Chapter 46 Chapter 46 Two chapters merged into one
As Grandma Wei said this, Luo Yu'e looked at her husband nervously. She was afraid that her husband would make a fuss and ask to go over, but she couldn't stop her husband from saving his brother.
At this time, Jinniang said, "Grandma, where is Sheng Ge'er? And why is the third brother-in-law nowhere to be seen? At least ask them to come over to discuss it."
Grandma Wei's moral kidnapping has been successful for many years. She once said that Uncle San had no house to live in, so she openly set aside a house that Dad bought in his hometown for them to live in. As they lived there for a while, they took it for granted that it was theirs. Before, my third uncle needed manpower for his business, so he called all my grandparents to help, and did not let the two elders help from their own family. He also said that he would be responsible for the support and funeral of the two elders.
However, when her grandfather died, it was her father who sent her away.
Therefore, she had to remind her parents that the third sister of her third uncle's family was only one year younger than her, and Sheng Ge'er was already fifteen or sixteen years old. Other people had sons and daughters but they didn't stand out, so she let her father stand out. If this is fake, Dad will definitely be trapped in it.
As expected, when Grandma Wei heard this, she said, "They are so young, what do they know?"
Jinniang said, "I think the blood is still fresh, so the person should be nearby. Grandma, call my third brother-in-law and Sheng Ge'er, and let's go to the nearby military patrol station to report the case."
Fortunately, last time she was asked to go on a blind date with a patrol soldier, Jinniang went to find out more about him, and now it comes in handy.
Grandma Wei was at a loss for a moment and immediately went back to call for help. Jinniang said to her father, "Dad, don't be so foolish to go. Third Uncle is playing alchemy with others. Who knows, they might detain him and deliberately let you go too. Then they will torture you as well. Take out the money you were going to return to Third Uncle. We can take this opportunity to return it to them."
Fortunately, Jinniang responded quickly. Luo Yu'e was originally very anxious, but after hearing what Jinniang said, she immediately agreed. She secretly admired her daughter in her heart. Everything was a trivial matter to her.
At the same time, Jinniang asked Wei Xiong, "Dad, do you know what you are going to say to the military patrol officers when you meet them later?"
Wei Xiong nodded: "I said that your third uncle was with the alchemists, so it must have been done by that group of people."
"No, now you don't know who did it, so you can't give wrong guidance. Unless someone asks you, you should tell the truth that your grandmother came to you and said that your third uncle's nails had been pulled out, and asked his family to redeem him. You should give the twenty-five strings of cash to your third brother-in-law or Sheng Ge'er in front of others, and then ask them to report to his family if they find your third uncle in the future." Jinniang said.
Wei Xiong didn't quite understand what she meant, so Luo Yu'e scolded him, "Haven't you figured it out yet? Yingniang's father is already like this, and she and her brother don't care. They're just waiting for you to step up. You can afford a big house worth nearly two thousand taels, but now you don't step up to redeem her. It's our business to get her grandma to come here."
Having said that, Luo Yu'e hurriedly took out the money. This money was originally intended to be returned to them, and giving it to them at this time was just the right time.
Soon, Yingniang and Shengge'er came over, and Wei Xiong stood up to take them over, but Yingniang said, "Second uncle, we leave everything to you."
Wei Xiong frowned, obviously he also realized that the third room was blaming him for all the bad things.
"You should all go. You are Uncle San's children, so you must know more." Jinniang immediately interrupted.
Luo Yu'e also joined in.
Only then did Yingniang say to her fiancé: "Anping, you go with your uncle."
Jinniang thought to herself that when your own father got into trouble, you only let your fiancé go and didn't go yourself. You are quite talented. Fortunately, Wei Xiong, Anping and Sheng Ge'er went there together. Wei Xiong also followed Jinniang's instructions and gave the silver to Sheng Ge'er in front of everyone.
If the money is not kept out of the open, it is wasted.
However, when my third uncle and aunt were found, nothing had happened to them. The people who had kidnapped them were just trying to defraud them of money. By the time the yamen runners found them, they had already run away without a trace.
Jinniang didn't know exactly how much money Third Uncle had lost, but she knew very well that Third Uncle was a smart man and had even recruited Aunt and the others to work with him, so he shouldn't have suffered any major damage.
Jinniang also went to visit with her parents once. They used to only make steamed buns and steamed buns in the morning, but now they sell them in the afternoon and evening. They are very busy.
My third uncle and aunt only lost some money, but my uncle's leg was broken when he was escaping, and his family sent two hens over.
