Chapter 53 He got promoted in the tailor's workshop...
Lin Xiushui rented a large house and had all sorts of tailoring supplies, so she wanted new cloth.
In April, new silk came to market. The town raised silkworms that had gone through four mating stages, producing a large quantity of silk. They had foot-operated silk reeling machines and new jacquard looms, and the weavers produced many new patterns of fabric. Lin Xiushui couldn't afford the first batch of high-quality fabrics, which were supplied to silk shops, clothing shops, and colored silk shops. She also couldn't afford the second batch. There were many tailors in the town waiting to snap up the new fabric.
Even during the plum rain season, boats came and went in Sangqing Town, transporting hundreds and thousands of bolts of new cloth, each wrapped in two layers of bags—one layer of hemp and one layer of oilcloth. These were transported from places like Lin'an, Huzhou, and Pingjiang Prefecture. The purpose was twofold: first, to repay loans from the government and for purchasing silk, and to pay the summer silk tax; second, for the Jiangyin army to buy silk and cloth, all of which were transferred to official boats at Qinghewu, making round trips.
Silkworms are sericultured in April and cloth is made in May. By mid-May, the cloth market at Sanghe Bridge becomes increasingly prosperous, with people buying and selling summer cloth, silk, linen, and hemp.
This time when Lin Xiushui came to buy cloth, she didn't let Sang Ying come. Recently, the rice shop needed to exchange a batch of early rice, so she was already at the rice shop before dawn.
She called Xiao Chun'e, and Xiao Chun'e brought Da Chunling along.
Xiao Chun'e took a bite of the pancake and said indistinctly, "Of course we have to call her, otherwise who will carry the cloth?"
“I planned this out for you the night before I came. You pay, I'll handle the purchasing, and Da Chunling will carry the cloth. She's worth the three of us. Where are the three of us? One of me and two of A Qiao.” “How can you not even do basic math?”
Lin Xiushui suddenly realized and nodded, "So that's how it works."
Da Chunling glanced at Xiao Chun'e and said calmly, "You've got charcoal in your brain."
"What's with the riddle?" Lin Xiushui broke open a pancake and walked between the two.
Xiao Chun'e smiled and said, "She's scolding me."
"I had to break the charcoal into a lump, and she said I must have been hit in the head."
Lin Xiushui was often amazed by the way the two sisters got along; it was harder than watching a piece of cloth if she didn't interfere.
Outside the cloth market, you can see piles of cloth boats crowded on the riverbank, with people leading three or four donkeys pulling carts loaded with twelve or thirteen bolts of cloth, delivering them to various cloth stalls and shops.
On both sides, colorful strips of cloth hung from wooden frames at the cloth stalls. Three long benches were placed on a wooden board, and piles of cloth were spread on top. The shouts were incredibly loud, attracting people to buy. Each cloth vendor had a strip of colorful cloth draped over their shoulder, and they would give one away if you asked or looked at it.
Lin Xiushui remarked with a sigh, "Selling cloth is even more strenuous than weaving it."
The cheapest of this year's new summer cloth is ramie, which absorbs moisture quickly and dries quickly, and is also light and thin, but it wrinkles easily. The most expensive is Shanhou cloth from Zhuji, also known as wrinkled cloth. It is slightly inferior to Lin'an gauze, but the weaving is exquisite and fine, and a piece costs five or six strings of cash.
Secondly, there is kudzu cloth, made of kudzu silk. Lin Xiushui finds it pleasant to the touch, and the price is between two and three strings of cash. There are also two other types of cloth that have become popular in recent years. One is a light gauze made by mixing the silk from the stems of banana plants with silkworm silk, called Xinggu gauze. The second is Huangcaoxin cloth from Pingjiang Prefecture, woven from the silk from the stems of Huangcao grass, which is much cheaper than gauze and silk.
