Chapter 140 Going to Jinxiufang to work
Cui Qingyi nodded. "Of course, if you have trouble here, I will pick a few students from the female school to help, but you have to pay for their work."
Seeing that Cui Qingyi didn't understand what she meant, the female shopkeeper simply said, "Let me be frank with you about our relationship. Making all the clothes you want will cost a lot of money. Since you run a girls' school and there are so many girls learning embroidery there, why not let them make the clothes?"
Cui Qingyi was stunned and instantly understood what the female shopkeeper meant.
The master-apprentice relationship in this era is like this. No matter what industry the apprentice is in, if he wants to learn skills, he has to work like a slave in the master's house. Not to mention the wages, there are examples of many people who cannot become a master even after several years or even more than ten years.
But Cui Qingyi never had this idea from the beginning. Her original intention of opening a girls' school was to enable girls to learn a skill so that they could make a living on their own in the cannibalistic feudal society.
On the other hand, Cui Qingyi preferred a more measured relationship to that of a mentor and student, rather than a deeply intertwined mentor-disciple relationship. She accepted the money, and the female student diligently taught the students the skills they had promised. As for their future, it all depended on their choices and fate.
"No, one thing at a time." Cui Qingyi didn't say much, and the female shopkeeper didn't ask any more questions. Since Cui Qingyi was willing to hand over the business to her, why wouldn't she take it if she could make money?
"Okay, don't worry, I will definitely do my best for your matter."
Cui Qingyi was not worried at all that the female shopkeeper would take the money and do nothing. Not to mention that she was a shareholder of the embroidery shop, she herself was an expert in this field. How could she be afraid of being fooled?
After finishing the costumes, Cui Qingyi went to the market to buy nitrated donkey skin. She wanted to make a set of shadow puppetry tools by herself.
Like Qinqiang opera, shadow puppetry is an art form that originated in the northwest, and is also a vivid part of Cui Qingyi's childhood memories.
When she was young, she was taken by her elders to sit on a small stool, and she felt bored listening to the singing on the stage. She preferred sweet sugar paintings or drinking a glass of cool soda to sitting in the sun and listening to the opera.
Unexpectedly, when she arrived in Dajin, Cui Qingyi wanted to listen to another opera more than sugar painting and soda.
Shadow puppetry's tools are simpler than Qinqiang (Chinese opera), but finding suitable performers is challenging. While Qinqiang's preparations are complex, the Jin dynasty also has its own troupes. If Cui Qingyi could afford it, recruiting her own would be easy.
Aside from the time she was busy preparing gifts for the Empress Dowager, Konjac had never seen her daughter work so hard. She was so exhausted that she almost couldn't bear it and wanted to persuade her to take a break.
But as soon as he opened his mouth, Cui Qingyi assigned him a task, "Go to the Qiao family and ask Qiao Yishi to help keep an eye out for any ventriloquist who is willing to live in Dongping County while he is out escorting."
Konjac didn't ask any more questions and went to Qiao's house quickly.
Qiao Yishi didn't ask any more questions. After Konjac left, he turned around and went out to ask his brothers in the escort team to keep an eye out.
Although Konjac had not yet entered the house, the two families now visited each other frequently. Whenever Qiao's mother saw Konjac, she felt that her family was more lively. She was happy and cheerful every day.
In addition to Qiao Yishi, Cui Qingyi also asked for help from the caravans traveling in the town. These caravans traveled to various places in Dajin all year round, and met more people.
After all, the embroidery shop run by the female shopkeeper had just opened, and there were not so many skilled embroiderers for her to employ in Dongping County. In the end, the female shopkeeper decided to pick a few people from Cui's Girls' School to help.
As the teacher of the embroidery class, Konjac picked out several girls with the best skills in the class, including Qi Yuan and Qin Miao. Although these two girls are young, as the first people to learn embroidery from Konjac, their skills are no worse than those of other older girls.
Sister Li hadn't expected her daughter, Li Miao, to be working in an embroidery shop so soon, especially one run by the female owner of Jinxiufang. After hearing Konjac's words, she ran out with her hands still wet. Even Old Lady Li, who had caught a cold, rushed out on crutches.
"What? Our Xiao Miao can go to the embroidery shop to work?"
Konjac was happy to see this scene. These were all girls she brought up. They could make money with their own hands at a young age, which was much better than her.
"There's a rush of work coming to Jinxiufang, and we're shorthanded, so the owner wants to ask students from our girls' school to help." She reached out and touched Li Miao's head, instructing him, "Go and work hard, but don't overwork yourself. You're still young, and you have a long way to go."
Konjac was not afraid that the female shopkeeper would push these children too hard, but he was afraid that these girls were too honest and would ruin their bodies at such a young age.
Li Miao felt an indescribable emotion surging in his chest, and nodded solemnly towards Konjac.
When Konjac arrived at the Qi family and told them what had happened, the Qi couple decisively agreed to let Qi Yuan go. Although their family did not lack the money Qi Yuan earned, Xiaoyuan in their family was the first one to earn money at such a young age by relying on the skills she had learned. If she went there today, it would be a capital for her to go in the future.
As for Chen Yingchun, she was hired by the female manager of Jinxiufang. She is an adult and now considered an experienced worker, and her salary is different from that of others.
Jinxiufang also has its own embroiderers. At first, everyone was dissatisfied with the owner for hiring so many young girls. If they did the work themselves, it would take longer, but they would also get more money.
Now there are so many little girls, each with small hands, who can't do much work. I'm afraid they will take away a lot of money. I'm dissatisfied in my heart, and it shows on my face.
Qi Yuan looked at the already cut fabric on the table with some curiosity. Just as he was about to pick it up to take a look, someone reached out and roughly pulled it away. "What are you doing? We spent a whole day cutting these fabrics. Will you be responsible if they mess up?"
Qi Yuan had never been yelled at so loudly in his life. He stood there at a loss for what to do, with a look of panic on his face.
This is the natural deterrent brought about by the age gap. It takes a long time for children to grow up and dare to resist this injustice. Qi Yuan was not the only one confused by this situation. Li Miao and others who came with him also didn't know what to do.
The embroiderer looked at the girls who were frightened by her, and the corners of her mouth curled up a little proudly, but this pride did not last long. Chen Yingchun came back with the embroidery thread and stretched out her hand to pull the girls behind her. She said something cold and rude,
"You don't have much skill, but you are very capable of bullying a few girls. If you don't want to work hard, do you want me to go to the shopkeeper and tell him to let you go home early?"
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