Chapter 25 Supplements also nourish the heart
What is the point of mending two pig intestines?
Lin Xiushui was filled with questions. When she finished speaking, she saw the surprised look on the man's face and heard him say, "Really? With needle and thread?"
“What do you mean by mending with needle and thread?” Lin Xiushui quickly stopped him. “I just meant that eating this stuff can nourish the body.”
"Li Xixian said you can mend anything, and that you even made that feather coat. He said I could definitely come to you without any problems. Young lady, my name is Pi Liu, and I play Cuju (ancient Chinese football)."
After saying this with a grin, Pi Liu switched the two fresh pig stomachs in his hand to the other hand and took out two thin, brown leather cases from the bag. Those were the dried pig stomachs.
Originally, the pig's small belly was also called pig's pouch. It was the core of the ball that was made and put into the Cuju ball. Twelve pieces of soft cowhide were then sewn on the outside, so it was also called leather Cuju.
Lin Xiushui had seen people mending Cuju (ancient Chinese football) before at Granny Baibu's place. At that time, she asked about it and learned that Cuju used inner stitching. If the outer skin tore, it could be sewn up using the inner stitching method.
But if the inner leather core breaks, and the football dents and deflates, then it falls under the care of the leatherworker. He has a special tool for inflating leather, called a "da cun".
Upon hearing the name Li Xixian, Lin Xiushui thought to herself, "No wonder. Anyone who can hang out with him must be a perfect match."
Getting up early already makes her irritable, and when she saw this job, Lin Xiushui really didn't want to deal with it. She said, "This kind of thin leather, and it's torn, you should ask the cobbler."
"Or do you want me to blow air into your lungs while patching it with a needle?"
"Young lady, you're amazing! You actually know such a method!" Pi Liu exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Where did this idiot come from?
Lin Xiushui opened her mouth, speechless. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I said it can't be repaired."
“Li Xixian also taught me a trick,” Pi Liu said, completely unafraid, raising a finger. “He said that if a young lady says she can’t make up for it, it must be because she didn’t give enough money.”
He started raising the price: "Twenty coins, thirty coins, fifty coins, sixty coins!"
Pi Liu only realized after shouting that sixty coins could buy two more fresh pig stomachs. He lost out, he lost a lot.
Upon hearing his words, Lin Xiushui felt no shame whatsoever. Instead, she thought, "Sixty coins for two pieces of leather, anyone who doesn't pay for it is a fool, and I'm not one."
Moreover, this was indeed Lin Xiushui's lifeline; she could refuse two pig intestines, but she couldn't refuse sixty coins.
Who would turn down money?
"Let me see it," Lin Xiushui rolled up her sleeves. If she could rip someone off sixty coins, she would never hesitate.
She pinched a pig's belly and exclaimed, "Why does it smell like alcohol? Didn't you say it was for stuffing footballs?"
Pi Liu smiled and said, "This is one method of making the core."
He wanted to tell Lin Xiushui the truth, but he had no choice but to suffer in silence. If it really was the leather core from a football, he could easily find any leatherworker on the street. This was the leather core he used to transport and sell his illicit liquor.
The government strictly controlled the wine treasury, forbidding ordinary people from brewing wine at home. Even brewing a small jar of wine and having it stolen and reported would result in the wine officials coming to arrest the culprits. The control over wine shops was even stricter.
However, the liquor tax is extremely high. Ever since the separate brewing method was introduced, brewers have been forced to pay for the liquor, which can amount to four or five strings of cash a month. Pi Liu has a friend who runs a direct sales store. This store only sells liquor and not snacks to accompany it. Recently, the liquor tax has soared and the business is losing money. Pi Liu has no choice but to take the risk of helping him sell illicit liquor in order to earn more money.
Ordinary wine vessels are quite conspicuous. The wine handlers can easily tell that Pi Liu, who plays Cuju (an ancient Chinese football game), handles the most pig stomachs. So he had the idea of using them to transport wine, since no one would put good wine in pig stomachs.
But these pig intestines are not durable. If you are greedy and put too many in, they will burst. Most of the money earned is used to buy fresh pig intestines. One fresh one costs thirty coins. Pi Liu was so worried that he lost his hair. When he heard Li Xixian say that there were pig intestines that could be mended, he finally had an idea.
Pi Liu felt bitter inside, but turned around with a smile: "I'd like to trouble you, young lady, to take a look at me. If you can help me recover, then help me recover. I still have quite a bit left."
