Chapter 85
Umbrellas were lent out one by one, and raincoats and oil hats were sold. On rainy days, the shop did have some business.
Because of the heavy rain, it was difficult to walk through the water, and the women's skirts and shoes were wet. They accepted the umbrella that was brought to them, rested in the shop, dried their clothes, and, feeling bad about accepting the kindness, wandered around the shop. The unique design of the umbrella caught their eye, and they bought several items.
However, after looking around and picking and choosing, the young woman said, "This dress is nice, and the style is different from the ones in other shops. It's just that I don't really like the color. Besides, if you sell so many, we'll run into people wearing this on the street, and it will be so embarrassing."
Even though everyone repeatedly said that Lin'an City was so big that it was difficult to cause too many collisions, people didn't really like it.
There weren't many people without umbrellas when it rained. In one day, we lent out fifteen umbrellas, sold twenty, and twelve people came to the shop. We made seven or eight sales and earned more than twelve strings of cash.
After deducting costs, they didn't make much profit at all. Everyone in the shop had walked through the flooded roads all day. When they took off their shoes and socks, many of their feet were white and wrinkled from being soaked. Zhang Lianhe sneezed loudly.
Lin Xiushui was so tired that she was dozing off, but she was startled by the sneeze. She rubbed her heavy eyelids and pulled her pea-green jacket tighter around her.
She tried to appear energetic, saying, "We ordered fish soup and Qibao Lei Cha (a type of tea). Let's warm ourselves up and fill our stomachs first. Later, when the rain stops, we'll go to a decent restaurant nearby for a good meal."
"Go back to your lodgings, change your clothes, get a full night's sleep, and come back later tomorrow."
“Okay,” Zhang Lianhe was the first to respond.
Others returned in a scattered manner, not really showing much enthusiasm. After all, business was bad, and the business was going to lose money, so it was hard to be happy.
Chen Erniangzi rubbed her legs, muttering to herself, "Pah, I should have known better than to fight so hard to come here. I didn't even make any money and I'm suffering all this time. It's all for nothing."
Lending an umbrella can only bring short-term business, and some people don't return it, resulting in another loss. However, some people borrow an umbrella, come back the next day to return it, and buy a few clothes along the way.
The rain continued for several days. Some people learned about Man Chi Jiao and she earned five to twelve strings of cash a day, but it was less than half of what everyone expected. She was just barely making ends meet.
The initial money for the shop was all provided by the tailor. After the shop opened, he no longer invested any money and was responsible for his own profits and losses. He still had to withdraw money from the shop to pay everyone's monthly wages, and the remaining 30% was Lin Xiushui's profit.
Just like drawnwork embroidery, if you can make money, you can get a monthly allowance, holiday gifts, and a raise in your monthly salary. But Manchijiao couldn't make money and kept losing money. They had to lay off staff and make up for a large part of the deficit. After all, Lin Xiushui had made a guarantee that she would make money in order to secure fabric and the town's buying and selling prices. She had listed very detailed contract terms.
Even the tailors were aware of the current situation here. To put it nicely, they were feeling their way across the river in Lin'an, but the rain was so heavy that it flooded the stones, making it impossible to cross.
To put it bluntly, if hundreds of taels of silver are wasted in a downpour, even a tortoise can't save itself on such a day, and it won't be able to turn over.
Lin Xiushui hadn't slept well for several days. She felt like she was wading through a river, struggling to move, as if she were about to be swept away by a raging torrent. She didn't show it on her face, but she continued to take positive measures, trying various ways to attract customers and conduct business, with little success. She had several nightmares in a row last night. When she woke up, she sat up with a bead of sweat on her forehead and her blankets damp. She was very cold.
I woke up early in the morning and listened to the drizzle and wind pattering against the windowpane. I could hear Zhang Lianhe and Chen Erniangzi arguing outside.
Chen Erniangzi shouted angrily, "No business means no business! Even if I sleep until late afternoon, will there be anyone in the shop? You're so attentive, do you think you can get more money? Let me tell you, dream on!"
