Chapter 537 The Difficulties of the Lower Class People
Fenggu and the woman also looked at Jia Yanbing nervously. If there was really a way to earn more money, they could at least have enough food and clothing.
Having enough food and clothing is the biggest wish of this mother and daughter at this moment.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Jia Yanbing said directly: "Let me ask you first, how much money can you earn in a day now?"
The woman's face turned slightly red, and she spoke in a low voice with a hint of shyness, "When things are good, we only make 20 or 30 cents a day, and when things are bad, we make none. But since the beginning of winter, more people have come to do laundry. Everyone knows that our laundry dries quickly, so we have many regular customers."
Jia Yanbing continued to ask: "Why do your clothes dry faster than others?"
"Because our family is willing to use firewood, but other families are not." This time it was Feng Gu who answered. Although she was thin, she had a pair of clear eyes and looked like a very spiritual girl.
After hearing this, the woman looked at her daughter with a smile, then looked at Jia Yanbing and nodded, with a sense of pride on her face. With her own hands and hard work, she had taken on the most work in their alley, and this was her pride.
Although they lived in poverty, she felt that being able to support her and her daughter by herself was already good enough.
How many women still rely on their husbands to survive, but she has become independent, which makes her feel very accomplished.
Jia Yanbing continued to ask: "Then don't you need to spend money on firewood?"
This time, Jia Yanbing looked at Feng Gu and asked.
"Of course not. Whenever my mother and I have time, we go to the mountains outside the city to collect firewood. We use Brother Yang's wheelbarrow and give him a penny each time. We always bring back a small cart of firewood to store. That way, we always have dry firewood to burn at home. In addition, we basically don't need dry firewood in the summer, so we can save a lot of dry firewood in one summer."
As Fenggu spoke, the corners of her mouth raised and she glanced at her mother.
The woman nodded in agreement.
"So you think this firewood is free, right?" Jia Yanbing asked Feng Gu with a smile on his face.
"Of course, we didn't pay." Feng Gu felt strange and raised her eyebrows when answering.
Jia Yanbing chuckled, "Does your whole family need to go to collect firewood?"
Fenggu nodded.
"How many people are there in your family?"
After Jia Yanbing asked, he found that Fenggu and the woman's expressions became a little lonely.
"There are only me and my mother in our family. My father died in the battlefield when I was only a few years old. My mother raised me up with great difficulty, so I must let my mother live a good life." Feng Gu's expression changed from bitter to firm as she spoke.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know your father..." Jia Yanbing's tone also became softer. There will always be ups and downs in this world, and all kinds of things in the world, but people still have to move forward, and the past cannot be retrieved.
"It's okay, uncle. Although my mother and I live in poverty now, we are not starving to death by relying on ourselves, right?"
Wan Lao Er also looked at Feng Gu, and he felt sorry for the little girl. Only someone like him who had also come from the bottom of society could understand that although Feng Gu said it was easy, it was not easy for an orphan and a widow. It was just that Feng Gu was sensible and did not tell others about her suffering.
Saying it out loud will only win other people's sympathy and it will be of no use at all.
Jia Yanbing immediately looked at this tenacious little girl with new respect. It also made him realize that although his family went bankrupt, he had never really been exposed to the lives of people at the bottom of society. Perhaps the second half of his life would be more meaningful than the first half?
Isn’t it more meaningful to help people at the bottom of society change their lives than for him to become rich alone?
He had been to the West and had been exposed to philosophy. He was still young at that time, but the books he had read were all in his mind, and now they took on concrete meanings.
Jia Yanbing felt that maybe this was God's deliberate arrangement?
"Auntie Feng, let's not talk about the other things for now. If there is another chance in the future, I will tell you. Now all the major inns are full of students. They must have rarely washed clothes at home. This is your chance. I want to know how you did it in previous years?"
Because Fenggu's family has been in the dry cleaning business for more than a year, and they have also experienced the years of imperial examinations, so how do they make money?
"Uncle, I know what you are talking about. There was an imperial examination last year, and our business was indeed better than usual, but my mother had no time to rest. She was sick from exhaustion, and she had to stay in bed for half a month before she could get out. She also owed the clinic one or two taels of silver, and all the money we earned later was used to pay off the debt." Feng Gu said, looking at the woman, her eyes full of heartache.
The woman was a little embarrassed and said, "It's all my fault that I got sick when business was at its best. Not only did I not make any money, but I also lost so much money. I told her at the time that I didn't need to take medicine and I would be fine. But Aunt Feng was so filial that she insisted on getting medicine for me. Alas!"
Jia Yanbing comforted her: "Sister-in-law, money is earned, not saved. Only with a good body can you earn more money. Feng Gu did the right thing. Your health is not good, and Feng Gu is even more pitiful alone."
The woman's eyes were a little sour, and she nodded, "Yes, I know, so I drank all the medicine. I was also afraid that if I collapsed one day, Fenggu would be left alone and would definitely be bullied. I would be worried, so I had to live well and watch Fenggu get married and have children."
The woman spoke with a strong nasal tone. Feng Gu threw herself into the woman's arms and called softly, "Mother, you will definitely live a long life. There are still many delicious foods in the capital that you haven't eaten yet. Feng Gu will still honor you well."
The woman gently stroked Fenggu's hair, and a crystal tear rolled down between Fenggu's dry and yellow hair.
Jia Yanbing and Wan Laoer, two grown men, could not bear to see such a scene, so Jia Yanbing immediately changed the subject.
"My suggestion now is that you gather all the laundry washers in your neighborhood together. As far as I know, there is competition among you. If you unite together, there will be no competition and you can earn more money. There will be a clear division of labor. Some people will specialize in collecting, some will specialize in washing, and some will specialize in publicity. The whole thing can be laid out layer by layer according to a process."
"Also, your current laundry prices are too cheap. You should charge according to the material of the clothes and the size of the clothes. And the most important point is, if it is urgent, for example, the clothes we sent yesterday, you delivered them today. It's winter now, and they are all cotton clothes. You can charge fifty coins for this piece of clothing. If it is made of good material and it is urgent, it may be higher. After all, winter clothes are not changed often, but they are particularly troublesome to wash."
After hearing Jia Yanbing's offer, the woman and Fenggu thought it was simply a fantasy.
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