Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Two chapters merged into one
The matter of Shao Shengping was just a small episode for Jinniang and also for the Wei family, and they didn't take it to heart. Because for the Wei family, the most important thing is to make money.
"Mom, how much did you sell today?" Jinniang asked.
Luo Yu'e said weakly, "It's only two or three hundred coins. Don't you know that your father and I just made rice wine and fried cakes? Business was good for a few days, and the shop across the street immediately made the same thing as us. How can there be such a person in the world who does the same thing as others?"
Jinniang had no choice but to comfort her, "At least you and Dad have learned how to make fried dough cakes in this shop now. You can find a better shop in a few months."
Doing business is really not easy. People like her parents who have skills find it difficult to gain a foothold in Bian Jing. The tastes and climates in the north and south are different, and the capital is limited. It is not easy to make a name for yourself.
Luo Yu'e actually knew that her daughter was a person with a bad temper and was very opinionated, but she was also very persistent in doing things. Even she and her husband would easily become discouraged, but her daughter was always very patient.
Her daughter is like this, what else can she say? He also clenched his fist: "Well, your father and I can hold on for one day at a time. After all, your brother and the family can still make ends meet."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Tomorrow is a day off, why don't we go take a bath in the fragrant springs."
The so-called fragrant bath is a bath. My parents were a little shy before and only said they would go there during the Chinese New Year. They were unwilling to spend money on it, but Jinniang would definitely go there during the ten-day break. After taking a bath and washing her hair, she would feel fragrant all over her body, which was also a kind of relaxation.
Luo did not wash as usual, but wanted to accompany her daughter: "Mother will accompany you to wash nearby. Don't forget to bring the soap ball and handkerchief with you, in case you forget to buy them later."
Most of the people who go to the bathhouse are men, and the women's bath is two cents more expensive than the men's bath, which is simply the pink tax of the Song Dynasty.
But when the mother and daughter were leaving, they ran into the third aunt, who was carrying a bag of fruit back home. When she saw Jinniang and her daughter, she felt reluctant to leave and said, "Jinniang, take two fruits and have them."
"No need, thank you, Third Aunt. I still have to go to the bathhouse." Jinniang knew that Third Aunt was thrifty on the surface. She liked to buy rotten fruits and eat leftover food. Once, for fear of wasting firewood, she served the beans before they were cooked, which poisoned everyone in the family and made them vomit and have diarrhea.
Seeing that the mother and daughter didn't want anything, the third aunt chased after them and said, "I heard that a scholar named Shao came to visit us before? This is a good thing."
Of course Jinniang knew what she meant. She thought she was fat and ugly, and it was good enough that someone wanted her, so why did she drive the person away? Luo Yu'e, however, had a violent temper and was always very protective of her daughter. She only said, "How is the money for the third girl's house going? Are you and your wife really not going to give anything?"
After hearing this, the third aunt was speechless for a moment and ran away.
Seeing her running away, the mother and daughter looked at each other and laughed. However, Luo Yu'e also did some calculations: "Shao Xiucai's elementary school has only ten students. He said he earns three strings of cash a month, but it's actually much less than that. I thought about it and it's really not appropriate. You're right to disagree."
Jinniang hugged her mother's arm and said, "I know you are also anxious. In two months, my daughter will be sixteen. All the cousins in the family are married or engaged, but my daughter is the only one who has not caught a cold. But my daughter wants to get married, which is a lifelong thing. We have to ask all the families and weigh the price for a ten-cent bath. How can we be so careless about a lifelong thing? If she doesn't live well, wouldn't it be in vain that you and your father have paid for her education and raised her for so many years?"
"Yes." Luo Yu'e also sighed.
When buying a few side dishes, they would argue over a penny until their faces turn red, but when it comes to marriage, they just want to get together with all the unmarried men and women of the same age?
She went there early in the morning and washed her whole body comfortably. She felt like she had lost a few pounds. She dried her wet hair, wrapped it in a headscarf and walked back home.
But I didn't expect that after I entered the house and had just taken a few sips of water, I saw the servants of the Feng family coming to report the good news, saying that my eldest sister Rong Niang was pregnant.
