to go together tomorrow?"
Lin Chuntao nodded, "Okay."
"I'm going back to my room to sleep."
"Um."
After returning to the house, Lin Chuntao counted the money that Pei Ying handed over. There were more than 500 copper coins, which she strung together separately with a hemp rope.
At the hour of Yin the next day, the crowing of a rooster and the system announcement sounded together.
Lin Chuntao got up quickly, took her backpack and bamboo basket and went out. Pei Ying was already waiting for her in the yard.
After the two of them walked together for a while, Lin Chuntao went straight into the forest.
This was the same mountain where she had picked pine mushrooms last time. She went into the mountain, found a mushroom nest, and after picking for a while, she heard some noises in the forest. It was still dark, and she was alone today, so she didn't dare to make a sound and squatted under the bushes without moving.
"How's it going? Are there any mushrooms?"
"No."
"But it must be this area. Let's look for it slowly."
The conversation between a man and a woman was very familiar. Lin Chuntao breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to shout but was afraid of scaring people, so she could only cough.
After she coughed, there was no movement from the other end. After a while, Xu Tianzhu raised his voice and asked, "Who is it?"
Only then did Lin Chuntao answer: "Fourth uncle, it's me, Chuntao."
When they heard it was Lin Chuntao, they lit a lighter and came over. They were surprised to see that she was alone.
"Why are you alone?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Pei Ying went to work in the city. My sisters were too tired to come."
Zhou took a deep breath, looked at Xu Tianzhu with disdain, and then looked at Lin Chuntao with heartache. Last time there were several sisters, but today she was alone.
"Girl, aren't you afraid to go into the mountains alone?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "There's no ghost, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Xu Tianzhu swallowed his saliva. He loved picking mushrooms, but he would scare himself if he went into the mountains alone in the middle of the night, so he had to call Zhou to accompany him.
But Lin Chuntao said there was nothing to be afraid of!
"I just heard you guys talking. I wanted to call out to you, but I was afraid of scaring you, so I coughed."
Xu Tianzhu thought, it’s a good thing she didn’t shout, otherwise she might have scared him.
"Have you picked any mushrooms? Chanterelles are very popular in this area." Xu Tianzhu asked.
Lin Chuntao moved the small backpack behind her out, and the chanterelles she had just picked up had already covered the bottom of the basket.
"I found them. They're all chanterelles."
Zhou smiled and put out the fire.
"Then let's keep looking. Chuntao, do you have the fire stick?"
Lin Chuntao shook her head.
"No, I feel it's safer in the dark."
Xu Tianzhu smiled. He felt the same way. As long as the moon was bright, he felt it would be even less safe to light a tinderbox or torch.
In fact, the forest they were in was not deep or old, so there was no place for bandits to hide. The world had been stable in the past two years, and there were no refugees. They should not encounter any bad guys even if they lit torches, but they still felt uneasy.
So he always carried a fire stick with him when he went into the mountains to deal with emergencies, and he usually went into the mountains and forests by moonlight.
Zhou smiled and said, "You two, uncle and nephew, seem to have the same idea. Let's go and look for it quickly. It will be dawn soon."
Lin Chuntao responded and began to dig for mushroom nests. Xu Tianzhu and Zhou were also searching near the roots of a nearby tree. After searching two places without success, Lin Chuntao found a nest. She looked up and saw Zhou about to cross over, but her arrow pointed to a nest in front of her. She smiled and said, "Fourth Aunt, why don't you look up?"
Zhou was just randomly picking someone. After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, she smiled and said, "I'm used to it."
As she spoke, she reached up and dug out a nest of orange-red chanterelles. She smiled and said, "Chun Tao, you found some mushrooms. You're really good at talking."
Lin Chuntao was also digging another nest. She laughed and said, "Because I found several small nests in a row, all of them were found upwards."
Xu Tianzhu didn't believe it and searched horizontally nearby, but he only found a few flowers here and there. He returned to Zhou angrily.
Lin Chuntao didn't dare to point out the location to Zhou directly, but just said a few words casually.
After searching this patch of chanterelles, Lin Chuntao's basket wasn't full yet. Zhou and the others had picked up half a basket, and she had a little more. Before daybreak, Xu Tianzhu said, "Let's go over the mountain and see if there are any blue-headed mushrooms."
Lin Chuntao followed the couple over the hill, to the other side, and down into a valley. Zhou said to Lin Chuntao, "Chuntao, look carefully. This area is prone to purple-skinned blue-headed fungi."
