Chapter 2: Making a living at home by copying books
Before leaving, Yao Dani paid the tuition fees for his three children and left behind one hundred silver dollars. The house was his own, so he didn't have to pay rent. The family planned carefully and it would last for more than a year. He would only be traveling for a maximum of eight months, so it would be enough for them.
But Yao Pingan got sick.
She went through two or three doctors, and her silver dollars flowed out like water along with the smell of medicine. In just two months, Zhou Chunhua had only twenty silver dollars left in her hand.
The price of rice was relatively stable during this period, costing 3.6 yuan per dan (a unit of weight). Even if they ate frugally, a family of six would need at least 1.5 dan of rice a month. In addition to the cost of vegetables and other miscellaneous expenses, Yao Ping'an, who had just recovered from a serious illness, also needed to eat well, which would cost at least 10 silver dollars a month.
Zhou Chunhua asked someone to send a letter to Yao Daniu. She used the twenty yuan to make ends meet for two and a half months. When she was at her wit's end, Yao Daniu returned.
They were carried back.
The original owner didn't know what had happened, only that a strong smell of medicine filled the house again. Two days later, in the afternoon, she took her younger sister Yao Xiaoli's hand and went to see her grandfather in his room. That night, her grandmother stumbled out of the house.
Then white banners were hung in the house. The older brother, parents and younger sister took care of the funeral at home. The grandmother took her to repay the debts from house to house. Zhou Chunhua was illiterate, so she was taken along to help write IOUs.
The original owner followed her grandmother from house to house, piecing together things she didn't know from their conversations:
The news about the grain was true, and Yao Daniu successfully bought cheap flour. However, on the way back, one of his companions had a wicked idea. He colluded with his fourth uncle, who had become a bandit, and robbed all the grain, imprisoning Yao Daniu and his companion in the dungeon.
Perhaps it was fate that they were destined to die. Seven days later, a newly arrived warlord came to suppress the bandits and rescued them. However, when he checked the warehouse, he found that the bandits had already eaten and wasted 60% of the flour.
Forget about making money, we've even lost a lot of our initial investment.
Yao Daniu ultimately couldn't bear such extreme joy and sorrow, and spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked quite weak and listless. After taking the remaining flour with his partner to a safe place, he collapsed onto the bed and lost consciousness.
The men called a doctor to come over, who took his pulse for a long time and came to the conclusion that he was beyond saving. Yao Daniu remained silent for a long time, then forced himself to check out of the room and told the men to hurry up and pack their things to get back to their hometown overnight.
Knowing he didn't have long to live, Yao Daniu forced himself to take a potent drug to rouse himself, entrusted everything to Zhou Chunhua, and then passed away peacefully.
...
The family was out of money, but life had to go on. Almost everything in the house had been pawned. Yao Daniu had a lot of things, but they were Zhou Chunhua's cherished possessions, and she really couldn't bear to pawn them. After thinking it over, she pretended to be a man and pulled a rickshaw to earn money.
The original owner was heartbroken by her grandfather's passing. She knelt diligently for the entire day and night while keeping vigil. She didn't exercise much and her health wasn't very good. She was also worried about the family's future while studying. She fell ill as soon as she returned home after receiving her graduation certificate. Unexpectedly, she encountered her grandfather's spirit.
Even though she knew in her heart that her lifespan was not yet over, she chose to go with her grandfather, but she could not offer much in return, and her requests were rejected several times, until she met Yao Xiaoyu.
From now on, the Yao family is in your hands.
In the final moments of her memory, the original owner smiled and said goodbye to her, then disappeared, holding the hand of an old man dressed in a burial shroud. The style and color of that shroud were exactly the same as the one Yao Daniu was wearing.
"..."
"Second sister, time to eat."
The Yao family didn't give Yao Xiaoyu much time to think. A soft call came from the crack in the window again, but this time the face no longer seemed unfamiliar to her.
The original owner left behind not only memories, but also some emotions. Perhaps due to some mechanism, after she accepted Yao Xiaoyu's life, although her own memories remained clear, her emotions seemed to be sealed away.
However, she wasn't too worried. She knew in her heart that this state was only temporary, and that she would naturally return to normal after she died and returned to her body.
"Coming soon."