“I love to dream, and I’m happy to go early. I’m happy to sell even a penny. If business is bad, that’s only temporary,” Zhang Lianhe said, her face flushed with anger. “I trust Manager Lin. If she makes money, you definitely won’t get a share.”
The two were arguing fiercely, and others came out to try and break it up. Lin Xiushui had a headache from listening to it all. For the first time, she opened the door with a cold face and said, "You can go back."
The two stopped arguing, and everyone looked at her. Lin Xiushui repeated expressionlessly, "I said, those who don't want to work here can go back."
"I will write a letter to Madam Gu. Nothing will happen when I go back; everything will remain the same."
Upon hearing this, three or four other women, besides Chen Erniangzi, exchanged glances and secretly harbored similar thoughts, though they didn't say it outright. After all, who would want to waste their time with a shop that wasn't doing well?
That afternoon, Chen Erniangzi packed her bags and stormed off. Five other people followed suit, crying and saying that their families were struggling and they couldn't stay any longer. They took the letter, packed their bags, and left.
In just a few days, apart from Lin Xiushui, only half of the original twelve people remained. Those who stayed were still young and felt they could hold on a little longer.
Zhang Lianhe awkwardly comforted Lin Xiushui, "Even if everyone leaves, I won't leave. We'll definitely figure out a way."
“I can carry my clothes with me every day and go from house to house, selling them in the streets and alleys.”
“Ah Qiao, you really shouldn’t take it to heart,” said Gu Niangzi, who spoke the Lin’an dialect. “There’s a saying that the abacus in the City God Temple is beyond human control, so you should try to be more open-minded. But you’re young and capable, so why can’t you turn things around?”
The remaining women offered their consolation to Lin Xiushui, knowing she was carrying a heavy burden. They even bought over twenty paper horses with the inscription "Signing for a Bright Future," took a stove, and burned them all while chanting prayers.
Lin Xiushui sincerely admitted to them that she had made a mistake in her decision-making. She had taken too big a step. At that time, lotus skirts were very popular in the town and loved by many people. Hundreds of skirts were sold every day, which made her lose her head. Everyone thought that even if they came to Lin'an, they would be popular.
The less capital you have, the more daring you are to take risks; the more capital you have, the more you want to try something new, to replicate the success of the last time, just changing the name without changing the essence. At that time, lotus pink sold very well, while other colors were just average. The basic principle was to change the material but not the color.
After speaking for a long time, she said, "But no matter how the business is, everyone's monthly wages will not be reduced."
I recall a woman who came to return an umbrella yesterday saying, "The clothes here are very eye-catching, but the colors and styles are all pretty much the same. You'll see them everywhere, and apart from two types of people, almost no one else will want them."
"Firstly, those who don't have much money to spare would like this kind of clothing; secondly, children wouldn't mind wearing the same clothes as others."
When the tailors were discussing it, everyone said that the lotus skirt was already very cheap in Sangqing Town, and that it should be sold at a higher price in Lin'an. This meant abandoning women who wanted cheap clothes and focusing on the middle class who had some money, instead of targeting wealthy women.
Regardless of whether it rains or not, this move has been a mistake. Those who like cheap things have been excluded, and the target group has not been accurately identified—people who generally don't like to do the same things as others.
She braved the rain to visit several clothing shops, each with its own strengths in fabric or embroidery. Although the styles were the same, the colors were vastly different, making the differences quite obvious. So, no matter how many other methods she tried, it was not as effective as altering the clothing itself.
Faced with increasingly dismal business, even though Lin Xiushui had some ideas, she became hesitant and timid after this setback.
She really took a big tumble.
The daily losses exceeded the profits; opening the shop for one day meant losing money for two. If this continued, Lin Xiushui would lose money.
Everyone was worried that she would be discouraged and Gu Niangzi also sent a long letter, basically telling her to come back to town as soon as possible, and that everything could be discussed. But Lin Xiushui thought that she should get up from where she fell, but she would need some time.
After another bleak day, Chen Jiuchuan came to invite her to dinner in the evening. Even though Lin Xiushui had no appetite, she went along.
“I’m not going to work in shipping anymore,” Chen Jiuchuan said, walking to her left and holding an umbrella.
