Chapter 58 Chapter 58 Two chapters merged into one
On the day of the Lantern Festival, Jinniang sold three pleated skirts, one white silk pleated skirt with gold print, one white silk pleated skirt embroidered with magnolia flowers, and one white silk skirt embroidered with camellia flowers, earning a total of nine strings of cash.
Halfway through the month, I had sold a roll of embroidery, two pairs of raccoon sleeves, twenty pairs of purses, plus the three I just sold, for a total of twenty-four strings of cash. But this was also very tiring, so for the first time that day she did not embroider at night and prepared to take a rest.
Unexpectedly, at this time Chen Xiaolang went upstairs and called Aying over, saying that Liu Douer had specially sent a lamp.
Liu Dou'er is Jiang Xian's servant. This gift was definitely not sent by the Jiang family, but was Jiang Xian's own idea. The golden fish scales matched with the red candlelight actually give off a sense of the rare peaceful times.
"So beautiful." Jinniang said with a smile.
It is very rare for her to appreciate something specifically because of the pressure of life and she always feels like she can't stop.
When Aying saw Jinniang with her hair loose and her face only the size of a palm, staring at the lamp in a daze, she felt a little sad for some reason. In the Wei family, the girl worries about everything. Although she earns more, she works harder than any of them. But even when she is tired, she never loses her temper and is always reasonable.
This year, the embroidery workshop has a lot of repeat customers, and most of the business is supported by her alone. She can understand customers' needs the fastest and make clothes that meet their expectations, and she does it quickly and well, never slacking off.
Her happiest time is when she reads a book when there are no customers. But don't think she is weak. In fact, Aying found that Wei's father looked honest, but was actually a little confused and stubborn. Wei's mother was particularly emotional. Both of them were suppressed by the girl. Not only her parents, but also many difficult customers and colleagues might not be her opponents.
But now, the way she looked at the lamp seemed so innocent.
At this time, Jiang Xian was in Fan Tower, competing with others in poetry. When he saw Liu Doer coming back, he nodded slightly and continued writing poetry.
Perhaps it was because of the lovely lamp that Jinniang slept soundly. When she woke up in the morning, she didn't feel any pain in her body at all. Jinniang stretched, stood up and began to wash and prepare for work. Little did she know that she would meet an uninvited guest as soon as she opened the door.
"Madam Wei, why did you say you didn't want to sell any clothes when I sent my maid to buy them yesterday?" A tall young lady came in.
She was dressed very fashionably, with her hair combed into a neat cloud-shaped bun on her forehead. She was a beauty when she looked around. However, this beauty had done trouble a few times. Every time she ordered a dress and paid for it, she would return it within two days and ask for a refund. It was obvious that she was getting the clothes for free, so Jinniang was of course unwilling to make clothes for her.
So he said with a smile: "We made clothes for you three times, and you returned them three times. Don't you know that you wore these three returned clothes again? No one would buy them, right? I have already lost money on several clothes, how dare I sell them to you?"
Some people who are thick-skinned need to make their words clear.
After hearing this, Madam Fu said unreasonably, "You opened this shop to do business. If I try it and am not satisfied, I can return it. Isn't that what you said? Otherwise, I will report it to your boss."
"Then go ahead and sue me. No one can be intimidated. I am a girl who can afford to open a shop in Kaifeng, and I am not intimidated. Blocking someone's money is like killing their parents. If you want to act tough with me, you should think twice. Ah Ying, call Gao, the shop owner of the military patrol shop, and call a few shop assistants over." Jinniang slammed the table and glared at her.
After hearing this, the female scammer who was taking advantage of others would quickly run away.
Ah Ying went out and put her hands on her hips and cursed a few more times. When she came back, she couldn't help but say, "How could there be such a female liar? She even had the nerve to tell the head of the guild. We should tell the head of the guild and ask everyone to stop making clothes for her."
"That's right. You can go to the head of the group and talk to him later." Jinniang is not afraid of trouble.
It's hard to be in a good mood when someone disturbs you when you open the door. Jinniang simply stopped for a while and asked Juxiang to boil longan water for her. She had been staying up late and eating irregularly recently, and her period was several days late.
