Li Qianqian, Lu Xiaomei, and Sister Yang worked together to sew them. Li Qianqian could make one set every two days, while Sister Yang and Lu Xiaomei could make one set every three to four days. At this pace, all the orders were completed by December 20th.
Li Qianqian made fifteen sets of clothes, Yang Saozi made seven sets of clothes, and Lu Xiaomei made eight sets of clothes.
On December 21st, Xiaoyue and Liang Qi finished counting everything and packed it into large baskets. They also tallied up how much fabric they had used. Looking at the remaining fabric, they called Li Qianqian to the warehouse.
He asked Li Qianqian, "Do you still remember the order for riding breeches that Liang Qi gave you?"
Li Qianqian hurriedly ran back to the west room, found a piece of paper, and handed it to Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue then handed the list to Liang Qi, asking, "Are there any differences in your pants?"
Liang Qi glanced at Xiaoyue and said with a smile, "I thought you hadn't noticed. The inside of the buttocks and thighs are lined with animal fur to prevent chafing."
Xiaoyue smiled enigmatically. She had made the clothes for Chunyue and Shuiyue using ordinary cloth, but if they were to be sold, they needed a selling point. She looked up at Liang Qi and said, "How about this, you are in charge of buying the kneaded leather, cowhide or sheepskin is fine."
Then he turned to look at Li Qianqian and said, "When you're cutting the pants, cut the inside of the buttocks and thighs into double layers, and then paste the leather you bought inside."
He then turned to Liang Qi and said, "We also need to buy some glue that can bond the clothes and leather together. The leather can't have too many needle holes; at most, we can sew a ring inside."
After assigning the work of making riding breeches to Li Qianqian, the work of making shoes was given to Lu Xiaomei.
On the evening of December 25th, Li Qianqian had finished making three pairs of pants, one for herself, one for Lu Xiaomei, and one for Xiaoyue.
The three of them tried on the pants, and there was no discomfort when squatting and standing up. They also sat down to try it out, and there was no discomfort there either.
Xiaoyue wrapped the three pairs of pants in a packing sheet. She also loaded the three pairs of shoes into the car.
It was very cold and cloudy early in the morning of December 26th. Lu Xiaomei had already made a thick quilt using the scraps of cloth that Liang Qi had bought, according to the size of the oxcart.
After loading the oxcart, Lu Xiaomei took out a thick quilt and spread it on the oxcart. Then she called Li Qianqian and Xiaoyue to sit on the oxcart, covered them with thick blankets, and tucked the blankets in.
Finally, Lu Xiaomei folded the quilt he had used at Ge Sanlin's house into a cushion and placed it on Liang Qi's seat. Liang Qi, wearing Uncle Liang's dog-skin coat, drove the oxcart, and the three of them arrived in the county.
Upon arriving at the Wanghuitou clothing shop, Xiaoyue looked through the window and saw the young shop assistant cleaning the counter. Li Qianqian jumped off the oxcart first, and then, helping Xiaoyue, whose legs were numb, she also jumped off.
Then Li Qianqian opened the door of the clothing store, and Xiaoyue and Liang Qi each carried a large basket on one side and walked into the store.
The young waiter hurriedly came forward, and after looking at the things in Xiaoyue and Liang Qihou's hands, he quickly asked the two of them to carry the things to the reception room.
After pouring three cups of hot water for the three men, he said, "Manager Ning will be here shortly. Please wait a moment." With that, the young waiter went out to get back to work.
Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian also came to the exhibition hall to look at the clothes, robes, and skirts on the models. Liang Qi, however, did not stay inside but went to the oxcart to look at the cart.
Li Qianqian examined the workmanship and style of each piece of clothing one by one, discussing them with Xiaoyue as they looked. Of the clothes that had been sent before, only one set of light blue cotton robes made by Xiaoyue remained; the rest had all been sold.
As the two were looking around, Manager Ning pushed open the door and came in. Xiaoyue heard the door open and saw that it was Manager Ning. She quickly went to greet him and said, "Manager Ning is back."
Manager Ning raised one eyebrow, looking displeased at Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian who were approaching him.
The young waiter hurriedly came forward, walked up to Manager Ning, whispered a few words to him, and Manager Ning's cold expression softened slightly. The waiter then led Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian to the reception room.
Xiaoyue was neatly stacking clothes in the basket according to size. The young shop assistant quickly noticed something amiss, picked out a set from one stack, and handed it to Manager Ning.
Manager Ning carefully inspected each set of clothes, looking them over from top to bottom and left to right. After examining them thoroughly, he nodded in satisfaction and asked Xiaoyue, "How many of you sew these clothes?"
"Three people."
Manager Ning touched his nose, frowned, and looked up at Xiaoyue, saying, "Sixty pieces, different styles and sizes, to be delivered by the end of January. Can you accept them?"
Xiaoyue answered without hesitation, "I can accept it."
Then Xiaoyue pointed to a bundle of riding breeches in the basket and said, "Shopkeeper, take a look and see if this kind of goods will sell?"
The young waiter opened the horse bag again, and the shopkeeper picked it up with his index finger and thumb to take a look.
He seemed confused as well, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Let's put it in our store and see how it sells. We can consign it here and give us a price."
Without hesitation, Xiaoyue replied, "Two hundred coins."
Manager Ning's eyebrows twitched again, and he asked, "Are you sure?"
Xiaoyue looked at Manager Ning. She realized she had quoted too high a price, but this kind of product wasn't available in the county. It was new stock, and even selling new products was worth the price; otherwise, all her hard work would have been for nothing.
Furthermore, these riding breeches required buying leather, glue, and fabric, all of which had to be hand-sewn. Besides, only extremely wealthy families or officials could afford such breeches, so Xiaoyue didn't find the price she ordered expensive at all.
Manager Ning said to the young shop assistant, "Hang two or three pairs of riding breeches in the shop window, priced at five hundred coins each."
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