Lin Xiushui's appetite was piqued, and she asked with a hint of shock, "What?"
Chen Jiuchuan tilted the umbrella slightly and said, "I plan to become a wandering monk. They don't just strike iron plates or play wooden fish every day, chanting according to the weather. I will chant about the weather every day."
"What?" Lin Xiushui laughed. "You can't be a pilgrim like this. People have to recite the truth."
Chen Jiuchuan said in a serious tone, "I think it's all because we went to Tianzhu Temple, which passes by Wushan Mountain. Both sides are sacred places for praying for rain, so the rain was compounded. Or maybe it's because the tides were too high this year, causing it all to fall from the sky as rain. Or maybe it's because the weather has been sunny for too long..."
"No," Lin Xiushui said, puzzled, "does it have to be something strange?"
He thought for a moment and said, "Yes, we have to find something to blame."
“You can blame heaven and earth, blame Chen Jiuchuan.”
Don't blame yourself.
Lin Xiushui chuckled softly, "Why should I blame you? You're right." She stepped over the puddle. Many people blamed her, and she actually blamed herself too.
“We’re shipping by boat, and the most common thing we encounter is taking detours,” Chen Jiuchuan said at the bow of the ship after boarding. “If one route doesn’t work, we’ll take another.”
He was very familiar with the waterways of Lin'an. During such grand ceremonies, when many waterways were occupied by the Palace Guard, he deliberately led Lin Xiushui on several detours. Even though the road ahead was blocked and the route was winding, they finally arrived at their destination, Shanshui Zhengdian.
Lin Xiushui had calmed down considerably by now. She followed Chen Jiuchuan to the second floor of the main store and booked a room in a convenient corner.
When they entered the house, Chen Jiuchuan took a step back and said, "You go in first, I'll go order the food."
Lin Xiushui was puzzled and still wondering why he wanted to book a private room. She lifted the blue satin curtain and went in, feeling both surprised and delighted.
"Aunt, Xiaohe," she gasped, quickly taking a few steps forward, "How did you get here?"
It takes at least a day to get from the town to Lin'an city. She never imagined that her aunt and Xiaohe would come here, and she didn't know how to react.
Xiaohe had been on the boat for eight or nine hours and was so tired that she leaned back in her chair and fell fast asleep. Wang Yuelan picked up the cat Xiaoye and put it in Lin Xiushui's arms. She stood up and said, "We came on Achuan's boat. Lin'an is really big. We've been traveling all day."
“You can’t leave here, but I had to come and check on you,” Wang Yuelan said, pointing first to Xiaohe, “This is something I brought to cheer you up.”
He patted the big fat cat again, saying, "This is just something I brought here to cause you trouble."
"I'm the only one who came to see you."
Xiaohe woke up at this moment. She knelt on the stool, tried to cover Wang Yuelan's eyes with her hands, and said very seriously, "Mother, don't lie through your teeth."
She said very earnestly, "Sister, I miss you so much. I took a long boat ride, from dark to dark, to come see you."
After she finished speaking, she scratched her head and said, "I had so many things I wanted to say before I came, but it's all the rain's fault. It made all the things I wanted to say disappear."
Wang Yuelan grabbed Xiaohe's hand, frowned in disgust, and smeared her sweaty hand all over Xiaohe's face. "It stinks!"
“You’re lying,” Xiaohe retorted. “I was sleeping soundly just now.”
Outside, wind and rain were howling. Lin Xiushui held the chubby cat Xiaoye in her arms. She stood there dumbfounded, her nose a little sore, and the soreness gradually spread to her eyes, until she laughed out loud.
Mingming had originally planned to bring her aunt and Xiaohe over to Lin'an once things improved, so they could have a proper tour. But alas...
Xiaohe shook her head and said, "Sister, don't be afraid to stay here. We'll accompany you home."
"Where did you see that I was scared?" Lin Xiushui asked, having composed herself.
Xiaohe said, "This isn't home. There are no familiar faces here, only strangers. I'm scared, and I'm sure you are too."
Wang Yuelan said to her, "You're just talking nonsense. Say something nice."