"So fast..." Jinniang almost spit out water.
Luo Yu'e said with a smile: "Why are you, an unmarried girl, saying this? In fact, it's not that fast. Lin Ge'er is almost two years old. It's just right to be pregnant with this."
Jinniang scratched her head: "Yes, I feel that time flies by so fast after I go home. I feel that my brother-in-law is often not at home, and the child is still so young. If I give birth to another one, will I have the time to take care of him?"
"Having many children brings good fortune. Your brother-in-law is rich, so he can just buy two servants when the time comes." Luo Yu'e didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Jinniang nodded: "That's right, rich people have someone to help take care of the children, so it's much easier for them."
When their hair was dry, Third Aunt and Yingniang came over and asked them to go visit the Feng family together. Of course, this was to ride on the donkey cart of Jinniang's family. Jinniang discussed with her mother, "Mom, I still have a bag of dates and a bag of snacks that I didn't use yesterday. Just take them. You don't need to buy more."
"No, you kid don't know that pregnant women need to eat eggs. I'll take a few eggs out of the rice jar." Luo Yu'e hurried to the kitchen to get eggs.
At this time, Third Auntie was also very anxious, and hurriedly said, "Second Sister-in-law, I'll go buy some things and send them over. Please wait for me for a while."
Jinniang took a look at her and realized that her third aunt and Yingniang and her daughter were planning to come empty-handed.
There were only Yingniang and her in the main room. The relationship between Jinniang and Yingniang was just acceptable on the surface. Yingniang looked better than her mother in terms of appearance, but she didn't expect that she also cared about her own lifelong affairs.
"Second sister, you are sixteen too, right?" she asked.
Jinniang nodded: "I'll be sixteen soon."
"We still have to find a family. It's time to find one." Yingniang didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said.
Jinniang didn't understand why some people always meddle in other people's family affairs. She said without even raising her head, "Alright, alright, just take care of your own business. Why do you always meddle in other people's affairs?"
Yingniang took a sip of tea and said, "I just felt inspired to say this."
"Do you know why some people live to be ninety-nine? It's because they mind their own business." Jinniang taunted her, and when she saw that she stopped talking, she stood up and went to look at her mother.
I will never waste time on internal issues. Jinniang, no matter what you say, I will definitely refute it. I won't even take your words to heart. I will always move towards my own goal.
After waiting for her mother to come out, she waited for her third aunt for a long time before the whole family went over together.
Rong Niang didn't expect that she would get pregnant so soon, and it felt a little unreal. She and Feng Sheng had a very good relationship. One reason was that she didn't love money very much. Until now, she had never taken care of the money in the family. Every time Feng Sheng gave her money, she didn't want it, because after she took it, Feng Sheng would definitely ask her how she saved it. The second is that their sexual life is very harmonious.
Her advantage is that she is beautiful.
But after getting pregnant, she was always worried about developing spots and gaining weight.
But when facing relatives who came to visit her, Rong Niang smiled again. She knew that the life she was living now was something many people longed for.
Jinniang listened to her mother and the others talking and showing concern, so she sat beside them and drank tea. Yingniang, who had just been taunted by Jinniang, now hugged Lin Ge'er to show her closeness, and even deliberately said, "Lin Ge'er is a little guy, but he is so fun. It seems that he has liked beautiful people hugging him since he was a child."
"Haha~" Jinniang laughed so hard that tears came out. This was why she really didn't want to play tricks on these relatives at home. It was too funny, their methods were too crude, and their minds were too simple.
Luo Yu'e heard her daughter laughing, but she didn't understand why. When they got home, Jinniang told her about it. She said, "Your third aunt and her daughter did this because they were afraid of the saying 'If the barley doesn't turn yellow, the wheat will turn yellow'."
Jinniang was so smart that she understood it immediately: "So that's it."
The meaning of "Da Mai Bu Huang Xiao Mi Huang" is that the younger sister is married before the elder sister, because the younger sister is afraid that others will talk about her being in a hurry to get married and that the marriage may not be harmonious.
"We've already separated, but they still care so much." Jinniang was speechless.