After hearing what was said, Lin Chuntao bent down and started looking. There were many pine trees in the valley, and the fallen pine needles had turned yellow and dried, forming a thick layer. Lin Chuntao took a bamboo stick and dug around. After a while, she dug up a small mushroom nest under the roots of a pine tree, with more than a dozen mushrooms.
"Aunt, I found it."
Zhou and Xu Tianzhu came over and saw that there were more than a dozen purple-skinned, green-headed mushroom buds crowded under the roots of the pine tree. There were quite a lot of them, but the buds were still small.
Xu Tianzhu looked at Lin Chuntao and smiled, "You have a very good eye. You can find it even before the leaves are lifted up."
Lin Chuntao giggled, and Zhou pushed Xu Tianzhu to the side to continue looking.
By daybreak, their backpacks were full. They carried the blue-headed and chanterelle mushrooms, along with a few pine mushrooms and earth mushrooms, and walked towards the county market.
It was still early when they arrived at the county town, and there were not many people at the market.
Because they had made an appointment with Aunt Guizhi, Lin Chuntao and Zhou said they wanted to go find her. Xu Tianzhu and Zhou heard that Aunt Guizhi was selling vegetables here, so they followed her.
When Aunt Guizhi saw the three of them coming together, she stood up with a smile on her face.
She and Xu Tianzhu are from the same village, both have the surname Xu, and are more or less related and old acquaintances.
"Why are you here together?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I met my fourth uncle and aunt while picking mushrooms in the mountains."
Zhou looked at Aunt Guizhi and asked with a smile, "When did you come to sell vegetables? We often come to the market, but we never met."
"If I don't come here every day, we might miss the time." Aunt Guizhi said, calling them aside: "Come over here quickly, I've saved a seat for you."
Lin Chuntao and Zhou went over together and put down their backpacks next to the vegetable stall.
"How's Auntie? Have you started selling yet?"
Aunt Guizhi waved her hand and said, "Not yet. I just arrived too." Then she sat down and continued to pack the vegetable basket.
There were few people around now, and Lin Chuntao hadn't called out yet, so she simply helped Aunt Guizhi to pack the dishes.
Zhou and Xu Tianzhu looked at it curiously and watched from the side.
At first, she didn't understand what the decoration was for, and it took a lot of effort. When the market was crowded and everyone started shouting and hawking, Zhou was shocked to see that Aunt Guizhi's basket of vegetables was sold for twenty-five cents.
This little dish, packed like this? It can be sold for twenty-five cents!
This morning, people buying mushrooms and vegetables surrounded their small stall tightly.
The vegetables Aunt Guizhi brought were considered good, filling more than twenty baskets. When Lin Chuntao and her friends sold out their mushrooms, her baskets of vegetables were also sold out.
After everyone packed up their things, Aunt Guizhi asked with a smile, "Do you want to go shopping again? Let's go back together."
Aunt Guizhi came here driving a mule cart, and when she goes back she doesn't have to carry anything, so she can just use it as a ride.
Lin Chuntao wanted to go and see how the clothes were being made, so she said to Aunt Guizhi, "I have to go look for Pei Ying. It might take a while, so you two can go back first."
"Okay then, we'll go back first. You guys come back slowly."
Lin Chuntao nodded, and Aunt Guizhi asked Zhou and Xu Tianzhu to get on the mule cart, and the three of them left together.
After watching them leave, Lin Chuntao picked up the backpack, called up the control panel, and first took out the vegetable seed gift pack and the kitchen knife that she had won in yesterday's lottery.
After seeing the things in the backpack, Lin Chuntao was in a good mood.
Pei Ying might still be busy at this time, so she put on her backpack and prepared to go to the cloth shop first.
She was not familiar with the county town, so she found a shopkeeper at the market entrance and asked for the location, and then she quickly found the place.
There is a street not far from the market, with several clothing stores and small cloth shops. In the middle of the street, there is a large cloth shop with a rather grand decoration. Three girls about seventeen or eighteen years old are standing at the door, two of them are cracking melon seeds and chatting.
Lin Chuntao walked towards the door carrying a basket on her back.
The two girls who were cracking melon seeds turned around and saw her. They squinted their eyes and looked her up and down. Finally, they stared at Lin Chuntao's straw sandals and said, "Come into the shop and wipe off the mud on your feet. Don't dirty our floor."
Lin Chuntao looked down at her shoes. They were a little worn and worn, and there was dust on the soles of her feet, but no mud. But even if there was mud, what would it matter if she stepped on it?
