Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Two chapters merged into one
Before, Cheng Ya Ren had said that the monthly salary of Wenxiu Yuan was two dan of grain and six dou of rice and beans, all of which were converted into grain and distributed. She also went to a bookstore that cooperated with Wenxiu Yuan and had someone write a small wooden sign. On the right side of the sign were written the three words Wenxiu Yuan in large letters, and in the middle line of words were written "Embroidery and Painting Department, Flower and Bird Bureau", and on the far left was a book called "Miss Wei". The total cost of the book was sixteen coins.
When Wei Xiong heard that his daughter had been selected, he and his daughter hurried back to tell Luo Yu'e the good news, and the family was naturally very happy.
When Jinniang knew that she was selected, she gave twelve strings of cash to her parents and asked them to buy a donkey cart as soon as possible.
It would be more convenient to have a car at home. When the food is distributed, it would be more convenient to just use the donkey cart to bring it back. However, she said, "You guys will take care of the fodder on weekdays."
Although a family lives together, when they really start to live their lives, they still have to interact with each other. Everyone should talk in advance, so that they can get along better.
Luo Yu'e smiled and said, "Don't worry, we will buy the fodder."
"Well, you are responsible for buying vegetables, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, cooking and washing clothes for your parents on weekdays, and I will be responsible for the rest of the firewood, charcoal, soapberry powder and rice. This way we can share the burden." Jinniang suggested.
Of course, my parents didn't want to, and they wanted to pay for everything. But Jinniang said, "That's not the way it should be. We should live together for a long time. I'm old enough now and I'm starting to earn money. If we help each other, our lives will be better."
Only then did my parents agree.
There are some tricks to getting along with your family. It is true that your parents love you, but you really don’t have to always treat yourself as a child and take it for granted that others will give to you.
After being selected by the Wenxiu Academy, it would take another three days before she could start work, so Jinniang bought an embroidery frame and started embroidering purses at home. Luo Yu'e didn't understand and asked, "Why are you still doing this now? Didn't you say you passed the exam?"
"This is for Jinxiu Pavilion. The monthly salary from Wenxiu Yuan is not much, so I need some other income. You don't know that Jinxiu Pavilion does not allow you to occupy its space for sales at will. You must first take a liking to purses, fan covers and other things, and then they will leave a small space for you to sell ready-made clothes." Jinniang stretched and continued to work with her head down.
Luo Yu'e looked at her daughter and said, "You are really motivated."
Jinniang smiled and said, "I must insist on it. My daughter is still young. You don't know how big the Wenxiu Academy is. I can get three embroidery frames for myself. There are all kinds of silk and wool thread picture albums. It's really great."
Luo Yu'e moved the brazier towards her daughter: "Now that you have a plan, we are relieved. We have prepared the New Year's goods."
"Well, please let me take care of all the household affairs. Our family will surely prosper in the future." Jinniang said with a smile.
It is also said that when Feng Sheng heard about Yingniang's plan to buy a house, he also said to Rongniang: "This is too risky. It's a big step. Everyone buys a small house and then moves on to a bigger one. She wants to move to the sky with such a small amount of money."
"I thought so too. How could she borrow so much money? I can't even imagine it." Rong Niang felt a little scared, but somehow she felt that these cousins seemed to be more aggressive than each other.
Feng Sheng hadn't taken a few bites when he heard someone calling him. He quickly stood up and said to Rong Niang, "I'm going to visit a few families tonight and won't be back. You take Lin Ge'er to bed first."
Don’t say that Feng Sheng earns a lot of money, but he also works very hard, and it is almost common for him to visit patients at night.
Sometimes after staying up late, I just eat out for breakfast.
Rong Niang had no choice but to say, "At least eat your meal and leave."
"No more eating." He hurried to get the medicine box. He was a foreigner who wanted to do great things in Bian Jing, so there was no way he could stop.
The room was terribly quiet. There was only her and Lin'er in the room again. The children were all asleep by then, so she was alone again. I can't go out, and I feel lonely and bored at home.
In fact, she doesn't need Feng Sheng to work so hard to make money. As long as the family is together, it is better than anything else.
The next day was Laba Festival. After Rong Niang cooked Laba porridge herself, she asked the driver to go to Choushui Lane, after all, her two uncles were there. But she didn't expect that her second uncle had also bought a new donkey cart. When she went there, her second uncle was just taking off the harness and leading the donkey into the house.
