Ji Xia and Hou Xiaolian looked at each other speechlessly, then shook their heads with wry smiles.
She casually picked a small strip of silk from the rags and handed it to Wang Yuexiang: "Touch it with your finger."
Wang Yuexiang reached out and took the strip of cloth, puzzled. It was smooth, soft, and cool to the touch, much more comfortable than the cloth she had used for practice.
Suddenly, she felt her fingers freeze, and a thin thread came out. She was so frightened that her face changed, and she quickly let go.
"I'm sorry, I—I didn't mean to—"
Wang Yuexiang shook her head repeatedly in fright, her face turned pale, her expression timid, and her eyes filled with terror.
Hou Xiaolian frowned. What kind of expression was that? It was as if they had bullied her.
She was initially pleased to see that the girl had a strong learning ability; on her first day of embroidery lessons, she had mastered several embroidery techniques in less than two hours.
But seeing his overly dramatic and easily startled manner makes me a little uncomfortable.
She was about to discuss it with Ji Xia when Ji Xia gently comforted her.
"Don't worry, this is just a scrap of cloth from practice, there won't be a fine."
Ji Xia pointed to the lace above: "However, you should have seen it too? This is why we asked you to take care of your hands."
Wang Yuexiang's worried expression finally eased, and Ji Xia gently explained the situation to her.
There's a reason why the embroiderers and sewing machine operators who make silk are paid so much.
Because silk is easily scratched and smudged, they not only work very carefully, but also try to select young female workers with very soft and delicate hands to make silk clothes.
Although Wang Yuexiang's hands were a bit dry, they were still quite soft overall. With proper care for two or three days, there shouldn't be any major problems, and she could stay and learn embroidery.
"We are hiring embroiderers recently because we have too many orders for silk wedding dresses and we can't keep up. So we are looking to hire people. Even if you are a beginner, we are willing to give you some time to learn."
"If you don't take care of your hands, even silk fabrics won't dry. There's no point in hiring you then, is there?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuexiang bit her lower lip in distress: "Is only silk embroidery necessary? Doesn't cotton fabric like the one we just saw need it?"
Just as Ji Xia was about to speak, Hou Xiaolian glanced at her coldly and said, "A box of clam oil costs only 50 cents, and two boxes only cost one yuan. The minimum wage for a beginner embroiderer is 30 yuan a month. If you can't even afford that, then you don't need to come."
"No, team leader, I'll buy it, I'll buy it."
Wang Yuexiang lowered her head, bit her lower lip, hesitated for a long time, and then asked cautiously, "Can I get an advance of one yuan for my wages?"
Perhaps realizing her request was a bit outrageous, she explained in a low voice, "When I left home, my mother only gave me five yuan to keep me safe, besides buying me a train ticket."
"But my great-aunt's family is large, and I felt bad about eating and drinking for free every day, so after buying groceries for a few days, I only had 37 cents left out of the five yuan."
Ji Xia knew that it was indeed not easy to live under someone else's roof, but she never expected that the kind-looking old lady Wang would be so stingy with her whole family.
They would stay for a few days and then ask their relatives to buy groceries and cook, without caring whether the other person had any pocket money.
Her heart softened: "In that case, where will you stay?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuexiang glanced at her subconsciously: "I heard from my aunt that there are female workers living in your courtyard as well?"
The courtyard house did indeed have some female workers living there. Although most of the female workers were locals, Chen Jing and Ji Xia asked Ji Xiangjun for help and found a few female workers from Jiangnan who had inherited embroidery skills.
These women not only guide other female workers in embroidery but are also the main force in the embroidery workshop. They were invited from afar from Jiangnan, and of course, they were provided with accommodation.
However, although there were many rooms in the backyard, most of them were used as workshops and warehouses. Of the few rooms available, Ji Xia and Chen Jing shared one room, Hou Xiaolian and Chen Qiuyu shared another, and there was a large room where four embroiderers lived, but there were no beds available.
Ji Xia smiled awkwardly: "We do have a few employees living in the courtyard, but there are only three rooms in the backyard, and they are all full. The other rooms are workshops and warehouses, and there are no empty spaces."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuexiang's face fell, and she pleaded, "Comrade Ji, can you think of a solution for me? My aunt's house is crowded and cramped, and I'm really embarrassed to stay any longer."
"But as you can see, all the rooms in our backyard are full, there isn't even a single empty bed."
"What about the front yard? There are so many rooms in the front yard, isn't there even a single empty bed?"
Ji Xia frowned: "The front yard is the boys' dormitory, where would you, a girl, live..."
Before she could finish speaking, Wang Yuexiang grabbed her hand and pleaded, "It's okay, what's wrong with a boy living next door? As long as they're not in the same room."
Ji Xia couldn't help but glance at Hou Xiaolian. Hou Xiaolian was in charge of managing the embroidery workshop, so Ji Xia couldn't interfere.
Hou Xiaolian glanced at Wang Yuexiang indifferently: "Actually, two of the new employees we hired a couple of days ago asked about the dormitory."
"If they are all willing to go to the front yard, it is also possible to arrange for the three girls to share a room."
Besides the main hall used as a wholesale department, Hua Hai, Ah Xiong, and Hou Fang, who were in charge of the warehouse and wholesale department, occupied two rooms in the front yard, leaving at least eight or nine other rooms empty.
Wang Yuexiang readily agreed. Hou Xiaolian asked several new female workers for their opinions in the embroidery room. The girls were also willing to live together in the same dormitory in the front yard, so she agreed to the arrangement.
The courtyard house originally had a lot of furniture and wooden beds, including large beds made of better wood specifically for the master, as well as some ordinary carriages for the servants.
That evening, Hou and several male employees tidied up a large room in the front yard, then moved four single beds and two wardrobes into the room so that there would be beds available for any female workers who came to stay the next time.
However, accommodation and lunch are free, but breakfast and dinner are chargeable.
Since most of the female workers are provided with one lunch, and the few girls who live in the dormitory are already getting a good deal by not paying rent, it's not appropriate for them to receive more benefits than the other female workers.
Ji Xia casually lent Wang Yuexiang a dollar so she could get a job. Wang Yuexiang was so excited that she grabbed Ji Xia and thanked her repeatedly. That same day, she went home to pack her clothes and moved into the dormitory.
After Wang Yuexiang left, Hou Xiaolian looked disapproving: "Sister Xia, you're too good to them."
Ji Xia patted her shoulder: "Think back to when we first came to the city, we had no money in our pockets, it was a very difficult time."
"Everyone has their difficult times. Lending a dollar to someone in urgent need is really nothing."
Hou Xiaolian's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, but she didn't take it seriously. She and Hou Fang had experienced poverty since childhood, and she knew better than anyone what it was like to be poor.
But Wang Yuexiang's hands, though a bit dry and calloused, did not look like those of a poor person.
When she first came to the city, her hands were so rough that even if she applied several boxes of clam oil, she still wouldn't be qualified to embroider silk.
Wang Yuexiang was so poor she didn't have a single penny, and she wanted an advance? She was a little skeptical.
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