Chapter 57 Doing mending business in spring, and in summer…
Sang Ying became a junior rice broker, and she had to start work at dawn, rowing a boat to deliver rice to various rice shops, specifying the quantity and type of early rice, making sure no shop was missed.
But she thought she had to do a good job, no matter what, so that when she sent a message, her mother would know that she was working hard here and not just wasting her time.
She finally confessed to Chen Jiuchuan that she was learning to read. Chen Jiuchuan didn't say anything, but instead bought her a stack of paper and told her to write and practice more.
She only murmured to Lin Xiushui in private why she didn't tell him.
"You didn't even tell me."
“I’m tight-lipped,” Lin Xiushui said dismissively, “Next time you have something to say, tell me, and I won’t tell Sang Ying either.”
Chen Jiuchuan asked suspiciously, "The truth?"
Lin Xiushui frankly replied, "That's just empty talk."
What were those words? It meant that Chen Jiuchuan no longer wanted to ask Lin Xiushui whether she was telling the truth.
In early June, Sang Ying would row the rice shop's boat around every morning, while Lin Xiushui would row her own boat to work.
She had already made a name for herself in the tailoring business; the key wasn't the name, but the fact that she had made a name for herself.
They went from room to room, repairing tables and chairs, hanging curtains, mending gauze and patching holes; the tailor shop truly was a place of "renewal and renewal."
Manager Zhuang was very satisfied, extremely satisfied. "I always said that I couldn't find anyone else to do this job besides you."
After all, no one else is in the same industry as her.
Manager Zhuang wanted Lin Xiushui to stay in the sewing shop and work hard, while Madam Gu wanted to keep working, but she had an idea in mind.
She summoned Lin Xiushui, first inviting her to sit down and serving tea before saying, "I think the location of the sewing area is quite good. There's also an empty room next door. I'd like to move your work of making collar ties here, and have Li Jin and Xiao Qi Mei move over as well, so you don't have to walk back and forth."
Lin Xiushui could only think that it was no wonder that the tailor shop's business was so well-organized. After the yarn was pulled out, it was sent to the sewing shop for mending. It was bizarre and well-matched.
She didn't object, feeling that Madam Gu's initial idea was to separate drawnwork embroidery from other neckline embroidery.
After all, there is a big difference between collars. When other people sew collars, they only need fabric, needles and thread, and embroidery patterns, which takes up a small space. But the three of them who sew drawn thread have to go to the window with the best light, which takes up a lot of space. And when new tailors come in later, there will be no space left.
Next to the mending station was a large house with a blue tile roof, but it was locked. She had been curious about it as she passed by, and it turned out that it was prepared for her.
The room was bright and spacious. The left wooden wall was lined with black lacquered square windows, three tables and chairs, and embroidery frames for drawing thread. It was so spacious that she could draw a piece of thread with her left hand and another with her right, or even move a bed over and draw it while lying down.
Li Jin carried things in and said, "This room is as spacious as a wide-sleeved robe."
"It's too quiet here. I might become mute soon," Little Seven sighed. No wonder her monthly pay increased; it was hush money.
Lin Xiushui wiped the table and said, "Then you'll have to treat children's diseases."
The children's embroidery was once known as the "silent craftsmanship," but now it's their turn to do drawn thread embroidery. Ever since they were separated from the headdressing workshop, other tailors have called them the "weaving masters," meaning that the silk that will be on the market next year will be in their hands first.
Some even mischievously call it the customs office, because tax collection is as meticulous as drawing silk from a cloth, and not a single detail can be missed.
Lin Xiushui accepted it readily, and even said that she should ask Lady Gu to give her an official title. Everyone suggested that she be named Guansha, which would sound like she came from the government. If she wanted something more expensive, she could also call it Tianjingsha.
Amidst these playful banter, drawn thread embroidery was separated into its own category, and there was so much work involved that it was impossible to finish it all.
However, compared to the complaints of those doing drawn thread embroidery, the old women in the mending shop were much more worried. After they finished their work, they would probably have to come back every now and then, and the tailor shop didn't have that many things to mend.
When other tailors met Lin Xiushui for meals, some of the tailor wives would say, "Ah Qiao, aren't you afraid that your mending shop will run out of work and you'll have to close down?"