In particular, there was a lot of yellow straw cloth. A bolt of yellow straw cost more than two strings of cash. It was white, fine, and extremely thin. Lin Xiushui reached out and touched it. It was good for making outer garments. It was thin and breathable, and the weaving was also quite good.
She currently has ten strings of cash that she can use to buy fabric, but here, besides buying directly, there is also a way to buy by chance, which is quite different from the usual way of gambling for six coins to win sachets and small items.
Some vendors would spend 100 coins to spin a small round plate on which were printed a dozen or so patterns of cloth. The rest of the plates were just scraps of cloth. If you spun a cloth, you could take it home for 100 coins. If you spun a scrap of cloth, you would spend 100 coins to buy a bag of scraps of cloth of unknown origin, which contained all sorts of miscellaneous fabrics.
Xiao Chun'e had been shouting slogans loudly, but seeing this situation, she couldn't bring herself to pounce. Moreover, given her unpredictable luck, she was sure she would only pounce on a piece of cloth.
Lin Xiushui was also aiming for the fabric scraps. She patted Xiao Chun'e on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, just grab a piece. You haven't bought any in a long time."
Recently, Xiao Chun'e has been busy practicing various charcoal-making techniques every day in preparation for entering the oil and candle industry. She hasn't been buying charcoal for quite some time.
"My heart is pounding more than it was when I accidentally overturned the charcoal stove and a spark landed on my skirt, almost setting it on fire," Xiao Chun'e said, her hands trembling. "It really burned out?"
Da Chunling said, "It's something that's not in doubt."
Anyway, exchanging 100 coins for a bag of cloth is not a loss. After finishing, Xiao Chun'e said, "I lost out. I am suffering physically and mentally. I feel like I am being roasted with charcoal. I want to eat the three-coin fried dough cakes from the East Gate."
"Eat, you eat three."
Lin Xiushui rolled up his sleeves and did it himself. There was another way to buy wine. When the government bought wine cellars from the people, they would first write the price on a piece of paper, lock it in a cabinet, and then let everyone bid. The one with the highest bid or the one with the closest price would win.
Since it was free to try, Lin Xiushui cast a wide net, writing applications at every household to try her luck. She knew she had no luck at all! It was expected, but still infuriating.
However, I did buy four bolts of new cloth at a reasonable price; I invested money and received cloth in return.
She was delusional, wondering when there would be a promotion where you could buy a piece of cloth and get a free piece of cloth.
Da Chunling said, "In your mouth."
"I hate you! Why are you speaking such blunt truths?" Lin Xiushui stammered, clutching the cloth. "You're wrong. You're wrong about me too, about my mind, about my heart."
Xiao Chun'e turned her head and said, "We'll order clothes from you, one piece and two pieces, to make for our whole family."
"Truth or lie?"
“Really? My mother said that all the money we’ll spend on summer clothes this year will be used to make a set from you,” Xiao Chun’e said. Her mother said that buying from different places is the same, so it’s better to support Lin Xiushui’s business.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiushui asked, "Do you see that river?"
Xiao Chun'e continued, "Are those your tears?"
"No, I just want to say that you have to cross a river to find me, it's a long way."
However, Lin Xiushui was willing to take on any job, regardless of whether they were regular customers or not. The few bolts of cloth she had purchased had already been ordered by her wife for summer garments.
After she finished altering the previous batch of clothes and made new clothes for Aunt Chun and the little girls, she took on several orders for clothes. They didn't need clothes with fancy patterns; they wanted comfortable and breathable summer clothes. They weren't very good at choosing fabrics, but Lin Xiushui personally selected a batch of yellow straw cloth, which received everyone's approval and praise.
There was a piece of clothing. A woman gave her ten coins as a fee for her journey, so she carried a large bag to the woman's house to have it measured.
The woman lived at the corner behind the house she rented, very close by. The house had blue bricks and white walls, and looked rather inconspicuous, but the inside was bright and spacious.