Lin Xiushui said "oh" without delving into it further. Instead, she tugged at the pig's stomach, not with much force, wanting to test if it could withstand mending. In fact, it couldn't withstand it at all.
If a needle can't sew it, then glue it.
This soft, brown skin can't be repaired without being inflated.
Lin Xiushui picked it up and put it down. She remembered the oil basket she had repaired for the old man who sold oil. The oil basket was coated with oil paper. Could she add some oil paper to cover the crack first?
She then dismissed the idea, and suddenly her gaze fell on the two pig bellies. She reached out and fiddled with them, overlapping them and noticing that the tear was different. She immediately had an idea.
She quickly ran home to get the rope that Xiaohe had tied up, which had a long bamboo tube attached to it. As she untied the rope, she muttered, "Xiaohe, if you can't put it back together, your older sister will buy you a new one."
She tore it off, scooped water to wash it, and then ran back. Under Pi Liu's questioning gaze, she used a bamboo tube to loop around one of the pig's small intestines with a tear on the side, tightened it with her hand, and then inserted it into another pig's small intestine with a smaller tear.
Then slowly blow air into it through the bamboo tube. Fortunately, the bamboo tube was long enough that as long as you held your breath, you couldn't smell anything.
As she puffed up the pig's belly, the two skins slowly stuck together. The skins were already sticky, and the tear was also sealed tightly, leaving only a slight leak of air.
By relying on the adhesion between the skin and the inside of the skin, skin wrapped around skin, the entire pig's belly was inflated. Lin Xiushui tied the opening tightly, pinched the tear in the skin, first applied fish glue along the tear, and then pasted a small piece of oil paper.
After being released, the area covered with fish glue and oiled paper made the area around the pig's belly wrinkled and tight, but it didn't matter. Blowing air on it made it smooth again and prevented any leaks.
Pi Liu stared in disbelief, muttering to himself, "There's such a way to replenish? What kind of brain could come up with that?"
Lin Xiushui spat. There were bamboo filaments on the bamboo tube. She pointed to the two that had been repaired. "Take a look after they're repaired. If there's nothing wrong, I'll pay you." Pi Liu didn't check if it was leaking air; he wanted to check if it was leaking water. He picked one up and walked to the stream bank, filled it with water, pinched the opening, and shook it. Hey, there really wasn't any water seeping out.
If Lin Xiushui had known that he used it to store wine and that it was leaking, she wouldn't have paid him back.
When Pi Liu returned, he took out his money bag and started pouring money out, not caring how much. He poured out a bunch of copper coins, which startled Lin Xiushui. Fortunately, it was early morning and there were few people around.
“There should be seventy or eighty coins here, all for you, young lady,” Pi Liu scratched his head, feeling really bad. “I’ve learned your method.”
Pi Liubai had the idea, but he was still not satisfied. However, he was reluctant to pay thirty coins for each of them, so he came up with an idea.
“We have a guild where we play Cuju (ancient Chinese football) called the Yuan Guild. We often have leather that has torn or the stitches that have come undone. We leatherworkers are short-handed. If you can mend it, young lady, I’ll take you on the job. You can earn five coins for each mending.”
Lin Xiushui didn't rush to agree. The lining stitches for sewing clothes and the stitches for making Cuju balls are not the same. Although she was greedy for money, she wouldn't take on every job that came her way. She had never even touched a Cuju ball before.
She counted out a pile of copper coins, looked up and said, "I need to take one out and look at it first. It should have more cracks, so I can see if I can sew it up. Otherwise, if I agree to your request but my skills are not good enough, it will ruin my own craft."
She is never careless when it comes to her skills; she can't ruin her own reputation if she makes a living this way.
Lin Xiushui counted out thirty coins for herself, then pushed the rest of the money out, saying, "Can this money buy a football? It doesn't need to be brand new, just not broken."
She wanted to buy one for Xiaohe to play with, but Xiaohe was always cooped up at home. Sometimes she would go out to play with other children, but she would come back quickly. Later, she realized that everyone else had new toys to play with, but Xiaohe didn't.
Pi Liu patted his chest, "I can't speak for other things, but there are plenty of footballs. I'll definitely get a good one for the young lady, and tomorrow I'll bring a football that needs mending."
In reality, these few dozen coins could only buy a bamboo woven item, while a leather ball would cost at least a hundred coins. But Pi Liu thought he had gotten a good deal, so he naturally had to pay for it himself.
After he left, the jobs that came to Lin Xiushui became much more normal.