"Mrs. Rong is here."
I saw my second aunt coming out. She had a velvet flower pinned in her hair, pearl earrings on her ears, and a green cloth jacket with a red skirt with embroidery. She seemed different from usual.
Rong Niang quickly smiled and said, "I came to deliver Laba porridge. Why did uncle buy a donkey cart?"
Luo Yu'e said, "It was our Jinniang who paid for it. It would be inconvenient if we didn't have a car. When Jinniang goes to work at the Wenxiu Academy and Yang'er goes to school, they both need a car to pick them up."
Rong Niang was surprised: "Has Jin Niang found a job so quickly?"
"Of course it's true. Working in the Wenxiu Yuan is much better than being a maid in other people's homes." Luo Yu'e couldn't stop smiling when she mentioned it.
The second house was not big, but it was warm and cozy. There was bubbling hot porridge in the kitchen, and some delicious snacks were placed in the small living room. The second aunt also poured hot water from the iron kettle to make tea for her. After a while, Jinniang came out.
Jinniang hardly dressed up at home. She wore a pink thick jacket that was half-worn, cotton trousers underneath, and a green skirt on the outside. Her skin had improved a little, but she still had dark circles under her eyes.
Rong Niang held her hand and said, "Why didn't you tell us that you were admitted to the Wenxiu Academy? It's just right for us to come and congratulate you."
"It's not like he's an official or passed the imperial examination, so why would he need to say something specifically?" Jinniang said a few words to accompany her.
Rong Niang got up and went to the third room again, while Jin Niang tasted the Laba porridge Rong Niang brought over, and then said to her mother, "Big sister cooked it well, it's quite delicious."
"I'm afraid it's been up all night." Luo Yu'e also took a bite.
Jinniang shook her head and went back to make lace. She made a pair of red plum purses. Red plum blossoms were embroidered on the gray shiny satin. The bottom was embroidered on the satin cloth, and the top was connected by a black branch of red plum pasted on. The lace was also tied with a plum-shaped knot.
This red plum purse is very suitable for young girls to wear. Then she quickly made a pair of more luxurious waist-round purses with ancient coin patterns at home. Of course, the satin was brought from the Zhou family, and she also invested a lot in the early stage.
After making two pairs of purses, he waited for his father to send his younger brother to school the next day, and then his parents would send him to Jinxiu Pavilion together.
According to the original procedure, she would put the purses there for sale, and if a customer liked them, Jinxiu Pavilion would sign a contract with her. Jinniang thought that it was winter and plum blossoms would definitely sell well, so she just had to wait for more than a month.
"Shopkeeper Tao, this is the purse I embroidered. If anyone likes it, please go to the sixth house on the west side of Chou Shui Lane and have someone bring a message to me." Jinniang said.
Shopkeeper Tao was careless at first, but when he saw that the stitches and patterns of Jinniang's purse were very good, he was about to accept it. Luo Yu'e naturally helped her daughter to strengthen her position: "Shopkeeper, my daughter is an embroiderer from the Wenxiu Academy, she is not an ordinary embroiderer."
"So you're an embroiderer from the Wenxiu Academy. I wanted to sign you because I saw you're good at needlework. Now it's just right." Shopkeeper Tao was no longer worried.
Jinniang also showed the shopkeeper the newly made wooden sign, which made signing the contract smoother.
Their contract was not an employment contract, but a contract on how to divide the profits from the sale. Jinniang could get all the fabrics, silk threads, and accessories she wanted at Jinxiu Pavilion, but Jinxiu Pavilion only had some basic cloth. If she wanted to buy them at a cloth shop outside, she had to bring a slip to claim the money.
Jinniang went to the warehouse of Jinxiu Pavilion to take a look. The materials here were too common and nothing new. So she took her parents to the cloth shop to find a few feet of good material.
On the way back, Luo Yu'e kept looking at her daughter. She saw that she was talking freely and fluently, and she could always get to the point and make no mistakes when talking to people. Her daughter has changed a lot in the past three years.
Jinniang didn't think she had anything wrong, but said, "You'll understand once you've dealt with so many things on your own."
Even in the Song Dynasty, there were many women doing business on the street. Since the morning time was all spent on business, Jinniang suggested having lunch at the Eight Immortals Tower in the north of the city. The Eight Immortals Building is the main store. The entrance is decorated with a trellis made of colorful silk and decorated with flowers, birds and tassels, which looks very grand.