The girl saw Lin Chuntao lower her head and thought she was ashamed. She was shaking her head proudly, but suddenly Lin Chuntao raised her head and looked at her with a smile, saying, "Does your boss know that you can't step on the floor of his shop? Or is it that you are lazy and don't want to clean it? If you don't want to work but don't have the courage to tell the boss, I can do it for you. Is that okay?"
The girl was so angry that her eyes widened after being confronted by Lin Chuntao. Lin Chuntao snorted coldly, and the girl who was standing alone next to her hurried over and called Lin Chuntao over.
"Miss, are you looking at the cloth? Please come in."
"What kind of cloth are you looking for? Let me introduce it to you. Our cloth shop has a complete range of cloths, whether it's linen, cotton, or silk and satin. You can buy any cloth and any color you want in our cloth shop."
After hearing this, Lin Chuntao looked up at her. The girl with an oval face smiled very friendly.
"Let me see the linen and cotton."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, the girl took her to the counter, took out a pile of fabric samples, and began to introduce them to her in detail.
From linen to cotton to fine white cotton and dyed cotton, from the breathability to the wear resistance of the fabric, everything was described in detail. Lin Chuntao looked at these kinds of fabric. Linen seemed to be the roughest to the naked eye, and it was also the one she was most familiar with. This was the linen she was wearing, and it could still be worn after many years, but when she wore it again after washing and drying, it felt like a piece of cowhide, so hard that it made her uncomfortable.
"Girl, you can touch it. You can feel it once you touch it. The feel of this cotton cloth is different from that of fine white cotton."
Lin Chuntao had been picking mushrooms and digging the soil that morning, and her fingertips were a little yellow. She felt uncomfortable touching the cloth, but the girl smiled and said, "It's okay, young lady. This is a sample cloth, specially used for introductions to nobles. It won't affect anything."
While Lin Chuntao was feeling the difference in the fabrics, the girl in front of her began to introduce the prices.
Linen cost three hundred wen a piece, ordinary white cotton cloth cost four hundred wen, fine white cotton cloth cost five hundred and fifty wen a piece, and dyed fine cotton cloth cost seven hundred wen.
White cotton cloth costs one hundred coins more than linen, but it is much more delicate and soft. Looking at the fine white cotton cloth, it should be a good choice for lining. Lin Chuntao had an estimate in her mind.
The girl asked with a smile, "Miss, are you buying cloth to make clothes? If so, we have ready-made clothes in our shop. Would you like to take a look?"
Lin Chuntao glanced back at the shop, but didn't see any ready-made clothes. The girl smiled and said, "Miss, the ready-made clothes are on the second floor. I'll take you up there."
Lin Chuntao followed her. As they walked, the girl said, "The tailor in our cloth shop has excellent craftsmanship. Many nobles in this city ask her to make clothes for them. If you buy some cloth and take it home to make clothes, I dare say you won't find a better tailor than her."
This cloth shop is quite large, so it is normal for a large cloth shop to be able to support skilled craftsmen.
Going up to the second floor, the girl took out several sets of ready-made clothes.
"Girl, our tailors are very good. We have made the main waist and small clothes, and they also come with socks." As she said this, she took out these things.
Lin Chuntao took a closer look. The main waist and the small garment resembled a modern vest and shorts, the vest fastened with ties at the front. The inner garment was a white cotton slanting collar with ties on the inside and outside. Outside, there was a shirt, a vest, and a horse-faced skirt.
This set is quite complete, but the price is probably not cheap.
"How much is this set?"
The girl looked at her and smiled and said, "This set costs six hundred coins."
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly. Six hundred wen could buy a piece of fine cotton cloth, and if she added a little dye, she could buy another piece. It looked good, but it was not cost-effective for her.
Seeing Lin Chuntao silent, the girl smiled and asked, "Miss, are you buying cloth to make your own clothes, or are you going to make some for your family too?"
"Family members have to do it too," said Lin Chuntao.
"If you don't like the styles of these ready-made clothes, you can bring your family and buy the cloth in our shop. You can ask the tailor to make them directly in the shop."
With this one-stop service, if you have money, you can buy cloth even if you don’t buy ready-made clothes. After buying the cloth, you may continue to make clothes in their shop.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Thank you for the introduction, young lady. I didn't bring any money today, I'll come back to buy it tomorrow."
"Okay, my name is Zhang Qingqing, you can come see me tomorrow."
Lin Chuntao nodded, and Zhang Qingqing walked her to the door.
The two girls who were eating melon seeds were still standing at the door. When they saw that Lin Chuntao failed to buy anything, the expressions on their faces became more and more disdainful.
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