A slender woman brought over an apron. "Ah Qiao, could you alter this for me? I've gained some weight recently, and this apron I used to wear no longer fits. I can widen it myself, but I think it's too plain. Could you alter it for me?"
Lin Xiushui put down the scissors and picked up the bluish apron. It was the simplest one-piece apron, made by cutting a long piece of cloth, adding a rope at the waist, and putting it on from the back to the front, revealing half of the trousers in the front.
She found a measuring tape and pulled it, saying, "Wife, let me measure you."
After measuring the width, Lin Xiushui picked up the skirt and said, "I happen to have some light blue fabric scraps, which look good with this bluish color. I'll add some to the waistband and hem of this skirt."
“Add a string of clover knots at the middle of the waist. This symbolizes good luck. What do you think, my lady? If you really think it's too plain, then we can only embroider flowers on it. It will take quite a while to embroider.” The slender lady immediately said, “I’ll do it the way you said before.”
She lowered her voice and said, "I don't care about those things, I just don't want people to know that I'm wearing a dress from a few years ago."
Lin Xiushui chuckled, "I'll do a good job for you. I'll add a long white stripe under the skirt, and I guarantee no one will recognize it."
"Give me twenty-three coins, my lady. The oxalis will be a gift from me."
"Thank you so much."
Oxalis knots are usually worn around the waist and belong to the category of cords. They are shaped like oxalis leaves. There are different levels of difficulty in tying them, and Lin Xiushui knows how to do them all. She learned them from Aya, a young girl who helps with the clothes in front of the clothing store. Aya knows how to tie many knots.
Lin Xiushui's method was simple: she used scraps of blue and red cloth to make three round leaves that, when hung together, formed a long knot resembling two oxalis leaves.
While she was making it, she thought of something else: if she replaced the long pieces of cloth with yarn and braided the rope more tightly, she could make the shamrock knots into drawstrings for sachets, which would look even better.
Thinking this, she didn't stop working. She braided the rope and cut out the approximate length and width. She took out the powder bag she made herself, made of oilcloth, about the size of her palm, filled with flour, and threaded a long line through it. This was a simple line-drawing bag.
Lin Xiushui asked Zhang the carpenter to make her a sleeve. When she put the powder bag in, she pulled out the string, and the powder bag wouldn't move. The taut string picked up powder and pressed down along the edge of the wooden or cloth ruler. When she let go, the string snapped away, leaving a straight line mark, just like the ink line used by carpenters.
Lin Xiushui put away the powder bag, cut the cloth and sewed the thread, attaching fabric pieces and shamrock knots to the apron. The apron was quick to alter. She patted the powder marks on her hands and smiled, "Wife, you should try it."
The woman happily accepted it and quickly tried it on. Today she was wearing plain-colored trousers and a dark red pleated apron. Now she changed into this apron, which was bluish-green with blue tinges, and blue and red oxalis knots hung in front.
She looked down at herself but couldn't figure it out. However, the woman who came with her said, "Auntie, the colors match well. The front and skirt were too plain before. Adding a ribbon would make it more lively. Take a few steps and see. It looks even better when you move."
"It's a pity I don't have anything to change, otherwise I would have brought it here to try it out."
Upon hearing this, the woman who was altering the skirt was immediately satisfied. Originally, the skirt was intended to be made into a tablecloth, but she was reluctant to part with it. Unexpectedly, this alteration made her like it again, so it wouldn't end up being relegated to the bottom of her trunk.
Lin Xiushui earned twenty-three coins, while the woman happily left wearing her newly altered skirt. She rubbed her waist and neck, strung the coins together, and put them into her purse.
Next came some small jobs, earning her a penny or two, which she would easily cover, taking only a short time.
She didn't earn much today, only seventy or eighty coins. Later, when it rained heavily, two women helped her pack her things so they wouldn't get wet.
It rained, and it wasn't time to start work yet, so she started thinking about sachets. Madam Yao said that cat-shaped sachets were popular, mostly because children liked them.
She also made rabbit ear-shaped ones, which are the easiest to make. First, cut out the shape of rabbit ears, then cut round pieces, gather them together, fill them with mugwort, and sew on the rabbit ears to make them into round rabbits.
She didn't use the incense pills because there weren't many, and she was trying to save them. Lin Xiushui comforted herself by saying that rabbits love to eat grass.
Some scraps of fabric had ugly or overly fancy patterns, so she cut them up and sewed them into sachets in the shape of butterflies.
