Chapter 20: Business Offered to the Opponent
Sangqing Town was bustling with activity, with shops thronging the streets, alleys, and bridges.
Xiao Chun'e usually shopped in Jin Yin Lane, opposite the clothing store and next to the perfume shop, near the North Wazi area.
To get there, you have to cross the Xiaoliushui Bridge. Xiao Chun'e would choose to talk about things that Lin Xiushui was interested in. After crossing the bridge, she pointed to the city wall that was faintly visible on the left and said, "Go that way, past the side gate, there's the Sanghe Bridge. There are cloth markets, secondhand clothing markets, raw silk markets, silk floss markets, and silk fabric markets there." "If you want to buy cloth, you have to wait until the third month of spring," Xiao Chun'e pulled Lin Xiushui aside, avoiding the donkeys carrying grain sacks, "The Lin'an Prefecture pawnshop will release a batch of unredeemed goods, mostly clothing. The cloth trade is good then."
“After the third month of spring, new silk will be on the market in April, and new cloth will come later. Right now, you can’t find anything good. That’s what my mother told me. Those tailors go there all the time.”
Lin Xiushui had been in Sangqing Town for almost half a month, and apart from the clothing shop and the road to Sangqiao Ferry, she hadn't been anywhere else. She relied on Xiao Chun'e to tell her about most of the places.
"Ah Qiao, come here quickly!" Xiao Chun'e was excited when she saw the new pawn shop. She didn't leave after crossing the bridge and stood to the left of Lin Xiushui, calling out to her, "Look at that sachet."
Lin Xiushui moved the oilcloth umbrella closer to her, using it to cover her purse. She looked down at the items she had bought on the ground and found the sachet that Xiao Chun'e had mentioned among the miscellaneous items.
The style was very ordinary, a plain white open pocket. The pattern on it was clearly made using the piled brocade technique. She squatted down and peered closely. It wasn't embroidery; the lotus pattern was clearly raised. It must have been made of pink and white silk filled with silk floss. The petals were cut off one by one, sewn together to fill the gaps, and then embroidered onto the sachet in the style of lotus flowers.
The more she looked, the brighter her eyes became. When she was mending the kite for Chuanbulang before, she had thought about other uses, but she quickly put them out of her mind. This time, however, she seriously started thinking about it.
The technique of applying brocade to sachets, collar sashes, and round fans is quite simple, and the three flower patterns of apricot blossom, peach blossom, and plum blossom are much easier to make.
Lin Xiushui stood up and saw Xiao Chun'e asking the vendor, preparing to buy the sachet. She quickly grabbed Xiao Chun'e's sleeve, shook her head, and pulled her out, saying, "I can make the pattern for this sachet too. I'll make one for you, like this one, how about a butterfly?"
"How wonderful! That's great!" Little Chun'e cheered. "I've saved six copper coins."
There was no saving at all; the area around this little sloping bridge was lined with colorful stalls selling pumila (a type of Tibetan friar). Xiao Chun'e smacked her hands a couple of times, took out six coins from her purse, handed them to a vendor, and immediately asked, "How much?"
The vendor pointed to a ceramic basin and replied, "Five pure ones, regardless of the characters or their combinations, young lady, just take a gamble and give it a try."
Lin Xiushui was confused, so Xiao Chun'e quickly explained to her, "This is jargon. The side with fewer characters on the coin is called 'He', and the side with more characters is called 'Zi'. 'Wu Chun' means that there should be five characters or 'He' facing up, and the same goes for 'Liu Chun'."
After explaining, Xiao Chun'e rolled up her sleeves, put the six copper coins in her two palms, shook them up and down, closed her eyes and muttered, "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, today I, Xiao Chun'e, will surely succeed."
Then she tossed the copper coin into the earthenware basin, opened her eyes wide, and peered over the edge. It was five coins! She exclaimed, grabbed Lin Xiushui's hand, and shook it up and down, "Ahhh, I won! I won!"
Lin Xiushui sensed her joy as she trembled, and couldn't help but laugh, "Little Chun'e, you're really something."
The vendor chuckled, "Young lady, pick one yourself. This was made by my wife herself, made of silk and wax, depicting small flowers of the four seasons. You've won the lottery!"
Such a long name actually refers to flowers that are mostly small and delicate, with the craftsmanship not being particularly outstanding, but their beauty lies in their colors.
Xiao Chun'e looked around and finally chose a crabapple blossom, two flowers growing side by side, pale purple and pinkish-white. She turned her head, stood on tiptoe, and reached out to put it in Lin Xiushui's hair. She said, "This is for you. If you weren't next to me, I wouldn't have won."
"Don't say 'give it back to me'."
Lin Xiushui hummed in response, then touched it and said, "I like it very, very much."
"If you like it, that's good. Let's go for a walk. You can treat me to eel, and then we can come back later. My house is right next to this alley, it'll be a quick walk. Don't delay your return to Sangqiao Ferry."
