Xiaoyue sewed the soles for three pairs of men's shoes and three pairs of women's shoes according to the shoe sizes. Li Qianqian made the men's robes first, and because it was a double-layered garment, she had to stuff it with cotton.
So Xiaoyue learned how to make inner garments and made a short cotton-padded coat for Li Lei. After Li Qianqian checked it, she was relieved to hand over the work of making inner garments to Xiaoyue and had to check the clothes Xiaoyue was sewing from time to time.
First, they made the light blue clothes for Li Lei. Li Lei was thin, so Li Qianqian made them two sizes larger to fit his height. After they were finished, Li Lei put on the cotton-padded jacket that Xiaoyue had made, and then put on the long robe that Li Qianqian had made.
It fit perfectly, and the stitches on the clothes were all very neat. Li Qianqian also added two large pockets to the inner garment.
The first set of clothes took three days, but after making Liang Qi's plain white outfit, it only took two days, and it was even better than the first one.
When it came to Li Qianqian's outfit, she no longer needed Xiaoyue's help. Xiaoyue went hunting in the mountains with Liang Qi and Li Lei.
A few days ago, Li Lei and Liang Qi hunted five pheasants. After returning home, Li Lei stored the pheasants in the bedroom of Xiaoyue's shack. This time, the wall between the bedroom and the old kitchen was completely sealed off. He just added some firewood to the stove pit in the kitchen of the shack every day.
Li Lei was specifically responsible for feeding the chickens, whether they were pheasants or domestic chickens, as well as geese and ducks, and also cleaning up their droppings.
Li Qianqian spent two days making her new clothes. On the evening of November 7th, she finally finished making three sets of clothes. Xiaoyue found the remaining paper used for sticking to the wall. It was still yellowish-white and very clean.
Xiaoyue wrapped each set of clothes in paper, then used ramie thread to make a cross shape and tied a pretty bow. After tidying them up, she went to sleep.
On the eighth day of the eleventh lunar month, Xiaoyue and Liangqi went to the county. They took a carriage to the town, strolled through three streets, and finally arrived at the most bustling area, where there were four or five clothing shops in a row.
Xiaoyue chose the third shop in an ordinary storefront. The front of the shop was swept clean, and through the glass windows, she could see all kinds of ready-made clothes displayed inside.
Xiaoyue pushed open the door and went inside. The space was deep, only six meters wide but thirty meters deep. It was divided into four rows from the entrance, all lined with racks of ready-made clothes. Xiaoyue and Liang Qi walked through the rows of ready-made clothes and arrived at the counter. Xiaoyue was much calmer now.
It was nowhere near as awkward as the first time I went to Tong Family Clinic. I calmly took out three packages made of yellow and white paper and tied with cross-shaped bows by ramie thread from the counter.
Untying the bow and opening the paper package revealed two men's cotton robes and a woman's dress. Xiaoyue looked at the shop assistant and asked, "How much silver do you charge for items of this quality here?"
The shop assistant spread out the man's robe, propped it up on a clothes hanger, circled the robe, and then examined the stitches inside. When he saw the two large pockets that Li Qianqian had sewn inside, a smile appeared on the shop assistant's face: "One tael of silver for this."
The young waiter then found another clothes rack for the woman's clothes and examined them carefully. The eight-panel horse-face skirt was white and red. After pondering for a while, the young waiter said, "We can offer one tael and five mace of silver for this outfit."
Seeing Xiaoyue and the others hesitate, he added, "You can consign it, and we'll only take a 20% commission. Or you can go to other stores and come back to negotiate the price."
Xiaoyue smiled and nodded, then took out the shoe soles she had sewn. The young man gently shook his head, "I don't accept half-finished products; they must be completed."
Xiaoyue asked again, disappointed, "Do you know where I can buy them?"
"I haven't seen anyone in the county town collecting them."
Xiaoyue took back the shoe sole and said to the shop assistant, "We need to compare several stores before deciding where to sell it."
The young man smiled and said, "You'll have to come back."
Liang Qi, carrying the samples, went to two more shops with Xiao Yue. The shops there weren't small, but none were as big as this one. Moreover, the shop assistants there always seemed to find fault with this or that, deliberately trying to drive down the price.
Xiaoyue took the samples back to the third shop. She took a closer look at the shop's name: Wangtouhui Clothing Shop.
Xiaoyue pushed open the door and entered the shop. The young shop assistant greeted her with a smile. After seeing the assistant, Xiaoyue said, "From now on, we'll be coming to your shop."
After saying that, Xiaoyue handed the sample to the shop assistant, who then handed over two taels and five mace of silver.
Xiaoyue took the silver and calculated the costs. Li Qianqian would earn 800 coins a month, Li Lei 600 coins a month, and Liang Qi would need one tael of silver. He had an oxcart and could make three garments a week.
The cost of the clothes and thread was 460 coins, the labor cost was 600 coins, the food cost was 200 coins, and the money earned from selling the clothes was 2.5 taels. After deducting the expenses, there was 1.24 taels left.
Xiaoyue and Liang Qi glanced at it and felt it was a worthwhile endeavor, so they went to Xingfei Textile Shop in the county town. The silk fabric was originally 13.5 wen per meter, but the shopkeeper offered 430 wen for bulk purchases.
The price of a bolt of cloth was reduced by 19.5 coins, so Xiaoyue bought four bolts of cloth in one go: a pink silk cloth, a white silk cloth, a lake green silk cloth, and a light blue silk cloth, which cost a total of 1720 coins.
I also bought five colors of silk thread, five sets of thimbles, and thirty coins for various styles of needlework.
I also bought two jin of cotton, which cost twenty wen.
After selling everything, Xiaoyue found a small restaurant, had lunch, and then rushed home by bus.
At dinner time, I told Li Qianqian and Li Lei about the monthly bill. Li Qianqian would receive 800 cash a month, and Li Lei would receive 600 cash a month.
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