Luo Yu'e said: "That's right, our Jinniang must find a husband of her dreams no matter what."
Probably because of Shao Shengping's incident, Luo Yu'e was not so anxious anymore. She thought her daughter had to find someone who was good in all aspects. Besides, she had to pay attention to their business and didn't have that much time.
Jinniang began to make spring clothes. You have to know that there is the Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival in April, and the ladies have to go out for an outing. Of course they have to buy clothes when they are competing for beauty. There is even the Dragon Boat Festival in May, so she has to make some five-poison sachets and five-thread ropes.
The imagination is beautiful, but she has to work in the Wenxiu Academy during the day and only has time to work at night, so it takes about half a month to make a set of clothes.
This spring dress is made of yellow and green, which Jinniang thinks is very suitable for April. She chose a light green bamboo pattern for her bodice, and a light yellow silk for the outside. As for the collar, it is embroidered with crabapple butterflies. The light yellow and dark yellow butterflies are matched with madder red crabapple flowers, which look like buds about to bloom.
As for the skirt, it is a light yellow color similar to the jacket, but the fabric is not gauze, but jacquard yarn.
This set took a lot of thought. Jinniang hoped that she would be satisfied with eight strings of coins, but she didn't expect that this set would earn her more than ten strings of coins at Jinxiu Pavilion.
Jinxiu Pavilion got half of the money. If I could ever have my own shop like the people in Xiuxiang, that would be twenty strings of cash.
This month's total is thirteen strings of cash. If one string is used for daily expenses, twelve strings of cash can be saved, which is actually the annual salary of the Zhou family. Moreover, now at home, you don’t have to exchange money into coins and pay handling fees, you can just save it all.
After May, the weather started to get warmer, and Jinniang no longer needed her father to send her there. She could just get up early and walk there every day.
As soon as she entered the Wenxiu Courtyard, she saw Zou Yue'e giving her some hawthorn sticks. Jinniang took a bite and smiled: "Where did you buy the hawthorn sticks? They taste good."
Zou Yue'e said, "I bought it next to Jinming Pond. My sister was selling flowers there."
Jinniang had heard about Zou Yue'e's sister's relationship with Jiaxuan, and she often went there to sell flowers to tourists when they were out.
"I don't have time to go to Jinmingchi recently." Jinniang said and began to wait for Gu Xiutou to make arrangements.
Among the five people who came in, Jinniang was the one who came in later. She was not as specialized as the others, but she did her work quickly and concisely, and she even knew how to cut. This was different from Zou Yue'e and Xu Sanjie, who knew how to embroider but were surprisingly poor at cutting.
This is also the reason why they don't make extra money like themselves.
As expected, what she was going to make today was something suitable for the Dragon Boat Festival, but it was to embroider a little tiger on the pomegranate skirt. Jinniang first drew the pattern, then pricked the needle, and directly selected the silk thread for embroidery. They would collect all the patterns in the Wenxiu Academy, but Jinniang would quickly draw one and take it back.
Gu Xiutou instructed Jinniang, "You need to make this little gold-sprinkled tiger on the top. Draw a small one first, and then have the official make it."
Originally, they all learned gilding and gold sprinkling together, but if they didn't do it well every time, they had to pay for it themselves. Jinniang simply bought gold powder and practiced at home, and she succeeded in one go. The others were afraid of having their money deducted, so naturally the task of gilding and gold sprinkling was given to her.
But Jinniang didn't think there was anything wrong with them, because everyone in the Wenxiu Academy had a fixed salary, unlike the Zhou family, where they got bonuses if they worked more, and less money if they worked less.
Without any extra rewards, everyone would leave at the appointed time and no one was willing to do more.
Jinniang smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will start painting now."
Only by doing everything repeatedly and doing it more often can we accumulate small things into large ones and cause qualitative changes from quantitative changes. Jinniang doesn't know how other people are doing, but she is now able to draw by just covering her face with paper, instead of just looking at the person next to her. This may not matter to others, but for her, it is a huge improvement.
Jinniang painted slowly, but ended up not doing much embroidery. In the evening she had to go home and copy the little tiger she had drawn in her own sketchbook, so she didn't have much time for needlework.