After making these two, she braided a shamrock knot with red yarn. One strand was too thin, so she used two strands to braid a very narrow section, which she then tied to the knot on the sachet rope.
Today, Madam Yao braved the rain to come and calculate the cost of the sachets with Lin Xiushui. There were a total of fifty-six sachets over the past few days, which came to a total of three hundred and thirty-nine coins.
The reason so many tickets were sold was mainly because Madam Yao set a rule: if a ticket was sold after four attempts, it would be given away. Although she earned less money, her business was even better.
After deducting the daily commercial tax of twenty coins for the land and the money given to Lin Xiushui, they could still earn some money to make a living.
Madam Yao took out a new sachet, and Lin Xiushui said, "The one woven with clover knots is one coin more expensive."
She laughed and said, "I'll buy it no matter how much more expensive it is."
After paying a deposit of fifty coins, she hesitated and didn't leave. She went out, then turned back and said, "Hey, young lady, to be honest, the sachets you sold me, especially the ones with cat heads, have been taken apart by others. Now there are many similar ones for sale here, and their sachets are more exquisite, with better fabric and patterns. Fewer and fewer people are buying ours."
Madam Yao said that if they continued like this, she was afraid that the sachets would not sell and no one would come to buy them.
Lin Xiushui was counting money when she heard this and frowned. In fact, she had also thought that others would copy her and do the same thing, but she didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
This was not unusual at all in the Song Dynasty. Wherever something rare was put on a stall, an identical one would immediately appear. This was the case with extremely common items like sachets. Just like mirrors, even big brands like Shijia Nian Ershu from Huzhou couldn't beat the imitators, so they had to add the name of the genuine Shijia Nian Ershu from Huzhou.
Lin Xiushui had no way to deal with them, but she said to Yao Niangzi, "Then let's sell them for the time being. My method of making sachets is actually too simple. Not to mention buying them and taking them back to remove the stitches, even a tailor or craftsman can make them with just a glance."
"Wait a few more days while I think about it and come up with something more complicated in design."
The key is to use good materials, put in a lot of effort, and make the design unique so that fewer people can imitate it.
The problem right now is that Lin Xiushui is poor. The poorer she is, the simpler her creations become. She makes whatever she has on hand. What she has, others will only have more of.
I'm so annoyed.
She's frustrated because she has no way to solve the problem right now, and she doesn't have anything so unique that it can't be completely disassembled.
After seeing Yao Niangzi off, Lin Xiushui first detoured to Ran Si's place to deliver an umbrella to her aunt. It seemed the rain wouldn't stop today. She ran to the clothing shop wearing an oilcloth, only her trouser legs were a little wet. She was also wearing an apron and trousers today.
Even though worries were like spider webs wrapped around her, Lin Xiushui arrived at the clothing shop in high spirits. Da Chunling spread out the cloth and asked her, "Did you pick up any copper coins?"
Lin Xiushui shook her head, "I lost quite a few copper coins."
"Then why are you laughing so happily?" Xiao Chun'e was surprised and hurriedly ran over to comfort her. "How much did you lose? If it's not much, you can earn it back. Fortune tellers always say that losing money can turn misfortune into good fortune. If you lost a lot, then we'll report it to the authorities."
Lin Xiushui chuckled, "I was just joking, it's more like we lost a business deal." She then explained the situation, and Xiao Chun'e crossed her arms and shook her head, "The woman you found is too soft. I know a woman who sells things at a stall; her voice is like a lion's roar. If anyone else sells the same thing as her, she'll tear their clothes off in the street and throw a tantrum."
Xiao Chun'e envied this kind of person and often went to her stall to buy things.
“We’ll go to her place after work, and you can make another profit by selling to her. If that doesn’t work,” Xiao Chun’e pointed to Da Chunling, who was spreading out cloth on the side, “I’ll have Da Chunling beat them all up for you to vent your anger.”
Lin Xiushui was amused. "Really?
Da Chunling suddenly replied, "I'll call you in my dreams."
After finishing her work at the clothing shop, Lin Xiushui was escorted by two people to Xiaoliushui Bridge to find a stall run by a woman named Aunt Sai.
Aunt Sai had a dark complexion and was very strong. She had a string of copper coins hanging from her waist, and the coins would clink as she walked.
Lin Xiushui noticed that the items sold at her stall were completely different from those at other shopping stalls. These stalls had many customers and good business, with items being restocked one after another.
