Chapter 175 Hiring a Tailor - Another Year Has Passed By
Yao Xiaoyu's monthly salary for her employees wasn't high, but the benefits were excellent. For example, each employee received two sets of work clothes per season, complete with everything from head to toe, including headbands, handkerchiefs, shoes, and socks.
Each person has two sets of clothes per season, which is eight sets per year. With the cook, driver, cleaner, laundry and tailor, plus Tao Xiaoxiao by her side, even without counting errand runners and apprentices, she still has to make fifty-six sets of clothes a year.
This number is too small for a factory, but if you ask a tailor without a sewing machine to do it, it would be enough to keep them busy all year round. Yao Xiaoyu only understood why wealthy families would set up sewing rooms after she had done the calculations. They were too busy to handle it all. In the non-industrial era, they really couldn't handle it all!
Yao Xiaoyu hoped to find a suitable tailor, but it wasn't a big deal if she couldn't. It was just a matter of placing an order with a tailor shop. Apart from the fact that the people outside might not be very stable and the cost might be higher, it wouldn't have a significant impact.
Of course, it would be much more convenient to have a skilled tailor at home.
Yao Xiaoyu didn't think she was being too generous by providing clothes, since she was mainly doing it for herself—clothes weren't made of polyester fiber yet, and brand-new clothes would look old after just one wash, and they would easily tear or even be ruined if washed too many times.
The word "浆洗" (jiāngxǐ) is exactly what it sounds like: after washing clothes too much, they become starchy.
In this situation, if Yao Xiaoyu sets a washing frequency, doesn't buy clothes for new employees, and doesn't allow them to dress like dried pickled vegetables or patched clothes, all the meager earnings of the employees will have to be spent on buying fabric. When the accounts are settled at the end of the year, only the tailor shop owner will be laughing.
"Outdoor cleaners, laundry workers, tailors..."
Yao Xiaoyu muttered to herself about her talent shortage, hoping that God would open his eyes and bring her suitable candidates for these positions. The New Year was just around the corner, and she hoped that she could move into her new home fully equipped after the holiday.
However, she always felt like she had forgotten something... Yao Xiaoyu looked at the paper full of names and thought for a long time but couldn't figure out where this feeling came from. It wasn't until she went to see a movie on a whim before the New Year and saw that the popcorn vendor at the door had changed that she remembered the thing she had carelessly forgotten.
A few days later, a letter from Yao Xiaoyu's new house address was delivered to Ye Junshu.
[...I once saw an old man wandering the streets and alleys, who, when stopped, found an empty spot to sit down...The container was as big as a fat eggplant, and the burlap sack was several meters long. He lit it...The sound was like a firecracker exploding, and the popcorn that came out was no different from that at the movie theater entrance...]
Yes, the purpose of Yao Xiaoyu's letter was to get Ye Junshu, a master craftsman, to try making an old-fashioned popcorn machine.
The idea was originally just to ridicule the popcorn vendor who looked down on Chinese people, but now that it has been brought up again, Yao Xiaoyu realized that this thing, which is jokingly called a "food amplifier" in modern times, could be a way out for many people at the bottom of society.
A hollow tin can, a sack, and some odds and ends won't be too heavy, even an elderly person can carry it; making popcorn is simple and requires no skill, meaning it can be mastered with a little practice; it doesn't require much firewood to make a batch, making it essentially a business with no capital.
Rice, corn, and some other kinds of grains can all be processed, and the raw materials are widely available. The puffed rice can be stored for up to half a year, and even toothless people can swallow it. It is suitable for all ages, not to mention that the taste is sweet, which is irresistible to everyone in this era. As long as the family is a little better off, they don't mind making some for a treat. The customer base is very broad.
When Yao Xiaoyu was a child, she saw vendors carrying old-fashioned popcorn machines walking through the streets and alleys. The old woman looked very old and thin, but she carried all the things on her back without any effort. She even carried her own firewood.
In this era, carrying a popcorn machine through the streets and alleys won't earn you a lot of money, but it's not difficult to make a living, and the employment prospects are very broad. You can work in cities, towns, and even villages. Ambitious young and strong laborers may look down on it, but for many people who are objectively facing difficulties, this is a new way of life.
Yao Xiaoyu was unsure whether Ye Junshu could successfully develop the product, but she hoped so.
As the weather grew colder, the New Year was fast approaching. After a month-long buffer period, the Yao family had accepted reality and found new jobs because they were literate. Zhou Chunhua once came back and said with a face full of relief that it was all thanks to her literacy that she could read, otherwise she would never have been able to get this job. Wenrou had said something similar.
Yao Xiaoyu wasn't sure what their specific jobs were, but judging from their spirits and daily expenses, it should be easier than the handicrafts they used to do, and they earned a decent amount of money. Yao Ping'an, on the other hand, was very anxious and took on some odd jobs copying books—his health was poor, he couldn't go out, and he could only do indoor work.
However, Yao Ping'an was not one to give up easily. After realizing that he could not get a regular job, he copied books while looking for time to ask Yao Xiaoyu for tips on submitting articles. Unfortunately, Yao Xiaoyu had a smooth career and had no experience to share. When he finally managed to squeeze out a few words, they sounded like Versailles.