There are many eels in Sangqing Town, and many stalls sell them very cheaply, only five or six coins a bowl, pure eel soup.
Lin Xiushui felt bad. There were goose and duck buns for sale nearby, each costing five coins. They were quite large, so she bought two. She also bought two fish and meat buns for herself, afraid that Xiao Chun'e would have to share them with her.
She gave him thirteen coins very readily.
"Here, I heard this is good. Take it and eat it. If you can't finish it, take it home," Lin Xiushui walked back, put the goose and duck buns on the small table, and ate the fish and meat buns herself.
Xiao Chun'e didn't refuse, but smiled and said, "My name has 'E' in it, and eating goose replenishes the goose."
However, she insisted on sharing the bowl of eel with her, and Lin Xiushui secretly thought that the eel was really delicious.
When the two parted, Xiao Chun'e waved to Lin Xiushui while holding the goose and duck bun in her hand, and then walked away happily. Lin Xiushui then bought a bowl of eel and spent two extra coins to buy a rough porcelain bowl to take home.
When Wang Yuelan saw that she had brought back a bowl of eel, she didn't say anything else, but walked inside and said, "I just bought some noodles. Add a piece of eel, some ginger, dried shrimp, and some chives, mix it all together, and we can have a meal."
"Your flowers are quite unique."
Lin Xiushui shook her head. "Xiao Chun'e gave it to me."
“Come here, Aunt, I’ll give you something too,” Lin Xiushui said, gesturing for Wang Yuelan to extend her hand.
Wang Yuelan stretched out her hand with some doubt, and Lin Xiushui hung a string of copper coins on her palm. "This is for picking out silk floss. Madam Gu said that the silk floss you picked was especially good, without a single crumb. Next time there is work, I will ask you for help, Aunt."
Actually, Madam Gu didn't say anything; it was all Lin Xiushui who said it.
Upon hearing this, Wang Yuelan first laughed, and then stuffed the string of copper coins into Lin Xiushui's hand.
"Don't try to put it back, or I'll fight you. You can't beat me," Wang Yuelan pushed Lin Xiushui's hand away. "Your mother taught me this silk-making skill. You're capable on your own, and I can't teach you anything else."
She paused for a moment and then said, "Giving you this money is a way of teaching you."
Lin Xiushui was puzzled. Was there really such a teaching method?
But she knew her aunt was helping her out, so she didn't refuse again and didn't spend the money, returning it all at the end of the month.
After the night, she got up early to go find Boatman, whose boat was moored in the river in front of the South Goods Market.
"Boatman, buy some cloth scraps!" Lin Xiushui called out from the stone steps.
The short, boat-cloth-wearing boy crouched out of the cabin and greeted Lin Xiushui with a smile. This time, he had bought some good scraps of cloth.
“Young lady, you’ve really come at the right time this time,” Boatman rowed his boat over. “I really bought some fine fabric scraps from Lin’an Prefecture. The colors and styles are on a completely different level from the last one.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiushui realized that the good fabric meant she would be ripped off, but she had no money.
She was very direct: "How much? I can't afford anything over fifty coins." "This will cost at least two or three hundred coins," Chuan Bulang's smile was stiff. He still wanted to get more money from Lin Xiushui, since he had sold it at a loss last time.
Lin Xiushui unfolded the burlap sack she had brought and shook her head. "I still prefer the old clothes you sell. I can buy more to make up a hundred coins."
Chuanbulang was discouraged; he couldn't do business with Lin Xiushui at all, but he was still unwilling to give up. "Really not going to take a look?"
“I’ll come back to see this after I’ve made some money. If I see it but can’t afford it, it’ll just be a waste of my time,” Lin Xiushui said, not falling for his trick.
Seeing the colorful cotton threads hanging from the bow of the boat, she asked, "Are these cotton threads for sale?"
“My mother couldn’t sit still and spun these herself, so she asked me to dye them and sell them. If you want them, take them for five coins a bundle. They’re cotton thread from last summer,” the boatman said as he came out of the boat, holding a cloth bag in each hand. He opened the bag and said, “There’s also a basket of white cotton thread in here. It hasn’t been dyed and it’s yellowish. It’s made from the scraps from silkworm cocoons. A small basket will do for ten coins.”
Lin Xiushui touched the cotton thread; it was neither fine nor coarse. If she wanted to weave cloth, she could only weave coarse silk. It was just right for her; it could be used as thick thread for sewing and wouldn't break easily. There was so much cotton thread in the basket that she could make socks.
She bought a hundred coins' worth of cloth scraps from the boatman, which made the sack bulge, along with twenty coins' worth of colored thread, ten coins' worth of yellowish cotton thread per basket, and twenty coins' worth of misshapen silk floss from the silk floss vendor next door.
It was still early to go back, so she first picked out the scraps of cloth to make sachets. She used fine linen to make sachets to sell to children. The cat head cloth patches and cat head shoes she made before sold well, so this time she made cat and fish sachets.