All the little things at home make Jinniang feel that people are strong when they have no desires. Being too greedy will lead to trouble. Don't even dream of getting something for nothing.
Luo Yu'e said to Jinniang, "Do you think your uncle will change after what happened?"
"No, Third Uncle is the kind of person who wants to take shortcuts. There may be bigger scams waiting for him in the future, and he will still jump." Jinniang remembered that Third Uncle once wanted to get his father to join in, but fortunately his father ran away quickly.
It is easy to change the country but difficult to change one’s nature!
Uncle San is actually quite good at doing business and is willing to study, but he always wants to take shortcuts. He still doesn't own any property. This time he changed the place to do business and bought an old and sick donkey, which can hardly walk far. The price was very reasonable and he bought it for five strings of cash.
If you want to go a little further, you have to borrow a donkey cart from their family.
Third Auntie can't cook, and Grandma Wei's cooking isn't very tasty either, so Third Uncle still cooks at home. He was just asking Sheng Ge'er, "Your Second Uncle has paid back all the money, right?"
Sheng Ge'er was always honest, and nodded, "Yes, at that time, my second uncle took us to report the case, and he gave us the money in front of the sergeant."
"Your second uncle has become quite calculating now. No wonder several of my friends told me that your second uncle is rich now and is asking about your sister Jinniang." The third uncle felt that he saw it very clearly.
The Third Aunt and Ying Niang beside them asked in confusion: "What does this mean?"
Uncle San said, "He originally wanted to pay me back, but he made it seem like he was saving me, and he gained a good reputation for being generous. Originally, all my distant relatives and friends knew that I lent him money."
When my second elder brother was a member of the imperial guards, my relatives didn't even look at me. Now that the second elder brother has fallen on hard times, I have risen on my own, and now he is taking advantage of me.
The third aunt also reacted and said, "The second son has become smarter now? I think it must be your good sister-in-law's idea."
If Third Uncle disliked Wei Xiong, Third Aunt hated Second Sister-in-law Luo Yu'e even more. Luo Yu'e's life was much better than hers. Wei Xiong was usually honest, but he would speak up for his wife in big matters and even helped Luo Yu'e quarrel with her parents-in-law. And this man in her family, in order to get free labor, never stood up to help her when she had disputes with her mother-in-law many times.
Even her own daughter, because she was raised by Grandma Wei, was not as close to her as Luo Yu'e's daughter, where the mother and daughter were as close as one.
Fortunately, her daughter's marriage went much more smoothly, which made her very happy.
**
Jinniang has finally received her monthly salary after serving as embroidery head for a month. After Jinxiu Pavilion closed, she no longer had any extra income here. Fortunately, she has received six strings of cash now, and she can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But Xu Sanjie only received a little over two strings of silver per month, so she immediately came to Jinniang and asked, "Why is my rice grain less than before?"
Jinniang said, "Wait a moment, I'll help you check it out."
She actually knew the situation, but she still showed her the evidence: "Look, you left an hour early for twenty days this month, and the supervisor noted it. In addition, you did not complete the quota of clothes that we embroiderers are required to complete every month, and you took two days off."
Third Sister Xu stroked her belly and said, "But I'm pregnant? I'm pregnant, aren't you aware of that? I left early because I was not feeling well due to pregnancy. If it wasn't for health reasons, I would have been willing to stay and do it. It wasn't like this before when Gu Xiutou was here."
"Third sister, you misunderstood me. You also said that I am a newcomer, so I can only remember it honestly. It is not me who is giving you money. If I were to give you money, I would have no problem giving you all of it. However, you are right. Since you are pregnant, it depends on what Du Xiutou says. How about this, let's go find Du Xiutou together, and you tell her about your situation. If she can understand, then you don't have to work so hard." Jinniang said.
I sympathize with your pregnancy, but there should be a rule for everything.
Sure enough, when she heard that she was going to see Du Xiutou, Third Sister Xu glared at Jinniang and said, "Why are you looking for Du Xiutou for such a small matter?"
"I don't dare to act on my own." Jinniang said.
Third Sister Xu only wanted others to cover up for her. If they didn't cover up for her, it would be considered as being inconsiderate and bullying her. She never thought that if Jinniang was found out while sitting in this position, she would be charged with harboring someone, and she would not be able to stay here at all.
"You don't dare to act on your own. If something happens to my stomach, can I come to you for help?" Third Sister Xu felt that Jinniang was really unkind. Jinniang really wasn't someone who grew up under threats: "If you say so, we can only go to Du Xiutou, otherwise you will blame others for everything. I just did what I should do. We should go to Du Xiutou to discuss how to deal with your situation, instead of blaming others for not covering up for you?"