Yao Xiaoyu responded to her sister, slowly got out of bed, and took a step-by-step walk out the door while holding onto the wall. She just happened to meet the gaze of the woman who was mending clothes. It was her mother, Wenrou.
Are you feeling better today?
Wenrou looked at Yao Xiaoyu with concern, but before Yao Xiaoyu could speak, Wenrou's attention was drawn to the person who entered the room:
"What's wrong with your clothes? Go to your room and change them. I'll sew them up for you."
Looking at the familiar scene before her, Yao Xiaoyu recalled that question once again:
Why did you choose to go with Yao Daniu?
The mother was gentle and valued her eldest son, Yao Tianrui; the father, Yao Ping'an, favored his youngest daughter, Yao Xiaoli; the grandmother, Zhou Chunhua, treated all the children equally; and only the grandfather truly favored Yao Xiaoyu.
"Come and eat."
Seeing Yao Xiaoyu standing blankly at the door, Zhou Chunhua raised her voice to call out to her. Yao Xiaoyu snapped out of her thoughts, slowly walked to the table, sat down, and picked up a sweet potato from the porridge with her chopsticks.
Sweet potatoes don't taste good; they have many fibrous strands and a pale color. They're practically a different species from the soft, sweet, and glutinous sweet potatoes of today. But Yao Xiaoyu still tried her best to swallow them—her body needed nutrition.
Have you found a job yet?
After the meal, Yao Xiaoli helped Wenrou clear the dishes. Zhou Chunhua looked expectantly at her eldest grandson, Yao Tianrui. The family's income now depended entirely on her pulling the rickshaw, which was really worrying.
Yao Tianrui entered school at the age of eight and formally completed four years of primary school and three years of higher primary school. He could not become an accountant with a monthly salary of eight yuan, but he could always become a record clerk with a monthly salary of six yuan.
Even if she couldn't find a job that paid four yuan a month, it would still be enough to support her family. With one less mouth to feed, the burden on her shoulders would be lighter.
"No."
Yao Tianrui sighed. He was not fat to begin with, and in the past few months he had become so thin that he was practically skin and bones. His clothes, which had been altered to be smaller, looked loose and baggy.
He just started middle school this year and his grades have always been very good. However, Yao Daniu is gone and his family can't afford the tuition, so he dropped out of school after this semester.
Yao Tianrui originally wanted to drop out of school, but the teacher felt it was a pity and strongly persuaded him to keep his student status and come back to study after saving up enough tuition. He also had the hope of going to university, so he reluctantly agreed.
“I have no flesh on my body, and people all think I’m an opium addict and refuse to take me in.”
The attitude towards opium is not as strict as in later generations, but shops generally won't accept it, fearing that they won't be able to control themselves. Although Yao Tianrui repeatedly assured them, he was too thin, and the shopkeepers were unwilling to take responsibility.
There was another reason Yao Tianrui didn't mention: at this time, most jobs were obtained through introductions from relatives and friends, or with letters of recommendation and introduction. He approached several families that his grandfather had been on good terms with, but none of them were willing to help.
"so……"
Zhou Chunhua frowned as well. She was afraid of being recognized when she pulled the rickshaw, so she usually waited for customers in quiet places. When she was pulling the rickshaw, she just kept her head down and ran. She really couldn't think of any other way to make money besides working.
"How about I become a rickshaw puller too?"
Seeing that Zhou Chunhua remained silent for a long time, Yao Tianrui spoke again, and this time Zhou Chunhua denied it without hesitation.
"no!"
Putting aside the income and other people's opinions, this job is risking your life. On the first day of pulling the cart, she didn't stop for a single day. On the second day, her legs were swollen bigger than radishes. She had to rest for several days before she dared to continue pulling the cart. If she had any other job that could earn her a few silver dollars, she wouldn't have done this.
Moreover, you encounter all sorts of people pulling rickshaws; it's not easy for a person to learn to be good, but it's very easy to learn to be bad.
Zhou Chunhua is uneducated, but she knows the saying "eat meat with wolves and grass with dogs." Yao Tianrui may not be strong now, but he will grow up eventually. If he becomes a thug, his family will be the first to suffer.