Lin Xiushui was getting used to cutting, and she could cut out precise outlines without drawing patterns. She planned to stuff the cat's head with silk floss, then sew it closed, and hang a small sachet at the bottom with a fragrant pill inside, which would save more fabric.
There are also fine silk ones, some of which are pasted into the patterns of apricot blossoms, plum blossoms, and peach blossoms, while others are made into flower bags. These are more complicated, requiring many petals of fabric to be cut and then sewn together. Once the opening is sewn closed, you can pull the bag opening tight to see a flower.
Not having time to finish at home, Lin Xiushui carefully arranged the scraps of cloth, stuffed them into a cloth bag, slung it over her shoulder, and prepared to take it to the clothing store.
As she stepped outside, she ran into Madam Zhang, who was looking for her to mend her umbrella. Lin Xiushui bowed and greeted her, "Madam Zhang, where are you going?"
"Oh," Madam Zhang pulled up her sleeves and jogged over. She hesitated for a moment, then finally hardened her heart and said, "Sister Xiu, you'd better make some plans soon."
“The daughter of the coppersmith next to my house, named Chen Dajin, said she’s going to set up a mending stall here today. She said you can earn several hundred coins a day, and she’s sure you can.”
Lin Xiushui wasn't familiar with the name, but when it came to earning several hundred coins a day, she vaguely pictured a woman with a large, round face, many pockmarks, and a red bun. She remembered the woman she had muttered about earning a hundred coins a day when she was selling cat-shaped shoes.
"Where is everyone?" Lin Xiushui looked ahead.
Madam Zhang pointed quietly, "It's right across from your stall. You have to go outside to see it. It's only because you only set up your stall in the morning and evening that she got the idea to think that she could earn more money when you're not around. She could earn at least five hundred coins a day. Tell me, where does this person get such a big face?"
Lin Xiushui found it inexplicably funny; if she could really earn that much, she would have become rich long ago.
She thanked Zhang Niangzi and walked forward, where she saw a large square table with scissors and thread boards on it. Behind the table sat a woman dressed in red and green, and next to her was a large red cloth banner.
When the woman saw her, she first lowered her head, then raised her head and straightened her chest. She was there to earn money honestly, so what was there to be afraid of? She just didn't look at Lin Xiushui.
Lin Xiushui wasn't annoyed at all by having her business stolen. She figured she'd just have to outsew better than her first. In fact, she thought she was a very strong competitor.
She slowly walked past the stall, glanced at it, and then slowly walked forward until she reached the clothing shop.
Xiao Chun'e asked curiously, "Ah Qiao, why did you bring a bundle with you?"
"I plan to cut it up and make it into a sachet during my midday break."
"Here's a pair of scissors. I'll help you cut the cloth later." During the midday break, after tinkering with the stove, Xiao Chun'e washed her hands and took the scissors to help Lin Xiushui cut the cloth. As she cut, she said, "Tomorrow is the Flower Festival, a very special day, but I can't go out to play. My mother is setting up a stall and asked me to tend the stove for her."
"I'm not going out either, I have to set up a stall," Lin Xiushui said as she cut a piece of cloth and placed it on a pile of fabric scraps, hoping to make some money.
When it was time to finish work, Lin Xiushui ran as fast as she could. She swore she had never run this fast before when she was trying to earn money.
She wanted to quickly check out the sewing stall to see how business was going and how skilled the craftsmanship was.
When she arrived at Sangqiao Ferry, she took a look from afar and saw a large crowd gathered in front of the stall. Lin Xiushui couldn't help but wonder if it was really because her skills were lacking and she couldn't do business.
As she walked, she thought to herself and hurried over. The closer she got, the louder the noise became. It turned out that a group of people had gathered there to watch the commotion.
Someone shouted, "You all be the judge! This woman claims she can mend anything, but her stitches are so crude. I could sew better with a needle in my mouth..."
Unable to contain her curiosity, Lin Xiushui pushed through the crowd and peered inside. Madam Chen's hair was a little loose, and she covered her face, saying, "I already told you I'd compensate you."
"I just want you to find someone to fix it for me, or I'll pay you five hundred coins!"
Madam Chen looked around and suddenly spotted Lin Xiushui in the crowd. She ran over, grabbed Lin Xiushui, and cried, "Xiushui, that lantern is really hard to mend. Can you mend it for me? I'll give you all the new scissors and needle and thread I just bought."
She no longer believed that people could earn a hundred coins a day by mending. Anyone who did the job knew the truth. Even if she had to work like a cow, a horse, or a dog, she would never want to be a tailor.
Lin Xiushui's eyes lit up: "Are you serious?"
For the first time, she realized that business and scissors could be delivered to her doorstep.
A note from the author:
Tomorrow's update will be earlier, at 6 PM [hugs][let me see]
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