Chapter 102
Things in this world are truly full of coincidences.
Shu Wanxiu had just finished making winter clothes for the family when Xun Yi received a letter from the prefectural city.
Although Xun Yi's master and mistress did not attend their wedding, they sent a generous gift.
Shu Wanxiu later inquired about Xun Yi's master and learned that his master's shop was located in the prefectural city.
Upon hearing that the letter came from the prefectural city, Shu Wanxiu asked, "Was it a letter from your master?"
Xun Yi had already opened the letter. Upon hearing this, he slowly shook his head. "No, it's my master's wife."
The current dynasty has extremely strict control over iron mines. Not only are private mining prohibited, but blacksmiths who purchase iron from the government must also leave their names and unique marks on the ironware they forge.
After Xun Yi began learning his craft, his master taught him how to write his own name.
Later, some shop owners or merchants, in order to prevent ironware from being stolen, would ask the blacksmith to engrave some words when purchasing it.
As Xun Yi learned more and more characters, reading a letter became easy for him.
He skimmed through it, looking rather displeased.
Shu Wanxiu put her hand on his arm where he was holding the letter and asked what was wrong.
"My master..."
Xun Yi's master loved drinking more than anything in his life, and in recent years, as he got older, he became even more addicted to alcohol.
Last winter, a letter arrived from the prefectural city. It was because his master had fallen while drunk and broken his bones in the snow.
The incident happened suddenly, and many ironware orders that the blacksmith had promised to make could not be completed because his master was injured. Therefore, they had to ask Xun Yi to travel a long distance to the prefectural city to help.
Xun Yi didn't go into the details when talking to Chen Sanhe.
It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, so Xun Yi stayed there for several months until his master was fully recovered before returning home.
It hasn't snowed yet this year.
This letter also mentioned that his master was unwell.
“When he was recovering from his injury last year, he told me that he would never drink again. I didn’t expect that after I returned home, his drinking problem would relapse. For the past six months, his drinking problem has only increased. Since a certain day last month, his hands have been shaking uncontrollably whenever he picks up a hammer, and the ironware he forges is not as good as before.”
"Many doctors advised him to quit drinking, but his wife and family couldn't persuade him otherwise."
This time, the letter from the master's wife asked Xun Yi for two things. First, she hoped that he could go to the prefectural city to persuade his master. Xun Yi was his master's favorite disciple, and if he went to persuade him, his master might listen.
Secondly, I requested that Xun Yi help manage the shop again.
His master had three apprentices and two sons, but neither of the sons inherited the blacksmithing skills.
Of the three apprentices, Xun Yi was the oldest and most talented, and he graduated early. One was not proficient and gave up halfway, while the other has not yet graduated.
“My master has been incredibly kind to me,” Xun Yi said, his eyes filled with unconcealed guilt. “I must help him with this.”
"That's natural."
A teacher for a day is a father for life. How can we sit idly by and do nothing when our teacher is in trouble?
A blacksmith's strength and his two hands are the most important things.
The current situation is extremely serious and urgent.
Shu Wanxiu didn't say a word of reluctance, and turned around to considerately pack Xun Yi's luggage.
Xun Yi didn't know how long this trip would take; it could be as short as ten days or half a month, or as long as two or three months, or even three or four months.
He really didn't want to be separated from Shu Wanxiu.
As Shu Wanxiu rummaged through the closet for the clothes he wanted to take, Xun Yi hugged her from behind, reluctant to let her go.
Shu Wanxiu reassured him, "It's just a short trip."
Before leaving home, Xun Yi inspected all the rooms in the house. He climbed a ladder to repair any leaks in the roof and checked all the door latches and locks to make sure they were sturdy.
He also went to the village chief's house and told Pang Zhishan and Chen Sanhe about his upcoming trip, asking them to take care of Shu Wanxiu and Shu Shouyi while he was away.
Before parting, Xun Yi held Shu Wanxiu's hand and listened to her rambling instructions.
"Be careful on the road. Don't spend the night in the woods or in the wilderness. Buy extra food when you get to the county town, but don't just eat dry rations. When you're traveling in the cold wind, make sure you eat at least one hot meal a day..."
Looking at her earnest eyes, Xun Yi felt as if a tree had grown in his heart, blocking his mind and making him feel suffocated and increasingly reluctant to part.
"The city is bustling, and I really want to take you and Shouyi to see it, to stroll around, and to meet Master and Mistress. It's a pity that it's getting cold these days, and it might snow at any time. It's not as warm outside as it is at home."
There's also the issue of accommodation.
It was only in recent years that Xun Yi's master and his family settled in the prefectural city.
The rent for houses and shops in the prefectural city is extremely high, and the family was already living in a cramped space.
If Xun Yi were to bring his family along, a short stay of a few days would be fine, sleeping in an inn. But if he were to go for several months, it would be truly difficult to know how to settle them down.
Shu Wanxiu understands and sympathizes with all of this.
After snuggling into Xun Yi's arms for a while, she smiled and urged, "Let's set off quickly."
Xun Yi had plenty of travel money in his pocket and two bundles on his shoulder.
One contained his winter clothes, and the other contained all the furs he had tanned from hunting throughout the year.
The capital city is bustling, and everything is expensive. These furs can fetch a very good price there.
...
Xun Yi did not return for more than a month.
As December arrived, snow began to fall in Fangyuan County.
The world was covered in white snow, and Shu Wanxiu was always thinking about Xun Yi. She would think about him several times a day, and only spinning hemp could distract her.
That's right, it's hemp.
Not long after Xun Yi left home, Shu Wanxiu discovered a patch of wild, unharvested ramie while storing firewood for the winter.
She had spent over a year weaving silk and brocade without touching the loom, and her hands had developed many calluses and become very rough. If she were to weave expensive silk fabrics like silk and brocade again, she would definitely get some snags.
Upon seeing this patch of ramie, she picked it all and thought to herself, "Why don't I weave hemp or kudzu cloth from now on?"
Although linen and kudzu cloth are cheap, the raw materials are easy to obtain. In Wupai Village and even several nearby villages, there are only two or three households that know how to weave cloth. Ramie can be harvested three or even four times a year, and there is plenty of it in the mountains.
Unlike weaving silk fabrics, which requires either raising silkworms at home or buying silkworm cocoons and raw silk to process at home before weaving, this method requires different approaches.
The former, planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms, cannot be accomplished overnight; the latter, if buying raw silk, requires searching far and wide to compare prices to find the lowest available supplier.
Now that she doesn't rely on weaving to support her family anyway, she weaves linen and kudzu cloth as a way to pass the time.
At this point, she had made up her mind to buy a cheaper loom after spring.
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