When she stood up like this, Third Sister Xu suddenly felt very angry. In order to prevent her from going to Du Xiutou and saying something wrong, Jinniang took the paper and went to look for someone.
Seeing Zou Yue'e still embroidering, Third Sister Xu couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you pregnant too? Why aren't you talking?"
"I'm fine. I don't feel any discomfort." Zou Yue'e lowered her head.
Zhu Tingfang on the side couldn't help but curl her lips, and felt that Jinniang was really smart, and she could really learn a lot from her. The previous head embroidery worker, Gu, liked to be a good person, so he always covered up the matter. When the Wenxiuyuan could not do the work, he had to outsource it to the craftsmen and nuns in Xiuxiang, and his annual New Year's reward money was deducted.
Now that Jinniang has followed all the rules and arranged the staff properly, we finally don’t have to outsource the clothes for the Winter Solstice and New Year this year, and everyone will definitely give us some tips.
At this time, Jinniang was explaining the situation to Du Xiutou: "This is the situation. Let's see what you have to say."
Du Xiutou said, "We have actually already made allowances for this. Otherwise, how could she still have more than two guan of salary per month? What do you think?"
Of course, Jinniang would not take the blame at this time, so she smiled and said, "I have no choice. It depends on what you do. Otherwise, you can just pay the money as usual."
Du Xiutou waved his hand and said, "Let me discuss it."
Jinniang retreated respectfully.
She knew very well that some of the old embroiderers used to receive year-end bonuses before Gu Xiutou took office. However, after Gu Xiutou took office, because one-third of the people in the flower and bird room were wasted every year, the money from this room had to be used to find embroiderers from outside to do the work. In this way, just for a few people to praise her for being considerate of her subordinates, more than half of the people lost the money.
The old embroiderer who taught her embroidery last time was like this. She had a sick grandson at home. She was an extremely honest person and never argued about anything. She never complained about the loss of money, and she never complained about the big bag on her hand.
In this world, not everyone who cries will get candy.
Soon, the embroidery head issued an order that people like Third Sister Xu would be given two more days of rest every month, and would be transferred from embroidering clothes to embroidering small items. They could leave one hour earlier every day, but their monthly salary would be two strings of cash, one string less than usual.
Third Sister Xu frowned: "Why do you want to transfer me away?" What she wanted was to do the least work and get the highest monthly salary.
"It does take a lot of effort to embroider a dress," Zhu Tingfang said directly.
She wanted to say something else, but Jinniang came over and said, "This is all I can do."
Third Sister Xu went to the side where small pieces were embroidered reluctantly, but she did feel much more relaxed, and Jinniang no longer paid attention to her. Zou Yue'e on the other side secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She and Xu Sanjie made clothes together. Xu Sanjie often said that she was not feeling well, so she had to do all the work. Fortunately, the current embroidery head took care of this matter.
Winter was approaching, and Jinniang, as the embroiderer, also received 50 kilograms of charcoal. She kept half of it for her embroidery and took the other half back for her family.
When they pulled it back, their third uncle and aunt came over. It turned out that they were there to deliver the wedding invitations.
When the Third Aunt saw Jinniang, she quickly took her hand and said, "Jinniang, don't blame your Third Sister for getting married first."
Jinniang was puzzled: "What's so strange about this?"
The Third Aunt smiled awkwardly, but Luo Yu'e couldn't bear it and said, "It would be better if you set a date. We can go over to have a drink then. We have something to go out now, so we won't entertain you."
After all, the third uncle was smarter than the third aunt, and he said directly to his wife: "Look at what you are saying, Jinniang's craftsmanship is so superb, and she will be able to gain a foothold in the Wenxiu Courtyard in the future. How can Yingniang compare to her?"
Third Aunt laughed: "I said the wrong thing, you all have to come over anyway."
Jinniang shook her head and went into the room. She was holding a piece of kesi cloth and taking notes with a chicken feather pen, first the warp and then the weft. This was a new skill for her and she had to learn it.
The advantage of being the embroiderer is that all patterns are first reviewed by her before being drawn by others. When she first entered the Wenxiu Academy, Jinniang didn't know the clothing system and only felt that it was very complicated. Now she does it every day and has become proficient in it.
She first made notes on kesi, but she felt that what she learned from paper was superficial and she knew that she had to practice it herself to truly understand it. She made a bold decision and directly cut a hole in the brocade on the fire and then sewed it up.
