Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Two chapters merged into one
It was not until the beginning of the following spring that Jinniang received a letter from home. Her mother said that the house had been flooded and had been repaired. The price of rice had now stabilized, so she was asked not to worry. She also said that people over there never starved to death, the rice was soaked, there were lotus roots in the pond, and they could even dig fish. She also said that her younger brother was now attending elementary school.
They will hand over the shop to their uncle in a few months this year. By then they will make some money and sell the current house and buy a better one so that their daughter will have a room when she comes home.
Seeing this, Jinniang paused. If she went back, she could indeed find a job in any embroidery workshop in Jiangling, but that was her end.
Are you willing?
Of course I am not willing to accept this.
Even if she wanted to go back, she had to wait until she had gained experience in the Wenxiu Academy. Her parents were indeed very good to her, but when she went back, they would have to worry about their livelihood, so she would just have to accept that.
With this in mind, she wrote back, saying that she was preparing for the entrance exam to the Wenxiu Academy. If she passed, she would stay in Bian Jing for three years and not go back for the time being. In fact, she also hoped that her parents would come to Bian Jing to try their luck. After all, there were many schools in Bian Jing and it was near the emperor. In the future, her younger brother would not have to travel long distances to take the imperial examinations.
Living in Jiangling Prefecture is like leaving home, and living in Bianjing is like leaving home. It would be better for the family to make enough money before going back.
Of course, these are her suggestions in the end. If her parents don’t agree, she can only take care of herself.
No matter how good your parents are, ultimately everyone's life is in their own hands. Otherwise, even if you make a fortune, you won't be able to control it if it's given to you because you didn't earn it through your own efforts.
The chair covers, table curtains and door curtains have all been embroidered. This time she embroidered them according to the popular painting method, and the effect is obviously better.
Especially the shirt with winter jasmine flowers, which she had newly made for the eldest girl. It looked simple, but this time it was secretly embroidered, to be the same color as the dress, yet to highlight the embroidery skills.
The skirt is embroidered with pear blossoms, which are elegant and simple.
This style was quite fashionable. When the eldest girl's handkerchief friend came to her home as a guest, he praised her new clothes.
"This is what my aunt wore last time."
The eldest girl smiled and said, "This was made by my embroiderer."
However, Jinniang was not happy because there were so many embroidery pieces that it was really like working like a slave. They are young and can still endure, but Madam Chen can't even straighten her back and Qin Shuang'er has also fallen ill.
She now hates staying up late. She feels nauseous and has a headache just from making clothes, but her superiors will never understand them.
Madam Chen came in holding her waist and said, "Ouch, I really can't take it anymore. It hurts when I sit down. I don't know what's going on."
"You're sitting too hard." Jinniang is very experienced. In her previous life, she also sat down to write scripts and got sciatica.
Madam Chen sighed: "I wish I could finish it as soon as possible and go back home. I have to do it as soon as I open my eyes and can't close my eyes at night." After she finished speaking, she looked at Qin Shuang'er and said: "I know you have just recovered from a serious illness, but there is nothing I can do. Everyone has a lot of work to do."
In fact, Jinniang also had a sore on her butt, which was caused by sitting too much.
At this time, the second young master happened to call Jinniang to come over to make clothes.
"This... Madam really wants me to do this?" Jinniang felt strange.
Lu Ying smiled and said, "That's true. Madam ordered you to go quickly."
Jinniang had no choice but to smile and say, "Okay, I'll be there in a minute."
After Luying left, she asked Chen Niangzi, "Didn't Madam forbid unmarried women from visiting the Second Young Master at will?"
Originally, Qin Shuang'er was planning to flatter Madam Chen, saying that the Madam valued Jinniang and would gradually distance herself from Madam Chen, but she didn't expect that Jinniang actually thought this way.
Mrs. Chen is an experienced person. She smiled and said, "At that time, the Second Master had not yet married, and she was afraid that he would cause trouble. Now that he is married, why would she care about these things?"
Jinniang said, "That's not what I meant. If you really don't care, why would you ask me to go? If I go, nothing will happen, and no one will suspect anything."