The clothes I'm making are for a baby girl who is two or three months old. She was frightened a few days ago, and now I want to make her some clothes. The upper body should be a belly band, which is actually a tied bellyband, and the lower body should be a pair of open-crotch trousers.
The baby girl was fair-skinned and chubby, and her hands and feet moved around a lot, so she was clearly well cared for. However, in this case, Lin Xiushui told her mother to take the measurements herself, and any slight error would require extra measurement.
“We originally hoped she would be successful in sericulture, preferably skillful, and outstanding in needlework when she grew up,” the woman said softly as she came out, closing the door behind her. “But now she’s been sick and doesn’t think about anything.”
"I just want her to grow up. It doesn't matter if she doesn't amount to much. I asked you, young lady, to make the clothes because I heard you can embroider. I wanted you to embroider the words 'May Xiaochun be well' on the embroidery."
"The character '椿' is the same as '香椿' (xiangchun), it's a good character."
Lin Xiushui looked at her gentle eyes and asked where the embroidery was located before saying, "I'll make sure it's finished for Xiaochun."
The bellyband and the trousers were quick to make. Although the child was chubby, he didn't need much fabric. It was just that she was a little slow when embroidering the four characters "Xiao Chun An Kang".
It was then delivered to the house, and the woman took it, unfolded it and looked at it. The workmanship was exquisite, and it fit her perfectly. She said happily, "Young lady, your craftsmanship is really good. From now on, we will have Xiaochun's clothes made by you, clothes for all four seasons."
Lin Xiushui thus gained a long-term customer who ordered her clothes, only for two or three months.
She also had a regular customer who needed her clothes made regularly. She lived in the alley south of Sangshukou Bridge. Every day, the old lady would come to the sewing stall early in the morning, leaning on a cane and carrying a basket containing her breakfast and lunch, cakes, pastries, and so on, with a different dish every day.
In the past, when there were no benches in the covered walkway for her to sit on, she would bring her own chair and sit there for most of the day.
The old lady was losing a lot of hair, so she would buy special hairpins, which were actually fake hairpins, to wear. Every day she would adorn herself with fresh flowers, which she had grown herself. In the late spring, she would adorn herself with various flowers such as roses, azaleas, crabapples, privets, and orchids, never caring whether it was appropriate for her to wear them because she was already old.
Every time Lin Xiushui saw her, she was always dressed neatly and brightly. She said that she wore three colors: blue, green, and yellow, and that she could not be too careless with her clothes.
“When I was young, I wore two colors, one black and one blue,” the old lady said, sitting in Lin Xiushui’s tailor shop. “My husband was a Xiangjun (a type of military officer) back then. Many Xiangjun soldiers did various kinds of labor. I remember there were bridge and road soldiers, infantry soldiers who delivered documents on long journeys, and bridge and pavilion soldiers who managed plank roads. My husband was a Ninghuai soldier who managed the Huai River.”
"Anyway, I remember that back then I would dig the mud and sand in the river every day, go into the river barefoot, and try to retrieve the floating objects. I washed my skirts and pants every day, but I could never get them clean because they were full of mud and sand."
“My family and I lived in a houseboat on the Huai River for over ten years. We came and went every day, all dressed in black shirts and black pants. I never got used to it. When I came here, my family and I had no other clothes. We wore black every day when we went out.”
The old lady adjusted the peony flower in her hair and said kindly, "But I can't sleep at night thinking about it. I'm not going to live much longer, and I've saved up most of my life's savings for my children. I can't take the rest of the money with me, so I'll wear it to make myself happy."
That's how he found Lin Xiushui. Especially during the New Year, he would make a set of clothes for her, as a way of remembering the hardships she had endured in the past.
Lin Xiushui would also make them for her. No matter what material she used, even if it was flashy or unsuitable, she could still piece together some other matching fabrics so that it wouldn't look out of place.
She had two long-term customers who made clothes for them, one from childhood to adulthood, and the other from old age to death.
Clothes bear witness to a person's life.
As spring turned to early summer, Xiaohe and Sangying learned to read.