Kesi is made of either gold or silver threads, silk threads, or silk threads twisted from peacock feathers. She happened to have the gold and silver threads used for this kesi silk. She took out the newly bought tool, which was a thin and long steel needle. It was three parts technique and seven parts tool.
She fixed it with a bamboo stretcher, and picked up the warp and threaded the weft in the order of up, down, left and right, using a needle instead of a shuttle to mend the weft. At the raised hole, she first connected it, and then gently flicked it with the needle to make it consistent with the woven surface. The needle must not be skewed or bent when passing through the shuttle, and must remain parallel.
At a place on the right, in order to keep it hanging flat, Jinniang used the method of double shuttle and sewed it vertically.
During this period, she even ate her meals in her room, which made her mother extremely dissatisfied.
Luo Yu'e said: "I thought it would be easier to be an embroidery head, but I didn't expect it to be even busier now."
She is a person with a strong desire for control. She always wants her family to eat together at the table. If someone is not there, she will be unhappy. But she was a person whose temper came and went quickly, so I prepared brown sugar eggs for her at night.
People in Jiangling love to eat boiled eggs, especially those boiled in brown sugar water, which are the most delicious and considered by common people to be the best tonic.
"Mom, just leave it there. I'll eat it later." Jinniang said.
Luo Yu'e sighed, "As the saying goes, sitting for a long time is harmful to the body. You are such a jerk. You don't even eat your meals properly. When you get hungry in the middle of the night, you'll look for snacks. It's better to eat some brown sugar eggs to supplement your body. It's better than those snacks."
Jinniang was embroidering the key part and just nodded, but her hands did not stop.
Luo Yu'e thought that if her daughter were a boy, she would succeed in everything she did, she would not be afraid of loneliness and would be strong. The third son and his wife thought that their daughter would be sad if they mocked her, but they didn't know that their daughter was devoted to making a living and would not care about their clown behavior.
Jinniang was almost done embroidering. When she saw that the piece of brocade had been completely mended, she felt a sense of pride and stood up suddenly.
“I finally finished the embroidery!”
She shouted out with a laugh.
I just heard Mrs. Cai next door couldn't help but say, "Where is this night owl howling?"
Jinniang sat down awkwardly and ate the brown sugar poached egg that had already gone cold. She didn't dare wash her face for fear of getting water on it, and she couldn't sleep all night.
The Flower and Bird Bureau had to finish making the clothes before the winter solstice, so Jinniang began to adjust and distribute the work. She always matched the silk threads with them in advance to avoid wasting time.
"Tingfang, I have cut the cloth and distributed the silk threads. You can send them to Lan Xiu Niang first." She said to Zhu Tingfang.
This way, they can be faster.
Zhu Tingfang smiled and said, "Why do you have to do this? You are an embroidery master. Even if you don't do it, who can say that you haven't done it?"
However, Jinniang felt that she must make sure that the people from the Flower and Bird Bureau received the bounty this year, so that she could convince others. No matter how long she could temporarily take over the position of Embroidery Head, she would be doing her job well anyway.
"You should always do your best. I can't sit still." Jinniang said.
All the clothes were finished before the winter solstice, and she handed them over to Du Xiutou half a day in advance. Du Xiutou patted Jinniang on the shoulder and said, "It seems that Gu Xiutou was right to recommend you to be the embroidery head."
Jinniang said modestly, "This is because you, the embroiderer, treat us well every day. I don't want to think about anything else. I just want to finish the work quickly."
"Well, in our Wenxiu Academy, your Flower and Bird Bureau is the first to submit its gifts this year." Du Xiutou admired Jinniang very much.
To put it bluntly, there are many people with backgrounds and capable bosses in the Wenxiu Academy, but in the end there are people who have to work diligently, and Jinniang is one of them.
Jinniang asked again about the year-end bonus, and Du Xiutou agreed readily.
The bonus at the end of the year is equal to the monthly salary, which is nearly two hundred taels. Previously, this money was used to hire embroiderers from outside, but now they heard that it could be distributed to everyone. All the old and young embroiderers were happy, and Jinniang's prestige was also improved. Only Third Sister Xu was unhappy.
Xu Sanjie's parents are both doctors, her family is well off, and her husband is a clerk, but she is always strong-willed.
Originally, when everyone was an embroiderer, the relationship was equal and there was nothing wrong with it. But later, Jinniang unexpectedly surpassed her, and she began to feel dissatisfied.