Aunt Sai took a moment from her busy schedule to reply, "Then just bring it over first. I'd like to see who's got a death wish and wants to sell the same things as me."
Lin Xiushui, through Xiao Chun'e, found business for her cat-head sachets again.
She was a little embarrassed. Xiao Chun'e patted her chest hard, and coughed because she patted it too hard. She said between coughs, "At home you rely on your relatives, and when you go out you rely on your friends. We have to use whoever we have, you know?"
"Isn't this all thanks to you and me? If you didn't rely on me, how could I possibly take advantage of you in the future, Ah Qiao?"
Da Chunling clicked her tongue, "What you said at the beginning was good, but what kind of nonsense was that?"
"You don't know anything."
But both of them asked Lin Xiushui, "Are you happier now?"
Lin Xiushui felt a warmth in her heart and said, "Yes, please have something to eat."
"What do you want to eat? We've come all this way, why don't you treat us to a variety show at the entertainment district?" Xiao Chun'e pulled her along.
Lin Xiushui only spent fifteen coins to watch a variety show. Going to the entertainment district to watch a variety show costs five coins per person, and two people don't need her to spend more money.
Of course, Lin Xiushui would still think about the sachets, at least to make something different. She didn't plan to give up Yao Niangzi's business for the time being, after all, it was harder to find someone who was so generous with money than to find business.
She brought with her the three hundred coins she had earned from Madam Yao today, but she wasn't in a hurry to buy cloth. Her aunt had been very busy these past few days, going to work before dawn and always coming back very late at night, leaving her face and hair covered in bluish-green bruises.
Lin Xiushui went to the butcher shop and bought a pound of meat and a jar of salt. Half of her two hundred coins were gone. With the rest, she bought some red beans, some bok choy, and a piece of tofu, which the old woman wrapped in lotus leaves for her. She regretted buying them too early and not bringing a basket.
Lin Xiushui, in any case, didn't want to recall how disheveled she had been when she returned.
When they got home, Xiaohe rushed out, holding up the rope she used to beat Xiaohe, and said, "Sister, the tube on my head is gone!"
"I hope some cat won't bite it and eat it, boohoo, I can't fight anymore, I'm just playing around."
Lin Xiushui was putting the tofu into the basin when she heard this and froze. She had been busy since she finished using it in the morning, so where did she put the bamboo tube?
Finally, she found it among a pile of scraps of cloth. She sincerely admitted her mistake to Xiaohe, "It's my fault. I took it this morning and forgot to put it back together. But I'll use this to exchange for a football for you. Maybe you can play with it tomorrow."
"Oh, really?" Xiaohe jumped up. "I can play Cuju too! Xiao Sanzi's family up ahead has a Cuju ball, it's so nice, but they only let us touch it."
Lin Xiushui sat down on the stove and poked her head out, saying, "You can even sleep with it in your arms."
Xiaohe couldn't keep a secret; she would blurt out whatever she had to say. As soon as Wang Yuelan came back from work, she immediately told her everything.
Wang Yuelan wiped her face. She was relatively clean today and was happy to hear the news. She didn't interrupt Xiaohe's excitement, and only said, "Tell your older sister to spoil you. Here are two candies. Share one with your older sister. Go play now."
She went upstairs to change her clothes, came downstairs to pour herself a glass of water, and couldn't stop smiling.
Lin Xiushui asked curiously, "Aunt, did you find some money?"
"What money?" Wang Yuelan looked back to see if Xiao He was there, gulped down a cup of water, and then said, "I met Madam Cai who lives on the other side of the river. Her husband passed away today."
Lin Xiushui hesitated and said, "Her husband is gone? Aunt, you're smiling so happily, did he have a grudge against you?"
“You don’t understand. I bet Madam Cai is secretly happy about it. I’m just laughing for her,” Wang Yuelan said without hiding her smile. “Her husband used to beat people all the time, he beat everyone in the family. Now he’s drowned. How could I not be happy?”
"It's just the death of a man."
Wang Yuelan said, "I wasn't necessarily sad when your two uncles died."
Especially the latter one, she turned her back on her after giving birth to Xiaohe. After her sister left, she said she wanted to bring Aqiao to live with her, and they argued and fought. Luckily, that person died young.
Lin Xiushui lifted the lid to pour water, somewhat puzzled, "Then why are you always worried about me getting married, Aunt?"
“Your mother entrusted this to me before she died,” Wang Yuelan said, touching her head. “She said that if I didn’t find you a good marriage, she would have to climb up and come to find me every Qingming and Zhongyuan Festival after she died.”