"That's right. There's not that much work in the tailoring workshop to begin with. What will you do when the staff leaves?"
Some people always like to worry, or rather, they harbor a secret desire to see a joke.
Of course, there were also those who were genuinely worried about Lin Xiushui, fearing that she would become a manager with no one under her command.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiushui wasn't worried about that, but she was really concerned.
Even if not for her sake, we should still worry about this old woman, since she has plenty of work to do.
After finishing her meal at a leisurely pace, Lin Xiushui told Xiao Chun'e and then went to find Manager Zhuang and Madam Gu to hear her insightful opinions.
“We’ve almost finished the mending. Here’s the ledger, which records all my expenses over the past few days. It totals a little over twelve strings and five qian.”
She handed over the ledgers and explained everything in detail. Since taking office, she had replaced everything that needed replacing and filled in everything that needed filling.
He paused for a moment before saying, "Although this is a patch made by our tailor, I think it could also be a patch made elsewhere."
"As menders, we can't just focus on mending one place. We can't stop working when there's no work, and we can't just spend money without making any. We can take on jobs from outside. We can make money and have work."
Most importantly, the patch will always remain.
"Hmm, hmm?" Madam Gu responded casually at first, then looked up at her. What was that?
Manager Zhuang responded with, "Ah, ah?"
I almost spat out the tea in my mouth. What the hell is this?
Lin Xiushui sat upright and smiled at the two of them.
Her brilliant idea was to find work when there was none, thus turning a money-losing situation into a money-making one.
Madam Gu closed the ledger and asked, puzzled, "We're a tailor shop. Do you expect us to go around advertising and get things from us for mending?"
She thought about it and realized that she didn't just want to make money; she was going all out.
"How should I advertise?" Manager Zhuang said. "How about I go out and sing a song for you? Xiao Lin, we should be practical. If you need money, just ask. I can lend you some, just remember to pay me back."
"But we can't just do whatever we want."
Lin Xiushui had no idea. She had thought of several ways to explain herself, and even when faced with questions, she calmly said, "It's a job I did at the accounting office."
"Ah, um? Cough cough," Manager Zhuang choked, thinking, "Could you please stop saying things like that when she's drinking tea?"
Madam Gu looked up, intrigued. "What kind of work?"
Manager Zhuang finally realized what was happening. "The Accounting Department? The Accounting Department's job? You know the Accounting Department?"
The tent and curtain shop had dealings with the Gu family's tailor shop, but not many, since the tailor shop mainly sewed clothes, not curtains, curtains, or other decorative items.
Lin Xiushui really wanted to say "of course," but she held back. She had already asked before she came that the Accounting Department had given her a lot of work, which she couldn't finish by herself, and even with Zhou Niangzi's help, it wouldn't be enough.
She turned down a lot of jobs, and people thought she didn't want to do them, so they offered her extra money. Who could refuse extra money?
The old women in the sewing shop have been doing this kind of work—clothing curtains, table curtains, and cloth curtains—for many days now, so there's no problem with them not doing it well. The sewing shop is also large, and the cloth is stored properly, so it can meet the many needs of the tent and curtain department.
One person can't eat that much food. Once she's full, she has to let others have a taste of the food in the pot.
Finally, Madam Gu said, "If you can get the job from the accounting department, then do it. As for the money, the price we charge for each batch of work is six strings of cash. You will pay 30% of those six strings of cash every month."
"As for the rest, I told you before you came to the tailor shop that if you can make it on your own merits, I can give you a platform."
The rest of the matters were discussed in detail between Manager Zhuang and Lin Xiushui.
After Manager Zhuang came out, he held an umbrella for her and said as they walked, "You're good enough to be a manager, it's worth all this trouble."
Lin Xiushui only said, "I also do mending, so I know best what it's like to have no work."
The fabric from the tent-making department arrived on the third day. It was to be used to make tent curtains according to the dimensions provided. The old women in the sewing workshop didn't have to worry about not having work at all; they were to be sent away.
Lin Xiushui smiled and said to them, "Right now, we should be worrying about other things, like having too much work to do."
