Hua Lijuan stared intently at the vivid peony and starry flowers embroidered by Yu Qingshu, and her heart was filled with joy. It was like a solution to her urgent need.
"This is an embroidery that my daughter came up with on her own. How much do you think it's worth?"
Hua Lijuan usually bought handkerchiefs at the same price of four coins each. She would sell the better handkerchiefs in the brocade shop, and if they caught the eye of a noble person, they would be offered a higher price.
The money was divided 80-25: she got 80 and the embroiderer got 20.
"These pieces you embroidered look pretty good, and I'm in a hurry to use them. If you want five, I'll give you twenty-four coins. How about that?"
"How is it? What do you mean? That's really great, I can even sell it for a few more coins." Yu Qingshu thought to himself. For Qingshu, it was really a pie in the sky, almost knocking him out.
"If you have a better embroidered handkerchief in the future, feel free to send it to me. You won't suffer any loss," Hua Lijuan added.
"Okay, okay, thank you so much, Mr. Hua. I wish you a prosperous business and all the best!" Yu Qingshu, who was not very good at saying auspicious words, took a long time to utter these two sentences.
Now, including the money from embroidering the handkerchief, he had earned a total of 87 coins. Yu Qingshu tightly held his purse and prepared to go to the East Market.
In Yuye Town, there is the East Market, which mainly sells rice, flour, grain, and oil. The West Market is mainly for pawnshops. The South Market is mainly for restaurants, and the North Market sells all kinds of ready-made clothes and cloth.
In Yuye Town, there's a mayor named Ye Mulin, who's forty-eight years old. His wife, Lin Wan'er, is about thirty-two years old. She's also a beautiful woman with bright eyes and white teeth, a touch of aloofness.
The mayor and his wife had an only daughter, whom they doted on. Her name was Ye Lianmei, and she was fifteen years old. She was also very pretty and was looking for a boyfriend.
Ye Lianmei usually likes to play the piano, paint, and practice calligraphy, which are also some of the things that scholars like to do.
The cultural atmosphere in Yuye Town is very good. The largest academy in the town is located in Taipei City, called Wenren Academy.
Wenren Academy is divided into four classes: A, B, C, and D. Students can be assigned to a better class by taking an exam.
The dean of Wenren Academy was Liang Shuwen, a former top scholar, only twenty-two years old. He was highly educated. Because of his outspokenness in court, he was demoted to the remote town of Yuye by Emperor Yuanjia.
Although he was despised, he loved learning so much that he never neglected the students who came to the academy.
The embroidery workshop was in the North Market, while the grain shop was in the East Market. It took Yu Qingshu about half an hour to reach the door of a shop called "Youyou Grain Shop." Seeing the line ahead of him, he hurried over to join it.
“What is the price of brown rice now?”
Finally, it was Yu Qingshu's turn. He saw that the others in front of him hadn't bought much, and suddenly he had a bad feeling. So he asked directly.
"Sir, the price of brown rice has gone up a bit now, eight cents a pound, and corn ten cents a pound. How much do you need?" A handsome young man answered enthusiastically.
“Why has it increased so much?”
Yu Qingshu was a little nervous at this time. He had originally planned to buy some white rice to nourish his daughter, but now his enthusiasm had dropped by half.
"Sir, you know that it hasn't rained for almost a month. The crops in the fields are not growing much, and these grains still cost a lot of manpower and material resources to transport from other places. The price may not be the same tomorrow."
The young man continued to explain patiently to the customer, wanting to make the deal no matter what.
"Okay, give me half a pound of corn and ten pounds of brown rice." Yu Qingshu gritted his teeth and prepared to spend all the money he had just earned on buying food. In the end, he only had two cents left.
"Sir, please take it. We are honest and fair to everyone. We will never shortchange you on weight. Here are your half a pound of corn and ten pounds of brown rice. The total is eighty-five coins!" The young man handed the things to Yu Qingshu and began to receive the guests behind him.
"Okay, thank you!" Yu Qingshu was still very polite and said thank you. Then he walked back home. His wife was still waiting at home, so he had to go back quickly.
His heart is full of his wife, and those who don’t know would think they are newlyweds. In fact, it is rare to see such a loving couple with four children.
As I was walking, I suddenly remembered that I had to give my eldest son some food when I passed by him.
Yu Qingshu's eldest son, Yu Qinghai, also lived in Taipei. Soon, Yu Qingshu arrived at a shop called "Dayong Blacksmith Shop."
Yu Qinghai's master is Wu Dayong, a 40-year-old blacksmith. His ironworking skills are so impressive that people from other places come to learn from him.
Wu Dayong's wife, Li Cuihua, was known for her loud voice and gossiping nature. Yu Qinghai kept as much distance from her as possible. He simply didn't like people with this personality, like Li Cuihua.
"Qinghai, come out for a moment, someone's looking for you!" Wu Dayong saw Yu Qingshu coming from the opposite direction and shouted towards the door.
"Hey, Master, I heard you, come right over!" A young man in a coarse cloth shorts, looking a little thin but still quite energetic, ran out quickly.
The man who came was Yu Qingshu's eldest son, Yu Qinghai. His skin, dark from working as a blacksmith, looked red. It was probably because the temperature was a bit high, his blood flowed faster, and he sweated more.
"Dad, why are you here? Is my third sister feeling better?" Yu Qinghai saw that it was his father, and he did not forget to care about his youngest sister.
Hearing that his little sister had fallen into a pit, Yu Qinghai was extremely anxious. He had originally planned to go back tomorrow, but his father showed up.
"Dad, is my sister's condition getting worse?" Yu Qinghai saw that his father did not answer, and he felt a little anxious, so he asked anxiously.
"You little bastard, what are you talking about? Your third sister is awake and fine." Yu Qingshu looked at his eldest son, looking very disappointed with him, and patted his head.
My son is a relatively calm person when doing things, but his personality is seriously inconsistent with his personality. He speaks hastily and is prone to misunderstandings.
"That's good! That's good!" Yu Qinghai laughed, looking at his father laughing foolishly.
"Go get a bag and I'll fill it with three pounds of brown rice for you. This time I came to town to sell the wild rabbit and the embroidered handkerchief by your second sister, and used all of it to buy food. The price of food in town has gone up recently, and we can hardly even afford brown rice."
"What? The price has gone up! What should we do?" Yu Qinghai's wife, Li Cuihua, heard this as she walked out.
"Oh, God! Are you going to let me live? I'm about to die of thirst or starvation!
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