☆, Chapter 34: She's not Zhou Mujiao, so who is she?
Zhou Mujiao said anxiously, "Brother Zhao, I have something urgent to attend to. Please wait for me at the teahouse up ahead. I'll be right back!"
"I'll go with you!"
"No need!" Zhou Mujiao said, blushing. "Um, I... have a stomachache, it might be... my period."
As he spoke, he rushed into the Rouge Shop, which was a few feet away.
On a June afternoon, the sun, which had been hiding in the clouds for a long time, suddenly broke through the obstacles and peeked out. Zhao Yunjing stood under the sun, feeling like he was about to burst into flames.
He stared at the entrance of the Rouge Shop, feeling as if his mind was filled with a ball of yarn that he couldn't untangle no matter what he did, while his heart pounded so hard it felt like it was about to burst out of his body.
Half an hour later, Zhou Mujiao came out of the rouge shop, carrying a cloth bag in her hand, her face sweaty and slightly flushed.
Zhao Yunjing instinctively reached out to take the things from her hands, but Zhou Mujiao put them on the cart first, her face turning even redder: "Brother Zhao, the sun is too strong, let's go back quickly!"
Zhao Yunjing quickly withdrew his hand and pushed the cart with long, fast steps. It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of the city that the burning sensation in his body subsided and his mind was able to function again. He turned his eyes slightly and secretly glanced at Zhou Mujiao.
Zhou Mujiao looked up, raising an eyebrow slightly: "Brother Zhao, is there something you want to ask me?"
"……No."
"Really not?"
Zhao Yunjing hitched up the oxcart and said in a deep voice, "No."
Zhou Mujiao climbed onto the oxcart and patted him on the back: "Since there's nothing there, let's go back!"
Zhao Yunjing's driving skills became increasingly proficient and steady. Zhou Mujiao was exhausted after a busy morning and soon fell asleep to the rhythmic ringing of the bell. She didn't know how much time had passed before she was awakened by deliberately hushed conversation.
Zhao Yunjing said softly, "...No need to thank me. She would have saved anyone who saw her, no matter who it was."
"It's so hot outside, come in and have a glass of water. I'd feel really bad if you didn't even have a drink."
"She's asleep..."
"Xiulan, come quickly and shield Liuya from the sun!"
Feeling a shadow fall, Zhou Mujiao opened her eyes.
It was the same mother-in-law and daughter-in-law from this morning. They smiled at her when they saw she was awake: "Liu Ya, you're awake! Are you thirsty or hungry? Come in and rest for a while!"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were too enthusiastic, and the little boy kept looking at her, as if he wanted her to hug him but didn't dare to reach out, so Zhou Mujiao followed the two into the house.
The family's surname is Feng. Aunt Feng lost her husband early in life, and her only son also passed away from illness a year after her grandson was born. Currently, only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are left to raise the child and depend on each other for survival. There is no man in the family, and the two of them only know how to farm, but the harvest is not good, and they live a very frugal life.
Xiulan didn't talk much and was a little nervous, so she kept adding water for Zhou Mujiao.
Zhou Mujiao drank some water and played with Xiaobao for a while before she was about to leave when Xiulan called out to her, "Ajiao! Wait a minute!"
Xiulan ran back to her room, and when she came out, she was carrying a small basket. Her face flushed, she handed it to Zhou Mujiao: "Liuya, when I was at my parents' house, your mother took care of me. You even saved Xiaobao this morning. I have nothing to repay you with, so here, take these eggs..."
Zhou Mujiao took the basket of eggs and handed it to Zhao Yunjing. Then she took Xiaobao outside and casually grabbed a piece of cloth from the oxcart for Xiaobao to hold: "Mother gave the eggs to sister, and sister gave Xiaobao this so that Mother can make new clothes for Xiaobao, understand?"
Xiulan and Aunt Feng dared not accept it, so they quickly snatched it back and put it back on the oxcart, urging Zhou Mujiao to hurry up and leave.
Zhou Mujiao then took out a bag of candy and pastries: "These are for Xiaobao, please don't give me any more. By the way, Auntie, do you know how to make clothes?"
Xiulan nodded: "Yes."