“I was terrified. I waited every day, but your mother never came even once.”
Wang Yuelan immediately changed the subject, "I'm not going to work tomorrow. Cai Niangzi asked me to help out, to get some silk pouches and do some odd jobs."
“I’ll be going there tonight. I’ll lock the door and come back tomorrow morning. Xiaohe, you can sleep with me. Move the bedding from my room over there too.”
Lin Xiushui agreed, and then said, "Then fill up some meat broth. If we have a stove, we can drink it at night."
Wang Yuelan left after dinner without taking any food with her. That night, Lin Xiushui helped Xiaohe wash her hands and feet, watched her brush her teeth, and waited until she crawled into bed before opening the window, lighting a sesame oil lamp and continuing to sew.
When they had finished repairing half of the items, someone called from under the window. Lin Xiushui moved the sesame oil lamp aside, leaned out to look, and saw Wang Yuelan calling from the bow of the boat: "Aqiao, come down to the back door and get a bowl."
Xiaohe wasn't asleep and wanted to go down too. Lin Xiushui held up an oil lamp and told her to be careful as she followed. They went through the kitchen to the back door, where Wang Yuelan rowed the boat over.
Wang Yuelan poured a bowl of shrimp noodles with sauce and two meat buns over the top, saying, "You two take these and eat them. Don't cook tomorrow morning; I'll bring them to you."
"Close the door properly, I'm leaving now, I have things to do over there."
Before Lin Xiushui could say two words, she watched Wang Yuelan's small boat turn the corner in the night.
"Where is Mother going?" Xiaohe asked while eating noodles.
Lin Xiushui picked out the shrimp for her and chuckled, "Go help a wife out. You'll have to use the toothbrush again later; your teeth are getting a bit black."
Xiao He slurped her noodles, pretending not to hear; she wasn't dark-skinned at all.
Lin Xiushui held Xiao He in her arms at night; it was warm and cozy, and Xiao He slept very well.
At dawn, Wang Yuelan took some time to bring food to her and Xiaohe: boiled chicken broth and flower cakes.
Lin Xiushui said, "It was done so elegantly."
As Wang Yuelan turned the boat around, she said, "What's the use of dying an undignified death?"
She couldn't help but laugh. The chicken soup was still warm. Lin Xiushui ate a small bowl. While she was eating the flower cake, there were shouts from outside. They must have been calling her to get something to eat.
She hurriedly went out and opened the door. The flower cake was still dangling from her mouth. It was a couple she didn't recognize. They brought out a box, but she glanced at it and couldn't see anything special about it.
Lin Xiushui swallowed what was in her mouth, invited the people in, and before getting the tools, asked, "What do you two need to replenish?"
"To mend some old clothes we've worn before," the woman said, closing the door behind her with a slightly helpless smile. "We came all the way from the other side because we heard you're a good tailor."
Lin Xiushui smiled and nodded, "I see. Let me see what clothes need mending first."
She reached into the box and took out the clothes. At first glance, they looked like silk, with that unique luster. When she took them out to look at them, they really were silk. They were bright red satin, and apart from a few snags, they were good quality materials.
And it was definitely not a secondhand garment bought from a clothing store.
She rummaged through several more items at the bottom; two or three were silks, and the rest were fine silks, in styles suitable for both men and women.
Lin Xiushui glanced at the couple who looked very uncomfortable. They were dressed in old linen and even their shoes were patched. She began to have some doubts. Could these things not belong to the two of them?
The woman, perhaps sensing her suspicion, quickly explained softly, "These are our old clothes, bought when our family was well-off. They fell into disrepair later, alas."
"I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, young lady. This is what we're taking to the Longevity Treasury to pawn. We'll have to trouble you to take a look and do some careful repairs."
I've heard of Changshengku Linxiushui. It's a pawnshop in a temple, lending money at interest rates, which is nothing like a temple.
All pawnshops are pretty much the same, even those in Buddhist temples. They chant Amitabha Buddha's name, but when it comes to haggling, they're ruthless and only wish they could haggle as much as possible.
Lin Xiushui comforted her, "Don't worry, my wife. Compared to my mending skills, my best skill is my eyes. Everyone says they're as bright as a tallow candle in the night. There's nothing bad that can't escape my eyes."
These words made the two men, who had been looking tense, laugh, and they were no longer so awkward.
