After paying the person who cleaned the well, Mr. Jiang left. His mother, Chen, also put down her embroidery and went to the yard to wash clothes. Mr. Jiang took a bucket and went outside to fill a vat with water, preparing for the next two days' food and drink.
I had originally planned to go to buy goods early tomorrow, but when I checked the time, I found that it was still early. I told Chen that I hitched up the oxcart and set off.
After washing the clothes, Chen went inside to embroider handkerchiefs and purses with Jiang Yue. In the afternoon, Chen checked the time and told Jiang Yue to stay home and not go out, then went to pick up her younger brother from school.
Jiang Yue was quite comfortable at home alone. She took out some snacks from her spatial storage to treat herself. If you had to pick the worst thing about ancient times, it would probably be the food. Vegetables were basically boiled, and rice was mostly coarse grains, not even dry rice, but semi-dry rice. Soaking it made it look like there was more food, which could deceive the eyes and stomach and save some grain.
She looked around the new house again. Although it was a new house, it still gave people the feeling of being poor. There was an iron pot in the house, so she could cook, but she didn't know how to cook. The method of cooking would only become popular after the female protagonist who transmigrated into the book couldn't stand it anymore.
Jiang Yue ate a spicy snack and sighed. Right now, the most important thing is to make some money to improve our lives. The way to make money can't be too unconventional. We can only use subtle and gradual methods. Although Jiang Yue knows how to make sugar and salt, if you actually make them, your whole family might die of the plague the next day.
Looking at the handkerchief on the table, he realized that even this couldn't be too outrageous. It would be a long time before Jiang Yue could live a good life on her own. She would have to rely on her father or Jiang Ze. Either they could make some money through business, but not too much, or they could wait for her younger brother to take the imperial examination. They didn't have high expectations; if he could become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), the whole family could live a good life.
As for becoming an official through the imperial examination, the probability was too low. Jiang Yue suddenly recalled watching Douyin (TikTok) in her later years. You might think of the imperial examination as: "White feathers float on water, red palms float on clear waves." In reality, when you take the metropolitan examination, the question you just open is: "Please write a 3,000-word essay on the topic of 'Only green water can nurture white swans,' discussing the relationship between local culture and talent cultivation. Neat handwriting and clear arguments are required."
Without experience and without guidance, you won't even know what local policies are. That's why students need to travel and explore. And why is the teacher ranked so highly among Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher? It's not that you can take the imperial examinations just because you've finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics.
After finishing the spicy snack, she washed her hands and rinsed her mouth. Then she picked up the handkerchief on the table and started embroidering again, using some basic techniques. The pattern Jiang Yue chose was already the limit of what basic techniques could achieve.
Jiang Yue was so engrossed in embroidering the handkerchief that she didn't notice that Chen had brought her younger brother home. Seeing her daughter so absorbed, Chen didn't disturb her. She patted Jiang Ze and pointed to the desk. Jiang Ze nodded and quietly sat down to write.
Chen looked at her children and nodded with satisfaction. She took the food and went to cook. When Jiang Yue put down her handkerchief and stretched, she saw her younger brother reading a book. At this moment, her brother noticed that Jiang Yue had finished embroidering and ran over to hug her: "Sister, I missed you so much!"
"Nonsense, I think you just want some candy, don't you?" Jiang Yue said, then rubbed her younger brother's head and flicked him on the forehead.
"hey-hey."
After moving to the new house, Jiang Yue put the candy away for him. It was placed a bit high up, and he couldn't reach it himself. He didn't dare ask his mother, Chen, to get it for him, so he kept waiting for Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue got up, took a piece of candy from the cabinet, and handed it to him. Jiang Ze broke the candy in half, put one half in his mouth, and handed the other half to Jiang Yue: "Here, have some, sister."
Jiang Yue looked at her adorable little brother, her girlish heart overflowing. She rubbed his face and said, "You eat it, I won't." In the end, Jiang Ze didn't eat it either. Jiang Yue even put it away for him. He remembered to eat half a piece a day, afraid that worms would eat his teeth.
Just as Chen's meal was finished, Jiang's father returned. Jiang Yue ran over and opened the door. Jiang's father drove the oxcart into the yard, parked the cart, and took care of the ox before starting to organize the goods. After organizing the goods, he placed an expensive tarpaulin on the cart to cover the goods in case of sudden rain or snow, otherwise many things would spoil if soaked in water.
After finishing their preparations, the family went to eat. On the way, Mr. Jiang inquired about his younger brother's studies and told him that he would be going to a more distant place to ship goods the next day and might be home late. He told the family not to worry and that they didn't need to wait for him to come back for dinner, just save some for him.
After dinner, Chen cleaned up by herself, while Jiang Yue took her younger brother to play around for a while. As soon as it got dark, the whole family went to sleep. What else could they do if they didn't sleep? Who could afford to light an oil lamp? It was only used in an emergency.
The next morning, Jiang Yue got up early and helped Chen pack her father's things. They made sure to bring enough food and water for the day's trip, and they also tied a bell around the big black ox's neck so that it would ring wherever they went and attract attention.
After saying goodbye to Jiang's father, Chen woke up her younger brother. It was getting late. After getting up, cleaning, and eating, she took her brother to school. Then, she took the embroidered handkerchiefs and purses to the shop. After waiting for the old shopkeeper to finish one transaction, Chen quickly went over with the basket and said, "Shopkeeper, take a look. These are the purses and handkerchiefs that have been embroidered this month."
"The quality is alright. Still the same price: 2 coins for a handkerchief and 10 coins for a purse. Is that acceptable?"
There's nothing particularly technically demanding about handkerchiefs, but purses aren't simply two pieces of cloth sewn together; they involve many steps, such as sewing and embroidery. Chen's embroidered purses are priced around 10 coins because the fabrics used are relatively inexpensive and the designs aren't particularly novel.
Because of moving and cleaning up the house this month, Chen only made 6 purses. Usually, she makes about 8 a month, and she can also make a few handkerchiefs. Jiang Yue makes about 4 a month. So the purses cost 100 coins, the handkerchiefs cost 14 coins, and the total cost was 114 coins.
After the shopkeeper gave the money to Chen, Chen took out a purse and three handkerchiefs from her sleeve and handed them to the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, what do you think of these?"
The shopkeeper frowned, unsure of what Chen meant, but still took it and examined it: "Hmm, these stitches, this pattern."
After examining it carefully for a while, she found Jiang Yuexiu's embroidery among the purse and handkerchief from before and compared it with hers: "Did your daughter embroider this? It looks like they are from the same lineage."
"You're really amazing. My girl seems to have finally figured things out recently. The ones I'm showing you later are all newly embroidered pieces, and they look much better to me."
The shopkeeper nodded and then sighed, "It's a pity the fabric isn't good enough. Otherwise, with this technique and this pattern, it would be worth 100 coins each. Now it's only worth 20 coins."
“The purse costs 20 coins, and the handkerchiefs are doubled to 4 coins each, 3 handkerchiefs cost 12 coins each, for a total of 32 coins.”
After handing the money to Chen, the shopkeeper said, "Why don't you buy some good fabric and needlework? Your daughter is wasting her craftsmanship by using coarse cloth."
"Then can you recommend something that sells well here? I'll still be selling here anyway."
Afterwards, the shopkeeper recommended some fabrics to Chen, and she bought some coarse cloth for herself. After taking the goods, she went home. When she got home, she happily told Jiang Yue about the latest prices and told Jiang Yue to use the newly bought cloth from now on. She also told Jiang Yue not to rush and to take her time, otherwise the cost of ruining one piece would be quite high.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