Mrs. Chen was also a little embarrassed when she heard this.
After mending the last few stitches on her hand, she went to the outer courtyard and greeted Zhang, who was about to give birth. "I am here on the orders of the eldest lady to sew clothes for the second young master."
Zhang took a look at Jinniang. Seeing her bloated figure, plump and round face, and clear eyes, she looked very blessed. She was relieved a little: "You go, the second young master is in the study."
"Yes." Jinniang stood up and took a few steps back before going out.
She never saw Cuixian here again. Cuixian was the second young master's concubine. No one knew whether she was working somewhere else or was kicked out. Anyway, she had not been seen for several months.
She shuddered all over and went to the study. After entering, she found Zhou Cunzhi lying on his back on a bow chair and taking a nap. Jinniang still had time to take a nap in the study, so she didn't go to accompany his wife.
"Ahem, Second Young Master, Madam asked me to make clothes for you." Jinniang said.
Zhou Cunzhi then slowly stood up, without even looking at her, and stretched out his arms. Jinniang felt that after making so many women's clothes over the years, she was a little unfamiliar with men's clothes.
The second young master had really long arms and was so tall that she had to stand on tiptoe to measure him.
After taking the measurements, Zhou Cunzhi sat down with the book in hand and prepared to read. Jinniang asked as usual, "Second Young Master, do you want a straight-collared, double-breasted jacket, a slanting-collared jacket, or a round-collared robe? What color do you want?"
In the past, Madam Chen never asked so many questions. She would just measure and make the things directly. Zhou Cunzhi looked at Jinniang, a chubby girl who was carrying a big goldfish-shaped bag. She was writing down his measurements with a chicken feather pen and looking at him eagerly.
Zhou Cunzhi glanced at himself and asked, "What style do you think I should choose?"
Jinniang looked at him. He was tall and handsome. It seemed that he would look good in any outfit. So she said, "I think everything is good. It depends on what you like. Do you want to look more elegant, more scholarly, or more graceful?"
"Since you said so, I can only say that I am more bookish, otherwise I can't brag about myself." Zhou Cunzhi said unhappily.
Jinniang couldn't help but find it funny: "That's not what I meant. Let me put it another way. Do you want to wear it when you go out, or wear it at home, or wear it to a banquet, or wear it to a gathering?"
Zhou Cunzhi glanced at Jinniang and thought for a moment, "I'll wear it when I go out for a gathering."
"Okay, then please wait a moment, I'll fill in the colors and show you." Jinniang had already drawn the shape of the man's clothes before coming, so she could just color them directly.
She noticed that Zhou Cunzhi had an ethereal look, like someone from another world, so she used stone blue as the color, and white for the collar, embroidered with pine, bamboo and plum flowers. As the middle accessory, she could choose a begonia-shaped crystal ring or a white jade ring with hollow flower and bird patterns. Normally, after removing the belt around the waist, he would wear it as a daily lounge wear, which made him look noble without being extravagant.
She also made a plain silk double-breasted shirt for the outside, which could be worn when it was cold. She was used to drawing, and it all depended on her hand speed. After finishing the drawing, she showed it to Zhou Cunzhi.
This was the first time Zhou Cunzhi had seen something like this, and his way of thinking was different from most people. He pointed at Jinniang and said, "Can you really make it look like the one in the painting?"
Jinniang first painted a particularly handsome man, without painting his clothes first, and then painted them on later, so Zhou Cunzhi may have mistaken the person in the painting for himself.
Jinniang nodded: "I will try my best, and I have to go to the storehouse to find similar materials. But I still have to embroider the eldest lady's clothes recently, so your clothes may take about ten days to be completed."
"good."
Zhou Cunzhi took out a small silver ingot from his purse and threw it to Jinniang: "This is a reward for you."
As expected of the Second Young Master, he rewarded her with five taels of silver. It happened that she had bought a lot of paints recently, so she had new income. Jinniang happily put the silver ingot into her pocket and left.