Lin Xiushui brought out stools for the two of them to sit on, set up the table, wiped it with a damp cloth and then with a dry cloth until there was no dirt left, before washing her hands.
She sat in the best-lit spot and picked up the red satin dress first. She couldn't tell what kind of silk it was or where it came from; she hadn't learned that in the tailor shop yet, but she could tell the difference between good and bad.
First, she felt the texture of the silk. The silk was thin and smooth. She touched and looked at it inch by inch and said to the couple, "I'm checking for any snags. Silk snags very easily, and if it does, it's very noticeable and not easy to repair."
"But even if it's really smudged, it's okay. Just use a needle to pick at it and move it little by little towards the front of the fabric. You can't feel it or see it."
Picking this kind of silk is not difficult for Lin Xiushui, except that it requires a sharp eye and a steady hand.
After touching the first silk garment, she found four snags, three frayed areas, and two small tears. She said, "It will cost forty-two coins to mend this one."
The woman stood up and said, "Young lady, just make up the difference. We won't shortchange you. I mean, give us whatever you need."
“Don’t worry, if I finish the job,” Lin Xiushui said with a smile, “I was originally going to reduce your price by half, but I’ll only reduce it by 20% at most when I get it to the Longevity Vault.”
"If it exceeds 20%, don't budge no matter what you say. If you are asked who said it, just say it was Lin Xiushui who said it. She won't let you sell it cheaply."
"I am Lin Xiushui."
The words made the couple look at each other and burst out laughing. Their hearts, which had been filled with anxiety, were now filled with the thought that if they sold this last possession and it still didn't pay off, and if they couldn't pay off the debts from the silk and cloth business, they would go to the underworld together.
But now, from Lin Xiushui's amusing words, they found a glimmer of hope: what if they could sell it for a good price?
Lin Xiushui wasn't giving them false hope. She was confident in her craftsmanship; these kinds of fabrics didn't need changing, and only had minor flaws that could be easily fixed.
Although snagging on silk is annoying, she has her own method. She takes a needle, rubs the black thread stuck in her hand, aims it at the snagging area, and slowly pulls the thread out, guiding it towards the side seam.
It's very laborious. Although the threads aren't very long, you have to work on them little by little. You have to be very careful and patient. Your hands can't shake, because if you shake them, you'll break the threads. You can't add more yarn to them like you would with plain gauze.
After finishing the thread, she touched it, wiped it, and tugged at it to make sure the traces of the snagging were completely gone.
The two of them looked at each other in disbelief. They couldn't even see the difference in the light. It was truly amazing.
Lin Xiushui mended these six garments from dawn until late morning, without even going to her stall. She earned a little over two hundred coins, and her neck ached and her eyes were dry from mending.
"Go on, I've folded and mended it for you. Just go ahead and don't worry. I'll only take a 20% discount. If it doesn't work, just go to another store."
"If clothes can be mended, then life can be mended too."
Lin Xiushui noticed the panic, unease, and anxiety of the two on several occasions. Sometimes, making up for something is also about making up for someone's heart.
The two men thanked her profusely, and the man even tried to perform a grand salute, but Lin Xiushui couldn't stop him and locked herself out of the room.
One day later, the couple who had returned from the Longevity Treasury in Lin'an Prefecture told her that the pile of clothes had been pawned for fifteen strings of cash, giving them a chance to start over.
That happened a long time later.
That morning, after Lin Xiushui finished mending clothes, she took a sack of gloves with her and handed it to Xiao Jiu from the laundry shop. The two made the transaction in a corner.
Xiao Jiu counted them one by one. She raised her hand and smiled broadly, "The gloves you made are really good. My hands have been swollen and white for two days now."
"If you think it works well, that's fine. Are there any leaks? If any of these leak within seven days, you can contact me to fix them. If they leak a lot, I'll replace them with a new pair."
Lin Xiushui pointed to the gloves and said, “I have embroidered the dates on them. If they are damaged after thirty days, I will not mend them. This batch of oilcloth is of good quality and will not be so easy to see through. I have tested it myself. If you are using a pounding stone or other pounding cloth, please be careful.”
"I know, will it still be sold at this price in the future?" Xiao Jiu picked up the gloves and asked hesitantly.
Lin Xiushui said, "This is the price for this batch. If there are better tarpaulins that won't get wet easily in the future, then the price will be different. Don't worry, I haven't figured it out yet, and I won't raise the price immediately."