But she didn't expect that Ju Xiang would use the lotus leaf cup again. The last time Jiang Xian came to the embroidery room, it was summer. She didn't expect that it would leak onto her chest at once, which made Jiang Xian blush and look away with difficulty.
This is also because she has long known that Jiang Xian is just handsome, dresses more exquisitely than ordinary men, has a considerate and humorous personality, and does not mind letting women show that they are in control, but there is no other reason.
After calming down for a while, she found out that a guest had come to visit her mother and wanted to make a dress for her mother's birthday. Jinniang said considerately, "Why not embroider birthday peaches on the collar, with black satin as the base and festive birthday peaches embroidered on it, which would make the old lady look more noble."
The woman agreed readily. Jinniang recommended several materials to her and let her choose one. Excluding the cloth and thread, the labor cost was 1,800 coins.
However, the guest's birthday also reminded Jinniang that March 6th was Jiang Xian's eighteenth birthday, so she had to make a set of clothes and send it to him in advance. This time, she would still make gold prints, but only a thin strip on the teeth.
So she made a ball-patterned straight-collared double-breasted jacket, a dark brown folded skirt, two pairs of socks, and a white silk cross-collared top to send over as a set.
At the end of the month, Jinniang was checking the accounts and calculated that she had only earned thirty-three strings of cash this month, which was far less than expected. Her period had come for a few days and she had rested for almost ten days at night. She had not embroidered any Buddhist scriptures, so her income was low.
Unexpectedly, Liu Dou'er sent two pots of peonies and a pair of purses. In each purse, there was a pair of gold and silver peony ingots. Liu Dou'er said, "Our husband said that he had troubled you. It just so happened that he saw that these ingots had a good meaning and were suitable for your character, so he asked me to deliver them."
Peony is graceful, dignified and elegant, symbolizing wealth, being rich and kind, being noble and of good character, and being able to help others.
Although she looks elegant and innocent, she is not the kind of person who is as calm as a chrysanthemum and goes along with whatever happens. She always boasts that if she is poor, she will take care of herself, and if she is rich, she will help the world.
Jinniang smiled and said, "Thank you very much, my husband. I also wish him a happy birthday and hope he will always be safe and prosperous." After that, she asked Aying to reward him with eight cents of silver.
Chen Xiaolang even wrapped some snacks for him in a handkerchief, and the boy's eyes narrowed as he smiled.
Jinniang was happily looking at the gold and silver ingots in her hands, which were worth more than ten taels of silver. She had said that she had not saved enough money this month, but she never expected to have such unexpected income.
Over there, Jiang Xian was also wearing the clothes made by Jin Niang. The pattern of the clothes was ball-shaped, which meant smooth sailing and a successful career. Madam Wei must have felt that she would have a successful career in the future. The pine leaf green color was also beautiful. The collar on the front was embroidered with green bamboo, which also meant a steady rise.
He wore new clothes to pay his respects to his parents. When he saw his brother again, he was still wearing the same robe from the previous year. The color had faded a lot. The two brothers standing together looked like two different generations.
Mrs. Jiang Liu certainly discovered it, but since her eldest son had started a family, his daily life was taken care of by Xu, so even though she was the mother-in-law, she couldn't say anything. As for the youngest son, although Wei has not yet entered the family, she has been very considerate. Not to mention the gifts on ordinary holidays, she also specially sent clothes when she knew it was the sixteenth son's birthday. This jacket must be worth ten strings of cash, not to mention the clothes underneath.
As the old saying goes, where the money is, there is love.
Mrs. Jiang Liu's daughter, Aunt Qi, also came back. She was very polite and gave Jiang Xian a tile inkstone, two new books, and a load of longevity peach cakes. She also said to Jiang Xian, "If you don't understand anything, just ask your brother-in-law."
Jiang Xian responded with a smile and went out.
After he left, Jiang Qigu said to her mother, "Please take a rest."
Mrs. Jiang Liu shook her head: "How can I rest? Shiliu Lang is going to get married next month. I always feel that everything is a little shabby."
These are not the words that a sister-in-law who has returned to live in her parents' home should say. Seventh Aunt knows that her family is no longer the same as it was when she was a child. At that time, her father had an uncle to take care of him, and her grandfather's old friends all gave him face.
