Yang thought to herself that she had longed for this for so long, and finally, by a stroke of luck, she had a sweet and soft daughter. She didn't ask Lili to be some kind of lucky star, she only wished for her to be safe and healthy.
Liu was also a mother, so of course she understood what Yang meant.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this today. Come on, I'll help you pick out a good color for Pear."
The two sisters-in-law went into the clothing shop, while Chen Shi led Lili into the embroidery workshop.
Because this is the only small embroidery shop in town, Ms. Chen has been selling her embroidery here for the past few years, coming here about once every two or three months.
With each exchange, Chen's excellent craftsmanship naturally caught the eye of the embroidery shop owner.
As soon as Chen entered, the proprietress, who was doing the accounts, greeted her: "Oh, Madam Chen is here?"
Usually, it was Liu or Yang who accompanied Chen, but this time it was a little baby, a beautifully sculpted little baby, who made the embroidery shop owner take a second look.
"Oh, this little girl is so cute!" The embroidery shop owner had only intended to make a few polite remarks, but upon closer inspection, she was indeed exquisite and charming.
Mrs. Chen was somewhat proud; her little niece was beautiful, it was just that she was beautiful!
“Indeed, all the children in our family are beautiful. Everyone who sees them says they are envious!” Chen said. “This is my little niece. Come here, Li Bao, say hello.”
Lili had already put on her signature smile, and when she heard people praising her, the little dumpling didn't hold back her joy: "Sister looks good too!"
Whether you're seventy or eighty, or twelve or thirteen, just praise them!
The embroidery shop owner, a woman nearing forty, was overjoyed to be called "sister," and her smile became even more genuine.
"Oh my, what a sweet talker! I'm already this old, I'm no longer your older sister."
Anyone would be happy to be praised, let alone to be praised by such an adorable little dumpling.
The embroidery shop owner grinned from ear to ear, picked out a small, pale yellow handkerchief from a nearby shelf, and shoved it into Lili's hand.
"Here, this is a gift from your aunt!" She then couldn't help but rub the little dumpling's face with her finger. "Look at this little face, so adorable!"
Lili clutched the handkerchief, blinked, and looked at Chen Shi pleadingly, as if asking if she could accept it.
This charmed the embroidery shop owner: "Just accept it if your aunt gives it to you. Why are you asking your aunt?"
Seeing that the proprietress was in a good mood, Chen felt more at ease about the trip.
But the polite formalities still had to be observed: "Li Bao, why don't you say thank you?"
"Thank you, beautiful auntie!"
"This child is so sensible!" The shopkeeper praised Lili with a smile before asking, "Is she here to deliver goods again?"
Mrs. Chen smiled and nodded: "I made a few more variations this time, could you please take a look and see if they're up to standard?"
Chen's cooking skills are unparalleled; she has always trusted them.
Even on weekdays, she doesn't have much time, so most of Chen's embroidery consists of small items like handkerchiefs.
Even on a simple handkerchief, the patterns are incredibly detailed, depicting flowers, plants, fish, and insects with remarkable realism.
"How could I not trust your skills?" the proprietress joked with a smile. "If it weren't for you, how could my little embroidery shop be doing so well?"
While this statement may contain some exaggeration, Chen's embroidery was indeed the most beloved.
Because there were no shortage of styles and patterns to choose from, even if it was just a small embroidery workshop in town, many young women and girls would save up their money to buy it.
"That's all thanks to you."
Chen put Lili on the ground and took out the embroidery she had brought from the small basket she had brought.
Chen and the embroidery shop owner quickly started discussing the embroidery, and Lili, now free, wandered around on her own.
The embroidery workshop wasn't big, and after looking around twice, Lili ran out of things to look at.
Lili walked to the entrance of the embroidery workshop, sat on the threshold with a bored expression, and watched the people coming and going on the street.
People sat at teahouses and food stalls on the street, taking a break and eating. Various shops were open on both sides of the somewhat chaotic street.
Many vegetable vendors gathered at the corner, coming together.
Lili noticed the only grain shop in town, with a sign in front of it displaying today's rice price.
It's not harvest season now, and there's a severe drought, so rice prices are quite high, at one liang (a unit of weight) per shi (another unit of weight), and one shi is ten dou (another unit of weight) of rice.
According to the calculation method of the Southern Jin Dynasty, one shi (石) is now about 120 jin (斤).
One tael costs one thousand coins, so one jin of rice would cost about eight coins.
This calculation might seem cheap, but in reality, one pound of rice can only cook six or seven bowls of rice. The average family of three can only eat one pound of rice a day.
But these days every family is saving food, and most of the time they still cook thin porridge or make cornbread as their staple food.
Therefore, one pound of rice can actually feed a family of three for two or three days.
If there are more people in the family, this way of eating can only last for one day.
For a large family like the Shen family, with more than a dozen members, even if they only eat rice or porridge for dinner, they still need to consume two or three kilograms of [something] every day.
That day it cost about twenty-five coins.
Lili frowned. Twenty-five coins? That's too much.
Twenty-five coins may sound like a small amount, but it's actually quite a lot.
Lili heard that working in the town's restaurant only earns seven or eight coins a day.
Lili calculated in her mind, following the most economical method possible.
Two meals a day: one of flatbread and one of thin porridge; one meal of rice every three days.
An ordinary family of five, not counting anything else, would have to spend at least fifty coins a week just on rice.
That year it was more than two ounces.
For ordinary families, even after working themselves to the bone all year round, they barely manage to break even.
Those who owned land were better off; after paying the grain tax, they could still have leftover rice to make their own, so they didn't have to spend so much.
But not everyone owns land, and not everyone is a laborer.
Ultimately, the high price of rice is simply due to the current famine and the resulting shortage of supply.
According to Village Chief Ma, the price of rice in the neighboring Xixiang County has been driven up to three taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), and even then, it has all been bought up by wealthy families.
Poor families not only couldn't afford to buy them, but they also couldn't buy them at all.
Lili sighed deeply.
"well."
Oh, how I worry!
Poor, so poor.
Lili now feels even more strongly that stopping that so-called prefect from raising taxes is absolutely necessary.
People are already struggling to make ends meet; how can they survive if they pay an additional 20% in taxes?
Lili was holding her chin in her hand, looking troubled, when she caught a glimpse of a woman walking hurriedly ahead of her from the street corner. Another man was chasing after her, pleading and saying something to her.
Pear's attention immediately shifted, "Oh, there's some juicy gossip to come!"
This woman looked very familiar. She was young and somewhat pretty, but had a rather mean-spirited appearance. Wasn't she the little Li who had caused a scene at her doorstep that day?
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