Xiao Jiu was somewhat relieved and gave her five strings of cash. Xiao Jiu stood in the corner of the wall to shield her from the light and people. Lin Xiushui counted the money inside. She counted the five hundred coins very carefully. This was all her money for buying cloth. With this money, she had accumulated more than nine hundred coins for buying cloth. If she earned a little more, she could reach one string of cash. This was something to celebrate.
Luckily, I brought a cloth bag today, so I didn't have to flaunt it in public.
After counting the money, Lin Xiushui said goodbye to Xiao Jiu. She also learned from Xiao Jiu that in addition to the twenty people washing linen clothes, there were twenty-five people washing silk clothes and thirty-seven people washing satin clothes. Of course, these people were not in Lin Xiushui's consideration. The gloves would snag if she sold them so cheaply, and she couldn't afford to lose money.
So, with only fifty-six people inside washing and starching large pieces of linen, she would need to buy at least a full-size piece of oilcloth.
Thinking about this, she went back to the clothing shop, where she ironed cloth, taught Da Chunling how to iron, looked at cloth with Bu Po, and Xiao Chun'e and Da Chunling would leave her food. She ironed cloth, looked at cloth, and took some time to learn how to braid cords from Aya. She also taught Aya a special sewing technique.
After finishing work, she set up her stall and took over Pi Liu's Cuju (ancient Chinese football) sets. One was new and the other was old. She didn't have time to take a closer look before a bunch of other jobs came up. She didn't have time to set up her stall this morning or last night.
Lin Xiushui was at her wits' end trying to mend the pants. She stood up, picked up a pair of tattered trousers, and said to the elderly man, "Old man, let's buy a new pair of these trousers. Even if a silkworm goddess came today, these trousers would need the silkworms to spin silk and the weaver to finish mending them."
“Then I’ll go find the Silkworm Flower Bodhisattva,” the old man said, taking the silkworm flower and walking away with his cane. In fact, he didn’t go to find the Silkworm Flower Bodhisattva at all; he went to the clothing store to buy a new one.
Lin Xiushui pinched her brow and looked down at the tattered cover. "Are you sure you want me to mend it? You can take the cloth back yourself. Look at me here, my apron, jacket, and blouse are all folded up higher than my head. I really don't have time."
"If you're not going to fix it, I'll give it to you. I'm too lazy to fix it myself anyway," said the incredibly lazy person. After saying that, he actually left the cover behind and left.
He absolutely refuses to take on another piece of junk that he has to fix himself; he'd go crazy.
Lin Xiushui stared in disbelief. Oh well, she could still patch it up and use it. She could hang the cover upside down to dry her scraps of cloth later.
She really keeps running into a bunch of strange people.
As she was packing up to close her stall, she ran into Chen Dajin, who was also heading home. Chen Dajin had set up a stall in front of her and wanted to do the same business as her. Lin Xiushui hadn't seen Chen Dajin in a long time.
She was dressed very brightly as usual, like a peony in full bloom floating in front of her.
“I’ve gone into the cloth shop,” Chen Dajin said in a calm tone, his face beaming with a smile as wide as a peony with petals.
Lin Xiushui was tidying up her things when she looked up at her and said, "I didn't expect you to be so capable."
She regretted it as soon as she said it; she shouldn't have talked to Chen Dajin.
After she finished speaking, Chen Dajin said in an exaggerated manner, "Really? To get your approval, it seems I do have some skills after all. Could you say it again? You're quite impressive."
Lin Xiushui glanced at her sideways, speechless. Chen Dajin tried to make conversation, "Sister Xiu, your business has been doing quite well lately, hasn't it? I was wrong last time."
Lin Xiushui had no choice but to reply, "Thanks to you, it's pretty good."
Chen Dajin couldn't believe it. "I never thought I, Chen Dajin, would ever do something good with bad intentions."
Just then, Chen Guihua passed by and said, "This guy even has the same surname as me, Chen. Good heavens, he's incredibly stupid."
Lin Xiushui suppressed a laugh, turned and walked towards her home, not wanting to pay any attention to Chen Dajin.
After everyone left, Chen Dajin remembered his business and hurriedly ran over to call out, "Sister Xiu, don't go!"
Do you need a scrap of cloth?
"want."
Chen Dajin then asked, "So, will you take my job?"
"don't want."
Author's Note: Updated! [Okay]
Today is Xiaoman (Grain Buds), so I'm sending out red envelopes to wish everyone a fulfilling life, with everything going smoothly! [heart emoji] [red heart emoji]
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