Wang Yuexiang nodded vigorously: "Auntie, I understand, I will definitely try my best."
Ji Xia led Wang Yuexiang into the courtyard and casually asked about her background: "What is your relationship with Old Lady Wang?"
“She is my aunt’s cousin, we call her cousin-aunt.”
Originally, they were related by marriage across vast distances. However, in this era, relatives interacted more closely and placed greater emphasis on kinship, making interpersonal relationships much closer than in later generations.
"Where are you from? How did you know we needed workers here?"
Wang Yuexiang smiled shyly upon hearing this: "Some time ago, my great-aunt came back to the countryside to visit relatives and told us that your workshop often hires people. My mother heard that it was for making clothes, so she asked me to come to the capital with her."
"I'm from the Shenghua Brigade in Tongzhou. I'll be there in just a few hours."
As Wang Yuexiang spoke, she carefully looked around the courtyard house.
The front yard looked rather desolate in winter. The tall ginkgo tree in the corner of the yard was completely bare, and the newly planted plum blossoms had not yet grown.
However, the courtyard is spacious and airy, with corridors connecting them. The antique carved beams and painted rafters, and the inner courtyard with stacked rocks and scenery, are as exquisite as a fairyland.
She used to think that her great-aunt's yard of more than 200 square meters was big and beautiful enough, but now that she looks at Ji Xia's yard, it is even more beautiful than her great-aunt's.
Moreover, I heard that only five or six people live in this courtyard, and the female workers in the backyard leave early and return late, going home after get off work in the evening.
Unlike my great-aunt's family of fourteen or fifteen people living in one courtyard, this place is much more spacious.
Wang Yuexiang quietly observed Ji Xia, looking at her porcelain-white skin and delicate features with a hint of envy.
I heard that the young couple is a good student and a good earner. They not only run a workshop that makes a fortune every day, but also have a shop outside. They are very wealthy.
Back in the backyard, the dozen or so rooms were packed with people, the sounds of sewing machines rising and falling. A group of female workers, dressed in thick cotton-padded clothes and loose-fitting blouses, with masks and hats on their faces, were all working intently.
Wang Yuexiang couldn't help but take a closer look, and suddenly met Ji Xia's gaze. She quickly smiled timidly and said, "They are all very focused. I didn't see anyone talking."
"No, it's different in our private workshops. They're paid by piecework, and talking would distract them, affecting both speed and quality. So, they only chat during their lunch break. When they're working, they're very focused."
Wang Yuexiang suddenly became curious: "Are their salaries really as high as you say?"
Ji Xia nodded: "If the quality is good and the speed is fast, the more complex the parts are, the higher the price will be. Among our hundreds of employees, at least twenty can earn more than eighty yuan a month."
Seeing that he had piqued Wang Yuexiang's interest, Ji Xia put away his art supplies and backpack and waved to her.
"Let me take you to the embroidery room so you can see how others work. I'll then teach you basic needlework techniques and see how quick you are to learn."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuexiang became somewhat uneasy and timidly followed Ji Xia to the embroidery room in the east wing.
The two rooms in the east wing were embroidery rooms, because embroidery requires a lot of eyesight, so the rooms had more electric lights than the other rooms.
With a large number of incandescent lights on at the same time, the light was almost comparable to the shadowless lights in a hospital operating room.
Seeing the bright room and the embroiderer inside, who was completely absorbed in her work, Wang Yuexiang's eyes lit up.
The embroidery on the hands of those embroiderers was mostly gold and silver, and the fabric in their hands was mostly bright red. Each of them held a tiny needle, and the silk thread in their hands was so fine that it was almost invisible.
Ji Xia led her around the two embroidery rooms: "Our processes range from complex to tedious, and of course, there are also some simple ones."
“Those embroiderers who embroider dragons and phoenixes, or peonies, split the silk thread in their hands into at least eight strands. Such complex work will be more expensive.”
“The patterns over there are simple and easy to learn. Beginners are usually assigned to this kind of process because the cost is lower, but the speed can be much faster.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuexiang was surprised: "One thread split into eight? How can you still see it?"
Ji Xia couldn't help but chuckle: "What's so special about splitting one into eight? Some experts can split one into thirty-two, but with mass production, we can't do that kind of precision, and the labor costs are too high..."
Ji Xia gave a brief explanation, but Wang Yuexiang looked blank, as if she didn't understand at all.
She chuckled to herself, realizing that these things might not be easy for beginners to understand.
However, let her know that not everyone can embroider high-priced patterns, so that she can be self-aware and focus on embroidering simple designs.
In fact, the Xie brothers have sent five or six girls over in the past few days. They are all beginners and none of them know basic embroidery.
Six girls came and learned for half a day. Hou Xiaolian kept five of them and let one go. These past few days, she has been focusing on supervising the newbies and correcting them at all times.
She was very resistant to novices who had no experience whatsoever, and she had just told Ji Xia and Chen Jing yesterday that she didn't want novices.
Ji Xia brought a novice with her, and feeling embarrassed to let Hou Xiaolian take over, she took her around the two embroidery rooms twice.
"How about it? If you do this job well, the pay is not low, but it requires patience, meticulousness, and the ability to sit still. If you can't stand sitting for a while, then I suggest you give up."
Wang Yuexiang nodded repeatedly, assuring him, "Comrade Ji, I will try my best, I can sit still."
"Alright then, I'll teach you the basic acupuncture techniques."
Ji Xia took out a small embroidery shed, a few ordinary fine threads, a small needle, and a scrap of fine cotton cloth. She then took out a pattern and demonstrated it to you.
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