"Just look at what's trending lately, then see what stories are mostly in the newspapers where you want to publish your article, and write an article based on that."
When Yao Xiaoyu first started writing, it was simply to record her dreams. However, as she wrote, she ended up solving her survival needs. This process is not suitable for today. Yao Xiaoyu can only say that when she came to her first submission experience, she didn't know why, but Yao Ping'an's face turned green.
"By the way, don't send your manuscript by mail. It's best to go to the editorial office in person. You'll get a result on the spot, whether it's accepted or not. Mail may not be able to reach you smoothly."
Yao Xiaoyu thought for a moment and then added that in this era, travel was very slow, and there was no guarantee of security for mailed letters. Even if a letter was delivered, it might not be received, and even if it was received, it might not be read. If Yao Xiaoyu hadn't gone to the mailing station in person when she first started sending articles, although they might have been accepted later, it was uncertain when.
Yao Ping'an's greenish complexion did not improve after listening to Yao Xiaoyu's advice. He only managed a few words of agreement before going to copy books. Yao Xiaoyu did not pay much attention to him, but instead looked with interest at the New Year's goods that Zhou Chunhua and the others had bought.
During the final month of copying the books, the Yao family worked day and night, and when the accounts were finally settled, they received a considerable sum of money. With money in hand, they felt more confident and were much more generous when buying New Year's goods.
"If you can't be generous in this first year of the new year, even the God of Wealth will look down on you."
This was something Zhou Chunhua had been saying since the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Yao Xiaoyu thought it made a lot of sense, but the huge pile of New Year's gifts inexplicably reminded her of the mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even though she managed to stuff those mooncakes into her daily meals in various ways, she still ate them for two whole months. Yao Xiaoyu escaped this ordeal because she could eat out, but now...
Yao Xiaoyu recalled the radishes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cabbages from previous years, as well as the meatballs that she could never finish. Her face changed and she was about to leave. During the Spring Festival, the shop was closed until the sixth day of the first lunar month. If she had to eat leftovers, she would go crazy!
"Tell us what you want to eat right away. The shops outside will open on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and we might have to rely on these to make a living."
As Yao Xiaoyu placed her personal group order for the meat dumplings, she said to Tao Xiaoxiao that this girl had a much larger appetite than her, and if she didn't buy them separately, she wouldn't be able to finish the food she had prepared for herself.
Tao Xiaoxiao also remembered the leftovers from a few years ago. She nodded solemnly. The two of them took advantage of the fact that the ice in the cellar had not yet melted and spent the whole day shopping before they finally calmed down. During that time, they kicked away three thieves, slammed two robbers against the wall, and broke the hands of seven thieves who were playing the lottery. Everyone knew it was the New Year and they were rushing to meet their sales targets.
Days passed by like flowing water, and before they knew it, it was New Year's Eve. For the first time, the Yao family was able to spend the New Year peacefully at home instead of rushing to pay off their debts. The kerosene lamp on the table shone brightly, and the stove underneath, filled with coal, was warm and cozy. The food on the table, because it needed to be kept warm, wasn't served in small, delicate bowls, but it was all very fragrant.
Yao Xiaoyu picked up a piece of braised meat and put it in her mouth. She found the food delicious, but at the same time, she felt a rare sense of homesickness.
She missed the fried chicken legs from home, her mother's secret recipe, which was only made during the Lunar New Year. Unlike the breadcrumbs-coated chicken legs sold outside, the ones from home were only lightly coated with cornstarch, and they came out of the fryer with a gentle yellow color. One bite and you'd first taste the crispy and fragrant meat, followed by tender meat. It was flavorful but not overpowering, and you could eat several without needing to drink water.
If there's any downside, it's like fresh meat mooncakes—you have to eat them right after they come out of the pot, otherwise the flavor drops significantly once they cool down. So every year when my mother fries chicken legs, the plates are always empty: they've all been taken!
A fleeting, faint melancholy briefly broke through her emotional blockade, and Yao Xiaoyu's attention quickly returned to the dining table in front of her. Since there were only seven people in total, the New Year's Eve dinner was quite relaxed. Yao Xiaoli had confidently declared she could last until the end before sitting down, but she was the first to leave the table, jumping around in the yard setting off fireworks—
The last time the younger generation played these games was when the Yao family wasn't in debt. Not to mention Yao Xiaoli, even Yao Tianrui was envious. He was led by his sister's hand into the yard, and from being shy and hesitant to playing wildly, it only took half a cup of tea.
Yao Xiaoyu didn't participate in their activities. She silently munched on braised chicken feet, looked at the food articles she had collected, and occasionally sipped hot water. She listened to Zhou Chunhua and Wenrou gossip: whose brother-in-law abducted his nephew and eloped; whose adopted son seized the family business and was outmaneuvered by his illegitimate daughter; which trafficker kidnapped a child and took him to the child's hometown, where they ate millet rice dipped in cold water...
Time always flies when you're eating melons. Before you knew it, the time to stay up all night was over. The faint sound of firecrackers could be heard outside. Yao Xiaoyu wiped her hands with a hot, damp cloth, went upstairs, and fell into bed. In no time, her breathing became even.
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Author's Note: Next chapter is about moving! Then I'll start writing a new story!
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