Now my uncle has gone to Fujian to serve as a school official, and the rest of my cousins are doing just average, some are even worse than my own family.
Seventh Aunt could only persuade her mother, "Relax yourself."
"Why should I be unhappy? The son-in-law you married is a good man and has a good family tradition. I think my grandson is better at studying than his uncles." Mrs. Jiang Liu smiled.
The daughters did not say anything about Jiang Xian's marriage, not because they supported it, but because if they disagreed, they would take the blame. The son-in-law is still studying. Although her daughter had a dowry of three thousand strings of cash when she got married, five or six years have passed and she can keenly realize that her daughter's life is not easy.
Sure enough, when the seventh aunt's foster mother greeted Mrs. Jiang Liu in private, she said, "The old master of the Xue family is from a prominent family in Hedong. He is a descendant of a famous family and a famous official. The family is simple and frugal. The girl was also filial to her parents-in-law after she got married. She learned everything from weaving hemp to needlework. But a few years ago, the old lady Xue fell ill. The doctor required ginseng and white flower snakes produced in Qizhou as medicine. In order to treat the illness, she took medicine for a year and seemed to be better. But she caught a cold again. The girl had to use her dowry to manage the funeral. Now the money in her hands has to support the son-in-law and the young master to study, and she has to run around. Life is not easy."
If it were in the past, Mrs. Jiang Liu would have to give some financial support. After all, this was the most difficult time for her daughter, and she needed to help her get over this hurdle. Just like when her children were young, she lived a very comfortable life and never worried about money. But later on, her children's marriages almost ruined the family.
The Xue family is a famous family with great reputation, but the in-laws have always been honest officials with a good reputation. Originally, the cost of medicine and medical treatment was extremely high. Four taels of white flower snake would cost ten strings of coins, and ginseng is even more expensive. There are also many rules for funerals, and the son-in-law has no income. I'm afraid my daughter is now living on the dowry.
But her family was not rich now. The youngest son needed a dowry of 500 strings of cash, as well as various betrothal gifts. She had to leave the little money she had left to him.
Therefore, Mrs. Jiang Liu could only harden her heart and said, "Wait until my son-in-law passes the imperial examination, and everything will be solved."
The foster mother left somewhat disappointed.
Jinniang moved a pot of peonies to the embroidery room, and gave the other pot to her mother. Luo Yu'e loved planting flowers and plants, but she had to do business all year round and didn't have much time.
She looked at the pot of peonies and couldn't help but say, "Shiliulang is also a person who cherishes flowers, unlike you, who always says that flowers are too fragrant and smell bad, and you even won't let me plant the osmanthus tree."
"Mom, you are so mean. The fragrance is so strong that I would have to cover my nose and pass by it if I hadn't been unable to." Jinniang doesn't like fragrances that are too strong.
Luo Yu'e even moved a pot of bougainvillea to Jinniang's embroidery room and said, "Look how beautiful it is like this."
The mother and daughter were chatting and laughing, and a ray of warm spring light came in through the window.
So she drew another set of spring clothes. The spring clothes should be thin, preferably made of silk, a peach-red thin shirt and a daffodil green silk skirt. The thin shirt should be embroidered with a dark pattern of Baoxiang flowers to make it look more elegant. People in the Song Dynasty particularly liked to put a lot of effort into the collar. This time, Jinniang just pinched her white teeth, but embroidered corresponding peach flowers on the back of the peach-red shirt, and made peach flower buds as ties on the belt.
Jinniang spent a lot of effort on making this dress. After putting it on the first day, she combed her hair into two buns and inserted two or three real peach blossoms cut from the trees on both sides. In the middle, she added a bunch of silk flowers that looked like real peach blossoms.
"If the girl is a fairy in the sky, she must be the Peach Blossom Fairy." Aying said with a smile.
Jinniang looked at the clothes on her body and said: "If someone really buys them, that would be the best."
The orders for spring clothes exceeded expectations. Jinniang was writing down: "Mrs. Liang from the rice shop in the west of the city wants one set, the merchant living in the Tianzihao in Huixian Tower wants one set, and there is also..."
A total of four sets need to be made, each set costs four strings of coins, and the cost is three strings of coins. The profit from four sets is thirteen strings of coins.