When it comes to making women's clothing, she can do it easily, but when it comes to making men's clothing, Jinniang has a lot to ask Chen Niangzi. Qin Shuang'er became wary of Jinniang's behavior. Yes, Wei Jinniang was indeed not very good-looking, but she was capable. Maybe the second young master took a fancy to her and wanted to keep her by his side.
Qin Shuang'er is now like a headless fly. There is always no progress. Now she has to bury her head in her work. She really doesn't want to be trapped in needlework for her whole life. It is so disgusting and she can never finish it.
Although Jinniang had some troubles before, she has a strong ability to withstand pressure. Moreover, she has thought about what she wants to do in the future, so of course she has a goal in mind.
It is also said that Zhou Cunzhi returned from the study to the main room to have dinner with Zhang in the evening. They were a young couple and should have been very loving, but after the honeymoon period, the two were not very harmonious.
Zhou Cunzhi is a very picky and rebellious person. He is also very talented and stubborn. Although he looks humorous, he doesn't like being controlled by others. Zhang was a girl who had been spoiled since childhood. In the early days when the two were polite to each other, Zhou Cunzhi was quite accommodating to her, but things gradually became different afterwards.
Until Cuixian was kicked out, although it was Cuixian who asked to leave, Zhou Cunzhi could think that Zhang must have done something in the middle. He was annoyed that she acted on her own. After all, Cuixian had served him for several years and he had always been respectful to her, but she was so intolerant.
Another thing is that he changed his food at inappropriate times. Take dinner for example. Zhou Cunzhi usually did not eat after noon, and even if he ate at night, he only ate fruits and vegetables. However, Zhang thought that this was really bad for Zhou Cunzhi's stomach, so she specially asked someone to cook meat for him every night.
In fact, this kind of harmless little thing could have been worked out, but Zhang loved him too much, and she felt that Zhou Cunzhi didn't accompany her when she was pregnant, so her tone became sour: "I know that your beloved left, and you are unhappy, and you are always rude to me, but he wanted to leave voluntarily, didn't you agree?"
Zhou Cunzhi looked at her and stood up immediately: "It's unreasonable. I don't eat tonight. I'm going to the study."
When Zhang saw him leave, she was so angry that her stomach hurt, but luckily nothing happened.
Of course, the news reached Jiang, who sneered twice and said to Luying, "I don't know why she is so anxious. She kicked out the concubine before the child was born. Cuixian is such an honest person."
But as a mother-in-law, she couldn't interfere in her son's room and make other rooms laugh at her.
Luying is Jiang's person, but she can't help Zhang. She just said: "The second wife is about to give birth. No matter what, we can't affect this."
"If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have tolerated her." Jiang said.
It is strange that Jiang herself did not like those young girls and even hated them, but when she drove a maid out of her son's room, she felt that her daughter-in-law was not virtuous.
Jinniang found the dealings between these masters very novel at first, but later she felt that they were all the same, nothing more than the east wind prevailing over the west wind, or the west wind prevailing over the east wind.
She was just worried that she was not good at making men's clothing. She had a lot of ideas when making women's clothing, but she was just so-so when making men's clothing.
It’s not that she can’t do it, it’s that she has no interest in it. No matter what Jinniang does, she will find out what you are interested in, and you will be very passionate about it.
When she made clothes in the future, she would try her best to avoid cutting men's clothes. If she wanted to embroider a certain flower, she would just embroider it directly on the top.
However, after she made this dress, Zhou Cunzhi liked it very much. He wore it twice just because Jinniang saw it. But the next time, when Zhou Cunzhi wanted to make a purse, Jinniang pushed it to Qin Shuang'er, saying that she had too much work to do.
Qin Shuang'er didn't know how Jinniang and Zhou Cunzhi made clothes. It was the first time she made a purse for the second young master, and she thought it was the same as when the girls made clothes before. She went straight to the destination and didn't even go to pay her respects to Zhang, but went directly to the study.
Zhou Cunzhi saw that this time the embroiderer had changed, and she only asked what shape and color she wanted to embroider, and didn't even draw it for him, so he couldn't help asking, "Where is the girl in your needlework room last time?"