"Country girl..." She said with a "Pooh".
In fact, she was able to get in because of connections. She thought it would be difficult to get promoted to embroiderer head and she didn't expect much. Unexpectedly, if any village girl could do it, why couldn't she?
Jinniang had no idea about this. When she returned home, she heard that Yingjie'er's wedding was cancelled.
"Why?" Jinniang didn't understand.
Luo Yu'e said, "Your third uncle and his family asked the man to bring 200 strings of cash as a betrothal gift, but the man said that he paid 160 strings of cash for the house last time and that his family had no more money. Your third uncle refused, so the two families threatened to cancel the marriage."
Jinniang said, "Although the man paid 160 guan, it was Sister Yingniang who paid the most. She hasn't even had a new set of clothes for the New Year in all these years. Sister Yingniang will have to pay back the money for the two-story house worth 2,000 liang in the future. Uncle San always thinks that Sister Sanniang deserves to marry someone better."
The mother and daughter were just analyzing the situation, but Wei Xiong asked anxiously, "Is it really going to be cancelled?"
"No, don't worry." For the sake of that big house, the man will compromise.
Marriage between men and women is mostly based on interests.
At that time, the selection of a man and a woman for marriage was similar to the selection of the male and female protagonists in a TV drama. It didn't matter whether their personalities were compatible or not, as long as their status was similar, the male and female protagonists could become one.
After the winter solstice, everyone felt much more relaxed. Jinniang came in in the morning eating a meat bun. After finishing the bun, she made a bowl of lotus root powder at her seat and yawned comfortably.
Somehow, she saw Third Sister Xu looking at her out of the corner of her eye with a strange look on her face. Jinniang was a little alert, but she didn't know what she wanted to do.
It was afternoon and everyone was feeling drowsy after dinner. Jinniang also yawned a few times. Today is the day before the ten-day holiday, and everyone's minds are wandering outside. Some are thinking of buying a chicken to take home for a snack, some want to go home to reunite with their children, and even Jinniang is just flipping through a book.
Unexpectedly, the embroiderer from Wenxiuyuan came at this time. This embroiderer's status is even higher than the chief embroiderer. It is difficult for her to come here on weekdays, but she came here specially today.
The embroiderer held a tapestry painting in her hand and said, "The Empress Dowager likes this painting of Peony in Spring very much and said she would take it out to hang tomorrow. However, when the palace lady Xun took it out, she found a hole in it, so she specially asked the embroiderer from your Flower and Bird Bureau to repair it. I remember that Miss Zhang embroidered it very well, didn't she?"
The three veteran embroiderers who would repair the kesi in the Flower and Bird Bureau were all in charge. Zhang Xiu Niang was considered a senior figure in charge. However, Jin Niang hesitated and said, "Replying to the embroiderers' paintings, Zhang Xiu Niang went home yesterday on sick leave, and Lan Xiu Niang and Ku Xiu Niang were not on duty today."
Old embroiderers like them are paid very well. While Jinniang and her colleagues have three days off a month, they can have five to six days off. Jinniang arranges their shifts according to when the embroidery supervisor is around, and usually combines the normal ten-day break with their day off, so they can have two days off each time.
Therefore, usually only one experienced old embroiderer is guaranteed to be there every day. Unfortunately, the embroiderer assigned, Zhang, suddenly fell ill. How come the embroiderer chose this day by such a coincidence?
The embroiderer was also very angry: "Why did you let them all take a break? At least there should be someone there. How can you be the deputy embroiderer? If you can't find someone to embroider this, you can't be the embroiderer anymore." After that, he said to the chief embroiderer anxiously: "What should we do?"
The head embroiderer looked at Jinniang with some reproach. Jinniang smiled and said, "Though those old embroiderers are not here, I can give it a try."
"You?" The embroiderer looked at her suspiciously. Restoring kesi silk is not something that an ordinary embroiderer can do. The number of people who can do it in the Wenxiu Academy can be counted on one hand. Wei Jinniang looks so young, she must not be bragging.
Jinniang's eyes were firm: "Yes, I can do it."
The embroiderer's coming here today certainly wasn't without purpose. She just wanted to change the assistant embroiderer and find this excuse to suppress the person. She didn't expect that she could actually do it. When Third Sister Xu saw Jinniang's skillful technique, she was so angry that she almost couldn't breathe. She spent twenty strings of cash to ask her acquaintance to treat the embroiderer to a meal, but it turned out that she was making wedding dresses for others!
Third Sister Xu felt like she was going to faint.
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