Granny Li quickly shook her head and said, "No, we feel at ease knowing we have so much work to do."
"The more the better, we'd even be willing to stay here overnight, otherwise this raise feels like a hot potato in our hands."
No, working overnight is illegal.
Lin Xiushui has truly become famous in the tailoring industry; many people call her Manager Lin when they see her.
They were completely sincere, because they privately said that Lin Xiushui was truly capable of managing things, rather than passing the buck when things came up.
Later, Lin Xiushui realized that this was the kind of person in charge.
But Manager Kobayashi really liked that nickname; it made her walk with a gust of wind. She dreamed that in this hot weather, walking would only make her steam.
Whether it's hot at home or not can be determined by whether mosquitoes and flies come out. If only one comes out, it's lucky; if they come out in swarms, it's cool; if none come out, they're all dying of heat.
As soon as she finished work, she wanted to sit on the bow of the boat, hiding under the bridge, where the cool breeze felt very comfortable, but she had to go pick up Xiaohe.
Xiaohe is afraid of the heat, so today she has a large, green lotus leaf on her head, holding the edge with both hands, and showing her face as she says, "I went to pick lotus leaves with Sister Sizhen. We also learned the poem 'Lotus leaves are so lush, fish play among the lotus leaves, fish play in all directions.'"
“That’s great,” Lin Xiushui agreed, then immediately added, “Couldn’t you have picked one for me?”
"I don't know," Xiaohe answered honestly.
Lin Xiushui said, "I forgive you, Little Lotus Leaf."
Thankfully she still had an umbrella, but she didn't want to forgive her later, as Xiao He kept stepping on her shadow.
On the road leading to Sizhen's house, there were always many students leaving school. One student looked listless, like a dried-up fish that had jumped ashore, except for his bright eyes. He asked his mother, "Mother, can't you ask your teacher for leave? Once I'm at the academy, I feel just like I'm in my own bed, and I can sleep soundly no matter what."
His mother said, "Can you stop sleeping? Even if you're talking in your sleep, at least be reasonable."
Xiaohe followed suit, asking, "Can I ask for leave tomorrow?"
"Yes, I can, it's fine," Lin Xiushui replied. If she didn't want to learn, she didn't have to; summer was the perfect time for her to sleep.
The mother and son in front of her looked at her, and Lin Xiushui changed her tune, saying, "I'm unreasonable."
When you're so hot you're delirious, what's the point of reasoning? It's already good enough that you're not completely confused. Of course, she was sitting under the covered walkway enjoying the breeze when someone came over and talked to her about the clouds in the sky.
He was a very simple old man, holding a stack of clouds cut out of white Xuan paper in various colors.
He asked in a low voice, "I heard that sewing and making things are cheap here. Could you make me a book bag? I want to keep these clouds safe."
Lin Xiushui glanced at the cloud in his hand, nodded and said, "It can be done, ten coins will suffice."
She then asked, "Father-in-law, did you cut this yourself?"
The old man smiled and said, "Yes, I'm a papermaker. I'm used to seeing white pulp all the time. The paper I touch is as white as the clouds I see when I look up."
"I just watch them. I see that the clouds that come out every day are different. Some are round, some are long, some are red, and some are golden. I don't have any other hobbies in my life, but I'm obsessed with watching clouds."
The old man said, "People always say that these clouds are nothing to look at, but I really like them. But I forget about them as soon as I see them. I can't draw them, so I just trace their shapes and cut them out."
"A few of them got moldy during the rainy season, so I had to throw them away. It's such a waste."
Lin Xiushui looked at the clouds he cut out; they were all different shapes and sizes, dozens of them in total.
She held it carefully in her hand; the white, soft, thin Xuan paper was just like the clouds he saw every day.
However, she said to the old man, "Old man, this needs to be framed. If it's not framed, the edges will curl up, and it will turn yellow and crack after a long time. There's a picture framer next to me. For a little money, he can frame it for you, so you can still see today's clouds more than ten years from now."
Upon hearing this, the old man paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Alright, we'll wait until more than ten years from now."
The couple who framed the paintings and calligraphy for him did it together. They even pointed out to the old man at the intersection ahead that there was a middle-aged man who loved to go out and paint clouds in the summer. Who knows, they might even become friends.