"What a coincidence."
Zhou Mujiao showed them the pattern of her clothes and asked if they could make them according to the pattern. Both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law nodded and said it was no problem. Zhou Mujiao carefully looked at the embroidery on Xiaobao's clothes and found it to be quite good.
She smiled and said, "Auntie, I've taken on some work at a clothing workshop in the county. I need to make several hundred sets of clothes in half a month. Aunt Zhao and I can't make them by ourselves. If you're interested, come to the Zhao family early tomorrow morning. You can work five hours a day, and I'll pay you twenty coins a day."
"You saved Xiaobao, how could we possibly take your money? Making clothes isn't hard work, we'll go and finish them for you first thing tomorrow morning!"
"Making clothes isn't difficult, but it takes time. Besides, the two of you alone aren't enough, so I'll have to trouble you to find me seven or eight more people who can sew and have good embroidery skills. They must be hardworking, quick, and reliable."
The wages are the same, twenty coins a day, lunch provided, paid daily. After this batch of goods is finished, if everyone is still willing to work for me, I will raise the price, but wages will be paid monthly.
Twenty coins a day, even if you only work for ten days, that's still two hundred coins. The Feng family can't even come up with fifty coins, let alone two hundred, and they even provide lunch!
The two readily agreed and promised to help Zhou Mujiao find someone right away.
After Zhou Mujiao's oxcart disappeared from sight, Xiulan whispered, "Mother, this is the second time we've met Brother Zhao, and we haven't had any bad luck, have we? In fact, we've even found work that can earn money! I think Brother Zhao isn't a jinx at all, he's a god of wealth!"
Aunt Feng sighed, "We think he's a god of wealth, but others think he's unlucky!"
"Is Mother worried that others won't be willing to work for the Zhao family? Mother, don't worry. There's more than one family like ours in the village. Everyone's struggling to afford food, so who cares about bad luck? Anyway, Ajiao said she'd pay and provide a meal. Anyone with a brain will definitely go. Ajiao only needs seven or eight people, but I'm afraid there will be more than seven or eight people going."
Men who work in the county only earn thirty coins a day, but they don't have to go to the county and can earn twenty-five coins a day. Xiulan felt that this was like a pie falling from the sky.
The oxcart climbed the hillside, and the clanging of its bells roused all the children in the house. They all screamed, and for a moment, it felt like the sky was about to fall over.
Knowing that Zhou Mujiao had taken on another job and would have to pay someone to come back and finish the work, Aunt Zhao said nothing and immediately tidied up the storage room, intending to use it as an embroidery room. She also saw the new clothes designs drawn by Zhou Mujiao in advance and started working on them herself.
Zhou Mujiao had no intention of letting one person finish the entire outfit, as it would be easy for the pattern to be copied. She would divide the work into groups and procedures. Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhao began to make the various parts of the outfit first, without rushing to do the final sewing.
"Brother Zhao, I need a blackboard, and also some chairs..."
After hearing the description, Zhao Yunjing asked for the dimensions and immediately set off to find the wood.
Zhou Mujiao also needs chalk.
Chalk is made of raw plaster. All you need to do is turn the raw plaster into calcined plaster, process it a bit, pour it into a mold, and let it dry. It's not difficult. The only problem is that I don't know where to find plaster.
"Is Ah Jiao talking about limestone?" Uncle Zhao asked from the side.
"yes."
"It's right behind the house, under the chicken coop."
That would be wonderful.
Zhao Yunjing made a board, planed it very smooth, then coated it with a thick layer of homemade ink, and left it to air dry in the yard. Then he made a long table and bamboo chairs.
Uncle Zhao walks with difficulty, but he can still move his hands. Several children help with chores, and he doesn't want to be idle, so Zhou Mujiao also assigned him some work.
The family worked until midnight before stopping.
After the children finished their baths, they went to bed and fell asleep. Zhou Mujiao, who had also finished her bath, kept yawning. When she saw Zhao Yunjing still tidying up, she went over to stop him: "Brother Zhao, go to sleep quickly. There's a tough battle to fight tomorrow. If you're not energetic, your aunt and I won't be able to handle it."
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