After noon, Wang Yuelan would take Xiaohe to Sizhen's place. After work, Sang Ying would go to school, and Lin Xiushui would pick Xiaohe up and take her home.
That was something Xiaohe would remember for a long time. After stepping over the high threshold of the private school, her older sister stood by the mulberry tree at the door waiting for her, took her hand, and led her to buy food.
Sizhen's private school was next to the South Goods Market. There were all sorts of stalls outside the door. When Wang Yuelan came to pick up Xiaohe, they would usually go straight home. Lin Xiushui would take Xiaohe to Grandma Wang's candy shop in front of the store to buy a sugar figurine with a stick attached, or two fried honey-glazed dumplings.
Xiaohe, carrying a green satchel embroidered with a little frog, stood among a group of students also waiting for food. She tiptoed closer to them, listened to their conversation, secretly puffed out her cheeks, quietly pursed her lips to let out a sigh, and then chuckled to herself.
She tugged at Lin Xiushui's sleeve, swaying it back and forth, and shook her head, saying, "I also know what they were just talking about: the creation of writing and the making of clothing."
This is a sentence from the Thousand Character Classic. Lin Xiushui walked through the crowd, lowered her head, and asked her, "Dabao, what have you been learning these past two days?"
“Yes, Sister Sizhen said I shouldn’t call her ‘sir’ yet. I’m just going there to have fun. But to learn to read, I need to know where the characters come from,” Xiaohe said logically and clearly. “My mother works in the silk trade, and my older sister is a tailor. Silk can be woven into cloth, and tailors can make clothes from cloth. So we need to know where the clothes come from.”
“I said I knew, that it was made with cloth, scissors and needle and thread. Sister Sizhen praised me and gave me shrimp to eat. They were huge river shrimp. She even drew a big shrimp at the bottom of her bowl. When water was poured in, the shrimp’s antennae swayed back and forth.”
"We also drew a shrimp."
Xiaohe took out a piece of paper from her bag. She had drawn a bright red shrimp with two antennae. She hopped and skipped to show it to Lin Xiushui, her green hair ribbon swaying back and forth.
"Sister Mingri Sizhen said that I can bring Xiaoye the cat over, because she also wants to meet my cat sisters."
Lin Xiushui chuckled, took the shrimp drawn by Xiaohe, and smoothed it out. "I'll make you a booklet; keep it safe."
She patted Xiaohe's head and said, "Tomorrow we'll go to the grocery store to buy a shrimp bowl and a fish bowl for Xiaoye the cat."
Xiaohe raised her hand and cheered, "From this moment on, I will look forward to tomorrow!"
These are many small surprises on her journey to learning to read.
Of course, Lin Xiushui also had a "surprise" the following day.
She's about to take a big step up in the tailoring business and become a junior manager.
When Lin Xiushui first heard this, she was somewhat surprised and incredulous. She then humbly shook her head and said, "Manager Zhuang, I've only been here for a month or two. It's not really appropriate for me to be the manager."
“What’s inappropriate about it?” Steward Zhuang glanced at her. “You’re not only two months old.”
"Li Jin and Xiao Qi Mei have taken over most of the work you have on hand, so you'll have some free time. And don't worry, no one but you can take on this important task, so it won't be difficult to win people's hearts."
Lin Xiushui asked curiously, "What is it?"
"You're in charge of a special mending department, which means you'll get a raise of one string of cash a month. Plus, you'll have your own dedicated space, and I've even assigned you three people. Aren't you happy?"
Are you happy or not?
She was puzzled. Did tailors really need to mend so many things?
That's true. There's a lot of moldy stuff in the rainy season, and we need to cut new things and trim old ones. It's not that we're short-handed.
Lin Xiushui looked at the three sewing women, and the three of them called out in unison, "Manager Lin!"
Well, at least he's still an "official".
But why is it that while others get promoted and become rich, she gets all the decorations and festivities?
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