"Give me some candy, and I'll say sweet nothings," Xiaohe thought quickly. She stretched out her hand, "I won't eat it for free, I'll share it with my older sister."
Lin Xiushui laughed heartily, and the gloom that had been building up began to dissipate slightly.
She knew that, even though she was facing two people, she deeply felt the feelings of three people for her. If she were asked to sew something now, her hands would definitely tremble and she would make a mistake. In the past, this would have been a mistake that needed to be corrected, but today, she allowed the mistake to happen.
If you don't like it, the eighteen or nineteen hours it takes to travel between Lin'an and Sangqing Town is too long.
Chen Jiuchuan didn't come in at this moment. He leaned against the wall, his eyes closed in exhaustion. He knew who she wanted to see when she was sad.
Even if it wasn't him.
As they parted, Lin Xiushui looked into his eyes and said, "Chen Jiuchuan, see you tomorrow."
Chen Jiuchuan didn't reply; he seemed a little stunned.
Sigh, the night is so long, I can't sleep.
Lin Xiushui hadn't slept well, but she was finally able to fall asleep. Wang Yuelan and Xiao He were sleeping next to her, and there was a hot, fat cat at her feet. She wasn't cold anymore.
The next day, still half asleep, Lin Xiushui saw a pile of pink things on the bed. She touched them haphazardly and found the texture very familiar. She sat up, her eyes wide, and asked, "Auntie, what are you wearing?"
"What do you mean, 'what'? Just wear clothes!'" Wang Yuelan said shamelessly. She tied the pink short lotus skirt she bought in town over the blue gauze skirt, put on a lotus-patterned bodice, and was now adjusting the large lotus-sleeved jacket and putting on a vest embroidered with lotus patterns.
It's no wonder Lin Xiushui was so surprised; Wang Yuelan disliked pink the most in her life because it made her look dark-skinned.
Lin Xiushui hurriedly got up, "It's not that bad, Aunt, it really isn't that bad."
Xiaohe jumped up and exclaimed, "My mother has changed her name to Wang Lianhua!"
Wang Yuelan didn't refute, "That's right, you were just born. Lotus Leaf's mother is Lotus."
She then said to Lin Xiushui, "Don't worry about what I wear, I can wear anything."
Lin Xiushui made two "oh" sounds, thinking to herself, "Why didn't you have it custom-made? This vest doesn't fit."
Wang Yuelan was actually very ashamed, but she maintained a calm expression and told Xiaohe and Lin Xiushui not to follow her. She made her way to the teahouses, taverns, and entertainment venues in Lin'an and met someone who was watching her.
She would run up to people and strike up a conversation, even if she couldn't speak the Lin'an dialect at all. She would say, "Sister, you like this dress too? I bought it at Manchijiao shop at the corner of the road next to the flower market. Why don't you take a look?"
"The material is really good. You won't regret trying it. It's only six hundred. Feel it."
"Hey, what's wrong with wearing it all the time? Everyone's wearing the same thing. I'm not bragging, but you'll definitely look good in this dress, girl."
As Wang Yuelan spoke, she took off her outer skirt, saying, "Come on, let me take this off so you can try it on. Trying it on is free."
She spoke to people with different accents, persistently pleading with them to come and see for themselves, saying that none of Zhang Lianhe and the others had her kind of shamelessness.
Suddenly, five or six people came into the shop. Lin Xiushui was very surprised. One of the women said, "Is that your mother? Or who is she? She talked to us for ages, and even took off her vest and apron for us to wear. Seeing how enthusiastic she was, we came over to take a look."
Lin Xiushui suddenly understood everything, and her heart ached. At noon, she said to Wang Yuelan, "Aunt, don't go."
“Never mind, I’m still going,” Wang Yuelan said, rubbing her legs.
She sighed and said, "Ah Qiao, these are just temporary setbacks. If things don't work out in Lin'an, we can come back to town. If we lose money, we lose money. Nothing lasts forever."
"Even if no one wears it in the end, I will still wear it."