She stretched herself and went to bed to rest in her slippers.
She was so busy that she went to bed in the middle of the night. Jinniang's parents got up in the middle of the night and went to the store. It was the same for those who made breakfast. They had to get up when the rooster crowed. Luo Yu'e told her husband, "Keep your voice down, don't disturb them."
"I know." Wei Xiong grunted as he carried the meat filling and dough onto the donkey cart.
Every day, her daughter got up early to send her son to school before she went to Wenxiuyuan. Luo Yu'e couldn't help saying, "Let's buy a chicken today to nourish our daughter. She goes to bed late every day."
Of course Wei Xiong has no objection.
However, her daughter had not yet eaten the chicken soup she had prepared. When Rong Niang came over with her stomach full, Luo Yu'e served her a bowl. For Rong Niang, her family is living a good life now, so she naturally doesn't think a bowl of chicken soup is a big deal. She even feels that she is doing business with Jin Niang.
"Second aunt, I have some cloth here, and I would like to ask Jinniang to make a set of clothes for me. This is the payment." Normally, she would ask a tailor to make clothes for her, and five hundred coins would be enough. But she was still doing business with Jinniang for one hundred coins.
Luo Yu'e didn't dare to make the decision for her daughter, she just said: "I have to ask her first to see if she has time to do it."
Rong Niang still felt strange, "I'm not in a hurry, I just want to do this business with her."
"It's not that. It's that Jinniang is working in Jinxiu Pavilion now. She is very busy. I don't know if she has any work." Luo Yu'e also told the truth.
Rong Niang opened her eyes wide and asked: "How much is Sister Jinniang's monthly salary now?"
Luo Yu'e smiled and said, "About a dozen strings of cash a month. It wasn't that much at the beginning, but now it's added with the monthly salary."
Jinniang actually earns more than ten strings of coins a month? Somehow she felt a little flustered.
When she went to her third uncle's house again, her third uncle saw that it was her who came, so he bought fish and meat and treated her to a good meal. During the meal, her third aunt also said that her third sister now earns more than 20 strings of cash a month.
Yingniang said: "We finally got our house. I have to pay a lot of money every month. Fortunately, it is all in my name."
Rong Niang thought that Ying Niang was really greedy. Not only did she use all the money from the sale of her fiancé's land to make some money, she also put her own name on it. Although she was paying the money back herself now, it was too unfair.
Especially her third aunt, her smug look and the way she danced with joy made her feel uncomfortable.
So when she went back, she told Feng Sheng about this situation. Feng Sheng was a little surprised: "Jinniang has more than ten strings of cash per month now?"
"Of course not. Second aunt wouldn't lie. I didn't expect it's been so long. When she was a maid in someone else's family, she only earned one or two taels a month, and she was still happy." Rong Niang found it unbelievable.
Yingniang is fine, although she can make money, but in order to get people to buy some medicine, she has to buy gifts for them, and she has to be so servile and pay so many favors. She is often scolded for not completing her tasks. Although she can make money, not everyone can do it. Many people can't stand it after a few days and would rather do hard labor.
But Jinniang walked very steadily.
Feng Sheng asked his wife again: "How does Jinniang work on a daily basis?"
"He can read and write, but he has a bit of a stubborn temper and is a bit stubborn." Rong Niang felt that what she said was fair.
Feng Sheng then had an idea in his mind.
But when Jinniang came back, she heard what Luo Yu'e said and hurriedly shook her head: "Mother, I still have to paint today. Besides, it's a waste of time if I don't get enough money. Let my elder sister find another tailor."
Relatives should not share money, as sharing money together will easily create resentment.
You made clothes for her, which was clearly a bargain for her, and she even thought you made a lot of money from her. If you didn't do it, you would just get a reputation of not doing it, but if you did, there would be a lot of trouble in the future.
Luo Yu'e used to make decisions for her daughter, but now her daughter is very independent and she and her husband usually rely on her daughter, so she naturally agreed. Jinniang also discovered that her parents had a different attitude towards her. It was true that the economic base determined the superstructure. Her parents saw that she was making a lot of money and her status had also risen.