Even with Jinniang's fast hand speed, it would take about twelve days. After all, embroidery requires a lot of effort, but at the same time, she had to be innovative. Therefore, while she was making this set, she was thinking about how to design the next spring shirt.
While I was thinking with my brush in hand, I saw Chen Xiaolang running in and said, "Miss, this is bad. The silk and satin shop over there has hired new embroiderers to make clothes. Many people have chosen the silk and satin there and have them made directly there. You just launched your spring shirts, and the shirts they launched are very similar to yours, but they only buy one set for one tael."
There are always people who follow the trend, and they can also use other people's creativity to lower the price.
"So we all have to innovate. After these sets are sold out, I still have other shirts. If she is capable, she can learn all of them. Do they have the skills to do so?" This is also the reason why Jinniang positioned the price above the mid-range level in the beginning and did not go for the low price.
The silk she bought cost two strings of cash per piece and it never fades. Would anyone be willing to use such good material?
Chen Xiaolang said, "Yes, they also said they would give away handkerchiefs. They would give away handkerchiefs for every purchase of one coin or more. It's really shameless. They did exactly what we did."
Immediately, Jinniang wrote eight big words and asked Chen Xiaolang to put them outside.
Don't enter with your colleagues, as it is impolite to their faces.
Perhaps it was this kind of stimulation that really gave Jinniang some creative ideas. For the second outfit, she planned to use silver-red satin to make a bodice, a light red thin silk shirt with wide sleeves, and a white gauze skirt embroidered with sporadic big red butterflies underneath, and a white half-sleeved gauze dress on the outside.
Noble and elegant, yet ethereal and ethereal, it has red, but it is just an embellishment.
After she hurriedly finished the clothes, she cut the threads herself and asked Aying to iron them. The next day, she asked Chen Xiaolang to deliver the clothes to every household according to their addresses.
After delivering the gift, Jinniang began to change into her new spring clothes and put on her fish pillow crown. This dress was very suitable for wearing the crown, and she looked very elegant with the crown on.
When Aying was introducing the pictures in front, the customer was still hesitating, but as soon as Jinniang came out, he immediately made an order.
"I wonder how much this set costs?"
"It depends on what material you want. The yarn of this set is gold-woven yarn. If you want the same, the processing fee for this set of material will be at least fifty strings of cash. But if it is changed to crepe yarn, it will be thirty-six strings of cash. If it is changed to spring yarn, it will be twenty-five strings of cash. However, I remind you that if the yarn used is too poor, you will not get this feeling of caged stars and moon." Jinniang said with a smile.
The man said, "Then I will change to ordinary yarn, and the twenty-five strings of cash will be included, right?"
"That's right, we will pay for all the fabrics and threads. Ah Ying, show the crepe to this guest," said Jinniang.
The man asked, "How long will it take to finish?"
"Normally it takes about half a month. You can leave your address and I will have someone deliver it to your house." Jinniang said.
The man hesitated for a moment and finally didn't pay. Jinniang didn't force him, because not everyone could afford this price.
Chen Xiaolang came in quickly and said, "Miss, I saw her go to Wang's Silk Shop."
"Let her go." Jinniang was not very worried.
"What if she imitates our clothes again?" Chen Xiaolang said worriedly.
Jinniang smiled and said, "I knew they had this trick, so I deliberately raised the price very high. I only want to sell this dress for ten strings of cash."
Wang's Silk Shop thought they had found out the price. The shopkeeper said, "Ms. Wei's price is too high. Let's set it at 15 strings of cash. We will definitely make a profit."
Wang Ji hired six embroiderers, and the wages were generally four strings of cash a month. They worked day and night to make ten sets of clothes. Although Wei Niang's shop was small, it was quite famous, and the clothes she designed were very popular. Of course, Wang Ji did not just copy Jin Niang. The Binyunlou in Xiu Lane in front was a material library for Wang Ji's imitations.
Binyunlou originally sold false hair buns, but after the business did not do well, his wife started selling embroidery. When the head of the guild invited everyone to meet, he specially introduced them to each other.
Of course, Jinniang also designed another set, a lilac tube top, a pearl white gauze folded skirt, and a ripped jacket with a pine-colored peach blossom pattern, trimmed with pink and white trim, which was even more simple and elegant.