“But you can’t lose your spirit because of this,” Wang Yuelan told her. “The Zhang family on the other side of the river used to be in the pork business. Later, when they were transporting pigs, they all fell into the water and drowned. So they went into the fresh fish business, but they messed with the fresh fish so much that they all became worthless. But they didn’t believe in bad luck. They pawned their land deeds in the pawnshop and got ten strings of cash. Then they went south to do the dried fish business, and that’s how they made their fortune.”
Lin Xiushui felt uncomfortable listening to this. She wiped her face and suddenly said, "That's not right. Aunt, you clearly said last time that Zhang Baihu might have some serious illness. He doesn't live a peaceful life and just keeps causing trouble. He even got his dried fish balls soaked in water and got caught and beaten up."
Wang Yuelan patted her on the back, "Can you stop interrupting? You misheard me. The Zhang Baihu I mentioned last time is not the same person as Zhang Baihu. Can you listen to what I'm saying?"
She started muttering again, "Why don't we go back? It seems like the feng shui in Lin'an isn't very good. Why are you being so silly?"
Lin Xiushui wasn't stupid; she was just feeling stifled and deliberately cracking jokes.
She had to pull herself together; she had to come up with a plan.
When you're down on your luck, you can't lose your spirit and courage.
She needed to go back to town first; staying here wasn't a solution. She would leave everything to Gu Niangzi and Zhang Lianhe, at least for now, there was still some business to be had each day.
As for Lin'an, she will come back.
She took a boat back to Sangqing Town. It had just rained, and the sky was overcast. She slept all day before getting dressed and returning to the tailor's workshop.
The tailors who passed by were all very surprised to see her return, as if they had seen something incredible.
"Manager Lin, you're back! How is Lin'an?"
"I heard it's not good. You're still young, still young."
"It's okay to stumble a few times when you're young. You'll lose money, but in ten or twenty years, you won't be afraid."
Lin Xiushui smiled and said, "Yes, I'm very young, and I'm really not afraid."
She turned and left, clenching her fists, letting out a long breath, feeling a prickling sensation on her back. Things were truly different now.
He walked straight to Madam Gu's room, his face unchanged, under the gaze of everyone. He pushed open the door and found Madam Gu alone inside.
"Please sit down," Madam Gu gestured to the chair in front of her, "Have you eaten?"
"have eaten."
Madam Gu didn't bother with makeup or dressing up. She was wearing a very plain jacket and looked listless. With her hand on the tea lid, she looked at Lin Xiushui and said, "Lin'an is very different from the town. To be honest, I also made a mistake in this matter."
“But Ah Qiao,” Madam Gu pressed her forehead, “has lost too much.”
"The profits from selling lotus skirts and drawnwork embroidery in town can't cover this loss. I'm thinking, let's make money here first. Don't worry about what others are saying. We'll think of something else when things clear up."
She said, "Let's not make any changes for the next two years."
"You, you should take care of the drawnwork embroidery first."
Lin Xiushui sat upright. She knew that this loss would affect all her future plans. The Manchijiao project, which she had worked so hard to persuade everyone to establish, had become a joke.
She said calmly and firmly, "I want to try again."
“I can bear all the losses, whether it’s a few hundred taels or even a thousand taels, I can bear all the consequences of my decision.”
“I can pay compensation, I can leave the tailoring business.”
"Are you crazy?!" Madam Gu spoke to her loudly for the first time. "Do you think this is a gambling game? Do you think you're betting six copper coins for something worth hundreds of coins? If you lose this time, how am I supposed to protect you?!"
"Don't think about it anymore, let's just leave it at that this time," Madam Gu closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. "If we lose money this time, so be it. Don't be afraid of losing face, just make up for it later."
“I’m really not crazy. I can lose money, but I can make it back,” Lin Xiushui said with a rare stubbornness in her expression. “If I were afraid, I wouldn’t have said it.”
She was indeed afraid; she had many nightmares. But she was not lacking in courage; she had the courage to get back up from where she fell.
Madam Gu was furious with her. "Lin Xiushui, do you know what you look like right now? You look like a gambler!"
"Then, my lady, give me some money first before you start scolding me."
Madam Gu laughed in exasperation and told her to get lost for the time being.