The man always said that there are clouds in the sky and people are in the clouds. Only after looking at the clouds can one feel the vastness of the world.
Lin Xiushui sewed a double-layered, thickened book bag for the old man. The old man often came over after him. He didn't say anything, but just sat under the shed in front, cutting out clouds while the man next to him drew clouds.
She looked up, and Wang Yuelan came over and looked up at the sky as well, saying, "These clouds are as white as silk."
Sang Ying said, "It's as white as rice, and when you roll it up, it looks like a rice cake."
Someone passing by looked up and said, "It's the same color as my porcelain pillow. I have a white porcelain pillow, and it's so cool to sleep on in the summer. I knew it must feel like sleeping in a cloud."
A group of people didn't go to eat; they just looked up at the sky, each thinking they had discovered something profound.
Nighttime isn't for watching clouds, it's for watching puppet shows.
The children were already bringing out their stools, eager to be at the front of the line even before it was their turn. Su Qiaoniang was overjoyed and said to Lin Xiushui, "I'd like to start a small puppet theater troupe. What do you think?"
“Even if you are children, as long as you like glove puppets, you are like-minded, and I can give each of you a glove puppet.”
There are especially many societies now. As long as there are many like-minded people, any kind of society can be formed. There are even famous gambling societies for the rich and poor and societies for the heavy prisoners in shackles.
Lin Xiushui strongly supports the idea that both of these organizations can form a small puppet theater troupe.
To make a red community flag, the old fortune teller, who has excellent handwriting, wrote the community name. Grandpa Zhou made the bamboo pole for the flag, and Lin Xiushui made a small cloth puppet, dressed in the clothes that Su Qiaoniang usually wore.
She wore a light blue tube top, a green short jacket, blue trousers, and a brownish apron.
This is a very unique community flag, at least it's the flag that this group of young puppet show fans gather together.
Some parents were worried about spending money, but when Su Qiaoniang gave their child a cloth puppet, they were speechless and let their child go to this small puppet theater.
Even Chen Guihua didn't restrict her son Dabing, inviting him to join in as a puppeteer. Lin Xiushui already knew what she was going to say, so why not take advantage of the opportunity?
Su Qiaoniang said, "If the children come and like it, I'll make it for everyone."
She also wants to teach everyone how to play with glove puppets.
Lin Xiushui then came up with a crooked idea: "Yes, teach her more, and next time let Xiaohe perform. She'll definitely be happy to."
She became serious again, "We'll set up a small platform so everyone who wants to play can go up there. I'll donate clothes."
Su Qiaoniang looked at her in surprise. Lin Xiushui touched her nose. She didn't care about anything else, she just wanted to see the children have fun, so she could donate more mascot costumes for them.
With the hot weather, she's not really in the mood to make clothes. Everyone alters clothes, but they mostly stick to the same few styles. The only time she can seriously make a few outfits is when she's cutting silk clothes for children. She plays around with all sorts of fabric scraps and has a great time.
Those who came to have their clothes mended were most interested in straw hats and round fans. People said that when it was hot, they wanted to be naked, and they didn't really want to mend their clothes if they were torn, since it would let in a little wind.
Lin Xiushui said, "You didn't say that before."
"Yes, that was in spring. Can a promise still stand in summer?"
Someone pointed to his shoes, which had two holes in them, and shook his head, saying, "I don't want to mend them anymore, I want to cut two more holes."
A woman came and said, "Ah Qiao, you cut it well. Cut more of these pants for me, and cut the clothes too. Cut them neatly so I can find you to piece them back together in the fall."
"Good heavens, you're so clever. Let me go home and look for it. I can save myself the trouble of buying two fewer clothes."
Lin Xiushui was shocked. She lay down and did sewing work all spring. In the summer, she changed jobs. How despicable.
Of course, some people bring six cats to her and ask her to make clothes. She comes at the wrong time, either early or late, and then comes back after she has "changed careers".
Is that even human? Making clothes for a cat in this sweltering heat.
The man said, "Yes, it can't be just half a person."
"There isn't even a single piece of clothing for a person to wear."
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