In such a grand place, Wei Xiong felt timid: "Let's just go back and cook our own food. Why waste this money?"
"Dad, now that you're here, let's go in. You've been saving all year long, but if you don't eat, you don't know where the money has gone. Besides, good things have happened one after another in the past few days. I got admitted to the Wenxiu Courtyard and signed a contract with the Jinxiu Pavilion. These are all good things. Why aren't they worth celebrating?" Although Jinniang was not a rich person, she also hoped that her parents could gain more knowledge so that they would not be afraid of others and could enjoy delicious food at the same time.
Dad's hands have been scalded by the steam from the oil pan several times and are all covered with pits.
Dad and Mom were sitting at the table, both cautious and nervous, especially Mom, who usually talked a lot. She was a little confused, but Jin Niang smiled and said to Dr. Tea, Food and Wine, "Show me the water card."
Such regular restaurants usually have several menus. This was actually the first time Jinniang ordered, but she pretended to be very calm and ordered: "One dish of scallion-sprinkled rabbit, lamb head skewers, three crispy soup, lychee and kidney, three pieces of white meat with noodles, and three bowls of rice."
Dr. Tea wrote down the name of the dish word for word and left.
As soon as he left, Luo Yu'e said, "This is the first time we've been to such a grand place. Even when your father was in the Imperial Guard, we never went there. At most, we ate at the foot shop. You see, their curtains are decorated with pearls, which is really extraordinary. We walked past the corridor and there was a rockery there. It's a really nice place."
Jinniang nodded: "Yes, my daughter just found out about this in Bianjing. She couldn't go anywhere before when she was at Zhou's house. In the future, as long as I pay you the monthly salary, we can come here once a month."
In fact, money is not saved. You can't just save money without increasing revenue.
Dr. Tea brought the dishes over very quickly. Although Wei Xiong kept saying that it was more cost-effective to eat at home, when he really started eating, he concentrated on eating more than anyone else. The scallion-spicy rabbit with spicy and peppery taste stimulated their taste buds, and Jinniang ordered a few more drinks.
Lamb skewers were Jinniang's favorite, so she saved half of it to take back for her brother. The three-crisp soup was refreshing and delicious, with tender bamboo shoots, small mushrooms, wolfberries and the spicy flavor of pepper, which made her parents drink bowl after bowl of it. Not to mention the lychee kidneys which are quite delicious when eaten with rice. These lychee kidneys are not made of real lychees, but the surface of the kidneys is cut with fine diamond-shaped cross patterns.
"Dad, is it delicious?" Jinniang asked with a smile.
Wei Xiong touched his stomach embarrassedly, "It's delicious. I've never eaten anything so delicious before."
Luo Yu'e also said, "Don't be shy in the future. Let's make money together and spend it together. Jinniang, I'll treat you next time."
The family of three ate so much that their stomachs were about to burst, and they had to hold on to the wall to get out. At this time, there was a lot of noise, and they drove their bikes home.
As soon as Jinniang returned, she drank a glass of water, but the water was really not sweet: "Stinky Water Alley, Stinky Water Alley, this water is really not tasty." After that, she took some high-quality Hunan tea to drink. She used to think that delicious food and drinks should be saved, and it would be a waste to eat them by herself, but now she thinks that eating by herself is the least wasteful.
Tea tasting is what Luo Yu'e likes most, so she also poured herself a cup.
Wei Xiong had been driving all morning and had gone to rest. Luo Yu'e said, "Your father has never been so satisfied with his meals. He said that his life was better than that of the emperor. Not to mention your father, even I eat less. When I was a child at home, your grandmother always loved to cook carrots. A little pickled vegetable was considered a good thing..."
At first I kept my eyes open and listened, but slowly I fell asleep.
When they woke up, it was already dark outside. Yang Ge'er had returned and was eating the delicious food they brought from outside. Jinniang came out in slippers and took out Yangger's homework. She found that her younger brother didn't like to talk much and his handwriting was average.
"Mom, wait until my brother finishes eating, then let him come over to recite the book and write big characters." Jinniang said.
Luo Yu'e patted her son and said, "Listen to your sister and eat quickly."
When Yang Ge'er, who was always well-behaved, heard about studying, he just wanted to play with the toys in his hands and kept delaying. Jin Niang was not willing to let him go. "I will light a lamp and do needlework later. You can recite the book beside me and I will recite with you."