By the afternoon, her anger had subsided and her heart had softened. After all, Lin Xiushui had made a lot of money for the tailors, and they couldn't just discard her after she had served her purpose. They let her explain her plans in front of all twenty-odd tailors at Manchijiao. If everyone thought it was worth a try, then they would reluctantly give it one more shot.
Lin Xiushui's previous efforts to build prestige in the hearts of everyone in Manchijiao have now turned into disappointment. Many people in the tailoring industry are just watching the show, but only they are deeply involved, sharing both glory and loss.
They were also eager to hear what Lin Xiushui had to say, and some even speculated with a hint of malice that she might try to evade the issue.
On the contrary, Lin Xiushui sincerely and earnestly told everyone that her decision was a mistake, that she had not done a good job, and that she lacked long-term vision. She would take full responsibility, and that blaming others when she failed was just another form of sophistry.
Lin Xiushui said firmly, "But I will not regret it. Even if I were to go to Lin'an again and relive my experience of the past two weeks, I would not regret it."
Some things can only be understood by doing them, by realizing that you've taken a wrong turn, and only then do you know why they're not feasible. Even if the cost of trial and error is quite high, she's still willing to admit that the journey wasn't in vain.
A mistake is a mistake. She's not dead, so she can move on from her wrong decision.
Many people present were shocked by her remarks. Some admired her, while others felt that she would not learn her lesson until she hit a wall.
"Alright, then Steward Lin, what exactly are your plans? We have elderly parents and young children to support, unlike you, we really can't afford to waste any more time. You said you'd try again, but how exactly do you want to try?" Jin Niangzi asked her earnestly.
Tailor Chen said, "We're not playing childish tricks, cheating after losing a bet, and trying to get away with it this time and move on to the next one. We have so many lotus skirts and vests piled up. If we don't sell them all this month, we won't be able to start production next month. Are we supposed to starve?"
Lin Xiushui said first, "Since we already know that clothes of the same color don't sell well in shops, then we should go out and sell them everywhere. Most of the people in the city like flashy clothes and don't care if they are different or not. I can sell them."
Ignoring what others were saying, she took a sip of water, suppressed the itch in her throat, and raised her voice, "So how can we ensure that the shape remains unchanged, that the colors of Manchi Jiao are preserved, yet that each piece is unique?"
"how?"
"how?"
"impossible!"
"Okay, really, stop fooling around."
Amid the doubts, Lin Xiushui said, "I'm making clothes that can be worn on both sides."
The crowd fell silent, pondering the word. Lin Xiushui's two weeks in Lin'an hadn't been wasted; she had visited many clothing shops and even gone to the cloth market, spending every day and night thinking about how to turn the tide.
She thought for a long time, almost pulling out all the hair on her side. There was a flower market nearby, selling all kinds of fresh flowers, especially chrysanthemums, which were sold during the Double Ninth Festival.
There's a type of small white chrysanthemum that looks no different from other chrysanthemums, and it's been selling quite well.
She stood aside and watched. One petal of the white chrysanthemum was white, while the other side was yellow and blue. The flower seller at the stall had painted each petal on with other dyes.
"Will this more effort lead to better sales?" Lin Xiushui asked.
The flower seller said, "Buy one pot, and I'll tell you."
Lin Xiushui reluctantly paid three hundred coins for a potted plant, while the usual ones only cost one hundred coins a pot. The flower seller said after taking the money, "It is more expensive. You can see that I put a lot of effort and thought into it. I'm not crazy. Why would I mess around with something that can't make money?"
"Even the same white chrysanthemums on the market, if you add some other things to embellish them, will sell much better than the ordinary ones."
Lin Xiushui finally understood. Sangqing Town was a small place, and people were greedy for bargains. The more things people bought, the better they thought they were, since they could always say, "So-and-so bought it, I can't fall behind her."
The problem is that Lin'an is a big place, and everyone wants to be the same yet different, to stand out in the crowd, but not to bump into others, otherwise they will lose face.
Lin Xiushui then understood that the design she envisioned was absolutely unique, so the solution was to change the color and material, etc.