This doesn't mean that your parents are flattering you, but if you can make money, it means you are a capable person.
"Since you say so, I will return the material tomorrow." Luo Yu'e said.
Jinniang asked, "What are you going to say then?"
"Just tell it like it is."
"That's not good. You just said that the Wenxiu Court is busy recently, and I have to work hard even at night, so I can't do it. Even if she knows it, at least there is a reason." Jinniang said.
In the past, Jinniang also loved to quarrel with people, but later she felt that it was better not to quarrel with others, since everyone knew what was going on. Unless you never have any contact with each other for the rest of your life, it will be awkward if you do.
The next day, Luo Yu'e went to Rong Niang and told her everything that Jin Niang had taught her. She originally thought that Rong Niang would be angry, but unexpectedly, not only was she not angry, she also said that she would cook a few dishes and treat them to a meal on Jin Niang's day off, saying that she wanted to thank everyone for the food they sent her when she was pregnant last time.
It took Jinniang three days to embroider the little tiger skirt, and then Meng Liniang came over. It is very strange to say that the relationship between people is very strange. Zou Yue'e had a good relationship with her at first, but it was difficult for the two of them to open up to each other. She and Meng Liniang only knew each other and talked occasionally, but they had a deep friendship.
Meng Li'niang is a passionate person. She is a very nice person, but she is a little lovesick.
Just like she said now: "He is a native of Tokyo, with an older sister and a younger sister, and they own a house and a shop. But her family doesn't seem to like me very much, and her younger sister acts as if she doesn't see me when she sees me."
The man ran a soy sauce shop, and Meng Li'niang met him when she was helping her sister's family sell soy sauce. The two fell in love at first sight.
In fact, Meng Li's parents were also small merchants in the suburbs. Although she was not as wealthy as the boys, she was not a poor girl. She even knew a few words and could play the pipa. Her family also wanted to sell their daughter for a good price, but Meng Li Niang flirted with the young master of the soy sauce shop.
Jinniang said, "You are good at sewing and can read. If you can make money, even if you marry him in the future, you can still make a living without relying on him. Our daughter can only be established as a female household if all her elder relatives are gone. Otherwise, we don't have private property on weekdays. We can only have private property in the name of dowry."
The Song Dynasty was more protective of women's private property than other dynasties. I think the Meng family would not give their daughter much dowry. If Meng Li'niang had a generous dowry herself, the man's family would surely not despise it. Beauty certainly plays a role, but people in the world are all the same. They follow what is beneficial and there are no major exceptions.
Meng Li Niang glanced at Jin Niang and said, "I work here during the day, and I have to do housework at my sister's place at night. How can I have the time?"
In fact, she felt that the three strings of cash she could earn was already a lot. She had to make a few more sets of clothes for herself on weekdays, and she also had to do some housework when she lived with her sister and brother-in-law for free. She was exhausted all day long.
It's enough for friends to talk to this extent.
Little did she know that because Jinniang advised others to increase their dowries so that they would have a better life in the future, she was secretly being looked up to because of her ability to make money. On this day, Xunxiu went to Rongniang's house and saw a little boy in the courtyard. Jinniang didn't have much patience for children and just ignored him. It was Rong Niang who held her belly and said, "Jin Niang, you can play with the children. The other one is the son of your brother-in-law's colleague."
"Then let them come in and play Nine Rings." Jinniang can only rest once every ten days, and she is not here to take care of the children.
As expected, after entering, she saw her brother-in-law Feng Sheng talking to a man in his thirties. The man had a square face, medium height, and wore a headscarf. He looked at her. Jinniang felt puzzled and went into the inner room.
Feng Sheng smiled and invited the man to have tea. He thought to himself that although the man was in his thirties and had lost his wife, his monthly salary was about the same as his own. Although he had a son, if he had everything good, he would not have looked for Jinniang. Although Jinniang is a little fat, she is in her prime. Based on her earning ability, she can probably save up three to five hundred strings of cash for her dowry when she gets married, which is considered generous.
This man is much richer than the one Shao Xiucai sent a matchmaker to before. This is truly a top-notch marriage.
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