In her previous life, she was a liberal arts student. She was very fast at memorizing and had a good memory. Moreover, she had already memorized what her younger brother needed to memorize.
For transfer students like Yang Ge'er, if they can't adapt at the beginning, it will be difficult for them to study in the future. This was during the Northern Song Dynasty when printing was already quite developed and scholars were valued. The benefits of literacy were not only for becoming an official, but also for going to a restaurant, finding a job, and reading contracts.
Jinniang first looked at the sizes of the clothes she usually made and found a slightly looser size. Now she was making ready-made clothes, which was similar to a one-size-fits-all size and should be suitable for most people. To make a long winter coat, I use hemp and silk cotton inside. There is no other way but to use only cotton. The price would probably be too expensive and people might not buy it.
This was the first time that Luo Yu'e saw Jinniang tailoring, and she knew roughly what she wanted to do in just a moment.
Yang Ge'er came in reluctantly. This was Luo Yu'e's son, born ten years after she got married. Therefore, she doted on him very much. Seeing Yang Ge'er making a fuss about wanting to sleep, she just said, "Why don't you let him rest for a while?"
"No, if he can't recite it today, he will be bored at school tomorrow and will drop out in a few days. He is so thin, how can he help you make steamed buns? My father is still strong and can drive. Even Sheng'er from my third uncle's family used to study in a village school and transferred to Bian Jing at the age of ten. He always ranked last in the class. My third uncle is so stingy, but he still paid the teacher to help him review his lessons in private." Jinniang said unhappily.
Luo Yu'e had no choice but to leave her son here, and Jinniang recited the text with him. The child who usually took five or six days to recite an article, memorized it in just two hours today.
During this time, Jinniang had been busy with her own patterns. This was the first piece of clothing she was going to sell, so she couldn't be careless. She also had to look after her brother. It was already late at night when she saw him carrying it down.
Fortunately, Yang Ge'er came back the next day and said, "Mr. Gou praised my son today, saying that he was the only one who had memorized it. Thank you, sister."
Jinniang pinched her brother's little face. The whole family supported each other. Her parents did housework and sent her here and there, allowing her to do needlework without any worries. If her brother had a bright future, he would also be her support.
"We are all family, there is nothing to thank for. From now on, you will recite your lessons here every day, and your sister will accompany you. You must develop good habits from a young age. If you procrastinate all day, you will not be able to achieve anything, let alone study." Jinniang touched her brother's head.
The clothes I just cut yesterday need to be embroidered today. It is said that it will take about ten days to embroider a set like this.
In the evening, Luo Yu'e cooked duck soup. Jinniang drank a bowl of it and said, "My daughter will go to Wenxiuyuan tomorrow morning. I don't know where she will have lunch. I'm afraid she won't be back. You can eat at home."
Luo Yu'e said, "I will mix the dough with your father tonight and make some pancakes. You can bring them over tomorrow morning."
"Don't worry about it. There are people selling food nearby. You can either ask dad to bring you food tomorrow, or go by yourself. Leave someone at home because there are many thieves during the New Year." Jinniang instructed.
At night, Luo Yu'e said to Wei Xiong: "Which daughter is as worried as our daughter? She really thinks of everything."
Wei Xiong listened without saying anything, but he was still thinking about the scallion-fried rabbit and smacked his lips.
In the morning, Jinniang got up, dressed, and put on the wooden sign. Luo Yu'e cooked noodles for them and put an egg in each of them. After everyone ate, they ran out and first sent Yang Ge'er to Gou Xiucai, and then sent Jinniang over.
Jinniang walked on the snow and showed the wooden sign to the gatekeeper before entering. In the Wenxiu Courtyard, there was a Zhichang, who was of the eighth rank and was in charge of the entire Wenxiu Courtyard. Under him was an embroiderer, one embroidery head, and four deputy embroidery heads.
The four deputy embroiderers were in charge of four categories respectively: landscapes, pavilions, figures, and flowers and birds. Jinniang soon went to meet their embroiderers. This lady's surname was Gu, and she was dressed very fashionably. She had a bun on her head with a gold comb in the middle, a silver gilt phoenix hairpin inserted diagonally behind the bun, and a string of crystal beads hanging on her chest. Not to mention the gorgeous clothes she was wearing. Among the people she had ever seen, probably only the second wife of the Zhou family, Mrs. Wu, could be compared to her.