She took out two shirts she had made, which were reversible. Regardless of which side was inside, the inside was made of lotus pink, which Man Chi Jiao always used, while the other side was made of light blue satin with lotus patterns.
The other piece is still made of lotus powder on one side, but the other side is made of plain white silk woven with gold.
She showed everyone two exquisitely crafted shirts, and while everyone was looking at them, she continued, "While preserving the original characteristics of Man Chi Jiao, we incorporated the colors and patterns into the fabric, letting the clothes speak for themselves."
"On the other hand, we use completely different colored materials to ensure that each piece is made of different materials, so that the side you wear out will not run into anyone else's style."
However, the workmanship is much more complicated than before. If it is double-sided sewn, the error at the cuff must be very small, the cut must be very fine, there must be no loose threads on either side, and the two layers of fabric must be absolutely flat before ensuring a good fit.
The price has increased, requiring more effort and a wider variety of colors to match, no longer just one. However, it also has a clear advantage: in autumn and winter, garments made from double-sided fabric have a substantial thickness, offering better warmth than those lined with silk floss, but still superior to many other garments.
Clothes made of two different fabrics are no longer light and airy, but have a lot of weight. For these tailors, they can tell whether a winter garment is good or not just by holding it in their hands.
There was no waste of the designs I had painstakingly come up with, or the leftover lotus-colored fabric. On the contrary, it wasn't that difficult to make reversible vests, jackets, and lotus-patterned skirts from these designs.
A garment can be worn on both sides. Autumn and winter clothes are expensive to begin with, so buying two garments is like spending an extra penny. It's both ingenious and cost-effective.
They might say Lin Xiushui's decision was a mistake, but there's no way to deny that none of the clothes she made were ugly.
The initial resistance gradually turned into a willingness to give it a try. There's still half a month left. If we still lose money after this half month, Lin Xiushui herself said she would take full responsibility.
At this point, Lin Xiushui was no longer as reckless as before. She only asked everyone to make a new reversible swirling skirt in different materials.
After Madam Gu came out, she asked her, "Aren't you really afraid that this time it won't go as expected either?"
"I'm terrified," Lin Xiushui said honestly.
She laughed again, "If you're afraid and won't leave, the more you think about it and the more hesitant you are to make a decision, the more truly trapped you will be."
The main thing is that she can make a profit if she can lose money, otherwise she wouldn't be able to repay such a large sum of money.
She also found Sun Da, who helped her buy and sell things everywhere after she started mending gloves, and the number of gloves she sold kept increasing.
This time, she wanted someone to help her sell the lotus skirts and various clothes she had accumulated in Lin'an. She knew that this would undoubtedly be a very difficult task for Sun Da, who was in Sangqing Town.
But Sun Da readily agreed, "Ah Qiao, don't even mention sending me to Lin'an, even if you send me to Pingjiang Prefecture or Mingzhou, it's no big deal."
“I used to be so poor that I had to rent a place to live, the worst kind of house, where my whole family lived in a leaky shack. Since I started doing business with you, I’ve finally been able to afford a decent house and have some money.”
Sun Da said, "I'm bringing my wife along this time. We'll make sure you sell your stuff, because you trust me."
Lin Xiushui laughed and said, "Why wouldn't I trust you? I think Brother Sun is capable."
Sun Da was the most eloquent and hardworking person Lin Xiushui knew, mainly because he was extremely thick-skinned.
Lin Xiushui told him that they would probably sell to temples first, and the couple immediately went to temples in Lin'an.
The other two garments, each a different color, were also being sewn and sent to Lin'an. Lin Xiushui didn't inquire about them anymore, but she was actually quite uneasy. She went to see Xiao Chun'e, Sang Ying, and the tailor Jin, and even drank with Chen Jiuchuan twice.
On a new day, the autumn wind was bleak. She went to the tailor's shop, where Madam Gu stared blankly at the letter in her hand, its edges crumpled from being pulled. After recognizing Lin Xiushui, she suddenly said, "Do you believe you've turned your life around?"
“I believe it,” Lin Xiushui said without hesitation; she believed in herself.
In October, Lin Xiushui turned the tide in Lin'an by relying on her reversible swirling skirt.
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