Since the whole family thought the pattern was beautiful, Li Mai said that this method of drawing batik patterns could also be used to dye clothes. Next time, she would make a white dress first and then dye it.
Dyeing colorful flowers and patterns requires a wax sealing technique, which needs to be studied in detail. Li Mai decided to study it next year after she gives birth; it's a project she'll keep in mind.
Of course, she still has many other projects she keeps doing, such as canvas painting and hand-painting. She will try them out gradually in the future, producing a little bit each year. Now she has a lot of knowledge about fabric dyeing in her mind.
Zhao understood; it turned out that clothes could be dyed after being made from fabric.
After they officially opened, she decided to give it a try.
Today is the tenth day of the eighth lunar month. Li Mai and Zhou Quan decided to go back to town tomorrow and stay at the shop for a few days. They plan to return home as a family on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On the fifteenth day, Li Mai decided to close the store for a day so that everyone could stay home and enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival.
After they left, Zhao and the magpie started making mooncakes at home.
Zhuzhu also stayed at home to learn how to make mooncakes with her grandmother.
By the time Li Mai and his group left, many people had already sent Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to their home.
Nowadays, most people in the village work under Li Mai's guidance or have received instruction or help from Zhou Quan and Li Mai, and life has been much better this year.
Therefore, they felt that sending a few homemade mooncakes to the Zhou family during the Mid-Autumn Festival would be a way to express their good wishes.
Some people also sent fruit to Zhou Quan's family, as they knew Li Mai was pregnant and thought that fresh fruit was good for a pregnant woman. Most of these people were women who did embroidery for Li Mai, and they were grateful to Li Mai from the bottom of their hearts.
The local autumn fruits include peaches, apples, pears, crabapples, and red dates.
On the carriage that Zhou Quan and Li Mai returned to town, there was a small basket of fruit of several kinds. Zhao put the fruit into several cloth bags and gave them to Li Mai to eat.
That's why they only took a small portion with them, leaving the rest at home for them to eat.
Li Mai ate a crabapple and wondered what Mid-Autumn Festival gifts she could buy for everyone.
"Zhou Quan, what do you think we should buy for the villagers? Let Zhou Heng go back to the village with you tomorrow to deliver them."
"Should we give them all, or just to those who sent us mooncakes and fruit?" Zhou Quan asked.
“Give it to those who are closer to our family, and those who have given us gifts. We are not the clan chief, so why should we give it to the whole village?” Li Mai shook his head.
Now in the village, some people work hard with them to live a better life, while others don't believe in them and even hate them a little.
No one can be liked by everyone in the village. Besides, because of Zhou Chun's family being driven out of the village, people like Zhou Yuan, Zhou Ju, Zhou Erleng, and Zhou Ermao have a grudge against them and are unwilling to work for them this year. They are still living a hard life. As for whether they have stolen again, no one knows.
How could Li Mai be so foolish as to use her own money to buy things for them?
Upon hearing this, Zhou Quan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I estimate that there are more than thirty companies delivering things to us!"
Li Mai nodded and hummed in agreement.
"How about we send a bushel of white rice to each family? I see that most of them eat millet that they grow themselves; very few families in the village eat rice regularly."
Li Mai thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. These families are the ones who work for us. Instead of just giving them a bushel, give each family a cloth bag. I saw a bag that weighs two bushels at Li's shop last time, which is about 25 jin. Go back today and order 30 or 40 bags. Have them send a car with you tomorrow to deliver them back together."
"Now, Zhou Heng and the families who do our embroidery work are also going to work at the dyeing and spinning workshops. We'll give each of them a bag as a Mid-Autumn Festival gift to thank them for choosing to trust us and work with us. We'll also prepare a bag for everyone in our shop!"
“Okay,” Zhou Quan agreed.
Back in town, the two went back to the shop to check on the situation, then ate at the Lu family's restaurant next door. Zhou Quan then went to take care of the matter.
Li Mai told him to bring back a bag of rice for everyone in the shop today.
In the afternoon, when Zhou Quan returned, he brought back nine bags of rice. Li Mai called the embroiderers upstairs to come down as well. She told them that everyone had worked hard for their shops for the past six months and that since the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, she and her husband had prepared some small gifts for everyone, one bag of rice for each person, about two dou (a unit of dry measure). The gifts were not expensive, but they were a small token of their appreciation.
After Li Mai finished speaking, everyone was stunned.
People who are subservient to others, do they even get to receive gifts during holidays?
After each initial surprise came a delightful surprise. They happily lined up to receive their gifts. Zhou Quan said that if anyone lived far away and couldn't carry them back, he would deliver them to them by horse-drawn carriage.
To everyone's surprise, the embroiderers waved their hands and said, "Don't worry, boss, we can carry two more bags."
His words made everyone burst into laughter.
Four embroiderers, four waiters, and Zhou Heng each received a bag.
Zhou Tao smiled and hugged Li Mai's arm, asking, "Sister-in-law, what's my gift?"
Her sister-in-law hadn't prepared rice for her, so she guessed her sister-in-law had prepared something else nice for her.
Li Mai smiled and said, "Yours isn't rice, of course. I'll give it to you when I get back tonight."
Zhou Tao said "oh" and spent the rest of the time looking forward to what Mid-Autumn Festival gift her sister-in-law would give her.
She has no shortage of clothes and jewelry now, and her sister-in-law must know that too. The more she thought about it, the more impatient she became!
Li Mai and Zhou Quan exchanged a glance and smiled.
They also prepared Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for their younger siblings.
Back at the mansion that evening, after dinner, Zhou Tao didn't leave; instead, she looked at Li Mai with sparkling eyes.
Zhou Lin glanced at her and asked curiously, "Xiao Tao, why are you staring at your sister-in-law?"
Zhou Tao chuckled, "My sister-in-law gave everyone in the shop Mid-Autumn Festival gifts today, and said she'd give me one when I get back. I'd like to know what it is?"
Zhou Lin raised an eyebrow and looked at Li Mai.
Li Mai nodded, "Yes, we picked out Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for you before we left home. You four can close your eyes now."
Zhou Lei and Nan Su exchanged a glance and obediently closed their eyes.
Li Mai chuckled and waved her hand, and four wooden boxes appeared on the table.
“Open your eyes, for what is before you is your gift.” Li Mai gestured for them to open.
Looking at the rather long and wide wooden box in front of her, Zhou Tao asked in confusion, "Huh, what's this?"
As she muttered to herself, she opened it, and Zhou Tao exclaimed in surprise, "Sister-in-law, is it a seven-stringed zither?"
"Well, haven't you always wanted your own instrument? When we passed through Shangbei Town this time, we saw a shop selling them. Your brother tried them out and thought they sounded good, so we bought them."
"Hehe, thank you, sister-in-law." Zhou Tao said happily.
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