To say that Jinniang has met a good leader in the Zhou family, Madam Chen is a quiet and fair person who never bullies them. They have had a good relationship for three years.
This guy, Gu Xiutou, is about to have a trend-setter phobia.
There were a total of five people who entered the flower and bird embroidery painting category this time. Two of them were young women, about 20 years old, and there was another woman in her 20s whose hair was not tied up yet, so she must be unmarried. The other one was quite beautiful, about the same age as her.
Before Jinniang could ask, she heard Gu Xiutou say, "You will come in first to get familiar with the embroidery for a month. In the first half of the month, you should learn the rules and regulations. In the second half of the month, you will still learn these in the first half of the day. We will also invite teachers from the Hanlin Academy to teach you how to paint. In the second half of the day, you will learn from experienced embroiderers. After that, you can start to embroider."
The five of them did not dare to say anything and were taken to the next room, where they waited for the female officer to come and explain the etiquette and dress to them.
Jinniang thought this might be the company's training. She took out a pen and paper and listened to the female official's explanation: "There are four types of clothes for the empress and concubines: 'One is the curtain dress, the second is the red dress, the third is the ceremonial dress, and the fourth is the ju dress.' The empress wears the curtain dress when she receives the imperial decree, pays homage to the Tanling Palace, attends court meetings and other important events; the concubine and the crown prince's wife receive the imperial decree, and wear the elm and pheasant's clothes when they attend court meetings..."
"Common clothes are generally red long-sleeved clothes with red flowered silk collars. Red silk long skirts, red shawls with jade pendants. Red silk jackets are worn with yellow or red gauze shirts, white gauze crotch pants, yellow skirts, and pink gauze short shirts..."
The female official was speaking, and Jinniang was taking notes and yawning at the same time, because it really felt like she was back in her student days.
After listening for a whole morning, I felt hungry. However, Wenxiuyuan does not provide meals, so I can bring my own dry food or go out to eat. She and the other embroiderers who came in with her went out and spent six cents to eat a bowl of steamed buns. Although the steamed bun soup was clear, it was flavorful.
"Why doesn't this big place include meals?" someone complained.
Jinniang looked up and saw that it was Xu Sanjie. She was originally from Ji'an. Her husband was a clerk in the county. Later, the county magistrate was promoted to an official in Beijing, and her husband followed her here. However, it was not easy to live in Bianjing, so she came out to supplement the family income.
Hearing her say this, Jinniang thought that after all they were working in other departments, so meals were naturally not provided in the court.
Gu Xiutou also answered this question: "We used to eat there, but we all complained that the food was not good enough, so we will pay you an extra 500 coins for food, 300 coins for room, and 200 coins for coal. We will pay you an extra 1 guan every month."
This is another happy news.
As soon as the afternoon twilight arrived, they were let go home on time. Jinniang was still a little uncomfortable with it, after all, there was no concept of getting off work when she was at Zhou's house. There is work to do every day, and you can be called upon at any time. We can let you do it whenever you want.
My mother had already prepared dinner at home. Life was much better now than in Jiangling. There were three dishes on the table: fried chrysanthemum with bacon, steamed cabbage with rice flour, and a small dish of pickles. The family was talking lively.
After finishing her meal, Jinniang stood for a while and then went to make clothes. It gets dark early in winter, so she only has two hours to do needlework. She can still use the candles she used to use, but if she buys candles herself, each one will cost 150 coins, so she has to be frugal.
This set of clothes consists of a jacket, pleated skirt, tube top, collared tube top, and cotton trousers. She even made phoenix-head shoes of the same color. It can be sold individually or as a set.
All of these are very time-consuming. Luo Yu'e looked at her daughter like this and said, "Among you sisters, only your eldest sister is lucky. Your brother-in-law is so able to make money, so she just needs to enjoy herself."
She only hoped that her daughter could find her ideal husband and not have to work so hard.
Jinniang tilted her head and smiled, "Mother, life is too long, don't make conclusions too early. When you married my father, he was a member of the imperial army with a high salary, and you just needed to focus on raising me. But within a few years, our family was already in poverty. Mountains will fall if you lean on them, and water will flow if you lean on it. Why should I pin all my hopes on others? Others are proud of marrying someone, but I want them to be proud of marrying me."
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