Qin Shuang'er felt a little jealous when he asked about Jinniang. She just said, "She has been making dowry for the eldest girl these days. She was halfway through embroidering and couldn't stop."
"Oh, then just make one at your convenience." Zhou Cunzhi said.
He was really casual, but Qin Shuang'er felt that everything she knew about dealing with men seemed not enough in front of Zhou Cunzhi. He doesn't seem to be lustful. He is handsome but has a bad temper and doesn't care about anything.
When Qin Shuang'er came back from the outer courtyard, she really looked like an eggplant hit by frost. She was puzzled and joked during lunch: "The second young master really treats you differently."
Jinniang said without even raising her eyelids: "It is precisely because of this that everyone is willing to let me make clothes. How about this be considered special treatment? Otherwise, I will trade my fat with you."
This is why she sometimes thinks it would be better if she was born fatter, as it would avoid a lot of trouble. Beauty has its benefits, but sometimes when one is in a low position, it may not necessarily be a benefit.
After hearing this, Qin Shuang'er didn't dare to mention Jinniang anymore. She thought that Jinniang might have been blamed for refusing to be the purse for the second young master, but Jinniang was too proud to say it.
These little episodes in between did not hinder Jinniang and the others from making clothes. Now Jinniang started to make headscarves and sweat towels. Sweat towels are usually made of gauze, so she had to twist the thread and do embroidery on them.
Mrs. Chen shared her own experience: "You should use yarn to embroider on yarn. If you use other woolen yarn or gold-plated embroidery, it will look tacky. You'd better choose a color similar to the yarn. If you embroider branches and leaves, you have to embroider them smoothly. If you embroider flowers, it's best not to embroider big flowers. Small flowers are more beautiful."
Peonies and roses are difficult to embroider as the flowers are generally very large. However, magnolias, pear trees, and plum blossoms are possible.
Until now, Jinniang is still unable to paint flowers without sketching except for peonies. It would be great if she could have time specifically to paint them without sketching.
But now these needleworks are simply unbearable for those who do them. Doing their best is already completing the task, and Jinniang is already considered to be fast.
Fang Qiao Lian said, "I plan to embroider a cat, a dog, an insect, and a fish on the pendant of this handkerchief. In short, I will just embroider it randomly."
When she first started embroidering, the eldest lady gave her some reward money. But this year she had nothing except the monthly salary. And according to Madam Chen, the embroidery work for newlyweds in her family was three to five times that of other families.
Seeing Madam Chen coming in with a plaster on her waist, she said, "You young people are the best. My waist is really not good. It hurts too much. I even fell when I got up at night. But I can't stop."
Jinniang stood up and helped her sit down: "Mrs. Chen, we embroider a lot, but the wages are so low. I heard yesterday that people who kill chickens for others can earn 300 coins a day."
When she was young, she thought one or two taels of silver was a lot of money. Now, after living in Bianjing for a long time, she gradually understood the wages of people in Bianjing. Just like her cousin who makes glutinous rice, she usually changes the soup and pours wine for the customers. She looks like a waiter, but they also promote drinks and dishes, and they get corresponding commissions.
Her sister made braised glutinous rice in Panlou, the largest restaurant in Bianjing. During the Chinese New Year, she met her third uncle's family at Rong's house. Although they also boasted, their income should not be much different. A braised glutinous rice chef who made above average income could even earn more than 20 strings of cash a month. Although I may not be able to do it now that I’m older, the money I earned when I was young is enough to last me for the rest of my life.
And she was still getting paid one or two taels of silver a week, working from morning to night.
In fact, she used to think that one or two taels were a lot, but now she feels more and more that she is inadequate.
Compared to Jinniang, who reflects on herself and improves herself when she sees others living well, Qin Shuang'er obviously wants to go astray. She has less than half a year left and she is already sixteen years old.
The current atmosphere in the sewing room makes Si'er feel a little uneasy. Sister Jinniang used to teach her, but now she doesn't have the time. She has to draw the patterns by herself. After drawing, she has to separate the threads and choose the threads. It takes her a long time to find silk threads of similar colors.
Even when the third young master of the mansion got engaged, they were not allowed to rest.