As for the red set that was made before, the wife of a Korean nobleman came here when she came to visit Xiangguo Temple and ordered a set for each of the two young ladies in the family.
Wang Ji's ten sets were not in demand. Ah Ying was confused: "His sets are cheaper than ours, why didn't they sell any?"
"Silly girl, you also said that he has to sell it cheaply, but this set of mine is made for those who can afford to wear a crown. His audience just thinks that no matter how beautiful it is, they will not buy it, even if he sells it for ten strings of coins. And the people who originally came here are all wealthy, so they will probably grit their teeth and buy it at this price, so I'm just teaching him a lesson." Jinniang said.
It is said that these ten pieces of clothing by Wang Ji have been hanging there ever since no one bought them.
The boss of Wangji not only did not reflect on the fact that he had copied everything, but instead lowered the wages of the embroiderers from four strings of cash to one string of cash, which also left Jinniang dumbfounded.
Although Jinniang's place is not as crowded with customers as other embroidery shops, the customer stickiness is very high. Maybe it's because when they don't know what clothes to wear, they come to her place and the clothes she chooses are always correct.
Just like now, White Snake has come again. She is the wife of an official. Her father is a magistrate. It is heard that he has just returned from another place. Her mother, Mrs. Bai, secretly complains that her father is too upright, which makes the family poor.
However, White Snake has passed the age of marriage and has not yet been engaged, but she needs clothes and decoration. The prices here are moderate and the clothes are exquisite, which is very suitable for a thrifty lady like her from an official family.
She actually wanted to buy the pine-colored dress that Jinniang was wearing.
"Miss Wei, I'm in a hurry to go there tomorrow. Our bodies are similar in size, so just take off your clothes and give them to me." said Lady Bai.
Jinniang had no choice but to sell the entire set to her for six strings of cash, including the bra, jacket, and skirt.
This set of embroidery does not have much details and is not expensive, and it seems that White Snake is very satisfied with it.
After coming out of Wei's embroidery shop, White Snake and her mother looked at each other and couldn't help laughing. Madam Bai said, "Your father and Liu Jixiang are of the same age. Fortunately, the Liu family invited us over. From what Madam Liu said, it seems that they want to arrange a marriage for you."
White Snake smiled shyly.
Jinniang made some calculations. It was already the 26th day of February, and the month would be over in two days. All the ready-made clothes would be sold out this month, and she would earn 39 strings of cash.
In this way, with only thirty-three strings of cash, she finally earned the five hundred strings of cash for her dowry.
Two days later, she didn't expect that all the finished items she had bought at Jinxiu Pavilion were found to have been bought by Manager Tao when he was taking inventory, and a total of four strings of cash were given to her.
Jinniang smiled and said, "I find that every time I round up my money, I always have a bit of luck."
Ah Ying said, "How can it be called luck? I can see that you have earned your money through hard work. You haven't had a single day off in all these days."
"Forget about it. There are so many hard-working people out there, but they may not earn as much as I do. Okay, let's go and embroider the dowry. I remember I haven't done much embroidery on the curtains yet, so I'll just embroider the places that others can see." Jinniang felt that she was similar to the chefs, who devoted themselves to making clothes for others but were too lazy to do it for themselves.
Mrs. Liu had just acquired a few pots of valuable flowers, and she asked the officials with whom she had a good relationship to exchange flowers. Jiang took the fourth daughter and her daughter-in-law Zhang with her. The fourth daughter was going to marry far away soon, and the old lady wanted her to go with Jiang so that she could meet more people, which would help her husband's career in the future.
Little did she know that the fourth girl had seen White Snake, and was shocked when she heard the introduction of her. This Bai was supposed to be the wife of Jiang Xian. The book said that the two brothers Jiang Yan and Jiang Xian were not in harmony because of the discord between the two sisters-in-law Bai and Xu, which led to the brothers fighting. However, later Jiang Yan became a famous official, and Jiang Xian became a treacherous official.
But in this life, Jiang Xian has already been engaged, and the Bai family has nothing to do with him anymore.
It is really hard to predict what will happen in life.
Jinniang also lamented that life is so unpredictable, just as Feng Sheng and Rong Niang, a couple who had always been in love, are now going to divorce.
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