"or……"
Zhou Chunhua hesitated, glancing at Yao Tianrui. She wanted him to stay home and rest for a while, but she couldn't afford to feed him. Just as she was considering selling the old man's belongings, she heard her granddaughter speak up:
"You can copy books."
Zhou Chunhua looked at her eldest granddaughter, Yao Xiaoyu, who remained quietly seated in her chair, without even moving. Zhou thought it was just her imagination, but then Yao Xiaoyu spoke again:
"You can go to a bookstore and ask the owner if they have any books you want to copy, and make money by copying them."
Yao Xiaoyu had read some materials before, and it was known that there was still a book copying profession in Beijing until after 1931. The top book copyers could earn three small silver dollars for a thousand words, while even ordinary copyers could earn 18 cents for a thousand words.
Although the Yao family is in Shanghai, it is only the third year of the Republic of China, and there are relatively few literate people. As long as Yao Tianrui's handwriting is not too bad, the bookstore will probably want him.
At the current rice price of 3.6 yuan, Yao Tianrui could buy five jin of rice if he could copy a thousand words a day, and earn one and a half dan of rice a month. Even if the price was lower, he could still earn a dan of rice. It was not as good as working in a shop or office, but it was not bad as a temporary livelihood.
Because of her illness and weakness, Yao Xiaoyu's mind worked very slowly, and she had to think before she could say many things. But no one in the courtyard was impatient. Everyone stared at Yao Xiaoyu with bright eyes and listened attentively to every word she said.
"And I remember that the old man of the He family had a very good impression of my eldest brother."
The He family's bookstore was just two streets away and business was good, but Yao Tianrui had been turned down several times and didn't want to shamelessly ask the He family for a letter of recommendation again. But now it wasn't about asking the He family to do him a favor, but about helping them make money, so Yao Tianrui felt it was worth trying one more time.
“Dad can give it a try. Writing doesn’t take much effort. If he can’t finish in one day, he can do it in two. It’s always good to earn some money.”
Yao Xiaoyu noticed Yao Ping'an's restless expression out of the corner of her eye and slowly added a sentence.
When Yao Ping'an was a child, he was sick every three days or every five days, and he really didn't have the energy to go to school. So Yao Daniu hired a private tutor at home to teach him to read.
Because of his poor health, Yao Ping'an rarely went out and often spent his time reading newspapers and books. His handwriting was not particularly good, but it was of uniform size and the strokes were clear.
During this period, he had worried a lot about making money, but due to his habitual way of thinking, he never thought about making money by copying books. It was only when his daughter exposed him that he realized he had a treasure but was unaware of it.
Copying books is great! No need to brave the wind and sun, no need to carry things on your shoulders or in your hands. You can earn money just by sitting and writing. He's no longer a freeloader.
He was born with a weak constitution, and it was only because Yao Daniu was rich and fed white rice and fine flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat from a young age that he has survived to this day.
In the 21st century, resources are abundant, so this kind of diet is nothing special. But in this era, eating white flour could really consume all the land. Moreover, Yao Ping'an is often sick. It's only because Yao Daniu is good at making money that he has managed to support him to this day.
Even in his thirties, Yao Ping'an could only digest refined foods. Eating too much coarse grains would make him sick. At the beginning of the meal, Yao Ping'an's bowl only contained white porridge, not sweet potatoes.
But does he really feel at ease enjoying this preferential treatment?
Yao Xiaoyu glanced at the excitement on Yao Ping'an's face and thought that although this father was a bit weak, he was still qualified.
"Little Fish, besides copying books, what other ways do you know to make money?"
Zhou Chunhua was illiterate, so Yao Daniu explained the meaning of Xiaoyu to her, but she still remembered it as Xiaoyu (Little Fish), and over time it became Yao Xiaoyu's nickname.
A note from the author:
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According to the latest data, in the early 1930s, the minimum exchange rate between a silver dollar and a copper coin was 300 (i.e., 1 silver dollar = 300 copper coins). However, the exchange rate in this article has been set to 1 to 128 (i.e., 1 silver dollar = 128 copper coins), so it will not be modified.
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The Yao family's inability to find a way to make money by copying books stemmed from a kind of ingrained thinking, much like how consumers become sellers of goods. Those who have figured it out find it simple, while those who haven't can't figure it out no matter how hard they try.
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