The third young master is the only son of the third room. He is seventeen years old this year and looks very upright. Xi controls her son very strictly and does not even allow him to stay in the room.
Sometimes when Lan Xue gossiped, she would say, "The Third Madam is very strict with the Third Young Master, but there's nothing she can do about it. The Third Master is such a person, and the Third Madam only has this son to look up to. How can she not be strict? Fortunately, the Third Young Master is also well educated."
"I heard that the bride is also the daughter of an official family. She values the third young master's knowledge very much. People in the third room said that the third lady pawned things everywhere to raise money for the betrothal gift." Jinniang also had her own news.
Sister Hu and Yunlan, who was beside the second wife, Mrs. Wu, were well-informed.
While they were saying this, they didn't notice that Qin Shuang'er had heard it. She was now in the best period of her life with a beautiful and charming figure, and her network of contacts was actually wider than Jinniang's.
Since she couldn't get through to the second young master, she had to turn to the third young master. This time she was determined to go all out.
When the Third Young Master felt tired of studying every day, he would rest in the bamboo forest behind the Second Young Master's garden. She had saved nearly fifty strings of cash in the past few years, and she resolutely took out ten strings of cash to prepare for some activities.
On this day, the weather started to get hot. Jinniang complained, "In previous years, we would occasionally send some ice to our place, but now there is nothing."
Fang Qiao Lian sighed and shook her head: "That's because they don't want to pay for us. However, the most important thing is that the eldest daughter is getting married and the second daughter is also preparing for her dowry. After these two marriages, although their family is not poor, it is definitely not as poor as before."
But Qin Shuang'er stood up and stretched her neck, and couldn't help saying, "I drank too much water, I'm going out to get some fresh air, I have prickly heat all over my body."
Jinniang and Fang Qiaolian did not suspect her because they were hot and tired and could not care about her.
Qin Shuang'er went out like this, and Jinniang said to Fang Qiaolian: "Let's order some 'Lactose Real Snow'. I can't stand it if I don't eat something cold."
"Okay, let Third Brother Kuang help us call them, I'll go." Fang Qiao Lian is Kuang's mother's goddaughter and is also cheaper.
The so-called "real lactose snow" is ice cubes made with rock honey, milk and yogurt, which is similar to modern cream ice cream. Jinniang quickly counted out eight pieces for her.
However, in the bamboo forest, the young man saw a beautiful maid. The maid accidentally spilled a cup of tea on herself. She looked so pitiful that she even said that her family was poor and she would be doomed if she was kicked out.
The boy has been suppressed for a long time, and the girl wants to get close to him. As the saying goes, when golden wind and jade dew meet, it is better than countless things in the world.
At the last moment, the girl showed her face. It was Qin Shuang'er. Tears were flowing from her eyes. She finally succeeded.
The bamboo forest blocked out the sun and it seemed as if nothing could be heard, except for the boy outside who was keeping watch and was carrying a bundle containing ten strings of cash.
In the same bamboo forest, Yanhong's parents handed her a release deed and said, "Child, go ahead. We will get your release deed from the lady. You don't have to come back in the future."
Yanhong's parents wanted to go south to find a doctor to save Yanhong because her madness was not cured, so they asked Jiang to release the contract so that they could get the certificate. In this way, they got Yanhong's documents. These days, the couple also found a good marriage for Yanhong. The man was a small businessman and was an honest man. He and Yanhong liked each other very much and felt that he was marrying up to her level.
"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry for bringing trouble to you." Yanhong knelt down and kowtowed, and her husband also knelt down and kowtowed.
Her parents smiled and said, "We originally wanted to wait until you were old enough to ask the Madam to release your indenture so that we could live a good life in the future. Now there is nothing we can do about it. You and your wife should live a good life in the future."
Yanhong nodded heavily and was pulled away by her husband. As she walked through the bamboo forest, she recalled the pain of losing her child, and now it was like a new life.
As the saying goes, some people resign from their official positions and return to their hometowns, while others rush to take the imperial examinations at night. Young people do not know the taste of sorrow, but old people know how difficult the journey is.
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